#fans are really invested (either positively or negatively) in the real people involved with making something who i dont care about

[cape-wearing-enigma]

worst thing ever is being a fan of something where the entire vibe of the fandom is so deeply uninhabitable to me personally. not necessarily in the “toxic fandom discourse” way (although that also sucks), but in the “the way you talk about this piece of media and the things you focus on and the things you like about it and the general opinions you hold about it from both an in universe and out of universe standpoint are, while not necessarily inaccurate or bad, very deeply unaligned with the reasons i enjoy this thing and what i find compelling about it or are just always phrased in the most obnoxious way possible” way

[spade-riddles]

Submission: Adjusting expectations

Okay, guys. Wading in here where it’s possible no-one wants me, but … here goes. 

We - Kaylors - are in a hard place right now. People feel hurt, they feel hopeless. They feel like they were led on by the likes of Spade. I’m not here to invalidate any of the feelings that come from seeing Karlie and Taylor play out this charade.  

But I think we (collectively, as a fandom) need to take a breath and ask if any of this is really as bad or unfixable as we think it is. Because, for me, the recent stunting is hard to stomach but not truly surprising. On some level this is how I expected Karlie and Taylor to handle both the birth of the baby and the launch of the rerecorded albums. As much I wanted to believe in the idea of spring breaking loose and bringing with it a fervent revolution … I could see the pieces still in play on the board and I doubted it was coming. 

I think the problem is that there was a split between the optimist and pragmatist sides of the fandom, over the last year or so. To be clear - I’m not judging the optimist side of the fandom. Not at all. Taylor has pulled wildcard moves before, and emotions run so high in all this, especially with a baby involved now, that I don’t blame people for wanting to believe the best. But it reached a stage where some of the things people were trying to talk themselves into were just wildly unrealistic. And when that happens, of course you’re going to get hurt. It’s inevitable. 

But let’s really look at this for a second. We should have known that neither Karlie nor Taylor was going to be shaving her beard in March. Ditching Jerk right after or just before the birth would have been too soon for Karlie. It’s not unusual for a celeb marriage to fizzle out within a year of the birth, but before the baby even arrives? That would be weird, and would draw attention just when it seems Kaylor don’t want it. They just had a baby. That’s an adjustment in itself, and Karlie is suffering enough social media hate on top of that. I wouldn’t blame her for just wanting to take a break and lie low during this difficult time. And unfortunately, for Karlie, that means maintaining the status quo of the situation she put herself in with Jerk. She may be doing the bare minimum to maintain it, but if she wants to avoid attention, she has to make it seem like everything between her and her “husband” is normal. And that she’s trying to make it work, which I believe will be important later. Good people try to make it work, even in bad relationships. 

Toe wasn’t going anywhere either. Taylor had relied on him so heavily during the promotion of Folklore, with the William Bowery narrative, that she was almost backed into a corner. She had to give some allusion to his air quotes “creative input” and their so-called happy relationship, or her failure to do so would have become the story and overshadowed her night. The headlines would have either been break-up speculation or complaints that she didn’t give him his due. We think the cutesy coverage after she named him in her acceptance speech was bad, but negative headlines have a far longer shelf life and can take on a life of their own. They would have been worse. Whatever we might think of Taylor’s actions, Folklore is one of her best albums and she deserved to have her night. 

So, on to the announcement of the birth. This is a tricky one, and again, I completely understand why people reacted so badly against it. It was everything we as a fandom said we didn’t want. It was Jerk using the baby for personal good PR. But I have to be honest here. I always thought we were kidding ourselves believing he would NEVER be seen with the baby or implied to be the father. I do believe Karlie is doing her damnedest to minimize the digital footprint of his involvement and keep her actual baby out of it. But he was always going to get to bask in the glow of playing daddy for a while. It’s the trade off Kaylor made when they used him to shore up their closet. 

This is also why I increasingly suspect the timing of the announcement got the green light from Kaylor too. If Jerk was always going to be assumed to be the father of Karlie’s baby, then there was always going to have to be a birth announcement that incorporated him somehow - unless the girls were ready to answer awkward questions, and it doesn’t seem like we’re there yet. So the best way to minimize the damage is to have his moment of glory overshadowed by a bigger win for Taylor. It worked pretty well actually. Even on Kaylor blogs the stunt was mostly buried by Taylor content.

I know a lot of fans feel gaslit by all the hints, but I do think there’s a possibility Taylor really didn’t grasp how hurt Kaylors would be. From her perspective, she “fed” fans three times over that night. She gave us a beautiful performance, a gorgeous red carpet moment, and a win to celebrate. I think it’s possible she really didn’t realize the double whammy of stunting that night would make it all feel worthless for many.

Taylor is in an awkward position. As a consequence of Kaylor retreating into the closet, the support base for them has shrunk. (When I use the words “Kaylor fandom”, I refer to this support base.) I would say Kaylor fandom consists of two parts. There is a silent portion, who observe events and comment anonymously, but don’t say anything “on main”. And then there are the small corps of true believers, who think Karlie and Taylor are still together and the baby is theirs. This latter group do most of the actual talking about Kaylor, but they tend to be pretty battle-hardened. They’ve been around for years, they never believe any of the stunts and their capacity to be hurt by them is, as a result, pretty limited. These Kaylors criticize sometimes, but they tend to fall back in line eventually and mostly adopt a “let’s wait and see how this all shakes out” approach. The problem is that I would say these “chilled” Kaylors are the minority. For their own sanity they curate their blog experience and often don’t post the more negative anons they get. Which is fine, but if you were looking at it from the outside, I could see how it might create an impression that the fandom as a whole can roll with the punches. And for a lot of the silent majority, that’s not the case. 

But again, I can see how Taylor might not necessarily know that. She went quiet after the Grammys, when I might have expected more celebratory posts from her. If I had to guess, I’d say she didn’t expect the backlash. I’m especially noticing a backlash against her for allowing Karlie to take so many hits while her own reputation has never been better. And I can’t defend her on that one, except to say I hope she has a plan. But I understand where people are coming from when they say the songs aren’t enough and actions speak louder than words. It’s tough to watch. 

Still, we’re in a position we should realistically have been able to see coming. We should have known Jerk wasn’t going to be out of the picture immediately after the birth. This is one of those things nobody likes, but maybe we all just have to be patient on. I don’t see Karlie busting out of the closet to admit her marriage was a fake, or testifying to the FBI. I think she’ll just let her marriage quietly fall apart, as many real marriages did during the pandemic. And for that to work, she needs to make it look like didn’t throw away a family unit lightly. Hence the “I tried” post, the social media break, and the suggestions of spending time with Jerk’s family. All of this can be spun later into a narrative of Karlie having tried to make it work, only to never really be accepted. The hate online affected her mental health and she gradually realized how unhappy she’d become and decided she needed to break free and find her old self again for her baby’s sake. This is the most likely narrative for Karlie’s freedom and it’s one that could work - but it’s going to take time to unfold. Personally, I’m giving it a year. If we don’t see a separation by then, and definitive moves to a reunited Kaylor, I’ll be bowing out. I’ll still know what I believe the truth to be, but I won’t see the need to devote my energy to defending it. ,

Meanwhile, the masters rerecords are about to be released, and Taylor has invested a lot in their success. Because of this, I can’t envision her coming out until at least the big three (Fearless, 1989, and Red) have dropped. She might drop hints, but I don’t expect anything earth-shattering. Even the order of the album releases seems to confirm this. She’s breaking out the big guns first. 

I’ve seen people speculate that because Rep can’t be rerecorded until 2022, Taylor will hold off on any coming out until then. And I’m not so sure of that. Yes, people listening to the album for clues would give Scott and Scooter money, but if we’re being honest, a fair amount of people are probably listening to those albums already, regardless of the drama. Those sleazeballs are profiting from Rep, full stop. But if Taylor profits more, from her bigger albums, she still wins. And she can still put out a Taylor’s version of Rep with vault tracks and collabs, to seduce people away from the Big Machine version in early 2022. Honestly, I think there’s a good chance Taylor would consider this is a worthwhile trade-off anyway, if it meant she got to live a more open life with Karlie - and most crucially, begin to repair Karlie���s reputation. As children get older and the world begins to leave the pandemic behind, it becomes harder to live behind closed doors. I guess we’ll find out how Taylor finds the reality of such a life, and what she considers worth sacrificing to step away from it. 

All this to say: I can’t predict the future more than anyone else, but I don’t think the situation we’re in now is irreparable, and if we’re being really objective, I don’t think it’s even surprising. I do think Taylor should give us something, if she wants to keep us around. No-one can live on a complete absence of hope, and as I’ve stated, letting the fandom dwindle to this extent has its own dangers. But I think we also need to keep our time frames realistic, even if it means rejecting lifelines like the Spade riddles. We shouldn’t expect Karlie to be free of Jerk for around a year, and we shouldn’t expect Taylor to do anything much beyond general music promo until at least the big three have dropped. Sucks to say it, I know. But at least this way we won’t be disappointed, and if Kaylor do pull a wild card and move towards freedom, we can be pleasantly surprised. 

Just my two cents. 

___________________

Well written and fair arguments on our reactions and expectations. I had typed up more, but I will let others post their comments before I chime in.

[kiingocreative]

The Structure of Story is now available! Check it out on Amazon, via the link in our bio, or at https://kiingo.co/book

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Every author starting out will know how important reviews are. If you’re yet to be convinced, here are some fun facts about reviews*:

1. 88% of consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations.

2. 72% of consumers will take action after reading a positive review.

3. Positive reviews tell Amazon and Google you’re worth ranking and can boost search results for your book by feeding into SEO (reviews account for almost 10% of total search ranking factors).

So reviews aren’t just a nice to have — they’re critical to the success of a book.

Now, amongst the writers community, we talk a lot about receiving reviews, but less so about giving reviews. I enjoy writing book reviews immensely, because it makes me think about what I’m reading on a different level, and forces me to learn how to articulate that opinion. This is actually one of the main reasons why I got into professional BETA reading.

I was asked recently how I structure my book reviews (all of which can be found on my blog), so here you have it: all the secrets to how I go about writing book reviews, along with some concrete examples!

Start With Why.

The most important question to ask yourself before you even start writing a review is this:

Why do people read book reviews?

In essence, they want to know whether the book is good, what it’s about, and — more importantly — whether they should read it. They generally like some context and detail to back the review so that they feel it’s genuine and trustworthy.

If you can keep in mind what people generally want to get out of a book review, this will help you keep your review relevant and useful. It’ll help you figure out what’s worth including and what isn’t. If in doubt, ask yourself what you would want to read about in a review when you’re trying to decide whether or not to buy a book.

Some Key Questions.

Before you start writing, you also need to ponder a few things. It may not always feel natural to reflect on a book on this level of detail — it didn’t for me at first. I either liked a book, or I loved it, or I didn’t, but I rarely spent a lot of time critically thinking about why I did or didn’t like a read.

If you’re also finding this uncomfortable at first, I say stick with it. I found it extremely interesting to make myself think these things through. It’s made my writing so much better, because I’ve developed that objective evaluation muscle that activates even when I’m with my own work. It’s also made me much better at forming and formulating an opinion, which is something I didn’t use to be good at!

Here are some questions to start with before you start on your review:

• Did you like the book?

• What did you like about it?

• What didn’t you like about it?

• Are there any themes that were particularly well handled?

• Were there any characters you liked above others, and why?

• Would you recommend the book to a friend?

These few questions will start shaping your view of what you’ve read and provide the main elements of your review.

To take your critical reading to the next level, you may want to ponder the various elements of the story and the writing as a whole. Think about:

• The plot / storyline — is it strong? Consistent? Original? Enticing? Are there gaps?

• The characters and character arcs — are all characters well developed? Multi-layered? Do they make sense? Are they relatable?

• The key themes — what are some recurring topics through the story? Are they well handled?

• The pace and timeline — is the story progressing at a good pace? Where does it lag? Does the timeline make sense?

• The writing style — how was the writing style? Did it flow well? Did it feel unique or original?

• The dialogues — did they feel natural? Were they believable? Were they engaging? Did they add to the overall story?

• The editing — how was the editing? Were there any typos or formatting errors?

Example Review Outline

Once you’ve spent some time with those initial questions, you’ll find it gives you the best part of your review content. At first, you may want to note down your answers to each of these. With time, you may find you can process these in your mind faster than you did before, and you don’t need so many notes. Whichever way is right for you, once you have this, you’re ready to start structuring your review.

I tend to use the following outline (though, of course, this isn’t the one and only way to write a review!):

1. Star Rating:

It’s most common in this day and age to include a rating in your review. There are talks out there about not leaving a rating on a book, because these can be extremely subjective — someone’s three-star rating may mean they loved the book but for others it’s a negative rating, some people don’t leave five-star reviews out of principle etc.

If you’re reviewing the book on Amazon and Goodreads however, you don’t have a choice but to pick a rating out of five stars. Have a think about how that rating system relates to you. For instance: would you leave five star ratings? What rating do you use for a book you liked versus a book you absolutely loved? What kind of book would warrant a low-rating? etc.

2. Opening:

Start with a short overview of what you thought of the book. This should give the reader a concise view of what you thought of the book, in two or three sentences. The idea is that, if they read only this opening part of the review, they should know your view on the matter.

Here’s an example opening paragraph I wrote for Heart of a Runaway Girl by Trevor Wiltzen:

‘Heart of a Runaway Girl is a breath of fresh air. As far as crime and murder investigation novels go, I only ever read Agatha Christie, so my standard is high. But this book did not disappoint.’

3. Synopsis:

The next section of the review is a short summary of the book, which should give the main elements of the plot. I tend to keep that part really short because I find that, if anyone wants to know the specifics, the book blurb the author so diligently wrote for the back cover is a much better place to learn more about that. Yes, you need to give a sense of what the book’s about, but it shouldn’t be the bulk of the review.

I think this is a matter of personal preference, I’ve seen reviews out there with a much longer synopsis section, but I always find myself skipping those bits to get to the nitty gritty of the review, which is what the person thought. There again, go back to the why — people who read reviews do so to find out whether or not they want to buy a book, so the more valuable pieces to help with that (in my view) are your opinions, more than an in-depth summary which they can find elsewhere.

For instance, when I reviewed Counter Ops by Jessica Scurlock, the second opus in the Pretty Lies series, I kept the synopsis paragraph to:

‘In Counter Ops, we meet a familiar duo, Ivy and Nixon, as they face the aftermath of the Elite Auction, and each endure its painful consequences. We follow their journey as they try to escape their fate and attempt to come to each other’s rescue — in more ways than one.’

4. Highlights:

The next part is what I call the ‘highlights’. This is where you talk about what you liked most about the book, or what you thought the strongest parts of the book were. This can focus on one element of the book (a character, a part of the plot, a theme etc.) or cover multiple elements.

See, for example, the highlights I picked for my review of Age of the Almek by Tara Lake:

‘I loved the author's ability to give every character their own voice and a distinct perspective on the world around them. I loved how involved I became with every character's fate and woes. I loved the precision with which the Almek world has been created, with such minuteness you can picture it down to the finest details.

My favourite part is the portrayal of the many facets of human nature, be it through the reactions of the masses to the barbaric ways of their rulers or the individual views of the protagonists. In every Almek citizen is a piece of the great puzzle that is humanity at large, and the author has a gift for writing it as raw and real as it gets.’

