#also as someone who was in a mixed race relationship i actually really relate to gil

[pesteringchum]

seeing ppl hate on gil and say that they hope they completely change gils personality/storyline makes me feel like ppl did not understand him, both as a “person” and as a character. like gen 1 had VERY obvious racial commentary in it and though its debatable how well they handled it, its one of the biggest themes in the show so i think gil and lagoona’s relationship was pretty important.

most of the complaints ive seen about gil are about him being racist. personally, i cant really remember any instances of him actually holding racist views [i have only seen the web series and a couple of the movies, so maybe im missing out on a huge thing that happened]. i can only remember him being worried about what his parents, who were racist, would think about his relationship with lagoona. gil is, what, 16? his parents are a HUGE part of his life still, so i dont blame him for being scared of them and what they think. i mean, if his parents get pissed off at him enough, he could not only lose his parents—who, at that point in his life, are likely huge pillars of both his financial and emotional support systems—but also get kicked out, which are both terrifying prospects for a teenager. no matter how wrong you know that your parents are, telling them that can feel like a life or death decision [and sometimes CAN BE a life or death decision depending on how shitty your parents are]. but you know what else gil does? he becomes confident enough to actually tell his parents off! as a person, i appreciate that gil is a teenager who is in a tough situation and may not yet feel safe to stand up to his parents. this doesnt mean that i think lagoona was wrong for feeling upset or that gil wasn’t being shitty. imo, the situation was VERY unfair to lagoona and i think that breaking up until gil was ready to be open about their relationship would’ve been the best course of action. i just think the situation and the characters involved are more complex than “gil is MEAN and BAD for NO REASON AT ALL” like how some people seem to see it.

as a character, i appreciate gil and his storyline. i think that this kinda thing is believable and adds some depth to the conflicts, characters, and the world of mh. it would’ve been easy to lump all water monsters together, but its interesting and realistic that there is fighting within species/between similar species*. i also appreciate when topics like bigotry are addressed in ways that dont deal with people as Good or Bad. i think its important for kids to see characters who are discriminatory in some way or who are hesitant to speak up against discrimination since that is a very relatable flaw to have. like i said, gil DOES build the self confidence to speak up against his parents. he grows as a person, and its important to have that kind of growth in media. i think that the current view that a lot of ppl on the left seem to have that being A Racist inherently makes you an irredeemably bad person makes it harder for people to recognize and challenge their own racist biases bc no one likes thinking of themselves as A Bad Person. if bigots are solely represented as cartoonishly evil people, then people will think “but IM not a bad person! therefore i cant be racist!” and not challenge their own bigoted ideas.

i actually hope a similar storyline is carried over to gen 3, if with a little more grace, because i think its an interesting and important story to tell. i think the main problem with the storyline in canon is that gil’s arc took so long to resolve. i know if the show was being realistic, this kinda thing probably would take a while to resolve. but also, this is a kids’ show so it would be more effective to deliver that message in a shorter time frame and with a little more focus on it

[horizon-verizon]

There's a very particular kind of exhaustion I feel when I see how the black family dynamic was and is handled on the show. I'm chewing on this to figure out how to say it and be coherent, but I think it bothers me that Balla and Rhaena are perceived as Velaryon and I don't like that it bothers me.

Normally, I would love to not eliminate the mother, her family and her lineage in history, it would seem great to me if they used her more than as "the woman who gave birth to them."Given how close and intertwined the Velaryon and Targaryen families are (especially the children) that the double heritage is recognized is logical and expected.

Here's the thing: it's not that Baela and Rhaena are recognized as Velaryon, it's that they are completely erased as Targaryens by erasing their relationship with Rhaenyra and Daemon.Now Baela is a dragon rider like her mother and Rhaena is resentful of not having grown up with her grandmother.

All the relationships that the girls are interested in are with their maternal family and all the grandchildren that Rhaenys is interested in are Laena's daughters.There is an intentional cut, a separation, that isolates these three women from their Targaryen side,all under a narrative in which they were violated and robbed of their true birthright.

This is where the part comes where I feel bitter and that is that these opinions do not seem to be based on a feminist reading (in fact some come directly from people who hate Rhaenyra and they simply use these other women to criticize her) but it comes from a racist reading. I have the terrible, uncomfortable feeling that Baela and Rhaena perceive themselves as more Velaryon and linked to the Velaryon side and everything they have *must* relate to the Velaryon because they *look* like Velaryon.

From here I have rewritten what I wanted to say several times because I wanted to express myself well and explain myself but I ended up rambling because how as someone who comes from a mixed family many of these readings reek of light segregation because the place of Baela and Rhaena and the expulsion of Rhaenyra's children from that is based on their physical appearance to keep them divided.

I have the terrible, uncomfortable feeling that Baela and Rhaena perceive themselves as more Velaryon and linked to the Velaryon side and everything they have *must* relate to the Velaryon because they *look* like Velaryon.

Maybe. It's hard to tell right now. I think it's generous to expect these white writers to really capture this experience of some mixed peoples as it actually is. I'm not sure if the "twins" feel that in the show either. The writers don't have the tools to realize that experience, the point of reference, the consultation, nor the direct experience so its surface level. And in part bc they don't even have grasp for how "race" relations work in Westeros as there is little reference for mixed families, so they hang back and lightly use their own reference for race relations.

I think it's more:

them perceiving that-- in lieu of this separation of Black women from their Blackness [below]--that they rebound to using the girls' Blackness to mark them as "too" different from the Targs to really be a part of them, which shapes how the characters move and navigate around each other

to appeal/in shared belief to some Targ antis who scream "the Targs are colonizers!" And to those PoC/black people who say the same of the Targs, it reads as complimentary because Blackness gets separated from "Targness" without losing the "cool" stuff entirely.

Because, even as white supremacy seeks to make race overpower ethnicity or heritage entirely, it also will use objectifying interpretations of ethnicity to define its own categories of "race" and which people "deserve" what. Precisely bc it separates and isolates!

Here's the thing: it's not that Baela and Rhaena are recognized as Velaryon, it's that they are completely erased as Targaryens by erasing their relationship with Rhaenyra and Daemon. Now Baela is a dragon rider like her mother and Rhaena is resentful of not having grown up with her grandmother. All the relationships that the girls are interested in are with their maternal family and all the grandchildren that Rhaenys is interested in are Laena's daughters. There is an intentional cut, a separation, that isolates these three women from their Targaryen side, all under a narrative in which they were violated and robbed of their true birthright.

NOTE: this is all in the case that they do make Rhaena the emotionally and socially isolated girl that some people predict she will be based on Phoebe Campbell's words. And rant incoming.

It becomes so much more real when you think of how they wriggle in Helaena as the Queen, Jace's or otherwise, excusing it as "Baela 'deserves' her own seat to rule as ahead of sorts"...but then Baela as Queen Consort is still not like most other Queen Consorts, bc she comes directly from Daemon Targaryen and has the would be dragonriding Velaryon lineage (w/the Lucerys-Rhaena marriage) doubly supporting Jacaerys! And she's raised to be a much more active participant in politics, more assertive, more conscious, more self-possessed than Helaena (not to Helaena's fault, bc that's on how Ott/Alicent/not-Viserys raised her). Rhaena is more assertive than Helaena, don't let the social coding of the color pink and high femmeness fool you! Also, what would Rhaena be doing with Baela as the Lady of Driftmark? No lands of a prominent house to oversee, or less of chance than she had before, if she didn't marry Luke? And how they try to argue Jaehaera's death made no sense when it makes all the sense in the world. Or that it was too horrible for a child and that GRRM just had biases against the greens or was somehow just an abusive man who endorses child death and murder....when that has been the point of the entire Dance, which they likely also deny, too and round and round we go.

This is all beside the fact that the Velaryons would have to refer to Daemon and prob Viserys before they could totally leave the seat to one of the girls bc....these girls are TARGARYENS! It is their surname, the house they are a part of bc last time I checked, no King or great event changed this custom or affected it in any way!!! Not like with how Jacaerys' name would change to "Targaryen" after his ascension in the agreement Viserys (the king) makes w/Corlys, and that was for ONLY those claimants/descendants b/t both their houses whom they share, not everyone else in the realm! With Rhaena, in the show, they poise the Velaryons as sort of possible refuge from her neglectful and disappointed father Daemon and the loneliness of her other's absence emphasized by Rhaenyra's presence (and the lack of Rhaenyra-Laena which poses Rhaenyra as much more a stranger "imposing" on Rhaena's life). Part of the whole "men are naturally violent" agenda for any sense of power.

People have reasoned that Rhaenys is "isolated" from the Targs because it is her own grandfather and cousin who dispossess her children's/her right to the throne after years of her pride to be a part of this family. Rhaenys already passed over in the final deliberations in the G.C. of 101--however, it's pretty clear that she was enthusiastically on Rhaenyra's side, the woman that HotD turned resentful towards. One of the women Rhaenys risked her life for. (@pessimisticpigeonsworld has a great post abt women being isolated from each other & female friendships stereotypes HERE).

