---Ryan---

I'm just a simple young man trying to make my way in the universe.

[kingofthewilderwest]

Do you think that maybe Valka did stop by Berk every once in a while to see Hiccup? Maybe she didn't see him but had some belief that he was alive? Maybe she found the stuffed dragon she made for Hiccup and dropped it off somewhere with a note to deliver to Berk? Maybe she was surprised that the boy standing in front of her, after she kidnapped him, was her son? I'd like to think that she tried to check up on him but was afraid of getting caught or killed by doing so. What are your thoughts?

Thank you for the question! It’s really touching to think about, Valka returning back home. Quite a sentimental, touching headcanon.

My thoughts say that she didn’t, though. I hope you don’t mind me elaborating my own viewpoint as to that!

The dragon toy was discovered when it washed up out of the ocean (and Hiccup was the one who threw it in), meaning Valka never touched it since Hiccup was an infant. She would not drop it off into an ocean outside of Berk if she dropped it anywhere to be found. It would have been closer home, in a more obvious location, and in a less destructive environment. Not to mention and Stoick would have… reacted… if there were a note attached to the toy. For he would have seen it, not just Hiccup. The note would have to be very vague anyway not to indicate Valka was still alive… which obviously Stoick and Hiccup had no suspicion of. So I don’t think that could happen based upon the canon we are given.

In HTTYD 2, Valka’s astonishment that the boy she kidnapped was her son is because at first she did not know he was her son. She recognized him by the scar on his chin, not his appearance in and of itself, suggesting that she has not seen him since he was a baby. She recoils as soon as she notices the scar, indicating her genuine shock.

Most importantly, though, the entire point of Valka’s personality growth in HTTYD 2 revolves around the fact that she has completely abandoned Berk. To write in a different story of her peeping in takes away from that personal growth in the movie. She left them all period. Her family. The entire tribe. We can desire all we want for Valka to have been a good mother with such a great heart that she at least sneaked back her island, but that’s not her character. Valka has a huge fault. She completely left. That’s what makes her reunion with Hiccup and Stoick so shocking. That’s what makes her incapable of believing Berk has changed to be dragon friendly. That’s why she has such GUILT.

Valka suffers huge guilt, triggered especially upon seeing Hiccup again, because she has gone and never come back. "It broke my heart to stay away,“ she says, but the point is she stays away. I don’t think she means that generally. I think she means that one hundred percent completely stayed away. The way she speaks in other scenes suggests she has never once seen her son or even returned to Berk at all. 

- "Hiccup? Could it be? After all this time? How is this possible?” As you yourself postulate, she has not see Hiccup no matter where she has been, but she would be more astonished if her son has not been on her mind and suddenly appeared out of the blue. Meaning she has not focused her thoughts on Berk and has not been there.

- Hiccup asks her, “This is where you’ve been for twenty years?” and she nods. Sure, she flies outside the sanctuary and has explored many areas, but she’s made a home elsewhere, this place with the Bewilderbeast, and that is the home to which she returns and owes her heart. Berk does not owe her heart so she has less motivation to even slip in for a quick, unsuccessful visit.

- “All this time, you took after me. And where was I?” She is criticizing herself for her absence, as well as marveling, shocked, that her son is like her. This means she never saw him, and the fact she asks “and where was I” means “absent.” “Far away.” But beyond that, it means, “I abandoned my family.” It hits her hard upon reuniting with Hiccup that she has been gone forever without returning home or caring for her son, and she thinks back on her past actions with huge regret. She has not lived her life checking up on her son… she feels the guilt of having never been there at all in even the least action.

- “I know what you’re going to say, Stoick. How could I have done this? Stayed away all these years. And why didn’t I come back to you? To our son. Well, what sign did I have that you could change, Stoick? That anyone on Berk could?" The other quotes i have could be explained away with some effort, but I don’t think this one can. 

Valka thinks everyone on Berk is a dragon killer. She has motivation to stay away from EVERYONE. She has bad memories of the location and the fact that nobody can change… and she’s the oddball out. That does not exactly motivate someone to visit their old home.

Secondly, listen to how Valka babbles about leaving Berk behind to Stoick. Nothing in her words explicitly say she has not popped in for a quiet, unseen visit, but the pragmatics say she did. She’s yammering nervously to Stoick. She’s talking straight from her emotions and is going to say the flat out truth in this nerve-wracking scenario for her. She’s laying open her heart, and in that open heart moment, she says she has stayed away. She exposes herself as one who has completely abandoned her husband, her son, and Berk because she believes it would be better, and that’s the extent of it. Her word choice would have differed had she even made a secret or attempted visitation.

Especially later in that same scene, her comment, “I see that now,” regarding how wrong she was to leave Hiccup means that heart, while it might have hurt her, was something she changed her mind on. Valka changed her mind on the fact leaving Hiccup behind was wrong. Meaning she thought it was right to stay away and held to it. This means she did not come to even try and visit her son. This quote I feel is a really strong point against Valka trying to watch after her son… the entire point of her guilt is that she didn’t.

Valka might have felt horrible emotionally for leaving her family, but she had a different priority: the dragons. They’re her everything by HTTYD 2. She acts like the, lives with them, tries to save them, even tries to get her son on board with her dragonly habits. As harsh as this sounds, Valka put her dragons before her family. She made her choice and stuck with it in full.

It’s a really cute headcanon and you can go right on ahead and enjoy it. It’s endearing and I don’t want to cut things down negatively. I personally do not think it is in Valka’s character, nor think that the evidence we do have supports it. But fandoming, like always, is about the imagination! Thanks for sending me your thoughts this way. :)

[ryan-the-dark]

Exactly.

While people try to paint Stoick as the villain and he should be called out for his earlier treatment, why there's this double standard with Valka? Valka DID, for all intents and purposes, abandoned her son. To me, it’s weird how now she is treated like the best mom ever by people when like... she wasn’t even present for the majority of Hiccup's life? I didn't sadly get the "best mom" vibe from her. She wasn't held captivity. She could have literally gone back at any time and simultaneously fix the relationship between dragons and Vikings, instead of Hiccup doing it years later when more people and dragons would have logically died. I would have enjoyed the movie more if they focused on the interaction of what that type of abandonment would do to someone than just not focusing on a parent abandoning their child at all. I don't think Stoick is so deranged that he wouldn't take Valka's personal newfound feelings about dragons into account as he did eventually with Hiccup. He might have been rough around the edges but she had a duty, if not as a wife, than as a MOTHER.

You could make the case that she was kidnapped at first, but she had won the favor of the Dragons, likely for years, and never did her thoughts went to:

'Boy, I have a son back in Berk. My husband probably thinks I'm dead and already has a extremely dark light. Let me be there.'

I actually do appreciate Stoick a lot more because of this film. He wasn't the best father, but he did his best, and I draw the line at people saying he was abusive. Ultimately, the dragons were attacking those on Berk *first.* And Stoick just responded in kind.

And people try to compare her and Hiccup's decisions from the first film? The way I see it, there is a massive difference between her situation and Hiccup's. Valka didn't bother to go check on her family once to see if they were still alive. It would be one thing if she was in captivity by Drago or somebody else. But SHE HAD free will. In the first film, Hiccup knew the people he was leaving would be safe. Valka was a grown adult who made her decision to not reach out even once with at least a note to reveal she was alive without the needing to reveal she sided with the dragons. While Hiccup was a troubled teen who was trying to avoid having to face treason the next day. He was leaving but at least for he thought no one was going to grieve for him unlike Valka. While Stoick hunted dragons since he was a kid, his anger for them only increased because he'd thought she was dead. Abandoning and cutting contact with your innocent baby is an embodiment of selfishness to me. Also, to me, it's also unacceptable even if she left only Stoick behind as it's "Till Death Do Us Part" when it's with someone you genuinely love and they don't do unredeemable things. It would be different if it was a loveless arranged marriage but their reunion utterly destroys any notion of that. She made the willing choice to knowingly let him grieve when she knew doing so would only make him very understandably hate dragons more.

I consider it INSULTING to refer to Stoick's relationship to Hiccup as abusive; to both of them and to people who survived abuse like myself when NOTHING suggests that Stoick abused Hiccup.

