#...the shows as non canon for my own sanity

[neofelis----nebulosa]

Po and Tigress's relationship is so funny because they're written like a queerbait couple but like. its a male character and a female character. like theres some stuff that is obviously written in a way that can be interpreted as romantic but like the movie never actually backs it up with any further development of a romance between the two. there's always that plausible deniability so they dont actually have to follow up on it.

[saijspellhart]

Tumblr keeps recommending me posts with some of the worst takes on Catra’s character. Always an//ti//Catradora posts. (Like, did we watch the same show? We couldn’t have possibly watched the same show. Why the fuck would anyone compare her trauma to Hordak? Because they are on two entirely different character journeys, at wildly different age ranges and maturity, and with wildly different amounts of time to grow and change. Never mind the constant outside negative authority influences on Catra all the fucking damn time, that Hordak never has to deal with until season 5. And fortunate for Hordak, Prime doesn’t allow him the free will to choose a path, so Hordak gets a free pass, his character growth and budding humanity remain intact.) Don’t get me started on this, I could write a whole critical analysis on why Catra is a wonderfully written complex character, and why comparing her to Hordak is fucking ludicrous. Honestly the lack of comprehension about writing, character, fantasy, narrative and trauma astounds me when I see some of these Catra hate posts pop up in my recommended feed.

Tumblr, hopefully your algorithm gets this, but I LOVE Catra. I love her. I love this tortured mess, I love the writing that went into her character, I love her waffling precarious hold on sanity and reason. I love how she struggles to cope with her trauma. I love the realism put into her character despite the fantasy setting. But I also love that they didn’t push the realism too far, because it is at the end of the day a fantasy story. I love the delicate balance they wove into her character. I love the complexity and thought put into her entire character arc through the whole series. (And before anyone comes to crucify me, I say I love Catra, as a person who suffered immense parental trauma and manipulation. As a victim of some of the worst of it. I shouldn’t even have to mention my own trauma to justify appreciating a FICTIONAL character. But here we are.)

Would I have loved one extra season to really explore her redemption more thoroughly? Yes of course. An extra season would have been delightful to explore a lot of the character relationships more thoroughly. But we didn’t get that, and what the show creators did give us was still wonderful and satisfying. (Even if I have some critiques on some things.) the writing of the show at the end of the day is still smart, and tight, and so so competent. (Looking at the myriad of other story driven cartoons and shows that fall apart in the later seasons or just have an overwhelming amount of inconsistencies and botched writing. **coughs** Voltron, Miraculous, YGO, Netflix Carmen Sandiego, Bleach, many animes in general, just to name a few. Not that I didn’t love and adore most of these shows too.) the fact that She-ra (2018) stayed consistently tight and snappy and smart with their writing, narrative, and characters from beginning to end is a treasure.

Anyway. Catra is great. I could write a character analysis going into why from a writing and storytelling standpoint. But honestly I don’t think anyone cares that deeply, and I don’t exactly have followers who are particularly interested in She-ra. Tumblr, you god forsaken windfall apple, please stop suggesting an//ti//Catra and an//ti//Catradora posts. I don’t want to see them. I support the canon relationships. And I support the non canon ships too. What I do not support is hating on shippers who like other ships. It breeds contempt in a fandom, and leads to a fandom canabalizing itself until there are no fans left. Also letting hate and disdain take up such a large amount of time and space in your brain, leads you down some dark paths mentally.

[smalltownduck]

it's borderline criminal (/j) that, even with how popular manifestation theory is and will's powers being suspected for years to be creation-related, no one (that i could find) seems to have written a Pygmalion (the og myth) au for byler yet.

to (hopefully) avoid some of the unfortunate implications (re: ruby sparks my beloved) of a writer making his character come to life i mean, in order to make will the guy he is now, he had to go through so much pain and trauma, or else he wouldn't be will, not even pre-canon will in said (non-UD) au, i think i'd rather go for the 'will created the initial concept for mike but as a dnd character' route.

will, lucas and dustin (he moved in kindergarden) still became friends and got into dnd, but they're not as close as the og party; will keeps his terrible home life from them to avoid more shame or their parents not letting them hang out anymore.

one day, while brainstorming to create his own dnd character, will doodled a figure in armor: someone who could be loyal, kind and adventurous, that could actually lead a party and make their campaigns cooler than any of them could imagine. Someone they could rely on. Someone who'd inspire them. Someone who would protect them. Someone that would care enough to, against any kind of danger.

that evening, after too many striked scribbles and ripped sketchbook pages, will drew his first sketch of His Paladin -no name felt right.

he never told anyone about him, not even his mom or jonathan, who'd otherwise get to see all his drawings. he never considered playing as the character either, even though he made several character alignment charts for him (if you ever had an oc, you know how it goes) and had way more sketches of him than of will the wise. that just wouldn't feel right: his paladin wasn't him or someone he wanted to (or could ever) become. his paladin was someone separate from will, with his helmet never off, tall and always vigilant, the brightest smile even in the face of failure.

again, if you ever had an oc and you used fiction as escapism, you might imagine how close will felt to his creation, especially bc only will ever knew of his existence. his paladin was there, by his side, on bad days, on loud nights; whenever will feel down, he'd picture him joining the last campaign the party borrowed from a random booklet, cracking incredibly lame jokes and reminding everyone of what they were fighting for. it was a comforting thought to turn to. a friend far away who never failed to make him smile.

no one, not even his dad, could take him away from him. if will sometimes stared too long, with a dopey smile, at his latest drawing, it was only his business. those new budding feelings, despite everything, felt safe. his paladin wasn't real, so he was not doing anything shameful nor bad by feeling so attached to him.

cue fourth grade, his dad leaving for good, castle byers, and a new boy joining his class. a chatty, very creative boy who played dnd as well. a boy who acted too familiar and looked like someone will rarely dared to visualize without a helmet on for the sake of his own sanity.

(this version of mike would be a regular human with free will in case you were wondering.)

this concept would be more about will freaking out at the idea that he created mike, realizing that's impossible [?* and trying to reconciliate what he knows about his idealized Paladin with the real mike -a boy with as many flaws as wonderful qualities.

will constantly having to remind himself they're not the same only for mike to proudly show the party his dnd character sheet along with his notes for the big epic campaign he always wanted to write -cue will excusing himself to hide both his blush and panic.

just will constantly struggling to differentiate between 'projection' and reality. trying to get rid of his feelings towards his character so he could treat the real mike fairly, get to know him, stop himself from staring too long whenever mike showed any heroic traits, and not scare him off nor get him in trouble bc of his stupid feelings.

will could now befriend an amazing boy for real and that's all that should matter. all that would ever matter.

if it takes will years to feel comfortable drawing 'sir mike', that's between him and an unassuming stash of paper in his closet he cannot bring himself to throw away (he's still scared of the possibility of making mike dissapear)

[crying-over-cartoons]

INTRODUCING:

The Elemental Serpentine AU!

In this AU, each Serpentine species is getting reworked! They're all getting new, more varied designs, and I'll be making a lot of new species to align with each elemental power in the show!

I'm also reworking much of the lore surrounding Serpentine, since what we are given is inconsistent, and quite vague.

As of now, I have new designs for each of the Serpentine species that appear in the show! Designs for new species to go with the missing elements will come later.

Please note that this AU is a work in progress; the designs I have here are subject to change!

Details about each species are included under the cut~~~

GENERAL AU STUFF

I decided that I want all of my Serpentine to have tails, instead of just the generals. If they have legs, they end up looking more like anthro lizards than anthro snakes. I'll let them keep the arms, though.

In the show, the Serpentine are covered in intricate details. As nice as these details are, they make it difficult to draw Serpentine in 2D. So, more for my own sanity than anything else, the patterns are getting toned down.

CONSTRICTAI - EARTH

I genuinely hate a lot of aspects of the canon design for the Constrictai. Their non-existent necks and random spikes make them look more like horrible little dinosaur gnomes than snakes. For my design, I let them keep the spikes, but moved them so they weren't sticking straight up out of their head. Most important of all, I gave them necks.

Inspiration: Boa constrictor

HYPNOBRAI - MIND

In spite of how it may seem, I did not remove this species' hood! Real snakes with hoods only 'hood up' as a threat display. I decided to incorporate this into my AU. It's not visible here, but my design has false eyes on the back of the hood. I noticed that the original design has snakes in the patterns, so I've incorporated that in a few places. I think I may have gone too far with simplifying their design, so we'll see how it changes as I continue to iterate.

Inspiration: Spectacled cobra

VENOMARI - POISON

This one has received some of the biggest changes in the AU. I felt the Venomari's extra eyes looked quite out of place in my new lineup, since it would be the only one out of a now larger number of species to have four eyes, so I lowered the number to two. I don't like the original colour scheme all that much, so I decided to take a page out of the poison dart frog book and make them bright and varied in colour. They can have a variety of colours and patterns. Like the Hypnobrai, the Venomari have a hood that can't be seen in this image.

