#i'm a purist when it comes to watching things

[baronessblixen]

Frasier episode roundup! :DDD

Mel's a reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal stinker, huh. Niles picks all the bad ones, and Frasier picks (and leaps from) all the good ones.

LOVE Ferguson; and will always love Ferguson. One of my favorite S8 episodes.

Donny got engaged and married? So soon...? Uh oh. This smells like a rebound.

Roz and Frasier and Roz's ex Luke... within two seconds I wanted to get away from that dude; but I guess flattery will always catch (in this case desperate) people.

Mary's back! Sometimes I do and don't like her... but this episode was a x2 speed type of watch. (Just saw Stephen King as a call-in? Huh.)

I love Frasier's Harvard mentor. Love him, love him, love him. He needs to be in many more episodes. Wearing Roz's robe? The actor killed those scenes.

Frederick turning into a gamer shouldn't be as surprising as it was. I wonder if maybe Marty's genes skipped a generation. >:D

x2 speed on the car and Dalmatian episode; but it wasn't all that bad. (There really isn't an all-bad Frasier episode, though.)

The chaos trying to prevent the Shakespearean scifi actor from getting onstage was quite amusing. In similar scenarios, I'm usually annoyed or frustrated that things won't work out; but him quite literally crawling to the chair won me over.

The two parallel universes episode was intriguing-- two people meant to be, getting together regardless, awww-- and Bernadette Peters was a guest caller???? I gotta rewatch her segment.

Kenny! I liked him... then he got a wandering eye; and now I don't respect him. His wife was really nice, though. Liked her a whole lot.

Niles wins the basketball competition only to join Frasier in making a fool of himself. C'est la vie.

John Glenn going off on an alien rant while Roz and Frasier are bickering is just... so good.

x2 speed for the rich widow. I expected better of you, Martin. You should have known two women in the dark always ends in disaster, especially when Frasier flubbed it so badly last(?) season.

Martin shaming his sons in front of their wine club. I'm not sorry for them. >:)))

Daphne's back! And what a touching look into her and Niles's psyche. Him blurting out his problems with her, her taking it wrong, then both "having at" each other was freeing even for me.

Also, whichever episode had Niles struggling with Daphne's sleeping habits was gold.

Niles deciding to let Daphne keep her psychic opinion of herself was also sweet, awwwww.

FRASIER, WHY'D YA RUIN A GOOD THING WITH CLAIRE. (Also... she can do better. Also: it didn't seem like you two really meshed.) FRASIER, WHY ARE YOU SABOTAGING YOURSELF WITH LANA.

Lana's son was a fun character, though.

The finale was x2; but the rest of the arc was juicy, SO I finished it. XDD Fascinating little dig into Frasier's psychology. Intrigued to see what he does-- more likely doesn't-- with these revelations.

Overall: leagues better than the season where everyone at the station lost their jobs; but not the besssssst, either.

I had a good time, regardless. :DDDD

Glad you had a good time! This really shows me that I don't watch season 8 often cause most of these didn't even ring a bell 😂 it's definitely not my favorite season.

How do you watch an episode on double speed? I'm not sure I could follow the episode 😂

In my opinion, season 9 has better episodes.

[lemonhemlock]

The thing that's getting lost in the weeds when it comes to talking about being a book purist vs. a show HOTD fan is that the main issues, imo, aren't necessarily the departures from the text, it's the REASONS why Condall and Hess made those departures. Maelor not being included, and having Helaena have a Sophie's choice moment between the twins would have been fine if they also kept all the other details in Blood and Cheese and Helaena's grief after the fact. If you want to use child labour laws as an excuse, fine, altho Condal went on a podcast and said that they changed B and C because of Alicent's 'propaganda' lol. But let's take Condal's words at face value for a moment. Then why cut out the maid being strangled? Why cut out Alicent being tied and forced to watch as it happened? Why cut out the threats to Jaehara? Why cut out Helaena offering her life? Why were Criston and Aemond not shown trying to get in the room as it happened? None of those changes involved having a toddler on set being subjected to triggering scenes, so the that excuse no longer works, and none of them involved spending more time or money on the scene. They simply should have cut out the buddy comedy between Blood and Cheese and that stupid dog to give more time to Helaena and the kids.

Instead we have Alicent having sex with Criston, Helaena not offering life, Helaena not feeling any grief and getting over it almost immediately because heaven forbid Daemon and Rhaenyra look bad because of a grieving mother.