5. Mitigate your view:

Right after the highlights is where you’d add anything that mitigates your view. That’s anything that wasn’t quite as strong as you’d want it to be, or anything you weren’t a fan of.

You can skip this part if there’s nothing you didn’t like about the book — you don’t have to go nitpicking if nothing comes to mind. And it doesn’t have to be a bashing of the author and their work either. Keep it constructive and explain why you felt that way. There’s never a need for insults or expletives, and these wouldn’t enhance the quality of your review anyways. Formulating constructive criticism takes practice, and requires tact and subtlety. It’s a valuable skill to have if you’re willing to invest time in honing it.

Here’s how I phrased that part of the review for Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan:

‘But - and there's a but - my qualm with this book is that, for a story that revolves entirely around Nick and Rachel... There's actually very little Nick and Rachel in it!

Yes it's all 'about' them and it talks 'of' them loads, and we're told theyare happy together and want to be together... But it's all 'tell' and no 'show'. Their intimacy is sorely lacking, so I was left missing that added colour to convince me that they, in fact, do love each other. And I'm not talking saucy passages — I 'm talking about basic things suchas them actually talking to each other and spending time together.’

6. Conclusion:

The final part of the review is a short paragraph with closing remarks, such as a short summary of your view on the book, whether or not you recommend it or some indication of what readers the book may be for (e.g. ‘if you liked… you may like this book’).

When I reviewed Collision by Kristen Granata, I ended the review with:

‘Readers used to intricate, far-fetched romance plots may find this book too straightforward for their liking. In my mind, this is what makes the book's key strength: it's real and honest, it takes the reader through difficult situations and complex emotions beautifully, and that makes it all the more relatable.

A great read overall - and the moment I finished the last page, I was on Amazon ordering the next book in the series!’

How long should a review be?

I don’t think there should be a minimum or maximum word count to a review, though I find that mine end up being around 300 to 500 words. I feel this is a good length because as a reviewer this forces me to be concise and clear in expressing my opinions, and as a reader it’s long enough to give people a sense of the book, but not too long that they’ll drop off before the end.

Final Thoughts: To spoil or not to spoil?

My view on adding spoilers in your review is simple: DON’T.

Try as I might, I can’t fathom what could be gained from adding spoilers to a review. Once again: back to the why. Someone reads a review to find out if they want to read the book themselves. If you ruin the plot for them in that review, what’s the incentive to pick up the book?

It just hurts the author’s chances of making a book sale, and it robs a fellow reader of the joyful rollercoaster of finding out those plot twists at their own pace. Don’t do it, it’s just rude.

*Sources:

www.bookmarketingtools.com

www.searchenginewatch.com

www.dealeron.com

[spiderdreamer-blog]

Assorted/Jumbled Thoughts on She-Ra: The Final Season (MASSIVE SPOILERS WITHIN)

Well.

I think I can safely say I was not expecting much of that to occur. So in lieu of either incoherent screaming or a larger analysis post (though I might do that upon a full series rewatch), I’ll instead offer miscellaneous thoughts on the final season of Noelle Stevenson and DreamWorks Animation’s Netflix Original Series, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, below in bullet point format.

-So I was admittedly a hard sell on canon Catradora endgame leading up to this. I thought the relationship itself was great: complicated, messy, and full of both positive and negatives that they had to work through while still caring so, so much about each other. But a lot of the fandom was, well, let’s be real, pretty obnoxious about it and the usual kinds of infighting occurred that I think are really petty and stupid (call it Klance Syndrome). Surprise surprise, when you actually involve good writing and acting instead of weird fan projections, I’m way more invested! In particular, Aimee Carrero and AJ Michalka do their series-best work by a longshot in a number of scenes here, particularly The Big Gay Moment. Well done.

-Tying into the above, I thought Catra’s “redemption arc” (as noted, I’m on record as hating that phrase/it should be called “self-improvement arc”) was extremely well handled, probably on the level of Zuko’s if in some notably different directions. The key, as with our favorite fire prince, is that she makes a dramatic, notable change in behavior and has advocates to back her up. Glimmer spurs her into action and is the first to sell others on the idea that she’s changing, and it’s enough to convince Adora to keep reaching out. What I also appreciate is that the frustrations and hangups still play a role: Adora gets aggravated by Catra’s continued reluctance to open up to people, while Catra finally articulates her big problem with Adora’s self-sacrificial tendencies in a way that leads to real emotional breakthroughs. Even things like Bow teasing her about her cuteness or Perfuma making a connection with her through their shared bond with Scorpia make a real difference in how she is seen and perceived (also, Perfuma offering to help her with meditation techniques to start unpacking “your abandonment issues and negativity” is Genesis Rodriguez’s funniest line delivery in the whole series).

-Micah being afraid of not being seen as a Cool Dad thanks to interactions with Frosta is deeply fucking hilarious. I love that Daniel Dae Kim gets to offer a quirky performance here that is reminiscent of Reshma Shetty’s work as Angella, Sandra Oh’s Castaspella, and Karen Fukuhara’s Glimmer, thus showing how he fits of a piece in their family. And the big mind-controlled fight with him and Glimmer in the climax is one more great emotional beat to add to the whole pile of their reunion.

-Melog is a good space kitty and I’m glad Catra gets to have them. That is all.

-ENTRAPDAK FUCKING RIGHTS.

-Okay but seriously no, Hordak asserting himself and tossing Horde Prime’s ass off a ledge Palpatine-style is one of THE most triumphant moments in the series. I’m intensely glad my dumb bat-eared son got to be with his autistic science girlfriend.

-On that note, were it not for the rest of the cast, especially MIchalka and Carrero, doing the aforementioned series-best work (Lauren Ash and Krystal Joy Brown also really shine as Scorpia and Netossa in their respective focus episodes, and I have to give Noelle props as well for getting to give Spinnerella some varied emotions, esp. since she’s not a “traditional” VA), Keston John would easily be the season’s voice acting MVP. As Horde Prime alone, he gets to do so much in building a proper endgame villain, by turns cool and collected cult leader (seriously, that backup group of chanting clones is massively fucking creepy), then slowly trying to wrest control of the situation, and finally a gleefully ranting extremist brought down by his own hubris. But THEN, he not only does “our” Hordak in a new and intriguing “lost” way, he does all the other clones in their clipped-but-pleasant manner AND the delightfully unexpected creation that is Wrong Hordak, who you just want to give a hug within about five seconds and is also the provider of much of the best dark comedy in the season.

-It was also really good to see Entrapta come into her own and genuinely focus on doing the right thing while still getting to be her glorious nerd self. I like how her hair began to act a a visual conscience/reminder of the important things she NEEDED to do in particular.

-The more I think about Shadow Weaver’s final moments, the more I like them? She’s always been a character defined by believing in her own bullshit, but this season starts to show some real glimmers of self-awareness (asking Castaspella to stop her if she tries to take the Heart for herself) even as she continues being awful (gestures at everything else). Yet I don’t think it’s as simple as “she Finally Realized She Cared”; even as she tells Catra she’s proud, there’s something else going on there and how she takes off her mask for the “You’re welcome” callback, appearing truly vulnerable before us for the first and last time (her flashbacks as Light Spinner still had the partial face veil, after all). I’m not sure what it is, and I think that’s the point? Catra and Adora were both hurt and abused by her, but they also did look up to her as a genuine figure of authority and trust. They’re going to have to live with their complicated feelings about that and not ever knowing who she TRULY was as a person for the rest of their lives even with the happy ending they’ve been granted.

-I think this season finally had what I could call some really great action scenes and fight choreography, and a big part of that is the immediately raised stakes via Prime and his clones/drones. The generic Horde soldiers were always pretty pathetic/easily swatted aside cannon fodder, but these guys don’t mess around. The use of the chip zombies also adds a lot of great tension to power brawls like Netossa and Spinnerella, or Mermista and Scorpia showing off their powers in truly dangerous-to-others ways. It’s still not up to the level of, say, a Studio Mir-animated series or something like DuckTales with its variety of chases and fights, but I welcomed the smoothing out of the series’ key weakness visually.

-I suppose one could say there are “flaws”: some worldbuilding that could’ve been fleshed out more (we mainly get it explained to us how Horde Prime and the First Ones brawled for control; a flashback might’ve been cool), some arguable conveniences that crop up (they JUST SO HAPPEN to be by a planet that holds Prime’s weakness, guys!), and characters I would’ve liked to see more of (Double Trouble, though their big cameo is awesome, Huntara, and the newly introduced Star siblings). But they’re ultimately small things/probably a Pressed For Time issue.

-Though I will say the one reinvented character who’s never really worked for me is Swift Wind. Which is frustrating because it’s not like he’s awful/a drag/I want to get out the shotgun every time he was onscreen. I think it’s because he’s always felt jarring as a screen presence with his comedy stylings and that I’ve never really been sold on him as this boon companion for Adora, especially since her relationships with everyone else are so compelling. He gets some okay moments here, but it’s the only real misfire in the series in terms of updating characters for me. Ah well.

-Bow got to step up in major ways this season as a leader, getting a big heroic rallying speech and everything. It’s what he deserves/I’m proud of the guy. I also appreciated things like Glimmer telling him he could still be mad at her as long as he needed, but that she wasn’t going to give up or leave him. And while I’ve never been a shipper for them, the moment where they admit their feelings before running off to battle IS genuinely sweet. It was also fun to see his dorky dads again and get a truly awful/wonderful dad joke in the process.

-I enjoy how the series doesn’t give us a “where are they now” epilogue like many other recent series, but leaves things off on a note where the future’s just ahead and able to be defined by our Best Friend Squad, now with a fully enveloped Catra. That feels right.

That’s it for the moment, though as said, there might be more posts, even longer ones, in the future. For now, I wanna say thank you to Noelle Stevenson, Josie Campbell, Katherine Nolfi, Shane Lynch, Jen Bennett, Adam Henry, Chuck Austen, Sunna Wehrmeijer, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, the aforementioned terrific voice cast, animation studio NE4U, and everyone responsible at DreamWorks and Netflix for making this wonderful, queer-as-fuck show. I wish them all the best in their future creative endeavors and look forward, like Adora, to what’s over the horizon.

[gunnerpalace]

Hi! Same anon as the previous one. Tbh, I agree wholeheartedly with you. Y'see I do ask rhetorically,too but i could really accept and understand how and why ppl can be oblivious to IchiRuki, and somehow felt that the 'canon' should suffice, even the most excruciating of all is the fact a number found the ending even acceptable (ships aside, too). Again, I could respect that. But it's my greatest bane when ppl ask 'why' and not be clear they are asking rhetorically because I literally will

provide you an actual answer. And I get it, it’s the reason why ppl find shipping wars toxic and silly. But then again, as human, conflicts are always part of us (partly because as social psych explains so, we are gravitated to the negative for that allows us to change and survive), and the reason why “logical fallacies” are coined in the first place. Human will always debate, and argue about something; the only thing we could change is how we approach the opposing views.

Again, I dont condone any way, shape or form of abuse and harm. In some certain extent, I could perhaps understand it’s much harder for some IH to approach the actual argument being there’s either too much noise, and trapped in their own island between sea of salt. Thus becoming too acquianted w/ few IH who shared the same thought until it became their views as the only truth (see, that’s why its important to have debates! it is what keep us grounded and fair! Just like you said)

Who am I to speak though? I never ever challenged anyone anyways. And as you said, you just have to understand things in every way you could possibly think of–endless ‘whys’. Which is where I agree in your reply the most–this silly fandom wars is just the black mirror to every truth that lies beneath human psyche–the dark and the grimy. Heck, being a psych major is like staring at dark hole–at times, good, but most just plain confusing, revolting even or just heartbreaking.

Sorry it’s been long, but for the final of this ask: let me tell how glad I was with IchiRuki fandom I found in tumblr. It was the saltiest I’ve ever been (im not generally a fandom person anyways) but it’s the himalayan salt–expensive and actually nutritive it really deepened my desire to become wiser in general. And you for your wonderful essays, critiques and whatnot. I definitively would love to talk with you more not only about IchiRuki but the wonders and nightmare that us humans! Kudos!

I have sitting in my drafts a post spelling out my thoughts on “canon” (and thus, the people who cling to it) in that as a concept it privileges:

officiality over quality when it comes to validity (thus violating Sturgeon’s law)

corporations (intellectual property rights holders) over fans, and thus capitalists over proletarians

hierarchical dominance over mutualist networking within fandom

curative fandom over transformative fandom

genre over literary content

plot over characters

events over emotions

It is notable that (1) generally degrades art as a whole, (2) generally advances the capitalist agenda, and (3–7) generally advances the dominance of men over women (as the genders tend to be instructed by society to view these as A. dichotomies rather than spectrums, and B. to ascribe gender to them and make them polarities). These form the sides of a mutually reinforcing power structure (in the typical “Iron Triangle” fashion) designed to preserve and maintain the status quo.

Who really benefits from say, the policing of what is or is not “canon” in Star Wars? Disney, first and foremost. And then whomever (almost certainly male) decides to dedicate their time to memorizing the minutiae of whatever that corporation has decided is “legitimate.”

One can imagine a universe in which fan fic is recognized by companies for what it is: free advertising. (Much like fan art already is.) Instead, it is specifically targeted by demonetization efforts in a way that fan art isn’t. Why? Because it demonstrates that corporate control and “official” sanction has no bearing on quality, and it is thus viewed as undermining the official products.

In the same way, by demonstrating that most “canonical” works are frankly shit, it undermines the investiture of fans in focusing on details that are ultimately errata (the events, the plot, the genre), which is the core function of curative fandom and the reason for its hierarchical structure. The people who “know the most” are at the top, but what they “know” is basically useless garbage. And those people so-engaged are, of course, usually male.

To “destroy” the basis of their credibility, and indeed the very purpose of their community, is naturally viewed by them as an attack.

(This is not to say that efforts to tear down internal consistency within established cultural properties are good unto themselves, or even desirable. For example, efforts to redefine properties such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Ghostbusters, for the sake of a identity-politics agenda have largely A. failed as art, B. failed as entertainment, C. failed to attract the supposedly intended audience, and D. failed to advance the agenda in question. Trying to repurpose extant media in the name of culture wars is essentially always doomed to failure unless it is done deftly and gradually.)

(At the same time, this also shows what I was talking about last time, with regard to people seeing whatever they want to see. You will see people complain that Star Trek and Doctor Who didn’t “used to be so political,” which is obviously nonsense. These shows were always political. What changed was how their politics were presented. For example, Star Trek has, since TNG, always shown a nominally socialist or outright communist future, but was beloved by plenty of conservatives because they could [somehow] ignore that aspect of it.)

Of course, almost no one is seriously suggesting that one side of the spectrums outlined above be destroyed, rather merely that a new balance be struck upon the spectrum. But, as we have seen time and again in society, any threat to the status quo, whether that be 20% of Hugo Awards going to non-white male authors or the top income tax rate in America being increased by a measly 5.3% (from 28.7% to 34%… when the all-time high was 94% and for over 50 years it was above 50%) is a threat. This is why, for example, Republicans are out there branding AOC as a “socialist” when her policies are really no different at all from a 1960 Democrat who believed in FDR’s New Deal. (Which they, of course, have also demonized as “socialism.”)

(As an aside, all this ignores the fact that most of the “literary canon” of Western civilization, or at least English literature… is Biblical or historical fan fic.)

