#i think it's the characters and the dynamics that r doing it as opposed to the plot. bc they're just SO good

[sunsetsover]

yeah kant is definitely firstkhao character of all time for me now. that's literally my baby boy. i'd give my life for his :(

[monpanache]

Still thinking about the Palm Springs les mis au.

(Spoilers for the movie under the cut!! It's very good so I suggest watching it without spoilers)

It can be set during Marius and Cosette's wedding, or Eposette's wedding, or Courfius' or Epoferre's, there are so many ships to chose from.

My first idea was that Grantaire would obviously be Nyle: cynical, nihilist, resignated to the situation. It fits him perfectly. And while Enjolras is quite different from Sarah, they do share a tendency to act on things - as opposed to Nyle and Grantaire, who don't believe doing something would change things. And also, he could be Courfeyrac/Combeferre/Cosette's best man (can the bride have a best man or does she need a maid of honor specifically?), like Sarah is the maid of honor. In this version, E and R don't know each other, or are just acquaintances, like Nyle and Sarah in the movie.

BUT then I thought it would be very interesting to switch: Enjolras as Nyle, Grantaire as Sarah. In this version, they know each other, but (as in canon) Enjolras doesn't think higly of Grantaire. But he gets unesplicably caught in the time loop and, after trying all he can think of to escape, just gives up to pessimism; and during the umpteenth wedding day -he has lost count, at this point- he is particularly discouraged or drunk or angry and vents to Grantaire, telling him he was right: nothing changes, nothing ever will. Every attempt to go on is useless. Grantaire is understandably perplexed by this, because we all know Enjolras would never say something like this in a normal situation; so he follows Enjolras when he leaves the party, enters the cave and gets stuck in the loop.

Now, I don't know if E leaves the party because of this AU's version of Roy; I honestly can't think of a character we could give that role to, and I don't think E would purposefully trap someone in the loop. (But if anyone has an idea, please tell!)

Also, I know that this point in the movie Sarah and Nyles are about to have sex; but I think for Grantaire hearing Enjolras defeated may be weirder than being hit on by E, and therefore make him more curious to understand what's going on.

(Also, I personally headcanon Enjolras as ace. No sex for him)

From this point on we mostly follow the plot of the movie, although R is waay more relaxed than Sarah when he understands the situation. Trough the various shenanigans, they get to know each other better: R, who was already infatuated eith the idea of Enjolras, falls for the real man, even at his lowest; Enjolras, on the other side, is sorprese to find out how much he likes Grantaire when R is not putting on his most annoying facade. And they start to look at each other like this:

My ideas for the middle part of the story (what makes them drift away etc.) are more confuse, but I know that, when R-Sarah explains E-Nyle how to (maybe) escape the time loop, E refuses to go with him not only because, like Nyle, he's grown so used to this he's afraid of the real world, but also because he was already at a low point before getting stuck in the loop: i think even he could start to lose hope in changing things for the better, considering the state of the world. At least, he says, here in the loop he's made peace with the immutability of it all; why should he go back to reality, where fighting was just as useless?

Meanwhile R, after his end-of-second-act fight with Enjolras (the reason for which I still don't know), has decided to change. And so, like Sarah, he tries to understand how to get them out: I think it would be cute if, other than using books and internet, he'd ask Combeferre, who could be like an astrophysicist or wathever kind of scientist can be useful in that situation.

So towards the climax, we have the complete opposite of the canon E×R dynamic: Grantaire is about to move on, he wants to move on, while Enjolras is stuck and afraid of the future. Then we have the realisation, the race against time, and the love confession - and btw, this movie's long confession was amazing. Look at this:

So, after all, they enter the cave together and, before exploding, they kiss:

Fin.

Thoughts?

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

I have mostly only seen Baghra hate in Darkling apologia circles so this makes me curious. What is your overall opinion of Baghra? Especially her morality.

I like Baghra! I think she’s a really interesting character that just isn’t fleshed out very much and suffers for it. I think book one specifically just feels like LB wasn’t really thinking about her as a character as opposed to a plot device.

My general interpretation of her is that she’s probably supremely depressed by TGT era, given how inactive she is. And I mean she literally kills herself in R&R. There seems to be a huge discrepancy between the values she raised Aleksander with and what she believes in the present. I suspect the shadow fold may have something to do with that? Or again just depression. We don’t know why she stopped using her own power aside from the vague implication that it’s to protect her son’s identity, but I think it ends up painting a larger picture of someone who’s just lost interest in everything. And we do see a hint of what an entirely different person she was in the Demon in the Wood era.

I don’t have particular opinions on her morality tbqh. She seems like she never really got past the formative experience of being neglected by her father and hated by her mother and then everything that happened with her sister. Like no shit she’s not particularly emotionally well adjusted.

She seems to have had a child more out of a desire for companionship than like any particular maternal instinct. There’s mention of her trying to have thee most powerful kid ever but I suspect it’s more because she wanted to ensure immortality again more for companion ship rather than actually caring about the power itself. And with their isolated fear filled lifestyle early on, like even if she *was* the most competent parent ever (which. we have established that she was not) you wouldn’t have gotten the best results.

I feel like Darkling stans do act insane about her. Like I remember seeing conversations about aww poor Aleksander he must have felt so betrayed when Alina sided with his *abuser.* Like fuck off sjfhf it’s obviously a way more complicated dynamic than that. And I��d argue that multiple centuries in, there actually isn’t a power differential between them anymore.

But it seems like the boundaries were bad! That she almost definitely set him up for his megalomaniacal tendencies! And also that she imparted her own fears of vulnerability to him. Like I do think that with her own history of being so neglected she overcompensated by raising her son to the idea that he’s above all reproach (but her own lol) and that other people’s lives simply do not have as much worth. (The same kind of elevation and isolation that he tries to pull with Alina)

So yeah idk I think the fact that Aleksander is such a piece of work falls directly at her feet but also like. it’s understandable?

[nikethestatue]

TW: sexual assault

I just need to vent. I saw a post today (and it’s been the case almost everyday this last week) of a certain Gwynriel posting about Gwyn’s SA and how she can have a sexual relationship. I know when Elriels even bridge this conversation we get destroyed and told we’re disgusting. I think there are obviously problematic takes on both sides of this and a lot of nuance. However, even when very informed people share their thoughts about this topic, that side goes into attack mode. Even when it’s sensitively handled, people get attacked. Even when it’s clearly stated nobody is saying Gwyn or survivors cannot have a healthy sexual relationship. Even when it’s stated this is just the opinion based on how Gwyn’s character is written and how challenging that book would be to write (and read) with power dynamics, etc.

Well today, I saw a post of a bigger Gwynriel saying that Gwyn is not a virgin and I am just…at a total loss. I sincerely do not know how this is not incredibly offensive, but people on the other side who say Gwyn is very traumatized and has severe concerns associated with her trauma, to the extent that this would be a highly triggering and complex book to write, are evil and offensive. How is it not extremely offensive for somebody to associate a violent sexual assault with a character not being a virgin!? R*pe is not consensual. It is not sex.

If this person is so upset and opposed to this dialogue, why discuss it all the time? Why bring this up every single day this week?

I’m sorry but it’s frustrating for us to be told we’re these evil and terrible people for saying that a character who is a survivor of sexual assault, who lives in a court-funded shelter for vulnerable women and can barely leave said shelter without 1. Permission and 2. High levels of anxiety and struggles to be around men, would have a more powerful story healing outside of sex and a man. It’s so frustrating that this is such an offensive take to them, but it’s fully acceptable to use this character’s sexual assault as a rationale for why she isn’t a virgin and can have a sexual relationship?? It’s fully acceptable to say that Gwyn is going to jump into a sexual relationship with bdsm involved when she hasn’t even expressed sexual interest in anybody? That’s acceptable?? But we’re the bad guys for pointing out Gwyn is uncomfortable around men and this would be a highly triggering book for so many actual, real-life women bc the book would have to deeply explore themes of intimacy after sexual trauma and have an on page first sexual experience after this?