In the events of the first film, Stoick was also being pulled in three different ways, between the requirements of the village, defending against the dragons and having to raise his son alone without being knowledgeable to deal with just how different his son was from him. He tried to raise him like he was raised: to fight and defend his village and that’s just not who Hiccup was until he had found who he truly was by Toothless.

Yes, he got furious with him, yes he refused to listen, but only because he loved Hiccup and the island and saw Hiccup's actions as leading to the descent of the village up until he had been able to save it through Toothless. He saw that by locking his son away that he could achieve two of his goals in near perpetuity in a single stroke and that still wounded him to do so. You can see him stagger back after he leaves the great hall.

And ultimately once it’s shown that Hiccup is right, and that humans and dragons can coexist, he supports his son all the way, not just in helping to establish the isle his son wanted, where dragons and humans live as once, willing to fight for his son and the dragons in Riders of Berk and Race to the Edge multiple times, but also ultimately sacrificing himself for his son in the second movie.

Actually, he could have aimed for Toothless and kill him or wounded him greatly, but he didn't because he knows that would destroy Stoick.

All in all, while Valka was living in what was essentially paradise, Stoick had been looking out for his people, protecting his son, being there for him when it was essential for a parent to be. And no matter your views on Stoick, it's indisputable that she abandoned him.

[ryan-the-dark]

ANTI MAIKO

Let me say firstly: I do NOT think this ship ruined ATLA. That sentiment is passed along a lot, but I still enjoy Zuko's Redemption and the overall experience of watching this show as the Gaang developed as people. Secondly: I am NOT purely a Zutara shipper. I read a lot of fanfics with Zuko with anybody like Reign of the Fire Lady Dowager (Zuko/Yue) amongst countless others. Thirdly: I love Mai as a character overall; just that I hate this ship. Fourthly: I hate the comics and any continuation of ATLA and have avoided them for the most part, so only the 2005 ATLA is taken into context.

However, I want to speak from an outside experience on how much I LOATHE this ship. I was indifferent to it up until the past week or so. People I've interacted with actually think I was mad because I didn't like this ship.

No, I'm going to be upfront.

In my opinion, this ship (not Kataang despite my problems with that ship)... is the worst ship in the Avatar: The Last Airbender show. Right next to Eren and Mikasa, it's one of my most hated relationships in any TV show.

Where do I get started?

I usually ship the canonical characters, but these two HAVE nothing in common. If I had a friend, whose significant other dismissed them trying to talk about their trauma with: “I didn’t ask for your life story,” I would advise them to dump them, directly and with great vehemence. I have a history of being abused as a male and this is the first crack in any sort of context where I realize these two are badly written together.

As others have pointed out, Zuko gave not so much of a thought to her whatsoever; not during his run (in fact he thinks of Azula more than he thinks of Mai), not during her "heroic sacrifice" at the Boiling Rock, and not afterwards. Literally, all those attempts to force chemistry between these two have fallen flat on its ass.

Speaking of the Boiling Rock, I feel the need to mention another argument people make. In case people forgotten, Mai's uncle was behind operations at the Boiling Rock.

Why is this of any bearing? You may ask. Well, another argument I saw was that a political marriage between them would make more sense than any other arranged marriage.

Would it though?

He'd probably tortured so many people. While this is NOT Mai's fault, blood guilt is something that tends to happen when establishing a new order. People are going to point out by their family and friends being killed under Azulon, Ozai, etc, and everybody is going to face bashlash. This is going to affect Poor Mai by blood association.

I have seen people say "ZUKO WITH ANY OTHER FEMALE CHARACTER WOULDN'T WORK! THEY'LL FIGHT A LOT! THEY'LL BREAK UP!"

Oh, you mean like Mai and Zuko?

Mai completely dropped Zuko in this scene. Rather than simply walking away from the situation to clear their heads, Mai breaks up with him on the spot. A few minutes later after Zuko gives an impassioned speech about not knowing what’s right or wrong anymore, and she… gets back with him. They make no promises, didn't communicate, reach no compromise, they just drop the whole incident like it never occurred in the first place, which isn't inherently healthy or respectful. Like the show establishes itself, your trauma is not an excuse for terrible decision-making, but of course that doesn't account for Maiko. Even Ty Lee shows more understanding and sympathy to Zuko than his "supposed soul mate."

People ask me why I rather read/write a Zuko/Ty Lee fic than a Zuko/Mai fic. Lemme tell you all something, if they had put Zuko with Ty Lee it wouldn't be my favorite ship, but I would respect it because even though Zuko yelled at Ty Lee, that doesn't mean he is going to be abusive to her or anything, or that they wouldn't be happy together. After all, Zuko REDEEMED himself and seeks happiness towards the end of the series. Narratively, Zuko/Mai is boring when they are the focus. I don't enjoy seeing them on screen and I don't enjoy reading nor writing them.

It would check off all the marks in the eyes of Maiko shippers, wouldn't it?

Ty Lee works "politically" because she's a nobleman's daughter of the Fire Nation so that argument doesn't work. Ty Lee is also close to the Prince and Princess of the Fire Nation. Of course "they won't make any sense" because some Maiko shippers would create some other reasonings.

I have a conversation with someone in a Discord server where they said "I can excuse Mai and Zuko having difficulty communicating because they literally weren’t taught how to communicate in a healthy way."

Not wanting to jump on this person's opinions or to make them feel bad, but that is not a good excuse for a badly written relationship like this. You want to know other characters who also grew up in unhealthy, abusive, or mistreated environments?

Exhibit A:

Hordak and Entrapta is the best relationship in the 2018 She-Ra cartoon in my opinion. For those who require context, Hordak was abused and downright loyal to his older brother. Entrapta also had autism and often misunderstood and misjudged for it, something the show touches upon heavily. At first, it is true he wants to use her, but he grows to RESPECT her and treats her with due diligence. Interestingly enough, she doesn't try to change him. She embraces him for who he is from the start, and he changes on his own eventually. Even when praising her beforehand, he still respected her enough to reassure her, awkward as it may be.

"I... acknowledge the work you put into this. It is very technologically sound... and you are not a failure! Any who discount you are... utter fools!"

Near four minutes with these two makes me ship them...

...more than the barely 16 minutes we got with Zuko and Mai.

Exhibit B:

This is Luz and Amity. The first same-sex relationship I have ever paired because they don't even mention it like it was a big thing and it was treated like it is normal, which it is. Luz wasn't abused by her mother, at least, not intentionally. But her mother (Camila) didn't understand her. Opposite of her was Amity; she was abused by her parents growing up (although her father does change), taught with heavy expectations, abandoning and mistreating her friend Willow for years as well as Luz at first. Throughout the show, Amity is shown taking responsibility for her actions and grows to respect Luz as well as apologizing to Willow. She doesn't leave Luz over a stupid argument but stands behind her. Yes, they have their moments, but people doesn't use Amity's trauma as an excuse for her actions, which they shouldn't.

The 38 minutes between them consists of actual, well-written character development that went from what is in my own opinion a perfect to a lover arc:

When it comes down to it, nobody is asking for the perfect relationship. They are asking for one where the characters respect each other so we can respect the relationship. As it is shown, while Mai have stood up for Zuko, that is only one example in what is otherwise a magnitude of an abusive, soulless relationship. People try to say that "it's not meant to be healthy" then that gives more credence to break them up. Why would we want Zuko and Mai to be in an unhealthy relationship for the rest of their lives?

Your trauma EXPLAINS things but it's not an excuse. Funny how people who defend them yet bash on Azula often pull that card out when it comes to Azula.

Having difficulties in communicating is one thing. Discarding each other's feelings is another. I have had difficulties in communicating with people. I eventually came around but I respected them nevertheless and didn't tell them that "I didn't want to hear their whole life stories."

So how the hell am I supposed to conclude otherwise than that these two are completely incompatible?

In the entire time he is with the Gaang, he mentions his relationship with Mai one time... ONE TIME even after she sacrifices herself for him. He speaks about Uncle Iroh at length and even Azula, but the girl he is supposedly in love with only gets a single mention to one of his new friends. I understand he has more of a guilty conscience in regards to his Uncle than Mai (at least at first). After all, in his words, he left her because “everyone in the Fire Nation thinks [he] is a traitor” and he “couldn’t drag her into it.” He is vindicated for breaking up with her because he did it out of concern for her behalf. …But shouldn’t he still miss her? You know… ever? He couldn’t look at Sokka and Suki and feel the smallest pang of longing for his lost love? He couldn’t casually mention conversations they had, or reminisce about past times? They couldn’t have given us even the slightest indication that he gave a single crap about her? Even after she *risks her life* to save him, he never talks about her or mentions her in any way, doesn't even look back. Hell, immediately after it happens, he shrugs it off like it didn’t matter.