Every single change to Blood and Cheese was done to white wash Daemon, by extension Rhaenyra, and by further extension to white wash team black. I'm not a book purist by any means, but almost every single change to the source material that isn't due to budget constraints is done to cynically white wash Rhaenyra and push the agenda that you are a misogyny loving Woman for Trump if you side with Alicent and the Greens.

Other changes like Rhaenys choosing to go fight instead of being ordered by Rhaenyra, Laenor not being killed by Daemon so he could marry Rhaenyra, Rhaenyra not ordering Vaemond to be killed and eaten by her dragon, Nettles being cut because the writers can't have their Girl Boss 'lose' to another woman and be humiliated by her husband cavorting with a teenager, Helaena not feeling grief because that would make Rhaenyra/Daemon/TB look bad. Maelor wasn't cut because of budget or kid issues, he was cut because his storyline made Rhaenyra look bad. THAT's the issue here. I don't for a minute buy that they cut Maelor because of child labour laws, there are in fact ways to have kids in scenes like that where they don't have to see or hear anything offensive using smart editing, etc. That's my problem here, all of this was a very cynical and transparent way to whitewash TB and further demonize TG.

Any time people in the fandom are baffled as to why certain changes were made, just ask yourself how it serves Rhaenyra and you will get your answer.

^^^^^^^ i don't really have anything more to add, anon, you spelled everything out! 👌

tumblr user maglors-grief even recently commented that they actually aged down aegon iii and viserys ii, so, if using toddlers is such a hassle and a problem, why didn't they age them up instead? it's just a invented pretext to wave away their bias

[buffyfan145]

Episode 2.7 of "Rings of Power" was great!!! 😀 This is the most it's ever felt like the movies to me with the battles and those scenes were so well done. So much happened in this episode too and at least 2 leaks actually did happen, one of which I wasn't mad about like I thought I would be. LOL Rest of my thoughts under the cut for spoilers but can't believe the season is almost over next week and then the 2 year wait for season 3 begins.

I feel so bad for Celebrimbor. We all know his death is coming and just seeing him realize what's really happening and that Annatar is Sauron was heartbreaking and knowing he won't survive this. His scene with Galadriel made me emotional too and next week is going to be tough to watch. But I did love that Celebrimbor also told Sauron that he's lying to himself about so many things too, as Sauron is justifying everything he's doing. And as a Haladriel shipper you can see too that Sauron's also lying to himself about his feelings for Galadriel, which will likely come into play next week when he reunites with her.

But I did laugh though at that moment Celebrimbor and Galadriel heard Sauron screaming in the tower as that foreshadowed him being in the tower in the LOTR movies. LOL

That brings me to the first leak confirmed and that it was that about half the cast is getting killed off. That came out before the season started and made sense in a way but still really sad to see it happen. We've lost Bronwyn, Walridge, Valandil, Mirdania, Rian, that other elf in Elrond's party, Damrod, a bunch of other elves and orcs, and we know at least Celebrimbor will next week with possibly Adar too (which the orcs turning against him seems to set this up too). I didn't include Arondir yet as I feel he might not actually be dead yet and might be saved since we saw Nenya and know that Galadriel gets it back. And I doubt Tom Bombadil will be back either, so that's a lot of the cast that we probably won't see in s3 besides the ones getting killed off.

Then to leak 2 was the Elrond and Galadriel kiss was real. However, it didn't bother me as much as I thought as seeing it on screen you see it was non-romantic and to just pass her that pin and trick Adar and the orcs. Like a lot of other fans have pointed out to those upset this pretending to kiss things happens a lot in the mystery/crime genres and one fan pointed out it happened in the Bond movies which I totally forgot about. LOL It's nothing to worry about and I get people saying it's weird since Elrond will marry Galadriel's daughter, and Galadriel is already in a love triangle with Sauron and Celeborn, but really it was just to help her. Morfydd even said in the bts vid that played after the episode that it was just to give her a way to escape and that's all it was. If anything I've actually seen more of the purists upset about it than the Haladriel shippers, which when the leak first came out it was the opposite, so seeing it on screen vs reading about it shows the difference.

But back to Elrond I loved his scenes in the battles and with Durin IV. He's getting closer to his books/movies version and Robert did great in those scenes. Also loved Gil Galad showed up to help, and hopefully the dwarves will too once they stop the balrog that Sauron helped unleash.