Inspiration: African bush viper

FANGPYRE - FORM

I changed the shape of the head pretty drastically, but the colours are the same, even if the pattern is different.

Inspiration: Coral snake

ANACONDRAI - LIGHT

The colour-changing ability of the Anacondrai is so underutilized that I literally forgot about it until I started rewatching the show with my brother, so I've decided to make it more prominent. In this AU, Anacondrai change colour as a method of communication and expression. They can also change their colour to disappear, just like in the show.

Inspiration: Green anaconda, RainWings from the book series Wings of Fire

VERMILLION - FUSION

Each of the Serpentine are born or hatched without visible limbs, appearing as ordinary snakes to the untrained eye. While most species undergo a metamorphosis at a young age, emerging with two limbs, Vermillion do not, and remain in a larval state for their entire lives.

Inspiration: Garter snake, axolotl

MAARAY - WATER

According to the fan wiki for Ninjago, these guys are supposed to be eels, but I thought they were Serpentine when watching the show, and they have the same head model as some of Aspheera's lackeys, so I've made the executive decision to make them Serpentine in this AU.

Inspiration: Yellow-lipped sea krait

[thedarkone121]

Concept Idea for a Jack Swan and Obsidian Crow Just Dance Map

Sorry it took me a bit to get around to this idea, homework and other fixations is a heck of thing to get away from. But I found the time, so now it’s time for you guys to hear me ramble about this Map Idea that could be non-canon to my story, but it was too fun to pass up.

Breakdown of my Concept Map Idea, go!

Song: 111 Winchester by I the Mighty

Coaches: Jack Rose (?)

Location: Swan Tower, Jack’s Mindscape

Theme: Corruption — It plays on the idea of how Obsidian Crow takes over Jack. Jack is still riding on his high of beating his mother at her own game that he doesn’t realize that the magic he absorbed was corrupting him. But as the song goes on, he starts to realize things aren’t right and why is he all alone? But by then, it’s too late and Jack is left to try and fight it off in order to keep his remaining sanity. But Obsidian Crow has already won.

A Concept in Parts

Part 1: The Victory (Verse 1, Pre-Chorus)

Set after Thnks Fr Th Mmrs, Jack is back at Swan Tower. He looks tired but looks incredibly happy. His moves are energetic, throwing his arms out in a grand fashion, and his signature dance move is used often.

In the background, a cloud of magic smoke — similar to Night Swan’s magic cloud (the one she uses to corrupt the Coaches) can be seen swirling in the background. It slowly morphs into the shape of bird that’s flying around.

As the song goes on, the bird-shape becomes more clearer, taking on the form of a Crow. It flies in circles in the background, darkening the area.

Part 2: Victory? (Chorus)

The area has completely darkened, except for Jack and the platform underneath him — the only source of light.

Jack is looking around in confusion but he keeps up the appearance of a performer. He's trying to ignore it.

The Smoke-Crow continues to fly, leaving off more smoke that begins to surround Jack.

"Somebody wants us all out of this house," here, Jack swats the smoke away. He looks up at his surroundings, his fear showing as he finally takes it all in.

Then the Smoke-Crow flies by and it all vanishes. Jack is back in Swan Tower, but he looks more alarmed than before.

Part 3: Something isn’t Right (Verse 2, Pre-Chorus)

Jack appears to be more aware of the Smoke-Crow, but his eyes never manage to catch sight of it. He whips his head around, trying to find it but it always flies just fast enough to get out of view.

Swan Tower is slowly darkening again, columns of smoke erupted from the ground that startle Jack.

Jack is looking around, searching for anyone else. As if he’s noticing he’s alone for the first time and that none of his friends are with him. He didn’t even realized he left in the first place.

The Smoke-Crow flies by and once again, it encircles the area. Drowning it in darkness.

Part 4: Resistance (Chorus)

Jack is once again trapped in the void. More smoke arises, taking form of fallen feathers than begin to swirl like a vortex. Some of them come after Jack, who does his best to dance in spite of their interference.

“The shadow from the wall is not from me” is where Jack starts to look pained from resisting, as he’s almost cradling his head as he’s swatting the smoke away from him.

“As soon as I remember how to breathe” is when Jack cannot stop the pain from showing on his face and he’s no longer trying to swat the smoke away. Now he’s jerking his head back and forth as if that could ward off the pain.

Unfortunately, that gives the smoke the chance to surround him.

Part 5: The Puppet (Bridge)

Jack is entrapped by the smoke, it encircling his wrists like it did when he first absorbed the corrupted magic. It moves him around, like a puppet on strings.

Jack is still resisting, despite how tired and in pain he seems to be in. He would try to pull against the strings, trying to get back to his own dance and not the smoke’s.

But he quickly falls back to the Smoke’s dance. His last act is to reach out, as if he’s breaking through the fourth wall, and mouth the words “Help”.

Part 6: It’s Too Late (Chorus)

Jack is dancing to the Smoke’s tune. It’s almost reminiscent of the last section of Sweet Dream (Are Made of This). As the dance goes on, he starts to loose his pained expression.

In the second half of the chorus, Jack is now looking up at the camera, once again breaking through the fourth wall. His stare is piercing, almost like he’s staring a hole right through. It’s expressionless.

“And I still got these matches in my pocket,” is where Jack reaches out, almost reminiscent of his earlier reaching out for help. But Obsidian Crow gives an awful smile instead as his eyes glow a bright gold.

Part 7: Everything is Fine (Outro)

Obsidian Crow continues to dance in almost mockery of the Sweet Dreams one, but his is more quick and jabbing.

The void falls away, revealing an altered Swan Tower. Columns and pillars are decorated with sharp feathers. Th Swan Thorne statue was vandalized, making it almost look like a crow. The color scheme is more a maroon color than pink now.

“I don’t feel a thing,” is where the Smoke Crow flies back, envelopes over him, and Obsidian Crow finally drops the visage of Jack Rose, revealing himself in full as he does his final move.

Obsidian Crow stands tall, looking around proudly of his work.

WOW! This was a lot longer than I thought it was going to be! A part of me wishes I could do some drawings to show a little bit of the terror Jack is going through at the moment but sadly, I don’t have time for it. But I hope you all enjoyed this reading, for the people who managed to read it all the way through!

[cheesybadgers]

Tfw you don't want to remotely be part of any fandom drama, but you can't look away from the absolute car crash carnage unfolding around you 😂 I don't want to say I've never seen anything like it, because, let's be real, I have...just in different guises. But I don't think shipping wars have ever really been a huge part of the issues I've personally dealt with in past fandoms. Not beyond the usual level that is always going to exist to some extent, anyway.

But the firefighter show? Holy fucking shit. And the hilarious/frightening thing is a lot of it isn't even over a main character. It's over a bit-part guy they resurrected from three flashback episodes multiple seasons ago, who basically only came back to confirm a main character was bisexual and that's about it so far. I've no idea if there'll be more of him in the next season, but currently, that is how things stand and he had about 10 minutes of screentime in the last season. It was a nice and long overdue development for the main character, but there isn't much substance to their relationship as of yet and it's possible there never will be (as is tradition with a lot of love interests on this show). We just don't know as of now.

Then there are the issues of a) the side character actor charging fans on Instagram to make videos talking about their show/ship theories, which might have started out in good faith and an income revenue for the actor, but it only made fans of the canon ship more rabid and entitled and fuelled the war with the popular non-canon ship, and b) one of the show's writers was responding to DMs from fans and got so much abuse/flack in the end that he felt the need to talk about it in an interview saying the fandom had broken his trust by sharing the DMs around (although, really, I have to wonder what he expected) and it had never been so ugly. These two issues absolutely have not helped the situation and I severely question their judgement for getting so involved in the first place. As I said the other day, the fourth wall is there to protect everyone. Don't abuse it.

I've been following all of this from a psychological point of view more than anything tbh, because it's as fascinating as it is horrifying. I only started watching the show a couple of months ago and as much as I've fallen for one character/ship in particular, I had to quickly accept this is not a space I'm going to be able to get involved with too deeply for the sake of my own sanity, especially when the next season starts airing in September, but I also can't look away, even when I probably should lol. Because yikes doesn't even begin to cover it.....

