#Just some acknowledgement. Instead of seeing 'no one cares about that stuff' given to other people who ask about stuff that /I/ cared about

[thoughtvoid]

I don’t know why I bother trying to reach out to the general public of my main fandom. I put in so much time and energy to provide things that I myself had been looking for when I first delved in, but no one else appreciates it, and there’s so much to do that my motivation just can’t keep going. Then it becomes a long term cycle of falling off -> play catch up and work again.

All I want is to know people are interested or care about what I’m doing. All I asked was for any input on what anyone else would like to see, so that my mass of workload could be fragmented into smaller, more manageable parts.

...Guess it’s another day of chipping away and then playing games to get some feeling of accomplishment.

[forestleavescat]

Moominvalley: Or Not at All

A long post about Moominvalley through the different seasons. Planning, potential, promises, and outcomes.

This won’t go super far into detail about season 4 but it will talk about a certain outcome as well as handling of characters and relationships. If you don’t want any spoilers or info on the fourth season steer clear

(I’m not the best with titles)

I watched season 4 of moominvalley last night and I was pretty dang disappointed in how certain things were handled. Don’t get me wrong. There was some nice stuff. But it still felt like it was largely missing what made me love the show so much from the start. As well as things I had been looking forward to from the books. Above all else, I feel like their handling of the fandom’s favorite pairing was bad. I can’t even begin to put into words how upset I am since gutsy and by extension moominvalley felt like a company that wouldn’t do this. I want to put my thoughts on paper so to speak. 

It’s insanely disappointing to know that this company has been queerbaiting since day one. This show is a huge comfort to me and it was nice to watch since it helped me feel more at ease with my own sexuality. But now that feeling has been largely reversed because I know that those moments were manufactured to sell the show only for them to drop them by the end. So let’s look at things

Queer coding has existed for a long time. It’s helped creators give hints and nods to a character’s identity or hints of a relationship when times and places don’t exactly allow for it. There are many stories that have queer coding and give this beautiful subtext that those in the community can enjoy. Even though it would remain ambiguous whether a character was gay or two men or women were dating, the coding allowed it to be suggested even when it wasn’t allowed given the time period. 

Queerbaiting is almost the opposite of this. Queerbaiting comes about more from existing in a time or place where it is accepted but instead of giving genuine representation, a person uses the desire to see that representation to sell a product. Moments between characters that are clearly more than friendship only to disappear - often replaced by a hetero pairing. (Tbf the character who was implied to have feelings for someone of the same gender would still be bi or pan but it stings when the idea of something between two people of the same gender was suggested but removed) Queerbaiting has been an extremely frustrating thing to experience in fandom spaces. Series like voltron, sherlock, supernatural, etc. You get invested in these characters. There’s a possibility and every moment that suggests it could be more gets you hooked. Similar to how miraculous viewers became invested in the romance that’s hinted since day one. If you put the time and effort into using that for a story and draw people in with it only to take it away it’s bordering false advertising. It sucks because you spent time caring about it and waiting to see how it would play out. 

I mean just look at this. The moominvalley team did this deliberately. I mean, they included that one scene in the teaser which made it seem like more snufmin. It felt like a taste of what the season would offer but in reality it was one of few crumbs. And I mean crumbs. Because compared to the other seasons there was hardly anything. Their moments didn’t have this underlying feeling that they usually did. Every other season felt like it had underlying feelings to be explored. But here it became hollow. And snufkin took a backseat to a lot of the action this season

 But they definitely knew that the fans were interested in this pairing. It’d be tough to get into the moomins without knowing about this part of the story and community. And they acknowledged this idea of moomin and snufkin multiple times in interviews and qnas. 

And voice actors aren’t the ones who decide but there were more than just vas discussing this.

This series started off with their relationship. Episode one ended with the first mention of snufkin who���d be returning to the valley in the very next episode. That entire second episode gave a clear look into how their relationship would develop throughout the series. Moomin waiting for snufkin longingly while snufkin took his time until showing up felt right all while missing moomintroll. This episode has a sort of sense that there could be something more to them. Especially seeing as moomin is more focused on snufkin than snorkmaiden, his love interest. The following episode gives us this:

And while moomin wants the dragon to be his loyal pet, we know that “And just promise me this, that you'll give me all your kisses Every winter, every summer, every fall”

is referring to somebody other than that. This leaned much heavier into the potential for something beyond friendship between them.

There are the usual moments that could go either way, with focus between them and close contact.

This is more similar to other adaptations where they have a clear, close relationship. But in most of those you could come to love the pairing but you generally know they won’t do something unambiguous. Just the occasional scene that could be read as potentially romantic.

Moominvalley doesn’t strictly stick to this though. It feels similar to the original works where there is something ambiguously there. Then it further implies that there will be something important between them storywise. You get Tooticky saying that there are other lost souls waiting to be heard before the camera cuts to Snufkin leaving the valley alone.

And this didn’t really get fulfilled in any real way. Yet it implies that the future of the series will go in a direction where moomin is the one to help snufkin in some way. That part isn’t even romantic, but it goes to show that they stopped focusing on this important connection between them.

Their relationship in season 2 continues very beautifully. Moomin immediately wants to go make sure snufkin is okay when the volcano’s gonna erupt. There’s an entire conversation that highlights their difference of perspective with loving vs possessing in regards to the ruby and the hobgoblin. Something that is linked to their relationship and things they need to figure out. Then when they have to leave the valley, moomin wonders if he’ll ever see snufkin again. On top of that, he and snorkmaiden have their break up.

Which I want to talk about their relationship a bit. A majority of the episodes that feature them as leads do it with a wedge between them. Their relationships is honestly not great going both ways. They clash and are generally unhappy. And usually moomin has to apologize for something that doesn’t exactly feel is entirely on him. Little My I get. I mean he didn’t think the note would get to mymble but this was still a genuine mess up on his part. But he ended up on a rock in the middle of the sea over the ghost episode. And snorkmaiden spends much of their time making a home together getting angry because he misses his family and hasn’t come to terms with saying goodbye to them. There are times they’re together where he’s selfish and she’s just angry at him. They don’t feel like a happy couple to cheer for. Back in 90s moomins I actually did like them. They were cute. I was a bit divided between that and snufmin because there were these moments that really did count for a lot and had such a wholesome feeling. But moominvalley honestly made me cheer for a break up. Meanwhile, he and snufkin have this relationship that they’re navigating in moominvalley. They don’t argue much even when they have different perspectives. Moomin admires snufkin and in some ways tries to emulate him. But all while still being his own moomin and figuring himself out.

The two are still given parallels in little moments such as zooming in when they take each other’s hands.

So back to season 2 and how it handled snufmin. When moomin leaves the valley we see snufkin dealing with that absence for a change. He begins to understand how moomin feels when he’s gone. While he’s at the moomin house he seems pretty in his element for the most part. He seems happy to play along and give toffle an idea of what the moomin family was like. But in that there are scenes where he’s looking for a note. We see bits of how much he misses moomin and wants to know where his friend has gone and when he’ll be back. This is the beginning of a shift in their relationship. Because snufkin gets to feel what moomin feels like. And when he hears that the moomins are coming his face lights up the way moomintroll’s would.

They’re often portrayed in a way that shows that they’re the most important person to the other. There’s this sort of soft undertone that seems to suggest feelings. And all while their relationships grows and changes and they become all the better for it.

Also there’s this

Season 3!

Season 3 felt like there was a change in direction. I feel at this point that there was deliberate queerbaiting but I also know that there was a shift somewhere around season 3. We got the music cut. The voice actor for moomin changed. There were some adjustments with the writing team. But they still deliberately put in scenes with this duo. And with romantic framing. I could be convinced that season 1 and 2 were made with the idea of them as endgame in some capacity. That the queerbaiting wasn’t from day 1 and that it began here. There were really great moments with them. But it feels like they shoehorn snorkmaiden in as a romantic interest again. A lot of episodes with her here don’t exactly make it explicit but there are some that nail it in. They reunite and it almost feels like they’re back together again without a full conversation. Especially with the final episode. I feel like the narrative would’ve been richer if they hadn’t done that considering the way they’ve been building snufmin up.

But I’ll focus on moomin and snufkin for now. When snufkin sees moomin again moomin goes for the greeting he’s been used to but snufkin gives him a hug. That description alone won’t do it justice though. The music rises as it zooms in on their eyes as they make their way to each other. When snufkin hugs moomin you can see the joy from both of them. It shows how their greetings and by extension their relationship has evolved over the seasons.

And then it cuts to snorkmaiden.

This becomes a notable pattern in season 3. It’ll give a really meaningful scene that pushes snufkin and moomin in a more romantic light only to undercut it by reminding you that snorkmaiden is here. It’s at this point where it feels like they know a ton of fans are here for snufmin. They include the pairing. But they also seem to be reminding us that snorkmaiden is here to stay and in a more romantic way. But there’s still this hope, especially if you recall everything from seasons 1 and 2 and the way that they felt. Especially if you rewatch them right before watching season 3. And the show very clearly uses that and makes it feel like there’s a chance. Makes the viewers hope and stick around to find out.

So let’s go through season 2. Moomin and snufkin make some progress on their relationship. They’ve switched positions now and have more of an idea of how the other feels when one of them leaves. And from there they communicate that. Especially moomin. This is shown to a degree in the episode with the fairgrounds. Again in lonely mountain. There are also little nods here and there about their relationship. But again. Lonely mountain is the big one. It starts with little my getting on moomin’s case for worrying over his ‘precious snufkin’

As usual moominmama also seems to act like she knows there’s something more to his relationship with snufkin. Papa remains oblivious though. There’s a parallel between the parents and snufmin too. But the most well known part is this

look. there’s nothing remotely platonic about this. This is one of those things that someone straight and homophobic could detect. The point where they’d stop arguing ‘they’re just friends’ because there’s no way that’s all. I mean just listen to moomin’s “yes” when snufkin goes to add something. There’s so much hope and feeling in that word that I would love to get my hands on the script to find the voice direction for that. I mean come on

And better yet it ends with an interruption so we know they’ll have a whole heart to heart later. A conversation where they lay out their feelings. The feelings that were clearly present here.

Except they don’t

Anyway the season goes on. Moomin, snufkin, and obligatory third wheel sniff go on a journey to take the sun back after it was stolen. They get it back and the season ends with a beautifully queer scene that promises more to come from these two.

Except that a few minutes prior snorkmaiden calls moomin her soulmate and they have their usual thing. And even after snorkmyden really did get some good content this season.

