#i hope this is somewhat interesting

[bookshelfdreams]

do it. gimme the Izzy straight-coded meta 👀

I feel like I need to preface this by saying that Actually, Izzy Is Straightcoded would be the inflammatory clickbait title I'd give this if it were written to draw traffic & ad revenue to my shitty website. So don't take that term too seriously.

There has been a lot of ink spilled about Izzy thinking he's in a story where one can only be subtextually queer. Some even by yours truly, but the more I think about it, the less sense it makes. What would be the purpose of queercoding Izzy?

In general, villains* aren't queercoded to show that men being attracted to other men is bad. It's often the outcome; but it's not why the trope exists. It exists because cishet people tend to be (and are encouraged to be) profoundly uncomfortable with gender nonconformity, and so, making a character gnc becomes a quick and easy way to make him appear twisted and untrustworthy. If he** can't even obey the fundamental rules of his own gender (rules that are inherent and unchangeable!) what other rules does he disobey?

Or: If a man is insufficiently masculine, he can't be trusted to have morals. The villain isn't gnc because that's an evil trait to have; rather, the gender nonconformity is a symptom of his evilness. Being evil is what enables him to embrace his feminine side, and embracing his feminine side is what others him and marks him as a villain.

This only really works when he's contrasted with a hero (or heroine) who is Doing Gender Correctly. The villain is foul to highlight how good the hero is. The Hero will be honest and straightforward, brave, physically powerful; the Queercoded Villain treacherous, cowardly, and physically weak. The hero is a Proper Man, a Good Person. The villain an Improper Man, and therefore, a Bad Person.

Of course ofmd fundamentally rejects this. The shorthand wouldn't work, because ofmd simply doesn't think effeminacy is creepy. It's uninterested in moralizing self-expression; it just lets people be how they are. There's a wide range of expressions of masculinity on this show, and none of it is inherently bad. People are allowed to be hypermasculine, flamboyant, and anything inbetween, can express their gender in whatever manner they want, and it's all fine - as long as they are authentic about it. Be however you are, but be yourself, and this is what Izzy fails at. The repression marks him as a villain. The strict adherence to what he thinks a Real Man Pirate ought to be like. He's very preoccupied with enforcing a traditional (and toxic) masculinity on himself and others. It's no coincidence the characters he antagonizes the most - Stede and Lucius - are also the most effeminate ones. And I know, I know anglophones have a much more casual relationship to twat and cunt, those don't nearly feel as uncomfortable for y'all as they do for me, so I don't want to assign too much significance here, but he is the only character who constantly uses this kind of language, and also the one who uses the most gender&sexuality based slurs (as far as I remember).

All of this while being clearly, obviously queer himself! I do not feel like I need to explain this; his flustered reaction when Lucius asks him if he's ever been sketched speaks for itself. The fact that he meets Stede and immediately slices his shirt off of him, speaks for itself. And so on.

Izzy isn't straightcoded in the sense that the story wants us to believe he's exclusively attracted to women. Much like a queercoded villain doesn't need to be shown to be attracted to men (and can even be shown to be attracted exclusively to women!) to still be queercoded. He's straightcoded in the sense that he's a stand-in for restrictive and toxic gender roles that society enforces on people. He buys into the idea that there's a way of Doing Gender Wrong, and this is presented as a tragic character flaw. Something he has to overcome to be able to do the thing that actually marks a hero in this show: express himself authentically.

Part of why I found his death so moving is because it enables him to set right the toxicity he spread. His rehabilitation arc was about himself; about finally allowing himself to be, accepting love, accepting community. His death was about taking responsibility. About fully recognizing the hurt he caused. Looking death in the face enables him to finally abandon the last shreds of that toxicity, to apologize and be granted forgiveness. In the end, he was not beyond saving, and the harm he has done will be healed.

*Izzy is introduced as an antagonist to both Stede and the central romance of this romcom. I'm not gonna debate this; if you disagree, fine, but you clearly have such a fundamentally wrong different view of the show that it's pointless for us to try and convince each other.

**of course Queercoded Female Villains exist s well, but they are a whole different can of worms and less relevant to this discussion

[hattedhedgehog]

My (spoiler-free) thoughts on Dragon Age: The Veilguard

The review embargo has lifted and I can officially say that I've played through Dragon Age: The Veilguard early! 

