#I CAN PRETEND ROMANCE DOESNT EXIST AT ALL IF I WANT TO

[fern-the-snail]

This whole time I've been confining myself to art and fan art. WHO WAS GONNA TELL ME HOW FUN WRITING IS. HUH? who. who was gonna say writing fanfiction does not feel like work and that IT'S FUN?!

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 3

Propaganda Under Cut

Kairi

kairi is the third protagonist of the kingdom hearts series and the third member of the destiny trio, alongside fan favorites sora and riku. sora/riku shippers HATE kairi, and will go out of their way to discount her at every turn. the hate for her ranges from typical "she's a boring bitch" to fans of soriku making five-hour long video essays reassuring their fellow shippers that the big bad kairi won't show up in the next installment – to quote one video, "she's in a box. she's on the shelf. four walls, no door." kairi is the greatest bogeyman the soriku fandom has ever known, to the point where most of said video essays and fanon meta posts focus not on why sora and riku should get together, but rather on why they don't like kairi.

Literally has a 100+ page Google doc fan theory writing her out of the narrative and putting all of her (few) canonical accomplishments onto half of the popular m/m ship (soriku). Don't even get me started on how her memory was completely written out of the canon plot of re:coded. KH is a nightmare to explain so dude trust me she is THE victim of yaoi

She is so fundamental to the plot and themes and narratives of game and yet it is near impossible to find anything about her thats not ship bashing pre-mlm with the other two characters. I dont even care if she ends up with one of the main characters i just want fans to see her as a cool character to love or like, anything other than “annoying comphet girl.” You can write your mlm but pleaae stop inventing comphet where it doesnt exist. She does not even get to spend time with sora ever?? Why does everyone see her as a threat and a thing to destroy?? Let her have friends so help me

Misa Amane

she gets treated in-canon the way fandoms treat female characters that Threaten an m/m ship. it's like, "oh why don't you go sit in the corner and be pretty, misa, while the Men have intelligent conversation and pretend they aren't ten seconds from fucking each other, doesn't that sound nice?" it's infuriating. and MAYBE it's better now but i remember her getting treated the same way in fanfiction too, like we all need to do just as badly by our female secondary characters as fucking tsugumi ohba, but with the added insult of making her be alternately oblivious of the relationship between light and L or actively trying to sabotage it—incompetently, of course, because god forbid misa be allowed dignity or moments of cleverness.

she's one of the first characters I think of when I consider old school fandom misogyny. The annoying bitch and clingy crazy gf allegations were AFTER HER ASS. She's also a lot more intelligent than people gave her credit for, but most seem inclined to take the Very Biased word of our unreliable, narcissistic narrator and his homoerotic arch nemesis and claim that just because she's bubbly and into romance that she's also a complete moron. Which is blatantly untrue. Everyone was afraid of Misa girlbossing too hard. Killing people and devoting yourself to the deranged twink of your dreams even though you know he'll never love you back??? Having a hardcore goth aesthetic and being so Hot even literal Death Gods are into you?? God forbid women do ANYTHING!

Not only is she the victim of yaoi culture, she is the victim of early 2000s misogyny by an author that wanted to introduce a girl character because he knew his male rivals were getting too homoerotic. She is a goth bimbo icon who portrays what I think is one of the few callouts for stan culture and what parasocial relationships can do to both the stan and the idol. The fact that she is a toxic fan of Kira and also hot, funny, sociable is tragic in its own way, which I think the author did try to touch on but was too misogynistic too really get through. Of course, she was reduced to villain status by the fandom and anime alike because she got in the way of the supposed romance in their psychological horror anime.

[pruneunfair]

My feelings on cry or better yet beg and the utter wasted potential for a psychological tragedy of the imbalance of relationships between noblemen and their mistresses

First off, if I was told I could only kill off one male lead, it'd be him

Lot of people rn especially on tik-tok probably would flame me for this with the "at least he loves Layla! He's so protective of her!"

"it's a dark romance! It won't be sunshine and rainbows you snowflake!"

"He just doesnt know how to express his emotions because he's so sheltered!"

No, just no, I don't care how "hot" he is, I don't care if he's your protective little bad boy. I don't care about his supposed character development, That's a straight up abuser who started off killing birds knowing it would damage to Layla to straight up assaulting her. (I don't know if that will stay in the webtoon, but it was in the novel) no character development can make me like a fucking rapist

Like how in the hell is Claudine considered worse than Mathhias, sure she isn't so peachy herself but goddammit to think of the fiance who if anything would be supported had she been the main protagonist, yes she's pretty demeaning, a bit shallow, and only views Matthias as the perfect Duke, but at least she's not going around mentally torturing a boy who can't do anything against her. I haven't gotten to her ending yet but from what I hear, it isn't a good one. She such a wasted opportunity since she is such a perfect example of a woman prepped and groomed to just be a Dukes wife would come out feeling that her worth only comes her husband.

Justice for Claudine, I just know there's a fanfic out there where you get with Riette, grow as your own person, and live a pleasant life.

You wanna know what really hurts me about this manhwa though? The fact that's it's so unintentionally accurate to how horrible it truly is to be a mistress in an era where women, especially women with no royal titles or status, were often treated by rich and powerful men. They would mostly have no right to say no to a man who decides he wants her, Layla romanticizing her abuse is not just heartbreaking but also unfortunately realistic as it's a coping mechanism for those who had endured nothing but abuse their whole life so they tend to shove their feelings in a box and pretend everything is okay (obviously this isn't the same for all victims of abuse, it's one of the many coping mechanisms people could develop)

In a lot of historical manhwa, there's usually the obligatory mistress character designed to be a dumb trashy bimbo to uplift the lead. Most of the time, the mistress in question is either a daughter of minor nobility that was chosen by a Emperor, crown prince, or Duke, or the mistress lived her life as a poor farm girl and in some situations lived a life where no one cared about her and was likely abused, the latter is often rare for these mistress characters since authors of those stories only want you sympathizing with the leads but in rare cases, the mistress did have a hard life but it ends up being undermined to further damage the mistress as torture/revenge porn or in Laylas case: used as an explanation to give a disturbing reason to why she ends up falling in love with Matthias which wouldn't be wrong if the story was written in a way that was a tragic one, not a romantic one.

you would think this kind of glamorouzation of abuse would only exist in the authors mindset and the degeneracy that is a junior high girls mind, but no, the ides that Layla is somehow the one in the wrong for her own abuse and reluctance of Matthias and there is even an Instagram post claiming she has BPD for being too "difficult" they sound like those 1950s doctors that find any reason to lobotomize a patient.

