#at least from my perspective I don't think we've ever met

[we-stan-cale]

Another key moment that I was too caught up in to blog about was when Cale and Choi Han met after Choi Han received the records from Choi Jung Soo.

We did kind of suspect it was coming, given Cale heard that Choi Han had collapsed after saying something about Choi Jung Soo - and at the time he seemed fairly calm about the prospect? His attitude seemed to be 'Choi Han might figure things out and be upset with me, but at least he's alive. We can deal with it so long as he's alive.'

And then there he is, burning up a lake of dead mana during a major fight, when Raon reports that Choi Han woke up...

Woke up crying, shouting about 'Kim Rok Soo', and immediately headed for Cale.

I guess first of all - what an amazing way to get one of Cale's closest compatriots to understand some of Cale's secrets. And history.

We all know Cale wasn't going to say shit, and his friends have seen enough to trust him even though they can tell Cale keeps a lot to himself, but we now have a solid reason (Choi Jung Soo passing along his ability, which required the records/memories) for at least one of them to know more. (With Alberu learning more later, and I suspect others eventually learning too).

This signifies yet another major shift in their relationship. One where Choi Han is much more of a friend than the subordinate he acted as initially. Not that he stops acting as Cale's knight, but there's a closeness that wasn't really there before. (All of which becomes even more obvious with Cale, Choi Han, and Alberu during the sealed god's test - and they are an amazing trio there! It was so fun starting my reread and remembering where they began, because they grow so close over the course of the story).

We also see some of what Choi Han saw, and I think this is the first time we really got an outside perspective of who Kim Rok Soo was before the transmigration.

Not just that, but hints of what Kim Rok Soo, Choi Jung Soo, and Lee Soo Hyuk were like before their tragic fight against the unranked monster.

We see how Kim Rok Soo supported the team with information, how he grabbed a metal board to block an attack on Choi Jung Soo, and even broke an arm in the process. Something Cale skipped over in his own flashback to the same event.

For the first time, we can truly see how Cale only tells part of the story...

We can tell Kim Rok Soo was devastated, not that it wasn't obvious before, but Choi Jung Soo was worried about him.

We also learn that, as Choi Jung Soo put it:

He would also take this Kim Rok Soo who claimed he was going to be a slacker and put him to work. If he left this punk to be a slacker, he was bound to go cause trouble somewhere. He and the team leader discussed making him farm with them, so that they won’t have to go save his ass.

Choi Han himself indicates that he figured out that Cale was Kim Rok Soo partly because they acted exactly the same.

And really, what sorts of things did Kim Rok Soo get up to, that they think he's a loose canon like that?

So team leader Kim Rok Soo probably was also constantly making trouble... Ah, the stories Team 1 could probably tell.

We have all that history, have Choi Han rushing to meet Cale on the battlefield...

And then we have one of the most ridiculous encounters imaginable.

Cale seems awkward and unsure on a way I don't think we've ever seen before. He's stuttering and worrying about things that seem kind of more a distraction than real concerns, and is avoiding his gaze (though he did make an opening for Choi Han in the wall of fire he set up while burning the dead mana, so he wasn't exactly avoiding Choi Han).

We also see how Cale is closely observing Choi Han for signs of anger, how he focuses on Choi Han's unthinking and instinctual touching of his sword which - is probably because of his traumatic childhood? We can see some of what Choi Han was thinking and knew he wasn't even considering hurting Cale, but Cale was obviously concerned about that).

And in the midst of all this. In the midst of this big dramatic moment, we have Raon commenting on how weird their being and - perhaps the most amusing part - the cheapskate ancient power still purifying the dead mana.

Yes, cheapskate. Good job. Keep on purifying that dead mana while Cale and Choi Han have their big moment.

Oh, whoops. I guess a major battle isn't really the time or place for that. Enter Dorph the Lion King, who won't even let them finish their conversation.

This whole encounter is equally moving and hilarious, really. And it's so nice that Cale finally has someone who really knows him.

[esprei]

I just recently got into the submas Fandom and people kept telling me about Emmet x Volo being bad and toxic.

But when I looked into it, all I saw was your art of them and some. And it's not toxic at all??? What are people talking about?

You show them so nice and healthy wholesome together. It actually makes me interested in that ship.

Is that wrong of me? I just think your art of them is pretty neat.

Maybe more people should see how you show their relationship and stop not letting people have nice things.

hey there! first of all, welcome to the fandom! :D hopefully you'll have a great time! and I can do my best to explain this from my perspective at least. or... at least from what I've experienced/seen. (sorry, this will probably end up being long ;;) so to preface, it's not wrong of you at all to be interested in the ship! Emmet and Volo themselves have had zero interactions with each other in canon up to this point, so their interactions/relationship/etc are a blank slate, free real estate sandbox that's up to one's imagination and fanon interpretation. there's nothing inherently wrong about putting them together because they have no dialogue between them or anything that can be referenced as "this is how they would go together, this is how they would interact because it's been established that way in this game or piece of media". all we've got is their dialogue and individual personalities that we can glean from official sources (i.e. Pokemon Masters EX, the Pokemon Special manga and BW/BW2 for Emmet and Legends Arceus for Volo). really the only thing that "connects" Emmet and Volo is Ingo ending up in Hisui. and the reason I say this "connects" them is because a popular theory is that Ingo being sent to Hisui was a direct result of Volo having Giratina open the rift to try and drive Arceus out. but none of this is actually ever stated in canon, I believe. (also when I've seen some people talk before about this theory, there's basically this implication that Volo did it out of malicious intent, as if he knew he was going to bring Ingo specifically to Hisui by doing it and...? I'm so sorry, but no, I just cannot get behind this at all. Volo's sole purpose of getting Giratina to open up the rift was to drive Dialga and Palkia mad in order to bring Arceus from out of hiding - that's literally what he says in the game's dialogue.

I highly doubt that he had any idea as to who Ingo was at all before he met him at some point in Hisui for the first time). but yeah. i only bring this up because it's kinda what I think started the idea of Emmet and Volo interacting at all? maybe not exactly, I can't remember because it's been too long and I both don't remember and wasn't too directly involved when all of this started. but essentially Emmet and Volo even being considered interacting kinda revolved around this idea that Emmet is looking for Ingo, finds out that Volo was the reason for the rift that caused Ingo's disappearance, and that now leads me into the part of why I think the ship is seen as toxic. so. the main reason I'm pretty sure that people say that the ship is toxic is because of how much a lot of early art/works portrayed it (based on what I just explained above). and it's totally fair. because admittedly it did start out with some violent aspects and really just Emmet doing things I personally don't think he would ever do. for example, beating the crap out of Volo for being the reason Ingo disappeared. Emmet being violent in order to demand answers for the sake of getting his brother back. etc, etc. and this really put a bad taste in people's mouths because it really just cast Emmet in a bad light. that, and it was a toxic, unhealthy portrayal of an enemies to lovers trope. and Volo was kinda portrayed as conniving/sneaky/manipulative/etc, and yeah. just things like that I think made popular for it ended up giving the pair a bad rep early on when Legends Arceus was still a popular topic (we're talking like... I dunno. late March into April and on of 2022? ...2022 was when PLA came out right?) honestly though? the beauty about a ship like this is that, as i said before, it's a completely blank slate. it's free real estate. you can portray it however you see fit because there's absolutely zero canon to base it off of (as far as the two characters themselves interacting with each other goes). it can be as wholesome as you want it to be. or it can be enemies to lovers. it can be rivals to lovers. it can be just two guys who happen to meet on the Battle Subway or in Gear Station and connect through a shared love of Pokemon/battling and develop a relationship that way. just because the ship itself maybe had the majority of its portrayal in the beginning as unhealthy doesn't mean it's forever bad, toxic and all around unsalvageable at this point. and while I certainly don't expect anyone who's perhaps uncomfortable or otherwise turned off from the ship because of its roots to suddenly turn around one day and warm up to it because it has potential to be portrayed in a wholesome or positive way, I also don't think it's very fair to blanket label the whole ship bad and toxic just for the fact alone that a lot of the early works for it were depicting a not-so-healthy relationship between the two. i mean that was like... two years ago at this point. things can change. anyway, this is getting long like I knew it would so I'll stop there XD I hope this at least maybe gives some context as to why the ship is seen that way by some? but at the end of the day there's no canon official way to portray it. it has potential to be healthy! and there's nothing wrong about being interested in it. that's just my two cents on it :D

and lastly, thank you so much! it really warms my heart to hear that you think my art of them is pretty neat! I really do want to draw more for them, just... you know. time and motivation 😅 but hopefully I can do something again for them soon!

[deltaruminations]

i may or may not ever post a full-on Essay about my Tree Man As Gaster's Shadow reading or whatever. but here is a summary of some of the main points

i'm not exactly an expert in analytical psychology jungian bullshit but i'll try to represent this concept as well as i can from a strictly literary perspective lol. but basically, the shadow is kind of a model of repression (or suppression, or disownership) of personality traits, representing blind spots in one’s self-perception. These blind spots encompass aspects that are part of a personality, but are inconsistent with that person’s own self-concept; if the person were to see these aspects in themself, it would undermine their conscious sense of self. To protect that self-concept, their mind pushes awareness of these aspects into an unconscious space, where they come to comprise the shadow. If, for example, someone were to see themself as being highly rational and stoic, their shadow might encompass their irrationality and sentimentality.

While the shadow is typically unseen, it’s still present — those aspects are still part of the personality — and this causes conflict with the conscious self-concept. in theory, it's through acknowledging and understanding the shadow (“assimilating” it) that one is able to manage and reduce that conflict.

