#as always this is my opinion

[iguessitsjustme]

There is an interesting phenomena happening lately across multiple shows where there has been an increase in viewers of BL reading the novels that the shows are based off of. I’m not entirely sure why that is, I certainly have theories, but I don’t have the data to back any of them up (I am willing to share my theories if asked but they’re not particularly relevant here). But regardless, it’s definitely happening where a large number of viewers will find a translation of a BL novel and read it before watching the show. And don’t get me wrong, that’s amazing! I am certainly not complaining that people are reading these novels. I will always advocate for more reading, especially from authors from different cultures.

I personally do not read the novels for the shows I’m watching. I have done it a couple of times, but it’s extremely rare that I will go out of my way to find the novels. There’s a few reasons for this. First and foremost is that I find the unofficial fan translations difficult to read and I would rather pay for an official translation of the novels that have to go through multiple checks and also I would like to support the authors by purchasing the novels. I know. I know that we’re just not there yet for BL where there are official translations, but I still can’t bring myself to read the unofficial ones. I really struggled getting through the fan translation of Bite Me, and there was a specific reason I read that one, but we’ll get into this in a bit. 

Another reason that I don’t read the novels is because, truthfully, I just want to watch the shows. I enjoy watching week to week and needing to wait to see what happens. I enjoy experiencing these shows along with everyone else watching. Even if I don’t particularly like the show, I enjoy watching and critiquing it along with others. And that is where this issue and clash starts coming into play. 

Whenever I’m watching a show, I watch it with a critical eye. An analytical gaze, if you will. So oftentimes, what happens is I’ll come across a show that I’m enjoying overall, but something about the show isn’t working for me. Whether that be a character, a plot line, soundtrack, etc. That is when I’ll critique the show (different than hate but that’s another post). Now it’s important to note that what I am critiquing is the show, not the novel. I can’t possibly critique the novel that the show is based off of if I haven’t read it. I also wouldn’t feel comfortable critiquing an unofficial translation (again, that’s another post).

So when anyone makes a post critiquing a show, it is actually irrelevant to bring up the novel as an argument against the critique. I understand that the novel might provide additional context that the show is missing, but that’s kind of the point. The show is missing the context. And that’s the clash. The show and the novel are two completely separate pieces of media. By the very nature of the medium that is portraying the story, it’s going to be different. So the show needs to be able to hold up without relying on people having read the novel. If I need to read the novel to get the necessary context for any aspect of any story that I am consuming through the medium of a show (or movie), then that show has inherently failed at what it set out to do. Which is to tell a cohesive story. I’d also argue that a lot of the shows that people constantly like to bring up the novel for, actually do work as a cohesive story and don’t need the context that people are trying to provide. 

A critique of a show doesn’t necessarily mean that the show is bad or missing anything. A critique is simply something that caught someone’s attention when they were watching and reading into the scene. It is a criticism based on a close reading of a scene, a character, etc. And most often, those criticisms are presented by people with the knowledge and skill set to be able to do that. (For instance, I have a degree and professional experience doing close reads of texts). Critiques are not asking for additional context from the novel. They aren’t asking how it is or what happened in the novel (unless explicitly stated that they want to know).

 It’s important that we, as the viewers, are able to draw that distinction between novel and show because they are ultimately different. A critique for the show might not be the same for the novel, but that’s the point. They are different and they can’t be consumed the same way. I would certainly approach a close reading of a novel very differently than I would a show. I’d actually probably be a lot harsher on a novel than when I’m critiquing a show. Which is another reason I’m not particularly comfortable reading unofficial fan translations. It wouldn’t be fair to the author or the translator to have me read it the way I normally would. 

And that brings me to my last point. I have read a few of these novels and the only one I ever posted about was Bite Me. And I kept those posts on my own blog. I did not go to someone else’s post or blog and “well actually” them about how it happened in the novel. Because they are two separate things and I recognize that not everyone has read the novel nor would want to know and it’s not my place to tell them how to view their media. 

If you want to read the novel, that’s fine, wonderful even! More power to you. I’m so thankful we live in a time where it’s possible and that there are awesome fans out there who put in the enormous amount of work it takes to translate things. But if you do read the novel, please remember: it is not the same as the show, someone critiquing the show is not asking for your opinion on what happened in the novel, and it is always best to make your own posts if you want to talk about the novel. That last point is especially important. People can always filter tags or block/unfollow people that they disagree with or who post novel spoilers, but that doesn’t work when people go to someone else’s post or blog to say it. 

