#actually no I have other theories for why

[tiffany-loves-broadway]

While I do think that the Watsonian/Doylist distinction is important to keep in mind as a very basic theory-of-fiction-criticism framework thing, I think that there's a very important point missing from this discourse, a point which is often missing from this discourse. (The popular but godawful "Thermian Argument" is emblematic of this framing; it's just more condescending about it.)

Oftentimes, when there are two sides of a discourse, one offering a Watsonian explanation and one offering a Doylist explanation, the side framing their point in a Doylist way is actually incorrect. Not "correct but a stick in the mud about it" - simply wrong. They're prone to assuming that they're correct because they're using the Doylist lens, and they'll try to pattern-match the discourse to "one side is being frivolously charitable to the text, and the other is seriously analyzing it in realistic terms" because that narrative is flattering to them, but it doesn't actually mean that they're right.

If you want to know why a character did something, and Tumblr user #1 says "the text actually already explained why they did that", and provides sensible citations, and Tumblr user #2 says "they were acting out of character because the author was a moron with evil politics and hated his readers" and their case is just kind of incoherent, then Tumblr user #1 is acting as the Watsonian, and Tumblr user #2 is acting as the Doylist, but the former is certainly making a better argument. A correct Doylist explanation here would need to understand what the author even intended to convey on the Watsonian level.

Now, that said, Watsonian explanations that disregard the likelihood that the author actually intended them can certainly be lots of fun; I've spent a lot of time on them just as creative exercises. But I don't think that that means that a Watsonian lens is inherently less respectable than a Doylist one; if anything I think that the lower stakes of the Watsonian lens actually favor it. It takes a Doylist to have something banned as subversive literature.

I feel like we need a refresher on Watsonian vs Doylist perspectives in media analysis. When you have a question about a piece of media - about a potential plot hole or error, about a dubious costuming decision, about a character suddenly acting out of character -

A Watsonian answer is one that positions itself within the fictional world.

A Doylist answer is one that positions itself within the real world.

Meaning: if Watson says something that isn't true, one explanation is that Watson made a mistake. Another explanation is that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle made a mistake.

Watsonian explanations are implicitly charitable. You are implicitly buying into the notion that there is a good in-world reason for what you're seeing on screen or on the page. ("The bunny girls in Final Fantasy wear lingerie all the time because they're from a desert culture!")

Doylist explanations are pragmatic. You are acknowledging that the fiction is shaped by real-world forces, like the creators' personal taste, their biases, the pressures they might be under from managers or editors, or the limits of their expertise. ("The bunny girls in Final Fantasy wear lingerie because somebody thought they'd sell more units that way.")

Watsonian explanations tend to be imaginative but naive. Seeking a Watsonian explanation for a problem within a narrative is inherently pleasure-seeking: you don't want your suspension of disbelief to be broken, and you're willing to put in the leg work to prevent it. Looking for a Watsonian answer can make for a fun game! But it can quickly stray into making excuses for lazy or biased storytelling, or cynical and greedy executives.

Doylist explanations are very often accurate, but they're not much fun. They should supersede efforts to provide a Watsonian explanation where actual harm is being done: "This character is being depicted in a racist way because the creators have a racist bias.'" Or: "The lore changed because management fired all of the writers from last season because they didn't want to pay then residuals."

Doylism also runs the risk of becoming trite, when applied to lower stakes discrepancies. Yes, it's possible that this character acted strangely in this episode because this episode had a different writer, but that isn't interesting, and it terminates conversation.

I think a lot of conversations about media would go a lot more smoothly, and everyone would have a lot more fun, if people were just clearer about whether they are looking to engage in Watsonian or Doylist analysis. How many arguments could be prevented by just saying, "No, Doylist you're probably right, but it's more fun to imagine there's a Watsonian reason for this, so that's what I'm doing." Or, "From a Watsonian POV that explanation makes sense, but I'm going with the Doylist view here because the creator's intentions leave a bad taste in my mouth that I can't ignore."

Idk, just keep those terms in your pocket? And if you start to get mad at somebody for their analysis, take a second to see if what they're saying makes more sense from the other side of the Watsonian/Doylist divide.

[thewertsearch]

PCG: YOU SAID WHAT SHE ASKED WAS IMPOSSIBLE. […] FGA: What Were Her Demands […] ?GG: […] wherever we end up going ?GG: she had to come PCG: HUH? ?GG: not just echidna but all the denizens ?GG: their palaces their consorts their lands… ?GG: everything ?GG: i have to bring them all with us

Wait, what the hell? Questions about why Echidna wants this aside, it's completely beyond Jade's capabilities.

Jadesprite could do it easily, though - and if Jade's Choice really has marked her for death, she may have to.

PAST carcinoGeneticist [PCG] 01:34 HOURS AGO responded to memo. PCG: JADE? PCG: ARE YOU STILL RESPONDING TO THIS MEMO? […] PCG: I HAD TO LEAVE ABRUPTLY BECAUSE SOLLUX AND ERIDAN STARTED DUELING AGAIN. PCG: AND THEN FEFERI AND KANAYA… PCG: IT ALL HAPPENED SO FAST.

Right, so this is shortly after the incident in the common room, and around the time a fearful Karkat messaged John on the Battlefield. Feferi is dead, Sollux is down, and Gamzee and Eridan are on their respective rampages. Kanaya’s also down, so Karkat thinks she’s dead for good – and he’s also just missed Terezi, who has left to confront Vriska.

All in all, this is one of Karkat’s darkest moments to date. What does he have to say to Jade?

PCG: AND NOW GAMZEE IS HUNTING US ALL DOWN IN MURDER MODE. PCG: HE'S BEEN TAUNTING ME THROUGH OTHER PEOPLE'S MESSAGING DEVICES. PCG: AND LEAVING ME DISTURBING NOTES.

Unlike Terezi, Karkat's immediately able to recognize that these notes are Gamzee’s handiwork. Presumably, Gamzee can’t cast his Rage glamour if he’s not in the vicinity, so Karkat actually understands what’s going on.

PCG: I'M STARTING TO THINK PCG: THAT THIS MUST BE A DOOMED TIMELINE PCG: THAT'S WHY I CAN'T GET IN TOUCH WITH ANYONE PCG: THEY MUST BE DROPPING LIKE BEHEMOTH LEAVINGS OUT THERE. PCG: AND THAT MUST BE WHY PCG: FUTURE KANAYA WAS TALKING IN THIS MEMO PCG: BUT NOW SHE'S DEAD…

I don’t think this is really a doomed timeline, since events haven’t actually diverged from the Alpha. It certainly looks like one, though, so Karkat can be forgiven for his misconception.

It’s also notable that he thinks his inability to contact Jade is further evidence of his doom. This feels like further evidence for my theory that doomed timelines can’t communicate with any other dimensions.

[tonalwhiplash]

PROJECT EDEN'S GARDEN SPOILERS!

Chapter 1 spoilers

Theory concerning wolfgang's whole deal

Okay so like. His mom's mega dead, right?