Just because some people heal via sex and bdsm does not mean it would be and is healing to all people who have been through a similar experience.

There would have to be major disclaimers and trigger warnings to that book. And that’s something a lot of people just do not want to read. And that’s valid. I don’t want to read that, personally, either. And I want better for Gwyn’s character than for this to be the mechanism of her healing. For sex and a man, who witnessed this happen to her, and is in a position of authority and has power over her, to be that vessel of her healing.

Idk - it just seems like there is ownership of this topic on that side. I’ve seen posts accusing us of not being survivors when statistically we know this isn’t true and is again, insensitive. There is just so much nuance that is missed. People respond to trauma differently and some characters are written with more symptoms than others. If it’s somehow acceptable to say Gwyn isn’t a virgin (when as far as we know the only experience she has had was non-consensual), but it’s unacceptable to say her character, who is written as highly traumatized, may need more time and her healing in this regard not happen on page after the last book where we left her struggling to leave the library to go to Nesta’s mating ceremony, idk what to even say.

It really feels like some people in this fandom are absolved of accountability and can say horribly offensive things but it’s ok bc they’re gwynriels. How is that compassionate towards a character you claim to care about?

And using Rhys and Lucien as a rationale for why this is possible is just…not even a justifiable comparison. There is so much nuance to this and again, everyone recovers and responds differently. Rhys and Lucien can be around women comfortably. Rhys and Lucien can be in public spaces. Gwyn will get there, but not bc of a man. But bc of her own strength and fortitude in her recovery.

All of this nuance is why I think it would be difficult to write this story sensitively. I guess in summary, of course Gwyn can have a sexual relationship. I don’t think anybody has said otherwise, as far as I have seen. It’s the timing and nature of these spinoffs that make it difficult to give this story the justice it deserves. And I argue that there is nothing offensive about believing that. But there is something highly offensive about saying Gwyn isn’t a virgin when we know her only sexual experience to have been non-consensual.

Sorry. I needed to get that out.

I agree with everything you said, Anon. I think, overall, Gwynriels are so consumed by this ship, the overwhelming NEED for the ship to happen that they fail to see the optics of the ship.

In general, Gwyn wasn't written to be in any ship, at least as it was written in ACOSF, Gwyn wasn't written to be a LI to any many, let alone Azriel. Her whole history was made up for SJM for one purpose, to put her in the Library and make her a friend to Nesta.

This utter misunderstanding and misappropriation of her character by GAs leads to all these very charged and uncomfortable conversations. The issue isnt that she is ready or not ready, or that people in RL ready or arent ready for sexual relations -- it's that she wasn't WRITTEN as a character who was meant to be having any sex with anyone. She isn't going to be tying Azriel up with the ribbon in the Library, or having BDSM sex with him, because again, she was written as a Valkyrie and a friend to Nesta.

That's why the infamous bonus was so sexually charged in the beginning, and then completely lacking in any sexuality in the second part. The sexual potential, the attraction,the desire were firmly set up with elriel. NOT Gwynriel. That's why Azriel wouldn't touch her, that's why there is an underlining theme of him being her teacher, being an 'opponent' to overcome (aka cut the ribbon), and her not being interested in him.

It's not 'oh evil Eriels don't want Gwyn to have sex!!! because they hate women with SA!' (we've all heard this nonsense). We don't give a fuck, frankly, if Gwyn has sex. What we DO understand is how characters and interactions are written. If Elain is extremely uncomfortable with Lucien, we are not going to twist and write 50K metas about how she is secretly pining for him. Sometimes, things are stated with specific intention. Same with Gwyn and Azriel and Gwyn and men--SJM isn't going there, because it's not a place she needs to be as a writer and that's not where her story is going. The setup is Elriel. That's it. It's not us. It's the author, who didn't write Gwyn as a LI. That's it.

[stardustdiiving]

Got tagged by @/kanonavi! 20 fanfic writer questions thing

1. How many fics do you have on AO3?

UMMM. I think around 13 probably. I anon or orphan a lot of old stuff

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

32.2k words…probably at least an extra 10k in orphaned stuff though

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Its been solely genshin since 2022. Usually something needs to be a primary tier fandom hyperfixation for me to even think about writing fanfic for it , and then even then I rarely finish more than 1-3 fics for it. Genshin broke this streak bc something shifted in my brain and I’ve finished around a dozen things for it somehow

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1) source of inspiration (genshin — makoto, ei, wanderer character study) — 541 kudos

2) better days (genshin — zhongli & xiao erosion fic) — 254 kudos

3) Pattern Recognition (genshin — wanderer & Nahida sickfic) — 254 kudos

4) are you happy? (genshin — postcanon wanderer & nahida) — 142 kudos

5) marvel fic I wrote when I was 15 — 97 kudos

The 1st and 3rd most kudoed fics were actually the first genshin fic I wrote + the first and only bnha fic I wrote when I was 16 but they don’t count because they’re like my disowned children who I should probably orphan but don’t in case I want the option to delete them? I feel they were made before I really processed how to characterize the characters n what sector of fanon I wanted to contribute to, so they’re really like, generic fandom tropey to me and vastly different compared to how I usually write in a way I find kind of unbearable. I am really deliberate in my art n writing in trying to appeal to my own specific n niche fandom tastes so to help me find a similar crowd of people to hang out with and am usually pretty successful in nailing the niche. But for these fics it feels I not only didn’t try to target my own tastes I somehow managed to write something I feel only people who like the fanon I actively don’t vibe with would like ?!? I have no idea how that happened!

it would be if I somehow managed to write a hat radish fic that had “maternal Nahida and her edgy teen son Wanderer” written all over the characterization as if this is not fanon I actively dislike and a lot of how I write hat radish is often motivated by me trying to fulfill my own preferences because I find them in conflict with a lot of fic I read about them? JSDJDNDJ. Itd be like. Where did that come from. How was this written by me. Its one thing to not like my work but how do I have a finished thing I fundamentally disagree with on all grounds that make up my interest in why I may want to write fic about a certain thing in the first place. Disowned child moment

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

YEAH always even if I’m slow too. This is an extension of my habit with my art I usually always respond to every comment on my work I get even if it just feels like me repeating thank you over and over bc i like to acknowledge people who r interested in what I’m doing as much as possible to convey I appreciate it. I think it’s always helped in building a sense of community/connection w ppl which is what I’m more interested in as opposed to quantity of interactions

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Idk why this keeps happening but at least half my fics fall under “bittersweet” to “hurt no comfort” territory because I . Hmm. love character study that invokes complicated or ambiguous emotions. I think that’s the trend here

Id probably nominate someone to watch me die?. Its a xiaoven fic that was born out of me being interested portraying a xiaoven dynamic that felt at least somewhat believable characterization wise but pitched studying how venti & xiao’s deep rooted issues could clash with each other in a relationship in a way that’s rlly accidental and tragic when put with their feasible compatibility n care for each other. I have it on anon bc I have weirdly mixed feelings for it bc it feels like a xiaoven fic that probably appeals to any faction of xiao or venti fan who isn’t big on xv far more than a xv shipper

But idk how to advertise it as that bc it’s not like that audience would be in the xv tag?? and it’s specifically romantic xv so it categorically should be there. But it being in the tag feels weirdly hostile to me. I guess I feel it comes off as a fic that exists to be kinda contrarian and hostile to most ppls enjoyment of xiaoven but that wasn’t my intention :( it was made out of my own enjoyment of xiaoven….i just process romance weirdly and I think am more down with ship fic where the ship is kinda depressingly dysfunctional more than other ppl may be. I like the fic quite a bit but I just don’t feel it has a place to Go fandom environment wise

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I HAVE. no idea I feel like no fic I have up leaves off with emotions that are meant to be solely happy. The closest I get is bittersweet . Um. The scripted end of pattern recognition would take this spot but it like. Doesn’t exist yet (but it will…soon…..w)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

HM. I don’t think I ever have. Probably in part I don’t write enough for it

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Look at this shrimp 🦐

10. Do you write crossovers? If so, what's the craziest one you've ever written?

I actually love fandom crossovers as indulgent thinking exercises but I usually never get indulgent enough to write fic about it. However I did write a 30k Steven universe gravity falls crossover where the GF characters were SU gems in 2 months when I was 12 and I have no idea how I did that but it was crazy. Thats still the longest thing I’ve written . It was so much

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nah

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Someone translated a fan comic of mine I made when I was 13 a few times but never a fanfic iirc

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Surprisingly no!

