Too invested in Fiction

adult/ she/her/white. This is just to post about fandoms I enjoy that cycle through randomly. Commissions open. Asks are open always! Side account for @moltentarts

[moltensmusings]

Figured I'd make a pinned post for new people coming to my blog:

I'm Molten, I'm a women who gets really invested in fandom content I'm into. Largely this is Mass Effect and Dragon Age related but I do have other fandoms that crop up occasionally.

I list all of my own art under "#moltentarts" and try to tag each series fanart as fanart from that series specifically. (Ex: rwby fanart, bg3 fanart, etc.)

I'm fully open to asks and have anon on for those who want to use it.

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[moltensmusings]

Okay with me finishing season 6: I think KC should've taken a page out of Rob's book when it came to exploration. Yeah the audience didn't like Rob but at the very least Rob was upfront with Leah when he was exploring and outright told her when he felt they weren't working.

People keep complaining "oh you guys are calling KC disrespectful for exploring but when others do it it's fine" which ignores why people are upset at KC. KC wasn't honest. He should've told Aniya that he wanted to explore Sol, he should've told Aniya that he didn't think they were compatible, hell he could've reached out to Bryce about how to word it if he wanted to make sure it was as inoffensive and nuanced as possible. But he didn't. KC held on to resentment, Aniya clearly didn't want him exploring because she liked him and rather than step up and outright tell her he didn't feel the same he kept her as a safe option and went crazy in Casa when he knew she wasn't watching him. He insulted her multiple times.

Say what you will about Kordell, but despite him also moving wild in Casa he was never demeaning to Serena. He was aware of his mistakes. Say what you will about Rob but he similarly accepted his faults and took accountability even when production clearly was trying to avoid him doing so. Like he didn't even get a bad movie night edit and even still could admit he had a hand in him and Leah not working out.

If KC had tried to make things work with Aniya but was clear with her that it just wasn't clicking and that the two of them really weren't meshing I truly think he would've left the season with a much more favorable opinion from the audience then what he had.

Yeah, he still might not have made it to the finale, but he could've still earned the Rob type fanbase of people who really enjoyed the personality he had to bring. People loved early KC, I liked the friendships he had with the islanders. If he'd played his cards better this season could've ended up different for him.

I do hope the reunion maybe helps shift things even better for him, I hope things look up and that drama can be put to bed. I think it's sad that unlike Leah and Rob, it seems like KC and Aniya really can't maintain a civil friendship because of what happened during the show.

[moltensmusings]

You know what question I kind of want answered at the reunion: was KC referring to the same thing as Bryce during the "yeah but you almost explored something" comment that he made?

Because to me it's pretty obvious that Bryce, Trinity, Kayda, and Zach were all a little effected by the decision in the moment but ultimately it's never brought up again as a thing. Even when Bryce caked Kayda it was for episode 2 not for her rejecting him later on. Bryce clearly thought KC was referring to the red dot at the start, if he thought KC was talking about Kaydagate he would've said "the kayda thing".

So if the people actually effected by it don't care and the point of love island is exploration and conversations, does that mean that KC similarly wasn't referring to Kaydagate when he made the comment? Was KC actually referring to it because Zach telling him "Bryce would drop trinity for Kayda" was still making him side eye Bryce? Or was he also referring to the red dot stuff?

I really want to know because at this point it's only viewers who hate Bryce or trinity/try to downplay brinity that keep circling back to kaydagate as "proof Bryce doesn't like kayda" and i really feel like it's got blown out of proportion in a way no other islanders are seeing it to be.

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There is something so infuriating about people never letting Kaydagate go in terms of trying to have it prove anything about Bryce.

"Oh Bryce pulled Kayda for a chat and that proves he wasn't actually into trinity and that he likes Kayda more and is just settling for trinity"

Let me just make sure that I'm reading things correctly: You think the best evidence of Bryce not liking Trinity really is when he pulled Kayda for a chat after telling everyone he would in week 1, saying to Kayda's face that she is a second option. Spends most of the conversation gushing about his relationship to trinity, laughs about the idea of giving her his shirt when she says she's cold, and then dapping her up after she friendzones him? That is your ultimate evidence for Bryce liking Kayda more.