"Whoa! Back up! Where the fuck did you get that from?"

Alright sit down, lemme show you something.

Remember the prolouge?

I sure didn't! So I rewatched it!

Take a look.

Wolfgang freaked out over Wenona claiming that Cara was the aggressor, implying her murder was justifiable.

At the time, Damon along with all of us just assumed he was being a lawyer about it and had put himself on the side of the injured party. But I don't think it was that simple.

I think he was having an episode. The only evidence for this in the prologue itself is the in-game acknowledgment that Wolfgang's arguments had shifted to being based on emotion alone. It's literally used for a tutorial!

And he says himself in his FTEs that he doesn't normally conduct himself that way in an actual courtroom. So his freak out wasn't his standard, but he doesn't give a straight answer for why he acted how he did.

But chapter 1 as a whole gave us what was necessary to start connecting some dots.

Have a look.

The blackmail Damon got. The photo of Wolfgang's parents.

Look at his mom.

Now look at Cara.

By no means are they identical, wolfgang's mother has a mole on her face, which Cara lacks, but I want you to note the hair and eye color specifically. Keep it in mind.

Now let's look at the back of the card.

"Like father, like son"

"Beneath a sheep's skin hides a wolfish mind"

The game sorta hands you a part of this. Wolfgang's father did something bad. Something that, allegedly, Wolfgang either has repeated or simply had the capacity to do himself eventually.

So what did Wolfgang's father do?

That much isn't told to us, but from Wolfgang's hallucination induced meltdown, I have an idea.

I think wolfgang's father killed his mother.

Let's get into it.

Starting with his hallucinatory episode.

When Wolfgang initially sees Diana, I think he sees his mother. The way he talks. The way he apologizes to her and calls himself a failure for not being like her. We learn in his FTEs that his mother is the only other lawyer in the family and his sole reason for becoming one himself.

However, when Diana walks over and takes his hand, he switches and becomes angry and violent. Going as far as to attack her with a knife.

I think, when Diana grabbed his hand, either something she said or something she did caused the hallucination to switch from a vision of his mother to the vision of his father.

Suddenly he's no longer sad when he says he's not like the person he thinks he's speaking to. Suddenly he's smiling at the fact he's "not like them." Because he's talking to his father now.

He wants to be like his mother and never wants to be like his father.

The line "bring her back" implies that his father, the person he was hallucinating in Diana's place, took his mother away from him.

And the reason I think that's it, relates back to his smaller scale meltdown during the test trial.

Wolfgang started talking about how it was inexcusable to kill a woman.

Though that could be chalked up to chivalry or what have you, I think there's a much more personal reason as to why he felt so strongly about it.

Because his father's actions were inexcusable.

They weren't self defense.

And witnessing a dead woman who bares resemblance to his late mother be accused of deserving it may have struck a nerve.

The killer for the mock trial had no identity given, making it all the easier for Wolfgang to project his father, or a man like him, onto that blank stand in.

I can paint a scene

Wolfgang in the courtroom as a child, maybe even a witness to the murder, watching as the defense lawyer for his father makes every excuse in the book for him. Claiming that his mother was the aggressor, that she had a weapon, that his father had no choice but to "defend himself" from her attacks.

While, in reality, Wolfgang had seen a very different situation play out. Whether he spoke up and was dismissed for being "too young" or was unable to properly testify due to the traumatic experience that is simply being in a courtroom at all, he was unable to bring his father to justice.

He was unable to do right by his mother.

I think that'd be a pretty good motivator to practically race into law school as a teenager. To become the ultimate lawyer at 22 years old. So he could make up for his previous failures.

I think Wolfgang has been carrying a heavy burden from a very young age. And to return to the "like father like son" comment, I'm willing to call that a misdirection. I think when Wolfgang is implied to have "a wolfish mind beneath sheep's skin" or " being a wolf in sheep's clothing," the actual truth is that he's a deeply emotionally scarred person who has no choice but to force a facade of stability and confidence to push though it all for the sake of those around him and his goals. Basically, he's masking.

So, technically, just like his father, Wolfgang is a mentally troubled man pretending to be okay. And the kidnappers used that misdirection to imply he had sinister intention for pretending just like his father had pretended to be a man his mother could trust. When in reality, their motivations could not be any more different.

Or maybe I'm just being silly. Teehee! 🧡

And a small side note. The word "wolfish" implies intentions other than violence.

Lust, hunger, and greed mostly. Though, I'm willing to sidestep those options cuz Tozu is absolutely the kind of bitch to reword a common phrase to make it sound more flowery only to unintentionally imply some nasty shit.

Wolfgang gives no tells towards being a creep. Not a single Freudian slip left that man's mouth. Not even in FTEs. Grace would have been the killer for chapter 1 if he was like that. They literally shared a bed. And, despite their cute dynamic, if the two had actually done anything canonically, we'd get more obvious tells in the game. Those walls were shown to be pretty damn thin...

There's a bit more under the hood of this theory, but this post is big enough, and all other supporting information requires enough explanation and red string to justify their own posts.

So stay tuned for:

• Further theorizing about wolfgang

• And the possible parallels between wolfgang's hallucinatory episode and Eva's execution

[lucygraysboy]

“sugar pie,” the cowboy echoes with a laugh, thinking they should put that on the posters. billy the kid, known also as sugar pie. “i guess that explains it all. sundance! did you hear that?” he playfully calls out, glancing over his shoulder towards the white horse who seems to be ignoring him completely, munching on some grass spiced with wildflowers. “you better eat your veggies or you’re gonna shrink.” obviously, that’s not how it works, but since her theory makes little sense to begin with, why shouldn’t he add to it? “that’s insane, right? what kind of fairytale is it? and the woman that he marries? she claims to be the one who saved him from drowning just ‘cause she found him on the beach. but the mermaid saved him.” the author of that story must have been drunk while writing it, labeling it as a book for children. “that’s what i’ve been thinkin’, too. he was only a pretender. real princes don’t act like that.” eyes gleaming with amusement when lucy gray seems to be just as appalled by the plot twist as he is, he finds it comforting, knowing they can relate. “alright, but you be careful.” he reluctantly lowers her down, making sure she can reach the bottom of the lake with her feet and stand comfortably before letting go. “oh, i get to be the ship, too? alright, i’ll name her… the ranger. and i’ll be prince,” he hesitates for a moment, trying to come up with a good, suitable name, thinking about all the other books that his ma used to read him and all the fictional princes, “tristan.” like the one from tristan and isolde. “rainmist is a beautiful name. rainmist and tristan,” he muses in approval, stifling a grin and clearing his throat as he gets into character, too. “oh, no! the rocks! the rocks are too big! how could we not see them? we’re gonna crash!” billy calls out, struggling to refrain from laughing. his problems non-existent. it seems as though they were the only two people in the world. “we’re gonna crash!” he takes a deep breath and dives under the surface, arms outstretched to locate lucy gray. his fingertips brush against her leg and he gently bumps into her belly, making sure not to actually knock her over. 