[boundlss]

on: the striker problem.

i don't have a bio for this guy yet and even if i did my bios are hilariously barren so i figured i'd make a post detailing my canon divergences and. um. WHY i'm canon divergent in that way. everyone take my hand ...

hey albatross what's wrong with striker?

great question albatross. helluva boss sort of has a villain problem in general where they want their villains to be threats but don't necessarily want to let them change the status quo too much or become too developed as characters. for most of the villains this is fine since they were introduced as comedic (the CHERUBs, DHORKS, tbh even crimson to some extent altho he really shouldn't have been) however. how ever.

striker falls into the category of helluva villain where he's introduced as someone who is a legitimate serious character with like well rounded motivations and goals, and above all that he's a villain that our protagonists don't BEAT in his introduction. which is more than can be said for literally every other recurring antagonist IMP deal with.

the problem comes after this. western energy is um... okay? ish. i liked most things about him in this episode but it's not better than harvest moon festival, and it's really inconsistent to his character in his first appearance at times. "oops" on the other hand is a nightmare episode that striker is literally barely relevant to and everything he was set up to be is completely trampled all over because fuck me for being invested in the things he was setting up i guess.

so what does this actually mean in terms of what's wrong with striker? great question albatross. what's wrong with striker is he's simultaneously supposed to be a pretty big threat but he's ALSO just being shoved into comedic plots and getting his ass beat all the time which is super tonally dissonant and i don't fuck with it.

that's so cool albatross thanks for that four paragraphs of yapping nobody read. what are the canon divergencies?

yet another slam fuckin dunk in the questions department albatross. i think i'm going to put this one in list format because i like myself and value my own sanity. this is chronological.

striker does not get hired by stella to kill stolas the SECOND TIME the first time he still does this is about in WESTERN ENERGY. this has more to do with my stella's canon divergencies but striker does this of his own accord because he assumes stella and andrealphus will turn a blind eye, which they consider doing before ultimately deciding, unfortunately, that they need stolas to remain alive and threaten striker to force him to back down. otherwise western energy is more or less the same.

he does not appear literally at all in "oops". crimson can have some goons surprise blitzø and fizz i don't care but this is a hard line for me in my portrayal of striker. he didn't show up there.

that's honestly genuinely it for plot divergencies. also some other minor things that are tweaked in terms of personality details and little non-chronological things:

striker is not as egotistical as presented. he was playing up his own confidence to piss moxxie off because he didn't like moxxie, but he's not the type to get a giant statue of himself. he's confident but not THAT confident.

also this is less divergence and more just me expanding on his motivations but in general striker wants to kill a goetia to rile up hell's imps and generally "lesser" species about the mistreatment they all face pretty often.

this is also more just me expanding on things but he grew up a ranch hand so he's very much a horse guy he's just more subtle about it than some people.

anyway those are my notes on striker and the striker problem yeehaw and goodnight. < not actually going to sleep

[matan4il]

Breaking the Tragedy

Kinnporsche vs Brokeback Mountain meta

In honor of me finding out that Apo once tweeted the above poster of Brokeback Mountain with his and Mile’s pics photoshopped in, that Mile’s favorite LGBTQ movie is BBM and that for their trip to Seoul, they dressed in coordinated outfits reminiscent of BBM’s protagonists... I have lost yet another piece of my sanity and wrote some meta about KPTS vs BBM.

Brokeback Mountain the short story: America’s Greek Tragedy

I cannot do BBM justice if I don’t start by talking about the original short story that the movie is based on. I read it and it absolutely broke my heart. You think the movie is sad? It’s practically a joyous celebration in comparison with the source material.

Because what Annie Proulx set out to write with her short story was an American version of a Greek tragedy. Let me explain how is a Greek tragedy, as a genre, different to tragedies in general. A tragedy is a story where our protagonist experiences an incredibly sad ending. A Greek tragedy is a story where our protagonist has a choice to make, but no matter what he chooses, he will experience an incredibly sad ending. In other words, in this genre, the real tragedy isn’t just that the ending is sad, it’s that there is no way for the ending to be anything other than sad. The impossibility of avoiding a devastating fate, THAT is the true tragedy of life.

Often this means that in Greek tragedies, the protagonist will monologue about the choice that they have, explaining to the audience why, no matter what they choose, the ending would be dire for them. The classic example is Antigone. Her brothers rebelled against her city, which is ruled by her tyrant uncle, and they were killed. The uncle, as punishment for their betrayal, decrees that his nephews would not be buried (condemning their souls eternally) and that anyone giving their bodies a proper burial will be executed. Antigone is in torment. On the one hand, human laws make it impossible for her to bury her brothers. If she does, she will be killed herself. She’s young, she’s in love, she’s about to marry her beloved, she has so much in life to look forward to. On the other hand, divine laws decree that as a sister, she must bring the bodies to burial and give their souls eternal rest, it would be a sin against her family and the gods if she doesn’t. So whatever she chooses, she’s doomed.

In her short story, Annie Proulx sets out to demonstrate the Greek tragedy that is the fate of gay people in the society she’s describing in her book of short stories, Close Range: Wyoming Stories. It’s a hyper-masculine, homophobic society in which non-heterosexual people have no right to exist. What Proulx tries to show is that queer people are damned no matter what choice they make in such a society, whether they pursue their love or stay deeply closeted. She will not have a protagonist who monologues about the impossibility of this choice, but she can have two characters, one choosing the former option, the other choosing the latter, and show the miserable ending that both meet.

That’s who Jack and Ennis are in her short story. Jack is the guy who simply can’t remain closeted. He doesn’t come out in the modern sense of the word, but he finds he can’t stand being fully closeted, because he’s in love with Ennis. The short story makes it clear that it’s not just about attraction (an attraction not seemingly based on looks. Proulx gives a less than flattering physical description of them) and sex (though their sex is canonically damn good). What they offer each other is a mutual understanding and therefore comfort that they don’t get from anyone else in their life, not even their own families. That’s what keeps them tethered to each other, that’s what keeps them hooked even when settling with women would make everything so much easier. They do try that. But Jack is SO in love with Ennis that he’s just too damn miserable in his marriage. Jack’s wife simply can’t give him what Ennis can, and that means there is this emotional void that he can’t live with and she can’t fill. He tries to get more of Ennis, Jack has this dream that he at first keeps to himself but eventually has to share about the kind of life they might lead together, one where they wouldn’t declare who they are to anyone, but they’d live together, so they’d get to share the sorrows and joys of every single day with each other. They’d get to enjoy the warmth and love that comes with mutual understanding and comfort on a daily basis.

Ennis can’t accept this dream. He knows what happens to men who dare live like that, his father made sure his kids would see with their own eyes how a man like that was murdered. So Ennis knows how society will punish them and that they can’t lead a life that’s even semi-open about who they are to each other. He doesn’t share the dream and he chooses to settle for the few times they can get away from the heteronormative lies they’re living.

In an attempt to resist the draw he constantly feels back to Ennis, Jack turns to sex with other men. It’s still not what he longs for, but it’s better than his marriage, because at least having sex with these men is one step closer physically to what he misses when he can’t be with Ennis. Eventually, he settles into an affair with another man who would come and live with him. Jack takes what he can get, even though it’s not what he really wants. Ennis is still the love of his life, the man whose shirt Jack keeps in his closet to the end, entangled with his own, mingled dry blood and all, Ennis is the reason why Jack wanted his ashes scattered on Brokeback Mountain. Between the two impossible choices Annie Proulx lays out, Jack chooses the closest thing he can have to his dream of living his life openly with the love of his life.

Ennis finds out that Jack was murdered for this. And at this point, it seems like out of the two, Ennis had made the smarter choice, the one of hiding who he is as much as possible. He’s still alive, he seemingly didn’t pay the price homophobia demands. Except that’s not true. Proulx then goes on to show us the real tragedy of a society that so fully embraces this type of hatred. It’s that EVERY queer person pays a price, no matter what choice they make, even if that price is invisible to us. Ennis is alive, but upon learning that Jack has been murdered, his heart dies. He becomes a ghost. All he is from this point on is a shadow of longing for Jack, hanging their two intertwined shirts in Ennis’ trailer, waking up every morning from dreams about Jack, wanting something that can never again be. There are no happy endings, there are no good choices for queer people where homophobia prevails.

Brokeback Mountain the movie: a softer lens

The movie tones that down. For the most part it follows the original short story with only a few elaborations that IMO don’t change the meaning of the source material by much. Except for the ending. That’s when Ennis’ daughter comes to talk to him, and they have a kind of reconciliation. The movie lets us understand he’s going to be there for her despite not being there before. Ennis also puts some roots down when he installs a mailbox, signaling both finding a place he’ll be connected to again (whereas the Ennis at the end of the short story is still very much adrift, not knowing what tomorrow will bring, not even where he’ll stay) and implying he’ll once again have someone writing to him. This doesn’t exist in the short story. By the end of the story, Ennis’ oldest daughter is already married, they have no special conversation about her wedding, and the only reason why she’s mentioned is that he might have to crash with her for a while if he can’t find any other solution in between jobs. Jack was the love of Ennis’ life, he’s gone, nothing will bring him back, nothing will give them the life they should have had together. There is no comfort, there is no consolation prize in Proulx’s tale. You can’t fix a Greek tragedy. You just gotta stand it.