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I do shipping in such a weird specific way. My go to answer for this is bakudeku bnha but I kind of lose all feeling for a hyperfixation after it ends most of the time so I don’t really…actively like it…sort of….but it’s also a vague ride or die thing to me…it’s complicated… the fandom environment for it is so unrecognizable to me since I was into bnha idk how to talk to people about it anymore particularly the new generation of fans. I don’t really like actively Ship them in a fandom way but fictional romantic relationships that r very influential to me are Pearlrose Steven universe and Anthy/Utena from rgu

15. What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I mainly just want to finish pattern recognition and I think I will. Ummm. Usually if I don’t finish something it’s bc I just lost interest in seeing it finished

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think people usually like my characterization especially in terms of like, exploring or pitching certain aspects/interpretations of a characterization . Like I feel people usually respond specifically with like “wow interesting characterization. Im adding that to my system of beliefs” this applies to both funny headcanons and more serious character portrayals.

I feel I’m also usually decent at atmosphere and invoking more visceral emotions when needed especially when the emotions in question are like. Mental Illness Monologues (tm) or jarring panic/fear/discomfort idk

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I. struggle. SO bad with like. Organizing how to execute all the thoughts I want conveyed in writing, especially the order of hie things should flow. If I want to hit on multiple traits of a characterization I’m doing for ex I have a hard time figuring out how to order it into a cohesive thing. This is kicking my ass with my oc comic story rn

I also have a hard time with subtlety & trusting my writing to speak for itself. I usually have very detailed thoughts on what I want to communicate and have to do a lot of shifting around to find a balance of feeling things are conveyed clearly enough to be caught onto and interpreted but not overexplained. Its not even a matter of feeling I need to dumb stuff down it feels more like me trying to write emotional analysis of writing I find interesting before doing the writing that would be Fun To Analyze. This is kind of the torture labyrinth when usually all I want to write is emotional subtlety and naunce

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Idk my usual rule is I don’t like when it feels forced. I feel I see it used with ship pet names a lot but as someone who doesn’t get the appeal of pet names conceptually it’s often almost a dealbreaker for me in fics if it feels forced in to be cute , and is not something I can realistically imagine character A doing for character B. Like it just wigs me out. I have no idea why I get such a strong reaction out of it

But I’m really on board when it feels like people pulling from their own experiences with being bilingual or sharing a similar background with the character. When it feels intuitive I rock it as fleshing out the character’s background and people really understanding the societal background and environment the characters exist in

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I have no idea actually omg. Especially in terms of what was first published

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Idk I don’t really enjoy my writing? Often when i finish a piece of writing I am usually satisfied I’ve executed an idea or communicated The Things but I’m not actively happy or proud of anything. Its like talking to me. I talk for myself and based off I want to say but overwhelmingly talking is for communicating with Other People so once it leaves my brain my experience with its existence ends and now it’s all about other people’s experience. This somehow does not apply to my visual artwork where part of the motivation to create it involves how my experience with it continues after its completion

Ummm. I guess my intuitive answer to the question is Pattern Recognition in the sense I feels it Conveys The Most I want to convey about a subject. But it’s also like the fic I cant stand to read the most and doing so is usually an ocd trigger too. Its complicated. I very much write for myself and my own interests and i never force myself to do so but having favorites or enjoying my work just feels incompatible with my brain somehow. And somehow this does not discourage me from writing at all

[tirkdi]

I don't know why but I've been imagining this a lot for some weird reason. If somehow darklina do end up together just SOMEHOW do you think at one point they'll get bored of each other? Will darkling's obsession with Alina eventually wear out? maybe Alina will want to try something else with someone else. How would darkling react to that? He's possessive as fuck but sometimes I wonder he would understand that unlike him, Alina never really got to be truly free and explore things for herself. I mean I don't think he'll let Alina go lol but do you think aat some point in centuries they might open their relationship?

This is such a hard question because when we're talking about immortals, I tend to believe that almost everything is possible, so this is where metas trying to answer the question (as opposed to fics) get tricky. Is it possible? Totally. Is it likely? Hard to say. I think the question we're getting at is – what are the conditions under which it might happen?

I'm taking the premise of this question to be that somehow, probably during R&R, they get together and rule Ravka (why not?). So we're dealing with not-quite-end-of-R&R Darkling & Alina. It will take them a while to work themselves into a relationship in the first place, and there are a lot of ways that could shake out. But assuming they get there, to a place that is respectful and reciprocal (if not gentle and loving), how long would that feel like 'enough' for Alina, and in what ways?

There are a few things going on here that I'll call out. One thing, to your point of he wouldn't let Alina go, is that we have an example of what an extremely long-lived relationship looks like for him already: Baghra. When the trilogy starts, he's like 800 years old and still living with his mom! Whenever we see them together they're fighting, but they don't leave each other, and right up until the second before she did it, he couldn't fathom that Baghra would jump off a mountain rather than just coming home with him. Similarly, I think it's unlikely that he'd stop needing Alina at any point. At the same time, Alina is different than him – but I do think it's reasonable/probably correct to envision an Alina who never needs him as much as he needs her, even a gazillion years later.

Another question then would be, at what point will Alina feel like she wants (and, importantly, deserves) happiness/something more? There's some character work that has to shake out there, because I'm having a hard time envisioning an Alina that ended up with Aleks at the end of R&R doing anything but being really hard on both of them for many, many years. How does she develop from there? Depending on the setup, I could see his and Alina's relationship getting to a point where they fight like he did with Baghra, but also similarly neither of them has any intention of ever leaving the other. Balance sounds nice in theory, but can be tricky to implement! Their relationship might end up less like a balance and more like a seesaw.

So then, there's the question of – is Alina looking for someone other than him to make her happy or to piss him off? The pissing him off seems pretty straightforward (and I think we have some fics like that that I've seen?). Assuming she isn't doing it to upset him, that she genuinely wants more than him, then I think there's the question of are we talking about sex or are we talking about a relationship with someone else? I do think you could come up with a setup where eventually he'd come to terms with sex, reassuring himself about how the Zoya lookalikes he sees leaving Alina's room in the morning are going to die in like a minute anyway, he doesn't even have to do anything.

I could also see a setup where you could make a power dynamic like that that he'd even enjoy, if he let himself. I think a lot about the Oscar Wilde quote: "Everything in the world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power." If he allowed himself to acknowledge that he liked the ... humiliation? one area of his life where he was not in control? ... then I could also see him being into it, as long as he felt secure enough in the relationship between the two of them. And that right there is the whole reason we (or at least I) love this ship – their power dynamic is endlessly fascinating and there are so many different ways it could go

[charmac]

Heyo! I'd be interested to hear your theories on the macdennis writer's room situation!