“i promise, sugar pie.” lucy gray happily speaks, patting his chest gently. finding it adorable of him. “i know it, i guess i didn’t eat as much of veggies as you.” soft laughter escapes her, knowing all that comes down to genes. he must have had a tall dad or mom, she wonders which. “what?? the prince marries someone else?” shocked— she didn’t expect to hear that at all, what a plot twist to the story she didn’t even see coming. “he wasn’t a true prince at all, then.” quite the opposite to her. “alright, you be the pirate prince and i’m the mermaid with a hurt tail fin. who jumps in an’ saves me,” the brunette agrees, grinning in amusement. “that’s terrible, that poor girl deserved better. not did one thing happen bad, but a million more and she watched the love of her life marry someone else before dissolving into foam. heartbreakin’.” she’d like to have a word with that author, that wasn’t even necessary. what’s wrong with him or her? “i’ll hop off your back now before you go in too far…” lucy gray instructs, letting her legs go from his waist, “you swim by me and then you bump into me. you can be the ship first. then you’ll be a prince once i need savin’.” she grins, slipping into the water waist deep where she can still feel the ground. then she sits down, water coming up to her chin now, “i’m a mermaid named rainmist, brushing my hair.” getting into character, brushing her fingers through her locks. putting her feet together, splashing her ‘tail fin’. “out here, enjoying this warm almost summer day.” humming a song, waiting for ship billy to come by and knock her off her pretend rock.

[creatingblackcharacters]

Hello! Sending it here again:

I play an mmo game which recently had a big character model update, it's still not perfect but we're getting there! They're sharing behind the scenes work on curly hairstyles, for example, which just... weren't there for the longest time. Oh the beauty of scandinavian white-centering... (sarcasm)

anyway, I'm from eastern-central Europe, I play on eastern Europe servers. Seeing someone with a character that's not white is... pretty rare, honestly. So rare that when I do see someone using a character that's clearly meant to be a POC, they're very often roleplaying. Recently I saw a player whom I know for a fact is white, as I know them irl (we're not friends, don't even talk much but I know what they look like) and their character used to be white too before the big update.

So my question is, does that count as digital blackface, and what even is the consensus on digital blackface as a whole? I used to be in a facebook group about unlearning racism (used to because it got deleted after some admin drama, I think? If anyone knows a similar group, let me know please) and there, most Black members agreed that if someone is white, they shouldn't be using Black emojis for example (the topic of mmos never came up, I think). I don't remember the exact reasoning but I think it was the same explanation as actual blackface. But then there were some Black people saying it's going too far and we should be focusing on "actual issues" instead. I know that's to be expected, I'm trans and I know all too well that a community is not a monolith. But seeing the player reminded me that I don't actually know that much about it, and I've seen you educate people before. I hope it's okay that I'm asking you, I'd love to do some further research as well though (I love learning things, I just also don't yet trust myself to find actually good sources).

I hope this ask makes sense, english is not my first language and all. So if I wrote something wrong, please assume I meant well, as I still don't know how to word things properly in english sometimes.

Thank you for doing what you do, btw. I really appreciate having someone compile everything like you do here, it's one of my favorite creative blogs on here.

Okay so I sat on this one for a minute to make sure my answer wouldn't change.

1) there is no one consensus. White people don't agree on everything, neither do we 😅. This would just be my opinion.

2) I definitely don't think you should be using Black emojis if you're a white person, no. That's overt Blackfacing. DEFINITELY don't pretend to be Black if you aren't!!

3) for me, I think designing your characters as Black for online play can be okay in theory, as long as you're coming at it respectfully. Like, I'd have to trust that you actually wanted to learn how to play as someone that didn't look like you, that you actually cared about Black character features and presence in games as a whole. Especially on a game where you get to design the character, versus when you're forced to play as a Black person. It's hard to trust the intentions of white people online, especially when far more often than not the good intent is just... Not there 😅. So for me, if someone asks you why you designed your character, be ready to answer, answer truthfully and answer well! If you're playing as a Black character design because "big tough guy" or "big dommy mommy" yeah you're just digital Blackfacing amongst other racist issues. But if you actually have good intent, and are willing to learn, then you'll be able to stand on that when confronted.

And again- that's just my opinion! I would listen to other voices on it as well.

[dawnfelagund]

Back in 2019, I wrote a blog post called The Inequality Prototype. As part of it, I counted a bunch of stuff related to the Valar and looked at how those metrics differed based on gender. At the time, I thought it would be interesting to extend this work over the entire Silmarillion, namely looking at who speaks in the text and who doesn't. For Tolkien Meta Week, I began this work and am collecting my analyses related to it here. It is very much still a work in progress and will likely take me years to complete, but I'm going to post interesting data as I discover it.

This project, like all of my data projects, is available to use under a CC license for others who want to play with the data: View the data | Copy the data | Methodology, progress, etc.

---

Dialogue does not occur evenly across The Silmarillion. While a little over 5% of the words in The Silmarillion as a whole are used in dialogue, this is very unevenly distributed across the chapters, with some chapters about half dialogue and six chapters containing no dialogue at all.

There is a lot more work to be done to tease out trends and patterns that might have some meaning, but just glancing at the graph above, some of those patterns do begin to emerge. First, dialogue increases as The Silmarillion progresses. In the second half of the book (calculated by chapter, not page or word count), only two chapters have no dialogue and only four chapters (inclusive of those two without dialogue) fall below the median of 5.3% dialogue. Put another way:

In the first half of chapters, 71% of chapters are below the median.

In the second half of chapters, 29% of chapters are below the median.

Why is this? My tentative theory is that we see the book moving from the realm of the mythic—from events that are passed down through the oral tradition and ancient written traditions—and into the historical, where the narrator has a greater array of sources, including eyewitness testimony, and begins to write with greater immediacy rather than the arm's-length style of myth and ancient history.

What I am curious about: As I dig deeper into these data, will I see this theory bear out in which episodes or characters/groups are granted actual dialogue? In other words, will characters and peoples lost to the mists of time speak less, as I would expect? Or will the type of dialogue (e.g., a formal speech that may have been preserved vs. an extempore conversation that would not) vary based on narrative distance? I have documented in the past that the narrator of The Silmarillion uses the "it is said/told/sung" construction more with characters who are less accessible, so there is evidence that Tolkien manipulated writing style based on what his narrators' access to various sources. Does he use dialogue similarly to communicate that "mythic distance"?

There are also chapters that are more expository in purpose (Valaquenta, "Of Beleriand and Its Realms") that do not contain dialogue. Without digging deeper into the chapters themselves, most of those without dialogue that aren't similarly expository are chapters where the material would be less accessible to Pengolodh as a narrator. Whether this bears added scrutiny remains to be seen!

