#and I think more people should have that outlook about fiction

[stardust-falling]

This is probably swinging a bit of a bat at a hornet’s nest on this website, but I wonder if the rise of purity culture in fandom, aside from other influencing factors, could have something to do with the fact that so many young fans tend to consume primarily media intended for children.

After all, children’s media is usually at least in part focused on teaching life lessons and providing kids with role-models. That’s why you’ll rarely find an anti-hero protagonist in children’s media. In fact, “protagonist” seems to have sort of been conflated with “good guy.”

Of course, not all media follows these standards. First and foremost, you have to remember that characters aren’t people, they’re literary devices, and they serve a variety of purposes. Some might be role models. Some might be anti-role-models. But honestly, sometimes they literally serve to show “what happens if you put a funny little guy in situations.”

More under the cut.

See, the fiction vs reality debate is interesting in this at. We’re humans, and humans are curious things. Sometimes, humans get morbidly curious and speculate about what might happen in some fucked up situation to some fucked up people. They don’t want any of it to happen in real life, but they still want to have an idea. Literally just because we’re curious.

So what do you do? You make a fucked up little man and put him in situations. He’s not meant to be a good person— honestly good and bad don’t matter here because the story’s not about morals but about cause and effect. Characters can show bad things, they can’t do bad things.

Because humans are curious and like thinking about “what ifs,” sometimes people get really attached to these funny little horrible guys. They like seeing them go through situations and imagining how they’d react. Purely because it’s a fun sequence of cause and effect and way easier than trying to enact it in real life. Now, obviously, stories are influenced by creators’ personal biases, but then that just becomes another dimension to the puzzle. That’s how you get character archetypes who end up telling completely different stories. Sometimes, people really like the way one particular creator has figured out a cause and effect sequence for their archetype. So, people end up with blorbos. Funny little imaginary guys, good and bad, who they just take an incredible, scientific joy in watching. Humans have always been doing science.

And that’s where purity culture comes in. Because, with purity culture, these characters are treated like they’re humans with accountability for their actions. Even though they haven’t hurt any real people. It is, in fact, impossible for a fictional character to hurt people. Even if they are treated as a role model— it’s still the fault of the person who decided to view them that way.

Because characters aren’t intrinsically role models. Even protagonists.

Children’s show creators often make their protagonists to be role models for kids. And in that case, when that’s the stated intent, it’s perfectly reasonable to judge that character’s morals. But you’re not judging a person, any more than evaluating a school textbook for accuracy and correct information would be evaluating a person. You’re evaluating the literary device that is a character. Of course, if you primarily consume children’s media, where many characters are role models and teaching moral lessons is often an intent, what happens when you read something with a different premise? What happens when you read, for example, speculative fiction about what goes on in the mind of a horrific dictator?

If you’re used to judging the worth of characters on a moral rubric, then of course you’ll apply that rubric to protagonists of the new media you read. So naturally, you’ll start thinking that, of course the protagonist of this story is a terrible guy and a horrible role model. What about the people who like him? Well, they must look up to him and agree with him in some way, especially if they’re rooting for him. So of course their morals are in question.

Except, they’re not rooting for him because they agree with him. They’re just rooting for him because they’re invested in seeing where his fucked up actions take him and how it ends up.

Same with relationships. Someone who ships a “problematic” pairing might have absolutely no desire to see any relationship like that in real life, ever. But regardless, it’s a very scientifically, morbidly interesting thing that they can’t take their eyes away from.

Anyway, genre awareness is a great thing to have when consuming media. A romance story isn’t about “what makes a good relationship,” it’s about “what makes an interesting and complex relationship to think about.” A horror story isn’t “what should you do in a fucked up situation,” it’s more of “what might people with these kinds of personalities do instinctively in fucked up situations.”

Genre awareness is cool. You don’t need to think about how good of a role model or representation a character is, so much as you need to think about “what is the purpose of this character in this genre and narrative, and how well are they fulfilling that purpose?”

[g1rld1ary]

overheard that she was nineteen - james potter x reader

wc: 1058

cw: nothing, one swear, reader is sad on their birthday, implied fem!reader but i don't think any pronouns

chat how many aura points do i lose for crying in the literal first 20 minutes of my nineteenth birthday :/ don't think about this fic too hard or you'll see it's more of a diary entry than work of fiction oopsie :')

You weren't feeling very special. To be quite honest, your day had been totally shit. It was your birthday, your nineteenth birthday and everyone had forgotten. Well, that wasn't true exactly, but nobody cared. Your parents had barely said 'happy birthday' when you called them, and only one of your friends had texted you. A sweet message, but still kind of depressing.

You knew it shouldn't have been a big deal, no one cared about nineteen, right? Eighteen was the big birthday and you'd had a good enough day last year, so you weren't really sure why this year had brought you down so much.

Maybe it was just because your love of birthdays was never reciprocated. A person's birthday could be the most exciting day of the year, and you were of the opinion that it should be, if possible. You were the one who showed up with a hand-baked cake on your friend's doorstep, without fail. It was something you enjoyed doing undoubtedly, you spent ages picking out which colour the icing should be and what edible decorations should go on top.

On top of that, you considered your defining talent to be writing cards. It was something you took pride in, penning almost-essays that encapsulated the breadth and depth of your love for your nearest and dearest. Proclamations of never-ending adoration, gratitude for years of friendship, the insides of your heart and soul sitting amongst fresh ink and scribbled hearts. You signed your name with a heart and a flower every time. Plus, you made particular efforts to come up with a creative pun or doodle for the front, just to keep things interesting.

So birthdays were things you held in high regard, and having yours seemingly mean nothing to anyone else was a bit of a mood killer if you were being totally honest. Still, what could you do? You picked yourself up, ate an uninspiring breakfast and went to uni.

You felt more anonymous than usual in class. With the semester having started only a week prior, you were in a sea of new people, none of them having any way of knowing it was your birthday, and you weren't quite at the point where you were begging for well-wishes from people you didn't particularly care about. And so you took notes, put your hand up for the participation grade and dreamed of your own cake and candles.

By the end of the day you were exhausted. The classes were long anyway, but carrying around your own personal grey cloud was taking a toll on your body and mind. It was at the car park when your phone dinged; James.

are you coming over tonight?

please

You smiled a little despite your sour mood. Even if James didn't seem like he was fully aware of your outlook on birthdays, being with him always made you feel better.

It'd already been dark for an hour or so by the time you reached the flat he shared with the boys, the winter weather making the sun disappear at four o'clock. You knocked on his door softly, unable to pluck up the strength to even make your presence easily known. James must've been waiting for you though, since you heard the heavy pad of his feet almost instantaneously.

The sight of him nearly took your breath away, though nothing was out of the ordinary. He was still the same old James, his glasses slightly askew on his nose, but he was looking at you with such softness that you felt the tears spike behind your eyes. You tried to push them down.

"I thought we'd have a bit of an early dinner. I know you won't have eaten at uni." He took your bag, setting it by the entry table softly. You managed to nod, hopefully not giving away all your awful feelings. You tried not to be cut up that he hadn't wished you a happy birthday yet.

All of your melancholy had been for nothing, you realised, when James led you to the dining table. He'd gone the full mile, with a cheesy red tablecloth and single candle as the centrepiece.

"Happy birthday, my love," He whispered, pressing a soft kiss to your temple. You couldn't help it, the tears rolling down your cheeks before you even realised. Once they started you had no chance, sobs wracking through your body as James stood beside you, bewildered.

"Is this not okay? Do you not like it?" He fretted as you cried, and you rushed to reassure him.

"I love it, Jamie, promise. It's just," You managed a half laugh through your bout of tears, "I thought no one cared. I can't believe you've done this for me." James' brow furrowed deeper than you'd ever seen it before as he pulled you into a tight hug.