If the show really has gone down the route Phoebe Campbell is describing with Rhaena, then the show is creating a storyline for the women of the black (except Rhaenyra) where to be a Targaryen is itself to impossible to be while being female. While there is some truth when we think about the progression of assimilation into Andal patriarchy, it simply goes against what is suggested in canon for this set of Targs. Daemon is not like Jaehaerys or Aenys or Maegor...the guy fully dies to remove the biggest threat to his wife's and their kids' safety AND claims. Saera and Viserra, for the most part, do not seem to have grown the sort of knowledge that the dragon twins have and without the trauma [again, the twins had "it" before any of their family dies]. And I already mentioned Rhaenys' devotion to Rhaenyra that comes easier witht he fact that even before in the GC, Rhaenys had been passed over in the first review and it is actually her son Laenor who was passed over for her "side" to be completely blocked. For Rhaenyra to become queen is to still "stick it" to Jaehaerys and all those lords who voted against her and her children!

Even still, Alysanne, Rhaena, Daenerys Stormborn, Daena, Elaena, etc. are all women who have take great pride in being Targaryens! There are so many citations of their words AND actions about it: Daena naming her son after the Prince Daemon and sleepig with Aegon IV instead of bound by Baelor her brother; Rhaena saying she is the Visenya to Alysanne's Rhaenys (implying maybe Jaehaerys is Aegon); Daenerys and her brothers! They never (or very rarely) thought it undermined their femininity or womanhood, and vice versa. They made new meaning of it or tried to. And they all do fight for their agency, & sometimes they obtain and keep some that wouldn't be there if they hadn't fought for it! This must mean something! Do not Black women have to fight for getting still less than their white counterparts in work spaces (Fannita at TikTok and all those stitiches)?!

Black women, on the whole, do not eschew their Blackness--or really they can't, but many wouldn't even if they could--to reaffirm their womanhood. It's actually twofold: anti-Targness AND the continuation of the systematic attempts to separate Black women from her Black heritage or make these things contradictory so that a black woman can never be truly "real", onto herself as her own agent, or have something to springboard and keep developing a sense of self and values from that may oppose white supremacist sensibilities towards "divide and conquer". And I'm not talking about black men, I'm just talking about Black women in a white supremacist world that seeks to make an object designed to go nowhere, do nothing, etc. Because if you cut off a person's heritage....how can they move the world around them? Another reason why PoC women love Daenerys Stormborn, who makes meaning of her ancestors without totally denying their wrongs and evils for altruistic ends. She found strength in herself, but the way towards that was to review her "past" which not not childhood only but the cultural context of which she was taken from. Idk how to say this, but while it can be part of a healing process to just abandon everything and start somewhere new, that is not what the show is doing bc you can hardly call the Velaryons "new" or free bc we still have Corlys' sexism and insistence on a male heir AND the Velaryons--if we believe Phoebe--are still rejecting Rhaena, so this paradigm is still not safe for her either and that whole idea falls apart to what it really is about!

Oh, and just bc "blackness" doesn't quite exist in the same way for Westerosi as for real Westerners, doesn't mean that real Westerners with a background in living with in a white supremacist world with viewers who live in a white-supremacist world are not looking at these girls as Black AND are not consciously and subconsciously making writing and characterization choices that are inspired by racism.

Also, the Targaryen girls/dragon "twins" becoming more "Velaryon" girls instead of their more popular (lets bfr) and awe-inspiring heritage of magical dragonriders. The Targs are just more in the center of the narrative, and many nonBlack people--most of the most vocal ones white or self-hating black and nonBlack PoC--do not see Black people as fully human or someone they can self-insert or see a perspective through. Or "relate" to.

So you're not wrong, anon, for racism motivating fans & the writers to see it this way. I see it, too. Honestly, danylanzhou of Twitter might be better able to answer the part about heritage and isolation and Dany's arc than me, but I hope this somehow helps?

[quetzalpapalotl]

I do have to admit that aircee is more about what Aileron can do for Arcee than vicerversa. But I don't think this really matters since Aileron does get something out of the relationship, and Arcee not only has more protagonism (she's kind of the deuteragonist of Barber's works), she is the thesis statement character. Everything regarding her is very important for the themes of exrid/op as a whole and Aileron fits very neatly into that.

You see, from the beginning of ExRID Arcee is trying to be better. She got to kill Jhiaxus over and over again which was very cathartic (good for her) and once she scratches that itch she figures, well, there must be something better than this.

Arcee has a hatred for Cybertron that is born from both, the fact that she has never fit in and a reflection of her own self hatred. They have both always been drenched in violence, Arcee was there on the first expansionist expedition and she has never quite forgiven herself for it. She hates the Decepticons for keeping this up (and being even better at it), she hates Cybertronians for maintaining this cycle.

So it's important to note that Arcee working for Prowl was actually her trying to do better. This is all completely voluntary on her part. It's just that well, she's only good at violence, so she trusts Prowl to direct her in order to help Bumblebee.

Arcee likes Bumblebee, Arcee explicitly says that she admires what Bumblebee is trying to do, even if she can't be a part of it. So yeah, supporting Prowl in supporting Bee from the shadows must be the way to go. Because Bee is not someone she gets. And Bee tries to be nice to her, but he's also put off by her attempts at friendliness.

Arcee is desperately lonely, but she struggles to recognize this. She also doesn't think that she's someone that can have friendships to begin with. So she tries to bond with people that she feels could get her, people she can have camaraderie with. Unfortunately because she's Like That, the people she ends up relating to have their own universe of emotional baggage that also makes them suck at relationships (this is where I would insert the Impactor/Arcee agenda, but that's another post).

This is most clear with Sideswipe who keeps shutting her attempts at bonding down and it literally took him dying to admit they're friends. Sideswipe is as much of a bloodknight as Arcee is, but he still wants to think he's different from her. Sideswipe admits to missing the war and the easiness of punching your troubles only with nonchalance. He doesn't want to admit how lost he is without war, without violence, how unfit he is for peace. That would mean that there's something wrong with him and not the state of affairs. Arcee can correctly identify she and Sideswipe are of a similar disposition, but admitting to ther connection for Sideswipe would mean admitting to many other things Sideswipe is not ready for.

Something similar goes on with Prowl. Prowl is ruthless, which goes well with Arcee's straighforwardness. These people are gettting in the way of peace, so it makes sense to just kill them. Prowl makes sense to Arcee. What's more, they both have this disgust for the very Cybertronian race that mixes with self-hatred. Arcee then thinks she can trust him to factor in the things she lacks an understanding of and is okay with working for him. But this is completely one-sided, Prowl doesn't actually respect Arcee the way Arcee respects him and treats her like a weapon. He is uncomfortable with how much Arcee groks him because it makes easy for her to challenge him. Prowl also wouldn't want to admit to being similar to Arcee because she's some crazy murder lady, while Prowl is a rational guy that makes the decisions no one else can. Prowl doesn't have issues adapting to peace, it's just that peace is not peace until he says so.

Both these attitudes are heavily influenced by Arcee's reputation. They can't admit to being similar to Arcee because of their own self-denial, but also because they have such a low opinion of her to begin with. As far as most people are concerned, Arcee is just some weird person who hates Jhiaxus and loves violence.

From the strat of Exrid Arcee keep receiving comments about asking what does she know about anything other than fighting or people being weirded out that she cares. Literally the best recognition she got of having feelings other than bloodlust at the start, was Optimus apologizing to her for forgetting that she and Hardhead had been friend and not telling her he died.

Between all these comments, her lack of social graces and lack of standard social projection of affection, some displays of alexythimia and the fact that she has been alone for most of her extremely long life (this woman is so autistic jfc) Arcee has internalized the idea that things like friendships are just not for her, even if she respects it, even if deep down she wants it.

After falling out with Prowl because she realized he doesn't actually trust her and that he's far less rational than he pretens to be. She does manage to create something like camaderie with Optimus, even tho she doesn't exactly trusts him, at least he does seem to be trying to do the right thing and is not constantly dismissing her and someone should keep an eye on him anyway. But both of them have too much shit going on to really support each other emotionally. Point is that, by this point Arcee still hasn't given up on trying to break the cycle of violence and be better. She just now has to figure what better even is all on her own.

And we finally get to Aileron. Aileron does not have a war background from which she can relate to Arcee. Aileron starts a pretty naive character. But this also means that she's not clouded by whatever reputation Arcee has. To her, Arcee doesn't seem any more messed up than all the other war veterans.

Aileron has hes own arc about learning the harsh truths of the world, but not losing her way, but rather to think for herself and stand up. And it's great actually. She doesn't have as much protagonism as Arcee, yes. But she's also not satellite to her. She goes through her own stuff that ends up complimenting Arcee's own struggles.

Aileron initially does cower before Arcee, but soon enough she's actively challenging one of the most feared Cybertronians ever, because she has no reason to think Arcee would harm her. To Aileron, everyone is going through it and Arcee just looks like a mech trying to find her way and do what's right. Someone mourning her friend. Someone who is lonely. In contrast to everything up to that point, in OP #7, Aileron actively tries to emphatize with Arcee by relating to the loss of a friend. Their lives have been completely different up to this point, and yet Aileron is the one person that tries to do this. Even when Arcee falls back to her own ideas about herself and reacts with anger, Aileron doesn't flinch.

Aileron sees Arcee for who she is, Aileron sees Arcee for the person Arcee is trying to be. And aileron stands her ground as she learned to do and remind Arcee that she can have something better if she wants. Aileron is not going to let Arcee fall.

And really, that's what this is all about. Taking all your baggage and moving towards something better. And it's hard, but anyone can, if one tries and we support each other.

I love them.