Finally, in discussing these data on the SWG's Discord, polutropos noticed something interesting, which is that the chapter with the most dialogue—"Of Aulë and Yavanna," where almost 57% of the words of the chapter are given over to dialogue—was not in fact written by Tolkien. As document by Douglas Charles Kane in his book Arda Reconstructed, "This chapter is completely manufactured by Christopher, though using his father's own writings" (page 54). Where Kane usually includes a chart pointing to the source for each bit of The Silmarillion, his chapter on "Of Aulë and Yavanna" contains no such chart because, while he is able to document where ideas came from, Christopher actually wrote the chapter.

Interestingly, "Of the Noldor in Beleriand" is the chapter with the second most dialogue and, according to Kane, "The changes made in this chapter are among the smallest anywhere in the published text" (page 154). So Tolkien does sometimes write dialogue-heavy chapters—though without data to back me up (yet! it's coming!), most of that dialogue appears to come in the form of lengthier speeches, not necessarily the debate/conversation format of Of Aulë and Yavanna."

The biggest impact of the dialogue-heavy "Of Aulë and Yavanna," I suspect, will emerge as I dig more into the data on gender and who speak in The Silmarillion. Yavanna is one of the women who speaks the most in The Silmarillion, but almost all of her dialogue occurs in this chapter. If this chapter is constructed by Christopher, how does that impact the amount of speech women are permitted by Tolkien? Polutropos' observation spurred me to plan to document the source of the various dialogue sections: Are they original to Tolkien's writings or added? Kane, interestingly, is critical of Christopher Tolkien in Arda Reconstructed for what he perceives as Christopher removing women characters from the text. In this instance, we see a significant example of the opposite: a woman's role is not only expanded, but she is given an opportunity to speak.

[rosystardust]

Okay, so this has been bothering me pretty much since I first saw good omens. So Crowley said that he hung around the wrong people, like Lucifer, and that he fell because he questioned God. And he didn't seem to need any convincing to question God when he first met Aziraphale. So that makes me question; When did Crowley fall?

He questioned God, we know that's the reason he fell, and he probably did it with Lucifer's encouragement. But Crowley didn't say anything about rebelling, as far as I remember. So knowing all of that, it makes me think that Crowley was the first to fall. He said "I only ever asked questions" in season one. That sorta makes it seem like he fell right after he questioned God.

Crowley was an important angel, he made the universe, he must have been. I think that's why a lot of people headcanon him as Raphael, because he had to be important. And so if Crowley did fall first, the archangels would probably immediately cover it up, so no one would know, because again, Crowley must have been a high ranking angel, and so he has a lot of expectations placed on him. If people knew he fell, when he was supposed to be especially perfect, then that would be bad.

So to me, this makes sense. I think Crowley met Lucifer after he met Aziraphale, and Lucifer encouraged him to question God, and so he did, and then he fell. And Lucifer wouldn't actually know what happened to him, so he wouldn't know that rebellion means falling, so he would still do it.

Also I think that God had a reason to make Crowley fall. Because unlike everyone else, it seems like he never did anything actually wrong. There are other headcanons, or theories I guess, that God made Aziraphale and Crowley for each other. And let's be completely honest, if Crowley was an angel, they would not have spent that much time together because Crowley already had an important job and wouldn't be able to spend time on Earth with Aziraphale.

What I think would have happened is God sorta daydreaming about Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship, and how perfect it would be. But then she'd be like "Oh fuck, I gave them different jobs, they can't spend time with each other. Wait, Crowley is curious enough to go to Earth willingly. And I did make him a mischievous little bastard... I know, he can be a demon. That way I can send Aziraphale to wherever he is on Earth and they can spend time together. Problem solved." And Crowley questioning was just a convenient excuse to make him fall.

[burning-an-indifferent-hell]

"It's not complex at all, like all male violence." Not complex at all, simply male violence, and yet here you are jumping through hoops like Charlie Kelly drawing lines on a clue wall trying to justify a connection to irrelevant trans people. No, trans people have not eroded any rights away from women or girls in Pakistan contributing to this situation. You are seriously deluded if you honestly believe this.

"And I didn't say that. Your disingenuous reduction to absurdity of what I said—" There is no reduction fallacy and that's not even how the reduction to absurdity works in the first place. You clearly stated that trans people are relevant to this issue and that the issue is ongoing because trans people have stripped international women of protections. That's just a bogus fucking lie that can't be backed up with any evidence.

"Not radical feminists." Yes, radical feminists. You think I'm not familiar with your kind and the kinds of contradictory political alliances you form? I've been interacting with you types for over a decade. I was one of the most well-known GC activists on the web for years, thousands of you have reblogged my posts, circulated them on other sites, and you even still try to rehash the same busted old arguments that I popularized on here against me as if I've never heard the shit before. Countless radfems and GC types have distanced themselves from the movement because of how toxic, single-issued, and obsessively hateful towards trans people it is, not to mention how racist, homophobic, and generally antisocial your kind is in private group chats and servers.

"And if you read them, you'd know." I've read quite a lot of radical feminist literature and that's why I ascribe to materialist feminism and don't believe your kind has any business calling yourselves radfems in the first place. You lack the dialectical approach, nuance, and revolutionary impact of the historic radical feminism movement, you're just the reactionary anti-trans movement.

"And if you read them, you'd know. As it is, you but regurgitate the liberal party line." Ah yes, liberals, well known for being anti-"transcendental-idealism, sex essentialism, and idpol" and advocating a "Marxian/materialist and intersectional approach to sex-based oppression". /s Of course you wouldn't comprehend basic philosophical terms or political nuance. Dumbass.

"70% of trans-identified inmates are imprisoned for sexual assault, 40% with more than one instance." Nothing but lies regurgitated straight from that idiot JKR and her far-right puppeteers at The Telegraph, etc. Funnily enough I already knew you would bring up this exact claim and was waiting to link this article:

Are 50% of Trans Women in Prison Sex Offenders? The Transphobic Myth That Refuses to Die

No, the conservative right just exaggerates and lies, and radfems are easily manipulated into believing it because they lack the analytical capability to see through it. The results of your kind's statistics are always based on poorly sampled, misrepresented data intended to draw a conclusion that isn't actually the case. And unsurprisingly always sourced from your far-right collaborators.

"And your pantomime of trying to convince yourself radical feminists have, directly or indirectly, contributed to anti-abortion legistlation is as laughable as actual conservatives' fear mongering of us as desiring to have abortions as a hobby." Hardly. You idiots campaigning as a vanguard to spread anti-trans/anti-queer rhetoric is EXACTLY why many throughout the world have adopted these ignorant beliefs and become hostile towards LGBT people, equating "gender theory" to pedophilia, warming up to conservative conspiracy theories, and supporting the populist right.

"You could say the same for radical feminism, except rules for thee but not for me." First of all, comprehend that one is a political movement with core beliefs and tenets whereas the other is simply a people who can believe anything. Secondly, no you couldn't say the same when I've made it clear multiple times to you and your friend that I distinguish the contemporary "radfem" movement from traditional radical feminism as well as material feminism, which I support, but you ignore that because all you're capable of is deflection and attacking a straw man argument.