Laylas character does open the truths of what it's truly like to be practically owned by a nobleman, she's not like Rashta or Aisha from divorcing my tyrant husband where she's portrayed as a silly and cute strumpet with ulterior motives, she is genuinely upset but she can't do anything about it so all she can do is convince herself that Matthias loves her so she can keep her sanity, but where it goes wrong is that instead of portraying this as an unhealthy yet sole coping mechanism for an abusive relationship, the story just chalks it down to "silly Layla! You'll see that he's just misunderstood and you really do love him deep down!" Its frankly atrocious that the one time a story has a realistic pair of the typical women in this trope, the first wife who is classy and refined and the mistress who is young and free spirited ends ultimately destroyed yet again with a case black and white writting. One woman must be good and the other woman must be bad.

Frankly these characters are well written for the most part and until I realized I supposed to see Matthias as the love interest and not Kyle, I was fine with who Matthias was since he was presented more so as a villain, the art is also one of the prettiest cottagecore artstyles I've ever seen to the point where the 3D models look really good since it blends in perfectly, it's just sad that cry or better yet beg is a sick twisted tale equivalent to the average Colleen Hoover book.

[the-s1lly-corner]

So… how do I word this uh what if the reader breaks up with one of tadc characters? Or vise versa?

Break up! (TADC cast x reader)!

YAHOO still trying to figure out who gets broken up with and who breaks up with you, guess we'll see when I write the actual post down!! Ueueue

Admittedly this post is more of a "how they are like" instead of "actual event of the breakup"

CAINE:

POMNI:

You break up with him...

Caine would never ever ever think of breaking it off with you... unless you find an exit and decide to stay with him. I wrote a post with that idea, and to make it short the guilt would eat him alive, making every day a living hell

But how would he be when you break up with him?

I think he would be all over the place. I mean you're his first romance, and you're his first heartbreak. Hes a mess. Hes crying, hes trying to bargain, and to fix what was broken

But then suddenly hes just

There

Neutral, as if understanding everything.. it's a little terrifying, and for a minute you think his coding is acting up. And maybe it is...

He isnt cold, he isnt holding a grudge, he just treats you like he treats the other circus members. Its actually a little... weird

Do I think his coming got messed up?

No, actually I think in secret hes grieving the relationship. But he now understands that this is just how things work out sometimes

Hes hurting but hes learning

She breaks up with you...

RAGATHA:

Its not that she fell out of love with you, quite the opposite actually. But the more she thought about it, the more.... difficult it would be for both of you. I mean shes tryimg to find the exit, and what are the odds both of you will be able to find each other in the real world? Would you guys even remember the events of the digital world when you escape...? Would...

Theres just so much, but even if it hurts her so so much she doesnt want to hold you down.. she tries to remain friends with you, but the hurt feelings make things hard for both parties

JAX:

You both mutually break up...

You guys probably break up after not coming to an agreement on life goals and big life decisions... I mean, as big of life decisions as you can in the digital world... now obviously you guys tried to find compromises and talk things through, but you guys just couldnt find any solutions where both sides are happy

Remember, resentment is a ugly thing that can ruin even the greatest things one can have. And this is especially true for relationships, romantic or otherwise

So in order to prevent that, you guys agree that you srent compatible with one another.. and thats okay

You guys are still friends, though!

KINGER:

You break up with him...

And he does not take it well at all. I think he would feel angry and betrayed. He wouldn't beg for you back, though. No he views that to be way too humiliating and he refuses to stoop that low. Actually I think if anything he would pretend you dont exist. And I think that's worse than just saying "he ramps up the pranks and targets you"

No, jax is emotionally immature imo, at least that's how I personally write him given we only have the pilot so far..

Very rarely does he actually acknowledge you, and even then it's cold and distant. Probably the least likely to get back with you

ZOOBLE:

You break up with him...

Theres probably a few factors that go into it. The general burn out that comes with a partner that struggles with mental health (because as horrible as it sounds, that is a valid reason. Coming from someone who is mentally ill and diagnosed with stuff, I would not blame my partner for leaving me if my symptoms began to wear down their mental health. It does not make someone a burden. Ones mental health is ultimately theres to deal with, and protect, but I'm not about to go on a tangent I'm just gonna say its valid), feeling that you can't compete with queenie, as well as a few other things

After the break up kinger seems

Lost

Like hes wandering around, and perhaps sometimes he even forgets that you guys broke up. It's sad. No one wants to see an old man cry..

But I dont think the grief will make him abstract. Actually, I dont think he would be nasty to you. Actually if you give him some time, hes actually still quite friendly with you, as well as understanding. You guys still remain friends

GANGLE:

They break up with you...

Likely, it could be that you overwhelmed zooble or made them feel like they werent good enough for you. Zooble themselves is very distant and checked out, and even more so given the current situation. But even then I dont think that there would be an event that would lead to the breakup; because otherwise I feel they would try to make it work

Or maybe, they have been and you guys just werent compatible..

It takes them a while to adapt to being single again, but they will get over it eventually. That being said they give me the vibe that they rend to avoid their exes

You both mutually break up..

Theres just so much going on, and given gangles very sensitive and shy nature and whatever issues you have going on, you both agree to take a break to try to better yourselves.. for yourselves..

I think out of all the characters, you guys have the most potential of getting back together

Gangle tries not to let herself get down in the dumps, but she still will miss you lots the first few weeks..

Even if you guys dont get back together, at least you both become better and more confident in yourselves for yourselves and any future partners

Of course this isnt to say that being sensitive or shy is a red flag or "ick", coming from someone who is those things. But sometimes it truly can become draining for a partner who has to be constantly be built back up. For the sake of both sides there needs to be space, or resentment can build and ruin everything. Is that mean and terrible? Yes. But its human

Add in whatever issues you have going on, you both agree it's better to split

[mkaroy]

i’m here to spread my aromantic “love me, normally” will wood propaganda cause i NEED this to be an aromantic theme song. CAUSE IT MAKES SENSE.

first of all. the song itself called “love me, normally” because the normal white picket fence way of love is romantic love. settle down with someone love them for all your life yk that stuff. the idea that through out the whole song the narrator is trying to get himself to love someone “normally” rings true with a lot of aromantic people. and within the same chorus he talks about how he wants to keep the relationship informal, now my takeaway from this line is that he wants to keep the relationship on the down low, he doesn’t want it to be a big formal wedding or even a very public relationship because (if the narrator were aromantic) HE DOESNT WANT THIS RELATIONSHIP!! and then obv the rest of the chorus like “to pretend to be normal… i guess that’s the least that i owe ya” like very aromantic very guilt ridden in the fact that he can’t fully love this other person like yah you get the chorus

you can find aromantic symbolism everywhere but specifically in the bridge and the last verse i wanna talk about

the bridge is talking ALL about how normal romance has failed for the narrator. the first part of the bridge is him talking about love in this like rose tinted glasses kind of way, but it’s so positive it’s menacing. then the second half of the bridge turns around and the narrator starts ranting about his past relationships through saying “hey, at least your relationship isn’t like being in a relationship with me!!”

and it ENDS with the line “but rather you love them exactly the way that everybody else is” REALLY driving home that he’s different from everyone else, and that he won’t be able to have that dream like amazing romance ever.