And this is when I finally get to my point.

Those people out there who denigrate and mock shippers and shipping, the people who hurl “it reads like fan fiction” as an insult, and so on, are the people who benefit from and enjoy the extant power structure. You will see the same thing with self-identified “gamers” complaining about “fake girl gamers.” Admitting that the hobby has a lot of women in it, and a lot of “casuals,” and is indeed increasingly dominated by “non-traditional demographics” is an affront to the constructed identity of being a “gamer.” They are “losing control.” And they don’t like it.

This exact same sort of population is what the “fanbase” of Bleach has been largely reduced down to through a slow boiling off of any actual quality. Of course they’re dismissive of people who are looking for anything of substance: their identity, their “personal relationship” with the franchise, is founded on a superficial appreciation of it: things happening, flashy attacks, eye-catching character designs, fights, etc.

(What this really boils down to, at heart, is that society at large has generally told men that emotions are bad, romance and relationships of all kinds are gross, and that thinking and reflecting on things is stupid. So of course they not only don’t care about such things, but actively sneer at them as “girly” or “feminine,” which is again defined by society at large as strictly inferior. And this gender divide and misogyny is of course promulgated and reinforced by the powers that be, the capitalists, to facilitate class divisions just like say racism generally is.)

(The latest trick of these corporate overlords has been the weaponization of “woke” culture to continue to play the people off one another all the time. “If you don’t like this [poorly written, dimensionless Mary Sue] Strong Female Character, then you are a racist misogynist!” They are always only ever playing both sides for profit, not advancing an actual ideological position. It is worth noting that there was a push by IH some years ago to define IR as “anti-feminist” for critiquing Orihime for essentially the exact same reasons [admittedly, not for profit, but still as critical cover].)

Which makes it very curious, therefore, that the most ardent IH supporters tend to be women. (Though there are more than a few men, they seem to tend to support it because it is “canon” and to attack it is to attack “canon” and thus trigger all of the above, rather than out of any real investment.) I think there are a number of reasons for this (which I have detailed before) and at any rate it is not particularly surprising; 53% of white women voted for Trump, after all.

What we are really seeing in fandom, are again the exact same dynamics that we see at larger and larger scales, for the exact same reasons. The stakes are smaller, but the perception of the power struggle is exactly the same.

Of course, the people who are involved in these things rarely think to interrogate themselves as to the true dimensions and root causes of their motivations. People rarely do that in general.

Putting all that aside, I’m glad that you have found a place you enjoy and feel comfortable, and thank you for the kind words, although I am not of the opinion that there is anything poignant about the non-fiction I write. It is, as I keep trying to emphasize, all there to be seen. One just has to open their eyes. So, it’s hard for me to accept appreciation of it.

Anyway, don’t feel shy about coming off of anon rather than continuing to send asks. We don’t really bite.

[p-and-p-admin]

Interview given to The Severus Snape and Hermione Granger Shipping Fan Group.  (sharing here Admin approved)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/199718373383293/

Hello Emma Ficready and welcome to Behind the Quill, it’s wonderful to finally have the chance to chat with you.

Many readers will know you already from works like “Chimaera” and “Sins of the father” for those that don’t,  a Trigger Warning from Emma that  their works contain graphic violence and abuse and may cause distress to some readers. 

Okay, let’s jump right in. What's the story behind your pen name? It's actually my previous name! Although very apt for a fiction writer. Though it's pronounced more like Thick - Reedy, I use it over my new name because my partner does not know I'm a fiction writer, and I  don't think they'd react well if they found out, it's something they'd struggle with. I'm a long term partial carer for them and they have some mental health issues, so I try to avoid any situations that could be a potential trigger. Plus I like having something all to myself. Which Harry Potter character do you identify with the most? I think I would say I probably relate to Severus Snape the most. I can relate to how 'damaged' he is, and how much the bullying he endured as a child, affected the adult he became. Do you have a favourite genre to read? (not in fic, just in general) I think I like to read angst the most, as to me that's more real, I don't generally read stories that are entirely fluffy all the way through. I love a happy ending, but  I can't cope with total fluff because I find it unrelatable, life isn't sunshine and daisies all the time. Do you have a favourite "classic" novel? I don't know if it's old enough to be classed as a classic, but I'd have to say 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee. At what age did you start writing? Very young. I had my first poem published by aged 10. How did you get into writing fanfiction? After being heartbroken at the end of Harry Potter series , I just wanted more and I had been reading fanfiction stories for years. I was constantly looking for stories, I'd get this thought in my head and it was like 'I wonder if I can find a story about this' and when I couldn't I just thought... well why don't I write it? I also find the writing very cathartic. What's the best theme you've ever come across in a fic? Is it a theme represented in your own works? I love hurt / comfort fics. I'm a sucker for it. It is something that I represent quite a lot in my fictions, because I can see both Hermione and Severus in that role in their own individual way. Hermione who is constantly a champion and a voice for others, and Severus who is there quietly and thanklessly fighting for others the entire time, I can see both of them naturally falling into those roles of 'saving' someone , without it being out of character. What fandoms are you involved in other than Harry Potter? I'm not particularly active in any other fandoms, I have always been a Buffy Fan and I love the Inheritance cycle books by Christopher Paolini , though short of reading other fanfictions I am not active in the community like I am with Harry Potter. If you could make one change to canon, what would it be? The epilogue, probably the  most common answer you get  and I know everyone is going to expect me to say because she never should've married Ron, but I can see her marrying him and subsequently divorcing him as being true to Character but I'd change the epilogue because I don't think Hermione would or should ever have settled for being a ministry worker, she deserved so much more. Do you have a favourite piece of fanon? I don't know if this counts but... Severus's Patronus changing after he survives the war. I see the doe as symbolic to the debt he felt he owed her, and I like the thought of the visual change of patronus, representing the emotional change he goes through in accepting the past and moving on now he feels that he's fulfilled his promises. Do you listen to music when you write or do you prefer quiet? Quiet! I love music, the heavier the better actually, but I have to be in the right frame of mind for it. Otherwise I can sometimes get sensory overload. I hate white noise and things like asmr, I often wear hats or headbands, or have my hood up to block out some noise. What are your favourite fanfictions of all time? How long have you got? Honestly that's not an easy question to answer, and it doesn't have one answer. But I could say that some of the stories I find myself reading over and over again are 'Sin & Vice' , 'Another Dream' and 'Lay me low'. There's no way I could write all my favourites down here, but they're the ones I re-read most often. My favourite WIP is probably ' Inkstains' Are you a plotter or a pantser? 90% Panster. I will literally have one small idea, it could  be one small interaction, one conversation or one event that pops into my head and I will end up writing a story around that one small thing. My story signs entirely stemmed from the one interaction of Severus handing Hermione the note. I knew I wanted that, and then it was by the pants from then on How does that affect your writing process? It means that I do update my stories in a regular order, so no one story is left too long without an update. I literally sit down, crack my knuckles and go 'right, I'm writing the next chapter of this story now. I write it and post it as soon as it's finished. I write from my phone too, so I apologise for any grammatical or spelling errors, auto-correct is the bane of my life at times What is your writing genre of choice? Have you read my fictions!? Interviewer: Well yeah, but I’m asking because you’ll be new to at least  some of the audience. (chuckles) Ha. Sorry. Angst, all the way. I write angst and hurt/comfort, very dark stories as I pull a lot of my ideas from the real life experiences of myself and friends I met in therapy. Writing about trauma is very cathartic for me and helps me process my own feelings about my own history. Which of your stories are you most proud of? Why? Did it unfold as you imagined it or did you find the unexpected cropped up as you wrote? What did you learn from writing it? How personal is the story to you, and do you think that made it harder or easier to write? That's a tough one, as there are elements to all of them that are important to me. None of the stories I write quite unfold like I imagined they would, they just sort of take off and I'm along for the ride. I'd be remiss not to talk about Not the Same girl at this point, as that story has probably had the biggest impact for me, the responses it's had and the people reaching out to me, both positively and negatively. I've had some outright hate over that fic, and abusive messages to the point that I almost gave in altogether and I think because of that people will expect me to say Not the Same girl is the fiction I relate to most, and while I do draw a lot from personal experience it's actually Father Mine as that resonates with me on a more personal level, that and an as yet unpublished WIP I have in the works, I think the huge dichotomy of feedback I've had for stories like Not the Same girl though, have both given me a thicker skin to the hate and encouraged me through the sheer overwhelming amount of people who’ve reached out, that find the stories cathartic in dealing with their own trauma, which is gratifying as an author to do that for people, when I myself am looking for that same release in writing it. It's great to have this mutual satisfaction and it's really rewarding. What books or authors have influenced you? How do you think that shows in your writing? I think probably going to refer back to Harper Lee and to kill a mockingbird. The whole premise of telling a story that no one wants to hear or acknowledge, the things that are widely known but rarely spoken about. In “To kill a mockingbird” it's sexism, racism and prejudice against others based on their mental health or intelligence but we still see this so much in daily life, about how much hate and horror and suffering is seen in day to day life, the trauma that so many people have suffered is widely known but swept under the rug because it's easier. No. Hell No. Fuck that. Hiding doesn't change any of it, it may be under the rug but it's still there. People rape other people, people hurt other people, people discriminate based on gender, sexual preferences, skin colour, occupation, people have suffered in life and are damaged by it. Acknowledge it. Don't  brush it under the rug, don't ignore it because it's more comfortable for most people, shine the light on it and say. "This is real. This happens. We need to acknowledge it and we need to do something about it"  And I think that's shown in my writing , I don't glorify  anything, I'm not writing snuff but I don't hide anything either. I make people see this is something that I won't gloss over. Does it make you uncomfortable? Good , it should. If people are uncomfortable , at least they are acknowledging the realness of that situation and not ignoring it. Do people in your everyday life know you write fanfiction? How true for you is the notion of "writing for yourself"? Nobody knows I write fanfiction,  I use a previous name and I very much write for my own cathartic relief. I chose not to share that I write fiction because I'm a carer for my partner, I don't know how they'd react, it could honestly go either way where they'd be absolutely fine or it would trigger them and I'd have to stop, that's the reason I keep it to myself, I'd hate to do something that would mean I'd have to stop writing, not when so many people are so emotionally invested in the stories that I write. How important is it for you to interact with your audience? How do you engage with them? Just at the point of publishing? Through social media? Reviews man. Reviews are the nectar of life, I read every single one and though I don't have time  to reply to most, trust me when I say that I treasure each one and appreciate them immensely. I have my social media which I find the easiest way to speak to people , I have my own Page on Facebook and I'm on a number of SS/HG groups. It's hugely important to me to speak to my audience and I really encourage them to get in touch with me, I'm always happy to talk about my work and people have been in touch just to talk about their feelings or emotions that have been triggered by my work and I welcome it all.  I mean, I've got people translating my stories them into French, into Russian...it's crazy, I never expected it to be so popular and I am always happy to hear from people. Though I apologise if I don't respond straight away,  I have to write on the sly and sometimes real life takes over, so I can't log in for a week or more at a time.   What is the best advice you've received about writing? First and Foremost, write for yourself. The rest is just gravy. What do you do when you hit writer's block? I move on to another story. I always have more than one WIP at any one time, If I can't find inspiration for one, I'll update another, or start a jumble of notes for others. There's always something that needs to be written down, even if it wasn't what I had planned on. Has anything in real life trickled down into your writing? Very much so. Almost all the trauma and hurt and situations that appear in my stories are either translated from my own experiences or those of people I know. Do you have any stories in the works? Can you give us a teaser? I had a number of stories in the works! When A Cure For Magic is completed, I will most likely post the next one up. I can't give too much away , but the next story is called "Catching Fire" and will be an incredibly dark story, with a lot of morally grey characters. Any words of encouragement to other writers? Just do it.  If you want to write it,. write it. First and foremost write for yourself. Don't listen to anyone who's negative ,or unsupportive. I get so many people message me saying things like 'I want to be a writer', but don't know where to start' and to which my answer is you already are a writer. Writing is 99% mental, you have the words, they're there in your head, you just haven't put them down yet. Thanks so much for giving us your time.   Any time , it's been great and I'm happy to answer questions any time , thank you for inviting me.

[peepingtoad]

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme.

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

My muse is:   canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless /

Is your character popular in the fandom?  YES / NO / 50-50 (There’s a lot of love and a lot of hate, but I think many are actually pretty neutral on him too!)

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / 50-50 (I’d say he may be an... acquired taste? Of course a lot of people I know here find him sexie so it’s hard to say for certain, heh. We may just be the weirdos of the fandom :P )

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO

Are they underrated?  YES / NO (Not in terms of ability, but underrated for just how complex and multi-layered he is, I’d say)

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO.

Were they relevant for the main character?  YES / NO /

Are they widely known in their world?  YES / NO.

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL (I honestly think he’s a man of many reputations, both in canon and in fandom :’D)

How strictly do you follow canon?  —  I’m very much a ‘use the bones of what we got in canon and do my best to flesh them out’ kinda roleplayer. There are some things that can be taken too easily at face value that I see fit to build upon. For example, I think Jiraiya’s feelings on the prophecy and his relationship with Konoha is something that could be too easily played off as simplistic, or like they were immovable constants. But that’s unrealistic for a man of his years and many experiences, so I try to put myself in his emotional setting at various points in his life, and trace how his feelings and behaviours change, if that makes sense? 

I try to avoid saying that any of the writing was straight up wrong because it’s disrespectful to the creator. But especially for Jiraiya, who had such a significant role to play in the narrative that it sometimes took precedence over his actual character, I do find some of his actions, and the way some interactions were handled in the canon to be a little OOC... so I’ll work with it and try to spin it in a way that I feel fits how he was characterised.

Basically, I’d say that I follow canon, but I like to enrich it in areas that were lacking detail or a nuanced view that took in all the surrounding events of the time. After Jiraiya’s canon death, of course, that’s when more divergence comes in to my portrayal... otherwise I wouldn’t be able to play any post-war scenarios! But the essence of his character is the same, which I try to keep as close to canon as possible.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.   —  A man of many experiences! You can bet that any topic that comes up, he’ll have some sort of amusing anecdote to share, or be able simply to talk shit about it. He's seen so much, and has a sensitive soul enough that he’ll give anyone a chance; he’s very open-minded and non-judgemental, and honestly is a humanitarian that wants to help those in need. Might leave your muse a little baffled as to how he could hold the status of ‘legend’, only to show it when they least expect it. You never quite know what you’re going to get with him: he’s generous and selfless, yet has many vices that seem selfish at times; he’s both a lover and a fearsome fighter; he’s immensely resilient at the same time as incredibly vulerable and damaged; he’s a himbo and a bit of a jock with the soul of a poet. Love him with no restraint and invite his love in return, and you’ll get not only a lover, but a devotee. Wears his heart on his sleeve... or does he? Chip away at him and find out!

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  —  The pervy, flirty, jokey schtick could get grating, or come across as disingenuous. In romantic situations, he’ll keep quiet about putting a label on whatever it is, and beneath his overall sweetness and devotion there may be an underlying reek of commitment issues and a fear of admitting he is afraid. He also has a habit of deflecting negativity in general, and playing things off as if they don’t matter or they’re a joke, making him actually rather a difficult person to get to know the heart of. One might feel as if they’re getting nowhere with him...