The same Bryce who rejected Trinity thinking it was just a friendship for him, who proceeded to talk her into understanding they were just slowburning a romance. The same Bryce who said Trinity was the most beautiful girl in the villa both before and after Kayda's arrival? The same Bryce who never again ever brings up Kayda in any romantic conversation?

Please by all means if I missed a clip where Bryce was actually totally into Kayda in a way he wasn't into Trinity, be my guest and give me the time stamp/episode. I am so eager to see where this irrefutable evidence of Bryce settling for Trinity is.

The thing is: I know they can't do it. Because there is none. "well production probably didn't show it" why wouldn't they? Bryce and trinity had almost no content because they were never doing anything dramatic. You're telling me there was a secret love triangle in the villa and production didn't capitalize on it as much as possible when that was all they seemed to care about?

God forbid a white man find a dark skinned black woman to be the most desirable person in the villa.

[moltensmusings]

Someone tried to claim they gave KC and Titi a bad edit and that's why they didn't win love island this year... how do I explain that those two got an incredibly favorable edit that turned public opinion to be more positive before they left. It was because of how KC himself acted. Like sure just rewrite history and pretend Aniya and KC weren't the favorite to win and that people weren't handwaving early red flags about KC because they liked him.

Let's say "love island hates black love" as if Brinity weren't given a ghost edit for most of the season, we weren't being given constent sweet scenes between KC and Titi, we weren't seeing only negative stuff from Kayda/Zach and Melanie/Sincere at the same time as KC/Titi were getting a redemption edit.

People are running with how Angie and Simba were edited this season of UK as if most couples didn't get bad edits while Lorenzo was being treated like best boy.

I am desperate for people to let go of this idea that KC and Titi were done dirty by production when it very much was just KC being a redpilled asshole that sunk his public perception into the depths of hell.

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Frustration with Julia aside: not one single girl in that villa deserved the way Lorenzo treated them while they were together and I truly wish Julia had actually pressured Lorenzo about his behavior during the show because he's a horrible partner and didn't deserve to win the show.

The interview with the top 3 couples, him not even trying to make an effort with her, the fact that people have screen recordings of proof of him saving edits of him and Jasmine/people acting like Jasmine is crazy for being with Kavan.

Either the man is playing a social game of leaning into him being obsessed with Jasmine to gain public favor further and plant this idea of him being a yearner, or he's weirdly obsessed with a woman who he was with for 1 single week over a month ago who has since moved on and fallen in love with someone else. A woman whose relationship is continuously being criticized and downplayed because everyone thinks she's a little sim who they can force into dating someone else.

Lorenzo was a garbage partner to the girls he dated and Julia deserved far better than a man who is content embarrassing and disregarding her on national television because he can't even be bothered to pretend to be a caring partner.

[moltensmusings]

Potentially hot take: I am a little idealistic about Sincere. Like I think there is potential for him to actually improve but it's going to be difficult because we see hints of him struggling to fully internalize what people say to him/it's a little obvious he just wants to move on rather than deal with consequences.

The reason I'm a bit idealistic is because I do think he genuinely wants to be a better person. Like I think Bryce being in that villa and befriending Sincere provided the best possible avenue for Sincere to become a better person because the way Sincere acted post-casa without anyone telling him he had to really does make me think. He decided before Melanie yelled at him that he was going to step up and try to do better by her. Bryce clearly was a close friend of his and its so obvious he really liked seeing trinity and bryce's relationship and would quote bryce/try to mimic the way he moved.

Now this isn't me trying to say Bryce is some saint or person above criticism. But I do think Bryce being able to be critical of the islanders actions without an air of harsh judgement/making them feel like there wasn't space to do better ensured that positive change could be had. We see on movie night how he made sure to state when KC and Sincere were in the wrong and messed up/he didn't defend their actions in any way. But at the same time he'd still check on KC and Sincere and leave space for them to vent if they needed while encouraging them to do better.

I think if Sincere was the same type of guy who didn't actually care about doing better and just wanted to pretend things were fine hed be a lot more active online. Him and melanie have been incredibly sparse with their posts. The most active they are is when they're commenting on other islanders posts. They've been hanging out but they haven't been posting about doing so.

