#also 'character saying this likes and understands character they're saying it to way more than the people parroting it'

[raayllum]

I get that in general a lot of kids shows do utilize the protagonists ('good guys') in ways where they're supposed to be role models, particularly because some do have a "lesson of the week" where the character does bad things, then clearly learns and explains what they should've done instead by the end of the episode.

That has just... never been how TDP has operated, and I don't get how and why people think we're supposed to take what anyone does in the show as being unilaterally good or evil. Particularly in arc 2; any moral simplicity that was hanging on by a thread in arc 1 has been taken out back and shot numerous times by now.

TDP very rarely calls anything Evil or Good, and when it does, it's always filtered through the characters' biases, and rarely does more then 2-3 characters ever have the same opinion on something for the same reasons. Soren and Rayla, who have inverted character arcs, are some of the only characters to ever use the term villain / good guys or bad guys, and are two of the most staunchly black-and-white thinking characters, heavily to their detriment, I might add, in terms of coping with the increasing complexity of their lives. They have cognitive biases. They're not always right, and are frequently wrong. This is true for everyone in the show.

The show refuses to condemn murder, indirectly and directly condemns the expulsion of humans from Xadia routinely (Evrkynd being a city for everyone, Ezran arguing with Karim, who is the most wrong about the most things), and shows a variety of viewpoints on all things.

The show understands that the choices people make—whether the same character trait is a flaw or a strength—as well as 'moral' choices are all circumstantial.

Are you wrong to burn people alive? Mostly yes (2x07, 6x08) but also no (3x09). Are you wrong to kill people? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes whether it's 'wrong' or 'right' doesn't even factor in. Are you wrong to use dark magic, or use the dangerous Staff of Ziard, or coin someone and condemn them to a 'fate worse than death'? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Is lying or hiding the truth to protect someone wrong? Sometimes yes (1x06, 2x03, 3x03, 5x01, 7x04, 7x06) sometimes no (1x02, 2x03, 6x06, 5x08, 7x08).

Are you doing the right thing?

Do you have no choice? Is that true, or is that just what you think, or how you rationalize it yourself?

When is it right or cowardly to leave (Viren, Lissa, Rayla, Callum, Ezran, the Cosmic Council, the offer made to Karim's troops)? When should you stay? When do you decide to share resources (2x05) to your potential detriment or withhold them in the name of protecting yourself and your own people (Xadia and magic)? At what point(s) do you prioritize your own pain and grief, or someone else's (i.e. the Keeper vs Callum vs Ezran)? At what point is someone too dangerous or 'too far gone' to keep alive (Runaan about Harrow, Ezran about Aaravos)? At what point do you decide someone cannot change? When do you refuse to change (Karim, Terry) who you are no matter what happens, and when do you decide that you must (Ezran, Soren)? When is it wrong to use illusions to trick someone (3x09 and 7x06) and when is it more reasonable (2x03)? When should you be willing to sacrifice others (Rayla with her family, Runaan and Rayla with Callum, Soren with Viren) and when should you refuse? When should you sacrifice yourself, and when it is wrong to? Did you betray them, or did they betray you, or both (usually both)? When should you betray or stay loyal to your family? What is the right thing to do?

The show, tbh, doesn't know, at least 90% of the time. It's not interested in knowing. It's interested in exploring. That's the whole point. At most, it says you should work towards harm reduction, but what constitutes harm, and what peace looks like, is also something that greatly differs for all the characters.

Rayla is willing to sacrifice the love of her life, Ezran is willing to create weapons of mass destruction and wield one, and Callum used a torture spell on someone when he absolutely did not have to. The idea that any of the protagonists are meant to be paragons of unblemished virtue who are always 100% right, or that any of the antagonists do not canonically have a good point of contention with anything that's happened and are always 100% wrong, is reductive to everything the show is and explores, because it is Quite Literally not what the show does, ever tbh.

They literally spelled it out this past season as a core theme; I don't think they needed to have a character directly point it out every time a main character did something that was Kinda Fucked Up or Complicated But Understandable to know that the show knows it was Canonically Fucked Up or Complicated But Understandable.

There is not a single character or action in TDP that is always right, and there is not a singular character or action in TDP that is always wrong. Hell, even narrowing it down to "this is 'right' or 'wrong'" feels counterintuitive because it's so subjective within the narrative.

Every choice the characters make is often well reasoned, aligns with their values and world views, and fits into how they work through problems. Every choice has benefits and consequences, for them or for others. That doesn't mean it's Right for everyone involved. That doesn't mean it's Wrong for everyone involved. That's what makes the show interesting. Everything has nuance. Everything has Complexity. I'm not interested in a simplified version of TDP. I'm interested in the show as is.

