#anyways. just having Thoughts about how blorbo would like the same media

[hopecomesbacktolife]

I’m absolutely convinced that Julian Bashir would love Agent Carter, and if there was a holoprogram of it, it would be one of his favorites

[dropthedemiurge]

Love for Love's Sake | Things You Didn't Notice #9

(okay it's not an episode number this time i just still have many details to point out oops pls let me go)

I swear. I thought I'd stop mentioning small details because I already wrote like 10 posts on Tumblr translating and explaining all the cultural stuff regarding this show and the obsession is already becoming embarrassing, but I rewatched the last episodes again and I've got tiny. Little. Details. That I can't help but point people to once again. Because damn, the amount of thought put into this show!

(trigger warning: first part talks about suicide and depression, next ones are linguistic and cultural)

The Black Suit & The Sea

I would've asked Koreans I know about the significance of such symbolism but they are celebrating Seollal (New Year) today and I don't wanna ruin the festive mood asking about "how would people dress for suicide" x)

But after watching this scene, I recognized some strong parallels in Korean media depicting depression, suicide and one's decision to end their life. One of it is bridges and jumping (if you don't know what Bridge of Life is, ask me and I'll share, so this post wouldn't become too long) but another one is sea.

My interpretation - Koreans wear black suits to funerals, so if someone is headed to the sea in a black suit, it might mean this is the character's attempt to "have" their own funeral before finally ending their life. Why do I think this combination is somehow significant?

Because I remembered a music video one of K-pop artists I like (Kim Hanbin) made, after he experienced the downfall of career, extreme hate and rejection from the public, and severe depression. His whole album Waterfall tells Hanbin's personal story, dark thoughts and his battle to survive during the time when he was gone for 2 years, but in the music video for this album (illa illa) he is seen emerging from the sea in a black suit – metaphorically regaining his music and, most importantly, desire to live. Watch with lyrics!

If we think, this is how you depict suicidal thoughts/attempt in Korean media (of course, Love for Love's Sake was even more blunt in telling us the meaning), then Myungha wearing black suit wasn't just for the pretty or dramatic picture. More than that, we see him wearing the black suit for the whole last evening – especially when he goes to finally meet his mother.

Which tells us Myungha has already decided to disappear from this world, and was determined to do it on that day, and his mother rejecting him and pretending she doesn't know her son might not have been just the last straw... but it definitely could've been Myungha's last attempt to find anything in his life worth staying for, worth not going through with his plan.

Anyway, what a scary but beautiful symbolism.

Let's talk about something happier! More heartwarming!

Do you remember when we talked about the carefully placed movie posters in previous episodes? I payed more attention to the background this time when in Episode 8 Yeowoon ran to the cinema searching for Myungha in his world. And what an amazing discovery! When Myungha starts existing again and calls Yeowoon, the movie poster behind Yeowoon says "Guardian" (보호자).

And I already said in another post that Myungha in previous episodes admitted himself being Yeowoon's "guardian, protector" in the exact same word. But now this word is shown next to Yeowoon! As Yeowoon is the one who changed the main mission and has now declared himself Myungha's guardian and protector and will do his best to make him (his favourite pereson/bias/blorbo) happy. They have now both become guardians for each other. This. Goddamn. Show.

And I also want to shout out the VFX & Production team for this show – all the visual effects are very down to earth, gentle and not over the top but enhancing the series to the max. Like, maybe you wondered where on the screen does it say "Monday, August 14" and "Saturday, August 12"? Well, as expected, you see it on four monitor screens above the box office – the date, the ongoing movies (yep, still our favourite two fake movies) and available dates etc.

But when Yeowoon and Myungha agree to meet each other in the exact system time, they are facing each other without a barrier, and the screens are now counting down the time until the Game End. Instead of normally showing movies, like in the previous shot, it says "Time remaining: 3 hours, 23 minutes, 15 seconds". It was either done with VFX or practically, but still, the thought of incorporating system messages into the actual background is insane and I'm always happy to discover such details.

I don't know how many of you have motivational stairs at your schools, we definitely didn't have this but it's quite a popular thing in Korea. They put popular and uplifting sayings for students on each stair, sometimes they even quote motivational phrases from idols, like this:

And it's interesting that when system gets broken and Myungha is about to disappear, we see the deep cracks coming through the stairs, we see ruined school BUT at the same time the quotes in the show are so obviously in our focus. And they are already written (see screenshots above) in Korean and English, but I'll still write down: one is saying "Stay hungry, stay foolish" and "If you dream it, you can do it, you will succeed". So, perhaps... motivational quotes from sunbae?

And the last moment isn't heavy on translation but I still want to talk about it because cool Korean culture!xD You see the gang grilling meat on the roof (it's called samgyeopsal and it's very popular to have for gatherings), and then Myungha makes a "ssam" and feeds it to Yeowoon – but Sangwon steals it.

Ssam is a wrap, you grill meat then put it on the salad leaf, add other ingredients (like mushrooms, sauces, garlic, green onions etc, there are many side dishes) and then you wrap it in this sort of salad sack and eat it. It's very tasty and unusual combination. But the thing is! There is no way to make it for someone else and leave it on their plate so if you make a ssam wrap for someone and want to give it to a person, you literally have to feed them (like Myungha does with a very fond smile). This is why it's often seen as a romantic gesture (aka feeding someone from your fork etc) and why it's hilarious that Sangwon steals this ssam from Yeowoon (because he wants and he gets Myungha's affection and he's not above being a brat about it!)

I'm sure you can already sense it anyway without me telling you about romantic/close-friend implications, but I thought you guys might wonder why are the guys fighting over the salad leaf.

Another funny thing – Sangwon mentions "There's a saying, 'Don't scold dogs while they eat'". This is a Korean proverb "밥 먹을 때는 개도 안 때린다" ("You don't hit even a dog when it eats") which means that, no matter how annoying you find someone, no matter how angry you are, you can't scold this person while they are eating. Eating is a very important cultural thing in Asia, of course, so do not have arguments at the dinner :D But it's funny how Sangwon uses old proverbs to be mischievous and steal Myungha's love without consequences xD I adore him

I swear, this gotta be my last post about all the details in Love for Love's Sake. There is one more scene with the mirror and a caption, and I'm very curious if it means something because it was seen twice, during system breaking down scene as well, but it's either in Chinese or Japanese and I can't read it.

Anyway! Hope you enjoyed your everyday magazine, I love reading all your tags and thoughts and comments, and if you want to read all my previous translations and pointed out cultural details in Love for Love's Sake, go read this tag!=)

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/740123102285086720/all-the-griping-about-ownvoices-claiming-to?source=share

Re: your response:

It's interesting because in the DS9 slash shipping fandom and particularly with Garashir, a lot of people DO write Julian Bashir, a character of color as their perfect woobie they projected on to - he probably gets that more than any other character in that fandom. And then there ended up being a backlash that people were "writing him as white," including in an actual academic paper I saw from someone who is on Tumblr, while they were willing to explore writing him as fully queer and neurodivergent headcanons in fic.

Which is interesting to me because most of the stuff that writes him as queer is stuff that just ships him with Garak or another dude, but doesn't spend a ton of time on his queer *identity*. And I'm personally fine with that; I've read enough coming-out stories and didactic identity explanations in both fic and professionally published/released original work to last me a lifetime. But if writing a COC without drawing attention to their racial/ethnic/cultural identity is "writing them as white," shouldn't writing a non-heterosexual character without drawing attention to their queer identity similarly count as "writing them as straight"?

Anyway, I go back and forth on this because I also understand how Islamophobia and general racism against MENA works, how the "good Muslim" or "good Arab" is one who is as assimilated as possible, and how it can feel with fic that has a COC but doesn't go into their background like that person is only ok with POC *up to a point*. As well as the issues with how in canon, Star Trek's diversity shows a lot of POC but has only started to recognize actual non-Western "cultural" touchstones very recently. (E.g. When they referenced literature, it was always Shakespeare or the ancient Greeks or Poe, never the Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Rumi.) I get that. At the same time, I've definitely read stuff especially by non-MENA people which wrote about "his culture" in a very exotifying way that seemed to suggest that that kind of cultural identity is only "real" if it happens in a very stereotypical way. And I also think especially with a character who is so heavily framed as British, with a British accent, played by an actor who is half-English and grew up there.... I've also seen the brainworms in fandoms from Star Wars to Bridgerton with how people can't accept European characters/actors of color as European, and I do wish people would consider how they're suggesting that English identity can only be "white" by acting like it's wrong to ever portray Bashir as English. Something I've heard plenty of British POC complain about as like an attitude in their country that actually harms them.

I think these questions are complicated, because you have racist phenomena on both ends. There definitely are racists who only accept POC if they are as un-POC as possible, if they are assimilated, and see them wearing or saying or doing things that mark them as culturally different as "threatening." But there are other racists who think the only right way to write "diverse stories" is to have them be heavily cultural and represent stereotypes - the poor, urban black American, the Arab who lives in the desert and wears a thawb and is a devout Muslim - and that POC who are not like that talking about their own lives are somehow not "authentic enough." The thing that the movie American Fiction is about.