So overall I was really happy with this episode and it setting up the finale. The trailer for next week was great too and I can't wait to see what happen with Haladriel with their fight and afterwards, especially since Galadriel has the 9 rings and gets Nenya back and we know Sauron will somehow get the 9 and him choosing the 9 will be a s3 storyline. I still think something major happens between them, as we all saw their head director Charlotte saying we'll see that Sauron really loves her by the end, and I'm leaning towards he saves/heals her from a wound and she either lets him go with the rings or she goes with him. Then them including Isildur and Estrid kissing in the trailer too I didn't expect. LOL Also, The Stranger meeting The Dark Wizard and knowing we're finally going to get The Stranger's name and I'm still certain he's Gandalf. And there's more Numenor too, so lots more to come in the finale.

[getvalentined]

I posted about this on the twits, but I'm gonna do it here too because it's not like this is limited to that platform.

Since I've been seeing my least favorite shitty FF7 rumor around again, friendly reminder that there are no "legal issues" between Gackt and SE delaying anything. Sources claiming otherwise say "trust me bro" when Nomura has literally said it was just the workload.

People who claim that delays in production of anything in the Compilation are because of Gackt are parroting a rumor that's been around for over a decade, which was started by people who used it as an excuse to be racist and homophobic under the thin veneer of frustrated criticism. The majority of hatred toward the character of Genesis Rhapsodos in early fandom, and hatred toward Genesis in modern day fandom from OG Purists, stems from this same place.

Why do you think these people always assert that Genesis' very existence "ruins Sephiroth's character," but never complain about Angeal? Why do you think they have no problems with Aerith having a Jenova-infused Angeal Copy in her church for years—something that should totally change her understanding of the Crisis, but doesn't seem to in any way whatsoever—and yet anything and everything Genesis does is treated as an unforgivable retcon?

It's an excuse to say heinous, horrible things about an all-but-explicitly queer character who is modeled off a real Japanese man, and that's all it ever was, but it gets a pass because they dress it up as criticism of the franchise. Then, when they inevitably start throwing out slurs, nobody cares because "it's just Gackt—I mean Genesis, everyone knows he sucks."

Yeah, you "know" because you let a bunch of bigots tell you he should be judged more harshly than any other character in the entire series because he's not white or straight enough. Because he's based directly on a real flesh-and-blood Japanese man, and to these people that makes him deserving of hate, because people like that shouldn't exist. Because the character is all but explicitly queer (and it is even more explicit in the original language and when accounting for some key culturally-specific literary references portrayed throughout the narrative), and people like that shouldn't exist.

You "know" because you never questioned why this character specifically is the only one it's "objectively and morally correct" to hate and belittle, even though everything he's supposedly hated for applies to multiple other characters throughout the series.

The character is loathed, and the actor is blamed for everything, because some old guard fans said that's how it's supposed to be in this fandom, and if you don't engage with things that way then you don't deserve to be here.

Very cool and normal behavior!

There are very valid reasons to dislike this character, mind you, and plenty of reasons to be critical of the actor. I'm not saying otherwise. I'm saying the pervasive and frankly disgusting fandom-wide hatred stems from the same place as the continued, repeatedly disproven assertion that Gackt is to blame for everything "wrong" with the Compilation and its development: bigotry. I know this because I saw these assertions come into being in real time when Crisis Core first came out. I watched the people saying these things post the most homophobic rants on their personal accounts, I watched people I considered friends get banned from LJ communities for referring to Genesis as Gackt and referring to Gackt with racial slurs.

And I watched them come back later, promising they were better people now, armed with new claims and new arguments that allowed them to continue to be hateful trashfires without getting in trouble. As long as they weren't overt, it was okay. If they slipped up and used a slur in the comments that was mostly okay, since it wasn't in the main post. Mods might lock a thread here and there, but those people got to stay. Their "criticism" was "valid," and thus their bigotry was validated.

Those same claims and complaints are still regurgitated today, only now it's by people who aren't racist and aren't homophobic, but don't realize that their criticism is horribly unbalanced because it was all born from people who were just masking hatred.

Even worse is when these behaviors are mimicked by people claiming to like the character, because the fandom taught them that this was how you're supposed to engage with him, because it's just Gackt—Genesis (I said Genesis!) so he's a piece of shit no matter how you slice it and he deserves to be treated that way. Nobody else does, and nobody questions it, because this is just how it's done.

I'm sorry to be the one to tell people this, but if you slap a bunch of gay stereotypes onto Genesis and then have the characters around him treat him like shit because of them, while implying or outright insisting that IT'S OKAY BECAUSE IT'S GENESIS AND HE SUCKS SO IT'S FUNNY, you are following in the footsteps of bigots. If you constantly refer to the character as "Gackt" like the name itself is a pejorative, you are following in the footsteps of bigots.