Here are my spoiler-free thoughts and personal opinions on the overall gameplay experience: 

Narrative:

Rook's dialogue and decisions impact SO MUCH of the game, and come into play later on. From companions remembering your beverage preferences, to whether someone you spared shows up later to help or harm you, it feels like the game is paying attention and that you matter.

The stakes are unbelievably high. The Evanuris are utterly terrifying villains, in ways that Corypheus wasn’t. You really feel the magnitude of their power on a personal level as well as a worldwide level.

Whatever your thoughts on him, Solas is FUN as a character. He’s fun to talk to, fun to talk strategy with, fun to rile up and verbally spar with and fun to grudgingly ally with. Now that he can drop his former act and appear to you as the Dread Wolf, and you get to see his memories, you and he team get to decide how to utilise his knowledge and how far your trust extends.

The setup and payoff of the story beats are absolutely superb. The emotional turmoil as a player of being ensnared by things that was foreshadowed earlier in the game is utterly exquisite. Every thread of the larger tapestry has been woven with so much love by the writing team, and every character’s arc tie into the larger story in interesting ways.

The characters feel like they have full lives outside of the player character. You frequently go exploring their home turf and can meet their friends and family. They interact with each other on their own and move about the Lighthouse to spend time together, leave notes for each other, and talk about each other even when the other isn’t there. The team feels like they all really care about each other as well as you. 

You can tell what your approval rating is with characters, but if you want to romance them you have to put some thought into it. Interactions and world events besides the heart on the dialogue wheel influence their attraction to you.

Gameplay:

The combat is very engaging, and I enjoyed how unique all the enemies were.

Abilities in the skill tree can be refunded so you can redirect to a different specialization, which is really handy if you’re indecisive and overwhelmed at first (like I get when choosing abilities).  Most companions can get healing abilities no matter what class, so you don’t have to worry about balancing your rogues/mages/warriors (most of the time).

Climbing, balancing on ledges, using ziplines and sliding down slopes made environments feel more immersive. Additionally I like how each companion has unique abilities that let them interact with the world (fixing mechanisms, breathing fire, summoning bridges from the Fade, etc), and learning their abilities alongside them helps you grow closer.

The wayfinder light makes everything feel streamlined, so it's way harder to get lost while exploring an area. I hardly had to look at the mini map at all, and usually I’m glued to it! This meant I could actually look around at the beautiful environments and appreciate how lively they were, even without NPCs.

The upgrade system is far less overwhelming than in Inquisition; there are a finite amount of weapons/armour/accessories to be found, which are designed for each specific character like in DA:O and DA:2. There's also no longer crafting from scratch. If you loot an item you already have, it automatically upgrades the single item rather than giving you duplicates.

You know that frustration of coming across higher-level armour that just isn’t as flattering as your current one? Not to worry, you can collect “appearances” which you can toggle on as the visual for the armour while still retaining the benefits of the original.

I cannot stress enough how simple and easy to use the inventory is. It's heavenly. 

Using the shops of specific cities increases your reputation within those cities, which is a good incentive to explore and use the shops. I usually hate in-world shopping but here it was simple, and thinking about it tactically worked pretty well.

Quests sometimes reach a point where you can't continue at your current place in the story, and must return to in later acts. When re-exploring familiar areas, everything feeling big enough to be fresh with each visit, and new loot and codex entires appear.

Edit: something I forgot to mention. In character creator, you get to make your Inquisitor after you make Rook. The build menus are all the same, so manage your energy accordingly for doing it all again immediately after for your Inky. I spent an hour and a half building my Rook and wanted to get right to playing, and had to re-wire my brain a bit to be patient and keep going with the CC. (Seeing my Inquisitor with new graphics was awesome though).

A couple little things I appreciated:

The control sounds are very pleasing. From the whoosh of opening the combat wheel to the clinking of upgrades to the subtle whir of holding the decision button, they're a nice touch.

If companions are interrupted in conversation by combat, they resume it afterwards with a "what were you saying before?".

Photo mode is so fun to play with, and you can adjust blur/brightness/lens/depth within the scene. You can also toggle on and off the visibility of your Rook, your party, NPCs and enemies!

Assan learns new interaction tricks at the Lighthouse as the game goes on.