"We always have—" No, what you do is treat liberal-individualism as inseparable from the existence of trans people or the belief that their welfare matters.

"but TRAs do exactly that to us, in response. Vilify us and categorize our criticism of gender and our sex-based advocacy as personal persecution of themselves." You're vilified as persecutors because you sell out in support of hostile legislation and form alliances with groups who are openly sadistic and violent towards them.

"—reads precisely as the gaslighting it is." More of that projection. Deflect, lie, gaslight, project, attack straw man, repeat.

Trans activists:

'Woman is an identity and a social construct'

Planet Earth:

[communist-ojou-sama]

Is there such a thing as civilization, though, beyond the most general "when people come together to form a society"?

It seems like most uses of the term "civilization" that I run across are just attempts to place some kinds of societies above others on a nebulous scale of 'complexity'.

Oh you're totally right, this is actually kind of the point I'm emphasizing when I say "white devils know nothing of civilization" ultimately, the word civilization, or مدنية, or 文明, or what have you, are by their very nature moral terms with inherently subjective, moral content. There is no objective basis by which anyone can disprove anyone else's definition of civilization, this is why historical materialists only speak of "societies" and never "civilizations" when they write serious theory

[blueteller]

I can answer that! I mean, I have a solid theory. There were 2 factors at play here.

First, I think it was because it took 15 years for civilization to rebuild properly, and the internet was probably down for some of that time, if not most of it. Also, people probably did not even get much access to personal devices like smartphones and PCs during that period. Basically, technology had a rough phase and it played in favor of KRS's own desire for anonymity.

Secondly, there was a certain curse stuck to KRS which had the interesting side-effect of making sure he could not get TOO successful and famous, because that would make him loved; which is the opposite of being stuck alone in misfortune. From what I can tell, KRS did a pretty great job going against the curse, but there was still that distance he kept from others (which, as I once explained in a certain theory of mine, I believe was something he did on purpose, even if unconsciously - to protect others from the curse). So even if KRS was actually a super important figure known to all of politicians of South Korea, it meant that the public was kept in the dark about the identity of the man who made most of their public security possible.

Meanwhile, in the Roan Kingdom, neither of those factor are at play anymore. The technology of communication might not be as advanced (seeing as not everyone can use magic orbs, only magicians and the rich), but magic replaces internet well enough for Cale's fame to spread far and wide, with no curse standing in its way.

Which is why, ironically, this is something Cale is completely helpless against now. Because his old habits dictate that SURELY, people will simply forget about him and let him fade into the background once the conflict is over!! ...Right? I mean, that's what happened in Korea, right? Why would it be any different now? 🤔

...That poor unlucky bastard lol

In a magical fantasy setting that mirrors the medieval europe of earth Cale managed to get his legends both recorded and live streamed for the world to see. How tf did the general public of Korea not know of Kim Roksoo? Like??? How did he manage to remain lowkey in the age of internet? It doesn't make any sense!!

[gachagon]

Concerning your theory on Desmond protecting Eloise and knowing her from before the killing game, I think I found something that could be used as evidence for that.

During his introduction in chapter 0, Desmond phrases the fact he never killed anybody in a specific manner : he says

"I only practice on stationary targets. Moving targets are really outside my comfort zone. Believe me, I've never taken a human life."

He never denies having shot somebody, he only says that he never killed someone, and that he doesn't like moving targets.

That seems to be in accord with the theory that Desmond is protecting somebody from before the killing game, as a bodyguard might not have to do any murdering, simply incapacitating any threats.

As for who he protects, I think the scene where Desmond bring attention to the broken locks.

Eloise is quick to understand what Desmond is doing, defending his decision in front of everyone, saying

"I think I get what he's trying to say. You just want to everyone to be honest with each other... so we can cover all our bases... right?"

afterward, Eloise reacts to both Toshiko attempts to choose herself the pairs, and to Ingrid saying they should separate by gender.

While Desmond can keep his calm as it was already established that he was good staying composed, but Eloise, as is shown in her Free time events.

I would also like to hear your opinion on the theory that the organizers of the killing game are previous ultimates. I think we can prove two, and extrapolate two more.

I think Tozu is clearly the ultimate actor, or maybe playwright. He is quite theatrical, and he often makes literary references, from Horace to the bible. He also, in a Inner World (the scenes when Damon sleeps, taking the place of the monokuma theater), he said :

"that's what we in the industry like to call a "cliffhanger"."

Which implies he is from an industry that uses that term, so some form of media.

Mara is most likely an ultimate soldier, or similar, as she uses guns, and dresses similarly to Mukuro.

The two we can extrapolate don't have name, and one doesn't have any known talent.

The one we don't know anything about is the one mentioned in the Inner world about ships. Tozu mentions a "spindly boy with cream-colored hair". I think he is also part of the killing game organizer, even if we know nothing about him, simply because he is described physically.

The second we can extrapolate is the previous ultimate debater. In Wenona's Free time events, we learn that there was an ultimate debater before Damon, who was also more accomplished than him. I think he is part of the killing game organizers mainly because it would fit the theme, as a previous debater but with a more "important" or "real" talent than Damon.

Oh wow I did not think there'd be more evidence to support the idea of Desmond and Eloise being in some form of alliance, but the more clues people bring up the more I'm kind of convinced of it as well. I also noticed that when Desmond said he'd never "killed anyone", he didn't explicitly say he's never actually shot at a moving target, just that he's not that great at it (which I don't believe lol how could you be the Ultimate Marksman if you can't actually hit a moving target?)

However, I think the point in your second theory could have something to do with it. Damon mentions that nowadays the title of Ultimate is just "given to anyone" and has kind of lost it's meaning. And when you think about it, it makes sense when you really examine each character and how they use their talent. Damon is a debater, but he rarely uses it to argue for himself, choosing to instead use it to argue in favor of other people's points.

Eva was the Ultimate Mathlete, but she was clearly good at other things besides math. So if she wanted to, why didn't this Ultimate talent program give her a different title, or one that could encompass all of her actual talents?

Kai is the Ultimate Influencer, but a lot of the people there don't recognize him at all.

Ulysses is the Ultimate Historian but he doesn't even remember everything, and has to write most of it down.

They all are stuck with a talent but either aren't as great at it as you'd expect, or have something holding them back from really excelling in said talent. I wonder if this Killing Game is being put on by truly great Ultimates who lost their titles to the current cast of characters? Imagine you work hard for god knows how long to get recognition, but you lose it all because some kid who's not even that great at it becomes better anyways lol

And from the way Eva described it, being an Ultimate really dictates how people see you in this society. She wrote a lot of papers on other subjects but they were all ignored because "She's the Ultimate Mathlete" and that's all.