and then. my FAVOURITE. the third verse.

the first line is a theme common in the song but just hasn’t been too prevalent to this persuasive text, the narrator often questions why he was born, and the next line follow that up with “i’ll be nothing again, so what am i between now and then?”. romance offers a true comfort and meaning to life, when asked about the meaning of life most people say happiness, and a big part of happiness is finding “the one”. here, the narrator talks about his life seeming meaningless because of his lack of romance. that might seem like a stretch, but i think it’s pretty confirmed in the final line with “to god who made me this mad, you better have one hell of a plan”. again, without romance it’s hard to find a purpose to life. god is supposed to have a plan for everyone, so the narrator is questioning why he was born this way because it’s so inconvenient and literally makes nothing better ever.

some extra stuff:

-the narrator talking about how he drinks himself to death and then at the after party he’s rolling in his grave

i think the actual party is very symbolic of your late teens to young adult years of life, when everyone’s very sexually and romantically driven, hoping in and out of relationships but nothings serious, and the afterparty represents adulthood where most people are settling down or trying to find a serious relationship. you can see the narrator “drink (himself) to death to be the after life of the party”, to me, this excessive drinking and becoming the AFTERlife of the party is because he’s trying to avoid the romance part of early adulthood, where everyone’s going to parties and hooking up he’s drinking himself to death, so that when the afterparty (late adulthood) comes he’s already dead.

-i think the lyric “and besides i don’t wanna get old” is very. real. again THROUGH AN AROMANTIC LENS, this tells me that the narrator would rather stay in his youth, where being aromantic is just an inconvenience, rather than being old and aromantic, where you start to question your entire existence because the number one meaning for life in this amatonormative society is LOVE. ROMANTIC LOVE.

-I also think the reoccurring theme of feeling guilt about your current partner is important to mention. sometimes, before knowing they were aromantic, aro people will get into relationships, and maybe i’m projecting but i feel like it has to be a common thing where you feel guilty that someone has to love you because you can’t love them back the same.

-also like. this is so much more relatable to me because i’m neurodivergent AND aromantic and this song is speculated to be about neurodivergency but until someone writes a better aro anthem (which would be difficult. this encapsulates a lot of aro related feelings.) i’m just. sticking with this!!

[crushedsweets]

it’s been a while back so i’m w more song analysis!! this is too long i’m warning u now. in fact this might not even be readable im so sorry it’s just. so much rambling 😭

when memories snow (more mitski mm also i got tickets for her tour and i will not shut up ab it!!! she’s so cool!!!!!!!) is incredibly tim coded. the very sinister chords at the chorus, really makes you *feel* him spiralling - and the LYRICS ugh very ‘i’m trying to ignore/suppress my memories but they keep coming back against my will’ slash ‘bottling up all my feelings and forging on with my work. pretending they don’t exist’

hate yourself by tv girl is very nina x kate (in the sense of kate watching nina destroy herself for a man who does not even like her) ough. ‘i think you’d fall in love with anyone who fell in love with you / and they frequently do’ BC KATE DID!! kate fell in love with her!! also ‘i’ll just wait til those arms belong to me’ is so subtly manipulative which is very. yeah. kate’s definitely not perfect and i wouldn’t put her above being like that if she really wanted to. + the deceptively happy instrumental with vaguely dark lyrics = nina being overly outgoing and social to make up for the fact that her mental state is in absolute shambles (poor bby)

the wolf by siamés is both tim and brian but i think leans more brian (what is it with this man that makes me think of ‘walking music’. ykwim? the chain, the wolf, house of the rising sun all remind me of him. all very slow-threatening-determined-walk songs) once again, driving beat, heavy bassline. (i play bass guitar so i love a song w an interesting bass part) i think shows resilience as well as grounding - imo he’s always been one of the more mature / level-headed creeps, to the point he’s very self aware. this man knows exactly what he’s doing at all times. ‘somewhere far away i can hear your call’ even in the future when he thinks he’s escaped from slender he knows deep down he’ll never be truly free…. yes ok

keep myself alive by get scared for jane. she’s so angry - AS SHE SHOULD BE and i feel it’s just a audible version of her rage. ‘i just wanna leave this place behind / everytime i see your face in mine’ because her and jeff have the same burned face thing going on…….. ough. she can never escape from the man who ruined her life. the guitar shifting from this melancholy, reverb-y tone in the verses to the loud distortion in the chorus reflecting her mood shifting from self-pity to raw anger

bonus: class of 2013 by mitski x toby

i should rlly make a playlist for each creep but i use musi not spotify 💔

- 🌙 anon

sorry for making u read all of this ❤️

anon. oh my god. i need you to know how often i think about this ask. and how guilty i feel knowing i shouldve responded forever ago but kept putting it off. im going to respond now with shame. thank you so much for your patience. my god

when memories snow for tim is soooo real. i associate him with a longing for life before slendy, while also repressing it cuz it hurts knowing itll never ever come back. going to bars, hanging out in his friends apartments, going to class, late night driving... "I shovel all those memories, clear the path to drive to the store" i think even the imagery of him shoveling snow out of a driveway gives off that sort of strong, cold idea of him. and 'drive to the store' obv being...proxy work... SO SAD

ALSO FUCK NINAKATE MENTION IM IN TEARS ok listen. theyre both really bad. and i super agree that kate might be a bit deceptive and manipulative (intentionally or not) cuz she wants nina to completely remove jeff and take his place (NOT HIS ROLE, just his place in ninas arms). also "how long will it take before you start to hate yourself and go straight to the arms of someone else" i think its undeniable that ninas obsession with romance is related to her own self image, and kate doesnt really like herself that much either. "im not saying that you love me, im not saying anything" OHH BUT SHE WANTS NINA SOOO BAD... man.

also im absolutely in love with how you take the sound itself into account, not just lyrics. the way you explain the wolf connecting to brians determination, reslience, and grounding presense is SOOO PERFECT and i can see it in the first few lyrics as well. the also "sneaking in the pain, every truth becomes lie / i wont trust myself once i hear your call" THATS TIM AND BRIAN COME ON GUYS DO YOU HEAR THIS

also i love keep myself alive. i heavily agree she has every right to be angry, and thats a core part of her character - rage, grief, strength. "to sleep i of course think i'm stronger now / to sleep i gotta catch myself" im crying. the sleep menton + she feels alone. she has a support system, a literal wife, but she still holds all of her grief on her own shoulders. who the fuck else can relate to being violently stalked for months, walking in on your parents being tortured together, being attacked, nearly burnt alive, then LOSING your parents? also "how could this dark cloud make me stronger now" i think a lot of people would have told her that her experience made her a survivor and made her strong and whatnot. but i dont think she feels that way. i think she feels like a victim, she feels tortured, she feels like that same little girl who'd sleep in her parents bed after a nightmare - but this isnt a nightmare she can wake up from. her parents bed burnt to ashes. there is relief in just letting yourself grieve and hurt - but she's so beyond focused on being strong. and it doesnt make sense to her. doesnt make sense how she can be strong after all of that . but she is, cuz she has to be

ALSO YES OH MY FUCKING GOD CLASS OF 2013 DFUCK FUCKFUCKF FIFJF FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKKKKKKK i dont even need to explain why this gets me. yall already know. my god

[grandmagbignaturals]

I am in a like little casual bookclub with my sister and I also felt *some kinda way* about Fourth Wing. Would love to know your thoughts if you ever wanted to post them but otherwise consider this a message to commiserate lol

so I also read Fourth Wing for a book club. I would not have read it otherwise, i don't really go in for YA these days (because I'm 30 and I have an english literature degree and YA does not spark joy anymore)

but my biggest thoughts were

there's potentially interesting plot here why isn't any of it being actually paid attention to by the text

the "disability rep" was insulting tbh. It was only relevant when the MC needed saving by a big strong man which is both sexist AND ableist which is some sort of achievement.