IMO it's not as simple as 'Rob is pro and Glenn is anti' (and we always ignore Charlie in these conversations even though he's quite into it in the dvd commentary and pod), so your suggestion that the subtlety (lol it's really not subtle, but yeah r/iasip ig) in the writing of their relationship might be glenn's idea is quite intriguing to me, and I wonder how this all relates to the opposing views on whether Dennis is a serial killer amongst rcg. So much of the writing of Dennis comes from Charlie and also Rob, but it's definitely influenced by them observing Glenn (like the cereal story) and by Glenn's performance. And ofc we know Glenn pushes back if Dennis is written as too heartless because he maintains that he does have feelings and is quite sensitive in a way. Not sure where I'm going with this... I don't have a full theory fleshed out in my head yet, so I'd really like to hear your thoughts!

(not trying to stir anything with this ask btw: in fact, iirc there were some posts about this subject a few months ago and I didn't engage then because it pissed me off when the conversation turned into a "who supports the quuer fans more" kind of competition, as if macden is something so basic between rob and glenn, when we really have no evidence about what happens fr bts, beyond some fun speculation. just enjoy theorizing in drought times.)

Hey, thanks for the ask! To address your final point first, I don't want to talk publicly about what may or may not be the motivations of Glenn and Rob as "queer allies" or how they think this may affect their careers or whatnot. These kinds of discussions I don't believe are ever effective publicly when you don't know the truth. I'm not speculating on their motivations as people but as writers who care about the story they're telling and, more importantly, their characters.

When my message was "anti" and "pro" it was really just from the discussion that someone had to be pushing back against what I believe is Rob pushing forward (This was a black and white, who wants Macden now and who is saying no, wait. I truly do and always have believed Macden will happen. The nuanced discussion came after, in messages I'd rather not share since they are not just my personal thoughts but a conversation with another user.) I

t's not necessarily that Glenn is anti-Macdennis (and I think you understand that) and I want to clarify first off that I definitely don't think it's as simple as that, so here we go:

For Glenn pushing the subtlety, I think we agree completely that it likely links to how Glenn wants the audience to perceive his character (and how I love perceiving him): Dennis talks a big game that to the untrained eye makes him seem like this cold-blooded psychopath, but it's all a complete front you can easily see through. He gets a thrill out of these terrible things but would never act on them. It's interesting to hear of the live show "Dennis is a serial killer" talk brought up right along side all of this, because it's a perfect example of how Rob and Glenn clearly have opposing views on Dennis' character, and how that definitely plays into why they don't agree on canonising Macdennis. (As I understand, Dennis gets a thrill out of the idea of murder or harming people, but he could never act on it. Reddit (and to some lesser degree, Rob), don't get this, and think he probably does act on it and it's just not shown in canon (despite the mountains of evidence that Dennis is much too weak and feeble to ever do anything).

If you think about their current dynamic (actually, ignore 15, we'll get there), they've completely flipped from early seasons, and I don't think that's accidental or a fault of bad writing, I think it 1. is a result of Mac labelling himself as gay, finally, in S12 and 2. is a result of Glenn continuing to fight for Dennis' character staying consistent.

From point 1: Dennis was always the more effeminate, more coded to like men one, more touchy with Mac, a little obviously in love with him, until Mac outwardly expressed those feelings back. As early as M&DBU you can see how terrified Dennis is of being seen as gay, and in a relationship with Mac. For Dennis, as gay as it got, it was okay until it was labelled. Now that Mac is labelling himself as gay, now there's a hard stop for Dennis. Being with Mac is something Dennis could act on, and then be labelled as. (gay, bi, likes men, fucking Mac, boyfriend *shutters*) This is something that would happen if he didn't keep full, hard control against it.

To point 2: I think this was a bit of a divide in the writers room that Glenn couldn't control. S12 he bowed out, clearly he was feeling lost in Dennis and the writers room. When he left for S13 and 14, and you can see how Rob's want for Mac to be out, canon, very gay, in love with Dennis, comes through full-speed in these seasons, because Glenn wasn't writing (mostly). Rob wanting this directly conflicts with Glenn's writing for Dennis. Dennis is opposing Mac in every way, he has this exterior he has to put on, anti-Mac, anti-whatever they were, he's completely thrown off by Mac, hates their old dynamic.

Rob wants canon Macden, but he perceives Dennis differently than Glenn does, and likes this opposing path of the two of them, and that's obviously creating an issue. Clearly I don't know Rob's intentions, and maybe I'm talking out of my ass, but I don't think I'd be far off to say that he'd enjoy putting Macdennis through some desperation-hell (ala, Dennis gives in and gets with Mac because he's horny, uses him, DENNIS systems him, the result is Mac has always been the long-con for Dennis, which I admit, I wouldn't hate hate).

I think Glenn is against it, because there's always been something there for Dennis and there's a reason he came back, there's a reason he's always stayed around, always supported Mac. He is in love with Mac. It's not a system or a game, but a fucking fight for his life to oppose his true feelings and hide his identity, not be labelled. Dennis is stuck, and there's nothing pushing him to do anything about it. He'll get off with his systems and his kinks and he's okay.

Now we move to S15 and look, they aren't...all that opposing...during Lockdown, they...got along. And then, here goes Dennis, yelling and screaming about Mac obsessing over his own labels and identity so he can ignore his internal struggle. It's clear, he needs something to push him.

How do they go about it? Dennis jealousy arc seems like the perfect fucking beautiful compromise. Rob gets something raw, a little insane from Dennis, and Glenn gets to show that Dennis really is in fucking love with Mac.

TL;DR: Rob wants Macden now in some kind of dirty, get on with it, Dennis is using Mac kind of way. Glenn doesn't want it canon until they reach the conclusion of this arc that shows Dennis really does have big feelings (good and bad), and those feelings really kinda have a lot to do with Mac.

--

AGAIN THESE ARE JUST MY THOUGHTS AND I OFTEN WATCH THIS SHOW WHILE HIGH OR CROSS FADED SO IF YOU DISAGREE THATS TOTALLY 100% OKAY I DO NOT CARE IF YOU READ ALL THIS AND THINK IM STUPID OR WAY TOO INSANE ABOUT THIS ALL THATS TOTALLY VALID FOR YOU TO SAY! IF THERES NO JEALOUSY ARC IN s16 I AM A CLOWNNNNN!!!

[bohemian-nights]

I’d like to in advance apologize for ranting it just seems to me that you may be one of the few people who actually like Nettles 😊. So I’m not gonna lie I was expecting more from the trailer(s). I mean I knew I wasn’t gonna get to see Nettles (I genuinely am obsessed with the idea of her being the only non-Valyrian dragonrider, I’m equally obsessed with stories in general when people (especially women) live in a society that usually counts them out or that they’re very low in the food chain in to becoming powerful + gaining agency and respect, and it heals my inner black girl when I see black women in fantasy) (anything to be honest because it seems as though we’re always done wrong either by narrative or fandom) (I’m also not opposed to her being a “witch” because if done properly it could be done in an interesting thing and tie into the magic that was used in the beginning to tie dragons to people) (though knowing this fandom they’d probably start coming up with their special “takes” about how she tricked/ r/ped Daemon into being with her 🙄 and will block you if you point out that’s the same thing they praise Alys Rivers for allegedly doing (I say allegedly because that’s awful and truly horrific and I hope neither Nettles or Alys are shown doing this) (speaking of Nettles and Daemon….🫠 lol I don’t really like Daemon (I’m 50/50 on book!Daemon mostly because I don’t get to know what he’s thinking which created a disconnect and I don’t like show!Daemon at all. He did a lot for a little in my opinion, and because I don’t know his thought process he just kinda comes off as a bit of a c*nt just to be one because it makes him “edgy” and a “bad boy” and while I don’t find Matt Smith unattractive he’s not exactly what I consider to be such a panty dropper that I can like Daemon) the age gap and power dynamic also raised both my eye brows but at the end of the day it’s fantasy, so different rules apply, and most importantly despite the discourse over certain (platonic, romantic, or sexual) aspects of their relationship it’s very clear that the two cared/loved one another) (anyway 🤞🏾 we’ll get her next season) but it seemed as though for the Team Green and Team Black trailers they just showed the same scenes in different order. And while there’s a lot more dragon action going on, it doesn’t feel like dialogue from different scenes forming a compelling trailer it feels as though multiple characters are just narrating I don’t know maybe I’m reaching. And personally I’m neither Team Green or Team Black but I still liked Team Green’s trailer more especially when Aegon (looking completely unhinged) said “to war then.” I don’t know I just remember thinking “he looks crazy as shit” lol. In general I’m kinda 50/50 with HOTD. I watched the first season because I like fantasy shows and at that point I had just finished up GOT and was getting started on the books. So having no prior knowledge to how it was gonna go it was entertaining enough. Then I read Fire and Blood (which interestingly enough I didn’t know was a history book….🫠) and was really invested in how they were going to adapt the actual Dance and I feel like I’m just getting into the ASOIAF fandom (steered clear of it back in the day because it seemed too unhinged) but it seems completely unhinged, misogynistic, racist, and really odd when it comes to the subject of blood purity.