"I would do anything for you, love. I mean it."

Once your tears had subsided you had a lovely dinner, James making you double over with laughter as all thoughts of your previous shit day dissolved under the weight of the homemade pasta sitting in your stomach.

Just before the night died down, James presented you with a small box, wrapped in the most beautiful silky ribbon. You glanced up at him curiously, untying it slowly. Inside was the most beautiful bracelet you'd ever seen. Connected with a heart-shaped clasp and decorated with a single charm, a love letter. You were embarrassed by the tears working their way back up to your lash line, but James looked delighted by the reaction, he lived to make you happy.

"Thank you," You whispered, "I love you."

James didn't have to say it back for you to know, but he did anyway because it made him happy.

Maybe your birthday wasn't the flashy event you might've wanted, however deep down, but you were strangely okay with it. Despite the fact that no one showed up to your door with a hand-baked cake or essay-length card, you had James, and James would've pulled the stars down from the sky if he thought it would boost your mood. That was enough.

[alpaca-clouds]

Hayao Miyazaki & Solarpunk

Hayao Miyazaki probably never planned to become this super influential voice for Solarpunk. He did become it though. In fact a lot of his movies are considered to be Solarpunk to some degree, which in a way does make a lot of sense. After all, not only does he generally feature stories about preserving the environment, and stories that are very much anti-war and often also anti-capitalist, but - and I think this is something often ignores - he also is heavily influenced by indigenous Japanese storytelling. There are very few creatives in Japan that outright reference the indigenous cultures of Japan - but Hayao Miyazaki is one of them.

The strongest Solarpunk vibes in his movies can obviously be found with Nausicaä, and with Princess Mononoke. One a post-apocalyptic movie, the other one a historical fantasy piece, which makes this entire thing even more interesting. Laputa, too, is often seen as Solarpunk - a story that is pretty much high fantasy with some scifi elements. And I would argue that you still very much can find Solarpunk themes in both Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro.

Not one of those movies is SciFi. And I very much find this worthy of discussing, because I think it is one of those aspects where a lot of people who would like to write something more Solarpunk could learn from.

One point that cannot be ignored is of course that Miyazaki aside from traditional and indigenous Japanese storytelling also drew heavy influence from Ursula K. LeGuin in some of his works - who also is one of the big influences on Solarpunk. And yes, there might be some essay of mine about LeGuin coming some day in the future - but not too soon.

From the very beginning of Studio Ghibli at least, Miyazaki's movies always had a heavy emphasis on some themes. These included feminism (by showing both women who can fight, and the importance of care work done by women), anti-war and pacifism, and environmentalism.

It should be noted that very much no Miyazaki movie is set in an utopia. Instead the movies are concerned with the idea of finding solutions for the characters - and with the characters empowering themselves.

Nausicaä and Princess Mononoke might be the clearest examples here. In both movies the protagonists take the role of creating peace between nature and those, trying to destroy it. However this ending is never quite a compromise, rather than the destroyers seeing that they are doing wrong and promising to do better. Which is another core thing that is there in most of Miyazaki's movies: They show a big hope for humanity and its ability to be good. Only rarely are we shown irredeemable villains in those movies - most of the times just people blinded by their lust for money and power. Or, at times, there is simply the problem that the two different sides can literally not understand each other.

This is a theme that gets explored again and again. How so many conflicts are rooted in the different sides not communicating - or at times literally being unable to communicate. With the protagonists being the ones who will be able to listen and understand.

The other aspect is that the protagonist in Miyazaki's movies also will empower themselves, while the antagonists do try and depower them. The protagonists have their own wishes and believes and stay true to them. They will also manage to succeed by befriending other people they meet along their way, by meeting them without any prejudice in many cases. Be it Ashitaka, who meets both the gods and the people of Iron Town without hatred, or be it Chihiro, who manages to befriend almost everyone she meets along her way.

The important aspect is, that the movies here offer a hopeful outlook and also show the importance of helping each other and banding up against a greater evil. In fact they do show a heavy emphasis on Mutual Aid in some interesting ways.

Here is the thing: Yes, I really want to see more Solarpunk fiction that is set in possible, but really positive Solarpunk worlds that dare to imagine anarchist and communist worlds. But we absolutely need these kinds of stories. Stories that are about the fight for the environment, for a better word. Stories in which the characters do offer mutual aid to others, work together and find understanding. And stories in which there can be hope found.

And I think we just need to give this more of a chance - and talk more about it.

[myfandomrealitea]

Was your Safe Spaces post discord-(or any closed forum I guess) specific, or do you think the same should go for fandom-themed blogs on tumblr? Like, if I follow someone for Doctor Who content, I'd rather they didn't put real world issues on my dash, but otoh, it's their blog and they get to decide what they post on it (preferably tagged so I can curate). I've observed that people that run themed blogs that become popular often seem to feel an obligation to use their platform for activism (or, in the case of crypto-radfems, deliberately built their platform to recruit), and it stresses tf out of me for the reasons you mentioned, but it's not like the maintags are much safer because there will be spam relating to real-world issues, or antis trying to relate fiction to real world issues.

Realistically; the same outlook can and could be applied to any social setting. Be it online, private, public, face to face, ect.

Your point about obligation in terms of platform scale is something I've also noticed and have been dabbling about raising. Mostly because you see it a lot with celebrities or public content creators who receive a large following. Its often less that they feel obligated and more than they're usually bullied into it.

For example; I follow a trans (FTM) vlogger on Instagram. His entire online presence is based around being trans and helping to educate people and support people in regards to learning about being transgender, transgender health, his personal transitional journey, ect.

He's got a modest following, nothing ridiculous but I think right now he's sitting at around 75,000 followers.

And as of late, there are random people who don't follow him and aren't at all interested in what he has to say flooding his comment section with things like:

Why didn't you mention anything about Gaza?

All these followers and no shout outs for smaller creators?

What are you doing to raise awareness for X?

All these views could've been used to raise awareness for X.

And its fucking ridiculous. People are pressuring a middle class trans man with 75,000 followers to accept responsibility for counter-responding to a literal war when there are actual celebrities and billionaires with both the actual reach and money to make a difference who simply refuse to because they won't personally benefit from it.

I used to run a really popular fandom blog here on Tumblr. For an actual fandom, not just what I do here and now. It started off small, but I eventually grew it to the point where my follow count was creeping toward 10,000. Which for Tumblr and for a fandom-specific blog was not at all insignificant.

And the moment my notes count started going up, the demands started flooding in. People expecting me to reblog their donation links, demanding I share their friend's aid post, asking why I wasn't reblogging awareness posts or donation drives, ect.

Its largely because its easier to harass accessible people over it than it is to harass someone like Kim Kardashian, but its also because again: we have such a skewed understanding of what is actually effective in terms of activism and circulation of information.

Most of it comes down to shaming people and trying to assert that they're a bad person for having the privilege and benefits of a large following but not doing anything for other people or to 'deserve' that following. They're 'a bad person' for having 75,000 people's attention and not using it to force them to be aware of X.

A good example of proper audience targeting and activism is the page We Rate Dogs.

We Rate Dogs will share awareness posts and donation drives.

About dogs.

Because their followers are there for the dogs. Their followers like dogs. They want to enjoy dog content and help dogs.

If they started sharing posts about war and death and rape, the people who are following them to see cute dog videos will simply unfollow them.

They're using their targeted platform properly.

[bloggingboutburgers]

Something that really ought to be said more... it's ok not to understand. To never understand even. (In the case of the reblog, understanding sex / peoples' fixation on both it and romance, but it can apply to anything.)

People can give all myriad of reasons they do or like something, but that doesn't have to change your mind about how you personally engage with it.

I think the only case where understanding matters is insofar having a greater understanding helps limit how much people hate something out of ignorance, but that isn't foolproof (people can understand and still double down, which I've seen happen a lot towards every hated group under the sun).

