#and that's why i said in the post 'people are in love with the idea of love' because. yeah

[arguably-so]

@jilted-love There is a massive difference between "anti-aging" and actual skincare. What you are talking about is actual skincare and healthcare, as acne can be (and often is) a particular type of skin infection. (That said, some people just have acne no matter what, and the cultural demonization of having acne is another important topic of discussion, but I won't get into that.)

What the original post was complaining about was the anti-aging industry, as in the industry that takes the idea of actual skincare and takes it so far that there are actual cultural beliefs that failure to wear makeup means you aren't taking care of yourself, that wrinkles are evil to obtain and must be purged from the body for a woman to be worth something, that if you don't have or don't need a skincare routine that you are to be shamed and considered evil for not doing so.

There was a reason the word "anti-aging" was utilized in the original post, and not the word "skincare."

No one is saying that skincare in itself is a bad thing. Skincare is fine, and dermatology as a medical science exists for a reason. People are saying that the cultural demonization of women looking "old" is a bad thing. That there should not be the cultural obsessive need to look younger than you are and avoid things like wrinkles, which are natural to gain with time and are not a skincare issue.

I use sunscreen and moisturizer because my skin needs that to survive, but why do so many creams have unnecessary and even toxic ingredients with statements on the tub of the stuff telling me that I somehow need to stop aging?

honestly more media should portray the anti aging industry as horrific and decidedly unhuman. it IS body horror it IS grotesque it DOES go against nature. it WILL kill you. yes.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

well i think it has finally happened: my multi-year-long hyperfixation on jin guangyao is starting to wane 🥲 and not because he isn’t still my specialist little guy, aka the most interesting and compelling character in mdzs. i think i’m always going to love and adore him, and by extension xiyao and lan xichen and su she. i can’t see that changing, ever; he’s going to become like robin hobb’s fool for me, a fixture in my heart, a delightfully unexpected gift from another book i didn’t realize would change my life the way it did. truly some characters just become a part of you when you think and write about them long enough.

i just… think i have finally said everything i really need and want to say about him. i don’t have many New Thoughts i’m just chomping at the bit to share, or much motivation to revisit cql or the novel to seek out inspiration for More Thoughts. checking the tags just feels like something i do out of habit now, and not because i’m actually that invested in finding new fic or art. and while the bad takes have always left me tired and annoyed in the past, they do something much worse now: they just leave me bored. boredom is the ultimate creativity killer.

to be clear, i don’t have any plans to abandon this blog or stop posting! i’ll probably also keep my sideblogs going for as long as i can still track down some screenshots that are worth sharing, or maybe i’ll start reblogging and resharing older screenshots. i’d like to find a way to make my meta more easily searchable and shareable so that people who find my blog later can make use of my writing. and i still have some fic ideas i’d like to explore, and doing so while being less engaged on tumblr might be a better use of my time anyway.

so tl;dr i’m not necessarily going anywhere, i’m not bouncing from the fandom, but if it seems like i’m around less, or like my unhinged obsession with jin guangyao actually seems to have some hinges on it all of a sudden… well, now you know why lol.

[mysticcrownwolf]

I have not watched arcane but I follow enough people that do to have to general idea of what it's about and I am calling it right now the only reason this fandom demonize Vi is because they like Jinx and by extension Silco so all the bullshit ass enabling he did with Jinx for years will be forgotten because Vi punches her for killing everybody she ever loved and then the people in this fandom who don't have even a quarter of a brain cell to rub together will be like well Jinx suffered so much because of Vi because she had suicidal thoughts and see people meanwhile Vi deadass saw everyone she loved die in front of her, then lose her only remaining family to Silco and then spend her whole childhood in prison. Like the people in this fandom can't comprehend morally grey characters or even think that their faves can be complex people who can do bad things if the narrative shifts that way.

Look me in the eye and tell me these people have a single thought in their head while watching the show because the writers said these two seasons are the Jinx and Vi story. That they will probably make more arcane stuff but these seasons are focused on the sisters and so why do I see post like I wish Vi didn't have so much screen time or I wish Vi and Cait story wasn't the main focus here and the show focused more on "insert any background narrative they wanted to see" like bitch go fuck yourself.

