Tag Archives: problematic fave

ooc: Ok can you clear this one up for me? Did Santino ever love Armand? As a brother or family member type of thing? Or was Santino just his wicked teacher?

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bloodyvampchrons:

desanctii:

antoineandthepiano:

desanctii:

ooc. Well, headcanons may vary of course, but the way I read the character and the relationship he had with Armand… Yes, Santino loved him. And I will even say that he loved him very deeply. The love was likely not a very considerate kind but it was real.

I hinge this a) on Santino actively assuring Marius that he did love Armand (in TVA) and b) Santino’s exhibiting very fatherly and sympathetic behavior towards Armand. 

Santino is depicted as a very honest and very caring character. His honesty is attested by Marius (B&G) and Santino himself claims to hate evil and to suffer from the way he has to live in the cult. Further: He actually cries when he visits Armand in his cell because the torture was so cruel and he couldn’t stand it (TVA). He is evidently very taken with Armand and compliments him even when there is nothing to gain from it. (also TVA) Because of all of this I say he loved him like a son, or else a protégé.

What he feels for him nowadays is more difficult, I think.

OOC: I totally hear what you’re saying but Santino’s fucked up cruelty in the past done unto Marius, Palazzo Boys and Armand were so horrific, I just have a hard time picturing how you describe him. How can I improve my perspective of Santino?

ooc. I genuinely can’t help you there. If you don’t want to view him in a sympathetic light then nothing I say will change that. Mind you, I started out hating him, too. It took me a while to warm up to him. (cut for length)

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This is really good !! I’m always a slut for nuanced understandings of complex characters 😍

^YES! I really enjoyed this response from @desanctii.

Perspective and context can allow us to view a character in a sympathetic light, but if you don’t want to do so, that’s fine, too. Both approaches are equal,  we all have our own interpretations of canon.

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marysuewhipple:

ameliarating:

allofthefeelings:

I think it’s really important to talk about how different people have different power fantasies.

For example:

  • For some people, the idea of someone redeeming a villain is a power fantasy.
  • For other people, the idea of a villain being defeated is a power fantasy.
  • And for other people, the idea of a character owning their villainy is a power fantasy.

I would argue a lot of fandom conflicts re: villains come from people being unable to see that their fantasies, which put them in control of a narrative (and all three of these are designed to give the author or reader control of the narrative in different ways) are someone else’s horror stories.

I think this is a really interesting look at power fantasies and I personally have experienced all three, regarding different characters.

I would argue, however, that most of these fandom conflicts actually come from the reverse situation. That is, it’s not people looking at their own fantasies and being unable to see that these fantasies are horrifying for others (though that does, of course, happen).

I see, more often, people looking at other people’s fantasies and declaring them to be horrifying. That they are objectively bad and harmful and representative of whatever it is people find to be dangerous. And that, in fact, their fantasies or empowering at all, but rather symptoms of societal sickness.

So rather than saying a lot of fandom conflicts re: villains come from people being unable to see that their fantasies are someone else’s horror stories, I would say that a lot of fandom conflicts re: villains come from people being unable to see that different people have different fantasies in the first place. That it’s not that they’re thinking of their own fantasies at all. But that they’re seeing only their own horrors in the fantasies of others. 

Good meta, but I wanna add: 

For some people, the power fantasy is not necessarily “someone redeeming a villain” but “a villain being redeemed”; that is, they identify more with the villain going through the redemption, rather than the hero offering redemption, or the villain who owns their villainy. 

Idk if you could really call it a power fantasy exactly, but it serves a similar purpose. It can be really cathartic to see a character who is in the dark and alone be reached out to, to see a hero extend a hand and good faith and help them back into the light. To see someone believe in them, to see them better themselves and heal. 

It’s okay to identify with vulnerability instead of (or in addition to) power, is what I’m saying. 

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more-witches:

noc10:

*parts a bead curtain as i enter the room, carrying a glass of lemonade* 

hey….

nothing you ever read, watch, or participate in will be ideologically pure and without its problems. your quest to consume the most unproblematic material will be, in the end, fruitless. your enjoyment of anything will be sapped away, leaving you a husk starved for media.

 it is okay to enjoy things that have problems to them, so long as you do it critically and with an open mind, and take care to consider others.

*leaves the way i came*

This is possibly the healthiest post I’ve seen on this site

The fact that you have a tag for the AR lollercoaster makes me so damned happy

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gothiccharmschool:

i-want-my-iwtv:

nightislandofficial:

monstersinthecosmos:

I just truly believe this to be the universal experience of all Anne Rice fans, and some of us been up and down the lollercoaster a few times so far, and some of us haven’t had to deal with it yet. AND I PROMSE ALL THE LITTLE SUMMER CHILDREN, IT’S COMING.

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She’s a divisive and controversial writer for sure, on a lot of layered meta levels that aren’t just like mainstream casual normies thinking the books are scandalous or something. Tumblr is obviously a place where injustices aren’t ignored and it takes about five minutes of browsing to start finding the deeper readings of her work, the bad topics and sketchy opinions, etc etc. It’s so easy to just enjoy her work on the surface and it’s just such a fucking mess when you look closer. 