[whynotzoidbergdotorg]

Hi, I was just wondering what are the other reasons you dislike Ali Nahdee. I personally thought she had good point in native rep but she sometimes gets into anti stuff. She acts like seeing abuse relationships on tv will cause people to get into them. I personally didn’t like her but I still thought she had something to say.

she was personally racist to me.

back when all of the marketing around the princesses being in wreck it ralph 2, she had gone to the disney store to “critique” the pocahontas merchandise (totally normal behavior for someone who’s not even powhatan….) and had made a comment that a pocahontas doll was “paler than she was��� (and provided an image in poor lighting—I would grab the tweet in question but not only did she block me, but she also nuked the whole thread after blocking me)

now, I didn’t follow her, and I actually had found the tweet in question in early 2019 when I was searching for reference images of disney’s pocahontas (as I had been commissioned to draw all of the disney princesses for someone) and her tweet came up in the results, because i specifically had been looking for the version from that movie (commissioner wanted me to draw those versions of the princesses in specific)

anyways I pointed out that not only was pocahontas not actually that dark skinned in the movie (providing a direct screenshot from the film as proof), but that historically she wouldn’t have been that dark skinned either (because get this, I’m actually part powhatan—and while I am admittedly white passing due to being mixed race, my maternal grandfather, who is native american, isn’t that dark either. he does have copper colored skin, and does tan rather than burn, but he isn’t like. super dark like ali was complaining pocahontas wasn’t on that specific toy.) anywho i prefaced my tweet with my heritage (I’m actually related to the real pocahontas’s family, funfact. not a direct descendant, more like…a distant cousin??? though in the past I have remarked on how in the portraits of her that exist, I look fairly similar in certain facial features, mainly my nose, eyes, hairline, and overall head shape)

anyways, after i pointed this out, and made it clear I didn’t think she was saying this maliciously, I just think she might have had a warped view of how pocahontas is meant to look…she blocked me, and then started subtweeting me…

first, she accused me of using a “poorly photoshopped image” of pocahontas to prove my point (I didn’t, I screenshotted directly from the movie off a cartoon website, so likely the source was a DVD since there was no logo in the corner, and from what I could tell the colors of other characters and scenes looked correct)

THEN she accused me of lying about my heritage—and mind you this was AFTER she blocked me so I couldn’t reply to defend myself or further expand on my native heritage—which anyone who has EVER talked to me for an extended period of time knows I am HAPPY to infodump about. Because both I and my mother have done tons of research about our family tree—and that part of our family in particular (since its one of the few parts of my mothers family thats well documented and in a language we both natively know.) I mean I even know the specific name of a shawnee chief I am directly descended from! (Cornstalk—funfact, the mothman mythos is closely tied with Cornstalk’s curse, which is an alternate belief about the strange events associated with mothman sightings)

Now, again, anyone who knows me knows there are THREE things that really really tick me off in regards to my native heritage—and that is 1) calling me, or any other woman of native descent “pocahontas” (because first of all, her name was actually Matoaka, AND she’s not event the only significant native american woman in history), 2) being asked if I am related to Pocahontas/Matoaka (I actually punched a kid over this once when i was little. ironically I then later found out I actually am distantly related to her. what a small world!), and 3) being accused of lying about my heritage for “oppression points”. (well, there’s more than three, but that would just be getting into a whole other tangent, and I’ve already gone on like, four tangents in this post alone)

This last one makes me absolutely furious because I’ve had people (all white) say I can’t be native because “don’t look native” to them. when like. that’s not even fucking true??? other native american people (specifically other cherokee people—which is one of the tribes I am descended from) have recognized me as looking native american, and like other members of their tribe. I literally have the facial features, I just happen to have fair skin, and lighter hair. I mean hell, if you looked at my baby pictures (which I don’t have any on my device right this moment unfortunately) I did not look like a “white baby”. I didn’t start “looking white” (as in my hair lightening) until I was older. I’ve had white people try to gatekeep and erase my heritage from me because of their own perceptions of my appearance (based solely on my skin-tone).

So yeah, the bitch accused me of lying about a significant part of my heritage, a part that’s very VERY important to me, a part that I refuse to let others erase (especially since I’m SURE the colonists who murdered Cornstalk and his son—both my ancestors—would love to erase that misdeed and bury it).

I mean, imagine claiming to be all about the rights of indigenous women, and then smearing and making sweeping accusations about another queer, indigenous woman! Could never be me.

But I guess I could never understand the brainrot of someone who spends all day complaining about fictional representations made by white people, instead of raising up indigenous creators who worked hard to create their own, better representation instead.

[bohemian-nights]

For the life of me I can’t understand how people think it’s acceptable for House of the Dragon a show that is pushing for more diversity (making the Velaryon’s Black and Mysaria Asian) to race bend the only canonical black character. If they wanted to race bend any of the characters they could’ve made Alys Rivers Indian. They could make Sara Snow Mexican and so on. It’s just so frustrating to see this happen time and time again in media when it comes to the portrayal of WOC in general but especially black women.

Like I don't care if people ship Daemyra you know? If shipping those two makes them happy go for it. My only thing is I just want them to stop with the racist shit they say about all the WOC in Daemon's life. From his lovers (cause they've said some racist shit about Mysaria too) to his wife and to even his daughters. At this point I'm convinced half of them don't even like Daemon because if they did they wouldn't stay shitting on the women who at one point or another were/are important to him.

Idk 🤷🏽‍♀️ it's just very strange to me.

The discourse surrounding Nettles is absolutely crazy and you can tell it’s being fueled by anti-black weirdos who are mainly Dumbnyra stans(lol Team Green have their issues too, but they aren’t the ones who are advocating to race bend Nettles 🙃)

Honestly, I did not have a problem with Dumbnyra(and yes I’m going to call it that) at the beginning of the show. I was indifferent to it. However, that quickly changed when most of the fans started to show themselves to be the racist psychopaths that they are. Down to them literally calling Laena the n-word and celebrating her death🙃:

You might say it’s just a couple of the more “extreme” fans that feel that way, but literally go on their blogs, Twitter accounts, etc., and 90% are arguing some bs.

If it’s not bashing Laena(yes they are still doing this even though she’s dead and according to them Rhaenyra was the love of Daemon’s life so it really doesn’t make sense to do all of this for a dead woman who paled in comparison to the “love of his life”🙃) it’s bashing Nettles.

Boy, do they hate Nettles. I'm posting her picture cause this is the face of their nightmares🤣

If it’s not saying Daemon never loved her and she was just this “giant misunderstanding” between himself and the “love of his life” despite him literally going against his wife and queen’s orders to save her, it’s saying how she’s Daemon’s daughter or Daemon saw her like a daughter.

Their relationship was 100% paternal or mentee/ mentor. Stop mentioning the bath’s which were father-daughter bonding time or the fact that they might’ve slept in the same bed which was just done to comfort a frightened child. Daemon would never get with someone so black I mean so foul-mouthed in canon. She’s just his child😅

Why do you want a bada** with a middle-aged white man? You’re the one with the problem, not me even though I’m trying to infantilize a young black woman and pidgin hole her into the “strong independent black woman” trope while supporting a white woman getting with her uncle cause I can relate to her. I refuse to read the books(or parts of the books) because every time I do I want to ripe out my hair when Daemon and Nettles' relationship is mentioned 🙃

Anyway, if it’s not saying she’s going to be cut and replaced with Rhaena(cause then they know that the relationship would actually be non-romantic☺️), it’s saying and actively hoping she’ll be race bent because they can’t stand the thought of Daemon being with a black woman💁🏽‍♀️:

All minorities are the same don’t cha know 😀and we have too many black people on this show. What we have Corlys, his sons, Rhaena, and Baela. Yes, Rhaena and Baela are mixed, but they count as representation cause their skin isn’t white and I can’t relate because of that. Why add the only in-canon black person when we have a whopping 5 whole black people in a sea of whites 🙃

Also, we don’t know what race Nettles is even though we have pictures of her in the lore and in the books as well as descriptions of her appearance that show that she is black, but again every time Nettles is mentioned I get triggered so I skip over her parts😀

Moving on. If it’s not bashing Nettles they are blatantly ignoring that Rhaena and Baela are Daemon’s daughters and his only daughters. They’ll literally draw a million and one pictures of lizard baby (that’s what I’m calling it, cause again, these people don’t deserve respect) and pretend like it ever drew breath and that it is his only daughter🙃 Or my personal favorite which is essentially Daemon is a good father because he didn’t abandon them on the side of the road (where they belong).

They were educated, clothed, and fed, children don’t need affection, stop complaining. The fandom loves Rhaena and Baela🙃. No one cares about poor Rhaenyra and her boys(who Daemon sees as his real children cause they share the same skin color🙃). That’s why I draw, write, and gif for these poor neglected souls and completely leave out the black ingrates, I mean Rhaena and Baela😅

Finally Mysaria. Oh, Mysaria, I’ve got my own problems with her, but yeah they do bash her by pinning all of Rhaenyra’s psycho deeds on her(so much for your girl being a queen who has "agency"🙃).

Like yeah, she’s not innocent, but she’s not the only one who isn’t innocent, and while I definitely don’t think Daemon was ever that in love with her given how quickly he was willing to call her a wh*re, it hasn’t escaped my notice that the only reason why she isn’t that much of a focus is because they do regulate her to just a wh*re 🙃

They hate Rhea too and try to make her into a groomer to justify Daemon murdering her, but we aren’t going to get into that because we are talking about how this fandom treats the non-white women of Daemon’s life.

