#NUANCE

[shyjusticewarrior]

"Jason's not the angry one" not as in Jason isn't angry but as in Jason is the emotional one and anger happens to be an emotion.

[nyancrimew]

how dare you say we should piss on the poor

actually we should consensually piss on the poor who do want to be pissed on

[notaplaceofhonour]

I feel like there are two truths, that we rightly celebrated when Pharaoh’s army were drowned, and that at the same time G-d was heartbroken that their creation was drowning—and neither response is wrong.

Both are entirely valid and normal responses to have to the death of evil men (who nevertheless were still people), and you just kinda gotta live with that complexity. like, you can’t expect people not to grieve the death of any part of G-d’s creation, but you also can’t expect people not to sing when their persecutors are gone.

I think G-d made us to feel both, and they made some of us to feel one more than the other, and that’s okay.

[thereallyreallylatebird]

From some of the discourse I've seen, I've gotten the impression that some people think intersectionality is like math. Let me explain.

Some people think of certain identities as universally giving privilege (we'll say these have a value of +1) and some as universally taking privileged/causing discrimination/bigotry/etc. (we'll say these have a value of -1).

And what I've seen is that people will add these values and decide how hard someone has it based on the value of the product.

For example: A white (+1) Christian (+1) gay (-1) man (+1) would have a score of 2, since 1+1-1+1 is 2. (Keep in mind I'm not saying people literally do this sort of math, though I have actually seen charts that do, it's more of a way of illustrating a way of thinking I've seen.)

The problem with this, of course, is that this isn't how the world works at all. Depending on where he lived and his situation in general, that white Christian gay man could be bullied severely, called slurs, or even beaten and killed--all things you wouldn't expect going off a score of 2--because intersectionality is not like math. And because, in some places, this man's gayness would overshadow all his other identities.

Also, this mathy way of looking at things fails to consider how identities interact with each other. For instance, (and this is something several of my mutuals, but especially @dysphoria-things, have discussed in the past) a trans man's identity as a man does *not* serve to "cancel out" his being trans in the eyes of society. First, many won't even view him as a man. Second, even if he is viewed as a man by a certain group, he still may be subject to less explicit forms of transphobia. Not to mention the expectation many hold that he perform his man-ness in order for them to keep seeing him as a man. There's a lot more to unpack here specifically, but the previously mentioned mutual has already done many many posts on this, and is more qualified to speak on this than I am as a cis person, so I suggest you go check that blog out if you want to hear more on this topic.

Another example would be one of *my* identity intersections. That of being aromantic and allosexual. Now, being allosexual (not asexual) is not a minority identity. However, it by no means "cancels-out" my aromanticism. In fact, the specific combination of this majority identity (allosexuality) with my aromanticism actually leads to some seriously nasty assumptions and stereotypes. Because what do you think goes through the majority of people's (especially conservative's) heads when they hear "Oh I'm attracted to people sexually, but not romantically." Nothing flattering.

Point is, intersectionality is not like math. Having a majority identity does not necessarily mean that identity will always be rewarded (especially depending on the combination with a minority identity), and also this way of thinking is one thing that can start people down the "oppression-olympics/who has it worst" route, which is helpful and productive to exactly no one. The world is complicated, society is complicated, and people are complicated. And anything boiled down this much is usually inaccurate enough to be useless or actively harmful. Thank you for coming to my TED-talk.

[polutrope]

To be clear. This blog is pro-Elves. All Elves. Fëanorians, yes, but Nolofinwëans, Arafinweans, even Un-finweans. Teleri, Sindar (but how can you be pro-Feanorian and-- *bites you*), Nandor, Avari. Half-elves and Elf-man, too. All Elves are great, and all Elves did *something* wrong.

Love them for that.

[hold-me-witcher]

I can't believe Jaskier's character and sexuality has so much incredible nuance to it.

Like yes, he's a slut, he gets chased out of bedrooms by husbands, he sleeps casually with men, he has a few usual fuck buddies around the world who are as equally as interested in just sex and no romance. He was in love with Geralt for years

The second there was someone with no actual hangups about wanting a relationship with him he fell ass over teakettle in love back and was SO CONFUSED but also a slut about it.