I hope you are, too.

[andhumanslovedstories]

I've been thinking the kind of writing I do and the kind of reactions it gets. Some authors get goofy comics of their works. Me? I just got a comment on my Captain America: Winter Soldier fic that I helped the reader understand 9/11. I am, by the way, delighted by that.

I struggle to describe my own writing style. It's wordy, I know that, and favors a LOT of detail, to its benefit and detriment. I'm indulging this tendency for my current fic because it's fanfic and I am having a lot of fun seeing what details I write that I end up elaborating on, but my number one style goal this year is to work on brevity and a snappier pace. My style is so introspective; characters spend a lot of time reflecting on themselves. I put a lot of work into making my characters complex, even at times contradictory because I think that's true to human nature. And by god, do I think about a story's themes. Do other writers think about themes this much? Sometimes I'm like, hey brain, I'm actually good on themes. Would love to get some plot.

Not to entice all the sapiosexuals out there, but I take a very cerebral approach writing. (This does not btw mean that the fic itself will be particularly intelligent.) I'm not saying this is a good or bad way--it's one way to write. My writing can feel very cold to me. Very same-y as well. That's why writing SQQ pov is so fun, it's such a radically different voice than my usual.

The fic I'm writing now was supposed to be a lighthearted fic that was an excuse for me to practice writing a sex scene. Almost 80k words in, it's so super not that. I just can't resist the thrall of complication. Although you know, as I'm writing this, I'm not exactly sure what an "intellectual approach" to writing even means to me. I use big words? I overuse semi-colons?

Maybe it's the way that I'm so language-forward in my writing. Like, what I love doing is crafting a sentence. Someone described literature to me as writing where the main draw is the author's technical accomplishment in executing their style. I definitely favor authorial voice, to the point where the stories I write that I like least feel like balsa wood gilded over. It looks nice, but you quickly realize it's weak as hell.

There's works that clearly value style over plotting, and vice versa. You need both when you write--all plot with no style reads like a synopsis of itself and all style with no plot is imagery in pursuit of nothing. Both very boring in their own way. It's interesting how totally which one weighs more affects every part of the story. Mrs. Dalloway is not a fast-paced page turner, and a thriller doesn't halt itself so we can read really beautiful, pointless paragraphs about how the color of the sky evokes memories of a long ago time when you were so different.

Maybe what I mean is that my stories tend to evolve out of the ideas that I'm exploring. In the fic I'm writing now, I had this core conceit of misunderstanding: people failing to interpret something without knowing they're doing so. In a way, the entire story is about the hard work of moving from misunderstanding to understanding. Getting information, interpreting it, having that interpretation challenged, exploring what that challenge provokes, moving either closer or further from "the truth". Shen Qingqiu misunderstands basically everything, and basically everyone misunderstands Shen Qingqiu. What situations can I make that center on misunderstandings? I also think a lot about the concept of fault--how have people failed in the past, how are they failing in the present, and how do you make up from what you have done wrong? Do you get to just move forward? Are you always at mercy of whatever you did in the past?

So a lot of the plot of the story stems out of ways that I can bring those ideas to the forefront. When I get stuck, I think of different ways these concepts can manifest. Ming Fan's getting a whole plotline because of this. I like my writing, I do, but I’ve really been thinking about the way I write affects what I write. And then in turn the reactions I get to my writing. And then I wrote this whole post because ao3 was down and I couldn’t post my chapter. And now here we are.

Also general DVD commentary on OOC fic--I hit such a roadblock because we're very close to the point of the story where Big Things are going to happen, and I could not decide on exactly how those things should occur. I had about three ideas that I was excited about. None of them were compatible with the others and each would have very different emotional implications. It's hard to write when you're essentially juggling three different drafts. The only way I got myself to commit to one was promising myself that I could always write AUs of my own fic. I honestly doubt I'll get around to doing that, but who knows. Maybe someday there will be a fic of (spoiler warnings ig for things that aren't going to happen) this fic's version of sqq and lbh in the endless abyss together.

Also you would not imagine the amount of thought I've given which conversation should happen before the abyss and where each character relationship needs to be. I have dithered like crazy. And there's so many relationships I'm working with. I'm keeping track of Shen Qingqiu's relationship with: Luo Binghe, Liu Qingge, Yue Qingyuan, Mu Qingfang, Ming Fan, Shen Jiu, Qing Jing Peak as a whole, a couple of OCs, the System, and his concept of self. Mu Qingfang has not been on screen for a minute but it's not because he doesn't haunt my plot outline. Sorry, bud, everyone else just keeps getting more pressing stuff.

