#I know that’s what happened to women then but it’s wish fulfillment fantasy show

[colinfeatherington]

also what I love about them having their first kiss earlier and then getting further in the carriage is that bridgerton does this thing I hate where a complete virgin gets their first kiss and it escalates SO fast. I always hated daphne and simon’s first kiss because this girl doesn’t even know what sex is and he’s grabbing her breasts like .3 seconds into her very first kiss. and then they’re hardcore fucking the next time they’re intimate with each other. I feel like that’s incredibly scary and overwhelming?? I’m so happy pen’s first kiss was so gentle and sweet and slow and then they got to explore a little bit more the next time

[lillforpolin]

Honestly, I think it's unethical for SL to be peddling storylines like this of an idealized masculinity that doesn't exist. If it had a substantial male viewership, then it might serve some purpose of (at least an attempt at) instruction towards men, but they have no interest in it. As it stands, they're just selling women a dangerous fantasy that even the messiest, rakiest of men will change their ways and become loyal to the "right woman" over night. It's the "I can change him" hopeless romantic idea that has broken so many women's souls. Both Rege and Luke have rebelled against it in their own respective ways, only Jonny hasn't because he's gay and he doesn't view things that way, he genuinely seems to love and respect women. Also, he literally doesn't have skin in the game. I'm not upset with Rege for distancing himself because he was enduring ridiculous racist abuse and they had his character sexually assaulted without repercussions for the assailant, instead she was rewarded with him conveniently putting aside his trauma to give her the family life she'd always wanted. How is that okay!? Feminism isn't supposed to be "women can be just as bad as men", it's supposed to inspire everyone to do better by each other. It terms of core values, the show is a mess. I don't know if they even know what they're trying to say, they're running fully off of vibes and an aesthetic, and I have a feeling S4 will be the worst in this regard with the class dynamic and everything. It's thoroughly misguided and it feels like a cash grab by shamelessly and irresponsibly serving women wish fulfillment when those outcomes would never happen irl, setting them up for disappointment.

Thank you Anon!

You described it 1000 better than I ever could.

This is 💯

👏👏👏

[the-two-of-clubs]

The absolute worst part of the "Dante is a self insert so i can he/him them" argument to me is that it both makes it clear that whomever is making making assumption has not engaged with the work on the basic level of understanding that the main character is also a character in their own right. Which is a whole nother can of worms but I see it poking its head out enough in the theorising community that it pisses me off substantially.

Yeah I agree.

Other people were arguing that precise lore snaggle back and forth in the same comments section with no resolution in sight because of that one Canto VI meta moment. I couldn't tell if it was in good faith. I didn't want to get into the weeds with that, when I feel like men feeling entitled to having all videogame protagonists be men and ignoring the prospect of women playing videogames and deserving to be able to relate to protagonists on gendered grounds is more thematically relevant to my spiel.

But I do agree that Dante is a cool character. I wanna try a side by side of them and another similar character who's gender IS determined by player choice, Byleth from Fire Emblem 3 Houses. Apologies in advance if you haven't played it I'm just going to bitch about Byleth's inclusion in the game.

I like Dante better than Byleth as a use of on screen time because Dante is more clearly a POV character written to be a POV character but still a... character at all. Dante gets to be used as a vehicle by the author to have fun interactions with the other characters and is someone for the other characters to bounce off of, not just a neutral observer to present themselves to. Dante is protagonisty like you see in a lot of books especially fantasy books: naive about the setting to be able to ask a lot of questions the readers might want to know, a very basic or at least down to earth and relatable motivation at first like "survive" that players don't need explanation to get invested in, and a generally reasonable and virtuous personality that's not terribly challenging or upsetting to be prompted to project onto, even if they've got their laundry list of character flaws to be able to not just be total dead space in the narrative (which is my problem with more aggressively blank POV characters in dialogue based games.) And people aren't arguing that book characters are self inserts and therefore have the same gender as the reader because of these traits.

Bringing up Byleth might be shooting myself in the foot because they lean pretty heavily towards the blank self insert intention side of things, especially when it comes to gender, for how many lines they have, but that's a specific difference I'm drawing between Byleth and Dante despite cosmetic similarities like being overpowered amnesiacs who can rewind time. Dante just feels like there's more there. A lot of the way the Sinners treat Dante just reads less as wish fulfillment than Byleth's ability to romance nearly every character in the game and be perfect for all of them. Dante doesn't have branching dialogue trees, the only unlockable stories are uptie ones that don't involve Dante at all. Limbus' story is linear. When you're asking if a protagonist is a self insert I feel like the format and how much input the player is actually inserting into the narrative should be a huge tell.

I think another interesting and more relevant case is Frisk from Undertale who is another nonbinary-coded character who's presented as being the player but the game actively refutes that later and it's a similar cheeky inconsistent meta situation to what happens with Canto VI. I think it shows that games can play in the space between self-insert and POV character and using an analysis that flattens a character and a game as lively as Dante and Limbus down to just one of those, and the less accurate one, doesn't capture many things you might want to say about Dante. Another game that plays in this to great effect I think is Disco Elysium which manages to have compelling character writing for the POV character while also being a roleplaying game that gives you variability in who he is and invites you to play as him and make choices with dialogue trees, just by being packed to the gills with good writing and having a very clever format.

Weird take but every videogame protagonist is simultaneously a character in the story of the game that the camera just happens to be following, and also an audience standin designed on some level to make the game emotionally accessible and for the player to live vicariously through, more of a window than a person. It's just a matter of degree. The Limbus devs wanting to do a cute kickflip that one time with a 4th wall break doesn't really break this paradigm after so many years of games like Undertale and Doki Doki Literature Club posing similar questions.

(If I said something wrong here it's because I haven't finished all of these games and it's been a while since I played most of them. ta)

[jaybybyby]

its not even fujoshi behaviour it's just legitimately concerning LMAO. fujoshis as a group are Fine. gay men have the right to be uncomfy with them but im not one of em. Vivzie doesn't even Do the fujoshi stereotypes - she uses a much more insidious reduction of character so that audience members can latch onto the "softboi" character and be pleased when the bigger, stronger, more masc boyfriend shows up to save them. Gay men aren't ur wish fulfillment fantasies Viv. that, or she fetishizes them being tied up/kidnapped/raped All the fucking time and I go. hm. that never happens to the women. is it because the women are supposed to be stronger (unlikely) or is it because it's easier to fetishize a man (someone she can be attracted to) in those situations. And I say that as a gay guy that does a little hehe flush emoji when a guy gets tied up in a show lmao

either way for a bisexual woman she very clearly doesn't know what she's doing. all she knows is that hot man x twink guy = hot. and also that women can only want sex if they're already violent and/or a whore

[neechees]

I searched through your blog to see if you've answered a question like this before - if you have I missed it so sorry if I'm making you repeat yourself ^^

Are there things you see in Indigenous characters in media that you wish were less common ? What about things you want to see more in Indigenous characters in media ?

I dont think I have actually so you're fine! :)

So this is just my opinion obvi & some ppl might not agree with everything below, but here are some tropes or really common devices I see in Indigenous characters I hate and/or would like to see less of:

Interracial relationships but ONLY White person/Native person. I don't think this should stop or not be portrayed at all, but at this point it feels like we have more interracial relationships featuring a white person than we actually do depicting relationships between even Native people with each other. ESPECIALLY NATIVE WOMEN PAIRED WITH A WHITE MAN. God I am so sick of it, please give us Native/poc & Native/Native relationships for once, I promise it happens irl

That trope where a White person joins a Native tribe & essentially becomes one of them. For similar reasons as above, and again I don't think this portrayal should stop 100% & it's not necessarily "bad", but I'd like to see more diversity or a different approach to it. It seems like most of these are inspired by historical accounts of this happening irl, but most aren't historical depictions of actual historical people, which I actually WOULD like to see (White or not) more of, instead of just fiction. Also just kinda seems like wish fulfillment with White audiences who have a fetishization of Native people sometimes. Maybe I also hate it so much since it very often goes in with the white savior narrative too

Native women being brutalized on screen, oh my god. Seeing this over & over as a Native woman is literally so retraumatizing. A lot of times it gets to torture porn or voyeuristic, & wasn't even necessary to begin with. I don't care if it's to show how "bad" things are for us, I know, show it some other way.

