#I have seen a lot of opinions on this matter

[deerancha]

Alright gang as a resident Galemancer who hopped over from BG3 to Veilguard, I’ve seen a lot of “Lucanis is the Gale-coded romance for DAV” chatter and…while I’m not here saying you’re WRONG, I am here to submit my own argument against that point. In this essay I will…

Emmrich is the Gale-coded romance of Veilguard, and here’s why (in my opinion)

Some spoilers for both magic men’s romances under the cut.

First of all, let’s cover the obvious and basic crossovers in this handy Gale/Emmrich Venn diagram I’ve drawn for us:

They’re both attractive, erudite, well-spoken men who love books, romance and their (magical) craft. Emmrich’s room at the Lighthouse would make Gale literally drool. Forget about the Lighthouse book club, Gale’s making up his bed in Emmrich’s laboratory and those boys are yapping till sunrise.

Both of them have eluded to a history as a youthful prodigy, with skills that exceed that of their peers. Gale was so gifted at magic as a young man that he earned Mystra’s attentions very early and later became her Chosen. Emmrich stands out among his peers at the Mourn Watch for his rare Corpse Whispering gift, and remarks how the Watch expects him to take on a large cohort of students, indicating he is particularly esteemed in his role as a professor.

This scene in particular is a great moment to mirror these two. In both scenes, Gale/Emmrich invites you to join them in a moment of magic, where they invite Tav/Rook into the essence of what their craft is truly about. Emmrich talks passionately about the depth of his connection to the Fade and the voices of the dead, while Gale talks about the way magic has become the fabric of his life, and the Weave is fundamental to everything he holds most dear.

Both Gale and Emmrich love hard. Gale’s scene in Act 2 is an embodiment of his devotion and love for Tav, a baring of the soul where he expresses his deepest fears, and shows them how profoundly he feels for them. As soon as the relationship is locked down, Gale is heavy on the pet names, calling Tav “my love” and expressing his love for them at every moment. Emmrich bares his soul to Rook even earlier, talking about his fears of dying before the romance is even locked down, but the scene where Rook visits his parents in the Memorial Gardens is especially poignant: Emmrich wants Rook to know all of him, introducing them to his parents as a gesture that shows how he views Rook as part of his life even very early on. Once the romance is locked down, Emmrich is also heavy on the pet names, calling Rook “darling” and “dearest” (or even more intense names if you take the lich path - iykyk).

Both these men have praise kinks. What? Who said that? Both of these men are gifted at their craft and they know it. They perform magic effortlessly and know they’re good at it. There is no doubt in their minds that they are accomplished and well-read scholars. But both of them carry deep insecurities that Tav/Rook can help them to unravel throughout their journey, or can choose to indulge and (arguably) worsen over their time together.

Let’s look at that a little closer, shall we?

Gale’s fundamental insecurity is based on his own self worth. His relationship with Mystra has left him wounded and lacking in confidence - not with his magic, but with Gale himself. Gale’s insecurity shines through in the moments where he struggles to understand what Tav might see in him, where he self-deprecates and lessens Gale Dekarios to the point that he hopes Tav will only see Gale of Waterdeep instead. Gale’s journey through a romance with Tav is about understanding his own inherent worth and believing that Tav would love him no matter what he does.

Emmrich also lacks in self worth, though his insecurities are of a different flavour. Emmrich believes that his time has passed. Young Emmrich Volkarin loved fast and hard, but was never the object of long term, deep, enduring affection from others. Now, at his age, he believes his chances to be loved are long gone, lost to the ravages of age. Headcanons vary in the fandom, but most of us infer from early interactions with Emmrich that he either doesn’t believe Rook is flirting with him at all, or he doesn’t believe that Rook is genuine in their affections. Emmrich’s journey is about learning to let Rook into his heart despite the thoughts that tell him he is too old to give them what they deserve.

Both Gale and Emmrich have a weakness for the people who shaped their lives before the events of the game. In Gale’s case, it’s Mystra and the loss of her favour that left him with the orb and the mission to end his life. In Emmrich’s case, it’s Johanna and her failed attempt at lichdom that threatens the other residents of the Necropolis (and possibly the rest of Thedas itself). In both cases, we see them both struggling to square their anguish about the events of the past with their complicated feelings towards these women. Gale struggles to allow himself to move on from seeking Mystra’s favour because of his religious connection to her as his goddess. Emmrich struggles to square up Johanna’s position as the villain of the tale, when he holds such memories of her as a dear friend to him. In both cases, again, the story is tied to their self worth and confidence, their ability to see themselves as more than they believe themselves to be.

Both of these men have endings that play up the things that make them the most insecure: for Gale, his ascension to godhood allows him to shed the insecurities of Gale The Man and literally become the only thing he thinks makes him valuable. Emmrich, in his journey into lichdom, doesn’t truly overcome his fear of death, instead overcoming death itself to gain immortality. Both men’s path to ascension shows us a glimmer of their earlier insecurities - God Gale makes a remark about “still not being enough” for Tav depending on dialogue choices, while Emmlich has the famous pre-Tearstone argument with Rook where it’s abundantly clear he has simply begun to project his own death-fears onto them. I’m not here to debate whether these are good or bad endings for them, but both perfectly highlight the way they cling to their own deeply-held fears.