--

Yeah. Fandom isn't nearly as bad about characters of color overall as some wank would say. Fandom fucking loves Asian characters who are the unmarked leads of Asian media (and no, I don't think it's just because they're pale or because some idiots in the 90s thought anime characters were white).

Bashir was treated in canon in a way that fandom likes. Naturally, fandom took note.

My own woobie blorbo is Rico from Miami Vice. He's much less the single perfect tear woobie than Sonny (his buddy cop partner who is white), but he still comes in for lots of whump and screen time and narrative focus. Ye Olde zine fandom was unkind to him, at least in the m/m parts (though a lot of that is because all of the old slash zines were edited by the same couple who were... like... kinning the ship that he's a rival to).

But a lot of fans who watch that show see a very pretty, very cultured man with epic buddy cop tension with his partner, nice suits, and tons of whump plots, and they're like "God damn, where is the fic???" If canon provides, the fannish interest will be there to at least some degree. (Getting enough good writers in the same fandom at the same time to launch it as a place readers will stick around is another story, unfortunately.)

My personal view, admittedly as a white girl, is that Sturgeon's Law means what we really need is a bunch of canons that dangle tasty blorbos at us and much less policing of fic. And then a solid reccing culture to sort through the bad stuff.

I've seen a lot of complaints about writing characters as "white", and they often strike me as clueless or disingenuous. I'd rather have a bunch of "Oopsie, Garak caught Bashir using the holodeck for kinky roleplay about himself" fics than people with no clue trying to inject MENA stuff that wasn't in the show and that they aren't personally competent to handle. And half the time, this complaint seems to be some sort of unintentionally racist bilge where the speaker thinks the fic is making someone too cultured or too upper class or too kinky or some other shit that has nothing to do with anything.

Honestly, I sometimes think that the real complaint is "How dare fandom sound like the upper-middle class suburbanite bookworms that so many of us are?!?!"

[supernovastudiosstuff]

“Things I Used to Remember…”

Watched the Anastasia musical over the weekend, 10/10 play would highly recommend.

Philip is very Gleb-coded and he deserves to wear a silly little hat sometimes.

(If you want an entire long-winded explanation of the AU of an AU that’ll be under the cut because I have many much thoughts about these two goobers)

(TL;DR at the bottom)

Basically Hunter takes Anya’s place, with amnesia forgetting his life as Prince Jasper Bloodwilliams. Darius is the Dowager Empress, Willow and Gus as Dimitry and Amity as Vlad (they interchange lines depending on what works). Most of the adults kind of don’t exist in this AU, or they’re only sort of there, because there are only like six characters with actual lines in the musical so y'know. Luz… also exists somewhere. Maybe as Lily. Where things differ is Philip as Gleb because conflicted sort of evil man trying to balance morality with following orders is a key characteristic for both of them.

Long story short Philip used to be Prince and Heir of Russia (or whatever all those titles are). His name was different but I didn’t think of one because I’m just thinking off the top of my head here. Anyway, he also ends up with a case of plot-convenient amnesia, but rather than running away and becoming a street sweep he ends up right in the middle of the rebellion and gets so turned around he gets a gun shoved in his hand and told to shoot the very servants he’d grown up with. So. :)

This isn’t an angsty AFLMAU AU without Philip being coerced/threatened/abused by Belos (aren’t I just so nice to my blorbo), so guess who the new commanding officer under the communist regime is? If you guessed our favorite slime man, you’d be correct.

Belos was, of course, the brother of the Tsar. You’d think he’d be executed too, wouldn’t you? Nope! He orchestrated the whole coup against his brother and instituted the new government (next to the actual dictator but I’m not getting into literally rewriting history for the sake of a silly AU), and conveniently he controls enough of the media that people have forgotten his previous connections to Caleb. And look at how nice this is! Philip has forgotten everything about his old life, look how easy it is to slip into that role of caretaker, it’s not like the young man knows enough about his old life to disagree with anything told to him. What a good, useful little soldier Philip is now, after ten years of training the young man…

Now, to the actual plot. Things start off the same as the musical, up until the point Hunter is arrested on suspicion of the crime of pretending to be Prince Jasper (who’s rumored to still be alive). He and Philip are both confused, because something about them feels so familiar…

It’s obviously a coincidence. They met once during “Rumor in St. Petersburg”, but that’s it. Philip, confused and with a strange sense of deja vu, lets Hunter off with a warning. Before he can close that case file for good, though, Belos (who recognizes his nephew and very much wants this kid who looks so much like Caleb dead) tells him to arrest the criminal under charges of treason.

Philip is concerned by such a harsh sentence for a first offender- let alone a young man who’s only barely 18- but he’s been (tortured) trained to follow orders without question. He follows Hunter back to the old palace, struck by an even stronger sense of deja vu at the strangely familiar corridors…

Most of the plot stays pretty similar to the original, except Philip is kind of just hovering in the background through “Once Upon a December” and very, very confused why the music box lullaby sounds so, so familiar. When Hunter and the others cross the border, Philip is ordered to bring him back under pain of death/torture. Hence conflicted solo song “Still” (now with 69% more deja vu and actual character conflict!).

Commence the other songs/plot, all very similar to the musical up until Hunter’s whole remembering who he is sequence, in which he also recognizes Philip and realizes why the man- his brother- is so familiar to him. His concern and confusion is made greater as he talks to Darius and convinces the man he is the Prince, because even as he’s talking he starts to remember Philip more and more and what happened and how they were separated during the coup.

Guess how they were separated and how Philip got the big scar on his face. Did you guess Belos? Yep. The bastard can’t leave anything alone, he has to scar Philip for life and be the reason they both had head trauma induced amnesia.

Hunter tells Darius he needs to go- both to find Willow and talk to his brother (the whole Dimitry/Anya plot happens but this AU focuses more on the familial connections than romance). Darius takes it upon himself to inform the press Prince Jasper never actually came back and it was another imposter.

“The Neva Flows (Reprise)” is a fun one. Philip has figured out by now what he’s forgotten and is about twenty panic attacks in a trench coat because fuck the man he’s been living with is the same guy who murdered his parents and wants to murder his brother on faux treason charges and also that really puts into perspective the “punishments” and “discipline” he still has trauma from. And the realization that he’s only still alive because he’s been groomed into being a perfect soldier and that he will be killed the moment he refuses to read those lines for his uncle is… not a fun one. He’s doing so good right now.

The whole song is Philip’s trauma and conditioning warring against his morality and connection to Hunter because dammit he doesn’t want to murder his brother but if he returns empty handed there’s no telling what will happen to him-

It’s Hunter who tells him he… doesn’t have to? Go back at all? He’s already in France, might as well stick around. The thought is startling- it didn't occur to him he could have a choice in the matter.

There’s a lot to emotionally unpack and only about a finale’s length to do it but eventually things get better. Philip does decide to stay in France, processing his trauma because dammit the boy needs a decent support system. He refuses to be known as the Prince he used to be but is willing to chill with Darius- whom he remembers and has some conflicting memories about but that’s something he can work through in therapy. Hunter goes off into the sunset with Willow but spoiler alert comes back every weekend to visit because the whole “we’ll never see each other again” speech was over dramatic and they can certainly see each other again.

As for Belos, the man gets executed in the next violent transition of power and when word reaches France they have a party to celebrate it.

TL;DR: Anastasia Musical AU with Philip as Gleb and Hunter as Anya, focused mostly on their familial ties and relationship. Both of the boys have plot-convenient amnesia and were separated ten years ago.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

I’m not sure if I ever asked you this question or not, but I’ve always wanted to: how do you come to the conclusions you do about the characters in Twilight and other works?

Actually I guess my question is how do I learn to do it myself lol

Is there a way I can train myself to? Is it just that you take a story and start digging? Did something just seem off about the characters and you took a bigger look at it?

I’m an aspiring writer, which is why I want to know; I feel like it would make me better in my own writing if I could do the things you do, because, well… you’re rather good authors, you and Vinelle I mean.

Frankly, Painting Red Madonnas is one of my favorite books ever.

Anyway… thank you lol

Look, @therealvinelle, praise!

It just seems to be the way I'm wired. I don't even realize it's heresy until I hear other people talking about the same thing and realize "well, shit, I can't talk about this at Christmas parties". There's a lot of, "Muffin, what did you think of X?" "... I thought generic normal things that wouldn't offend anyone's blorbo."

I guess I can give some pointers on how I end up in the bizarre places I do:

Completely Ignore the Existence of the Author

Much of the time it's obvious why Character X does Y in a piece of media and you can point fingers at the author. The author loves this trope, the producers wanted to draw in a certain audience, doing Z would be much too spicy for the viewership, etc.

In the @therealvinelle and Muffin world, that's not allowed. The work has to make internal sense with internal logic. Which means that if something doesn't seem right or doesn't match up, you have to find a reason for why it is what it is.

More, you can't take the author's word for what a character is supposed to be or what they're supposed to be doing and thinking.

As a rough example, JKR clearly tells us that Dumbledore is a good man and a firmly moral character. However, within the story, he does very questionable things all the time (I'm actually struggling to think of anything he did that is remotely moral).

So, you can't take the author's word for anything.

