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harmfulot · 4 years ago

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Hi!! Before you read this or try to take this down please just consider reading this instead of being so hateful. I don’t mean to spread hate onto any shippers but I do believe that Inuyasha’s fandom has a major problem that needs to be addressed. Trigger warning for pedophila,child p*rn and grooming.

Why Sessrin is problematic.

Sessrin is a very popular ship among the Inuyasha community. If you are a shipper of this pair you won’t have to worry for lack of content for it. Rin is a injured child character that is introduced in the original Inuyasha manga in issue 14. She meets Sesshomaru in the forest and even though she is going through a lot at such a young age her kind self still tries to help him out. Sesshomaru at first does not care for this child who is tending to him. He tells her to mind her business and has her leave. Soon after Rin is killed by Kouga’s pack of wolves and Sesshomaru with his demon power scented her blood and comes to save her with his Tenseiga. After this Sessshomaru decides to take in Rin and protect her even though he had a hatred for humans. A “similarly” shippers like to compare Inuyasha and Kagome’s relationship with but their relationship is not written with romantic tensions..

The reason why Rin was written and VERY important in Inuyasha is because she is the reason why Sesshomaru became a better person. He no longer hated humans or wanted to go against his brother. This broken human child Rin looked up to Sesshomaru who was a powerful older demon. Sesshomaru grew a soft side and it was because of her caring innocence. You could easily see their connection as father and daughter or Sesshomaru as a guardian for her. Never did he have the thought of getting with her when she got older and Rin never developed a crush on him. Why? Because she is a child who lost her parents and now has this person who protects her like one. People may say that Jaken was the father figure for Rin but I don’t agree because unlike Sesshomaru he did not care for Rin and only handled her to please his lord. Jaken would call Rin many negative things and go off at her. Rin was annoyed by Jaken. He is certainly not a parent figure for her. Sesshomaru provided a stay aside him to lead for Rin which she followed. Rin was no longer alone. She had Sesshomaru’s company now. Even if he was not very good at taking care of her he never wanted her to get hurt or killed again. He is new to this “taking care of people” thing after all especially humans...young humans. Sessrin would destroy the growth of Sesshomaru because it can’t be denyed that their relationship represents this much more than a romance waiting to happen. When Kagura came along Rin told Jaken joyfully she bet Kagura had a crush on Sesshomaru this small moment reminds you she a is a child that lost her parents and could be seeing this as a opportunity for Kagura to become her adoptive mother. And most Sesshomaru cosplayers would use their daughter to cosplay for Rin. Usually making the picture taken seem like Sesshomaru is protecting Rin or having them both share a cute bonding moment. Why? Because that is how their relationship is meant to be established. For a Sessrin cosplay to work people would have to age up Rin and her design or else the cosplayers would receive negative feedback. Now moving on to how aging up Rin is not okay either.

People claim they only would like to see these two get together once Rin is older but that is almost as bad as shipping Sessrin while she is a child. Sesshomaru saw Rin grow up. He raised her for a while as his own this needs to stop being denied in the fandom. For Sesshomaru to impregnate Rin is out of character. And seems like a sick fanasty. He is not that kind of character. He wouldn’t touch Rin in that matter. Even if she was in her late 20’s. He respected child Rin and would still respect her older. Sessrin is like if a babysitter got together with the person they use to take care of as a kid. It’s disturbing!! Not cute. Rin does not deserve to be fedished.

It’s actually terrifying how much child p*rn there is of Rin. I feel so ashamed by even coming across one by mistake. Don’t use the excuse that Rin is a fictional character. Enough with that excuse. Let’s throw that excuse away. That excuse of “it’s fictional it does not matter..” only works for certain things like when someone assigns headcanons for their favorite character or ships a non-canon pair that isn’t problematic. Not when we are speaking of drawing nsfw of a fictional child. And fictional or not. Rin is a child and every grown person who has drawn smut of her should be ashamed and even arrested. If you see a fictional child in this matter what knows what could you lead you up to see an actual kid as this too. It’s a big problem because there are so many people who have gotten away with this. It’s so easy to find a image of child Rin without any of her clothes on or being r*ped by Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru would never r*pe anyone. It’s quite sad. Kagome was saved from being sexually assaulted by Mukostu because of Sesshomaru. People has even brought doujinshi comics of Sessrin making love or may I call it child p*rn in disguise? Be honest with yourself. It really is just that.

Everyone finding out would be horrified. Excluding Hanyo No Yashahime which majorly changed the characters. Sesshomaru and Rin being together would make everyone uncomfortable even Miroku who has before asked a child if she would bare his kid. Which Inuyasha,Kagome,and Sango reacted very badly to. And was yelled at for it. They do not tolerate pedos nor grooming. Kagome especially would be against. She referred Rin as the girl many times and puzzled together that Sesshomaru took care for Rin. Many people bring up that Kouga proposed to Ayame when she was a kid but remember that was never in the original. Sunrise created Ayame and added this other plot in order for Kouga to have someone at the end. Which is sad because this could have worked if Ayame met Kouga and gained a crush on him instead. She was a cute character after all. In the manga Kouga remains by himself since Kagome stayed with Inuyasha. Now I am definitely not a fan of Kouga and Ayame. I despise the fact Sunrise only created her to be Kouga’s romance interest but having him tell her he would marry her once she was older was even worse. This was a choice Sunrise made not Kouga’s original character. The reason why Kagome does not call out Kouga on this is because she did not know Ayame was a child at the time he proposed. He never mentioned it but if he did I’m certain Kagome would have not tried to keep setting them up together knowing this information. And just a reminder that even in real life some Inuyasha voice actors such as Richard Ian Cox and David Kaye voice actor for Sesshomaru does not support Sessrin. Adding on shipping Rin with Sesshomaru is like shipping Shippo with Inuyasha or Kagome. Weird right?? In the Manga Sesshomaru’s Mother Inukimi says that Sesshomaru is like his father in the strangest of ways after saving Rin again. No this doesn’t mean that he will soon come to love her romantically because Inukimi did add “In the strangest of ways” and refers to Rin as a girl like Kagome. She means that Sesshomaru had now changed and that he cared about someone who was a human like his dad who also cared for them even though they are both demons.

It’s funny how the sequel claims girl power but does not know how to treat it’s female characters. Kagome and Sango are both introduced as Inuyasha and Miroku’s wives instead of their actual character. Now if you not a woman please do not have a say in this unless you wish to agree but this is very sexist Sunrise. I’m not exaggerating how upsetting and disrespectful it is to see you introduce these strong main female role models like this. Inuyasha and Miroku were not titled as husbands of...so why were Kagome and Sango? I’m sure 99% of audience would know who is married to who. Women are not objects or tools Sunrise. Kagome is the main character of Inuyasha even if his name is on title. She is the reason why got to meet these characters. Sunrise has done female characters dirty many times like making Ayame obessed with Kouga when she could have been a neat character but what they did to Rin takes the cake. Rin is introduced as “The girl who adores Sesshomaru” but apparently now that girl is the mother of his children. Shame on you Sunrise!! We only saw Rin ever as a child even when series ended aging her up to become Sesshomaru’s wife without knowing how she is as a grown person is not a good example for your younger female audience to view. This could have been avoided.

Even though I’m a minor who only been in this fandom for half a year I gather a lot of knowledge of how far this fandom goes. It was definitely most popular around early 2000’s and many say it was their first anime with their first anime crush being Sesshomaru. Inuyasha was an anime I did not look content for till later after finishing season 2. When I discovered Sessrin I was real confused and thought to myself it was just a small part of the fandom but I could have been more wrong. Many accounts I followed that involved Inuyasha shipped Sessrin. Even after finishing many Inuyasha episodes I was very confused on why this was a thing and how could have it gotten so big. I thought something magical would have happened like Rin turning out to be someone much older but that never happened. I was wrong. This ship is just pedophila and nothing else. And I’m sure if Sesshomaru wasn’t “attractive” Sessrin wouldn’t be big. Going back to people crushing on Sesshomaru when they were younger I’m sure the reason Sessrin is not more discussed about for how toxic it is online is because besides people being scared,people like to insert themselves as Rin but this has to stop. Adults should not pair a child and grown up together even if the child is now grown. Especially grown ups with kids. This is not good example to set for your kids. I’ve seen many minors being harassed online for disliking Sessrin by adults. Which is super immature and should be in trouble for. Netruals must know that is not a ship war because there have been people who have gotten horrible hate and were told very graphic things by Sessrin shippers. ( By the way I’m sorry to anyone who has been hurt online even Sessrin shippers. I do not support Sessrin but no one should be told awful things. ) Many Inuyasha fans which dislike Sessrin have left Twitter and Tumblr because of how much hate they have gotten. This is not okay. People should be able to voice their opinion on something without being told to commit s*icide or hoping they get r*ped.