[marzipanandminutiae]

To understand how badly interviews don’t match Nosferatu movie, cast and crew were also talking about how it also was influenced by Wuthering Heights. Really. Despite Heathcliff being a complex character with personality in the novel unlike Orlok, him and Catherine growing up together and being actually in love, unlike Orlok and Ellen, etc.

Wooooow

See like here's the thing- it's not that I'm offended by the notion. dark romance is a thing! I've been known to enjoy some myself! so let me be as clear as crystal that I'm not saying the idea is Morally Objectionable To Me!

I just. feel like it did NOT translate well to what we saw onscreen if that's what they were going for. they should have done more to establish that Ellen desired Orlock specifically (not just a nebulous metaphysical More To Life) at all beyond involuntary physical reactions to sexual stimulii, IMO- and if they were going for Wuthering Heights, actually shown more of their interactions when she was younger (I know "she was an actual child" vs. "she was an older teenager" is hotly debated at the moment) than him throttling her in the middle of sex, via her own hand, while she screams in pain and fear

that- and everything else onscreen- is not giving me "passion and devotion." it's giving me "he wants to hurt and control her, in a way that does not appeal to her at all"

Ellen says it was "sweet" at first, but we never SEE that. we're never given a reason, in my opinion, to feel at all ambivalent about this relationship or think that she does herself. some people are interpreting it as intended based solely on seeing the movie, and I have no opinion on that; they're free to do so

but to me, it just. badly missed the mark in terms of Intent vs. Actual Final Product, based on what the cast and crew have said

[iminyourwallsbabe]

Okay so I was thinking about Melvik last night because the streets(one person) asked for a Melvik playlist and I wanted to make sure I did it right and I think I've come to a conclusion about what the hell is going on with those two. There's so many different ways to interpret it, so I'm not saying this is objectively correct. We're in the corkboard with strings and pictures stage of shipping rn.

Okay so if we're being honest, there's not a lot to work with in terms of character interactions but there are clues in other places. One of the things I noticed is that they mirror each other. Mel has freckles in similar spots to Viktor's moles, she's the sun and he's the moon, she's covered in gold while Viktor has a lot more silver in his palette, she's a princess while he's some guy from Zaun but they're both fighting for legitimacy.

So they probably didn't like each other at some point.

Think about it, sometimes people who hate each other are exactly like one another. That bothers them. Maybe that was the case here. Then you add on the layer of their individual goals and I could see how they might clash. I could see how they might not understand each other at first.

I feel like after that, it probably became a game of cat and mouse. A rivalry if you will. It could've been academic, depending on how long they knew each other (we don't know). I could see there being a lot of competition in their relationship, but the thing is, it was never a fair fight. How is a man from the undercity supposed to compete with an exiled royal? You can't. People are more likely to give her what she wants than even consider your position just by default. And then you also have to consider that this is Mel we're talking about. A goddamn mastermind if I've ever seen one, if she didn't already have privilege on her side, she definitely has the people skills to compensate. It was probably frustrating, in a lot of ways.

But wait! There's more. There's something to be said about how the "evolved" humans are white and gold, Mel's colors. Even the way the gold is placed is reminiscent of her. Perfection, the peak of humanity, in Viktor's mind is Mel (and Jayce too if you remember that his little husk still kept a lot of his features, but his look was still inspired by her).

So in Mel, I think at first he saw everything he lacked and it was pissing him off. That probably stemmed from his need to get where he wanted to be quickly, because he knew his time was limited. Like fuck, I'm gonna die and you're in my way by being better at everything.

For Mel, I think she saw everything she wanted to be. Self assured, with direction in life. Peace is such a broad goal to have, living up to your mother's standards is a little more specific, but what does she want to do for herself? Where does she want to be when it's all said and done? Wherever she's been told she needed to be? In a throne or a seat at the council's table? Viktor knows what he wants, he sees it clearly, and he couldn't care less about anybody's standards or expectations besides his own. There's something so ruthless about that, and Mel envies it.

What I think changed with them is an understanding, realizing that it would be more useful for them to work together and be on the same team rather than continue to compete with one another. But how do we get there? Judging by how most of the romance in Arcane works, it was probably sex. I'm not even joking, this is a consistent thing. Jayvik? One of their key moments together involved Viktor saying "wait this isn't my bedroom", Mel and Jayce's relationship was kind of confirmed with a sex scene, Vi started flirting with Caitlyn in a brothel of all places and then LATER there was the whole thing in the prison cell, are we seeing the trend here? Sex and arcane go together like Jinx and explosions.