Xaden has 1 cousin with an Indian name. He is the only character with an Indian name. Why? For Why?

if you pay close attention, Xaden, the love interest is also a man of colour but is only described with words that could be passably applied to a tan white man, so. Why.

EXCEPT for all the "shadows and light" motifs in the romance plot. she constantly refers to him by his shadow powers, and he's always cast as darkness to her light(ning). I don't want to say "that's racist" for sure bc i'm white and idk for sure but it feels racist

especially bc there's a dnd-esque approach to race in this book (ie we're pretending it doesn't exist) so deciding to make the guy from the "bad area" brown and the girl who is from the very border Black and make no other visibly PoC characters FEELS BAD.

Remember when I said there was a potentially interesting plot and it was being mostly ignored? Yeah I found out that the "good faith" reading i had been applying while I was actively reading the book was maybe wrong bc the author is an American Military Wife(tm) so it's up in the air if she knows she's depicting a completely evil empire from the inside. Bc the main character doesnt get it. I'm not reading the sequels to find out. Someone can tell me later.

ANYWAY.

read An Ember In the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir it has a lot of the same plot (intelligent girl, scary boy. one character is the child of an important military figure. takes place at the empire's Special Military School) but it's actually good. Only thing that makes me not explicitly say I think Rebecca Yarros ripped of Sabaa Tahir is that EitA doesn't have vampires.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Aang didn't ask permission at the invasion, okay and aladdin never asked to kiss jasmine, flynn never asked to kiss rapunzel, Ron never asked Kim if he could kiss her, Danny never asked Sam if he could kiss her. I could name a million couples that never ask if i can kiss you. because i dont think most people do. this gives off the same vibes as Ariel didn't want eric to kiss her during the kiss the girl despite her body language/eyes saying otherwise. Do people not understand how romance works in stories? The audience doesnt want to hear a character ask if they can kiss them and i dont think most couples ask either. Katara was playing with her hair and giving Aang flirty eyes some people are just too deep in antikataang land to care that this girl was in love with aang and im tired of it. im tired of zutara fandom ignoring katara interst in aang and calling her his mom so tired of it

"The audience doesnt want to hear a character ask if they can kiss them and i dont think most couples ask either" LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK!

If instead of simply saying "I'm confused and need some extra time to figure out if I really want to date you, but I definitively don't see you as just my little brother" Katara had said "Sorry Aang, I'm not into you at all, please stop trying to get with me" and then he kissed her - or even worse, if after she pulled away he tried to physically restrain her so he could keep kissing her - then yeah, that Ember Island scene would be in a completely different context that would make Aang look REALLY bad.

But that's not what happened. They were in an ambiguous situation, Aang tried to make it more clear-cut immediately, it didn't go well and he stopped pressing the issue.

The only reasons why people pretend it was far more serious than it was are:

1 - Zutara fans trying to make Aang look bad by pretending he's inevitably going to become an abusive rapist, in the hopes that this will make their own ship look better (and make people forget said ship only exists because of fanfics of Zuko raping Katara when he and the pirates captured her).

2 - People nowadays cannot wrap their heads around the concept of "Characters screw up sometimes - yes, even the good guys - because that's how stories work. If no one ever did anything wrong there'd be no conflicts to resolve"

[shipcestuous]

There has been some ongoing discussion about Chris and Cathy’s relationship in the books. (All posts with commentary about their relationship are in this tag.) The relationship is controversial and we’re not all going to agree and that’s OK. I don’t want to participate in or facilitate a debate because that’s not what I want to focus on, but I recognize there aren’t really any other great places for that to happen, so I apologize that I can’t be a better host for that. I appreciate the interest and the participation. I’m going to answer the most recent asks I received on the topic, and if anything else comes in, it will be added to this post instead of posted as a new post. Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts.

Anon:  No hate to the anti-chris anon, i also appreciate the respectful way they disagreed, and i have no dog in the fight personally, but i thought it brings up a bit of a funny concept to me that an incestuous pairing needs to be declared as toxic when most people would consider the fact it is incestuous to be toxic enough, like, we kind of have to grade on a curve here, lol. In most cases, especially with canon incestuous couples, it is going to have some aspect of their relationship be "toxic", because the people that are making this content are afraid to show a loving, happy and healthy romantic relationship between relatives, that doesnt have a tragic backstory, like being abused and neglected, that as a result, encourages their forbidden love. Or at least it makes normies feel better about the fact that it could never happen in real life, except in these super specific dysfunctional situations. Its very rare for these characters not to have toxic traits, such as being controlling, jealous, violent, or straight up criminals if the pairing is canon and not just imagined, but we take what we can get in that department. And i personally enjoy some angst, its part of the appeal to me, but the darker parts (i.e m*rder and r*pe) i am able to dissect from a pairing i like and just pretend it doesnt exist in my head canon, especially in the cases where there is a tragic ending, because otherwise it'd hamper my enjoyment severely. Not to mention, these are fictional characters, i dont necessarily think we need to apply real life judgement on them, yes they are toxic by real world standards, but thats why they end up together, if they werent abused and neglected, they probably would have ended up with "normal" lives, and the ship wouldnt even exist, its just the nature of how incest shipping goes. 

You’re very right that most content creators are afraid to show loving, happy, and healthy romantic relationship between relatives. Even independent content creators are reluctant. Even if they’re not afraid of backlash, it’s like there’s this fear that it’s inferior because it’s unrealistic or something like that. Ironically, it’s the edgiest thing you could do. 

There are going to be two different kinds of fans - those who are willing to “grade on a curve” (I like that analogy a lot) and those who aren’t. I have nothing against those who have to approach it objectively, but as someone who has suffered through so many ships that have gone sour or ended in ways beyond saving, I’m definitely prone towards being forgiving to the few that aren’t as bad as the others or taking what I can get. 

I also think it’s OK to ship something as if some event or whatever had never happened. It’s basically just an AU fanfic in your head. 