No, there is no nuance here. I don't care if you allegedly came to all these conclusions on your own—you didn't and you know it—except for the fact that actually that's worse, because it means that you did some kind of deep dive in the source material and came out the other side agreeing with a bunch of racist homophobes who are still spitting bullshit after over 15 years.

Do fucking better.

[thekatebridgerton]

A little venting post about the changes made to the show.

Sometimes I miss the era where book adaptations were true to their source material. Lord of the rings, Harry Potter, pride and prejudice, Twilight, The Hunger Games. Books with adaptations that literally had the power to change whole generations. Create such a cultural impact that we'll still be defining facets of our personalities by their influence for years to come.

And I think that those books had so much success as adaptations because the people who made them understood that watching the movie had to be an interactive experience between a person and their book. Not just their screen. People would finish watching the movie, go home, read the book and feel connected to a story where they knew the ending. So giddy and excited to know something they thought other movie goers didn't know. This made the experience exciting! It made it interactive enough to cause an impact.

I recently watched Lord of the Rings (yes the whole 24 hrs of it) and I realized how much I miss that excitement. That same warm blanket of knowing the ending that I experienced when I watched The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Bridgerton showrunners are so obsessed with delivering something with a 'plot twist' or 'different from the books' that they completely miss the point of how big franchises managed to make their adaptations impactful. So focused on curating the source material to make it more 'original' and new. So focused on driving up buzzfeed articles that read ' 100 ways Bridgerton season 2 was different from the books' that they alienate the interactive experience that exists in a viewer who enjoys reading.

Call me a book purist or maybe I felt sad today because I saw yet another article titled ' 10 reasons why Eloise storyline shouldn't follow the books' but it sucks to have creators spit on the books you love. It sucks to watch an adaptation that looks like fanfiction because it's all the media is currently offering. And you just wanted to see Kate bite Anthony's ankle and laugh. But you have to put up with all the changes of season 2 because complaining is met with an ' oh we wanted to do something different from the book, we wanted to surprise viewers'

Excuse me showrunners, I liked that book, what's wrong with liking that book? What was so offensive about it you had to turn it into something so far away from the source material the Author herself had to come out and say ' the books are the books and the show is the show' basically drawing a line between her creation and the show she authorized to adapt said work.

Netflix If the books I loved were so bad you felt they needed to be changed so much for an adaptation, then why adapt them at all? Why not find some kind nice very much in need of their big break author who has written a story that looks like the narrative you've got in mind.

As a reader I loved all the storylines as they stood. To me it would have been a giddy and exiting experience to be able to follow the show along with the source material. And I'm so sick and tired of show viewers and basically all the sensationalist media like buzzfeed and screenrant implying and outright saying that there is something wrong... with people like me. Who simply liked the books as they were. Because that's how they treat us, and that's what they think and it makes me sad.

And as I wait for season 3 I I sit and wait to see how many ' 100 ways the show is better than Romancing Mr Bridgerton because of how much the showrunners decided to change ' articles start poping up on my feed as soon as it's released. Because it will happen and as a reader you feel so powerless and confused, because all the media kees saying is that you're not allowed to feel angry, because even getting an adaptation is supposed to be a good thing, so don't start being a Debbie downer about the changes made for the screen. The book you loved was outdated anyway, the book you loved was boring anyway, the book you loved needed more excitement anyway.... And the message you keep getting is that The things you loved needed to stop looking like the things you loved, to be worthy of the masses attention

So what does that say about you?

Tomorrow, maybe I'll be back to being my usual positive self. Tomorrow I'll look at the bright side and feel ever so grateful that Julia Quinn's work is on screen. But for today, just for today. I needed to get that off my chest.

[omo-queer]

hey V, I don't want to be invasive so forgive me for asking. how are you edging/ruining/ theoretically able to cum, all without touching? asking as someone who has only ever been able to finish with a specific toy and no other method lol im curious and also a little jealous!

thanks for the ask! this isn't too invasive, so no need to worry!

it bears noting that i am able to get myself off pretty easily with my own hands but i also have a right hand like a vibrator (and that's not really an exaggeration... people have alleged my hands are magic. i blame rhythm games and a body that hasn't always been the most interested in going over the edge by hand.)