... Either that, or they get the complete opposite. Yes, as equally as he can be guarded, he can overshare like crazy, and has a tendency to become codependent with those he gets attached to, which is inconsistent with his free-spirited nature, and how adept he is at keeping others at arm’s length from his less sunny side. This inconsistency might make him seem unreliable—if the fact he’s always off who-knows-where doesn’t do the trick already.

What inspired you to rp your muse?  —  I’ve been a big fan of the Sannin ever since I first read the Deadlock, but being a very young person at the time I perhaps couldn’t relate enough to people who had experienced so much to do them justice in my teenage fic-writing endeavours, so I remained on the sidelines enjoying content by other people (there may also have been a little bit of ‘what the fuck, why do I dig the old dude so much’ denial in there haha). I’ve picked up and dropped my obsession with the series several times over the years, and my love for those three seemed to grow each time. They really are ‘the lost generation’, and as the sole survivors—alongside having a huge impact on the plot, how the shinobi world is shaped, and the three main protagonists—there’s a lot of juicy material there, a lot of emotional background, along with decades of history that basically goes untapped in the canon. 

Anyway, I digress. Coming to the Naruto RPC for the first time around this time 2 years ago at the age of 25, I made this blog and my Deidara one on a whim, but focused on the latter at first. Villains were always comfortable territory for me in my other RP experiences, and I think it made me doubt that I could possibly do someone who is frankly a lovely guy any justice, no matter how much I loved him. I even had the intention of making him fully Akatsuki/Missing-Nin AU at first. Yeah. That’s how stuck in my villain/anti-hero zone I was! But, I think in the end, the fact he actually isn’t a two-dimensional typical ‘hero’ was something I chewed over and realised would be incredibly enriching to write, worth stepping out of my comfort zone for. And being a little more mature and less angst-ridden myself by that point, I found I could resonate with his feelings and ideals in a way that I know I couldn’t have as a teen... but I was still tentative. 

Anyway, after leaving his blog empty for a bit (with its placeholder URL ‘frogdaddy’, which sadly got hoarded by someone else), I cosplayed the old bastard, along with my partner as Orochimaru. We’d been stanning that particular ship and talking about how great the Sannin are in general for quite some time by that point, but being casually in character for fun while drunk off my tits at a boat party, was a bit of an epiphanic moment. Not long after that, I threw myself right into writing this chaotic-good old bastard with gusto, and here I still am :’)

What keeps your inspiration going?  —  Taking breaks to recharge as and when I need to. Seriously. The death of all my other blogs has been pressure (mostly from myself) to be there and force myself to put out regular content, so I went into this not thinking that way and it’s really helped! 

Of course, there’s also the fact that there simply seems to be no shortage of areas I can delve into with this guy. Again, it’s his age and all the missing years in canon... but I think it’s also how much love he has and his genuine eagerness to engage with others that makes him one of the most naturally bountiful muses I’ve played. Because honestly? Most of my villain muses wanted people to just fuck off :’D this guy is open to everything.

That aside, I guess I just gel with him more than I ever expected to. I’ve changed a lot as a person and gained more confidence since various areas of my life got better, and I really just vibed with this chill, funny, romantic, pervy, big-hearted energy. I enjoy angst, but my real love is peppering the serious and heartbreaking with romance and comedy—and isn’t that just befitting of him? Writing through his eyes also helps to keep my outlook positive, so that keeps me stuck on him as much as the seemingly limitless content potential. 

And this is without even going into my cross-fandom AU ideas I have on the back-burner. Honestly, they’re there but I want to put a real effort into them while keeping his essence the same, which for some, involves brushing up on my lore!

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice?  YES / NO.

Do you frequently write headcanons? YES / NO.

Do you sometimes write drabbles?  YES / NO / RARELY. (depends on whether I get a flash of inspiration—which mostly comes with random asks that happen to stir up an idea for a scene, such as this one (NSFW warning))

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day?  YES / NO.

Are you confident in your portrayal?   YES / NO.

Are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO.

Are you a sensitive person?  YES / 50-50 /NO. (I tend not to take things personally but am also very passionate—call it my innate Leo-ness!)

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal?  —  Hmmm. I haven’t actually had any critique on my portrayal, so I’m not sure haha! I’d say if it’s constructive, then I’ll take it into account and consider it, especially if it’s a case where it helps me realise I’ve perhaps not gotten across what I intended to very well. But I’m also quite fond of my portrayal in its essence, so I may end up just thanking the person for their opinion and carry on as usual :P

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?  —  Absolutely! I’ve had some wonderful ones recently and it’s exactly the kick I need to get ideas out, some of which I’ve had on the back-burner but not had a framework within which to write it without it getting derailed. I definitely appreciate a question that will keep me at least a little on-topic, otherwise if I go off on my own volition I really tend to... well, go off! Even if a question is a similar topic to something I’ve already done, it’s a good exercise for me to go back to the similar headcanon and see if I can build further on it, deviate, and link it to show what past thoughts I’ve been working with. A great way of keeping some consistency in my portrayal while making improvements, I find! And then of course I’ve had some questions that are entirely new morsels for thought, and it leads me to something new and fresh, which I greatly appreciate.

Basically, any questions at all, fire away! I may take a while but I will get to them eventually!

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?  —  Yeah. I mean I think it’s just polite to present a reason as to why not, instead of just being like ‘this is wrong/a bad take’ or whatever. Source material is down to personal interpretation, so if I draw different ideas from it to another person after discussion, then we can simply agree to disagree on it. 

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it?  —  They are welcome to disagree with me I guess? So long as they’re respectful and don’t then treat me as if my interpretation is ‘AU’ or talk about ‘canon Jiraiya’ as if he’s obviously a different entity to my own, then disagree away. But if prompted enough, know that I will most likely defend my portrayal with what I consider to be justification from the source material :P I did pay close attention to it, after all, and I do consider my portrayal to align well with it.

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it?  —  Depends on the nature of it and the conduct, really? Like, people are allowed to dislike characters. I myself find a couple of characters pretty annoying or don’t particularly care for them (granted, usually it’s in a love-to-hate or simply a ‘this character doesn’t interest me’ way), but that doesn’t affect how I behave towards the RPer of a character. It’s just manners, really. People tend to RP characters because they like them, so why would you take negativity right to their doorstep, in this space they’ve made as an expression of enjoyment for, and to develop said character? 

There’s been some people who admitted to me that they didn’t care much for Jiraiya, but then began to like him more with my portrayal and that’s more than fine; I take it as the highest compliment in fact. It’s also the kind of open-minded attitude I like to have with portrayals of characters I don’t necessarily like or have much interest in, because by and large, people do tend to add more depth and nuance than the busy and character-packed canon allowed.

However, if it’s the type of hate that’s got its own devoted circle of bitter bitches, who seem to use so much energy hating a character... then please, don’t engage me. Doesn’t matter who the character is, don’t expect me to follow/keep following your negative ass if it’s constant on the dash—and if the target character is any of the Sannin then frankly I’ll have probably blocked/blacklisted in a heartbeat. The ‘critical’ views of them tend to diminish them as humans, diminish the context and events that surrounded their choices, and in a way that I find is a gross double standard compared to what people will allow other (read: young, attractive, fandom faves, ‘babies’ or ‘beans’) to get away with and excuse the behaviours of. I don’t need that kinda negative energy sullying my hobby, nor do I need moral superiority that isn’t applied consistently across the board.

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors?  —  Absolutely! I meticulously fret and check, and cringe when I get a reply and happen to spot errors while rereading what I wrote before it! I edit a lot but don’t always pick up on errors, so I’m more than happy to have it pointed out. Chances are, I’ll be far more brutal to myself about it than anyone else would be!

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?   —  Overall, yeah. I’m not possessive or clingy (I don’t think) and don’t expect the world from people, nor for them to focus on or favour me or be super fast. I just expect the same respect in return. Having said that, I will express it when I don’t like something or it makes me uncomfortable, provided we’re familiar enough, because if we’re strangers I’d feel like I was coming across as entitled to your energy and emotional labour. I do my best to be diplomatic about it though, and rest assured it doesn’t mean I’m forever mad at you or turned off in any way just because I have a small grievance. I just find that being honest with each other rather than letting things pile up and fester makes a friendship more solid, and basically more genuine and long-lasting.

That’s about it, congrats for filling out!

Tagged by: @dokuhebi​ Tagging: Whoever hasn’t done this yet!

[iamanartichoke]

This is neither eloquent nor organized. I’m very frustrated and I just need to get things off my chest. 

Please do not reblog this post. 

Cut for anti-Ragnarok discourse, pro-Ragnarok discourse, the Ragnarok discourse war, mention of Thorki, and general venting. 

I’m not using tags bc I don’t want this post to show up in them. Very sorry and if any of these things is one of your blacklists, please keep scrolling.

Yesterday, I read a fic.

I was wandering through some of the Thorki content on twitter, and followed a link to one of the big bang fics, bc it was a human AU and das my jam.

I didn’t recognize the author’s name. The fic was extremely well-written, though: lots of feels, beautiful narration, a sweet ending balanced with a lot of sadness. It was one of those fics that gave me a lump in my throat.

I was only going to leave kudos, but then I figured I’d take the extra five seconds and leave a comment, bc we all know how much authors like comments. I mean, I’d rather someone leave a comment than kudos, especially if the fic really affected them.I get it and I gotchu, fam. 

Anyway, so I left a comment and proceeded to click on the author’s profile to see what else they’ve written. As you do.

I recognized their AO3 icon, even though I didn’t recognize the name. I’d seen them around on some Ragnarok wank on tumblr. I went to double-check, and it was the same user, and also they’d blocked me.

I do not know this person. I have never spoken to this person. Yet they’ve gone out of their way to block me, most likely bc I associate with the anti-Ragnarok crowd. This happens to me a lot. I’ve even had a couple of former mutuals unfollow and block me (without saying anything to me) and those felt like punches to the gut.

I understand not wanting to see content that you don’t like or that upsets you. Everyone has the right to block whomever they wish. But I can’t deny that getting blocked like that – by someone I don’t know, let alone interact with – fucking hurts. I know it’s not that deep but I can admit it. It’s a shitty feeling and it’s hard not to take it personally.

It’s not really about this particular person at all, although it’s a shame bc they’re a good writer I probably would have followed otherwise. But this entire anti/pro Ragnarok war has gone so far and it’s exhausting. I stayed pretty neutral for as long as I could. 

And here’s the thing. My observations, both from being neutral and also being someone who, despite often being quietly blocked, tends to fly under the radar are this:

The majority of the negativity comes from the pro side.

Look, I side with and agree with the anti side on this one. I can admit, however, that sometimes it gets tiresome to see posts get turned into Ragnarok criticism or tiresome to see more posts on my dash about this that or another thing that sucks about Ragnarok and why. It, like anything, can be tiring.

But I also see that the anti side largely does its best to keep to itself. The pro side complained about the Ragnarok tags, so the anti side made an anti tag, and the pros still come into it to complain. The anti side will post their discussions and criticisms and they largely just circulate within the same group of people. The discussions are almost always criticisms on the source material (ie, the film) and not about anyone who enjoys it.

Now, maybe I don’t see everything. Though I don’t think I’m biased just bc I agree with the anti side – in fact, it was these attributes that made me take a closer look at what they were saying bc maybe they had a point after all. I don’t follow every anti Ragnarok user, but I do follow a lot. I can’t say personal attacks and whatever never happen - but, I hardly ever see them.

That’s not the case with the pro side. I don’t think I follow many from that side, but I see so much negativity from them. It’s like this kind of underhanded negativity that I’m not quite sure how to explain. It’s tonal negativity. 

I mean, sometimes it’s blatant. Name-calling (Loki stans, lackeys, pathetic, delusional, and racist come to mind) is an example. But more than that, there’s this collective tone among the pro side that smacks of condescension and I can’t stand it.

They make fun of the “dissertations” that have been written.

They always include an “lol” or laugh emoji or something to express that they’re not the ones taking this seriously.

They fall back on saying they don’t care about a two-year-old movie.

They’re laughing and making fun and at the same time acting like they’re so above it all.

They want us to just shut up already.

What it comes down to is this: it’s not just a matter of being able to agree to disagree because the pro side actively acts offended that the antis are even having these critical discussions, even if the antis have gone out of their way to not involve the rest of the fandom at all.

(Again, this is not every pro person, but the majority. Tone does matter online, and the overall tone of the pro side is not positive. I say this from a mostly neutral place.)

And here’s a thing about “oh my god, it came out two years ago, get over it!” Yeah, it came out two years ago. So fucking what? You guys are still engaging with it, via fics and headcanons and art. How old the movie is doesn’t matter when you’re having fun with it, but when someone wants to engage with it in a (valid) critical way that you don’t like? No. That’s unacceptable. That’s pathetic. That’s being a lackey. Get over it.

Even writing this, I know that things are much worse for others than they are for me. I get stealth blocked; others are called out by name in public posts, receive anon hate, and are actively targeted.

It’s just, this shit is so fucking toxic to this fandom and it honestly needs to stop. Both sides need to not only stop engaging one another, but also stop acknowledging one another. We get it: you either like the movie or you don’t.

Let people do their own thing. Don’t be fucking obnoxious. If you disagree and genuinely want to talk about it, then try to remember there’s a person on the other side of the screen and be civil. If you disagree and don’t want to talk about it, then just fucking don’t.

If you see a post you disagree with, scroll past. And, yes, block the person if you need to (and sometimes it might be me that needs blocking and I recognize my hurt feelings are my own personal problem, not whoever else’s).

There are a lot of movies in the MCU that are not perfect. (Btw, it baffles me a little to get hated on for my stance on Ragnarok, when I am so much more vocal [and emotionally invested] in hating the Russos and IW/Endgame – but, whatever.) There are a lot of interpretations of characters that are different. There are a lot of people who project their own identity or issues or whatever onto any particular character that resonates (and that’s okay!) and there are a lot of people who don’t project but still identify with a particular character (and that’s okay, too).

Stop judging whether someone is a “real” fan of a character/franchise or not. Just because someone isn’t engaging with the source material in the way you are, and just because they don’t see it in the same way that you do, does not make them wrong. (Yes, this applies to the pro side, too. None of them are wrong or less valid for enjoying and even stanning the movie.) It doesn’t make anyone better than anyone else here. 

Acting otherwise is honestly going to kill this fandom. Because it bleeds over. Fics will have less readers, bc they don’t want to interact with something posted by someone they dislike (or who blocked them). There’s less sharing of things like art and headcanons and content. People unfollow and block each other, people are having to watch what they say, people are losing friends (and potential friends) bc they may be a great person but they don’t agree with you about fucking Ragnarok.

I came to tumblr bc it was the only place where not only could I find other people who loved Loki as much as I did, but it was the only place where I could express that. Express it in fic, in headcanons, in meta. Being creative and starting dialogues and just interacting. I wish we could get that vibe back.

I wish none of this bothered me so much.

[huds-hub]

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; MUN & MUSE - MEME

FILL OUT & REPOST ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

Stolen from @mrfunnybone. Since this meme has a bias for canon muses, I’m tagging two of my favorite canon writers that I know didn’t fill this out yet: @soulcoerced and @spearslinger (I wonder if a fellow Undyne RPer has a different take on some of these questions? ^^;;). For everyone else, feel free to steal it and tag me if you do! I’m curious to see how OC muns answer some of these questions...