Typically one would encounter their shadow in projecting it onto other people, but in this context it might be more literal — rather than a projection, the shadow is straight-up just a separate entity, acting on its own. this in particular is consistent with Jung's idea that the shadow can be encountered in dreams, in the form of “dark figures” of the same gender as the dreamer (paraphrased from Wikipedia’s paraphrasing of Jung. lmao).

spr_mysteryman could be said to have two faces. for our purposes here, we'll say that the "dominant" or primary face represents the persona (the “mask,” or social role), and the reversed, less obvious face represents the shadow. In shattering, Gaster’s personality was split across two separate actors: Mysterious Voice reflects the impulses and perspectives of the persona, while Tree Man reflects those of the shadow. we could maybe say abstractly that "Gaster" exists between them, and that these "pieces" are in some kind of power struggle over that core personality. "Gaster" as he once was may not presently exist, at least in a way that we've personally met -- it's possible that the only example of dialogue we currently have from a Complete Gaster is ENTRY NUMBER SEVENTEEN.

from here on, we're going to assume that Tree Man wrote the Weird Valentine. i originally jotted down a ton of bullet points as to why i think it's reasonable to conflate the Letter Writer with Tree Man with A Gaster but i don't feel like trying to edit them into anything legible right now so. just roll with me on this lol

As the persona, Mysterious Voice carries the idea of Being Gaster. He knows of his identity as Gaster, because the purpose of Gaster’s persona is to represent Gaster – his name, his profession, his place in the world, the expectations he thinks others should have of him – and to meet those expectations. He’s everything A Gaster is “supposed” to be, at least externally. Mysterious Voice is not just Wingdings The Guy, but Dr. W.D. Gaster, the Royal Scientist. He has to be unfailingly stoic, rational, and professional. His priority is the Work; he has to see the Work succeed, though he may not remember – at least on a visceral level – why the Work mattered in the first place.

As the shadow, Tree Man may not be aware of Being Gaster, because the purpose of Gaster’s shadow is to be hidden from Gaster. He’s everything A Gaster isn’t “supposed” to be, everything that’s inconvenient to the idea and function of A Gaster, yet is a real part of him despite this. where MV is highly guarded in his self-presentation (extremely formal, speaks in a way that betrays as little information as possible about his personality or genuine emotions) and maintains a high degree of control over our access to him (only appearing on his own terms), Tree Man is friendly, forthcoming, and actively delights in being sought out. where MV seems to be fully lucid and cogent, Tree Man seems to bear the brunt of a "shattered" perspective, with a disordered sense of time and even "space" (ex., transposing words and phrases). Where MV betrays very little emotion, Tree Man is consistently associated with emotion -- repeatedly described as looking "happy," being forthcoming with his philosophies on "love," etc. Maybe the reason why the Weird Valentine seems simultaneously Gaster-y as hell yet bizarrely inconsistent with what we've seen of the Mysterious Voice's characterization is because it is nearly a 180 in personality. the shadow is inherently incongruous with the persona – that’s why it’s the shadow in the first place.

We also see Tree Man's "shadow"-ness in how he manifests in-game as a glitch in Mysterious Voice’s program, something that isn’t “supposed” to be there, but nonetheless is; he isn’t visible (yet) and has no in-game “voice” (yet), but he still forces his way through the cracks. He's in a type of conflict with Mysterious Voice, undermining his control over the game by encouraging the player to behave in illogical, non-prescribed ways (the type of behavior that leads, for example, to a Weird Route), though this doesn’t seem to be motivated by malice or a specific desire for conflict so much as a simple need to be acknowledged and engaged with -- to "connect."

it's possible that Tree Man is less operating on a coherent "plan" (in the way Mysterious Voice seems to be) and more that he's acting on whims related to a sense memory of whatever the Complete Gaster's motivations might have been. where Mysterious Voice remembers What he means to do (create the program, find a NEW FUTURE, etc.), Tree Man remembers Why he means to do it; that is, he's able to access the emotional underpinnings of the mission, even if he can't access the rational logic of it -- ex., he remembers wanting to help someone (a feeling of compassion) even if he doesn't remember the specific identity of this person.

if we put stock in the "shadow" model, then what this all suggests is that the theoretical Complete Gaster encompasses both "rational" and "irrational" traits -- but the latter set of traits (including, possibly: sentimentality, whimsy, compassion, interpersonal curiosity, and emotional vulnerability) has been disowned and disempowered, while the former set of traits (broadly speaking, strict self-control and focused prioritization of a "professional" goal) currently has control over the project -- something that may ultimately be to the detriment of both Gaster and his project. the threat posed by Tree Man to "Gaster" is a loss of control, possibly in the form of emotional overwhelm, the pains of trauma or guilt or regret, or the inconvenience of a moral compass, and so on; but without these traits, MV/"Gaster" might be prone to decisions that are callous, unimaginative, or otherwise harmful and unproductive, because he's forgotten what the project meant to him as a Person, and not simply as a Professional.

consider that interacting with Tree Man in chapter 1 causes him to appear outside the tree room in chapter 2 (in a car stuck in traffic), whether or not Egg was even received -- does simply acknowledging and engaging with Tree Man empower him? does it make him more visible and harder to suppress? Egg itself is described as being “not too important, not too unimportant"; maybe Egg is important in that it motivates us to find and interact with him, but it’s not inherently important on its own. It’s simply… ha ha… it’s s-simply… ha ha ha… it’s… EGGING US ON…

anyway. we could guess that Tree Man's intention to Help Someone has a double meaning -- ultimately, Gaster's goal is to help someone else; but before that can really be accomplished, "Gaster" needs to help himself by acknowledging and assimilating the part of himself that frightens him, the part that threatens his Control, and be put back together -- not physically, but psychologically. "tear off the mask beneath your face" and so on lol

ok that's it. GOOD BY........

[someidiotwithalaptop]

Alright: What the FUCK happened to Summer???

Because something sure did, and every new thing we hear about her gets more disturbing, and it haunts me.

So, I'll start with stuff that's fairly certain and like, small leaps of logic before I go full tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist. We have very little actual info about Summer, nearly all of it from different characters talking about her.

From Yang we get the basic facts from her family's perspective: Summer was a Huntress who went out on a mission and never came back. We also get the characterization of, "Super-Mom: Baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters."

From Qrow, we learn that 1. She was a brat, which like, honestly STRQ was probably just "oops! all brats" 2. He thinks she would have pressed on if she knew the truth, which, uh, she almost definitely did. "We don't have to kill you to stop you," is not the sort of thing you say to Salem if you don't know she's immortal, that's all I'm saying. 3. Whatever her final mission was, she didn't tell him or Tai or Ozpin. I'm inclined to believe Ozpin when he says he genuinely doesn't know what happened to Summer, since his biggest secret is already out—plus he's been genuinely repentent about the mess his lying caused in Volume 6 and is taking steps to do better in the future. It would feel really weird thematically if he knew and was keeping yet another giant bomb of a secret. So Summer went on her final mission alone, or at the very least, she didn't tell any of Ozpin's inner circle where she was going.

We'll get to speculating about why not later, but I think this point is probably going to be important in Ruby's character arc—whatever Summer's ultimate fate, she got there because she tried to save the world alone, and we've seen Ruby do something similar. Like she's not running off after Salem by herself, but she's definitely trying to shoulder the burden of leading and inspiring everyone to keep going all on her own, without asking for help as that responsibility has been slowly yet systematically destroying her mental health. I mean ffs she's been literally carrying her team on her shoulders for two episodes now.

HOWEVER: Oz, Tai, and Qrow don't know anything about what happened to Summer, but it's possible that Raven might. When Ruby tries to reach out to her and convince her to work together, because they'll have a better chance than if they try to do it alone, Raven says, "You sound just like your mother," in truly the most bitter, disdainful-ass tone I have ever heard. And then she opens a portal for Cinder to throw a fireball at her. Whether this is about a more generalized friction that maybe contributed to Raven leaving, or a specific moment when Summer tried to get her on board with whatever she was doing on that final mission, is kind of uncertain. Or it could be both!

(And it might also be she married my ex bitterness but, admitting my biases here, I hate that fucking trope with a fiery passion and I think it's more interesting if her anger at Summer is actually about Summer.)

Regardless, if Summer did ask her for help, then based on how Raven reacted to Ruby I don't think she got it lmao

And then. Oh, and then. We get Salem!

"Your mother said those words to me. She was wrong too."

"Her again?"

So like. Salem definitely met her. Had a whole-ass conversation with her, even.

And that fucking smile??? Salem did some shit to Summer. It's just a question of what, exactly?

Right. Okay. So after they kill the Hound and realize WHOOPS that was a person and he looks an awful lot like Ruby! and everyone reunites, Ruby says this:

"When I saw its eyes, I knew. Salem used to kill people with Silver Eyes, like Maria. But she’s always wanted me alive. Why would that change unless, when she met Mom, she learned she could do something new?"

Timeline-wise, this seems accurate! But I'd like to also insert TR into the equation. It's a little hard to tell given the uhh, body horror of it all, but he definitely looks younger than Qrow (which is maybe not saying a lot given that Raven looks at least ten years younger than Qrow and she's his twin lmao) and, more to the point, like he's probably younger than Summer.

Like, yeah, hard to tell, but I don't think this man is past forty. And even if he is, it doesn't seem like Salem's had him for very long, seeing as she never sent him after Ruby or the relics in previous volumes. So he's probably an example of what Salem's been doing to SEWs after Summer.

Also, Salem calls him an experiment, and says that so far she's pleased with the results. Meaning Summer isn't exactly a Hound, though I wouldn't say that puts grimmification off the table. Just that it's not in the exact same way he is. And it's worth pointing out that the way TR has been grimmified, it's left him completely without agency and unable to disobey Salem. Even after Ruby blasts the Grimm off his head, he's still left repeating "Take The Girl" over and over without any sign of whoever he used to be coming back to the surface. It's possible that is what Salem is referring to when she calls him a successful experiment.

So the way Salem has dealt with people with silver eyes has gone:

Maria (kill her) > Summer (?!?!) > TR (an... experiment) > Ruby (bring her to me alive)

Adding TR into the mix, it seems unlikely that the "something new" Salem learned she could do from Summer Rose would actually have been, y'know, a Hound. Plus from a narrative perspective, I don't think we're going to have Ruby literally saying exactly what happened to Summer into the camera only for her to turn up, Hound-ified just as expected, a couple volumes later. So, some possibilities:

Ruby is actually exactly correct about what happened to Summer, but she's not going to show up later so there's no reason not to just tell us. Personally I doubt it's this, given the way the mystery has been unfolding over eight volumes and counting. It'd be kind of weird to just tell us instead of showing us, or indeed having the Hound literally be Summer. Also, if Summer is a Hound too then why is TR an experiment?