Like I have never seen such a large group of people utterly incapable of media literacy it's like they need to be handfed concepts like:-

"A doomed narrative means no happy endings at most you get a bittersweet one"

"Your fave can be a bad person and still be your fave you don't have to justify them as a good or reasonable person (and demonize their equally traumatized sister looking at you weirdly purist Jinx fans) to continue liking them.

"Metaphors and parallels shouldn't be spoken or spelled out for you. You as a viewer are suppose to understand then yourself using your brain"

"Good people can do some bad things this doesn't make then irredeemable and bad people can do some good things this doesn't suddenly makes them fully redeemable"

"If a shows ending is ambiguous it doesn't mean the writers were too pussy to commit to a proper ending it means they purposefully made it ambiguous so their can be more than one interpretation for it"

"Not all good stories needs have good or even satisfying happily ever after usually in a doomed narrative you just survive to live another day"

"Just because someone's trauma manifest in a more visible way doesn't mean another characters didn't suffer at all (still looking at you Vi haters)"

To summarise do I think the people who can't see a nuanced story like arcane without generalizing everything in black and white and then complaining about how it's bad are all brainless idiots with the mental capacity of a third grader with no capacity for media literacy or reflection. Yes. Is it probably a baseless generalization. Probably. Do I care. No,fuck you'll and all your arcane hate post you all tricked me into reading by disguise them as actually analysis.

If I can pick up on the subtle nuances and non linear narrative of arcane by just reading Tumblr posts and watching some clips on YouTube you people have no reason to have this shitty of an opinion when you actually consumed the full media.

[aryesdanger24]

I will be honest, I've seen the post a lot too and to me it has a different meaning. I think it is showing 2 different types of relationships. Not just wlw and mlm relationships, but the idea that there is a 3rd options that both are important. That even though one ship isn't shown in a physical way that doesn't mean it is any less gay than cannon ship.

For too long gay relationships were only shown through physicality, specifically gay men in relationships is always shown in aggressive physicality while lesbians in media feel overly said more than seen, less physical and more mental.

This feels like it flips the script on a lot of the stereotype that lesbians in films are always soft touches rather than heavy physical touches and quick to act like CaitVi (yes i know there is a joke about how fast lesbian relationships move, but i meant in media it often doesn't show that).

Men on the otherside often get straight (hehe) to fucking to 'confirm' their sexualitys or relationships whereas this with Jayvik is very much that soft word filled confirmations of love.

So this meme doesn't feel like a 'haha look at this and compare' as much as it feels like a 'id like to bring your attention to how these relationships went and how confusing this will be for the straights to compare'.

Also I think it is people just wondering why Jayvik didn't get their happy ending rather than just bypassing CaitVi and their more traditionally happy ending.

I think it's people who don't know how to process what happened with Jayvik so they are comparing how CaitVi got a normal ending and the confusion of how to deal with Jayvik.

In short:

Wlw relationships are much harder to come by and many people are happy that Caitlyn and Vi got all the good writing into their characters to really enjoy the progress of their relationship. Jayviks's ending is more confusing that people can't help but compare and wonder (in the words of Arcane) what could have been.

This post, to me, is subjective to the viewer. Some can see it as trashing on CaitVi or on Jayvik. Some may interpret it as a show to how different their endings can be in the media of today. Some may even view it as the idea that despite a ship not being cannon, it can be just as gay and important as one shown on screen.

I personally love both of their endings and hate both for different reasons. Their pros and cons to each and yet it fit for them in a way I can't be mad at BECAUSE they are so well written as characters!