MY MUSE IS:   CANON / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless / complicated [[ The adult version of my muse is canon, but her teenage equivalent is not present anywhere in Undertale / Deltarune. So, uh… canon but kind of complicated I guess??? I like describing my muse as canon-wise. My Deltarune fishies are undoubtedly AUs at most, canon-divergent at least. ]]

[[ Mun’s note: I’m going to cheat on this. For the next 8 questions, I’ll answer for both Undyne as my teen muse AND regular adult canon Undertale Undyne. My thoughts on her counts as something, right? My muse is based on canon! ]]

Is your character popular in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK [[ Undyne’s character to the rest of the fandom is unpopular (compared to Sans, Chara, Gaster, etc…). It’s a shame, because her dialogue portraits alone would make great meme fodder. HOWEVER, among Undyne fans, I notice there’s an interest in depicting her early years because she’s one of the few cast members who’s had their childhood explicitly mentioned. ]]

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK [[ She’d better not be, because my muse is a  C H I L D. As far as I’ve seen, canon adult Undyne is depicted more often as a ‘badass’ than a ‘sexy fish.’ ]]

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK [[ Younger Undyne is definitely interpreted to be a determined, tough kid. Of course it’s the same for adult canon Undyne. It’s basically her most distinct character trait. ]]

Are they underrated?  YES / NO / IDK [[ Lordy, Undyne as a whole is entirely underrated by the fandom... ]]

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO [[ OMG... you’re gonna get me started. I’m marking ‘no’ on this question because this is supposed to be about my aged-down muse. But Undyne... sweet violent Undyne’s very important to Undertale’s story! *fangirling START* Besides being the mid-point antagonist in the game, Undyne adds a layer of the theme of DETERMINATION to the game and how it can manifest in monsters if their bodies are strong enough to handle it. In an allegorical sense, she represents extremism in reaction to oppression and how that passion can take on the form of extreme love or extreme hatred depending on circumstance. So HELL YEAH she’s important to the main story of the game! AAAHILoveThisFish!! *fangirling END* ]]

Were they relevant for the main character? YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG. [[ Same as the previous answer for my teen Undyne: begrudgingly marking this with a ‘no’... It’s a YES for canon Undyne. In all routes, original game’s Undyne is the first character who is purposefully trying to kill the Player. Players can’t get the best ending without helping her hook up with Alphys and not incurring her wrath by killing any monster. In the worst ending, she’s one of the two antagonists that put up enough of a fight to make any player abort the Genocide Route. ]]

Are they widely known in their world? YES / NO [[ My muse WANTS to be significant to her world. In the original game, Undyne’s only mentioned by others in Snowdin and Waterfall (not counting Alphys in Hotland). She’s described as a “local hero” by Gerson. I get a sense she’s not exactly famous to the people in the entire Underground compared to, say, Mettaton. ]]

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL [[ Oof. Pretty sure my teen fish annoys the residence of Waterfall for being a loud-mouthed little scamp. The only reason she’s not considered ‘bad’ is because it’s pent-up energy and misguidedness, not flat-out cruelty. In canon, it seems like the people who talk about Undyne do it in either a positive or neutral light. You have Monster Kid, Papyrus, and Onionsan singing her praises. The Royal Guard members respect her. Asgore thought of her well enough to have her lead his military. Uhh, for a neutral instance, I remember an NPC in Snowdin saying she’s “loud, rude, and beats up anybody who gets in her way” (I don’t remember the exact quote). To weigh this more on the side of my muse, I’ll mark this answer as ‘neutral.’ ]]

HOW STRICTLY DO YOU FOLLOW CANON?  [[ Since I have an aged-down character, canon is literally my END GOAL! I gave her a “starting point” on her journey to the determined, dedicated, and excitable warrior fish we all know and love from the game. I filled in the gaps from there, using parts of her past mentioned in the game to glue the headcanons together. Deciding what she was like when she was younger – What’s her family background? What aspects about her changed as she matures? What internal and external conflicts would she deal with as a teen? – THAT’S the non-canon part. My Deltarune AUs are… different. Canon is my end goal too, but the timelines are all wonky to fit the needs of wanting to interact with the Fun Gang. LOL ]]

SELL YOUR MUSE! AKA TRY TO LIST EVERYTHING, WHICH MAKES YOUR MUSE INTERESTING IN YOUR OPINION TO MAKE THEM SPICY FOR YOUR MUTUALS.   [[ This kid is spunky, loyal, compassionate of the plight of her people, and will see through anything she sets her mind to, despite life’s barriers. She’s got a lot of pent-up energy and is searching for what she can do with it to help her achieve her goal of setting Monsterkind free! ]]

NOW THE OPPOSITE, LIST EVERYTHING WHY YOUR MUSE COULD NOT BE SO INTERESTING (EVEN IF YOU MAY NOT AGREE, WHAT DOES THE FANDOM PERHAPS THINK?).  [[ The teen fishy has a streak of selfishness and short-sightedness. Being honest, Undyne would be a racial supremacist if she existed in real life. Big yikes. Also, she’s willingly being trained as a child soldier. Another big yikes right there. ]]

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO RP YOUR MUSE?   [[ Ages ago, I RPed the adult version of Undyne, which resulted in a bunch of headcanons for her past. I had no desire to RP any of them after it ended. A year later, I commissioned an artist for a Gerson vs. teen Undyne piece. That single-handedly made me want to get back into RPing again. ]]

WHAT KEEPS YOUR INSPIRATION GOING?   [[ My fellow RPers wanting to interact with this silly fishy! When I first started, I expected my interest to peter out over the months. I didn’t expect many RPers wanting to interact with an aged-down character. But here I am, wanting to expand my headcanons further and making AUs so I’m not limited to canon. ^^ It’s all thanks to you guys!! ]]

SOME MORE PERSONAL QUESTIONS FOR THE MUN.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice?  YES / NO / I SINCERELY HOPE I DO?

Do you frequently write headcanons?  YES / NO / SORT OF?     [[ I should do it more often TBH. But I find showing them via story-telling more fulfilling than just explicitly explaining them in posts. Plus, it gives me more leeway if I’m still playing around with an idea. ;) ]]

Do you sometimes write drabbles?  YES / NO  [[ I’m not counting the three pending drabbles until I finish them. ^^;; ]]

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day? YES / NO [[ She finds a way to bother me! Usually in the form of sudden inspiration for how to respond to RPs. ]]

Are you confident in your portrayal? YES / NO / SORT OF? [[ Sometimes I wonder if I forgot some aspect about Undyne that’s in canon, or unintentionally exaggerating other less-important aspects of her other characteristics… ]]

Are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO / SORT OF? [[ Generally, yes. But I do have my days when I suffer from low self-confidence. ]]

Are you a sensitive person?  YES / NO. / SORT OF? [[ It depends on what’s meant by that. I’m sensitive to other people’s feelings, so I don’t intend to sound rude OOC, even if I’m expressing something negative about something I think the other did. If this is referring to being sensitive about events in RPs… my sensitivity is equivalent to that of being invested in any work of fiction. I know it’s not reality. I can pull away from the fictional world and it won’t bring down my real life. ]]

DO YOU ACCEPT CRITICISM WELL ABOUT YOUR PORTRAYAL?   [[ If it’s given in good faith and is constructive, sure. ]]

DO YOU LIKE QUESTIONS, WHICH HELP YOU EXPLORE YOUR CHARACTER?   [[ Hell yeah, give them to me! ]]

IF SOMEONE DISAGREES TO A HEADCANON OF YOURS, DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY?  [[ It depends if they want to tell me. I don’t mind either way. Personally, I like hearing other people’s interpretations! ]]

IF SOMEONE DISAGREES WITH YOUR PORTRAYAL, HOW WOULD YOU TAKE IT?   [[ *shrug* It doesn’t matter as long as they don’t harass me. ]]

IF SOMEONE REALLY HATES YOUR CHARACTER, HOW DO YOU TAKE IT?   [[ I’d just ignore it. They don’t need to interact or follow me. If my muse really is a bother to them, they can block my account. ]]

ARE YOU OKAY WITH PEOPLE POINTING OUT YOUR GRAMMATICAL ERRORS?   [[ I hope my grammar’s good enough, or else my English degree studies went to waste! But yeah, sure. Fun fact: explaining grammar rules so people can avoid major errors in the future is more helpful than nit-picking insignificant errors without explanations. ]]

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE EASY GOING AS A MUN?   [[ As long as fellow RPers aren’t being rude OOC, don’t break any serious rules, or do something that I mention are personal triggers to me, I am easy-going! RPing is fun and it should stay that way for everybody involved! ]]

[nestofstraightlines]

The Dæmon-Cages

I went to a preview screening of episode six of His Dark Materials,’ The Daemon Cages’, followed by a Q&A with the senior creative last night.

I’m not even going to give broad expectation spoilers for the episode above the cut (I’ll include a bit right at the end under the cut just giving a broad overview of whether I liked it or not).

As for the Q&A, it was very interesting.

The team were asked several questions (by a very positive audience) about themes and research; things like ‘how did you decide which of the many themes to focus on? Did you go back to the inspirational material of the books such as Milton and Blake?’ and I would characterise the answers as a slightly defensive ‘we just went back to the book’.

Call it confirmation bias, but for me that tallies with what I’ve perceived of the writing/creating flaws of the series.

Because what does that mean?

I’ve been going back to the book for 22 years now and unpacking more depths and more angles. It really did feel like there was a rejection from Thorne and series Exec Producer Jane Trantor that adaptation would involve unpacking something and repacking it into your own storytelling form.

Their tone was much more enthusiastic when it came to discussing detail: they talked about wanting to know exactly what every moment of Lyra’s day at Jordan would be, what she would do for breakfast etc. And that’s got merits; it can suggest nice images (I’m guessing this is where the idea of Roger bringing Lyra breakfast every morning comes from).

But for me, in general, it’s an approach that fits badly with Pullman as a source material. Pullman writes intuitively, discovering the story as he writes is.

At one point in Northern Lights he uses the metaphor for reading the Alethiometer that it is like climbing down a ladder in the dark, and trusting that, though you can’t see the next step, it is there. I believe that he was describing his writing process there too.

He writes indirectly, using negative space to let the reader infer a fact or an idea. For example, with daemons. We are told a little and shown a lot. Pullman is showing himself the story too.

I don’t believe Pullman knew when he was writing Northern Lights what Lyra would do for her breakfast every morning. But if the story had wanted to contain a scene set during her breakfast, he would have known.

And okay, different writing processes, whatever. But actually it is fundamental to the text and I think where the problems have crept in.

Genre storytelling can be broken up into two rough camps: character-led and ideas-led. The senior creatives of this programme, almost inevitably coming from a British TV background, fall into the wrong one - character-led.

Now both camps contain both things: if I call a story idea/s-led it’s not saying its characters aren’t important and good or vice versa. It’s about which is the ultimate point o fthe story.

For instance, Harry Potter is, for me, character-led. Its fantasy trappings are rather unpacked or picturesque dressing used to heighten basically mundane human interpersonal drama. Yeah, it’s good versus evil, acceptance versus discrimination, but those topics aren’t explored, they’re not a priority, they’re a situation to throw the characters into.

Where Thorne has worked in genre shows before, the same can be said. There is a specific situation, even a mission statement, but these are not shows constructed around telling an idea as story, but rather focusing on interpersonal drama. The premises are settings, real or imagined, which are already neatly packaged for the audience. They’re not about inventing fantasy, they are about using it to tell small-scale human dramas. Events serve nothing larger than character and relationship drama.

In Pullman’s His Dark Materials, character and relationship drama are a but not the greatest priority of the series, they are in service to broader ideas and themes.

That’s the other camp of genre fiction, where the fantasy is not a static setting used to heighten charater stuff, but an active agent used to tell a particular story.

Calling this camp ideas-led sounds like its an inherently grand sort of a category, and His Dark Materials is of course an example that is grand and important and epic and so on. But for a show to be ideas-focused, it doesn’t have to be a Big Important Theme with Big Important Execution.

Some ideas are ‘what is it to be human?’, some ideas are simply ‘whodunnit?’ or ‘what if a monster got into your house?’

Anyway.

Pullman’s HDM is ideas-led. He creates a world (and later worlds) of things we need to pay attention to. This is not Harry Potter – school, castle, wizards, you pretty much got it – this is unconstructed fantasy. And it’s not constructed for picturesque ends either. Pullman isn’t inventing this stuff because it’s independently cool or pleasing or whatever, or at least not only that. He is creating it to express a set of ideas through the medium of a story.

So story and world are perfectly bound together. And he understands the difference between convincing a reader and making your world CinemaSins-proof. It’s a story, not a world.

The series is over-invested in the details; over-invested in the tools, and misses what they are used to build in the book/s. Sometimes it even breaks what they are meant to build.

I think the failure of daemons is the biggest casualty of this.

At the screening the creatives talked about the challenge there, the unprecedented challenge of making a show in which every human character is accompanied by a unique CGI creation. They mentioned the impossible budget challenge this presented as well as the challenges in visual storytelling and presentation. I.e. even if one can afford to put a whole crowds of daemons in every wide shot it looks impossibly cluttered and like Doctor Doolittle.

And yes, of course, but it baffles – and frankly annoys – me that the imagination seemed to stop there. Or rather, the understanding of storytelling stopped there.

They talked about having spitballed pragmatic adjustments to daemons, such as making them be semi-invisible, flicking in and out of visibility. But in the end they ‘wanted to stay true to the book/s’. Again, I think we’re looking at a profound lack of understanding of what ‘true to the book’ even means.

Creatives more suited to the material would have found creativity borne of limitation. They would have had a deep and confident enough understanding of the idea they were dealing with to find the solutions from within their own storytelling field, to create daemons for screen in a way which worked.

It feels like this teams’ reaction to the challenge has been ‘to do our best and tell people they don’t understaaand it’s haaard when they complain we haven’t got it right’.

I’m sorry if that sounds harsh. But they took on this challenge and there’s a little hubris in that. I’m not sure what made them feel they were the people for the job here, but they’ve failed to convince me of that fact.

People have been telling fantastical and profound stories on screen for a long time before CGI became so photorealistic. And I think CGI has both a limiting effect on the imagination, and it encourages directors and writers with a limited sense of visual storytelling to imagine that they are equipped to deal with stories that they perhaps aren’t, because they can unthinkingly assign fantasy ideas to the ‘literalist CGI’ box.

I just get the feeling that none of the head creatives, as a mix of character-focused storytellers and details-people, really get what daemons are in a storytelling sense.

They mentioned that when they had conversations with Pullman, he advised them not to focus on daemons, that he novel included them only when they were important. And that’s true, and I can’t put words in Pullman’s mouth, but it’s my belief the TV series team misunderstood what he was getting at, and I’m basing that on stuff Pullman has said elsewhere (such as in his essays and speeches collected in Daemon voices) as well as my own reading of the book/s.

Daemons don’t appear important but the story is carefully constructed, without ever seeming to be on the surface, to explore the idea of the daemon.

It’s a practical issue too. You employ people to write and direct this stuff who are used to stories made up of human characters interacting in rooms, and they’re going to lack experience in showing stuff which is vital to this story, which includes the relationship between the human heroine and her shape-shifting animal-shaped companion, a giant talking polar bear, a city in the Aurora Boreales, fights with demons during a hot-air balloon fight and so on.