@sassybisquit:  So, I have to say something in response to the anti-Chris anon. These books are not romances. They are, all the way through the fourth book, primarily about how victims become villains (while still remaining victims) and various consequences of that and trying to work off the bad you've done and not pass on the bad way you've been treated. And still failing. That's the plainest way I can say it, and I'm annoyed I have to. That's all I'm going to say, besides the fact that I don't think Chris was bad for Cathy or treated her badly (besides the very important plot-wise, but not romantic, rape). But everybody can have different opinions, which is great.

FITA gets marketed as a romance sometimes, but in my mind, it’s in the horror genre. 

I do think that VC Andrews - and as a result, Cathy - puts the blame for the sexual assault on what was done to Chris and not as much on Chris himself. And readers are going to approach that differently. Authorial intent is a whole debate unto itself. 

[punk-rockrz]

Love the art you posted today of Hook tending to Scavenger. The dynamicism of the posing between them both. It's very clear how much pain Scavenger is in, conveyed through his shaking servo and his building tears (I adore the detail of him getting rust too), and I can imagine his bucket tail shuddering as Hook scrapes the rust away from him. The frustration in Hook exudes off your art, and I love how you have written how he speaks. He feels like Hook completely. In his frustration, but his care for Scavenger. (Love his roman nose too...) Also, love the teeth detail. Love Cybertronians with sharp denta, so much, especially within the Con ranks.

Just loved the piece and have been in a massive Hook brainrot since October, so seeing this piece today made my absolute day. I am eager to see more of the dynamic between the Constructicons, especially with Hook as the medic for the Cons/his brothers.

Wowerz thank you! <::) i appreciate this a whole lot for serious

Just for you (and well. Er. An excuse to talk about my thoughts) I'll give you a little look into my awesome epic mind about them...

I think for starts a lotta the stuff I've been making has slowly detached from any one continuity, just because theres so little of the combiners in each one. I mostly just kinda mash together g1 personalities and general idw lore in my brain (you could say honestly that its more of a "idw but pretending the combiners were written like actual characters" more than anything.)

I view the constructicons as having a very weird relationship. Like a secret third thing between friendship and romance (with that im also gonna mention that i completely see them all as separate beings, as in i dont see any combiner team as being related like i learned. Some people apparently do. N id just like to be very clear on that cuz i personally think incest is deeply gross and uncomfortable and the idea of my work being taken as such disturbs me 👍) theyre all simultaneously grossly lovey with each other one moment and then Bonecrusher is trying to throw long haul because he decided he was hogging the remote or something. But as far as decepticons combiners go theyre the most functional as a group. They're in it for life despite the annoyances.

Some other thoughts.ermmm...apolocheese these will be disjointed. Im not very good at being comprehensible. i think gravedigger should exist for Bonecrushers lore. Hes dead as hell. Sorry. Functionism killed his ass and Bonecrusher is radicalized from it.

There is lore to my personal designs too, mainly in the faces. None of them initially had mouths, just the mask then the grinder below it, but hook kinda convinced them all to let him upgrade them (my idea is that mouths are generally seen as better by most, but for him he just wanted to show off on them) they all had their own reasons for taking the opportunity, such as Bonecrusher thinking himself being upgraded was a "fuck you" to others and scavenger thinking hed be liked more easily by others if he had the "better" option. Scrapper was the only one to deny getting the upgrade because he genuinely doesnt see the point. Hook keeps trying to convince him but hes trying less and less as time goes on.

And scavengers rusting yaaaay :D i think he gets those often because he's not the best at remembering his own upkeep and is one who spends a particular amount of time in environments that cause it to spread exponentially quicker. Ends up meaning that hook has to spend hours scrubbing it out of his plating if not replacing entire chunks of him frequently, something that progressively annoys and slightly concerns him and it definitely does nothing good for scavengers self esteem.

Some rapid fire of hook headcanons then I'll wrap up actually, uerrhh if anyone wants to hear my thoughts more though im not opposed to questions abt my thoughts on them and combiners over all. Theyre all chilling out in my brain for the moment it seems like.

- hes skilled in most if not all creative subjects, he almost seems to view creative subjects as his territory to defend, he HAS to be the best at all of it in his mind

- he'd rather die than ever admit to it, but he adores earth fashion and drag shows. He finds them fascinating. Sometimes he's just hiding away to look at videos of drag performances or he's sneaking glances at people he thinks are dressed particularly nicely. He almost wants to take up adding everything related to making clothing to his skillset.

- he wasn't initially a medic, he only picked up the knowledge he initially had for perform progressively more complicated cosmetic procedures. Eventually he got so engrossed in it when the constructicons found themselves partaking in a full blown war, he found himself saddled with the title of medic. Luckily for him its not as unwanted as he expected, finding the work of putting someone together again as satisfying as his actual passions.

- hes also unexpectedly excellent as a medic, any poor con who ends up with him at their repairs almost expects him to rip them apart out of frustration or just sadism, but hes surprisingly one of the gentler ones the decepticons have. Its not necessarily out of care, its just that he'd rather die than mess up anything. The only bad thing anyone can say is that he doesnt see patients as anything more than an object, its easier for him to dedicate himself that way, but it makes for an odd experience for the patient.

- hes the one who least enjoys being a combiner out of all of them. Well, really its more like hes the one with the most conflicted feelings about it. He enjoys the way it gives him more notoriety and power within decepticons, but the idea of people attaching who devastator is to their perception of him makes him shudder. He finds devastator particularly stupid and overly brutish, to be fair an opinion he holds of most, but especially the combined form of him and the others.

- will not be affectionate a single bit with his gestalt unless its extremely private. He doesn't want people having that image of him

- he has issues about control, honestly, particularly related to others perception of him. He hates the idea of anybody seeing him as anything but the image he painstakingly tries to uphold of him

Ummermurm.. thats kinda all i hauve rn. If u read all of that wowie thank you ::) i hope it made sense at all. N thank you once again i real appreciate how much you liked it 🦇🤘

[imbouttasue]

No bc i think that it's pretty much impossible to enjoy TRE without cherry picking. Not even the major flaws like Rashta attempting to murder people that i can excuse but the little details that are unnecessary like why are they there?? 😭😭

The ones i remember are from the timeskip AU where it was mentioned that a. Heinrey and Sovieshu loved Lary because she resembled Navier?? I don't understand why that had to be explicitly mentioned when a more normal reason like 'they liked her ambitious spirit' could've been kept instead. Also b. Lary ends up with her cousin?? 😭😭😭 I literally ignore this part it doesnt exist McKenna's child doesn't exist and he doesn't contribute anything to the plot except for this incest romance which is so out of nowhere and 0 chemistry whatsoever. mote is right there if you want a partner for lary look at her she whld do anything for her power hungry queen 🥰🥰

Another uncessary detail in rme is kaufman- *runs*

kidding. he's a sweetheart, but it feels like his affection for navier got left to dust. My boy could've got written better and fall for sovieshu instead but we can't have nice things can we