Look, I could go on and on, but this ship literally attracts the most racist, white supremacist-leaning, self-hating fans(yes there are Black and other non-white fans who will literally throw their own under a bus for this ship🤦🏽‍♀️), and anti-Black fans by the boat load. And the thing is, they all hide behind “feminism” when called out for it🤣🤣🤣

Yeah, you can ship what you want, but it’s pretty obvious at this point it’s beyond shipping. If you are literally bashing every single woman and girl (especially the non-white women/girls) besides Rhaenyra in Daemon’s life then dude there is something wrong here.

They definitely aren’t Daemon fans(hell he probably has about as many actual fans as Nettles does🤦🏽‍♀️). They are Rhaenyra self-inserters who are pissed off that their ship is on borrowed time and “their man” is about to “leave” their self-insert in the dust for gasp 😱 a black woman so they are taking all the shots they can to feel better about this Titanic ship 🤷🏽‍♀️

[nerdstreak]

I am extremely late but who cares being late is cool 😎

I looked over the songs you put in your pyg!au playlist, they're cool! Whenever you have the time and energy, I'd love to listen to why you chose the songs you did and what they represent! Whether it fits a personality trait, a story beat, or is just something you or Con.nor would actually listen to

(I enjoy making playlists myself, even if I don't do it much, and I do genuinely want to hear you ramble about it)

ok,,, i suppose i could Go Off a little bit abt my song choices thank u,,,

but its still gonna be under a cut ok here we go

let you down: so this is p much connor's general feelings as he progresses through the cases, not succeeding enough to learn about deviants. since hannah is a part of cyberlife, he has another face besides amanda to put to any disappointment he feels is being directed towards him, even if she's never expressed that. this really culminates in the next chapter :3

all these things ive done: connor knows hannah is one of the very few people he can go to, also "ive got soul but im not a soldier" hits

beneath the mask: both of them sort of mask themselves and are afraid of showing their true selves around others

cold heart pnau mix: first verse is def connor catching feelings, also i just always like some good good elton on my playlists (another contender was goodbye yellow brick road, and while its not on here i like to think thats a song they like slow dancing to)

divinity: some future-y porter robinson and the simple lyrics fit well enough

i hear a symphony: PERFECT deviancy song no one can change my mind

i really wanna stay at your house: more future-y techno, definitely more of a 'songs they like to listen to' vibe than strictly plot-related

in her eyes: CHAPTER 4 NAMESAKE LETS GO it was called that originally because the first scene of 5 was supposed to be part of it and really played into the lyrics and emotion of the song

instant crush: more synths!! and again more vibes of just putting all your trust into one person you love

iris: WHEN EVERYTHING'S MADE TO BE BROKEN, I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW WHO I AAAM!!! a recent addition thanks to my best friend having never heard the song before reminding me it fits for them

just the way you are (the less cheesy billy joel one): neither of them would change a thing about the other :)

lay all your love on me: who doesnt love some abba, plus like hell either of them are gonna share devotion to anyone else

like real people do: self explanatory waaaaa this song is just so soft

mr blue sky: hey you with the pretty face, welcome to the human race!! blame the prtl fic absolutely lol, but dammit if it doesnt fit both my favorite blue robots

once upon a dream: a small spoiler, but hannah did dream about connor before she went on to finalize his design

past lives: sort of an overall connah song with all the verses i have for this ship, finding each other and being intrinsically linked in every universe

rhinestone eyes: more of a beginning-of-the-ship song, where feelings are more distant but there's still that spark of attachment

somewhere only we know: before hannah started on the rk800 project, she was starting to get a bit jaded working for cyberlife, but he sparked her passion again and now wants to rely on him, and in turn he relies on her too, someone that can listen without judgement, just as he does for her

steal the show: purely put it here cuz that one scene in elemental made me think of them :)

yellow: gentle vibes of wanting to do anything and everything for the other person

you might think: no matter how other people might judge an android/human relationship, neither of them truly care what others think in the end, because all they need and want is each other

[nonbinary-sticks-the-badger]

ignore this let me rant about my surge playlist because i really love it

I LOVE THIS PLAYLIST SO MUCH IS SUCH A BANGER PLAYLIST I NEED TO PAINSTAKINGLY EXPLAIN TO YOU WHY I PUT EACH SONG ON IT EVEN IF ITS OBVIOUS

1. PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN QUEEF JERKY, ethan is online

i dont think this majorly fits surge's character (other than the lady gaga meat dress part) but i think she'd probably do covers of queef jerky in universe (provided her life wasnt the way it is)

2. The Mind Electric Miracle Musical

i really love tally hall/miracle musical so um. dont be surprised to find them in a playlist of mine made after i started listening to them. the most commonly accepted theory is that its about someone being given electro shock therapy until they die/lose their mind, which (sort of) fits surge's story!!!

3. Modify Lemon Demon

the song is about extreme body mods. which kinda fits surge i guess.

4. Amnesia Was Her Name Lemon Demon

SHE DOESNT KNOW WHO SHE USED TO BE 🗣️‼️ SHE FORGOT 🗣️‼️

5. People Eater Sodikken

i think this song is meant to be about an abusive relationship??? it only very loosely fits but its a banger and i cant remove it

6. Fighter Jack Stauber

i dont think this song majorly fits either honestly but it can fit if you make it fit

7. ...Because I'm Young Arrogant And Hate Everything You Stand For Machine Girl

i cant hear most of the lyrics theyre screamed BUT I THINK SHE'D LIKE IT!!! also from what i can make out, it does fit

8. Ghost Machine Girl

this song's instrumental so it's entirely just 'well i think she'd listen to it and its a good song'

9. & Tally Hall

this song's about duality which doesnt majorly fit surge but absolutely sounds like something she'd listen to. also, later on in the playlist, there's A Lady which i added 2 months later which is a follow up of &.

10. Turn the Lights Off Tally Hall

urrrr it's about puberty and she's a teenager urrrr ummm

11. Doku Hakushi Hasegawa

this song barely fits BUT it sounds like something she'd like :D

12. SR20DET Blksmiith

instrumental but you CANNOT tell me she doesnt like breakcore and jungle

13. AM FM Vertigoaway

see above

14. Palmtree Panic - "B" Mix SEGA SOUND TEAM

ok so first of all this song actually is from sonic and second of all it sounds like trying to smile while wanting to scream which ig fits

15. Metallic Madness - "P" Mix SEGA SOUND TEAM

again, this is actually from sonic and also it sounds like something vaguely relating to surge

16. Oh Klahoma Jack Stauber

this song is about someone whose friend has social anxiety and they're trying to help them become social, which hurts not only the friend but the narrator themself. while not fully accurate, i could very easily imagine surge as the narrator and kit as the friend

17. Dead Weight Jack Stauber

similarly to oh klahoma, this is about someone who wants to be social but is unsure how. it doesnt really relate to surge but screw you jack stauber is a wonderful artist

18. The Dragon Game A Loud Scream SEGA SOUND TEAM

see 12, however with the addition of 'also its sonic team'

19. icosa Oliver Buckland

WOOHOO YIPPEE ENA!!!! (this song isnt FROM ena, but plays in auction day)

20. anemoia Oliver Buckland

ENAAAAAAAAAAA IM SO EXCITED FOR DREAM BBQ

21. God Race (Temptaion Stairway) Metaroom

ENA AND METAROOM ENA AND METAROOM ENA AND METAROOM

22. Kitty City Cyriak Harris

the animation to go with this has nothing to do with surge but i think the music gives surge vibes! ALSO its instrumental so you cant dispute that

23. Scrap Brain Zone Masato Nakamura

scrap brain zone, both as a song and as a stage, absolutely gives surge vibes. in sonic 1, im pretty sure every stage other than sbz and final zone has some form of natural element, and at the very least has happy sounding music. i also slightly associate scrap brain zone with overwhelming misery, due to the way it sounds, the name and also because when i first played sonic 1 i was stuck on it for ages omg

24. Unused Song (Sonic 2) Masato Nakamura

something about this song, including the fact it wasnt used, feels incredibly mysterious, which i mean you can link mystery to surge in a lot of ways

25. FAMILY GUY QUEEF JERKY, ethan is online

similar to the first one except its only 'i think surge would like queef jerky'. i dont know how you link this song to anything other than family guy.