Characters Can and Do Lie

All narrators are on some level unreliable. They each have an agenda, their own biases, their own goals and desires that sometimes conflict with what's actually happening in the world. You view things through the narrator so always take what they say with a grain of salt.

Take Bella Swan, she tells us that Jessica Stanley is the worst. That Jessica is only interested in Bella to further her own ends and is, at the end of the day, a cheap friend who is envious of everything Bella has and is (such as Mike's attraction to Bella).

However, if we discount Bella for a moment and really take a look at Jessica. While the girl is chatty and does talk about things like the Cullens, her gossip is the normal amount I'd expect if someone looks incestuous in high school and she always makes an effort to be with Bella.

What Bella conveys to us, the readers, is a very skewed perception of Jessica framed entirely by Bella.

We hear only what the narrator wishes for us to hear.

Another is the Tom Riddle memories. We later learn why Dumbledore is doing this, he is dying and needs Harry to eventually kill himself so as to rid the world of Voldemort. To this end, the memories are very carefully selected and narrated to show Tom Riddle as the worst human being on the planet who is irredeemably evil and must be killed at all costs.

Harry doesn't ever question this, though, because he takes Dumbledore at face value and eagerly considers himself a Dumbledore loyalist. And so, if you don't think to question Harry, you'll never question just why Albus would ever do this.

Similarly, characters can be wrong and misinformed. They have access only to certain information, covered by bias, which means it's entirely possible they could be incorrect about something even if they firmly believe it.

Look at What the Characters Actually Say and Do

Ignore what you're supposed to think about the characters (either from other people, the author, or the characters themselves) and instead look at what they say and what they do to inform your opinion about them.

What does Edward actually say about his grand love with Bella Swan? What is it that actually seems to draw him to her from his own perspective and from what he tells to Bella?

[bucksdaffy]

i appreciate your thoughts on the OS social media topic! gotta say that what i see many people complain about is how OS is supposed to deal with this better and turn off his comments or be more vocal about the queer experience yada yada but... i can turn this around easily and tell all these 911 fans who follow OS to finally start curateling their own online experience if they are so bothered by his action or inaction. if it bothers you (general) sm that OS is using his own personal account the way he pleases, unfollow him, blacklist him, block him? 😩🤔

nobody is forced to follow OS. nobody is forced to consume his social media posts. not to enjoy the canon queer representation that 911 is giving us, and not on any other level. you don't like his content or would love to see him behave differently? fair enough! but that's not our choice to make now is it. just like we all get to choose what we post on our social media accounts, OS gets to choose as well. we can, however, always choose how to curate our own online experience. idk why playing a queer character on a drama show automatically means that OS is our designated queer representative who is now legally obliged to speak up about the queer experience and fight the bvddie fandom daily on his personal accounts anyway...

what truly matters imo is the queer representation we get on screen and that millions of people will be seeing. ❤️ 911 fans have all the right and all the opportunities to simply not consume what they deem bad or unsatisfactory. that goes for the show itself as well as all the media buzz around it, including actor and creator voices and all bts and interviews. that is totally fair. but the unfollow button is right there and nobody seems to use it, so i just gotta ask... why are people still following actors and actresses at all? getting off Instagram and Twitter is a legitimate way to minimize the parasocial relationship to all actors and to focus on canon material only. I've been doing it for 15+ years, and it's always been great to enjoy my blorbos without all that unnecessary and frankly exhausting noise around them. 🤷 the GA is happy to enjoy the canon narrative as it is and look at them being blissfully ignorant. good for them!! if necessary, i will leave this fandom too, just so i can be happy about bucktommy in peace 🤣😂

oh, nonny, you hit the nail on the head.

bucktommys on tumblr have been actively advocating for curating our own space. if we don't want to see certain things, we don't have to—we can choose not to engage by filtering words and blocking, even if that includes the actors' social media. if what they choose to engage with makes us feel this bad, why continue to follow them?

and in the same vein, why can't we extend that same courtesy to them? actors can curate their own space too—maybe they don't want to see awful takes on their characters and storylines either?

of course that would be the perfect scenario—if everyone just focused on themselves and stopped engaging with any negative content, on both sides. however, with the current state of this fandom, i don't think it's attainable. it would require a lot of self-awareness and introspection, which a huge part of this fandom unfortunately lacks.

but that is certainly one way to deal with our frustration! so, either stop interacting or accept that it doesn't matter, no matter how hard the fandom tries to convince you otherwise.

[thebaffledcaptain]

Can you give an example (not name-and-shaming, just something vague or generic) to illustrate what you mean about people blorbo-ifying historical figures? I'm wondering how much of what you're interpreting as that is people intentionally stepping off the path of history to have fun with obviously-fictionalized copies of those characters - versus, for example, those people saying "Hamilton was autistic" because they want to relate to him/take three small misunderstood details and run with it.

I'm leading this with the disclaimer that obviously one post on this topic does not represent my entire view on a subject as nuanced as this, and the disclaimer that I have never and will never specifically go in and call particular people out on it because that's just an asshole move and ultimately not a respectful or effective way to confront stuff like this (not that I thought you were implying either of those things, anon).

The biggest specification I can make is that I'm not talking about already fictionalized versions of these historical figures when I complain about this kind of thing: I am of the belief that a fandom side of history can exist and that is not inherently a bad thing. The problem occurs when the lines between "fandom" and "history" become blurred, often unintentionally, and frequently as a result of people's genuine interest in these (fictionalized representations of) historical figures. History-inspired and history-based media, as well as interactions with it, are not inherently wrong as long as they're not claiming to be actual history. Like, as much as most of us cringe to look at it, I think if Miku Binder Thomas Jefferson could exist solely in the contextual void of the Hamilton musical, that's honestly not the worst thing in the world. (Honestly, I can't know for sure the artist's true views on the subject, but I feel like something that exaggerated could be indicative that they're not talking about the historical figure Thomas Jefferson himself, but specifically this fictional Hamilton musical version.)

But as I said, I think there does result a lot of genuine interest (which is great!) in the history and the figures behind the fandom stuff, which often leads to the blurring of these lines—people learning more, becoming passionate, but mistakenly and probably unintentionally equating these historical figures with their fictional representations and treating them like they would any fictional character. I don't, like, personally hold a hatred for these people because I think most of the time it goes unrecognized. It's more of a result of ignorance or misunderstanding of historiography than it is a genuine disrespect for learning history.

So anyway, to provide an actual example like you asked, I'll say writing fanfiction about characters while claiming they are the actual historical figures. Writing fanfiction for a history-based fandom, or creating fictional characters inspired by them, is one thing, but doing it for the actual genuine figures from history is another. I recognize that this might be partly a result of my personal philosophy on the whole RPF issue, but the idea of treating real people like characters without their consent has never sat right with me. I suppose you could debate the ethics of them already being dead, but still, as a principle, I am of the philosophy that one should treat other people as people, and I find it very weird to treat them as characters when they are still people, however long dead they are. I don't love certain types of historical fiction for this same reason, so I hope it doesn't exclusively come off as a fandom thing. I think this is one of those places where these figures' relatability is indeed an important perspective, because it reminds us of the fact that they were just like you and me, and thus I see it as important to treat them as such: not with blind respect and reverence, but also not with a disregard for their real human existence.

Other stuff has the same sorts of issues: making headcanons, certain fanart, slapping labels on people without leaving room for nuance (I can't put everything under a blanket statement, obviously). It's because of how close I feel to history that I take issue with this stuff—because I always, always want to recognize that above all, these people were people, and I need to acknowledge them as people. In a certain sense I aim to treat them the way I want to be treated, like I'd do for any of my fellow humans (with the obvious nuance that comes from academic perspectives and such), because again, they're people too.

On the issue of relatabilty, I certainly don't think it's wrong to assess evidence through the perspective a modern lens, nor do I think it's wrong to want to relate to these figures. I simply think that we need to be able to acknowledge that great truth of historiography, which is that there are so many things we just can't know. In researching history our goal is essentially to develop assumptions based on the evidence available to us—I hesitate to even use the phrase "draw conclusions" because that suggests arriving at a level of certainty we will unfortunately never be able to have. So, you know, I don't think it's necessarily wrong to say that, like, the real Alexander Hamilton was likely what we would consider bisexual nowadays, or something like that. But I also wouldn't say that we could claim with 100% certainty that he was or that he wasn't. As for the fictional interpretation of him from the musical, yeah, whatever, that's a character, you're free to interpret him how you wish as long as you're not equating him with the actual figure. We can't necessarily, for example, impose headcanons from the musical onto our perceptions of the real people.

On a tangentially related note I also feel that we tend to have an obsession with "relatability" in characters, and historical figures as an extension of that. As a whole we could stand to learn more about how to love both characters and people without having to relate to them. Which is not to say you can't love them for that, but... we also don't need to be going out of our ways to interpret them as being relatable to us in order to love them, which is where the problem lies. That's where this problematic lack of actual history comes from. In the same ways that you don't need to, and probably shouldn't, endorse all their opinions, you don't need to relate to them in every way in order to love them as a historical figure. Love is a complicated thing and I am frankly thankful that it is.