White ppl making shit off of our Spirits & legends. Just leave us alone. They never get it right.

Just a lot of Native tropes in general because they're overdone. The Noble savage? Indian burial ground? Booooring. Unoriginal. Lazy.

Things I want to see MORE of:

This is just me because I LOVE history, but more historical Native settings BUT, set during Pre-colonization & precolombus. So many historic films about us are during colonization & being persecuted, & I think this is why so many Native people hate films with ndns set in history (in addition to making it seem like we ONLY exist in the past, which is fair), & other than that, makes it seem like our history begins & ends with being colonized

More badass Native ladies. I wanna see Native women who are femme fatales, wrestlers, assassins, martial artists, warriors, gunslingers, athletes, the works. I wanna see untouchable, dangerous Native women.

More fantasy & horror stuff I'm begging, I'm on my knees

The list for what we should STOP seeing in Native characters is honestly shorter because of 1. how severely underrepresented we are, and 2. Where we DO have rep has a lot of tropes that are very very overdone & constantly reuses those tropes, (besides the much lesser known, obscure stuff made by us for us, which isn't as high in number by comparison) so like the list for what we SHOULD try is literally so big I'll just end it here

[popentertainment-moviereviews]

DREAMING OF YOU (2024)

Starring Jack McCafferty, Lauren LaVera, Ian Ross, Jake Westphal, Katie Marovitch, Liz Priestley & Kevin Giles.

Screenplay by Jack McCafferty.

Directed by Jack McCafferty.

Distributed by Rinky Dink Kitchen Sink Productions. 95 minutes. Not Rated.

Screened at the 2024 Philadelphia Film Festival.

This local Philly-based debut surreal romantic comedy from writer / director / star / animator Jack McCafferty is a lot of fun and often very funny, even if you know it’s just wish fulfillment rather than an even slightly realistic look at a relationship.

It tells the story of Miles (McCafferty) and Ren (Lauren LaVera of the currently white-hot Terrifier movies). They meet in a medical waiting room because they are both having issues with sleep problems. Not surprisingly, Miles is immediately smitten with the gorgeous Ren. (Somewhat more surprisingly, the feeling seems to be mutual.)

Much of Miles’ world is broken up by nightmares, and he is rarely able to sleep through the night. (Several of these dream sequences are shown in animated sections done by McCafferty, who is not a great artist, but has a certain style in his work). In these animated dreams, suddenly Ren is in all of them. However, Miles can’t reach her, or even talk to her, as a subconscious representation of his anxiety and shyness. Which is kind of strange, because she’s pretty much throwing herself at him in the waking world.

In one of these dreams, he is on a game show called What Doe She See in Him? and Miles has no answer to this question. Nor does the gameshow host, it’s audience (which is made up of turkeys… don’t ask, it’s sort of a reference to something that happened earlier), or even his sidekick stuffed bear. And honestly, neither can the filmgoers.

It’s not just that she’s massively hotter than he is – and that is very much the case – but he’s also a complete mess. He has problems with anxiety and no self-esteem. He has no job (well he has one he hates early on, but is quickly fired), no money and lives in his late uncle’s garage, which is filled with creepy knickknacks. He also can’t sleep through the night, having nightmares which cause him sleep paralysis, and he often imagines he is being attacked by a demon during these occurrences.

Comparatively, she has an ex-boyfriend who is kind of a dick, and she is dealing with sleep apnea, which causes her to sleep with a CPAP machine. On the plus side, she flirts with him first in the awkward meet cute (in the waiting room of a medical sleep study). She tracks him down in the parking lot and offers him a ride home. She adds him on Facebook first. She texts him first. On their first date, she eventually tells him to make the first move and then has to pretty much talk him into it. Then she even kisses him first.

And why does she fall so hard for him? Well, she says it is because he doesn’t smother her with affection, and he is just himself with her. Yeah, that’s how it usually works with gorgeous women.

Okay, so it’s a nerd romantic fantasy. The hot chick who falls for and seduces the geek. It’s not overly realistic, but it still can be fun to watch. Hell, Judd Apatow made his early career pretty much on similar storylines.

Made on a shoestring budget, Dreaming of You actually turns out to be a pretty impressively well-made film for such an obvious indie. And like I said, it’s often pretty damned funny. Which in the end is all you can ask for in a comedy. I’m looking forward to seeing what McCafferty comes up with next, hopefully with a bit more of a budget.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2024 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: October 28, 2024.

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

⭐️Star ⭐️

I think I'll dust off Eden's Deception for this one.

So what you'd never know about Eden's Deception is this story actually went through three drafts.

2018 - The romantic fluff fest hyperfocused on a J/C romance in their scifi "Garden of Eden" on my first rewatch of the series as a 25 y.o. i felt absolutely cheated and teased by the romantic undertones that this episode failed to fulfill. the first draft was wish fulfillment where they frollicked around new earth falling in love, but it kept getting disrupted by my impulse to write scenes with some very intense melancholy about being stranded. Think one second theyre cuddling on a home made couch making out and the next Kathryn is somberly assessing what would happen when one of the died and how she would bury his body all alone by herself. really sad shit. kept breaking the romantic story i had envisioned.

That first draft stalled completely when the romantic fantasy plot peaked at an accidental pregnancy. I was watching Call the Midwife at the same time (hollar at all the ways pregnancy can go wrong for older women with limited resources and no medical care) and I just could not figure out how to move forward with the romantic fluff tone when i had just put my character in this situation of functionally mortal peril. I put the draft down and had a long re-think.

2020: The second draft was a Viidian organ farm horror fic. Mid pandemic. I was very isolated. dark thoughts abounded. and I like everyone else got a crash course in virus behavior from the wall to wall news coverage. So I rewatched resolutions again and this time rather than the lack of romance it was the bullshit virus that needled me. Why had a virus that affected spacefarers evolved on a planet with no space faring civilization? Why was it's only symptom triggered outside the atmosphere? Why did the Viidiians have the cure. I tried to anwer that in the second draft, while still satisfying my wishfullfillment need to get Kathryn a baby. In that second Draft the vidiians had engineered the planet to be a tempting venus fly trap and the virus to first trap victims on the planet and then entice them to have a lot of sex and babies that the vidiians could swoop in and kidnap later. I'd intended pregnant Kathryn to go full rambo on their facility and somehow bs she and chakotay a way off the planet and back to the ship. but i never got that far. that draft was just a little too dark for what I wanted and also the idea of the show's modern vidiians forcing their prisoners to breed new organ donors the natural way seemed dreadfully inefficient for a species that had figured out how to create a whole ass klingon adult in a lab in a day from just half a dna strand. but I did like the idea that the virus was somehow their fault. and I was intrigued by the speculation that their organ harvesting plans might have started out on a much more accessible population than kidnapped passing spacefarers. so i hung onto those tidbits and some of the smut scenes too (one of the smut scenes from this draft became Fever actually).

The final draft was written in 2021. In the US we had the looming threat of losing protections from Roe by then and that really put a damper on my own baby fever. That and I had by then watched like 7 seasons of call the midwife. So suffice to say I had come to see new earth baby was just a horror fic waiting to happen, and felt like Kathryn would just never go through with that while stranded or in the captain's chair. So I had Kathryn put a new earth baby in long term stasis for Parent Trap and I did away with the concept in Eden entirely.

Having also experienced two years of people trying to control a real pandemic by then the vidiians approach to the phage continued to facinate me. I don't think I would have come up with the idea of the New Earth virus as a quarentine measure otherwise. Creating a plot for Chakotay and his own skill set also helped bring the whole thing together. I let the potential of a maquis freedom fighter out to play to create a solution that was definitely the best option and definitely not starfleet sanctioned. He flies under the radar as a self-sacrificing maverick given how often it's Janeway pulling out the big guns. But he absolutely also is one. And that was really fun to explore.