the key components (for me) to being able to go over the edge without any genital contact are audiovisual stimulation, pressure, and tension. here's a summary of what works for me on these:

audiovisual stimulation—this one's simple. my brain really enjoys seeing and hearing people being penetrated, especially if they're getting off, and i feel almost a sympathetic response. i think this is related to the way some people can get off just from topping someone with a strap, although the strap does absolutely give some pressure with each thrust so that might be considered an "easier" variant of what i'm talking about doing (easier in quotes bc none of this is particularly easy to do the first time.) normally i don't watch that much vanilla porn (or really too much video pornography at all if i'm honest) but the easiest source of this kind of stimulation for me is watching simple amateur videos of people riding dildos. sound really helps. them having a real orgasm really helps.

pressure—this one is a little trickier, but it's got a few contributors. the more i need to come, the more "pressure" there is in that sense. (thank you, denial kink.) the fuller my bladder is, the more pressure there is from that side. (thank you, piss kink.) if i'm wearing tight pants and/or underwear or i'm under a blanket that comes into contact with my genitals that's another way to make the barrier to entry easier, although to get a perfect ruin i make sure to remove anything that was in contact as i pass the point of no return. that said, clothes and a full bladder both make the process easier, but i can get over the edge without either.

tension—this is the most difficult one to get right, i think. what i do, as i get more aroused, is roughly equivalent to kegel exercises, although i also tense certain muscles in my abdomen that i don't believe are part of the pelvic floor. this should work somewhat with any type of anatomy (and i'm aware of people who have hands-free orgasms with the two most common genital configurations,) as most people have some partially or fully internal erogenous tissue full of nerve endings that, when pushed on from the inside, is sexually pleasurable. this won't feel anywhere near as intense as direct stimulation, and i find it takes a while (and particularly good audiovisual material) to even reach the point where it feels like i could go over the edge. it also bears noting that the first few times i did this, even though i have damn strong pelvic floor muscles, i still ended up sore the next day like i was working out. don't hurt yourself, but figure out what muscles you can tense and release over and over that your body feels some slight pressure from. sometimes i find little thrusting motions with my hips help, though i try not to use these in combination with a blanket or anything because i think that would count as humping.

so basically, you're trying to get your brain so worked up that the idea of real stimulation is enough to get it to go over the edge, and at the same time do everything you can to go over the edge without touching your genitals (or, if you're a weirdo purist like me about the idea, doing things you consider "cheating." for example i avoid grinding my thighs together, humping things, anything that gives direct stimulation to my genitals.) of course, every body is different—and considering that the most important of this is about tricking the brain, every brain is also different—and so your mileage may vary. there's (of course) nothing wrong with you if you can't get this to work, and the first couple times i tried for it i couldn't manage it myself.

for the easiest setup and again this isn't easy the first time you do it, find the audiovisual material that works best for you, bring yourself right up near the edge in the way you would normally masturbate but not to the point of no return, and remove stimulation. then try your hardest to come by flexing and tensing muscles. if you get too far from the edge, bring yourself back up and try again. if you have other parts of your body that are sensitive to touch, you can lean on that a little (e.g. neck, nipples, thighs but not too close to the genitals) you can put your hands to work on those, although in my experience none of those are fully necessary either.

feel free to ask any questions this raises! i'm amenable to DMs, or if you're asking from a blog you don't want known (or just don't like DMs) you can also pick an emoji to send anon asks with! i have a list of taken emoji in my pinned, so you can pick anything that isn't listed there. i would love to hear any experiences you have using this info, and would be glad to give more details if they would help.

[ladyloveandjustice]

i really wish people on that "does it like women" blog would only vote on polls for media they're actually familiar with instead of just basing their opinions on what others are saying in the notes... like if you haven't watched/played/read something isn't that what the see results button is for? personally i only ever vote on a poll i know nothing about if it's like "who's the best video cat: fluffy from jrpg #1 vs skrunkly from jrpg #2" and my mutual is strongly campaigning for skrunkly on my dash, because i figure that's just a silly fun thing. and even some of the does it like women polls for media i am familiar with i end up not voting in because i feel too conflicted about it. the soul eater poll is a good example actually, i want to say yes because imo maka is an awesome protagonist who's pretty unique for the genre she's in but like you said in your tags, there are also a lot of reasons to vote no! and this is coming from someone who loves soul eater and has both watched the anime and read the manga!

Yeah...it's weird to me. I don't see why that gives anyone more of a high to click yes or no rather than the see results button, like yeah it feels good to vote on this type of thing, but only when I have an informed opinion that comes from my own heart. And if you really want to vote, that seems like a good opportunity to uh, just check out whatever the media is. Even watching or reading for fifteen minutes will give some kind of impression that's better than just vibes or someone else saying something. It'll still probably be inaccurate in a lot of cases, but at least it'll be based off something.