Aww thank you and I don’t mind the ranting.

The Nettles fandom is extremely small, and I'm off in my little corner of said fandom because I think I’m the only Nettles fan who genuinely loves Daemon(which is fun).

He is a lot though and their relationship is somewhat problematic, but yeah you have to keep in mind that this is all just fantasy. And you can’t forget that Daemon does care for her and he is the one who saves her. The good ultimately outweighs the bad in their relationship.

That being said, Nettles is a fantastic character in her own right and deserves all of her props. And yeah it’s nice to see a Black girl in the medieval fantasy genre, but irregardless of race, she falls into my favorite category of characters for women.

Been through a lot, people doubt them, and yet they still overcome and get their happily ever after, sign me up 🙌🏽

As far as the witch thing goes, it could be interesting, but I find it cliché and ultimately demeaning and limiting. Not only because of the situation with Daemon(turning her into some Jezebel is a no-go), but it also takes away from her claiming of Sheepstealer. Instead of her wit she has to have used magic because there is no way someone like her could claim a dragon.

That would ruin the essence of a character that is supposed to show that it’s not our blood or some supernatural superpower that makes us, it’s us.

Honestly, I don’t think that the show will go this way with her character since they’ve already faced backlash for what they did with Laena, Rhaena, and Baela back in season 1. Playing into another trope with a Black-ish woman(voodoo mama Jezebel) will only make them look all the more like the racist jackasses they are.

Now for the trailer and upcoming season, It doesn’t spark any excitement within me. The show as a whole is just kinda meh(and the lack of Nettles isn’t helping).

HOTD is a far cry from the early days of GOT(which followed much more closely to the books). There is the issue that the show is based on historical text, but not everything in that was a lie like the show is trying to claim.

I don’t like the blatant whitewashing being done and then claiming they’re championing diversity and female empowerment while treating all their Black, particularly the Black-ish female characters, like shit.

Lastly there is the fandom. While racism and misogynoir are not limited to the HOTD fandom these fans really do act batshit insane.

I can’t take anybody who claims that a Black character should be cut because there are already enough Black people on the show then starts crying when they get called out for their racism and claiming they are being wrongly accused seriously.

And of course, we can’t forget the ones trying to save Nettles from the evil white man—while completely ignoring the one who tries to turn her into a hate crime statistic for the sake of the sisterhood…

(That is all I can say without being metaphorically stoned for not pushing Nettles under the bus for a racist white woman who tried to kill her so I'll leave it there, feminism am I right).

As I have said before, if I wasn’t already here I’d take one look at this hellhole, and a running I’d go, but alas. I am unfortunately invested in this circus so here I am 🤷🏽‍♀️

[j1nxers]

tagged by: @gntlets <3

tagging: everyone. this is a threat. if you see this you are actually legally obligated to do it because i said so.

MEET THE MUN!

name? carcass.

pronouns? it/its.

preferred comms? discord or tumblr ims!! though i am incredibly, awfully anxious so it often takes a while for me to get to consistently messaging. but i promise once i'm more comfortable w people u wont get me to shut up.

name of muse? gert! ( + @madamargot )

experience in rp? quotev dot com baby!! for?? pushing 12 years at this point. i met some of my best friends on there it's actually tragic what they did to it. there are so many ocs/canon characters that are well plotted out on there that i simply cannot be arsed to move </3

best experience? honestly i love how welcoming the arcane rpc is. i'll apologise for the dms (here and on disc) i haven't gotten around to yet: i have to work myself up when i start chatting to knew people but jst know im gnawing at the bars of my cage and i will b free soon.

pet peeves / dealbreakers? a lack of reciprocation in the interest department. of course, replies to all things will come when they come, which isn't an issue at all!!! but if there's a certain lack of a shared interest/it seems half hearted when it comes to plotting then i can lose motivation for things pretty quick. i love love LOVE getting stuck into the nitty gritty of plots: the good, the bad, the ugly - but its hard to delve into things when it feels one sided, yk?

fluff, angst, or smut? honestly a healthy mix of all three. i love angst so bad and honestly i'm quite a fan of fluff too - esp with plots i hold close to my heart. i'm not opposed to rping smut but i like to do extensive plotting beforehand jst for my own comfort + i like to b somewhat close w the mun i'll b rping it with.

plot or memes? both!!! i love pre-plotting things, especially if i think our muses will work together / if there are a few different verses we can have them dabble in, too! it helps me a lot with starters, especially longer ones, if i have something to grasp and work off. but memes r nice for getting a feel for dynamics and for other peoples muses! and for silly little things!

long or short replies? i'm inclined more towards something in the middle? too short and i feel as though i can't fit everything i want to write in, and too long can occasionally make me lose motivation to reply because of how daunting a wall of text sometimes is.

best time to write? hmmm during the day/afternoon. i work a 6am - 2pm shift so i have practically the whole day to myself! though my motivation for writing tends to run low around 6pm. then it's rot time.

are you like your muse? in some ways!!! i dont want to b like her though i want to be WITH HER swooning

[arellas]

what is your fave interpretation/ideal of the tim and damian dynamic?

very interested in other interpretations/ideals of other characters and damian as well!

tim and damian’s dynamic and how their development proceeds in fic is sth that really annoys me bc it’s always a “oh they secretly love each other” dynamic. but idk i don’t really think that’s the case. i believe they would eventually move past the animosity imo and have a more or less amiable dynamic (well. as amiable as it can be with damian who’s an olympic level hater lol) but i don’t think it will ever be even close to the level of trust and love either of them have with dick. and that’s fine! would they sacrifice themselves for the other? probably, but then they’d do that for anyone, even a random stranger on the street. i don’t think that’s indicative of a greater level of care lol.

as for others, i believe he idolises cass but isn’t particularly like. close to her? i think cass has a lot of sympathy for him like they share some of the same experiences but also the age gap is so large that idt cass can be completely honest w him about her problems (as with any child). he’s just her little brother, they both like each other, the majority of their hangouts consist of them playing valorant together. i do think they’d grow closer as damian become an adult though. i do hope they explore that a bit in pkj’s b&r or the new cass solo, i think they have a ton of potential.

i think he likes steph okay, she’s one of the first people he connected with in gotham, and she obv empathises w his situation a lot as well. icl i don’t particularly care for their dynamic as portrayed in steph’s batgirl solo because it’s obvious to me that the author positioned damian as some sort of misogynist so steph could make girlboss oneliners at him. doesn’t really sit right w me as it’s never a trait that morrison wrote him with, and doesn’t appear much in other books either. also steph’s not much of a fave so idrc about her lol.

w jason, i think he’s pretty neutral. he’d disagree w jason’s ideas surrounding murder, but also he wouldn’t be militantly opposed to it like cass would be.

i really liked the seeds planted of duke and damian’s rship though it sadly hasn’t been expanded much. i fear duke is in the age group where having a 13 yo tagging along on his adventures is just cringe instead of cute, but i think they’d be friendly enough.

overall tho, bruce and dick’s relationships with damian will always be my fave but i’d need a whole new post to expand on that bc this is already long enough lol

[blueiight]

Why do you think in discussions of characters of colour ( mostly black) the idea of the feminine so located in white? And yet in other times there is desexualization of characters of colour as well and then they are rendered almost similar to infants. Like yes racism but what is the white? Soft feminine or the true man to have ever manned? Like what goes on in the dynamics?