P.S. I didnt make the meme at all but I simply wanted to not assume the makers goal of sharing it into one of negativity. Unless the main poster is definitely some mlm supremacist or lesbian hater or something because then, by all means, bash that bitcherous. Until I see some evidence against the original meme maker I will just see it the way I see it, a way someone is coping with their idea of an 'unsatisfying' ending for Jayvik by comparing it to the more canonically physical confirmation of CaitVi

(Personally, I don't find the endings dissatifying, though, but that's just me)

Someone else's post:

~

I have seen so many posts like the one above in the last 24 hours and honestly, it's starting to piss me off. I know the majority of tumblr users aren't wlw, but do you know how patronising this kind of thing is? This was the most beautiful, intimate, lovingly animated lesbian sex scene, between two rich, well-drawn, compelling characters, but over and over, I see people comparing it unfavourably to Jayce and Viktor's final scene. The story between two men is seen as more powerful, more meaningful, gayer, deeper, than the one between two women.

Look, it's fine to enjoy the mlm ship more. I support you! I think Jayvik is cool! But can you all please, please, stop acting like it's inherently better just because the lesbian story didn't happen to be written for your personal tastes, this one time?

(Also, to answer the question: as a lesbian, I promise you, the lesbian sex is much, much gayer. You're just not the target audience.)

[riddles-n-games]

That Night In Prague Rant

Let me start off by saying Hannah and Toby's story was amazing and heartbreaking, Libby and Nash were also sweet and supportive of one another, Xander is awesome at giving emotional depth to others even in the strange circumstance of tackling, and Secret Santa was quite literally a blast. But there's one story I haven't mentioned yet, have I? You know which one since it's the literal title to this rant/critique.

To get the basic pleasantries out of the way, I loved the promise ring scene, the way Jameson admires Avery lighting up and wanting to see the world through her eyes, the fact he wrote her postcards, and Avery's protectiveness of him. That's it. Great. Now we can get to the real stuff. My dear Jennifer Lynn Barnes, when you announced this book back in February during the month of romance, I recall that this book promised to deliver on ROMANTIC stories and showing us how a Hawthorne man loves. Why the heck did you keep trying to insert every possible wink wink nudge nudge moment possible in Avery's POV then?

When she stated Avery was gonna have a POV again, I was excited but I wasn't sure if I should leap for joy. See, given how Averyjameson were portrayed in the last book, I was somewhat disappointed since I really wanted to see Avery through Jameson's eyes in a more romantic light. It was an eyeroll, unfortunately, and what a missed chance for a wedding dress ref in the race outfit scene since he gave her a promise ring.

However, people were saying, ah, it's Jameson, he's a teenage boy. And ok, I did bite my tongue after that because alright, that's just him (though I am still bitter about his lack of development in TBH), but that wasn't the case with Avery. She's my girl, I can always rely on her, right? Three books of build up with a pretty solid character voice made her who she became in TFG. Cool, I was ready to go back. And as I said so many times before, she gave Jameson depth which helped us see what so many did not and I loved how she didn't let him get away with certain things. She was sensible.

WTF was this then? This is not Avery Kylie Grambs. This is A Very Random Imposter (you come up with the anagram). Imagine my fricken surprise when out of nowhere Jameson As A Girl.

The crimes of the story: "after a lengthy and not quite G-rated negotiation" (WT actual F), "like his body wasn't tense in all the right ways", "smile of his made me want to do things", “I would let him demonstrate all the many, many reasons he had to be that smug", "His search had been... thorough" (????).

This sounds so cringey and unlike Avery. It felt like JLB was trying to force Max and Jameson and Rohan into her POV. Clearly after only two years of not being in her original character's POV and changing through 5 main characters (which was a horrible idea in the first place), she's managed to mish-mash her only properly developed character into sounding like another person.

The innuendos here are the worst I've seen. Avery has never been crass or sexually charged so why start that now? We already have characters that take on that route and now you're trying to ruin Avery with that? PUH-lease. Jameson was enough in TBH and now you're trying to ruin my girl? NO. Absolutely NOT. If JLB wanted to implement this in the og trilogy, then it should have been done earlier but no, Avery was never that girl and she shouldn't be now.

