#and yes i do already know that fanon and canon are very different- that's exactly why i'm watching

[nymphaeya]

just started watching evo for the first time and how they introduced all the watcher stuff is actually really cool. i can def see why it has such a chokehold on the fandom now. like mysterious symbols made out of bedrock? hell yea

watcher grian fics and martyn's life series vids are about to make whole lot more sense lol

[randomness-is-my-order]

okay, buckle up, this pjo rant-post will be a bit long! this is gonna sound a bit melodramatic but what genuinely saddens me about percy’s characterisations and portrayal by the narrative over the years since the last olympian was out is that... the very nuance that was written into this character in the original series is slowly being stripped away and moulded into the caricatures that percy has been flanderized into in popular fanon. i remember having debates over the whole ���can’t function without annabeth”/“has one functional braincell”/“is constantly self-doubting himself into a pithole” characterisations and opposing these perceptions with canonical content. because the beauty of percy’s character is how his strengths have always balanced his weaknesses. he’s impulsive but battle-smart, he’s ignorant (about the greek ways) but has a tough as shit skin, he’s new to everything but he’s mindful enough to keep up with the new inlet of information. he’s loyal to a fault, but brave beyond measure. he’s a smart guy, a wisecracking guy, a loving, caring, wonderful person. the aspect of himself that doubts himself always read part-trauma, part-humility. his perception of himself was generally skewed, yes, but we had a counterbalance of it in terms of how people reacted to him, even in the original series! annabeth sure as hell didn’t fall for him for being a dumbknut who can’t tie his shoelaces without her assistance. their competence was implicitly and explicitly shown to be equal! percy had opinions that went against annabeth’s all the time, he had stances on matters that he remained so firm on he gave up immortality for them. he respected himself enough to respect his own views on different matters.

and towards the end of the series, i always got the impression that percy’s self-doubt had been improving and that is exactly how an upward progressive arc for a main character should be! and i did think that was rick’s idea too during the heroes of olympus, especially because the outsider perspectives were heavy on appreciating percy as a powerful, capable demigod. but i think, in hindsight, the seeds of what we now see in the new trilogy had already been planted. the constant pointed remarks about percy’s intelligence are irksome enough but the backpedaling of percy’s self-perception is probably the most egregious to me. because how do i argue my points from above anymore when the newest canon supports that fanon pov?

when the people surrounding percy have been reinforcing views that undermine him–primarily his intelligence and his competence–the very same people who you’d think would know better because they actually know percy the most intimately, it makes sense that percy himself is still stuck in the routine of undermining his ownself. but also... this should, from a writing-continuity perspective, make NO sense whatsoever. because this kind of superficial reading of percy from the other characters only made sense at the very start of the original series. by the end, i do not think annabeth was in the dark about percy’s “surprising intelligence”. that’s a laughable notion to have. and she’d be the first to shut down anyone implying that percy couldn’t function without her because again, so much of their original fascination and bonding with each other was about how well they could keep up with each other! they don’t need each other and that makes it all the more wonderful that they’re gonna help each other out regardless!

ugh, i just do not understand the logic behind having the protagonist revert back to self-esteem issues that he has already been shown to overcome to a noticeable difference by the conclusion of his original arc. i get regression in self perception is not some uncommon, unfathomable concept. but i cannot wrap my head around the fact that this view of percy of his ownself is not treated with enough gravity by the narrative, instead it’s just a part of his pov now. i do not think rick’s trying to paint annabeth or the friends as enablers of this self-perception and if he is, that’s bullshit. someone like sally would not allow her son to continue thinking of himself in such a manner anyway.

also, like, forget everything–the writing, the logic leaps, the plot holes. is it too much to ask for percy, a beloved main character, to have a confident outlook and have that reflected in the books explicitly meant for “fun”? if this series is how we send-off the golden trio and say goodbye to them, why do we need to see percy with a self-deprecating perception? why can’t we have banter that doesn’t horribly contradict established characterisations in the past? the fun of percabeth was, for me, that even if they were on some pedestal, they were on it together. but lately, it’s like rick is trying his best to throw percy off that pedestal from all directions possible and i think that’s such a disservice to this character we all have cherished for decades now. there are ways to go about writing, what is essentially, an “unserious” trilogy without compromising on character traits and interpersonal dynamics. it was never dumb vs smart, clumsy vs competent, grumpy vs sunshine, whipped vs unbothered when it came to percabeth. but slowly, so many of these black-and-white popular tropes have been bleeding into their canon dynamic and at the cost of sounding crude: fuck this, just fucking FUCK THISSSS.

[ladysternchen]

Open Letter to the Silmarillion- and Wider Tolkien-Fandom

Dear fellow Tolkienists, Middle-Earth-fans, Elves-, Dwarves and what-not-else in disguise, you who call Middle-Earth (and especially long-lost- Beleriand) their home,

On this blog, I have written about this matter many times already, but I can't miss this opportunity to reach out once more to the wider community and again plead for a little more compassion and awareness within the fandom.

Everyone who knows me -in person, through my fanfics, through this blog- knows that my one and only within the Tolkien-legendarium is Elu Thingol, so it will maybe not be surprising what I am going to say. ;-)

I think that the argument that has been ongoing between those who like Elu Thingol and those who don't (which were, funnily enough - and I'm being sarcastic here- often those who most ardently love the Fëanorians) has at least vaguely been noted by most within the fandom. It got rather dirty on both sides. And that REALLY shouldn't happen.

It is inevitable when different people from different backgrounds read a book that there will be different preferences between those readers, and characters will be perceived and interpreted differently. A character that will be the hero to one reader may be the villain to the other, that is how things go, and given that the Silmarillion is not exactly a book of nursery-rhymes, I think we can all be expected to be mature enough to know and honour that.

Only apparently, we can't.

All sorts of stuff get dragged into those arguments that really have no room there, such as political views and the mixing up of canon and fanon. No, I'm not saying keep politics out of the fandom at all cost. Not when in recent years human rights, the adherence to science and protecting the world on which we all live has gone from being a consensus to being the agenda of one side of the political spectrum. This is frightening. And yes, it needs to be addressed. Or at least, everyone should be free to address it.

But by the Valar, please do it right. Do your research. Know what you are talking about. Specify.

It is so very easy to call Tolkien out for the views he shared with many of his contemporaries, and yes, at least I for my part am glad to see that we have moved on from these times -at least in parts. But to understand Tolkien, we must look beyond that. We must look at what he wrote despite being a white male academic in 20th century Britain.

An example of that: over the years, countless people have called Tolkien a sexist, because within the Hobbit and the LotR, women are so shockingly underrepresented. That is a fact, and one doesn't really get around that. But we also have to look at the Silmarillion and what the women are like in there. How Tolkien in drafts that reach back to the 1920s crated a society that treats males and females equally, how all the women he did write into his works were strong, independent women who would not bow to men safe perhaps in love- do we really want to call Tolkien a sexist per default then?

And if you call out Elu Thingol and those who have him as their favourite character for being racist, please stop one moment and read and think it through. Elves, Men and Dwarves are different species. Whatever attitudes there are between them, this can never be racism. Yes, it is compelling to see different ethnical (human) groups in them, but they are not. There can be racism amongst Elves (and I might point out that it is not predominantly the Sindar who see themselves and their works above other Elven people; it is not the Sindar who demand that others yield to them the works of their hands and hearts only to steal and later destroy them, just because they can; or who seek 'free lands to rule' in an already inhabited country), there can be racism amongst Men (and there sure is, and that is an issue!), there can be racism amongst Dwarves (we also know about that). But there can be no racism between Dwarves and Elves and Men.

And even if you choose to read the situation that way, and put fanon over canon, please don't assume that those real-life-people who love the characters that offend you share those beliefs- in short, stop calling me a racist for liking Elu Thingol, and I promise I shall never accuse you of plotting murder just because you love the Fëanorians.

So please, when discussing characters, do keep it civil. Keep accusations out of it, keep fanon out of it. If you're criticising a character, please do that based on canon rather than fanon (I'm not talking about liking someone based on fanon, I'm talking about picking the character apart based on fanon). It can be so incredibly rewarding to listen to someone who really feels a character and may explain things that other readers miss easily. It is fascinating to explore the reasons why someone turns to evil, or makes mistakes, or acts in the way they act. You need not dishonour other characters to love your own, and you can love your own with all their faults and negative sides. Listen to other people, and try for some compassion. Please. It never hurt anyone.

PS: And of course share with us all the art you do on your favourite characters, all your fanfics, all your meta, all your headcanons. Tell us about your faves backstories that Tolkien never got around to writing, tell us about your textual ghosts and OCs. And readers, give feedback. And see what comes of those conversations.

@silmarillionwritersguild

[lonniemachin]

tim

Sexuality Headcanon: bi of course! canon, which is why it’s also canon in my head.

Gender Headcanon: cis guy but i could also see him as some flavor of nonbinary or transfem.

A ship I have with said character: you already know what i’m gonna say. timlonnie. i’ve gone over my thoughts on it so many times but i enjoy the ways in which they exist as separate characters and also foil each other and the way that their histories are intertwined. i think that the precipice of mutual understanding theyve existed on since they first met is super interesting and if they stepped over it it has the potential to be good for the both of them as they possess characteristics the other lack yet are also the same in certain ways. they make a good team when they work together and… it’s just fun. tim grows to care about her and understand her ideals, the most important thing to her. for someone like lonnie who is so isolated, i think that counts for something. AND he saved her life twice.

A BROTP I have with said character: can’t go wrong with tim & kon, which needs no introduction, but i also love his relationships with his eldest siblings (dick & cass) and of course. of COURSE. cassie sandsmark.

A NOTP I have with said character: aside from the obvious (batcest) do not breathe the same air as me if you ship him with jpv. which should go without saying but you’d be surprised!

A random headcanon: brown eyes babyyy. my mind refuses to register him as having anything else. also i think he is italian-irish american jewish and i’m stickin’ to it.

General Opinion over said character: where to begin. tim is one of my favorite DeeCees but if he isn’t yes he is no he isn’t ❤️. he’s genuinely compelling to me both in-universe and out-of-universe as one of the catalysts that brought the Bat Family as it develops together, being a part of events and teams that left such a huge impact on the dcu and what he represents symbolically wrt robin in the bat mythos, as well as generally knowing a little bit of everybody which makes for some great dynamics but i think his perception tends to get caught up in such a convoluted web of fanon and counter-fanon that it can be hard to tell, unless you… yknow. read his comics. just exactly who he is. i like his trait of being someone who knows his role very well and knows what he does not want to become and developing just how he differs from both of those. i do not understand why people latch onto him so hard though and think a large chunk of his fans tend to find it hard to accept that the dcu does not revolve around him and that he has flaws and it can come at the expense of people’s perception of a ton of other characters. also he’s a car guy over being a skateboarder… remember this and update your headcanons accordingly (/joke).

[the-s1lly-corner]

Creepypasta au ramblings

Including some ideas, headcannons, potential plot stuff, ect ect

Gotta get the brain juices flowing and written down somewhere

Okay so. Admittedly, I haven't really been working on the au that much, due to my hyper fixiation on the owl house taking up my brain. And that'll likely still be the case with the upcoming finale so.. yeah!