Anyway, right, back on topic. So yeah, I think unlike her relationship with Jayce, things were not nearly as thought through with Viktor. It definitely feels like a spur of the moment kind of thing, probably involving alcohol. Let me explain. I'm probably not going to phrase this right, but somebody else explained the bond between these two sort of like magnets. They attract and reject each other at the same time. They're so similar that by all means, they could be together, but something keeps pushing them away from one another. Knowing Mel's relationship with trust, and Viktor's relationship with time, this could make perfect sense. This could give way to some very complicated feelings. Knowing Mel, that wouldn't have been good. But then you start to remove those inhibitions, either through something artificial or just heightened passions, next thing you know shit happens.

Now we're in what I wanna call the situationship era! Because god forbid our favorite metal eugenicist has a committed relationship ever.

Mel doesn't know what she wants out of this so it stays casual for a while, Viktor wants more but he's scared to ask because he doesn't wanna scare her away. He knows she's conflicted about it, otherwise she wouldn't act the way she does. Still, it drives him fucking insane. He could die within the next few years, he doesn't have time to be playing will they/won't they. Especially not when the most perfect woman- no, person, he's ever seen in his life is right there in front of him. It's several months of "maybe we should stop doing this", that attracting and repelling I was talking about, with no conceivable end, but eventually it does. Eventually they both find they have better things to focus on than this. Not that they don't love or care about each other anymore, but the stress just isn't worth it. The world needs them, and they can't keep holding each other back.

However, that's not quite the end of their story.

In the words of our Lord and Savior, Shadow the Hedgehog, the light still shines even when the star is gone. They do try to keep their relationship as professional as possible, at least when there's eyes to see it. Outside of that though, it's clear that they're still attached somehow. Is it romantic still? That's up for interpretation, but regardless, no matter how much distance they put between each other, they'll always be drawn to one another.

Then here comes MC Hammer, and now the situation is like this. The moon (Viktor) revolves around the earth (Jayce), who revolves around the sun (Mel). They're all so interconnected now and if you take one out of the equation, shit gets messy. Can't take out the sun, the whole galaxy will collapse. Can't take out the moon, the earth will be in ruin. See what I mean? As Jayce and Mel get more serious, I think both of them wonder what could've been. They're happy where they are romantically but it's always something to ponder. What would it have looked like if Viktor was the golden boy, not Jayce? If they were the ones holding it down in those council meetings? What would it be like if her warmongering mother knew she was in love with someone like Viktor, someone so physically weak? Would she be rejected again? Would she approve based on the false notion that he was only a pet to her? That he meant nothing?

Maybe it's for the better that things are as they are, but when he thinks of what humanity can be at its peak, all he can see is her. When he's gone all she can hope is that he comes back to her. It's so beautifully tragic.

[yuikomorii]

Hello! girl, sorry for asking so many questions! but I really like how admin responds! *-*

Well I have always read the routes, games, etc. So from a more objective point of view... Do you think Ayato is, how to put it, sexist? misogynist? or any of the diaboy?

Somehow I've thought about it that way, and I know they're fictional characters and all! but I would really like to talk about it, since I always believed that the way they treated Yui was not specifically because she was a woman, but because she was human (her literal food).

I know it probably doesn't make much sense to say it like that, or maybe in Japanese anime/fandom are that type of character normal? I wouldn't want to say anything wrong!

(I ask you because although I don't care much about that aspect as I say, it is a psychological horror and FANTASY game)

but I usually see fans putting these types of videos; and always talking about how sexist/misogynistic Ayato is with yui, so I usually find myself conflicted? I hope you understand my question!

// Honestly, I think all the Diaboys exhibit some level of sexism and misogyny simply because they’re men who were abused by women, lol. For example, there’s a scene in Subaru’s route that highlights this, and I’m pretty sure his brothers would agree with him to some extent. The idea expressed is essentially that women should be grateful to men for impregnating them since it allows the continuation of the species.

Hah? What are you talking about? If men weren't lewd, you humans would be wiped out in a heartbeat.

Sexism is quite prevalent in Japan, largely due to societal norms, but many Japanese women don’t necessarily mind it because they find comfort in traditional roles. For instance, being a 主婦 (full-time housewife) is highly respected in Japan and not looked down upon. In contrast, in the West, women who aspire to be housewives are often mocked or viewed with irony, as if they’re not “strong and independent” enough, which isn’t fair. Of course, there are Japanese women who aim for gender equality and have different ambitions, but they also acknowledge that such progress won’t happen overnight.