And your point? This sequel is being written in the 21th century. We could write it however we please not everything has to be “accurate” and also this state is just supporting the idea of children being wed with a grown up was okay before because the age of consent was different. Ugh..but this claim is just another excuse. Please stop using it. Many things in the past were allowed which wouldn’t be allowed today. So no this is not a valid reason to ship Rin with Sesshomaru.

Sunrise should not be off the hook for using child Rin clips for the opening as the daughters are shown. It was a wrong decision to make them seem like “moments” since now many actual pedophiles will support this pair as well. Even before this continuing was announced Sessrin was a big thing and “adult Rin” was not. Sunrise should not be supporting Sessrin at all. Nor anyone in the Inuyasha crew. They have many young fans watching and supporting this anime and they are being influenced and will grow up to think grooming is okay when it’s not. Again in 2021 this can not be allowed and it shouldn’t have ever. This sequel was not necessary. The anime ended fine.

If Rin is the mom I will no longer support Hanyo No Yashahime. I’m sorry but I will sadly have to drop it. There are a lot of reasons why Sessrin should not be a thing and Sunrise should know many themselves,because they have joined along these character’s journeys and seen through scripts who they are. And what Sessrin is pedophila and grooming that happened to get a lot of support which is why it is hard to find more people within online media discuss it. I sure do hope it does because I am tired of seeing only few doing it. We need more awareness of how problematic grooming pairs are in anime media. No more portraying children to grow up as romance interests for people they were raised by. Let’s keep Sesshomaru and Rin’s relationship wholesome. There is no need for them to get together. At the end of the day Rin owns Sesshomaru nothing and he knows that. Let’s start viewing them from a different point of view. Let’s see more fanart of them acting like father and daughter. I love that. Thank you and have a good day.

#Anti Sessrin #Inuyasha #Hanyo No Yashahime #Anti Grooming #Sunrise #I EDITED THIS SO MANY TIMES CAUSE OF ERRORS AND PEOPLE HAVE REBLOGGED IT THAT WAY YEE #Don’t encourage this

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eternaleve · 4 years ago

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I’ve spent the course of COVID lockdown cycling through hyperfixations while also trying to engage in some much needed therapy (lolsob), and I’ve been essentially encouraging myself to try and do more things I can enjoy without feeling shame. Anyway, that’s a short way of saying I decided to blog about all the music videos of Depeche Mode for reasons of science.

The science is that my basic premise is that most of the videos are pretty bad in ways that I find to be pretty strange. Full disclosure is that I spent my teen years being a huge Cure fan and there’s an overlap there? Of songs with very niche high-concept ideas that don’t necessarily map onto a model of popular music but found mainstream success in the rise of new wave music in the wake of the collapse of first wave punk and amplified by the creation of music videos and music video TV. And I owned all the Cure music videos and played them on my iPod Nano because I was a very strange child. But to get back to my central thesis, many of The Cure’s videos are very stylised and fun and memorable in ways that are good. And yet, despite existing in the same sphere and having an overlap of fans, the music videos for Depeche Mode mostly stay bad until the end of the eighties, a fact I will prove by watching them all.

Can you tell that I am bored because i have lost my job and my mental health is making me fixate on strange shit currently because that is absolutely the case right now

Speak & Spell

Dreaming of Me (Feb 1981)

The single art is really lovely - the red/yellow contrast is very striking against the white, and I really love the design. Hey remember when people used to go out and buy singles and you would appreciate them and the work that went into them? I don’t think I’ve bought a physical single since I was about sixteen. I used to buy them from the Woolworths music department because it was cheap and all my friends worked there, so they had a pretty lenient attitude about what exactly constituted paying for things. Woolworths policy of only hiring teenagers is probably what destroyed their business.

Anyway, Dreaming of Me did not chart super well, getting to number 57 and having no official music video - or actually getting onto the album. It wasn’t included on Speak & Spell in the UK until the 2006 re-release. So, there was no music video for me to look at…

Apart from this video I found from local TV in 1981 to promote the song. It’s a maybe-music video. Because music videos had only been around for about six years and MTV didn’t exist until later in the same year, my guess is that Mute Records were pretty cautious about putting money into a medium that might cost more than they would get in publicity. That’s only a guess. I don’t have a crystal ball for forty years ago.

Anyway, here are some children recording music.

If i was 19 and someone offered me a recording contract I would have taken it without thinking (like i took on all those student loans without thinking through any consequences wompwomp) but now I am nearly thirty I watch this and think, ‘These children shouldn’t be outside unaccompanied’. The passage of time has made a fool of me.

They go bowling and play Space Invaders which, hey, still sounds like a great night out to me, but I’m guessing that because this is very clearly aimed at teenagers the TV producers didn’t want to encourage teen drinking by showing them performing a gig at a club night.

I call it high fashion. The all-grey really sells it.

This reminds me so much of a advice column in teen magazines - when they’d have problems set out in a little faux-comic strip of still photos? ‘My best friend stole and read my diary’ ‘My crush found out about how I feel and now he’s going out with my best friend’, that sort of thing. That is also a classic carpet pattern. I think my grandma’s living room had that carpet.

The video is very naive! It’s the sort of thing we would all see now on Youtube from bands just starting out and it is wild to me that this went out on TV. It’s very un-glossy and normal, the stuff that bands put out on YouTube now because of DIYness.

New Life (June 1981)

This is also a really great piece of single art. It’s very bold and striking - it would definitely be the standout record in a sea of other 7’’ released the same week. It also doesn’t particularly match the tone of the single but eh, it looks pretty cool. New Life did much better than Dreaming of Me and got up to number 11 in the UK singles chart. Still no official music video, but the charting meant that the band got onto Top of The Pops! ToTP was cancelled when I was a wee baby teen, because the BBC decided to stop caring about yoof viewership and promoting music was circling the drain everywhere as streaming hit, but it was the place to promote music so was definitely a sign that You Had Made It.

So, last video was silly and made by children, but now they’re wearing see-through mesh shirts, leather trousers, and leather hats with a design that I am a little bit dubious about. I grew up on the oi/punk scene and let me tell you about how many first wave punks wear iconography of bad regimes for faux edginess reasons because I met a LOT of them in my time.

Oh boy do i have thoughts about that hat. It also looks like a Leather Daddy hat which, well, let’s leave that thought to one side. Most ToTP performances were lipsynced. Playing things live would sound weird in the studio, be picked up strangely by the audio equipment and the cameras, so 99% of performances were mimed to the single. Now, some acts would deliberately play up to the pretence and refuse to act like they were doing anything that corresponded to the song - The Jam, The Communards, and The Cure are literally the first examples that come to mind who would just… not do anything close to pretending it was real.

This is not that. It is very earnest and awkward and serious, which sort of makes it very sweet.

Just Can’t Get Enough (September 1981)

Right, that is shibari, isn’t it? I’m not blind, am I? It’s a very striking image that 99.9% of people would not recognise other than being a striking black and white image.

I don’t think I can overstate how… innocent, in a way, this point of time was? As in the general level of knowledge about non-conventional stuff in the wider public at large. As in my mother, an almost teen at this point, saw George Michael walking with his boyfriend in central London and had no idea he was gay until he came out. It’s actually the widest cultural gulf I can think of between her teen years and my teen years because I was very aware of queer people from a young age.

Anyway, moving on, I feel like it bears repeating that this song fucking slaps. It’s the last single to be written by Vince Clarke and the last single until 2006 to be written by someone other than Martin Gore. This is one of those songs that just works on every level. Can you imagine coming up with this for the first album of your band? That blows my mind. It’s so overpoweringly good that it was probably for the best that it was saved for last - coming out the gate with a guaranteed fucking banger was been the nail in the coffin for a lot of other eighties synth/electronica bands. They scored a huge hit and then nothing after that managed to be as good or meet the hype. Depeche Mode had built up a far bit of radio play and interest before dropping this which turned out to be very good in the long run!

This got to number 8 on the UK charts and the first to get a music video! It is the only one with Vince Clarke. Full disclosure in that I had this song on my iPod through downloading the video to my computer (that’s how we got songs without using stuff that would give us viruses because i got a ton using bearshare for rare cure demos) and I remember watching the video, all of sixteen years old, and thinking, ‘Man, all these people look so grown up, compared to me, I can’t wait to be an adult!’.

Twelve years have changed my view, somewhat.

Look at this little baby man. Were you in one of my A Level classes - as in, ones that I have taught, not ones that I have been in.

Vince Clarke, however, has had a significant glow up in the six months and now looks like he is the bouncer in a leather bar. This is the One Adult in the room.