Ultimately I think you see undercurrents of the first 2 drafts in the final story. The romantic yacht that they sail back to Voyager in certainly harkened back to the fluffier iteration. I really was very pleased with how it turned out. Rereading it two years later there isnt much that i would change. And that makes me really proud of it. I loved writing a mystery. I loved exploring a more mature and measured version of a romance. I loved bringing the science into it! (and I lucked out having someone with an anthropology/archeology background betaing it)

One thing I would change is the inclusion of some of Chakotays spiritual elements. It was kinda a trend at the time to have him say "Spirits" in lieu of saying "Oh, God" as a way to honor whatever indigenous beliefs he is supposed to have (as we all know theyre very mismashed/made up/etc.) and to show he wasnt from a judeo-christian background. I've realized that was quite foolish now. Saying "Spirits" doesn't come from the show or from any actual native american tradition that I can find. I'd just have him say "God" or swear or something completely different now. In the same vein I want to eventually go back and edit the vision quest scene. I've grappled for years with how much of his canon beliefs to include since theyre all appropriated from different nations or just made up whole cloth. Vision quests aren't something I have personal knowledge of and not something I can research or give the appropriate respect to. So I think that while I might still have him leave their campsite to do one, I'd change the vision/memory itself into a dream, similar to the way his flashbacks to the war worked in a later chapter.

[marmolita]

OKAY it’s lunchbreak time which means I can come write some kinda sorta meta for the like three people who care about both these fandoms about how Final Fantasy XV and Supernatural are philosophical opposites.  Spoilers ahead for both FFXV and spn!!  Hopefully we’re far enough in the future from the releases of both of these that nobody cares about spoilers anymore but YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

SO

Final Fantasy XV is, at its core, a story about Noctis coming to terms with his fate and the fact that he has to die to save the world.  Part of it he knows is his destiny and part of it he doesn’t know the details of, but fundamentally he is on a journey of self-discovery and coming-of-age.  At no point in the entire game does he attempt to find a way out of his destiny.  He knows he’s the king of light and he’s going to fulfill this destiny, it’s just a matter of when and whether he’s going to be strong enough to do it.  And yeah, he delays it -- or, the player delays it, at least, by tooling around fighting monsters and going on side quests instead of proceeding to Altissia.  He’s not ready for it.  He has to go through hell and lose people he loves before he’s ready for it.

In the end, though, he accepts his destiny and walks tall to his fate, and he dies, and the world is saved as a result.  We all cry because we’re sad for him, and we’re mad that he has to die, and we wish he could have a happier ending, but we understand that he’s doing what he has to do and he’s being a hero and this is the ending that this story needs to have.  It’s tragic but it is, fundamentally, a happy ending for the world.

MEANWHILE

Supernatural is season after season after season of either Sam or Dean or someone they love needing to die in order to save the world, and not doing it.  Or, they die and then come back the next season!  This isn’t a coming of age story.  It’s not about learning to accept your fate.  Supernatural is all about standing up to your fate and saying, “Fuck you, I’m not going to sacrifice myself for this, there has to be another way.”

Supernatural is about never giving up on finding a way to SAVE your loved one from their fate.  Changing their fate!  Rescuing people.  Sam needs to die to close the gates of hell?  Dean says yeah no I will doom the world to being full of demons forever because I will not accept my brother dying for it.  Dean needs to be locked in a Ma’lak box and dumped under the ocean to save the world and we know that that’s absolutely what needs to happen because it’s written in Death’s book as the only possible outcome?  Sam punches him in the face and is like nope!  You’re not doing that!  Fuck this!  And somehow another option arises and Dean doesn’t have to live in a coffin for eternity.

There are so many discussions in the late seasons about “I believe in us” and “we can find another way, we always do,” and it’s just really fascinating to me how the entire emotional core of this show is that you don’t need to die to save the world.  You don’t need to let your loved ones die to save the world.  You, as an individual, should never stop fighting to change their destiny, and guess what!  In this universe, somehow, it always works.  (....leaving aside the discussion of how all the women die for real, obviously there is nuance here but I’m talking about the primary throughline of the series)

ANYWAY

I’m not making a judgement call on which philosophy/moral is better.  I love both of these canons and I love both outcomes.  I have loved “hero has to die to save the world” stories since the first one I encountered (shoutout to Diane Duane’s Deep Wizardry) in all their incarnations, and I can find emotional catharsis in “yes you do really have to die” and “you found a way to not need to die” and “someone else died so that you didn’t have to.”

I’m not qualified to speak on the subject but I do feel like there’s also a certain amount of cultural impact here as well, like, Supernatural is an extremely American show.  Individualism and freedom are at the core of this “hell no I’m not dying for this” story.  Meanwhile, FFXV is extremely Japanese, and honorable self-sacrifice has been a thing in Japanese culture for centuries.  It’s interesting also considering how Supernatural is also a show fundamentally based on Christian religion and Christianity is all about a dude who died to save everyone, and yet somehow that’s not a thing that’s going to happen to our main characters.

Anyway idk!!  I just find it fascinating that there are two very different approaches to the same “gotta die to save everyone” story.

[josiejohnscn]

It is! His ex-wife had two daughters from a previous marriage so he's only ever known the girl dad life. He thrives quite well in it actually. It takes a certain kind of man to be a dad to girls and he's genuinely the best one in the world. We'd like more kids, so hopefully we'll have a boy or two just to shake things up a bit but we'd be perfectly happy with having all girls. Fortunately I've never struggled with body image issues, but there are a lot of women who do and some of them are the most gorgeous women in the world. You wonder why, but it goes to show that it's such a normal thing to feel and that everyone has little bits of themselves that they wish to change –– even though those are the things that make them the most beautiful. My goal is to be that mirror that can reflect their unique beauty back to them, which hopefully will make them feel confident in their skin. Being a parent is so fulfilling, and there's nothing that compares to seeing a little human that is not only a combination of you and the person you love, but a physical representation of that love. Collins, our two-year-old, is a lot of Aaron and Lennon, our fourteen month old, is my mini –– though she's sassier in her personality. You'll make a great dad one day, and when it happens you can find me so I can say 'I told you so'! It's helpful to know what you're signing off for, but it's so natural to have the grass-is-greener mentality. Do you get to play a lot? How many teams are you on? Yeah, funny enough I was on a trip to New York with my soccer team when I first got approached to pursue modeling. I was actually quite good and probably would have pursued that route had I not pivoted for modeling. It was one of those 'why not' moments to try modeling because I knew that school and soccer were waiting for me if it didn't work out –– and it did. Did you always know you wanted to be an athlete? Oh yes! Anything fantasy is right in my wheelhouse. Have you seen House of the Dragon? If not, you should make that your next watch. You'll love it! It does, especially when you're not in it all that much. I'm sure you're mostly at training or traveling, and when you're home the last thing you want to do is think about what you can do to add your personal touch to it. But I bet it's still cozy. Even though you're further away, do they come visit? Is your brother older or younger than you?

The girl tribe is a real thing, how does Aaron take to all that female energy? I don't know enough about the modelling world to put my two piece in or anything, but my ex girlfriend was a model, so learnt some of the basics there. But you've got to be pretty sure about yourself. You know, some of the outfits you lot pull off — you've got to have a certain amount of body confidence, so to be able to offer your girls some advice in that aspect, it would really be some great advice to give. Not just only as their mother of course, but as a strong and powerful woman I bet you are too. I'd seriously love to have kids — I can't even tell you how much I love spending time with my nieces and nephews and my god son. Would love to have a family, but also just see a little version of me grow up. Wait, her eighties? We all aspire to be like her at that age, remind me to ask her what her secret is, should I ever cross paths with her myself. Some more time off would be nice, but also I knew what I was getting myself into, you know? Just seems like seasons are a lot longer now than they used to be, and they are since there's a few more competitions in the game now, but I also love the game and want as much pitch time throughout the year as I can. You could have pursed sports instead? What made you divert from that route? I have my moments when watching TV, but Game of Thrones was probably the last show that really sucked me in, did you ever jump on that bandwagon? I made the move over a year ago, but it really does take time to make a new house and home. I was just outside of London before the move — about an hour away from my home town and family, and now I'm almost a five hour drive to them. That is exactly how it feels. You're mid way through looking something up on google, and then something else pops up so you open a new tab and get stuck into that and it just continues. I have no horror stories to tell, but I've also heard some too. It really doesn't make sense though, that's your family so why can't they be involved and make it work professionally? We get on pretty well, and I think it helps that we have thirteen years between us. Family before anything.