[moncuries]

you know how “partner” was implemented to create a gender neutral term used by both straight and queer people to provide privacy and not out queer people who talk about their significant other?

ally, is often like that. In the early days of gay straight alliances, and other lgbtqia+ spaces, ally was a way of allowing people into queer spaces without outing them, and providing room for exploration and questioning. it has a meaningful history outside of its explicit definition as an ally to queer people. the “a” absolutely stands for aro, ace, etc. don’t get me wrong.

:] i don’t really care to define every letter in our acronym, or argue over ally being included in it, but i think a lot of people forget what it is to be closeted, questioning. and the history of “ally” as included in queer spaces. happy pride!

[transparentdreamruins]

Sam Heughan brings so much to Jamie Fraser

[bleed-through-spaces]

'we need more complex, nuanced and morally grey characters with layers, in media.'

this site when said character is introduced:

[hellaversity]

Do Blitzø and Stolas haters understand what nuance is? No seriously, do they?

The show acknowledges their mistakes AND makes them sympathetic? Well, no shit. That's how being a morally grey character works.

Not every character who hates or criticizes either of them is a saint OR a monster? (With a few exceptions obviously) Color me shocked, this isn't Disney.

They both make mistakes that aren't meant to villify them but still hold them accountable? It's almost like THAT'S THE FUCKING POINT.

If you're disappointed that these characters you have an unhinged seething hatred of aren't the most vile, irredeemable, Valentino level of pure evil that you want them to be, I have no faith in your media literacy.

[thesunfyre4446]

i'm getting really tired of the "Aemond had no right to claim Vhagar" bs.

first of all, if justify Rhaenyra - Laena's cousin who grew up with her, and Daemon -Laena's husband - having sex on her goddamn funeral then you're in no position to criticize Aemond - who has literally never met Laena in his life - for trying to claim her dragon.

Aemond saw Vhagar and decided to go for it. Vhagar disappeared for years after baelon died, who knows if he'll ever get the chance to get close to her again? and maybe Rhaena will succeed in claiming her before him? it was a now or never moment for aemond.

baela and rhaena were justified in their anger, it's their mom's dragon. it's the last thing they had left from her. BUT aemond has never met these girls. he's desperate for a dragon. he's desperate to prove himself. so yeah, he's going to put himself before two strangers.

now let's talk about "Aemond paid the prince for claiming Vhagar \ Aemond deserved losing his eye" bs

no. no he didn't. aemond did not "pay the price for claiming Vhagar". it wasn't a sacrifice he had to make. vhagar accepted him as her rider, he had already claimed her when he was attacked by the strongs and the twins. aemond lost his eye because Luke cut it out. that's it.

Aemond's insult towards Rhaena was obvs directed at the strongs. for aemond, this wasn't even about rhaena. it was about finally winning against his bullies. and don't get me wrong, it was a shitty thing to say. but guess what guys, aemond's a kid too. he's like what, a year, two years older then Jace? kids can be selfish. kids can be really fucking mean. was insulting rhaena the empathic and mature thing to do? of course not! but it's clear that all aemond cared about was just getting back at the strongs. aemond's behavior was really normal for a bullied 10yo.

[and btw, Rhaena and Baela getting really angry and attacking aemond is also really understandable . from their POV, they've just lost their mom, and this random kid has just claimed her dragon & insulting them. ]

[thousandyearphantombunker]

"We want more morally grey/flawed female characters"

You bitches can't handle APPLE WHITE!

like people keep saying "you couldn't even handle rose quartz" but this is even more pathetic to me. How can y'all make this kid into a monster?

[minsungincorrectquotes]

Minho: Have you ever heard of critical thinking? Jisung: I don't know. What are some of their songs?

[is-this-yuri]

hey please make sure you end homelessness before banning all the cars and turning all your cities walkable. or at least get them to put the benches back in the subway stations before they scrap my only shelter, thanks 👍

[moreespressoformydepresso]

Hot take:

Coriolanus Snow did not love Lucy Gray, even though he loved her.

Bear with me for a second I know this sounds like an oxymoron but I promise I can make it make sense. The TL;DR is that both SnowBaird shippers and detractors are right, but also very very wrong. I’ll explain.