Ahh, I see it’s Open Mic Night at the local leather bar. You know what I was saying about how teens in the eighties tended to be significantly more naive about what we might call certain signifiers? Because what this outfit says to me, a queer woman in 2020, is susbstanitally different than to my mum and her friends watching this when it first came out. She would read this as ‘This is totally rebellious and cool!’ while I go ‘Someone just joined the university kink club and spent all their bursary’.

I don’t remember the member of Blazin’ Squad that wore a slave harness. (Now, there’s a reference that shows my age. A Blazin’ Squad reference in the year of Our Lord 2020. Hoooo boy.)

I read somewhere (that I can’t find now because, of course I can’t) that these are the band’s girlfriends and I always remembered that because it made me think, lol, same. One of my closest friends is the Head of London, so she’s in every band in London and if she’s not in yours yet give her time, and my partner was in a locally successful metal/hardcore band for about a decade and being connected with any sort of band means you will be helping out hugely behind the scene constantly. I have held lights, moved speakers, picked up instruments, been in music videos, and have bought tearaway trousers and glowsticks for gigs. You get called in to help all the time which is a lot of fun, so that fact always just stuck with me. It also makes sense financially because then you don’t have to hire any professional backing dancers, you can rely on people who will happily do it for free (while looking pretty rad while doing it!).

Anyway, the band look like those generic raiders that you run into when randomly walking across the map in a Fallout game.

I love awkward choreography in music videos. It feeds me.

Filming a night out provides A) Great footage and B) Can be done for limited overheads, leaving more money to be put into promotion.

I always like seeing this sort of footage in music videos. I tend to see a lot of it, given the DIY punk scene, and it always charms me. I am easy to please. And all those women have the most amazing eye makeup that makes me super jealous because it all looks so good.

That hat is on point. This looks like a still image for some sort of cyberpunk big band style swing revival that, sadly, lives only in my dreams.

It took me so goddamn long to screenshot this shot probably because i was also blasting dream nails whoops

Anyway those are my reactions to Speak & Spell’s one solitary music video with some other things thrown in and this took me way too long. I make myself laugh though, that’s the main thing. I will do A Broken Frame… at some point. I think I have a bunch of vinyl for A Broken Frame? My mum actually bought all the singles for that album and I stole most of her collection years ago. I will have to search and see what I can find.

#depeche mode #speak & spell #i make myself laugh #and that's the main thing

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wolfhuntsmoon · 5 years ago

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Sarah Rogers pt 2: or, how baby!Steve imbibed a fuck-you attitude with his mother’s milk

Okay, so after looking at Sarah’s backstory, how she met Joseph and had Steve and decided to go to America, I couldn’t stop thinking about: what next? The MCU wiki is VERY thin on the ground with detail, and she’s so interesting! Plus, this is, like, one of the most criminally underdeveloped sources for Steve Rogers’ character, as I mentioned in pt 1. So, what can we reasonably source from the time to fill in the gaps?

So: I said in my previous post Sarah likely arrives in January/February of 1918. This is because in those days, travel times were long, conditions were VERY poor and you did not want to be heavily pregnant on a cheap ship to America with the conditions on board. Plus, in those days there was no guarantee a ship company would even sell you a ticket if you were visibly pregnant. It did happen, but was risky for the company, so you could never be sure. Sarah would have left asap once she made a decision.

The journey itself would have taken about 3-4 weeks. First she would have had to travel to London, because nothing would have been leaving to America from the French or Belgian coastline, as a) most of it was too close to the war and b) the bits that weren’t wouldn’t have been profitable. Travel to London from Passchendaele would have taken a few days to a week, given the mud and absolute priority troops and military materials were given on all journeys. This map here shows it took between 7-10 days to arrive in New York from London (by ship, no flights until the late 1920s/1930s) in 1914 before the outbreak of the war. I mentioned how at this point the German U-boats were basically sinking anything they found not flying a German flag, which made this journey pretty hazardous, even with the newly introduced (and very effective) protection of the convoy system. If Sarah was travelling on a fast convoy (less likely as they were primarily for troop ships) it would have taken about a week. Slower moving convoys carrying mostly cargo might have taken 2 weeks, even 2 and a half weeks if the weather was bad. Convoys, by the way, were where groups of ships were clustered together and escorted across the Atlantic by a combination of naval ships bristling with every explosive known to man, and navy ships disguised to look like harmless merchant cargo ships but ALSO bristling with every explosive known to man, to prevent U-boats sinking them. And also attack U-boats when they turned up. Not if. When. As you may be imagining, these journeys often contained lots of Things Going Boom and people Dying in Unpleasant Ways. Sarah would have been told by literally everyone she knew that this was a stupid, near-lethal decision, and that she should just NOT. But Sarah being Sarah, ignored this in the pursuit of what she felt was right and best for her and her baby... that doesn’t sound familiar at all, does it?

Okay, so she’s made it through the journey to the iconic Ellis Island. The next problem was that Immigration to the USA was incredibly curtailed by 1918, compared to the levels of immigration to the US prior to WWI beginning. In this, Sarah was lucky. Prior to WWI, on average between 1900-1914 about 1 million immigrants arrived into the US each year. In 1918, roughly 110,000 did - Sarah being one of them. I’ve said before that she would have had an easier time getting passage on a ship in the first place because she was comparatively better off on a nurse’s wage and was a middle class professional. More than that, most travel was reserved for the military - and Sarah likely had connections, being the wife of an American soldier, which made it easier for her to gain passage on a ship. (More on this later.)

Her status and profession is also very important for explaining how Sarah gained entry to the US, because by the end of WWI, the open door policy of the 19th and early 20th century had been solidly shut. The open-door policy had essentially allowed anyone who could pass a very basic medical and legal check free entry to reside in the USA, and the Ellis Island museum has a very good description of just how cursory these checks were - they were nicknamed the ‘six second physicals’. 98% of immigrants passed straight away, and a only a very small percentage of the remainder were put on a ship back to their country of origin. But by the outbreak of WWI, politicians and the public had become uneasy about this. Mostly due to racial concerns - Chinese immigration was the first to be restricted in 1882 with the Chinese Exclusion Act. Japanese immigrants were targeted in 1907 and all Asian immigrants in 1917. (I see a lot of posts on tumblr talking about how immigration restrictions in the US began by denying Jewish refugees entry in the 1930s, which... is wrong. So, so wrong. But anyway.) Here is a contemporary cartoon showing a pretty good summary of attitudes to immigration by the time Sarah would have been travelling:

(The 3% refers to immigration restrictions put in place by Congress AFTER the war, btw.)

But the US wasn’t just worried about one continent’s people! Or even ‘just’ non-whites! Oh no... they were also VERY worried about the ‘wrong sort’ of white immigrant too. Namely, anyone from southern and eastern Europe, and the Irish.

The discrimination against the Irish is an interesting one, because on the face of it, the Irish were the kind of immigrants the US wanted - north and western Europeans. But here’s where eugenics and pseudoscience come along and fuck things up for a lot of people. Part of the reason why the US was suspicious of southern and eastern Europeans was political - that they harboured a tendency towards violent revolutions, communism and anarchy. The Irish, after the violence of the 1916 Easter Rising and the fact that a not-insignificant number of violent revolutionaries tried to facilitate a German invasion of Ireland (and then unionists ran guns during the war through Kriegsmarine U-boat dropoffs on the Irish coast in... defence???? Idk either.), came to be included in this politically radical group. That’s the first strike.

The second strike came from the fact Irish had the British working against them. In those days, British media and culture really set the tone for the rest of the world. Remember, the US was not a world superpower yet - this is when Britain is at the height of its power, ruling 20% of the world’s people and 25% of its land surface by 1924. Britannia really did rule the waves, and much of the world’s culture, at this point. Hollywood, and American ‘soft power’ had yet to develop into the behemoth it is now. British culture persistently depicted the Irish as subhuman, ape-like, feckless, uncivilised and dangerous, as you can clearly see here:

The top one is from 1866, and the second one from 1849. Both were cartoons published in Punch Magazine, which was the pre-eminent social and political publication that EVERYONE read in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. It also played a huge role in shaping social attitudes, and you can see more of its, and others, views on the Irish in these excellent galleries. The rest of the British media was the same - almost universally negative views of the Irish, which filtered across the Atlantic over time. And seemed to be vindicated by events like the 1916 Easter Rising, and before that a long running number of secret societies the British kept discovering, plotting revolution against their rule. The whole ‘kiss me I’m Irish’, dying the Hudson green on St Patrick’s day, ‘omg I love an Irish accent’ thing? Didn’t happen until the latter half, or really the last quarter, of the twentieth century. The Irish were pretty much persona non grata when Sarah was alive. Part of the explanation for this came from the idea that the Irish were a part of a lesser race, their Celtic origins leading to a lack of judgement, predisposition to alcoholism and hotheadedness, and passionate outbursts which meant you needed to treat them more like children. Conveniently enough for the British, this explanation meant you didn’t need to treat your subjects like equals, deserving of the vote, or indeed with anything except violence and condescension. Ha. Funny that.