[elias-veturius-laia-of-serra]

Why Elias And Laia Mean So Much To Me

Okay so I’ve been wanting to write this for a while but knew it would be long and that I’d need some time to get my thoughts in order. So without a further ado here is my attempt:

Why is Elaia so important to me. Well to start off, Laia Of Serra in particular is very important and inspirational to me. She is not only a brown girl who is a hero but she is the most realistic hero I’ve ever had the honor of meeting. I’m so used to white female main characters that are badass warriors who are smart, beautiful, strong, special, that everyone is attracted to, and who fight for their people. I grew up on books like that. In which don’t get me wrong I still greatly enjoyed those stories and some of them are still my favorite to this day.

However I could never relate to those characters and it really solidified the belief that I most likely could never be a hero cause I could never fit that mold. And for the longest time I thought I was okay with that and I never really understood how much physical and emotional representation could mean to me until, Laia Of Serra.

Laia is a brown girl that is afraid, insecure, oppressed, sheltered, poor, weak, with no fighting experience, kind, emotional, girly, and self deprecating. She’s scared and second guesses herself all the time. It’s hard for her to phantom that she’s good enough to make the right choices or save anyone or anything. Which is exactly what I struggle with on the daily let alone in the middle of a war. I first read aeita when I was 17, the same age as Laia. So meeting a heroine that made mistakes, berated herself, cracked under pressure, had no clue what she was doing, let herself cry, understood that in a place filled with skilled deathly warriors she was weak, and let people trample over her. It was so relatable and heart wrenching. Especially when I’ve been wired to think girls like her are useless and typically the first to die or used as a stepping stool for the real hero.

Seeing her continue to fight with what she can and however she can made my heart soar. There were so many times she wanted to give up and feared death. However in time she grew and instead of fearing death she embraced the possibility of it in order to fight for what is right and for the people she loved. She stayed true to herself and became a badass without the need of having to kill people. Laia detested killing people especially after having to see how her people got killed all the time. She’s filled with understanding, love, forgiveness, sensitivity, kindness, and determination. No matter how many times she got knocked down she kept getting back up.

She gave and still gives me hope. Hope for who I am today and who I can grow into the future. She’s a symbol that you can be strong in other ways. That physical strength isn’t the only way to be a hero. Her bravery to face things head on, her compassion towards everyone, her determination to reach her goal, and her heart always willing to accept others is what makes her a hero. Even when it came to the final battle. It wasn’t her powers or weapons that got her to win the war. It was her kindness and understanding and love.

I understand people are disappointed that she wasn’t as “brutal” or stabby as other heroines. I love stabby women as well! But I think her depiction of strength and heroism is so important. It really shines a light on the meek and shy and scared and shows that it’s okay to feel like that. How that doesn’t automatically make you weak and how you can be just as important in the world.

I also love that Laia isn’t reduced or or shown as “not like other girls”. Laia loves to dress up, she likes to look pretty, she does think about boys, she is bossy, she is emotional, often has break downs, and she’s just so human. I find that a lot of the most badass heroines are always the ones that don’t like dressing up and finds it a waste of time, doesn’t fit in with other women, is stoic, cold, good with swords but not with words, and violent. Im not saying that these characters shouldn’t be allowed, but I feel like it reinforces the idea that the normal things a woman feels or behaves is considered weak. Not saying that all women are emotional, but we do feel. We do stress and some of us do love to put on make up and dresses. That shouldn’t be demonized or looked down upon.

That’s why I adore Laia. She’s a normal teenage girl that IS like most girls. And she gets praise and stronger because of it. Also people need to realize that at the start of the series Laia is a 17 year old girl with zero survival training skills. Elias and Helene have been training since they were literal children. Their whole lives revolves around fighting. Laia’s didn’t. So it makes sense and is realistic why she isn’t as “strong” or “skilled” as them.

To expect her to be at their level within the three year timeline between these books is impossible. I feel like people are so used to heroines that know how to fight or learn to become the most badass fighter through mere chapter montages that seeing a realistic depiction of a teenage girl that’s never fought in her life is displeasing. But I love that about her. She always becomes stronger in spirit, braver at heart, but at her core she is still Laia. A teenage girl trying her best.

Her needing help or needing a team to fulfill her goals shouldn’t be looked down on. It’s shown through even real history some of the best fighters or leaders needed a team. Needed support, right hand man, etc. Which is why I feel so connected to her and wish she wasn’t so underrated or looked down upon. Cause I feel like she’s a voice for girls like us that so desperately needed a way to be heard. She’s someone I can look up to and remember and find comfort in when times get stressful or dark.

Now as for why Elias and Laia’s relationship mean a lot to me. It’s simple. They’re a healthy brown couple and I love finally seeing a girl that looks and acts like me get praise and love. I love that Elias sees her strength and admires her for who she is. And how he actually finds comfort in a person like her. How he views her at times even stronger than him and everyone else.

Girls/characters like Laia are always reduced to a side character, the best friend, the second choice for the love interest, the death that motivates the main character, and or the character that pops in and out to give moral support. However under Elias’s eyes she IS the main character. She IS the only girl for him. He loves everything about her and was the first to believe she’s strong. He chooses her above all. Above anything and anyone else.

As a brown girl as shallow or dumb as it may sound it really does feel touching to see us described as not only just strong and desirable but loved and wanted by the warrior. The main love interest. That in his eyes this brown girl that others deem as weak, useless, boring, and a waste of time. To him she is everything. She is brave, smart, powerful, beautiful, admirable, and perfect. It means the world to me. Especially with how characters like her especially in fantasy is seen as never good enough or tossed aside.

I also love that Elias shows the struggles on what it means to be “strong”. How a lot of learning to be the best fighter happened through a lot of trauma, shame, and guilt. He does show how physical strength isn’t the only way to be strong. Which is why Laia is his balance. She is the peace and freedom he yearns for while Elias is the strength, power, and love she’s always yearned for. Where she falls in believing herself he is always the first to count his vote on her. They compliment each other perfectly. Countermelodies. True loves.

They show me a healthy version of love. One of the purest and sweetest kinds of love. Elias is always soft, kind, and patient with her. He’s proud of her even if she feels like it’s undeserved. She sees the good in him even if he feels like he’s a monster. They see each other for who they are and love that about each other. They love each other so much and I’d never seen two characters be as in love as these two are. They are utterly devoted to each other and constantly fought for their way back to each other. It’s been five years and rereading their scenes still makes me smile and feel butterflies, like it’s the first time all over again.

Even now seeing any content of them is like a shot of straight up serotonin. They are my comfort ship. Despite the stress these past five years of being with them and shipping them has brought me. They also bring me great happiness and excitement and I wish I never had to say goodbye.

Though here’s to hoping that maybe we can have an Elaia novella, at the least, in the future 👀🤞

♥️♥️♥️ Elaia Forever ♥️♥️♥️

[silvermoon424]

1/ I generally rolled my eyes at the Isekai boom since they tend to have been relagated to just a niche within the Anime community aside from state out titles. However, a discussion about it with a friend got me to think about more... critically. They claimed that the genre is fine on its own and questioned what's wrong with a little wish fulfillment in this hellscape of a world we're stuck on.

2/ That's when it remembered the whole "Mary Sue" BS that Star Wars fan stirred up as well as that Trope Talk video about it on YouTube (highly recommend it). Many rightfully pointed out how wish fulfillment for male readers are far more normalized. Then you take aspects of that fantasy and apply it to anybody slightly disenfranchised. What happens? The self-indulgence is no longer fun. Suddenly, plot contrivances like hidden powers awakening aren't big narrative moments but plot contrivances.