So the movie is different. It’s not an inevitable tragedy that cannot be escaped and cannot be healed. The film ends instead with an offering that every life (even one in which everything that was ever important to you seems lost and unfixable) can hold some solace. Lost the love of your life? Experiencing immeasurable grief without even having the possibility to talk about it to anyone? You can still be there for your daughter’s wedding. You can still do one thing right. Does that fix it all? No. BBM the movie does recount a tragedy. It does follow a powerful love story and its destruction. But the film isn’t a Greek tragedy, either. You might have lost almost everything because of homophobia, the movie says, but you can have something.

At the same time, something both versions have in common is the title (obviously) which refers to the mountain where Jack and Ennis fell in love, the place that broke their lives and turned them into tragedies. This mountain becomes an image in their minds, a symbol of that moment in time when they were young, in love, happy and had the illusion that they always could be. Both versions tell the story of an all-encompassing love and the devastating effect of losing it due to homophobia, even if the film’s criticism is somewhat softened by the more hopeful ending.

Kinnporsche the Series: breaking the tragedy

On the most basic level, KPTS is easily comparable to BBM because they’re both set in a tough, hyper-masculine, demanding and merciless world. One might argue that Kinn and Porsche are in an even worse version of that than Jack and Ennis, because the mafia world is also a violent one by its very nature, whereas BBM tells the story of a society that is supposed to be civilized, though in reality its violence lies under the surface. The threat of it is very real for gay people, as our protagonists both learn firsthand, but that’s because homophobia provides a small break in the surface where violence can erupt with society choosing to turn a blind eye to it.

But against expectations, Kinn and Porsche exist in a hyper-masculine world that does not fall into the pit of homophobia. It’s not that homophobia doesn’t exist in their world at all. We do know that somewhere out there, people are homophobic in the society that the characters of KPTS live in. The show doesn’t deal too much with it, because our protagonists are simply spared any encounters with this homophobia, at least on screen.

How do we know that it does exist in their society? There are small hints, like Porsche being told in ep 108 that “Love is love” (first stated by Jom, then repeated by Yok). We all know this to be an anti-homophobia statement, and there is no need for it in this world had it been free of that kinda hate. But the matter is most explicitly brought up after Porsche discovers Kinn is gay. It turns out, Porsche is shocked not because of this revelation, but because Big sent him into Kinn’s bedroom, despite knowing about the sexy times happening there. But then Porsche realizes Big expected him to have a homophobic reaction, and so he goes off about that. This moment tells us Porsche himself isn’t homophobic, but he is aware of the existence of such attitudes.

This scene also points to the existence of homophobia in this world by hinting Porsche’s guess regarding Big is correct. After all, Porsche was bragging about having gone to the sauna together with Kinn, and that he would invite Big next time, implying there’s been a change in who is now the favorite bodyguard. Big, who is secretly in love with Kinn, was obviously jealous and wanted to do something that would destroy this newfound closeness. Big sent Porsche into that bedroom to witness Kinn’s gay sexcapades, expecting that the presumed heterosexual Porsche would react in a homophobic manner and would wanna get as far away as possible from their gay boss. In fact, Big lurks outside Kinn’s bedroom, and he’s completely unsurprised to see Porsche fleeing and shocked. Big’s confusion only starts when Porsche explains the actual source of his distress. Big’s bafflement indicates to us that homophobia was, in fact, the reaction that he was counting on.

Last thing about this scene which tells us that homophobia does exist somewhere in the background of KPTS’ world is Kinn’s own reaction. We discover that he was close by and heard the entire exchange between Porsche and Big. If homophobia was not an issue, then Porsche revealing himself to be free of it wouldn’t have mattered to Kinn so much. But instead, we witness this big grin blooming on his face, as he stands there, happy and literally illuminated. We never hear whether Kinn himself had ever suffered homophobia. As a mafia prince, he might have been spared its repercussions. But he’s aware of it enough that he must have known there’s a chance Porsche, who had up until then been straight and assumed others around him to be as well, would be homophobic. That’s what Kinn’s smile tells us, it’s his joy and relief that this guy he’s started having feelings for does not harbor that prejudice. And that whole bit doesn’t work, that smile isn’t anywhere near as meaningful, that scene doesn’t require the metaphor of illumination, unless homophobia does exist in KPTS’ world.

(as a side note, since I brought up Porsche’s sexuality, I’ll mention that in both stories we have guys who are presumed straight by their environment, by the narrative and even by themselves, and who discover their attraction to another man. In neither story do we get clear answers and definitions for how they identify, for example as gay or bisexual, in any modern sense. In Jack and Ennis’ case, claiming their identity by defining it would simply be too dangerous due to the homophobia around, not to mention the bits of it that they have internalized. When it comes to Porsche, there’s no need for labels, because those simply don’t matter to him. “Love is love,” he’s in love with Kinn, and that’s all Porsche needs to know the second that he accepts these feelings. He is unsure at first over never having dated a guy before, but when he talks to Yok about it in 108, he sounds more confused over not knowing how to date than about the fact that he’s looking to romance another guy)

KPTS offers us a hyper-masculine setting that co-exists with homophobia, but is mostly untouched by it. Through all the challenges KPTS’ protagonists have to face, none are about being attracted to another man. If BBM tells us how homophobia destroys people, KPTS presents a picture of how they can thrive in its absence. Because while the finale isn’t complete (as I indicated in my KPTS s2 meta), this show’s ending is still a tale of how love between two men saves the day.

Which brings me to another point. I think the biggest resemblance between KPTS and BBM comes when we consider the tagline for the movie. “Love is a force of nature,” the film’s poster reads, as Jack and Ennis’ portraits take up most of its space, seemingly bigger than the mountain their love was born on. BBM at the end of the day might be about the tragedy of homophobia, but it also affirms the undeniable power of love, so overwhelming that nothing can truly stop it. After all, not even what he experienced as the ultimate rejection could make Jack stop loving Ennis, and death itself couldn’t make Ennis stop loving Jack.

We see something so similar with Kinn and Porsche’s story as well. When they meet, they’re both men who aren’t looking for love or happiness. They’re both settling for just sex. One had been betrayed by a former lover so badly that he doesn’t believe in love anymore, the other has never even given love a chance because he’s too dedicated to raising his kid brother, leaving himself emotionally unavailable for a relationship. But when they meet each other? That’s a whirlwind that throws their lives into disarray, opens them up to love and to the possibility of loving someone who’s different than they expected (Porsche falling for a man, Kinn falling for someone who fights back, unlike the appeasing, docile men he’s been with before), and saves them from being destroyed by hurt even as they experience betrayals of all kinds.

And so unsurprisingly, these two epic love stories have many similarities. KPTS and BBM alike, perhaps precisely because of that hyper-masculine context they portray, give us protagonists whose first time acting on their mutual attraction involves alcohol being consumed by both men. For Kinnporsche, it’s their first kiss in 103, which follows partying up together at Yok’s bar. For Jack and Ennis, it’s the first time they have sex after they’ve drunk so much that Ennis can’t leave the camp for the night by riding away. Which inevitably leads to another similarity between these two couples, that this is a starter happening on a physical level, but it will lead both down a path of emotions realization.

Of course, emotions are complicated, especially for men who aren’t that great at communicating (which tends to be almost all of them when we’re talking about guys who exist in hyper-masculine settings). Jack and Ennis, when they have to part ways and they don’t know how to express the pain of that, they end up throwing punches at each other on their last day on Brokeback Mountain. Similarly, Kinn and Porsche, when they care about each other so much, but the possibility of Vegas coming between them arises, they end up turning to a shove, a slap and some insults, hurting each other because they themselves are in pain. But since this is also just a symptom of how much they care about each other, then eventually, in both cases, it is the depth of their feelings for each other that helps them to overcome their trouble in communication. They return to and help heal each other.

Then, there’s also that understanding and comfort these men offer each other. In BBM, the peak of this is represented in a moment when Ennis pulls an exhausted Jack to him and repeats words he had heard as a kid from his mom. This is the softness and care that drives them out into the wilderness several times a year, no matter what else is happening in their lives, and into each other’s arms. Despite all the hurt Ennis caused Jack on their last day together on Brokeback Mountain and on every occasion when Ennis rejects Jack’s dream of living together, in spite of all other measures Jack turns to in order to deal with the hurt, he never stops seeing Ennis, untangles their shirts or changes his will. On Ennis’ part, even when Alma tells him she knows his secret, even when he realizes his life could be in danger because he and Jack were not as invisible as he thought they were despite their precautions, Ennis doesn’t stop seeing Jack either. They are bonded together. And that’s what we see with Kinn and Porsche, too. No matter what surprises are thrown at them, no matter what betrayals, no matter how reality is twisted around them to make them doubt their own minds, they don’t stop trusting each other. They keep choosing each other throughout the show and especially during the finale. And their trust and understanding is also built on tender moments, similar to the one Jack and Ennis shared, such as when Porsche is taking care of Kinn’s hair, reminiscent of how Kinn says his mother used to do the same for him when he was a kid.