I am hopeful that Melanie's faith in Sincere and his statements of self improvement are true. I would love to see someone recognize their worst traits and work hard to overcome them.

[moltensmusings]

Its so funny to me that Lisa and Candiace were so strongly of the belief that Rob was always going to betray them and incapable of understanding that he did what he did because he knew suspicions got too big to be manageable.

Lisa put a massive target on her back with the way she moved and if they hard gunned for Natalie/pushed to get suspicions off Lisa the faithfuls would've realized very quickly and attempted to narrow down who was protecting Lisa the hardest.

Rob was being honest when he said he wasn't originally aiming to take out Candiace and Lisa because he only started following crowd opinion/agreeing to push Lisa when everyone began to suspect her.

Candiace similarly would've survived longer had she not turned on Rob and understood that what he was doing was to shrug suspicion for even a second longer. Heck she could've voted Natalie and had the conversation with Rob but didn't.

Rob was a traitor, and he was good at it. But the fact was he wasnt just trying to kick everyone to the curb so he could solo win. He cut off dead weight when necessary. The last act of good grace he did was voting out Eric because he promised Maura and it was the least he could do when he knew he'd be devastating her with the traitor reveal.

[moltensmusings]

Okay my love island uk theory? I think the producers lied about the heart rate challenge results when it came to Jasmine purely to stoke drama between her and Kavan since it was so clear they were attempting to give her and Lorenzo a winners edit and she wasn't working with the program after Lorenzo messed it up with the way he acted. Like I could fully believe Kav did raise Jas' heart the most but it wouldn't have fit what the producers wanted so they lied about it thinking it would encourage Jas and Kav to break things off so Lorenzo could swoop in.

So many couples have come out and people mention how much chemistry and compatibility they had while the show only showed their worst moments and you can tell there was a favoritism towards Lorenzo while Jasmine went from being a producer darling to a pariah. Her and Kav's moments only got the drama edit to push the narrative that Kav didn't want her at all or that he was just weirdly insecure for no reason.

But frankly with how they've responded to the consistent annoying, unnecessary questions about Jas and Lorenzo it's so obvious they're both just kind of done with people trying to force the narrative. Like Kav is rightfully upset that people are downplaying his relationship to the girl he loves because of another man and Jas is clear and loud about how purely platonic she sees Lorenzo and yet people are trying to act like she's lying or that she's "under a spell".

Nevermind that the interviewers always direct these questions at the couple who are delighting in each others company and not the man who seems to be the only one still pining. Like why is the burden on Jas and Kav to combat questions and not Lorenzo to deal with people constantly pestering him about it?

People hate that Jas has her own agency, noticed Lorenzo's red flags, and jumped ship to a man who was willing to give her what she wanted. Yeah he made mistakes but they worked it out and clearly adore spending time together.

The UK producers put all their eggs in the Jasmine and Lorenzo basket and when Jasmine reminded them of who she was, a strong and opinionated woman who will not settle for a man who makes her beg for the bare minimum, they punished her and turned public opinion to prove a point. None of the couples who deserved the win got it. And now we have Lorenzo not bothering to put effort into what he has with Julia while she's on TV with him asking him for dates and he's making nonsense excuses.

[moltensmusings]

So I'm finally watching season 4 of traitors and it is kind of funny to see people go "oh this proves Rob was manipulative on love island" but personally I think his belief he's autistic but he hasn't been tested way further explains his behavior.

Love island is an experience that pushes people to intense emotional places. They get very limited sleep, are wearing mics and filmed 24/7, and they also are limited on their food.

Rob has intense emotional reactions to very specific things in the villa and I think that's important to remember. He cries out of frustration and being overwhelmed when he feels like Leah is misunderstanding him and when she puts pressure on him to sort of choose a girl when he's already confused (before anyone starts no this is not a Leah hate post, she was so valid in her feelings of wanting him to prioritize her even slightly because they were in a couple and she was hurt she felt disregarded). The second time is when a person he really was starting to connect with got sent home and he was just very upset because he liked her so much. He's been able to admit it's funny and ridiculous to look back at it now but all love island contestants admit the setting kind of makes them act weird.