Honestly, I rather have Zuko and Mai go find their own significant others and just be friends. People claim to love Zuko and Mai so much, but why would you want them in a loveless, passionless, and empty relationship that already shows that they could break up at any moment at any argument? I rather have Zuko and Mai become their own people who find their own happiness than be forced in a engagement that could break apart at any moment.

Maybe it's just me but I don't see any way these two work whatsoever.

[nadin2003]

🕊 Nadin’s Hope: A Mother, A Memory, A Future

Hello, my name is Nadin. I’m from Gaza. I’m a graphic design graduate, a wife—and now, a mother.

I finished my design studies just before the war began. I had dreams of starting a small studio, of creating art that told stories. I used to think about colors and fonts and the future.

Then, the war came. And the future became something we tried to hold onto, moment by moment.

On October 22, 2023, I learned I was pregnant when a missile destroyed my husband’s family home, killing 25 members—his mother, siblings, nieces and nephews—entire branches of our family in seconds.

We were displaced twice. Everything was gone—home, safety, routine, rest.

A few weeks later, I gave birth to our daughter. There was no crib, no celebration—not even stillness. But she arrived, quietly and beautifully. In her eyes I saw something I hadn’t felt in weeks: life that still wanted to grow.

Now, our days are shaped by decisions that could dismantle the future we are trying to build together.

Today, Israel’s government is discussing plans for a full military occupation of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City and southern regions. The stated aim: to eliminate Hamas and later hand governing control to allied Arab forces—not Israel—but with no clear path to peace or normalcy.

The humanitarian fallout is devastating. More than 61,000 Palestinians have died in this war; hunger and malnutrition are rising sharply. Hospitals in north Gaza have shut down, and 193 people have now died of starvation, nearly half of them children.

Aid remains blocked, water is scarce, and many risk dying of hunger or disease long before future promises arrive.

We Don’t Know What Comes Next There’s no clear path forward—only uncertainty for our daughter’s life and our ability to survive another day.

Nadin’s Hope: Rebuilding Life for a Mother and Child

My name is Nadin, and I’m a mother from Gaza.

How You Can Help I’m asking for support—not for comfort, but for survival:

Help us meet basic needs so we can breathe, heal, and preserve a world for our daughter.

Support us as I try to stand again on my own feet—even a glimmer of stability matters.

If you’ve read this far, thank you. If you can give—thank you. If you can’t—just sharing this post is a lifeline I will never forget.

[ryan-the-dark]

Tobey and Scoops hates letting go:

Todd Scoops Ming smiled a bitter smile. He was getting ready all week for college. It was time for him to spread his wings. Most full-time students could complete a bachelor's degree in journalism in four years. Some programs would, perhaps, be able to offer a quicker end to his time, but Scoops wasn't betting on it.

All he could focus on was that great memories were created every corner. Even when he came back, all of them would be much older. Becky would be a fully fledged professor. Violet would be a full artist. Rex... Rose... all of... Scoops closed his mind down, refusing to think further about it.

As he drove through his neighborhood for one last time for what would be months, Scoops waved at the people he'd recognized throughout the years. A robot came into view, but thankfully wasn't obstructing the road; small enough to not be an inconvenience, but big enough to be able to fit the rider.

The man on the robot smirked as he hopped around, listening to his music in his black headphones. He was quite an edgy one after middle school with his darker clothing, but it did make him stand out more. A horn from the car behind him let him know that his light had turned green, urging him to drive. At the same time, the robot walked, but the man didn't stay on. Instead he jumped right in front of the blue SUV, smashing on the hood and rolling over.

Scoops who had been preoccupied in his thoughts, hadn't even see it until it was too late to stop. He looked ahead at the person and shouted, "Whoa!" He slammed on the brakes — it would have been the end of the person on the other side, he knew, if the moron leaping in front of his car hadn't known what he was doing — and gasped as said man collided on his hood and vaulted over it as it was still accelerating. Before the future journalist could even recover himself or fully bring the vehicle to a halt, the passenger door was forcibly opened and a man flipped right in, slamming the door and leaning back, resting his feet up onto the dashboard.

"Hey, oh buddy oh pal o' mine!" The idiot, who decided to make himself a home, greeted, thankfully not showing any signs of injuries or damage.

"You stupid motherfucker! Didn't Becky tell you about that?!" Scoops scolded, red in the face now as people turned to look at him and the fucker beside him. 'How the hell didn't he lose his glasses in that stunt of his?'

To think, Scoops once feared the idiot...

Nonchalant as always. "Pfft, I knew what I was doing," the former villain replied, smirking. "You on the other hand though, not so much. Tsk, tsk, tsk, first rule of driving, Scoopsie boy, keep your eyes on the road at all times. You never know who you might hit."

'He makes my blood boil.'

Tobey was a stupid, idiotic fool, who Scoops was tempted to toss out of the cars and truck they were driving on multiple occasions and almost did once. Scoops sighed to himself.

'No, he doesn't. I love him like a brother.'

"I should tell Becky and your mother, Tobey," Scoops smirked knowingly. He was trying to hide the fact that he was thinking about him the entire hour. Damn it, he was going to miss them all!

"Oh come on, don't be a party pooper," Tobey snickered. "I have been too busy in the past couple of days that this drive will be a breeze. And what is my mother going to do? Ground me?" He snickered. "I think she's happy I'm an adult now."

"Don't think the world is," he bemoaned.

"We don't have to worry about bedtimes or getting grounded," Tobey laughed. "Come on, Scoops, pretend that you enjoy it."

"I was enjoying it until I was ambushed..."

"Hardly ambushed. More like getting a ride along buddy." Tobey responded.

"What made you choose to get into my car?!" Scoops gave him a look. "You know I think I know why the others never let you sit anywhere but in the back seat!"

"I know, that's why I love going solo, sometimes with my buddy," Tobey snickered, leaning over and wrapping one arm lazily around him. "You always advocated in my favor since we became friends."

"Not really. You kind of just came in the picture one day and we let you stay." Scoops quipped.

"What is poking up at me?" Tobey dug under him and pulled out a purse. "A purse really? A pink one at that." He gave Scoops a snickering stare. "I didn't know you swing both ways."

"Hey, give me that!" Scoops used his right hand to pull it back. "And I don't! I'm devoted to Violet, and she gave me that and I didn't want to hurt her feelings! Besides, it's quite helpful! See!" He undid the clasp with his right hand, keeping his left hand on his wheel and eye on the road as he pulled out a mechanical pencil. "I've been able to store my supplies in there."

"So you brought a purse instead of a trash bag at least? Good god, you wouldn't last a second in prison," Tobey said, facepalming.

"Luckily I'm never going to prison unlike some people who seems to be going down a very dark path."

"Oh, don't bring that lesson back, please. Guy couldn't stop speaking for hours." Tobey groaned.

"You were able to avoid going to juvenile hall somehow," Scoops replied, smirking. "Maybe because your girlfriend's mom is the district attorney... unlike yours."

"My mom never ran for district attorney but they are friends! She would have kept me out!" Tobey pouted.

"Like she always popped up to where you happened to be at and save your dumbass back in elementary school?" Scoops posed.

"You know she put a tracker on my glasses when I was sleeping!" Tobey blushed.

"Again, for good reason." Scoops laughed.

"You know what, I can see where I'm not wanted," Tobey snarled. He opened the car door. The MOVING car door.

"Holy shit!" Scoops squealed, instinctively hitting the brakes. Tobey yelped, almost falling out, laughing as he used his hands to maintain his glasses over his eyes. Scoops reached out, pulling him back then leaning over him and slamming the door shut.

Tobey was still cackling like a madman. "Holy shit, I haven't had that much fun in ages!"

"Are you crazy?!" Scoops demanded, wondering if he should make a visit to a mental institution to get Tobey checked over. Idiot probably lost a few brain cells with that stunt of his.

"I had it all under control, buddy," Tobey replied smugly. "If you hadn't hit the brakes, I would have be fine."