This isn't and cannot be listed as character growth in the slightest because if she sounded the same after a year in TFG post THL and also sounded like her normal self in Secret Santa which is in the same book as TNIP, there should be no reason why she sounds like this here. It ruins the continuation in her character POV which is something that at this point should be solid as stone. Not to mention, not everything works for everyone and that's ok. While I hate it, it makes more sense in Jameson's POV than hers. In Avery's POV, I cringe at it because it sounds so unnatural for her and feels like I'm looking at someone trying to fit into a crowd they just don't mesh with.

Three books solidified that. Why else did we fall in love with TIG in the first place? Partly because of who Avery was and who she became over the course of the trilogy. She stood out amongst the crowd. Did she have a similar way of thinking about puzzles like Jameson? Yes. Did she have a different approach to romance? Yes. Did she help Jamie become a more sensible guy? Yes! Was their flirty banter fun and interesting? Always. That's part of what made me love them so much in the first place but it shifted so suddenly that now they're sounding like Savannah and Rohan.

In October, when we had the preview of more chapters, I immediately noted this sounds like a very different Avery, either older or an alternate universe version of her. If she wants to do this with Rohannah, go ahead; they're a new budding romance so that has room for whatever she didn't use in other ones but leave Averyjameson as we've known them to be for three novels that solidified who they are. I know other romances should be given a chance, I never said that shouldn't be the case but if I'm being given the chance to see my favorite ship being in the spotlight, then do it right one last time. You have three books as your guideline.

Anyways, I'm dissatisfied so I will be doing a rewrite of TNIP since this is a shorter thing to take care of than a whole novel. Have a great day and thanks for reading. Fics will be out at some point, God, so much real life work to do.

[squeeb100]

I'm trying to parse through why I don't like Jayvik as a romantic ship, and thought I could type it up to maybe offer a counterpoint to people who are writing this viewpoint off as homophobic or ableist. Yes absolutely those are reasons people might not love this ship, but I don't believe either of them is a reason I don't.

So. Heads-up for some Jayvik negativity and some other general criticism of the energy in the fandom (I'm not gonna try to be nasty but I am, by the very conceit of this post, going to have opinions), and a disclaimer that if Jayvik makes you feel seen or happy or anything else that's not bad and I'm not saying this ship is bad and you need to stop talking about it and liking it. I'm just saying I, an individual person, don't particularly care for romantic interpretations of these two, and I don't interpret their interactions as romantic or sexual.

Actually before I talk about anything at all I really like this post and this person has said things a lot of things smarter and better than I will about sex and sexuality and Jayce and Viktor https://www.tumblr.com/ohnoitstbskyen/768136874376232960/asking-sincerely-do-you-see-a-romance-between?source=share

I feel like I'm within the Jayvik demographic. Viktor is my favorite character in Arcane, despite quibbles with how he was handled. For over half my life my major OTP has been KuroFai, which has a pretty similar vibe (storywise, not characterwise) to Jayvik in the back half of the series they're from. The are-they-aren't-they discourse surrounding them was also quite similar for many years. I'm not gonna talk about them really, but here they are.

[image: an illustration of Kurogane and Fai from the manga Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. Fai is a light-haired man with blue eyes, waving at the viewer with a relaxed expression. He has an arm around Kurogane, who is a grumpy-looking dark-haired man with red eyes and Fai's arm covering his mouth]

I'll admit to not having an incredibly good story reason that Jayvik SHOULDN'T be a thing, and I'm not going to present a good analysis really because I think I need to rewatch Arcane more than once to really have a solid grasp of it or a good read of the things that went "right" or "wrong" with the storytelling. This is literally my feelings-based opinion.

I like the idea that Jayce and Viktor have a deep-running love for each other that maybe defies attempts to define it as just friendship or brotherhood or romance or anything. I personally thought, in their final scene together, that the forehead touch was a far more heart-tugging, raw display of intimacy than a kiss would have been, and I genuinely didn't want them to kiss. I hope I've established that this is not because I don't like the idea of men kissing.