Rob even on love island was able to apologize for wronging Leah despite the producers attempts to avoid him facing accountability by not showing his negative moments during movie night. He was aware enough to know he had blame in their relationship not working out.

Traitors is a much better environment so Rob is more likable and more emotional stable because he's not dealing with love island conditions. We still see glimpses of him getting frustrated and emotional (Colton being killed and him failing during the carnival challenge) that show us he still can get overwhelmed during stressful times and he does care about people and connect to others around him, but he manages himself a lot better.

All this to say: rob did have red flags on love island but he isnt the master manipulator people are painting him out to be. He's just a guy who was put in an environment that is bad even for neurotypical people and it brought out some of his worst moments. Traitors let us see Rob in a game show that is far better suited to him where he was able to have more fun while still getting the good parts of the love island experience (close friendships with people he never would've met otherwise)

[moltensmusings]

Aang fans trying to act like they know everything about seven Havens and how korra is a horrible avatar "she died because of her mistakes"

Me, tapping the mic: aang died 3 times, Which is 2 times more than korra, all because of mistakes he made.

[moltensmusings]

So to a degree i do get why people thought season 8 was boring compared to something like season 6 of love island. But honestly I feel like the producers went way too hard on dumpings in season 6. Like it felt like new people kept getting booted super fast. The pre-casa dumping specifically, we barely knew these people.

I liked that season 8 let us sit with everyone. I do agree we could've used like 2 more bombshells before Casa since there was a 9 episode period where none came in. But I don't think we need a crazy amount more. Also yeah, more dates next season pre-casa.

[moltensmusings]

Two years late yet still I am upset about Rob and Liv misunderstanding what Leah was saying about the andrea dumping. And this being even further confirmation that Rob and Leah would not work. She misunderstood him first when Andrea arrived, then he misunderstood her.

Leah didn't even say she wasn't involved but instead that she wasn't hard pushing for Andrea to be sent home because it's clear she didn't want her personal feelings to play into what happened or for her to be the scapegoat for decisions made. Her also not saying she never badmouthed Rob, but that she never badmouthed him to Andrea. Yeah obviously she was angry at him and talked bad about him but specifically she didn't do it to the girl he liked.

And so many people acting like she was lying about those things when she wasnt.

Two years late yet still I have drive to weigh in.

[moltensmusings]

Also: the fandom does have a huge double standard for Bryce and Zach Vs Melanie and the girls. How are make out sessions and deep intimate moments where they comment on each others bodies any different than Zach and Bryce complimenting each others bodies and joking about being a throuple?

Why is it that Melanie is allowed to tongue Trinity but Bryce shows Zach his junk in a silly moment that the entire villa kind of laughs about and suddenly it's too far? Almost like women are allowed a level of intimacy because people downplay those kinds of interactions for girls but for guys there is an expectation of physical distance to be appropriate for them to maintain masculinity.

People joke about Melanie and Aniya dating and it's seen as no big deal but Zach and Bryce maintaining a friendship is a huge issue and speaks negative of Bryce's character? Aniya was the biggest cheerleader for Mela and Sincere but people don't demand Melanie stop hanging out with Aniya yet Bryce and Zach show deep care for each other and because Zach had bad moments suddenly he is barred from being friends with Bryce.

Nevermind that Kayda has already informed us on certain Zach moments that got edited to make him look worse than he was.

And i don't even say this because i think any criticisms of Zach actions are wrong. But instead because it's not lost on me that people are letting their dislike of Zach and a smidgen of homophobia/toxic views on masculinity color whether they approve of Bryce and him having the bond they do.

[moltensmusings]

The andrea/Hakeem dumping in season 6 really does feel like the precursor to the Gabe/Sol dumping in season 8. But the season 8 one was more cursed.

Like on one hand the andrea one was hilarious because no one cared about Hakeem being dumped much but the second Andrea is voted the entire villa melts down and Rob threatens to walk when he's known her 2 days. It was still sad because you really could tell Rob liked her and I personally wasn't there for Leah and Rob as I felt they just didnt really get each other and clashed too much. Finding a girl who did understand Rob that he really vibed with only for her to be dumped sucked.