Look, I know that snorkmyden was probably not on their minds throughout production. There’s a difference between the way they handle snufmin and the way they handle snorkmyden. Both duos get great development in their relationships but while there are a ton of cute moments between snorkmaiden and little my, it never feels like there’s a focus on making that endgame. It feels more like snufmin did in some of the other adaptations - something with cute moments and a genuine bond that could be seen as romantic but it’s highly unlikely it won’t be. I want to say this since this series didn’t feel that way for snufmin. It felt like the first chance of it working out fully. I put a lot of scenes in here showing it but the first two season really show it in a way clips and gifs can’t. There’s just so much there and it’s beautiful and sweet. It feels hopeful for them.

Until season 4. Season 4 feels like the team shrugged off all of it. They step even further away. It’s like season 3 but without any of the scenes between them. Suddenly, you’re looking at scenes between them where they talk and have physical contact but the deeper feelings are completely gone. It’s like the anime. Where you can smile about it and think ‘aw them’ but you know it won’t happen. They heavily lean to snorkmaiden and moomin instead. This is the final season. They know people will watch to see if moomin and snufkin go anywhere romantically. And even if people don’t finish it, they’ve got people paying for memberships just to see if it happens. So it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t happen. Because they’ve secured the views and the money.

I do want to say that when I refer to it as becoming canon I don’t know if they’d call each other boyfriends or even kiss. But I would expect them to acknowledge it as there being something more. Like the series ending with them having a discussion about how much they mean to each other. Something that shows they’ll go into the future and continue to get close. Physical closeness like a hug or one putting his hand on the others or even just leaning against each other. Whatever it would be I’d expect more than this. Because they very clearly built these two to be inseparable in that one required the other to undergo their full arc. The show starts with a promise that their relationship will be close to the story. But then season 4 hardly shows snufkin at all

This is what queerbaiting is. And I never expected it to happen with this series. Not after the team talked about it with care. It’s such a gut punch after waiting for five years to see how it’d turn out. I don’t know if they always intended it to be a way to bring in customers. Maybe it was initially going to work out but they changed it between season 2 and 3. I don’t know. But this. This really is queerbaiting. We live in a time where gay relationships are more accepted. They show up in the media more. We’re finally at a time where this relationship could be made more explicit instead of having this ambiguously romantic subtext. And if someone made a new adaptation of moomins and didn’t do that, that would be perfectly and completely fair and okay. If they didn’t consistently imply that there could and even would be something more. But here they used a very old and well loved pairing to gather fans and make money only to never have it come to fruition. Season 4 of moominvalley felt like companies on july 1st. I literally can’t think of a better comparison for how it feels. The first video starts with the quote “The Spring Tune is where we say that this series is going to be different. That you’re going to have to wait and give it time and just be patient. And wait for the story to unfold.”

And so many people did. But then it turned out like this. And I don’t know if that was always the intention. Because it feels like that interview was suggesting that it would go in that direction. But heck. The whole series up until season 3 felt like it would go in that direction. And then it didn’t.

Gay representation is something that has a huge positive impact on the lgbtq community. Even more so on the world overall since it allows people to see these relationships and shows that it’s okay for people to be gay. And it would be even nicer for a series that started off with that subtext got the full representation now that we’re in more accepting times. And it felt like it would be even more meaningful with recent treatment of gay stories.

Our flag means death was cancelled, shadow and bone, the owl house had its final season drastically shortened, good omens is only getting a single episode for their finale

Many are just getting dropped and in a time where this community needs them more than ever. These are shows that make people feel seen. Shows that bring a feeling of joy and comfort and acceptance. And it’s even worse to see that there’s still queerbaiting now. This could’ve had such a beautiful ending and likely would’ve been loved for many years to come if they committed to what they’d built up all this time. How could someone take a series created by a woman who not only added subtext in her original stories but was bi, and use it to build up a romantic story just to bring in money and then toss all that development away. I don’t know what else to say other than this is queerbaiting. And the gay community deserves better. I really did believe that moominvalley would do better by us.

[barleyo]

tw: stepcest/non-con/misogyny | nsfw under cut

older stepbro leon! who became a shut-in after his little sis left for college.

he can't help but feel anger and jealousy at her. how dare she leave him behind? going off to college to party and get wasted without him? getting a degree? sure, he acts like he's proud of her, but deep down he's pissed that she's going off to make something of herself while he's stuck at home with their parents.

so what does he do?

instead of actually trying to better himself and his life, he stays in his room all day, stewing in his own depression. hell, it's a lucky day if he even gets out of bed. your parents are shocked on the rare occasion when he gets up to take his meals outside of his bedroom.

older stepbro leon! who spends his days lost on his phone, scrolling through porn and twitter all day long. what's the point of doing anything else? nothing brings him more joy than scrolling through video after video. gangbangs, glory holes, hardcore, rough, bondage, piss, spit, orgies: he's seen it all. but what he enjoys most is step bro x step sis stuff. sick fuck.

he tried not to think much about it, he didn't want to acknowledge how weird it was. so, he shoved it down, bit his tongue, and continued his endless scrolling.

hey- that chick kinda looks like you. same hair. same eyes. same tits.

jackpot.

older stepbro leon! who can't help but stay awake at night wondering what you're doing at college. you must've turned into some scholarly, uptight bitch, he thinks. probably getting stuffed by stupid, hot frat guys. probably forgotten all about the family at home, about him. what happened to his sweet little sister?

leon's found that ever since you left, he's gained a certain distaste for women. could be a coincidence, but his outlook on girls fell just as his porn intake rose. hm.

women are liars, now. lying, cheating, stupid whores. not you though, you're a smart whore. the best whore.

older stepbro leon! who finally finds a bit of purpose when he hears you're coming home for christmas break. he can't wait to see you, to see how you've changed. maybe he was wrong, maybe you're still the same sis he's always known.

wrong.

now you have this pestering boyfriend following you around as soon as you get home. some hot chad who you've probably given it up to already. why him? why not leon? he'd take better care of you, he knows it! with all the porn he's watched, he's basically a pro.

you've grown, too. smarter. bitchier. you fuckin think you know everything now, huh? think you're better because you made it out of this shit hole, leaving leon behind? better because you aren't sucking your parents dry and still leeching off of them? fuck you.

older stepbro leon! who teaches you a lesson once that douchebag boyfriend of yours has finally fucked off.

he catches you reading in your room, pissing him off even more. who fucking reads? just watch porn and lose yourself in social media like the rest of us, he thinks.

he walks into your bedroom and sits on your bed, too close for comfort. you shift away from him. that makes him mad. you wouldn't have distanced yourself from him before you left, you were practically attached to his hip, but now you want to be uppity about it? you think you're better than him.

older stepbro leon! who throws himself onto you, mumbling about how lonely he'd been without you, how he'd missed you, and most importantly, how much he wanted you.

he said he wanted you, in between forcing his lips on yours, gnashing teeth against teeth. he wanted you because you weren't like the other sluts. you weren't some stupid whore, you were his sister. you must've just forgotten that while you were off. don't worry, he'll remind you.

older stepbro leon! who slips one hand into your pants and places his other over your mouth. until you bit him. then his hand made its way to your throat. girls liked that, right? the sluts in porn always liked it, so it must be true, right?

older stepbro leon! who bottomed out immediately after putting his dick in you. he got lost in your warm cunt so quickly, got so drunk off of you. you felt better than he had ever imagined. now, if only you would stop your damn crying. then it would be a true dream come true.

older stepbro leon! who came so deep inside of you that you were bound to get pregnant! hopefully that boyfriend of yours didn't convince you to get on birth control. leon needed to see the growing proof that you were his. a growing baby would be just right.

older stepbro leon! who smirked when he felt you desperately clench around his cock. you came, so of course you liked it! his internet incel buddies were right: all girls want to be taken control of. it all made sense now! you were like all other girls, you wanted exactly what they wanted. you were a hot little warm hole with rape fantasies just like any other dumb broad. what kind of brother would leon be if he didn't give you what you needed?

older stepbro leon! who flooded the incel forums with information about what he had gotten up to with you. he felt like a king amongst all those small-dick cucks. they all praised him, and asked all about you. how tight were you? what'd you look like? did you squirt or cream? and he answered, pimping out your information like it was nothing. anything to make it feel more real. so what if all those guys were probably fucking their fists thinking about you? they couldn't have you. they never would, so leon would let them enjoy whatever their mind would come up with.

because at the end of the day, you were his. no matter what your little boyfriend said, no matter how leon's mind tried to say it was wrong.

you were his. and christmas break still had a few weeks left.

[miladydewintcr]

Your addition about Tevinter fashion was so interesting that I can't help but ask (and my apologies if it was something you spoke about before but I missed) — what are your favorite bits of fashion details in Veilguard? Doesn't have to be just Tevinter :)

This is so sweet?? Thank you!! I'm honestly always about 0.5 seconds from rambling about this stuff at any given moment, but I rein it in mostly.

I've talked about Neve a little on here, mostly in the tags on other posts. This post by @icescrabblerjerky talks about Neve's fascinators and how they're inspired by old noir detectives, and I talked a bit in the tags about how her collar in that same outfit mimics the upturned trench-coat collar also associated with old-timey detectives (Sherlock is the most famous example I can think of). The outfit we first meet her in is also very much trench-coat-adjacent imo.

I will try not to go overboard here but !! Some of my fave other little details!

The Viper's hat! It's a tricorn-- always fun! BUT it works really well here, especially, because actual vipers have triangular-shaped heads? (I am not a snake expert and I believe there are exceptions? But generally) Also-- the little diamonds on the sides of the hat look like snake eyes? And the arrow-sort-of shape in the centre seems like it could be a nod to adders- which are a kind of viper. They have an arrow-like shape on the top of their head! Essentially, this man not only gave himself a cool nickname, but he is literally wearing the Thedas equivalent of a Batman outfit. He fully committed to the aesthetic, and I love him for that tbh.

Emmrich's coat is designed to mimic a ribcage! And not just here- this motif pops up in both of his Hero of the Veilguard armour sets, as well! I also noticed in his cosplay guide that this first outfit we see him in has a sort of waist-chain (more on that in a sec!!) with a gold tailbone that sits above where his real one would be?