Oh, and did I mention they both have magical creature-buddies that come along for the ride?

Oh and PUPPY EYES. Did I mention puppy eyes?

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk, folks. Consider smooching your resident necromancer, Gale lovers. He might surprise you.

[sphacelating]

bro you have NO IDEA how many lines in my latest essay that I edited out because I wanted to try to reach people and not put them on the defensive.

It's really, REALLY hard to not be a catty, vindictive bitch when I'm so incensed over how people interpret these characters!!!

believe me, this is a struggle i know all too well. a huge chunk of my degree was focused on communication. giving criticism that’s actually constructive is a delicate art and learned skill, the message you want to convey will be lost if it isn’t digestible, and if you don’t take care to make the audience you want to reach receptive to it. without the right approach, it doesn’t matter how much time you put into writing careful explanations and breaking something down into clear talking points. you’re miles ahead if you have good people skills and understand the potential obstacles in communication and writing and how to avoid them, but i am always trying to improve where i’m lacking.

and i do often shoot myself in the foot because my anger and frustration when people are so fucking offensively wrong gets the better of me. i used to have a far worse hairpin trigger temper, i’ve learned to regulate it, but i wouldn’t waste my time writing these long ass posts about something i wasn’t extremely passionate about, and there’s no passion without emotional investment. i’m gritting my teeth through it so that i can stay civil. i have a tendency to be an asshole, especially so when i get annoyed, sure, though i wouldn’t necessarily consider that a bad thing— some topics should not be sugarcoated, sometimes you need to be harsh and blunt to get a message across. most call for balance, however, and it’s especially important in an analytical thinkpiece. piss people off and they’ll be instantly unreceptive and unapproachable. now you’re trying to make sense to an argumentative defensive brick wall rather than having a mutually respectful conversation.

why the hell are we here writing these long thinkpieces if the goal isn’t change? i know we’re both adamant about this because we want to see change in our chosen fucked up corner of the internet, make it suck less, however slightly. i want to encourage people to explore different perspectives, and the key word is encourage. shoving your opinions down people’s throats is only a tactic that’s well received by someone who already agrees.

i’m often told i have an off-putting superiority complex, but my confidence in my well-formed opinions is always going to be off-putting to some. it isn’t a refusal to change my mind by any means— in fact, i find great enjoyment in exploring alternate points of view that make sense to me. if i’m presented with a different viewpoint that makes logical sense, more so than mine, i have no problem changing my mind once i’ve given it some thought. you’ll never see me argue for long in the face of overwhelming evidence that i was wrong when i can see the flaws in my own reasoning.

this is especially true when analyzing tcoaal.

i pay very close attention and i’m extremely perceptive, but i am well aware of that there are many details i’ve missed, seemingly trivial bits of dialogue that i failed to catch the importance of during my playthrough, a lot of things i didn’t commit to memory or that have slipped my mind over time. hell, there’s even entire scenes i’ve never seen and then discover the existence of later on because i haven’t had the time to play the game to 100% completion. if i rejected new information when it’s brought to my attention because of a refusal to admit i’ve been wrong, that would be fucking embarrassing.

unfortunately, people on here are often that exact kind of embarrassing, and that’s when all i can say is “are you fucking stupid?”, and i do. but in the end, what i really aim to do around here is inspire people to be more open-minded and learn where they lack knowledge and experience.

[queenwille]

Hey, as a non Jewish person I have found your blog rly educational on the conflict and rly appreciate it! I've seen a lot of diff debunking posts related to Hamas and the war but not a lot on the whole Israel stopping aid or Israel supposedly being the ones to violate the ceasefire thing. Do you know a) if there's any merit to those claims b) if they're being misconstrued and/or c) if they're based in antisemitism at all that I should be calling out? Ty!

hey there, missed this amongst all the spam. sorry. i guess you’re no longer here, but i’ll answer anyways, just in case.

i’m glad you’re finding it useful and i appreciate you letting me know, it means a lot! 🫶🏽

a) well, it depends on how you look at it. for example, hamas didn’t go through with literally one of the hostages exchange as agreed. obviously literally no one, but israel, cared and israel was expected to be the bigger man and just “let it go”, as if it didn’t matter and didn’t have real significance to its people. well… israel did consider it as a ceasefire violation each and every time and ,ofc, per usual it was frowned upon by the woke west when israel very carefully reacted to it (worried to lose the remaining hostages of phase A, not of what the west thought, even though it felt ridiculous each time to see them turn the blind eye). then phase A ended and as we all feared, they went into another “yeah ofc we want a deal” and nothing happened for a long while and both sides kept teasing each other until yep, israel officially broke the ceasefire and cut the aid. the israeli government claims that pressuring hamas with military and aid, will force them to take a deal quicker. as an israeli, i do find it extremely important to add that the renewal of the war happened during nighttime (local time) and we literally woke up to the news and were as horrified to learn it. a very large portion of israelis are against what’s happening due to how dangerous it is to our 59 hostages, many of them struggling to stay alive 556 days today. we do believe that a deal is the only way to go.