As for Ayato, I don’t think he’s that bad in this regard. He doesn’t dislike women or believe men are superior. In fact, in his routes, he often praises Yui when she’s capable of doing something he isn’t, so it’s clear he doesn’t see women as less skilled or useful than men.

Credit to dialovers-translations

Yes, there are some flat-chested and sex appeal jokes here and there, but aside from those, he hasn’t said anything particularly degrading or problematic when it comes to women.

I wouldn’t pay much attention to the TikTok DL fandom. It’s mostly made up of younger or less mature individuals who often struggle to understand the nuances of these characters. He’s still the most successful character, so don’t mind them.

[celiaelise]

DANDADAN MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD

Oh my gosh I have been waiting SO LONG for Momo to use her powers to quell someone else's, like she did for Okarun in the very beginning. I was beginning to wonder if there was a reason she couldn't, like if that was a special instance? So I'm so excited that she can!! And the fact that she did it to 3 people at once is so badass!

(Love that Zuma called her "that tough girl", he's so RIGHT!)

I'm gonna be honest, sometimes I've been annoyed that they kept introducing new characters, it felt a little superfluous, but I think they're doing a really good job of managing them all, having them all work together but still be in character, etc. It's actually very cute and fun that they have a whole squad now, that they're planning meetups and looking out for each other! 🥰💛

Yayyyy Zuma gets to meet everyone! I do have to echo the other people who are confused about how long it's been since the events of the cursed trunk? I thought, like, a couple days to a week? But Zuma's story and hair make it seem like it must've been, like, 2 or 3 weeks at the least!

Isn't this all happening the same day as the two fights with Kouki? And isn't that Momo's first day back at school?? idk

Also, look at how stressed my poor baby boy is!

I love these panels of him, it's like he's angry and frustrated, but in a "little brother" sort of way. Like, he's stressed but it's not SERIOUS yet, but he does REALLY wish the others would cut the bullshit, they're ALWAYS dragging him into stuff like this, acting without information, and they are gonna be in SO much trouble when Mom finds out about this! (I'm not sure who Mom is in this analogy? Maybe Seiko? but honestly kind of Momo, given the way she shuts down their fight and makes them apologize to each other.)

Though it was honestly very sweet how quickly everyone rushed to protect Momo. And understandable! If my friend (and unspoken team leader) was three inches tall, I would probably also get very antsy seeing her being carried around by some strange guy, despite how powerful she is on her own! They didn't know!

Love how our man Okarun is gaining a Tough Guy reputation for the enviable skill of... going up and talking to people he doesn't really know. (I say that to be silly, but it is genuinely kind of a superpower when you're a teenager!)

Love that Momo was in the middle of inviting Zuma to her house before Jiji interrupted! I mean, like, obviously she would; she spent multiple days adventuring w the guy, but I just love how willing to help others and welcome them into her home she is! 🩵 (and Seiko, too!) It's one of my favorite things about her as a character, and, really, the tone of the story as a whole! Like, you're scared and confused and need help? I'm not sure what the problem is, we may not even really know each other, but come over for dinner, and we'll see what we can figure out together! 💕

Anyway, very good chapter, I gotta admit I'm much more invested in the kids' antics than whatever Seiko's got going on, especially once I realized the cursed items collector she was talking to was, in fact, a man, and not a beautiful butch woman. (He can join the club with Kabru and Mickbell from Dungeon Meshi.)

[myfictionaldreams]

REQUESTS UPDATE ღ (pls read!)

Hello, beautiful people. Firstly, thank you so much for sticking with me after my (nearly) year-long break. I don't want to go on for too long regarding why I was off; it was as simple as being burnt out from writing, wanting to read more and working full-time.

I absolutely love writing and have been doing these little fanfictions for nearly 4 years (which is crazy to me!). Over that time, I have written 175 one-shots (WTF). I honestly have put more effort and love into writing than I probably did my uni degree (no regrets).

So this is where I come from a place of peace and love and when I say I appreciate every like, comment, interaction, follow etc, it means the absolute world to me. Truthfully, it is hard to come onto a website and fear what others might say to me because I might look ungrateful.