"Put on the damn seatbelt! Now!" Scoops commanded sharply. Tobey shrugged and obeyed. Scoops pushed a button on his door.

"Hey, what's that?" Tobey questioned.

"Child lock," Scoops said. "Not going to take the risk of you causing me to crash."

"No trust in me," Tobey laughed.

A silence passed.

"Tobey, where do you want me to leave you off at?" Scoops asked after a moment of silence. Tobey was going through his phone, looking for different music.

"Nowhere, man, I'm going to chill with you for a bit," Tobey replied. "I was barely able to get sleep for a while. So maybe I can catch up on one or two hours in your car."

"You do remember I'm leaving town, right?" Scoops asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I guess we are going on a road trip," Tobey shrugged, only a slight bit more enthusiastic. "Good. This city gets dull."

"I'm going to miss you, Tobes."

"Let's not get all mushy yet. This isn't Toy Story 3."

"I still get emotional at the ending," Scoops admitted. "It was PIXAR brilliance."

"Tell me about it, and now it's happening... gee, now I know how the toys felt. But I still do hope Becky lets us go into space one day."

Scoops wanted that, too, but so far the secret superhero had been persistent in telling her friends that now was not the time. "It's not that type of thing, Tobey. I won't be coming back for a while." Scoops hid a scoff. Emphasis on a "while".

"I know," Tobey frowned sadly. "Things aren't going to be same without you, Scoops."

Scoops' heart ached. "You will have the others. Think you guys will make it easier if you spend more time together. Violet's taking a gap year and Becky, Rose, and Rex is almost finished with college due to dual enrollment in high school."

"Why didn't you do it?" Tobey demanded. "Why did you wait? We were all telling you just do it and get it out of the way."

"Not as smart," Scoops said, head lowering.

"You are as much as a good reporter as Rose, Scoops," Tobey responded sharply.

"You know when we were kids I never thought you would be the one who makes this so difficult," Scoops admitted.

"Times have changed. And I still feel bad about the whole almost killing you with a robot in a duel thing." Tobey responded.

"I'm over that," Scoops shrugged. "But Tobey, you have to just don't make this harder than it needs to be. This isn't going to be the shortest trip."

"I'll find my own way back, Scoops. Train, Taxi, and Uber is available." Tobey shrugged. "Hell, my robots could fly. I'll be fine. I'm going to hitch a ride with you in this transition."

Scoops smiled somewhat. Look like he had a unlikely partner here.

Gods, he was missing them all already.

[ryan-the-dark]

I see a common belief that Arthur wouldn't have redeemed himself without tuberculosis. I don't believe that's the case, and I'll explain why.

(Warning; keep in mind, I'm talking about HIGH HONOR Arthur, not Low Honor:)

Considering the gang's previous ideals and Arthur’s disdain to the more “dirty” criminal work I think he would redeem himself. It would just take longer.

At that time of the end of Chapter 5 and beginning of Chapter 6 (depending on gameplay), he was already planning to rescue John against Dutch's wish before he knew he had TB. He was actually going to Sadie to do something about it before he started coughing.

Arthur was losing faith in Dutch in Guarma, and when he saw him choke that old woman, he called him out. He didn't know about his tuberculosis before he noticed the red flags that Dutch was getting more and more deranged.

There are periodic prompts to talk to Mary Beth about how Arthur doesn’t feel comfortable with how many people he’s been hurting and he clearly hates what Strauss does and questions Dutch’s decision making early on in the game.

Knowing he was dying just accelerated the process of what was building up. From the moment these deaths happened and even the cracks shown before, it was spiraling downhill from there.

Arthur was more aligned with Hosea than he was with Dutch back in Horseshoe Overlook. Hosea's death would have shattered his perception of events even without TB. He missed him with a terrible agony when he died, and summed up his true feelings about the old man in his journal.

How could Chapter 6 be different?:

Concerning Chapter 6, I can see him without TB feeling bad about what he did to the Downes and helping them...

helping Charlotte Balfour...

absolving the debt on Mrs. Londonderry and helping her...

And meeting up with Sister Calderon. Helping Brother Dorkins and her happened before the diagnosis. He would still have the conversation with her at the station since the Indian Wars would have still happened. And Eagle Flies and Rains Fall also actually added a lot to Arthur's seeing how manipulative Dutch was and his hypocrisy.

Think these interactions would be somewhat different. Arthur probably still would be slightly more subscribed to the Dutch's Robin Hood mindset, but he would change slowly but surely. He always did good things even back in Chapter 2. He had a good heart under all that layer. High Honor Chapter 2 Arthur spared Jimmy Brooks, could help a man who lost his horse, helped a woman with a sprained ankle get back home, and led a man back to Strawberry.

Now, let's get on the discussion about the Indians. People have the belief that Arthur would view Rains Fall as a weak leader. I do believe he wouldn't be as close, but I do see him still helping out and getting a new perspective of life. The conversations between him and Rains Fall would be different. Arthur's TB really opened up a sensitive side that he wasn't ready to bring out beforehand. Now, while Arthur may tell him some things, he won't be ready to explain his whole life story, but I can see him still respecting Rains Fall eventually and be reminded of Hosea, who still would weigh on him.

"But why would Arthur without TB help them?" Remember, Arthur and Charles are still friends. If Arthur was going to help him with the bison situation, in this alternative situation, I feel like he would help him out of a debt and favor. They had a special brotherhood and friendship since day one.

Charles saved his life...

...and Arthur still helped him in Chapter 6...

I don't Arthur would leave Charles to dry. It would be more selfish, probably, only because he feels like he has an obligation to Charles, but it would be a start. He might not help the Native Americans on the spot but it would just take more convincing since everything still crashes around him and he was good friends with Charles.

How would the draw go down?:

Well, we are going to speed up here. Arthur would still tell folks that this was done. He would be more optimistic about life. No tuberculosis means Arthur is waiting to die so we would erase that from him have a more livelier Arthur. Would still be grumpy, probably, but despite what people say, I doubt his doubts would die on Guarma.

Dutch would still be getting more deranged, accusing John and Arthur of being traitors when he realizes his "sons" are breaking away from him. Hosea's death really weighed on any rational (or the one he tried to pretend to have), and I don't think Arthur without TB would be able to change this. I doubt Arthur would go through all that work to break John out, only to accuse him of being a traitor like Javier and Bill. I can see him being even more vocal and less meek like he was, calling Dutch out even more.

Arthur would go back for Abigail in my opinion since he wanted to help John earlier, easily overpower Milton and his cronies without Sadie, who would be the extra gun this time.

During the draw, things would go more or less the same. I could see Arthur dropping Micah, Joe, and Cleet. He would be healthy and still a sharpshooter. And he was already angry OTL at what Micah did to the gang. Quick shots. Given how Javier hesitates, and the law was closing in, I don't see healthy Arthur shooting Dutch or Javier. Maybe Bill, but it'll be a very emotional situation.

Arthur and John would run away. I don't think Dutch would want to engage a healthy and in his prime Arthur so he won't be chasing them through that mountain and probably go with Javier and Bill. Arthur, this time, would leave with John to get to Horseshoe Overlook.

From there (without RDR1 plot), what happens:

Logically, Arthur wouldn't move to Blackwater and would have convinced John they need to move far away from the Pinkertons. RDR1 just won't happen.

It would be a bittersweet ending. I believe Arthur would convince John not to back for revenge on Dutch who may be tempted to for what he did to the gang, though not as a strong degree because Arthur would still be alive. It won't be the happiest ending but it would be a nice ending where they would all be able to live.

Concerning an equivalent of RDR1, maybe the Army would hunt down Sadie if she doesn't leave and she will be in the place of John in RDR1, but that probably won't have leverage against her. If they torture her, I doubt she will tell them anything and die with that information. That's if she doesn't ride off with the Marstons and Morgan.

It's something to think about.

[ryan-the-dark]

I love the thought of High School Tobey being in females only group chats. This includes:

Violet: That was a fun day at school today.

Emma: Yeah it was. We finally finished that project.

Tessa: After weeks of headaches too. That shit was getting on my nerves.

Victoria: I'm still the best at finishing projects.

Becky: Yeah, we know. You're the best at everything, "your Majesty".

Victoria: The Queen!

Tobey: ...

Becky: Hey, guys! Something marvelous is happening! Tobey's responding! Lmao

Tessa: Marvelous?