But anyway, back to America.

Third strike: the Irish were Catholic, as Sarah would have been. Only the very richest in society were Protestant, because they were descended from British settlers. Both the British and the US governments of the time viewed Catholicism with deep suspicion, partly for historical reasons (Martin Luther, 1517 and all that jazz) but ALSO because the Catholic Church remained a vastly powerful institution which could and did command the loyalties of people more than the national government, and this represented a dangerous fifth column within the nation state. Most of north and western Europe was Protestant, unlike the south and east which was predominantly Catholic (with the exception of France. But hey, they’re the French. No big.) so the Irish being 99% Catholic was yet another reason they got lumped in with the other ‘undesireables’.

Not a small part of this was caused by the fact that the Irish had been immigrating to America in vast numbers ever since the Great Famine (aka the Potato Famine/Blight) to the tune of and average of c450,000 Irish per decade between 1850-1900. That is... a LOT. Like, New York’s population in 1890 had only just hit 2.5 million! Ireland’s population TODAY is 5 million! So by the end of WWI, there was already a sense that Too Many Irish were here, particularly since the Irish tended, like most immigrant communities, to move into certain areas in large numbers via family groups and connections. Sarah would have been no exception to this, which I’ll explore more in pt 3 later. It was a very common practice in this period for a man to go to America and work, then bring his family and extended family over. Or for young relations to go and live with family already in America if there was no work in Ireland - which there wasn’t, the Irish economy being subsistence agriculture and not a lot else.

All of this together means that when Sarah arrives in Jan/Feb of 1918? She’d get a pretty rough welcome at Ellis Island (still used for incoming immigrants until new legislation establishing a visa system in 1924 went through and basically made it redundant.) and beyond.

Below is a pic of an Ellis Island arrival card, just because it’s cool:

These tightened restrictions resulted in not just health checks, but intelligence tests and ‘mental fitness’ tests, which if failed, could result in the immigrant being sent back to their country of origin. However, Sarah would have made it through okay, because she had good English, her profession and likely her marriage cert and references from Joseph Rogers’ commanding officer to speed her passage. She may even have had family connections already in New York or America, but for the reasons outlined in my previous post, probably wasn’t in contact with them. Or if she did contact them, was likely to be ignored and ostracised. Because patriarchy, yay.

But ironically? Getting into America was the easy part. I know, I know, unbelievable, especially when you consider she was PREGNANT during this. I mean, can you imagine enduring morning sickness and all the other joys of pregnancy on a boat in the middle of the Atlantic in WINTER, in danger of sinking from a U-Boat torpedo at any moment? Can you? Can you??? Sarah Rogers came up against an immense set of obstacles just to get into America and just fucking ploughed through them like they were tissue paper. Which explains a LOT about Steve Rogers, that’s for sure.

Join me next time for pt 3, where I explore Sarah’s living and working situation after she arrives and we all learn to be even more in awe of how fucking metal she was.

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theclaravoyant · 6 years ago

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musings on the evolution of bisexuality in sitcoms and being treated “like a joke”

Not to open up old cans of worms, but for my video project I was thinking about the subject of Eleanor Shellstrop (The Good Place) and various opinions about her bisexuality, the status of it canon-wise, and in particular the feelings amongst some of the fandom (and non-fandom) that it is treated “like a joke.” I have heard similar things about Rosa Diaz (Brooklyn 99) as well regarding the latter point and so that worked its way in, and soon enough this ended up sort of turning into a short ish essay. I’m not really trying to argue a particular point, but merely reflect on some things, and I hope you don’t mind I thought I’d share my musings. It boils down to being laughed at vs being laughed with, which I get to below the cut after a brief exposition (I have some Thoughts)

Note: I am not looking to get into an argument with anyone, and I’m not saying this is the be all and end all answer to rep, but if you wanted to share some thoughts, add on, etc, you’re welcome to do so.

Note II: Just for clarity’s sake, non-LGBT+ people are welcome to interact if you would like to do so.

I must admit, moving back to the topic of Eleanor for a minute, I resonate with some of those feelings I outlined above. For example, I don’t particularly care for the fact that we have never seen her engage in an abiding romantic or even sexual relationship with a woman, whereas her romance with Chidi has been rebooted over and over and is consistently the outcome. It grates on me a bit that in a universe which has been rebooted upward of 4 different times that we have seen (and approx 300 other times shoved into a few minutes) this is the outcome every time. Why not explore another option for a season? I love Cheleanor, don’t get me wrong, and the constant rebooting annoys me from that perspective as well not just the f/f perspective, but in terms of sapphic rep and also considering how often bisexuality is exploited and misrepresented by heteronormative storytellers (eg the tropes “Bi the Way” and “Not Too Bi”), it really sucks.

Edit: I deleted a paragraph here that had some examples I had misremembered and was rushing through. Shockingly writing up a train of thought on a bus leads to some inaccuracies and skipping over of valuable debates. Instead, I will say that I don’t mean by the above, that m/f bi attraction is not real and valuable. It certainly is. What is a pain in the ass in my opinion - and in the opinion of a lot of the bi people I know before anyone comes at me with that again - is when bisexuality is only used to make a character interesting, sexy or rebellious, while still only representing the m/f side of things because that is easier/more comfortable/etc for heteronormative writers and viewers to portray and invest in.

THAT SAID, back to my actual point. I think we (particularly we who are LGBT+ ourselves) are also very accustomed to seeing LGBT+ characters in dramas, where bad things happen and there’s angst and death and gnashing of teeth. I think this being the norm leads us to freak out a bit and not necessarily know how to actually handle positive, happy rep in which we ourselves, our identities, are taken seriously. We are so used to either being a tragedy or being laughed at (rather than with) that it is extremely unsettling to experience what I would call a dawning new era of being respected in sitcoms - including The Good Place, Brooklyn 99, One Day at a Time, and I’m sure there are others as well.

It’s not surprising, with this skittishness trained into us, that some people interpret the treatment of Eleanor’s bisexuality as being a joke. I’m also not saying this knee-jerk reaction is the only reason; again, I’m not saying my thoughts & feelings on this are the be all and end all of rep. I am just saying that it was a major reason why I was uncomfortable at first: it is extremely hard to trust people to joke around about us, and our identities, and especially with the added element of the unique hypersexualisation of bisexual f/f attraction. But recently I’ve been rewatching some older and less progressive, less inclusive sitcoms and in comparison, it becomes very clear, the difference between being the butt of the joke (laughed at) or being part of a joke (laughed with). It might help - not just with Eleanor, but with others too - to give some examples:

In Friends, Monica, Rachel and Phoebe, only use the idea of f/f attraction when they want to get the boys’ attention, distract them, win bets, or the like. They are successful in this explicitly because the men find this idea so ridiculously, mind-bogglingly sexy that they can’t think. Yet NONE of these main characters are ever revealed to have an actual, serious attraction to girls; none of them express it outside of the direct goal of getting male attention. Similarly, in How I Met Your Mother, Lily’s repeated expression of a desire to kiss a girl is put down to her artistic nature and rebelliousness, and is repeatedly called “so stupid”, and again, is only used to get male attention (to wake up Barney). When she finally kisses Robin, it goes away (bi experiment trope), and it is implied that ~lol~ after all that Robin might actually want more, but that is then left hanging and never revisited again. There are heaps more, I could go on, but these are all examples of being laughed at.

Compared to these sorts of jokes, let us reflect on Eleanor again. Jokes around her sexuality include: being so attracted to her female nemesis that Eleanor can’t insult her profusely without starting to compliment her, and being so attracted to her boyfriend’s girlfriend that in a simulation where she plays him, she goes to kiss the girlfriend instead of her assigned goal, which was to break up. If this sounds more like #relatable sapphic content than a dismissive joke, that’s because it is. These jokes could not happen without Eleanor’s attraction to women, that is true, but the attraction itself is not the joke. The joke lies in Eleanor’s reactions to the attraction as a messy, funny, sexually driven human. In this way, her bisexuality forms part of the joke, but it is paired up with her other personality traits as a comedy character to be laughed with. Similarly, with Rosa Diaz, her stunned moment upon seeing Alicia is funny because it is an example of what we in the biz of gay ass blogging sometimes refer to as “useless lesbian brain” (or in this case “useless bi brain”). It’s cute because the love interest is a girl and because Terry is hyper-enthusiastic that it’s a girl. It wouldn’t work as well as a joke if it was not a girl, and heteronormativity is almost definitely the reason for that, but the point still stands that the bisexuality itself is not the joke, it’s the way she responds to it: it’s the fact that Rosa Diaz, usually so suave and in control, loses the ability to Can. Terry’s overly enthusiastic allyship is also funny, but mostly to people who have experienced overly enthusiastic allyship ie the LGBT+ audience.