Anyways, with what I have now;

I already know this is going to be a written collection of various connected stories; as opposed to a comic <\3

If my experience with making comics in the past says anything to me, is that it'll crash and burn before any of the juicy stuff happens.. and I'll get burnt out incredibly fast

Only downside to sticking to a written format is that a lot of these characters have redesighs <\3

Not big ones, most carry their basic look that just about everyone knows

Save for Kagekao and Laughing Jill

Good news is, Kagekao, as of now, doesn't have a role.. yet.. maybe.. again, I'm still figuring out the overarching story

Bad news: Laughing Jill is actually a huge roll in one of the side plots (more on that later). She still holds the same basic design elements as her canon design has: black and white clown gal

Only difference between the real design and my take is that Laughing Jill is a funky ragdoll; and she's small because.. yk, she's a doll. Can literally fit inside a decent sized backpack (again, will elaborate on this later)

Though of course I suppose I could just

Describe her as small

(I'm dumb and writing this as I think)

Moving on

I also want to do different plots and side things that all either connect to larger story, or show different perspectives and such; maybe each chapter switching from one characters POV to another

And I already have a long term plot! For... two specific characters

I want there to be a side thing where Jane is trying to hunt down Jeff and put an end to him for

Well

You know

Offing her parents

Along the way she stumbles into Jill, and the two team up to find the dude; along with Jane trying to balance her goal and everyday life. Because unlike most of the other characters, she lives a very normal life otherwise... when you don't look at her past. She has a job, she lives in her own apartment, she's gotten her education. Other than gunning for Jeff, she has no interest in taking the lives for others. So with Janes chapters it'll likely follow both settings/sides of her life

Speaking of settings

Locations

I don't know where exactly it would take place; country/town wise.. it may be spread out across different areas since itd be odd if all these creatures and stuff were living in the same place; gotta dispurse them or people will just. Leave the area

Yk?

But as for like

Actual places that the characters will be interacting in will be anywhere from towns, woods, eft ect

And yes

Because this is a mix of fanon and canon

The slender mansion will be in this au

Although probably not in the way most people interpret it; it won't really be a safe house for every creepypasta character buuuuut im still working on the way i should execute it

Probably make it a hotel of sorts; for most characters its not a permanent home. Be it they dont wish to stay, or they arent welcome there

Moving on, Im gonna write masky/tim and hoodie/brian the same way i do in my silly imagines and hc posts; treat the proxy as a separate personality from the person. Each having their own set of morals, behaviors, and memories; not too dissimilar to how MH shows them off IIRC

Though these versions of them are a mix of MH and CRP since I enjoy both renditions, as a fan of both materials. Plus I feel like if this did become something, a few of yall would be upset if i didnt have them... plus theyre fun to write

Speaking of characters that 100% wont be in the au, for various reasons, are:

Ticci Toby: because I just don't really jive with him like i used to, and the character has more or less been ruined for me by others.... though theres a chance he MAY appear, its just HIGHLY unlikely

Clockwork: she just makes me uncomfortable

Off*nderman: do i really need to elaborate on why I'm not adding him?

Really those are the main 3 I have beef with, but

Yeah

Anyways

Yeah idk what else to type but

!!

Hopefully I'll have more ideas cooked up soon

[the-cryptographer]

where did i leave off with asoiaf storm of swords? guess we'll go in pov character order:

Jamie: wish we had gotten a little more of him following tyrion's trial tbh. know why narratively we didn't get to see his thoughts on it until he showed up to rescue tyrion but it's a little awkward that he's in King's Landing while this is going on and having exactly zero thoughts about it in his pov sections (or maybe we should consider it a pov choice meant to highlight his self-centredness lmao).

idk, I very genuinely adore him and genuinely adore most of his scenes but I do think he's kind of a fanon killer for me. I really like his relationships with both cersei and brienne, but canon does it so well there's nothing i particularly want to add or change. he's definitely got a like... a cheating husband kind of mentality about this love triangle tbh. which isn't to say that his relationship with cersei is legitimate or that he and everyone wouldn't be way better served by running off with bri. it's more just he's a character tbh totally committed to the bad choices he's already made and his relationship with bri is more daydreaming about what it would be like to have made different ones than an actual committing to change. idk, quality of the writing aside, very not surprised that the broad strokes from the tv show revealed were sleeping with bri and then immediately going back to kiss and/or revenge himself upon cersei. but tbh doesn't really take away from how wholly touching it is to see him go back for brienne to rescue her from vargo hoat in this book.

I guess other things of note is I did genuinely feel bad for cersei grieving her son's death and jamie walking in and not really understanding her pain and just wanting to fuck. i remember people complaining about this scene in the show being rapey and, mmm, it was definitely like that in the novel. but i think the most important part is really the juxtaposition of this scene with the one later where cersei is trying to force herself on /him/ and how he manages to successfully rebuff her where she could not when the tables were turned. which also matches very well with him being the only lannister sibling to successfully tell tywin to fuck off about marrying him off to someone. he is so uniquely empowered in the family dynamic compared to his siblings and he's completely blind to that privilege and it's kinda amazing.

and the relationship with loras! idk, i don't have much to say about it, but it's absolutely favourite of mine to see him look at hotheaded idiot bb loras and talk about how much it's like looking in a mirror.

Catelyn: I really admire the commitment grrm has to not skimping out on cat's end of the story and the exhaustive plans that rob has as his next move after meeting up with the freys. Like, yes, they're about to die, but you wouldn't know it for how extensive their future planning is and the detail put into their plans for after this wedding.

also really admire grrm's commitment to almost making me like cat and then reminding me at the last moment that she's still the incredibly vindictive woman she always was. idk, her not respecting rob's wishes to name jon his heir was definitely masterfully placed.

Arya: don't have much to say about her. just really enjoyed sandor being weirded out by how bloodthirsty she is.

Tyrion: the jank with this character remains so high. it is all kinds of satisfying to see him kill tywin at the end of this book. but otoh the femicide is...

I think tbh the place I feel most let down by the narrative is that at no point during shay's testimony at his trial does tyrion or anyone consider she might have testified against him not for money, but for her own safety. it's not that I think shay has to be an entirely altruistic or faithful person, but frankly if cersei or tywin tell her to do something (be it publicly humiliate tyrion or privately fuck tywin) they might give her gold for her cooperation but if she doesn't cooperate she's probably looking at getting beaten or killed. the lack of narrative acknowledgement of this and her playing the whore to tysha's madonna is extremely uncomfortable in a narrative that usually does more interesting things with gender tbh.

Davos: I actually really loved davos's sections! Was not expecting this, but I ended up feeling way more positively about him and stannis and melisandre than I had on previous reads. Him saving edric storm was great! I got kind of teary eyed at him telling stannis about the sos from the wall, and reminding that being a king isn't only about taking the throne, but a responsibility to protect the realm and its ppl. and I really have to appreciate that it's at this point that the conflict between himself and stannis and melisandre can be put aside because they are all in agreement.

also this is like... unwarranted speculation that everyone else has probably already said, but i think the azor ahai story kind of explains a lot of the end of the tv show. like... it seems sort of clear that melisandre mistook stannis for the prince of dragonstone and azor ahai reborn - who would save the realm from darkness in the others - as she'd seen in her vision, when it was really a vision about jon. and we also have dany's prophecy that she will be betrayed a third time 'for love'. so i think it was probable the original ending of this story was meant to be jon killing dany, his beloved (like azor ahai) to make the sword of fire that could slay the great other and end the crisis at the wall. which does not exactly fix the problems people had with the femicide or with the potential climate change allegory, but at least would have been like... narratively built up and foreshadowed and not total character assassination.

Sansa: yeah, idk what to say except that all the scenes with sansa and lysa and petyr fuck hard. i am super into this creepy old man kissing her as part of his sexual obsession with her mother. love watching her be disillusioned and offended by how completely he has played her. love him knowing this and handing her the knowledge and understanding and power to play the game as something other than a pawn. the snow castle replica of winterfell. the persephone pomegranate moment. really top notch stuff. A+

Jon: should have stayed in that cave with ygritte

Daenerys: yeah, i think having come this far in dany's story i can say pretty confidently that the discourse about how she's a bad white saviour did her dirty. like... yes, she is a rich white saviour that has a limited understanding of how to empower and help the people she is claiming to help. but that's not some gotcha. it's pretty much the entire point of her story. spies and assassins infiltrate the ranks of the freed slaves following her. the government she set up in the first city she 'liberated' immediately fell back into corruption and slaving once she left. she frees people who have no economic alternative but to sell themselves back into slavery, and then is all shocked pikachu face about it. and none of this really changes the fact that she did all of this with good intentions and out of personal empathy as someone who was once sold as a child bride herself. it all plays a big role in her decision to halt her conquest at the end of this book in order to actually face the challenges of governing.

idk, i do think it's fair for poc fans to be disappointed that grrm decided to write a story about a failed white saviour rather than from the perspective of grey worm or missandei for instance. but tbh that is not the perspective most people seemed to be talking from and it's just made a lot of complaints about dany as a character look in bad faith imho.

Bran: his chapters continue on and idk he's a really sueish character with an entourage of characters who are emotionally committed to him for reasons i don't understand. but i will say i did think it was very narratively clever and fun chapter to hear meera tell the story of the tourney at harrenhal.

Samwell: tbh most of my feelings about sam's chapter are going on ao3 and seeing someone be angry at him for like playing saviour to gilly with the implicit argument that she should be be given more agency and dues. and... i understand because i myself am a little offended that he's in a position to score pussy for 'saving' her based on no personal merits other than him being a man in a position to help her and being kind. but... ngl i think i just sort of have to appreciate him being kind - and not superficially so - when a lot of the people around him are not? and to be frank i don't think gilly would be better as a bamf strong confident woman who doesn't need support from the people around her. she is in a disempowering position and it's imho dumb to treat that as not what it is. i think it's realistic and not a personal failing that she needs outside help to extricate herself from her abusive situation, or that she would think kindly of sam for providing that help when a lot of people frankly would not have. and i have to say i like that sam acknowledges that she is very brave for the things she is doing, and the risks she is taking - braver than him even! - despite the fact that none of them are a particularly masculinised show of bravery. idk, there are a lot of uncomfortable things about this part of the story to chew on, but there are also parts of it i'm finding unexpectedly refreshing.

[redfish-blu]

yes yes yes yes hiiiiiii!!!!! any thoughts on zone lore? personally, I feel that there’s of course, the main deities, but I feel like they have a lot of folklore! sitting by a campfire at night, telling tales about the first killjoys to make it to the desert, what the colours in the sky mean, etc, etc.

(I wanted to ask earlier lol, but I can’t seem to switch to my danger days blog so I was trying to figure that out and then forgot lol :,) )

have a great day!

This is a great question, very expansive as well so I’ll do my best to address my take on all of it.

Quick disclaimer: my interpretation of the zones deviates from canon as well as general fanon, so some of what I say might not align with the knowledge of the average Danger Days tumblr user. I’d be happy to explain my own thoughts in a separate post if anyone should be interested though!

Like you said, we already have Destroya and the Phoenix Witch. I feel like Destroya is more of an inner-zones vibe. You hear about him more when you’re still on the power grid, killjoys who don’t originate from the city or the grid aren’t into Destroya as a figure of worship like they are with the Phoenix Witch. The two definitely coexist, but in the way of popularity, the inner zones take Destroya. Purely because Destroya and the Graffiti Bible are are pertinent to the inner zones’ issues. Oppressive regime, surveillance, androids, etc. On the wall separating Battery City from Zone 1, the side in the zones is covered completely with murals and quotes and imagery from the Graffiti Bible. The other is constantly being pressure washed.