Yong could have just spend the rest of his life travelling around the world with his genderfluid parent so mote could have lari ALL to herself like she's so dedicated to be at her side as her knight im sobbing. we don't mention the part about heinrey & sovi obsessing over lari because I threw away that information and pretended it never existed in the first place

[devilith]

jesus fucking christ its like no one in the obey me fandom has ever played a gacha game before

the company isnt holding a gun to your head and forcing you to hand over all your money. the new dating feature thing doesnt affect the gameplay or lock progression in the main story or anything. its literally just...an item bundle that got added to the shop. thats fr all it is. its completely optional and you literally dont have to buy it if you dont want to, it doesnt impact the game in any way

(and yeah theres still romance in the main story, idk why people are pretending that suddenly all the dating aspects are getting deleted from the main game but yall are fucking liars lmao)

but god fucking forbid that a FREE to download and FREE to play game rely on those totally optional payments to keep itself alive. god forbid the artists and writers and voice actors and all the staff actually get a paycheck for their work. god fucking forbid the company keeps constantly giving players more and more and more options that they can either engage with or ignore to literally no detriment at all

like this isnt even bootlicking, its just literally how these games work? what a shock that a game that costs $0 has some OPTIONAL items to buy so it can keep its servers running for the 5th year in a row. i swear to god yall are straight up crying and pissing and shitting yourselves that the OPTION to buy something exists. be fucking for real

I absolutely HATE the OM update

like wdym we have to pay for romance in a dating sim

[beaulesbian]

No bc Mike getting vecna'd is such a good idea if byler endgame is the goal. Like his regret/shame would be the fact that he can't say ily to his gf and the fact that he's in love w his best friend but repressing it. Then will could confess and this would remove some of that shame thus possibly saving him?? Cause people saying will gets cursed has me wondering what his regret would be (other than his love for Mike, which he seems to be relatively accepting of, whereas Mike (if he is in love w will) is repressing it much more and prob thinks it will hurt el whom he really cares about)

(this got a bit longer than i first wanted, but i have too many delusional theories 💖)

exactly, i see this more even as a great tool for their respective character developments than even for the ship itself, but ofc that would be best outcome if this all happened.

in my opinion if will gets vecna'd it would just be too similar to what hes already been through before, it would be unnecessary repeating. what we need is to see will have some connection to the upside down, that will help by the end to defeat vecna or whoever else in s5.

meanwhile it would be much more interesting to see this with mike. bc overall its a bit more difficult to see what hes really thinking, if we only see the surface level emotions.

first, he cares about all his friends beyond anything. and while will and el and max went through such trauma that was very visible, (and theyre still dealing with that, we still dont know much how mike is dealing with anything.

we only see how he changes depending on whos around him and how they interact together (dustin and lucas, eddie, will, el, his family - i feel he acts very different around each of them)

In season one his best friend went missing, was pressumed dead and had a funeral - mike thought, even for a while, he lost him permanently.

In that time el appeared and was helping find will, his friends suddenly think he likes her more than a friend (its whats normal, right? Ofc he should like her before he even knows himself...)

He fights with lucas about el in s1, and one of the things he said (i cant remember exactly now) is how he feels guilty they fought about it, "if only he could have said something more, something better, its my fault"

i think he said something similar in different situations during the first three seasons, and then in s4, when hes opening up to will about this, he tells him similar thing twice "if only i explained myself better, i should have said something more to el, do something better"

from that i get the feeling hes always trying to do not just the best he can, but whats expected of him. and when he finds he doesnt have the power to stop something, or physically cannot make himself say something thats probably not true, he blames himself afterwards.

S3 is such rollercoaster for him, hes with el but cant be with el bc hopper, and then cant say what he feels - or maybe he doesnt know whats hes supposed to feel. And then el and will are leaving. Two of his most important friends, and i think thats what made him all the more confused, bc what if he misses will more than el?

Why did the promise of will wanting only play d&d with mike made him smile so much, but then the kiss with el made him all the more confused?

theres two such contrasts in his personality, where one of his main beliefs is "friends dont lie" and he does as much as he can with honestly, but at the same time he pushes something inside him down and pretends it doesnt exist (his complicated feelings towards.. romance, lets say).

Back to the vecna theory - this is why i think if mike gets vecna'd it would add more perspective to his character and for us to see what all hes been going through in the past seasons.

Same as his feelings towards will, its been there building from s1.

It could be few flashbacks and memories telling the audience the scenes that already happened from mike's point of view, how he struggles at home,

how he regretted the words he said to will in s3 (its not my fault you dont like girls), bc it was more directed at himself than will, but he didnt realize that yet.

how finding eddie and playing in d&d club could mean hes slowly finding himself (and with d&d being like a connection will again, bc its something they both loved playing together).

And how all of this is so confusing, especially for their time in the 80s, and hes still trying his best, but slowly, more and more cant ignore that his heart wants something (someone) else than hes supposed to be with.

Its just all these things that will go either unnoticed and unmentioned in the series, which i think would be a shame, or it could be addressed in the way with vecna who would manipulate his fears and nightmares, and if others can save him (which im sure they would), he could start process it in a better way, more honest to himself as well to others. To accept himself, and by that also will's feelings (if he noticed those, which i dont think he did, i think will noticed mike's confused ones, if anything.)

[boypussydilf]

Shusumi for the relationship ask game

i dont know how you even found my blog but thank you *kisses your hand like a prince meeting a princess*

describe their canon relationship/dynamic

oh , you know. sumi is lonely and full of Emotions but doesn’t even know That let alone why she feels it and then a cool guy shows up and is Nice To Her and she goes omg!!! [latches onto him for reasons barely related to Who He Is As A Person] and akira goes Oh another person who wants to use me as a sounding board for their internal monologue. sounds fun :) This probably sounds mean, and almost DEFINITELY is not the dynamic the writers Intended for them to have, but i like it i think its really funny

legit sumi just wants someone to look up to and to rely on and akira was either blessed or cursed by god with a special talent for Being Relied On. she wants to feel like someones helping her and hes happy to help anyone. etc

your ideal/headcanon version of it? how does it differ from how it is in canon & why is this your favorite version? any other alternate versions of it you enjoy?

you know ive thought about royal trio and ive thought abt akesumi friendship but i dont think abt Just These Two that much.

first of all RIP to the person who sent this if they come back hoping for some Clearly Romantic ShuSumi Takes but to me they are like siblings. sumire doesnt Realize theyre siblings but akira is just constantly taking new younger siblings under his wings and she is included. theyre siblings in a very drastically different way from akira & futaba though akira and futaba are loud and obnoxious and chase each other around sojiros house like a couple of grade schoolers and sumi is not completely barred from that but her and akira are more like. they meet up and sumi talks about her Life and her Feelings and akira gives her Just Enough Advice To Be Helpful Without Being Pushy and then they, like, look at college application forms together or something. its practical, i guess is what im saying. akira Sometimes bullies and pesters her (affectionate) but her reactions dont tend to be very strong so its not as fun.