(To add one final example: I am not aware of ANY male bi rep in older sitcoms, which kinda speaks for itself, but in the more modern ones we have characters such as Darryl Whitefeather (Crazy Ex Girlfriend). One of the biggest jokes around his sexuality is his coming out as “both-sexual!!” Once again, the joke is not the bi attraction itself, but rather, in the fact that lol this pour bi soul didn’t know the word for it! Another example imo of being laughed with).

I know I’m not saying all that much new here. Probably nothing new, to some people. I also know I’m not addressing every joke or facet of bi or LGBT+ rep even in the shows I’ve just listed. I’m not trying to, I mean none of us have all century. I just think it’s important to highlight what I feel is usually quite a strong difference between being laughed at and being laughed with, and that was the main idea of this post. It’s definitely not always as simple as the examples I’ve outlined above (eg. some of the Eleanor jokes are similar to jokes made in Pitch Perfect, in which I would say it’s about being laughed at), but I am just trying to put some words to some of my thought process on this sort of thing, particularly as I rewatch Friends and think about how far we’ve come with it!

One final time, because people in my inbox don’t seem to get it, I am not claiming to be ‘correct’. This is just an aspect of my feelings and opinions. I am also not trying to ‘speak over’ people who actually ID as bi; in fact, it was bi people saying ‘why can’t you let us have funny things’ that actually opened my eyes to a more comfortable bi-friendly interpretation of the treatment of Eleanor’s sexuality in the first place. I’m not trying to say “this is good rep, actually,” or “this is bad rep, actually.” As I said above, I think it’s both, and I think it’s more complicated than that, and most importantly, I am not actually trying to change anyone’s mind. If you resonate with this? Cool. If not, that’s fine. It’s my thoughts, my opinion. It’s not fact and I don’t want to tell anyone how to feel especially about their own rep.

With that in mind, if anyone is interested in chatting with me more about this sort of thing (by which I do not mean harassing me about it) or asking me what I mean by certain things, or for writing advice, or whatever, you’re welcome to do so - this is just the tip of the iceberg! I just wanted to put this out there in the world for whatever purposes it might come to. Thanks for reading!

#lgbt representation #the good place #brooklyn 99 #tgp meta #b99 meta #eleanor shellstrop #rosa diaz #life of a fangirl #bi representation #lgbt #lgbt+#long post

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austincitylimitlessworld · 6 years ago

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Writing Sample

Back from a long long hiatus with a new blog. I’ve never used Tumblr for profit before, so if anyone sees this and has any suggestions on how to “hook in” please let me know.

Charlotte Brontë’s Caroline, a Heroine’s Journey from Light through Darkness and into Wisdom

The late mythologist Joseph Campbell, in an interview with Bill Moyers discussed The Hero’s Adventure during the segment five of The Power of Myth. His theory is that we all take a hero’s journey at some point. This journey consists of three links in a chain: Separation, Initiation, and Return.

Charlotte Brontë’s heroine, Caroline Helstone, takes such a journey, physically but especially metaphorically in Shirley.

A Google search on “Yorkshire rectories” yields a virtual plethora of churches and their residences, from the quaint to the gothic to the downright drab. From various descriptions in the novel, it seems most logical that Caroline would be convalescing in a gloomy, mid-sized rectory.

Presently the niece was enclosed in her small bed-room; the door bolted… (Volume I, chapter VII “The Curates at Tea” p. 99)

And in undiminished gladness she rose the next day: as she entered her uncle’s breakfast-room… (Volume I, chapter VII “The Curates at Tea” p. 100)

She had taken an early walk in the garden, and she told him that certain starlings were beginning to build their nests in the church-tower (Briarfield church was close to the Briarfield rectory); she wondered the tolling of the bells in the belfry did not scare them.

Clearly, here we see Caroline’s youthful outlook at the onset of the novel—one cloaked in the grandeur of innocence and love, even if her relationship with her uncle is one of partial strain. Indeed, she appears as a light in a very dark place, where even the

personality of her uncle and the furnishings that inhabit the place are dreary and somewhat stark:

“Caroline,” said Mr. Helstone, bringing his hand slowly down to within an inch or two of the table, and then smiting it suddenly on the mahogany, “understand this: it is vulgar and puerile to confound generals with particulars: in every case, there is the rule, and there are the exceptions. ��Your questions are stupid and babyish. Ring the bell, if you have done breakfast.” (Volume I, chapter VII “The Curates at Tea” p. 102)

Her journey begins as a youth of eighteen. It speaks to Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey by showing her as a living example of The Fool Tarot card (who represents, according to Campbell, the novice at the beginning of his excursion):

One passage in particular illustrates beautifully the ordeal of transforming from a wide-eyed innocent experienced adult:

At that time—at eighteen, drawing near the confines of illusive, void dreams, Elf-land lies behind us, the shores of Reality rise in front. These shores are yet distant: they look so blue, soft, gentle, we long to reach them…Every joy that life gives must be earned ere it is secured; and how hardly earned, those only know who have wrestled for great prizes. The heart’s blood must gem with red beads the brow of the combatant, before the wreath of factory rustles over it.

At eighteen, we are not aware of this.

Alas, Experience! No other mentor has so wasted the frozen a face as yours: none wears a robe so black, none bears a rod so heavy, none with hand so inexorable draws the notice so sternly to his task, and forces him with authority so resistless to its acquirement. It is by your instructions alone that man or woman can ever find a safe track through life’s wilds: without it, how they stumble, how they stray! On what forbidden grounds to they intrude, down what dread declivities are they hurled! (Volume I, chapter VII “The Curates at Tea” p. 97)

Ms. Helstone lives in the sheltered world of her Uncle Matthew’s rectory. Her passage from innocence to wisdom begins here, where she was left as a child by her mother.

Early on in the novel, the other half of Caroline’s world consists of Hollow’s cottage where she is being educated in literature, French, and arithmetic by Hortense Moore. Also living there is Hortense’s brother, mill manager Robert Moore. It isn’t long before Caroline’s uncle forbids her to see Robert due to political and personal reasons. We do not see how this takes its toll on her immediately, and its severity is not fully realized until later. Upon Caroline’s return from her Exodus to Hollow’s cottage she experiences what can be called the gift of suffering, the “Experience” foreshadowed earlier in the novel.

In this case, Experience takes the form of illness and the metaphysical flight she goes on while in its grip:

She felt a pulse beat fast in her temples: she felt too her brain in strange activity: her spirits were raised: hundreds of busy and broken, but brilliant thoughts engaged her mind: a glow rested on them, such as tinged her complexion.

Now followed a hot, parched, thirsty, restless night. Towards morning one terrible dream seized her like a tiger: when she woke, she felt and knew she was ill. (Volume III, chapter I “The Valley of the Shadow of Death” p. 422)

“Where is the other world? In what will another life consist? Why do I ask? Have I not cause to think that the hour is hasting but too fast when the veil must be rent for me? Do I not know the Grand Mystery is likely to burst prematurely on me? Great Spirit!” (Volume III, chapter I “The Valley of the Shadow of Death” pp. 427-8)

Later on in this same chapter, Miss Helstone makes another crucial discovery by way of a confession from Mrs. Pryor when she tells Caroline that she is her biological mother. This is what we can refer to as our heroine’s Initiation.

Having fulfilled her quest, (what Campbell coined “Return,”) Caroline is now able to share with others what she has learned. When she receives word that her beloved Robert has been the victim of an assassination attempt, she strikes a deal with young Martin Yorke in order to see him.

Upon visiting the Yorke estate—where Mr. Moore is recovering, she imparts upon him her new-found understanding of the more difficult aspects of life, and showers him with empathy:

“Do you suffer pain, Robert?”

“Not so much pain now; but I am hopelessly weak, and the state of my mind is inexpressible—dark, barren, impotent. Do you not read it all in my face? I look a mere ghost.”

“Altered, yet I should have known you anywhere: but I understand your feelings: I experienced something like it. Since we met, I too have been very ill.”

“Very ill?”

“I thought I should die. The tale of my life seemed told. Every night just at midnight I used to wake from awful dreams—and the book lay open before me, at the last page where was written ‘Finis.’ I had strange feelings.”