The Phoenix Witch (on top of the fact that she’s a tangible being unlike Destroya for most of his existence) is popular among older killjoys for the most part, who pass her stories down to the younger ones. There’s no point of origin for the Phoenix Witch, everyone has a different story of her conception. Some believe she’s just a reclusive human, some believe she manifested from some higher power to watch over the Zones and give them faith to defy BL/ind. Some even say she and Destroya come from the same cloth and are working together, or something. And some just think she’s b.s, even if they do believe in her.

Moving on to less household Zone Lore, it’s no debate that every Zone is haunted as fuck. In the scary way and in the “that’s not normal but it’s not hurting me” way. If you spend enough time with the right crowd of ‘joys you’re bound to get a handful of campfire stories. Or you’ll be the one telling them.

Obviously there’s the iconic Zone Fridges that just appear out of nowhere, fully functional and stocked with exactly what you’re looking for even if it isn’t food. This also happens with toilets, just make sure to watch your back while using them. You learn not to question those. Whatever causes the phenomenon seems to be benevolent anyways. Perhaps it is the same thing that keeps the car running when there’s no gas, or causes that blaster shot that definitely should have hit to fizzle out harmlessly.

There’s UFOs, of course. They never get close to the ground. Usually just lurking over the hills or skittering off when you try to get a picture or approach them a la Nope (2022). It’s become a sort of good luck charm to encounter one, especially in Zone 3 and 4. You have to wave to activate it though. UFOs became super common after the last Helium War, maybe they’re more interested now that humans have bigger problems than proving they exist.

And then there’s the things you can’t explain. The things you just have to accept as they are because they’re too damn weird. Like people you saw dead two days ago showing up alive, or Zone 3 just disappearing into thin air. The latter usually happens before a big BL/ind sweep is scheduled, which is quite convenient as they are almost always canceled afterwards. Nobody really knows where Zone 3 goes when it disappears, everyone who has a story of being in it when that happens says it’s just like normal Zone 3 but it doesn’t end.

There’s plenty of wives tales to keep kids from exploring dangerous places and staying out after dark. Run of the mill boogeyman shit, a third of which might actually be real. Freakish monsters roaming the desolate hills of Zone 4, haunted caves out in 5, never stepping over a grave, and believing in bad omens are common superstitions. Hearing a pack of coyotes at night, disembodied music or whistling, and circling vultures are all considered signs of warning for the future.

Killjoys make Bad Luck Beads, carved with symbols of luck and protection to ward off any unwanted creeps and bad energy. Being gifted a set is a huge sign of admiration from the giver. People paint eyes around their homes, typically on windows or doorframes as a symbol of being looked after. And creating art with crow feathers as a nod to the Phoenix Witch is popular as well. It’s hard to feel truly safe in the Zones, so killjoys turn to habits and ritual to soften the blows.

I just noticed I forgot to talk about the mailboxes. There’s a few “official” ones floating around, mostly in Zone 3 and 4 because that’s where most people get dusted. But any mailbox works for the Witch. ‘Joys decorate them with bright colors, candles, flowers, jewelry and messages for the dead so the Witch will see them and know to check for letters or masks. November 3rd is Mailbox Day, which is sort of a blanket holiday for Halloween, Día De Muertos, All Saint’s/Souls Day, and Thanksgiving. Killjoys write letters and poems, dress up, make artwork, and tell stories around the mailbox to remember the dead and let them know they’re still thinking of them. It’s a very popular occasion, as it’s generally a festive event rather than one of mourning or sadness.

I’m gonna call it there! I hope that blurb satisfied your curiosity. I really do enjoy discussing it :D

[ykoriana-imperatrix]

SDC Month - December 2022 - Wednesday #2

We are back with another what-if scenario! Before we do start, however, I would just like to add something that I think I failed to make clear last week — much like the theories from June, these scenarios will be solely based on canon information from the books and website both (and anything from online chats with the author, if relevant). They will not take into account any (further) development of/headcanons relating to any characters, events, worldbuilding, etc. (especially the first) from fanon.

(Cut for length (trust me, this one definitely needs it) and some spoilers here and there.)

A Daughter Can Oft More Fates Decide

(This title, is, of course, a reference to the epigraph from the chapter "The Conclave".)

As you might have guessed from the title, my concept for today is: what if Azurea had given birth to a daughter instead of a son? (And, yes, @suth-sardian, I know, I know, we already explored this particular concept through our own discussions, so this week's installment is not exactly exciting new material, but I feel it isn't exactly rehashing pre-existing content either. After all, this scenario is getting introduced to a wider audience via this project, which is always a plus, no?)

Getting back to the core concept at hand: nothing else changes in this scenario. Azurea, unfortunately, still dies in childbirth, the exile deal between Sardian and Ykoriana still happens, and so on. The only difference is that we now have a Carnelia* (and yes, I do imagine Carnelian could perfectly serve as a unisex name, but I like Carnelia, it is sort of a portmanteau of carnelian + the existing name Cornelia, so I'm going to use it for this post from here on) instead of a Carnelian as the child decisions must be made about.

As @suth-sardian pointed out when we initially had this discussion, it is very possible a significant change would be at play here, that being the fact that Sardian would be legally unable to take his baby daughter with him in his exile (that is, if that was even his intention in the first place; having a young daughter and having a young son would be very distinct situations for a Chosen lord to deal with). Little Carnelia might still be an infant who would not be subject to confinement in the forbidden houses for many years, but the fact the exile was (for all anyone knew at the time) meant to be permanent would mean this young lady would eventually find herself reaching the age of menarche in circumstances under which she couldn't be properly confined as the Law-that-must-be-obeyed dictated. So, what would Sardian do regarding his young daughter?

One would assume he would just leave her behind at Coomb Suth, being comforted by the fact that she would still be growing up around her grandmother Urquentha, and so would not be entirely bereft of the presence of Chosen members of her paternal family (and lineage). And yes, given what their society is like, I imagine that even under more normal circumstances, where Sardian was never exiled, he would have never been particularly close to a daughter, but being a distant figure in her life would still be quite different from not being around at all. Plus, we know Sardian is an atypical Chosen lord in many ways; he might never have been a doting father to Carnelia regardless of circumstance, but he would still feel fondness and (perhaps more importantly, given his values and strong sense of honour) paternal responsibility for her. She would likely even be safer among the Suths than her male canon counterpart, given that, unlike him in the same circumstances, she would have posed no threat to Spinel in terms of his plots for usurpation of the Ruling Lordship.

There is, however, Ykoriana's offer to consider still, which would — seeing as she made it prior to Azurea's death — still be in play. I think that Sardian, knowing how close Ykoriana had been to her sister, would at least give the idea some thought and try to figure out if his child would ever be remotely safe around her aunt. While personally, I do think Ykoriana would feel more favourably towards Azurea's daughter than she ever would towards Azurea's son, and I don't think that would be a thought that would never cross Sardian's mind, at this point, he would still be acutely aware that Ykoriana loathes him (and who knows if that hatred might not eventually bleed into her view of his daughter) and that the birth of Carnelia caused Azurea's death, and it is surely not impossible Ykoriana might resent her to some degree for it (as she does regarding Carnelian in canon). In addition (another point @suth-sardian made when we originally had this discussion, as I recall), while a son of his growing up in the Masks would still be living in the world of men for the most part, and could be far more easily protected by Kumatuya if needed, a daughter would mainly be under Ykoriana's sphere of influence. And so, Sardian might just not want to take that risk at all; he'd know that his daughter’s safety would be far more assured if she was left at Coomb Suth.

I will not speculate at great length about Carnelia herself, and what she would grow up to be like in terms of personality, since the circumstances are too different from canon to keep any speculation from getting too fanfiction-like if it goes on too long. But considering she would be growing up with Urquentha as her main adult Chosen influence, I believe it's quite likely she would develop a personality similar to that of her grandmother, and be more of a typical haughty and blood-proud young Chosen woman, lacking the compassion and kind heart that characterises her male counterpart. Children, real or fictional, mainly learn compassion and empathy from the adults in their lives, usually parental figures, and Carnelia would just lack the key circumstances (and individuals) conducive to Carnelian turning out as he did.

What about Sardian himself, and how would he fare in his exile in this alternate universe where he did not have his son with him? We do know Carnelian's presence was incredibly important to how his life in the Hold played out, from what he says in the chapter "The Blood-Ring":

When we came here, this place was a perfect mirror to my mood. That first winter was terrible. Many died. When they did not know I heard them, our people whispered that I had brought them across the black water to the Isle of the Dead. I almost shared their belief. As bleak and colourless as the Underworld is said to be, this island was worse. If you had not been there, swaddled in Ebeny's arms, I might have let it remain always so. For your sake, I let the household improve the Hold.

Now, it is impossible to guess with complete certainty if what-if!Sardian's mindset would have ever improved, or if we would find the Hold and the people living there shadows of their canon selves by 15 Kumatuya (that if they were even still alive). But I do believe it is not a total impossibility this Sardian could have eventually reached a point where his mental state did improve somewhat, even if it took much longer and it never reached the same levels of contentment it did in canon. Sardian is nothing if not a very resilient man, and in the absence of Carnelian, it is possible he might have developed a deeper bond with (some of) the members of his household earlier (it's not like his atypical attitude towards his slaves originated during the exile years even in canon, after all, we do know he genuinely loved Fey and considered her his favourite sister, which probably went back to when were both children, or close enough). On that note, one could wonder if the composition of the household Sardian takes along would be changed by Carnelia's existence and the fact she would likely be staying at Osrakum. I imagine Sardian choosing to take Crail, Brin and Grane along would almost certainly be unchanged — he seemed to have had significant trust in them and valued their competence for a long time, and it is not like the roles they would be playing would be affected by Carnelia's presence or absence. The same would, I'm sure, be true of others like Naith, Krib, Poal, Rale, Mari, and so on. It is when it comes to Ebeny and Keal in particular that I believe we could see a change — if Sardian is not taking his newborn child along, he does not really need any specific household woman to be serving as a wet nurse, be that Ebeny or any other, now does he? In my view, whether Ebeny and Keal stayed or left would depend more on Sardian's feelings regarding Ebeny then, and his reasons to have Keal (only a child at the time, remember) be part of the household in exile. If Sardian already had some fondness for Ebeny at the time (and didn't just see her as a random concubine), and that wasn't more of a development occuring during the exile years (which isn't made completely clear in the canonical material), then yes, I do think he would still want her to go. As for Keal, it would come down to whether Sardian was taking him along more for his own sake (Keal maybe being a marumaga son he happened to have some fondness for even then, which we also have no idea was the case or not) or for Ebeny's, so that she wouldn't have to suffer being separated from her child.