And last but not least, it’s just common courtesy not to give out book spoilers for currently airing shows. It’s 2022 and we should all know better by now. Unless a spoiler is asked for, do not give one. 

[vulcan-moon]

selective memory placed on a pedestal

[theabigailthorn]

"Good" Acting

i have a theory that a lot of people say acting is "good" when they're emotionally moved by it, and a lot of cishet white people have a lifelong habit of not listening or empathising when minoritised people speak, so minority actors get called "bad" even when they display some pretty fucking amazing technical skill

[bigshotautos]

PIIP PIIP

[shepscapades]

Thanks to artfight, I’ve finally finished a detailed, official dbhc cub reference! :D

(I’ve put his Artifight description below the cut, which has a more detailed explanation of his timeline, lore, and aesthetics! >:3)

-ˋˏ ༻ ❁  OVERVIEW ❁ ༺ ˎˊ-

Name: C.B.F.N.4000 (Cub) Pronouns: He/Him Species: Android Height: 5’9’’ Associated Visual Themes: vex, ghosts, explosions, mischief, scientist aesthetic, potions, potionmaking, sleepy/tired aesthetic, conspiracies

-ˋˏ ༻ ❁  ABOUT ❁ ༺ ˎˊ-

CBFN4000 is an au version of MCYT Hermitcraft’s Cubfan, set in my DBHC (or Detroit Become Hermitcraft) AU! This au is inspired by the 2018 game Detroit Become Human, but not because it really has anything to do with DBH—I simply yoinked the android mechanics and incorporated them into the world of Hermitcraft. It began as a S8 au, and has roughly followed the hermitcraft timeline up to the present! 

Cub was the last android made during Season 8. While many of the hermit androids were made at the beginning of season 8 and a few were made for season 9, Cub was finished and activated mid-late Season 8, around the time when Hermits started noticing the Big Moon. Cub’s model ended up being a sloppy experiment in deviation, as Doc suggested they try to transfer deviancy to an android upon activation to try and avoid traumatic situations that might cause an android to deviate violently or upsettingly, such as Etho’s, Tango’s, or Mumbo’s experiences. While this went relatively well initially, it clearly wasn’t very thoroughly thought out, as Xisuma (who is normally so adamant and detail-oriented when it comes to assuring the androids’ safety with experiments like this) wasn’t truly himself due to external manipulation and mostly left a relatively young-deviant Doc to carry out the project himself. 

Cub, though adjusting to sentience rather well at first, very quickly became wrapped up in the Big Moon happenings on the server, new personality and inexperience to emotions like fear and ignorance completely overwhelming his young system. He became obsessive over the implications and consequences of the Season 8 Moon Apocalypse, joining the Mooners and spreading his conspiracy theories religiously throughout the server as he descended into madness. The insanity was like a virus to his programming, pervasive and all-engulfing, and Cub’s final attempt to free himself from the Moon’s impact with the Earth—to launch himself on a llama into space via potion-powered TNT(insane btw)— left his hands and feet singed and cracked to ruin.

The experiment, considered a horrific failure by a deeply shameful—and more awake—S9 Xisuma, left Doc and Xisuma with the decision to reset him for the new season, and they ended up pairing him with a hermit like they had done with the other androids until they had found deviancy enough to pursue their own projects. So, at the start of season 9 and fresh after a reset, Cub was paired with Scar. Naturally, because Scar is… Scar, Cub deviated almost instantly after being given to him, and very quickly adopted the iconic lazy, stoic, amused attributes normally associated with Cubfan. Scar’s tendency towards mischief and general shenanigans grew instantly on Cub, and the two were an immediate inseparable pair. So much so that when Scar began rambling one day about his Season 5 Hermitcraft Shenanigans (where deals with the Vex may or may not have been involved), Cub immediately stated he was interested in being in on it. Whatever “it” means. It’s unclear if Cub also made a deal with the vex or became connected to them in some other way, but… well, he got Doc’s help to trick out his eyes, hair, and back to best fit the part. Scar is very jealous that he can't magically make himself have the same features to match.

Cub is closest with Scar, but he gets along just as well with any of the other hermits! He’s close with Jevin and many of the other redstoners like Etho and Doc, who are the other two androids I’ve put on artfight!