What I'm trying to get at is that I have written 31 Poly!Marauders fics & 37 mafia!stucky fics. I love both of these worlds so much; however, I have repeatedly written these two over and over again, and at some point along the way, I've become a little burnt out with them. There are only so many ways I can write about them both. The issue is that I have my requests open, and the only requests I will receive are for either group. AGAIN, I appreciate every single one, and I absolutely love and feel honoured that you all love these small worlds I've created and want to see more. However, I'm finding it increasingly more difficult to find the motivation to write for them. This is not to say I'm never going to write for them again because that's a giant lie, I currently have 4 requests that I will write that are marauders/stucky however I just need to vent what I'm thinking.

I would love to write for different characters, more fandoms or even just one character out of the groups, just anything to mix up my content. It's difficult as I love requests, but as soon as they're open, I know I'm just going to get marauders or stucky requests, so I'm stuck in the same cycle of ONLY posting these as I like to complete requests ASAP. I could just stop accepting requests and write what I want to write, but again, I love having requests and removing that option will be a last resort.

I'm not really sure what I'm asking, and I'm not even sure that anyone who sends requests will even read this, but on my blog, I just want to vent for a moment, please. I don't know whether I'm just going to sound rude or if anyone else understands what I mean?

Anyway, again, I love you all and I do appreciate any request sent my way.

Request Rules;

Please don't hesitate to ask/message about writing different characters and shows. I'm happy to write for lots of other characters as long as I know who they are, I'm happy to try.

Please don’t ask for Part 2 of stories unless you give me specific details. I’ve written over 100 one-shots, so it’s hard to come up with an idea sometimes for Part 2’s when the stories were initially meant to just be one-shots. I’m happy to do P2; just give me a little thought or something!

Additionally, I need more than just “character name - angst”; my old creative brain needs a little more juice and idea, so please be as specific as possible, even if it’s just a sentence!

I really appreciate if you loved a specific fic that I’ve already written, but if you ask for the same fic again or something extremely similar, I probably won’t be able to write it as I don’t want to just keep writing the exact same fic.

I may not be able to write all ideas if they don’t usually match my writing style, or I do not think I could make them exciting (sorry in advance if I don’t write your ideas!)

I especially don’t want to write anything to do with marriage/weddings, pregnancy, birth or characters having children, so please do not ask.

Please don’t send multiple asks with the same request, I’m only one person working full time, so I’m not able to write every hour of every day. Give me some time to write them, and also, as stated above, it might be something I don’t necessarily want to write, so please respect this.

Sorry for all the negativity. If you have actually read this, thank you. And anyone who interacts with my posts or blog THANK YOU & I LOVE YOU.

[lemotmo]

Love love love this. Please share your thoughts as well! I don't know if you received the same question or not but I would love to know how you would answer this ask as well!

Q. I have two questions. My first question is do you think they would ever go down the unrequited love route for Buddie? One of them admitting they're in love with the other but the other not feeling the same way. The second question I have is with the benefit of hindsight and knowing what we now know is there anything you wish you had done differently during the hiatus between season 7 and 8? Do you wish you had handled yourself differently or done anything differently?

A. They will never make Buddie unrequited. They won't introduce the idea of a relationship only to have one of them rebuke the other. It happens in real life, it sucks, but it does happen. The problem with doing it on a television show though is it makes the character who doesn't feel the same way the "bad guy" in the other characters story. Please understand that they would in no way truly be a bad person but for the audience it's a sticky situation. It would also be an absolute failure of a choice from a business standpoint. 911 is kind of in rare air where Buddie is concerned. There is nothing else like them on television. There is no other same sex pair you can point to in the history of television who can do what 911 has the potential to do with them. A genuine queer slow burn endgame. It has never been done. Never. I don't believe they were always the plan. I do believe some of it was dumb luck and a lot of it was Oliver and Ryan. Whether it was intentional, accidental or a little bit of both they have created a dynamic that is unique to them. A show that is in its 8th season and more popular than ever and a pairing that has even more interest now than ever before. That doesn't happen. But it happened here and it happened with them. They got so lucky with Oliver and Ryan's dynamic/chemistry. You don't turn away from that. You just don't. There will always be people who don't like it but they are the minority, a sometimes very loud minority, but they are the minority nonetheless. You can say it's a cheesey little firefighter show all you want but it's a cheesey little firefighter show that has the potential to make television history, and that's not hyperbole. They legitimately have a chance to do something no one else has ever done. That's amazing and worth celebrating. People are allowed to be excited about them. It's a big deal and they should be allowed to say that.