Nitpicks:

Overall I had an incredibly positive experience. The gripes I had were tiny things like:

I genuinely like the new art style of the game as a whole. However, the blurriness of some of the features in contrast with some elements being very crisp was distracting.

When trying to sell valuables for faction points without using Sell All, it takes quite a long time to count up all the individual sales, and it isn't a live counter. So it's kind of annoying if you get +3 points for each item you sell, need 150 points to get the next tier of items, and over 10K worth of valuables that you want to sell to other factions. 

If you do lots of quests without returning to the Lighthouse often, occasionally companions at the Lighthouse will have dialogue pertaining to the quests you've just finished as if you haven't done them.

You can pet the dogs and cats in the cities, but Rook turns their back to the camera to do it and it blocks most of the action unless you rotate quickly.

Gender stuff:

I was incredibly moved that not only can Rook be trans/nonbinary in the character creator if you so choose, but they get options to feel differently about their identity and journey, and it impacts their dialogue and how they relate to other characters! To access this make sure to interact with Varric's Mirror in your room in the Lighthouse. There are many conversation options throughout the game to discuss your identity with other characters, or relate your change of self to other situations. Crucially, it comes up when entering a romance and you have to communicate with your partner about it, which I never even THOUGHT of including in a game because it seemed impossible to even allow trans main characters to begin with.

There are also multiple trans and nonbinary characters throughout Thedas. What I found the most realistic was that just like in life, it is a consistent presence in any character's life, and comes up in conversation more than once. I have never seen a game this forthcoming and open about the topic of transitioning, and it was so validating. 

Final thoughts:

I adore the other games in the franchise. Something about The Veilguard affected me in a way no other game has. I cried multiple times while playing this game, both from joy and sadness. What struck me most is that the people who worked on this game REALLY listened to feedback from previous games, and were very set on making a piece of art that meant something to people. Even during the last few years of me testing the game, things have been adjusted and changed in direct response to our reactions and suggestions. It's surreal and quite touching.

Mileage will vary, but my playthrough was 70 hours on very low difficulty and I haven't done every side quest yet. I could easily have spent more than 100 hours in the game if I wasn't pressed for time.

I hope you enjoy this game as much as I have. See you in Thedas.

[d0lipr4n3]

I HOPE THIS HURTS.

[kiyomitakada]

impromptu meta at 2 — oh wait 1 in the morning thank you daylight saving time

the thing about light yagami is that we all know he is repression incarnate. and we also know that kira was born out of his desperate need to justify sort-of-accidentally killing two people. and so therefore kira isn't what light's repressing, not at the outset; kira is an extension of his repression.

and the death note and his need to hide it very quickly takes over light's life. so it's easy to say that light is light yagami on the outside and kira on the inside, and maybe light feels that way. but. kira is just as much a persona as light yagami. a more hidden persona, but still not the real him, whoever that is.

and the thing is that no one sees past that. ever. most people obviously fall for the charming boy act, but even the detectives — L, near, mello — god, even ryuk stops at part two. i think a lot about how L set up the mock execution because he thought that kira would have killed his own father if necessary. can you see light doing that? eighteen-year-old light yagami who said "if anything happens to you, dad — i'll see that kira gets the death penalty. i swear it."? remember when ryuk laughs at how good an actor he is afterwards and light doesn't look at him?

light never thinks kira is evil. even in yotsuba arc he acknowledges that they think very similarly, just that kira has gone too far. (ha, ha.) for all of death note light yagami is light yagami, who says if kira wins then kira is good, who has convinced himself he is doing the right thing. he gets frustrated when other people don't perceive him the same way — lind l tailor, misa killing police chiefs while pretending to be kira — but the anger has nowhere to go other than murdering more people.

light yagami is kira is light yagami. but L, ryuk, everyone doesn't manage to see through kira in the end.

and after L dies, well. no one will ever measure up to L, in light's eyes. he almost idolizes him in the weirdest way possible. so maybe, he thinks, if the only person in the world who could ever possibly see all of him (this isn't true, it's just what light believes) thought he was just a murderer, then maybe —

i think he hollows himself out in the second arc. in the anime he seriously considers killing sayu; in the manga he never does that but justifies his unwillingness to himself by saying that this way soichiro and light won't come under suspicion (they weren't going to in the first place). light doesn't really have a sense of self. L said he was evil and of course L is wrong — was wrong — will always be wrong — but isn't it easy to play into that stereotypically evil image of himself? especially after soichiro, his last moral compass, dies: isn't it easy to nullify misa's memories, to say she's not intelligent enough to be my partner, to kill kiyomi in the most painful way possible?