I am fortunate in that I've watched and read a lot of stuff though, and I did instinctively click yes on like, Billy and Mandy based soley off the vague childhood memory that Mandy was straight up evil and I support women's wrongs, but there was actually probably a bunch of shit in that show I don't remember, so it's not like i can say I'm ALWAYS fully informed. And sometimes I use tags to refresh my memory. "I can't remember what this did bad...okay from the tags I now remember" I am by no means a purist, I just think the point of the poll is opinions from people who actually interacted with the media or at the very least know so much about it against your will through internet osmosis that you might as well have watched ten episodes (me and Supernatural) (I have seen plenty of clips along with fastidious episode summaries and story breakdowns and so many goddamn tumblr posts so that counts for me. I'll be damned if I don't have a right to an opinion after living through the indundation of 2013 tumblr. I didn't vote on Doctor Who though despite basically the same, that seemed like more of a tossup for whatever generation it was and I didn't feel even the massive amount of knowledge i've somehow accrued was enough to make a blanket assessment).

Anyway, even if it's not that serious, it's an earnest question that you're supposed to put actual thought into, and that's why I enjoy it so much.

I don't want to get too annoyed with it, just like I try not to with the results. At the end of the day it's the internet and just a difference in approach that I won't ever understand.

I like Soul Eater too, don't get me wrong! I have fond memories. The manga definitely fell off for me at the end (and I skipped over a lot of the early chapters because I'd seen the anime, knew it had cut out quite a few pantyshots, and I wasn't dealing with those), I actually prefer the anime original ending, despite how basic it was (especially in Crona's case god why did the manga never give them a break). Just nice to see my girl win the day by punching someone really hard.

But I enjoyed it and I still adore Maka. There's still no enough action shonen out there that have a female main character for it not to be kinda special. But god. imagine a world where it cared about its female supporting cast's development more than boobs. or storytelling more than boobs, in a lot of cases.

[world-of-wales]

I've realized something about myself, I'm a thorough book-purist when it comes to adaptations. I knew it while watching GOT and I know it now with HOTD. I loathe the show, what's the fun of having such amazing characters if you are gonna butcher every single one of them one episode at a time. At this point the only thing which keeps me sane is GRRM saying the books and shows exist in different universes.

[aphverse-confessions]

I notice a lot of stuff that just doesn't get noticed by people, ever, and i understand that when it comes to MCD s1, especially pre ep-50, lore and characterisation hasn't been properly figured out, even by MCD standards, so ignoring the little comments or implications is probably a force of habit because we have to ignore even the bigger things that are said, but it means I pick up on things that people seem to have never conceived before (at least not people who are actively posting about MCD on tumblr), because there's always a sort of 'omg really???' kind of reaction. And not only this, but there is clearly an interest in these little snippets of lore because I will see posts about what i have pointed out, after i have mentioned them, of people displaying an enjoyment for the mere concept, even if we know there is minimal canon execution.

And on one hand, it makes me feel a certain way about how 'special' i am that i can notice these things other people aren't talking about a lot, and how i am making people happy by bringing them things they would be otherwise unaware of. I know it's just because i'm paying too much mind to things that don't matter. I know it's not a big deal, and that i shouldn't feel so happy that people enjoy what i have to say.

But that's... also why it upsets me, sort of. I pay a little bit of attention to what they're saying sometimes, and i notice these things... And i just think the fandom has been so quick to discredit s1, or even MCD as a whole, as holding anything of use beyond the surface level just because of the dislike of Jesson's overall writing. I rarely see anyone picking apart lines, or making little theories, and whenever there are theories people are so quick to shut them down just because they don't like them. Of course, if there were actual debates and discussions over how people perceived these theories, using the source material as their proof for their points, picking out lines to defend their argument, that's another discussion - but that isn't what's happening. And it discourages any real engagement with the media that isn't surface level.

I'm not saying everyone needs to pick apart every millisecond of MCD, or even pay it any mind beyond casual viewing, i know there was a long period of time where i didn't... but the fandom really needs to change how it talks about the series. People treat it like it's great, and then encourage people to not watch entire seasons, and then people pick apart lines or make theories or do normal fandom stuff like make rarepairs or whatever, and then are met with discouragement and argument. And this was not in the name of 'keep fandom canon-compliant!' like some fandom purists, but almost the opposite.

