#even if ive talked with them already like

[starry-eyer]

omg the ‘is arya pretty or not’ discourse is genuinely insane.

arya is young. she hasn’t even fully matured or grown into her features, and yet she is still called pretty by multiple outsiders.

"I'm sorry, my lady." Arya suddenly felt bad for her, and ashamed. "I'm sorry I tore the acorn dress too. It was pretty." "Yes, child. And so are you. Be brave." (ASOS, Arya IV)

if you trust the opinion of arya’s bullies over lady smallwood’s, that says more about your bias than anything else.

while i understand that people struggle to place unconventional beauty in their worldview, which often leads to the fandom being unkind to characters with the stark look—even if these characters are called ‘pretty’ or ‘beautiful’—but istg this fandom seems to be regressing into even more conservative takes on the topic, so i need to rant about it:

a recurring theme in arya’s story is ‘beauty,’ and it is not wrong to want to engage meaningfully with such an important theme that is part of arya’s wider struggle with identity, gender, and conformity. treating people who care about this topic as ‘odd’ is nonsensical and oftentimes more than a little hypocritical.

westeros has a rigid beauty standard, and young girls—especially noble girls—are expected to conform to it. arya, however, defies this expectation.

the narrative’s engagement with the theme of beauty in arya’s story is not about her actually being ugly and coming to terms with it—it’s about challenging rigid beauty norms and showing that she doesn’t have to fit a narrow standard to be seen as beautiful and worthy by others, because she already is and characters already acknowledge that she is both.

and honestly, this reminds me of the real world beauty discourse. can an unconventional nose be beautiful? what about thin lips? big lips? can people with monolids be considered pretty?

the point is that limiting beauty to specific traits is regressive, and the way people talk about arya shows just how deeply ingrained those biases are. a long face doesn’t make arya ugly, and neither does having darker coloring!

look at lyanna stark—she is called a wild beauty and not just a beauty because her features were clearly unconventional, but she was still seen as beautiful. the same likely applies to arya who is said to look like her. to repeat myself: arya’s features don’t fit the standard, but that doesn’t mean she’s ugly.

we don’t need another female character whose story explores beauty by emphasizing that she isn’t pretty and has features considered universally unattractive. brienne already fills that role. having arya go through the same journey would be redundant and directly contradicts what has already been established in the narrative.

ask yourself what’s more interesting:

• having another character whose features are ‘ugly’ and whose bullies were right?

• or a nuanced take on beauty, where a girl learns to love and accept her unconventional features and finds them beautiful like others already do, which reminds readers that beauty isn’t about conformity?

[cantgetworsethanthistbh]

i actually dont even gaf. i dont care if this is old news idc if everyone already noticed it idc if im late on pointing it out idc!!! ive been brainrotting about this for 3 days now and i'm gonna talk about it because oh my god THE IMPLICATIONS I CANT STOP THINKING ABOUT THEM

Okay so TBOB, great book, canonized billf*rd, "stanley couldve made her laugh" and "but then he crossed the line" yadda yadda, we're all here because stan and bill, the two closest people to ford both call him sixer and are thematic narrative parallels and hey thats pretty god damn brocon of you stanford pines to fuck a triangle that parallels your brother in the story and also calls you the childhood nickname your brother and only your brother calls you. and like thats pretty god damn damning enough

why does he go out of his way to write his and bill's conversations using two different scripts

and why does he write bill's dialogue like that when bill's handwriting looks like this

"maybe its just because ford just wants to give bill a unique handwriting when he writes their conversations it doesnt have to match bill's" yeah sure okay

but it sure as hell isnt unique when he's copying stan's handwriting down cold to the god damn letter

BUT HE DOES.

WHY DOES HE DO THAT. why on earth does he do that. is it subconcious. why does he write bill's dialogue (and i DO mean only bill— he never quotes fiddleford directly in tbob, and uses terms like "he explained" whenever fiddleford tells him something) in STAN'S handwriting. his brothers handwriting. for all this flirty ass exchanges, ford is writing it in his own and his brothers handwriting.

they really, REALLY couldve just easily used bill's personal handwriting for this— wouldve been romantic as hell for ford to get bill's handwriting down in all honesty. but its not its his brothers handwriting. ford is writing all that in STANS handwriting. like is that not fucking crazy

like lets not even cover the fact that in universe he knows how to copy stan's handwriting AT ALL and thats counting the fact that atp hes estranged from stan by about a whole decade. like. HELLO? Stanford pines you obsessive freak brocon you are beyond insane

(and for extra reference, mabel and dipper's handwriting + ford not giving fiddleford any unique dialogue and special handwriting.)