This may derive from the fact that I, like everyone, experience attraction in an individual way. For me, to extant, not-fictional people, almost never. I'm not uninterested in the idea of a life partner, and in fact would really like to have a person who I love more than anything in the world to go through life's hardships with, but I have rarely found an individual who I was interested in "romantically." I didn't experience adolescence the same way many of my friends did, and don't experience attraction to others in a way that seems "typical," if we can really define anything or anyone as typical. I have not been in a romantic relationship, not for lack of chances and not because I don't care about people - I have family and friends who I love very very much.

I think it is beautiful, the idea that two people can love each other, and support each other, and be soulmates and die together --- and not be in what mainstream society defines as "romantic love." If you want them to fuck nasty on the lab table that's okay too.

The second reason/cluster of reasons I don't really like romantic Jayvik is a little bit bitter and jaded and I'm sorry. It's the energy in the fandom and I can feel myself being pushed further into a stubborn opinion by the fact that I find this frustrating.

(I am putting on my "hypocrite" shirt)

Arcane has a really diverse cast. There are lots of women. There are lots of nonwhite characters. There are multiple prevalent, plot-important, kickass black characters. There is a canon wlw couple who make out on screen and then definitely fuck offscreen.

I know Jayce isn't necessarily meant to be white. Other than that. I think the fact that the Arcane tag is overwhelmingly Jayvik is just a little suspect. I told you it was a little bit bitter and jaded. I am not seeing the same level of fanart and analysis of specifically women and black characters, and I think that's an interesting energy this fandom is bringing to the table. I am not exempt from this criticism.

The longstanding argument that the reason we don't see more obsession with sapphic ships and characters who aren't (white) men is the lack of them in source material is feeling really hollow right now.

Anyway that's my two cents about Jayvik and if people care, cool, and if they don't, that's also cool. Please refrain from speculating about my sexuality in the comments. Peace and love.

Go donate to a palestininan, sudanese, congolese or lebanese family if you're able. Consider a donation to the Native American Rights Fund or another reputable organization, this week and always. In the wake of this election, you might consider mutual aid programs to help people in and around your community. It's cathartic to get drawn into fandom discourse, but there are bigger fish to fry.

[lostsyren]

this could be me like totally over analysing things as per usual but it’s so interesting in the scene with just rafe topper and ruthie where rafe talks down his relationship with sofia, where i feel like you can tell he’s almost begrudgingly hesitant before he says “just because we hook up doesn’t mean she’s my girlfriend” and the way he processes it too before uttering those words where the way I interpreted it was as if he was preparing himself to flick the switch and convert facades to the persona ruthie and topper want him to be, exuding a careless laid back personality who looks down on pogues.

I feel like the mannerisms and tone of that scene was purposely acted by drew to implicate that he didn’t really mean what he said and stated it for the sake of saving face which is his own problem to fix, but idk what it is about it though about his reluctance to say that she’s his girlfriend publicly in front of Hollis or Ruthie and Topper I wanted to know what your opinion on it is because he clearly cares about her deeply, there’s so much proof of sofia being his emotional and spiritual confidant, almost as if she’s his moral compass, there’s a reliance there from both sides and he does bring her to places but I guess not enough to tell everyone their status because of her socioeconomic status? Is it just down to him still not getting over the whole pogue v kook thing? or is that Sofia is so sacred to him and he doesn’t want share that? I mean I know he eventually says it in episode 6 (I replayed that part an unhealthy amount of times🙂‍↕️) and the writers are lazy as hell so they probably just forgot about it so it probably isn’t even that deep but I’m just bored out of mind bc this show isn’t going to come back for at least a year🙃

I love your interpretation!! And there’s no such thing as an over analysis!! I totally agree. I love your ideas of it being like a switch he turns on, donning the facade of a kook who hates pogues, when in reality I don’t think he cares. Rafe is opportunistic, he hates pogues only when it’s in his interest (like in s1 where he would bully them for fun, blame them for his mistakes but was fine with Barry when no one else was around). It’s the same with Sofia– he doesn’t care that she’s a pogue, he only cares if she’s good to him (and there’s a whole other conversation to be had why he chose Sofia of all people in the first place– the country club bartender, but I’ll talk about that another day😭)

I’ve talked about this in other post, but I think when rafe and Sofia are alone, the markers of “kook” and “pogue” dissipate– they’ve carved out their own little bubble where Rafe isn’t a murderer, a failure, a mess and Sofia isn’t a poor bartender, an older sister responsible for her family.