3/ I mean... what if SAO's Kirito was a girl? You get male fans who do call them out for being cloying as male driven fantasies but it hardly deters fans from not enjoying them. Swap the genders or sexualities but not the rest of the narrative and the reaction would be markedly different. And I do mean New Age Isekai rather than old fashioned portal fantasy.

What you said about male wish fulfillment vs female wish fulfillment is SO true, anon. Properties about male wish fulfillment are mainstream and are usually lauded/popular. Meanwhile female wish fulfillment properties/works often get detractors who nitpick everything and bitch about "bad writing" and "plot contrivances" and "Mary Sues."

Not saying that male wish fulfillment works don't get any criticism, but ones about women get so much more just because they're about women. And we don't like talking about how a lot of men (honestly, I would say most men, even men who are genuinely good) have a fundamental problem with empathizing with women and seeing things from a female lens whereas women are basically conditioned from birth to empathize with and understand things from a male perspective.

It's just yet another example of how works by and/or for women are often diminished and seen as inferior to those by and/or for men (which are seen as normal and mainstream and something both men and women should enjoy). Look up "Girl-Show Ghetto" on TV Tropes for infuriating examples of this (I'd link it directly but I want this post to show up in the tags). There are SO many amazing anime/movies/tv shows/books/etc out there with a primarily female audience but a lot of men won't touch it because of how deeply sexism has been ingrained in them (btw, I know some male magical girl fans follow me and I want to say you guys are valid as hell if you're reading this).

But yeah, I really think it all boils down to men not being conditioned/encouraged to understand things from a female perspective whereas women are conditioned from birth to understand and empathize the male perspective. That's why most women have no problems relating to most male characters whereas you see far fewer men relating to and championing female characters (unless they have traditionally masculine personality traits).

[iamnotawomanimagod]

Hollywood is not a show about recreating history. It’s a show about rewriting history. 

It’s a show about telling the stories that were there all along, and about what it might have looked and felt like if people had been successful.

Those untold stories, and their “what could have beens.” The hushed-up diversity of identities in the history of American media, which is an absolute reality, not just present-day wishful thinking retroactively inserted for woke points.

People like us - queer people, people of color, and those few true allies who see us as the complex and emotional human beings that we are - have always existed, and will always exist. 

Our histories are painful. They’re filled with slow, difficult progress, with violence and cruelty and endless obstacles.

But what if it hadn’t been that way? 

What if we’d been able to overcome so many of those obstacles during the Golden Era of Hollywood? 

Golly gee, isn’t that a dream? 

That’s the story Ryan Murphy wanted to tell, and he does so brilliantly.

Are the characters accurate representations of who those people were in history? No. Much like with most of Ryan Murphy’s work, Hollywood is a fictionalized version of reality, a hyper-vibrant and clever and smooth representation of real events. It’s far from the first time he’s taken liberties with “the truth” - anyone who’s seen his American Crime Story series or even certain fictionalized representations of real people in American Horror Story will already be familiar with the way he inserts real-life figures in order to root his fantastical stories in reality. It’s a hallmark of his work (and part of why I personally am drawn to so many of his stories, but I digress.)

Unlike many of Murphy’s past works, however, Hollywood is far from the bleak, dark tale one might expect it to be. It’s one of the most inspiring and emotionally fulfilling pieces of media I’ve seen in a long, long time.

This is not a story about the dark, depressing, real history of the slow march towards diverse representation in media. Rather, it’s a wish-fulfillment style fantasy that asks the question - 

What if - instead of being beaten down, of being pushed over the edge, of having to suffer in silence - what if those who were most oppressed and least represented in media at this time (and to this day) had risen up? Had been able to become the stars they should have been all along? What if they’d known recognition, representation, and accolades way back at the dawn of the Golden Era of Hollywood?

And it asks this question to make us know how it would feel. Not to show us what would’ve happened, and how it would’ve changed the world. We already know that. No, this story exists purely to give us that incredible warmth and pride that fills you from your toes to your scalp when you see people like you succeed, and it lets us glimpse, for a moment, how it would feel if that had happened when it was already long overdue, 70 years ago.

As it turns out, it feels fucking incredible. And it hurts so goddamn much that it isn’t real.

Many viewers have commented about crying throughout the final episode, so I was bracing myself for some horrific and tragic twist - but it never came. You can trust the title of the final episode - “A Hollywood Ending” - to deliver exactly that.

What makes it special and important and unique is who that happy ending is for.

Black men, black women, Asian women, gay men, and the elderly. Every dream they could ever want - success, love, acceptance, bravery, joy - all of it was delivered to them, without caveat within the story. It isn’t too late for anyone. Nobody is ever brutally punished for being true and honest about themselves. The show ends in a black-and-white shot and the words “The Beginning.”

Within the story, it’s perfect. It’s Hollywood. A happy ending.

But it’s still a Ryan Murphy story. The setting is intentional, because the late 1940s were such a pivotal time for American media and for American culture. The heartbreak, the real-world caveat, comes when you wake up from “Dreamland,” and remember reality.

I had to pause and cry for a good five minutes when Hattie McDaniel says to Camille: “They let me in the room this time.” As far as I know, that never happened for her. 

Or when Anna May Wong got her Oscar. That didn’t happen for her.

Or when Roy and Archie walked the red carpet hand-in-hand, an interracial gay couple in 1947. Obviously, that never happened for anyone.

But god, do you know how good it felt to imagine? To see it? To dream?

And not only did we get to see those huge, satisfying moments - we got to see an in-world context of how it might’ve affected people alive back then. A poor immigrant Chinese family; a solitary black gay writer; a black family, particularly a little black girl - we get to watch them all explode with joy and happy tears and acceptance as they’re seen, for the first time, by America at large.

That didn’t happen in 1947. It has barely even happened now.

That’s why Hollywood is intentionally “unrealistic,” why it rewrites history. Why the opening credits sequence shows all of this downtrodden people working together to lift each other up the Hollywood sign, to catch each other when they slip, to watch each other when they take the leap - and to enjoy the gorgeous, golden glow of the city together when they reach the top.

It’s about community, bravery, and fighting the good fight. And it’s about winning.

This is the first piece of escapist media I’ve seen in a long time, and it is a tenderly written love letter to queer, elderly, and poc creatives.

That’s worth a million times more than so-called realism ever will be.

[wlw-lovestruck-fiction]

Please can I have a soft moment between Ruelle and her gorgeous queen MC, where they exchange a soft first kiss...Ruelle gets soo nurvous that she goes invisible just as they lock lips, not wanting to show that she's blushing like crazy!!

The moon was high, casting long shadows down the endless halls of Altadellys. The scent of wood stoves long turned off still lingering in the air. A completely silent corridor save for the sound of a single pair of shoes against the sleek marble. With a slight blush already beginning to paint it’s way across her cheeks, Llewellyn took a left towards the library. Knowing how rarely the Autumn princess allowed herself to get close to anyone, the newly appointed queen was a little surprised when Ruelle had started to find reasons to spend more time with her. Tonight she had asked the queen to meet her in her favorite spot - a quiet corner in the far backside of the library, close to the fireplace. It was next to the books Ruelle had treasured most. To look at her, one would assume such books would consist of things like tactical information, or maybe a study on the most useful herbs in Lysend - but it had always been the books that could transport Ruelle far away from the restraints of being an Autumn princess - that she loved most. Llewellyn smiled, noticing the tattered cover of one of Ruelle's favorites in her hands, her thin frame leaning back against the bookshelf. It was the story of a young woman - transported to another realm where she bore the face of a terrible witch queen. After being saved by a beautiful sorceress, the two women defeated the witch and lived happily ever after - The young queen remembered how her heart had warmed when Ruelle had described the tale to her - her deep amber eyes flickering with a softness Llewellyn had yet to see in her. It was the same soft look that resided on her face now. 

“Who knew one could look so beautiful while reading.” Llewellyn said, immediately getting a smirk out of Ruelle as she looked up from her book. 