Aspec or not, your cultural upbringing and how you physically perceive intimacy of all kinds is going to affect both if you enjoy it and how you understand it.

For many, sex and romance isn't an important goal but a thing that just happens. The uniquity of it with "life" is worth questioning, especially in cases where people feel pressured to perform and participate in sex and romance. But for many it isn't something they plan for at all. They may include it in fanfiction or fanart (and yeah it absolutely is prevalent in that space the same way edgy ms paint furry art was prevalent in the early 2010s) but that inclusion is not a message to onlookers that they must themselves aspire to a relationship like the one depicted.

Thank you so much for this, it feels sincerely validating and... Yeah, like you said, it ought to be said more.

I gotta admit it's hard sometimes not to want to understand, when (as an aro/ace person, that is) you're pretty much incentivized to do so at every turn. Even if you're lucky enough to not have been treated as a prudish freak for expressing you're aro or ace, and finger-pointed with a "You should try to understand people's point of view better" (sic: very few people try to do the same for you)... Society is portrayed as just working that way, putting romance and sex as #1 priority is portrayed as "the normal thing to do", and in my own experience and a fair amount of aros and aces around me, it seems, it's not just "included" in fanfiction or fanart, it's... Aggressively prevalent. Like, 95% to be generous, possibly more. And it's not just fanwork either. Fiction and art in general are loaded with it. So... Yeah, it's kinda hard sometimes NOT to take all of this as a message that this is what we should aspire to and the way we are isn't valid.

But then even if you're lucky enough, like I am, to FEEL valid despite all that, it's still... Lonely. I wanna understand because some days, a lot of days, it seems it's the only thing people actually connect over, and even if I'll never feel the appeal, I wanna understand the logic behind it, at least that much, so I'm not made to feel like such an alien for wanting to focus on other things. I wanna know the reasons.

Another more personal thing is that when I was growing up as an aro-ace, before I figured myself out, I thought everyone else was blowing things out of proportion to an abnormal degree without realizing I was the "abnormal" one, and that lead me to see breakups with a very "well, duh, that's what people do, they break up" outlook and not understanding the devastation behind it. I've gotten better at it, but there's still a lot I just find myself smiling and nodding to without really getting it, and that hurt too, to a degree. I feel cold to my friends and to other people.

I know I shouldn't, because I am who I am and I don't love them any less or am any more unfeeling than them, and I know I guess I shouldn't feel too guilty for not understanding allo people because allo people in general, exceptions aside, will make little to no effort to understand me back, but... Yeah, it's hard not to, a lot of the time. So being told it's OK is definitely valuable and a relief, even if it won't make that feeling go away in me, it's still a relief. Thank you.

[crispycrunchyum]

The Book Of Bill

This is kind of random, but I want to go on a little rant about The Book Of Bill. Fist off, I love the book. I haven't finished it since I really want to take my time with it, but it's so funny and gives us a lot of insight on Bill and his life. Also, toxic old man yao-

But what I really want to talk about is the fact that a lot of Christians and parents are freaking out over it. I am not in fact a parent (thank God) but I am a Christian. One who loves and follows God, but is also a huge nerd so I'm really into things like Gravity Falls. I'm also a 'young' Christian, but have been following God for years and years of my life, so I feel like I know enough to talk about this.

Fist off, the fact that parents are getting mad over the more 'mature' themes in the book. Baby girl, the book and Alex Hirsch said it was for older audiences. I understand people associating Bill Cipher as a kids character, since Gravity Falls is deemed a 'kids show', but if there's a content warning given by the book, you should probably listen. It wasn't really a surprise, since it gave a content warning. And above all, you should have been paying closer attention to what type of media your kids consume. Yeah, you're probably busy, but I somehow highly doubt your kid has their own debit card to buy the book on amazon, and even more so doubt that they went to the store by themselves to buy the book with pocket cash. Anyways, the point is, it has a content warning saying that it is geared towards older audiences, so don't be mad at the book or Alex Hirsch.

Now when it comes to the 'Christian outlook' on all of this, a lot of Christian have been debating on whether it's okay for Christians to watch the show since it has themes of demons, summoning's, and things of that sort. For me personally, I think if you're worried about it negatively impacting your kid, wait until they're older to let them watch it. Realistically, Gravity Falls probably would have scared the crap out of younger me since I was a little weakling lol. But when I got older and had a firm grasp on my own beliefs and watched Gravity Falls, I didn't suddenly become a Satanist or get possessed. And if you're a Christian whos a teenager or even a young adult and wants to watch Gravity Falls without compromising your relationship with God, I want you to keep some things in mind as you make your own decision.

First off, one mistake wont ruin your relationship with God. This I can promise. I've watched a lot of shows that I probably shouldn't have, and they've affected me in a bad way, but never has God pulled away from me or made me start over. If you start watching a show and feel like it's wrong, just stop watching it and move on. God wont hold a grudge. Secondly, Bill Cipher isn't a 'real' demon. He's a fictional character who is a demon in the fictional show, but he's not based off of a real demon from what I've seen. The fourth wall breaking where he talks to the reader in the Book Of Bill is just a fun twist to the whole thing. Yeah, obviously you don't want to give your blood or mind to an evil triangle Dorito demon in real life (even if he is super dapper with his lil' hat and bow tie), but again, it's fictional. I apply this rule to basically everything, meaning I'm gonna watch Beetlejuice Beetlejuice because he isn't based off a real demon, just a fictional one. Now, the last point is that ultimately it's your choice. Hate to break it to you and all those possibly controlling/judgmental family members, but your walk with God is- big shocker- between you and God. It's like how no one can really tell you have to have a relationship with your significant other. Whatever works for the two of you, works for the two of you, and might not work for others. I feel that it is okay for me to love Gravity Falls since I'm not doing anything bad, and I'm not letting it take the place of God if you know what I mean.

Anyways, if you made it this far, congrats. If you're wondering why I posted such a long message about Christianity on my blog about goofy video games/movies/shows/etc., then you're perfectly correct for wondering so. (More yapping ahead, please read this part).

Like I said before, I am a Christian. I've not always been a Christian despite being raised as one, because at some point in our lives we have to question all that we've been thought, and find our own footing. Now, one of the things I am extremely passionate about (besides good story telling and art) is correcting and calling out lies and faults in the church. 'But, Crisp! Isn't that going against church and therefore God!?' Uh, no. If someone was straight up lying about you, wouldn't you want your friend to correct them? And even more so, if you were being lied to, especially in a way that was harming you, wouldn't you want to be corrected?

I am by no means perfect, not even close, and I am nowhere near the level God is at. But I can say that I've spent many years of my life witnessing people who are supposed to be the carriers of love and hope, be the most hateful, fearful people on Earth. Like any group of people, there are good people, and bad people. I want those who want to try out Christianity to be able to see God for who he truly is, and those who are already following God to not be afraid as I was taught to be originally.

Now, worry not, my little buttercups, this isn't randomly going to change into a Christian blog where I'm beating you with the Bible since, quite honestly, that is the last thing I want to be doing. I just want to be super upfront with you all, and provide a place where Christians and none-Christians alike can just co-exist and talk about nerdy things. That being said, I don't care if you're not a Christian, I don't care if you don't agree with everything I say. Love is the most important thing to me, so I want everyone to be able to come together and nerd out about things like Gravity Falls and such. But every now and then I'll make a little (enormous, holy sweet pineapple baby I wrote so much) post like this.

That being said, my apologies for hitting you with such a big piece of text first thing in the morning, lol. But if you made it this far, thank you so much for reading my little (again, enormous) rant. I hope you don't see me as some brainwashed, Bible beating person disguised as a lore freak. I promise I'm not. lol. That being said, I will not tolerate any hate what-so-ever. I don't care from whom towards who, it's entirely wrong. If I find out you're hating on someone I will immediately try and figure out how to remove you (I'm new to Tumblr, spare me the glares).