And of course there are little skulls all over him, too. It's very reminiscent of the memento mori movement- 'remember you must die'. Historically, this was a way of coping with the inevitability of death in a world without a lot of the scientific advancement we have today. Death was a part of everyday life, even more so than it is for most of us today, but it was still scary. So people made art about it! And jewellery! And songs! As a way to cope with it all, and also sometimes as a way to remember lost loved ones. To have Emmrich, who is afraid of death, embrace this idea in his fashion is just... chef's kiss, honestly. Because it was always a way of trying to face death head-on? And acknowledge it, and make it hopefully feel a bit less terrifying.

Although Emmrich's overall style is very Victorian-inspired (the silhouette, the waistcoat, the chains etc.) a lot of his jewellery actually seems reminiscent of older memento mori pieces? There are some examples held by the V&A Museum that date back as far as the 16th Century that I could see him wearing. It's a really nice touch if that is indeed the inspo, because the Mourn Watch pride themselves as keepers of history. So to wear jewellery like this every day, an eclectic mix of time periods, all tied together by this single thread of remember you must die? It's so incredibly fitting for them!!

Also re. the waist-chain. I'm referring to it as that instead of a belt because to me it looks like the kind of thing you'd hang a pocket-watch on? The looping style is very similar. It's of course a lot bigger, but I think it might've influenced it?

This has gotten really long so I'll stop now, but please know there are a hundred little things I haven't even touched on! So much care was clearly put into each and every character's design, and it brings me so much joy!

[hellobitchlet]

Thoughts on Natlan act 3 and 4:

Act 3-

- there is seriously no point to giving Traveler an ancient name. They're very obviously just being given one bc the writers want to show off how amazing they are at everything again. If the whole point of ancient names is that it's solely a Natlan thing, then there's no point in Traveler getting one. Why were they and Paimon scrambling to get one? You're already being praised and given new abilities constantly, you don't fucking need it.

- that aside, Xilonen gave a decent explanation of how ancient names and the night kingdom work. I didn't feel like act 1 or 2 explained anything properly beyond "it sure exists and is important to the super special archon's plans", but Xilonen explaining that deeds have to happen inside of Natlan and be recorded and acknowledged by the Wayob (who will only acknowledge ppl from Natlan) was easy to understand and made perfect sense. My only problem here is that it should've been explained this cleanly back in act 1, before we started using ancient names for drama. Because, you know, maybe I would've cared more about it then?

- the Ororon stuff would've been much more interesting and tense if it wasn't introduced by... being randomly told to you. In the middle of an unrelated plotline. And then spending the whole fucking time assuring you that he's a great person while you follow a trail. And doing nothing else except experience Citlali's inner thoughts. That was literally the entire build up to meeting him.

- despite it being handled in the most boring way possible (and god, do I want to emphasize that they handled it in a boring way), I do like the plotline between Citlali, Ororon, and Capitano. It's a lot more interesting than the basic ass saving Natlan plot, which is about as much of a stereotypical hero plot as they could've made it. I honestly adore Citlali and Ororon now, they're definitely my favorites of the Natlan cast. Like, they had actual on screen conflict with one another for a few minutes! They care sooo much about each other and it was shown through their actions and interactions with each other instead of just monologuing it to Traveler. The bar is below the fucking ground...

- I especially enjoyed seeing Citlali getting drunk and accidentally spilling about her problems. However... it's funny (read: annoying) to think about how long it's taken for this to actually fucking happen when Kaeya and Venti have been here since the beginning, and about how much Kaeya and Venti have been shit on for being alcoholics. It was probably one of the best character building moments I have ever seen from Genshin, but man, a newly introduced Natlan character should not have been the first one to do this.

- "we've only known each other for a few days, right? What would you think of me if I were to start dumping all my complaints on you after we've only just met?" Oh thank god she has some actual self awareness. I wish other characters (playable and npc) would stop infodumping their entire backstories the moment they're introduced. Ultimately, the awkward telepathy moment that they're probably never going to explain served the same purpose. But that wasn't something she was doing on purpose, so I'm willing to forgive her for it and pin it on the writers instead.

-it really sucks that they're being so confusing about Citlali's age. You know it's because of Hoyo's refusal to make playable characters that aren't 1000% conventionally attractive. They're seriously trying to give us a teacher/student relationship in which the teacher is supposed to be significantly older than the student and NOT give her a single wrinkle. She also kept saying stuff that implied she would age to be hundreds of years old, so I want to be interested in that, but it just got caught up in the confusion of "wtf is her age?!"

- I got increasingly annoyed every time Traveler shared the Capitano stuff with others. You fucking idiot!!! He specifically told you not to do that!!! You barely even doubted Mavuika even though you barely know her and she's mostly just been standing around going "trust me on this bc I know what I'm doing" this whole time!!! Are you sure you even care about what he had to say?! Because he specifically said he would tell you if you actually fucking listened to him, which you are going out of your way to NOT do!!! Just a few real life months ago you were acting all buddy-buddy with Arlecchino!!! Can you be consistent about your opinions on the Fatui for one second!!!

- they were really trying super hard to make Capitano wanting to save Natlan mysterious, and make him have ulterior motives (like literally every other harbinger since Scara), but like... First off, this is the last gnosis the Fatui doesn't have, and second, he directly said that Mavuika failing would be bad for the rest of Teyvat as well. He already had perfectly good reasons. You don't need to make yet another harbinger have ulterior motives.

- I almost liked the Chasca and Chuychu moment. But I say almost because... there was no fucking point to it except to tell you that the Fatui found an ancient relic. You were just stuck in dialogue box hell that made a weak attempt at pretending there was gameplay by putting a timer on single dialogue options (not even being given multiple options? really?). That whole thing should've been a sneaking sequence with Traveler. There's literally no reason why it wasn't one. It wouldn't even require good writing to add that. Just have Mavuika say that someone found a large Fatui camp, and have Traveler volunteer to sneak in to check it out. Then, you could've had Traveler finding the relic, and maybe finding Capitano and Ororon and follow them to the domain while they discuss their plan. There you go. That would've saved you a lot of time stuck in dialogue boxes, by removing this sequence and the Ororon memory sequence and replacing it with an extended period of gameplay.

-However, the role reversal and the actually showing how good the sisters are at working together improved their characters a lot for me. Chasca doesn't feel as much like a Shenhe copycat when fighting with Chuychu. But even then, it was very annoying when it turned into "don't worry, we don't actually mean what we say! We're just stubborn!" immediately after their sequence. I could fucking tell, Genshin. I'm not a child.

Act 4-

- ...in theory, initially fighting with Capitano and eventually convincing him to help us is an okay storyline. But none of this felt like fighting him! We literally spent the whole fucking time following him and his troops around and debating what his intentions are! And no, a single fancy cutscene unrelated to Traveler doesn't count! We never got to hear his side of the story until after he failed, and he just had a 10 second spat with Mavuika, revealed that he's from Khaenri'ah, and reluctantly agreed to Mavuika's plan within 5 minutes.

- also, after Fontaine offloaded the majority of Furina's backstory onto an inner monologue in act 5 that just reiterated what we already knew about her, I am not a fan of poor Ororon getting a similar treatment in the end. It's not as bad bc it served a purpose in the story besides "look at how sad he is!", but suddenly becoming one of the special heroes his super special archon wanted and having no objections was a really boring ending to what started off as the first on screen playable ch vs playable ch conflict we've had since like... Childe in Liyue I think? Hoyo is lucky that it has cultivated fandoms that see monologues and sudden info dumps as good writing.

-I'm glad that seelies are finally confirmed to be angels, and that we're getting more proper Celestia lore, but once again, Hoyo is lucky that it has cultivated fandoms that see monologues and sudden info dumps as good writing.

- I have mixed feelings about Capitano's backstory and intentions. On one hand, I like that he's from Khaenri'ah, and I'm very glad that he knows the abyss sibling and Dain. I really like the Khaenri'ah related parts. On the other hand, I'm not a fan of the Natlan parts of his backstory. As I've said before, I'm really fed up with Genshin tailoring harbinger backstories so that they're part of the lore of the nation they show up in, instead of Snezhnaya. And I'm even more fed up with them making every harbinger have different goals that are unrelated to the Fatui. I've talked about this before in this post.

-going back to the point about his goals, his backstory can still perfectly serve as an explanation for why he's helping the Tsaritsa, with or without the Natlan part. You still didn't need to pull any of the special motives stuff. It would've made perfect sense to say that Capitano (+ Tsaritsa as well maybe) was afraid that the destruction of Natlan could interfere with their plan, so Tsaritsa has been sending him and some troops to deal with the situation and try to get the gnosis in the process. But, of course, Mavuika would fight back and be a powerful opponent, so this mini war between them has been going on for a while, which would tie back to Varka's letter from Weinleslfest first mentioning him going to Natlan 2 years ago.

-...oh, wait. That Weinleslfest moment and Mika's backstory was probably just to remind you that he and Varka existed and foreshadow him being in Natlan and didn't actually mean anything. I know this isn't related to Natlan at all, I just felt like saying it. We don't talk about Mika enough, okay?

- with all that being said, after how much I hated Arlecchino, and Dottore being used as a scapegoat to make playable harbingers look better, I had little interest in Capitano initially. But I do actually like him now. Maybe even just as much as I like Citlali and Ororon?

- speaking of the Fatui, I have to mention how weird it is that the pyro gnosis being the last gnosis the Fatui doesn't have isn't treated like a big deal at all. The idea of Capitano even bringing the gnosis to the Tsaritsa is barely even mentioned. We're literally going to Snezhnaya next, and the Fatui screen time is STILL not focused on the Tsaritsa's plans?! There is no worry about what will happen if he succeeds in getting the gnosis? No talk about what the Tsaritsa's plans could be? No talk about what it could mean for Natlan or the rest of Teyvat? No connecting this story to the overarching plot beyond a few lore reveals? Nothing??

- Genshin is seriously bad at stakes. THAT WASN'T A FUCKING WAR, THAT WAS A SINGLE BATTLE! It just... suddenly sprung up, and it took about 10 minutes, but I almost started feeling tense. There were actual corpses all over the place, and I was fighting non stop instead of being stuck in a dialogue box, even if the mobs themselves were fairly boring, and then... Chasca suddenly became one of the special heroes and everything was over. All of that was like... half an act of fighting? Literally any other game would have at least finished the 'war' at... the end of the story? Obviously? We couldn't have at least waited to finish this in act 5?? Seriously?? This whole thing was just a vehicle to quickly make Chasca one of the heroes, finish the 6 heroes plot point, and then show a hint of the false sky??