-ˋˏ ༻ ❁  EXTRAS ❁ ༺ ˎˊ-

Cub's eyes can light up in the dark, and he’s the only android who has edited his programming so that the default state of his LED is white, not blue. It still will go yellow and red if his processors are working particularly hard, but he’s replaced the blue setting on his LED with white to better match the Vex vibe. Cub has all of the vibes of a fae. If that’s anything <3

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

a couple scribbles i cleaned up. also i think i like drawing him in varying states of distress

[spinaart]

hey leader!!!

[novembermorgon]

aemon

[dukeofthomas]

Here's my controversial opinion; if you're trying to write Bruce as a non-abusive, good parent, you should also write him respecting his kids' privacy, boundaries, and not stalking&surveying them.

[wellsbering]

Cycle 99.

The sky above is blue, and there’s only one sun... but otherwise, it feels like home.

i don't post much (any?) of my cosplay on here but these photos turned out so well i had to share!! shoutout to my friend mel (@baroqueblood on instagram) for capturing these incredible shots of my lup last month :,) i'm so so proud of this cosplay, i've slowly assembled it one piece at a time over about 2 years and i think this is the best version of it so far!

[obsob]

making and weaving and loving! like we have done for millennia!!

[deeva-arud]

A considerable amount of makeup was used to cover Deeva's freckles and face marks, and Cater also had to use magic to make her clothes his size. They did this as a joke, but they sure were committed to it! 💪

Original style swap challenge by @ashipiko ! (see her post here!!) If anyone wants to give it a try, go ahead, it's really fun!!! <3

[itscherryterry-again]

yea

[elskiee]

the waist... the hand flick... the long hair... the blush... the teehee.... yeah violet tops

[shigayokagayama]

people calling ekurei a crackship makes me nuts like. when i think crackship i think "ship between two characters who have never even been in the same room together". this is ekurei of "if you cannot get into paradise when you die, you can always stay with me." that's just having eyes.

[telanadasvhenan]

thinking more about the psychological aspect of solavellan, and before I start, I'd like to stress that this is NOT CRITICAL of it, I actually think it's what makes part of the dynamic interesting. My word isn't the be all and end all, however, this is just my musings on the topic :] Also, REALLY long post! so, more under the read more lol

From Lavellan's point of view, I would personally struggle to see her trusting another lover or close one again for a long time, if ever again. I don't really think people ever talk about the real impact of the things she goes through, or what solas put her through, and the hurt as a result of it. The relationship is never defined between the two of them, it's always spoken about in vague undetermined words from their companions and poetic elvish between the two of them. Are they lovers? companions? partners? it's really up to the player. Leliana says that "you were close", Sera says Lavellan is "in it." Vhenan means home, heart, it's not a word said lightly imo and he tells you he loves her by their second kiss. It's never an official thing, so how secure can Lavellan truly feel?

This could go both ways when it comes to the break up. Crestwood, as a scene, is so interesting to me because the first portion seems like a man brought to his knees by weakness for the woman he loves. The two of them never cease to touch, fingers entwined, shoulders brushing, skin to skin. It's so reminiscent of how Lavellan matches his Hallelujah cadence. They're two parts of a song singing together. It's a gorgeous scene and it's understandable how so many are angry at how it ends because the whiplash between how it starts and what it leaves you with is severe. Imagine this from lavellan's shoes.

You're desperately in love with someone at odds with your people, who is wonderful and enticing and smart. Loving solas feels like loving the whole world, like being free and connected with the stars. But you don't know what this is. And, if you thought you did, how far can you presume? Is Lavellan always on edge, scared to love him deeper and richer than he loves her? or is she in a false sense of security, assuming his affection is forever hers. So when he not only breaks away your faith and trust in your history, plus potentially the vallaslin, she is clearly deeply upset. This isn't a minor fact that simply can be swept aside. The vallaslin is important. And Solas, even with the best intentions, has hurt her. He knows it and there's a reason why he apologises (bc he wimped out on the real truth). How much more does he know about her people that he has refused to tell her or kept from her by omission? Can you imagine the embarrassment, the utter humiliation of that secret? how many memories of them together where she replays his distaste for her people in her mind, knowing that he has access to knowledge that could change her perception of her past? Its ALOT. and thats even before the breakup.