b) well, the short answer is yes. as i said, some of it is true, but just not accurate. for example, food trucks not reaching in certain parts of gaza due to hamas soldiers taking over the aid trucks once they entered the strip, there were literal videos of it. israel was still blamed for how much aid it lets in, even though it literally didn’t matter bc armed men would stand on it and shoot anyone who’d get anywhere near it. the narrative is so messed up at this point that i’m not sure if they bother trying to check for the truth. what i find amazing is that they usually think we’re uninformed or indifferent over what’s happening over the other side of the border, which is incorrect, but they simply never bother asking for our opinions.

c) idk if it’s rooted in antisemitism, but they sure use it all the time. when they use jewish rhetoric or jewish history such as the holocaust and nazis to offend us, it’s antisemitic. when they cancel jewish history and mock it, it’s antisemitic. when they cancel mizrahi, spharadi, ethiopian, shomroni & other jews by calling all jews europeans its… can you guess what? i could go on, but i guess you get my point.

hope i stayed on topic and didn’t let my adhd take me away, thanks for asking 💙

[trashcatsnark]

Work is slow so I'm being annoyed to the void

Forever bothered by the sharp difference in how Aveline losing Wesley is treated compared to Anders losing Karl

Because conceptually, it should be very similar.

Shortly after meeting Hawke, the person they love is subjugated to a fate they deem in some way to be worse than death or nothing more than a slower version of it. Their loved one pleads with them to end their suffering, to die at the hands of the person they know would not wish to seem them languish. And they make the choice to put the blade to their partner out of love and mercy.

They should in some way be seen as mirrors, even interestingly enough happening to polar opposite couples. A Templar and a knight. A circle mage and apostate. Like not that I think it's completely fair because mages are systematically opressrd but like- if there was any like point of comparison for a more pro-templar character and pro-mage character to have a *oh we're not so different, you and i~* moment that'd kind of be the thing to narrow in on

But somehow the writer don't seem to recognize the way these losses mirror one another and treat them differently in a way that makes my teeth itch

Hawke has the option to tell Aveline whether or not she wants to kill Wesley is her choice. You the player are allowed expressly to prioritize her freedom/autonomy in the narrative. This is then reinforced twice as the "right" choice, initially in gaining friendship with her for using it. Then again when Aveline tells the story of her father's death and reinforces how much being allowed the space to make her own choices, especially in connection with grief matters to her. How much having someone hold her hand and say "you're choice" matters to her.

There is no "your choice" option with Anders and Karl. The player can only either encourage him to kill Karl or encourage him not to. For the mages, who have had far less autonomy and freedom on their lives- one of which has just been forcibly lobotomized, the player doesn't get to prioritize their autonomy and instead can only assert their opinion. This is also the case despite, arguably the choice to kill Karl being an even grayer area morally. Wesley on all levels was doomed to die, it was just a matter of a quick pain free or a longer drawn out affair. Being made tranquil is a death of the self, your personhood, but not your actual physical life. But instead of allowing a softer choice that let's Anders choose, you can only assert one side or the other.

Additionally, just like Aveline- Anders narrative has... kind of a lot to do with freedom and autonomy, so it also would have made sense for this option to reinforce that value in him- but no.

Then, Aveline's loss of Wesley is reflected on fairly often and is treated with a lot of kindness through out most the narrative. A lot of Hawke's initial dialogue options are then checking in on how she's coping with her grief a full year later.

Immediately following Karl's death and I do mean immediately- you can talk to Anders about Justice. You can flirt with Anders. And sometimes if you click on him, he mentions Karl didn't deserve to be lobotomized.

All meaningful dialogue regarding his loss of Karl is not just romance locked. But in vanilla game, gender locked as well. You literally cannot "check in" with him about having to kill someone he at the very least clearly cared about- unless you wait at least 3 years and are a man who has sex with him.

And also also almost immediately following that being how Anders joins your gang of freaks- everyone is complaining about how he's too whiny, angry, and a bummer while mages are being actively oppressed and also he JUST HAD TO KILL SOMEONE HE LOVES BECAUSE OF IT

And to be clear on this piss on the poor website, I fucking love Aveline. This is a not "she didn't deserve this care narratively" post, this is I wish he'd have gotten a fraction of the same treatment post.

Hawke doesn't get the slightest option of "Hey, we can talk about the glowing in a bit- are you okay? I'm so sorry that happened, are you okay? Do you need a minute?"

Like I get that bioware hates the dude but christ almighty, can I get a hug anders button in this fucking game

[wealluprightnow]

⚠️⚠️⚠️DONT READ IF YOU LIKE OR A FAN OF LUCIFER THIS MAY TRIGGER YOU⚠️⚠️

The simple opinion of mine: i hate lucifer sm it's not even because I am Christian i am not even fucking Christian never touched the holy Bible or water in my life or I hate the devil so bad, I literally just hate him. That's it. I hate him

The long answer:Listen, in all honestness, I can see how people like him. I know my hatred is overdramatic (IT TRUELY IS🫠) because it's the same equivalent to hating pickachu, and he isn't the worst character ever, even through his actions, but he's like the first ever character that I truly purely hate and it's insane because I know characters who are worse and are (rightfully) hated but even then I don't hate them as much as I hate lucifer.