("light would have done the same things in the first arc!" sure. but not with that much callousness.)

it's just. it's tragic, you know? light has always pretended to be nicer than he is but he isn't the cold any-means-necessary person they thought kira was either. he is constantly playing someone he thinks he is but he can never escape being light, in the end.

does this make any sense do i sound insane

[waitmyturtles]

(Source)

[let-roman-bite-someone]

there’s something to be said about the fact that janus is the most professional out of all the sides. i genuinely think that he’s the only side playing his part because it’s his job, and not because he has any personal feelings attached.

virgil showed signs of genuinely wanting to be accepted and loved by thomas and the other sides. logan definitely values thomas’s validation a lot and becomes sad when he doesn’t get that validation. remus.. might actually be the second most professional side. but since he seems to work under janus (janus sending him over to thomas and telling him what to do), i guess a lot of that professionalism comes from janus himself. remus isn’t as stupid as he seems obviously, but he doesn’t have a clear-cut agenda like janus does.

i just think it’s interesting to see a side who is only concerned with thomas’s well-being because it’s their job and they want to do a good job. even janus’s frustration at thomas not taking his advice and later his excitement about thomas acknowledging his points came off to me as someone dealing with their kinda shitty boss (no offense to c!thomas, i just imagine that’s how janus views him lol). of course, janus has some fun at his job but i mean, i would too if no one ever listened to me and i’m automatically labelled as the bad guy.

all of this is slowly beginning to change since janus seems to be getting closer to patton but i guess we’ll have to wait and see if they actually become friends or if they’re more like coworkers on friendly terms.

[fashionsfromhistory]

Any update on the pin?

Oh I'm sorry! I actually followed up on that privately. Unfortunately it's not the most exciting but let's talk about some of the basics about dating items here. There's some more jewelry specific info if you click this link.

So this is our very cute brooch! First off, we're in a super good starting point. We have a legible & clear makers mark! A quick google search reveals a lovely site called The Potteries, which is a list and some history on potters in the Stroke-on-Trent area. Unfortunately, the information on Cara China is scant. Here's the highlights:

The Cara China Co: Longton. Founded 1945

Cara China made fine bone china ornaments, broaches, earrings. Examples include garden benches with flowers winding around, all hand painted. In 1971, they had a visit from the Ambassador of Tunisia, Ismeal Kamel, and his American wife, who, although expected to make a short visit, stayed much longer.  His wife was very interested in English ceramics.

And we've hit a wall. If I wanted to get more information, I would either reach out to the local library to look at newspapers or perhaps email the owner of The Potteries. (Or if I was a local, chat up the grannies to see if they knew who I could talk to)

While the internet has made dating items immensely easier, there's still a lot of hitting the books you have to do. Fashion plates, comparing to other garments, going through family history/letters if able, etc. I find it to be a very interesting task. I would personally place it on the earlier side of our time frame because of the similarities to something like this vs something like this. But at the end of the day, sometimes you're not going to be able to narrow it down more than 1940s-1970s.

[amons-hat-enthusiast]

Roevember 2024: Day 1 - Name

The evening was quiet in the North Shroud. Not an Ixal in sight, much to relief for a small band of sellswords stationed in Treespeak. Having finished their patrol, the group made camp and gathered around the campfire in no time. Valliant Jackal and Ardent Doe, a Roegadyn couple, each with a flask of ale in their hands, were retelling a funny story of their first time in the Shroud. Across them sat Nhagi'a and Nalili, a Miqo'te and a Lalafell, who were tending to Nhagi'a's arrows while giggling to the couple's story of their misfortune.

A young Hellsguard Roegadyn was sitting in silence, slightly further away from their peers. Their hands were sweaty, breath shaky, thoughts running wild on whether or not they'll regret what they're about to do. But to hells with it, they're going to do it anyway, as they can't take this feeling of wrongness anymore. Swallowing hard, they stood up and with small steps approached the group, anxious feeling in the gut getting worse with each step.