Lastly, these great love affairs aren’t just a bond of compulsion, where they have to return to each other. They’re also a bond of choice, a commitment that they want to make, even if it’s not one that society is ready to recognize. “Jack, I swear,” says Ennis to a pair of shirts he has just hung in his trailer next to a postcard of Brokeback Mountain, two shirts that Jack joined together and Ennis would never put asunder. A symbolic wedding vow. Their own little ceremony that they end up sharing by virtue of Ennis continuing what Jack had started even after he isn’t there anymore. This symbolic commitment is one we also see with KPTS in ep 114, first when we know Kinn is the one who has put a ring on Porsche’s finger (one that matches his own and marks them as partners who lead their extended mafia family together), and second when they exchange their own vows on the boat. It’s the same one where Kinn demanded Porsche’s life as his bodyguard back in ep 101 and was refused, but this time Porsche is committing his whole life to Kinn and is being promised in return that he’d be treasured.

Kinn and Porsche broke the inevitably tragic nature of the BBM world. At the end of it all, it’s not only the relative absence of homophobia that makes the difference. That detail is crucial! Their story would have been completely different if they would have had to cope with what Jack and Ennis did. But another element that makes a difference is the trust in each other that Kinn and Porsche manage to build. I’ve talked about the importance of that in my previous Kinnporsche meta posts (about the sex scene in 107, as well as KPTS s2 meta) and how we can tell that they would have eventually beaten any adversary and all hardships thanks to that. It’s something that Jack and Ennis, as much as they loved each other, didn’t manage to get to. They never learn to trust each other enough to communicate properly. Ennis is afraid of Jack’s wrath when he has to cancel one of their planned meetings, so he keeps it a secret until the very end of their current tryst. Jack knows better than to share with Ennis what he does with other men in order to get over the emotional loneliness he experiences whenever they part. Maybe in a less homophobic society, they would get to where they stop disappointing each other and could have faith in one another.

So that trust that Kinn and Porsche put in each other? That’s actually a huge thing. Because in a sense, Kinn and Porsche’s backgrounds as they unfold at the end of KPTS unveil they easily could have ended up as a tragedy as well. Their story is that of two young men who are caught in a war started before they were even born by Kinn’s cruel grandfather who we never even see on screen. This head of the family is cold and manipulative, turning brother against his own brother and shaping both his sons into being like him. He’s also responsible for violent acts, one of which brings Porsche’s mom as a young girl into the lives of his sons, setting off a whole chain of events that will end with the bloody war between the two mafia families that we witness in the finale. This is precisely the type of background that in Greek mythology curses a whole family and dooms all of its members, even the ones born generations later. In fact, it’s those younger generations who become the very essence of Greek tragedy. They are fated to meet a terrible end no matter what they choose to do, despite them not being responsible for any of the atrocities that curse their family, and their fate is set before they were even conceived.

Kinn and Porsche could have easily become these tragic figures as well. But KPTS breaks the cycle of tragedy through the bond its protagonists created. Where the family of Kinn and Porsche is torn apart by hate and envy, they change the course of their fate by finding love together, as well as a desire to support and make each other happy. And where Jack and Ennis failed to trust each other, Kinn and Porsche manage to build that foundation, and make it a stable one. That’s powerful enough that when the events of the past start surfacing, whether more recent (Vegas and Tawan) or less (Korn and Gun, Porsche’s parents), threatening to tear our lovers’ faith in themselves and the other one apart, they manage to hold on, trust and choose each other still. Which leads us to that last scene on the boat, the one where they commit themselves to one another, sealed by them physically holding each other, safe in the knowledge that they’re truly and completely in love, that they would die for each other, and that, thankfully, now they get to do something better. They get to do what Jack and Ennis could only dream of. They get to live the rest of their lives with each other.

~ * ~

more: (pool sex mini meta) (all my KPTS meta on AO3)

~ * ~

As a bonus, here’s Brokeback Mountain’s theme, and Jeff Satur’s Why Don’t You Stay. They’re not similar, but WDYS’ opening always reminded me a little of bits of the BBM theme.

[entangledinthreads]

Welcome to The Blog!¡

This blog was made to show Thimble's story and au, The Maestros and The Seamstress.

Mostly acting as a general archive and way for me to share Thimble's story. If I ever show non canon or alternative cannon here I shall clarify as it will probably pop up here and there.

Everything regarding or relating to Thimble will be under the "Bww Thimble" tag and au relates things will be put under "The Maestros and The Seamstress." Just to keep things clean and organized for my own sanity.

Asks will be open on this Blog:

So feel free to ask questions to Thimble (and possibly other characters such as Balan and Lance.) This may be subject to change, please be respectful if your ask isn't answered.

The ask box will probably end up closed for long periods of time which I apologize for but this isn't intended to be an ask blog moreover one for Thimble's story. So Asks aren't a big priority but I will do my best to get to them.

Disclaimers:

This blog deals with some heavier topics Such as but not limited to Depression, grief, death, and identity issues.

There'll be some blood, self isolation, minor body horror but not an exorbitant Amount, and Just general heavy topics. While not always at the forefront or obvious.

Rules:

While this Blog does deal with heavy topics they aren't shown in excess. Mostly implied things but nothing outwardly NSFW (As the gore / Blood is incredibly small.) so any questions, replies, or reblogs that are heavy NSFW or just make me uncomfortable will be ignored and or deleted.

Please be patient with the owner, blog updates, answers, and posts will most likely be incredibly slow.

Please be respectful of the character Thimble and me. To preference, Thimble goes by Any Pronouns and doesn't have a canon bio gender. head canons are cool, however you view Thimble Gender Wise is Valid just don't fight with anyone over your personal head canons. Or with me as this is my character and if you cannot respect each other or canon you will be blocked.

No hate Speech or Discriminatory language.

That should be everything! ¡ Enjoy your Time here! ¡

-Chuwush

[ussenterpeen]

jeebies' most wanted!

Hi! I'm Jeebies (32, cisfem, queer, EST, been roleplaying for 20+ years) and I am a writer and moderator on Denouement, an 18+ pan/multifandom roleplaying site that's been going strong for over two years. We have a Jcink hub for apps, lore, and basic info, but most of the writing/RP takes place via real time chats (utilizing Tupper), post-by-post threads, and comm threads on Discord. We also use Cbox for RP, particularly for real time group RP. What makes Denouement unique is the sheer variety of fandoms/muses represented -- anime/manga, live action tv & movies, novels & comics, musicals & podcasts. It's truly a panfandom experience -- not leaning towards one genre or medium or another. We welcome the most niche fandom characters as well as fandomless original characters. Our members love sharing their OCs and hyping up others' as well. Below, I've written a few detailed blurbs for characters I'd really like to write against. The character wanted is in bold, and I write the character in italics.

Rebecca Welton for Ted Lasso (platonic or romantic)

I took Ted from the end of S3, leaving for Kansas City. Writing him against a Rebecca from S1 who is still bitter and an emotional mess could be a lot of fun; Ted would be able to use his therapy techniques and improved emotional intelligence to help her adjust. Talk about a reversal of which fish is out of which body of water! I think being stranded together, desperately clinging to one another for sanity and security, could be the spark of potential that leads to a slow burn Tedbecca relationship -- though I am absolutely cool with keeping them platonic/unrequited if that's not your speed.

Dean Winchester for Castiel (platonic, ideally romantic)

My Cas is from the end of S5, and I have also put him on the Summer Path, meaning he has all of his angelic powers but no memory of who or what he is. So far, he's been working as a humble gardener and beekeeper, interacting with other non-humans to try and figure out who he might be. Having Dean show up and try to help him remember things would help reshape Cas back into the being he's meant to be. And maybe they kiss a little along the way?? Plus, Denouement's got a whole lot of baddies to gank!

Tony Stark for Peter Parker (familial/platonic)

My Peter is from the end of No Way Home, so he arrived in Denouement under the impression no one would know or remember him, with both of his closest parental figures gone. He has MJ, a beacon in the darkness, but he's struggling to decide if he needs to give up being Spider-Man for good, lest he destroy this new world the way he nearly destroyed his own. Having his mentor back to help him find his way would be so great for his development. Also, if you pick up Tony, there's already a Stark Industries waiting for him to play with (and I also write Steve Rogers which could make for some draaaaaamaaaa). Plus, we have a whole cast of Marvel chars to write with.

Leonard 'Bones' McCoy for James T. Kirk (platonic)

I pulled Jim from the end of STID, so I am looking more specifically for an AOS Bones to write against, but also happy to write against TOS Bones if that's your vibe! Jim needs his bestie, and no world will ever test Bones' patience like Denouement; there are so many strange and hazardous situations that need a doctor. We have an AOS Spock, a DIS-era Pike, and a few other Star Trek OCs to write with as well!