When they leave that bubble, that’s when those markers return.

“I mean your girlfriend right?”

“Sofia? What about her?”

He acknowledges she’s his girlfriend, he views her as his girlfriend. But when Ruthie is disdainful, that’s when he changes his tune.

“Just cause we hookup doesn’t mean she’s my girlfriend”

He narrows his eyes, looking away from Ruthie, inhaling deeply, about to take a sip– he knows he’s being deceptive, he knows what he’s saying isn’t true.

Sofias reaction is interesting here because she doesn’t seem affronted– she seems disappointed and hurt. It’s like she knows he won’t claim her in front of his friends, like he didn’t claim her in front of Hollis.

“Wait has she moved in yet?”

Sofia perks up, interested. The territory of the future is something she’s unexplored with Rafe. She loves him, she wants to be with him, she wants a future with him. And she can finally find out if he wants the same. Because rafe exclusively lives in the present when he’s with her– that little bubble they created only existing in the now.

“I’m not living with a pogue– I have standards”

And that’s when she looks hurt and angry– her offence at that statement clear. Rafe has introduced the marker of “pogue” into their relationship. She thought he didn’t care, she thought he was different. (“You’re different, I like that”) but he’s not, she finally realises. Any prospect of a future with him crumbles, as she realises she will never live up to “the standards” he has.

Whereas when Rafe says this, he closes his eyes, looking almost drunk (which he probably is). This state of stupor indicates the fictitious nature of his words. The staging of the scene is interesting too– his back his to her so she can’t see his face.

Perhaps if she could, she’d see the facade, but the implication to sofia is he’s turned his back on her– in every sense of the phrase. And him being before Ruthie and Topper, on the other side of the table is like he is performing for them, staging his kook persona. I don’t know why he is clinging to that though, it’s clear she’s not just a hookup, (they’ve been together for nearly two years and they’re attached at the hip) so why is he still attempting to perform? Maybe he doesn’t want their relationship to be scrutinised– if he admits to commitment, then there’s something which exists that he could break. And he doesn’t want what he was with Sofia to break. He just wants to exist in their bubble, away from markers like “pogue” and “kook” and “boyfriend” and “girlfriend” which is why I think he proposed.

He wants to cement it– Rafe’s an all or nothing type of guy, so marriage before admitting she’s your girlfriend is so him. And there’s Sofia, struggling to keep up with his many faces.

Thank you lovely for sending in your thoughts!! Love seeing all your different opinions!! <3

[ryin-silverfish]

Sorry for the very late reply: I stayed off Tumblr for like, a month or so. But this is a long reblog with a lot of interesting points I wanna respond to.

Honestly, the most common form of JCT doesn't stem from A Chinese Odyssey. It's inspired by the webnovel that's kinda a fanfiction to said movie, Biography of Wukong.

The predecessor to BMW, Asura Online, takes a lot more inspiration from the webnovel than its spiritual successor, and even tho BMW isn't trying to be a direct continuation of AO, I would argue that some of its themes and worldbuilding still slipped into BMW.

You mentioned not seeing JCT in the game according to my definition, and I feel like it's a matter of exposure. For someone who has Chinese as their first language, they are gonna to be 1) exposed to a shit ton of JTTW media, and 2) see a lot of interpretation about the novel proliferate that an English audience is completely unaware of.

BMW is not the most extreme or common form of JCT, but the general ideas are still recognizable. Like, just because it doesn't make all the gods evil, or all the yaoguais innocent victims, doesn't change the fact that the main narrative is still one of Oppressive, Conspiring Pantheon vs. Oppressed Yaoguais.