Nhagi'a was the first one to see that his approaching friend didn't have their usual grin on their face and immediately noticed that something was off. "Hey kid, something wrong?", he said with a hint of concern in his voice. All the conversations that were had fell silent in an instant, all eyes going to the crew's youngest member. "No!...Uuugghh...I mean, um....yeah....", words were barely leaving their mouth, but they took a deep breath and continued, "I...I-I have something important to tell you all." Ardent Doe and Nalili exchanged worried looks and then looked back at their friend. "For the last few years, you've known me as a girl, as Geimwyda. But that's not who I am, not anymore. And, if I'm being honest, I don't think I ever was.", they said with a shaky voice, gaze glued downwards on their fidgeting hands. "I've always had this strange feeling, this wrongness, about who I am. And that feeling never went away, no matter what other people said to me about it. It only kept getting stronger the longer I ignored it. And now, I think I've finally reached a breaking point, as I just can't take it anymore." Their eyes were slowly getting filled with tears. "So please, call me anything, anything, but a girl. And never use the name Geimwyda for me again....I despise it. I chose a new one instead - Matheli. Matheli Taral."

Matheli braced for it - the negative reactions, the resentment, the ridicule - all of what they've faced before. But it never came. When they finally gathered the courage to look up, what they saw through their eyes filled with tears was enough to get those tears to spill. Instead of mean looks they expected to see, the faces of their companions were painted with bright smiles and wide grins. Ardent Doe stood up and approached her shaken friend, placed her hand on their cheek and enveloped them in a tight hug. "It's good to meet you, Matheli Taral."

These people love and care about you and accept you for who you are, Matheli. There's no need to fear otherwise, not anymore.

[beesgav]

Since he built the Arcadia seemingly from nothing I think it stands to reason that Tochiro also programmed its operating system

[ashes-in-a-jar]

I wonder if this is a general ace experience that when you date someone you're so caught up with your own insecurities/guilt at not wanting certain things and potentially depriving the other person of them, that you end up forgetting to let the other person chime in with what they actually want instead of already deciding it for them and then being surprised when maybe what they want might not be that different than you

[cynocephal1]

I have thoughts on leo and how his conservatism also relates to his machismo. I wish I had the ability to articulate them but, like as a hispanic person Leo's character is very familiar to me.

i feel for him and his family background and where hes coming from because i do hold the same sentiments. Wanting to be a protector and provider of the people he cares about. But it also is suffocating him and causing him terrible mental health and is part of why his relationship with chase failed. Also his refusal of getting help is just so familiar to me, it hurts.

[transingthoseformers]

Wanna talk about Screamer while they were carrying Rapidfire? :3c

I think I've talked a bit before about this au, but basically: Starscream very badly hid a pregnancy, got away with it somehow all the way until he nearly died in childbirth, and it was only shortly afterwards that Knockout found the two

I wonder how much of Starscream's suspicious behavior was passed off as "just Starscream things" or " He's hiding something, But We Don't Know Yet, whatever could it be🤔🤔🤔"

(due to some specific biology going on in the au, Starscream didn't physically show much or at all, iicr? That or Starscream managed to up and fucking disappear on the ship for long enough to bridge the gap. But, then again, looking at Starscream's chest to hip ratio yet again, it was gonna be a struggle regardless) (kiwi bird ass motherfucker)

It would be funny though if a couple of the vehicons were right on the money with what was going on, but nobody listened to them.

I am torn on whether Soundwave, who seemingly Sees Everything Ever, didn't know somehow or he did and just neglected to let everyone else in the loop.

[xinyuehui]

Some little details lost in translation, but I got you covered ৻( •̀ ᗜ •́ ৻)

See more also by me:

Details from EP1 | Guangyan's mindmap | meanings behind their names | elegiac couplets | the stone lion one | YongYan texts 2 | random funny dialogue

[ultimateask]

Has Nagito passed away by the time of that 2030s Hinanami future?

I was a bit confused at first, and thought "C'mon now that's just mean!", but then I remembered Nagito's illneses. They just don't come up outside his FTEs, so you tend to just forget them... I'll be honest, I don't really know. Nagito's illneses's status are left extremely ambigious in pretty much all the Danganronpa media. We know that he at least makes it to his mid 20's in the hope arc of DR3, and we know that he at least graduates in the UTDP. But beyond that, we have no way of knowing. In DR3, he already lived past his estimated prognosis time. Maybe that's due to his luck? After all the horrible things he went through as a remnant of despair, his "rewarded" him with recovering from his illneses? Or perhaps he simply managed to live on just a few more years, and than pass away? In the UTDP, where Nagito lives a completely peaceful, fulfilling life, would he have passed away soon after graduation, as "payment" for the luck of being able to live those blissful school years?