“You speak my experience.” (Volume III, chapter X “Martin’s Tactics” p. 583)

Now Caroline comes from a position of strength to her darling Mr. Moore. Through her own grappling with anguish, she is finally able to understand the pain and suffering of others.

It is easy to see, by really absorbing the novel and observing carefully Caroline’s traits and her world, how she takes this Hero’s Journey. She is separated from the one she loves most, yet finds unexpected love along the way (in Mrs. Pryor), and goes from a youngster to a fully mature adult during the course of this journey. Through her trials, she grows from a girl into a woman worthy of marriage, and, indeed, is later on proposed to by Robert Moore.

Among other things, then, this tale is about proving that there is no growth without change; without effort of some sort. That a person builds character and becomes an adult not by age alone, but by the trials and tribulations she experiences. It also shows that love is not the silly giddy feeling you get when being courted, it is the comfort and security of knowing that the one(s) you love—be they a parent, a friend, a lover, or a spouse—will be there when times become difficult or even unbearable.

Tara Marseglia is a native Minnesota transfer of Austin Texas. She holds a B.A. in English Literature with a history minor. In the past she has served on the Board of Directors of Lake Superior Writers as well as run the Poetry sub-group. In addition to writing, she has experience in theatre, art film, stage production, and virtual artistry. Currently she is working on a series of fantasy novels which she describes as a cross between Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” and Piers Anthony’s “Incantations of Immortality”. Areas of interest include English and American Literature; English, Italian, and American History; film; 1980s revival; pagan and polytheistic cultures; polyamory and bisexuality.

#writing #writers for hire #writing samples #non-fiction #critical essay

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bughead-fic-request · 7 years ago

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I would like to thank @leaalda for making these amazing banners.

This is an effort to spread the word about all fan fiction writers in our little fandom. If you would like to be featured or nominate a writer, please contact me. Please reblog this post if you can and check out some of @lessoleilscouchants work!

1. First things first, if someone wanted to read your stories where can they find them.

I’m singsongsung on AO3. My older work is available on Livejournal at ampersandstars.

2. Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a twenty-something PhD candidate specializing in American Gothic lit. I’m an east coast Canadian living in a city and I really miss the beach. I take weekly ballet classes, I have a Starbucks addiction, I’m impatiently awaiting Tana French’s next novel, and my current favourite podcast is “With Friends Like These.” Like any good millennial, I treat my cat like she’s my child and enjoy avocado. I hope to one day get my act together and write a novel.

3. What do you never leave home without?

My phone, because I am a predictable citizen of the twenty-first century.

4. Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Definitely a night owl. Very much not a morning person.

5. If you could live in any fictional world which one would you choose and why?

I really struggled to come up with an answer for this one. I guess the world of Harry Potter, circa now, so that I could just do some magic and not have to worry about Voldemort.

6. Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met.

Noam Chomsky, I guess?

7. What are some of your favorite movies/TV?

I’m into Game of Thrones, Westworld, Mr. Robot, The Americans, Brooklyn 99, and of course, Riverdale. My favourite movie is The Sound of Music.

8. What are some of your favorite bands/musicians?

Lana del Rey, July Talk, The Lumineers, Fleetwood Mac, and I’m currently loving old-school Beyoncé.

9. Favorite Books?

I have so many! The His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman, Light in August by William Faulkner, Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, Caucasia by Danzy Senna, The Likeness by Tana French, The End of Everything by Megan Abbott, and about a hundred others.

10. Favorite Food?

Strawberries.

11. Biggest pet peeve?

People who don’t respect the fact that the left side of the escalator is for walking.

12. What did you want to be when you were little? What do you want to be now?

I wanted to be a ballerina. Now, I generally say I want to be a professor, but in truth I’d like to be a trophy wife with 12 dogs who spends her days writing in front of a window that looks out onto the ocean.

13. What are your biggest fears? Do you have any strange fears?

I’m scared of being trapped in one place. I’m fine with spaces of any size as long as there’s an exit available. If there isn’t one, I get panicky – airplanes are an excellent example of this. I’m also terrified of raccoons and their creepy little humanoid hands. They’re not trash pandas, okay. They’re little devils.

14. When you are on your deathbed what would be the one you’d regret not doing?

I really regret letting my imposter syndrome prevent me from applying for grants. It was stupid of me, and it could have an impact on my future, but I can’t change it now.

Okay… lets talk about your writing!

15. Which is your favorite of the fics you've written for the Bughead fandom?

Probably “(my youth ain’t) tangled up in bad decisions” just because it’s been such a blast to write.

16. Which was the hardest to write, in terms of plot?

Thus far, “fragile little flame,” because I keep wanting to put Betty in situations so unrealistic that I can’t expect people to suspend their disbelief re: White House internships to that extent.

17. How do you come up with the ideas for you fic(s)? Do you people watch? Listen to music? Get inspired by TV/movies?

Music, almost always, though two fics I currently have in the works (including “fragile little flame”) were inspired by prompts. Movie/TV plot AUs are also fun, but I haven’t written any of those for Bughead yet.

18. Idea that you always wanted to write but could never make work?

There used to be this MTV show about students at a performing arts school called Taking the Stage, and I have, for years, wanted to write a fic based on that show. I tried to write a Gossip Girl one, and now (unsurprisingly) I want to write a Riverdale one, but the plot just never seems to work for me.

19. Least favorite plot point/chapter/moment you’ve written?

I didn’t love writing Polly and Jason’s wedding in “(my youth ain’t)…” The wedding was important to the plot and the progression of Betty’s feelings, but I felt like it kept dragging and I still kind of have “urrrghhhh” feelings toward that chapter.

20. Favorite plot point/chapter/moment you’ve written?

The end of chapter 4 of “we were both young (when i first saw you)”:

And then Betty begins to cry, great big breathless sobs in her chest, making strangled sounds that wrench at his heart. Archie unlocks the truck and Jughead opens Betty’s door, leaning into the car to put his arms around her. “Shh, I know,” he murmurs, holding her tightly. He puts his hand against the back of Betty’s head. “It’s okay, baby, I know.”

Archie has never, in his life, heard Jughead use a term of endearment before, not even sarcastically, but he supposes he’s also never, in his life, driven Betty across town in the darkness with the mark of her mother’s slap on her cheek and blood in the middle of her palms.

This was such an important moment for Betty, Jughead, and Archie, and I’m proud of the way it turned out. Even though I was in charge of Archie’s character development, given that I was writing the fic, I was still sort of proud of him, somehow? It’s a moment in which all three of them really have to grow up – and they do.

21.Favorite character to write?

Cheryl! Cheryl is so, so fun to write. But Betty is my favourite character if I’m choosing a PoV to write from.

22. Favorite line or lines of dialogue that you've written?

I don’t think dialogue’s my strength, but I’m fond of this exchange from chapter 2 of “(my youth ain’t)…”:

Veronica narrows her eyes, inspecting Betty for a moment before she turns her gaze to Jughead. “You look secretive.” He’s concentrating on his computer again, editing photos, and he doesn’t look up when he says, “That’s just my face.”

And this one from chapter 4 of “we were both young”:

“Yeah,” she says quietly. “He gives me something that I need, Arch. I don’t have the words for it.” Trying to keep his voice light, Archie says, “I remember you saying something about love.” “It’s more than that,” Betty says. Last year’s dead leaves, hidden under the snow for so long, dance along the sidewalk in the wind. “I’m not perfect. I’m actually… kind of a disaster. And it’s like… it’s like, that part of me, I can give it to him.” She sighs. “Does that make any sense?” Archie shrugs. “I hear love’s not supposed to.”

23. Best comment/review you’ve ever received?

There was a line in “(my youth ain’t) tangled up in bad decisions” that had a certain meaning I wanted to get across, but I worried that it was too subtle. I hemmed and hawed about it before finally deciding not to clarify it, since I generally try pretty hard to “show not tell.” It ended up not being super obvious, and none of the initial comments mentioned it – and then the next day one comment pointed it out, and I was so happy I may have shed a tear.

24. How do you handle bad reviews or comments?

I’ve never received a constructively critical review or comment, but I’d definitely welcome those. For ‘bad’ comments that are just rude, I delete ’em.

25. If you could change anything in any of your stories, what would it be?

All the fic I wrote in my youth could certainly use some help. Like, for the love of god, 2008!me, stop referring to eyes as ‘orbs’ in every third paragraph.

26. What is your favorite story you’ve ever written? Any fandom?

I think it has to be a tie between “make up words to songs you used to know,” a Gossip Girl Serena/Nate, Serena/Tripp fic and “give me a second, i (i need to get my story straight,” a Hunger Games Cato/Clove fic.