So, the years pass, and assuming everything still goes as it did in canon, and Kumatuya lies dying by the 15th year of his reign, a trio of unexpected visitors arrive. I think that, barring Sardian dying earlier for whatever reason (but let’s assume he does not), this is still going to happen regardless of Carnelia(n)'s sex or location — as I mentioned in the last what-if post, I feel like bringing Sardian back would always seem like a good move to Aurum, and, of course, Kumatuya would relish the chance to see him one more time no matter the universe. In fact, I think that this scenario might give Aurum added investment regarding convincing Sardian to return, and in the absence of Carnelian’s clear parentage as his main argument, he would play up the fact that Sardian had not seen his daughter in 15 years, wouldn't he like to have that chance, might even work in (feigned) affection for his own daughters as a comparison, etc. (And while I don't want to make this point into too long of a tangent, since Aurum just had a what-if post focused on him last Wednesday, Azurea's child being a daughter is incredibly fortunate for him in this scenario — remember, he is still actively looking for a third wife... Carnelia would be young (all the better in terms of a greater chance to eventually produce a son), particularly pure-blooded as ladies of the Great go, a niece of the current God Emperor and a cousin to the future one... he would likely find no better potential match short of Ykoriana herself.) And yes, I do think Sardian would return, even in the absence of Carnelian and thus the danger posed by Aurum deducing his parentage. What-if!Sardian would likely be less attached to the Hold than canon Sardian, as discussed above, he would still absolutely want to have a last chance to see Kumatuya, and I do think he would be curious about his daughter, what she would be like, how had she been doing for all these past years. So, once again, the "Baran Bunch" sets out on the way to Osrakum, only this time as a group of four instead of five.

(*While I don’t want to go too deep into the rabbit hole of what would Sardian name a potential daughter, I feel that in more realistic terms, Urothre would be a fairly plausible possibility, since it would probably mean something along the lines of “little carnelian” (from “ur”, “lesser, little” and “óthrá”, “carnelian”) and the original Urothre would be an ancestress of this child, and even one that was actually from the Great and not the House of the Masks itself. Depending on Chosen society’s view on necronyms, especially those concerning the recently deceased, it is also possible Sardian might at least consider naming his daughter after her late mother. If he did so, he might have the intention of endearing Ykoriana to the child via honouring Azurea... but then again, it is possible that Ykoriana would just see it as an insult to her sister’s memory and it would just make matters worse. Seriously, this could probably be its own post.)

And this is where I'll put a stop to my speculation within this particular scenario. Yes, there is so much more that could be speculated about, especially when it comes to Sardian and Carnelia's thoughts and actions after the former's return to Osrakum, and how the events from then onwards would be changed from canon... but this post is far too long already, and fellow fans, friends and companions, bear with me, I don't want to fall into the aforementioned rabbit hole, or any other, and have this reach novel length. Who knows, maybe a continuation of this particular what-if scenario can even be part of a future SDC month?

[baronfulmen]

Conefession: Discworld is one of the fandoms that I stumbled across fic for without ever having read the source material. And I still haven’t gotten around to doing so. Although I’ve read a ton of fics. As such, my perception of Discworld is entirely shaped by fanfic fanon. And, believe it or not, Vimes/Vetinari is the most popular ship in fanfic. It’s number 1 on AO3, Vimes/Sybil is number 2, and the OT3 Vimes/Sybil/Vetinari is number 3. All of which I enjoy.

After your post, I can’t help but be reminded that I just LOVE fandom and all of its randomness. I love that people will take a single piece of art and using that as a base they can make a billion different random artistic things with it like they’re just throwing paint at a wall and seeing what kind of Rorschach Test-esque work of beauty they can make of it. Like “does it make sense in canon, I got no clue, but I know it makes for some beautiful art and some fun fics that can make me smile, so Why not?. Y’know? Why not?” 😄😄😄😄

It's beautiful, isn't it? Yeah, for sure I love that people will just latch onto whatever and run with it and make more art whether or not they know what's going on or if it makes sense or anything.

I'm a little surprised that Vimes/Vetinari is so popular because as I said I just... I can't wrap my head around it. On paper you could have some fun friction there because one is the self-proclaimed tyrant and the other has an anti-authoritarian streak a mile wide. Sure, that dynamic could be fun. It's fun in the books, to the extent it's explored.

But in the actual books they don't spend a lot of time together - Vimes gets called into Vetinari's office at the start and end of most of the books with him in them but it's basically this:

Vetinari: "Vimes, I need you to do this thing that sounds simple when I say it but which we both know is actually very complicated. Don't get into trouble, don't anger anyone important." Vimes: "Sir yes sir, I would certainly never want to upset (insert super thinly veiled insult towards the aforementioned important people)" Vetinari: "See that you don't." ... Vetinari: "Well, you seem to have caused widespread panic and destruction of physical property and everyone is demanding I have you executed." Vimes: "Yessir. But I did that simple thing you asked me to do." Vetinari: "I suppose I'll have to take your word for it since everyone involved has fled the city." (quietly checks everything Vimes did off his 'to-do' list since he's a chessmaster that always planned for all this to happen)

It's fun! But as a relationship of some kind? Vimes isn't smart enough. Don't get me wrong, he's very intelligent and even devious when he wants to be - but Vetinari can't be in a relationship with anyone that's not also a mastermind. It would instantly be a super unhealthy relationship, because how do you have a healthy relationship with someone you can manipulate so easily? Vimes less easily than most, sure, but he still knows exactly where to apply pressure. Worse, Vimes is smart enough that he'd be watching for it! Every time something went Vetinari's way would he be thinking "wait, did I agree to go out to dinner because I want to, or because he made me THINK that I want to?"

Honestly, that would maybe be an interesting fic. Write it from Vetinari's point of view, and have the whole thing be him realizing that even when he decides NOT to manipulate Vimes he's already planning sneaky ways to let Vimes know that he's not being manipulated which is, itself, manipulative.

Anyway.

So as I said, no judgement to anyone even if it's something I have trouble picturing. Just threw me for a loop.

And if you DO start reading Discworld, good luck dealing with the many many conflicting guides to where to start.

[toujourspur13]

The Black family / Walburga Black / canon.

As I said before I do not care that much about canon/fanon/headcanon because transformative works by definition include a wide variety of different interpretations. However, I am forever perplexed when I see uncompromising opinions on the Black family - particularly the unwavering certainty that Sirius Black’s parents were psychotic abusers. All personal opinions aside - why is this so popular?

I mean - it’s absolutely ok to headcanon this version and to play with it - but saying 'don’t you dare say they did not physically and emotionally abuse Sirius' is a little strong, isn’t it?

This is a mystery to me. So…let’s discuss my favourite subject…Again.

Let’s stick to the facts. The frequently cited things proving the abuse in the Black family are as follows:

Sirius said his parents were awful maniacs (pureblood ideology)

he ran away from home

he was severely depressed in OoTP

Kreacher

Portrait

So…when you say that Sirius’s parents were abusive…you mean exactly what? These people got cold feet when they saw the real nature of Voldemort - I guess it somehow implies that they did not share his methods…that they were against violence as a tool to get purebloods in charge.

But then it usually goes this way: ‘well at least he was verbally and emotionally abused by his family’ - but is it so? Is this based on the portrait of Sirius's mother? She insulted strangers who took over her house and her runaway son - how does this prove anything about how Sirius and Regulus were raised and treated when they were kids? I agree it’s rather impolite - jkr did a good job showing how purebloods perceived others ( those below them) -but in all honesty, this has very little to do with Sirius and his childhood.

Why to make Sirius a victim at all? - c’mon he was tougher than this, he spent 12 years in Azkaban; are you actually saying that a portrait throwing insults at everyone is worse? I doubt that. And is it such a surprise that a mother who lost her son (that said son actually ran away and abandoned his duty) would be that furious at him when seeing him again...even if it’s only a portrait...I believe it to be a rather unpleasant experience for a parent when a child runs away.

We already talked about the portrait a lot - I don’t even want to mention it here- - I feel we should rather pay more attention to the fact that Sirius himself was not an angel.

I am not saying the colourful vocabulary of Walburga Black should be used…but Sirius himself upon seeing Snape  immediately  recognised his weakness and went for it without any hesitation …we are talking about Sirius who in fact was quite a renowned bully ( I mean - we know for a fact that from time to time Sirius and James got carried away)…

And it was Sirius who sent Snape to meet and chat with a real werewolf (yes, I agree - he was not thinking this through - he probably was just vexed and fed up with Snape and thought he wouldn’t go there, would get cold feet or idk run away…But it actually changes nothing. If a drunken driver hits someone it will be 100% his fault whether he means it or not. Whether he is in a fragile mental state or not - such situations are definite. It’s the same with Sirius - even if he did not mean anything bad he should have understood the cost of his mistake - all teenagers make silly things but not all of them send their classmate to meet a werewolf - James thought it not a very good idea as I recall… -

So we see that Sirius was not an angel from the start and I can hardly believe he was a victim by nature. His behaviour loudly manifested that he used to get what he wanted with no thought of the consequences.

And all those pictures of bikini-clad girls on the walls in his room prove that he was quite a spoiled boy who had nothing to fear from mum and dad. Harry himself noticed «Sirius seemed to have gone out of his way to annoy his parents». All this shows that Sirius was not afraid of his parents at all. What kind of masochist would suffer for motorbike posters? That would be ridiculous.

Let’s move to Kreacher: If Sirius’s mother had been a monster why even mention her heart?  JKR wrote this for a purpose and this heavily implies that Sirius's situation was never meant to be ‘the abusive heartless parents vs the poor helpless victim’.  

The fact that Sirius ran away and hence broke his mother’s heart says against the popular idea that he was not loved by his family, that he was always the second one, that they abused him. I’m 100% certain that Kreacher told the truth in that scene. Why would he say something like this if it were not the truth - something like…that his beloved mistress having been so upset over Sirius running away that it broke her heart. Just tell me one reason that would have justified such a lie - why to say this at all?

Then this: “Leave?” Sirius smiled bitterly and ran a hand through his long, unkempt hair. “Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal … my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them … that’s him.”…. “He was younger than me,” said Sirius, “and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded.”

I’ve already said it before - this ‘better son than me’ is exactly what insecure 14-year old kids like to say. Well...he’s a bit older but it’s not as if he had a life and a chance to mature. Moreover, I don’t know if it comes as a great shock but a lot of teenagers like to badmouth their parents…usually, it involves something like ‘those bloody uptight retrogrades know nothing of the real world’ (it fades away when they get closer to thirty).

To be serious, I find that it’s just another example of similarities between Sirius and his mother. They clearly did not know what it means to be composed, polite, and respectful. Yeah…I think that, on the whole, parents are owed their children’s respect (unless they are completely inadequate - somehow I don’t believe this was the case). Someone should teach both of them what mutual respect means. Anyway, there is nothing in this quote that says that Sirius was subjected to any forms of abuse - it’s about how Sirius justified his running away,  how he saw the situation.

There’s also the fact that Sirius was incredibly unhappy because he was back at his childhood home and having to spend time around anything that reminded him of his family: “Hasn’t anyone told you? This was my parents’ house,” said Sirius. “But I’m the last Black left, so it’s mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for headquarters — about the only useful thing I’ve been able to do.” Harry, who had expected a better welcome, noted how hard and bitter Sirius’s voice sounded”.

Here it comes…the severe depression that makes people question the severity of his abuse… I have thought a lot about this because it is the reason why some consider ‘the abusive blacks' canon while others believe it was more of a tragedy of the family rather than the banal brutality.

Of course, Sirius was upset in that house - but I don’t think he suffered the memories of his unhappy childhood - I think he suffered from the strong feeling of guilt. Being in that house meant an everyday reminder that he was a failure. And it’s not even a lie. If you look at his whole life you’ll see that he literally failed everyone in his life: he failed James and Lily - they were dead and he unwillingly became the reason. It was his plan that turned everything into a tragedy.

And, to some extent, he failed Harry- he was not around him like James and Lily would have wanted. Sirius did not give him the real family - he only promised they'd be the one «when it’s all over».

And finally - he failed his parents, his brother, his own family.