I honestly don't know, I might have to think about it a lot more. But, just after I remembered Nagito's condition, the first scenario that came to my mind is that Nagito's condition has deteriorated slowly after graduation. With treatments, most of the worst syptoms are kept at bay. He's able to live day-to-day, but it's not easy. His mind and body aren't like what they used to be, he forgets things often and gets confused. He can't walk anymore. But he's not alone. His friends visit him often, providing him with support and companionship. As long as he has them by his side, he's happy. And doesn't worry about what lies ahead.

[michimonie]

I don't know, maybe it seemed to me, but for some reason Scrooge McDuck interacts with Daisy even better than with Donald sometimes... In old and modern stories, there are many examples of their friendship, and even confrontation, because of many things, such as Donald. Maybe McDuck sees something yours in her?

I can see that. There have been quite a few times where, for some reason or another, Daisy either has to prove herself or just accidentally does something amazing. A comic I was reading again recently was Uncle Scrooge IDW #39, where Daisy basically takes Donald's place in the adventure.

One part of that might come from the fact that (and people can totally correct me if I'm wrong) a lot of what Donald does goes unseen (PK, Double Duck, etc...) and the stuff that Scrooge does end up seeing isn't a lot compared to how much he thinks his nephew is "lazing around."

In contrast, (from what I've seen) Daisy, tends to have a more "go-getter" attitude, and often encounters Scrooge either through work or while planning something. She tends to have something going on or a goal in mind.

For a visual example, here's a possible idea of what Scrooge sees:

Graphs showing Scrooge thinking of Daisy as someone who works a lot, and Donald as someone who rests often.

Meanwhile, the reality is probably more like this:

Graphs now showing Family, Other (superhero, spy, hobbies, etc...), Work, and Rest. A more balanced schedule than before.

Definitely take my little doodle graphs with a metaphorical grain a salt, but I can see this being a big problem.

There are comics I wanted to mention, but couldn't find. They also showcase skills he probably sees often in Daisy:

One comic with Daisy chasing Scrooge across the globe, finding him no matter where he went and saving him from trouble, all so she could have the right to write his biography.

Another story featured scrooge going missing for a day so Daisy took over. When he was found in a chute and rescued, he saw what "terrible" decisions she had made, only to find moments later (through her added thoughts) that the decisions were making him more cash than ever. He was so impressed that he decided to keep her close (for fear that she might take his job someday!)

(If someone knows where to find these, or the titles, feel free to comment or reblog them!)

Whether Donald can do these things or not, he doesn't really have any reason or desire, so Scrooge never sees it happen.

I would also like to add that, while Donald is highly capable, it seems like he complains a lot more than Daisy, which could (unfortunately) give off a more "unwilling" or "lazy" feeling/vibe. For instance, the comic in the beginning of this post has Daisy in a whole adventure and I believe she doesn't complain even once (sassy, sure, but no complaints). In fact, she spends a good amount of that adventure excited.

Sorry for the longer answer! There's a lot to be said about this subject, and this is probably as much as I can add. If anyone else has thoughts or related comics to add, feel free to add to this. (I'm still pretty new to Disney Ducks)

[hangingoffence]

ok but theres this whole thing going on around jason bruce and killing people. like jason and everybody else around him constantly reminds how 'far he has come' and how 'the darker times' are over now. and those being the times when jason killed people and didn't run with bruce. and now everything else is better that hes with them and he doesnt kill people anymore and how hes a better person now. but like not a single time have they mensioned the reason jason killed. of why he didint run with bruce. his death is only mensioned as jokes and the joke is always: everybode else doesn't wanna mension it and jason loudly yelling that he died and rolling his eyes. not once is jason and bruces conflict mensioned (and im gonna still assume that bruce didn't kill joker) and that bruce chose his own moral code over jason. not once is the trauma and pain that it causes mensioned and everything that was "wrong" with jason is just blamed on the lazarus pit