Like i could get nasty about this, i feel strongly about this, but this is a fandom that hates the source material so much that it'll straight up lie about it to defend their fav. People will flat-out ignore canon in defence of their own point. And fanon is fine, headcanons are so cool... but i have seen literal teenagers bullied for saying they don't like characters bc they suck canonically, by people who are saying their points are invalid because of Reason They Made Up.

I just think that if we want to have big discussions about this series, we should be willing to use it as our point of reference instead of relying on our own memory and perception. If we care so much about these theories, we should rewatch to find our own proof for why we don't believe it's canon, and observe the proof that the pro-theorists believe support their point. And we should be having Big Discussions, because this show has the capability to have Big Discussions around it.

And it just makes me kind of sad, i guess, that we either have Small Discussions, or Big Discussions that usually end in some kind of argument instead of a nice little conversation about varied thought and perception.

I would put this on my blog but it feels a bit argue-y and ik that people tend to be biased when certain people say stuff in this fandom vs others, so. here. I hope it's not too much. I don't mean to come off rude as overly complaining, i do love this fandom, i just wish we had more people exploring the niche lore, making theories, and so on.

Have a nice day, mod! feel free not to post this if you don't want to, totally understand :). Hope your asks are pretty chill and aarmau-free from here.

.

[pteropodidaes]

it's been a while since i interacted with the marauders fandom, (like a month or two) but one recurring theme that i saw was the drastic recon of a lot of the slytherins in that era.

i remember when your main cast in your average marauders fic was mostly gryffindors, and then a lot of the antagonists were slytherins. barty and evan were almost always villains (bullies, toxic exes, etc) and regulus was an angst device for sirius. nowadays, the main cast is split into two main friend groups, gryffindors and slytherins. most gryffindors have a slytherin they're paired with (lily and dorcas [which btw i remember when dorcas was a gryffindor], james and regulus, etc etc). the slytherins all have family issues where their parents are blood purists and they don't agree with them and it's a whole thing blah blah blah

i like that there is more diversity in where the characters come from, but there is so much nuance that is stripped of these characters to make them all get along. regulus is the number one victim of this.

i've noticed there is a desire to make the characters people like morally good. they preach about grey characters, but when it comes down to it there is always a justification for the "bad" things they do. sometimes people do bad things because they believe bad things. regulus is a bad guy. he is a death eater, he gets the dark mark and everything. a lot of people write that regulus secretly agreed with sirius the whole time, but it makes it so much more interesting if sirius and regulus's morals actually clash instead of regulus just agreeing with his parents. i personally love when sirius and regulus are close in their childhood and then it changes as they both mature and find themselves.

i think if we look at the characters realistically, regulus barty and evan would never truly get along with people like james and sirius. they're both righteous people (ESPECIALLY james) who would not tolerate blood purism. and that's interesting to explore and to write! sirius watching his brother become a complete stranger who resents him because their morals conflict is so interesting!! you don't have to take away murky morals from a character so they can make out with your fav... which leads me to my next thing.

the jegulus boom. i remember when jegulus was a crack ship and now i think it's literally up there in popularity with wolfstar. i used to ship it as a joke, and in the beginning it was cute but honestly i don't see this ever being an actually healthy relationship. again, james has very strong morals and he would not tolerate regulus being a death eater. he would also ALWAYS choose sirius and he wouldn't stay in a relationship with someone who would cause sirius so much pain. there are a select few circumstances where i see them in a select few dynamics??? but i just don't see it happening.

it's sad because i feel like lily has been tossed aside for fandom's new bl ship. like i love wlw ships with all my heart but sometimes it seems like they come out of people wanting to do something with the canon female love interest. jily is such a beautiful and adorable ship, and the chemistry is honestly so much better than jegulus if i'm being honest. lily is also such an interesting character and you can still get your enemies to lovers fix out of jily. you don't need to compromise the morals of both james and regulus for your yaoi.

it always struck me as weird that these canon death eaters are suddenly heroes now, as in they never believed this shit at all and they're actually victims of their families and society and stuff. don't get me wrong, they definitely are, but it would be better if it wasn't just "i always thought this is wrong and i'm the rebel in my family!" people in these systems actually do get brainwashed and manipulated, and they do believe these things wholeheartedly.

i understand the whole thing with marauders is that there is no canon and you can do whatever you want, but sometimes the characters are just so flat. regulus is interesting to me because he was a bad person but he ultimately chose to sacrifice himself for something good. there's also the issue with changing the characters to the point where they're completely unrecognizable from canon. jkr is a shit writer, but that doesn't change the fact that james has been repeatedly described in canon as a righteous man with incredibly strong beliefs. he may have been a little shit, but never to the point where he would date a death eater. he literally pantsed one upside down and washed their mouth out with soap.