im Neutral on genuinely romantic shusumi, to me they are not that interesting as a ship and also they are both gay in the wrong direction and also they are big brother little sister mode, but i do exist in a state of absolute fascination with like. comphet shusumi. literally sumire is going I want a Perfect Life and that means Living Stereotypical Heterosexual Romance Tropes :) and she thinks she has found her opportunity here and is telling herself Yes i am IN LOVE! this is what that is! I cannot conceive of a version of the akira from my brain who doesnt know full well hes gay but if he somehow didnt wouldnt these 2 cringefail straight dating living their ridiculously played-straight damsel in distress & noble hero story be the funniest thing ever. And by that i mean fascinating and a torment labyrinth i wish them luck escaping

Also i think they are getting along fine and normal the way they are but like. sumire “used to relying on other people A Lot” yoshizawa and akira “just wants to help people. A Lot” kurusu. They can either have the perfect friendship that is exactly what sumi needs where he has the right level of involvement to help her gain confidence in herself while still knowing she can turn to someone for help. Or go straight off a cliff into bizarre codependency.

Basically I like it when things have the potential to be kind of fucked up. But they aren’t these guys are normal. They just sit in leblanc telling each other dad jokes. Akira buys a wallet just to put a comically large collection of photos of sumi’s greatest achievements in them and proudly show it off to his friends. She gradually goes from reacting to him experiencing something Comically Bad but Harmless like tripping over something with giggling immediately deliberately stifled by SORRY IMSOSORRY ARE YOU OKAY, to just openly laughing at him and he pretends to be annoyed but he’s happy about it.

what do you like about their relationship, why is it interesting or enjoyable to you?

I like Akira World’s Most Big Brother Moments #227. i like all the different winding pathways the concept of Them can go down bc i like having things to pick apart and analyze and look at from hundreds of different angles. i like. the video game persona 5 royal

what about the individual characters involved? what does this relationship mean to them, what makes it unique among their relationships?

No matter what, like. Sumire at the point in time where they meet NEEDS this, i think. Her sister just Died and she doesn’t really know it but she’s trying to figure out her place in the world Without her and also if the fact that most shujin students seem to dislike her is anything to go off of she doesn’t really like, have friends? She needs like. A hand to help her up. Someone To Lean On. Sort of like how Becoming Kasumi was not, like, The Best Solution To Her Problems, but was really helpful in getting her through that period of her life. & now she has someone who will listen to her and help her unconditionally and that is Great for her. She looks up to Akira she admires him she is eternally thankful & grateful to him. And also is convinced she’s in love with him

As for akira i . </3 For most of the time they know each other she’s kind of Just Some Girl He Knows. he definitely cares about her a lot & they have the chance to get closer in third sem what w her being Herself again & she Is part of his Little Sibling Collection. but i cant think of anything akira is getting out of this relationship aside from general Human Socialization. he just want to protect it want to see it grow up healthy (i say that a lot huh.)

favorite interaction they have in canon

Zero interest in them as a couple but sumis romance route IS one of the best things in all of p5 just for the scene where akira leans on leblancs counter Like That and stares at her just to be a Nuisance

favorite interaction they have in your head/a situation you want to put them in

oh god oh fuck i dont know uhhhhh. I think THEY should bully akechi together. I think sumi should get mad at akira. Not for anything in particular i just think sumi has the potential to be very mean if she will allow herself to Feel Negative Feelings and i like conflict between friends. Sumire tries to teach him gymnastics and he forgets hes not in a palace and does something stupid and embarrassing like faceplanting into a wall for no reason and shes very polite about it at first but in the long run she will not let him live it down. umm. thats it. i like them <3

[qqueenofhades]

Hi. You made a post a couple of days ago about how queer historical fiction doesnt need to be defined only by homophobia. Can you expand on that a bit maybe? Because it seems interesting and important, but I'm a little confused as to whether that is responsible to the past and showing how things have changed over time. Anyway this probably isn't very clear, but I hope its not insulting. Have a good day :)

Hiya. I assume you're referring to this post, yes? I think the main parameters of my argument were set out pretty clearly there, but sure, I'm happy to expand on it. Because I'm a little curious as to why you think that writing a queer narrative (especially a queer fictional narrative) that doesn't make much reference to or even incorporate explicit homophobia is (implicitly) not being "responsible to the past." I've certainly made several posts on this topic before, but as ever, my thoughts and research materials change over time. So, okay.

(Note: I am a professional historian with a PhD, a book contract for an academic monograph on medieval/early modern queer history, and soon-to-be-several peer-reviewed publications on medieval queer history. In other words, I'm not just talking out of my ass here.)

As I noted in that post, first of all, the growing emphasis on "accuracy" in historical fiction and historically based media is... a mixed bag. Not least because it only seems to be applied in the Game of Thrones fashion, where the only "accurate" history is that which is misogynistic, bloody, filthy, rampantly intolerant of competing beliefs, and has no room for women, people of color, sexual minorities, or anyone else who has become subject to hot-button social discourse today. (I wrote a critical post awhile ago about the Netflix show Cursed, ripping into it for even trying to pretend that a show based on the Arthurian legends was "historically accurate" and for doing so in the most simplistic and reductive way possible.) This says far more about our own ideas of the past, rather than what it was actually like, but oh boy will you get pushback if you try to question that basic premise. As other people have noted, you can mix up the archaeological/social/linguistic/cultural/material stuff all you like, but the instant you challenge the ingrained social ideas about The Bad Medieval Era, cue the screaming.

I've been a longtime ASOIAF fan, but I do genuinely deplore the effect that it (and the show, which was by far the worst offender) has had on popular culture and widespread perceptions of medieval history. When it comes to queer history specifically, we actually do not know that much, either positive or negative, about how ordinary medieval people regarded these individuals, proto-communities, and practices. Where we do have evidence that isn't just clerical moralists fulminating against sodomy (and trying to extrapolate a society-wide attitude toward homosexuality from those sources is exactly like reading extreme right-wing anti-gay preachers today and basing your conclusions about queer life in 2021 only on those), it is genuinely mixed and contradictory. See this discussion post I likewise wrote a while ago. Queerness, queer behavior, queer-behaving individuals have always existed in history, and labeling them "queer" is only an analytical conceit that represents their strangeness to us here in the 21st century, when these categories of exclusion and difference have been stringently constructed and applied, in a way that is very far from what supposedly "always" existed in the past.