Summer was Grimmified but didn't survive the process, so she gave Salem the idea but she's not actually a Hound. This also seems a bit odd to me given that would mean she's basically just dead like we assumed, but with extra steps. Like it's upsetting but it doesn't represent the kind of dramatic upheaval to the sisters' worldviews that it feels like this is building towards. It doesn't explain how fucking smug Salem is about the whole thing.

Summer was Grimmified, but didn't actually lose any agency. This would explain why Salem is still experimenting, and why she's so pleased with TR—he's even more singleminded in carrying out her goals than Tyrian is. It also fits with the way the Grimmification worked on Salem. Even after she jumped into the goop, she was still very much herself—it's possible it influenced her, but she was definitely capable of showing love and affection to both Ozma and her daughters. She just, uhh,,, was also willing to try and murder them. But it's unclear to me how much of that was Evil Goo and how much was just that there's no way a human being spends any significant length of time as the Last Woman Alive without some unpleasant side effects. We're social creatures and we do not generally do well when completely deprived of company.

Summer wasn't Grimmified at all, the whole Hound thing is a red herring.

In either 3 or 4, regardless of how much body horror happened, Ruby is wrong about what happened to Summer. And in order to not undercut that moment of utter despair at what probably happened to Summer... I feel like what actually did happen has to be. like. worse.

AND IT'S A TAD DIFFICULT TO GET WORSE THAN THE HOUND.

So. Time to put our tinfoil hats on: what if we add an element of horrible betrayal?

Yes this is a Summer-joined-Salem conspiracy post.

But hear me out okay! Circling back a bit, why wouldn't Summer tell any of the inner circle where she was going? If she talked to anyone, it was Raven, who had already noped the fuck out by the time Summer went on her final mission. Now, if it was just Tai and Qrow I'd say she might've kept it from them for the same reason everyone always keeps that secret—she didn't want them to lose hope. But... Ozpin already knows. There'd be no reason not to tell him what she was doing, unless she knew he'd try to stop her.

Now: my goal here is to make all this make sense, without altering the first foundational piece of characterization we get for Summer. Namely, "Super-Mom: Baker of cookies and slayer of giant monsters." I'm not saying Summer learned the truth and went, welp, if you can't beat 'em join 'em. Because both Summer and Raven tend to act as foils to Ruby and Yang, and "gave up immediately" doesn't feel like an interesting foil to Ruby's perserverence. But, if you find out that there's an existential threat to the entire world, and she can't be killed...

Isn't it worth trying to negotiate?

Especially if, say, you were absolutely desperate to end this war in your lifetime. Because Summer knows that if it's really impossible, if Salem can't be stopped, then Ruby will get dragged in whether she likes it or not. All because of a trait that Summer passed down to her.

Salem's been killing people with silver eyes, probably for millenia. It's easily possible that Summer had her own visit from someone like Tock, or noticed the same thing Maria's father did, that there's a suspicious lack of people with silver eyes considering how useful they are against the Grimm. As long as Salem is a threat, Ruby is going to be in that same danger. Forever.

So she has to do something, right? If there's even the tiniest chance she can end this now, before Ruby will ever have to suffer for it, before she gets pulled into an impossible war and Yang comes charging in after her, because of course she's going to try to help her sister... isn't that a chance worth taking?

This is why I think Raven knows some shit, by the by—when she's telling Yang about Salem, she actually kind of indirectly drops the same bomb that went off in Volume 6, it's just that she didn't do it in the same explicit terms that Jinn did. "She can't be stopped, she can't be reasoned with, and she will not rest until Humanity crumbles at her feet."

"Can't be stopped" is Raven's translation of can't be killed, since "We don't have to kill you to stop you" seems to be a flavor of terrifying exclusive to Ruby and apparently Summer. But "can't be reasoned with" implies that somebody tried. And like, let's be honest. Do we really think Raven was the one who decided to give diplomacy a go?

Not to mention this line, which I'm like 90% sure is referring to Summer:

"Or... you can go back to Qrow and join Ozpin's impossible war against Salem, and meet the same fate as so many others."

It really seems like Raven knows something she's not telling us. Like, if that is a reference to Summer's fate, does that mean Raven knows what it is, or is she just speculating like everyone else? Does she have a portal to Summer, and is that giving her information the others don't have? All that, combined with the fact that she's also way more bitter about Summer than everyone else, seems signficant.

Anyways. Let's say Summer decides to have a chat with Salem.

She can't tell Ozpin. He'd try to stop her, because he'd see it as a suicide mission. Qrow or Tai both might tell him, or agree with him and get in her way, so she keeps it from them too. Maybe she goes off completely by herself—or maybe she goes to Raven, because she's the only one who might be able to help who Summer knows won't breathe a word of it to Ozpin. Either way, Raven doesn't help her. She's not getting anywhere near Salem.

And then... well. Salem got here by manipulating people, by swaying them to her cause. Summer asks her what she actually wants out of all this. Isn't there some way they could resolve this without this endless war, all this endless death?

Important to note, I don't think we've heard Salem's motivation in her own words. At least, not since the Lost Fable, when she wanted to rule with Ozpin as the new gods of Remnant. I think it's safe to say at least a few things have changed since then. Closest I can think of is what she says to Cinder in Volume 8, "In pursuit of a new world, no cost is too great." Which is ominous, but also quite vague, and says nothing about what she plans to do with the relics.

Instead, we get a whole lot of people guessing. Ozpin thinks she wants to die. Tyrian thinks she wants to destroy the world. Hazel and Mercury think she wants to remake it, with no Huntsman Academies, with them as the new top dogs.

There's a pattern here—Salem never actually says what she wants, and other people have a habit of projecting their own motives onto her actions. Ozpin wants to die, Hazel wants to destroy the Huntsmen Academies, Mercury wants to be the one with the power so he's not getting hurt, and Tyrian's just in it for the chaos.

And it's not like Salem hasn't done stuff like that on purpose. By the time she started growing her army against the gods and telling people they would all steal immortality like she did, she'd already tried to kill herself. She didn't want immortality. She just let people think she did, because it was more convenient for her.

So if this agent of Ozpin's comes to her, absolutely desperate for a way to end the fight before it can come for her daughters, well... why not just tell her about the gods? About how Ozpin plans to one day reunite the relics, and submit Remnant to their judgment? About what might happen if he does?

(TBH I don't think Oz will ever do that, not because I think he's decided not to or anything like that, but because I doubt he'll ever see a humanity united enough for it to be worth trying. We're an argumentative bunch.)

But like. To Summer, all of a sudden there's this other, even bigger existential threat. And Salem isn't like Ozpin. She does have a plan! She wants to destroy the relics, so that the gods can never be resummoned, because of course she hates them and so she would never want them to come back!

(Again, not saying this is actually true, my best guess is that she's trying to bring them back so she can fight them again slkdfjlskdj)

And then, if they succeed, not only will the gods not be a threat anymore, Salem won't be a threat either. She'll have gotten what she wants!

"This can all... be... over..."

Summer has to finish this. There has to be a way for her to do this by herself, to save everyone, to put a stop to it all in time to protect her children! (Raven can't be right, it can't just be hopeless!)

From there, all Salem really needs to do is be a bit careful how much she tells her other followers about what she plans to do—which it seems like she has—and eventually find a way to either hide what relics she has or convince Summer that she's trying really hard to destroy them, definitely, pinky promise!

(And, as an aside: if true, it's very possible that the reason Salem's so insistent on keeping Ruby alive isn't that she wants to turn her into another Hound, but rather that was one of Summer's conditions.)

All this, of course, may or may not come with a sprinkle of Grimmification. Because why not add some body horror to the good old-fashioned betrayal horror! Though, if I'm right and not going completely off the wall here, I suspect it's probably more in the vein of Cinder than TR. Namely, like, consensual.

Regardless, it definitely feels like Summer has been idealized to a point that's just sort of... begging for trouble. She's the perfect Huntress. The best of us. The one who would have pressed on. And like, historically putting people on pedestals like that has not gone well in this show (see: Pyrrha). Not to mention the way trying to be the perfect Huntress that Summer was has been affecting Ruby over the years.

Also, definitely totally unrelated to all of the above: I think paragons that turn to evil despite or indeed because of all their wonderful paragon qualities FUCK SEVERELY and I would like to see it.

[naranjapetrificada]

I'm also a queer black adult. There's a difference between spending money for sources of comfort vs needlessly spending stuff to flex status in very childish ways. We definitely see that as we boycott all these companies. Would the latest iPhone be nice? I guess, but it ain't that impressive to support Congo's genocide. Is that Stanley cup cool? Honestly not really, and it definitely ain't worth supporting another genocide for. Even ofmd, it really wasn't that important for queer media or even black queer media, which a lot of Black shows were also canceled at the same time. No one talks about how important black rep is here though. Despite this, however, you are not seeing black people gather funds for a billboard for a show unless we talking about blm. Because that's more important than getting a show back on the air as a flex. So we as adults can recognize the bizarre message we see when people are out here begging for help, and dismissed as scammers. But the moment a donation post for a billboard gets put up to get a show back to production, it meets its up almost instantaneously. As an adult I literally study these kinds of phenomenons in our capitalist society. I'm not sending this message to come at you because you are not the only one who does this, and I certainly am forced to partake in capitalism. But I do want to share that these are the "adult" conversations people are going to have and question. For as many "we can support both ofmd and Palenstine" I read here, I see the same bloggers attacking Palestinians and Black people for rightfully being upset that they certainly do not "do both" with the same amount of passion

Thing is? I don't disagree with almost anything you said, and the frustration is real. The disparities are real. I've been on the other side of that and needed support and seen whose fundraisers met their goals quicker than mine did. All of that is real and under ideal circumstances, yeah, the billboard people could have handled all this better.

I think the differences in where I come at all this from is that:

I watched the live feed of the billboard for a minute, and people put all kinds of less-than-important shit on it. So when I see people talking about how wrong the billboard is I just remember the like, graduation-announcement-level other stuff that was on it for the same price. I'm not saying the idea still didn't rub me wrong but I am saying that put it into perspective for me at least.