[beetleviolet]

SOMEONE HELP ME FIND A FIC

Its a 2al fic about if Poptart had dreams about Sprouts bad future, and the evil goop but can't remember them after. And also Big Leo Classic is like. In his brain. Somehow.

Also part of it is written backwards. Ekil sith, I knith?

SOMEONE. HELP ME.

PLEASE

[puppppppppy]

this place is so fruity

[s0fter-sin]

one of my favourite aspects of supernatural that you very rarely see in paranormal shows is that sam and dean are already versed in the world they live in. there’s no sudden discovery of ghosts and demons and now they have to learn about them along with the audience; they are born into it and already know all about it. it allows the audience to follow their personal story instead of also trying to figure out this new world and its rules

the first season is full of knowledge we never see them learn; “w*ndigoes are in the minnesota woods or- or northern michigan. i’ve never even heard of one this far west.” […] “great. well then this [his gun] is useless.” (1x02), “you don’t break a curse. you get the hell out of its way.” (1x08), d: “it’s a god. a pagan god, anyway.” […] “the annual cycle of its killings? and the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman. like some kind of fertility right.” […] s: “the last meal. given to sacrificial victims. d: “yeah, i’m thinking a ritual sacrifice to appease some pagan god.” (1x11)

almost every episode in the first season is a monster they’ve faced before that they then explain to the audience in a way that should feel patronising; like it’s the same speech given over and over again but instead, the audience almost feels included in the knowledge. it’s stated with such an innate confidence and comfort in said knowledge that it feels like we already knew it too; “spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. if they want inside, they just go through the walls.” […] “the claws, the speed that it moves; could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog.” (1x02), “it's biblical numerology. you know noah's ark, it rained for forty days. the number means death.” (1x04), “no no no, not the reaper, a reaper. there's reaper lore in pretty much every culture on earth, it goes by 100 different names.” […] “you said it yourself that the clock stopped, right? reapers stop time. and you can only see 'em when they're coming at you which is why i could see it and you couldn't.” (1x12)

they already know and, at least in the first season, already have what they need to kill whatever they’re hunting; already know to salt and burn bones for spirits, fire for a w*ndigo, exorcisms for demons, a silver bullet to the heart for shapeshifters. there’s only three times in the entire first season that they run into something new to them; 1x14 when sam gets his first vision that leads him to another psychic, 1x16 when dean calls caleb for help on the sigil he put together and he tells him about daevas, and 1x20 when they find out vampires are real- and they only don’t know that bc john thought they were hunted to extinction and not worth mentioning

(there’s also technically two half instances if you count one of them knowing something the other doesn’t - sam figuring out the tulpa in 1x17 and dean already knowing about the shtriga in 1x18 - but those still rely on sam and dean having prior knowledge)

even when they’re uncertain about facing something, it’s not bc they don’t know what it is; it’s precisely bc they know what it is and acknowledge that it’ll be a difficult hunt (“i don't know, man. this isn't our normal gig. i mean, demons, they don't want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake. this is big. and i wish dad was here.” 1x04)

so much of the tension in paranormal shows typically comes from the main character(s) not knowing what is happening to them/the people around them and having to find out how to resolve it. supernatural is unique in that it operates more like a police procedural. the tension comes from solving the clues and identifying patterns to figure out who (what) the killer is and intercepting before they can take another victim

it’s such a different tone to go for when compared to other shows that came both before, during, and after its run. it sets sam and dean on even footing with each other since they both have the same knowledge going in, and it puts them in a place of authority usually reserved for an outside character

the shows i compare spn to most is charmed, buffy and teen wolf; every main character in those shows are brought into the paranormal world knowing nothing, putting them on the same level as the audience, and they have their mc interact with others already knowledgeable about that world in order to overcome their problem/monster of the week. the audience organically learns about this new world as the characters learn about it. it’s a sound writing strategy that prevents “as we already know”-style exposition but something that complicates it is if your world building isn’t unique or intriguing enough, this slow introduction can become boring

we’ve seen shows like these before; sitting through the same tropes of characters learning to use their powers, struggling with no longer feeling normal/relating to the regular world around them, and not knowing how much they can trust the people already involved in this new world gets repetitive. all three shows eventually reach the same level of comfort with their new world that spn starts with but if the characters aren’t enough to draw you in, you can end up dropping it before they reach that point (and often, before the overarching plot can really kick in and evolve the show beyond the villain of the week format)

it’s the superhero origin movie in tv format; dragged out and overplayed. dropping the audience into an established world of course comes with its own problems but you also have the benefit of pre-existing established character dynamics that let the audience slot in like they’ve always been there instead of just getting to know all the characters while the characters also get to know each other

sam and dean already knowing about the supernatural lets the audience immediately get to the core of the story; the conflict between sam and dean, the search for their father, and the mystery of what killed their mother