- gameplay wise, why did the handle the 'war' like that? What was with the slow ass hot air balloon I was forced to use 3 times- but was allowed to teleport to places the rest of the time? Why was I forced into a situation where I couldn't leave, when I was literally just in Natlan and not a domain? Why did we suddenly switch to a different dialogue box just for a few minutes?? Someone PLEASE explain to Hoyo that adding new stuff doesn't automatically make it good. Or, I guess 'novel', as their surveys put it.

- Chuychu was the closest I've ever come to actually being sad for an npc's death. Probably because I actually saw someone react to it, instead of Genshin just expecting you to care because Paimon is telling you to. Because of the Chuychu stuff, I'm actually starting to like Chasca, and I'm glad for it. Liking a character in theory despite canon is much better for rewriting stories than disliking them entirely and not knowing what to do with them (*glances at Fontaine*).

- I'm starting to see that the 6 heroes plot is probably just their current ploy to place the focus on the characters who have come out this update, or are coming out next update. Act 2 has Mualani becoming a Special Hero, because her first banner was up at the time. Then act 3 and 4 had Ororon and Chasca becoming Special Heroes, because Xilonen already is one and they're coming out next update.

- that being said- I feel bad for Kachina and Mualani. Kachina was the obvious 'main character' of act 1, with Mualani and Kinich as supporting characters. But then in act 2, the focus was shifted over to Mualani, because she's a 5 star and her first banner is happening, so they need to convince people to like her. And in the process, Kachina was screwed over in what should've been her plotline, becoming a supporting character whose role is to prove how good at The Power of Friendship Mualani is and introduce us to the 6 heroes stuff. ...and then both are screwed over in the very next update because they're already out and don't have anything else to do.

- I know that she'll presumably get more screen time when she comes out, but it's greatly worrying me (for reasons that should be obvious) that Iansan is barely being given any screen time. I am so worried that they're trying to pull a Xinyan or a Candace with her, because of course they would.

- literally what response are you expecting me to have to Xilonen slowly dying for Traveler to get an ancient name when it's revealed in the randomist and calmest way possible?? It's obviously supposed to be cheap emotional fuel, but both Xilonen and Citlali are being so calm about this random reveal that I didn't end up caring either. I don't care so much that I almost forgot to mention it in this post.

Overall, not impressed at all, but there are a few tiny gems in here that will be good for when I eventually have to get to it in my rewrite lol.

[madmanbear]

My pet peeve with the trans community

Trans people refusing to acknowledge their limited access to male privilege is one of my pet peeves. It is one of my pet peeves because it is one of my own flaws, and it is something I see as a flaw in others. Many different trans people have had access to male privilege at some point in their lives, but some won’t admit it. They feel as if being a member of a minority exempts them from this somehow.

I have a problem with trans people who have, or have had, the ability to pass as cis men who refuse to acknowledge the benefits this experience may have given them. Trans men and trans women both.

If you’re a trans woman and you made more money than your female colleagues when you were closeted, you had access to male privilege even if having that access made you upset. Privilege and oppression aren’t measured by how you feel about your circumstances, these things are measured by the circumstances themselves.

Similarly, when a trans woman comes out or starts passing and begins getting unwanted male attention, this is a product of female oppression, even if she finds the attention flattering. Sure lack of ability to come out is a form of oppression in and of itself, which is why this conversation is nuanced, isn’t black and white.

The wage gap exists, we all know it does. In order for an employer to discriminate against someone for being born female or for identifying as female, they need to know about it. Most trans women I’ve known in real life had more money starting out than the trans men did. Then over time they’d bleed through their savings as they struggled to find employment as women. By contrast, the trans men would find jobs more easily as men. Could just be the people I know, but it seems fairly common.

This could also be selection bias, but I haven’t seen a lot of trans activists talking about abortion access or engaging in any activism in that regard. The only trans people I see talking about abortion were born female and are still intact. Trans women, and indeed trans men who are further along in transition and who may no longer be affected, seem to be ignoring this issue. Again I could be wrong, there are a lot of activists out there all doing various things.

It just seems, to me, as if many trans people don’t care about things that don’t affect them, even if they are “feminists.” Trans women seem to not even think of their lack of female reproductive ability as a privilege, some will instead compare it to female infertility (even if they are not actually infertile, and still produce sperm). Trans men seem generally more sympathetic and may dedicate a post on social media to some kind of pro-choice sentiment but will otherwise focus the majority of their energy to general trans stuff.

It’s one thing to not dedicate any energy to pro-abortion activism, but it is another thing to not dedicate any energy to pro-abortion activism while insisting you don’t have any access to male privilege. It’s one thing to take advantage of higher pay when passing as a cis man in order to game the system, but it’s another thing to deny that’s what it is you’re doing.

[chevelleneech]

Y’all be sounding so well thought out with some of y’all’s analyses of Jimin and Jungkook’s actions and words, that I be nodding along and ready to click reblog, but then y’all swan dive off into the most biased and ridiculous takes.

Thinking any of us can sus out when JM and JK have hurt each other on any level deeper than what we see, especially moments where they are only seen laughing and smiling on screen, is crazy talk. I have said this before too, about the idea that they suffer from serious jealousy at times.

We do not know that and have no reason to think that if they’re together, jealousy plays any part in their relationship. It is a natural reaction and I’m sure has made appearances, but a lot of y’all think they get jealous over other members, and assert it as a fact. A lot of y’all think they are hurt when the other does this or that with their other friends, and assert it as a fact.

Crazy.

Giving your opinion on surface level stuff, and then saying, “Maybe” something else might be going on is fine. But the way y’all be like “I do think he was hurt for (insert reason), and that’s why he did (insert thing).” doesn’t make any sense to me, because the only reason you think he was hurt, is because you yourself need to make up a reason for why he did a thing you either don't agree with or don’t understand, and that’s not what an unbiased opinion is.

We cannot decide Jimin and Jungkook’s feelings for them, and then present them as proof of a relationship. We can only interpret what we see and hear, and discuss why it appears to point toward or against a relationship.

So I can say: “Jungkook seemingly being more annoyed at Jimin for not agreeing the pink sausage was indeed pink sausage and not ham, leads me to think he felt playfully vindicated that Jimin got it wrong instead of trusting his taste buds given how often they imply JK cooks for him. Whereas, he didn’t really acknowledge Tae being wrong, because he wasn’t as shocked Tae didn’t believe him, since it’s likely Tae simply isn’t aware of how good JK’s sense of taste is.” — Saying that keeps my thoughts separate from what actually happened, because I can’t say for certain JK felt any of those emotions nor had any of those thoughts. It just appears that way given the context.

What I can’t say: “Jungkook flinched at Jimin for not agreeing the pink sausage was pink sausage, because he cared more about what Jimin thought than Tae, and Jimin not trusting/believing him hurt him a little. So he expressed himself by flinching at him, because his instinct was to rub it in his face.” That is completely subjective, and assigns both emotions and thoughts we have no way of knowing he had or felt.

It is perfectly okay to try your best to be objective, because no one should be having completely subjective opinions on what’s going on between JM and JK, because we don’t know them on a personal level.

This is also why Tkkrs will never get me to see their side clearly. They do not operate with an as objective view point as possible. Everything on their end is subjective, because their interpretations are often based on their wants and not the reality of what is being shared with us. So it’s odd to me to see so many Jikookers veering down that route lately. You guys are wanting situations to be this or that, instead of interpreting what the situation is or appears to be.

[yanderes-galore]

Platonic older sibling of Cartman that is his opposite that tries to teach him to be a better person concept? Thanks!

Honestly, I was excited for this as it would be such a shitshow. Pardon my language but if you're reading my stuff you're atleast 16 anyways. This concept bounces between younger you and Cartman and older you and Cartman, for sibling stuff.

Note: Wow, I actually loved writing this- I wish I put more cute moments but I had to still acknowledge the fact Cartman is an ass. Probably one of my new favorite platonic concepts I did. I do not mind feedback!

Yandere! Platonic! Eric Cartman with Older Sibling! Darling

Pairing: Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Jealousy, Mature language, Platonic behavior, I actually made some cute moments, Family issues, Manipulation, Murder, Violence, Clingy behavior.

Your existence confuses many who meet your family immensely.

How did the first child come out fine, but the second child came out... Cartman?

It's speculated that it's because Cartman was never given proper discipline.

He's also very hard to control.

You're so nice to everyone, you help your mother, you don't try to exploit anyone.

Meanwhile Cartman does the opposite of all that and makes people eat their parents.

The only person he's really compassionate to is you.

You're were the only older kid he liked when he was younger.

He did hate that all of his friends liked you too.

"Why aren't you like your sibling, Cartman?"

"Shut the hell up!"

You look so different compared to him.

In your grade, in fact the entirety of you growing up, people were astonished you were related.

"Cartman? The little fat punk? You're related to him?"

You look like you don't get along.

Of course, your sibling relationship isn't perfect...

But you are probably one of the only ones he genuinely cares for.

There's times Cartman tries to not show he cares for you...

Yet he can't help but like your comfort.

If you're wondering... is he affectionate?

Yes... with lots of grumbling.

Cartman secretly does like your hugs and sibling bonding.

He just doesn't want anyone around to see it.

If he isn't trying to pester his friends into hanging out, he comes to you.

He's nervous asking due to his pride.

You do try to put him on the right path, feeling that's the right thing to do as a sibling.

He's a horrible person... yet he's still your brother.

You try to teach him good morals and respect...

He doesn't pick up on it.

He's only ever good to you.

He's always been a moody kid.

Yet there has been times when you were younger he was... softer for lack of a better word.

For example you were watching TV together after school, he feel asleep almost on you.

R.I.P your breathing.

It was... cute.

You didn't even bother bringing him up the stairs and instead just tucked him in there.

You do love him.

Even with you both being older, him being around 18 and you somwhere in your 20's, you still care for him deeply.

Cartman acts like he doesn't want a sibling.

Although he probably can't imagine his life without you.

Now... the yandere part?

Cartman is selfish and easily jealous.

He's still manipulative even to you.

You just know to shut him down.

Cartman doesn't want his friends talking about you.

God he'd be so fucking pissed if one of his friends complimented you.

Even more so if you started talking with someone like Scott Tenorman.

You mention that man's name?

Cartman is actually screeching about it.

Cartman is very protective/possessive about his older sibling.

Ever since he was young he clung to your leg in public if you were doing something.

Which felt like you were being weighed down.

Your mother thought how Cartman feels about you is sweet.

You may have no father but she's happy you have each other.

Obviously no kidnapping in this concept.