This show has changed lives, which may sound silly, but that's art sometimes. There are people whose lives are better and bigger and more authentic than ever before because of this weird mix of kindness and space to be queer that isn't like anything I've ever seen before. I understand that not everyone had such an impactful experience with it but I've found that incredibly moving and valuable and worth the fight for a 3rd season.

More than anything else, I value the efforts to get the show renewed because it feels like a watershed moment in the TV and streaming industries, and things will only get worse from here. I'm aware of all the Black shows that got canceled before OFMD did but a lot of the time people only care when something comes for their shows, and now we've got a a bunch of agitated white gays (who to be clear to everyone except the asker, are NOT the show's sole audience so please stop talking about it that way) who we can and should be pushing to include Rap Sh!t and Love Life etc. when talking about all this. Because it does represent a trend that's coming for everybody, it just started with going after POC and queers first. FWIW I actually did make a post the other day aimed at OFMD people to try to get them talking about the Black shows that were canceled first. (I deleted the original post because my notifications were killing me but reblogs of it should still be floating around out there)

I'm not out here trying to say that people's perfectly understandable frustrations are invalid, it just has felt inconsistent the way a lot of (almost entirely white) self-styled leftists have been coming after OFMD as if it's uniquely horrible.

When BIPOC object to the disparities Asker pointed out, I lift that up and value it. There are things I might say in other forms of this conversation that I would have with other BIPOC away from prying eyes that might surprise you. But right now there's too much noise in this conversation from people who don't actually give a fuck about any of their talking points, they just see an opportunity to dunk on a cringe fandom or they're operating with incomplete/incorrect information about things or in the least surprising/most transparent move of all, they're projecting a bunch of inaccurate shit onto Taika and using it to criticize him in as pattern that's familiar and obvious to every POC watching it happen. That's not what I think you're doing or anything Asker, but it's important context for the conversation we could/should be having and something that keeps getting left out of the conversation.

[nofomogirl]

Introductions in opening scenes from Good Omens S1 and S2

It's time to revisit the walls of Eden scene after all the new info from the new season (part 1? nor promising, but maybe it's just part 1)

Warning: This post contains very minor spoilers for season 2. Mostly, as the title suggests, from the opening scene. But if you haven't seen the show yet and don't know what the opening scene is, I suggest you come back after watching because it's OMG.

In Good Omens the book the very first line of dialogue is "I'm sorry, what was it you were saying?" strongly implying that we've started listening to Aziraphale and Crowley mid-conversation. They are introduced to us, the readers, in the narrative bits, but the names are never used in actual dialogue.

Maybe they had introduced themselves earlier, maybe they didn't. Maybe they didn't need an introduction, maybe they did. We don't know and it doesn't matter. The authors wanted us to focus on the conversation at hand, not on their relationship. An angel and a demon on the walls of Eden are just an excuse to discuss certain ideas.

The show changes the scene a little and makes some things more explicit. We now know for sure that what we saw was the entire conversation because we were shown how it started. We now know for sure that (1) Aziraphale never gave his name, (2) Crowley never asked for it, (3) Crowley gave his name (4) but only after Aziraphale gently pressed him to.

After season 1 I was mostly looking at it from a practical perspective, probably because I like comparing how different kinds of media can convey information, and I mostly focused on how the book was translated into the show.

From that perspective, it was okay to cut the information that the angel's name was Aziraphale from that first scene, because we were going to learn it soon enough anyway, and there was no point in disrupting the flow of the conversation to include it. However, we needed to know that the serpent's name was Crawly because it was going to change and changes in Crowley's name are important. So it was justified to take this information from the narration and squeeze it into the dialogue. But in the most unintrusive way possible.

Of course, that doesn't mean I have never considered the in-universe significance of their introduction/lack of introduction in Eden. However, my headcanon was that the S01E01 opening was their very first meeting, and season 2 proved me wrong, so I will skip my old theories here.

Instead, let's look at S02E01 and S01E01 side by side.

S01E01 Aziraphale never gave his name / S02E01 Crowley never gave his name

We now know that Aziraphale hasn't introduced himself in Eden because they had met before.

But why has Crowley done the same among the stars? It couldn't be that they had already met even earlier, because if that was the case why would Aziraphale introduce himself then?

I believe one of the main reasons is that we're not supposed to know Crowley's angelic name. At least not yet, maybe not ever (I hope we will never learn it, since it is his dead name).

But that again is not an in-universe explanation.

Have you noticed how throughout season 2 two characters expected Crowley to know them, but he didn't? Sure, there's always memory manipulation theory, but honestly, I'm beginning to believe that he simply doesn't pay attention to people around him. And the way he acted towards Aziraphale seems to confirm it. He called out to a passing angel simply because he needed a hand. He wasn't looking for company and would be perfectly happy if Aziraphale left immediately after, leaving Crowley to enjoy his creation alone. It takes considerable effort on Aziraphale's side to engage Crowley in the conversation.

S01E01 Crowley never asked for Aziraphale's name / S02E01 Aziraphale never asked Crowley for his name

Again, because they had already met before Eden.

Right?

It is a valid explanation, obviously, but I'm not entirely sure that's the case. I think it's quite possible, that Crowley didn't remember Aziraphale just like he didn't remember Saraqael or Furfur. I know we wish to think Aziraphale was special and must have left an impression but I see no evidence of that in pre-Fall Crowley's behaviour. Quite the opposite.

I think the reason Crowley didn't ask Aziraphale for his name might have been because, as usual, he didn't care.

Unless, of course, they met before the Fall more than just this once and got to know each other better.

Ok, so why Aziraphale didn't ask Crowley for his name among the stars? I think we can rule out not being interested. Perhaps it was a sign of social awkwardness and insecurity; after he introduced himself and Crowley failed to reciprocate, he got discouraged? Not impossible, but it's not speaking to me.

My (veRy oRigINal) theory is that Aziraphale didn't ask because he already knew. It was the first time they were speaking face to face, but he was aware of Crowley before. Maybe because Crowley was a high-ranking angel and everybody knew who he was. Or maybe he personally caught Aziraphale's interest for some reason, hmm?

S01E01 Crowley gave his name / S02E01 Aziraphale gave his name

Now this is where things get really interesting.

Remember the "Crowley fell first" theory? It was neat, wasn't it? Unfortunately, it's going out the window now, because it couldn't have been any more obvious that Aziraphale had a massive crush on pre-Fall Crowley and in the creation scene he was bending over backward to flirt with him and extend their interaction. What's more, Crowley wasn't particularly interested!

Aziraphale introduces himself completely unprompted and seems so incredibly happy that he can. Crowley's reaction is a "nice meeting you", that sounds an awful lot like "whatever, bye".

After that, I will never be able to see Crowley's reaction to "I gave it away" and not think about how in season 2 he says "it is always too late"...

Ok, now let's have a look at the moment Crowley introduces himself in Eden.

He doesn't do it on his own. He only responds when Aziraphale shows interest.

Aziraphale doesn't explicitly ask Crowley for his name. He just talks to him, reaches a point when it would be natural to address him by his name, and suspends his voice. Crowley gets the hint and fills his name in. Aziraphale repeats it, Crowley gives him a little nod, and the conversation continues smoothly.

Before season 2, I just thought that it was a courteous gesture proving that Aziraphale sees Crowley as a person.

Season 2 makes it a little more complicated.

When Aziraphale stops mid-sentence at the point where Crowley's name should be, was it fully conscious? Was he going to use Crowley's old name and realize last moment, that he shouldn't? If so, what was his reason? Was it out of respect for Crowley, who might not identify with that name anymore, or was it because he believed a demon had no right to an angelic name? Or maybe it would be simply too painful for Aziraphale himself?

I'm going to stop here, but honestly. After you're done crying after the S2 finale, I strongly suggest watching the S2 opening scene, and then the S1 Eden scene. A new perspective really adds to it!

Then watch S2 opening again followed by the rest of S2 because we want to create numbers and make S3 happen.

[liugeaux]

The Best Games of 2005 | Is This Art?

Here is my second best-of list. For further explanation check out the 2004 list I posted a few weeks ago. 2005 was the first year I can remember where the question "Are Video Games Art?" really started to mean something. It was also the first year of the Seventh Generation of consoles as the Xbox 360 hit stores in November. Remember, this is written as if it were published at the end of 2005. There will be no cutesy future predicting and all comments should be taken at face value. Let's get started.

#10 - Ultimate Spider-man

Saying this is just Spider-Man 2 with a better art style is a bit reductive, but ultimately (pun intended) is kind of accurate. The swinging mechanic is still the core appeal of it, and that appeal is still super strong. It's flashy, consistent, and an easy lock for No. 10.

#9 - Mario Kart DS

It's technically not the first portable Mario Kart game, but it's definitely the first portable Mario Kart game that demands you take it seriously. Nintendo has successfully translated the look and feel of console games over to the DS. The icing on the cake here is the online play, At least until you discover players "snaking," but that's a conversation for a different day.

#8 - The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Technically released in the US in January, The Minish Cap barely made the cut-off for my list. Unlike Capcom's 2 previous portable Zelda efforts, The Minish Cap has seemingly endless charm. Link's talking hat, a compelling story, and a solid dungeon structure have The Minish Cap feeling a lot like A Link to the Past, one of the greatest games ever made.

#7 - Guitar Hero

We're all losers. We stand in our living rooms, clickity clackity-ing on fake plastic guitars trying to get 5 stars, while the world passes us by. I think I'm fine with that. Guitar Hero is as inventive as it is addictive. From the cheeky aesthetic to the 5-star soundtrack, this game sits in a category all by itself. It's easy to pick up and naturally walks you through learning and ramping up your skills. I don't know if I had more fun with a game this year.

#6 - Call of Duty 2

At this point WWII games are passé. We've already met our quota for WWII games this decade, but as the only Xbox 360 game on this list, Call of Duty 2 proves there is still plenty of blood left in that stone. Forgoing reality and leaning on survival elements that make for exciting gameplay, the game makes you feel like you're on the frontlines fighting for your life. It's beautiful and really shows what this new console generation is capable of.