Anyways, thanks for reading, folks. I hope to see you on a more 'light-hearted'/nerdy topic. I hope you understand everything I wrote here, lol, don't be afraid to ask me any questions, I love yapping as you can tell.

[velvetvexations]

ferris anon here, incoming long ask: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3rZkGnICFI&t=143s

[Warning: This comment is long, but hopefully, it's as informative as it is critical of the video. I do not intend to be antagonistic, but I am very critical.]

This video is frustrating in soooo many ways. I see all the best intent in this video and I generally agree with the overall outlook that trans women are frequently portrayed poorly in anime (including Re:Zero) and treated poorly by both the Japanese otaku crowd and the non-Japanese transphobic fetishist crowd, but you've hit some stumbles here I think are necessary to touch on. Let me explain by starting with a disclaimer for context:

I'm not Japanese, but I am a professional translator, I've lived in Japan for a major portion of my life, I specialize in Asian studies (and have a background in studying Japanese history and religion, both in Japan and in the US), I'm a trans woman, and I have the pleasure of being friends with individuals in the Japanese queer community. I'm also a fan of Japanese media, definitely anime, and I really enjoy Re:Zero (especially the novels). In fact, I find the series exceptionally well-written and Ferris' character exceptional as well.

I'll start with the center question first and branch from there.

1) Schrodinger's Trans.

It's definitely complicated. Ferris "identifies" themself as a "boy" often in public. The author clearly identifies Ferris as a "boy" in all canon material. But just as you quoted from the first EX novel, Ferris displays signs of gender dysphoria. They call themself a "bishoujo" in the mirror every day when they wake up, and in fact (surprised you failed to mention this), they even specify that they are relieved and grateful for their mother's genes specifically because they don't grow facial or body hair and their face and body curves are feminine. If that wasn't enough, they hid the "boy" secret from their other best friend (the prince) for years, right up to a reveal scene in the novel itself. That friend thought Ferris was a girl for years and Ferris explicitely admits this was less a prank and more a selfish indulgence. By all accounts, that's what most medical experts would call "gender dysphoria" and I think it's fine to leave it at that. Is Ferris trans, though? Not all trans people have gender dysphoria, but are all gender dysphoric people trans? ...I suppose you can argue that they are, but I've read plenty a personal experience from gender dysphoric cis people who disagree, so... I can't say with certainty and I don't think anyone should assert so, as this video does. My own personal conclusion and assumptions are my own, but I see Ferris' character more as a gender bend concept taken to its logical conclusion by an author who intuitively understands gender dysphoria, but knows nothing about trans people. I don't think anyone should be jumping to apply real world medical diagnoses (like dysphoria) on fictional characters written by blissfully ignorant authors who live in a completely different culture. I see people do this with, for instance, characters they think are autistic, and that's fine and dandy to interpret your own rep when actual rep is lacking in media (god knows it's lacking), but... we gotta step back a bit and be more self aware that this is not an interpretation to hold over others' heads.

2) Ferris' name.

You got this one explicitely wrong. "Ferris" and "Felix" are not clever differences in romanizations from the Japanese novels. They're entirely different names in the Japanese novels. "Ferris" is フェリス ("ferisu") and "Felix" is フェリックス ("ferikkusu"). Spelling and pronunciation are completely different. And while "Felix" is definitely a "dead name", the reason Ferris changed their name is because not only is the name too masculine, but it was also the name given to them by their absolute garbage existence of a father, who Ferris wants nothing to do with anymore. I won't spoil what happens in the EX novel, but Ferris' vow regarding their name is explicitely intended to reject their father's namesake and adapt their beloved late mother's sensibilities.

3) Japan and "duty". "Propaganda" is a strong word and considering I've been a part of Japan (attending school and working) for so much of my life and I've retroactively studied the culture and history in a formal academic setting for nearly as long, I think a bit of a non-Western-enlightenment-centric lesson is in order here. Japan is a country that generally prides itself on 和 ("wa", harmony, peace). And as the saying goes, "With 理 ("ri", reason, duty) comes 令 ("rei", order), and with 令 comes 和." It's based on old Chinese/Confucius philosophy and Japan's history is ripe with strife and conflict permeated by periods of 和 seen as golden ages in the history books tailored to school kids and the general public. Unsurprisingly, much like the Western idealism in individuality that has been used to justify systemic racism, abuse of power, class wars, etc., Japan's cultural/societal use of 理 has been used to justify wars, power, and definitely the oppression of minorities, including LGBTQ+ people. But in the West, our individualism is also seen by minorities as essential to our identities, history, and cause. It is inseperable from our cultural identities, whether we like it or not. Japan's 理 is the same. I don't know a single queer person in Japan (friend group, extended friend group, academic essays, literature, or otherwise) who doesn't value 理 to the same diverse, yet core extent that Westerners value individualism. I think anyone who has been split between Japan and the US all their life as I have can probably sympathize with the internal conflict between our two cultural identities. You're so damningly aware of how the orderly needs of others impedes on your personal needs and vice versa and these two things are hard to reconcile with each other because they're dynamically opposed, yet both are extremely valuable to you.

Ultimately, on that last point, I'm just hitting back at the "it's propaganda" aspect of "duty" as cited by the author of the video. Hand-waving Re:Zero's author as having fallen victim to or [potentially] propagating "duty" propaganda as an excuse is extremely over-simplifying the issue with Ferris as a written subject and Japanese culture as a whole.

I do think your heart was in the right place and I'm fine with treating the video as a personal approach to a complicated topic, but as a trans woman who is on the fence regarding Ferris' canon "transness" (hence why I've been using they/them pronouns), I would rather approach this from the angle that the author inadvertently created a character who trans people can sympathize with, but didn't intend the character to be trans. Which means this isn't really a debate about whether Ferris is trans, but rather a debate about how much value we place on an author's words, contextually and paratextually, and how that affects our experience of and engagement with the work. Essentializing bigots for "not accepting" Ferris as trans and "misgendering" the character only serves to act as a self-righteous interpretation of a work we have no agency over. Also, it's fiction. If misgendering angers you, use that energy on people deliberately misgendering and fetishizing real people who deserve and need that basic consideration. I love Ferris with all my heart regardless of their canon gender, but they are an exemplatory case study in a vast sea of problematic queer rep in media.

--------

P.S. - I do find it weird that Ferris' gender comes up as a topic of debate within Re:Zero's queer-friendly spaces, but no one talks about Crusch? Crusch was just as explicitely demonstrated in the same EX novel to have rejected their womanhood. We don't get the same first-person camera lens or inner monologue as Ferris, but we don't need it because Crusch is more brash and open about it. The only reason they dawn a dress on special occasions like they did in the main story and anime is due to [spoilers] in that EX novel (for better or worse). Either way, Crusch is said to be the most manly Duke/Duchess in their family's history and Crusch says that is intentional. It's very clear that Crusch and Ferris are intended to be two opposite sides of the same coin. I may have personally critiques about how the author treats their gender, but their dynamic together is absolutely fantastic and I will die on that ship--er, hill.

thank you, I've never seen the show but this is a very, very good comment

[irrealisms]

for the character ask game to match/complete the others: ItzSubz?

took me a while to get around to this but!! yes!!!! 3/3 eclipse fed ask game babyyyyy

How I feel about this character

i am less insane abt him than i am about vitalasy & zam but this is a low bar. i care a lot about him. i think a lot about how fucking lonely he is, and how .. fundamentally all he wants in s4 is to live happily with his friends and for them to not hate each other. and instead everything falls apart. and he doesn't know how to fix it but he figures it must be his fault and he kills himself about it and this ... looks like it might fix it, for a bit, but that. really does not fix it either. he makes me sad :( in other seasons he . exists i guess. sorry im not a subzguy (void chara voice Some crimes can never be forgiven (not true void would never say this bc theyre too polite))