I been in MANY fandoms to know the amount of mischaracterization that can happen to fictional characters from a show, ESPECIALLY popular ones, but Lucifer is the only one where his mischaracterization (his fanon version you could say) actually fucking bothers me, so much so it really ruins the character for me enough I start disliking them. And to top it alllll off, the fandom is SOO misogynistic(another hot ass take of mine that would set me burning in trenches by the fandom) that ofc the woman that he is CANONLY has a romatic status with (idk if they are still together or not but people hate it so!) is absolutely hated on, simply for existing with just having questionable motived that we have zero clue about whenever or it not its good or bad, but it doesnt fucking matter bc she made poor litwle ducky daddy showrt kingy luCi (i fucking hate that nickname sm omg) sad boi so she needs to dieeee💥💥💥💥💥!!!!

It has never went this far before because I always knew that no matter how much a character gets ooc by the fandom, the canon show and creator will remind me why it will always stay fanon, but I have seen Vivs work and how she treats these kinds of characters and their developments..so seeing the fandoms (luci fans) take of Lucifer and Viv literally engaging with it...his actual character doesn't seem to be too far off with how they portray him--and that actual concerns me because as much as I hate lucifer, it really comes from how wasted his potential is and how the show seems to dismiss his faults and flaws(**cough**cough** like stolas**COUGH**CoUgh**)

So just to be even MORE CLEARER, my hatred is not bc of how he's characterized in hazbin-- like ik typically, if a person were to think of the king of HELL they would think all evil all cruel all mean alll torture all bad no good and clearly-he's not like that which is not bad at all actually- I like it even, i just hate how the writers never really GO that FAR with him. Like being a absolute prick isn't enough, I need to be reminded WHY he's the king of hell again, why he's is the original SIN OF PRIDE, and not "He's SooOoo prIdEfuL that he LoCks hImsElf iN a RooOm to Be DepRessO wiTH nO exPressO bC he RatHer .DIE. tHaN adMiT heLp"...I feel like if Charlie actually stand up MORE to him and like actually bring up about him being a fuckup dad (not dismissing that he never loved her, he clearly truely did before and now) and didn't immediately forgive him(as much as how cute that song was, it was wayy too soon), it would've empathize a lot of how much he fucked up as parent and that he actually needs to learn and improve which will be hard him but hardship makss good character development--if the show will FULLY knowledge it-which i have hope they will since we got like- 3 seasons to go so.

I could keep going and actually dive deeper on this by bringing up references from the show but I won't bc if I keep on typing LUCIFER on my phone screen I will lose my sanity 🫠🫠

(Also FYI, I wrote this whole rant at 4 in the morning so sorry if my shit don't make sense. The whole point is I hate lucifer but I also want to see him improve but like GOOD improvement yk? By knowledging his mistakes and change his ways)

I'm gonna use this post to ask you all for your most controversial Hellaverse opinions.

I know people often do these, but I don't want to hear any "staticmoth is better than radiostatic" mundane, palatable opinions. I want to hear your most contentious, your most divisive, your most polemic, your nastiest, deepest hidden opinions that on any other app would get you beleaguered. I want to hear the opinions that you're afraid of voicing because other fans will flip out. Run wild and don't worry about consequences, the comment section is a safe space, and I will delete any offensive comments or people trying to argue "no, you're wrong" because I want to hear OPINIONS

(A healthy, nonjudgemental discussion is, of course, welcome 🥰)

[ilikekidsshows]

"Adrien using the wish" anon here again!

I was just thinking of the potential counter-argument based on rhetoric I've seen floating around, of "But because Adrien is so reliant on Marinette these days since he hardly has anyone else/lost both his parents (true), he'd be emotionally devastated to lose her (also true), so this means he'd...be willing to make the wish/wouldn't be able to handle life without her (ehhhh no)." Tempted to use the wish? Sure, I'd be surprised if he wasn't. Forever unable to live without her and/or willing to turn into the next Hawk Moth? Yeah, no.

Adrien being the next Hawk Moth only makes sense if you know nothing about the characters and decide to go with the most surface level 'like father like son' plot-line ever (which also explains why I see poorly executed 'villain! Chat Noir who sides with Hawk Moth' fics waaaay too often for my taste).

I know the idea that he'd be able to heal after losing her doesn't sound very "romantic" (I have different opinions on love and what's truly healthy and romantic but that's neither here not there), but...like I said before, he's already proven he can handle loss? If you give him enough time? If he coped with losing his mother with almost no support, something tells me he'd find ways to heal from losing Marinette, too. He does have a better support network now after all, such as it is. There's no reason why he couldn't even...find new friends and develop a new one, need be. Hell, I just remembered the boy has already said "if you wanted to dump me, I'd understand" in Illustrhater. Tell me that sounds like someone unable to move on from her.