[obsob]

here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud!!

✷(print shop)✷

[moeblob]

What if I straight up didn't explain myself? What if I just said trust me on this? Would you?

[ratatatastic]

Vanha Kauppahalli date: en full, a 2 minute 50 second masterpiece...

Primetime Panthers | 11.6.24 (x)

[fatuismooches]

There's just something really cute about being the segments' firsts. Their first hand-holder, first kiss, first hug, first date. They all have memories of you from which their creator imbued into them, but they didn't actually do those things with you. It's not their specific memories. It was merely Prime's memories from that stage of his life with you. So, in reality, they're all kind of... sad little clones who haven't felt the touch of love in their entire lives. Solely fulfilling their duty as one of Prime's segments. The affection they remember never actually being experienced by them personally. The feelings never actually felt by them.

The younger segments especially get more worked up about it. Especially when they see you being so blatantly affectionate with Prime. Oh, how they wish that could be them. That you could give them the time of day too. It ends up frustrating them to the point where they nearly break equipment in the process. The older segments are more aware of their place, so they don't show their urges much outwardly, but that doesn't mean they aren't disappointed.

When you finally get comfortable enough around them, they're tripping over themselves to figure out how to persuade you best so that you'll spend them with them instead of the other segments. So that they'll receive lots of kisses and your attention will solely be on them, for the first time since their creation date. (Would you care to join me in dissecting a body, dearest? No, [Name] would much prefer to examine Ruin Guards with me! As if. They would much rather help me out in the lab instead.)

Once you give them a taste of what you have to give, there's no going back. Because the thing about being their firsts, is that they'll demand for you to be their seconds, thirds, and fourths as they truly can't be enough. They might suffocate you, but you'd like that, wouldn't you? You have two hands, shoulders, a lap, a back, and more for a reason!

[whynotimtired]

I don't want to be mean but you all sound batshit when you try to convince milkvans byler is real by talking about pure subtext and color theory and "Mike was checking Will out in this scene!!!" there's CLEAR plausible deniability in your own interpretation of someone's acting. The duffers intentionally kept it all vague enough that most people wouldn't figure it out until they get the chance to shove it into people's faces and if the majority of people look at the scene you're analyzing and go "aww they're finally friends again yay" and you go "Mike was blatantly checking wills ass out in the beginning" when...he was taking a breath to settle and prepare to reconcile with someone he's been "off" with for a year... you end up sounding a little insane. Those types of takes are subjective, and you can make a funny video with zooms implying that that's what he was doing but actively trying to convince someone your headcannon is canon will almost always make you sound deranged.

There's a reason you don't go up to milkvans and go "b-but blue meets yellow in the west" and start talking about the intricacies of making film and how everything is on purpose, that stuff isn't for normies. Analysts love that shit but to someone who just watches the show for fun they hear you say all that and go "you're reaching" because you took someone who is at a zero and shoved them into a thousand without showing them why you ACTUALLY ship byler and just tried to prove that it's real

[al-luviec]

juvie buddies

[altschmerzes]

omgggg shipping is not arophobic in the LEAST but keep making us look like whiners with no real problems by continuing to complain about it I guess

yeah that's definitely what i said in any post ever man great job

average person who has made shipping their entire identity will see a post where someone says 'hey please don't say these specific types of things that are degrading and cruel about nonromantic relationships while enjoying your ships and maybe examine the thought processes and beliefs and prejudices that led to saying them' and be like 'oh so you're a whiner with no real problems who thinks shipping is arophobic?'

telling on yourself there bud

[lesbianherald]

btw you guys as a general rule if someone comes into my inbox criticizing common trends in jayvik fics I won't answer it no matter how much I agree. being a fic author myself it just feels a little weird/not my place/not a good way to foster community and i'd much rather focus on the positive/what does work 💖