AND I MEAN THAT’S THE THING? I know people get suuuuuuper salty about Anne Rice and it’s always kind of crushing when people learn about the fandom history but like YALL I WAS THERE, I’M OVER IT LOL. I had the salty Anne Rice phase already and it took me like 4 years to bring myself to read Blood Canticle cause I was like So Done With Her Shit at that point. 

Are these books good and interesting enough to keep me this occupied on their own? Probably not. But they were really special to me growing up and I found cool fandom people and made genuinely awesome friends here so it’s become a weird hobby to have. I’M STUCK HERE NOW. 

I get the AR hate, I really do. I really, really do. I get the whole “omg I waited for the new book and it was about bird aliens” devastation. I REALLY DO. But we all go through this if you stick around for too long. I went through it already, it’s out of my system. I’m done being pissy about it. (tbh I went through this when I read Merrick the first time and I was like wtf I thought this was gonna be an epic crossover with Rowan getting into some shit and instead we’re reading about David fucking some chick in a cave what IS THIS. And that was like 15 years ago LMAO.)

Some people interact with media by criticizing and dissecting and that’s super awesome, other people want to be brainless and just dick around and make memes. I have a stressful life and I deal with heavy shit pretty often so I’m not here to like sling negativity in any form, that’s just not how I like to use my energy and free time. It doesn’t make it less valuable, it’s just not my thing. I put the time in with salty AR years, I’m done, I’m just here to laugh now. AND LAUGH I DO. 

AND LIKE IF THERE’S ONE THING I CAN SAY? A PIECE OF ADVICE TO THE NEWBS WHO HAVEN’T GONE THROUGH IT? Stop having expectations. Read enough AR to see that she’s fucking whacky af. Read Taltos. Read the werewolf book. When the new VC comes out, go in expecting that writer. Don’t go in expecting QOTD 2. If shredding books is fun for you, by all means! Knock yourself out! There will be plenty to shred! But if you’re here for fun just go in for fun. It’s lulzy as fuck if you don’t take it too seriously. 

did i write this post in my sleep!

#PREACH (Um I think I co-wrote this w/ nightislandofficial and monstersinthecosmos in my sleep, too)

Anne Rice is completely bonkers. And problematic. These are some of the reasons I love her. Lurid, overwrought prose! Preternaturally beautiful, sexually ambiguous vampires! Velvet for miles!

… yes, I’m baffled and (somewhat) amused by SPACE BIRBS, but at least she’s always entertaining.

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foreverlokid:

“I don’t start the film with him like immediately gone to the dark side. I think it’s good to see that Loki is genuinely Thor’s brother and there is a complicated relationship there. So that it isn’t just like…he isn’t just an out and out villain. He isn’t all black. (…) I think it’s really interesting to see Loki’s actions from his perspective and he’s just someone who becomes more and more damaged by, I think, a sense of isolation from his family and a sense of…it’s kind of a deep loneliness. I think when the world makes you feel rejected, you bite back. And I think over the course of the film that’s what you see in Loki. He feels continually cast out by different sets of people and his brother particularly and at a certain point he’s pushed too far and he comes back with a vengeance. – TH

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thatgirlnevershutsup:

codenamecesare:

socialjusticewargames:

It’s okay to have fictional characters do problematic stuff. Really, it is. Fictional characters are there to tell a story; not to be perfect paragons of virtue.

“Yeah!” some people will say. “It’s fine as long as you show that it’s problematic!”

And I’ll say: No. You don’t need to always do that either. We can’t expect writers to point out every moral misstep a character makes.

It’s okay to have characters do something problematic, and it’s okay to assume that the readers can see why it’s problematic on their own.

The number of notes on this that say “No, you have to moralize, because readers are stupid!”  is… disheartening. So what? We have to treat everyone like toddlers just in case someone happens to get the wrong idea about some fiction? If random fanfic (or any other semi-anonymous online content, for that matter) is a major determiner in someone’s life, they already have bigger problems than any fic could affect.

How about this: if someone pays me to write, they’ll get a say in what I write. As long as I’m writing for my own pleasure for free, I will write what I want.

Another suggestion: if you need moral guidance, stop reading fan fiction and turn to victorian children’s literature! Very helpful in encouraging good morals in the young!

Foxy grandpa = Marius????

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[X]

“It doesn’t matter who your problematic favorite character is. Even if they’re literally Satan (looking at you, Supernatural fandom), you don’t deserve to be harassed or bullied simply for liking them. Always remember that you’re just as entitled to your opinion as anyone else.

…There are a lot of don’ts when it comes to problematic characters… Navigating the minefield of fandom is tricky, but having a problematic fave is hardly the end of the world. As long as you’re considerate and respectful towards others, you can’t go wrong. So go on, get out there, and make the most of the experience!” 

– SO YOU THINK YOUR FAVE IS PROBLEMATIC; HERE’S WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT, thedailyfandom.com