#5 - Psychonauts

One of the main "Games are Art" titles of this year is Psychonauts. A genuinely funny take on mental health and psychiatry, it finds a way to poke fun, but while subtly raising awareness of important Psychiatric concepts. Psychonauts plays with your emotions as it has your heart laughing. Memorable characters, unique platforming and some of the best writing any game has ever had, makes this one easy to recommend. Like movie directors, Tim Schafer has proven he's one of the field's first auteurs.

#4 - Resident Evil 4

Who knew that all the Resident Evil series needed to get my attention was a perspective change? REs 1-3 all suffered from being too frustrating to control for me to have any fun with. The novel over-the-shoulder 3rd person controls puts the player in a position similar to first-person, but with the mobility and awareness of a 3rd person game. Resident Evil 4 is a frightening romp through inspired new ground all while improving the survival horror genre in meaningful ways.

#3 - Lumines

Yeah, I've got a puzzle game at number 3, fight me! Not since Tetris has a puzzle game grabbed me as firmly as Lumines did this year. Could it be the sleek and futuristic presentation? Maybe. Could it be that Lumines is the perfect game for Sony's new curious little handheld? Probably. Have I spent countless hours deep in high-score chasing? Absolutely! Lumines might be lighting in a bottle, but that lightning burned super hot this year.

#2 - God of War

Nothing is more aggro than being forced to wear the ashes of your dead family on your skin. Kratos is justifiably angry and being able to take his anger and tear through a pantheon of Gods is quite cathartic. It helps that God of War's gameplay is fluid, frantic and addictive. It takes tropes from previous generations of beat-em-ups and layers brand-new ways to combo up and destroy. It's also another entry in the "Is this art" sweepstakes. The cinematic nature of the entire experience rivals much of the drivel coming out of Hollywood, and being a game makes it even more engaging.

#1 - Shadow of the Colossus

Truly an unparalleled experience, Shadow of the Colossus is a masterpiece that shines by engineering vivid emotions through the art of digital animation. Each Colossus is a world unto itself and even though you, as the protagonist, are tasked with slaying each beast, the pain and helplessness of imminent death expressed from them as they fall will etch itself in your bones. Shadow successfully takes the technical limitations of the PS2 and bends a low frame rate and limited draw distance, into a part of the expression of the art. It's not a perfect game, but it's a step in an unprecedented direction for the art form as a whole.

Notable Omissions:

Sid Meier's Civilization IV - Civ 4 is a fine game and is definitely a major improvement over Civ 3, but my patience for strategy games in this style is thin.

Battlefield 2 - I didn't play it. I'm not even sure if there's a competent way to play it with a controller and I'm definitely not gonna try it with a mouse and keyboard.

Forza Motorsport - With very few exceptions, I'm not a racing game guy, and racing sims are completely off my radar.

Next time we move to 2006, the launch year of both the Wii and PS3. See you there!

Cheers.

[chemicalpink]

ok this discussion about jungkook’s chart is getting interesting, and the thing that is making me more curious and curious is that even with a leo rising he would be a leo moon in his sideral 🥲, also he would be a cancer rising .. idk if this makes sense but maybe it would explain his soft features?? like round eyes, him being a roundie lol. also with moon in the first house this can also explain those beautiful starry, shiny round eyes 🥹 aaaa this man ..

the only thing that is making me question a bit is that MC in aries, because personally i never ever seen him as an aries or with aries vibes. but at the same time him ruled by saturn and his placements in the 8th house seems to me a bit too much??? like his energy seem to be lighter than that.. idk lmao. also with a cap rising he would have a chiron in the 10th house, i don’t really see it but honestly i think that to judge this placement u really have to be him, seeing from the outside is not easy.

at the same time he looks really approachable like a leo rising but he’s still an introverted like a typical virgo lol, this man is getting me an headache 😭😭😭

sorry for this long papyrus (if you can call it that lol) i really like to see different perspectives, and i want to know your point of view if you agree <3

It's amazing that we are able to have such conversations!! I really enjoy sharing points of view and I 100% always encourage you guys to take a stand!!!

I wish I had more time to be online for it 🥹

I also love the line this man is getting me an headache because yeah same, it's always like that with jk (gotta love him tho)

I agree, although I personally am terrified of Leo vibes so I don't approach them, I see how it would make him appear more approachable esp because usually the virgo/cap combo would be a hell of an impression even more so if we compare it to idk say the big cap vibe Taehyung exudes and we've been made aware of by people that have met them.

I doooooo believe he has that big vibe of 'wow factor' to him although in a different light just from that one article that said "the room fell silent as the youngest one walked into the room"

And I gotta agree with the whole soft features linking to his sideral too because 🥹 gotta love it as for the 10H Chiron idk if we take it with a pinch of salt and look more into it as an interaction within his chart, it would explain his steady pace in vocal training along with some time before wanting to just be a dancer, come back to being mainly a vocalist and that one streak of his we saw more recently of him going back to pursue dancing. Especially, at least from my view as a therapeutic companion, it would explain how we see him more loose and truly himself as he starts to fully envelop his self-esteem and success as an artist (10H Chiron is said to present itself as a healing journey that begins with developing your self-esteem and career success)

But I couldn't have said it better! Just as you pointed out: honestly i think that to judge this placement u really have to be him, seeing from the outside is not easy. Kudos to that!

[dtupdating]

Transcript of the texts in this Video!

DREAM: I saw people say you were trying to contact me, I couldn't see any messages though, what did you want to say? I really don't understand why you think I'm so terrible but I'm happy to hear what you have to say so I can clear things up or apologize or know what's even happening

SOPHIE: listen, i appreciate you reaching out.

following everything with george, i shared a vague statement from someone who had a bad and misogynistic experience with him bc they thought it would help back up the victims statement. i made it vague on purpose bc the person asked me to, but i see now that even though my intentions were to help a fellow SA victim, it cause more harm than good.

i'm still keeping it vague bc it's not my story to tell but the person told me they thought it would help our fellow SA victim and i agreed at the time.

[SCREENSHOT OF A TWEET FROM SOPHIE]

logging back on to say while i will be keeping the circumstances of this vague for a while for the safety and wellbeing of the person, this is to that GNF has a problem with taking accountability for his actions and a serious misogyny problem

i kept one screenshot, thought i kept additional but honestly i've been very triggered so my brain is a bit scattered.

DREAM: I don't understand, I saw some people talking about you saying stuff about me though? Is it just about George?

obviously I still have zero idea what you're talking about and he has no idea either, but saying it's a "story to tell" and so on implies very very negative things

SOPHIE: only about george, not you. i tried to make that clear, but at a certain point, it was becoming more about me and i didn't want to further distract from the message to support victims so i took them down.

DREAM: surely if it's that bad I (or George at least I guess) would have some idea remoetely what it's about, I don't understand the "behind the scenes" rumor mill it makes no sense to me, George has been nothing but super kind to other creators from my experience and I don't even recall ever talking to you, or hearing anything about you at all. I asked him and he said he doesn't even remember calling with you at all, just confused I guess would love to hear more

SOPHIE: I will clarify for you and him that it's not about someone who was assaulted by him, just that had a misogynistic interaction with him. i did clarify that before i took down the posts.

DREAM: I'm sure you can say more than that, what if what you've heard is completely false or can be explained, or is a miscommunication? idk when this even would've been or who or anything. it's not "your story to tell", but you're willing to air it out without even considering hearing another perspective? I don't get it

SOPHIE: I don't expect y'all to remember, and I'm not offended you don't. We've been in a few among us lobbies back in 2020, and then at technodad's charity event.

[REPLY TO DREAM'S I'M SURE YOU CAN SAY MORE THAN THAT...]

It's weird how you're pressuring me to say more on this when I've said I won't.

DREAM: It's actually not weird at all, you're publicly accusing me/my friend of things, and it's shocking i'm pushing for a chance to even know what it is, let alone explain, apologize, or refute it? that's a ridiculous POV

SOPHIE: Just give me a second. I want to do the right thing

DREAM:

[REPLY TO SOPHIE'S I DON'T EXPECT Y'ALL TO REMEMBER...]

I recognize your name I just don't remember talking with you, some of your tweets gave the implication we had such horrible interactions, but you've dm'd both George and I positively since 2020, but he's the most arrogant and terrible person you've met? I really don't understand

SOPHIE: I dmed you positively bc at the time, we had been in lobby's together and i was still new to streaming, and I like making freinds. but george repeatedly ignored me ever time i spoke towards him, even though I tried to be as nice and respectful as possible. I get it, I'm just a stranger, but still, it was rude.

I don't want to be a part of this. I was trying to help back up a victim bc I am a victim of rape and SA. I have always stood up for victims.

I'll be honest. I wanted to like you bc you seemed nice at first, but I don't care for you. You can try and spin that into me being vengeful and spiteful but I am just a victim trying to support other victims.

DREAM: I'm sure George would talk to you about it lol, I'm sure he didn't purposefully ignore you, obviously in an among us lobby or something he could've just not heard you. if that makes him the most arrogant content creator you've ever talked to, enough to insinuate and support that he's a serial sexual predator, that's fucking insane. I'm sorry for what you've been through. I feel terrible for you. That's not right though, and it's not just "supporting victims". idk what to even say. I'm sorry you don't like me, idk what I did and I guess I never will unless you decide to tell me. George also doesn't know what he did, so unless you want to tell him, I don't think you should be vague tweeting like your friend was assaulted by him. wish you well

SOPHIE: I know this isn't the point but: Why do you make the assumption I wouldn't tell you why I don't like you

Sorry, I'm autistic, I pick up on weird things.

DREAM: you said you weren't fond of me and didn't elaborate, and I also asked you about this situation and you said it was weird that I was pressuring you. that's why I would assume you wouldn't tell me. go ahead and tell me though

SOPHIE: It's actually simple. I don't like your attitude. I didn't elaborate bc I thought it would be rude.