Is it possible to live with so much guilt in your heart?

I don't think that Sirius completely forgot who he was born to be. If the family keeps traditions and can trace its existence back in centuries you can't shake it off even if you want. I doubt Sirius switched it off just because he had griffindor friends. He was the last Black - it is tragically poetic that he was once the hope of his family and then this family died with him. If Sirius had heart (and I truly believe he had a heart) he knew exactly what it meant to be trapped in the house that represented the death of his family. A constant reminder  that he was the last one.  

“The others’ hushed voices were giving Harry an odd feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just entered the house of a dying person”. 

I think that the scene when he threw his father's ring away - he threw it away because it was all over for his family. It was the end of the dynasty - and for him it was all over long before he met Bellatrix for the last time.

Well, I admit Sirius' situation is open for wide interpretation but I don’t think the abusive black household is a canon thing - of course, it’s fanon. It makes Sirius a hero who broke the chains when in fact he ended up being a victim of his own life.

You know, it always seems strange to me that fandom when discussing Walburga usually overlooks the simple truth of life - that even if you are clever enough and mean good for your loved ones it is still possible to end up on the losing side, on the dark side.  However, mistakes don't automatically turn humans into monsters.

To some extent Sirius’s story represents the consequences of war.  No-one is protected; the whole families could be wiped off the face of the earth. It’s a simple yet profound idea. It correlates with the main idea of hp books far better than the ‘abusive psychopaths’ (there are already Voldemort and Bellatrix - there is no-one who can beat them in this department).

All I say - it’s okay to imagine them bad if you want- your right - but don’t write everywhere that it’s canon because it is not.There is no need for such inflexibility especially when it comes to the fandom - a place where everyone should be welcomed and their views on the books be respected.

[yeahhiyellow]

19, 22 and 23? :^)

19. What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

Tbh there are a lot of things I hate, although by this point it's only very certain parts of the fandom that have these problems, since most of the shitty people have lost interest by this point. If I had to choose just one thing though, it'd be the overwhelming focus on white, male characters over female and/or characters of color. And there are a lot of areas where this shows up. One major example is that a lot of people like the idea of Connor, Hank, Gavin, and Nines (all white, male characters, mind you) staying at the DPD even after:

The DPD was the one (along with Cyberlife) responsible for the deaths, arrests, and brutal treatment of androids, the main oppressed group in the game's world

Connor and Nines are a part of that oppressed group, and at least Hank is shown in game to support them

Connor has already worked at the DPD and was routinely called an "it" (which as someone who is nonbinary and has been called "it" knows how insulting that can be and understands the need to get away from situations where that happens), was allowed to be sent to his death by, and was routinely harassed and nearly murdered, or in some playthroughs actually murdered, by workers at the DPD (*ahem Gavin ahem*)

Hank (if he is your friend) risked his career just to cause a distraction for Connor to keep him alive

Just because the android revolution was successful doesn't mean the DPD was going to follow that. I mean, the androids were heavily compared to African Americans in this game, and we all know how the current police system treats them (and if you don't, pay attention to the news, like, ever. Also read Jim Crow as that book is very informative on the oppression of blacks in the entire incarceration system as well as before and after that)

So I hope it would be pretty obvious to any sane person that suggesting these characters would join/remain in the DPD after everything is offensive on all sorts of levels.

In addition to that, you also have some people saying that they only cared about Connor's story, or that his was the only good one. The female protagonist that risks her own life several times to save that of a child (no matter if she is human or android)? Not important. The (half) black protagonist who is shot by police, has to rebuild himself, and leads his own people to freedom? Who cares? The only important story to these people is the white, male, cop android who spends most of his time hunting down the good guys. And if some people honestly prefer Connor's story because of their own reasons, that's fine. And yes, Kara and Markus's stories have lots of problems. But Connor's does too, and none of this gives people an excuse to ignore the other characters, especially since they are the minority characters. Then, there are also the people who say Connor's machine path was better than his deviant path, or that him being replaced by Nines in the end was unfair. And... what the fuck??? I mean, I get it, it's fun to play through different options, and Connor is hella badass in the machine path. But he is also hella badass in the deviant path (killing the guards in the elevator, possibly the team at the bottom if he doesn't catch the security camera, fighting Sixty, walking in front of all the androids he freed, like, come on), and he also, like, has morals and isn't oppressive??? In the machine route, he kills his own people, including those who just want to be free and might have been completely pacifist the entire way through. So I'm sorry, anyone who thinks his machine path is better is just looking for an excuse to be oppressive without openly admitting it.

Then there's the Gavin apologizers. While fanon Gavin is awesome, some people have way overstepped the line of redemption and allowing oppression. I've seen posts defending Gavin's in-game behavior, just because he refers to androids as "he" on occasion. This is despite:

Suggesting "roughing up," or being violent to Shaolin (the HK400 in "The Interrogation")

Insulting his partner, Chris, when he doesn't forcibly move Shaolin against Shaolin's will

Pointing a gun at Connor after Connor rightfully says to stop touching Shaolin for both succeeding the mission and for Shaolin's sake, and only stepping down after Hank points a gun at him and even after insults Connor

Punching Connor right in the thirium pump regulator and then pushing his head right where his LED is in the break room if Connor refuses to get him a coffee

Insulting and threatening Connor in the same scene even if Connor follows all of his demands

Insulting Hank's alcoholism in the Eden Club "it's starting to stink of booze in here"

Purposely pushing Connor to the side in the same scene

Trying to literally murder Connor and admitting he'd wanted to kill him ever since he first saw Connor, sometimes successfully

Both physically and verbally assaulting Connor

I forgive very easily and strongly believe in redemption, don't get me wrong. But trying to excuse Gavin's behaviors is so inexcusable, especially when most of his aggressions are towards androids, the oppressed minority.

Now, let's look at Ao3, shall we? Let's see how many fics posted there are with each of the "main" (including Gavin and Nines since even though they are not main characters in canon they are in fanon) characters... (also, keep in mind, I gathered this data about a month ago so it might not be completely up to date):

Connor: 16,150

Markus: 5,395

Kara: 1,504

Hank: 13,135

Nines: 9,807

Gavin: 9,939

Amanda: 1,177

Chloe: 1,521

North: 3,056

Simon: 3,192

Josh: 1,965

Alice: 1,098

Luther: 848

Rose: 193

This means that certain characters get unequal amounts of attention:

White: 59,042

Black: 9,578

Male: 60,431

Female: 8,549

White, Male: 52,223

White, Female: 7,179

Black, Male: 8,208

Black, Female: 1,370

Well, this says a lot. Now, some people reading this might realize that there are more white and male characters to begin with, so it could be fair even with their numbers being higher. So, okay, let's see the average amount of works a single character in each of the above categories would have (so divide each of the values by the number of characters in that category) (also I rounded to the tenth place aka first decimal point):

White: 6,560.2

Black: 1,915.6

Male: 7,553.9

Female: 1,424.8

White, Male: 10,444.6

White, Female: 1,794.8

Black, Male: 2,736

Black, Female: 685

If anything, these are even more telling. And if you don't believe me, look on Ao3 and calculate these yourself, because you'll get the same thing.

To be clear, I don't have anything against Connor, Hank, or any of the white and/or male characters. I even like the way that the fandom has redeemed Gavin. But the fandom has not done the same job of redeeming other characters, especially the minority ones, and pays way less attention to them, and that needs to be called out with evidence by someone.

Anyway, I spent a LONG time on that first question, so I'll try to make the next answers shorter!

22. Popular character you hate?

There aren't any popular characters that I thoroughly hate. The only characters I hate are ones that are already highly unpopular (Todd, Zlatko, Perkins). If we're talking canon characters, I do hate Gavin with a flaming passion. I mean, he is meant to represent police brutality. But fanon Gavin is cool with me, so I'm not sure exactly how much this counts.

There is one semi-popular character that I dislike though, and that is Kamski. I'm half-counting him again because within the fandom there are very mixed opinions. I personally dislike him mainly because of his treatment of one of his Chloe's: he is willing to let her get shot in the head and killed just to find a dumb answer to his Kamski test just because he feels like it. If Connor doesn't shoot Chloe, he tells Connor he's deviant, knowing full well that Amanda and Cyberlife are watching being the one to design the program, endangering Connor. While he arguably is responsible for deviancy and wants androids to succeed, that doesn't make up for those facts.

Another character that half-counts is Daniel. There are mixed opinions within the fandom on him as well, with some arguing that he is only wanting to not get replaced and protect himself. However, since his first response was to kill the dad, and then he proceeded to shoot at least 3 more cops, killing 2, and hold Emma, the young girl he had been friends with for years hostage, even though she had nothing to do with his replacement. You can't argue that he didn't want to kill Emma and only used her as protection for himself, either, as there are multiple endings where he tries and sometimes succeeds in killing Emma, even when he is also killing himself. I'm not closed to a redemption arc for him, but his in-game actions are inexcusable. He's the one deviant who truly has no valid defense for his actions.

23. Unpopular character you love?

There are a few. I absolutely adore North, Josh, Adam, and Alice, even though the fandom has conflicted opinions on them. Then again, none of these characters are really considered unpopular, just not as popular as others with a select few that don't like them. With North, I've been in this fandom since a few months after its release, when there was a lot of North hatred, and was actually in a group called the North Protection Squad lol. However, now most people like her, and she's really grown in popularity. With Josh, it's less that he's hated, and more that he's ignored. People say that Simon was the peaceful option when he was really the neutral, and recently I've seen more people against Josh's opinions on the revolution. While I don't always agree with Josh being so passive and undemanding (neither do I agree with North's violence), he's still an awesome character with some very valid points. Then, I do understand why some people dislike Adam, as at first he's against androids and almost reveals Kara and the others. However, if you meet him at the border crossing, he apologizes to Kara and changes his mind, promising to help androids. While he may start out scared and not on the right side, he does have a good heart and ends up making the right decisions in the end. With Alice, I haven't seen many people hate her, either, although I have seen some saying she's annoying and lacks a personality. I agree that she lacks a personality, although I argue that's the writers' faults rather than her character's (as are problems with other characters, I mean David Cage wrote this so what were we expecting). I also don't think she's annoying, as after all she is only 9 (in human terms), doesn't admit she's an android because she's scared Kara will reject her (and Kara actually can reject her for being an android, leaving her completely on her own in a world that wants her dead. Also, living her whole life with Todd can absolutely not help her feel more secure with who she is or make her trust Kara to still love her for it), and she is only cold and feels sick because her model of android is literally designed to replicate human sickness and discomfort (and it's clear she doesn't know how to turn them off, because even after Kara knows she's an android Kara still has to help Alice not feel cold anymore. Also, this is November in Detroit, in which the average temperature is 42°F (5.6°C). There are also scenes where it is snowing, meaning the temperature is below freezing. Still, despite the temperatures, in some scenes not having a coat, and feeling sick, she says Kara and Luther can't stop because of her, risks her life to save Kara's if you fail QTEs, and says she's "fine" even when she's cold to comfort Kara. So if you think she can be annoying, yeah, all 9-year-olds can be. But if you think she's annoying enough to actually hate her, idek what to say).