26. A Lady Tally Hall

i think this surge vaguely fits surge and for some reason i cant help but picture this with surgamy. i mostly added it tho because i got mildly obsessed with it and had an excuse to add it seeing as & is in the playlist earlier

[majorbaby]

you're right about the overwhelming whiteness in mash fandom; somebody made a post about soon-lee (an on-screen woc) not receiving as much content and attention compared to peg and there were people who seemed to a) brush it off, b) actually be bothered by it, or c) equate their experiences??? like ???? and don't even mention how much of the racism toward klinger is brushed off

exactly. i think you explained it well but lemme unpack further:

peg appears on screen twice but never in corporal form next to any of the other characters. and her appearances are marred by the fact that she exists in the narrative only in relation to BJ. as his life-line and a source of his pain. that is not my interpretation of what she should be, it's how she was written. i'm not saying she's not important or that BJ does not love her and I'm not commenting even on the state of their marriage right now, i'm just saying peg as a human person with thoughts, feelings, ambitions is not something that the narrative focuses on. where there is Peg, there is always BJ somewhere - either having a meltdown because he misses his life back home or reminding us that he loves his wife and child.

i never did publish my fridging essay because it was long and it became about dc comics rather than MASH but... the suggestion that the peg character is 'fridged' or otherwise 'ignored' by the fandom is funny to me because, well, the show did it first. if you want something to rally against, why not start with the dudes who actually wrote her as being a phantom limb of BJ's and then i can maybe listen to you make the connection between that and how and why fandom is the way that it is about women characters. provided you expand that argument to at least include margaret because i don't i could be convinced using just peg as an example.

i could go on and on about peg's portrayal as being the real being affront to stereotypes of 50s women on MASH as compared to like, the various nurse ables or even Margaret but that would be touching the s1-3 vs 4-11 mess for the second time today so let's move on.

soon-lee is a strong, though not perfect, departure from that. like. really strong, imo. she's got 2 hours to make an impression on us and she does. she does not exist in association to klinger. she's had a life before klinger and though she expresses her sadness around it, she's willing to give up a life with him if she has to in order to find her family. and that one line in no way does justice to soon-lee's footprint on the show, but that's another post that i will write eventually.

basically, soon-lee is the heavylift for the show wrt women AND race, which isn't exactly fair to her to have to do but i'm still grateful for soon-lee. she seems to be an intentional contribution to the western tv canon of varied representations of racialized women and they did that in 1982. we haven't done much better since then on shows that primarily center white experiences, so that's why i think she's of note.

it does both women a disservice to equate their experiences in the narrative and also their treatment in the fandom - both are uneven. peg has way less agency in the narrative than soon-lee, yet soon-lee is nowhere near as present in fanwork as peg.

why is that? lots of reasons i think: peg being closely associated to BJ and BJ being the most popular character in fandom (next to hawkeye but i'm starting to wonder if he actually eclipses hawkeye) gets peg some points. people feeling out of their depth with what exactly to do with klinger and soon-lee's relationship bc it's pretty well resolved by the end - there are absolutely opportunities for future conflict with them being like, a mixed korean-lebanese couple in post-police-action korea but i admit even for me, someone who might be interested in writing something about that, i'd feel a certain responsibility to do my homework.

then again i've seen (and done) all manner and depth of academic research conducted by fanartists to write slowburn white m/m slash or even m/f fic so i'm not taking the race out of the picture completely. and that's the last, important, uncomfortable difference between peg and soon-lee - peg is white and soon-lee is not. i respect and appreciate the goal of any call to diversify the space (provided it doesn't come with any sort of weird guilt trip, which is a line i try to toe all the time) but we have to be careful that in doing that we're not denying racialized people their experiences. or at least acknowledging that there are different ways to move through the world.

[kitkatt0430]

3, 4, 13, and 20 for the ask game!

3.) screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

Oh gosh. I've seen so many bad takes... How about I just name a few instead of one?

Barry/Iris on the show is incest because Joe fostered Barry. - They are not actually biologically related. Barry and Iris do not actually see each other as siblings. It's one thing to personally dislike the ship because they were raised together and personally seeing their relationship as sibling-esque, but calling it canonically incest is a stretch. Thankfully this one died off as the show marched on, but I still see it pop up sometimes.

Age gaps are inherently abusive ships. - Ah, yes, you should only ship characters with characters born the same year as them. /sarcasm. Age gaps can be tricky to write and I do prefer younger characters to be in relationships with smaller age gaps, but... age gap romances are not inherently abusive. The differences in life experience can make it difficult to balance the power dynamics of a ship, that's really all it is. I see this get aimed at Harrisco a lot, but not so much ColdFlash (which isn't quite as big a gap, but still pretty notable). So it seems like it's more of an excuse for people to dunk on a ship where they dislike one of the characters a lot than people truly hating on the age gap concept itself.

I've seen people calling ColdFlash racist for not shipping Barry with Iris. Which thankfully mostly went away as more of the fandom became aware Wentworth Miller is mixed race. But the fact that it happened at all was just... fascinating in a horrifying way. Is there Iris bashing in the ColdFlash fandom that's... really kinda gross? Oh, yes, definitely. But it's not inherent to the ship itself nor is it particularly common for ColdFlash fics to also be Iris bashing fics.

On the flipside I've seen people call Iris abusive of Barry (character bashing) for all sort of stretchy reasons that seem to narrow down to Iris ever daring to show emotions that aren't positive, happy, happy all the time. Usually as an excuse to ship Barry with anyone not Iris and pretend it's a morally superior ship and definitely not misogynoir.

And... I think all the worst takes I've seen kind of wind up being variations on a theme of people wanting to pretend that shipping is somehow an expression of moral superiority by only shipping the 'good' ships and not the 'bad' ones.

4.) what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

So if an annoying person is ignoring my stated boundaries? Odds are I'll just block them for that. I might give them a couple of tries if they seem young or simply new to fandom and don't realize they're being not just annoying, but rude. But I knew when I put up my 'requests are open' sign I'd have to be willing to block people who ignore my boundaries about what I am, and am not, willing to write.

Thus far I haven't actually had to block anyone over that, so having my requests open is actually working out pretty well.

13.) worst blorboficiation

So I tend to see the most common bad type of blorbofication being when someone loves a character so much that they just... pretend that character's bad traits don't exist. Please let your blorbos have their character flaws, that's part of what makes them interesting.

Seen heavily in fics that include character bashing, tbh. They bash characters the blorbo has wronged because their blorbo can do no wrong in their eyes. I've seen this happen on occasion in ColdFlash fics that really punch down on Iris. Used to happen a LOT in the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom and is what got me out of that fandom for a very long time.

I don't really have specific examples, but this process makes the blorbo less interesting for no longer having their flaws and the bashed character no longer interesting for having only their flaws. Takes me right out of a fic (literally; I close the tab) when I stumble across it.

20.) part of canon you found tedious or boring

The mirror verse arc in S6/start of S7 in the Flash. I could see the bones of a good plot in there. But it. Dragged. Out. Multiple episodes where nothing actually progressed for Iris' story line. This was the Iris plot we'd been promised and I'd been excited about? It was moments of interest interspersed with long moments of tedium.

It was especially disappointing because the bloodwork arc in the first half of S6 was so tightly written. The pacing had been spot on, Ramsey made a compelling villain, it fit thematically with the other sub plots surrounding it... and then the back half of the season became a slog. Iris deserved way better.

[notesofarichlycolorednight]

s1ep16

at this point these aren't even episode specific lol but i'll start with smth episode specific

i really hate how in one shot, chat noir is clearly solemn as he takes timebreaker's freezing hand for ladybug but in the next, when ladybug is running from timebreaker, you can see him grinning like he's about to kiss her. there's just smth extremely icky abt that bc we're supposed to think this as a noble sacrifice and hint at his feelings for her, but instead it's treated like a joke where ladybug doesn't even get a say in their relationship.

hawkmoth is just a worse dr. doofensmirtz lol.

i have a third thing but it relates to what i'm going to say about what i was thinking about during this episode this time. and it's that white men really shouldn't be writing shows or movies likes these, with a female protagonist (a mixed girl, even!) that's supposed to be a role model for young girls since young girls don't get superhero role models often still, unless they have like a team of female/women sensitivity readers

bc the thing is, ladybug may be the title character, and the protagonist (to chat noir's deuteragonist counterpart) but she's not treated that way in the narrative. like yes, there's smth to be said about how the narrative treats chat noir, and trust me i have seen that discourse. (and as an aside, i find it frustrating that the writers can't think of more creative ways for him to use his cataclysm that's actually useful and doesn't seem like he's just doing it to do something otherwise fans will complain about their imbalance. which fans did anyway!)

but the way ladybug is treated doesn't make it feel like she's the protagonist. like sure, as a protagonist it's okay for her to make mistakes and learn from them, but watching this now, when she's not there to deliver the cake and then her parents scold her for not being there, becomes a pattern in the show where she never grows from that. and it starts to feel more like the narrative and the writers are punishing her and not letting her move on from that. not only that but adrien is never faced with dilemmas like that. his absent father who is also akumatizing ppl hardly pays attention to him, which is very convenient. and we never see him get in trouble for being late for a photoshoot or leaving a photoshoot or smth bc he had to go superhero. it's only ladybug. why does the narrative think she's the only one who has to be taught lessons?

i think i got off on a rant. what i'm trying to say is that i think that ml was written with a layer of misogyny because of who its creator is/was idk it's canceled. like sure there may have been writers who were women on the team, but ultimately, the creator had the most and strongest say in how things shook out. and yes, i know that his girlfriend at the time also had a big hand in helping with the episodes. this doesn't excuse any acts of internalized misogyny she perpetuated. which is also why i think it would need to be a team of writers who are women or a team of sensitivity readers who are women to make it more well-rounded.

also kinda relates to why alix is the one who has the learn the lesson. her reason for giving it to alya is valid! she's on skates, going fast! she, out of everyone there, would know best where to store a small, fragile, delicate item. what if she crashes or falls on the item? it's safer for someone to hold, even if it's ultimately her responsibility to take care of at the end of the day. sometimes, responsibility is letting others help you.

marinette was right, in that alya should have taken care of it when alix asked her to, instead of handing it off to marinette. (you can hold your phone with one hand??) or, she should've been more vocal about not being able to hold it bc she wanted to record the race before the race started. it's not wholly alix's fault. and it's a weird thing to teach kids that responsibility is solely on their shoulders, rather than thinking logically about something like whether or not a pocket watch would actually be safe on someone who is speed racing in roller blades.

and i'm back to sailor moon comparisons bc again the creator said! i'm all over the place with this one but i wanted to at least talk about it a little, bc the difference in sailor moon is that usagi is the title character. she is Thee protagonist. but importantly, mamoru isn't the deuteragonist. her friends are. mamoru/tuxedo mask is a just a side-piece of eye candy.

and there's nothing wrong with chat noir not being that, but the narrative simultaneously treats him as a side-piece of eye candy while also treating him like the protagonist. and they have to choose one.

adrien can't not have trials and tribulations like marinette has, and he can't not learn and grow and evolve (tho, it could be argued that these trials marinette is put through don't even help her character arc or growth, they're just put there to be there, which is such shitty writing) while also being the deuteragonist. like sure, it's second fiddle, but narratively, a deuteragonist is still important!! we also want to see them learn and grow alongside the protagonist!

yet adrien doesn't get that treatment. the narrative coddles him. he never learns anything. he's either teaching marinette something or not doing anything at all but being a piece of eye candy!

anyway, basically i think the creator and his at the time girlfriend has some misogyny to work through and that also contributed to why ml was so shoddily written.