People who say Snow was genuinely in love with Lucy Gray are wrong. Flat out incorrect. And I say this so bluntly because of one simple factor: before the games, he needed Lucy Gray to promise total devotion to him. This 16 year old girl was about to be thrown into an arena to fight to the death and his concern was whether she was committed to him?? That’s not love. That’s need. Remember the saying “if you love someone, let them go”? It exists for a reason. If you truly love someone, you want what’s best for them. You want them to be happy, even if that means stepping away. Snow was not ready or willing to do this. If there was even a chance of him having to step away, he was prepared to just leave her to her fate to die. And this happened relatively early in the story when you look at the importance of events. Most of the moments we can point to and go “that’s a turning point for him” happen either during or after the games. Funnily enough this ties to a very simple fact of the story that seems to fly over a lot of fans’ heads, if they’re not just outright ignoring it.

Snow did not lose his mind or go insane over the course of the story. The whole point is that he was always this way, and looked every opportunity to choose to be a good person dead in the eyes as he dashed them to pieces, burned them to ashes and used the charcoal left over to draw happy little doodles on their graves. This story has two points, with the first being a subversion of the “uwu villain with a tragic backstory to excuse their actions” trope. The second one is gleefully stewing in all the ways the people Snow wronged in his early life haunted him until the day he died, especially Sejanus and Lucy Gray. That’s just one example of Snow not actually caring about Lucy Gray, but there are more. They’re sprinkled all throughout the story, culminating in the final scene where he attempts to murder her.

However

Coriolanus Snow did have genuine feelings for Lucy Gray. He was prepared to ruin his entire future to save her, knowing that getting caught cheating would destroy all he’s worked for his entire life. When he was forced to become a peacekeeper, he asked to go to 12 in hopes of seeing her again. He went out of his way to track her down and they shared genuine moments together. By now, he has no ulterior motive for being around her. No prize, no game to win, nothing to gain except happy memories. Snow wanted to be with her. And Lucy Gray wanted to be with him. There’s a skeleton of a genuine relationship there, inklings of the love story Lucy Gray was convinced they were destined to have. That wasn’t fake, those were real feelings and it could have been beautiful. If it wasn’t for one tiny little problem: Lucy Gray is not who Snow thought she was. She isn’t who he wanted her to be. In other words:

Coriolanus Snow thought he loved Lucy Gray Baird, when in actuality he loved the idea of her he’d created in his mind.

You see, this boy is the least reliable narrator to ever narrate in the history of ever, beaten out only by Humbert Humbert. And in similar fashion to Lolita it looks like people are making the mistake of taking his word at face value when the point the book tries to make is that you should not do that. Snow looked at his choice to keep bashing Bobbin over the head after he was already knocked out and decided to take it as evidence that all human beings lose their humanity when cornered (even though he was no longer cornered), he is very clearly not a trustworthy individual when it comes to making logical deductions. Especially because he can be neck-deep in denial sometimes. Snow never cared about Lucy Gray, the Covey girl, singer and performer who lost most of her family to a massacre and was forced to stay in one district rather than moving around like she used to. He cared about Lucy Gray Baird, district 12’s female tribute for the 10th hunger games. And those are not the same people. Tribute Lucy Gray Baird was locked in a zoo, forced to perform at all times to survive. Lucy Gray was free to be her authentic self (trauma not withstanding) and while she loves to perform, it’s a different kind. There’s no pressure, she can leave the stage if she so desires. She can roam as free as one can in the districts and no longer needs a mask to live.

In the book, Snow outright says he wishes she was still locked in the zoo so he knew where she was and she couldn’t leave. He loved the Lucy Gray that was contained. The one that was considered his by the people around him. The girl who relied on him completely because she had to. He loved what she was forced to be in order to not die, and when he saw the real her he wished she would be more like the girl he met. Which was not the real Lucy Gray. Snow loved the act she put on, and to some extent the control he had over her. He had genuine feelings for her, but not for the real her.

To conclude this rambly mess: shippers will pretend Snow genuinely loved Lucy Gray for all she was. This is not true. A certain subsect of people who hate this ship will say he never cared for her at all. This is also not true. And in a fandom for a book about the nuances of even the worst people on earth, that’s very funny.