You live with each other and he finds that really weird to do to his sibling anyways?

Murder?

Oh, well, that's an exception.

If the whole feeding people their parents wasn't a warning... then that's on you.

He'd definitely threaten, manipulate, and possibly even injure/murder those he hates around you.

He does not fuck around. Ever.

You do not get to talk to Scott, you do not get to talk to Kyle.

He hates them... that would be the ultimate betrayal!

He gets pissy at you at times and you've learned just to tolerate it.

He's screaming at you and you're just petting Mr. Kitty.

He then runs off to his room.

Thirty minutes later?

He's whining for you to come and comfort him....

That was just when he was younger, too.

When you're both older he isn't much better.

He's still giving you hugs and hating who you hang around.

Due to your childhood he's probably still clingy.

Even when you have a job and move out, kissing your mom goodbye, Cartman throws the biggest fit ever.

You took forever leaving the house that day-

"Eric... I'll show you where I live, you can visit anytime."

"NO. YOU'RE ABANDONING ME. DON'T TRY TO ACT LIKE YOU AREN'T."

Will always be a child with his behavior.

Hell, to you he's always a child since you grew up together.

Yes... he does visit.

It just takes forever to get him to leave.

Have a spouse?

He's criticizing you and them just to be an ass.

If you yell at him to stop or you'll kick him out he goes silent for awhile.

Overall, Cartman is a very jealous sibling who hates to share.

He clings to you and does like how nice you were to him, trying to correct his ways despite failing.

He loves you and wishes you two didn't have to go seperate ways...

Unfortunately he'll always be a controlling brat even if you tried to change it, you just need to know when to shut him down.

[aealzx]

what do you use for your art? ❤️

Hello person~ I hope you don't mind a lot of info dumping instead of a short answer. XD

For 90% of my art (the digital stuff) I use Paint Tool Sai 2, and a Wacom Intuos Pro medium.

Here's my brush settings in Sai, and I have my stabilizer on 10.

I prefer Sai because I haven't found any other program that does lines as good. And since lineart is my favorite part of drawing I stick with Sai even though it doesn't have all those fancy custom brushes like other programs. Sai is also pretty cheap compared to other programs (like 50-60 usd one time payment).

I do have Clip Studio EX, which I use for anything Sai doesn't work for. I use CSP instead of Photoshop because I find subscription based programs to be bullshet, and I also just like CSP's interface and feel more. CSP also tends to go on sale quite often. (I do acknowledge that professional artists in the industry need to know how to use photoshop to survive, but I am a decided hobbyist and do not care about industry standards |P )

I also picked up digital art back when screen drawing tablets didn't exist, and have gotten so used to not seeing my hand when I draw that I actually struggle with screen tablets X'D My hand is in the way, I can't see.

For traditional art I just use whatever sketchbook I've been given and like or can tolerate the paper texture of. Then my main tool pack is this:

I do have prisma colored pencils, a few alcohol markers, and some water color markers. But I hardly use them because I'm too scared to color my traditional art X'DDD

I also use SketchUp to help with backgrounds.

And of course there's my right hand, and about 19 years of obsessive practice X'DD

[buddiebeginz]

My question is: how did Lou get through 2020 without someone calling him out on his posts or him going through his social media to delete those problematic posts that could get him in trouble and/or disqualify him from jobs?

My guess anon is because he's just not a relevant enough "celebrity" (and I use that term very loosely when talking about him btw). For example he was on 911 before but his role was so irrelevant to the show as a whole there were people who didn't even remember right away who he was when they said they were bringing him back for s7. I even saw a few people get him confused with Gino Pesi who played Sal. And beyond 911 he hasn't acted in a lot of big name productions besides maybe SWAT and I think his role in that has been minimal especially as the seasons have gone on.

So there hasn't been this huge spotlight put on him. Even when I looked up stuff about him and his family (because his dad was pretty famous in the 70s) most of the focus has been on his dad and not him or his personal life.

It wasn't until season 7 of 911 when a lot more attention was placed on Lou, some of which was his own doing from all those cameos and other ways he kept communicating with his fans. Plus the bi buck storyline got a lot of attention so some of that spilled over onto him. Mostly though it was his fans and the chaos many of them have been wreaking. Even as much as some people don't like T*mmy and want to see Buck and Eddie together I don't think most Buddie shippers would have even cared about Lou if it wasn't for B/T fans making the 911 fandom hell.

Eventually people had enough and went looking for dirt they could dig up on Lou and came across his old insta posts. The main issue though isn't that he had old really problematic posts it's how he dealt with it after the fact. B/T stans try to say he was hacked but even if that was the case (which there's no proof he was) he should have put out some kind of statement on his insta. He should have acknowledged the old posts, taken them all down, and apologized for them. Instead he liked a tweet the day after where his fans made him out to be the victim.

Also I think he didn't delete those old posts years ago because he just doesn't care about them and likely probably still thinks they're funny. I still think it was him who sent that spitting on blind children post the night he was called out for his old insta posts. It fits in with the same brand of comedy he seemed to enjoy on his insta.

The other thing is and mind you I'm not an expert in any of this but celebrities generally have pr teams that help them deal with things like social media and help prevent them from doing anything online that could ruin their career. I'm not exactly sure how that all works with an actor as low down the totem pole as as Lou though.

Given all the things he did online over the course of s7 my guess is he didn't have a pr team or he had a shit one because he did a lot of stuff that made him look awful. Any pr team that knew what they were doing would have combed through his accounts looking for things like those old insta posts and taken them down. They also wouldn't have let him keep putting out those cameos especially after he was getting hate for calling T*mmy's racism and homophobia teasing. They certainly would have dealt with what happened on twitter that night that post about the blind children was sent regardless of what happened. I just highly doubt he has anyone working for him to worry about any of that stuff. It was far more likely that Tim and ABC told him to stop the cameos and to stop interacting with fans. This would also explain why some of those old posts are still up on his instagram because he doesn't have anyone telling him to take them down.

[being-of-rain]

73 Yards is an episode of Doctor Who. Kinda.

They just put a little horror movie in the middle of the season! And I enjoyed it! I think a big reason I'm really enjoying this season is that it's taking some big swings, trying some unique stuff. Of course I wish we had 13 episodes, but I'd rather 8 episodes that get experimental with it than a hundred by-the-numbers stories (Sorry Nick Briggs). (Sorry for the drive-by at Nick Briggs, it's just hard to resist sometimes).

This episode certainly took advantage of the supernatural available to it, as I hoped this season would. And by playing into the rules of horror (and Doctor Who is allowed to be any genre it wants,) it left a lot up to interpretation, which was very interesting and had my girlfriend and I discussing it for a while after it ended. I thought it was drawing some connection between ancient curses and right-wing politics, which is fair. And watching Ruby weaponise her ancient Welsh curse to make the prime minister resign was very funny and satisfying. I think I saw people somewhere talk about how a common thread through a lot of the situations and horrors was isolation and ostracism, which is a thread I want to pull on next time I watch it. Which might not be soon, because (as I might expect from RTD,) this was a bit bleak for me to be a common rewatch. But I love seeing people's various theories on the episode, keep 'em coming.

As for Ruby... I hate to say it, but I don't think this episode really endeared her to me more than any other. She's still a great performance by Millie Gibson (the youngest-looking 40 year old on the planet, bless this show,) and she's still a very capable protagonist. But personally, I'm just not getting anything more interesting than that from her. I'm glad the show so far hasn't been putting a crazy amount of stress on the fact she's adopted, but it hasn't given her any issues to replace that. I've seen people read some interesting stuff into her after this episode, but I didn't get any of it from the episode itself. I didn't even really know what she was thinking while she was growing old alone; you can assume 'sad,' but the episode didn't pause to give me anything more than assumptions. I should move on instead of saying this every episode, but I was hoping this ep would change my mind. Maybe she's one of the rare companions I just won't really click with. Or maybe, like Ryan, she'll become my favourite just before she leaves. Then again, aren't we getting a second companion next season? I'd love a new dynamic.

What else? Kate! She was a pleasant surprise, being as helpful as ever (sorry Kate) and making this her 10th episode! Which feels weird to say about a character who's had like 48 episodes of her own spin-off audio show. Oh but you know what else is weird to say? Kate's line "I think this timeline might be suspended along your event." What are you talking about Kate?? How would you even know that?! I assume the line's there to future-proof the episode against later Dr Who plots interfering with this one, but since when does Dr Who care about that. The line feels so out-of-place and meta (as well as kind of spoiling the ending by immediately making me think 'oh so this whole timeline is going to get undone then,') that I think they shouldn't have bothered.

Anything else to say? It felt a little weird that the episode takes a stand against the stereotype of rural Welsh people being isolated and insular by having a bunch of rural Welsh people be cruel to a nice person just because she's an outsider. Oh and they acknowledged Susan Twist's appearance in each episode then, I'm curious what that will turn into.

Speaking of season mysteries, I keep seeing the fan-theory 'they're in a TV show' turn up everywhere online. Which is a cool idea that Dr Who could pull off, but I've yet to see a single piece of convincing evidence for it. Keep coming up with bizarre and unsupported theories Who fans, don't ever change.

Oh and here's a really niche and petty complaint! I wish the show would stop using the phrase 'perception filter'. I think when it was first used, in series 3 I think, it was about something relatively specific, technology that Time Lords use to make something not draw attention (unless attention is drawn to it). But since then the phrase has been rolled out for shape-changing, invisibility, natural abilities as well as technology by any species under the suns, it can affect your memories, and hey now magic Welsh curses use it too. Personally, I think it's lost all meaning and feels a lot more like cheap and lazy writing than worldbuilding.

Okay! Those thoughts turned into me saying I loved the episode then listed a bunch of very petty complaints. But I did love it! More magic please. Maybe slightly happier one.

I'm not sure there's anything in the second half of this season I'm really hyped for, but after enjoying the first half a lot, I'm curious what'll turn up!

[sunwukongssuccessor]

You have a very good understanding of Sun Wukong and Macaque, I can tell by how amazing your writing is! Have your ever thought about doing a character analysis of those two? I’m asking because I have ideas for LMK fics and wanted to try and keep them as in character as possible and something like that would help me and a lot of other writers out there!

Anonymous asked: Sorry for not being specific! If my request is too intimidating please don’t push yourself to do it! As for specifics in the character analysis of the monkeys I guess maybe a dive into their surface level personality versus true personalities, their relationship with each other and MK, and their moral compasses? I hope that helps! You can take those as you will. If you don’t want to do all of that just do what you do want to do. Thank you!