Basically, we need to get rid of the idea that there was only one empirical and factual past, and that historians are "rewriting" or "changing" or "misrepresenting" it when they produce narratives that challenge hegemonic perspectives. This is why producing good historical analysis is a skill that takes genuine training (and why it's so undervalued in a late-capitalist society that would prefer you did anything but reflect on the past). As I also said in the post to which you refer, "homophobia" as a structural conceit can't exist prior to its invention as an analytical term, if we're treating queerness as some kind of modern aberration that can't be reliably talked about until "homosexual" gained currency in the late 19th century. If there's no pre-19th century "homosexuality," then ipso facto, there can be no pre-19th-century "homophobia" either. Which one is it? Spoiler alert: there are still both things, because people are people, but just as the behavior itself is complicated in the premodern past, so too is the reaction to it, and it is certainly not automatic rejection at all times.

Hence when it comes to fiction, queer authors have no responsibility (and in my case, certainly no desire) to uncritically replicate (demonstrably false!) narratives insisting that we were always miserable, oppressed, ostracised, murdered, or simply forgotten about in the premodern world. Queer characters, especially historical queer characters, do not have to constantly function as a political mouthpiece for us to claim that things are so much better today (true in some cases, not at all in the others) and that modernity "automatically" evolved to a more "enlightened" stance (definitely not true). As we have seen with the recent resurgence of fascism, authoritarianism, nationalism, and xenophobia around the world, along with the desperate battle by the right wing to re-litigate abortion, gay rights, etc., social attitudes do not form in a vacuum and do not just automatically become more progressive. They move backward, forward, and side to side, depending on the needs of the societies that produce them, and periods of instability, violence, sickness, and poverty lead to more regressive and hardline attitudes, as people act out of fear and insularity. It is a bad human habit that we have not been able to break over thousands of years, but "[social] things in the past were Bad but now have become Good" just... isn't true.

After all, nobody feels the need to constantly add subtextual disclaimers or "don't worry, I personally don't support this attitude/action" implied authorial notes in modern romances, despite the cornucopia of social problems we have today, and despite the complicated attitude of the modern world toward LGBTQ people. If an author's only reason for including "period typical homophobia" (and as we've discussed, there's no such thing before the 19th century) is that they think it should be there, that is an attitude that needs to be challenged and examined more closely. We are not obliged to only produce works that represent a downtrodden past, even if the end message is triumphal. It's the same way we got so tired of rape scenes being used to make a female character "stronger." Just because those things existed (and do exist!), doesn't mean you have to submit every single character to those humiliations in some twisted name of accuracy.

Yes, as I have always said, prejudices have existed throughout history, sometimes violently so. But that is not the whole story, and writing things that center only on the imagined or perceived oppression is not, at this point, accurate OR helpful. Once again, I note that this is specifically talking about fiction. If real-life queer people are writing about their own experiences, which are oftentimes complex, that's not a question of "representation," it's a question of factual memoir and personal history. You can't attack someone for being "problematic" when they are writing about their own lived experience, which is something a younger generation of queer people doesn't really seem to get. They also often don't realise how drastically things have changed even in my own lifetime, per the tags on my reblog about Brokeback Mountain, and especially in media/TV.

However, if you are writing fiction about queer people, especially pre-20th century queer people, and you feel like you have to make them miserable just to be "responsible to the past," I would kindly suggest that is not actually true at all, and feeds into a dangerous narrative that suggests everything "back then" was bad and now it's fine. There are more stories to tell than just suffering, queer characters do not have to exist solely as a corollary for (inaccurate) political/social commentary on the premodern past, and they can and should be depicted as living their lives relatively how they wanted to, despite the expected difficulties and roadblocks. That is just as accurate, if sometimes not more so, than "they suffered, the end," and it's something that we all need to be more willing to embrace.

[spacedlexi]

What are your thoughts on Clem getting a new girlfriend in the graphic novel?

dont talk to me about the comic it doesnt exist

but to honestly answer your question: it pisses me off. for a few reasons:

violet is SUCH a perfectly written match for clem that i cant see either of them with anyone else. i didnt think the writers would Ever be able to write a good love interest for clem esp after s3 but im not kidding when i say violet and her are a perfectly written match. violet is very similar to s3 clem with her trust and abandonment issues, the angry loner who cares but pretends not to to protect themselves from the grief of loss/pain of being left behind, and so they put up walls and push people away. theyre both natural leaders who never wanted that position. loyal. fiercely protective. where javi helped clem learn to trust people again in s3, clem helps violet learn to trust people again in s4. clementine can see herself in violet (the "i know where youre coming from" line), and they help each other. which leads into my second problem with the new comic romance

violet has SEVERE trust and abandonment issues (even more than the other kids who all by default pretty much have trust and abandonment issues), which is obvious even without letting her get taken by the raiders (and is only made that much worse if you do). i cant imagine what it will do to her emotionally to wake up and realize clem is GONE without even SAYING GOODBYE. thats gonna hurt her so bad regardless if you romanced her or not. like clem is their leader now and shes just...leaving?? without telling anyone?? EVEN AJ???? HER ADOPTIVE CHILD??? fuck this stupid ass comic it is SO OUT OF CHARACTER for clem for like a million reasons. like skybound/tillie are saying theyre excited to focus on clems sexuality (which :/) but like to do it theyre really damaging representation that was already THERE and GOOD.

like way to just rip away really nice wlw representation just so you dont have to worry about determinant choices. (violentine is my favorite wlw rep in media theyre just......so nice. so cute but like so natural?? they are so in love and the writing just feels like it really came from the heart like the writers really cared abt their relationship even if it WAS a little rushed but like s4 was rushed in general) every scene they have together just makes me 😳😭😭🥺💕💕💕 no matter how many times i see it

another reason it pisses me off is that like everything else about this comic feels like a cheap rip off of s4!!! like theyre just sweeping s4 under the rug (which imo is the best season) just to rehash it again but BADLY. apparently theres gonna be "evil twins" now theyre REALLY going all in on the s4 rip off

ALSO i just love violet!!! shes a GREAT character. shes funny and mean but meaner than she intends to be. thinks shes not great with people but is a great leader. cares so much even though she pretends not to because shes afraid of being hurt. so she puts up walls to keep people away and it ties into her coming off harsher than she means to, but also longs for connection. also shes better with people than she gives herself credit for esp her interactions with aj so cute. LESBIAN!! got a bit of a gnc thing goin on i love it. her little rainbow pin and untied boots with different colored laces. her voice gideon i love your voice So Much 😳💕

s4 was the perfect end for clementine, and the writers of the last season INTENDED for that to be her ENDING. thats where she spends the rest of her days, surrounded by her found family who love her, safe at the school. shes DONE RUNNING she literally hung up her hat like shes DONE. she NEVER wanted to be on the road shes always longed for a place to be safe with aj and she has it she would never leave.

so yeah this comic is not canon in my eyes and apparently for a lot of other people as well. im just trying to pretend it doesnt exist i wish people would tag it because i want to block it. im glad not many people are even gonna be aware of its existence i wish i was one of them. let me eternal sunshine this shit away please erase it from my mind.

they didnt even draw clems peg on the right side :///// theyre making her grow her hair out :/// fuck off