Here's some helpful links to get started!

Guidebook Taken Canons Reserves Path/Ranking System Discord

I also write: Eddie Munson, Edwin Paine, Emma Meyer, Fiona Goode, Five Hargreeves, Joel Miller, Karen Page Rey, and Steve Rogers. I'm happy to toss plotting your way with any of these folks should you choose to join!

Aaaaand, a few other of my wanted fandoms/fandoms I just wanna see:

Star Wars, Stranger Things, The Umbrella Academy, The Last of Us, The Boys, Gen V, American Horror Story, Kingsman, X-Men, The Adventure Zone, Yu Yu Hakusho, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Barbie, Dead Boy Detectives, Doctor Who, Severence

[theladyragnell]

Thanks for answering my ask.....if you don't mind me asking (again), who are your favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series (can be canon or non-canon)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

I'll give you a scattering! Again to save my sanity, I'm going to give myself a few restrictions, namely: a. fandoms people have actually heard of (a lot of my ship love is going to ships from my D&D games or my own original work right now) and b. ships I am currently into (I am still fond of, say, Arthur/Merlin or Matt/Foggy, but I'm not really actively into them).

Xena/Gabrielle (Xena Warrior Princess) has been around for so long but is just so good! The show really isn't afraid to let them show how much they care about each other, even if because of the time period it couldn't take the last half-step to make things what a modern audience would consider to be canonical.

Parker/Hardison/Eliot (Leverage), best of OT3s! They are all so competent and they all like and admire each other so much.

Enjolras/Grantaire (Les Mis)! I've been having a resurgence of love for them recently, truly this fandom gave the absolute BEST pining, and with great textual support (given these are tertiary characters in a book written in the 19th century, so the bar for that support is very low).

Han/Leia (Star Wars), just one of those lifelong ships that I have loved forever and that was definitely formative for me to what I like in romances. Banter!

I'm going to make a bullet point for formative book romance ships, because the answer to why I love them is very simply "because they shaped my reading and writing": Alanna/George (Tortall by Tamora Pierce), Meliara/Vidanric (Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith), Beauty/the Beast (Beauty by Robin McKinley), Harriet/Rom (A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson).

I feel like I am missing like 80 ships, but these are all perennials for me, most of them with closed canons so I can't grow disenchanted with them as I tragically have with some other canons I've written for extensively.

[x0401x]

I think you should do a post after every Tsurune ep, it's really cathartic to read your thoughts!

If I keep getting messages asking for it, then sure! I’m sorry for being so slow with them, though. Grad school entrance exams are draining away every ounce of my sanity. :^)

I guess this ask means you want a review of episode 5 as well, so here we go! Again, sorry for the wait!

So this episode delivers a lot more of the novel that we didn’t get on S1, such as Kaito and Nanao’s family. I love that we finally got to see their moms and sisters, as well as the fact that they often do get-togethers. Bonus for showing what kinds of pronouns/nicknames they use for each other.

We also get more of the girls’ team being an actual part of the club. Getting a new menu for practice, actively interacting with the boys, helping with prep and cleaning, having screen time doing their own training and officially becoming a team of competitors instead of just... being there.

In the middle of the episode, there’s one more peek at Ryouhei’s house (first one was in episode 2) and at long last, his sister shows up! We only see her back but that’s still something. We’re gradually getting eased into what is probably the second most complicated family of the whole series, and I like that the way KyoAni is going about it is exactly how I’d pictured. Well, more like how I wished S1 was.

Most importantly, perhaps for the very first time in the anime, we got to see Minato thinking about Masaki for no reason. I know this doesn’t sound important, but if I were to pinpoint what Minato’s most frequent habit is in canon, I’d say it’s thinking about Masaki. Whenever Minato is thinking of anything in the novel, Masaki pops right up. That, of course, if he wasn’t already thinking about Masaki to begin with. I don’t remember a single scene from any of the three volumes where Minato is thinking or worrying about something without Masaki hijacking his mind. And it’s never accidental or even incidental. Masaki is one of Minato’s main concerns. He thinks of Masaki about as much as he thinks of his own life. Partly because, one way or another, Masaki is always involved in whatever aspect of his life he’s thinking about. And now KyoAni has given us a small, tiny crumb of that. True allies.

At this point, a good portion of this season feels like a catch-up to S1. Many events of volume 2 are being either omitted or cut out so that there's enough space for the content we didn’t get in S1 to be inserted in this one.

Now, as in every episode, for all the canon-compliant content we get, we get just as much (if not double) non-compliant content.

This episode gives us Nanao and Kaito in a symbiosis. Nanao takes care of Kaito, Kaito protects Nanao. They’re essentially opposites who complete each other. If you take out the OOC-ness, there’s no problem with this choice of narrative... except maybe for the fact that it’s extremely overused. I’ve talked about this before but I feel the need to stress out once again that trying to use formulas that have worked for other series isn’t an effective way to garner more popularity. It actually tends to do the contrary. I do have a lot of respect for the original work’s tendency to avoid that at all costs. Instead, it takes the most common tropes and subverts them. Nanao and Kaito have everything to fall into that commonplace storyline, but the author is having none of it.

Novel!Kaito and Nanao are opposites, true, yet not the kind of opposites who complete each other. Rather, the opposite that completes Kaito is Seiya, but KyoAni is still pretending that Seiya has this exact kind of relationship with Minato instead, so as I mentioned when I talked about episode 4, someone has to fill up that hole. Nanao has been replacing Seiya ever since S1, but I guess KyoAni realized how weird and incesty it looked with it being so one-sided. We only had Nanao obsessively looking out for Kaito in the same way that Seiya obsessively looked after Minato, except there was no deeper reason behind it like there was with Seiya (as in feeling guilty for the death of Minato’s mother). So now this relationship is being balanced out, making it a two-way avenue.

In the novel, Kaito’s been looking after Nanao ever since they were little kids because his aunt asked him to. Nanao had always drawn in the attention of the people around him, and this earned him both favor and disfavor. We’ve seen that in this episode. What we didn’t see, though, is that, because of this, Nanao’s mother asked Kaito to protect him, and the result is that Kaito eventually grew up to be Nanao’s dad. Nanao was well-aware of this and often used it to his advantage. Basically, novel!Kaito is an unwilling “father” with a willing “son” and novel!Seiya is a willing “mother” with an unwilling “son”. He and Seiya have that in common; they’re natural-born caretakers, except Kaito doesn’t realize that he’s in this position. It’s just automatic for him. He’s probably been doing this for longer than Seiya has. That last bit was also shown in this episode, but it was instead presented as Kaito taking the burden on his own accord and compared to Seiya taking on the role of Minato’s watchful eye.

In short, the novel draws a parallel between Kaito and Seiya and uses it as a plot device for their relationship, while the anime draws a parallel between Kaito and Nanao's relationship and Minato and Seiya's relationship. The reason why I'm iffy about this is that it acts as if Kaito taking on other people's burdens is something that he simply does out of nowhere. There doesn’t seem to be much reason for it. With Nanao, we can understand, because that’s his family, but what about him trying to take part of the blame for Minato’s screw-up? This is being presented to us as a habit of his, except with no motive other than “that’s just how he is”.

In the canon, that's not how things go. Kaito does have a lot of concerns regarding the people around him, but as any normal person, he won't break boundaries. If he's not being let into someone else's affairs, he won't butt in, no matter how much he wants to. I dare say that this is a major character trait of his and that is what makes him endearing. He's impulsive as shit, but when he sees that he might hurt someone's feelings or that his input won’t be constructive, he backs off. That’s contra-intuitive for the readers, as we go in expecting him to be the cliche that the anime is giving us, but he isn’t. It’s a pleasant surprise.

And just to put it out there, as far as canon goes, there's literally nothing that Kaito wants more than for Seiya to let him into his personal business. He really wishes that Seiya would share the load with him and that is the main source of his character conflicts in the novels. It sometimes even feels like a parallel to Masaki and Minato, where Minato often makes reluctant mental notes on the fact that Masaki hides a lot of stuff from him. Both Masaki and Seiya are described, from Minato and Kaito’s POVs respectively, as having too many secrets. But that's too gay for TV. A gayness that is worsened by the fact that we never get any explanation for this in the novel. Like, none. Kaito isn't like this with anyone else and the text never goes "it's all because of their strong friendship" on these two. Instead, it gives us a love song as the literal only allusion to their relationship. Go figure.

Can't be having that bullshit in the anime, so change it KyoAni shall. Because anime!Kaito started doing this entirely on his own instead of it being a request from his aunt, we’re getting a different dynamic. KyoAni is adamant about Seiya being Minato’s knight-in-shining-armor (even without him getting the glory for it in this season), and without his presence, Kaito was reduced to an onboxious, arrogant little shit without much personality other than being dedicated to nothing but archery and acting mean to everyone except the teachers in S1. Nanao was there as a plot device in order to make Kaito remotely likable and also so that he’d have some inkling of personality himself, given that most of his lines had gone to Seiya. Yet now he’s here to complement Kaito and vice-versa. In building them like that, KyoAni has turned them into Minato and Seiya, except with a rivalry added to it.