All the people I ship romantically with this character

vitalasy. zam. uhhhhhh. yeah that's kind of it

My non-romantic OTP for this character

not sure i have one tbh. the vitalasubz relationship is so romantic & i feel like i dont have a great grasp on subz's relationships outside of eclipse? which tbf for s4 at least this is bc. he is in fact very isolated for a lot of it! and i know his s4 better than his other seasons lol

My unpopular opinion about this character

this is going to be a bit of a reiteration of several of my other unpopular opinions abt other characters I WANT TO READ HIM BEING MORE ABLEISTTTTTT IN FIC like i dont think it's unpopular per se to go "i think that subz is ableist". i think this is an extremely popular opinion. but the general outlook on this is that when fans write him they write a version of subz that isnt ableist. which is like. fair. not everyone wants to write the amount of ableist that subz is, especially because the thing with subz is that c!subz is only ableist bc cc!subz is irl ableist and gets defensive about overly triggered snowflakes when people call him on it. no one should. like. feel obligated to write characters being ableist if they dont want to lol. but also. c!subz is ableist! i want fic that is in character & that includes wanting portrayal of subz being ableist, and as a crazy person i like fic that is willing to explore ableism. i also understand that some ppl probably dont want to write it if they ~cant reclaim~ it but as a certified schizo i am giving everyone who reads this post permission to write subz calling people schizo esp if you're writing canon/non-au. he does that! in canon! a lot! and tbh i feel weirder abt ppl erasing subz's ableism than i do abt ppl writing fictional characters who use the word schizo lol

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

i wish that in the vitalasy stream today we had gotten a conversation between subz&zam&vi or even subz&zam instead of subz and zam only ever talking to vitalasy one-on-one and otherwise politely avoiding each other....we could have had it aaaaallll (eclipse federation screenshot in 2024)........

(ask game, give me a character)

[moonspirit]

I just read somewhere that Annie would never have become a mother by her own choice, because it’s super ooc and misunderstanding of character.

First of all, of course, these are fictional characters, a fictional story, and everyone has the right to their own interpretation. But if we talk about the "right" and "wrong" understanding of smth...Well, let’s perceive the absolute failure of aruani (Annie especially) in parenting as a realistic option (where both go crazy, or Annie hates idea of being mother from the start)...when it would be fair to say that a sincere desire to start a family and parenthood without any horror is ALSO realistic.

It seems to me completely normal not to want children, maybe even feel a little rejection towards them. It’s also completely normal to have such a desire. And it’s normal that opinions can change over time! On my opinion, Annie as a character is quite capable of such changes. This is life, growing up, finding your own desires and goals. Your values ​​may change, you may become more forgiving or even more defensive. Family has different meanings for different people. However, most of them still dive into it head-on. Why can't this happen to these characters? Annie will still have her own understanding of family, love, and motherhood without the cloying sweetness, without the feigned happiness, just the desire to devote a part of herself and her feelings to something new, born out of love for another person.

Also, I've heard that some people may still be irritated by most other people's children, but they are genuinely happy to be parents to their own :))

Sorry for dumping this ton of text on you😭 I'm just afraid of getting into direct "confrontations", but I wanted to share my point with someone. No negativity, i just uuuh disagree that it's somehow catastrophically at odds with Annie's character It will be interesting to read what others think about this

Hello anon. Nothing to apologize for, thank you for coming here to share your thoughts!

I too have seen similar takes, but you know, it's like you say; this is all within the realm of a fictional world with fictional characters and so the possibilities of headcanons going any which way is incredibly vast. Some of us like the pregnancy headcanons, some of us don't, and that's a normal healthy fandom mix haha xD We should filter the stuff we don't want to see and move on, it only becomes problematic when the bashing starts.

Anyway.

I think one reason why some people have a loud problem with this hc is because the picture of the "image" of Annie aligning with what is conventionally seen as a "feminine-desire" to want to get pregnant and have children may somehow be seen as "reducing" her character to just someone who, despite possessing great strength and fighting skills, becomes pregnant, a supposed "weakness". Also consider how many times in the past this whole trope has been used in media to achieve a certain narrative, at least in regards to what women are expected to do with their bodies and how they should live. It's all valid ofc, and the people who reject the very idea of any female fictional character getting pregnant and enjoying it are well within their right to hate it, given the history of the notions and portrayal of pregnancy. This is all probably very inelegant wording and phrasing on my part tho, perhaps someone else can explain it better :<

Coming to Annie specifically, I can only speak for myself when I say that, like you, I see Annie growing to embrace such a possibility with a positive outlook. I get quite a few pregnancy asks these days, and at least in some of them I've talked about how Annie isn't going to be gung-ho about it from the beginning; in fact it's going to be an event in her life that starts with a great deal of emotional uncertainty, anxiety and fear. Do I think Annie's built for having children? Well, as she is in canon - absolutely not. But post-canon, given she has time to learn how to live and experience every emotion that comes, freely and openly... yes. Yes I do think that then, she might look at the idea of starting a family in good spirit.

All this not to say that I would appreciate a scenario where she has kids and then stays at home in typical (and toxic) tradwife fashion, even given the time period post-canon AoT is set in; nope, never, I would hate that. That's not the reason I like the pregnancy headcanon for Annie, I like it because it opens up a whole new world of emotional and situational challenges, something I personally would like Annie to go through. I also believe the whole process of conceiving a child, carrying for nine months and then giving birth is honestly a miracle (and listen, irl I'm someone who shudders at the idea of pregnancy or children xD so I'm not actively advocating for it, just to be clear). And why shouldn't Aruani experience it? For all the deaths and losses in their lives, having a child would be wonderful and cathartic and monumental in changing them as people imo; it would also compound on the very themes present in AoT - that of life, of the value of life and of a person and the beauty of the world.

Just as much as there's nothing wrong with not wanting children, there is also nothing wrong in wanting them. These preferences don't make someone prone to falling into an unhealthy categorization on their own.

So... okay, I think none of what I said is very comprehensible but xD TLDR: I agree with you anon, I agree.

[plural-culture-is]

is it bad to want to be plural or be a fictive?? we've wanted to be plural on multiple occasions and just tonight i caught myself saying "i wish i was a fictive..." but i always feel horrible because i convinced myself it's just romanticizing it... is that accurate or do i have something deeply wrong with me?

it's not bad, and it's common (for both of those things)

it's valid to want to be someone else, or to want a break from life, or to want someone who's always there to talk to you, or to want to have someone else take over to protect you sometimes. even if you know and understand the struggles that come with being plural, it's valid to think that that doesn't matter in comparison to the benefits, and that's not romanticisation.

and I think everyone, even people who don't know what fictives are, has wanted to be a fictional character at least once in their life. it's valid to want to possess certain qualities of a character, or to want to have a different outlook on the world, or to want anything else that they have that you don't. it's valid to want to have a past different from your own, or to have a solid identity you can go back to when you lose yourself, or anything else that can come with being a fictive. even if a character has struggles and a traumatic past, it's valid to want to think of that as your past and your struggles, rather than remembering your own past (even if maybe the character's past is worse that yours, because at least it's not yours).

if you understand the struggles, then I'm going to assume that the only reason someone would want to be plural or a fictive is for escapism because they're struggling with something already. so rather than call yourself a bad person or think there's something wrong with you, it'd be much more helpful to recognise that you want these things for a reason. then you can get to the root of the problem so you can figure out what you should do about it.

[microwaving-tesilid-argente]

Honestly i have so much sympathy for Ailette and the way she mischaracterises Tesilid.

like i myself also fixate on certain parts of the story and extrapolate maybe a bit too much - although in my defence i've only read like half the story.