Your second question is interesting because it goes hand in hand with a truly American phenomenon. The belief that it is the responsibility of the people who believe facts matter should meet the people who disregard facts because they go against their individual belief where they are. Why do we have to cater to these people? Why is it our responsibility to talk to them with a level of respect their viewpoint does not deserve? Facts matter. Just because someone doesn't like the truth doesn't stop it from being the truth. In this case we're talking about a television show but the rule still applies. The canon facts never merited their beliefs. Never. Not once. Instead of acknowledging that fact they disregarded or flat out tried to erase the canon evidence in favor of the made up version of events they and Lou created. It's not mine or anyone else's responsibility to go along with that garbage. What I regret is that in the beginning I treated them with a level of respect and courtesy they absolutely did not deserve. I answered their asks kindly and with a level of respect for their feelings that I never should have given. I should have called a spade a spade from day one. My mistake was giving them the benefit of the doubt. I believed they got caught up in the biBuck excitement and believed they would come back down to reality soon enough. That was my mistake. They wanted no part of reality. In no time at all suddenly Eddie was an abusive, manipulative evil man who deserved to have his life destroyed and his son to be raised by Buck and the plot device they chose to declare their allegiance too. Why in the world should any of us be pressured into making them feel better about that decision? Then they turned on Buck. Suddenly they were erasing Bucks canon history in order to make the plot device more important and necessary than he was ever going to be but we were the bad guys for calling that batshit behavior out? No. They showed their true colors very early on and the minute they did so I should have reacted accordingly, but I didn't. It was incomprehensible to me that such a below average, ignorant, racist, sexist, talentless white man could convince supposed able minded people that he was God's gift to television. But he did and the minute that became obvious I should have stopped engaging all together. They're not interested in reality. They were never interested in reality. They are interested in nothing but their made up viewpoint and it's not mine or any other member of this fandom's responsibility to make them feel better about that. The facts were there and they chose to ignore them. That's on them. Not me.

Thank you Nonny! 😋

Okay, I'll do my best to answer both questions as good as I can.

First things first... unrequited Buddie? Not a snowball's chance in hell! Once one of them expresses a romantic interest in the other? It is GAME ON for Buddie!

ABC is sitting on a goldmine here. This is the kind of story that will attract new viewers and especially the people who have heard people talk about 'those two gay firefighters' for years now, but who won't watch until they become canon.

There was an influx of new people when Buck came out as bisexual. Unfortunately they also brought along more toxicity because of the whole T/Lou fiasco, but just imagine all the new viewers who will tune in specifically for Buddie. It'll be epic.

I am one of those people who is 100% convinced that Buddie is in the works. It is happening. There is no other way this story can go anymore unless the show wants to lose viewers. Because a lot of people will stop watching if it doesn't happen. That's how this works and ABC knows that all too well.

Now on to question 2: Would I have done anything differently during the S7-S8 hiatus knowing what I know now?

The answer is 'no', I don't think so. I tried to stay as honest and respectful as I could towards BT shippers. I never made it a secret that I didn't really vibe with T and that got me a ton of anonymous hatred where some of these stans accused me of homophobia and wished me dead.

I was critical about T and BT, but I always tried to stay nice about it. Ship and let ship is still my motto, but I have to admit that towards the end of the hiatus my patience had worn very thin when it came to BT and their fandom.

Especially after they went completely off the rails and made those crazy wild accusations towards me and some friends and actually fabricated false evidence to accuse us further. That was truly insane behaviour from some of these people.

But that's all behind us now as the show has thankfully left T/Lou behind forever in 8a. So I'd like to focus more on the wonderful things that happened during that hiatus.

One of the best things that happened is that I gained so many lovely followers and fandom friends. We all stuck together and it felt really nice.

To all the lovely followers and mutuals reading this, I've gotten to know so many of you guys and I'm so grateful for that. I won't name all of you because that will take all day, but you all know who you are. 😊 Special shout out to Justine though! She was (and still is) my rock!

Another highlight during that hiatus was getting to know the 'anonymous blog I love' aka Ali. I'm still thankful that that happened. She made, and still makes, the most eloquent posts about fandom and she is always spot on. Case in point? The answer above!😋 I cherish her friendship very much. 🤗

I hope this fandom will soon move on from the T/Lou era when 8b airs and that we'll collectively stop talking about him. He isn't worth the hassle. It's time to focus on the future now and leave the past where it belongs, behind us.

IMPORTANT! Please don't repost this ask and/or a link that leads straight to my Tumblr account on Twitter or any other social media. Thank you!

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[navree]

people doing this whole "look at how rhaenys acted with corlys's bastard son vs how catelyn acted with jon snow" to demonize one or the other is weird because, like, maybe it's just me, but i think that catelyn and rhaenys had different reactions because they're different people in different situations.