Rose: It means extremely good or pleasing; splendid. In this case, Tobey's responding is marvelous.

Shelby Joy: A Second WordGirl, huh?

Rose: A cooler WordGirl.

Becky: You're not.

Tobey: Stfu, all of you. I don't even know how I ended up in here. It literally says "females only". Scoops and Rex isn't even in here. 💀

Violet: Hey yk Scoops don't like group chats and Rex barely attends school anyway so we didn't get a chance to ask for his number. That left you.

Tobey: Still not a girl though.

Rose: Typical Tobey feeling a little picky.

Violet: I'm never going to let you slide over the fact that you bursted into tears over losing a checker's match. 😭

Tobey: Hey! I gave my heart into that! 😭😭😭

Becky: And you overreacted. Lmao

Victoria: That was a little cringy even for me, Tobes.

Tobey: Thanks, Victoria, for your unhelpful input.

Victoria: Do you want to fight me?

Shelby Joy: Anyway, Tessa and Emma thinks you and Becky are going together to prom, Tobey. I always thought you and Rose had a thing. 😂

Rose: Yuck!

Tobey: Ewwww!

Rose: Tobey isn't my type! He's like a cool, annoying little brother!

Tobey: Hey, I'm not that annoying!

Rose: You broke my camera in one of your last rampages, motherfucker! I still got to get my swing in for that. 💀💀💀

Tobey: I said sorry AND I paid for the parts to make you a new one with a higher memory and better resolution. What else do you want from me? 😭

Becky: I thought Rose was going to beat your ass that day. I remember I had to hold her back.

Rose: Oh, I was thinking about it.

Tobey: Rose loves me. She will never hurt me. 😀

Rose: That's debatable. I could be convinced. Jk 😜

Violet: Hey wait, Rose, don't you and Rex have something gonna on? And he's younger too. 🤔

Rose: Tmi! And he's only by one year!

Violet: Tobey is by a few months though.

Rose: Rex is... different.

Emma: The administration be saying something different, Tobey. Didn't you got into a fight earlier this year? 😆

Shelby Joy: He did, and somehow he won. 😂

Tobey: Hey, he'd insulted Scoops!!! I had to teach him a lesson! And to respond to Shelby I have been working out lately to gain some muscle!

Becky: So you care about Scoops? Good to know.

Violet: Awww. Tobey has gotten sweeter after elementary school.

Tobey: Please, don't get all mushy. It took a long time for him to forgive me about the whole robot situation.

Becky: Longer than any of us. Didn't know Scoops and you had the same amount of a petty grudge.

Tobey: I am far from petty!

Tessa: Think WordGirl has been rubbing off of him. Lmao

Tobey: She has not! Speaking of WordGirl, let's talk about Becky's Instagram name: "totallynot_wordgirl"! Very unique.

Becky: I had ran out of ideas!

Rose: Tbf to Becky, it isn't like you had the best name on IG either, smartass. 😂

Tessa: In my opinion, Violet has the best.

Victoria: No, I was the best at choosing my name.

Becky: Wrong! You only put "victoriabestisthebest"! And we all saw it coming! Literally, no one was surprised by it! Try again next time!

Rose: Exactly. Sybau, Victoria.

Victoria: You guys are haters.

Violet: Let's be real, none of us had good names. Lol

Tessa: When I made my Instagram account I didn't really care about names to be fr.

Tobey: I'm still pretty sure that I picked the best name.

Emma: Yeah, "that_robotguy_king" was SURELY the best name on the algorithm.

Tobey: Hey, I thought about it for a while!

Becky: And you still fumbled. You aren't safe here. XD

Tobey: I'm always safe. I never do things without thinking.

Rose: Cut the cap!

Becky: Bullshit!

Victoria: What a liar! 😭

Violet: Not you lying! 😔

Tessa: Boy if you don't shut up. 💀

Shelby Joy: This is why everyone used to laugh at you in elementary school. 😂😂😂

Becky: EXACTLY, SHELBY!

Rose: Hey I didn't!

Emma: You showed up in the last year Rose. Not even you could resist laughing at him if you were there all years. Now, he's tryna to be a comedian.

Tobey: I wasn't the only kid who embarrassed himself. 😂

Shelby Joy: You were the only one who we remember. 😜

Tobey: ...I'll see you guys on Monday.

Rose: Not bro being inactive again for weeks and pretending he's not in this gc in school.

Tobey: I got to keep up my reputation. I'm not a female. 💀

Rose: Idk. I can see you playing a good Juliet, bro. 😭

Tobey: You're not funny Rose. 💀🙄

Rose: I'm hilarious. 😂

Becky: His phone is probably dying. Tobey cannot keep up on his phone battery. 😀

Tobey: ...It is. But we're throwing shade now, Becks? I'll remember that on Monday, along with this entire interaction.

Emma: Lmao

Victoria: I kind of want to see this.

Violet: 😜

Rose: 😆

Shelby Joy: 😂

Tessa: 😁

Becky: Shiver us timbers! 🤣

Tobey set the phone down on the desk and started charging it, smirking. The group chat was an odd one, but he wouldn't admit that he liked being in a community.

[ryan-the-dark]

In my opinion, Javier is more tragic than Dutch.

I think this sums up Javier's character in a nutshell.

This is by hopefully hiatus and not dead fanfiction story from Jazz0man: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13709956/1/

I don't like the idea of Javier's actions being rationalized and pretended like he did no wrong, but I do believe he is more tragic than Dutch and Bill. He was doing what many people would have done in that situation. Javier believed that being loyal to Dutch is far more superior than going off and living life. And as far as he knew, Dutch got them out of everything, relatively safe. I actually believe he regretted how things turned out.

This does seem to be a look of remorse right after John said "What you and Dutch did to me was wrong, and the way you left me was wrong..."

Javier knew where John was and still left him alone. One of his lines after he knocked John down was, "Go back to your farm, John!" That means he was watching John but chose not to kill his family or he had his own connections to the Marston's family.

Javier did seem to doubt Dutch a bit back to Guarma. I do believe had Javier seen a bit more he may have broken free from Dutch.

And even though everyone believed John betrayed them off the bat, Javier had his doubts at first:

Even in RDR1 he wasn't that bad imo. Bill led an armies of rapists among other things while Dutch fell even further and mislead the Natives.

Javier was a hitman. While it is likely he did found pleasure in Mexico with women because it's likely Mexican women were seen as seekers back in the day. Javier took orders from Allende, but the things he did were not as bad as Bill. I personally consider rape to be one of the worst act a human being can commit, and Bill ran a gang that was notorious for that specific thing.

I can imagine a scene like this when it comes to Javier and Dutch:

I hope there's more fics where Javier opens his eyes and reinforces Arthur and John at Beaver Hollow. Imagine these three standing together when everything comes crashing down and as a result Javier (and John) avoids his RDR1 fate. Hell, could even save Arthur and allow him to recover.

[ryan-the-dark]

I hate how most ToBecky stories have Scoops (and Violet but mostly Scoops) bashing:

I can't stress this enough. Males and females have the right to have friendships of the opposite gender. At first, Tobey could view Scoops as a rival. Hell, I even canonize that Tobey is more comfortable around women. He's far more friendly with Violet than he is with Scoops:

And seems to have a friendship going on with Rose and Victoria as well:

(Wouldn't be surprised if he caught on the fact that Rose is smart which is why they're friends)

But Tobey and Scoops' arc starts off very rough. I mentioned it before but Cherish is the Word should be the groundwork for Tobey and Scoops to build off. Keep in mind, Scoops is one of Becky's friends. He cares about her a lot as shown multiple times in the show despite it not being romantic, and Tobey gets a pass in most of these stories for threatening him? No. He shouldn't. That means even with Tobey being nicer to Becky, he could still cross a line when it comes to her friends. When it comes to someone in a relationship, you have to respect your significant other and his/her friends. To put it bluntly, Tobey challenged Scoops and intended to go for the kill. He didn't show any reservations. Scoops logically should be scarred and hold Tobey in a darker light for that. Who wouldn't be? I know I would. If anything else, Scoops finding out about the gadget incident should be the final straw for his belief in Tobey's Redemption shattering, and it all bottles up. Furthermore, just think about what he would do if Becky continues communicating with Scoops and he doesn't change as a person?