From a storytelling point of view, I find this repetition and lack of creativity to be rather underwhelming. And on a personal level, I still think the way KyoAni goes on about Kaito and Nanao’s relationship is tad creepy. It’s just weird and off-putting to see two cousins mourning so sorely the fact that they’re slowly breaking free from this take-what-you-give system they’ve developed over time. In the novel, Kaito is Nanao’s nanny, sure, but it’s literally just small everyday life things that he does, such as helping Nanao carry heavy luggage or patching him up when he gets hurt during practice. That’s as far as it goes, just like Seiya caring for Minato only goes as far as offering him tea and towels during breaks or nursing him when he gets sick (that, of course, after Seiya has had proper closure from his personal conflicts and stopped being paranoid over Minato’s wellbeing). It’s all pretty normal and chill, fitting perfectly within the scope of what relatives and/or best friends do for each other. And the closest it gets to anything marginally negative is Kaito pointing to Seiya that he’s babying Minato too much while Seiya retorts that Kaito babies Nanao too much, which Kaito is in complete denial about.

I'm also not behind the rivalry between Kaito and Nanao. It totally overshadows the one between Minato and Shuu, and narrative-wise, that's not supposed to happen. It also makes any other sort of rivalry from this point on to feel somewhat repetitive and it doesn't have much of a reason to exist other than cover up for the fact that Nanao and Kaito have no personality otherwise. Besides, it's a contradiction, as far as the boys' skills go. Nanao is a great archer, but he isn't supposed to be able to compete with Kaito. Kaito being the ace is what makes him the oomae to begin with.

Anyway, case in point. I'm not digging this route in the anime, but I’m just gonna turn a blind eye to it. I think we’ve earned a lot of positive stuff from this mess.

Yeah, the flashbacks had some weird undertones. But they were accurate. Everything we got in them after the innitial parts that show the beginning of the duo’s symbiosis is completely in tune with canon. The difference is that we got this in the books in the form of description, while the anime has given us actual scenes, with dialogue and all that. They even include a nod to S1′s drama CD, which elaborates on Kaito and Masaki’s first meeting (something that we also only get in the form of a monologue in the novel).

Speaking of monologues, I like that we’re finally getting some stuff from Nanao’s point of view. In S1, we see very little of him and only through other characters. This time, he’s being his own person and although he’s very toned-down in the anime (just like everyone else, really), that’s still his canon personality. He’s a lot less sparkly than his canon counterpart, but the essence of his character is indeed being presented to us viewers. Add that to the fact that he’s been given his original hairstyle in this season, and there you have it. At long last, it feels like I’m finally seeing Kisaragi Nanao in the anime for the very first time.

Not just that; I feel like we’re also properly seeing his relationship with other characters for the first time. In S1, we basically only got snippets of his relationship with Kaito and that’s it. Here, though, we’ve been getting to see not just a deeper look into said relationship but also him interacting significantly with other characters. The other boys analyzing him and Kaito, looking out for them, knowing them. These boys are on each other's radars. That’s some refreshing shit right there. At last, it feels like we're watching a series about a group of friends. I especially like the emphasis on Minato and Nanao's interaction. Another thing from volume 1 that's being added here. Better late than never.

I gotta confess that every time KyoAni fixes something they left a hole in during S1, it’s as if the fact that something was missing the whole time is being thrown in our faces. It also somehow feels like KyoAni is offering us an apology with each of these little fixes. It leaves a bitter aftertaste, but frankly, I appreciate the effort.

In conclusion, I can overlook the creepy vibes that Kaito and Nanao’s relationship give me in the anime because the pros are worth the cons in my book. But here’s where I draw the line: Kaito being portrayed as violent.

Kaito is described in the novel, throughout all three volumes, as “aggressive”. Because he is. Just not physically. He’s quick-tempered and he runs his mouth when he’s mad, and he’ll go as far as glaring and closing up distance with whoever he’s having a heated discussion with, but never, ever, has he laid a hand on anyone. As far as canon goes, Minato and Seiya are much more likely to throw fist than Kaito. The closest he’s gotten to hitting someone was in a scene where Eisuke insults Kazemai to their faces and he almost loses it, but his arm accidentally hits Seiya’s glasses and knocks them to the floor, which gives him immediate regret. The thing nobody should ever forget about Kaito is that he’s dense and inept, but he has a pure heart.

So Kaito punching his former teammate back in the day? Whack.

Kaito getting pissed during practice and being disrespectful in the dojo? Whack.

Kaito pulling Nanao and Seiya’s collars? Fucking whack, my dudes.

I know that the anime isn’t depicting Kaito like he’s an asshole. Rather, he’s being treated as a reckless kid who takes things too seriously and pushes his feelings and values onto other people. That’s how the novel treats him as well. But the whole point of Kaito is that he seems menacing yet isn’t. He’ll talk shit, sure, but it takes a lot to make him even be willing to physically harm someone. This felt like one of the by-the-book safe-formula things that KyoAni has added to the series because they learned it from Free!, and I’m not a fan of it.

There are things in this episode that I'm a fan of, though. I think the frame composition in this one was especially good. I specially love the way that Kaito and Nanao were placed in all sorts of yin-yang ways on-screen (even though this is something that's supposed to be a Minato and Shuu thing, I'm just taking whatever I can get). But above all, I love the way that Seiya and Kaito are poisitioned in the scenes where they appear together. Finally, the anime is beginning to take a step on closing the distance between them. The physical distance, at least. Their relationship is still nothing like it is in canon, but maybe this is a hint that they will get somewhere near the general area of how deeply connected they are in the books. Maybe.

There's some more stuff that I wanna give my two cents on, but I gotta take a look at the next episodes to make a judgement, so I'll leave just this here for now!

[thesilverlady]

(a bit of rant) the Hypocrisy is truly the only thing that destroyed my enjoyment of hotd/f&b people take the whole team thing waaay to seriously as if we're rooting for footballs teams and not an interesting story that could be analyzed and interpret in many ways . not to talk about the moral police who attack you for enjoying problematic characters\ships but also go in their way to enjoy other problematic characters\ships. like the asoiaf fandom was become waaay worse than it used to be after GOT s7\s8 for some reason

I completely get it and I'm sorry they sucked the enjoyment out of you.

I'll admit I used to get frustrated over some people who would say "it's just color wars" or "they all suck so pick a fav criminal and move on" 'cause in my mind that meant they didn't understand or appreciate the story told from the book but after taking some time offline and touching some grass, I came to the conclusion that while I can't and shouldn't push my interpretations onto others I also don't have to put up with terrible takes I see.

I'll admit the fandom has become an extremely unwelcoming space: side 1: are the book purists who while I 100% can sympathize with wanting a faithful adaptation, I've often see them treating others like shit over crackships and toxic pairs, as if the entirely of asoiaf isn't built on that. The truth is they don't really care about "problematism" they just hate seeing a character they like being (what they consider to be) misinterpreted by others in fan content like fics, headcanon and arts etc.

Again I sympathize because I used to feel the same for another fandom (the grisha trilogy) but holding onto these feelings can only make you feel miserable. The two healthy solutions I've found are: either move on or create content you want to see - because I guarantee there will be others who want to see the same thing you do

side 2: show viewers who don't care about the book (which is valid. you can't force someone to read or becoming invested in the lore) but will also lose their mind over canon discussions because it doesn't match up with the version that exist in the showverse so that leads them to interpret the rest of the fandom as whining and lacking joy because "it's not that deep" and "why can't you just enjoy this"

side 3: is a mixed of both, which i consider the worst bunch because there's no victory with them. You show too much love for the book? Then you automatically hate the cast and you're -ist -obic. You love the show? Have you written 10 think pieces a day and support what is commonly accepted for the characters by the fandom? Because if you haven't you're a fake. You like a single green character despite not supporting their side of the war? You're obviously a misogynist. You ship non-canon ships? you're deranged. You ship canon ships? you're problematic and an apologist.

See?

the way I've come to treat asoiaf as a whole (including f&b/hotd side) is how I treat the star wars fandom (which consists of a similiar toxic fanbase):

a) don't. enter. discourses.

you'll never change anyone's mind and they'll never change yours. Only enter an argument if the person gives normal sanity vibes or is a friend and won't have a problem if you two have different opinions on something

b) treat it as a solo thing.