Also sidenote, but being able to heal would be what's best for him as an individual (and a sign of character growth and a contrast with his villain father who very notably couldn't and wouldn't move on), but since that doesn't focus on Marinette being the center of the universe, I get why it's not popular with Marinette stans.

In before I'm wrong and the show has him trying to use the wish despite all evidence to the contrary, because only ~romantic love~ and/or Marinette truly matters apparently

Instead. To be honest, at this point I'm full on expecting something will happen to Adrien one day, something severe or even permanent, maybe caused by Marinette's lying or some other mistake, to the point she will try to use the wish. Parallels with Gabe and all that. Her already over the top and questionable behavior all in the name of not losing him, yadda yadda. Don't know if they'll go this route for sure, but...the foreshadowing/potential is there.

I laughed at "mouthy amphibian" btw. 🤣 Thank you so much for the response!!! And apologies this two part rant got so long, I've just been really annoyed by this and didn't want to keep silent any longer.

---

I totally get it. It's a complete misunderstanding of what Adrien's character stands for, the little bit of character growth he’s actually been allowed even as the writers try to drain anything interesting about him away to make him less popular. Frankly, with the writers' disregard of their characters’ personalities, their obvious disdain for the very idea of Adrien having concerns outside of Marinette and their very obvious belief that Marinette is the center of the universe, I would not be surprised if they actually did write Adrien unable to deal with losing Marinette. After all, the biggest concern of any sympathetic character should always be Marinette, unless them not prioritizing her is going to be milked for Marinette sympathy.

Realistically, in terms of what has been established about Adrien's character, he would be heartbroken to lose Marinette, but he could survive her and move on and find new happiness. However, also realistically, in terms of how the writers operate, Adrien's personality doesn't matter if they want to throw the ultimate pity party over how sad and pathetic everyone would be without the most amazing, wonderful Marinette. Ignore how a lot of them would be better off without her with how exhausting the writers made her to deal with.

If Adrien got to move on, the shippers would be so angry at him for “not loving Marinette enough”. There's this idea in media that moving on from loss is healthy as long as it's not the main romantic couple. Romantic couples should never move on, because that's more dramatic and so romanticized, just like codependency is so popular because it's more dramatic and so romanticized. And, like, I’m not saying I don't see the appeal, I enjoy the occasional codependent relationship in my media. But, that's just the thing: my media. I’m a grownass adult with critical thinking skills and emotional skills. I don't wanna see that shit romanticized in cartoons made for preschoolers with neither of those skills. Anything in between there is a case-by-case basis the parents should probably be responsible for depending on how much harmful behavior is being taught to youths and how mature the youths watching and reading that stuff are.

I used to call myself a Mudkip during my iconic “Mudkip with Juniper Lee hair” profile pic era in a cheeky “but what do I know, I’m just a Mudkip” way. I figured amphibian works, since, among my changing user pics, amphibians are the most common.

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

To specify (because there is a character limit in polls), I am asking if it’s okay for consumers of your work to leave comments with criticism of the show and also if you are okay with people leaving comments with constructive criticism of your work

If you can, specify what type of creator you are in the tags!

[cdroloisms]

a little ramble about dreblr, meta, and the ever evolving nature of this fandom, i guess?

i don't mean to soapbox, this is mostly just going to be vomiting some thoughts into a post. some recent stuff and a post or two have had me thinking about this fandom and how different it is from when dsmp was ongoing. it's,, pretty obvious that the fandom is quite a bit smaller and less active than that time, and there are generally a lot fewer people actively posting meta and such every day--which isn't necessarily a bad thing, and is natural obviously considering that the dsmp ended almost 2 years ago, but does mean that the culture around (?) meta and such has shifted, as well. it's one of those things too i think that is felt so much more obviously in dreblr, which is an even smaller group within this fandom that formed in response to uhhh being very much considered unwelcome by the greater fandom at the time.

that being said, as is the nature of all fandom, dreblr is still a community of people who are largely strangers who have gathered together because of one commonality: very strong feelings and often very strong opinions on the dream smp and c!dream. and i think when the fandom was more active, the entire fandom felt a lot more like a "pvp enabled" zone, lmao -- it was every other day when there'd be some new batshit meta about c!dream or some stream to react to and analyze and fight people about and whatever. since then, though, with the dsmp gone, the fandom has become quieter -- which i think has allowed some of the variation in opinions within dreblr become more and more obvious? and also become a sort of source of friction.

again, this is normal for any fandom. i'm certainly not here to agree with everyone about c!dream always, lmao. but the vagueing of takes is always more awkward on both sides when it's someone where you share more of the same circles. at the end of the day, it's up to each individual blogger's discretion to choose what they will or won't post on their own blog, but at the same time ... when it comes to the community, just speaking for myself, i don't want a super high barrier of entry when it comes to people feeling like they can't join this fandom unless they've got [xyz] experience or [xyz] takes.