[angelsdean]

ruthlessly deleting old 2021/2022 posts (not by me) from my dean studies tag like *click* un-incorporating that from my beliefs system! also the way SO many posts have me like ok uh-huh good aaand then say one completely wrong thing that loses me. it's so many posts.

[toxifoxx]

truly at the end of the day its all about receiving validation

[cathodic-clairvoyant]

There's a lot about discussion of hdwr that baffles me (not all discussion to be clear, because i do think there's a lot of good discussion about hdwr. But equally so are there the ones that make you wonder if you're reading the same story) and I think one that is especially annoying is the constant infantilization of miwa as this passive eternal victim. It drives me up a wall because this is quite literally an issue she's struggled with within the text of the story! She had an arc about how she dislikes how people treat her this way like towards the beginning of the story! And like even ignoring that, this story is about like nuanced and realistic portrayals of being in relationships and learning how to navigate them and so it's like what's the point if you're going to immediately reduce the characters to "the victim" and "the victimizers?" Is that even interesting? Is that a useful lens to look at interpersonal relationships?

[deus-and-the-machina]

ffxiv garlemald discourse is so funny because people will go "ugh people just cant stand it when things aren't black and white" and then you look at how the empire are portrayed in stormblood and shadowbringers and its like hm. that seems like a pretty intense and accurate display of violent imperialism to me! Wow I wonder why people in this day and age may find it hard to feel sympathy for them or even hate them on principal. god its such a mystery.

the games like 50/50 to me on how it tackles these themes because I actually like the garlemald arc in EW, I think it has a lot of horrific and powerful scenes depicting how self destructive fascist propaganda and beliefs are, but I also think it doesn't go far enough on some fronts. the garleans' xenophobia is most notably and obstacle to getting them to accept the contingent's help, which is what they're there to do,

but there's never an admission of harm from any garleans on the uuuuuuuuh massive amount of war crimes the nations around them are still suffering from they're just kind of like "we misjudged you...but you actually wanted to help us all along" like yeah thats great now can we get you all some deprogramming because you keep talking about returning to your prime and glory days and I think we need to unpack some stuff you really SHOULDNT return to. im not even really talking about EW proper but the patches where things are a bit more chilled out and people are recovering.

It feels like they wanted to have their critique of imperialism and also have things end with the beauty of human connection and reaching out and these things just don't mesh well because hey a lot of your modern day audience is not gonna like having to treat people yelling xenophobic things at the cast and your character with kid gloves after you showed them hours and hours of the awful things these people's beliefs have done. especially in the present day hoo boy.

[sideprince]

Honestly exhausted sometimes with how many times I see people completely ignore basic literary tropes and elements or even the fact that these are books an not real people, while also interpreting interpretations until they've gotten away from what's on the page only to treat these readings as fact. Literally just saw someone cite Lily's mouth twitch as proof that she almost laughed at her friend being sexually assaulted and I don't even know what to say.

This is why I follow so few blogs and feel really isolated in this fandom. It's not even that I want to defend one character or another (because they're not real people ultimately, they're tools for storytelling), it's that I want to defend basic reading comprehension. A mouth twitch is not a laugh. And to be honest I'm uncomfortable with how straightforwardly we refer to James dangling Snape upside down and exposing his underwear as sexual assault, which is what it's considered now but it wasn't considered that in the 70s when the story takes place. That isn't to say it wasn't an awful thing to do, or that it wasn't meant to violate and humiliate, but social acceptance of an action changes its context. (I could write an entire post on how the reason we're so much more disturbed by sexual assault now is that the culture around it has changed and the shame is now on the perpetrator and not the victim, which means that more victims have spoken out in recent years, and most people today have heard victim's stories and perspectives and feel empathy for them as a result. But since this wasn't socially acceptable to do in the 70s people didn't lack empathy then, they just had a limited perspective that we would too if we were in their shoes. You can't frame the reactions to Snape's assault the same way you would if it happened today.)

But forget context, right? Forget the order of events, and forget what a character does, a personal reading of the text becomes canon because... of reasons? I think I just have a really really hard time with the way some people are oblivious to how intensely they project onto characters and how much they consider those projections facts. And with how personal readings are stated as fact without the context of, "I read/interpret/view/etc. this as."

[llycaons]

tgcf art is fun bc xl generally looks really nice and hc generally looks really mean. they just. complement each other lol. that's true love

[astralleywright]

"you could've hurt fearne!" very quickly becoming the new "well imogen, i wish my family didn't have to die for their brighter tomorrow"