Anyway, this is getting very long. My main point is that history and fandom can coexist, but they call for different treatments and shouldn't ever be equated. I'm not specifically condemning anyone—as I said, I think most of it is well-intentioned interest that gets a little out of hand. I've been guilty of it myself before and I don't want anyone to assume that I think I'm "above" it; I just try to be hyper-aware of it. I love that people discover interests in history through fandom, I just think being mindful is absolutely imperative when you're engaging with it. You can, and should, love history—just be careful that you're not bending the truth in order to do that.

[just-a-little-unionoid]

Okay y'all new soulmate AU just dropped!

disclaimer: realistically I'm probably no the first who came out with this concept, I've just never seen it before and thought about it for quite some time now; that said if you know a story with this concept i'll be delighted to hear about it! (please)

Now that it's said, the AU itself!

I'm calling it "Dreammate AU"

The concept is very simple: people who are soulmates share their dreams in a way or another, it can takes different forms depending of what you, as a writer, decide to do:

soulmates can share dreams "since birth" or only after they meet for the first time

they can dream from the same pov (both the same "character") or from different perspectives (both have their own character, or one dream as a character (main on or not) and the other is just an observer...)

if they need to meet first for the link to form, it could be instantaneous (the next night they can share a dream) or takes some weeks (or more)

or it can be something else entirely, that one only dream of what the other actually do irl if they're not asleep (that's the one I use in one of my original works)

or really anything that you want, like that's the point of creation, right?

What do I like about this AU particularly? And what kind of things can be explored in it?

wow so glad you asked bc I'd say it anyway

on a personal level (I know this one will not be universal) I love soulmates AUs but I always struggle a little with the idea of a cosmically predeterminated mate (I'm very unconfortable with the concept of predetermination as a whole irl), and this concept as opposed as more "visible" soulmarks can at least let some place to interpretation

I LOVE sharing my dreams with people irl, partly because my dreams are absolute bonkers and super fun to tell, and learn about other people dreams, so obviously this concept appeals to me

interesting ideas to explore in this AU include:

worlbuilding: how does a society in which sharing what you dreamed of could lead you to discover your soulmate(s)?

are dreams standard small talk? because you never know?

or is it the opposite? is "sharing your dream" something very intimate because that means/suppose you see your interlocutor as a potential soulmate and partner?

maybe both option cohexist in the univers you're creating, depending of origin or social backgroung, could be an occasion to explore differences in socialization

probably in this universe it's common to note everything you remember from your dreams as precisely as possible

I can totally see a whole profession (dreamkeeper?) which point is to collect, read, classify and trying to match dreams for people to find their soulmate(s)

modern version of this job could include some kind of Internet site/social media with this purpose, and probably AI

and of course, your fav blorbos finding each other but being absolutely clueless about being soulmates

If you have other ideas, please share!

What do you think about it?

I would probably have some other things to add but the point is also to see what we can all create on this concept, it's not fun to do it alone, so please add your own ideas, tell me for which fandom you would write or read this AU, and how (please), reblog if you like the idea or if you think your followers may like it!

[rollercoasterwords]

Hey rae! So, I have a topic that I’d like to hear your opinion about because I feel like it’s been talked about a lot (at least from the media I consume) and that is saying that liking DE characters makes you anti-Semitic/ ‘support’ Nazis. I know how you feel about rosekiller, which I totally support, if you wanna be a hater, please do, but…hmmm I don’t know how I feel about people calling each other every name in the book for liking a DE. I mean that’s the same with regulus, I’ve seen quite a few people talk about how they hate him because he’s DE and liking him/any other DE makes u anti-Semitic. This has me questioning my morality and my pov because I refuse to be associated with people as horrible as Nazis, and I think that you always give a good perspective on things and so if you also think that liking these characters associates a person with them then I seriously need to sit down and have a 1:1 with myself, y’know?

Also, on the same topic i feel like there’s a huge controversy with liking Barty and hating Snape, which I see how that could be wrong, but we know more about Snape and he’s done things to characters that we really know and love so I kinda feel like not being fond of him but liking Barty is valid-ish?? Because yes, if we can erase huge parts of Barty’s character to make him more likeable&redeemable why wont we do that with Snape? I still don’t know how to feel about this whole thing because I think questioning things about yourself is a good thing and it helps you learn&grow so I’d just like to hear your thoughts (rosekiller hatred put aside). Like, if you think rosekiller is the most boring ship in the universe and if you wanna hate on it, please please do!!! Express your opinion!!!! But it kinda rubs me the wrong way to hate on the people liking DE and associating them with a hateful group. If you don’t wanna answer, that’s more than fine, you can totally ignore my ask!!! I understand if you don’t wanna share your opinion on this topic. Have a good day!!

hi! i appreciate that u value my opinion + i'm happy 2 talk thru my thoughts with u, but before i do i wanna make it clear that i am not any kind of expert in antisemitism + am not jewish myself, so you should not be taking my thoughts as like. The Ultimate Opinion on this issue at all--like, i'm happy to discuss, but i do not by any means have the authority to just deem something Good or Bad for u, y'know? nor would i ever want to! i don't really think issues like this can be boiled down to a simple "it's totally okay and no one should ever get upset about it!" vs "it's morally evil and no one should ever like these characters!" (also - if any jewish mutuals or followers wanna weigh in + let me know if there's anything i'm missing/overlooking/etc please do!)

so, i've seen at least some of the discourse you're talking about floating around online. i've seen some jewish people saying that blorbo-ifying death eater characters ignores the nazi allegory and makes nazi-allegory characters sympathetic, which is antisemitic. i've seen other jewish people saying that it's offensive to simplify naziism, a much larger, real political issue, down to calling fictional characters "wizard nazis," and that it belittles the actual historical significance to use antisemitism as a talking point in this discourse about which characters it is or isn't okay to like. that's why i say that i don't think you're gonna find One Cohesive Position on like....what's okay or not okay; it's just something you're gonna have to parse for yourself, and while i do think you should be giving particular weight to the perspectives of jewish people on this issue, that obviously doesn't mean that every single jewish person is going to agree.

anyway, i've mostly stayed out of this discourse partially bc i don't really care about most death eater characters and partially bc, as i said, i do not feel like i am any sort of expert who is like. qualified to discuss the ins and outs of antisemitism in hp fandom spaces. so again, this is just gonna be a conversation about my thoughts as they currently stand--not a lecture where i'm telling you what's right or wrong, and not a set-in-stone Stance on the Ultimate Truth of this matter or anything.

currently, my feeling on this whole quagmire of discourse basically boils down to: i think it's reductive to broadly state that anyone who likes/engages with death eater characters in fandom in any way is automatically antisemitic; i think there is more nuance to the situation and boiling down the issue to an overarching generalization is not necessarily the most useful way to address antisemitism in this particular fandom space.

and there are various reasons that i feel that way, which i'll try to break down below:

death eaters are not a 1:1 allegory for nazis

this is something that i think gets lost in translation a bit when we just say "oh the death eaters were wizard nazis." while, yes, i think jkr was definitely making some allegorical nods to naziism + hitler, particularly with the blood purity aspect of death eater-ism, personally i think that had less to do with jkr actually having a good grasp on the politics of nazi fascism and more to do with jkr being the kind of liberal who just goes "hmmm who's the Worst Person in history??" and then just cherry-picking bits and pieces of like. naziism to give her Bad Guys an easily recognizable cultural referrant to associate with their Badness. (i mean--from the critiques i have seen regarding jkr's own antisemitism that is embedded in the hp text, she clearly was not writing the death eaters as like. a disavowal of antisemitism.)

something that concerns me is that treating death eaters as a 1:1 allegory for nazis sort of obscures some very important, very fundamental differences in the fascism of actual nazis. in hp, death eaters are positioned as a fringe "terrorist" group, in that they are opposed to the wizarding State. they obtain power through largely "illegitimate" (again, by the metrics of State power) means by way of a coup; in this way, a fundamental aspect of the death eaters as Bad Guys is that they are not legitimated by the State--something that very clearly speaks to jkr's own liberal politics when it comes to defining Good versus Bad.

but real-life nazis rose to power specifically by using legitimated State power. this is really fucking important to understand!!!! historically, fascism is often perpetuated by the logics of State power, and that's part of what allows it to take hold--people think, "oh, it can't be that bad, after all, we elected this fascist leader." etc. while hitler did attempt to gain power through a coup in 1923, that specifically failed and led to him pivoting and seeking control by becoming a legitimate part of the German government. he solidified his power using completely legal means, from within the State. this is very, very different to how voldemort + the death eaters take power in hp, and also very opposed to jkr's State-centered politics about Good vs. Bad. while i think it's important + useful to recognize the ways in which death eaters draw allegorical connections to nazis and how that can perpetuate antisemitism if we're not aware of it, i think to simply paint death eaters as nazis can actually lead into the trap of thinking fascism is something that is opposed to the State, when it is more often something that grows out of the State.

liking a death eater character is not always gonna translate to liking death eaters

so, aside from the whole sticky situation with nazis as an allegory for death eaters in the first place--what's more important to me when thinking about how someone likes/engages with death eater characters is gonna be the way they engage with those characters, and what that reflects about their own politics.

if someone likes a death eater character because they like death eaters and think that like...there are no issues with the death eaters' beliefs or positions, then....yeah that's a major red flag. but most of the people who like these characters, from what i've seen, tend to do one of two things:

1 - explore the character because the character broke away from the death eaters in some way (regulus, snape, etc). this usually requires an exploration of how the death eaters are bad, because it requires an exploration of why the character turned away from them. i'm gonna be interested in how someone explores that issue and what that says about their own politics, but that's a case-by-case basis, y'know? and even if i personally think someone is still missing the heart of the issue in their "death eaters bad" story, it is still a "death eaters bad" story--i don't really think a person is aligning themselves with the death eaters if they're specifically writing about how they are bad and why someone initially taken in by their beliefs would later turn away from them.