when it comes to actual analysis of the source material, though, keeping meta a safe place for people to say "no, i don't agree with this take because of [xyz]" is important as well, which always raises the question of how said disagreements should be handled. and again, i'm no authority, i'm not here to tell people what to do. personally, when it comes to my own blog, i don't like to post very much directly about any one blogger, but I know I've definitely written posts inspired by specific takes before as well as screenshots of takes from the fandom's heyday, etc. i don't necessarily feel uncomfortable with this ...? but at the same time, i know that vagueposts can be a source of discomfort, especially if they're about your take in particular (speaking from experience) -- so it's you know. not the easiest line to draw, I guess, especially when we're talking about a community where different people are going to have different levels of comfort with what they post on their own blogs and what other blogs do in response to their takes. and whatever.

vagueposting, i think, has been common in the tumblr dsmp fandom for a long time, and especially in dreblr -- direct engagement in the past errr usually went badly, so a habit formed of keeping everything we did kind of within our own spaces (hence why many of us don't even tag c!dream or even dreblr on most of our posts; keeping everything untagged, or keeping the tagging system restricted to our own blogs, limited the possibility of trouble). that being said, vagueing within dreblr has become more common, i think, as disagreements within dreblr have become more and more obvious in the time since the dsmp ended. (just for the obvious example: i think it's a bit of an open secret that i, personally, strongly disagree with much of the common depictions of c!drunz in this fandom. i've written some meta about this before, as well as some responses to meta--which i enjoyed greatly, believe me--but i've also noticed (perhaps coincidence) an uptick in c!drunz positive meta every time i or someone else makes a post that maybe skews more negative. which is normal, don't get me wrong, but also a pattern i've noticed. i'm also very aware that someone the arguments i may bring up as counterarguments or structure my posts around arguing against are based on actual arguments i've seen while in this space, which i'm aware is an easy source of friction within dreblr.) and it's easy to say "don't take it personally when it's just metaanalysis," but that's easier said than done, lmao, especially depending on the tone of the vaguepost and a myriad of other factors.

i'm not saying that i have the answers. or, for that matter, a single answer. the boundaries i set aren't going to be the same as the boundaries other people set, for one, and i have no desire to police what other people do on their own blogs. i do miss, sometimes, the more collaborative and discussion-based meta experience of this fandom when it was more active--i might try to more actively reblog posts (including those i don't necessarily agree with) to discuss this server and these characters, bc at the end of the day that is kind of why we're here. personally, i've always drawn a pretty sharp distinction between fanwork and analysis -- i think it's pretty bad form to criticize people's AUs In General (not that i've not. been guilty of it in the past, but i try at least to keep it to criticizing more general patterns within fanwork; look, i'm not going to claim a moral high ground, i love bitching way too much and should probably get a handle on that but asj;lkfdsaf) but when we're talking meta about the source material, barring shit like. you know, harassment and otherwise abusive behavior, i do consider it more of a free-for-all. at the same time, i know that these standards can lead to newer fans feeling like they're going to be booed out the door for sharing their thoughts, which, i mean, isn't great 😭😭😭 fresh eyes can bring a lot of really cool new insights, and it'd suck pretty damn bad to miss that because they don't feel welcome, yknow?

anyway, this is a very inconclusive post, but i thought i'd just throw some of my thoughts out as someone who has been here for a decently long time. and if you want to discuss w/ me, inbox and dms are always open :)

[helluvagirlboss]

All of these are really good points and if you don’t mind I’d like to add onto this.

I was actually discussing with a mutual yesterday about the difference in how criticism is approached towards shows like Arcane vs. criticism towards the Hellaverse shows.

Just like Helluva Boss, I think Arcane is a really good show that has a lot of flaws in it, and it unfortunately didn’t end as strongly as it began.

But despite me really loving Arcane, I have no problem engaging in videos that breakdown where it went wrong? You know why?

Because Arcane is still regarded as respectable show to openly like. And because of that public regard, but also because Arcane’s fan base from what I have seen is overall more mature, the videos criticizing what Arcane S2 did wrong are approaching that criticism with a lot more nuance, maturity, and are giving actual critiques.

There’s been criticism of the speed rail pacing, how certain characters’ layers got flattened, how the themes and conflict it set up in S1 either got brushed under the rug or was concluded in an unsatisfactory way, or how S2 introduced WAY too many new concepts that never got fully realized because of the limited episode count.

So you know…actual critiques of how the show’s story was structured.

But with both Hellaverse shows, especially Helluva Boss, so many critiques are made in the worst faith imaginable and are often times they’re not actual critiques.

It’s just people who don’t like the art style, don’t like the characters, don’t like the humor, or just really hate Vivienne Medrano herself, and often times, even if they do have actual criticisms of the show and the way it’s structured, it is buried under a sea of vitriol towards the creator and its fan base.

And worst of all, it leads them to make blatant misreadings of the story and the characters intentions where if you took the moment to think for longer than a minute, the irrational things the characters do would make sense from their pov.

And you know why I think so much of Hellaverse criticisms drowned in a sea of vitriol and bad faith? Because it doesn’t take nearly as much effort to convince people that the Hellaverse is bad.

Unlike with Arcane, both Hellaverse shows, especially Helluva Boss, are considered the cringe and vulgar indie shows that only edgy teenagers on Tumblr like. They are not backed by the court of public opinion the way Arcane is.