DREAM:

[SCREENSHOT OF A TEXT]

why is twitter acting like you guys are all serial rapists like i'm so confused

I'm sorry my attitude isn't good. I've been getting texts like these about you and other on Twitter, it's kind of hard to have a good attitude. Especially when you're being unhelpful, not explaining anything, and the only thing you'll elaborate on is that you don't like my attitude.

SOPHIE: i appreciate that you reached out to try and resolve things, i do, but at this point, this conversation is becoming unproductive, and i don't like being pressured like this. i shared what i did to support caiti and this person, nothing less.

you asked why I didn't like you; i told you. I don't wish for your downfall bc i don't like your attitude. i wish for the creator space to be safer.

DREAM tweeted in his private!

[nellie-elizabeth]

Outlander: A Practical Guide for Time-Travelers (7x07)

Dun dun dunnnn!

Cons:

I will say, I thought giving William a cheery, jokey bff in the army was a little transparent. The second this dude opened his mouth I was like "ah, he's about to die so William can learn the true horrors of war." I didn't dislike everything with William in this plot thread, but it's probably the least I've cared about adult William since we met him; he's more interesting to me as he relates to the interpersonal connections of Jamie, Claire, and Lord John. Big surprise there.

I feel like they made Rob Cameron just a little too pushy and sinister? In the books I think there was just a little more time to get to know him as a purely innocuous figure, so here it's like we barely know him and now he's pushing in for dinner invitations and asking questions about Roger's papers, like... it's pretty obvious pretty quickly that something's up. I don't know how I would have solved for this, but just thought I'd mention it. The pacing also kinda made the Buck thing a little less impactful, just because we go from "what the hell are you doing here" to "I forgive him, he's Cousin Buck" so immediately. It also made me miss Roger having a huge scar on his neck and difficulty speaking clearly. That's such an important character trait for him in the books, that he never fully recovers from his near death by hanging. I get why for practical reasons they cut it out, but I think it makes his relationship with his ancestor more compelling if the evidence of his close call is still there in every word he speaks.

Pros:

So, despite thinking William's friend was a bit of an obvious ploy, I do think it was really smart to have this whole interaction happening from William's perspective. We've been told that Jamie doesn't ever want to face his son on the battlefield, but then here we see Jamie go off to fight, and yet we see none of the actual fighting from his perspective. William doesn't know his secret father is on the other side of this conflict. I thought it was a cool way to change it up, to have everything be from the British perspective in the conflict itself, just to pan to the shot of Jamie lying, evidently injured, on the battlefield right there at the end. 

Jamie and Claire didn't have a ton to do in this episode, honestly, but I love that we're continuing the voice over bits being connected to the letters home to Bree and Roger. That works so well. And the scene where Jamie realizes Claire needs glasses because her eyesight isn't what it used to be? Adorable! One of those precious scenes from the book that I'm so glad they decided to keep in.

As has been my refrain this season so far, I'm finding the 20th century plot thread really compelling! I saw some people saying they didn't like the Bree and Roger sex scene, but I thought it was pretty good and steamy. And it worked as a sort of distraction, where you have Rob and Buck both in this story as potentially complicating factors. Do either of them mean Roger and Brianna harm? In what way? And then as Buck warns Roger that Rob seems interested in Brianna, and she brushes off that concern, we get this affirming moment of love and connection for them as a couple.

And then... bam, plot twist, Rob flirting with Brianna wasn't really the issue at hand. So even with me wishing the Rob thing had been less obviously telegraphed, I did think that was a clever way to obfuscate the exact nature of the conflict he was going to provide. Unless you've read the books, you genuinely wouldn't have any alarm bells going off when Rob talks about taking Jem to see the movies with him and his nephew. Pretty clever! Also, shout out to the little girl playing Mandy, she's doing a wonderful job, I really felt her fear and distress when she woke up after her nightmare about Jem.

So yeah, in all, I'm excited about where things are going! I remember a lot about the craziness of the rest of this book/season and I think the second half of season seven might be the most excited I've been about Outlander since the early days. A lot of scenes that I remember and adore from the books are likely to be coming up soon!

8/10

[sunshine-and-city-lights]

I used to be so needy and idealistic when it comes to love, and I think there lies all the tragedy I had to deal with when I was younger. I had a different kind of love language. Words of affirmation were all I ever needed, but he wasn't good with words. I was too blind to see that words should be matching actions. Not that he's good in actions, either - that wasn't the case, too. Both of us used to be so self-absorbed, just wanting what's best for ourselves and not for the other. That's normal when you're a kid. Never really knew what it meant to truly love someone.

I've always known how a person loves you should tell a lot in how they treat you, and it shouldn't be just superficial like writing letters, giving flowers, chocolates and stuff. I used to want those things and feel bad when I don't receive them. I used to think that if he gives you those, that means he loves you. I tend to forget we didn't have money of our own before so that really shouldn't be an option. I know people do nice things for the people they love, but that isn't a measure of their love and how much they're willing to sacrifice for you. Love requires a lot of work for it to endure. I've learned now that mismatched expectations and actions will ruin that for you. Instead of focusing on what you want and how it should be met by your partner, you can try learning about their love language and find ways how you can meet in between, which will actually make you feel both satisfied with what you have. Love requires compromise. It's the ultimate truth.

We were only teens when we first met and it was different then. It was still different when we became young adults. It was like a never-ending transition. We've been together for almost a decade now, and time really changes you and your perspective. The love I knew now is so far from the love I used to feel or at least know about. It was the kind of love that makes me laugh and cringe now that I'm older. He still doesn't give me gifts like I used to want, but he gives me something more than that. He asks me what I want and that he'd be willing to buy it for me, just making sure whatever he buys is something that I want and nothing that I'll be rambling about in case he'd be wasting money (lol he knows I am very practical), makes sure our daughter and I have what we need and he assures me I don't have to worry about anything because he'll be there to provide for us. And because I love him, I let him do those things for us but I also make sure that I share that burden with him. We work harder now for the future, we plan together and put things in action. We save up and travel when we have time. If not, we just spend some time together alone as a family, making what seem to be mundane into something special like a memory. I love where we are now and I know things will even be better as time goes by. Everything feels stable.

When things changed, I realized this is the kind of love that I needed all along. Love seldom makes me feel giddy and excited like a kid now, but it always makes me feel safe, makes me feel at home, and makes me feel that whatever happens I'll always have this sense of warmth and belonging for the rest of my life.

“People say I love you all the time - when they say, ‘take an umbrella, it’s raining,’ or ‘hurry back,’ or even ‘watch out, you’ll break your neck.’ There are hundreds of ways of wording it - you just have to listen for it, my dear.”

— John Patrick

[bookwyrminspiration]

FakeMintie here! (hi) To clarify, Gisorkle is both a ship and a long and complicated theory. To summarize:

Gisela and Forkle were in love

They were both members of the Black Swan and worked on Project Moonlark together

Gisela is Sophie's mother (Keefe is actually Oralie's son—he inherited his ability from her)

Gisela, like most polyglots, has a second ability. She's an enhancer. This is why Sophie is an enhancer, even though Forkle said he didn't intentionally give her the ability—she inherited it from Gisela.

Gisela wears fancy clothing to avoid anyone noticing that she always wears gloves—the same strategy that was suggested to Sophie when she first had to conceal her ability

Gisela and Forkle had a disagreement regarding the Black Swan's decision to modify Sophie's genes. Gisela angrily left the Black Swan, but not before they had already taken her DNA/eggs to create Sophie.

Forkle is still in love with Gisela. It's a lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers arc. My favorite.

!! hello, FakeMintie! I saw the ask you sent Cath and honestly I'm honored to have such an icon following me. also, this is absolutely fascinating hold on let me process. the kotlc fandom chaos is most active at night, apparently (at least it's night for me rn)

"Gisela and Forkle were in love." Ah, so that's who Forkman was thinking of when he was in Magnate Leto mode and he mentioned that he'd never been married and then spaced out really hard. he was just thinking about Gisela and what could've been. at least that's how I've interpreted it.

"gisela is sophie's mother" you lost me for a second but I'm back in. I'm down with this. Perhaps she left the project because she didn't agree with the methods the Black Swan were going to--wait I just realized that's what you said at the end of the ask. I should really read all the way through, huh. But maybe she needed that child still for some reason, hence Keefe. Wonder how she got him/the DNA for him though. Keefe being Oralie's son: they do both look similar, but that's based mostly in ability and hair color.

oo right gisela's second ability! that one's very interesting--i'd forgotten she'd had one. And the clothing hiding the gloves really does work with her style. she's just an elegant person; they fit right in. (note to self--need to find/make some fingergloves!! could embellish different pairs after different characters). Forkle actually suggests that to her specifically because he knows that's what worked for Gisela, but he always noticed her gloves. he noticed every detail about her--

but that's an interesting connection between an enhancer and sophie's inherited ability. we've been looking so closely for someone who's a telepath that we (or at least I) overlooked the enhancing! maybe shannon will pull an even bigger twist on us and it turns out she's a combination of two different eggs/embryos and actually has more than the standard two genetic parents. just food for thought.

that last bullet point really came for my throat. "lovers to enemies to lovers." that means they'll get together again...but how, i wonder? what will draw them back to each other? Forkle corruption arc as he joins the Neverseen? Gisela getting fed up with the Neverseen and leaving to do her own evil things but it's hot girl summer and she goes back to her old flame? so many questions, i have.

FakeMintie this is incredible. it sounds absolutely ridiculous at first glance but upon closer examination there's a lot of logic and thought behind it. Which makes it right up my alley. This scratches an itch in my brain I didn't even know was there

I will probably still think of gisorkling whenever I see the name tho

[marcspectrr]

PLEASE TALK ABOUT THE ATTACHMENT STYLE OF THERE RELATIONSHIP PLEASE 🥺

I think one of my favorite parts of Layla and Marc's relationship is the way attachment theory plays into it, from the very second they meet until where they are now. So I'm gonna try and answer this with the least amount of gushing possible for the sake of word count, and try to squeeze two mini character studies into one post 🥺🥺

I went into it a little bit in this post where I talked about the impact and significance of physcial intimacy in their relationship, but I'm aware it was more focused on Marc's attachment style. So here, I'm gonna start with Layla's, which is the trickier one.