2 - explore a character who hasn't broken away, looking at why a person might align themselves with death eaters and how someone might buy into that sort of political rhetoric. again, this is a case-by-case basis for me in terms of looking at what sort of politics is reflected, but generally speaking i do not think that writing stories about why or how someone might become a fascist is Always Morally Wrong. in fact, i think these stories are very necessary in helping us understand how fascism takes root in real life.

if someone is just writing "death eaters ra-ra!" fanfiction then. yeah i might take that as a red flag. but the death eaters are so clearly Bad Guys that i personally have not come across any examples of someone doing that, even if i have come across stories where i don't entirely agree with the politics of how someone is writing the death eaters as Bad.

liking a character in the context of fanfiction is not always going to translate to liking that character as a death eater

a lot of people write aus and stories where the death eaters don't even exist. in those situations, i struggle to understand how liking the characters, in and of itself, would be antisemitic, as the character has specifically been turned into not-a-death-eater and is oftentimes basically an oc.

liking a fictional character is not a simple moral reflection of how someone actually thinks - what i'd be more wary of is someone absorbing the neoliberal politics of hp without question

this is kind of getting back into repeating some of the points above--but again, for me personally, this is an issue that i evaluate much more on a case-by-case basis rather than trying to broadly apply One Rule. since i can't automatically know someone's reasons for liking a character, the context in which they like the character, etc, what i tend to judge more is the specific way i actually see them interacting with that character--how they write them, what stories they like to read, their hcs, etc. again, i am not an expert when it comes to judging antisemitism, so i do also try to make it a point to see what my jewish mutuals are saying when this sort of discourse comes up. but for myself, i tend to be more wary about the politics underlying specific pieces of writing rather than which characters someone is choosing to write about.

all that being said, i do still think it's fair if someone views liking death eaters as a red flag, y'know? like, everyone is allowed to judge for themselves what they see as red flags in this fandom space, and if someone is saying "i think it's antisemitic to like death eaters," i personally don't really think i have a right to go and argue with that person, for obvious reasons. since i do sometimes write about death eater characters, i try to be very aware of what kinds of politics are underlying my work and what sort of messages someone might take away. but if someone needs to block me, avoid my work, etc, i obviously don't have an issue with that--everyone is allowed and encouraged to curate their fandom space in a way that's best for them, and if someone has a boundary regarding interaction with death eater characters, that's their boundary to keep, y'know? i don't think it's productive (unless maybe you yourself experience antisemitism and it's a conversation you want to have) to go to that person and argue about why they're wrong, as if they need to tell you your actions are actually morally okay with them. sometimes people are going to have issues with the things you write or read in fandom, which is why you need to develop the ability to reflect + weigh these sorts of issues for yourself, and grow comfortable with the idea that there is not always going to be an ultimate Right and Wrong answer for How To Behave.

as for the snape vs barty [or insert whatever other death eater character here] - my thoughts on that are essentially. i truly do not think it matters which characters you like or dislike. you can like one death eater character or not another. it's fine. you don't have to like one character over another. this is fanfiction. the moral stakes are not that high.

the only instance in which i would say liking one character over another gets hypocrticial is if you are saying that people shouldn't like a character. for example -- if you are running around the internet saying that snape is a disgusting character and nobody is allowed to like him, but at the same time you're blorbo-ifying barty crouch jr. then, yeah, that's annyoing and hypocritical. but if you're just chilling in peace, reading + writing ur fic and not policing the things that other people are allowed to like or dislike, then i truly do not think it matters if you like barty crouch jr. but not snape. i'm all for self-reflection and thinking about why you personally might like one character over another, but at the end of the day writing + reading fic is not any kind of activism; it's a hobby, it's for enjoyment. i promise that u do not need to have a moral crisis about disliking severus snape from harry potter lmao

[catcrazyx]

Thoughts on Kazuichi/Mahiru? (Know ships ain't your thing, but i like to thing that , out of all the female classmates, she'd the one who can make himself better, while also helping her out in return telling not to be restrict as always, though they bicker a lot, can't imagine but them becoming friends as they interact more)

Was this ask meant for me? 🤔 😂 Sorry I'm just confused what would make you say "know ships ain't your thing". I'm a HUGE shipper, I never EVER said I didn't enjoy ships, actually I can't enjoy any piece of media without shipping two idiots together, shipping is my life, I'm also a multishipper, rarely dislike a ship, I have ships I care about more than others, and have some I don't find appealing, but most ships I can enjoy to some extent, even if just through art. I also encourage people to ship. Ship is supposed to be fun and friendly (with only fictional characters of course, don't ship real people EVER). I think some people need to learn that shipping is supposed to be a headcanon, and even though it's about characters, their personalities, dynamic or possible dynamic, that, just because it isn't or can't be canon, that it is any less valid. But still, I think shipping is totally my thing, my life completely, I mean I literally have two of my blorbos in my profile picture (at the moment of writing this) just because I love them so much!!! Anyway, I'm so sorry for my little ramble there ahaha. Well then, I may as well reply. So, hm, I never really thought about them actually. I can see a bit of clashing in their dynamic from the start, Mahiru's expectations on boys, and Kazuichi's insecure nature. But that could also be something good as Mahiru helps Kazuichi become more confident, but Kazuichi requires his own personal growth and development first, 'cause I don't see Mahiru getting along with him while he's like that with Sonia and how he's yeah, a pervert. At the same time Mahiru requires her own self-reflection to stop holding such high standards on boys. I also don't see them enjoying the same things, do they have interests in common? These aren't two characters I usually analyse a lot, so I'm just recalling some things and looking at the wiki for anything, but maybe they could bond over Kazuichi fixing a camera/polaroid for Mahiru, or making her a new one actually, if we imagine a scenario they both have feelings for each other for example and this is how Kazuichi gets to approach her, and she really appreciates it and starts talking to him. 'Cause of course he'd make something really good. Overall I think they work best as friends because they still require a lot of individual development, and them being put together as they are right now, I don't think it would work for the best. But hey I'm a multishipper, I don't see why they couldn't be more if anyone presented me a good story or just good evidence of a great dynamic with them. I also see them bickering a lot like you said, but it can be fun bickering if they are both already grown and developed! :D So, yeah I think they could be cute!

[pluralsword]

Love that the War on Cybertron expansion to the trans Transformers Deckbuilding Game (in the base game you can play sword-wielding Arcee and acquire the Matrix of Leadership and her idw1 swords and jetpack etc, Arcana Magnus ftw all the art of her in the game except her player character stuff is EXRID trans Arcee) with more gals e.g. Slipstream, Elita One, and Windblade is slated to come out during one of the queer months (all months are queer but you know) either June (when Pride is celebrated in some parts of the world) or July (which is the Wrath month that follows) which fits really well lmao. Sure it may not have been ‘intentionally planned’ to release during a recognized month but also like Transformers is just permanently trans & expansive and same-aesthetic love now has been for years so... shrugs a box of queer-equivalent robots at war over autonomy and hierarchy in June/July is well, a nice thing to have happening while we live in society as it is-

If Anode, Lug, Howlback, Archadis, or Overlord are in the game not to mention Acid Storm it would make our day, like we don’t expect Nightshade Malto because it’s a Cybertron themed expansion and they’ve been doing comic art so far from what we can tell (only have the base game with the 1st booster currently but want to get the expansions) not to mention Aileron or Greenlight or Lancer or Gauge

we could also get into our thoughts on capitalism and the current flailing desperate ramp up of hate by reactionaries but everyone already knows what we think so sigh we are just happy about this transforming robot cardboard box, plastic, and cards game with little pink cubes  and tokens okay like it’s just funny to us because the box has no typical rainbow marketing on it BUT IT IS A BOX OF TRANS GAY and to us it is also a contextualized blorbo box so of course we want it.

Anyway a dear friend commented before we felt we may as well post these thoughts on the open wide internet after showing this to them that:

well idk about anyone else but my reaction is definitely "that is a pretty funny coincidence"

this seems like the kind of coincidence where it almost feels like someone behind the scenes who knows the media pushed for this

like, theyre not totally blind to fandom reactions to how theyve handled arcee since idw1 right

We have to agree, remembering the twitch stream of showing off the TTRPG character building before it was released if was very clear that sword warrior Arcee was beloved and someone they wanted to mention and uh well you need only look at Transformers media from after IDW1 was over to see how EXRID has left a mark for the better.

We really want to buy this thing ;-; hopefully we will be able to

[spiderfreedom]

Very long post ahead sorry

The issue is EXECUTION, not intent. It's good to have non-conventional female protagonists, as long as they still feel of their time and don't talk like a Twitter bio.