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

its been a while since i read the books but i’ve been enticed by the jaimecat agenda that’s been rising by cat’s detailed attention to gorgeous people. it actually got me thinking about why cat hasn’t said anything about rhaegar’s inhuman beauty knowing how revered he was for it, but then.. i tried to remember anything involving cat or the other tullys at the tourney at Harrenhal at all??

i initially infered that some tullys had to be present but it’s strange because george never mentions it once but also none of cat’s pov have any recollections of the event. after all, she met ned at their wedding and had she attended the tourney, she would’ve met him there. but it’s also weird because harrenhal is riverland territory with the tullys as their liege lords and catelyn’s mom being a whent, herself. i’m of the belief it might have had to do with the lannisters but would it not have been seen as a slight by the whents for the tullys to not attend the tourney? i don’t think anything infers that any of them were there and while there’s nothing proving they weren’t either, i can’t imagine george not including such a detail for a house like theirs. so the more i start thinking about it, the more i’m confused—- is this another George forgot incident?? or is there some validity to their absence?

if so, would it still have been smarter for them to have attended anyway? hoster tully is ambitious, and with so many houses at the tourney it’s crazy to imagine he let this opportunity slide.

As far as we know, none of the Tullys attended the Tourney at Harrenhal. GRRM did not forget (???), there is validity to their absence.

Common theory is that it was due to Hoster being offended about Jaime rejecting Lysa's hand by joining the Kingsguard (which was publicly known, it's recorded in TWOIAF). And since the ceremony for Jaime's induction into the Kingsguard would be happening at Harrenhal, Hoster refused to have himself or his daughter subjected to stares and whispers during the event. (Hoster Tully's pride is stronger than his ambition, easily -- compare Tywin Lannister, who is also ambitious, yet refused to attend the tourney for the same reason.) Though it's possible that Hoster did send some household knights or relatively significant representative so not to appear to be slighting his kinsmen/bannermen.

You can see my fuller discussion of the subject here.

[rypnami]

The Yule Ball

happy christmas everyone! this is the last part for now of my yule ball posts for @leaping-toadstool-caps 's event. as mentioned in my headcanons post (found here), leander spends most of the night working up the courage to ask his sebastian to dance. i decided for my christmas post, i should write what happens next. enjoy!

this is not proofread at all and is a bit of a mess but its fine we ball

(outfit post here)

word count: a lot probably i didn't actually count

mentioned mcs: phillip prewett (mine), jaimsen hisui @leaping-toadstool-caps odysseus carrow @saibugslegacy amberlyn salters @ps-cactus

Leander isn't sure why he came to the ball.

He thinks he must look like the biggest knob alive, coming without a date, loitering around as a third wheel to his older brother and his boyfriend, and then going to hide in the corner and stuff his face with chocolate frogs. Surrounded by happy couples, or groups of friends who came to have a good time, he feels even worse. Last week, he had almost gotten it together to ask Sebastian to go with him, but had gotten too anxious and practically run away.

Unwrapping another chocolate frog, he hardly glances at the card as he drops it in the pile and shoves the whole thing in his mouth head-first. If he's going to be a lonely bastard, at least he's doing so with sweets. The decorations around the Great Hall are brilliant, too. Tall, icy trees, enchanted snow falling gently from the ceiling, which looks like a winter sky, and baubles galore along the walls. Jaimsen really outdid himself, setting this all up. At least there is something to look at other than all the couples dancing.

"You!"

Leander jumps.

Jaimsen comes up to him, arms crossed. "No being sad at my ball!"

"I'm not sad-"

"Don't lie to me, Prewett."

"Not my fault," Leander protests, even though it most certainly is. "You know, it's statistically proven that depression is worse around the holidays, so naturally at leas one person here would be-"

"Spare us all the lecture. I'm begging." Phillip seems to materialise beside them, Odysseus in tow, and throws his arm over Leander's shoulders.

"I'm right, though."

"If you're truly that distraught about it, why not ask him to dance?" Odysseus says.

Jaimsen nods. "That's an excellent idea."

Leander shrugs Phillip's arm off and takes a step away. "I- what- who are you... talking about?" They can't know, can they?

The other three boys seem to roll their eyes in unison. "Sebastian, of course," Phillip says, as though it's the most obvious thing in the world.

He might die from humiliation. "Why- what- why- why would I ask Sebastian to dance?!" He stammers.

"Everyone knows you fancy him."

"You follow him everywhere. You're like a puppy."

"Whenever he's around, whatever minimal braincells you have seem to evaporate."

"You almost cried when that rumour about him coming with Adair was going around."

"And-"

"That's quite enough!" Leander cuts them all off, his face almost as red as his dress robes. "You've all made your point!"

"So ask him!" Phillip says. "Stop pouting in the corner."

"How?"

"Like this." Odysseus stands on his toes to match Leander's height and starts doing an awful impression of his voice. "Sebastian, would you like to dance with me?" He drops back down to his normal height. "Easy."

"Very easy," Jaimsen agrees.

Well, fine, it sounds easy in theory, but so had asking Sebastian to be his date, and that had not gone well. Excuse. Excuse. Think of an excuse why you can't.

"I would, but... Sebastian is busy. With Ominis." Although he's been trying not to, every time Leander has searched through the crowd for Sebastian, he's been talking to Ominis. He is definitely not jealous and is not watching in case someone else should ask him to dance.

"It's your lucky day, then," Phillip points across the hall. Sebastian is standing just to the side of the dance floor, watching as Ominis takes Amberlyn Salters by the arm and leads her out to dance. "It seems Mr Gaunt is occupied."

"Oh. Yay."

"So go talk to him."

Before he can protest, the trio is practically dragging him across the floor, Leander stammering half-formed excuses the entire way. Phillip shoves Leander in Sebastian's direction, then the three scamper off, giggling.

"Leander, hello!" Sebastian says as Leander almost trips into him. "I was just wondering if you were here."

Leander is at a loss for words. From far away, it was hard to see, but up close he feels like he can't breathe. Sebastian is wearing a dark green velvet tuxedo jacket and matching dress pants. His typically unruly brown hair is combed and must have a gallon of product in it to keep it down, but there are still a few strands sticking out here and there.

He looks positively gorgeous.

Next to him, Leander must look like a toad wearing a suit.

"Er, yes, I've been, you know, with my brother and his boyfriend..." He hopes there's no chocolate smudged on his face... too late to worry about that now.

"No dancing?"

"No. I came without a date." Saying it out loud feels like an exercise in humiliation, honestly. “No one asked me… and I dunno, asking someone was…”

“Intimidating?” Sebastian suggests.

Leander nods. “I… suppose so, yes.”

“I didn’t come with anyone, either.”

“You didn’t ask someone?” What’s more surprising to Leander is that no one asked Sebastian. He’s easily the prettiest boy in school (in his opinion, anyway) and he’s well-liked by most everyone. With that suit on, too, it’s a wonder half the students here aren’t tripping over themselves to dance with him.

"I didn't. I was asked by a few people, but I turned them down. I was rather hoping someone specific would invite me. They never did." Sebastian absently picks at his silver cufflinks, seeming to get lost in thought.

"Then they're an idiot." Leander says simply.

"Think so?"

Leander snorts. "Of course. Anyone would be lucky to go to a ball with you." Was that too forward? That was too forward, wasn't it..