The difficult part about characterizating Layla's style is that I'm going off of a lot of subtext, implications and patterns in behaviors that can be perceived differently. Attachment styles are mostly developed through the relationships we have with our earliest caregivers, and we don't get a whole lot on Layla's parents. (From what little we've seen, she clearly holds her father, her attachment figure, in a high and healthy regard, indicating the type of relationship they had--full of love and respect, where she admired him when he was around, always visiting dig sites with him and following in his footsteps, and grieved him after he died.) But I believe theres still enough to go off of to theorize about it, which makes me think Layla shows a lot of signs of having a relatively secure attachment style. (However, I'll get into how she doesn't perfectly exemplify this in a sec.)

People with this style tend to find intimacy easily, are confident in relying on people and being relied on, are capable of assessing conflict with clarity when it comes to who's at fault, see the world as well-intentioned and are very trusting.

Not long after they meet does Layla recognize and understand that Marc and Steven are separte people. She sees them as individuals, one whom she feel in love with and married and the other she just met, but she still manages to become close with Steven pretty easily. ("We want what we never had","Being honesty", etc.)

She shows confidence in relying on people and being relied on through the connections she has from recovering antiques. (Lagaro, Bek, Mogart, etc.) She's also not afraid to break said connections should she need to. ("Not worried you might've burned too many bridges? All those stolen relics and cheeky antiques?", "Why? Because my name pisses off a few people in Cairo?" etc.)

Not once did she ever put blame on anyone during conflict. Does she get frustrated, yeah, but it's not nonsensical and it's not violent. She seems to have a very level head when approaching hard topics (huge indicator of a healthy upbringing), has very genuine intentions and is very conscious of her actions. ("It's all right. Okay. We'll just find another way", "You could've told me. You know? [...] We could've handled it together", etc.)

Now, I don't think she perfectly embodies this attachment style, mainly because attachment styles can change and be relearned over time. It's nice to think because she had a loving home to grow up in that she's forever protected from ever getting a hard shell, but life unfortunately had other plans for her.

One of her biggest traumas that we know of is her father's murder. And it skewed a few things, including her security in attachments, specifically in her perspective and trust in others. I believe she viewed the world with a good amount of optimism and trust before he died. And after she lost him, she spent 10 years not knowing what happened, which only served to exacerbate the pain and bitterness she felt. ("It's a hard thing, exhuming the pain of the past. Easy to get stuck. Fixate on what's hurt us." "Great. Then I won't do either." "Like you aren't already", etc.)

(A personal hc of mine that we don't really have any on-screen evidence for but still seems conceivable is her struggling with her sense of blame as well. Realizing that someone you love has been going through so much silent suffering for so long, under your watch no less, is an immensly devastating thing. I can't help but see Layla naturally wondering if she'd missed something, inadvertently putting blame on herself to compensate for not having seen it sooner, let alone done something about it.)

Alright. Now Marc's.

Marc has a fearful-avoidant attachment style. This style is extremely insecure and can mostly be diluted down to a desire for closeness that clashes with a fear of it. It's developed through early exposure to inconsistent and contrasting behaviors from the caregiver. Wendy was one of Marc's attachment figures and because she was both the source of safety and fear, it taught Marc that closeness comes with abuse.

This style includes withdrawing from relationships when things aren't going well, negative self-perception and perception of others, essentially high anxiety and high avoidance.

We see Marc pull away from Layla once his disorder becomes harder to hide. ("You sent these papers but you never signed them", "That's not really what I do, is it? Never really been able to just talk about everything" etc.) Because to him, his mental illness is riddled with shame and even disgust, and his instinct tells him that if he lets it show, he will be rejected. If he opens up about it even to his wife, someone who's proven to care very deeply for him, she'll leave him. Not only unaccepted but actively abandoned and hurt because of it.

His unhealthy self-perception runs so deep and for so long. Even a general routine of negative self-talk can do so much damage and this man has years of it under his belt. ("But I didn't die that night. And I should have", "Look, I wish I could just disappear. I really do", "Because we're insane. We're insane", etc.)

Now when you think about their individual styles in regards to their relationship, it sorta ties into the themes of the show, which is that love endures. It perseveres. It hides but grows and sometimes bursts. Not being able to protect somebody does not diminish your love for them. Layla's trust becomes a bit tainted, and becomes more insecure because of it, but everyday, she still chooses to practice patience and compassion with Marc. Still chooses to embrace him, all the pieces of him, even the ones not ready for anyone's eyes yet. And Marc still struggles to stay sometimes, has days where he still wants to just disappear, but he makes the choice too. Because having choices means free will, claiming agency and having the space to change. And he's beginning to believe in redemption again.

[nonatanahlada]

la la lost you | seventeen wonwoo

based on niki's la la lost you

visibly anxious, your left fingers are clutching a bit too hard onto your coat's sleeves as your right ones are busy holding your suitcase. your eyes are dead glued to the ground because there would be too much sadness if you were to dare to lift your eyesight. then there is your boyfriend—correction, ex-boyfriend—namely jeon wonwoo standing in front of you, baring the same anxiousness and sadness but flashing a vague smile as a front instead.

suddenly wonwoo pulled your left fingers off, "don't clutch your sleeves too hard, it will wrinkle."

you brought yourself to face the man in front of you and an insane amount of sadness could be seen in your face. to say how your face breaks wonwoo's heart is definitely an understatement.

"see... even little things like this, like telling me not to clutch my sleeves, i don't even know how to do these things without you," you responded with a desperate tone.

"and this is exactly why you need this, why i need this, why we need this," wonwoo sighed. "we've become way too dependent on each other, it's as unhealthy as it could ever be."

you are left speechless for the nth times because the both of you have had enough of this same old conversation. it all started around three months ago when you were offered a work promotion from the new york headquarters.

initially, you wanted to reject the offer since you think it's impossible for you to move across the country without having wonwoo by your side (his work requires him to stay in the west coast for another five years). but wonwoo being the sensible self he is surely pushed you to take the offer, saying that it's ridiculous of you for not taking it just because he won't be there. this difference of perspectives led to consecutive heated debates and eventually a serious fight in which the both of you didn't hesitate to yell harsh things you both actually didn't mean to.

after going through a week of the 'not talking phase', wonwoo made it clear that you both are too dependent on each other hence the relationship had been unhealthy. despite feeling deeply hurt at that time, you knew that it was indeed the truth. so you both broke up and you accepted the promotion.

and now here you are in the airport heading to new york with wonwoo sending you off. right before you tried to find another thing to say, the airport's announcer has called for your flight—it's time for you to go.

"is this truly a farewell?"

wonwoo scored his usual gentle smile instead.

his smile still warms you up the same, "then... can i hug you? for the last time, at least before i go."

"of course you can."

you quickly crushed your body to his and the hug felt beyond comfortable. the way wonwoo embraced you hasn't changed even a little bit since the first time you met—it's still warm, tight, and most importantly it never fails at making you feel secured also contented.

"thank you," you tried your best to flash a smile. "i love you, i still do."

wonwoo didn't answer back.

you wonder while walking yourself through the departure gate, does he not love you anymore?

when you find yourself already seated in the plane, you checked your phone before it takes off. you noticed that you have an unread text from last night that reads,

[Jeon Wonwoo]: Hope New York holds you.

then a new text appeared,

[Jeon Wonwoo]: Hope it holds you like I do.

wonwoo loves you, he still does.

[svnrise-rp]

"Oh no, I didn't expect you to meet them right away...but if you wanted to...we could keep our relationship secret and introduce you as my friend. I mean heck...we've been friends a while and I feel like it's unfair that my parents never got to meet the friend I was gushing over all the time. So how about you come over for dinner sometime. Just as my friend, okay?" he figured meeting the parents as his friend would be a good way to ease into things plus he felt bad his family never met his friend anyway. He looked up "My mother already knows a lot about you...nothing too personal I promise. She says she's excited to meet my tall friend...I think she refuses to remember your name...you will have to remind her often" he laughed then shook his head "Not knowing your friends' families is a choice, but if I am friends long enough I like to introduce my friends to my family because friends are like family too...at least to me" friendship was different for everyone and Mitsuki only got close with people he felt a proper connection with and since he was close with his family they were always asking about his friends, it seemed Jesse wasn't super close with his family so he had a different perspective on things. "Also you are a Korean celebrity....we are in Japan. My parents likely have no idea who you are...I hinted that you do some stuff...but I didn't say you were well known" he laughed "Just don't dress super fancy and they won't notice" he grabbed his hand "But if you are still unsure about meeting them I understand....I just...I just want them to know you...cause even if we ever stopped dating...you would continue to be my best friend. You are saving me from being homeless...I am honored to know you" he leaned up kissing his cheek "Now let's shut up and take a bath, I am freezing. Getting rained on is not idea" he stripped down, he was working on not being so shy around his boyfriend so he got naked and carefully hung the clothes to dry, he tossed his underwear in a dirty clothes hamper, he figured the clothes were still clean since he only wore them a short time. He headed to the bathroom and turned the tub on.

"Well my parents will adore you, they are welcoming, warm, and don't really care about gender, they just want me to be happy and I know with you I will be very happy...I already am so far" he smiles and as the car comes to a stop in the parking garage of the building he steps out, goes around opens the door leans in, and hugs Jesse tight "I'm sorry your parents are difficult, but consider yourself a part of my family, dating or otherwise you are family...my parents will treat you as such anyway" he kisses him deeply while cupping his face with one hand. He then waits for him to get out of the car before heading inside "Want to take a hot bath together? Maybe later I can call my parents and set up a time for us to go see them. I bet they would make a really big dinner...my parents love to cook together...I will warn my mother not to make a big fuss with dessert" he laughed softly and then took his boyfriend's hand "I'm very happy, I hope you are too" he squeezed his hand and then let go so Jesse could step into the elevator more easily. He followed behind and while he was quiet he was smiling the whole time, his tail wagging happily "I can't wait to visit my parents...not just for them to meet you...but it's been a while and I miss them...I miss their cooking" he was rather excited and the increase in his energy showed it.