Idk how to better answer this other than different racial/ethnic groups have different controlling images/stereotypes around them. speaking for the stereotypes around black people bc i am one indivdiual black person whos lived sonso years of life & read suchnsuch, black ppl are often stereotyped in media as brutish, hyperaggressive & hypersexual. well intended ‘allys’ observing that may veer in the opposing direction, but for the most part, these are the stereotypes with black people. even the stereotypes around black people can have the same bad wider image but differ when u get into the specifics ethnic/national background… like my mom is an african woman & faced forms of discrimination that i have not. now nonblack south asian people do not have the same stereotype as west asians, or eastern asians, or nonblack latin americans, and along with the millions of other people on this planet.. u find that race is a nonsensical caste system that does not account for actual ‘biological’ human variance, and thus, white people are an amorphous ‘neutral’ to the ‘racialized other’. they can be everything bc we r not allowed to be anything. the stereotypes change bc the rules r designed to not make sense + r designed to maintain the extractive nature of the current world we live in. like. alloting black people a ‘primitive’ caricature of ‘masculinity’ (or conflating blackness / darker skin with automatic dominance in sex) in the bedroom for example will never entitle black people to material power and is in fact a common form of dehumanization black ppl regularly experience. look at all the lynchings that happened bc of the erotic anxiety white men had around black men ‘taking their women’. the pornographic bbc trope. the idea is that all ur good for is sex, and ur an erotic threat to be taken part of in private while publicly being shunned & hated, while the white is both the fragile beauty & the actual power whenever convenient, an extremely disempowering message if u look past the surface & think about it for a bit… idk this did not answer ur question at all & spanned well outside the banner of fandom. maybe cuz fandom is an annoying pest at worst in the face of a more harmful world and the views start there rather in fandom. idk.

[frenchiefreyed]

TBHK Favorite Character Tier List

hello i did a TBHK favorite character tier list and I will explain the stuff i feel like explaining / might be interesting or relevant to know

oh and each section is, left to right, the characters i like most to least, but these change and shift with pretty much every chapter we see them in so ashdasndn

tsuchigomori is my favorite character and i like him more than hanako and nene, but i like hanako and nene more than i like the other characters in the S tier which is why the formatting is u know

"s but" is basically i think the characters are s tier / i enjoy them enough for them to be s tier but they've done things that bother me and i feel a bit morally weird not acknowledging that when i say that i like them (in virtually any context) -- ig it's kinda funny to say this while tsukasa is fully in S tier and not "s but" but we dont need to acknowledge that

(i am opposed to a lot of what tsukasa has done but i kinda forgor about that so u can pretend he's in s but if u want)

i think most of the reason i like lemon is related to my fren really liking lemon bc i think otherwise id just be like thats a guy but aesthetically he's cool and stuff i hope he's not the secret biggest evil villain of the manga/show or smthn ashdsnadn

i hated teru passionately for most of the manga and its only in the last like maybe 15-20? chapters we've had that i've started to like him more and think he was silly. i wish that he would not hate supernaturals so much but he kinda grew up being forced to and stuff. i am sure with enough time he will learn that supernaturals can be nice... they wouldn't have him be so silly if he wasn't supposed to learn stuff right????

RIGHT??

tsukasa is silly and the lore stuff is pretty cool, i think it is neat that he is a villain that u r kinda supposed to sorta? ? be sympathetic towards but also is very obviously not doing great things. tbh i think that's most characters in the whole manga and some of them are treated way less like villains so i dont think tsukasa is that morally bad by comparison adhasndsad

kou is kou he's based and stuff and he seems to respect ppls boundaries and things , but we've been seeing more of his flaws lately which is interesting and cool, uhhh yeah i dont have much to say about him tbh

black canyon is cute. sue me

i also hated natsuhiko for like most of the series but i've started to like him recently because he's silly and even tho he's a bit weird about sakura sometimes he actually like. respects her boundaries as far as i can tell. very different to akane who is just weird

mitsuba is good, i do kinda want to know more about his intentions/the extent of bad he could potentially do, but for now i think A is an ok spot for him

i think the tier list maker thought that the baby twin was tsukasa but it is actually amane so this ranking is amane. amane babby is in a tier, uhhh he seemed pretty based and cool, it is sad that he dieded

i am scared that sakura is like very very evil so i dont rlly want to put her higher than an A but vibe wise she's pretty cool . it's weird that she seems to have set a lot of this in motion.

the mokke are prooooooooooooobably overrated i think they are cute but i dont super super duper love them or anything

i like yokoo a bit more than satou but they are both cool together, i think i would like them both less when they are separated from one another because i think most of what i like is their dynamic

the guy obsessed with civets is funny

tiara is funny and i like her and want to see more about her but we havent seen enough of her for me to be like WOWOWOWOWOW u know???

the entire arc with shijima and the fake world and stuff was crazy and i think i have trauma from that so maybe if we see substantially more of shijima i'll be able to stop associating her with that thing i super hate but as a character she doesnt seem horrible or anything

i used to like aoi a lot more but im getting the feeling she's super evil and alt-universe aoi hitting teru and belittling him was crazy i cant look at her the same after that i think

skipping ahead to yako uhhhh her design and vibed r cool i guess but the teacher thing is rlllllllllllllly weird. its cool that she seems to be kinda friends with tsuchigomori tho but she better not start bein super weird to him or smthn (especially cause he's a teacher.) i think i would die

skipping to ewww i hate them section; this is in order of most hated to least hated. hakubo. i hate him and THE SCENE was gross. actually pretty much all scenes with him and sumire are gross if not all

if nothing regarding aoi existed as part of akane's character he would probably be B or even A tier but he's so weird about aoi and it makes me very uncomfortable. also the thing where he was weird to nene. the only thing that salvages him at all is his dynamic with teru which is why i support shipping them. i originally started shipping them bc teru and akane were my most hated / "these are the most gross/evil" characters and i was making silly jokes about them getting together so that aoi and all the supernaturals would be left alone ashsandsdna but then i actually started bein like hey wait a minute anyway, in any context other than terukane, i am a severe akane hater

the other ones i dont rlly care enough to like explain my thoughts on them ashdsandndsa they are not passionate emotions, at least compared to hakubo and akane

s'yeah

[ultrvmonogamy]

if you really were in your 40s you seriously need to update your bio to 21+ and not 18+. especially with the themes on your blog it can come off as creepy and pedo ish

bestie i'm a bit confused by this message, n i feel like there's a lot to unpack here for what's essentially a single sentence.

first of all, there's the fact that the text is red, which i suppose is meant to indicate that this is a warning of sorts or that i'm in error somehow like if my attempt at creating a password didn't include the correct combination of length n special characters or wtv. this was strange to see upon opening my inbox, n it strikes me as a bit aggressive/reprimanding in a manner that does not lead me to feel that ur offering counsel in good faith.

second, it seems ur insinuating that i'm lying abt my age, which to my mind establishes a dynamic of distrust, and for what reason i do not know.