(Example: the lore entries' implication about Lingji and the Yellow Wind storyline is that Lingji is creating the weird stone Buddha heads and the Fuban yaoguai to 1) collect Lingyun, the "soul" equivalent, and 2) artificially create a threat so that he can rescue the Flowing Sands kingdom from it and convert them to Buddhism.)

(Instead, the Yellow Wind Demon became the rescuer and the kingdom started worshipping rats, which was why its people were all turned into rats.)

(Or, the most obvious one: the Western Heaven's genocide of the Yakshas in the Bull King family backstory.)

(As for Erlang: why do you think you find him inside a painting, which, according to the lore entries, is implied to be the result of him asking Maitreya for refuge from the Celestial Realm?)

And it's made even more jarring by the fact that the game wants to create a facsimile of the original novel through quoting its poetry and imitating the vernacular novel dialogue style, and make allusions to SWK's role as the Mind Monkey, without realizing how it conflicts with the Biography of Wukong-style interpretation.

You mention the lore entries, and that's actually my favorite part! Both the Ming-print style illustrations, and their simulation of the Zhiguai short story style.

But, again, there is a dissonance. The funny and strange Zhiguai-style entries are noticeably different in tone compared to the "main storyline" entries about major characters and backgrounds, which is written like modern short stories instead of a classical Chinese text translated into Mandarin.

And my problem is not that the adaptation is different, that it may want to change the allegory or reinterpret the themes for a modern audience.

It's the feeling that they want to have it both ways——be faithful to the novel (or at least create a facsimile of faithfulness), yet also stick to the Bio of Wukong style popular reading that proliferates in modern JTTW media for mass appeal.

And to me, the dissonance in the two narratives weakened the thematic coherence. Frankly, if it sticks to one or the other, I wouldn't have been writing these critiques: if it's a proper exploration of the original novel's allegorical themes, I'd be praising and loving it, and if it's JCT thorough and thorough, I'm just going to be like "Yeah, not for me" and leave it at that.

But it's this mixture of things I love and things that frustrate me that drives me to write and get down to the bottom of those conflicting feelings, which has little to do with JTTWR's original posts and his attitude towards adaptations.

Lastly: I'm very much coming from the perspective of a native speaker complaining about Chinese JTTW media and popular interpretations. My own opinions are not mainstream in the Chinese JTTW fandom either——JCT is so popular precisely bc it has mass appeal.

Just a thing to keep in mind.

I'm a Theravada Buddhist. I saw many people interpreting the story and meaning behind Black Myth Wukong, differently. But I hope the devs team didn't intend to insult Buddha Dhamma by recreating this new story and distort the meaning of Buddhahood or Enlightenment itself..

I don't know if they intended to insult Buddhism, but I can say that their presentation of Buddhism in the game is disrespectful.

@ryin-silverfish recently posted a wonderful essay on what's known as the "JTTW Conspiracy Theory," which is a method of interpreting the story by twisting details, making the heavenly hierarchy look evil. The game follows this method. I recommend that you read the essay:

I unknowingly ran into the JTTW Conspiracy Theory a couple of years ago. A Chinese article claimed that the Buddha lies in the novel. This is my rebuttal.

[leafwateraddict]

Found some old sketches I had for @llamagoddessofficials Coraline au along with some headcanons I had for Dart and Patch (also stuffing.. gore?)

Ft. A sexy Dart because I saw a fancy looking corset and put him in it and instantly regretted it (along with some ideas for his button eyes)

Also other Mc/Thread along with some sentences i thought of if I ever ended up writing that drabble (which I probably wont- rip)

[tagarilaghost]

I SWEAR CELEBI'S THINGY IS COMING SOON BUT I REALLY WANTED TO POST THIS ALRIGHT

yeaah... future trio got me too...

and Darkrai is there too, because of course he is.

hey look i drew a cute Drifloon :D

...ignore the rest

whatever started at Darkrai doodles ended in brainrot of future trio + darkrai and I'm blaming @scribz-ag24 for this

[add1ctedt0you]

What a plot twist you were. [x]

[bonebabbles]