In terms of characters that are really unpopular, I actually like Leo. His actions at first are inexcusable. I mean, accusing Carl of loving an android more than hin, insulting Markus and treating him as less than human, threatening him, breaking into Carl's house and attempting to steal his paintings for drug money, and framing Markus for Carl's death leading to him getting shot and nearly killed are obviously not okay things to do. However, he is clearly on drugs, specifically red ice, the most dangerous drug in the world. Also, if you decide to push Markus leading Carl to still be alive, when you return to Carl's house, you can find a message Leo sent to Carl in which he apologizes for everything and promises it won't happen again. In the extras section, you also find out Carl missed out on Leo's whole childhood, only first meeting him once he was much older. Given that Carl spends all of his days pleasantly conversing with Markus while ignoring Leo, not calling him, only talking to Leo once he comes around himself, and doesn't even argue when Leo says Carl doesn't love him, it's almost fair that Leo thinks the way he does. Since he's also high on drugs throughout the story, at least up until Markus gets shot, we also know that the Leo we see isn't the real Leo. Later, if Carl is dead and Markus visits his grave, he encounters Leo again. This time, when Leo sees Markus he is only shocked. Now, off of red ice, not only is he going to see Carl's grave, expressing love for his father, he also doesn't try to hurt Markus, insult him, or anything mean or dehumanizing. His expression lacks any signs of aggression. It was only when he was high that he was such an asshole. Although that doesn't excuse his behavior, it does give a reason for it, and by the end I consider him redeemed.

~~~

Wow... that was a long response to a very short ask. No need to read all that (although I would highly suggest reading my first answer, at least, since that does contain some very relevant points). Although then again, if you've made it here, you've probably already read all that. In which case I would love to hear your opinions if you're willing to share (as well as anyone who sees this!) I guess I just had a lot of opinions that I needed to put out in the world lol, so thank you sm for the ask!!!!! 💛💛💛

[weareallstardustfallen]

so because @bananasofthorns told me to talk about my god au!hels and ex thoughts despite already knowing all of them because he is an enabler (affectionate) i will do so!

ex and hels were made in the same basic way; a god looked at a part of themself which they didn’t like, or thought was wrong or bad or evil in some way, and tried very hard to remove it. in a mortal, this would do nothing. for gods, this can, with enough desperation, result in a being who isn’t quite a god in their own right (though they may become one later on, if they’re independent enough from the god they’re made from) but who is nonetheless a reflection of those parts of a god’s divinity which were considered undesirable.

it’s important to note that this never actually works- you can’t just remove a part of yourself like that. hels and ex are still people, not just a bit of someone else’s godhood, and xisuma and wels still have the things that they were trying to get rid of. they’re just a product of desperation. in nearly every case (at least these two) trying to cut out flaws just makes things worse.

in hels’ case, he was essentially born of wels’ perfectionism. i leaned pretty heavily on angel/demon imagery for wels and hels, because i like using angel imagery for things it’s not supposed to be used for, and also i am a good omens fan at heart so the flawed angel thing speaks to me lol. wels is the god of honor and justice, and he takes it very seriously; anything that does not fit that he tries to repress or ignore or, in the case of hels, turn into a foe which he can defeat.

as such, hels is the manifestation of every part of wels that is “bad-” his selfishness, his bitterness, his anger, his resentment, his fear. he is the manifestation- but not the god, at least yet- of dishonor and injustice. he is very, very angry at wels for creating him from his own issues and inability to deal with them.

ex’s creation is different. during season 2, xisuma was overwhelmed and scared and desperate; he’d been handed a server which he was now scrambling to lead, a godling (mumbo) who he was expected to care for, and he didn’t much know what he was doing with either. x is the god of guardianship and protection, which made him suited for the role, but when he was young he was scared of being too much, and crossing the line into being possessive, and forgetting that hermitcraft belonged to all of them rather than just himself, and that mumbo would one day outgrow him.

as such, he did the only thing he could think to: he tried to separate himself from the impulse to hold on too tightly, and ended up making ex as a result. this ended up... very messy; x was not at all equipped to deal with both his existing responsibilities and the whole entire person he had just created, so he basically ignored ex as much as possible.

the whole thing, understandably, gave ex kinda, uh. a fucked up perception of love! he’s the manifestation of xisuma’s, and because of that, was told that he was evil. not great!

by season 7-8ish, though, ex is a fair bit older and more settled, so he’s evil largely in name only, landing somewhere closer to morally gray. he’s also become a proper god by that point, as he’s spent a long time growing separately from xisuma and becoming his own independent person. i don’t know what exactly he’s the god of yet, but he definitely is one!

(if any of this does not align with canon yes it does <3 /lh. but more seriously, i’ve only watched the s8 stuff with ex and hels, and the rest of what i know has been absorbed from fanon so some of the finer details might be wrong!)

[kateanthnys]

Dumb Dramione arguments and rebuttals because it’s about time we talked about it.

This is taken from @/hermione.s_butterbeer on Instagram and @hermiones-butterbeer over here on tumblr, who constructed the basis for this, I added my own thoughts with theirs. I haven’t learned how to put things under a cut yet so if you’re not interested in this and have to scroll past it I’m sorry :/

Hermione would forgive Draco

Hermione is not a forgiving person. She holds the toughest grudges. She will attack you with birds and stop talking to you for months for getting a girlfriend, she will keep you in a jar for writing incriminating shit about her, she will scar the hell out of you for betraying her. Let’s say she grew out of this in her adult years, it’s not a stretch right, she seems to regard malfoy with contempt in the epilogue? Barely a glance, but then again she never really gave him the time of day as a teenager either so who knows? Even then, as an adult, Draco doesn’t need her forgiveness. Hell he probably doesn’t even want it. Couldn’t care less about her. Nor does he even deserve it from her or any of the golden trio. He surely wouldn’t get it from me but I digress. He bullied her for years and was very openly and vehemently against people of her kind. And again, even if she did somehow forgive him, they would definitely not fall in love.

Hermione would change Draco

It’s definitely not her job to “change” Draco, he is a grown man, not a baby in diapers. Nor is it her job to fix a man that bullied and harassed her for years simply for having muggle blood. Anyway, didn’t Astoria already have that covered? She was a pure blood who changed her views about muggleborns. It was probably much easier for Draco to connect with her, someone who understands him on a level Hermione never would be able to, than the ones he hurt most.

If they were together they would break stereotypes

This one is the biggest laugh of them all. Not only are there multiple couples throughout the Harry Potter universe that breaks the stereotypes and normalcy of the wizarding world, these couples didn’t have to suffer each other’s company like Draco and Hermione would. Because to break them they’d have to have love, which was nil in their case. What’s the point If they don’t even like each other. Draco probably could’ve broken some stereotypes himself by not being a blood purist but once again I digress.

Ron didn’t deserve Hermione followed up by a Draco would’ve appreciated her yk the usual shit that don’t make sense

Love isn’t about who deserves who. Who is more deserving than who. How does one even come to the conclusion about who is more deserving than someone else? Money? Power? Blood status? Who cares about those things, Hermione sure doesn’t. Love is about love, and most important of all, choices. She fell in love, made a choice, acted on it and by god she never regretted it or looked back. And you won’t find any textual evidence saying otherwise (fck u Joanne). And if she did I doubt Draco would even factor into one of her choices.

Draco never made her cry, Ron did

Yes, Ron did. Multiple times. Taking away the fact that Hermione is an emotional person, is it really the end of the world if you once in a while make the person you love cry? Ron was her friend, a friend she had feelings for, she cared about him and his opinions, of course she’s gonna cry when shit hits the fan. Draco is another person on the street walking past her, she doesn’t dignify anything he does or says about her with a response. Now talk shit about Hagrid and get smacked tho. Anyway, my family has made me cry more than any random person or people at school have. Does that make them the worst possible people on the planet? Does that mean these random people love me more than my family? No, it does not.

Ron was dumb, Draco was her intellectual equal

This is one of the ones that’s probably fanmade. News flash fanon Draco isn’t canon. There’s no textual evidence to support that he was close in class with her or matches her wit. When Lucius made that comment in CoS, it didn’t mean Draco was RIGHT under Hermione. You can assume everyone was beneath her in marks, doesn’t make him second best. Oh but the vanishing cabinet, the one he had help with. But the mead and the necklace, once again not his ideas. But Legilimency. Yea he learned to blocked his mind. But Hermione didn’t? And we still know she’s the smartest in her year, certainly smarter than Draco? So really does it matter? Guess not. And on Ron’s intelligence. Books and academics aren’t the only forms of smarts either. If anything books will only take you so far, especially in the wizarding world. Back to Draco, who started failing potions as soon as Snape was gone. Favoritism? Not a stretch at all.

Hermione was worried about him and he warned her about the death eaters

Yea, but no? If you read the text with context you’d know she was worried about Hagrid’s job in 3rd year, fourth year, she was right, a teacher doing that to a student was dumb and he could’ve been harmed, and they could’ve lost another DADA teacher before the school year was even over, this is Hermione being logical, Not being caring. And when Ron made the “amazing bouncing ferret” comment, she laughed. Pretty broken up about it isn’t she?Caring is her reaction that same year to Neville and the cruciatus curse. 6th year, do I even have to explain this one? She was NOT DEFENDING HIM. She was being skeptical and reasonable, there’s a difference. She and Ron had every right to be iffy on the death eater thing, they were already proven wrong in 2nd year when they jumped to conclusions about Malfoy, they didn’t want a repeat of that. And the warning thing, my god, if you think that’s a warning, you need to work on how to identify a warning, it might help you later in life.

Jkr said she wanted to make them canon and date in third year and that Draco bullying her was hiding his crush

Source? And don’t say tumblr. Anyway atp what the author says doesn’t matter to most fans so your fighting a losing argument if you use this.

My last thoughts on this is that you will see that most of these points are about Draco. Well that’s because Dramione seems to be all about Draco. What Draco wants, what Draco needs, Draco’s forgiveness, Draco’s redemption. A relationship is a two-way street of equals, give and take, not Hermione giving and Draco taking. What exactly does Hermione get out of a relationship with Draco? Oh, an Intellectual equal, good to know she’ll have him to recite the periodic table to each other at bed time after she’s worked herself to death at work because thats what she wants and needs. Well, at least she’ll have her books to keep her warm. Every girl’s dream amiright. *sarcasm*

The End.

[the-littlefangirl]

TFATWS episode 1 rewatch commentary

The first scene was so beautiful. I loved that we didn't start directly with the fight sequence. It feels way closer to the quiet beginning of CATWS and I love it so much.

The title is also SO NEAT, music's on point too but hey it’s Henry Jackman the one thing I’m sure it’s going to be great overall is the score.

The choreography is AMAZING, really well shot. Sam shielding himself with only one wing was MA-JES-TIC.

“WHAT'S UP” EXACTLY SAM EXACTLY

I did feel so uncomfortable in regards to the military aspect of it. Not that I was expecting anything else, but both here and in Captain Marvel the military we're good guys < 3 propaganda is so blatant and ugh:/ At least there wasn’t a literal recruitment spot like with CM. 

The yellow filter in the Tunisia scene BYE please stop with the yellow filters 2k21

"I've been working with the Air Force for six months now" So, did Sam even catch a break at all after Endgame? Or did he just throw himself to work like SOMEONE did after being iced for 70 years. Hmmm? Sam????

"Essentially, these people, they want a world that's unified without borders" OH NO! HOW AWFUL, how evil of these bad guys smh

Joaquin: SO about Steve

Sam: :)))))) nope

"Moon stuff" SAAAM

#1 cry with Sam's speech, full on chills.. Fuck. Me. His voice about to break before saying thank you bYE.