third, u proceed to dictate what i seriously need to do if perchance i'm not lying abt my age. that's p fucking weird n rude n presumptuously authoritarian, and i have to wonder if u could possibly have believed that i'd be receptive to such an approach. i mean, u mention my blog's content, so u must have at least some cursory awareness of my general attitude, no? or maybe as my anonymous overlord who also happens to be the supreme arbiter of social dynamics, such trivial matters as actually communicating w the person ur admonishing is of little import. or perhaps ur just appallingly bad at human interaction, in which case i won't hold it against u as long as ur willing to reflect on that n make some changes including but not limited to staying in ur lane.

fourth, putting 18+ (and, u know, MDNI in multiple places) is creepy n pedo-ish? but also somehow changing that to 21+ would alleviate ur concerns? to my mind, this is so misguided on so many levels that i truly do not know where to begin, but hey i'll give it a try anyway..

let's pretend that u didn't just errantly apply to adults a term that is reserved by its very definition for atrocious acts n desires towards prepubescent children. furthermore, let's pretend u didn't just come to my inbox n associate that term w me. actually, i'd better backtrack n ask u to pause for a moment bc ur probably still thinking abt the fact that i made that distinction n r likely now running some dialogue in ur mind abt how fucking gross i am for even calling out the semantics. ofc i could be wrong abt what ur thinking, but if u do find urself thinking along those lines, then i'm going to take this opportunity to tell u that u seriously need to talk to adult survivors of prepubescent sexual abuse and explain to them why u feel their experience is categorically the same as that of an adult choosing to have sex w someone u personally deem inappropriately older, n then convince them that it's fair to erase the distinction as it pertains to their own experiences.

where was i?

okay, so now let's pretend age gap sex is intrinsically pathological until the younger partner reaches 21 n so therefore 18+ vs 21+ categorically changes the dynamics: even then what exactly is ur premise here? do u think that my intent is to fuck anyone n everyone who looks at my blog? or that i even just want to fuck anyone n everyone who looks at my blog? r u the kind of person who sees someone's horny post n then dms them inappropriately as tho it was written to u personally? literally what the fuck? if a profile on a hookup app is asking for 18+, u'd have grounds to believe the user is seeking sex w ppl at least 18 yrs old, but this is not a hookup app; it's a microblogging platform ffs. like, there is no shortage of blogs that i follow here for art, science, fandoms, cats, moths, religious iconography, knives, symbology, gore, spirituality, etc. do u think i wanna fuck all those bloggers too, or only if they happen to follow this blog as opposed to one of my others? if that's how ur mind works, i'd suggest u put 200+ in ur bio bc i personally do not think adults of any age should have to suffer exposure to u, but even so i do think that adults who would choose to do so have every right to do so (assuming ur not posting the kinds of things ur ostensibly condemning in ur message to me, in which case they would not have the right). now wrt 18+ being an issue: do u think i should be protecting adults from kink or from my sense of humor or what? do u not believe adults should be allowed agency until age 21? or is that just wrt looking at tumblr blogs? maybe just mine? or just blogs run by bloggers 40 n over? was 18+ okay w u when i was 39? 35? 30? 29? do u have some kind of table w a range of adult ages on one axis n various activities on the other? maybe w green checkmarks or red exes at the intersections? is it a case by case basis? is there some kind of puritanical mental gymnastics to be performed so that an integer value pops out from the ether? r u gonna share the formula?

am i completely missing smth here? is there some key information abt the age of 21* that i'm not privy to? srsly, bc if there is such a thing then i'm wholly unaware of it but would v much like to be made aware, and i earnestly invite u to provide me w the relevant information.

if u take nothing else from my response, plz stop misusing that term bc by doing so u r erasing not simply the scale but rather the profound developmental damage of an atrocity that does not track proportionately w age. and to anyone who would choose to do that willfully n knowingly just for the sake of rhetorical impact, i say fuck u bc ur a piece of shit.

if u actually want to have a conversation in good faith, talk to me off anon. just don't fucking coming back here associating those kinds of labels w me, n don't presume to tell me (like some kind of fascist) what i need to do, especially not while invalidating the lived experiences of those who've suffered in one of the worst ways imaginable.

*as i sit here thinking abt it, i actually would not be surprised if 18 yr olds on avg r less inclined to make bad decisions than 21 yr olds on average, but i'd need to see a whole lot of data that most definitely does not exist in any reliable representative form.

bleh.

[viofficial]

courtesy of this post for making me think abt this but . godddd the akane and delta parallels r There. specifically the paragraph abt delta's perception of love had me thinking

both akane and delta rlly do have a twisted idea of love huh!!

akane pushes ppl away and manipulates them so they can help her forge a better future.. out of Love. she recreates the same scenario out of love, just like how delta recreates clones of sean and left only to treat them like shit

she thinks she's doing junpei a favor by dying in the ab project to owe him back for saving her younger self. she tries to owe it to him again in the ztd timeline by killing carlos after his severed head is found

love him or hate him, u cant just ignore the interesting aspects of delta's character specifically in his relation to akane (both wanting to make a better world, espers, catholic/christian references/imagery, twisted idea of love)

but they have opposing views on fate. delta believes that fate is set in stone, that life is simply unfair and u have to learn to live w it. u have to deal w the cards ur dealt. but akane thinks differently. she believes that u can change fate, which is why she goes thru multiple histories trying to right the wrongs of the world. junpei also has a similar philosophy, although he doesnt agree w akane that theres a "one true timeline" bc the other histories r just as important

also the fact that their goals for their respective death games are to ensure their own existence. they recreate the environments they were traumatized in

idk i just think its neat and i wish we got to see their dynamic more

[sweet-star-cookie]

heyo!! no questions this time, i was just scrolling through your blog (instead of working on my english essay T_T) and found your designs for perseus, hercules, and orion! i found it intriguing that we both grouped these three constellations together but gave them vastly different dynamics and characterizations

from what i could gather, orion and perseus are close friends, perseus and hercules are 'brothers', and since both orion and hercules know perseus, i don't think it's too big of a stretch to say they know each other as well. whereas i made the great idea to put all three of them into a poly relationship.

i also find it interesting on how you decided to give their designs characteristics of the monsters they've slain—perseus being a snake, hercules being a lion, and orion being a deer. i did a similar thing where i gave their designs aspects of the monsters associated with them—perseus having snakeskin armor, hercules having a lion fur cape, and orion having scorpion skin shoulder plates.

anyway sorry for talking a shitton, i just wanted to use my writing skills for something else besides an essay :DD i will now leave off with this:

Starglass Zodiac orion: a morally complex character with flaws and who makes mistakes and grows from them

Zodiac Experiment orion: an irredeemable asshole

Eeeeeyyyy :D Thanks for looking through my blog, though now that I think about it I'm not sure how organized it is lol (best of luck on your essay too, you can do it!) Also never apologize for talking a lot, it would be very hypocritical of me to be upset about that. Brevity was never my strong suit xD

And yeah that is neat! I wonder if it's just a natural compulsion to group them together because they're all Greek heroes associated with hunting/monster killing in some way, though I'm not sure if Orion is officially classified as a "hero" in the same way as the other two, mythologically speaking. Having them all in a polyamorous relationship sounds rife with hilarious possibilities, so I hope you have fun exploring that! Orion and Perseus do indeed develop a close bond over time in Starglass Zodiac, mostly because they both have regrettable pasts that they want to move on from. Though they're of similar age, Orion started his redemption arc earlier in the overall timeline compared to Perseus, so Orion becomes one of his first friends, as he can relate to Percy's fears and struggles to redeem himself. Hercules and Perseus are brothers "in name only", meaning there's no sense of camaraderie or respect in the relationship. Long story short, Hercules manipulates and uses Percy as leverage, essentially turning him into a monster Hercules can fight to maintain his status as a "hero". So basically: TZE Orion 🤝 SGZ Hercules being irredeemable assholes