Scenes like this keep cropping up and I cannot help but roll my eyes all the way back into my skull

Don't worry guys, having NEW children fixed him. This famously teaches a violent man to stop hitting kids and makes him no longer feel the need to construct nightmarish scenarios so he can humiliate and embarrass those he has power over. Men whose wives produce lots of babies for them are Very fulfilled and Understand how strong bonds are supposed to be

"Instead of advising him he'd been defensive" is a REALLY INTERESTING way to phrase "got so offended at the suggestion to stop murdering women for their land that he shoved his son's face in a festering wound and told him to leave him to get eaten by maggots."

I wonder how they'd spell something like, "walked through a patch of thorns so that his son would be in physical pain and then belittled him for finding an alternate route because he wanted him to suffer" and "lied directly to his face about why he abandoned him when he realized the child could be useful"

[vagun1ka]

tw // fatphobia, o word

I'll end your "suffering" of looking on my drawings with block button, thank you. That's a warning for anyone who will say such offensive and cruel things towards people whom I represent in my art.

Today made me quite famous in twitter when my Ganyu collage got more than 12k likes and 1k retweets, and I believe this person is one of many people who discovered me through that hit post.

I've received tons of nice comments which I'm thankful for. Yet there were toxic responses of genshin fans tm.

I try to ignore harsh comments and send my appreciation to people, who like what I'm doing and I'll continue doing so in the future.

I'm showing this tumblr ask with one goal in mind. If you, as a fat person, or any other person, come across unfriendly reply under my art, please don't ever think that person deserves your slightest attention. A hate speech like that only prove that person is ignorant and uncapable of love.

If my art made you feel happy, please save this feeling. Allow yourself to be happy. You deserve it.💙

[evilherehotel]

guys. guys the similarities. guys listen to me

[atopvisenyashill]

my hot take of the day is that clearly the people who swallow the in universe targ & valyrian exceptionalism are being completely taken in by the exact system that george is trying to critique but also i think the people who over correct into this idea that not a single targaryen is worthy of like, our empathy or sorrow or are rightfully chafing against the structures put in place by valyrians, first men, and andals alike are also being incredibly 2d in their analysis. i feel like this happens most often when people try to make the case that andals are somehow oppressed in westerosi society on a cultural level simply bc valyrian supremacy trumps andal culture. i think this is incredibly silly to say or posit as the truth in universe because there is in fact some oppression of culture in westeros but it’s not the andals lol!!! it’s the first men, the dornish, the rhoynar/greenblood orphans, and the ironborn. there Is some level of,,,, idk bigotry/xenophobia towards valyrians but only valyrians who don’t worship the faith - people like larra rogare, who still follow valyrian gods, do face this bigotry because they’re Too Foreign, the same way someone like thoros, melisandre, taena, etc who are essosi but not from a still heavy valyrian-based society like volantis and lys, and that’s definitely important to the conversation, because it shows the Dominant Culture is in fact the Andal culture when it comes to westeros and that’s like,,, fine, and even more interesting to me to see how andals, who have been the dominant force on westeros for thousands of years, interact with valyrians, who clearly want to keep ideas of valyrian supremacy alive somehow and essentially try to get the other dominant force in westeros to buy in (which they do!). like, are these two at odds sometimes? yes! but i don’t think it’s correct to say that the andals face ~prejudice for being andals or followers of the faith either!

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

Ignore all logistical considerations of "would they ever meet each other under these circumstances". If you don't think Jules Bashir would have chosen to join Starfleet, imagine he is on the station for some other reason, or they meet in some other location.

I wanted to make this poll because I've seen various fics where Garak reassures Julian that far from being upset over him being augmented, Garak is grateful for it, either explicitly because (he thinks) they wouldn't be able to have their usual conversations if it weren't for the augmentations, or simply because he likes Julian "just the way he is" and wouldn't want him to be "different". I disagree that Garak would think like this (or at the very least, I think Julian would react negatively if he did, rather than be reassured), so I wanted to hear everyone else's thoughts.