-but the same can kind of be said of Ailette? This Tesilid is having a new, currently-being-written chapter of his life. In fact she kind of has things even worse, because her characterisation of Tesilid is based off OG!Tesilid, but current Tesilid had his life and outlook irreversibly changed when they met aged 10. But they never really interacted enough afterwards for Ailette to realise just how much of an impact she made on him. She hasn't really had a strong reason to rethink her characterisation of him. Not to mention that she first read the book with her middle school reading comprehension, which. Probably coloured her interpretation for the worse, at least a little.

I really wish Ailette would go into more detail about her own experience as a reader, to really see better how she's viewing this world and its people.

Which paragraphs are the ones that she thinks defines Tesilid's character? (Mine is "I'm praying that they'll all fail the test and go home".)

Which are the ones that made her cry? (Mine's "Right... you're on the side of this world.")

Which are her favourite silly Tesilid moments that make her so fond of teasing Tesilid? (iliac bones)

Which are the ones that reverberate in her head and which won't leave her alone? (Mine is "Please... show me some of that petty mercy too.")

I feel like the fun part of these kinds of isekai story is that. Whatever reaction you had towards Tesilid, be it "wow what a cute kid" or "i'm going to cry, i need to wrap him in a blanket where the world can't hurt him anymore" or "actually he should just destroy the world tbh i would support him", she's been there first and has been doing for at least 10 years, she's the OG. And she's super intense about it too. Like she can say "I need to save him because the story dictates it" all she wants, but the way she reacts so intensely and immediately to Tesilid in danger really speaks volumes of how much emotional investment she has in this guy. Like idk if she really rotates him in her head as much as I do - that might be a me problem - but if you rotate a character in your head enough times while fixating on certain moments and not others, you probably would end up with a biased interpretation of the character. Especially if you don't have someone else to bounce ideas off. And this gets worse if you're actually living in the character's world, because characters in stories serve certain narrative functions, so all their actions which get included in the narration are inherently biased towards portraying them in a certain way that serves said narrative function. But humans are a lot messier and more dynamic.

i just. shakes her up and down. love the concept of an isekai protagonist and the OG protagonist that they love so much.

anyway this whole post is a testament to how much Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint changed the way I interpret fiction and especially isekai stories. Not me anthromorphozing Ailette as if she's really a person and fellow fan who exists and isn't a character lmaoo, i'm definitely not having a "we're all fragments of kim dokja" moment, no sir. i definitely didn't subconsciously draw connections between ORV's isekai'd MC and myself and S-Class Heroine's isekai'd MC and our commonalities as readers who rotate the same story in their heads very many times, and suddenly make a realisation that's actually more relevant to ORV than the actual story that prompted all this. one whole year after i last read ORV, because ORV's story is So Much and so monumental that i'm still haunted by it and figuring it out and it lowkey never left my mind, even after a whole year. (please read orv.) like there are a lot of otome isekai stories about isekai'd MCs realising that the people in their lives don't line up with the OG characters, but none of these stories ever made me viscerally realise what it was probably like for kim dokja, because none of them had isekai'd MCs be that unironically obsessed with their OG protags, and more importantly none of them made me constantly rotate the OG protagonist in my head the way S-Class Heroine does. Han Sooyoung was right, you get as much out of a story as you put in to reading it and re-reading it and re-interpreting it. By putting so much time into S-Class Heroine I accidentally made some relevations about the other story that I was always trying to figure out at the back of my mind. Holy shit.

[alpaca-clouds]

"But who cares if it is 'punk'?"

Whenever I am talking about the punkness of Cyberpunk and Solarpunk and what not (or the punkness of any of the Punkpunk genre, as I did last week), people will usually come and ask: "But why do you care? So what if it is just an aesthetic? Why not just have people have fun with the aesthetic?"

And I will fully admit to it: Yeah, I can see the point. The world sucks. People should be allowed to have fun with fiction. But I am also too autistic to not care about it. Not necessarily if it is "punk", but at least whether it a) has themes and b) these themes are included in the different stories.

See, one of my big issues in regards to media in general is, that people often do not engage with any themes there are to it. I kinda talked about this too when it comes to people complaining that Gundam - a franchise that inherently is anti-war and often anti-capitalist and anti-colonialist - got political in the moment it featured lesbians as main characters. Which is kinda silly. But the reason for that mindset is of course that people engange with media often on a very superficial level. And while folks on the left are quick at claiming that is a conservative problem... Let's be honest, it is an everyone problem.

Again, I get it. The world sucks. Most of us are overworked and overtired and when we engage with our media we just want to turn off and enjoy. I really, really do get it. I have also some of those just mindless action flicks I will put in and then turn my mind off. Like, who cares whether Tom Cruise is basically Space Jesus propagating a deeply abusive cult. Mission Impossible movies are fun. Who cares about some of their rather... problematic messaging?

But media literacy is important. And I think this is what this boils down to. Because no matter if we engage with it or not: The media we consume subtly influences us and our outlook. No, usually media will not turn a stonch anarchist into a Nazi, or a Nazi into an actual anarchist... But it for sure makes us more susceptible to certain other messaging.

Which is why we need to engage with the themes of any given media and try to understand what it is saying.

As written in that blog about G-Witch and such: There is no apolitical media. Even media that is not really concerned with politics will have a message - usually one along the lines of "The world is just fine as it is right now, do not worry about it!" or "Rugged individualism tots is the way to go!"

Which brings me back to the punk genre. While some were in fact invented as an aesthetic and even in some that primarily got made into genre there is not necessarily a lot of thoughts put into the themes... There are themes that will naturally arise from stuff like the historical context the punk genre is taken from and what not. And especially the "punk" kinda means that it has to challenge something. And be it just genre convention.

And usually, whenever those themes get lost... Well, stories tend to revert back to the exact opposite of that. "Everything is A-Okay - or at least it would be if the power structure was still there but the right people were in power!" And once more: "Rugged individualism WINS THE DAY!" The original themes getting lost, does not mean it gets replaced with emptiness. Just with the standard themes of the media of our times. And... Yeah, to be honest: I am not a fan of that.

The thing I value so much about the concept of the Punkpunk genre is the possibility of playing with counter cultural themes. So, yeah, I care if these themes get lost - or get not even included.

And that is without going into stuff like the non-white origin of Solarpunk kinda getting whitewashed...

[twistedtummies2]

Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes - Number 20

Welcome to A Gathering of the Greatest Gumshoes! During this month-long event, I’ll be counting my Top 31 Favorite Fictional Detectives, from movies, television, literature, video games, and more! Today, the countdown enters the Top 20!

SLEUTH-OF-THE-DAY’S QUOTE: “Kill me if you can!”

Number 20 is…L, from Death Note.

So far, all of the detectives on this list have been protagonist figures. Not all of them have been the MAIN protagonists (although the grand majority have been), but the focus in every situation up till now has been on the detectives trying to solve the cases. This, of course, is not always the case: not every protagonist is a hero, not every antagonist is a villain, and there are two sides to every story. While antagonistic detectives are somewhat rare, they do exist, and in various forms. Most I didn’t feel deserved placement on this countdown, however, due to one or more of the rules I established at the start. This character, however, is an exception.

“Death Note” is a highly-acclaimed anime and manga franchise, which sort of toes the line between crime/mystery drama and supernatural horror. The plot focuses on a Villain Protagonist: Light Yagami, a.k.a. Kira. Light is a precocious young man with a lot of high ideals: he sees the world as a corrupt place, and wishes there was a way to right the wrongs and bring true justice to the people. This desire gets twisted and warped when he comes into possession of the titular Death Note: a notebook with a very dark and dangerous magical ability. Whenever someone’s name is written in the Death Note…they die. And the person who writes the name down can even choose how and when they die, if they so wish. Light realizes the book has the power to grant him the justice he craves so much; consumed by the Death Note’s power, he goes mad and becomes the serial killer “Kira,” using its power to destroy anybody he deems unfit of living in the world he wants to create…or just anybody who gets in his way.

