sleepynegress:

LOL me too…

The nature of tumblr and a lot of social media on things is that it’s easier to be firmly in one camp or the other. That’s the nature of the form of expression.

Emphasis and extremes also just communicate better. It’s funnier, more relatable, etc… But on CAOS, it really is a split on my feelings on it.

I absolutely love certain aspects of CAOS and abhor others so…

*shrug*

I adore Ambrose, Prudence, and love how thoughtfully they handled the cute non-binary butterfly Susie (that is mostly credit to the actor, they had a lot of input in how that would play out).

I like that consent, choice, and healthy casual variety the likes of which I only see in fic is explored by the witches.

They boring af, but it *is* nice to see a couple in Sabrina/Harvey being nice to one another (Harvey especially, is a gem), though I could make this post very long in the hate column in how her choices regarding him are selfish and should warrant a break-up from him…But I also suspect that’s purposeful meta(!) given the fact that she’s half-witch and again, where she ends up in the end.

I hate that Sabrina’s morality seems to initially be framed as morally above everybody else’s.

The heavy Satanism still discomforts me, even as a lapsed Christian/Agnostic who loves the darkest horror, because most of the characters are “young” (young is in quotes because what is youth for witches? what does it mean for them? and then there’s Ambrose who is an old man in a young body).

I reconciled most of that with the realization that these aren’t humans. In this world, they are more like spell-casting demons whose ages and morality is shaped by their immortality and own set of rules for their species. …Non-bitey vampires, basically.

IDK, this show has given me a lot to think about media-wise and you know I like to dig deep even for such a surface-level shallow horror confection.

I know people have issues with a certain early plot-point regarding the hazing Pru and her girls go through (the lack of rope I think happened *precisely* to avoid the controversy it’s still getting), Blackwood’s wife (I liked her at first appearing to be this sweet choir teacher and then turning out to be murderous and calculating) and Ambrose’s house-arrest (again, I’m intrigued by the reason for it and who he’s protecting)..

I’m not gonna step on the validity of that. Some folks are rightly triggered by that. You can’t and shouldn’t argue people’s feelings.

I think the thing that keeps me engrossed despite my issues are the fact that the players of color Tai and Chance, are especially good charismatic actors #1 and #2 are in roles I rare-to-never see black characters get to play, even with the all too-typical-frameworks presented here.

…The comfortably, joyously pansexual black man who gets to physically express that in his story.

That confident and wise black Slytherin girl, who I wish we’d gotten in Potterverse is here and has an intriguing angle that I want to see where it goes.

I like that they get to be both seen as likeable and joyous about doing “bad” things. That’s usually the exclusive domain of white characters. Black characters tend to be hated if they stray even a little from the path of angelic servant. But here, these two are super-popular despite that.

…Charismatic evil, isn’t a realm black characters typically inhabit on white shows without much hate or backlash from white fans. But here, inarguably, both Pru and Ambrose are the breakout faves.

But I still can’t stand Sabrina, herself.

She’s just as amoral as any of the other witches but she pretends she’s doing it for righteous reasons. In the end, it’s all the MORE evil and selfish than what her witch-half typically does, because she tries to paint it as benevolence and thus, it’s far less honest.

The idea of her constantly questioning and judging others while doing far worse while being held up as the center linchpin is just icky to me (Harvey’s brother especially, yikes!)…

So, again. I love some, despise some.