A lot of the stuff that matter in HDM isn’t just mundane drama in fantastical settings. The most vital emotional scenes include a girl interaction with a giant talking solar bear; the threat tot he bond between a person and their shape-shifting soul-manifestation etc

 The human/daemon relationship is like a lot of things at different times and in different ways: human/animal, siblings, friends, parent/child etc. But it’s not a mundane human relationship clothed in light fantasy disguise. It's an idea and thus needs careful building for screen just as it did on the page.

Russell Dodgson, the head of VFX on behalf of Framestore for the series, talked about how fans always focus on daemons while there are so many more ideas in the book. ‘People love talking animals, I guess.’ He joked.

And OK, he was being off-the-cuff and deliberately glib, and in any case he’s not the writer and thereby not responsible for getting the overall imagining of daemons for this series right. But he’s so off the mark here in a way which helpfully sums up the misses of this team.

Daemons are not talking animals in the book and that is what the series has rendered them as through this lack of understanding that they amount to more than an emptily whimsical note.

EXPECTATION SPOILERS FOR THE DAEMON-CAGES:

... Having said all that; a really great episode! Best episode of the series yet.

It benefits from coming from a part of the book which is perfect for an episode of TV: it is very dramatic and climactic, while also being something of a great self-contained story in form. Lyra goes into a situation with very clear parameters of tension, fears, goals and a ticking clock. The production plays on all of those very strongly.

The weakest element of the episode is predictable given what the weakness element of the adaptation has been all along: daemons of course. As with last week my feeling is that while the show is so far from doing justice to certain ideas and moments it might as well be on a different continent, it finds enough strengths in other areas to stop the bottom dropping out of the episode.

The production design is absolutely incredible. It’s the boldest imaginative leap from the book so far. The staging of some of the events plays out differently due to a differently imagined Bolvangar and I adore the new approach. Again, I’ll have more to say when the episode has aired. I can’t wait to get into the detail of this!

[parkminijiminie]

(1) I don’t blame a lot of tk shippers for feeling the way that they do. When you’re so involved with a ship given the evidence at the start of their relationship, it isn’t easy to drop the belief that you had and support their relationship with someone else. Even if there’s strong behavioral changes that would imply that change. I think that’s why so many people get so frustrated with them not “seeing” jikook or getting their “vibes” it’s not their fault for not seeing it, its just that Tk’s

(2) early relationship set a precedent for their ship, and itd be hard to let go of it and see that it evolved to become platonic.(Although that love is still there and will likely never be removed! It’s just become a different kind) Jikook sort of evolved in the opposite way. Easy for us to see, in my opinion, because seeing friends turn to lovers is pretty transparent. But seeing lovers(Not sure if that’s the right word to describe them at the beginning. Mutual/loving/touchy experimenters?)

(3) turn to friends is more difficult to accept. not speaking for all people that like them together of course. I don’t ship them so I can’t really relate to their feelings. But given recent interaction, I find it easy to pick out of the group the couple that have that special *thing* however serious it is. They’re development in the past helps solidify it

Hey, Anon. I think you’re making a compelling point with your ask. 

You all know I’m not one of the KM shippers that has condemned t/k as entirely platonic from start to finish. or v/min and ji/hope by the way though I haven’t talked about these ships often. I just can’t, with clear conscious, rule out anything, especially when we’re talking about people leaving with each other for years, even more: teenage boys cramped in limited space. Anything could have happened during all this time, especially within Maknae line at one point or another. I know, I know, this ain’t the popular opinion but who’s to say what they were all up to through the years? 

That being said, me not ruling out v/k doesnt mean I’m a believer that something was going on between them, only that I haven’t crossed that option either, although I’m heavily inclined to think they’ve been (mostly) always just friends. To me v/k dynamic through the years is less them going from “romantic to platonic” or “friends to lovers” but  from “a pair with higher probability” to “a pair with significantly lower probability” of being “real” (aka in a committed relationship or otherwise romantically involved right now). 

If shipping people was all about objectiveness and critical thinking, one would think the “older fans” and “older shippers” would be the easiest to convince of changes because they’ve been around longer. Therefore they should’ve had more time to observe the overall group dynamics and witness things first-hand. Sadly, shipping is not about objective thinking 99% of the time. Critical thinking is some shippers’ biggest enemy, I’m afraid. 

The reason for that is pretty simple: we don’t ship in order to think, we do it so that we can escape. By immersing and investing ourselves in other people’s love story, we receive an outlet for the possible negativity we may experience in our life and/or a way to feel things through other people that we can’t feel otherwise. 

Simply put: shiping is a fast way to second-hand gratification. 

At least that’s the way for a lot of shippers, especially young ones who are still developing critical thinking skills or are yet to experience real life love. 

All of this means that for a lot of people objective thinking is not a goal and can in fact hinder their shipping experience. When you ship, you become invested, you give up parts of your time and your own self and it can be hard to distance your own ideas of what’s true with reality. Hence why OTP doing something = proof (for some people, not all obviously) while nOTP doing the exact same thing = not proof. 

In exteme cases when something is very very hard to disprove, twisting up the facts may also come in hand to preserve the peace of mind 

(Jimin is Jungkook’s father if you haven’t heard)

The result of all of this is that instead for the “older” fans and shippers to be the  most objective, it becomes the opposite. Because they’ve been exposed to their ship and committed to it the longest, it’s harder for them to accept when things start to deter from their wishes. Especially when things looked so promising once but not anymore. 

This is why I think it’s a lot easier for new ARMYs to accept and like Jikook than for people who have been in the fandom for years and have fallen for other ships before. For newer ARMYs it’s easier to be objective (once they overcome the almost obligatory default ships state ofc) because they’re not biased yet and can see the group with somewhat clear eyes. They easily see Jimin and Jungkook are close because it’s very obvious when you’re not actively trying to overlook it.

So in a way you’re right. It’s understandable why it’s hard for a lot of “old” v/k shippers to acknowledge how much KM dynamics have evolved and how much closer (and questionable) they become every year. For a lot of them admitting this equals betrayal, not only to their ship but also to themselves and the time they’ve committed. Very few mature shippers of other ships ever talk about the evolution in Jikook’s dynamics even though it’s plain as day for everyone to see. It’s an uncomfortable truth. (and I’m not talking about them being real, only about their evolution)

I understand the reasons for it but I also don’t think that’s an excuse to forgive everything, for example the absurd “BH is hiding t/k by promoting Jikook” narrative. It’s okay to find it tough to switch lanes and no-one is making you but it’s not okay to completely abandon all logical thinking. It’s even worse when that’s combined with disgrading another pair’s relationship.

While shipping is for fun and mainly for our personal enjoyment, it’s good to keep a healthy and leveled grip on it in your own head. Especially when you become so invested that you start projecting your own ideas into the real members (which some v/k shippers do with this “Jimin is an attention-seeking hoe” widely spread nonsense).

Sticking with your ship through everything is fine but only as long as you remain respectful to everyone around and your position as representative of the group. If you go even a millimeter beyond that border, please take several steps back.

If you don’t ship light-heartedly but are instead committed strongly to your ship and are engaging in the fandom from that standpoint, keeping your critical thinking and staying mature is A MUST. Otherwise you may become detrimental to the fandom and the group. 

So no, I can’t forgive everything by dismissing it as a natural consequence of being “ship committed” for a long time. Especially when some of it could have terrible consequences for the members and BTS. What do you think fuels all the death threats Jimin is getting? 

Shipping is fun but it isn’t always harmless. 

[eslinogambino-blog]

Im a transguy and trying to get to know this girl on a dating site but i am lying to her and i dont know how to turn it around. she wants to meet and i dont know what to say to her but shell find out if we take it to the next level i cant so what do i say to reverse it. btw im glad you are back. your advice has always helped me

Dating when transgender is a whole new experience to dating as someone born the gender they present as, which I’m sure you’re seeing. But it also isn’t in my opinion. Maybe I’m transgender. Maybe I’m cisgender. Maybe I’m a chicken nugget. Maybe it’s maybelline. Maybe I’m gay. Maybe I’m straight. Who knows. Either way, I see approaching relationships the same.

When I’m getting to know a girl, I talk to her for a long time before I meet her. I would say out of 50 messages I might have with women, I only meet 5 maximum. The other 45 I decided wouldn’t fit me or I didn’t vibe with the right way. I saved myself a lot of heartbreak and rejection that way.

For someone who is transgender it’s no different really. You should always take the time to get to know someone, understand their view points and personality. After all depending on the point you are in within your transition can make it pretty impossible to meet up for just a hook up. This is where things are different and this prolonged process of getting to know someone is almost essential to move forward. Going on a date without her knowing, is sort of allowing her to assume something about you that if she knew more, maybe she’d be uncomfortable or confused, sometimes even feel betrayed. Some people just outright aren’t okay with it and could even react violently. It’s not okay but it does happen.

I would say during this beginning period of just talking, to be a friend. Don’t have your hopes up, but be confident in who you are and what you can offer. Avoid romantic or sexual conversations. This isn’t the wrong thing to do no matter your identity, it’s always good to respect someone as a person before assuming you fit in other ways. Find out her political beliefs. Find out her position on bullying or the underdog. gay people. etc… a lot of these things will help you know if she’s harshly against it or even mildly understanding of it. When you have an indication, if it’s positive, move forward. If negative, its over. You no longer need to talk to her, and you never got your emotions involved so no harm, no foul, move along to the next. Keep her friendship if you’d like but she isn’t interested. You also didn’t have to tell her something personal about yourself that you’d probably regret revealing.

Upon moving forward, drop small hints. Never make jokes about your balls if you don’t have them, never try to overcompensate with hypermasculinity and being a man if its something that you struggle with. Try being transparent without actually saying you’re transgender directly. It should be somewhat obvious there is something different about you in regards to masculinity or typical gender norms before you meet without you directly making a deal of it. If she gets the hint and doesn’t like it, she’ll do you the favor and go away. Don’t chase her, she is not interested.

Eventually when you feel safe reaching and speaking with her on deeper topics, especially social ones that make you different, then I would initiate meeting. You don’t have to tell her yet, it’s already obvious she’s cool with it as a person, finding out if shes cool with it romantically is only after things actually become romantic. If you meet up and she’s flirting, seems romantically drawn to you, and assumes its a date, then I would be comfortable enough to entertain the IDEA of liking her back but not really give that all back. She’ll notice something is off, your engagement in return to her seems off. She might ask and that’s your opportunity to tell her, or you can tell her later if things went well that you’re not like other guys, there are some things that are different and you think she’s cool but you don’t know how she’d feel about it.

She might just tell you she already kinda knew. She might ask you what that entails. So answer her questions. If she’s as understanding as you’ve made sure she is, then she will be cautious in her questions. If the questions are fitting to romantic or sexual desires, then she is probably interested in less of what it means to you and more in how it affects her. So tell her honestly, what you intend to do in your transition, what you’ve already done, what you are comfortable with and what you expect from a woman. Be sensible and logical, not everything needs to be so personal and detailed.

I think with dating women it’s easier in some ways. Certain women at least. They’re more receptive to taking an emotional stance on things. So you have some leverage there. A woman will be more calm and understanding of your reveal. Let’s say she denies you, you missed the mark, you thought she liked you and would be understanding and she’s not. That’s okay, you have others to talk to thankfully, you never got fully invested, and you only told someone who understood and wont judge you for it or go around telling people your business. You made a real genuine friend.

if she is cool with it, I would just continue the friendship and see if things get romantic. Don’t bring up the trans thing, you’re just a guy. No need to make jokes about it, no need to make her think about it. You’re just a guy, she already got her questions answered in regards to that. Things will naturally just go on like any relationship.

I’d give 2 months minimum for this all to develop and she’ll appreciate you more for actually getting to know her.

For trans women, I would say withhold sex. Normalize being transgender. Some men will only be willing to engage with you sexually if they are fetishizing you, because their perceived masculinity requirements wont allow them to see you romantically. It’s a lot harder in my opinion. I would say withhold sex, be a person, be a friend. Find out his views, find out his comforts, slowly ease in the idea that youre different from other women and if he rejects you, is mean to you, slanders you.  You just say : i apologize that you feel mislead at all by how I am, I never intended for that, I really think youre a cool person and I didnt know if you’d be open to it. It was worth a try, I dont really see you romantically just yet anyway, but I thought it’d be cool to chill. But thanks anyway for taking the time to get to know me as a person.” and you can block them or withstand another threat or insult, or maybe hear him out. Maybe a friendship will arise and maybe it will become more if he sees there is no pressure.

I try to encourage everyone who is trans to not be so open about it immediately. Don’t deceive, just only reveal it when you are comfortable with someone. Profile should say male or female if thats what you identify as. The trans thing is more what youve done or are doing, youre transitioning but its not WHAT or WHO you are. It’s not really an identity at all, it’s kind of the background noise or schematics of it all. If you treat it that way, others will, too….most of the time.

As for reversing a lie, I would say that you got yourself in a tough spot. I would become a bit distant and less romantic with this person to make it clear you are guilty or feel like you’ve overstepped. Usually when you step back, someone steps forward…at least if they care. So you step back, she steps forward, you explain you havent been honest and youre not really like other dudes and you feel like you’ve mislead her and you’ll understand if she doesnt want to go forward with things. She’ll encourage you but dont play games, make sure you feel comfortable. There is a risk here. When you feel you’ve beat around it enough and she’s let down her guard enough, reveal. I would also start to check her political views and ideas about social events going on before revealing no matter what. It’s extremely important to do that. She might reveal she is a die hard trump fan, anti lgbt hardcore and you know to just stop talking to her. Why would you want to be with someone like that anyway? Cis or Trans?

Basically, treat it like any other relationship but prolong the intimate stuff until you know them better. Everyone will be saved from  a lot of heartbreak, rejection and embarrassment. You never have to get too attached to the potential of someone else if your options are always open to being friends or maybe something else, who knows, If you have an agenda, I dont think you should be dating people anyway. If youre not willing to be genuinely interested in them as a person, you’re just going to hurt them eventually anyway, whether they see passed it or not.

[queermediastudies]

Lesbian Death in TV

Present within past and present TV show culture is a TV  trope known as, Bury Your Gays (BYG). Bury your Gays have become ubiquitous within queer representation in modern TV. This trope is sometimes subtle and sometimes not. At its core when a character is killed off explicitly for being queer it aligns with the trope BYG. This also makes it hard to determine when a queer death happens on film if it falls in line with BYG. If a character is explicitly not killed for being queer but killed in a space for another reason it may only be for drama. This trope exists within the entire spectrum of LGBTQ+ persons and affects everyone. Focusing on how this trope applies to lesbians on TV can show us how the trope negatively impacts the community.

This trope also exists within other forms of media such as movies, books, and magazines. According to TV Tropes (2018), Bury your Gays, is commonly defined where queer characters can’t have happy endings. This trope is lifted and later immortalized in common TV shows from Matthews and Moody (2007) where a publisher is given advice and states, “ this book cannot have a happy ending otherwise the post office may seize it as obscene”. This is problematic because directors are getting away with showing LGBTQ representation only to kill off their character in the most tangent way as possible. People are demanding queer characters to be shown on TV because the LGBTQ community is growing and wants representation in the media. They are having their words twisted by having their character killed off either after only a few scenes of the spotlight or after the queer character has been featured prominently for several seasons. This trope needs to end because it is only angering people and showing that directors are not invested in their audience, but rather stuck in their old ways.