[the-girl-who-didnt-smile]

On the subject of this fanfiction that involves Mimzy, I feel the need to address the line "I'm no Negro, I'm Creole"

…I hate spelling things out like this, but here we go:

“Is Alastor a racist?”

No.

Alastor is deceiving Detective Richard by pretending to be a radio host from the social elite of New Orleans. In real life, the Francophone New Orleans had a different race/class system from America, where mixed race people occupied a higher status than those of pure African descent. 

During Alastor’s lifetime, the Creole community was distinct from the African American community. The solidarity and tensions between these two communities are often oversimplified, either by misappropriating modern race categorizations or caricaturing the Creole community as a bunch of anti black racists. The reality is far more nuanced than this, as the late 19th century and early 20th century saw the Americanization of New Orleans. Creoles of Color were assimilated to the category of “black”, and thus formed solidarity with the African American community. Unfortunately, there were also some who were bigoted against Black people, essentially fulfilling the aforementioned caricature.

The line “I’m no Negro, I’m Creole” does not reflect what Alastor actually thinks. Rather, it is him playing the part of someone who would think this way - a snobby, bigoted, elitist radio host. In reality, Alastor is a very interesting case. Although he is mixed race, he grew up dirt poor, never learning how to speak French well, completely isolated from the Creole community.  Although he “passes” for one, he would not really identify with the Creole community of New Orleans; he is essentially banished to a racial “no man’s land”.

(this is obviously a departure from canon, but bro…we are SO FAR into wacky non-canon land!)

(i still gave him this trait because i just think it adds another interesting layer to his character…this also relates to his overall identity formation, but that’s a separate lengthy topic…!)

Alastor loved his mother more than anything, and she was Black. He is by no means “a good guy” (he arguably becomes the single most evil guy in American history…) and he has a complicated relationship with his race, but it doesn’t make sense for him to actually look down on Black people.

In other words, his racism is mostly internalized, not externalized.

I referred to the following book in my research: Barthé, Darryl. Becoming American in Creole New Orleans, 1896–1949. United States, LSU Press, 2021.

NINETEEN TWENT̵̢̡̖̤̫̎̾̏͑Y̸͖̤̞͑͛̃͝ͅ-̴͕͓͍̞̦͕̯̹̬̜͖̙̇

Read online here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56227810/chapters/142842640

[havg02]

Starscream with a 'different personality' headcanons

☆He was actually loyal, only to turn against Megatron for a reason

☆Instead of being borderline evil that he doesn't know how to be nice, immediately uses violence or screeching on everyone as his first action, being narcissistic, cowardly yet randomly and impulsively going traitorous for no reason....

☆....While hes still impatient and agitated easily he's more someone who's realistic about everything, cuts crap, sarcastic, perfectionist that everything has to go right and planned well, sassy, deadpans a lot, only annoyed by idiots who don't have common sense or when something goes wrong like 'wtf is happening on now', and just 100% done with everyone (especially Megatron and angsty bots)

☆And he's actually diligent, more serious, really good at making plans, does things that's best for everyone and actually means well despite being snappy, nice, down to earth, has a line he won't cross like any decent being, tough bc nothing really scares him anymore, independent, brave when coming to saving others, has a vibe where you won't ever feel awkward around him, does his job done and over efficiently and makes hilarious witty jokes

☆In easier detail, he's the wine aunt who's bad with children but cares for them and will fight for them and he's similar to Ratchet but charismatic, so a sort of mix of Ratchet and Knockout. He's already a decent leader too but he causes himself to make everyone not listen to him bc he's always betraying so instead of being like that. If he wants to be seen as a leader he would work hard for it while not being fake or anything, and keep everyone in check

☆Maybe he also has Bretman Rock vibes, idk that's the closest I could describe him to.

☆And everyone lowkey actually like him bc he's reliable, he's the first person to think of when things go wrong since he's the genius planner who can make everything to smooth again, find it easy to be around him and have good laughs bc he's lowkey funny even when he doesn't mean to--like Pewdiepie, who makes everyone laugh by acting annoyed with everything

☆The only evil thing he would do is ofc doing decepticons stuff but again if he's dreaming of becoming a leader then he would just be satisfied being the second in command while still being a good role model, like he's already super smart but just not....bright that he's both a dumbass and a genius so he could be more smarter and less reckless, like keeping things clean and perfect as he's--again, a perfectionist

☆That being all said the Decepticons would actually like him. Although he may or not have a bff relationship with Knockout like in canon bc he's more serious to his job as the commander, he'd have a more caring and healthier relationship with him, while just speaking more formally to each other. But Starscream will scare him with a warning when Knockout keeps going out to go racing instead doing his job.

☆Soundwave would also like him since he's down to earth and hilarious that he never suspects him of anything, and he does job and get everything right so he doesn't need to deal with everyone's bullshit. Instead of Star being annoying, Soundwave likes trolling him bc he likes teasing him and seeing his annoyed dramatic reactions which is amusing to him but not in any bad way

☆The two would make work related jokes in spare time since they're both the hardworking ones--and this is a headcanon I have with the original Starscream but Soundwave kind of likes how Star doesn't act awkward around him and stays normal like he's used to it and knows what he's trying to say, like in the films nearly no one knows what Soundwave wants but Star can never be seen saying 'what, what are you saying?'

☆Also Star is the closest person Soundwave has known more than anyone else in the ship other than Megatron, who also is the one mostly near him and who he can get along with without filter since he can't really hang out with Megatron despite being best friends with him and being so busy so it's another thing why Soundwave secretly appreciates him being here, he isn't as alone or bored.

☆Shockwave wouldn't mind him either, cause they would be science buddies. Star would fly around earth to discover things that could benefit the decepticons in his spare time and show it to him to discuss and examine over together, and with a brain Star would know not to get on Shockwave's bad side so he wouldn't do all the bad stuff he did to him in canon and not pay any mind to all the favor Shockwave has from Megatron. Better than arguing bc he believes he's too perfect for that.

☆Maybe Starscream could have had a background where he used to be reckless before one day Megatron completely scared him to the point he was careful from now on and was more quiet and secretive, just pretty much trauma or a wake up call so he doesn't act like that again but he still is traumatized from that very day and is wary of Megatron secretly. And he can't really speak about it either since no one would defend him since he was the one who betrayed once.

☆So like in canon, Star would feel just as afraid of Megatron except he'd feel really uncomfortable around him but he's suppressing it so he doesn't know. He feels too embarrassed to think about being fired and begging to be hired again so he just keeps in line out of Megatrons way and doing his best to keeps things perfect to avoid his wrath, and he ends up good at doing at his job so Megatron doesn't get disappointed at all

☆But unfortunately that makes Megatron show obvious signs of never letting him go even if he wanted to quit which unnerves Star so much to think of staying under him for the rest of his life, even though at least Megatron will let go of his mistakes without hurting him. Still, he hates it and dreams of being able to somehow get away from his position, finally become a ruler and save cybertron and Vos back to normal again.

☆If he were good, then maybe he actually would hope the autobots would win. But after Vos was gone with all of cybertron which completely stopped him from ever hoping again, he thinks the autobots are all talk about being good unless they manage to prove a point to him on why he should be good and why he should join them, so he would wait patiently and let them survive for them to do so and secretly hope for Megatron to die without him doing it.

☆At the end when Megatron says that decepticons are finished, he's so shocked like he's never expected him to ever realize his actions since he was there to see how far Megatron has crossed the line. Though he'd be so relieved bc it means he's finally free from working under him and everything is over, that it makes him nearly cry with all the emotions he had hide away from that day of the incident but not before quickly telling Shockwave the news and trying to find Soundwave together.

☆Also I have a headcanon that Vos is a sort of like a royal continent with aristocrats, hence why he's so graceful, formal and sassy. And seekers are nurturing too so Star would def baby over the vehicons and other decepticon workers like his own, like making sure they take their rations or go to med bay if they're feeling unwell since it can be hazardous. He wouldn't yell at them either unless they did something really wrong

☆Like if they have questions or did a mistake, he'd rather tell them not to do it again or teach them how to do the stuff they don't know than stress himself out by being mad about how others magically don't know better. And if any of them decide they want to become an autobot, he'd be disappointed but lowkey thinks it's best for them since the decepticons is a pretty bad environment so he'd just be glad they'd be safer wherever they are than here. Another reason why everyone likes him, to the point they're only in the decepticons bc of him now

☆Star is selfish bc of his pride that he believes he deserves better and can get emotionally angry when things don't go right as he wishes to go, but instead of coping like that, he'll sort of self inflict his need to be treated better to others. Like he lowkey takes it out on others by treating others better than they should be treated and being nice, to the point he even gets irrationally mad while defending someone, so he ironically treats others better than himself.