Shady politician: "It was the right decision" (FUCKKKKK YOUUU)

Rhodey: *press any key to doubt *

I need someone to analyze the different curation of the two exhibits pretty please

NOT THE PHOTO POST-AZZANO JFC. That photo is my weakness, Bucky sweetie (also I find hilarious that usually when there are articles about Stucky and/or #givecaptainamericaaboyfriend they aaaalways use that photo LMAO)

In case someone wants to read the transcription of the texts about Bucky: "In 1944, while on a mission to thwart a Hydra weapon transport in the Alps, Barnes was thrown from a train and believed to have been killed in action. It wasn't until 2014, over seventy years later, that it was revealed that Barnes was alive, having been found by Hydra operatives. Captain America himself (i can't read) the effort to bring Barnes in only to later aid in a escape from custody having been convinced of his innocence. Steve's loyalty to his old friend, coupled with his refusal to sign the Sokovia Accords, led to the dissolution of the Avengers and drove the Captain into hiding with other like-minded Avengers including Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff, and Sam Wilson. The current whereabouts of Barnes remains unknown, habing been labeled a fugitive following his escape from custody."

"current wherabout unknown" but not the government, interesting. Also, pretty good summary of CACW from the public's perspective, although one of the things I always wanted to see explored was the public's reaction of the fallout of them going into hiding after Civil War (which I'm hoping we'll get to see a little bit of in Black Widow).

Interesting point about the 70 years without having Captain America. Clearly the sacrifice play wasn't enough this time to fuel the nationalism so they went with a squeaky clean John Walker instead.

Sam saying the shield belongs to Steve I'm going to cry now excuse me. Sam. Sam sweetie.

The No. 1 Captain America comic in the display ugH fuck yes

See this is how you do a cameo that has actual meaning. Thank god for Malcolm Spellman being a competent writer. That scene was so well written.

HAVE YOU PRAISED ANTHONY MACKIE'S PERFORMANCE TODAY?? Holy shit that last shot fucked me up.

I'm loving the use of the wide shots, especially in the flashback. The camera movements are in synch with The Soldier's state of mind and mission focus, so good.

EVERYONE STAND UP FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM aka The Winter Soldier theme composed by Henry Jackman.

Without a doubt the most brutal TWS fight scene there has been, People involved in Punisher and John Wick are involved in this and it SHOWS. 

For the record, still stands that the only time we've seen him chocking someone with his right hand instead of the metal arm remains the Maria Stark assasination. I know it's probably because of blocking and the way the shot was composed but the implications are still bone chilling. God.

Uhhmmmm I'm very ambivalent about the "Hail Hydra". On one hand, it was 100% fanservice and the internet is probably going to go insane over it, and the dead way Sebastian Stan delivered the line. Good shit. Buuut what I love about CATWS is the way Bucky never, ever ever, mouths Hydra rethoric, and even when Pierce tries to gaslight him with it, it's just an empty effort. The Winter Soldier isn't doing anything because of ideological loyalty to Hydra, even if it's product of brainwashing, it's just sheer dehumanization. They don’t need him to say the words because he’s just An Asset. There are people who have put it more eloquently but yeah, I rather go with the fanon interpretation of that aspect.

The music growing louder with the shot of the keys. GOD.

I'm fine this is fine.

#2 cry with the therapy scene of fucking course.

The government monitoring Bucky is noooot going to end well lmao.

"We need to know that you're not gonna * slowmo stabbing motions *

Bucky: * nodding along slowly * 

I laughed out loud.

"It's passive agressive" I love him.

The way this scene just sucker punched me in the face, made me weep and then had me cracking up. Amazing.

Therapist: You can't do anything illegal

Bucky: yup yup check checkity check. What IS considered illegal tho?

*aggresive tablet finger pressing *

"Then why isn't it rule number one?" Bucky your Steve is showing.

I love the close up shot. I'll keep saying it. It's so good.

"I'm James Bucky Barnes" yeah you are🥺

That smile is nightmare fuel LMFAO I love it.

Uhm the way I'm kinning Bucky it's not funny anymore damn

That whole “are you lashing out at me” rambling is really reminiscent of the bar scene in CATFA and how he lashed out at Steve after Peggy left. Uhm yeah fuck.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" "Peace"

"That is UTTER BULLSHIT" "You're a terrible shrink"

yeah ugly crying to ugly laughing speedrun for me

"You're free" "To do what?" jesus. That entire scene. #3 and #4 and #5 cries for moi.

Ugh that Brooklyn shot. Someone needs to do a gifset compairing it to the one in CATFA asap.

"It's like Monique but it's got a "U" in there for uniqueness" "That's absurd" LMAO

"You can't keep fighting with your neighbors" uHM * redacted redacted i'm shifting into 1940s mode abort abort *

"Nobody passed 90" "So young. Such a shame" FGADHGA

🥺🥺 yes flex those flirting skills good for you

"It's a dance to this things. You can't… you gotta warm up and I haven't danced since 1943. Feels like." #6 cry I completely broke down into tears with that.

This Yori storyline is going to punch me in the face with a metal fist. Great!

The TWS theme when he looks at Yori fuuuuuck.

GREAT LET'S GO TO LOUISIANA THAT WAS GETTING HEAVY.

Those shots of Sam in the car. Immaculate. Showstoping. Yes.

Marvel, what if instead of promoting the military industrial complex you put a lot of publicity about cars?

"Uncle Sam!" LMAO subtle.

Everyone trying to have the wings lmao same.

I've only had Sarah for a day but etc. Brooklyn 99 meme

Good mirroring about Steve and Sam family's legacy. Good shit. Goooood shit.

Sam is trying so hard ouch my heart. I can't imagine how painful the scene with them reuniting must have been. He 100% still feels a lot of guilt about being gone for those 5 years (and even longer before that).

"Maybe it is time for us to move on" uuuuuuuuuuh

"To the rescue" "Always" 🥺🥺 i love them so much already

That shot outside the restaurant is so beautiful. Can't wait to see the night scenes in Madripoor tbh.

"I tried the whole online dating thing. It's pretty crazy". Uhm well that is something that Bucky Barnes has now said. In canon. Damn.

"It's a lot" "You sound like my dad" LMAO

Every Bucky fanfic trope speedrun with this scene

"Wow you really can drink" OH you have no idea

Just realized we don't even know her name, well.

"You have any siblings?" "I have a sister" THE WAY I SCREECHED. We're definitely getting Becca

Well that escalated quickly. The important thing is to try?

I can't deal with this BUCKY SWEETIE #8 cry right there fuck

The wardrobe department is KILLING IT, there's such a difference between the outfits of the shows vs how ugly and generic it usually is.

"ThEre is NO such thiNg as on time. You're either EARLY or LATE . picK One" lmao the way he delivered that line

At first I thought the flag smashers had thrown two cars out of a window LMAO

"I don't know how jurisdiction works here, but I'mma have to place you under arrest" uhm yikes. The way they changed Joaquín Torres backstory to just random army nice guy #1 is not sitting well with me, what can I say.

Sam's wings motions I LOVE HIM YOUR HONOR

Fuuuuck this guy.

"Funny how thing's always thighten around us" "Look, I'm on your side. After all, he's a hero". This script is C R I S P as hell, great fucking job.

"I don't care, I'm not gonna quit" "What are you trying to prove? And who you trying to prove it to" SHIT HSIT SHIT!!! UGH amazing. Look it's not necessary to say the show's questions out loud but how they flow between the conversations is still very satisfactory without feeling in your face about it. Inner conflicts have been set up fucking perfectly everyone * claps *

Ugh here we fucking go.  I knew this was how the episode was going to end but my stomach still dropped like a rollercoster. God.

The score is on point. Damn. Damn.

God, Sam.🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

The captain america franchise's visuals in the credits are always so amazing.

Also, does anybody know why Mackie isn't first in the billing?  Uhm what's that about?

ANYWAY CONCLUSION THAT EPISODE WAS SO FUCKING GOOD LIKE HOLY SHIT. I love them so much. The balance between the personal conflicts and the political aspect (although the military aspect is still very much yikes) was on point and it was overall a joy to watch.

[mcytbdamofficial]

A strange question. If the official DSMP lore of (a) character/s ever heavily changes from what you wrote it as (in example, if c!Velvet turns out to be long dead or the velvetisegg theory is true, or any of the major characters- that their canon lore starts being majorily different), how do you come up with things that would make them "fit in" again? I am just genuiely curious about that

usually a good way to go around things like that is to fall back on what i've already established and try to spin it in the right way. a good thing to use is the nether lore as well as everything with the memories - things like that are unpredictable and pretty much anything can come to light at any point.

(this answer went on for a while longer than i expected so i’ll put it under the cut in case there’s someone scrollin who doesn’t want this whole thing clogging up their dash)

a good example would be the sbi family canon - when phil first shouted the words "you're my son!" a lot of people instantly thought that techno, wilbur and tommy being his sons had been basically canonized (obviously this got debunked later with only wilbur being his son, but at the time that was the canon i went with and had to somehow push in). until a part of the story i wasn't planning to make the sbi family canon, so i had to think of something fast. so i considered how phil, for whatever reason, supported techno's reign during the antarctic empire days. why did he just outright follow him when his acts were universally regarded as evil? initial ideas were he, himself, was rather bloodthirsty, but this new issue came around and i used this blank in the story as a way to explain it - of COURSE phil would support techno unconditionally, he's his son, after all. later on, i managed to strike a balance in the story between phil supporting techno because of them being family, as well as him, himself, having his own agenda in the empire itself (bringing along the bloodthirsty nature of techno, which in turn i later explained with the voices, once those were canonized. that solution to a new canon was practically handed to me, with how i wrote the bloodlust as a voice beforehand. i just had to change it to “voices”).

for your example, i have one idea that could work! if velvet turns out long dead, i could quickly explain it in a simple way. ant WAS getting letters from velvet, but at one point they stopped and he received news velvet had died. ant has been lying about getting letters after some point because he didn't want other people who knew him to get hurt, and maybe he's even in a certain level of denial.

if velvet IS the egg, that could be more complicated, but still doable. tie it all into the source/nether lore, make him some sort of god or symbol of chaos, just play around with the rules of my own world until things fall into place. usually, somehow, i will find a way out just by stepping back and analysing what i already have prepared and thinking of how it can help me insert a new idea into the story without disturbing what's already there. 

this is basically how wilbur being a source came into fruition! initial ideas were him and schlatt decided themselves to not enter the bunker and escape the flood on their own, but how would that make sense? oh yeah, what if one of them IS the flood? then i rewatch the video, and who other than wilbur is putting the commands in to make the water rise! it was too perfect not to somehow include it, yknow? and then boom, i have this cool lore about sources. why not use it? and yes, initially sources were JUST gonna be a passing mention in the captain’s journal. they weren’t ever planned to go this far. and before you know it we have wilbur, kristin, foolish, hannah...

so yeah. what i’m saying is. when in doubt, use nether lore. and that’s how i’ll go around whatever comes of the egg, in the end.

a lot of it also comes down to very careful storytelling and knowing what to change and what to leave alone. when the story started there was a set amount of people that i knew were involved in the roleplay and others i knew would NEVER get involved (keep in mind the story started being written before even the festival happened live, HELL, even villbur wasn't a thing back then), and separated them into small groups based on what i could and what i couldn't play around with. for example;

i could easily change callahan, alyssa, etc around... they're people who barely appear who aren't involved in the storyline. i gave them small appearances to show they're there and mostly kept them to the back.

people who i KNOW will never join the smp can be mentioned, referenced or even included! minx is probably the prime example of this. and if she ever DOES join the smp, by some magical chance? there can always be some magical book in the library that can reverse her from a dreamon to a human. so nothing to worry about there.

future major characters like dream, quackity, niki, etc didn't have much at the start but needed something to push them into their future arcs. in these characters i changed their start but made sure it left space to be moulded into anything they become later - i made niki kind but i also showed her early critisism of wilbur, already sensing she may have a villian arc coming in the future. when season 2 came around, i was proved right so i went in on those small hints more and more.