“Heh… and who knew a queen could be so smooth?” 

“Oh, this queen can be lots of things.”

“Is that so? Please, enlighten me.” 

Llewellyn could immediately feel the heat spilling out between them as soon as she began to close the distance between them. A charged current pulling the two closer together. Like two misplaced stars that had finally found each other again. 

“Well, now.. Isn’t that something you would rather figure out on your own?” 

Ruelle smirked, placing her book down on the shelf behind her. The smell of decaying parchment and words long forgotten wafting through the thick air of the library as her eyes raked over her queen. 

“Perhaps.” She responded, watching as the Wildergirl started to become more flustered by the mere presence of her. Ruelle’s long fingers playing idly with the bottoms of Llewellyn’s brilliant red hair, daring her to continue. 

“Oh? Just perhaps? Nothing more to add to that?” 

Llewellyn moved in a little close - the part of her that only kept the deepest of her insecurities wondering if maybe she had gotten the signals wrong. She knew Ruelle was never going to be the type to wear her heart on her sleeve - but sometimes it was hard to tell when she was just being playful, or was sincerely uninterested. Her opalesque green eyes tracing over the fine lines of the Autumn princess’ face - smirking slightly as she saw the slightest of pink hues begin to paint over it. 

“Heh… Well, a girl does need to retain some air of mystery.” Ruelle replied.

“Pretty sure you’ve got that down, Ruelle.” Llewellyn laughed. 

“Good. Then my plan is working perfectly, isn’t it?”

“And what plan would that be?” 

Ruelle adjusted herself slightly, standing upright. A keen smirk to her face as she cupped the queen’s face - watching as an even deeper flush spilled over the freckles that flawlessly decorated her cheeks. 

“Now… isn’t that something you’d rather figure out on your own? Your highness?” She asked, tracing her thumb over the apple of Llewellyn’s cheek. 

“Frost, Ruelle...” 

Llewellyn’s warm skin turned three shades darker as the Autumn princess chuckled. She had never quite been able to switch the tables back in her favor, with Ruelle rarely ever disarmed by their flirty banter - but just once in their meetings, she wanted to keep the upper hand. 

“Nothing more beautiful than a flustered queen.” 

“Oh? And just how many queens have you flustered?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” 

Ruelle chuckled again, watching as her queen became more and more flustered with each word that passed between them. Her bright green eyes brilliant against the fierce blush that was rapidly spreading across her body - and Ruelle couldn’t help but to wonder how it looked. A deep crimson brushed so elegantly under a sky of freckles. 

“There are things I would much rather know instead.” 

“Heh.. and what would those things be?”

Llewellyn bit her bottom lip, slightly averting her eyes before answering. “Ah, well... What it’s like… to kiss you, for one…”

“... Oh?”

“Mhm.. Frost, Ruelle.. Why, there are some nights where… where it’s all I can think about.”

“O-oh…” 

This time it was Ruelle’s turn to blush, immediately disarmed by the young queen’s ability to be so open. To speak the words that Ruelle had been thinking about for days, weeks. It was one of the thoughts that kept her company on her long nights spent in the shadows. She swallowed hard, trying to think of the right way to respond. 

‘Heh.. well, I.. corpse, Llewellyn..“ 

The young queen knew better than to tease the Autumn princess - not when she had finally disarmed her for the first time. “It’s just true, Ruelle…” 

The way the dust had begun to dance around the two seemed almost whimsical in the setting of the dark stacks of the library. The deep red hues that painted and spilled their way beautifully over the both of them. Hearts racing as their eyes drank each other in. 

“I… ahem…” Ruelle’s eyes shifted nervously - while she was no stranger to the pleasures of the flesh - matters of the heart were something completely different. “Corpse.. I.. it’s true for me too...” 

“It… it is?” 

“Of course. Do you see me inviting anyone else to meet me in such places?”

“In dark old libraries?” The queen laughed.

“No. To the places that mean the most to me. To the places I consider a home. Places of solitude and reflection. Places of comfort.” 

And with nothing more than that single response, Llewellyn was disarmed yet again. “Frost, Ruelle.. I’m.. aah.. I’m honored that you share such intimate places with me..”

“And I am honored to have you here, my queen.” 

The cool skin of Ruelle’s fingers were soothing against Llewellyn’s flushed skin as she lifted the young queen’s chin to look at her. Llewellyn’s soft tongue skating over her bottom lip, inviting her in. 

She locked amber eyes onto a sea of green, waiting for consent. The flushed queen nodded quickly closing her eyes - wanting nothing more than to have Ruelle’s lips on hers - and she swore that all of Lysend spun on its axis when she finally got her wish. Soft lips crashing against hers. Heat spilling over them like burning embers as their fingers tangled in each other’s hair. Mouths partly opened as Ruelle’s warm tongue danced over hers, causing her to whimper. Creating a heat in her core so deep that it was all she could do to push Ruelle back against the bookshelf. It was a kiss of pure want - desire, need. One that that the thought of alone had kept these two women fulfilled with fantasies - kept them warm at night - and it was so much more than either had anticipated. 

‘Frost, Ruelle.. I.. that.. Wow.” 

The young queen opened her eyes, slightly taken back when all she found was an empty space between her and the books - for a moment she had wondered if she dreamt it all, imagined every last delicious detail - but the very real feeling of Ruelle’s heated body against hers said otherwise.

“Ruelle? Is everything... okay?” 

“Heh.. ah.. Sorry.” The Autumn princess slowly rematerialized before her. Llewellyn’s fingers still tangled deep in the emerald locks of her hair. A gorgeous blush painted over every inch of Ruelle’s face, almost as deep as her eyes. “That.. ahem.. that only happens when I’m... “

Llewellyn laughed, placing one of her hands to cup the princess’ flushed face. ”It’s alright, Ruelle. I understand.” 

“It has just... been many nights where I have pictured that moment…”    

“It’s been the same for me.”

“Heh…”

Llewellyn leaned up slightly, placing another kiss to the Autumn princess’ lips - this one softer, warmer. Ruelle’s long arms around her waist as she pulled the young queen closer in. Completely lost in the bliss of the moment, with the soft spiced scent of Llewellyn rolling over her - Ruelle had felt almost as lucky as the woman from her favorite book. 

[vminity21]

Brittle Leaf | jjk

Pairing: elf!Jeongguk x Princess!reader, fantasy!au

Word Count: 2,010

Genre: magic/fluff/soft

Warning(s): none other than I did not edit; Rated: pg

Summary: When you are distraught over your future of becoming queen, an elf shows up to give you the magic of adventure, making all of your dreams come true. credit to @suhdays​ for creating such a beautiful cover!

Elf ears hide beneath the blanket of dark strands bundled into an Archer’s hat shifting through the tall grass until he nears a slight opening. Every day he comes here. Always around the same time when the sun is at its brightest, and the singing birds melodize the atmosphere with songs of exuberance, and the woodland creatures dance along the open paths. Searching the clearing, he finds you in the same spot, wearing a chiffon dress, next to the Giant Tree of Dreams dawning a rose crown, anxiously speaking of frustrations without taking a breath.

Fascination spills over his expression each time he sees you, yet he remains unseen in hopes of one day gaining the courage to approach you. He knows who you are, and he knows one day you will be coronated to rule the kingdom, but with the stresses pouring from your tongue, he has gathered that it is not a duty you wish to fulfill.

“I do not understand why it is my responsibility to rule a kingdom that I know nothing about! I want to create a bakery or a flower garden or-or-or an undergarment facility!” Silence follows from your response as you awkwardly shake your head in evident desperation. “I just do not want to be a Queen! I want to be free!” You speak to the tree as if it can hear you, and the myth of its powers have not been heard of in centuries. The mere beauty of the tree is what draws individuals to visit it, but you always pick a time of the day where you assume you are alone. “I mean really, who wants to listen to a woman like me? I have no desires to create rules or force people to do as they are told. I want to create lemon cakes or roses or lace dresses. Why must I be succumbed to- Ah!” Gasping, your head spins to where the towering grass sways in the light breeze for you heard an unexpected rustle. You do scare easily as your servants have learned to wear bells around their wrists when entering your designated areas of the castle, and your father has never understood your skittish nature nor have you. Eyes sweeping the scenery for any clues, you swallow roughly in preparation to continue your rampage.