This. We want to be able to see non-conventional women, but we want them to feel "of their time." I had to stop reading a certain popular historical novel because the protagonist felt far too modern in her approach towards sexism in the 1950s (Lessons in Chemistry). It was just too much and broke my immersion. It was too unrealistic. But then I read a different one from the same period that was more realistic while still dealing with women coming to terms with sexism (When Women Were Dragons). You have to respect the era somewhat if you don't want it to just be an aesthetic set dressing.

It's why, although most of your rich Victorian blorbos would be imperialist assholes, we don't tend to depict protagonists as racist. Most of your medieval darlings would HATE Jews, but we don't write about that, now, do we? Because it's not fun!

"Babel" is one of the best modern examples of actual Victorian blorbos having period-accurate sentiments about, you know, race and imperialism, and it's a difficult read! (Great book, but not pleasant!) I like to imagine that other marginalized people, like people of color, disabled people, etc. may like to see themselves in the past in a way that honors the reality of their lives without turning into trauma porn. The past is fascinating, aesthetically cool too, but not everything about it was cool, and anyone wanting to seriously learn about it is better served reading a non-fiction book than consuming any sort of fiction, anyway.

Also on the same topic, if we portrayed the way men actually thought of women, you could basically get rid of most historical romance. If we were being honest, most husbands had sex with their wives when they didn't want to, pawned the chores off on her even when she was working (cough, Clara Schumann), and generally were not supportive of their girls getting much education. We don't include these aspects in our historical romances because it kind of ruins the fun of historical romance!

If we can allow this Shockingly Enlightened historical man to exist, I don't see why we can't similarly entertain the fantasy of a historical feminist woman who is Shocking Enlightened.

I'm getting so sick of major female characters in historical media being incredibly feisty, outspoken and public defenders of women's rights with little to no realistic repercussions.

It does feel like every historical woman protagonist has the same weird personality which is like, Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice but make it Feminist. They're all just so witty and making comments on everything and they just get it in a way other women don't. It might have had a use at some point when we were making steps into feminist historical fiction, but we've outgrown it by now.

We have examples of women (and girls!) who spoke out against the mores of their time. They were, unfortunately, not taken very seriously, and usually alone. (It took a long time for women with gripes about The System to realize they weren't alone and band together and get their own money to support their own organizations.) I want to see their stories told, the good, the bad, the ugly. I also want to see women who broke norms in unrealistic ways, but with realistic consequences (e.g. the entire setup of "Blue Eye Samurai" is a little contrived to create this story of a half white/half Japanese female ronin, but the way she acts is relatively realistic. She has sympathy for the grueling trials women are put through, but she can't risk her life or her mission standing up for every woman she sees. It also fits in with the generally cynical atmosphere of the show!).

They weren't letting the side down by not having and representing modern gender ideals. It says a lot about how you view average ordinary women if the idea of one of your main characters behaving like one makes them seem lame and uninteresting to you.

I don't entirely agree. "Ordinary" women enforcing gender roles and being complicit in sexism were, in fact, letting women down by trying to get by in their own times. (Still are - every woman who makes fun of a woman for being fat, gender non-conforming, ugly, not having a man, not knowing how to do makeup, etc. is shoring up her own status by showing her willingness to play within the rules while pushing other women down.) They may not have thought about it in that way, but every time they looked down on some other woman as lesser for not participating in the system, they reinforced that very system and the means by which they attained any success in that system. Every well meaning mother who squeezed the confidence out of her daughter to transform her into marriage material passed her shackles on as well as advice. (We could talk about what it means that humans in general prefer to cope with systems rather even imagining trying to change them, but that's another topic. None of this is unique to women, and plenty of marginalized group members try to "get by" by adopting majority codes and ruthlessly policing anyone below them. They are still marginalized! But they also uphold the system marginalizing everyone because they believe they've found a way to get higher up.)

In books like "The Radical Women's Press of the 1850s," the suffragists spend a lot of time talking about men not wanting them to vote (duh), but they also spend a lot of time talking about women judging them, viewing spinsters and old maids as social pariahs, saying things like "I have all the rights I already need," making fun of women who did not fit into beauty standards... Convincing women that things should change was as much a battle as convincing men. So frankly, I do think the women opposing them were making things worse for future women whether or not they realized it.

You can still write such a character in a relatable way, such that the audience understands her motivations and even sympathizes with her. But I don't blame anyone for wanting to see a woman in a pre-20th century setting who isn't working in the narrow set of roles available to us (maiden, married housewife, prostitute). I've seen enough of these and I'm bored (except for realistic depictions of sex workers; sex workers are almost always background characters, romanticized, and/or end up dying).

I'd like non-conventional women who make some sense within their time period! I'd like "conventional" women whose lives are deeply explored, who reflect the common views of their time! I'd like more well thought-out women characters in general.

I have way more to say because the portrayal of 'feminist' women in historical fiction is interesting to me as a real challenge of balancing historical accuracy and Not Depressing Your Audience. Also we know plenty of conservatives who don't want to see non-conventional women in historical fiction because they find the very concept of a non-conventional woman threatening and they enjoy the idea of a fictional refuge where women were happy with their subordinate status and didn't complain, so that's also something to consider. (Same with the anger at including people of color in historical fiction - no, there probably would not have been black folks in a medieval English town, but if the individual piece is not about 100% True Historical Accuracy, can we not just move on? Why can't black people be allowed to see themselves depicted in fictional historical settings in something other than slavery or segregation?) So it's a tough equation to balance and I'm gonna stop or I'll write more words but basically, many good points being made

I'm getting so sick of major female characters in historical media being incredibly feisty, outspoken and public defenders of women's rights with little to no realistic repercussions. Yes it feels like pandering, yes it's unrealistic and takes me out of the story, yes the dialogue almost always rings false - but beyond all that I think it does such a disservice to the women who lived during those periods. I'm not embarrassed of the women in history who didn't use every chance they had to Stick It To The Man. I'm not ashamed of women who were resigned to or enjoyed their lot in life. They weren't letting the side down by not having and representing modern gender ideals. It says a lot about how you view average ordinary women if the idea of one of your main characters behaving like one makes them seem lame and uninteresting to you.

[starspanner]

I'm just gonna be a whiny bitch about The Acolyte for a bit but it isn't important at all.

Look, I appreciate the risk-taking and gleefully reminding the audience that so far away from the sagas, no one has plot armor, but I'm put out anyway. I really liked Jecki and Yord. I really did. And I would have liked to have learned what Kelnacca thought about all this, too. I know that it's the nature of the genre, and I don't hate it. I'm mostly just sad about it.

The thing that actually irks me though is that this exact thing is why I stopped reading the first High Republic book in the first place.

I really don't like the author's repeated attempts to push the drama and urgency of the situation onto the reader by introducing interesting characters and then killing them a few pages later. It works the first few times, but when it happens over and over and is still happening a third of the way though, it's completely predictable and annoyingly depressing. And if I wanted to read something annoyingly depressing I'd go back to Attack on Titan.

---from Darklore Circus, January 13, 2021

When I read or watch something, I am there. And while I'm there I meet someone and decide I like the cut of their jib and journey along with them, and we go together. And it's always jarring and disconcerting when that journey abruptly stops. It happened over and over and over in Light of the Jedi, until I didn't want to get to know anyone else. Eventually, when they introduced a new character I was like, no. I can't care about you, because you're going to leave me too. So I couldn't read on, because if I don't care, what's the point?

In the book it was worse, because there was no one else to latch onto. That isn't the same here, at least. I want to finish Osha and Mae's journey, and am very interested in what Sol has to say, and how Mister Scary-mask-Sith-abs is going to proceed. But the fact of the matter is that they gave us some cute characters both we and the main character could relate to, and then killed them for express purpose of showing us just how bad and powerful the baddie is. They essentially set up a kick-the-puppy trope moment with a little worfing on the side. A planned manipulation like the book's death scenario after death scenario after death scenario.

Yes, it was effective, but so is a bazooka. I'm not sure I want to use the word "lazy" to describe the storytelling, because it does work, I guess. But…it was maybe just a little lazy? I suppose that's what happens now in the days of binge television where stories are being told so quickly.

(And yeah, it's been done before, like say with the Lady Titan Arc in the aforementioned Attack on Titan. She also worfed and kicked the puppy to bring fear and urgency to a rapid boil but that was after 14 episodes and there was a much larger cast we had gotten to know, so even though we did loose a number of blorbos, two or three times as many survived, including the core main cast and all the fandom darlings.)

If this had been a far bigger or longer adventure we could have been shown all sorts of things to build up the notion of the threat they faced and the secret that was being kept, but here, no need. Just…kick this instead. Harder. There we go. Now swim around and look pretty. Oh yeah. That's good. Everyone's confused now…

But, like I said, I'm just a little bitter this morning, and the series is over-all still interesting. And there's a lot of comfort in that the actors had such a great time "dying." But I was sort of looking forward to seeing them continue, and react to whatever Sol has to say, and perhaps even be supportive to whatever is going to be left of Osha and Mae after this. I mean, that's what characters are supposed to do, right? Live, and react, and do stuff?