The theme of our pictures is focused on queer death in the television show The 100,  American Horror Story, and Orange Is The New Black. We picked these three popular TV shows because they involve the death of a queer character which is not advancing the plot in a positive way and is simply killed off for their sexuality or because they challenge the heteronormative society we live in. The 100  has a lesbian character whose love interest dies off almost immediately after finally being able to show their love for each other. This caused an outrage by the audience who were furious with how she was killed. American Horror Story (AHS), is a show that includes many queer characters and continues to show many LGBTQ people in every season they release. Season two is the Asylum, in which the storyline follows a lesbian journalist who’s girlfriend is targeted and killed because she is a lesbian in the 1960s, when being homosexual was illegal. While, the directors do not use homosexuality as a way to gain ranking, the season itself shows that queer deaths are out of spite or homophobic reasonings. Orange is The New Black follows many lesbian characters, but we are specifically looking at Poussey Washington character. Poussey’s character is built throughout the show and has been been on since season 1. They develop her story and display the kind of positive character she is and how she has an impact on the other characters and then at the end of season 4 the show’s writers killed her off. This was a controversial decision. Fans were not happy which lead the media to cover it. This behavior reinforces this type of trope.

The 100 is an American post-apocalyptic science fiction drama television series that follows a group of post-apocalyptic survivors, chiefly a group of adolescents, including Clarke Griffin and Lexa Sky.

Clarke and Lexa are both leaders and strong queer characters. Lexa's queer reception was very positive among fans and many viewed her as a complex and compelling character. Lexa and Clarke begin a relationship and soon have sex. Lexa is killed immediately after having sex with Clarke.

We can see this trope personify as the introduction of the queer character, the sexual sin and the immediate death of the queer. The scene really lives up to the name of punishing queers for their acts of sin. Clarke being bi-sexual damages the sexual identification of Clarke, if she chooses to identify fully as a lesbian she will be punished.

Doty states that, “Beyond queer readings of specific films and directors, it would also be important to consider how the central conventions of horror and melodrama actually encourage queer positioning as they exploit the spectacle of heterosexual romance, straight domesticity, and traditional gender roles gone awry. In a sense, then, everyone's pleasure in these genres is "perverse," is queer, as much of it takes place within the space of the contra-heterosexual and the contra-straight,” (Doty, 1993). This can be tied back to American Horror Story Asylum due to the shows use of perverse scenes and horror to capture the audience’s attention. The show aims for all viewers no matter the category they fit into, creating a very welcoming and opened-minded point of view throughout the series. Asylum follows a Lana and how her sexuality creates this second life for her. She is unable to freely be herself, along with her lover Wendy. Lana’s love becomes a target once a homophobic male discovers their secret. Wendy is blackmailed and killed because of her homosexuality. The show may not present bias or hatred towards homosexuality, but the season aims to do exactly that. They want viewers to see the horror that homosexuals went through and how the discrimination still thrives today in our heteronormative society.

This is Lana Winters, a journalist in 1964 America. Lana lives in a small town and is exploring for a new story that is going to make her big. She ventures to a nearby mental asylum that is rumored to do illegal and dangerous treatments to the patients living there. Lana goes there in hopes of leaving with a hit story, but rather finds herself waking up to a living hell.

This is Lana and her girlfriend, Wendy Peyser, a school teacher who she is madly in love with. They live in a time where their love was considered illegal and taboo, so they must keep everything a secret. Wendy is blackmailed to signing a waiver letting the asylum keep Lana as a mentally ill patient, in hopes that they will not uncover their secret and forbidden affair.

Sadly for Wendy, she meets her doom when a killer called Bloody Face is on the loose and looking for young women to kill. This all happened after Lana is held prisoner at Briarcliff and speaks to Thredson, the real Bloody Face killer. He learns of Lana and Wendy’s relationship, causing anger and disgust to surface. He kills Wendy and after she is dead he rapes her in order to satisfy his need to rid the world of homosexuals. This can be tied back to the trope Bury Your Gays because it seeks to rid the media industry of homosexual relationships and instances that pose a threat to the dominant heteronormative society we live in .

Poussey Washington is a beloved character on the show Orange Is The New Black. She has been on the show since Season 1 and continued to be until her death in Season 4. She is a strong woman that everyone loves in the prison that is featured on the show. She has her own alcohol business in prison and is a friend to almost everyone that is a part of her life.

This is her partner Brook Soso. Poussey Washington’s girlfriend. In the earlier seasons they start off into a rocky relationship and it isn’t until Brook has a near overdose that Poussey saves her life and they discover their similarities, interests, and love for those things and one another. On occasions, they have sex and are intimate with one another.

During season 4 of the show, the inmates stage a peaceful riot in the cafeteria. One of the other characters (Taystee, Poussey good friend) ends up freaking out about doing something bad and the inmates restrain her causing Poussey to try and stand up for Taystee. In the scuffle, this prison guard holds Poussey down unaware of him suffocating her.

The end result is devastating for both Brook, the inmates that knew her and even the prison guards.

In addition this was a emotionally, charged episode. I was able to watch this episode specifically and even I myself got choked up. With the context, character build up and narrative of Poussey character all of these combined made this hard and difficult because not only is it a character from the TV show, but this ties into the trope that is at hand. We have a strong female dominant women who also happens to have a gender preference. She was not killed off because of her choices in women, however it follows the genre of killing off LGBTQ characters on TV. As we have talked about in class and done so in our readings we can see these negative stereotypes in TV, film and entertainment.  

In the article from the Washington Post titled “Let's talk about that Heartbreaking death on Orange is The New Black” they quote “Vox estimates that about 10 percent of the character deaths occurring in the 2015-2016 season were women who identified as LGBTQ” (Butler). I love this article because it does, in fact, go further into detail about this stigma and trope about killing these characters with this type of orientation off. Poussey was not just a black, lesbian character on the show. She was much more than that.

In the article we read by Livia “TV Is Getting More Progressive, But It's Still Failing Queer People Of Color” she is also found talking about identifying with characters of and gender similarities and how these TV show’s keep missing the point. In her article, she quotes “Perhaps this is why, when I learned that Sense8 had been canceled earlier this summer, I was shocked by how hard the news hit me. As I came to realize, the Netflix original, which centered on queer characters of color meant so much to so many people, due to how it featured all-too-rare nuanced, queer narratives. In Sense8, viewers engaged with the pervasiveness of machismo and cultural conservatism in Latin America while watching a romantic relationship unfold between two Mexican men” (Livia). I incorporated this quote because regardless of man or women they still are missing the mark with the same sex. TV shows as well as movies, miss this mark and don’t represent properly. In this case for Orange is The New Black they build this character have you fall in love with who she is as a person, then watch her go through a relationship to be killed off later on in the show. These are negative tropes and stereotypes that need to be broken.

In conclusion as you can see based on Bury your Gays there is a negative trope present within the media specifically TV show’s that portray LGBTQ characters being killed and murdered and causing negative connotations. Also based on our readings, evidence, and pictures there is also notion that media has a even more difficult time portraying strong female leads that dominant the screen regardless of their gender. Using The 100’s, American Horror Story and Orange Is The New Black here is the evidence present. We have been able to present these characters, their story arcs and their unfortunate demises.

  Work Cited

Doty, A. (1993). Making things perfectly queer: Interpreting mass culture. Minneapolis:            University of Minnesota Press.

Framke, C. (2016, March 25). Queer women have been killed on television for decades. Now The 100's fans are fighting back. Retrieved October 3, 2018, from       https://www.vox.com/2016/3/25/11302564/lesbian-deaths-television-trope

V. (2016, July 13). Why so many queer female characters die on TV. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl22caUj-oo&t=95s

Bury Your Gays. (n.d.). Retrieved October 18, 2018, from https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BuryYourGays

Matthews, N., & Moody, N. (2007). Judging a book by its cover: Fans, publishers, designers, and the marketing of fiction. London: Routledge.

Let's talk about that heartbreaking death on 'Orange Is the New Black'. (2016, June 23). Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/06/23/lets-talk-about-that-heartbreaking-death-on-orange-is-the-new-black/?utm_term=.524ddee3298b

Leiva, L. (2018, June 15). TV Is Getting More Progressive, But It's Failing Queer POCs. Retrieved from https://www.bustle.com/p/tv-is-getting-more-progressive-but-its-still-failing-queer-people-of-color-64520

#queermedia #photoessay #queerdeath

[els-writes]

Dragonflight Review

Overall Rating:  ★★★★

An exciting and immersing start to the titanic Pern series (you know, without the deadly sinking in the ice cold Atlantic...). Getting into this book took a few tries back when I was a teenager, but McCaffrey’s style is easy to fall in love with, and draws you into the immense and amazing Pern so quickly, you’ll not look back. A massive recommendation from me. 

Note on the stars, however; whilst at the time I first read this, I would have given it a full five stars straight off the bat, upon delving deeper into the series and reading other books, it no longer tops my favourites in the series, and thus I’ll only give it four stars, purely to save the fives for the real high-flyers (in my opinion). 

Read below for a more in-depth review! 

Writing Style: ★★★★

Let’s not beat around the bush, McCaffrey’s style is full of impressive vocabulary, and fantastical-made-up-word-heavy. As an avid fan, I’m not oblivious to the fact that the introduction alone might put off some readers, and the start of the first chapter probably doesn’t help that much either. What I will say is that once you get through a little bit, it becomes a lot easier to read, and my own vocabulary is so much bigger thanks to these books. My own feelings towards this writing style are probably skewed after reading the books for so long, because frankly, I adore it. There’s something very individual about the style, and it’s one that has become almost reassuringly familiar to me over the years. 

McCaffrey is very good at drip-feeding you the information you need, without overloading you with exposition (something I’ll look at more during the world-building aspect, as this is where it mostly comes into play). She doesn’t lead you through the story or the world by the hand, but instead coaxes you from a distance, letting you notice what you think you need to notice. A second reading of this book is where you really start to notice the little hints and pieces of foreshadowing you overlooked at first. 

Some sections of her writing can feel a little stuffy or hard to get through every now and then, but I find this is a result of the book’s age and genre more than anything else.

Characters: ★★★

If I’m perfectly honest, I came into this review assuming the characters would get a much higher rating then this, but the more I look over the ones present in the first book at least, it becomes apparent that in Dragonflight, the characters are not as strong or as fleshed out as they are in other books. 

Firstly, the Pern series as a whole is packed with characters - some memorable, some tiny, all important in one way or another. Any book that has to have lists of characters and information about who they are, clearly has a character-overload problem. That isn’t so apparent within Dragonflight as it is in later books, but there are a lot of characters that don’t get as much ‘screen-time’, if you will, as they probably should. As a whole, I’d say the characters are interesting and individual, but not introduced as fully as I would prefer them to be. The handful of characters that take most of the spotlight do deserve it, but even so, a lot of their development comes in later books, not in this first one. 

F’lar and Lessa probably get the most attention in this book (rightly so, it is named Dragonflight after the mating flight between F’lar and Lessa’s dragons, Mnementh and Ramoth), and as a couple they are extremely well-written. Their personalities mix well, clashing at the right points, and working in perfect tandem at others. The partnership of personalities is the type that keeps you on your toes, as you’re never quite sure whether they’ll match up perfectly or end up burning one another down. The way their characters grow, and learn to trust and care about one another is realistic, though perhaps a little rushed in places. 

Lessa’s fiery passion and her stubborn and independent nature make her an interesting candidate for the role of Weyrwoman, and the reader getting to learn what’s expected of one alongside Lessa helps you connect more with her as you realise just how unsuited to the role she initially seems. 

F’lar’s steady and calm exterior balances Lessa well, as does his sly and tactical way of thinking that, once revealed, shows that F’lar is always just one step ahead of everyone - even the reader. His clever ways giving him an edge over everyone also make it that much more exciting to read whenever Lessa’s impulsive and passionate choices get the better of him. 

Out of even these two, it’s Lessa that gets the development over F’lar, but I can forgive the book for this, as Dragonflight does seem very heavily focused on Lessa and Ramoth’s journey in maturing into the Weyrwoman of Pern. Her character growth is definitely a nice one to see, however; showing her learn and mature, without actually changing those key parts that make Lessa, Lessa. 

Aside from these two, only a few others stand out as memorable, but none are particularly explored or grow in this book. Even more character names are mentioned and then vanish into the mass of Pern names - but with such a large and expansive world, I can’t bring myself to mind that too much (though the lists of names are very much needed). 

Plot: ★★★★

For the first book in a giant series, the plot of Dragonflight is excellent. It’s a tale of someone falling into power, struggling to assimilate, and then committing a heroic act to prove that they were meant for the position all along; it’s a story that could seem cliched or mary-sueish but somehow, with all the twists and the backdrop of Pern, it just works. Lessa is not your typical blushing damsel who has suddenly been given all this power, in fact, she’s already a pretty independent woman who has goals and ambition of her own.

In fact, Lessa’s journey is quite refreshing. She is someone fighting for what is hers by blood right, something she should have because of her family lineage, but the steps she makes in Dragonflight and what she acheives are because of who she is, not who her family were. It’s quite a nice message for the plot to hold. (Yes, it is implied that it’s because of her Ruathan blood that she’s a suitable gold candidate, but we all know that’s not the sole reason Ramoth would have picked her). 

Without spoiling too much of the rest of the plot, because I think it’s a fantastic mystery to delve into and experience by yourself, McCaffrey is great and pulling seemingly unconnected plot points and tying them together. The climax of the book is the perfect mission for the characters involved, pulling you to the edge of your seat and actually making you doubt whether it will all work out or not. 

Perhaps the only problem with the plot of Dragonflight is that it’s very talk-heavy. A lot of debating, conversation, important people arguing over what to do and how to fix it. It’s necessary for the plot however, and though I’m putting it down as a negative (purely because it gets a little difficult for me to get through at times), I wouldn’t know how else McCaffrey could have moved the plot along as she needed to. This is mostly down to personal preference, and it doesn’t really take away from the enjoyment I get out of this book. 

World Building: ★★★★★

Oh come on, I am never not going to give this book the best possible rating for world building. Let it be known, I am hugely biased on this point, because I am so obsessed with the Pern series, so take what I say with a pinch of salt. 

I’d love to know how long it took McCaffrey to build Pern in her mind, because it is so detailed and intricate that it’s unlike any other world I’ve ever read. She’s thought of even the tiniest details, from the words that would end up being used commonly, to tiny parts of history that can be referenced without needing full explanation. Of course, the world becomes fuller and more vibrant the more of the series you read, but Dragonflight along gives you such an in-depth look at Weyrlife, that you feel entirely immersed. 

She doesn’t bombard you with too much exposition about why the world is the way it is, but instead, just sprinkles little things throughout the text that make Pern feel more fleshed out and alive without needing an entirely separate book to explain each part of the world (which... I mean, there is now books like that, but you don’t need to read them). 

Dragonflight in particular is very good at only including details that you need to know. McCaffrey doesn’t overload you with information about the crafthalls or the detailed history of each individual Weyr, because you don’t need to know it for the plot. It makes the reading experience both easier to get through, and means there’s always something new you can learn in the next book. For the first book in a series, Dragonflight gives you just enough of the world to feel immersed, without scaring you off from the rest of the series. 