Light does not go unchallenged in the series, and this is where our contender for today comes into play: a mysterious private investigator known simply as “L.” This young fellow is a foil to Light, in a lot of ways: Light is seemingly normal, well-spoken, clean-cut, and conventionally attractive. L, in contrast, is a reclusive little hobgoblin obsessed with computers and candy. What both share is the fact they are each geniuses, both wiser and more clever than their youthful years would indicate. L becomes determined to solve the case of Kira, and it’s his actions and choices that create much of the conflict Light must face on his self-righteous and deadly quest.

Much of the show revolves around the concept of a single word I’ve used here already: “justice.” All of the major characters have their own philosophies and outlooks on what “true justice” really is. Light believes justice is as simple as punishing the guilty; as he is corrupted by the power the Death Note brings to him, he comes to think that the only way one can achieve true justice is to eliminate all of one’s enemies, so that those you care about can be rewarded and saved. L believes much the same, but he sees it from a different point of view: he believes Kira should be punished for his crimes, because that is what “true justice” is, regardless of his motivations. However, L is not a pure and simple hero in this story; he does things that are legally and ethically questionable in his pursuit of putting Kira behind bars. His ideal of justice is set up by the precedent that murder is wrong, and therefore catching murderers is just; how one actually goes about doing that is not something he really cares about on the whole.

Another thing that makes L interesting is his relationship with Light: while the two are dead serious about destroying one another, each comes to see the other as probably the closest thing either has ever had to a real, true friend. Indeed, there are, one could argue, subtle implications of romance between the pair. This makes what happens to L later in the manga and the anime even more tragic, because – SPOILER ALERT – in both, L does not survive the entire series. However, even after he dies, he’s far from done with Light Yagami, as things L did before his destruction ultimately do lead to Kira’s downfall. In the words of a different story, “Neither can live while the other survives.” Their twin paths ultimately result in mutual destruction, which is wonderfully poetic. I would argue the musical of Death Note (yes, there IS a musical, and it’s actually pretty good) does this even better than either the anime OR the manga…but that’s another story for another time.

Tomorrow, the countdown continues with Number 19!

CLUE: “Everyone has thought about killing someone, one way or another.”

[mrowsaysthecat]

This is all about a fictional character that I'm still emotional over. In the end, it's all fiction and I'm aware of that - but there's also a reflection in how certain characters are treated in comparison with real life outlooks and experiences of actual humans who aren't fictional...

I also believe that there's room for dark shit, messed up shit, evil characters and that these aspects of fiction don't always reflect the author's true self. We're story tellers. I like my dark, fucked up shit the same as many other people - but in the end, I don't like cruelty in real life. I don't like a lot of shit that I'd happily write about, because it causes a story to be told - and something to think about, or things to hold up to society and say 'hey, lookit'.... And sometimes, it just for shits and giggles, if we're being real about things. However, I will forever be pissed off over how certain shit played out where one fictional character is concerned, and here's just a small bit of why. It involves both fiction and reality, and the reality that sometimes, some characters are treated in ways that reflect how some people are seen in real, every day life...

They did Glenn Rhee wrong in TWD main series.

They took meaning from his character outside of being Mr. Maggie for a good portion of the show. They didn't allow much back story either; what do we actually know of Glenn from the show's history? Not the comics or games or anything but the show? Really, what do we know? When they were in the prison and he was very angry, that was probably one of the highlights of him not being a ray of sunshine somehow, or a positive aspect ready to overcome the darkness. Steven Yeun has spoken on how flat he felt the character was served when it came to emotional reactions beyond a certain point. Goodness isn't a bad characteristic at all, neither is optimism, but there is a sense of lacking within Glenn's stories that don't show the layers of personality and worries and struggles behind those aspects of self. The only real time we saw was the showdown with Nicholas in the woods, and even that felt rushed and hushed in a sense. They made a sacrificial lamb of a person, and writers even admitted to not knowing what to do with him. So what if his character died in the comics? Do you realize how much they changed for so many different characters before that point? For instance, Carol's survival and Sophia's demise. Not to mention Daryl's whole existence as a character. Why couldn't they do the same for Glenn, defy the 'logic' of 'it happened in the comics', and why couldn't they give him more back story while they were at it?

And now, all these people wanting to ship Maggie and Negan, like Glenn doesn't matter at all. It rips at his humanity in ways I don't even want to talk about, but I'm sure people aren't thinking of that when they want those two to kiss. Who cares, right? Glenn's just a dead Asian man that y'all never cared about while he was alive anyway... And it runs deeper than that for some of you, but we won't get into that because I don't have the energy right now. After all, people who are racist in that way won't change because they either don't have the ability to see themselves for their true shit (and try to think about why and how to change that outlook) or they just don't give a fuck about it because they're unapologetically and proudly against either a certain set of humans with certain features or whatever it is they're stupid over, or they don't like interracial couples and don't give a shit to realize that we're all fucking humans and we're all connected in some way or another.... :x

But yeah. I'll always be salty about this, and the fact that Glenn's character could have been so much more than they let him be in the end. Then again, I think he and Daryl should have hooked up instead, but that's just me? But you know, so much of the TWD fandom would have shit itself over that pairing....

[melkor-did-nothing-wrong]

Hullo!

Just wanted to say that your blog is really cool! I’ve been back on and off in my Tolkien hyperfixation recently (mainly Silm but overall also works), and yours is one of the few that caught my eye, esp with the pinned post :)

Tho, I’m sorry that you seem to be attacked for shipping Angbang “wrong”, that’s just sad

Just because you have a different outlook on things doesn’t give others the right to attack you for it. But, some people apparently don’t have enough empathy and/or sympathy to see that :/

I know it’s so much easier said than done, but try ignoring those people? They will have a problem no matter what you do, the way I see it, so might as well enjoy the thing you do regardless, since it’s not hurting anybody, right?

So… I hope you have a good timezone, and hopefully people will educate themselves on basic kindness and respect soon :)

- Dragon Anon

Been sitting on this one for a few days without posting because I needed to stare at it one on one and think how to best reply to it.

Unfortunately, time did not help as I have nothing wittier or more thought provoking to say to any of your points than I did upon receiving this so I may as well post this now rather than have you waiting.

I could apologize for this blog catching your interest, rather than all the good ones. I could apologize because I produce no stunning art or amazing fics beloved by all and have no large variety of silm ships to offer you. This was supposed to be an Ainur blog more broadly, but hard times directed me to my comfort ship within the silm and I've stuck with posting it to the detriment of all else for... a while. There are so many wonderful silm blogs for you to find and enjoy. With more Ainur and Eldar and dwarves and men. Some of them I wish with all my heart would tag content relating to specific ships or characters so I could filter it more easily and join the rest of the community in enjoying them as well.

While I'm personally exhausted to the point of snapping at the prospect of being harassed over my ship takes, I do need to remember that this is the internet, and someone out there will always use the veil of anonymity to bring others down. And naturally, if there has to be one specific and certain ship within this fandom which gets all the mockery and vitriol for being "the one people should be discouraged from shipping", I suppose it's only natural for it to be the one with the bad people in it, rather than a more beloved ship favored by more people. And if anyone within that "bad" ship is going to get hate, of course the easiest target is some autistic foreigner whose takes are generally bizarre in the eyes of the wider public ("What?! someone who did something BAD is capable of FEELINGS?!?!? and of maintaining a happy relationship?!? how dare you!"). People see any nuance given to villains, any nuance given to villains in a RELATIONSHIP, heck, people see any joy and genuine love attributed to these characters and they just have to pounce.