I guess that's what fanfiction is for…sure. But this experience has not encouraged me to reconsider exploring the High Republic era again. In fact, I'm going to be far more cautious the next time a piece of Star Wars media has "High Republic" anywhere on it.

Because apparently that's shorthand for "Don't get attached."

[carolingarts]

Please Scott gimme some canon-afton nuance beyond "this man is evil" because unless we finally get an explanation for why he seeks immortality he's literally just evil for evils sake and I cannot abide that for one of my favorite villains.

Let me make this clear! Evil for evils sake is still very possible! The High evolutionary in GotG 3 tortured animals to make "a better world" and felt no remorse. He was truly the "hero of his own story". Up until recently when I discovered they gave a backstory to Judge Doom I would have said *Doom* was a great "evil for evils sake" villain. His motives are clear. He wants to build a freeway and destroy LA'a public transport system and he'll do anything.

The pursuit of immortality without an explanation to me of *why* he's doing it makes him a crappy villain and the "I'm doing it for my kids" angle provided that. Idgaf if he was doing it because they were *his* and he saw them as property or what.

I'm of the mind with all the new information people are fucking leaking because they feel entitled to spoilers he was one of the people who almost died/died in the springlock incidents. Scott dropped his springlock scars for a reason and if he saw death that gives him a pretty solid motive. Bonus points if he sees himself as a hero "saving" the kids by keeping them with him forever. Even scarecrow however who people are comparing him to, has more nuance than this man.

If canon-afton had done the kind of awful things to kids people do when they don't just deserve death it's our duty as humans and decent people to stop them - *before* killing them, I'd be out.

Scott has confirmed that's not the case.

If canon-afton just gets up, takes an evil poop, drinks evil coffee, checks his evil in the basement, eats an evil brekkie, goes to his evil restaurant and does evil, then eats an evil slice of pizza before going home and giving evil kisses to his family and then watching evil TV and taking an evil pee before evil sleep...I question my sanity because that's crap writing.

I hope people don't blorbo woobie the mimic into nothing because it's a test of faith that people don't simp for him and Vanessa and pick the white guy.

Speaking of! Vanessa! See I would worry less about evil brekkie William afton if we'd seen Vanessa beyond her tapes! Who was she before she was brainwashed?

I hope she was a world class bitch. I hope she was a baby Karen. I hope she threw her weight around, yelled at Tape Girl. I hope she dreamt of punching Luis and felt unable to say anything but that glitch uses his presence to convince her that his malevolence would help her. I hope she was a good on the inside and occasional outside self centered person who learned how easily that could be stripped away and had a hero arc like Mike. I hope glitch trying to teach her to love violence made her realize she had done awful things An asshole but not 100% a dick.

Anyway the point of this post is to cheer on original creators taking this sad box story and making their own art out of it because people insist that William Afton who is a shitty person and probably has evil brekkie...just be evil without a reason to *be evil*. You can make a compelling shitlord character by giving him a reason...and just having him make a crap choice. Like he woke up an evil baby and takes evil naps? No. He liked bunnies until the day his bunny died then he blamed the kid next door and he discovered pushing him into traffic was cool. I'd like to think we as a society would be more media literate.

Cheers to original creators making original comics and ocs with this basic outline about broken families and entertainment. Cheers to the writers exploring it in a healthy manner and encouraging others to do the same by giving them a sense of community.

Jeers to the theorists who just want concrete explanations without thought. Completely omitting emotion or a desire for humanity, completely thinking with logic, I doubt anyone *that evil* would be able to get away with it. Even with those who exist in real life there are very clearly people who see them for who they are in their close circles not just cops and outside forces.

[t4tpumpkinduo]

aheem heem 12 and then like. all of the 20s?

YES KISSA YOU O7 doing dsmp ones uhm

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

well you already know what the hell i'm going to say...ceeschlatt i'm so sorry he only did some of that you guys are so annoying. i think a huge chunk of his story is just like. Canonically Textually way deeper and more sympathetic and more complicated than people want to acknowledge. guys will have direct blatent narrative foil parallels of their mistakes to their blorbo of choice but only one side will get a million excuses and only one side will get their pov analyzed. OK 👍. telephone game ass fanbase. read the parallel storyline of what would've happened had pogtopia won read the nov 16 script look at the canonical smplive isms analyze why someone would want to "revive someone for political power" desperate style after a funeral where it was Blatantly Clear that person has absolutely Zero Power and it paralleling the post charlie death insanity. and then you will calm down!!

honorable mention to ceefundy as well. i wouldn't say he's unpopular unpopular but goddamn. despite the fact he's so interesting and cool and inpactful and represents huge chunks of Core Themes, he just gets ignored and infantalized and has so much of his story plain Erased because it's inconvenient to other characters. Fucked!!!

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

ceeranboo so sorry ok. iget why people like him i do but he is so so bland to me. shepards tone empty promise of a character. to me. some of his implications were pretty interesting, especially when it came to things that were more complicated, the exile isms the being knowingly complicit in ctommy prison murder or him drinking ableist copium abt tubbo being kind of unhinged. the centristism sometimes feeling less waffly and more like he's trying to people please to the point of exploding. too bad i do not care ☝️🔛🔝

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

and if i say tntduo..it's been so overhyped it overshadows everyone else it overshadows their own damn characters entire arcs and decisions and then the whole story itself they are not allowed to be anything except eachothers klance bait which was equally as mid. i do think there is value to it but at this point i am so exhausted about the oc versions being treated like canon when on screen its so bad out here sometimes. ppl going ohhh we never got resolution :[ ,,,.ccwilbur blatantly said what would've happened in the final tntduo stream. cwil would show back up to lnv in the same set up of his apologies but its a bait and switch that pivots into insulting q again and then finish it up w oh hey maybe yr not so bad after all 😂 and then he gives him a fist bump and leaves. there's yr closure. lea me alone

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

i already said i think pumpkinduo is like funny comedy mallets for crazy people but i think most other things get attention properly? el rapids deserved more hype tho i srs think it would change how people see a lot of the characters involved

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

im not sure? weird shit is a given but other than that who rlly care <- edit: HELP i misread the question i thought it was asking what you are Unwilling to come around to. so sorry. to answer the actual question uhm,,still not very sure hheheh im very solid in my dislikes and likes and complaints

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

exile and the prison for sure :heart_hands: /RETCH. sure other things are very annoying but the levels these two arcs get to are Awful and Telling and Shitty the media illiteracy is off the charts. how you can watch streams with your eyes closed and ears closed and without registering the words or characters on the screen. what's going on. anyways if cdrm thinks torture is so bad maybe he should not talk about eye for an eye when he had tortured three people before he was even in the prison. but okay. also rip prison arc sam the world wasn't ready for a character like you 🙏

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

i'm not sure? what are the most common complaints i do happen to agree with a lot of them i think

[sabrondabrainrot]

eeeEEEE EEEHEE Making Friday the 13th special!!!

You can literally yap forever to me!!! I really like it especially your thoughts and analysis it's just so neat. 🙏 The essay had me kicking my feet the entire way home.

You also pointed out stuff I didn't think about. It's really cool and smart and observational!!! Plus it's always fun for me to read what people have to say about their blorbo. Your bingy bongus. Your special little meow meow.

You saying my art is nice , really makes my day 👉👈 hee hee thank you ❤️

Hfgghvhhb I love thissss

I don't really have a disclaimer. I might just end up repeating a lot of the opinions already stated? Might just be a ✨lil echo-chamber moment ✨

Honestly just agree with everything that you're pointing out.

I'm not a little hater (that energy takes a lot to bring forth) but I see both sides of the situation and it's a lot more gray than people want it to be. Like you were saying it has 20x more nuanced than a black and white situation. It's so much easier when stuff is black and white but this type of situation just can't be.

I trust the writers, they have the character's best interest at heart. New Moon/Nexus' story won't end at being a villain or a misunderstood tradegy. If the likes of Eclipse, Old Moon, Monty, and Puppet have grounds to be redeemed then so does Nexus (not that Nexus has ever done anything wrong)

LMAO I love the little guy but I'm so scared for him at the same time, cause I don't know what Dark Sun has in store for him. (Dark Sun so sexy aha~ 🤭 /j). Dark Sun needs him and is using him but I still can't get a read on for what yet. There's a lot of theories and while I adore them, Dark Sun doesn't seem the type to kill Nexus? It's fun to consider he's using Nexus to feed the Witherstorm dragon thing but.... There's so many easier ways to do that than to take in Nexus.

I still can't get over how he used the phrase "You're one of the dead ones" but something I haven't seen pointed out yet, that's Dark Sun's personal terminology. No one else ever considered Nexus "a dead one". I think New Moon actually started spiraling as early as then. Dark Sun planted that seed of disent intentionally.

He's basically a baby and was just getting along with his new bestie and his siblings and then someone wearing the face of his big brother just casually implied he's a zombie. Nothing but an echo. A walking corpse.

I would be scared of what I am too.

*slaps Nexus* this bad boy can hold so much identity crisis.

Also the thing on Earth just 👌 mwah. The entire p&s convo was dramatic AF. Couldn't get over how Sun warned Earth.... And he was so right about it all....I just, man....Earth, girlie pop.... What was said was not harsh...