27. What are you reading right now? Both fan fiction and general fiction?

Fanfiction: pretty obsessed with @stillscape “for the life of me” and “all the road we have to walk,” and also “heart rise above” by @onceuponamirror.

Literary fiction: currently rereading Little Sister Death by William Gay.

Fiction: Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica.

28. Do you have an advice for writers that want to get into this fandom but might be scared?

Just do it! Honestly. I dove into this fandom blind and I haven’t regretted it for a moment. If you have a fic in your head, write it down so you can stop musing over dialogue in the shower. Post it, and adopt a que sera sera attitude about whatever happens next.

#bughead author spotlight #fan fiction #fan fiction writers #Bughead #bughead fanfiction #ao3 #betty cooper #jughead jones #jughead x betty #betty x jughead #riverdale #lessoleilscouchants #my youth ain't tangled up in bad decisions #we were both young when i first saw you #fragile little flame

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ofreedsandoaks · 7 years ago

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99 questions for the MUSE and 1 question for the MUN.

Originally posted by pan-imagines

Rules: Don’t reblog! Repost with your own answers, tag whoever you want

Developing a character.

1. What is your full name?

Rene ... Larc Delacroix.

2. Where and when were you born?

... which time?

In my first life, I was born in the Morvan Forest near Avallon, France on the Winter Solstice of 1413. I was reborn in the Summer of 2010 ... in a laboratory ... in Paris ...

3. Who are or were your parents? (Names, professions, personality …)

My father, Alric, was the Seventh Son of the Grandmaster of the Feuilles Coven. His official title was “Seventh Sage”. My mother, Helene, was a herbalist. I don’t know anything about her lineage or how she came to be involved with the Feuilles Coven, but I assume it had something to do with meeting and falling in love with my father.

4. Do you have siblings?

I had six older brothers who I never met, all of whom are deceased. Now, I have William, and though he is descended from my older brother Gregoire, William is the best brother I could have ever asked for. Even before we learned of his heritage, he was the closest thing to family that I had ever known.

5. Where do you live now and with whom? Describe the place and the people who live with it.

I live at Delacroix manor, which is owned by my guardian and adoptive father Julian Munch Delacroix. It’s an expansive mansion on many acres of and with an apple orchard, cherry orchard, an vineyard on top of a beautiful garden courtyard that I enjoy maintaining. Craig Kanaan is the handyman, but he is also the charge of Julian’s family, having sworn to protect Julian’s line. He’s very odd, talks a lot, enjoys tinkering things and pranking the rest of the staff. Anjelah Barnes is the manor’s caretaker. She’s very Scottish, brazen, and perhaps a bit overprotective. Betty Johnson is the cook and she basically a culinary wizard from Louisiana. Over the summer, William and his soon-to-be adoptive foster mother Abigail moved in to the newly-renovated north wing. William is very artistic and playful; he enjoys nature and has reminded me what it means to be alive. Abigail is very down-to-earth and loves William very much; she is very supportive and also appears to be adapting to the supernatural world fairly well.

6. What do you do?

I’m currently a Junior at Prentiss Academy where I am believed to be a French transfer student, but I am a witch and botanist first and foremost. Occasionally, I help Julian with supernatural cases when certain magical expertise is warranted.

7. Write a complete description about yourself. You should consider height, weight, race, hair color, eyes and tattoos, scars or any other mark that differentiates you.

I would say that I am of average height at 5 feet 8 inches. When last checked, I was 118 pounds, which is improved from the 112 I was while ill over the summer. I am still very thin, however, but Madame Johnson is helping to remedy that by including high-protein meals in my diet. I am well-groomed on most days when I am required to leave the manor, but other times -- such as when I spend most of the day or night in the gardens or orchards, I can be quite messy in hair and attire. My hair is a very dark brown, almost black, and my eyes match. My skin is very pale despite being of Romani descent. I have a large vertical scar on the back of my neck and a very intricate tattoo of Sumerian glyphs along my spine. I also have a very prominent French accent which ... apparently makes me stick out a bit in the middle of Michigan.

8. What social class do you belong to?

When I was a child, I was impoverished. Under Julian’s care, I am considered wealthy.

9. Do you have allergies, illnesses or other physical weaknesses?

Due to the nature in which my body was created, this vessel is heavily immunocompromised. I am sick frequently and often require hospitalizations and dialysis to cleanse my blood. One might consider me to be on home hospice, yet high functioning. I have an excellent doctor who is doing the very best he can in order to make this body healthy and last as long as possible.

10. Are you right-handed or left-handed?

Left-handed.

11. How does your voice sound?

A mid-tenor somewhat french horn-like sound, quiet, soft-spoken.

12. What phrases or words do you use frequently?

"Merde.”

13. What do you carry in your pockets?

A cell phone. A small bag containing clear quartz, labradorite, lavender, rosemary, rue, salt, a scarf which serves as a portable altar, and a feather. A small pouch containing an iron dust bomb (just in case some asshole fae gets too close to William). I also have my athame sheathed at the small of my back.

14. Do you have tics, hobbies, strange habits or other characteristics that define you?

As far as tics go, I have a tendency to tug on my sleeve cuffs often. I will occasionally snap the band on my right wrist when I am feeling overwhelmed or wring my hands. As far as hobbies, it is apparently considered “odd” for a sixteen-year-old to enjoy gardening and farming so much. I also enjoy dancing and fencing. Hiking. Oh, and there’s the whole witch thing ... but very few people know about that.

15. How would you describe your childhood in general?

Free. My childhood was free. There was much merriment and magic despite the persecution and the whole ... constantly ... on the move ... thing.

16. What is your earliest memory?

The smoke of a nearby campfire and the sound of music. I was sitting on the ground and there was a tambourine and I kept slamming my palm against it in time with the music.

17. What studies do you have?

As a Junior at Prentiss Academy, I have special extracurricular activities involving agriculture. Otherwise, I’m studying AP English, AP Calculus, AP Chemistry, and AP Biology.

19. Where did you learn your skills?

Though I was born with the natural ability to perform magic, I did learn more along the way from the nomadic coven and then later through studying with the Grand Coven. My swordsmanship was learned from Étienne de Vignolles and Jean de Dunois while serving in the French Army. I’m self-taught when it comes to dancing.

20. Have you had models to follow in your childhood or adolescence? Describe them.

Pierrot, for all his faults as a drunkard and gambler, was actually a good man at heart and I did look up to him. He was an excellent hunter, tanner, and orator.

21. Growing up … What kind of relationship did you have with the members of your family?

I didn’t know my biological family. My caravan was my family. We referred to each other as cousins. Our bond was very strong and deep as we were all we had.

22. What did you want to be when you grew up when you were a child?

I wanted to be an apple farmer, but always being on the move made this an impossibility.

23. What were your favorite activities as a child?

Dancing and fishing.

24. What personality traits did you have when you were a child?

Fairly easy-going, sarcastic, carefree, whimsical, musical, dedicated, open-minded, creative.

25. Were you a popular kid? Who were your friends and what were they like?

Uhm, in a way, I suppose. We traveled a lot, so I never stayed in one place for very long. But when I performed for the locals, I was usually pretty popular because of my ... ahm ... talents.

26. When and how was your first kiss?

I think I was five or six years old and it was cold. I was sitting by the fire to get warm and Dervila ran over to me, threw open my blanket, and kissed me square on the lips. My lips were chapped. Hers were overly wet. It was weird.

27. Are you a virgin? If you are not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity?

Yes.

28. If you are a supernatural being (eg magician, werewolf, vampire), tell the story of how you have become or have learned your own abilities. If you are a normal human, describe any influence that has led you to do what you do today.

I was born a witch. Seventh son of the seventh son. It’s kind of a thing.

29. What do you consider the most important event in your life so far?

Being murdered and cursed by the Grand Coven certainly had an impact.

30. Who has had the greatest influence on you?

Technically and literally, I would say the members of the Grand Coven and their progeny. Currently, I would say that Julian and William have the greatest influence over me.

31. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Not dying yet.

32. What is your greatest repentance?

Leaving the campaign to return to Paris which resulted in me being killed and cursed, thus leaving Jeanne without my protection. If I had been with her at the siege of Compiègne, then maybe history would have turned out a bit differently for her ...

33. What is the meanest thing you’ve done?

I burned an entire village to the ground when I was ten.

34. Do you have any criminal records?

Nope. Clean as a whistle.

35. When was the time when you were most afraid?

Anytime I am close to death, I fear the worst.

36. What is the most embarrassing thing you have ever done?

I’m sure I’ve been embarrassed in the past, but I don’t remember any specific instances.

37. If you could change a thing from your past, what would it be, and why?

Please refer to #32.

38. What is your best memory?

Jeanne’s laugh.

40. Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic?