It's no problem, I'm sorry that I took so long to answer and even then it still feels kind of vague.

I think the first way of getting to understand a character is getting a grasp of how they speak, both Wukong and Macaque speak pretty casually (one of the first things that Macaque says is "Your staff kind of gives you away, dude."), as well as clear and confident. I think it helps that I can memorize and hear voices in my head so that helps in me finding a way for them to stay in character and pick what sounds most accurate, but I know that doesn't apply to everyone.

Wukong, despite how he tries to play the role of retired goofball in the beginning, being somewhat indifferent about stuff like MK's training, but he actually cares to the point it's almost self-destructive. He doesn't want MK to worry about the Lady Bone Demon, so he lies about searching for a way to defeat her as a vacation of all things. He doesn't want people to get hurt from his mistakes and such so he wants to take the brunt of it but because he didn't try asking for help/support it kind of blows up in his face and makes it worse in the long run.

Macaque is opportunistic, something of a snark about it too. ("Also, side-note: How did you not know it was me? Shadows, kinda my gimmick isn't it?") He's not just dramatic, he's downright theatrical given the shadow play episode, he didn't have to keep doing more than one show after capturing MK's friends and even points out that MK went to multiple shows with saying "Ah, you again. You must be my biggest fan." but he still took it as a chance for the attention as well as be heard in his past as indirectly as he tried to play it off before the reveal. He craves the acknowledgement and probably more.

An interesting thing I noticed with Wukong in his interactions with MK is that he's the one usually initiating physical contact with him. (Sure, some of it is a bit of invading his space but that's just kind of how he is considering he's a monkey.)

Anyone else is kind of unwelcomed(?) in the space if he doesn't really like them or know them that well, he's even surprised by the affection from MK in the episode "Destiny Fulfilled" for a hot second until it settles.

With Macaque and his interactions with people from conversation to touch, something I noticed in the split second he meets MK, he sees him up close with admiration of all things as if shocked by it before settling back. After agreeing to mentor MK, he's starts initiating physical contact as a way to seem all buddy-buddy with him, almost like they're on equal ground despite the newly formed mentorship.

After what's probably a few weeks into the training, the physical contact is less soft, almost holding MK down instead of being a support to pushing MK into a losing battle until literally punching the Monkey King's powers out of him. Physical touch was used on his terms and for his gain.

When he does a similar arm hold on Tang in "Benched" when trying to appeal to Tang in giving up and letting him get a Ring of Samadhi, he even projects his relationship with Wukong onto the whole group before acting out when it doesn't work.

Their moral compasses are pretty different, Wukong trying hard in helping MK as well as the world with it, Macaque being that he looks out for himself since that's all he has. Wukong has many enemies but that doesn't mean the world is and tries to act sweet with Ao Guang like he's a bud and totally didn't steal the pillar to his palace and made it a staff.

Macaque has to look out for himself, sees himself as the only one he can trust, all others be damned. ("Look out for number one, because if you don't, no one will.") Even if Macaque has a soft spot for someone (see MK) ("This is the thanks I get for checking in on my favorite student?" and "Hey kiddo, ya miss me?") he doesn't even see him as a potential ally, closer to amusement at best and enemy at worst. Macaque has far more enemies than allies (probably since he doesn't have any) and that reflects in how he practically hisses at the Mayor for giving him off vibes before even getting caught in the Lady Bone Demon's lackey's hold then taken hostage.

I'm sorry if this isn't the best analysis since it feels kind of all over the place but I hope it helps you in someway.

[nowis-scales]

Hinoka "Birthday" Headcanons

"Birthday" is in quotations here because these are intended to be in celebration of her birthday, but obviously, I am several days late on that. In my defence... I had longtime friends in town the weekend of her birthday, and after that I was working with kids for 40 hours a week, so... I decided we would try to approximately hit her birthday this time. I don't get to see those friends much and kids are so great but so tiring, so I hope you can forgive me lol.

Still, we got here in the end. Now we can do another round of headcanons to celebrate Hinoka!

‣ The most plain speaker among her siblings. She can put on thick layers of etiquette for banquets, but otherwise, she can’t really be bothered. That also means she’s the most likely to curse or use slang among them. It’s always a shock to new recruits in the army the first time they hear her speak so plainly, but it’s not unwelcome. She has broken the ice during more than a few difficult moments, simply by a well-timed, “Well, that fucking sucks.”

‣ Hinoka is like if a border collie was a person in the sense that she has a need to be useful pretty much at all times. If she's not being active and helping others, she gets rather restless. She needs to have a task to keep her going, lest she fall into boredom and start thinking too hard about things she probably shouldn't be thinking about. This has garnered her a bit of a reputation around Shirasagi Castle Town for being an incredibly kind and helpful young lady... and a reputation among her friends and family for being someone to watch for burnout.

‣ Not a morning person. At all. Even if she’s waking up for training, she’s going to be a real grump. Maybe not as much as Jakob, but still — Hinoka is not sunshine and roses in the morning. If anything, she's honestly kind of grumbly. There's not even really a meanness associated with it, she just has the sort of demeanour of someone who genuinely doesn't want to be bothered. If you speak to her, you're likely to only get super curt answers. She may not even acknowledge you at all and just keep going about her day. She wakes up gradually from there, of course, but before a certain hour... just consider talking to her a lost cause.

‣ She fusses over her hair like, way more than she is willing to admit. It's harder to tell because she keeps it short, but she has the same sort of hair texture as her father, so it is an uphill battle every morning to make it lie flat and proper. No matter how carefully she sleeps, she always wakes up with bedhead. Then, she has to make a whole routine of brushing and styling it just so it looks right. Too prim and proper, and she just doesn't look like herself. Too messy and lazy, and it just makes it seem like she doesn't care. It's a delicate balance that she has to achieve with her hair, but she would never admit to anyone just how much time she spends trying to get it right... Although her annoyance with Ryoma's tendency to affectionately ruffle his younger siblings' hair has given people some hints in the past.

‣ Hinoka has a tendency to talk in her sleep. Well, sort of. To be honest, she doesn't have a tendency to talk as much as she does to laugh in her sleep, but that's a bit more disturbing to people who have never heard it before. It's not even an evil laugh, either, just a regular happy fits of giggles here and there. Those who know her better tend to find it comforting instead, because that way, they know that she is having happy dreams. If she's not having a happy dream, though, that's where the talking starts... and considering Hinoka is the kind of person to have those disconnected dreams that don't really follow one central plotline, you can end up hearing her say some weird stuff to deal with the situation. And 9/10, she doesn't remember what she was dreaming about in the morning, so if you wanted to know why she had to steal the magic gyoza back from King Garon, you're out of luck.

‣ Super flexible. The girl is downright acrobatic at times, it’s impressive. She’s super bendy and can twist herself into a pretzel if need be. Most of the time, she uses her powers for good, but sometimes she likes to do something she shouldn’t be able to do just to freak Takumi out. For whatever reason, her powers of flexibility disturb him. So, like any good sibling, she uses them to tease him a bit.

‣ Between Azama and Setsuna as retainers, Hinoka has grown to be quite accepting of people's little quirks. Is she still put off by them sometimes, maybe when she's caught off-guard? Sure. But does she treat them with anywhere near the levity that others might? Not really. Once she's got a hold on something like that, she just kind of tends to roll with the punches. Odin's talking strangely? Well, she can probably figure out what he has to say, it's not that much different from courtier talk. Hayato's all fussed up about being treated like a kid? She'll just do what she used to do for Takumi around then and try and encourage him a little. That being said, however, she doesn't always have an easy time with it... if anyone knows how to handle Camilla's doting and flirty tendencies, she would really appreciate the advice.

‣ Her time spent establishing a bond of trust with her pegasus has had the unintended side effect of most animals naturally trusting her. After all, like regular horses, pegasi are also skittish. It takes a lot of time to create a bond trust with them, and make them feel like you won’t hurt them. Keeping a calm, level head is oftentimes apart of that, and now that Hinoka’s learned the skill for her pegasus, she can apply it to other animals as well. The joke’s a bit in poor taste, but Azama even joked that her ability to deal with nervous creatures is why Sakura feels comfortable talking to her in their shared letters — it’s her way of adapting to her sister’s needs, just like she would for a pegasus.

‣ No matter how she learns and grows over the course of her stories, Hinoka still just can't let herself be beaten by a Nohrian. Initially yes, it is a prejudice thing, but as time goes on, it becomes more about a friendly competitive patriotism. With so much time apart, the two countries haven't had much time to interact with one another and show off the best of each of their respective countries, so she likes to take the opportunity to show off just what a Hoshidan can do. Thankfully, as her intentions purify themselves, so too do those of the Nohrians, and she tends to inspire a spirit of friendly competition as their truce goes on!

‣ Has serious trouble depending on others. She is ferociously independent and often insists upon it, disliking asking for help or being seen failing in any way. Given Hoshido's history with sexism, her position as a warrior, and her place in the public eye... She knows that some will look to her as a perfect representation of all women. If she is to admit defeat or ask for help in front of others, then she is more likely to be perceived as weak. After years of fighting to be where she is, she is far too proud to step back now. As a result, she can tend to push herself too hard, regardless of whether she will actually reap any benefits from doing so.

[horizon-verizon]

I had a legitimate question/complaint that I wanted to send you and I'm still going to do so but while I was thinking about it something else occurred to me and I wanted to share it but I wanted to tell you something first.

The change in Rhaenyra and Laenor’s relationship is the ONLY change I am willing to wholeheartedly accept because it was a wonderful change.

The canon versions aren’t much related to speak of. Rhaenyra has her reasons for not wanting to marry Laenor and at one point she makes a homophobic comment and Laenor did the bare minimum by showing up to a couple of events and visiting so he could say “oh yeah, that baby is definitely mine🤭 Can we call him Joffrey?☺️” (which still means he recognized them as his own and they were legally Velaryon)

But in the show Rhaenyra and Laenor quickly create a mutually beneficial partnership, Rhaenyra cares for Laenor very clearly during 1x05 trying to reach him and I interpret her expression while they are getting married as her acknowledging Laenor’s pain, Laenor is obviously much more present in the children’s lives and at court, we can see a little how complicated that dynamic must have been with Laenor having the freedoms of a man and Rhaenyra being technically superior to him (and none of them seem resentful of each other!), Laenor also worries about Rhaenyra and blames himself for some of their problems (it’s not them, it’s Alicent) and failing Rhaenyra and the children. Rhaenyra in turn takes the time to assure him that she doesn't blame him, that she doesn't see him as defective or wrong.