So criticism of Arcane is well-thought out, nuanced, constructive, and engaging because you have to try much harder to convince people that Arcane did things wrong. You have to have sound arguments or else people won’t take it seriously.

Helluva Boss criticism, at least the overwhelming majority of it, is not well thought out or sound, because it doesn’t need to be, it doesn’t want to be. The critiques don’t have to be well thought out, calm, nuanced, hell they don’t even need to show that they actually understand the show they’re criticizing.

It’s the Vivziepop show therefore of course it’s bad, and a lot of people get a lot of views ripping her work apart, no matter how good or bad their arguments are.

I don’t post my criticisms of Helluva Boss on this blog often, but when I do, I always want to give the sound critiques that I wish most critics would give because I have said it before and I’ll say it again, it is good to be able to criticize the things you love and acknowledge when they get things wrong.

And I don’t think Helluva Boss fans are incapable of acknowledging when the show does things wrong. They just don’t want to attract the audience that is foaming at the mouth to trash Vivziepop, and neither do I.

Court of public opinion really affects the degree of thought out into media criticism and I don’t think that has ever been more true than for the Hellaverse shows.

why are my youtube recommendations all anti hb videos

[lurafita]

Things I wish the Shadowhunters TV show hadn't done, part 2

(Again, there are a few of those, but I'm limiting myself to only 2 things that are Magnus and Malec centric and struck a nerve with me)

I'm aware that this one is a very unpopular opinion. And it's not exclusive to the Shadowhunter series, as many series and movies have made use of this plot point and I have never liked it, but it is somehow widely popular so it keeps getting used...

Anyway, the deal Alec made with Asmodeus to get Magnus' magic back.

Give up your relationship/Break their heart to save them.

- This is something that has been used in many stories, by many characters, in many different situations.

I hate it.

It is framed as this noble sacrifice, this selfless gesture.

But I can't find it anything else but patronizing and demeaning.

I'm not blaming Alec the character for it, because as stated, this is something that has been around for a long time and gets used a lot.

But let me try to explain why I don't like it using Alec and Magnus' situation as an example.

When Magnus gave up his magic to save Jace (and by extention save Alec), he gave up something that was his and his alone. This was Magnus' decision alone to make. When Alec gave up their relationship, he made a decision that affected two people. This wasn't something that he alone gave up, but rather forced Magnus to give up the same. Had Asmodeus asked for Alec's runes, for example, that would have been a price that Alec, and Alec alone, had the right to make a decision on giving up.

And now some will say "But Alec wasn't given the option to pay with anything else but to break Magnus' heart. And Asmodeus said it would kill Magnus to not have his magic." And yes, that's true, but that doesn't change the crux of the matter. Magnus chose to give up his magic, when it was either that, or Jace's life. He then chose to not chase other methods of getting his magic back, to live with Alec after Lorenzo's magic transfer almost killed him. And yes, he was struggling and grieving, but that is to be expected. Alec witnessed one breakdown and decided that Magnus would never recover.

People don't recover from trauma because others break their hearts to get them "fixed". They recover from trauma because the people in their lives support them and stay with them and love them.

And let's just say for arguments sake, that the deal had gone over with as originally intended. Look at it from a later point of view.

Alec breaks Magnus' heart, Magnus gets his magic back.

Is all well now? No. Of course not.

One of Magnus' greatest fear was that he was unworthy of love, if he didn't have magic, if he couldn't be useful.

That his magic was the only thing that made up his spark.

And, in order to fulfill Asmodeus deal and break Magnus' heart, Alec enforced those believes.

Alec can walk away from this whole mess with the knowledge that he lied in order to get Magnus' magic back and Magnus would in time recover. Magnus on the other hand has just had his worst fear confirmed, and will likely not recover from it.

Again, this is not an attempt to bash Alec. I do not blame his character for the writers choices with the story line.

This is just my opinion on this particular matter and why I wish it hadn't been done at all

[sonknuxadow]

I’m honestly surprised that people are saying Keanu reeves is a bad choice despite the popular fan discussions about it. Where I’m at in the internet, he’s considered a good choice and people were excited.

i cant speak for everyone obviously but ive always thought he was a bad choice for shadow ever since the idea started going around 2 years ago. because from what ive heard personally he doesnt really sound like shadow + i hate it when big movie stars are given voice acting roles in movie adaptations just to have a big name attached to the project even if theyre not good for the role. and this definitely feels like that. back in the day people were only saying he should be shadow NOT because his voice actually fits but because hes an edgy action guy or whatever and movie sonic is canonically a fan of him/his movies and they could make jokes out of that. and i feel like thats Still what a lot of peoples reasoning is which annoys me because shadow isnt just an edgy action guy and i dont think his voice should be chosen based on a joke of all things especially if the voice isnt fitting enough to justify it

not gonna say my opinion is the most popular but i know that there are a lot of people who agree with me on this, or at the very least are unsure about it. a lot of people dont want him

[athene-owl]

Look, I like Ghibli stuff but I'm not super involved in the fandom so maybe someone more knowledgeable has spoken about this BUT.....the way some of y'all talk about Hayao's son Goro is flat out gross and weird as fuck. You absolutely NEED to take Hayao off of whatever pedestal you've put him on and stop making your funny little memes about how his mistreatment of his son/family is OK because you don't like Goro's films. This is just like basic decency???