"You flatter me," Sebastian sighs and mock swoons.

He has no idea why he was so petrified at the idea of talking to Sebastian- they are friends, and even with the 'my-brother-and-his-friends-are-peer-pressuring-me-into-asking-him-to-dance' thing, it's no different from when they chat in class, or study together in the library. Perhaps asking for a dance will be okay. At the least, it won't be the end of the world... right?

“Sebastian. I-“ I really like you. I've always really liked you. No, that's too much. I'm letting the silence go on too long. Say something say something SAY SOMETHING.

“Yes?”

"I. I. Um."

Sebastian raises his eyebrows and tilts his head. "Are you feeling quite alright? You look a bit flush."

"Y-yes, I'm grand. Um." Sweat drips down Leander's temples. Sebastian will laugh at him, he'll look a fool, everyone will know what a failure he is... "Um." Merlin's beard, Prewett, just say the damn words! “Since neither of us… has a date…”

A few paces behind Sebastian, Phillip is watching the disaster. He smiles and gives Leander two thumbs up.

"Doyouwanttodancewithme?"

"...I'm sorry?" Sebastian says. “What?”

That's that. Leander wants to crawl into a hole and die. Of course Sebastian would never want to dance with him, of all people.

"N-no, I'm sorry, stupid idea. Sorry."

"Wait." Sebastian puts his hand on Leander's shoulder before he can walk away. "Don't be sorry, I simply didn't hear what you said."

"O-Oh."

Sebastian looks at him expectantly. No way to back out now.

"I, er, I was wondering if... I- no pressure, or anything, but it looks like it's the last dance of the evening, so I thought... um, perhaps you'd like to dance... with... me?"

A beat of silence that couldn't be more than a second, but feels like a century.

A grin spreads across Sebastian's face. "I was beginning to think you'd never ask."

A new song starts, and Sebastian offers his hand. "Shall we?" Leander takes it, blushing.

Sebastian's hands are warm, and he's got a firm grip. There are callouses on his palms, likely from how many firey spells he uses. Leander desperately tries not to focus on just how well Sebastian's suit jacket fits him, or how he smells a bit like lavender and bergamot. He hopes his own palms aren't sweating.

Silently, he thanks his mum for being willing to teach him how to waltz. If he hadn't spent the past several weeks practising relentlessly, he's certain he'd be stepping all over Sebastian's toes right now.

Sebastian puts his hand on Leander's waist as the dance starts, and he almost blacks out. Everything around them is like background noise- they might as well be the only people in the world as they sway across the dance floor.

"I- wanted to ask you to come as my date," Leander admits, smiling awkwardly. "Last week, after Charms. I was going to, but, uh..."

Sebastian chuckles, and the sound of it warms Leander's body more than even the strongest Butterbeer. "Is that why you ran off? Merlin, I thought you just really needed the loo."

Blood rushes to Leander's face again. "I see."

"Were you truly that nervous to ask me?"

“How could I not be?” They’re close enough now that he can almost count the freckles on Sebastian’s face, a welcome distraction from making direct eye contact. “You’re cute, and smart, and brilliant at magic." Leander chews his lip. "I'm not... any of that, so I suppose I didn't think I had a chance?"

"I was waiting for you to ask."

"You wanted- Me?"

Sebastian really laughs now, and the way the bridge of his nose crinkles as he does is so cute Leander almost has to physically fight the urge to kiss him right there. "Did you really not know? I've been dropping hints for ages!"

Oh. Honestly, that makes a lot of sense. "I... I suppose I wasn't paying close enough attention." Translation- I hoped you felt the same, but I didn't think I was good enough for you.

"Merlin, you're as thick as it gets." Sebastian teases.

Leander rolls his eyes. "Well perhaps you were unclear!" But he starts to laugh, too. He can't believe he had been so scared to do this not 15 minutes ago. In fact, now he's wishing he'd manned up sooner and asked Sebastian earlier in the night, so they could have more dances, and more time to talk about... whatever might be between them, now.

The music slowly comes to an end, and with it the dance. As they step apart, Sebastian bows low with a slight smirk. "Thank you for the dance, Mr Prewett."

"Thank you, Mr Sallow." Leander mirrors him. He hesitates for a moment. This is his first formal ball, and he's not really sure what he's supposed to do now. Walk him back to his dorm? Dance again? Get them something to drink? Before he can overthink too much-

"Would you look at that." Sebastian is pointing up.

Dangling above their heads is a sprig of mistletoe. A sprig of mistletoe that was definitely not there a moment ago. Leander swears he can head Phillip snickering nearby. Busybody.

"You know, I've heard that if you don't kiss under the mistletoe, it's bad luck," says Sebastian conversationally. "I'd normally say I don't believe it and go about my evening, but we've got a Potions exam coming up, and I dunno if I want to risk it."

"With my marks in Potions, I don't think I can risk a stroke of bad luck right now, either..."

Neither of them mention, of course, that said exam is almost two months away, and any superstitious bad luck would surely have worn off by then. Sebastian leans in and gently presses his lips to Leander's. It's quick, so much so that if you blinked you might miss it, but it is easily the highlight of Leander's evening.

Perhaps it's a good thing he came to the ball after all.

[bird-inacage]

While I'd like your theory to be true (as it comforts me!), my one major stumbling block is the scene from the trailer where Bison appears to be forcing Kant to jump off the boat at gunpoint - where do you see that fitting in? I know some ppl speculated it was an act to fake Kant's 'death', but tbh, given the personalised MO (Kant's fear of the ocean as known to Bison), I think it's much more likely to be real and part of Bison's revenge. Now, I have no doubt he'll jump straight in after him despite himself, but sadly I do think we will have to reach that nadir before any reconciliation...

Hey there Anon!

I know exactly the one you mean, and I've actually speculated about this a couple times. You can check out my EP1 meta here where I talk specifically about that scene in question. Now granted, my theory could be completely wrong, but ever since I caught it in the trailer, it doesn't seem to me as simple as: Bison forcing Kant to jump in at gunpoint.

Why I've always been convinced that there's more here than meets the eye is Bison looks surprisingly composed. The way he's holding his stance doesn't look like he's about to execute someone he has very conflicted feelings for. Yes, you could argue he's a professional killer so he would be able to do this stone cold dead. But if we recall Bison's reaction at the end of EP6, the boy is heartbroken and fuming. This is someone he went as far as to sabotage a mission for to save Babe, a mission that would have meant getting revenge on his parents' murderer. Therefore I'd picture him being far more emotionally stricken, anguished or unstable (e.g. remember the way Bison was behaving when he threatened James on the rooftop).

Then factor in that Bison knows about Kant's fear of drowning on top of that, and this would border on torture + death. If this was Bison's attempt to kill Kant for real, I can't imagine him standing so still.