I don't like where Scoops is jealous of ToBecky. No, that's pure stupid because Scoops has no romantic interest outside of a friendship with Becky. Becky has one-sided feelings for him that Scoops does not return. And that would be outgrown, obviously, when Becky accepts the fact that Scoops and Violet are one, and starts growing feelings for the redeeming (or redeemed) Tobey.

I think the resentment should come in where Scoops is TERRIFIED OF Tobey and is paranoid if he's going to hurt the rest of his friends, especially Violet.

That way, it doesn't come off as yandere, but a more mature and grounded take on a serious situation. You can understand that Tobey is trying to be a better person and he generally wants to earn Scoops trust. Likewise, you can't blame Scoops either because Tobey has done nothing to earn that trust and friendship.

And while establishing ToBecky, you could have Tobey generally wishing he could take back his past actions. When you have Tobey only "redeem" himself for Becky/WordGirl, it cheapens the harm he caused and makes him. You have to make every person feel like they have to right past wrongs. Tobey could be led down the right path because of Becky/WG, but it's up to him to feel like he has to do better overall. It cannot always be Becky who does the right thing.

Becoming friends with Scoops, proving that he is a changed person, would complete his redemption arc. It would mean that he wants to do the right thing outside of doing them just because of WG. That, imo, would be the real growth that Tobey needs.

Scoops maybe tries to brush him off at first. After all, forgiveness comes gradual. Sometimes, friendships as well. But, Tobey keeps trying to prove himself to Scoops, the rest of Becky's friends, his mother, the people in the city, etc.

But when it comes to Scoops after time, it could mirror Zuko and Katara becoming friends in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I just disagree with the idea of Scoops being this villain who wants to harm Tobey. He has every right not to trust him, not to ship ToBecky, and not want Tobey as part of their group. Tobey befriending him would make the redemption arc ten times more powerful. I believe tackling both this and ToBecky could make the story much more satisfying because it just feels like Tobey wants to actually do better. And Scoops would be the perfect one for Tobey to befriend after their rough start.

Tobey's own road to self improvement and redemption is his own. He has to make these choices. I think he deserves to have no one hold his hand. He's always searching for attention and for people to acknowledge him positively, though by force and through WordGirl's acceptance.

Tobey finding that but doing so by being a good person, doing the right thing, befriending Becky's friends or at least respecting the friendship they have, would be the way to do it.

[ryan-the-dark]

Victoria Best is a tragic character.

From the first episode with her, you can see that Victoria has a bad upbringing with her terrible parents.

They motivate her to do evil, and it's implied that they could control her as well. As soon as she fails a competition, she feels pressured to keep her "eyes on the prize".

Unlike Claire who actually loves Tobey despite not understanding him completely-

-those two do not love Victoria and Victor and puts an unnecessarily amount of pressure on both of them, building resentment and sibling rivalry that is unhealthy and quite frankly even more tragic because they both feel like they have to live up to higher than life expectations and likely receive worse punishments as a result of it, added onto the neglect. It's possible that it'll get worse as they get older.

You can hardly even see any form of familial love outside of when Victoria actually accomplishes something. Notice how Claire was happy that Tobey was back in the earlier photo. That's a sign that she does love him dearly and don't care about him being successful or unsuccessful. As long as he tries his best. Victoria and her parents have no bond whatsoever, outside of her meeting their sick expectations.

She's a paradox of Becky in a way. Same for Victor and TJ. Whereas Tim Botsford and Sally Botsford make numerous mistakes and treat Becky wrongly in the series multiple times, I have no doubt in my mind that they do love both of her children deeply and want the best for both of them.

I don't like the idea of Victoria being depicted as heartless and evil. She's just as redeemable as Tobey if not even more so because she has more of a moral compass and never went as far as he did. She's behind Two Brains in terms of tragic. Yes, I can acknowledge Tobey has tragic elements with the lack of fatherhood but at least he has one parent who cares about him.

Victoria has none of that.

And even when faced with the choice to do something evil and immoral by Two Brains, she couldn't do it.

Victoria's not a bad person. Victor isn't either. I think both is confused, conflicted, and wanted validation from the wrong places. Hopefully, both eventually broke free from their parents' control and do bigger and better as they got older.

Fanfics exist after all!

[ryan-the-dark]

People continue to claim that the Dark Side is an eradication and that everyone should subscribe to their views of Star Wars. I consider this a very hypocritical statement.

People got to remember that Star Wars has been around for over 4 decades. Conflicting statements and issues with lore material are bound to come up. But every time I try to find the Dark Side being considered an eradication, I'm hit with these type of quotes which actually leans into the opposite direction:

"The overriding philosophy in Episode I—and in all the Star Wars movies, for that matter—is the balance between good and evil." -George Lucas, quoted in L. Bouzereau, Star Wars: The Making of Episode I, 1999

"In each of us we to have balance these emotions, and in the Star Wars saga the most important point is balance, balance between everything." -George Lucas, Time Magazine article, 2002

"The idea of positive and negative, that there are two sides to an entity, a push and a pull, a yin and a yang, and the struggle between the two sides are issues of nature that I wanted to include in the film." -George Lucas, quoted in L. Bouzereau, Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays

"The Force has two sides. It is not a malevolent or a benevolent thing. It has a bad side to it, involving hate and fear, and it has a good side, involving love, charity, fairness and hope." -George Lucas, Times Magazine, 1980

"I wanted to have this mythological footing because I was basing the films on the idea that the Force has two sides, the good side, the evil side, and they both need to be there. Most religions are built on that, whether it's called yin and yang, God and the devil—everything is built on the push-pull tension created by two sides of the equation. Right from the very beginning, that was the key issue in Star Wars." -George Lucas, Times Magazine, 2002

Even here, he says "What happens when you GO to the Dark Side" not "that you can't balance yourself and accept the Dark Side as part of yourself."

George always referred the Force as a yin/yang analogy.

I don't know why people grab their perils when something else is introduced rather than the old good guys versus evil in Star Wars. Moral ambiguity has been apart of Star Wars for decades.

Which was sparsely shown in the 2008 Clone Wars but shown more in the EU Clone Wars.

The Confederacy of Independent Systems were not meant to be evil. They were a sign of the corruption that plagued the Republic. When the Republic did it's job, it was good enough for people to carry on with business as usual despite the many errors and flaws apart of the system.

When the Clone Wars era started, the Republic failed in its most sacred duty: to protect its member systems. Even if the Republic was victorious in the war and survived, that simple fact would have remained with it for a long time.

Further, there were a lot of systems in the Rim that were messed up and screwed over by the Republic. That's been the case for centuries, however the difference in this era must not be understated. A significant number of those colonies started rinally reaching big enough numbers and economy that when combined together they could finally do something about it. Those are most of the same systems that the Republic and Jedi largely abandoned for years.

The Republic has always been amazing for its fonders in the Core. They put together its first creation and were needed every time the Republic collapsed and had to be rebuild. However, those same systems have the populations, industrial, economic, and military power to basically vote in whatever legislation protects their interests and that is often at the cost of Rim worlds. You can't even say that democracy is shattering here, because the Core has some of the ancient, well-established, and people who are thriving.

Those thousand years of peace? They might have been great and all for the Republic as a whole, but certainly not for a significant chunk of its members. Most of the systems that joined the Separatists had legitimate grievances that most Star Wars fans refused to wrap their minds around.

It's like when people follow the mindset of Anakin being this selfless prick who slaughtered children and thus wasn't tragic.

That wasn't what George said:

Keep in mind, he said THE VICTIM, not A VICTIM.

It really just bothers me how when George says something that some people don't like they ignore it, but when he does the opposite, they jump on the band wagon.

[ryan-the-dark]

Would Sean have sided with Arthur and John?:

I have seen people talk about this multiple times, saying that every dead gang members would have sided with Arthur and John without hesitation. I agree that Lenny and Kieran would but I have my doubts about Sean. The influence of Dutch cannot be understated. Let's remember he found them at the lowest points of their lives and brought them up into a "community".

If Javier died before Beaver Hallow I feel like I could have been able to say “Javier would have backed Arthur and John” but during Beaver Hollow… no. The gang was emotionally and mentally wrecked after the Saint Denis heist. (Granted, I do agree with folks that if Javier was given a chance to see more without being forced to side against Arthur and John by RDR1, things could have been different.)