[anarmorofwords]

Hi! You're probably not going to like this ask, but before getting into it I'd just like to say that this isn't meant as Kamala hate or anything, and I don't really want to offend.

Having said that, wouldn't it make sense that we get to see how Kamala treated Anna after she came out? It's in all likelihood one of the things that's weighing on Anna the most.

Obviously Kamala had her valid reasons: her parents aren't as liberal as the Lightwoods, she believes (knows?) their love is conditional as she's adopted, she's not white and not being heterosexual could further any treatment she's suffered from being different... Her reasons have already been listed multiple times by multiple people. Kamala has the right to stay in the closet and fear coming out. And while that shouldn't be villianised, we can't forget that closeted people can harm those around them.

If Kamala had kept treating Anna like a good friend, rumour would've sparked, and even if it was denied, she'd have been harmed by merely associating with Anna. Especially with the life Anna began leading; she could have been labelled as one of Anna's 'conquests' by the Clave. That, as we've established, is detrimental for her safety.

But at the same time, it would create a breach between Anna and Kamala. And Anna had the right to be hurt by it and weary of it when Kamala said she wanted a relationship.

If we look at it from that perspective, Anna's actions (though inexcusable in how they treated Kamala --who was also at fault for not accepting a negative for four months) make sense. Kamala wasn't only a fling of a week*, but also the girl she lost her virginity with, who asked her to be her secret (until she married Charles, after which Anna's affections would be discarded), who hid her sexuality for two years and sat back while Anna suffered from homophobic commentary, and who now wants a relationship hidden from most of the people that know her.

Kamala shouldn't be forced to come out; but the harm that can do to the women she may engage with is reflective of what happens nowadays. I can mostly think of examples with gay men, so my apologies in advance. But how many women have seen their marriages ruined by their husband having affairs with men?

Creating characters that reflect a toxic part of the 'hidden' LGBT community shouldn't be seen as hating or villinifying. Thomas isn't out and he isn't labelled a villain by the narrative --because his actions don't harm anyone. The hate Alastair gets in-universe is because of his past as a bully, not because he's gay. Matthew's not fully out and he isn't villianised --like Thomas, because the decisions he makes to keep his sexuality hidden don't impact anyone negatively.

I'll even go as far as saying that not even the narrative villianises characters like Kamala and Charles. If it were, they'd be seen more like Grace in Chain of Gold. We'd see how Kamala's actions are affecting Anna's in more ways than anger (that in itself put the fandom against Anna), and the characters would note so. We wouldn't see scenes were Cordelia empathised with Charles, nor Matthew said he loved him.

Be it as it may, Kamala and Charles represent ugly parts of being closeted that can naturally occur when someone is in their position. LGBT people are human. Humans, when put into very difficult situations (and Charles risks his career; Kamala her safety), can make decisions that harm those around them. Consequently, the people they're harming have a right to feel, well, harmed in whatever range of ways --this goes mostly for Alastair, and very partly for Anna, whose treatment of Kamala was horrible.

Readers need to understand what is pushing these 'villianised' characters to harm (again, mostly for Alastair) the more prominent characters and go beyond how they are instantly depicted. Because these are complex characters based on complex real people influenced by very ugly realities we will move on from someday, but sadly not yet.

By the way, Charles and Kamala's situations aren't that similar beyond the closeted thing, but I crammed them together because of a post I saw you reblog.

Please understand I'm not justifying Charles's actions; that I understand the pain he's put Alastair through, and know that he shouldn't ever be near Alastair. Nor am I trying to justify Anna's actions nor hate on Kamala.

I'll just finish my pointless rant by adding that I do think cc has sensitivity readers. I think she asked a gay man to go through tec (I don't know if he still revised her other books, though), and know she asked POC's input when writing someone for their culture. I don't know much beyond that, but I doubt who revises her stuff is up to her. Wouldn't that be something the publisher is responsible for (honest question)?

*I've also noticed people using the argument that they didn't know each other long enough for Anna to harbour such ugly emotions towards Kamala, but Kamala also remembered Anna pretty deeply and is 'in love' with her. I just wanted to say that considering cc writes (fantastical) romance where someone can ask a woman they met two months ago marriage, stressing over time spaces doesn't make much sense. Just my take.

hi!!

alright, where do I start? probably would be best with stating that while I can analyse Kamala's situation with what I know/see/read about racism and discrimination and reasonably apply things I've read/heard from PoC to the discussion, as well as try to be as sensitive about it as possible, I'm still a white woman, so not a person that's best qualified to talk about this.

that being said - if someone wants to add something to this conversation, you're obviously more than welcome to, and if there's something in my answer that you don't agree with or find in some way insensitive or offensive - please don't hesitate to call me out on that.

back to your points though: (this turned into a whole ass essay, so under the cut)

I don't think Anna shouldn't be able to reminiscent on Kamala's behaviour/reaction to her coming out, or be hurt by it. what bothers me is the way CC talks about it - I can't remember the exact phrasing, but the post where she mentioned this suggested something along the lines of "you'll see how Kamala sided with the Clave and didn't defend Anna after her coming out", therefore putting the blame on Kamala and completely disregarding the fact that Kamala wasn't in position to do much at all. It suggest that their situation was "poor Anna being mistreated by Kamala". therefore I'm afraid Kamanna's main problem/conflict will remain to be portrayed as "Anna having to allow themselves to love again and forgive Kamala", while Anna's shortcomings - and Kamala's vulnerable position - are never discussed. I think it would be possible to acknowledge both Kamala's difficult situation and the possible hurt her behaviour caused Anna without being insensitive towards Kamala's character, but it would take a really skilled - and caring - author to do both of the perspectives justice. CC would have to find a balance between being aware of the racism/prejudice Kamala faced/ writing her with lots of awareness and empathy, and still allowing her to make mistakes and acknowledging them. As it is however, I'm under impression that she's just treating it as a plot device, a relationship drama.

I'd say no one expects characters of color to be written as flawless or never making mistakes, it's mostly the way these mistakes are written and what things these characters are judged/shamed/

And that's - at least in my understanding and opinion - where the problem is. it's that the narrative never even addresses Anna's faults, and portrays Kamala as the one that caused all - or most of - the pain, without ever even acknowledging her problems and background.

White characters in TLH make mistakes and fuck up - because they're human and they're absolutely allowed to - but the thing is, non-white characters aren't afforded that privilege. Anna's behaviour is never questioned - none of it, shaming Kamala for not being able to come out, dismissing her desire to be a mother, or any of the questionable things she did in ChoI. Same with Matthew, James, Thomas. Alastair and Kamala however? they're constantly viewed through their past mistakes, and forced to apologize for them over and over, forced to almost beg for forgiveness. Moreover, those past mistakes are used as a justification of all and any shitty behaviour the other characters exhibit towards them now, which is simply unfair and cruel. They're held to a much higher standard.

So I'd like to say that yes, Kamala was in the wrong to keep nagging Anna after numerous rejections, and she was in the wrong to not inform Anna about Charles prior to them having sex - but that doesn't give Anna a free pass to constantly mistreat Kamala. And let's be real, Anna isn't stupid - while at 17 she could be naive and uninformed, I can't imagine how after years of hanging out with the Downworlders and numerous affairs and being out and judged by the Clave she's still so ignorant about Kamala's situation. I definitely think she's allowed to be hurt, but to still not understand why Kamala did what she did? Anna isn't blaming her for not telling her about Charles earlier - which would be fair - but instead for refusing to engage in an outright romance with her. She's being ignorant - and consciously so, I think.

Overall, I think you're definitely right about how coming out - or staying closeted - can be messy and hurt people in the process, especially in unaccepting environments/time periods, and I've seen enough discourse online to know there will never be a verdict/stance on this that will satisfy everyone. I, for one, would really like to refrain from putting all the blame on a single person - but, at least the way I see it, CC is pointing fingers. maybe not directly, but she is. Kamala, Alastair and Charles have no friends or support systems, and the only people in the narrative that defend them are themselves (ok, Cordelia does defend Alastair from Charles, but not from shitty takes about him and his "sins"). Also, sorry, but I don't like how you say "hid her sexuality for two years and sat back while Anna experienced homophobic comments" - it sounds very much judgemental. Kamala had every right to do that? The fact that she slept with Anna doesn't means she owed her something, and certainly not coming out and most probably destroying her life, or even defending her at the - again - expense of her own reputation, or more possibly safety.

As for Charles - it's a different issue here, at least imo - I fear that it'll be implied that his refusing to come out will is his main "sin", and therefore not something he can be judged for, which ironically, will be villainizing, but mostly will mean his actual sins are dismissed. This is where the scene with Cordelia feeling a pang of sympathy for him comes into play, and it worries me. I've never hated Charles for not wanting to come out, but rather for, let's see - grooming Alastair, disregarding Alastair's needs and feelings, disrespecting his mother, being a sexist prick, being low-key far-right coded "make Shadowhunters great again" etc.

As for sensitivity readers - I'm no expert, so I don't think my input is worth much. From what I've gathered from multiple threads/discussions on twitter, tho it is probably consulted/approved by the publisher, many authors push for that - and authors less famous and "powerful" than her. I'm not a hater, but seeing fandoms' opinions on much of her rep, I think she could do better. Because if she does have sensitivity readers, then they don't seem to be doing a great job - maybe they're friends who don't wanna hurt her feelings? Or maybe she thinks a gay guy's feedback will be enough for any queer content - which, judging by the opinions I've seen from the fans, doesn't seem to be true.

Again, these are mostly my thoughts and I'm more than open to reading other opinions, because *sigh* I really don't know how to handle this.

Bottom line - I really really don't want to be hating on the characters in general, playing God in regards to judging the struggles of minorities, or even criticising the characters too harshly for being human, flawed etc. What my main issue is is how CC handles those complex and heavy topics.

I hope I make sense and this answer satisfies you somehow - I also hope someone better equipped to answer might wanna join this conversation.

* I desperately need a reread of TLH before I engage in any more conversations like this, but I didn't wanna leave you hanging. So yeah, I might be remembering things wrong. Again, let me know, I'm very much open to being corrected as well as to further discussion.

* I use she/her pronouns for Anna because that's what she uses in canon