So my theory is this is an act. Bison and Kant are performing. I haven't heard about the 'death fakeout theory' but that would be in a similar ballpark. As I wrote earlier, post EP7 Kant may have made enemies with both the police and Mother. The police if he defies Chris or actively obstructs them from catching Bison. Mother if she also finds out Kant was the informant. She'd have no mercy. So regardless of which is after Kant, something tells me they both planned this. It's risky nonetheless, as Bison doesn't know how badly Kant could panic in the water. But Bison has also coincidentally mentioned he's a strong swimmer. So he'll be the one to rescue Kant.

The other reason I heavily speculate over this scene is that any other moments we've gotten glimpses of from the beach (on set photos and clips) seem to be where Kant/Bison are rather fluffy. So something tells me this is a period of time where they lay low at Bison's hideout (as he suggested to Fadel in this episode), and it's part of Kantbison's plan post-reconciliation to try to escape for good.

But then again I've learnt since Only Friends that Jojo has a pattern of surprising me. So I can't wait to see how this unfolds!

Thank you for the ask! :)

---birdie

[ozfi]

okay, so. missing ace. fake blade fan, i know. plot in theory was incredible, but inoue definitely wrote it. wettest movie ive ever watched in my life. I think all my analysis was wiped from my head at 1:17:00. what the fuck. what the fuck.

more analytically. literal text. without hajime the main group does not stick together. drama cd? everyone knows each other, goes to jacaranda regularly, mutsuki and tachibana are even comrades at this point, hajime serves them pilaf. the only one who isnt is kenzaki. when kenzaki survives, everyone drifts apart. koutaro does not even visit his sister and niece. tachibana is totally absent. mutsuki and hirose try to be normal and fail. kenzaki is not happy.

im so glad that the movie addresses the idea that the riders feel empty after theres nothing left to fight for. that they felt more alive during the battle fight, that they want to run and have a normal life because that will never come back and they dont want it to come back but theyve never been that happy ever since and the feelings follow them like poison. they will never get to be normal, not like in the hajime end, where the others seem fairly well off, because they stick together. because they have people around them who understand and can support them through the rest of their lives without fighting and violence but camaraderie.

but despite the distance, you can see amane still trusts every single adult around her. she loves her mom, she goes with koutaro, she follows kenzaki, she trusts tachibana, even, to go with her into a scary tunnel, alone. amane is a good child, and she loves everyone around her. she feels isolated because hajime vanished, and also because the rest of the adults in her life have been absent- how would you know how she feels?! but kenzaki understands. more than anyone.

i also was very interested in how the new riders fought in tandem, very coordinated. we have no background on them, and i kind of wish the story went into how they were found and selected and why. but regardless, they work well together, and there was a stark difference between their fluid movements and the chaotic tumble of the original blade riders- not that theyre better for this! the blade riders got shit done! they just didnt have that teamwork... ever. which probably makes them more impressive?

the final battle made me sure the blade riders need to unionize. none of them are paid enough for this.

but . to the point. it was always going to happen. theres no escaping it. its one or the other. it would always be them. in the end its always them. if kenzaki didnt do it hajime would. kenzaki does it so hajime doesnt have to. but its for each other, somehow. this should be enough. isnt your job protecting humans. He understood all of amanes pain of missing hajime. every single. Whatever the fuck man

Can we plase jsugt. The sky and the sea. What the actual fuck did blade do to me

[throwawayasoiafaccount]

Frankly, I don’t agree with your conclusion.

The reality is that Rhaegar and Elia’s marriage was loveless (in a romantic sense) and was arranged by Aerys. There’s been much conjecture over why Aerys chose Elia and therefore Dorne, but most agree that it was a mix of reasons, three being that Elia had Targaryen blood, by marrying Rhaegar to Dorne Aerys could isolate Rhaegar’s growing power block, and it’d insult Tywin. Therefore we readers know this wasn’t a normal marriage. And GRRM, if I’m remembering correctly, called Rhaegar and Elia’s marriage a tragedy.

So, from what little we know it’s fairly easy to conclude that this marriage was not healthy for either party.

When people use the arranged marriage “excuse” they’re not really excusing anything, because they don’t attach the normal standards of marriage to this relationship. The way I see it, most arranged marriages are legal ways to buy and sell people for profit under the guise of marital sanctimony. So to me, both parties (Rhaegar and Elia) should have been able to have lovers outside of their arranged marriage, however, that was not possible because of the patriarchal standards women are unfairly expected to uphold and subject themselves to.

The only “cheating” I wouldn’t justify would be cheating between couples that actually fell in love. Therefore, your usage of Ned Stark to support your point actually doesn’t in my eyes as his and Catelyn’s marriage is love based. There is a clear difference here and equating their marriage to Rhaegar and Elia’s is doing a disservice to GRRM’s writing and any reader of ASOIAF.

To go over some of the other points you made 1) the idea that Rhaegar got with Lyanna specifically for the prophecy is bs that’s been consumed and regurgitated way too many times and has no standing as a legitimate theory if you actually read the books. 2) The idea that people would readily support Rhaegar and Lyanna’s relationship is iffy at best. You’re overstating the North’s standing and image as to many in the South the Northerners are nothing more than barbarians who worship tree gods. The only reason the North seems to have a better standing than Dorne at the moment is because of Ned and Cat’s relationships outside of the North. So no, the world wouldn’t just fall over at Lyanna’s feet and abandon Elia because of xenophobia. If anything, Lyanna and Jon would be the ones in need of protection. 3) Believing that Elia and her children’s lives would be in danger is, quite frankly, an unnecessary concern when taking into account Lyanna and Rhaegar’s personalities and the little we know about Rhaegar’s relationship with his children (he clearly loved them and had a good relationship with them).

To play the devil’s advocate for a sec, I want to say that I completely understand the distaste towards cheating and anything of it’s like. I really do understand why people take issue with Rhaegar and Lyanna’s relationship, however, when taking the entire situation into account I don’t believe that this actually qualifies as “cheating” as we know it, nor do I think it’s okay for stan’s to completely warp a character just because Rhaegar did something as human as falling in love outside of his arranged marriage.

Also, I as a reader love the complexity of this situation. I understand all parties and sympathize with all characters. Frankly, all three characters got the short end of the stick and it’s terrible, but I don’t think it’s the characters and their actions that need changing, I think it’s the volatile system that needs to be upended and rebuilt from the ground up.

Why do people in this fandom normalize an affair between Rhaegar and Lyanna?

Because Rhaegar’s marriage was arranged. So it means the reason for arranged marriage is an excuse for cheating and cheating with a highborn woman and running away with her?

Not like that. Just because the marriage was arranged doesn't make it an excuse to affair and run away with the other woman, especially to fulfill the prophecy.

If the three of them were still alive after the rebellion. And People knew the relationships between Rhaegar and Lyanna, the people would surely support them. Because Lyanna is from the North and she is the Stark. And that put Elia and her children's lives in danger. It can happen like the Blackfyre rebellion. Because a lot of people are racist and sentimental towards Dornish.

This fandom is sick of normalizing an affair between Rhaegar and Lyanna. But if happens to Ned Stark if he really has an affair or their other favorite character in the affair, they will be mad.