☆It's sad but it's at least a better way of him coping instead of lashing out on everyone emotionally. And everyone starts to notice and try to point it out to him, but he's too stubborn to believe it and continues acting like a dog biting and growling at their own tail in self-infliction.

☆Though there's actually a reason why Starscream is written in the way he's written, which is to sort of serve as like an opposite of Megatron, as some kind of symbol or someone to keep Megatron on his feet as Megatron had once said canonically in a comic before. But I'm sure Star could keep Megatron in check in another way.

☆Like his character and talent is said to be constantly surprising someone so he could be someone who's impressively constantly step forward than everyone else, is scarily good at being a mastermind and convincing/manipulating or has something in him that reminds Megatron to not get comfortable. Idk, just better than being 'that one who always gets abused' but I guess his original character is just as good, in the IDW that is.

[idrellegames]

Hey there! I come bearing a question, and I'll be honest. I don't know if you've answered it in the past, and Tumblr is a pain in the ass when it comes to trying to look backwards to see if something has been asked before.

So here goes: With how widely the lifespans of the different races vary, how common is it for the longer lived races like elves and dwarves, to actually be romantically involved with the more 'fickle' races? I can see it swing both ways honestly depending on the person of course, but I'm primarily curious whether it's something people in general don't care about, or if the longer lived races are more reserved due to the inherent differences in life span? I'd imagine a dwarf who can easily be expected to reach well past 200, being apprehensive about being involved with a human that won't even reach half of that.

Obviously that's very much a person by person situation when it comes down to it, but what's the general view on that? Like do the dwarves and elfs in general tend to stick with one of their own, if only to avoid the inevitable heartbreak of out-living their partner, or are they all "share the love" heartbreak be damned? Granted that obviously won't influence player romances, but I'm curious about what it looks like for the average person in the setting of your game.

Reading your FAQ too, I noticed that conversations with RO's will involve compatibility in terms of romance and sexuality etc. so I won't beat around the bush. Can an allosexual MC, still get in a viable relationship with our favorite savant? I'm personally the type of person who isn't overly concerned about sex in a relationship, so although I enjoy and like sex quite a lot, I'm also more than willing to put it aside if I really connected with someone who's asexual. If there's a genuine connection between me and them, then sex isn't all that important to me in determining the longevity of a relationship. So I guess my second question boils down to whether or not we'll be able to address it that way, so that our character can still be allosexual while also being fine with a potential relationship without sex. You don't have to spill the tea so to speak, as for how that conversation goes in the game though. I just don't want to get my hopes up for a romance with her, if I'll end up heartbroken because her asexuality is written as to her only wanting to be with other ace people 😩

Sorry if that last bit was a bit of a ramble, it's kinda a subject close to my heart, since people somehow often find it hard to understand how I can both love sex a lot, but simultaneously also be completely fine without it if the person I'm with is worth it. So I guess I'm a little self-conscious about it, which tends to lead to rambling. Especially since I don't really know if there's a label for how I feel about it, since it hasn't really been something I've looked into in the past x3

So now I'll just quietly shut up, before I embarrass myself further than I already have 😖

Hi! Thanks so much for your ask. 💕 Hopefully I can clear up a few things!

Different Lifespans

The majority of people in long-term relationships in this world tend to find themselves in relationships with other members of the same species. But, like most things, it does depend on culture, location, and the individual person. Cross-species relationships are more common in urban areas and large cities, as are mixed family units. The general understanding in most Rhesainian cultures is that some folks may have more than one "life partner" and it's not something to bat an eye at.

Ace/Allo Relationships

I don't want to spoil anything, but this will be a topic of conversation on most romance paths. Allosexual MCs who want to romance acespec characters (Alexia and Ren) will have a chance to talk about what they want their relationship to look like. The same is true for asexual MCs who want to romance allosexual characters (and, on a related topic, monogamous MCs who want to romance polyamorous characters and vice versa). Romantic and sexual compatibility is a theme for all romanceable characters. Some characters are fine with pretty much anything, others are not. If it doesn't line up between the MC/LI, there will be a conversation to be had, compromises to be made, and things to work out.

Hope that makes sense!

[alvie-pines]

again. enderspawn posting about jrwi mlp has made me want to talk about the au that’s been swirling around in my head for a while now. special interest go brrr

i havent drawn jay yet and i changed my design for gillion so unfortunately all i have visuals for so far is chip (here)

these notes are completely unorganized, but i swear there’s a coherent au with a storyline underneath

Jay: pegasus

- the Ferins are a lot taller than most pegasi (which are typically the smallest of the pony races) and they have noticeably large wings

- the navy is majority pegasi (because in mlp canon, pegasi already have a history of culturally encouraged militarism)

- her cutie mark is waves near a beach--specifically depicting a riptide current--and she got it by saving someone at sea. later, as a pirate, she realizes that this--what her, gil, and chip are doing--was what her cutie mark was about all along. being at sea. saving people. its a little unconventional, but it feels more true than her previous interpretation of it being navy-related. 

Chip: changeling

- left the Hive and was taken in by Arlin and the Black Rose pirates; they knew of his actual species and were among the only people to not distrust him for it

- the reason he looks so similar to Lizzie is because he used to pretend to be her twin. after the hole in the sea, he adopted that look as his disguise permanently, because he missed her

- after Gil and Jay learn about his species, he shapeshifts in much the same way he does in canon with his bandanna. he uses it to play pranks, disguise himself, or catch an opponent off-guard... oh, you know chip, he uses it to fuck with gil 

- he does this thing where, when trying to persuade someone, he changes his cutie mark to something relevant to what he’s saying and subtly puts it in their line of sight. he played a dangerous game by doing this even before his crewmates knew, trying to keep the changed mark out of their sights

Gillion: kelpie

- i was originally going to make him a seapony/hippogriff, but it just didnt fit him, so instead i designed what is basically tritons, but horse, and then decided to call them kelpies ignoring the kelpies that are canon to the comics

- for kelpies, the coral that grows from some of their heads’ acts a lot like a unicorn or kirin’s horn. they also have a subrace without coral. they do not have a pegasus-like equivalent

- kelpies actually DO get cutie marks which is unsual since theyre not technically ponies! i included this because gillion having an unhealthy relationship to his cutie mark due to its connection to destiny (which he naturally has a fucked up relationship to) was important to me with this au. his cutie mark is a sword pointed down, struck by lightning, which becomes blood partway down the blade and drips off the tip. it takes a lot of work for him to see it as a good thing, being so obviously linked to the violence he was raised in, but he eventually recontextualizes it as not “being the chosen one” but as “protecting family and friends and crew”

Ollie: half-kirin, half-unicorn

- in this analogy, kirin = elf

- he has the mane and tail of a kirin, the coat of a unicorn, and his horn is a mix of both. he can also become a nirik if properly enraged, but the crew hasnt really seen this side of him yet.

Lizzie: earth pony

- the face that Chip based his pony persona on

- got a cutie mark for piracy, which Chip accuses her of “copying” from his. (lizzie: thats not how this works you dumb fucking changeling)

Caspian: aquatic unicorn

- no notes. head empty. just caspian

- ok i lied. head very full of thoughts of an entire group of unicorns who specialize in aquatic magic (breathing underwater, swimming fast, etc) being part of the undersea

- theyre not biologically distinct from unicorns. they just practice a specific type of magic to sustain their lifestyle underwater.

- foals would be born and raised abovewater for their first few years. the minute they can consistently keep themselves alive underwater, the family moves back to the undersea.

[dahlia-coccinea]

Do you think WH is racist in anyway? Don't get me wrong, Emily Bronte was definitely ahead of her time when it came to criticizing the racism Heathcliff faces, but at the same time, Heathcliff is shown as more morally reprehensible than Hindley. And there's also the fact that Linton was born from miscegenation and is... well Linton. (Sorry if this seems like a too loaded question- I just though you may have something to say on it)

This is a difficult question to answer in a few regards and not really for the reasons some may think. There are different narratives and thinking on racism, historically as well as culturally.

I think if you take a very cut and dried approach to measuring racism - that being the book and narrative is prejudiced and derogative against Heathcliff because of his race - then I would say the book is not racist. I think it is pretty clear in the text that Heathcliff is a central part of the story, and while we may be frightened and disturbed at times by his behaviour he retains a strong sensitivity and suffering that is so relatable to all mankind.

This conversation reminds me of this review from when the novel was first published in 1847, that found such humanity in Heathcliff’s story:

It is not every day that so good a novel makes its appearance; and to give its contents in detail would be depriving many a reader of half the delight he would experience from the perusal of the work itself. To its pages we must refer him, then; there will he have ample opportunity of sympathising,—if he has one touch of nature that 'makes the whole world kin'—with the feelings of childhood, youth, manhood, and age, and all the emotions and passions which agitate the restless bosom of humanity. May he derive from it the delight we have ourselves experienced, and be equally grateful to its author for the genuine pleasure he has afforded him.

Despite this there are definitely racist interpretations about his character. Some critics/readers definitely turn him into some exotic, anthropomorphized being. But I think this is really antithetical to the actual story...

As for Linton - I don't think the point being made about him is about miscegenation. He is born out of a hateful and violent relationship. We aren't led to believe that Heathcliff and Catherine would ever have created anything as miserable and ill as Linton. That Catherine and Heathcliff are different ethnically is never posed as a real issue to their relationship, other than that some people may have a problem with it (i.e. Hindley and Edgar).