“Hello Princess.”

“Oh!” The one syllable scream reverberates into the cloudless sky, jolting to face a timid man who bows at your presence. Furrowing your eyebrows, mouth still horrendously ajar, you observe the gentle way he poises himself upright, a hat gripped within his fingers. “I- Since you seem to know who I am kind sir; may I ask who you are?” Sparse leaves flutter from the tree, nestling onto the ground surrounding the pair of you though it goes unnoticed. Magic zaps through the roots of the tree in response to the moment unfolding for it has not felt an encounter so delicate in what seems like an eternity.

“I am Jeongguk, Madam,” he speaks softly as if to calm you and your pounding heart, “I generally do not make an appearance to humans, but I could not help but notice how distraught you are.”

“Distraught? Me? Distraught is an understatement.” You scoff incredulously to appear tough, but the way his umber eyes greet your soul, you almost feel at ease. Almost. You feel an urge to step closer to him in genuine curiosity, a strong feeling to connect with him, and fear uptakes for you have never felt so enchanted by anyone before. “You say humans as if you are not one. If not human, what are you?”

“I am an elf, Madam,” he replies peacefully, thumbs pressing tightly into the rim of his hat, “I watch over the creatures of the forest. It is my duty to ensure their safety as well as the nature they reside in.”

“You? You are an elf?” Mesmerized by his beauty, you are elated to hear that elves still exist in your world for you have heard of their golden souls but have yet to encounter one. “I thought they had gone extinct! You are responsible for the liveliness of this world. You are what makes this place special.”

A smirk quirks shyly at the corner of his lips at your words, “And you are what makes this kingdom special. That is why you are meant to be queen.”

Doubt clouds your countenance because deep down, you know you are fearful of being a ruler, and you feel as though you need more time to adjust to your hobbies before latching down to be what is expected of you. “I don’t know,” you murmur, sadness etched in your voice. “I hardly think I am ready.”

“What is it you dream of?”

His question sparks you by surprise, and despite him already having some ideas of what you long for, he waits patiently as your eyes flit in concentration, “Adventure.” You reply, finalizing your thoughts with the one simple answer that collects all definitions into one. “I want to bake a pie, grow a sunflower, run through the mountains, design a magnificent dress….” The words die on your lips with the other dream you have always wished for but never have been given the chance, and unbeknownst to you, the Giant Tree of Dreams has heard your every word for the first time since you have stumbled upon it. “And,” you whisper, “I dream to fall in love.”

Love is a mystery to you, especially the thought of meeting a prince that promises to make all your dreams come true. It has never happened- even attending the annual ball, you lounged through the crowd anticipating the sudden lock of a gentleman’s eyes, but alas, it never came. What has ignited your frustrations to be ranted to the massive tree, is the orders your father gives you that makes you dread the day you are crowned Queen. You have not even had the slightest taste of adventuring in the unknown, and it would be nice if your father would let you experience a life before being forever adorned.

Jeongguk is quiet, taking your dreams in when he catches purple sparkles glimmering sporadically along the tree trunk which widens his eyes. He has heard of the myths growing up, he was taught of the old tales by his parents, and one remedy for reviving the tree was the quest of two individuals, who are destined to be together, meet in the one place where both of you are standing. So, it is true, his mind whirls in a cycle of mixed emotions because he never thought the universe would unify an elf with a human especially a human of royal descent. I knew it was you.

“Sir, Jeongguk?” You voice after what feels like an hour of silence, “Are you alright?”

Returning his gaze to you, he nods, “Follow me,” and he offers his hand while confusion enters your expression.

“Wha- Where are we going?”

“Exactly where we are meant to go.”

When he takes your hand, he runs- nearly tripping you in the process, but with the energy booming across your heart, you know this soul before you is about to make everything worthwhile. Magic. You have never felt something so surreal, something so flawless the moment he clutched your hand; running through the fields, he brought you to a bustling town where elves are seen left to right. The tips of their ears exposed through their hair, and their attire coinciding with the country view. When smells of scrumptious delights waft along your nostrils, your immediately turn to him, “Is there- is there a bakery here?” The way he smiles down at you. The way his eyes bring happiness. Your heart leaps in reaction.

“The finest around,”

Giddily, he leads you into a bakery where oversized tarts, cakes, puddings, and breads welcome you among the workers, and you are pleasantly surprised when Jeongguk swoons the women to show you how to bake your most favorite lemony treats. Flour and sugar dust the entire kitchen, Jeongguk flicking some ingredients at you teasingly while you swipe icing across his cheek. The next endeavor brings on a dress shop, where a dainty elf named Hoseok bows at your arrival, sunshine gleaming off his skin while he shows you the latest designs.

“I have always wanted to design my own dress, but I do not think I will ever compare to the masterpieces you have sewn.” You say in awe, fingers gliding along the fabrics of the most majestic gowns to have ever blessed your vision. “Oh, Sir Hoseok, I must have them all!”

His chuckle brings warmth to you and Jeongguk’s soul as he bows in flattery, “Why thank you, my fair lady. Whatever you wish, I will design.”

“Construct what you feel will make the most beautiful queen in all the land,” you wink wholeheartedly though inwardly any dress he construes will make any woman the most beautiful in all the land.

“As you wish,” he bows one more time before you and Jeongguk exit the dress shop you have seen in your slumbers. It was then, after hours of excitement, you wonder where Jeongguk will lead you next. Fondly gazing at him, you wonder how someone so genuine could make a woman, you assume he has never seen before, so happy to the point that she is flying. And you wonder why he is doing everything in his power to make your dreams, no matter how small, come to life in the most serene way.

You are not even aware of the countless rows of numerous flowers decorating an entire field, even standing as tall as trees, bending over to make a colorful path, because your eyes have yet to leave him. Farther into the lush the pair of you venture, laughter serenading the world as the sun shines brighter, and you hope it never ends. If this is what it is like to find a future of love, you hope Jeongguk will always stay. Grasping his forearms, you plop into the fallen petals while he gapes above you, carefully steadying your rolling frames while his nose scrunches with the widest smile you have ever seen. His indescribable beauty. How did he know to find you?

“How are you real?” You whisper, head spinning with so many questions, yet so little time before you must return to the castle. It will not be long until your father notices your absence, yet you could care less. “How did you know where to find me?”

“I did not know where,” his tender stare leaves you breathless, “I just happened to hear your voice one day while I was checking the grounds. I could not take my eyes off you, and for months, I always came to listen to your heart for I felt that you needed someone who heard your wishes.”

“You have known me for months?” Widen eyes show your honest realization, “But why did you not introduce yourself sooner?”

Sorrow heavies his lids, but only for a moment, “Because I no longer wanted you to doubt your worth for ruling the kingdom… And I wanted to give you an adventure of other depths of the world so you will know who else would bow to your glory. We only want to serve you, my Queen.”

There are no words that form. Rendered speechless, your fingertips move to trace his face that is now lowering a few centimeters from yours, his breath warming your lips, deepening the desire tingling along your skin. “Kiss me,” so quietly for only his ears to hear, completing your final wish, he leans in, capturing your kiss as effortless and soft as a delicate flower petal. Fingertips smooth into his hair while he kisses you- tethering every doubt, mending every sadness, completing every mystery you wished to know.

This is not the end of your future with this beautiful being.

For he has plenty adventures, he is destined to show you.

[ssaalexblake]

You know, I remember before s12 aired I was talking about how I liked how they’d managed to say something with the casting of Jodie as the doctor Without forgetting the doctor’s socialisation. As in, 13’s anger has been Very feminine in that it deals with repression and hiding it behind 8 layers of denial and not letting people See she’s not a perfect happy go lucky joy machine who just helps people all the time. It made sense plot wise because of what 12’s last wishes were, he didn’t want the bad. He hoped for a future of laughter and kindness, not the kind of things the doctor has ended up with.