Solas is not kind about the break up. It's rushed (impulsive to me) and doesn't do their connection justice. His composure cracks in places and it's very unlike him. It absolutely blindsides the player, so imagine being in Lavellan's place, AFTER THE VALLASLIN? personally, I wouldn't have been able to function. I half suspect that a sad, calm Lavellan is also in shock or disassociation. Because how else do you cope? The lack of communication between them alone is enough to raise my eyebrows. He promises answers. He confides that she saw through his mask and doesn't tell her what was real, and what was fake. He has given her a kernel truth whilst keeping her in the dark. Everything he told her could be a false, imaginary polite mask or it could be the truth. Where does it end? Where does he begin? Where does she stand?

I don't know if everyone has experienced what it's like to be ghosted or for a friend to simply disappear one day, but it changes you. I say this as someone who has both been avoidant as well as anxious, but you never recover. Someone disappearing like that makes you doubt any reassurance that people won't just evaporate from your life. So when Solas just disappears, the game's single conversation with Leliana feels a little lacking to me. I understand that they can't really dedicate a lot to it, I get that, so I'd like to fill it in. At first, it's search parties. Solas wouldn't just leave her like that. He promised her answers. He started another mural just before they left for corypheus. He didn't intend to just leave, surely.

Days, weeks and months pass. The question is worse than the truth. Is he dead? Did he use them? Was he being truthful when he spoke to her in those ruins, or another polite mask he could hide behind? Is it better if he's dead or better than he didn't deem her worthy enough to even say goodbye? We, as the players, obviously know this isn't true, but she doesn't know that. Does your lavellan assume the worst and be overcome with grief that her one love, her heart, her home, was nothing more than a lie of omission? or is there anger there at his betrayal of her trust once more? I seriously doubt it was easy to forget or dismiss. That kind of disappearance ruins your trust with people. Something. Anything would have been enough.

Again, this is all my opinion on how these emotions would play out and DEFINITELY NOT canon nor do they have to be! But I seriously struggle to see how Lavellan could even come to heal from these wounds within even a two year time skip. By the time of trespasser, almost everyone has left her side. She's almost entirely alone again, save Cullen and Josie (and leliana if she's not divine). And thats okay: they all have rich lives to return to. But that must just reaffirm to her that no one will stay. She is alone. How does she trust again?

And then there is Fen'harel. Lavellan's reaction to fen'harel has always lacked the fear I kind of hoped would be there? I mean this isn't just a minor deity, this IS THE antagonist of her entire faith. I'm assuming that she's lost hope in the gods, even though it's confirmed to her that they're real, but that message has been a part of her since childhood. So learning that he is the dreadwolf, again not from him, but from the fragments of his past must cut her deeply.

Her love was never who he said he was, she knows this, but who is the real man? She's never known him in a context where he can truly show her. Her love is fragmented between each identity he holds. Her trust that he is who he said he is fragments with it. The knowledge that not only has he been watching the inquisition, her, for years without a single hint that he lives or is okay must destroy her. Could you imagine how insignificant you must feel to him? And he essentially affirms to her that yes, in the greater scheme of things, his love and hers are inconsequential. They cannot matter to him because he cannot strive from his path. His indulgence was a mistake. And it's undeniably cruel. I love solas and I cannot argue that he was kind to Lavellan because he wasn't. To me, there is no way to see his actions as kind. Understandable, absolutely and definitely without malicious intent.

Lavellan learns that he loved her just as deeply, if not more. He loved her with all his heart and it did not matter. She changed him and it has only brought him more pain. He loves her too much to even allow her near him, to even give himself that weakness. They are apart from each other in an endless distance, only the two of them in the world. No one else.

Obviously, each Lavellan is different, and I've made a lot of assumptions, but I think it's worth considering. How do you love someone again after all of that? How much can you rebuild your faith after what you have learnt. Lavellan has loved a "god" (I know he's not a god, but for all intents and purposes, he has the power of a god and wears an evanuris crown.) and in turn, a god has loved her. And he left her with one last embrace that will leave its mark on her forever, then he leaves once more. Lavellan is alone.

Each love after is met with suspicion, distrust and comparison. Lavellan is entirely changed. How many pieces of her can be taken away until she is no longer herself? Each person wears a new mask she cannot determine. Where do they begin? Where can she find herself?

How lonely it must be to love someone like Solas and be at the other side of an endless distance.