I never really thought about it, but I would say that I’m probably more pessimistic than anything. I think the worst of many situations. I have to.

41. What is your greatest fear?

Dying and returning to the employ of the Grand Coven where I will be forced to compulsively comply with their bidding, regardless of will.

42. What are your views on religion?

Do not fucking shove your bullshit, man-made doctrine down my or anyone else’s throats, let alone persecute and execute anyone who does not believe in that very narrow fucking outlandish view that you have.

I mean ... and ye harm none, do as thou will.

43. What are your views on politics?

Unnecessary. Men use this for the sake of greed and power, nothing more. Nothing less. It accomplishes nothing. #Anarchism

44. What are your views on sex?

Not interested.

45. Could you kill? Under what circumstances would you find killing something acceptable or unacceptable?

I have and will again if anyone threatens those I care about.

46. In your opinion, what is the meanest thing a human can do?

Break a promise.

47. Do you believe in the existence of “soul mates” or true love?

Sure.

48. What do you think makes a successful life?

Happiness.

49. How honest are you about your feelings and thoughts (eg, do you hide your true way of being from others, in what way?)?

I tend to keep a lot of my thoughts and emotions internal, specifically in regard to pain or discomfort, in order to not concern those I care about.

50. Do you discriminate or have prejudices?

Yes, but I often do not act upon them because I’m not a jerk.

51. Is there anything you refuse to do under any circumstances? Why do you refuse to do it?

I refuse to lie to William. He deserves openness. He’s family.

52. Why or who, if there is, would you die (or do other extreme things)?

Julian and William.

53. In general, how do you treat others (Sincerely, rudely, keeping them at a distance, etc.)? How you treat them changes according to how well you know them, and if so, how does it change?

In general, I seem indifferent to most people. I prefer to keep them at a distance, as the closer I am to others, the more dangerous their lives become.

54. Who is the most important person in your life and why?

Julian and William are the most important people in my life. Julian rescued me from the Grand Coven, gave me a new life. William taught me how to be alive.

55. Who do you respect the most and why?

Julian. Always Julian.

56. Who are your friends? Do you have a best friend? Describe those people.

William is my brother and my best friend. Julian is more of a father figure and guardian. I would consider Mum-sensei my friend, even though he is my doctor; he can be childish and playful at times, but he is also an accomplished exorcist. Sam and Dean Winchester are ... friendly acquaintances, I suppose, though I enjoy Sam’s company more than his brother’s for the simple fact that we don’t have as many arguments ... and the fact that Sam is a bit more open-minded and respectful of supernatural persons. I don’t ... really ... have any other friends? I suppose Craig, Anjelah, and Betty are all my friends as well, though most of the time, they feel more like caretakers.

57. Do you have a spouse or person of affection? If so, describe that person.

No. I do not.

58. Have you ever fallen in love? If so, describe what happened.

I love three people very, very deeply. One is dead. The others are family. I have never been “in love” by the conventional definition.

59. What are you looking for in a potential lover?

I don’t care. I’m not interested.

60. How close are you to your family?

Very close.

61. Have you started your own family? If so, describe them. If so, you want? Why or why not?

No.

62. How would you react if you were desperate for help?

I would turn to Julian, Mum-sensei, or -- if truly desperate -- Emrys.

63. Do you trust someone to protect you? Who Why?

I trust Julian, William, Mum-sensei, Emrys, Craig, and Anjelah to protect me with their lives.

64. If you die or go astray, who would miss you?

Julian and William, I think, would miss me. Anjelah, too. Betty might because then I wouldn’t be around to give her outlandish culinary challenges which she seems to enjoy.

65. Who is the person you most despise and why?

He who shall not be named.

66. Do you tend to argue with people, or avoid conflict?

If there is injustice or a complete disregard for the truth and common decency, then yes, I will argue and retaliate. Most of the time, however, I tend to stay out of it.

67. Do you tend to take the leadership role in social situations?

Not usually, no. I’m more of a follower.

68. Do you like to interact with large groups of people? Why or why not?

I’m indifferent.

69. Do you care what others think of you?

Not really, no.

70. What is your favorite hobby or hobbies?

I enjoy anything that involves growing flora. Gardening, farming, botany, herbalism, etc. Through biology at the academy, I have learned more about cross-breeding and am actually excited when it comes to experimenting with different plants. Whittling, woodcarving, and basket weaving are also favorite pastimes of mine. Dancing and hiking, too.

I also somewhat not-so-secretly enjoy watching William create art, specifically drawings and paintings. I like watching how a few simple lines or curves morph into full-on landscapes and scenes full of details and color.

I also may or may not thoroughly enjoy doing magic for William, such as concocting potions and performing spells at his request.

71. What is your most treasured possession?

My father’s journal.

72. What is your favorite color?

Earth tones -- browns and greens.

73. What is your favorite food?

Crepes. All sorts of crepes.

74. What, if there is, do you like to read?

True crime, historical crimes, mysteries, nature/science articles.

75. What is your idea of good entertainment (consider music, movies, art, etc.)?

Music and dancing!

76. Do you smoke, drink, or use drugs? If so, why? Do you want to leave it?

I’m French. I have a vineyard. There is much wine.

I do smoke ... “herbs” on occasion.

As for drugs, I do take pain killers on a regular basis, especially when I am ill. I would suffer tremendously without them.

77. What do you do on your typical Saturday night?

Usually hang out in my bedroom or in the home cinema with William. We’ll watch horror films or anime, or I’ll watch him make art while I weave baskets or dream catchers.

78. What makes you laugh?

Not much, but when I do, William is usually involved.

79. What, if there is, does it shock or offend you?

Nothing, honestly.

80. What would you do if you had insomnia and needed to relax?

Probably sneak into William’s room and watch him sleep, or go out to the conservatory to tend to my plants and smoke some ... herbs ...

81. Do you get stress?

Yes.

82. Are you spontaneous, or do you always need to plan?

I plan, I make plans within plans -- doesn’t mean I always follow them, but it’s always good to have multiple options.

83. What makes you angry?

Blatant disrespect for another person.

84. Describe the routine of a normal day for you. How do you feel when that routine is interrupted?

Either I wake up on my own or Anjelah wakes me. I get dressed for the day, have breakfast, brush my teeth, go to school if there is school, tend to the orchards and gardens if there is not, come home, spend a couple hours in the conservatory or just hanging out with William, eventually convince myself that doing homework is necessary and end up doing it anyway, have dinner, take a shower, hang out with William some more, talk to Julian if he is home, then go to sleep at some point.

85. What is your greatest strength as a person?

As a person, I’d like to think I have a good grasp at empathy.

86. What is your greatest weakness?

Submissiveness.

87. If you could change something about yourself, what would it be?

I would not be cursed.

88. Generally, are you introverted or extroverted?

Introverted.

89. Generally, are you tidy or cluttered?

Very tidy.

90. Name three things in which you consider yourself very good, and three in which you consider yourself very bad.

Very good: Magic, botany, strategy.

Very bad: Decisiveness, making friends, being assertive.

91. Do you like the way you are?

Mostly. I just don’t like my circumstances.

92. What are your reasons for being an adventurer (or doing anything heroic that an RPG character would do)? Do the real reasons you do differ from what you say in public? (If so, detail both sets of reasons)

Ah ... for ... the good of the colony? I don’t know.

93. What is the goal you most want to accomplish in your life?

To not be cursed.

94. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Dead and back in the employ of the Grand Coven. We’re working on that.

95. If you could choose it, how would you like to die?

Doing something meaningful to protect someone I love.

96. You know you’re going to die in 24 hours, name three things you would do before your time runs out.

Say goodbye to Julian and William.

Bequeath my magical possessions to Julian. Bequeath the Feuilles Grimoire and my father’s journal to William.

Ask William to put me in his sketchbook.

97. Why would you most like to be remembered after your death?

I don’t want to be remembered. I think it would hurt too much.

98. Which three words best describe your personality?

Indecisive, intelligent, natural.

99. What three words would the others use to describe you?

French, blunt, clever.

100. (Question for the mun) If you could, what advice would you give your character? (You can pretend that you are sitting in front of you and use the right tone for him / her to pay attention to your advice)

It’s okay to have friends. It’s okay to love. Being hurt and the loss of loved ones is a part of life. I know you want to protect others from broken hearts, but in doing so you are also hurting yourself. You should be enjoying life while you can, because even though we have that sliver of hope to find a way to break the Curse, there is still a very big chance that it will never happen. Your fear of the future is keeping you from enjoying the present moments that really matter, so just allow yourself to be alive.

Tagged by: No one. I was tagged on another of my blogs and just felt like doing this on Larc, too.

Tagging: Whoever wants to do it

#meme #headcanon #answered meme #ic meme

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