A I have no idea where the shot came from that Laenor was uncomfortable holding Joff (I thought he was uncomfortable because of Alicent, you know, the woman who made his wife walk after giving birth and that insults him at least twice) but I don't think he is any more uncomfortable with children than most parents of that time, I would even go so far as to say that their relationship is close. We see Laenor carrying Joffrey both on the way back and when Rhaenyra leaves the court, in the second case they could have given him to a nanny but no, Laenor was the one carrying their son. Another moment I really like is the low-key shot of Laenor and Luke holding hands during Laena's funeral or the whole thing with Laenor, Rhaenyra and Harwin with the kids. There is no discomfort, children are not distant or uncomfortable when dealing with him.

In all the ways that matter Laenor claimed the children as his own, he had a pretty good relationship with Rhaenyra despite it not being sexual in nature and the problems that brought about for reasons and it is shown that he loved them.

The real queer friendship in the show was Laenor and Rhaenyra not Alicent and Rhaenyra. And that's my controversial opinion today.

I talk about Rhaenicent HERE, how it didn't and still doesn't make sense to me due to the writing not bringing enough reason as to why it exists. I also must remind people that I am not queer (I don't think bc IDK these days) or of the LGBTQAI+ community. So if I am missing something that could explain some stuff about queerness in fiction or real-life sexually-incompatible relationships, let me know, please!

I am torn about this relationship--book AND show-wise but what I am sure of is that this relationship wasn't as "mutually" beneficial as some might think. Most of it was neither of their faults, but Rhaenyra's situation vs Laenor's is enough reason for her to be resentful not just of her father but him as well. Their relationship was consequently emotionally distant from Laenor even while living in the same spaces as him for a decade. So instead of being a "sweet" thing, it was more a "bittersweet" thing.

Book!

Context for the comment Rhaenyra made against marrying Laenor ("A Question of Succession"):

"My half brothers would be more to his taste".

And Laenor naming their last child ("A Question of Succession"):

"Laenor was at last permitted to name a child after his fallen friend"

And these are when and where the V boys were born (114, 115, 117).

There are layers to each part of these quotes: Laenor is "permitted" to name his own child. More likely barred by Corlys than Rhaenyra because the first two have Velaryon-sounding names and Laenor thus has been made to push aside his first (known) great love/disconnect from his own gayness/"repress" for the sake of patriarchal-heterosexual tradition WHILE Rhaenyra's comment about Laenor reveals a parallel to the preference shown towards boys and men in her society. He would "prefer" someone else, a male, over her. Her concern is not primarily "owning" him sexually but it mirrors/parallels/reminds her that her father/patriarchy diminishing a woman's importance or decentering her for the man's centering and sociopolitical elevation. The "man" here is Viserys and Corlys.

But in the inverse, Laenor named their kid after his past lover when Rhaenyra couldn't give a Targaryen name or any name of her choosing to their last two boys.

Of course, that is a little self-centered of Rhaenyra but the bubble of resentment comes from a valid place and is not completely unfounded and she sorta has to be bit more self-centered...more tragic for them both.

And Laenor naming their last child after his dead lover when he's supposed to keep his relationships a secret for the better of their kids if not for himself is also sort of self-centeredness. Again, when Rhaenyra seemingly couldn't name her own first 2 children.

In a way, Young!Book!Rhaenyra takes Laenor's sex acts (bc Westerosi do not have the conceptions of sexuality being an identity element so much as an act of pseudo-taboo sex acts) as his being another person/obligation/worry who is forced on her, not going to add to her life and not caring for her or prioritizing or supporting her to a certain degree that she needs--another "burden" aside from the one political benefit of tying the Velaryons to her...which is necessary in the first place bc she is female and Viserys pissed Corlys off.

It's like it touches on that wound girls/women carry. In-text/world, I felt it moves through Rhaenyra-the-person/character as unconscious resentment towards another instance where she cannot access what she desires and becomes stuck with a person who cannot even desire her at the very least, as she finds Harwin can later. The show actually does well enough to bring out what was likely true from the original story here when she's talking to Daemon in episode 7 about Harwin: "It felt good to be desired". To have someone be there for her.

(bc despite that injury he had that might have taken months to heal, I still think it's too strange and non-coincidental to ignore how Rhaenyra's first three kids all do not look at least like herself in coloring, not in eyes or hair...Alysanne was one Targ with Andal blonde hair and blue eyes while Alyssa had one purple eye for goodness sake! and the Targs after Daeron II's generation had traits from either one or both parents, Targ or not Targ...this is a fiction piece and while it models real life, it is less random as real life, and "85-90%" of stuff is done for a reason)

And with Laenor, as I mentioned, he must have felt pulled apart from himself--resentful of his forced marriage and further repression from such marriage to Rhaenyra, thus his staying away.

I don't think that they didn't come to respect each other or even not care about each other in the book NOR that they were horrible people for how they felt feelings and their circumstances, how they moved around each other, and probably interacted. Especially after Laenor began spending more time with Rhaenyra after their sons' confrontation with Aemond at Dragonstone.

But it never came across to me as particularly close or Laenor taking up the responsibility to those he apparently did see as a family until said family was hurt. And I have not seen anything to suggest Rhaenyra was concerningly hurtful or homophobic towards Laenor after they marry in canon. So, do we really know if she actually hated him in the original story, or thought his queerness made him less than or worthy of hate, esp with what I said about it more about expressing her frustration?

Show!

You:

But in the show Rhaenyra and Laenor quickly create a mutually beneficial partnership, Rhaenyra cares for Laenor very clearly during 1x05 trying to reach him and I interpret her expression while they are getting married as her acknowledging Laenor’s pain, Laenor is obviously much more present in the children’s lives and at court, we can see a little how complicated that dynamic must have been with Laenor having the freedoms of a man and Rhaenyra being technically superior to him (and none of them seem resentful of each other!), Laenor also worries about Rhaenyra and blames himself for some of their problems (it’s not them, it’s Alicent) and failing Rhaenyra and the children. Rhaenyra in turn takes the time to assure him that she doesn't blame him, that she doesn't see him as defective or wrong.

It seems like Rhaenyra still got the shorter end of the stick to breed a stronger sort of resentment. I think that their relationship was actually more or less the same as it was in the book, and the space they shared only affected Laenor's time spent with the kids and not time spent helping Rhaenyra elsewhere. I could argue it should have been even a little worse bc they live in the same space and Laenor is doing the same things as his book counterpart.

That unequal position, in my view, actually kept them emotionally apart enough for Laenor to not really understand Rhaenyra as a person while Rhaenyra seems to understand Laenor pretty well. To look at this doylistically, honestly, this could be a fault of the writers and the time jumps, but let's dive in.

FIRST - We have not actually seen, at any point, Laenor approach Rhaenyra to ask what's up/check-in. Any time he's there, he's there for either the most dramatic things (birth of a son and climbing the stairs), complaining, or inadvertently make her seem an anomaly (comments about breasts). At the end, again like in the book, he offers to be closer to her and focus on her and the boys...and that is the only time we see some sort of action of the sort of support Rhaenyra sees she will get from Daemon, thus her decision to have Laenor "killed".

After Joffrey Lonmouth's death, Laenor found Qarl Correy and Rhaenyra had allowed the man to be close to Laenor despite the rumors. Laenor doesn't mind and even seems to like Harwin. But unlike Rhaenyra, Laenor does not need nor want a good image as much as she does. Rhaenyra needs Laenor more than the reverse.

SECOND - In the 5th episode after Joffery's death, yes, she is acknowledging his pain but you'd have to be self-involved to a particular degree or just plain unobservant to not sympathize and acknowledge that pain...plus she knew they were together as Laenor told her and they made that a private arrangement on the beach presumably just a few days before. Finally, in that episode, she has not actually lived with him yet.

THIRD - Due to the time jump, we do not know how Laenor got to be a permanent resident in the Keep of King's Landing when he should have been at Driftmark as he is in the book before Laena's death/Vhagar's "claim". Does either Viserys or Corlys order him to stay with Rhaenyra? Did Rhaenyra order him to stay by her side with her? Did Laenor choose freely or under a nonverbal pressure from those around him and what exactly did that look like? Did he have a confrontation with his father concerning his sexuality and the image its open-secretness presents to the family and he just needed to get away from Corlys--did he and Rhaenyra bond over that? Even so, how does the court treat both Rhaenyra & Laenor, both of whom are in court with their respective lovers: Laenor being cuckolded (doesn't matter that he's gay, he's a man and "gayness" is not an identity to these Westerosi) and Rhaenyra, as the future ruler, cannot be made to be seen as weak through her husband's/partner's open "infidelities".

More Notes

Many have noted how unaware Laenor is in the show. Both are resigned, but Rhaenyra is less..."blind", I'd say, because she has to be "on" and aware of others all the time. This alone shows that they cannot be as close as some people claim, because they are not on a similar page of observation of each other or their situation.

This is Rhaenyra & Laenor says about his desire to go to war:

War is afoot again in the Stepstones, Rhaenyra. The Triarchy takes new life from its alliance with Dorne. They're waylaying ships and cargo. Qarl's been fighting there. He showed me a... ( laughing ) He showed me a sack of sapphires big as walnuts he took from the pirate he slew. Ah... After all this time, this is just what I need, a little adventure. A good, honest battle to enliven my blood again. He says there is a Tyroshi general there, a giant, they say, who dyes his beard purple and wears women's frocks. ( laughs ) A few months, maybe...

AND

I am a knight... and a warrior. And I have played my part here, faithfully... for ten years. I am owed some...

AND

Rhaenyra: You are owed nothing! For ten years, you have indulged yourself at court, bought the finest horses, drunk the rarest of wines, fսckеd the lustiest boys. This was our agreement. I have not begrudged you. But... you do not desert your post when the storm lashes. Laenor: The wise sailor flees the storm as it gathers.

