#“““Bones””” discourse?

[hellscupboards]

i know there's gonna be new or returning fans on the dash investing in the new show and im letting y'all know now that Foggy Nelson the Heart and Soul of Daredevil is not to be slandered. This is me firing 2 gunshots into the air to keep the tourists scared. Get off my lawn with your Foggy hate you're not welcome here

[theweeklydiscourse]

I’m sick of people passing off patronizing and condescending commentary about how naive and impressionable women are as useful and educational. These people will base their analysis of fiction on sexist notions about how easily women are “tempted “ by malevolent villains and then act as if that’s some revolutionary take. They’ll unironically construe the narrative in a way that takes away all agency from the female heroine and frame her decisions as entirely the result of the villain’s manipulation.

They wring their hands about how dangerous it is for women to be exposed to these stories and moan about how terrible it is that hot villains appeal to the “baser instincts” and tempt female viewers further (Yes, I actually saw someone make this argument) It’s truly bizarre to see people agreeing with such patronizingly sexist rhetoric and saying things like “I miss the days when villain romances were cautionary tales and not encouraged.” As if women thirsting after attractive fictional villains is some epidemic that threatens society.

It’s especially irritating when women are the ones saying these things. They want to believe that they are a rare exception that, unlike those other brainless girls, can understand that liking hot villains will threaten their morals and lead them astray…OH THE HORROR!! Please save your dramatic preaching for the next purity conference and stop pretending that your sanctimonious commentary has any substance whatsoever.

[mid-knight-black]

Tommy: “I won’t be your last”

Buck: *immediately hauls his ass to Eddie’s house*

[stealingyourbones]

I’m fine with posts about my Blorbo getting ignored. It happens. We all know that. It’s disappointing, but you get inspired, start plotting, maybe even start writing yourself, lose motivation, and stop. It’s normal. It happens to all of us. Not a big deal.

But. BUT. BUUUUT. What drives me fucking insane is when some beautiful creative once-in-a-lifetime hand crafted prompt gets derailed into the generic stereotypical tropes that this crossover fandom constantly falls back on. I know that happens to you a lot, how do you deal with it?

In truth, when you sign up for creating content that you allow anyone to interact with, it’s just a part of the gig. It happens a lot, I may not enjoy it but others do and a community of people writing and having fun is what I strive to create.

My main ways to divert posts are either:

1.) Leave it be and let folks do their thing. The point of prompts is to let anyone add their thoughts, it doesn’t matter your personal feelings on a trope or headcanon.

2.) Simply stop interacting with that reply chain. I used to reblog absolutely every reply I got but now I only reblog the ones I enjoy. It has helped my mental health greatly. Additionally, if you don’t reblog responses to your posts, go and do that. It makes people more likely to see the responses you like if they already follow your blog for your writing and you’ll have a higher likelihood of that prompt gaining more replies.

3.) Put in the tags (#not ____ AU/trope/headcanon). I’ve done it a few times before with Ghost King AU’s I believe, mainly because I think that avoiding that trope for that particular post would make people flex their creativity more and write something they wouldn’t even have thought of if not given that limitation. This will sometimes work. Some folks reblog the post without the tag and the trope is posted anyways. People also might see the tag and think you’re being picky and rude and avoid the post entirely.

4.) Complain. I don’t really recommend doing this because people will Not Be Pleased but I am 100% guilty of doing this more than once. I have been pretty vocal on making my opinions clear on: Danny and Bruce’s relationship could also be something other than paternal, the automatic adoptions tropes, Ghost King AU’s, OP Danny, and not consuming some form of DC media is nigh impossible and actively avoiding it prevents you from learning about new characters and giving you new interests and ideas to spread and influence the fandom. This is the second least effective action to do. The first being saying nothing. Venting might be a good way to express frustration but let’s be honest, no one wants to listen to or read someone complaining for a few hundred words when they could be consuming a positive take on something they enjoy. For example: this post might get like 50 notes maybe max. It’s not a topic people like to read of and it’s critical on the things they like so they probably won’t interact with it.