The doctors dedication to their own last wishes has unknowingly pushed 13 into somewhat typical feminine reactions in s11, she is being passive aggressive (this doesn’t actually stop, to be fair, she’s definitely being this in her calmer moments in s12), she’s only letting those around her see her positive attributes, hiding her questionable past by avoiding questions. She cornering bad guys alone so only They see her darker side. She’s using them as a pressure valve to vent her anger and disdain openly, because she knows she can’t do so to the fam without violating her own vow to herself.

So while 13’s ways of displaying anger aren’t stemming from being present in a society that socialises women that way, she has effectively ended up in the same place without her behaviour stemming from said same socialisation. Because this regeneration just Suddenly appearing like they’ve been perceived as a woman and socialised as such when they’ve been taken and treated as a man for thousands of years would not have worked.

And I personally quite enjoy this, might as well Say something with the casting, right? And I said this waaaay back when, and I got push back (rudely, but W/e) because why would I enjoy something that’s not a power fantasy of her acting in an entirely socialised male way, and that this whole thing was remarkably lacking in self awareness but like... I actually am thinking as time goes on that it is Very self aware and is serving as a bit of a lesson on toxic femininity.

I... have no idea if this is an arc that was self aware from the get go, but 12′s last wishes could have vastly different connotations depending on whom you say them to. From seeing two seasons of 13′s behaviour in an effort to fulfil them, i think it’s pretty evident that hearing them sent her down a pathway of very unhealthy emotional expressions that i clocked when watching Very early in the eleventh series as a very feminine type of anger repression. 

And in s11, she’s sailing on that. She Kind of slips up in the first new year’s special with the dalek, but other than that life is Good for her. She’s managing to find effective therapeutic venting villains to release the pressure of having to be perfect all the time and it’s not even having too much of a negative mental effect on her. 

Of course, this only holds for as long as life is going well for her, literally the first thing that happens in s12 is the Worst thing that ever could for her. The Master shows up, drudging up trauma related to Bill, relating to hoping against all hope they could be friends again but ending up dying in the dirt alone. He destroys Gallifrey, commits genocide, which would have been traumatizing enough but it would have drudged up all the trauma from when they thought They’d destroyed it and ruined the win they got when they’d actually saved it. The fam whom she loves are now Also in mortal danger and want answers. This all just goes to prove that 13 Only pulled that off in s11 because it was to a level that she could handle it. Once her stress and trauma and anger and hurt reaches a certain level, she can no longer function in the way she wished to and the true toxicity of that behaviour becomes apparent. 

And through all of this, while the 13 hasn’t arrived at these behaviour patterns through female socialisation, she is Presenting in the same way so it functions as a criticism of toxic femininity. 

In Orphan 55 she latches onto Kane Before she knows she’s done anything bad and treats her like dirt to vent the anger, the fam had Already noted she’s in a foul mood and it’s kind of evident she did Not want to take it out on them and used Kane to do it. Then the Skithra happens and she is Brutal and she is so in front of the fam. Fugitive of the Judoon happens and her instinct to hide all of her trauma and not talk and just be Happy is shown from the opening scenes to be causing division amongst the fam and her, she is moody and short and angry At them because she can no longer contain it. By the end of the episode she actually even verbally slams Ryan. That is how far gone she is with all of this. 

fotj is also when the fam Kind of manage to get through to her and show support, she actually is shown to be in a slightly better place in the next two episodes, so we also see that when she functions honestly and Doesn’t lean into toxic femininity her life Improves. 

Of course, then villa diodati happens and it all once again goes to utter Hell and she totally Blows. He screaming at the fam was a total and utter breakdown and it was a Snap. It was a Snap like the other doctors have had, it was like ten at his worst except instead of it being a boatload of ugly toxic masculinity she is portraying this through a lens of toxic Femininity. And people are still on my posts on a weekly basis wondering when 13 will Finally Snap. 

13′s anger Isn’t like the other doctors’ in presentation because her unhealthy coping mechanisms are displaying a totally different side of toxicity in society. 13′s repression and her absolute Need to only display positive traits led her down a road in s12 where she was unable to find help, unable to say there was anything wrong, unable to display negativity in a healthy way, unable to keep the sheer supernova of emotions she was feeling down anymore and it exploded, and it was ugly. She blamed the fam for not knowing things she was deliberately hiding from them. She did Nasty things. Her inability to think straight and her disinclination to Deal with her own trauma and just repress it ultimately led her to give up the cyberium to the lone cyberman which led to Countless trillions, probably, of humans to die in the worst way possible (that’s the doctors Own opinion on that btw, she Knowingly did something that caused this) because her crutches are ignoring the bad and using the fam and earth itself as a second home in place of the old one, for her, the possibility of losing them or the earth is so traumatic and disturbing that she knowingly causes a horror. 

13′s poor mental health, the poor mental health stemming from toxicly feminine ways of dealing with anger and trauma and depression led, directly, to the terrors in the last 3 episodes in s12. It is not healthy! 13 may not have been led to acting in these ways by female socialization, But giving us a justified and logical reason to be acting in the same way women are Expected to act in society to ours (and, everybody’s) detriment Is a commentary on how toxic that type of feminine anger actually Is. 

So no, i don’t think they went ‘power fantasy’ as a route with jodie’s casting as the doctor, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t self aware, instead they chose to say something that wouldn’t have been as poignant a story had they cast a man to play 13, because chronologically and visually... A man told her to do this. It is more complicated, yes, but this Definitely says something.  

13 is a cautionary tale against the toxicity in the anger women are socialised into... A wild one, but since when was the doctor ever subtle. 

[agentrouka-blog]

Jon line about marrying Val and having children are constantly discuss that people never focused if this Val would have wanted. Sure she does show interest in Jon and flirted with him but we never shown that she wanted to marry him. She wasn't pushy like ygritte. We don't know actually about her as she is still mystery and readers like Jon projecting on her. Also Jon wanted the recreation of his childhood with her without even knowing her thoughts.

Hi there!

Actually, within any discussion of this scene, I have always seen it pointed out that Jon is absolutely projecting his own fantasies onto a stranger. Full well knowing that this is what he is doing. This is not about Val. It could have literally been any other women that Stannis attached to the offer.

It’s about Winterfell.

At the point of that offer Val is just recently a prisoner of Stannis after he won the battle at the Wall. There is absolutely zero possibility that Val would have any interest in marrying this 16-year-old kid who was an undercover agent in their war campaign and then helped her watch her sister die in childbirth. Zero.

Jon knows this. It is not a factor because it is not about Val. He literally calls her a stranger in his thoughts. At that point there has been no partnership, no flirting, no trust, nothing.

He doesn’t want to recreate his childhood “with her”. He wants to recreate his childhood. Period. Val is simply the hoop he has to jump through for Stannis.

What Val may or may not have wanted is irrelevant for that reason. They are both political cyvasse pieces in Stannis’ war campaign and it happened to line up with Jon’s personal dreams of being Lord of Winterfell.

Jon rejects Stannis offer, and the two times he revisits that decision in his thoughts in ADWD he is still at peace with it. So there is no reason for him to consider what Val would personally want out of life, if marriage and kids is even her goal. Within her culture, it’s certainly the norm, though. She was sister to Mance’s queen and Dalla seemed traditional enough.

Jon doesn’t question that Val would fulfill her obligations within a marriage if she decided to be part of it. It’s a business partnership in Jon’s world, not a haven of romantic or personal fulfillment. Take his solution for Alys Karstark’s troubles: Marriage to a stranger. Happiness is a potential option but not the point. The point is a political alliance. That is how Jon was raised to think, and that is how he would have approached it with Val, too.

Would that have been problematic with a person who is used to self-determination and sexual freedom? Probably. Jon doesn’t delve deep into the idea because a) he rejects the offer, and b) he might be oblivious to it because he would be the one with all the nominal power by the standards of his society.

But at the point that Jon is thinking about the offer? Val’s wishes are immaterial because she is not the point. Jon’s personal motivation for maybe accepting it was. And Val was not a factor in that, only a means.