Then there's Sol and Gabe where Sol put all her eggs in the sincere basket and it backfired leading to the boys picking her because they wanted to keep the ones they saw in a strong connection. While the girls dumped Gabe because he was way too quickly physical but we know Jen really did like him and he was frankly the only real connection she made during her villa stay which is super depressing because I do feel like there was a chance for them to go further.

Both instances the guys and girls start hard arguing and insinuating one of the others should've gone home instead about only 1 of the islanders.

Regardless I am curious how it's going to play out and the knowledge that producers were trying to artificially force the Leah and Rob storyline does annoy me.

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Going into season 6 of love island i knew Rob was considered a villain but I will say: I was waiting for him and Leah to end it because it was so obvious they were not compatible and truthfully I think Rob wasn't being that horrible but Leah took his words harsher than intended and misunderstood what he was saying. That isn't to say she's a problem but more that Rob made sense to me and Leah's reaction was surprising and I can see why.

Rob said "we just aren't sexually compatible" and Leah took it as a personal insult when it was very much him just saying they were trying to force something and had better options. He liked Leah a lot and you could tell really enjoyed her vibe, thought she was beautiful. But physically they just didn't match. He did match with Andrea. But him having an enjoyment for both girls and Leah expecting him to hard choose immediately was a bit of an unfair expectation. Though I do also see her hurt feelings over him prioritizing Andrea over Leah when they were coupled.

I will also say he was wrong for the Liv situation with him not being up front with her that he liked Leah more and wasn't really feeling things with her.

I need to see how he'll handle himself going forward because I figure he does get worse but honestly I think everyone was just very high emotion and quick to attach so it caused problems.

[moltensmusings]

KC defenders truly will be his downfall because they argue against any criticism or expectation of accountability people have and regularly try to shift anger towards other islanders.

"Oh well they didn't scream at KC and Sincere" they did. I don't know if you remember but at the recoupling the girls were laying into Sincere and Corbin. The main difference between Corbin/Sincere and KC is that Sincere and Corbin admit their faults and adjusted their behavior while KC pushed back against accountability and dragged his feet on apologizing only to come out and claim the entire villa was his enemy for no reason.

Corbin came out of the villa and has only been positive while admitting what he did was wrong.

Sincere (at least on the show) stopped engaging in behavior he was in trouble for and post villa he's been pretty offline outside of a few occassional comments and sparse posting.

I want to add that Sincere also never insulted Melanie the way KC insulted Aniya, which adds a layer to things. Corbin pulled Kenzie and apologized without having to be prompted to do so and he gave her a few days to cool off before doing so because we know Kenzie is averse to immediate reconciliation. He also didn't make snide comments about Kenzie the way KC did when she was connected with Dylan or moving on.

And the fact that they blame KC's downfall on Bryce telling trinity about his shady comments regarding their relationship as if Bryce lied and manipulated the situation when Bryce has never been the person to do that is also very telling. Bryce was upset KC downplayed his and trinity's connection. He wasn't running around the villa whispering insults about KC to every single person.

KC very much did move differently than the other guys and he got the reaction he did because of that. Everyone wants to baby a 23 year old man when what happened is he messed up, doubled down on it despite the consistent attempts from the islanders to give him an out at several turns (hey remember when they asked him about his connection to aniya during Casa and he chose to be calous, remember when sincere tried to correct him on claims that Aniya was on a thin line, remember when Corbin turned the grandma joke into Aniya sleeping only for KC to twist it back into Aniya not being physical with him? It's almost like KC chose the worst possible option every time people tried to give him an out.) and victimized himself on his podcast.

KC is a human being, he made mistakes, but it is so obvious his fanbase refuses to think he did and if those are his supporters he's going to internalize a lack of willingness to maintain accountability and it won't bode well for his future. KC was a fan favorite before he did what he did so this "he's a black man that's why people hate him" narrative is complete BS when we remember everyone was eager to give him passes for the pre-casa red flags while men like Bryce had their behavior heavily monitored and twisted with no room for grace.