[daylightseen]

he nodded his head at maddie's words. that was certainly true. people seemingly lost their childhood playfulness for a lot of reasons. but chimney didn't think he would lose that sort of air about him, no matter what might happen to him. he was always meant to be this sort of mostly free spirited person in a childish way. it wasn't like he wasn't serious if he needed to be, but he had a lot of other things to do with his time. “might be a good idea to ask around.” chimney nodded his head. it wasn't terrible to get a better opinion. he was biased, at least. it was hard to see out of the somewhat rose colored glasses he had a view for terret's cove. sure, he knew that the town wasn't perfect, and it was evident that lately it was only getting more and more attention, but it was just that it was home so he was going to think the best of it until something truly proved him wrong. while awful things happened here – near death experiences on the job for one – he hadn't known much else to compare it to. it was just life in general. and that was all he knew. “it's definitely something to consider. there's a lot of people moving to town lately.” chimney shrugged his shoulders. it was still odd to explain all of that, but the truth of it was that he had seen a lot of new people that came to the town. it was just hard to think where they came from. or why they had come to the town to begin with. but, chimney wasn't going to be going around and asking everyone why they came to terret's cove, and where they had come from. it was too much, and it was just a hassle. because, what if the answer showed something he was afraid to hear? he laughed at the comment, “well, i'll be sure to keep that in mind.” he nodded his head. he didn't know if he was going to be joining any sort of karaoke any time soon, but he couldn't rule it out either. chimney was a bit of a wild card when it came to his extra curricular activities. something that he enjoyed doing was just being a bit out there and trying something new. it was always fun for him to see things from a new perspective. but trying karaoke now? he was going to need to think about that. “well, company is definitely something i'm good at. but i can't always promise it's good. you've only heard some of my jokes.” chimney made a small face, a slight grimace. maybe he was already attempting to set himself up for failure just in case he had to be worried about something. but realistically…what did he have to worry about? “i'll do my best, but i make no promises.”

❝ some people lose their inner child a little too easily , ❞ she said with a shake of her head , clearly disapproving of such an idea. maddie only had a few years where she could just be a kid , but the memories were far too hazy. first , daniel got sick. she had to stay strong , for both his and their parents sakes. then daniel died , and her parents became even more emotionally distant , so maddie stepped up for evan. whatever may have remained of that little girl was destroyed by doug , or so she thought. it was only until chimney that maddie realized there was still a little kid in her. he was just so funny and lovable , radiating a joy that she never realized she needed so badly. jee only amplified that effect , showing the mother just how far a little childlike wonder can go. ❝ i'll be sure to survey ever transplant i meet then , ❞ she joked. all things considered , it didn't seem like anyone managed to leave terret's cove once they arrived , but there sure were the fair share of new people it seemed. strange , too strange for her liking , but she didn't have the mental real estate to solve the mystery of this two alone. ❝ well , i think it's a disservice that people are not exposed to your singing on the regular. you come off like you'd put on quite the performance , ❞ she said playfully , smiling wide. in hindsight , she couldn't recall people's actual reactions to their karaoke shenanigans back home ; her attention was always directed at chimney. ❝ oh , it's always better with a partner. totally agree. if you need some help with some dolly parton , for example , i'll be right up there with ya. we can embarrass ourselves , together. ❞ as if she could ever be embarrassed by anything she did with chim. maddie's smile only grew at the confirmation of his offer. ❝ good. ❞ her head nodded , mirroring his action. ❝ oh , please ... the bar for a night out for me is so low , ❞ she assured. despite living in los angeles , she rarely took part in the more exciting aspects of the nightlife. she cared for the people she spent her nights with rather than the where. ❝ i'm not easy to disappoint , i promise. all i need is some good company and maybe a bottle of wine , and you seem more than capable of supplying the former so ... ❞ frankly , she didn't care where they ended up , so long as it was with one another. she would be happy with a mere movie night on her couch ; however , she probably did need a night out of the house. ❝ i can't wait to learn all the fun spots , though. you'll have to show me. ❞ a light giggle escaped her lips. ❝ teach me how to be a better local. ❞

[yomigaere]

fandom please stop having bad takes about Shiori and Juri challenge (BLOODY IMPOSSIBLE)

[drvwing]

and another thing… i think one reason some women choose to stay male centered is because if they took a moment to look in the mirror they would realize they haven’t been living for themselves but rather molding themselves into someone they thought would be picked by some man. the hobbies, interests, hair, style, makeup, everything that makes them up… was perfectly curated for the interest of who they were crushing on.

they turned into someone based on what they thought this guy would want, and not what THEY want. so to decenter men and to not be so consumed and focused on boys… they would have an identity crisis and not know who they are or if they even like their interests or enjoy the few hobbies they do have.

[agapi-kalyptei]

When Blood Red Shoes said "I'm scared to let go / Of a hurt so comfortable" I learned more about abusive relationships than I have learned from some of the abusive relationships I lived through