5.) Add back onto your own post or another persons post with the idea of how you thought the post should have gone! If you don’t like the angle other folks are going at it, write your own thoughts on the prompt. A few solid paragraphs of ~500 words are what I have seen work the best in influencing and changing the direction of replies to a post. This is the best course of action to have people write another direction in tropes you enjoy and ideas you view are fresh and new. It might not be people’s favorite response to hear, but if you want a story to go a particular way, you have to write it yourself and hope the audience receives it well and picks up what you’re putting down.

6.) Write something similar again and hope a different audience receives the post and interprets it differently. Add a different spin on the concept and maybe add the (no ____) tag if you really really want something different.

I hope these tips help! Main takeaways if you don’t want to read everything: Complaining solves nothing and action solves everything. If you don’t like the way a post is going, write it to the way you want it to be.

[bonefall]

Sorry to barge in but the Crowfeather talk has actually inspired me to keep writing my long-winded Nightcloud defense doc lmao-I started it a few months ago and got maybe halfway done before I got burned out (curse you adhd)

It goes over every time she's mentioned and has a section clearing up misconceptions because you would not believe just HOW weird people can get about Nightcloud

For example: Did you know that there are genuinely people who think she took advantage of Crowfeather and groomed him? Well I didn't until I saw it with my own two eyes. People try and say she's like Mudclaw levels of older than him when she literally just appears out of nowhere in Starlight. Insane behavior

Do not cite the deep magic to me; I was there when it was written

[relaxxattack]

rereading the hivebent commentary makes me so annoyed that people are never really willing to analyze the actual effects that alternian culture clearly had on every troll, especially the highbloods. pretty much the only troll who ever actually gets taken in the context of her upbringing is vriska.

no one ever seems willing to think about the character arcs of trolls like equius and terezi, who are also bluebloods with extremely hypocritical and toxic understandings of the people around them-- equius is boiled down to a gross creep who is just like that naturally and definitely didn't get it from his society in any way, whilst terezi is scrubbed of virtually all her flaws and turned into a strange sort of woke love interest character who is all about being gay and too cool to be tricked by any of the alternian propaganda. quadrants? classism? how silly! terezi would never believe in stupid shit like that. she's quirky! and GAY!

despite the fact that equius and terezi both obviously have much, much more to their personalities than that-- and the alternian empire is informing way more dangerous things about these kid's beliefs than "you can kiss your enemies".

[greensaplinggrace]

“Character A didn’t love Character B because they hurt them” discourse is truly terrible because it assigns a moral value to love that simply does not exist. love doesn’t actually mean anything about someone’s character. it doesn’t make someone’s actions toward another any better or any worse, it doesn’t prevent atrocities, and it doesn’t prevent abuse.

love is a worthless emotion when it comes to morals because it simply holds no bearing on them. true love doesn’t exist. there is no better or more pure version of love. in the end love doesn’t mean anything. it’s a non-emotion. it’s the child of passion and affection and dedication. doing something bad doesn’t preclude a feeling of love, because a lack of love isn’t a requirement for immoral actions, and morality isn’t a requirement for feeling love.

[rxttenfish]

theres a post going around thats driving me insane so i have to comment on it

no, lighter bones are NOT associated with secondarily aquatic animals!!! its the opposite!!! secondarily aquatic animals often acquire DENSER bones than their relatives!!!! not only does this help them be more stable in the water column, but it also acts as ballast to help them SINK!! they do NOT want to float!! they want to achieve a density that is roughly equivalent to that of the water around them and achieve neutral buoyancy so that it is equally as energy efficient to dive as it is to surface! secondarily aquatic animals already have lungs and fat stores and other things which are less dense than water and thus would float, so they need something to offset that, which often results in things like denser bones!!

penguins have denser bones than other birds! whales acquired denser bones in their evolution to a marine lifestyle! the extremely high density of spinosaurid bones is one of the primary arguments for them having an aquatic lifestyle!!!