I just never understood why every other Villain loves Villain ship in any and all fandoms on the planet get more grace and nuance than this one. Silm is largely supposed to be the more "adult" fandom in the legendarium. We have no visual media to popularize it, so it remains in the hands of the older fans who read the book and had to sit down with their thoughts about what was written in it. And yet other fandoms, including ones aimed at children or young teens are more accepting and less judgmental of their peers when it comes to shipping some fictional meanies.

Ignoring them IS difficult. Every time I get a notification about an ask in my inbox or a direct message, of course I want to assume the best. I welcome the prospect of an open conversation with anyone who agrees OR disagrees with me and I want to leave the door open to people who want to change my mind or even their own mind, in good faith. It's just aggravating to see that half of them are simply offensive for the sake of being offensive. Because I'd post them if they didn't have nasty terms in them aimed at real living people. I'd have the conversation. Instead, it's nothing but a demotivation campaign that drains me of my desire to interact with the wider fandom or post my own ideas anywhere. But I suppose you're right. No matter what I do, how hard I try to fit myself to one opinion or another, some people will still never be happy about it. The sooner I make my peace with it, the better. Maybe one day it will be easier to do. Maybe one day I'll get there on my own.

Regardless, thank you for all of this.

[hottakehoulihan]

Ward reread rants/musings/babblings, as I go through arc 6

I don't think you get to create a cohesive fictional world without being a "control freak" (not a very fair term, but I just want to dash this off I don't intend to write essays) about it. People may advocate for 'death of the author' but the author needs to stay very much alive to actually create anything that aspires to quality. So, I'm 100% in favor of an author having unbending WOG even as I'll add my own headcanon on after the fact.

Also, as rambly as my typing gets, talking IRL to people is way worse and the folk who can pick up what I'm trying to communicate are rare (and I treasure them). I understand the frustration of "no I'm trying but you're not getting it and I'm not communicating it but I do know it: the structure of this thing is such that it behaves this way and not that way.

And hell, maybe if the Worm fans (?) hadn't made interacting with the Wormverse a tiresome and depressing exercise for WB, he'd allow that what people think about themselves and others as teenagers is likely to change profoundly if they live through another decade and if their headcrabs / traumas don't interfere too much with their thought processes and outlooks.

So I'm a WB sympathizer.

That said, if he said Ward was the least fun he had writing? It kinda shows. I discovered Worm after it was entirely complete, and in fact what with the vagaries and vicissitudes of life Pale was the first WB thing I had to wait for updates to finish. ...but I recall WB used to playfully troll the audience in the comments, and also played games with them on the side, and was just a goofy guy when he wasn't being the epic serialist. And I have to remind myself of this because he's--Cherrypop driving a murder truck over the protagonists notwithstanding--serious and tired-seeming now. (This could also be the demands of our era and aging.)

But yeah; there are WB-isms that grate on me a bit (I've kvetched about "less" for "fewer", but also there's "blood ran cold" and "sooner than later" (a regionalism? I've heard it "sooner rather than later" but maybe it's a Canuck thing?) and having a guy named Rain be intregal to the plot/action while there's actual precipitation going on and just blithely using the same words, or repeating the same word three times in two sentences. And there's more. It's maybe a style thing, and it's absolutely parseable and that means it's forgivable or even fine and I'm just being picky and wanting poetry from prose and if I don't like it I should get back to writing my own stuff and doing better, but I suspect that Ward is the "write a book in a month by getting to your wordcount and don't worry too much about editing" entry into WB's oeuvre. He had ideas, he had a story, and as John Scalzi puts it, writing is a job when you are getting paid so you do it whether your heart's in it or not and the technique from practice and the effort will get it done and you eat your mistakes and learn from them just like cooking.

(I like Scalzi's take, that if you're getting paid to write you write and damn the torpedoes or your own mood. I'll keep doing it for not-pay so that it's not a job, because I want to enjoy it. Also, I prefer the idea of the audience not getting input until the deed is done. I think if Breaking Bad had been produced in entirety without a test audience--like The Wire was--it would have been a vastly better show. But we wouldn't have Jesse to ship with Waltuh, so...YMMV.)

So yeah; I'm only on arc six in my reread, and unfortunately post-GM Victoria reminds me too much of the parts of myself that I like least* so it's hard for me to like her as a protag, but there are bits I'm looking forward to (banter with the Heartbroken and their parents, Kensie's whole deal, grumpy haughty Damselite doings) and I do set the book down reluctantly (rather than with relief) so I am enjoying much of the ride, even with some regret that it couldn't have been more fun for the author and--consequently--for the audience.

I guess it's got some similarities to the Simarillion; it adds context but part of your engagement will depend on your engagement with the previous work.

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And of course there's Amy, who I love from the beginning to end of Worm and while I could wish she could transcend her own trauma and become happy and healthy and confident and comfortable, in her own brain and social situations. (I wish that for myself too, and for each of you, and we have the freedom to be the authors of large parts of our own stories; if it's believable that any of us struggle but fail or fail to struggle, it's believable for Amy.) Well, I am rereading partly to review her situation and renew my understanding of what actually happened WRT her and also titans because it's foggy. ...but although I want what I want, some people just don't get the roll of the dice to achieve the right situation that allows them to escape their own traps.

Ward is that notional car that was put together on a Monday by skilled mechanics who maintained their professionalism and gritted their teeth and worked through their hangovers to make sure it passed diagnostics and QC, but...but.

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Ward's also the story of how someone learns reconcile and achieve comfort with their long-established contemporary who has a monstrous side but is still a being worthy of love and consideration and can be--with patience--a close friend.

Shame that the monster side of Amy wasn't the one we're talking about here.

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I could write another disjointed rant on the subject of Amy alone, but I'd best finish my reread first so I have all the info fresh in my brain-ocean.

But in case I don't? Here's my hot take, which at one point I had as long as the above but the subject is fraught, deleted entirely, wrote a different take on, it's STILL a hot take, and there are things in it that are loadbearing squick points for me so I'm leaving them deleted:

Amy, of her own free will, and in canon that is actually discussed in early Ward, temporarily turned off all of Victoria's emotions and then gave Victoria the option to remember or forget all the things Amy did that will give Victoria trauma For Ever. That was an entirely unpragmatic but arguably top-tier ethical choice for Amy to do.

Amy was monstrous. Sure, all humans are monsters at various points in their lives. Doug Forcett isn't real but he still had things to repent even after his childhood, and even if Yeshua Ben-Yosef was exactly what his marketers and fans described him as, he still intentionally tortured and caused death, not including the suffering his inactions caused. (What was he going to do? Avoid his abusive parent by spending all day in the hospital? No. That's what Amy did. Bonus; she didn't enjoy it, so it was even more saintlike than it would be if she got satisfaction from it.) (I'm saying it: Amy is bigger than Jesus. If you shoot me, be sure to carry a copy of Catcher in the Rye or it won't be any fun.)

But Amy stepped across a much bigger line than even normal human monstrosity (no sense dwelling on normal human monstrosity; it's everywhere and part of it is choosing not to see it but I have to avert my eyes sometimes or I'll become a pillar of salt) and it took her some time and a little circumstance to stop doing the monster thing. And now (late Worm through early Ward at least) she's martyring herself, (Jesus get out of my post!) or trying to stop being a martyr because it's been years and the world ended and redemption isn't 100% about martyring it's about being a better person too.

Amy--even the most heavily monstrous Amy imaginable in the text--is utterly redeemable, and closer to it than many of those who aren't framed as needing redemption.

Hang in there girl.

And I'll hang in there on my reread. The highlight of the first half of arc six is Imp bantering with Bitch and Bitch telling Victoria she's a good girl (not with that wording that would break the reality, but it was still cute) for finding a lost dog.