[horny-ex-catholic]

You know, I post a lot of horny content here but tbh the sexiest thing that's ever happened to me was the time I got embarrassed because I realized I'd already told my partner about this statue I love and they told me to tell them about it again because they like listening to me be excited

[puppppppppy]

learning abt friendship decay and "not reaching out to your friends for months at a time unprompted is not neurotypical behaviour" has me feeling a certain way

[s0fter-sin]

rewatching s1 and in ep2 w*ndigo, dean makes a joke about not bringing provisions into the woods just to pull out a bag of peanut butter m&m’s and stick with me here, it’s why the later seasons’ “goofy dean” loses me

this moment is clearly a joke but if you think about it too much, it also makes some sense; a family size bag of peanut m&m’s is calorie dense and even the high sugar is good to keep you moving which they need on an overnight hunt. it also shows how due to their upbringing, they’ve had to eat lower quality food, things they always had access to that was cheap and also in bulk

what does dean eating ghost pepper jerky then tipping water on himself exist for other than to be a cringy joke? what does smelling old chinese food, testing to see if it's still good then shaking his head with cabbage hanging out his mouth when it isn't serve? it's just to make him look stupid and contrast sam's healthy/clean diet (and superiority but that’s another conversation) which has always existed but it used to be nuanced and natural

we see dean as a child give up the food he wanted to eat so sam could eat it. (“i’m sick of spaghetti-os,” “you’re the one who wanted them,” … “i want lucky charms!” “… there’s only enough for one bowl and i haven’t had any yet!” proceeds to give them to sam, 1x18) we know he hustled and stole food to ensure sam ate. (“so, what’d he take?” “get this- peanut butter and bread.” 9x07)

we also see throughout the early seasons dean teasing sam about his salad or healthy choice while he eats some form of burger or other fast food (or notably, cheerfully eating prison food that sam won’t touch, 2x19). it's typical sibling teasing but it also shows that it isn't new for sam to eat like that and for dean to know he eats like that

sam being picky isn't just a character trait they chose for him, it's a result of how dean raised him; he raised him to like and want healthy food and be food secure enough to reject food he didn't want

but dean eats anything he is given and seeks out unhealthy - cheap, plentiful, filling - food

he is the opposite of picky to the point of it being a consistent bit; they show him multiple times eating when it's socially frowned upon to do so eg. questioning a grieving victim when they're trying to be discreet (1x14, 2x15, 2x18)

a similar moment to the chinese food is in 4x19; dean wakes up in the car while sam brushes his teeth outside and is hungry. sam says there's a sandwich in the backseat, dean smells it and recoils bc it's an old tuna sandwich. the moment is funny on its own but it also exists as a comparison of their lives to adam's; he has a loving mother, goes to school and importantly, a steady stable childhood

it’s a joke with a purpose

it also supports dean's food insecurity; he wakes up and is immediately hungry, enough to complain about it and seek out food before anything else

dean is always hungry bc he never has access to nutritionally rich foods bc he got used to using the money he earned to buy sam's more expensive food. he got used to his cheaper, denser foods and grew up with (and continues to live with) intermittent access to said foods. think of how long it takes to drive from one state to another; how many hours it can take to see another town that offers food, if you arrive at a reasonable enough time for anything to be open. also think how they can’t keep any food beyond what fits in an esky; nothing that needs defrosting, nothing can be heated up. it’s bags and jars and take out for as long as they can trust it

then they get the bunker which has its own kitchen

dean even describes himself as "nesting" when he decorates his room, something he hasn't had since he was four years old, and he uses said kitchen to cook a burger from scratch that he is proud of. he is food secure for the first time in his life and it shows in how often he cooks for both himself and sam

so these moments where they have him acting goofy regarding food are no longer character driven and only exist as a joke which is why they come across as cringy and out of character compared to similar earlier moments

a lot of my issues with dean's characterisation started when they introduced the bunker. the argument can and is made that the reason these jokes happen is bc he feels safe in the bunker, that bc he now has a home he can relax and unmask but that still doesn't feel sufficient. they crank up these sillier moments for both of them, giving them a sort of playing house comedy vibe of two roommates with completely different personalities but it doesn't feel like an authentic progression. it feels forced; an attempt at humour for humour's sake

food stopped being an informed part of their characters and their trauma and instead became flanderised; sam is the judgy vegetarian health nut and dean is his borderline slovenly carnivore counterpart