Aside from me not liking how Rhaenyra's decision to go to Dragonstone is compared to what Laenor meant by leaving (bc she is doing it for the sake of family and people's lives versus him trying to abandon said family...this is not some modern tale where the newly out and thriving queer person incidentally has kids who can survive their absence or at least not have it threatened after all):

Laenor had been trying to get out of being in KL with Rhaenyra for, as he calls it, "adventure" as if he weren't already in some sort of agreement with Rhaenyra to protect those he himself decided to treat them as his own sons. If it weren't for the fact he sees those kids as his own AND that agreement before they were even born, I wouldn't 100% begrudge him. Add to the fact that, because he's a man, if he weren't so lower-ranked or actually cared for his non-trad family he could have just gone and no one would disparage him in the slightest. Her having to remind him of his promise and stop him from making comments about her body to--who is to her--a stranger while she's trying to stop herself from leaking and coming back from a council where her stepmother/former friend has tried to humiliate and undermine her the whole time -> her reminding him it was not her who put him in their position so as not for him to make it seem as if she were the one imprisoning him in the first place when he said he had the right to is itself a stack of emotional labor. It truly read to me that Laenor was trying to escape the life he has with Rhaenyra as much as he did in the book. It wasn't actually much of a real change.

At the same time, we must remember that show!Rhaenyra is a very different person from book!Rhaenyra. This is a woman who would not go to war for the throne her father gave her because her father was a man who tried to be as nonconfrontational as possible AND for a prophecy that she should have reasoned her father never would have told Aegon, of all people, about and how he took the time to drag himself out of bed for her & her kids' rights/protection in episode 8. The show unconsciously makes a more quietly repressed woman of Rhaenyra in an attempt to make her more "likable", to her own, more-avoidable detriment.

One reason why show!-her may not feel like ordering Laenor more--other than realizing his being forced like her--is the inevitability of his freedoms despite his queerness. Why make a "fuss" when it will not actually go anywhere and it will actually hurt Laenor? Another reason is by how she looks at Laenor, she feels guilt at being the person Criston was actually angry with--thus indirectly leading to Laenor losing his lover so traumatically, thus maybe trying to take it upon herself to make sure Laenor has little reason to either resent or begin to actually hate her more (bc he is both one of the only people there in her camp to keep her some sort of company aside from Harwin in some way) and/or she feels like she must take the responsibility of making him happy. Both of these can give another "responsibility" along with being a mom, the court images, Alicent, her father's social self-blindness, etc even though Joffrey's death is not her fault as much as it was Criston's. All/more eyes are on her and her behavior and she is the one having to birth a kid one minute and walk up a flight of stairs the next. And she was absolutely going to do it alone because Laenor was not there until he decided to be. She is the one who will receive the least grace or attention and thereby the most blame. This is definitely not Laenor's fault...but his using that ability to be away, it certainly adds to the burden, potentially becoming a polyp of the main problem. This is, why again, they both decide that Laenor should "die", to repeat myself.

These things are inevitably going to breed resentment from Rhaenyra and travel against Laenor, esp when he's deciding to make it that much harder without acknowledging that he is or thinking how it could be. And if she were more resentful, or really even a bit more expressive towards him than she was in the show, I do not think that is a moral flaw on her part, doesn't make her the bad guy. Not expressing your anger more often doesn't make the relationship closer/better...in fact, it shows how disconnected they are emotionally. Not only is it possible she cannot feel as if she has all the right to "too much" of Laenor after Joffrey's death and how it went down, but she nevertheless "needs to" demand "more" from him because he's still not doing much, he agreed, their kids' lives and reputations are in danger, and by the near end of epi 6 he's even trying to get out of that much. No man could really understand or appreciate all of this, but again, that distance and trying to get out of things really clinched it for me.

Just because she doesn't hate him or lash out at him, doesn't mean the resentment against him isn't there and that it isn't strong. It shows itself in her sarcasm at his asking her if it hurt; her looks at his drunken talk about her leaking and swollen breasts to Qarl Correy (how fond would one be of a person after that tactlessness because it also shows how little Laenor really minds how his words will come across to her at specific moments?); her having to make it clear to him he must stay by her side and explain to him why she must (the mental load we modern talks about is paralleled here), etc.

And just because show!her was more accomodating, doesn't make her an actually better human than her book counterpart. Same with Laenor--just because he seems like he was around more often--especially since they here share the same space--doesn't mean he is there with her because he absolutely wants to be and is performing the duty he said he would. This is what Rhaenyra was talking about after she dismissed Correy so she could demand Laenor stay.

If anything, Laenor's proximity to Rhaenyra and still not being as there as he should makes it easier for him to be closer to his sons and have a relationship of sorts with their elder selves (because in the show those kids are also older--by appearance--than their selves in the book by this time, and thus they have had more time with Laenor as their dad). It didn't bring the married couple closer so much as give Rhaenyra visible, everyday proof her husband was not her partner.

Thereby, again, it wasn't actually all that "mutual"--he didn't have to put as much energy as her and he didn't and he didn't really think of how he could...but like you said, he did more than most fathers in that the little initiative he does give is more than what most fathers in his position would give Laenor does take a bit of initiative than most men would give in his position even if they wanted to be her Prince Consort for the influence, title, and power alone. He tries.....but then that still makes me question if he actually is there by circumstance, order, or choice and how he feels about that. Still, it's not good for him, so does he, if ever, blame or lash out at Rhaneyra and how does he express that.

The show tells us "unlikely", but that doesn't seem psychologically or emotionally realistic to me. On Laenor's end, he's told he cannot be that one masculine thing--be a brave adventurer/traveling knight--because his class/station has to lead him to marry a princess who depends on his voluntary discretion the balance between security and public respect when he never asked for any of it but he's told that he's a horrible person if he doesn't do this for his ambitious father.

It is because of all this that I do not see Rhaenyra as necessarily being hateful toward Laenor in either book or the show for his sexuality as much as his not being compatible with her needs after a whole life of subtle and unsubtle constraint while acknowledging that it isn't either of their fault...until in the show Laenor was headed there.

Their kindness (to a degree) for each other and Laenor's obvious willingness to at least perform when told or encouraged certainly make things easier. It's still far from what's needed, with it not quite meeting the bare minimum.

So for me, the change that I liked was their coming to a verbal agreement for them to look for other intimacies. It could have happened in canon, but we'll never know, GRRM chose to write this like a very unreliable history book written by misogynist, homophobic, etc. "men of learning". This wasn't a dumb choice, without its own storytelling merits (there's a reason we continue to use frame narratives), or even fun to read through...it's that you're trusting your readers a lot to know what's in their hands and some are just not going to get it or want to.

[buckevantommy]

It is kind of sad that we have this interesting character in Tommy who is this new experience for Buck and yet interviews ignore that and ask about buddie buddie buddie. It’s pathetic. I am over buddie stuff. I cant bring myself to care anymore about them being together because of how rabid the hardcore bobs have been.

#letbuddiestayfriends

i know there are reporters who are shippers instead of just objectively reporting on what a portion of the fandom wants, and tbh i really don't like reading/watching those interviews (for any cast member) bc the questions are leading and we end up with this shoehorned clump of answers that feels very self-serving.

that said: i was not in the fandom pre-season 7 or even pre-tommy, i've only started watching 9-1-1 from the beginning after starting with season 7, so i have canon bi!buck and bucktommy on my mind as i make my way through for the first time. but my point is: had i watched this show before tommy came (back) on the scene i probably would've gotten on the buddie ship and wouldn't have had a problem with reporters asking such questions, it probably would've been nice to be acknowledged in the media, y'know?

but as things stand now, it feels invalidating for buck's journey (past, present, future) to gloss over the significance of this relationship that has been such an eye opener for him. 

i think the problem starts with hardcore shippers ignoring that buck is a bisexual man first and part of a gay relationship second. it shouldn't be about any ship (even with all of buck's history with eddie, and even though i adore tommy and respect and love what they're doing with buck and tommy's relationship thus far) the narrative focus should be on buck moving forward (he is a main character, so like how hen is a main character but we know karen will show up now and then tommy won't be in every episode; and even if you want buddie to get together it makes storytelling sense to not make it happen right away - although i personally am not holding out hope for it nor am i craving it, but maybe that's because i've only watched up to season 4?).

the focus should be on buck coming into himself after so long, finally finding this missing piece of the puzzle - not a person, but an innate inner truth. i hope we'll see some introspection, as well as interactions and conversations with other main and guest characters that continue to highlight the importance of his storyline: that he is a strong (former womaniser) man who realised his bisexuality in his 30s, after 6 whole seasons - that is such a marvel and it's not something that's going away. bi!buck is canon from now until forever and all the way back to the start of season 1, and that’s a fucking treat.

and yeah, tommy. tommy is so satisfying as a return character as well as one who's past is so delightfully entwined with buck's, and they suit each other so well. i'm enjoying every minute of their relationship and tommy's presence, every scrap, every mention. i want him to stick around through season 8 and beyond because the narrative works so well.

i’m doing my best to ignore the naysayers, filtering out tags and blocking folks and avoiding twitter. i know they can be noisy and it sucks, but just remember that every cast and crew member who has given interviews about tommy/lou and bi!buck and bucktommy love what’s happening. oliver and lou are so on-board with these two, and tim is so keen, so we’ll just have to keep on spreading the love for them. 

oh- and fill out that form on abc’s website expressing your love and appreciation for tommy/bucktommy/lou: 

https://support.abc.com/hc/en-us/articles/360029276332-How-do-I-submit-feedback-for-shows-on-ABC-com

https://support.abc.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=360003079511

[folkloristico]

I don’t mean to sound like a hater, but while I think the first look at the ATLA live-action looks good, I can’t stop but thinking… was it really necessary?

I know the answer as to why we have this upcoming project is money, same reason why they keep trying to milk old hits by turning them into live-action (Disney is doing it, Netflix is doing it—everybody is doing it), but you can clearly see the double standard here.

Across the Spider-Verse hasn’t even been out a month now, and while it’s been globally acknowledged as one of the best superhero movies ever, people are already talking about which actor they would cast to play Miles and the others. Which begs the question, why is no one talking about translating the MCU, or any other franchise really, into animation? It always boils down to animation being lesser than. And I really, really, really hate this narrative because the thing about art is that it should be daring, it should push people to try out new things instead of replicating the same formula over and over just because it’s safe.

“But live-action movies can be a way to further explore some dynamics and—” yeah I don’t buy that. Sure, some live-action movies do add flavour to the original piece of media, but that’s not why they do that. The narrative is always going from animation to live-action, and never the opposite.

Katara, Zuko, Aang, Sokka, Toph, and the others already have amazing storylines. While I do think some things could’ve been handled better or given more care, I believe that what it’s done is done, and you can always keep expanding on the world-building and the lore by pushing for new animated movies. Which they are doing, actually, but I know those won’t be getting the same attention as the live-action because, you know, people just assume that live-actions = adult content while animation = child stuff, so of course live action > animation. Which is just sad.