Race is also not brought up as an issue with Cathy marrying Linton. Also, he looks like his mother and I would think if the point being made is about race than there would be more issue made in Linton being like Heathcliff (either making his character dark or his personality being more similar to his father’s etc.), and that Cathy or others would take issue with this? That isn’t the narrative we’re given though. Quite a lot of Linton’s weakness (actually almost all of it) comes from his mother’s side and Cathy makes no issue with marrying someone who is mixed. Interestingly it is Hareton who is more similar to Heathcliff and he succeeds. Granted he is ethically British, but he is raised by Heathcliff and loves him more than his own father. 

I’d be really interested to know what others think on this topic.

[jypbae7]

Im Changkyun - Natal Chart

- requested by @jookyunz

Can’t remember if you wanted the 18+ section so I included it at the bottom and marked it incase you wanna skip it ❤️

(Not claiming to be an expert this is just for fun please don’t take anything too seriously!) Hope this is helpful and that you enjoy it 🥰❤️

Personality: Aquarius Sun, Aries Moon, Capricorn Mercury, Aquarius Mars

Aquarius Sun comes with lots of intrigue and lots of complexity - like the other air signs Aquarius is very adaptable and tends to prefer an “exciting life” (though earth signs tend to see this lifestyle as pure chaos lmao)

Aquarians tend to be intrigued by mystical things due to their very logical view of the world, this logical side can often lend to them coming off as cold or aloof but it’s less about that and more about their need to rule with the head and not the heart in order to avoid being thrown off the balance that they like (Aqua is a fixed sign) also they do NOT want to be hurt by people so the guard they have up towards the world is basically an iron curtain till they develop enough trust with you

Aries Moon is equally as spontaneous and adaptable but for a different motivation - Aries is bold and wants the most out of life and you can bet your bottom dollars they’ll do WHATEVER necessary to gain the lifestyle and goals they set for themselves.

But since they are naturally social butterflies and genuinely just want to have fun and encourage the people they love to reach for their dreams and have fun doing it, they tend to succeed rather easily since people are drawn to them. - All about confidence, bold styles, working hard because they NEED to be the best at whatever they do, but they definitely play hard too (as does every fire sign lmao)

As much as Aries and Aquarius like change and excitement - Capricorn Mercury does NOT. This adds a LOT of grounding and “tradition” to quick moving Aries and unconventional Asquarius.

Capricorn Mercurys are known to speak slow, quite monotonous and precise which I definitely have always felt about Changkyun. You’re not getting too much fluff or extra words from them because Capricorn finds it a waste of energy. They say what they mean when they mean it and not much else more. But this means they are good listeners and are very comfortable and unreliant on “attention” or “being in the spotlight” giving them added levels of independence. I also feel that this is why they are sooooo unbothered by other people’s opinions and friendship.

Aquarians straight up rather be alone than around fake people. They don’t care if they “fit in” with general norms because they don’t want to be like anyone else anyway lmao and they are interesting enough to keep themselves entertained. While Capricorn and Aries have places to go, people to see, and goals to crush so why the hell be worried about others???

Mixed with the other 2 placements it’s likely that his home is a serious sanctuary for him that he takes seriously. When he’s out in the world doing his busy schedules and chaotic traveling and work he’s happy and really feeding into the air and fire energy. But when he gets home it’s his Capricorn Mercury that is being nurtured and stimulated. He’s going to wanna hibernate there for a while without leaving especially if he’s been gone a long time. Could be either unbelievably messy or unbelievably neat but likely no inbetween with these placements lmao.

Aquarius Mars.... reminder that Aquarius is a fixed sign so this in Mars could mean one HELL of a temper or at least rage once he’s set off. But thankfully the Airy nature of Aqua means you’d really have to mess with him to get that kind of reaction because they generally really dislike being upset. They prefer staying content and neutral rather than having extreme feelings of any kind or it makes them veryyyyy edgy. If you can disagree with respect and if you provide logic instead of ego as your argument you’re likely to get a much better reaction from Aquarius

Relationships:

Non-Romantic Relationships & overall communication style: Aquarius Sun, Aries Moon, Capricorn Mercury, Aquarius Mars

Boy oh boyyyyyy he takes a LONG time to open up to people - 2 Aquarius placements and a Capricorn placement screamssssss trust issues and vulnerability issues

Capricorn doesn’t wanna sulk and talk about their problems so IF they trust you enough to come to you with an issue they want solutions and practical help and support

Is really cheered up by acts of service and quality time - watching a great movie even in complete silence just near each other on the couch in sweats tucked under cozy blankets or getting surprised with their favorite dinner can boost their mood instantly

Aries Moon as I said before is a natural in social situations and tends to draw attention even when they aren’t trying so he’s bound to come off a lot more open and friendly than he actually is. The deep stuff won’t come out till he REALLY knows and trusts you and even then… in SMALL increments

That said he’s a super fun friend to have - down for adventures, actually thinks about and puts effort into doing cool stuff with friends and loved ones

When it comes to friendships he shows care through quality time and acts of service

When he buys gifts for people he cares about they are BOMB - cool as fuck and either one or a combination of the following: one of a kind, meaningful as fuck, and/ or super expensive - most likely fashion, jewelry, something music related, or super cool stuff from his travels

Romantic relationships and preferences : Pisces Venus, Aquarius Mars, Aquarius Juno, Aries Eros

Lmao even MORE Aquarius and Aries energy

Ok into the main meat - these four placements are particularly interesting combo: 2 fixed air (Aqua), 1 mutable water (Pisces) and 1 Cardinal Fire (Aries)

Aqua Juno - generally hints at a pretty unconventional relationship and this can come in manyyyyy forms for the very unique and varied Aquarians (partnership without legal marriage, mixed race/culture couple, could even mean choosing a bachelor lifestyle over any normal type of relationship, etc.) - given that Changkyun seems quite close with his parents and his interest in kids I’d say he’s unlikely to choose the bachelor route.

For a lot of Aquarians unconventional can also come in the form of a very stimulating partner, they enjoy learning and expanding their minds and experiences which is why they tend to run towards challenges that others would run from. I think someone who shares similar passions but varied skills and/or background would fulfil that for him. Aquarius, Pisces and Aries like to be stimulated A LOT.

Pisces in Venus is a tricky placement - can be pretty hot and cold, lots of mixed signals, you should be ready to be stood up or flaked on atleast once in the beginning🙄) BUT if you actually manage to earn their trust and dedication they make very caring partners.

Pisces in Venus is art gallery and museum dates, binge watching documentaries especially murder mystery, and spending most of the summer near the closest body of water.

Aries Eros fantasizes about being in a partnership that others look at as a power couple but they’ll never admit it - they dream of a partner who is in awe of them and their accomplishments but has their own big goals and successes to cater to as well. They like people they can grow with as individuals and as a couple. Push and pull works really well with Aries (and the other two fire signs too honestly) they like the cat and mouse thing and they like to have time to miss & yearn for their partner especially the men - absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Love languages in order from most to least: quality time, physical touch, acts of service, gift giving

Aries is a strong sign and they want and need a real partner who respects and supports their independence and boss energy but also can nurture their softer more vulnerable side and be the strong one for them when they need it

***** 18+ Preferences ****

Ooof this should honestly come as a surprise to NO ONE but damn placements do NOT lie...Im Changkyun is one freaky ass boy

I mean ARIES EROS???? Let me spell that out for y’all: fucks you like he absolutely fucking hates you or ties you up like a present and edges you for hours till you’re crying

LOVES, let me repeat LOVES jealousy sex - whether it’s you being jealous of all the screaming thirsting fans he has or him being jealous of guys getting too close too you for his comfort - he is allllllllll about taking that energy directly into the bedroom ASAP (or a bathroom or even closet if it locks 🤐)

Could and WOULD makeout for hours on end - especially if he’s been drinking

The more you switch it up the more excited he is - with all them Aquarius placements it should be pretttyyyyyy often

Different positions, lingerie, role play - any and all of it excite him

With a partner he actually trusts and has feelings for I can see him being extremely open minded to trying things (though obviously EVERYONE has limits and boundaries)

Toys, blindfolds, handcuffs, whip cream, hot wax, spanking - all a STRONG yes

Get the strong feeling he has strong preference to use his mouth often - lots of kissing (passionate, needy, messy - sometimes more aggressive) , likes to give and receive hickeys, wants to kiss all over his partner’s body and LOVES oral both receiving and giving (and I get the feeling he’s TOO good at that 👀)

More willing to let his partner take control than you might think - he’s not a switch but he just doesn’t think you initiating or “being in control” makes him any less dominant. In fact it’s probably the opposite; you showing your desire to that point actually makes him feel MORE dominant and masculine

Literally could find anyone and everyone beautiful - is more attracted to people’s minds, spirit and energy than physical looks (BIG Pisces and Aquarian thing)

Gets turned on every single time he sees you in the crowd at one of his shows - makes him feel like you are the only two people in the world (drives his Aries Eros INSANE - gets a kick out of the slight power play of being on stage in front of so many people, as well as the secrecy and raw passionate energy of it all)

Tattoos, piercings, colorful wigs, or even just interesting jewelry paired with the right lingerie or outfit will have him 🤯- think short black see-through lace robe with nothing on underneath except a sparkling body chain dripping from your body....yep he’ll eat you like a main dish in .00000000023 seconds

Hope you enjoyed! 💕