[kuwylan]

follow up post to this edit i made!

SOC as Muppets

Constantine as Kaz Brekker

Gonzo the Great as Jesper Fahey

Scooter as Wylan Hendriks

Miss Piggy as Nina Zenik

Sam the Eagle as Matthias Helvar

...and at last, Inej Ghafa as Herself

#NotMyCrows because Nina is fat and Jesper is dark-skinned, but I'm using the S&B cast for simplicity and recognizability's sake! <3

[brainrotfromhorny]

The entirety of Siege and Strorm the Darkling is manipulating Alina, tempting her with power and sex and all that ✨ fun ✨ stuff. Meanwhile Mal is manipulating her like that guy you meet in college who is willing to hook up but he can't be together with you because this semester he's taking like, fifteen credits ;c

[theweeklydiscourse]

There's just something about enemies to lovers antis that is just so funny. Because they go on, shaming womans/girls over silly fantasies saying that they are doomed to be in toxic relationships while being like "this piece of boring white bread and (most of times) toxic masculinity and immaturity hero is actually an much better lover interest for the FMC because *check notes* he's... her friend and does nice-ish things to her sometimes ig" like gurl how arent you catching the irony? Especifically if it's an woman saying crap like that.

Yep this is about kataang and Malina (thought Malina stans cant even say he was nice-ish to her)

They’re blind to how simplistic their line of reasoning is. However, that simplistic worldview brings them a weird kind of satisfaction. Not only does it validate their feelings of moral and intellectual superiority, it also allows them to indulge in salacious and sensational claims and gain internet points as a result. This blindness and simplistic thinking creates a funny scenario where, in fiction, they rail against grandiose villainy, but ignore the more realistic and mundane toxicity of their fave wholesome love interest™.

In ATLA’s case, I think this is partially due to most people’s foggy memory of the show. It’s become apparent to me that many people don’t actually remember certain details and are willing to smooth over the gaps in their memory with personal headcanons. This is how we got to this bizarre reality where people have reframed Kataang as some kind of uniquely progressive and ahead-of-its-time relationship, when in the actual show, it checks nearly every box for your garden variety 2000s heterosexual relationship. Nostalgia compels people to make excuses for the fact that the Kataang relationship centres Aang at every turn and neglects Katara’s end of their romantic arc.

In Malina’s case, it’s even more ridiculous because Mal is overtly worse as a love interest and was largely disliked by the Shadow and Bone fandom for a long time. It’s only in recent years that his reputation has been rehabilitated (and even then…) Then you have the odd contrarian with a vague recollection of the series who tries to gaslight people into thinking that Mal was good actually and that we were just being dramatic. Sure, Mal doesn’t have a particularly sizeable body count, but he commits the arguably greater crime of being an emotionally abusive boyfriend to Alina. He’s not even toxic in an interesting way like the Darkling, he’s just toxic in a way that will remind the teenage readership of their real-life terrible boyfriends. It’s downright comical that Bardugo ever thought Mal could ever be likeable.

The irony is palpable. The toxic masculinity and mundane emotional abuse is something they sweep under the rug because they are so persuaded by the image of a wholesome love interest. They can’t understand why more realistic depictions of relationships in fiction would be more impactful and evocative than that which is fantastical.

[mid-knight-black]

me during that break up scene:

[fiona-fififi]

I truly hate this Bobby storyline. There was so much potential set up in s7 to explore Bobby's loyalty to his dad and to do something interesting with his mom and brother. The idea of exploring the effects of that loyalty and trauma on Bobby's relationship with his mom is so compelling to me. I think it would be fascinating to see a good mom who spent Bobby's childhood just trying to keep him safe from his abusive, alcoholic father, and then trying—and failing—to combat this romanticized version of his dad that lives in Bobby's mind because of the guilt he feels. There could have been something so interesting to say there.

But nope. We're getting another shitty parent who's apparently a fucking cult leader now.