I should add, I actually really like Earth and wish we had more female characters in media, but also I will say she did kind of drop the ball on this. Again it's sticky. She's not perfect and I love her for that but she also turned harsh to the wrong person. There's a time and place to be stern and unforgiving and I think it's not when someone is literally terrified and on the brink. (Like you said!!!)

So idk..... The immediate disowning that everyone did? That was harsh. Except Sun, my little pookie, he hasn't disowned him. Sun just suffers from an unfortunate negative communication stat. He puts his foot in his mouth a lot. I'm a Sun simp but even I agree he didn't handle stuff right. In his defense, I got the vibes he just wanted to help Moon but he needed help to him and no one wanted to give it. He went to Earth for help and it actually made it worse. In fact, Sun's entire support system completely failed him.

Isn't that just crazy?

While I don't hold Sun or Earth responsible, I do hold the likes of Monty, Puppet and Foxy responsible. Especially Monty. I'm also upset Lunar just hung back..... He even said he wasn't close to NM....I get vibes Lunar is lying to protect himself and not have to face feelings but... ouch

Anyways back to New Moon/Nexus, there has to be something going on there cause it just wasn't right. He's such a sweetheart and so very different from New Moon.

I see NM/Nexus as the baby who has big shoes to fill. Solar took those shoes from him so he could be more of his awkward sweet self. He screamed at Sun way back when he thought Sun was going to accidentally hurt/ kill himself with Star Power because he was so soul crushingly scared of losing his big brother (and he was extra upset that Sun's reason to hide it from him because he was unconsciously comparing NM to OM). He also went out of his way to make sure Solar would be ok in the final Eclipse showdown by shoving him into the portal while he laser striked the guy.

What crazy to me about NM/Nexus literally seconds after coming to life, was threatened by Eclipse. He woke up fighting what was essentially a God that hated him and his whole family. His breaking point for him wasn't that he lost Solar, it was that he couldn't bring him back. There's so much terror and fear in that kind of loss of control.

You literally opened my eyes so much when you pointed out "he's killing himself to make the pain of caring stop"

MY HEART

😭😭😭

I hope they save the little pookie.

(i started this on Friday but you caught me when I was going home from work and I ended up falling asleep while writing this so I'm posting it now! 🤣)

((ps. One of the fics I like updated so I reread the first chapter and the second and in the fic Ruin called Nexus "baby Moon" and i haven't been over it))

Morning peachy!

Happy Friday, I was scrolling through your blog and literally didn't realize you were the one that made the Nexus design that lives in my head rent free. I love your art and vibes ❤️🥰❤️

I'm at the part when Old Moon is back and met Earth it's SO AWKWARD

I don't like it (not mad he's back but it's just the entire lead up has me upset)

I was watching Baby Moon/New Moon and Earth like you said and idk, I think it's really messed up how everything went down. Earth seemed to jump to a lot of conclusions about New Moon and she seemed really upset but also I don't think what New Moon said to push her away was actually that mean. Maybe it's just me?

I also didn't like how Sun went to others for help because he's so lost on what to do with New Moon and everyone was just "let's kill him"

I'm so messed up over this....

What's your thoughts on this? I want to know your observations 👀✍️

First off,

SNIFFS. bro your art and your vibes are INCREDIBLE so that compliment means a whole lot to me. tysm <3

Second off, oh-ho-ho. my friend, you've just opened up pandora's box for me. this response is gonna be a long one, let's see how incomprehensible it will get-

(Also, just so anyone who doesn't know me knows, I'm currently not watching the security breach shows due to a bit of burnout, but mostly due to me not liking the current sams arc. I'm just avoiding it for the sake of me mental health. sooo if I bring up something that has already been acknowledged/fixed/changed in canon, forgive me <3. for sams, I have knowledge up to about "brothers REUNITE in vrchat", so. just go into this knowing that lol)

OKAY. AHEM. DISCLAIMERS DONE. HERE WE GO.

Don't have much to say about "I don't like it (not mad he's back but it's just the entire lead up has me upset)" other than I 1000% agree. I (again, personally) actually don't like that he's back, mostly because the lead up to O.M's return felt very rushed, it makes O.M's original sacrifice for K.C completely in vain, and O.M has essentially just taken N.M's role in the family now that N.M is where he is now, as Nexus. it was all very frustrating to see happen.

And, whooh, I can go on and on and on about how O.M has shown many signs that he hasn't actually improved as a person/brother as much as he claims to have, but I think that harpers on spoiler territory for you Sab so I'll save that for another day dkjfhsdfsd but as for the SECOND part of your statement...

"...I think it's really messed up how everything went down. Earth seemed to jump to a lot of conclusions about New Moon and she seemed really upset but also I don't think what New Moon said to push her away was actually that mean. Maybe it's just me?"

IT 👏 IS 👏 NOT 👏 JUST 👏 YOU 👏

From what I can tell, actually a lot of people agree with you!!! (me included). this leads to kind of a divide in-fandom between people who are on the families side, and those who are on New Moon's/Nexus'. and from what I've seen, even the people who aren't on either side just kind of find Nexus pathetic and emo. which is 100% fair and understandable, considering his "villain arc" was built off of shakey ground lol. AND while I am 100% a N.M/Nexus apologist, that wont stop me from acknowledging that he fucked up bad in some places sdkfjhsdjfk really, everyone messed up a lot to get into the situation they are now story-wise. it's not just one sides fault, and it's draining seeing people trying to make the dilemma one of black and white morals when it is 20x more complex than that. OKAY MINI RANT OVER, ONTO WHAT YOU REFERENCED SKFJDHSDF so. did Earth have every right to be hurt by what New Moon said? oh, 100% yeah, her brother just insulted and demeaned her to her face, ofc it would hurt.

But what really confuses me is how personally she took his insults??? Right before, genuinely, right before that confrontation; Sun warned her that Moon might say something he didn't mean. he warned her, because he knows from experience.

and yet Earth took it to heart??? w. why??? she knows a lot about mental health stuff, or she's supposed to, right??? surely she'd understand that it's a very common trauma/fear response for people to become aggressive and lash out, even against those who they love and care for??? right???

And I also agree that she was jumping to conclusions, or at least misinterpreting N.M's goals/intentions/reasonings. when N.M called her "not a real therapist", she took the greatest offense to that. but. the thing is. he wasn't??? wrong???? did he say it in a rude as hell and aggressive way??? yup, no denying that! but he's not wrong.

Earth isn't a licensed therapist. she is an animatronic with downloaded protocols and processes given to her by the Creator in attempts to try and be a therapist. but she literally admits it to herself multiple times in the show that she's not a real therapist, she just does her best. so it always confused me why she took N.M's statement to heart, because genuinely, for him, her best (or more specifically, her kind and patient style of therapy) wasn't enough. which is v tragic, much ow, big pain.

At the time of being confronted, N.M was exhausted, desperate, spiraling, hallucinating, not wanting to ask for help, lying to both himself and the family, in mourning- basically holding on by a thread. so when cornered, (literally, he physically was cornered in P&S) he lashed out and said mean things to be able to push those he cared about away and "get to safety". it was wrong of him to do, yes, but considering everything we knew about how Moon's (both New and Old) react to stressful situations from prior tragedies, it was to be expected.

BUT THEN??? EVERYONE JUST KIND OF GAVE UP ON HIM AFTER THAT????? he made one mistake. one. one mistake. and suddenly everyone was all like "alright, we've got to kill him." I??? DOES ANYONE ELSE THINK THAT'S A LITTLE BIT FUCKED UP??? HELLO?????

I'm not denying that N.M was becoming unstable. I'm not denying that he was becoming aggressive. he was, and that's why he needed help. he needed someone to stick by him even as he was pushing them away, to love him even at his lowest, and no one did. Imo, at least Sun has the excuse of being traumatized by Old Moon's past actions, which could explain why he was so desperate for everyone else's input, but Earth and Lunar??? Monty and Puppet too??? hello???? why the hell are you doing your brother/friend (who is doing all of this TO GET SOLAR BACK BECAUSE HE WANTS TO MAKE THEM ALL HAPPY, MIND YOU) like this???? HELLO????

And I'm also bringing up that Nexus still hasn't really. done anything??? in the current point of the story??? the worst thing he's done so far is rough up O.M a bit. but other than that, all he did was say cruel/threatening things to/about the other Celestials. he's yet to act on.. anything?? he hasn't killed a single person. and you know who have killed people?? Sun, Lunar, Solar, Old Moon, Puppet, Monty... and yet?? some people see him as an irredeemable monster???? it's. strange to me. it's obvious he's hurting, it's obvious he still cares. and he's literally killing himself to try and make the pain that comes with caring stop- isolating himself, poisoning himself, and literally ripping out his own emotions, idk guys, those don't seem like the actions of an irredeemable villain, but maybe it's just me sdkfljhsdf

As expected, this turned into an essay. BUT I'm done now, me-me needs to go take a shower gkfdjhhfgjsd thank you for the excuse to yap, Sabronda!!! I love New Moon/Nexus so much they're my ultimate cringefail. I'm certain they have an edgy Sonic OC somewhere in that evil lab of theirs