(Side note: When I use the term "hero" here I'm referring to the more modern idea of a hero as opposed to the ancient Greek definition)

Orion and Hercules did know of each other prior to Orion's redemption, in fact he was one of Hercules's targets. Hercules knew that Orion was an infamous name, and thus sought to defeat him as yet another way to maintain his status as a hero/saviour. Through various circumstances, Orion did survive, but how close he came to death essentially shakes him into the start of his redemption arc. Playing around with the idea of a hero or otherwise subverting aspects of the original myths was the basis for all of their character designs (well, that and having more humanoid/animal traits is more fun for me to design most of the time anyway lol). They each have these specific looks because of their base myths, canon events in Starglass Zodiac, or a mix of the two. I wanted them all to have a similar base idea, but have different reasons for looking that way and different ways of dealing with it. Perseus has to deal with the consequences of his monstrous appearance despite his own actions not being the reason he has them, in addition to his constellation's lineage having a reputation associated with monster killing in general. He instead wants to be the kind of hero that saves and protects people, but struggles to overcome his past. Visually, his scaly appearance is based on Cetus and Medusa, two monsters the mythological Perseus was known for killing. Though he can't actually turn anyone to stone in his normal form, his eyes often strike fear in others regardless. Orion maintains his reputation as a powerful hunter, and the sheer thrill of the hunt is what ultimately keeps him going. A combination of falling to his own hubris and learning the fear of his prey is what humbles him, and he is cursed with his deer-like appearance as a reminder. Hercules is purely on a quest for glory and fame that many heroes revel in, but frames all of his misdeeds as good and wrongly paints others as villains to maintain it. He has the ability to take the energy of others and use it as his own, and thus has a more monstrous appearance over time based on those he has killed previously. From a visual standpoint, aspects of his design are meant to mimic some of the creatures in Hercules's 12 labours/trials, such as the Nemean Lion and Erymanthian Boar. Some of Hercules's stories in mythology have ties with the constellations associated with the zodiac itself, such as the Nemean Lion (Leo), Cretan Bull (Taurus) and the crab sent by Hera to attack him during his fight against the Hydra (Cancer), among others. So when using that as inspiration for Starglass Zodiac, let's just say that he has a lot of enemies!

[peemil]

i saw a post earlier today about how the meaning of “ship” in fandom has shifted over time, from previously meaning “this is a dynamic i am interested in exploring in fanon” to becoming “this is a relationship i need to become canon.” (readmore because i don’t really want this post to gain traction, just want to see what my friends/mutuals/followers think about this since i’m open to hearing different perspectives on this)

part of me wonders if the shift in question is partially responsible for a huge portion of modern fandom d*sc*urse, because we have two generations of fans using the same word very differently: one meaning that it’s your “one true pairing” and need to get the creators of the work to canonize it and show their support for it, and another not necessarily meaning you believe in it or support it or even like it, but are intrigued by what other people have to say about it.

i generally think there’s some romantic or sexual dynamics between that are... kind of weird for you to be overly explored, like if you’re writing smut of underage characters from bluey please please please stay away from me. but there is a difference between saying, “i think it would be interesting to see what other people have to say about this” and treating relationships between fictional characters as like, some sort of fanatical religion, that by being interested in it you see no issue with any aspect of it, that you are genuinely attracted to all aspects of it, and that you need other people to “convert” to your ship and support it too (and what better way of getting people to do that than the creators making it canon).

like, let’s take krisnix for example. i don’t want them to be endgame. that relationship would be toxic and disgusting and miserable (and miles is LITERALLY RIGHT THERE) and i don’t want to see phoenix living with the man who ruined him for the rest of his life. but i think saying they never had sex even once during the 7 year gap is also... just factually incorrect lol. i think the idea of hating someone so much you have to have sex about it, like fucking bonobos, is worth exploring in fiction, i think the idea of them fucking to get “closer” to each other to get more intel is so spy movie, and also i’m Very Fucking Nosy and want to know if it was completely impersonal, treated like a business deal, and done only under the harsh fluorescent lighting of an office bathroom (which is kind of a fetish in itself), or did they have their own idiosyncrasies and sexual quirks that were employed consistently and intentionally? and these aren’t questions i really have the answer to, so i look to other people’s interpretations to see what they have to say.

again, there’s no interest here in the two as a romantic couple. there’s no desire to see anything happening here long term. but i’m an adult, they’re both adults, and adults do stupid things sometimes for kind of crummy reasons. and saying that matter-of-factly is very different from saying, “ah, yes, this is a good thing that should continue for the rest of eternity, because i believe this is fundamentally good.”

on the other hand, you have s*f*kuras (censored because i don’t want them finding this), some of whom are just like “i see a lot of myself in cl*ud and i think seph*r*th is hot and i want to fuck him.” i don’t really have the energy to unpack that/don’t care enough to form an opinion on that because i have like, actual responsibilities in real life. i’m also not gonna sit here and pretend s*ph*roth isn’t hot.

 there is an obvious canonical power disparity between s*ph*roth and cl*ud that makes me... generally uninterested in, if not outright opposed to, the pairing. but i’ve seen people shift that dynamic in new ways, and create differences in perceived power that (or, at least, weren’t initially, before basically backtracking on that and making shit gross again) aren’t necessarily bad: perhaps cl*ud is a newbie in a leather club, and s*ph*roth is a long-time member who shows him the ropes (no pun intended). there are going to be newbies in leather clubs, and there are going to be longtime members, and they are going to have sex—this is a difference in experience that could actually be healthy, because a veteran who knows what they’re doing, who knows the safety rules, who knows how to be responsible, is better than some middling member who maybe doesn’t have everything down potentially mistreating the new guy.

but the thing is, the majority of stuff i’ve seen between the two (because i am, in fact, a hater and a hate-reader, and a pretty salty person overall) is... not that. it gets weirdly defensive about how their canon power difference isn’t actually all that bad (it is), how cl*ud is a consenting adult and can do whatever he wants (he wasn’t when they first met), how other ships can be equally as toxic (if we’re aiming for canon-compliance, they really can’t), how everyone else is just interpreting their relationship wrong and oh my god why can’t everyone just fucking agree with the author for once (because—and hear me out—the author’s entire premise is wrong). there are a few s*f*kura fics wherein z*ck realizes, “hey, this is kind of weird, actually, maybe we should get you out.” and he’s right lol but it always turns into this weird thing where like, z*ck becomes the actual manipulator for playing the “he’s x amount of years older than you” or whatever other card because he wanted cl*ud all to himself, and blah blah blah. like are we for fucking real. and it just feels like such a dig at z*kkuras, of all things, like why are you getting so defensive about this. if it’s “just fiction,” as you say, then why is someone disagreeing with you and saying “i don’t want to read that kind of story” such a threat.

and that’s where i have a problem, is when the “ship and let ship” crowd, of all people, gets so moralistic about it. like if you really were just playing with a dynamic and treating characters like moldable putty, and not treating it as “i’m right, i’m right, i’m right and this is Good and everyone else should Like It and Support Me” it’s kind of hard for me to believe you don’t actually support the things you’re portraying in your work and seek out in others. if you don’t actually support the things you’re portraying, why are you treating an unhealthy ship like it has to be endgame and you will destroy anyone who gets in your way. like... dude. do you hear yourself right now

i guess part of me wonders, if people see shipping d*sc*urse and are members of the former category could potentially mistakenly be aligning themselves with the latter category, because they don’t realize the word “ship” as a verb has shifted in meaning. do people see folks in the first category and lump them in with the latter because they’re young and that’s the only context they’re used to seeing the word used in. are people aligning and misaligning themselves in this debate all because we’re using two very different definitions of the word that lies at the center of this d*sc*urse.