[bonefall]

This Mapleshade Discourse once again reveals how people, even those who will cheer ACAB, cannot envision a world in which unjust laws of society do not have to be followed, and that rules do not have to be enforced with punishment. "She broke the law, so she has to face the consequences!" How about you take my hand, and I point out the flaws in the rules that govern our society to you and what we can do to combat them, and I show you the research on punitive vs restorative justice, and together we look upon this silly little battle cat story through this political lens to analyze the messages it intentionally and inadvertently sends with its treatment of Mapleshade's character and the characters of other codebreakers, and we kiss softly under the moonlight.

And then we cut open Oakstar and Appledusk and leave them to die from infection. Together. ❤️

LIKE... "She broke the law so she must face the consequences" is such a cold take it's still defrosting. Maybe the law is bad. Perhaps unjust rules ought to be disobeyed. Consider, the consequences are unacceptable; I simply do not think you should be thrown out of your house for having the wrong lover.

Like deadass what do they want her to do. Go back in time and not give birth to them. Do they want her to unfuck that sleazy twink. Insane.

[silmarillisms]

I've realized that every problem I have with the Shadow and Bone book series stems from the fact that the author writes from a place of privilege, never acknowledges that privilege is privilege, and tries to pass off a highly privileged viewpoint on every situation as absolute truth within Grishaverse.

The Grisha don't know how lucky they are. They get to lord over all of us from the Little Palace, dressing in their fancy clothes and eating good food!

Says the person who has never had to spend every day of their life being forced to convince people in power that they are useful to society and deserve to exist, who live in constant fear that someday someone in a position of power might decide otherwise.

Why doesn't the Darkling just trust Alina? Why does he lie to her and keep her out of his confidence?

Says the person who has never been in a position of power where they were directly responsible for the lives of people beneath them. Says the person who did not spend their formative years being repeatedly traumatized by their only parental figure who taught them over and over that no one could be trusted. Says the person who has never liked someone but knows they need to keep them at arm's length because they seem to sympathize with people who, given half the chance, would fuck you over.

Why can't you just trust that Nikolai would be better than his father and that his rule would end Grisha persecution?

Says the person who has never had to fight for their rights against a corrupt system, who has never had to accept the fact that the system itself is stacked against them and the only hope they have is to break it entirely.

Why can't the Darkling accept that change happens slowly and incrementally over time? Why doesn't he understand that using violent revolution to enact change is wrong?

Says the person who has never existed in a place or time when the only hope for their people was violent revolution. Says the person who has never been part of an ostracized group, who has never been tired of waiting, of watching, of hoping. We don't pray for change. We make it happen.

Why can't Alina stop thinking about gaining personal power, by aligning herself with the Darkling or otherwise? Doesn't she know that it's wrong to seek power?

Says the person who has never in their life spent a day feeling powerless, feeling hopeless, feeling that they don't matter.

I don't have a problem with the universe of Shadow and Bone. I have a problem with the fact that Leigh Bardugo tries to force the audience to see it, and its characters, through a perspective that disrespects the characters she created, the social and political challenges that they face, and the way those things mirror the real struggles of marginalized groups of people - intentionally or otherwise.

[greensaplinggrace]

yeah you know what? I'm going to get into this. "don't humanize villains"/"this abuser is a monster" is some of the worst character discourse in fandom. abusers are not other. abusers are not always easy to recognize. othering someone who's done terrible things from humanity is an arrogant, poisonous idea.

that is a person who is doing those things, and you want so badly to be unable to fall into such patterns of harm and abuse that you will force that person into another category of species altogether, and in so doing you spare yourself from introspection and you give yourself a pretty little pedestal to stand on and you shame everybody who fell for a red flag that is surely so easy to recognize. and you give into prejudice you assign moral values to attributes outside of yourself and you think you are so above doing harm that you could never act in such a way, even as it is a capability within all of us to do so.

get off your self righteous high horse for a moment and use your fucking brain. I'm sick of people in fandom claiming to be the most moral members that are the "only people willing to discuss this" and then every statement out of their mouth is harmful and pervasive word vomit.