While Lenny and Kieran will likely be able to resist spiraling since they are both smart and would likely become even more disillusioned with Dutch's leadership, the same cannot 100% be said for Sean. He MIGHT'VE sided with Arthur but he could easily be in the same vein as Javier and Bill, deciding to stay with the numbers. Lenny ALWAYS questioned Dutch.

Sean, however, never did.

Yes, he defended Arthur.

But Bill does as well in Chapter 6...

Sure he had his doubts about Rhodes but Javier had his doubts too about things so that doesn't mean that Sean is instantly in the clear.

A common theme for the people that (would have) sided with Arthur was having sympathy, as well as a fairly clear sense of right and wrong. John, Abigail, Hosea, Uncle, Lenny, a lot of the women, and Charles-all of them questioned the life they have been living, and if there was a better way to live. John, Charles, Abigail, and Uncle fought hard to abandon their old criminal way of life, and to become good people. While the others like Sean, Bill, and Javier? They are loyal to Dutch. In RDR1, Javier went back to a life of violence and served a tyrannical dictator and Bill becomes the head honcho of his own gang. The only one of Dutch's cronies who probably has a conscience is Javier because he did seem to regret things in 1911 and didn't try to shoot John when he was down.

Sean is hilarious and looks up to Arthur but he is a killer and a life of violence is his life. I wish it could be obvious but deep down I always acknowledge there IS always a possibility that Sean will betray Arthur for Dutch. John got his family, Lenny got his brain, Kieran got his good sense and genuine loyalty to Arthur, and Hosea got his wisdom. Sean was EAGER to kill in that robbery with Arthur, John, and Charles, and he had be told down by Arthur himself that they're not going to kill anyone unless necessary. You could even argue that Javier has better moral character when you compare the two in the second game.

"Aye but Ryan, Sean hated Micah! He would never side with him!" Well, Javier hated Micah and even threatened to kill him. People got to remember it's not about siding with Micah. It's about siding with Dutch. I don't buy that every dead gang member would instantly go with Arthur without doubt.

My conclusion: Sean's a 50/50% because it is possible he might reconsider his path and go on redemption just as much as it is possible for him to be another problem for John in the future. Imo, he would aim his gun in the air no matter who he sided with. But it's who I'm going to always debate about.

[faroffsong]

Writer's brain: *refuses to cooperate during the day when it is a reasonable time to write*

Writer's brain as soon as it is (well past) bedtime: YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING THE WHOLE DAY FOR THIS MOMENT, HERE HAVE A HUNDRED THOUSAND IDEAS WHICH WILL KEEP YOU AWAKE ALL NIGHT YOU'RE WELCOME :D

[ryan-the-dark]

Keep in mind this is a fan of ToBecky speaking here about Tobey's... more negative traits and how toxic things can get:

Honestly rewatching WordGirl for about 4 years now I discovered why I don't like some of the ToBecky content in which is supposed to be depicted as a healthy relationship. The relationship is cute on concept but can go too far at times. I used to ship them like a crazy before I knew about Go Gadget Go. Even without it, episodes like Cherish is the Word shows very negative sides to Tobey.

Keep in mind, Scoops is one of Becky's friends. He cares about her a lot as shown multiple times in the show despite it not being romantic, and Tobey gets a pass in most of these stories for threatening him? No. He shouldn't. That means even with Tobey being nicer to Becky, he could still cross a line when it comes to her friends. When it comes to someone in a relationship, you have to respect your significant other and his/her friends. To put it bluntly, Tobey challenged Scoops and intended to go for the kill. He didn't show any reservations. Scoops logically should be scarred and hold Tobey in a darker light for that. Who wouldn't be? I know I would. If anything else, Scoops finding out about the gadget incident should be the final straw for his belief in Tobey's Redemption shattering, and it all bottles up. Furthermore, just think about what he would do if Becky continues communicating with Scoops and he doesn't change as a person?

Honestly, I like the few fics that deconstruct ToBecky and shows his negative sides before rebuilding it and allowing him to grow. He is usually on the offensive or defensive, barely ever in a reliant state when socializing with unknown variants. Tobey isn't really that big with relationships in general.

Many writers do have Becky become the element of force for Tobey's path to redemption because that is apparently what love is. While its nice for her to consider it and help guide him, this is dangerous for Becky, and Tobey will still likely treat everyone else around them badly. In short, Becky is not and should never be obligated to redeem Tobey or help him. As WordGirl, she is obligated to prevent crime as it happens, not infiltrate and improve their lives.

Honestly, if anyone is more needed for help, it's Steven Boxleitner who literally is being controlled more than Tobey who makes more or less his own decisions but I digress.

In school, Becky merely tolerates him, but will joke around and have fun if he's acting normal. Tobey's own road to self improvement and redemption needs to be his own. He has to make these decisions. He needs to make the choice to apologize to WordGirl for that "Go Gadget Go" stunt and other incidents, Scoops for that challenge, and anyone else he threatened throughout the years. He needs to do it, not Becky. It's unfair to Becky that she's not able to be her own person because she has to enable him and help him when she already has so many things to worry about. That's where many fanfictions fail to mention, I should add. Characters have to make their own decisions.

I'm not saying ToBecky can't and shouldn't happen. I still ship them but I don't defer to that type of mindset where people pretend Becky has to pull a Luke Skywalker on him. In my opinion, Tobey's Redemption Arc should be like Prince Zuko's. I'm not saying his mother is evil and he needs to stand up to her but his arc should be about standing up to his inner demons. First, he should accept friendships. Second, he should still have temptations and struggle sometimes. It's a natural part of being a human who went down a dark path and is trying to make right. Third, he should right his past wrongs in one way or another. This is true for everyone, even Two Brains. Fourth, his whole world shouldn't be about WordGirl only. He should have friends, people who he is willing to let in. Fifth, he needs to love both sides of Becky, not just WordGirl. He needs to embrace her as a individual and understand that she also has positive and negative traits. Even if you going for a ToWordGirl angle which is perfectly okay then you have to make sure he still loves and accept Becky. He needs to see her as a person, not a thing. And then, finally, in my opinion, Tobey should get with her when she sees how he changed and the improvement he made and that he isn't the same boy who trapped her in a robot.

Redemption is mishandled so much imo. A redeeming character should not feel obliged for forgiveness. It should be an obligation given to them by those who they wronged. People all over the world have tragic pasts yet use it to better themselves. Justifying and rationalizing your actions as an excuse for why you did what you did isn't a good motivator. You have to take accountability for what you have done, seek to correct said errors, and forgiveness comes in time.

As said here:

[cienie-isengardu]

Well, the great difference between the Jedi and the clones is that while Jedi indoctrination makes for mitigating circumstances, they are still held personally responsible. Yes, the narrative may skirt around these issues, but it still brings them up - Slick calls the clones slaves, Barriss criticizes Jedi's part in the war, otoh Miraj argues that the Jedi themselves are akin to slaves etc. But the clones are blameless. They did not turn against their buddies and slaughter them with a clear head

2/2 to the audience it also feels different to slaughter a complete stranger or a passing aquaitance as opposed to a friend. In spite of all else, how could fandom not hate Wolffe and co. if they killed Plo for no reason than because a superior ordered it? As for the comparison to Kenobi, as opposed to clones he had very good evidence of Anakin’s crimes. If he had any doubt, it disappeared when Anakin strangled Padme. He might not wanted to be the one to deal with it, but there was no one else.

Firstly, I’m sorry it takes me so long to answer, I had really tiresome two weeks at work and couldn’t reply earlier. Also, I lost my first draft of the answer and needed to rewrite it entirety, so sorry in advance for possible grammatical mistakes and so on.

Secondly… Well, I’m not so sure if Jedi were truly held personally responsible in The Clone Wars animated series - yes, TCW’s narrative brought the issue few times, but never really addressed them in a way that made me feel the Jedi actually were forced to think over what happened. Slick’s accusation was pretty fast dismissed, because he was the traitor and “disappointment” and it was his selfish doing that killed so many clone troopers in the process. Barriss would never be brought to trial at all (and thus never openly criticized Jedi Order), if not for Anakin and Padme, the only people willing to prove Ahsoka’s innocence. But did Jedi Council take any blame for the whole fiasco? Not really. They just washed their hands of both Barriss and Ahsoka. Anakin & Plo were the only one who bothered to say “sorry” to Ahsoka, but rest of Council acted as it was the Will of the Force or her Jedi Trail and were now kind enough to allow her come back. In the end, Ahsoka’s departure was about how she couldn’t trust herself since Council didn’t trust her than how they failed a child in their care. I don’t know what happened to Barriss after trial (and since that was public thing, I doubt Jedi could sent her to their own top secret Ghost Prison), but did any Council member or the girl’s master even get involved afterwards? I don’t remember anything like that. Barriss’ words had merit but are easy dismissed - she is terrorist whose action killed innocent people. If she cared so much how Order changed for worse, why she used violence or did not speak about that in more civil way? How she can criticize Jedi when she alone put bombs and killed people?