The way I view this account is basically. I throw a ball at a wall and maybe someone will hear the noise and come play with me. Can it lonely? Sure. But it pays off when someone sees the earning signs I've left on this account and still decides to interact on their own

c) Be the person you want to interact with

This one can be hard because emotions always have a way to get in the way, but try to be someone you'd want to hang out in a fandom. In the past, I've gotten asks that say even though they don't agree with some of my interpretations about the characters they feel welcome here in regards of "teams". That's something I've been aiming for myself.

Anyways as to recent fandoms have become a bit of a nightmare with hypocrisy obsessive need for censorship and morality lessons as well as the quest of ending "romanticization" of anything, it has become a struggle for many. Try to combat it if you're willing because there are definitely other people other there who feel exactly the way you do.

Otherwise, a pause for personal space and to take care of yourself is never bad. In the end, I hope you can re-find some enjoyment for this fandom and if you ever need to vent more about it my asks & dms are open and judgement-free ♥

[ao3feed-steggy]

Can you ever wash away my blood (from your pale stained hands)?

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/eiAxcLo by eeshakaur08 her eyes scanned the room, her eyes catching dark-hair, a glint of metal, a face, beauty and danger frozen in time. Sitting on one of the couches, looking dazed and out of place, was someone she never thought she’d see again. Her heart lurched in her chest, a flash shock passing through her eyes, only detectable by those closest to her... She couldn't afford to let her emotions show. Not now. Seeing Bucky again, (James, her mind screamed at her), stirred up memories she had long buried, feelings she had tried to forget, hurt and pain she had overcome. But if nothing else, she was a spy, a master of deception, and she would play her part. For now, she would pretend that James “Bucky” Barnes was just a new, slightly traumatized, Avenger, who happened to have done a short gig as the Winter Solider... She had to. For the sake of her team, for James, and for her own sanity. Or an Avengers AU, where James and Natalia met in the Red Room but were separated, and now with James back, Natalia will have to overcome her emotions to maintain her carefully constructed new life. (I know this fucks with the timeline and I don't care, let me have my winterwidow in peace) Words: 4507, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Marvel (Comics), Black Widow (Movie 2021), Black Widow (Comics), Winter Soldier (Comics), Captain America (Movies) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage Categories: F/M Characters: Natasha Romanov (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Bruce Banner, Clint Barton, (Past) Peggy Carter, Howling Commandos, Avengers Team Members (Marvel), Dreykov (Avengers Marvel movies) Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes & Natasha Romanov, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark, Bruce Banner & Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, Natasha Romanov & Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes & Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes & Clint Barton, Bruce Banner & James "Bucky" Barnes, James "Bucky" Barnes & Peggy Carter, (Past) Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes & Howling Commandos, Howling Commandos & Steve Rogers, Dreykov (Avengers Marvel movies) & Natasha Romanov Additional Tags: winterwidow - Freeform, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn, Protective Bucky Barnes, Hurt Bucky Barnes, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Feels, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, POV Bucky Barnes, Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Protective Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Bucky Barnes Calls Natasha Romanov "Natalia", Natasha Romanov Feels, Natasha Romanov Needs a Hug, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Natasha Romanov Lives, Soft Natasha Romanov, Domestic Avengers, Avengers Family, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe, POV Natasha Romanov (Marvel), How Do I Tag, no beta we die like auntie nat, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Hurt Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Friendship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Domestic Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I'll add more tags as i go, Song: Skyfall (Adele) read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/eiAxcLo

[cheesybadgers]

All my answers are about Old Habits Die Hard (shock horror lol):

1. What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

As corny as it may sound, the power of love and how it can change the narrative. It's a fix-it fic that undoes a character death, but the starting point is ultimately a love story. What if that character and another fell in love and how would that affect subsequent canon events and beyond? It's basically a butterfly effect that stems from their relationship. There are a lot of other themes in there too, like war/violence, healing from grief/trauma, actions/consequences, sexuality, guilt, religion, politics (including the side-eyeing of American imperialism), family dynamics, friendship, intimacy, genre subversion, identity, sacrifice, growth and change. But love is at the centre of it all.

Why did I choose this? Because their linked fate in canon haunted me and nearly every fic for the ship seemed to be heavy angst/canon compliant/half the ship was already dead and the other half was grieving. So, I needed to do something different for my own sanity.

2. What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

What haven't I used? 😂 The source material is based on real life history, so I read up on parts of that, plus various other books (fiction and non-fiction), websites, articles, other TV shows/films. I learnt a lot about Colombian/Mexican/Spanish history and culture that I didn't know before, which has been fascinating. I've got a master post that lists a lot of my inspiration, as there's been so much of it.

3. What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

At the start, they think the answer to their problems is winning an unwinnable war, but as the story progresses, it becomes apparent they're largely being driven by grief and trauma, which is spiralling them down destructive paths. I wanted to steer them away from that, because it does not end well in canon lol. I wanted them to help each other confront their pasts, particularly because of the parallels between their situations, so they could start looking to their future. And I wanted their love for and faith in each other to be the path they chose instead, even if that meant losing faith in and walking away from their original goal.

I wouldn't say I wanted to teach anyone anything (well, apart from directing people to my research sources lol), as this is my love letter to the characters/ship at the centre of the story. I did start it in early 2021 when we were in lockdown though, so it wouldn't be inaccurate to say I needed there to be light at the end of the tunnel for a change. But it was primarily for me, and I think it will take on very different personal meanings when I look back on it in the future.

4. How many chapters is your story going to have?

This is subject to change, but right now I think it will be 21 chapters (maybe 22 if chapter 20 needs to be split in half...which is always a possibility lol) plus an epilogue.

5. Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

It's fan fiction and it's already on Tumblr and AO3.

6. When and why did you start writing?

This is hard to answer, because I dabbled in writing some embarrassing band fics when I was a teenager that have thankfully long since been deleted lol. I couldn't tell you why I wrote those, but I've always loved writing I suppose, even if it wasn't necessarily fiction. I used to keep diaries throughout my teens and I would scribble away in those nearly every day for years. I grew up on fan forums/message boards and had a LiveJournal for a long while too where I wrote a lot of gig reviews and general fandom ramblings, then I migrated to Tumblr obviously. I guess writing has always been my preferred method of expressing myself.

I made a couple of failed attempts to write fic again around 2013 - 2015, but I never took it very seriously or finished/posted anything. That was it until June/July 2020, when for obvious reasons, I had a lot of spare time on my hands. Can't really remember what compelled me to take the plunge properly this time...I guess it was probably a combination of there not being many of the types of fics around that I wanted to read and I just needed a creative outlet whilst the world was on fire.

7. Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

Follow your heart with what you want to write, not what you think is popular or what everyone else is doing if that doesn't appeal to you. Don't let social media's obsession with stats consume you, even though I know it's hard and demoralising sometimes. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, so try not to sweat it if yours are different to the writers’ you admire.

I follow a whole bunch of super talented writers, but I'll just tag a few who may want to answer these questions themselves (no pressure though!): @mariamariquinha, @thoroughlymodernminutia, @lavendertales, @acrossthesestars, @beecastle, @ejunkiet, @evilbunnyking, @beauty-grace-outer-space

Writers of Tumblr, I have an ask game for you all!

Please reblog and answer these questions, maybe tag others too! My asks are also open for them.

What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

How many chapters is your story going to have?

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

When and why did you start writing?

Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

[kaylahastoomanyships]

Okay, I'm sleep deprived and I guess for some reason that makes my complaining side come out, but I can't help wondering, what was people's reactions to the various dub-con/non-con aspects in OUAT?

I know Once wasn't the only show or movie that did this stuff as it has been a common issue in media over the years but being a new fan of this show specifically, I'm curious.

The ones that come to mind immediately are, of course, Sheriff Graham and Robin. Regina and Zelena literally r*ped them. With Robin, he obviously couldn't give his consent as he was being misled about who he was sleeping with. With Graham, that was blatant sexual assault/r*pe. He was literally traumatized by the whole thing (rightly so). Then there was Hook 2/Wish!Realm Hook who suffered the same fate as Robin.

As a Rumbelle fan, it pains me to bring this one up but of course, I can't ignore the whole Lacey situation. I know we don't ever see anything on-screen but it's clear (at least from my interpretation) that the writers were implying that Lacey and Rumple were intimate with each other. And yes, Lacey was definitely shown as willing but Belle could not consent herself. I feel like it's that awful attitude of 'Well, they're already together/they're boyfriend and girlfriend, so consent doesn't matter'. (For my own sanity, I like to ignore what I know is the actual intended canon there and think of it as Rumple not taking liberties with Lacey out of respect for Belle.)

Anyway, I literally saw an interview where the cast and crew were joking round about how Regina kept Graham as her 'boytoy' as if it was all fine and dandy. And then, also they have these meaningful scenes with Zelena being a mother to Robin later too. The abuse is just glossed over completely.

Like it blows my mind how anyone CAN'T see anything wrong with what happened there. Maybe it's because of the different times but still, its nuts to me that this kind of thing could ever be just swept under the rug and forgotten about.