for characters who have an established arc, start to finish, who it's hard to change in any way, i change nothing - but i look at their past. the obvious people for this are schlatt and wilbur. on the smp they were characters start to finish, their arcs started and ended in the story and had nothing else. so i focused on the past, instead. and boom, suddenly we have 35 smplive chapters of completely original content.

with every character i live small hints of SOMETHING coming in the future. i leave small holes to be eventually filled by canon, and if canon gives me nothing, i fill them myself with something minor. another good thing is to trust fanon - with a fandom like this, where the creators listen to their fans and canonize a lot of popular fanon, it's good to go in on small fanon knowing it will eventually be canon, or even knowing it will make readers happy and will never impact the story, no matter how much it changes (think tubbo having horns, puffy being a pirate/sea captain of some sort, stuff like that)

there are, of course, times when i can’t avoid changing things from canon. phil not knowing who schlatt is, wilbur not knowing schlatt, etc... but i think in those places, those changes serve to improve the story in some way, and i think it’s a welcome change in the end. this story is definitely leaning more into AU than RETELLING, but i don’t think it’s such a bad thing. while faithfully retelling every major plot point, it adds its own elements and creates a somewhat new and exciting story people can enjoy anew. i think that’s what i strive to do the most in this fic - not retell the story word for word. you’ve already seen the videos. you don’t need that. what i DO want to do is create an engaging read for both avid fans who have seen every stream and casual fans who want the lore to make a little bit more sense to them. and that’s that.

god that went on a while didn’t it haha...

okay so to summarise - whenever something major changes in the canon lore, i have various ways of going about it. usually for some characters i would have left behind hints of SOMETHING and will just try to fit them into whatever change has showed up, or try to at the very least explain them with the new development so it doesn’t seem out of nowhere.

if that is not possible, i look back on all i established and think how i can use it to my advantage. could someone have been forgotten in an old world? is there some sort of nether anomaly that could have caused this? is this character a reliable narrator and have we gotten the full truth? there are a lot of ways to change things around with it being completely out of the blue but seeming fitting for the audience - you just have to really think it through, plan it, and make sure you know exactly what you want to do before going into it.

and finally, if there truly is no way to change a thing, shift canon completely and make sure it doesn’t change the base story. allow me to use the sbi as an example again, since i think they’re a good tool for this;

techno will take tommy in and help him recover from exile, same as canon, because he is his brother, as bdam canon states. at first he’ll just do it because phil wanted him to, but soon it will become a matter of family. when tommy betrays techno, it will hurt him more deeply BECAUSE they’re brothers. when he comes back to phil and tells him what happened, even phil himself will become enraged. the two themselves have been shown to have a history of resorting to violence and aggression in the story (look back at the antarctic empire), so doomsday wouldn’t seem out of  character, or, at the very least, out of the question, when two men like them are pushed to their very limits by a betrayal like this. still, it would be unfair on tommy, but on both sides there would be something justified and something they did wrong - and that’s how you balance a good conflict in any story.

so yeah. i hope this long ass essay made sense. a lot of work goes into making sure this story flows naturally, so i’m glad someone finally asked something like this where i could reveal just how much work goes into it!!!

[ayellowcurtain]

Would you mind giving a description of the type of character sander is pls? I can't get a handle on him. At times he was inconsistent in s3(this is partially bc of the writing and partially) bc he was trying to conceal parts of himself from Robbe and exaggerating his personality to impress Robbe. The source material was a huge crutch in parts of this storytelling, then sobbe lost some spark in parts of wtfockdown, fanon help fill the empty spaces and now the transmedia is evolving him too. Help?

I’m gonna try to help you, anon but I guess what I’m gonna say is basically my opinion and so it might differ from what’s canon or what other people think of him and also gonna link you to some prior posts I already made talking a little bit of him: 

- Sander’s similarities with Eliott about how sometimes they struggle to deal with emotions 

- Sander and his parents, his home life and his relationship with them 

- Why was Sander going back and forth with Britt 

Now onto your real answer: 

I think Sander, as a character, is a solid one. He as a human being in some universe is imperfect, has his flaws and maybe his bad judgment at times, of situations and of people. 

Is not because he’s a fictional character that he needs to be perfect, to always say and do the right thing. 

If WTFock did him (and Robbe) dirty was mainly because of their complete lack of understanding of what pacing is. I don’t think season 3 was that badly written. It does has some horrible pacing at times, yes (OHN being on a Monday can only be a joke!!!!). 

I don’t think he was purposefully exaggerating his personality. I’m sure the Sander we now know isn’t exactly as loud and out there as we saw during the supermarket clip, for example. But he was freaking out, and being obnoxious without meaning to.

To me, it felt like was mostly freaking out, not sure what to do with himself because the boy he saw once during a random night was there, all alone with him, accepting to go out to go grocery shopping. 

That’s just an example but it’s the same behavior I see when he says they won after he shot Britt during the paintball scene, when he sings Bowie to Robbe while they see the girls walking away after the Noor x Robbe fight, or when he goes to Robbe’s place the next day and tries to kiss him. All this moments, to me, feel like a boy that doesn’t know what to do with himself, how to behave when he’s around someone he’s falling so deeply and hard for. 

We often see the Evens as these cool creatures, confident, sweet, chill. But we have to remember that’s just the first impression (and from their Isaks’ POV), and after they get to know each other, the Evens are often shy, insecure, kind of lone wolves to some degree. 

So what I thought could be seen as “inconsistent” of Sander was just him probably freaking out he was spending time with Robbe, the boy that the moon was shining on him and that Sander knew was the one. 

That’s why I assume putting “original” characters after two seasons feels a little bit like crutches (with their background stories) because if you think about it, we always know most of the characters in Skam since season 1, so even when they’re not main characters, we got to know them in the background at least, to get some information throughout the other seasons. 

We feel more connected to Robbe (and every Isak), and his background story because we’ve been hearing about it for two seasons. 

We know he has a messy house situation, we know his relationship with Jens is kinda platonic but also very brother like (with slaps, saying rude things to each other, etc), we know some people think he’s gay, we know he’s a caring friend because of the way he was with Jana during her season. All this information we got before his season. So when he was main, there was no need to build background around him because we already had most of these informations before. 

Sander is a complete stranger to us. And WTFock even gave us two episodes of just Robbe, to get to know him even more but also leaving less time for us to connect with Sander. So what we got of him was mostly WITH Robbe and ABOUT his feelings for Robbe. We know where he studies because Noor told this in ONE line.

The fandom often falls deeply in love with Even because of what we see through their lovers eyes and for how soft, caring, and representative he is (with being bipolar and pan) but I feel like we get more of who he is and his background in Sana’s season. We learn more about his past, his friends, his MI, his beliefs or curiosity about faith, etc. 

Even if we barely see him with the balloon squad, watching them we see the type of people Even (or Sander) would like to be surrounded with. 

I know people are not the biggest fans of Sobbe during WTFockdown, but I said this before, and I’ll say it again: I think I love them even more after. Even the cybersex part because I thought it was cute, the way Sander was saying he shouldn’t have pushed Robbe into doing it the past week, or how they look at each other and the things they say and how clearly they’re still trying to find the middle ground both of them are willing to experiment with. 

Anyway, I thought it was cute, and I thought it was necessary, with the conversations about the attack (WTFock made a horrible writing decision not letting this happen during the season, but at least they gave us something), about Robbe’s traumas that are still very much alive, about his mom and how well she’s doing most of the time, how Robbe is still trying to help her in any way he can. And also about boundaries, about Robbe, that same boy that was calling Sander the F word is now so out and proud, asking Milan about cybersex, talking to his friends about it (because he did tell the boys what they did or Aaron wouldn’t be trying to have cybersex with Amber and the boys wouldn’t be taking their clothes off for Sander’s bday). 

I think WTFock would use Sobbe for as much content as they can because they know that’s their golden couple. The Willems have a unique chemistry that’s out of this world, they’re both amazing actors and WTFock knows they’re solid, that the fandom will watch, engage in whatever these characters are involved in and that they boys will deliver every time, no matter how odd the circumstances are. The WTFock team knows they can give these boys a few lines and let they create a scene out of it and it’ll still be good content.  

After this long ass post I’ll have to tell you that Sander is:

Mostly private, reserved, some would say shy but I think he just saves himself the energy and the trouble so he only really engages with who he really wants. In this case, Robbe, and the people that are important to Robbe because, again, Robbe is the most important person. I really think (and hope) that when Sander keeps saying “it’s you and me, always”, he really means it. Like they’re one, a solid team that works so well together to tackle any and everything. 

A natural flirt. I mean, look at him, you know? And he doesn’t even have to try. And when he tries, it’s over for anyone else because he’ll be eating a marshmallow in that way he did with Britt, he’ll be kissing his girl like he wishes he could be kissing Robbe, he’ll be licking your ear, and dragging you out of a bar, purring please say at yours like no fucking other. 

He’s a full on artist. He loves any type of art, he loves talking about art, he loves doing art, painting, drawing, taking pictures, listening to music, thinking about all the intense colors. I’m sure he’s a very visual person in his brain too. If you ask him about how he’s feeling, it’ll be probably easier to draw what he fells than write. 

Again, nobody likes talking about this but Sander is a horny one. And he knows how to tease with the stepping back before Robbe can kiss him, he knows what to say, how to look at you with those shiny lips, wetting his lips with his tongue all the time, asking to have cybersex. And I’m also sure he’s really good at sex and enjoys it so very much. 

When you’re not Robbe, and when you’re not involved with Robbe, when Robbe doesn’t care about you, Sander can be hard like a brick. He’ll scream at you with no shame if you get under his skin because he really doesn’t care. He’s finally fully happy, with the guy he thinks is the one and he doesn’t want to spend a second of his energy with you so he won’t even try. 

I think he has a really small filter from what he thinks and what he says. Like when he says Robbe can bribe the teacher, or when firts with Robbe while Britt is taking a shower, or when he says they need to put some better music instead of making out with his boyfriend during the last episode. 

His “all the way or no way” line is basically words he lives by and he’s also a taurus, like myself, so he really means those words with any aspect of his life. 

He forgave Robbe so easily after the F word scene because 1) he’s a teenagers, he won’t be thinking as hard as the fandom did about it 2) again, it’s Robbe and he can get away with anything because Sander is completely gone for this boy that he won’t be able to stay mad even when he knows he should because he wants to be with Robbe, that’s it.

He and Robbe are very close, not only as boyfriends, I feel like right now, after everything that happened between Robbe and the boys and Sander with Britt (and probably the ballon squad) they’re very picky with trying to start new relationships, and they know they’re solid with each other, they have similar taste and opinions. Robbe softens Sander’s edges a little bit and Sander makes Robbe a little more confident in being himself, picking himself first. 

I hope this very long, ridiculous answer helps you a little bit, anon, don’t mind me getting carried away talking about characters I love :’D