Feels: ★★

As much as I adored this book, there was never really a moment that I was massively emotionally affected by the plot. I was involved and invested, for sure, but there were no ‘feels’ moments aside from during the very climax - even then, I felt more the effects of an exciting bit of action as opposed any real fear or sadness for the characters involved. Dragonflight has no real heart-wrenching moments, though it doesn’t necessarily lose drive because of that; it simply doesn’t need them. 

What Dragonflight does do, is make you start to feel unfairly attached to the characters you first meet and get to know in this book... because then you’re all the more affected by them in the books that are yet to come... 

Strong Independent Women Who Doesn’t Necessarily Need Any Men, But Might Have One If She Feels Like It: ★★★★★★

Lessa is not the perfect character, but damn, her confidence and independence is a thing of beauty. 

[gascon-en-exil]

Ranking FE’s Lords

@paragonred asked for this, possibly as a follow-up to this ranking of the games themselves. I’ll use the same tier format so I don’t have to get so specific as to order everyone into a numbered list.

S Tier - interesting, narratively engaging, and (usually) fun to use

Micaiah - see this post.

Eliwood - ends up mediocre more than half the time, but he’s got a strong character arc with plenty of development and good moments even on Hector’s route. I very much like Eliwood/Hector as a traditional romantic friendship that could feasibly grow into something more between games depending on who they marry and what happens to their wives. Incidentally, I don’t have any very strong opinions on any of those ships, other than that Hector/Florina is rather nonsensical.

Celica - see this post

A Tier - fun unit and may have interesting character potential, but I’m less invested in exploring them

Ephraim - mostly up here because I like lances. His arc is similar to Hector’s with more urgency and the homoromanticism coming from different sources, but his contribution to that questionable legacy has largely been swallowed up by twincest. Or something like that anyway.

Hector - speaking of which, he’s a good unit apart from his promotion (both the class itself and the timing of it in his route) and as mentioned I ship him with Eliwood in a sense, but I don’t like the archetype he spawned. He also feels a bit superfluous to FE7′s main story, though not as much as Lyn does.

Lucina - will be incredibly broken unless you don’t pair Chrom or stick him with Sully. Severely under-served by her narrative despite being a uniquely tragic figure in an otherwise aggressively optimistic game, but she got a DLC campaign and a bunch of shilling outside the series proper so that sort of makes up for it?

Sigurd - the most OP lord ever. I like that he’s an idiot and that he faces real consequences for his mistakes, and I like how he looms large over Gen 2 in spite of his flaws. Even more so than with Hector, I don’t like how his fanbase sees his game performance and nothing else about him.

Alm - already a good unit in the original from what I understand, and he benefits considerably from the distinctive presentation elements of FE15. He certainly offers a more nuanced discussion of class than certain other lords. *ahem* It does suck a bit that it feels like some of his character beats have to compromise Celica’s to make them work, but that’s partially Gaiden’s fault too.

Leif - might move up if he’s relatably more of an impoverished aristocrat in the remakes, but then his particular circumstances don’t really speak to me the way that, say, Almedha’s do. I mostly hated using him in FE5 though he had his moments. Probably benefits from being surrounded by interesting people more than anyone else in this tier, but he really benefits there.

B Tier - either overwhelmingly average, or with both strong positive and strong negative aspects that balance each other out

Ike - yeah, you guys probably saw this one coming. On the one hand, he’s very likely gay; on the other, half the fandom still won’t shut up about the possibility that he might not be and/or that IS was wrong to do what they did with him. On the one hand, convention-defying peasant lord shaping his own destiny is interesting; on the other, he has terrible manners and a shameless insensitivity to foreign (beorc) cultures and yet we’re meant to be rooting for him. On the one hand, a strong unit who plays quite differently in his two games and so therefore doesn’t feel stale; on the other, he and his mercenaries edge out the light magic-wielding Micaiah and her army for screentime and EXP and it’s pretty obvious which unit type I prefer there. I can’t even get all that strongly into Ike/Soren for entirely personal reasons, but at least Ike/Ranulf is still there to pick up the slack.

Lyn - even though she’s the first lord with a same-sex paired ending that fact is largely forgotten. Much of her enduring popularity seems to be based on her sex appeal, and she’s irrelevant to Elibe as a whole. Still, her route is a nice little self-contained story that doesn’t feel too similar to anything else in FE, and she’s got a strong camaraderie with her fellow lords.

Corrin - it’s difficult to talk about Corrin as one entry since they develop differently depending on the route, but as with Fates as a whole I feel like the three iterations of the character average out somewhere just slightly below average. Birthright Corrin is a standard FE protagonist, except maybe a little angrier (Leif, Shadow Dragon Marth maybe?) and with entirely too many death scenes thrown at them. Conquest Corrin has the most missed potential, as with most things involving Conquest apart from gameplay, and one practically has to roll with the headcanon that they and the Nohr royals have been conditioned by years of abuse to make their characters sort of work. Revelation Corrin reminds me unpleasantly of Robin (see below) with the power of cross-cultural friendship stuff and the super special ending. I’m not too fond of the character as a unit either, since they take more work to get as flexibly broken as the other Avatars and their manakete form fails to impress except for tanking.

Seliph - saved from C Tier by the general messiness of Jugdral. His father’s legacy is a complicated one, and about 1/3rd of his campaign amounts to a blood feud with the aim of giving his first cousin a throne for somewhat dubious reasons. He takes some time to get as broken as SIgurd, but he’s all sorts of fun when he gets there. Couldn’t tell you if he’s got any interesting romantic prospects, endorsed by the pairing system or otherwise, because he’s still pretty dull in that department.

C Tier - bland, and usually bad as units

Marth - truly the Mario of FE, in that he’s everywhere with a different personality almost every time. His two remakes did surprisingly little to flesh him out in any consistent way, and by that point over half a dozen other protagonists had diverged from his archetypical lord model in almost as many different ways.

Roy - red-haired Marth with a harem and an obscenely late promotion instead of no promotion at all *yawns* I guess he gets points for having a living parent? Not sure why anyone is a particular fan of him unless they mained him in Melee. Maybe a remake will help him out?

Chrom - Marth with biceps and a time-traveling daughter who coincidentally cosplays as Marth. That’s marginally less yawn-worthy if only because of how strange it all is, and he also borrows from the Hector-type lord as well so he ends up as an unexpected fusion of the buff and the bishonen. Overshadowed in story and in gameplay by his daughter and some random amnesiac he found in a field who he may or may not decide to sleep with.

Eirika - only slightly a Marth clone, but as with Celica the story is unevenly stacked against her and in favor of her male counterpart, even on her own route. The fandom doesn’t like her because she’s naïve, but that could also be said of several other lords. Not really into her as a unit or any of her ships, so...yeah.

Kris - ...do they even count as a lord? Eh, whatever.

D Tier - OP unit, terrible character

Robin - would have been so much more tolerable if endgame didn’t abruptly swerve to becoming entirely about them, at the expense of Chrom and Lucina and everyone else. Somehow the special secret origin type of Avatar grates more than one whose importance to everyone and everything in the story is laid out right at the beginning. I can more or less buy everyone in Fates obsessing over Corrin because of who they are and what they represent for the various players, but not so much Robin whom everyone rallies around apparently for the sole reason that they’re a really friendly tactical genius. Compound that with the fact that they’re meant to be a self-insert in a game with enormous levels of explicit homoerotic denial and it should be easy to see why they’re at the bottom of this list.

[aspiestvmusings]

SCORPION S4 SPOILERY THOUGHT: AMY

Here are a few “thoughts” about that latest spoilery (casting) news: 

Spoiler source: TV Line 

THIS IS A MASTER-POST, SO AS PER USUAL...VERY LONG POST 

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT 

As we now know, season 4, episode 13 ”Apocalypse Nerd”, which is the “newyears episode”, and the first episode to air after the Christmas break, will introduce us to a character we’ve heard before, but never seen before. That is Toby’s ex-girlfriend/ex-fiancee Amy, who became the girlfriend & (now) wife of his arch-nemesis Quincy Berkstead. We first heard about her in 1x02. And the Berksteads have been mentioned several times throughout the series (see Eps: 1x02, 2x11, 2x13). 

I think that this is really good news. Despite the spoiler making it sound ambiguous and upsetting the fangirls about her role with Quintis. But let the teaser tricks not get to you! And let’s examine some of the possibilities her introduction, and recurring role during Season 4B could mean for Quintis: 

Why is it good that we will meet Amy (now)

This is a potential to finally get some Toby-backstory. He is the last main character whose parents we haven’t met and/or whose backstory hasn’t been explored in more detail. We hear Toby make jokes about his youth/past (childhood, school/Uni & gambling days mentions), but he never really shares any real details about himself and his past. He is the shrink of the team, so it’s “logical” that he gets everyone else talking, while remaining the listener, and never really talking about himself. Well..now we have the chance to finally learn more about the psychiatrist/doc!  And many fans have been looking forward to this. 

Despite anticipating some dislike at first between Happy & Amy (Happy is never happy about “new” people...and I don’t think meeting her husband’s ex will go that smoothly at first...), I do see them getting along...soon (by the end of 413). Think Happy & Paige. And I would not even be surprised if at some point we get Happy/Amy talks...about Toby. Her giving some insight to the docs past...the days before he met Happy/joined TeamScorpion. The not-so-good-days of the gambling, and other bad behaviours. This also allows the lesson in the end be that he was not willing to “change” for Amy, but he was for Happy. (based on the little we know it sound like Amy & Toby “grew apart” even before his gambling etc became really bad, and she was not invested enough to help him beat the addiction, and he was not motivated enough to leave it behind... but we saw in S2 how Happy did help, and how Toby did  take that step.) So reassuring Happy...and Toby. 

The possibilities of introducing Amy (now): 

To give insight to Toby’s past (pre-Scorpion days, his youth/Harvard days and his 20s) Since the spoiler revealed that Toby & Amy met in Harvard, then since he graduated Uni at only age 17 (then unless they met a bit later, when he was a lecturer already or doing residency, then it is possible they were together for a long time... as we “met” Toby when he was already over 30), they could have been together many many years before it all fell apart. Because all we really know is that it had been over for years...when it was last talked about in s1 & s2. And she definitely has insight into the man that Toby is, and what made him who he is. And though it sound like they got together only AFTER Harvard, then she still is the only person really who has in-dept insight into the docs pre-Scorpion days & youth. It is very likely that outside of Scorpion she is the person who knows him the best. Even if he has changed a lot.  

As I would not take the spoiler articles suggestive misleading wording seriously, I do not see this as storyline about someone coming between Quintis. So as I don’t see it as that, it leaves doors open for many interesting storylines involving her. Because if we don’t fall into spoiler teaser tricks, then we can see the endless possibilities her storyline could bring. 

Since we know Toby & Quincy are “arc nemesis” (see eps 2x11 & 2x13), and based on 1x02 & 2x06 & 2x11 & 2x13... while Toby got some “closure” with that phone call from Amy at the end of episode 1x02, then he has not had real & final closure, and despite joking about his rivalry with Quincy and him stealing her girlfriend, it is very likely that he is not really over that, and final closure would help (see: 2x11). Since it seems the two docs can’t be civil around each other then perhaps having their wives around would help to soften the conflict... And Amy’s presence might give Toby the final closure. It could be beneficial for him. (see: Walt & his “date” from the Pilot episode, and the “closure” talk in 1x16 that they had...about the break up and their relationship and what went wrong. Toby probably needs to hear some truth, too, and he’ll probably listen to Amy, as he hasn’t seem to have accepted things when they have come from Quincy...who spoke the truth in 2x11)

Also... since finances are a theme of season 4, and Toby “owes” Amy a lot of money (that she said she does not want back...in her 1x02 end call), then perhaps since he is paying back his “loans” (”Bruno”... and if there is no “bookie” named “Bruno”, perhaps he’s been paying back Amy instead, cause he doesn’t want to owe...???), he might want to pay her back, too, even if he can’t right now, because of their financial situation and the extra costs they’re having.... And either way... Amy seems to be doing well (financially...cause based on 1x02 she did not need that “loan” back), and Toby doesn’t... really. But despite that he might need either closure by promising to pay her back the money (one day) or hearing it from her in person that he doesn’t owe her anything. 

Considering Amy’s speciality/profession (geneticist), and the timing of her introduction (as Quintis are trying to become/are becoming parents), this does not at all sound like random. The only question is how it all will play out. And that depend a lot on if Quintis will be pregnant by then or not. That determines Amy’s specific role, but either way I do think she will be aiding them in their quest for “baby Quintis” and waiting outside school for someone. Making Amy a smart (genius) geneticist cannot be a coincidence.... considering the ongoing plots. So she will be somehow connected to the Quintis-baby plot. How... depends on some details. 

Option 1: If Quintis are already pregnant by 4x13, then Amy’s role as a geneticist might be to run tests on them/the fetus...either because Happy/Quintis is worried about some possibility of genetic disorder (because of what happened to her mom at childbirth... as since we don’t know what happened, there is a possibility the writers might come up with something) or because they ran some tests and those showed some genetic disorder possibility. So Amy could help them over those tests, and worries. (and turning to someone they know would check two boxes: not going to a stranger, who doesn’t care & also keeping down costs, because they are financially not in a good place) SEE: Hodgela on “Bones” for baby Vincent Part1 & Part 2 

Option 2: If Quintis are not yet pregnant by 4x13, then Amy’s role could be aid them in “fertility issues plotline”, and though she’s not a fertility specialist per se, then since she’s smart and her expertise is connected to it all, then both because the geniuses would not want to go to a “stranger” specialist & to keep down costs, they would turn to her, a “friend” for help. So she would help them get the positive result they so much want. (And if the writers would choose the most “negative” option, and there be no chance of bio baby for Quintis, then her knowledge & help could also be used during an adoption plot)

These are just some of the main possibilities. And I, for one, cannot wait for the episodes and storylines! I’ve made it clear that the only plot I really really dislike on tv is to make a couple, who really actually want kids...to be infertile, and Amy’s introduction at this point tells me that even if they won’t be pregnant by then and/or won’t conceive “naturally”, then Quintis is gonna have a bio kid, cause it’d be kind of pointless to introduce a geneticist and have a whole storyline involving ... all of that... and not get positive results in the end. So for me this answers the question: bio or adopted? They’ll either get pregnant without “medical help” or with “medical help”. Though I am considering a third option: both!, too)

Either way... Amy’s introduction works for both options: Quintis expecting by 413 & Quintis not yet expecting in 413. Both for the genetics/testing part of the storyline, and the personal storyline (the ex fiancee meeting the new wife, the two people who know him the best meeting & “chatting”...etc) It would also be interesting to know how Amy (and Quincy) are doing. (are they as happy as Quintis are, do they want/have kids, are they proud of their work/accomplishments..etc etc). Drawing parallels between the two, kinda comparing would be also interesting... (We saw in 211 that Quincy is successful, and Toby didn’t really feel like he’d achieved much. Which, of course, is  untrue...cause they save the world weekly...and he dated & married Happy..the greatest accomplishment of his life. So to see/hear someone tell him that he has it all... even if he doesn’t see it this way, would be beneficial.)

I’M SO EXCITED!  @livingwithashipname et all! 

Collective “awww”  for Quintis Baby

Amy’s introduction is good news (for Quintis, for Quintis baby plot): 

...and a high5 for the double-luck sign (amulets!)

Post created/Last updated: Nov 26th, 2017