And the queen Miraj? She was the “bad one”, so why Jedi (or audience that is supposed to cheer up for Jedi) should care for her claims and screwed up ideology/POV? She enriched on human trafficking, allowed to torture, abuse and dehumanization of captured people - what she really knew about Republic and Jedi corruption, if she alone wasn’t saint? Did she really meant that or did she just messed up with Anakin who was forced to obey her, otherwise dear to him people would be hurt? Or Asajj, who by most of time mercilessly killed people and never questioned Dooku’s evil orders until he betrayed her? See, the problem with accusations coming up from the bad ones is that, those characters do not have any higher moral ground to pass judgment or criticize anyone. I admit I didn’t watch TCW for a long time, so I may missed some more important moments (the padawans left behind, for example). But at the end of day, Jedi are the heroes and rescuers, even when some groups didn’t want to be bring into their military conflict. The villains may have valid points, but it’s easy to dismiss them. TCW did not bring criticism for Jedi from the good guys and for most of time, I feel like all accusation only reinforces Jedi false belief how flawless they were.

Keep reading

[ryan-the-dark]

Random comment; I have a headcanon that Tobey respects Rose and treats her different than Scoops and Violet because she's smarter than both and he would pick up on that VERY quickly and she gives me the vibe of someone who would definitely call him out.

[thesecretingredientislove]

I once read someone's opinion saying that Scoops was a bad and selfish friend and they completely forgot Becky in this scene.

They're not selfish or bad friends they're autistic and 11 years old.

[ilovetobecky]

FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT I HAD ENOUGH OF THE VIOLET AND SCOOPS HATE. They're children of course they are not emotionally developed or aware!!!!

[ryan-the-dark]

Oh yes, I know who you're talking about. She's a addictive ToBecky fan who hates Scoops if her story from a bit ago was anything to go by. Now, shipping ToBecky is fine, but I WOULD NOT stand for Scoops, Violet, Rose, Rex BASHING! If anything, Tobey was bad and selfish in the show. He literally almost killed Scoops which probably left trauma in his mind! And trapped WordGirl into a robot which could also be traumatic! I lean to that being abused by his father which is why he's not in the picture because it adds deeper lore to the show, but Tobey is insensitive, rude, and disrespectful. I am so sick and tired of witnessing stories where Becky has to put up with Tobey's crap and sometimes stop being friends with Scoops and Violet. That's an abusive relationship folks!

Tobey's redeemable but blaming Scoops or someone else for his problems and acting like Becky has to put up with it is wrong.

[tragicfantasy-girl-deactivated2]

no one says is bad for anakin to be angry that his mother died, is that anakin murdered the entire village including children, come on is a meme at this point 💀💀

besides obi-wan at least didn't choke his PREGNANT WIFE, the person he alleguelly wanted to save from dying lmaooo

Lol, yeah.

He didn't choke out his pregnant wife. Well that is FINE. That makes his complicity in war crimes and his torture and abuse of of his supposed brother/former Padawan acceptable then doesn't it?

By your logic. A serial war criminal didn't get a parking fine, so obviously they're a good person.

Maybe that's why Jedi Apologists also routinely argue that the people who kidnapped, tortured and according to some people, raped Shmi were actually harmless innocent victims and should not have suffered any penalty. Or even that Shmi deserved it for being an "occupier" or something.

Its only bad when Anakin does it. We know Ben 10, we know.

[pilot-of-eva-00]

Ok here is proof of you sending hate mail to hannagoldworthy. You also lied and claimed captainsway had her blog shut down when she blocked you so you couldn’t view her account.

NonniNoodle

Looks like Someone stole her mommy’s phone to circumvent my IP block lol. You need some attention, Domina? You getting bored under your brid

Some people who are abuse victims do view anakin as an abuser because he reminds them of their abusers. They acknowledge that he’s an interesting character and villain. Heck Vader in the OT is iconic for a reason and fun to love to hate. But people like Anakin are tiring to be around in real life. Hanna in the notes also mentions being abused and her abuser was a lot like him.

I have seen the repeated sentiment that we can like the Jedi and Anakin. Yeah, that's true. But why assume that people want to like Anakin,

It’s fine for people to relate to Anakin as abuse victims, but that’s not the story George Lucas wrote. Filoni and various legends writers had a different interpretation and viewed him as a rebellious bad boy who was misunderstood. People do relate to him but don’t like that and view him as a cautionary tale of how not to behave or deal with your trauma. Someone who acts controlling, lets their fear turn into hate and prejudice and refuses to get help is not someone we want to be like. I related to him at times and have felt similarly. But I chose to go to therapy rather than let it bottle up and try to be mindful rather than act out of emotion.

[tragicfantasy-girl-deactivated2]

Oh Benny.

There's a reason why I asked you for an IP address. That screenshot proves nothing. It is perfectly possible to copy someone else's idioms and manner of speech: heck I didn't even invent that Woobie-Wan sad-sads thing.

Only an IP address or location tag is proof I sent that. I have lots of hits from Hanna;s location, for example and I can get her IP soon enough.

Hanna is a narcissist, and it is absolutely typical of narcissists to play the victim by pulling stunts like sending abusive messages to themselves. These are people who are known for feigning illness and claiming they have been abused to get attention and sympathy.

Hanna is a one narcissist in your echo chamber. She's not "some people". Like as not, she was in fact the abuser not the victim, because that his textbook narcissistic behaviour as well.

Captainsway's blog was temporarily deactivated and many of her posts removed after she was reported for promoting terrorism a couple of years ago. I know that because this is what happens when Tumblr recieves multiple reports for such things:

It’s fine for people to relate to Anakin as abuse victims,

Ben, what did I tell you before about those dictatorial tendenices of yours? You don't go around telling people what they can and cannot think and believe. You don't go around emotionally blackmailing people for thinking things you don't like. We're not in your socialist utopia yet, Ben. Until we are, desist.

It’s fine for people to relate to Anakin as abuse victims, but that’s not the story George Lucas wrote.

George Lucas *literally called Anakin a victim*. You can hear it for yourself in the official extra feature videos on Revenge of the Sith.

I have cited this multiple times.

If you're going to claim to speak for George Lucas you could at least try to familarize yourself with his *actual words*. Not just what your friends on Tumblr claim he said.

Lucas never said Anakin was controlling, nor did he ever say he was abusive. He also didn't ever say Obi Wan was an abuse victim, as you and your friends all believe. You neeed to learn the difference between your subjective opinions and the Word of of the creator, Ben.

People do relate to him but don’t like that and view him as a cautionary tale of how not to behave or deal with your trauma

There you go again Ben. DICTATING what people can think, believe, and say. Telling them how they should or should not relate to media. I used to think maybe you weren't self-aware enough to understand what you were doing, but now I am not so sure.

You don't have the right to do these things Ben- you especially don't have the right to tell people how they should deal with trauma, as it impacts different people in different ways.

When you start dictating to people and engaging in emotional blackmail when they think or believe things you don't like, you have already lost.

But I chose to go to therapy rather than let it bottle up and try to be mindful rather than act out of emotion.

But there isn't any therapy in Star Wars Ben. We all know that. It doesn't exist. Notwithstanding that joke Lucas once made about "therapists for planets" who negotiate at the point of a lightsaber that you love to quote out of context.

Yoda is not a licensed psychotherapist. Just because Hanna and Mon who have never seen the inside of therapist's office says he has comfy chairs it doesn't make him a therapist.

Besides of which, every time Anakin does say how he feels, every time he gives voice to his anger, grief, or disappointment he's shamed or gaslit for it by his abuser and torturer, Obi Wan Kenobi. The man who weaponized his own PTSD against him and forced him to watch a mock execution. That tends to make people bottle things up.