i'm also not saying the old fics were better. there used to be a LOTTT of inconsistency with the characterization of a lot of side characters like dorcas and mary and marlene. i love that the new fandom has given these characters a chance to shine. (well, the male ones at least...) i'm also also not saying that the slytherins should be just bad guys again. i feel like we've flopped from making them total assholes to angels that rebel a little bit.

i could honestly talk about the issues within the marauders fandom for literal hours, but the slytherins are something that has bothered me for a while now. don't be scared to make your skrunklies evil, they don't even have to be evil the whole time you can give them a killer redemption arc 👍

[chthonicathenean]

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaang wool purists are snooty! I'm watching a video on machine washable wool, and the video starts with a description of how wonderful wool is (water resistant but water absorbant, warm, etc etc), but unfortunately it tends to felt if you're not careful with it. After describing the superwash process (which involves a coating of polymer, I had no idea!), she says "So what do we gain by doing this? Well, the wool is now machine washable and softer." *stares blankly at the camera with cricket sounds*

Oh pardon me, fancy fiberwear lady who thinks unadulterated wool is incomprehensibly superior, some of us have been using acrylic yarn that we can get from the craft store for years and are only just starting to explore wool! The switch from completely plastic yarn to mostly natural and a little bit plastic yarn is so much less intimidating than going directly to something that you have to give so much care to. I've seen so many instances of people not buying something if it says hand wash/dry clean only because "Ain't nobody got time for that!" so the wool now "only" being machine washable is actually a huge deal for people. Plus most people don't spend hours in frigid, windy, wet environments, so all of the main reasons that wool was such a super-fiber back in the day when people were more exposed to the elements are really just not much of a concern anymore. ALSO there's the fact that a lot of people are sensitive to textures and knowing that they can make something that touches their skin without worrying that they have proper under-layers that extend past the edges is pretty great as well.

Don't get me wrong, I think the fact that superwash wool is partially plastic is pretty important information that should be more widely known, but yikes. I will also concede the point that any industrial process is likely rife with all sorts of environmental concerns (the creator said she was an environmental chemist so it's not just "ooh, scary chemicals bad!).

She mentions that she does not judge people for their choices and points out that individual choice and systemic issues are very different things. I still think the video overall comes across as a bit disdainful.

[ewanmitchellcrumbs]

Dearest Ange,

The penultimate episode is upon is. And maybe I was delusional in believing something great was coming when I saw people from SDCC saying it was really good, the best, better than Rook's Rest. I don't know how divisive this opinion of mine will be, but- it was not. Not close. I usually try to start our little tradition by putting some positives first and to be honest, I find it really difficult to do this time around because of the staggering way this episode was split- I can count the team green scenes on one hand, and that annoys me to no end- so I'll try and do it at the end. And the thing is, I'm not a book purist in the slightest. I believe that when changes are made, once they're for the better, then I'm for it, once the essence, themes, and overarching messages are still there. And yes, I'm aware that Fire and Blood is written as an unreliable historical account. But to me, the entire Dance of the Dragons, among many things, is about how regardless of who you think is the rightful heir to the throne, Rhaenyra or Aegon, is that both these factions commit atrocious acts in times of war, most of these characters are not cartoonish villains, or a faultless hero, a superman or sorts. They are ambitious, prejudiced, and many of them are uncaring of how the war impacts the smallfolk, because their emotions and ambitions drive them.

Their faults and complexities make them as likeable or as unlikeable. Aemond's cruelty makes him unlikeable to some, but then that unwavering love and loyalty to his family, that makes us like him. Rhaenyra loves her children, her family, and when Lucerys dies, she lets go of reason and becomes "Maegor with Teats"- and people would root for her. Yet she's also as entitled, and prejudiced as the rest of the nobles- this makes her a unlikeable. These are just two examples, yet their show translations seeks to amplify the villainous traits of Aemond, and downplay Rhaenyra's faults, because she serves the 'higher purpose' of the Conqueror's dream. We only get shrivels of Aemond's complexity because of Ewan's stellar acting, and Emma, despite having any complexity of her character stripped away to be the pinnacle of moral greatness in the show, does well with what she's given, too.

And I know that these are thing's we've hashed over and over, and I had put them aside but this episode just....bored me. The entire dragonseed plot, while yes, is a book event, does take place, was just boring to me. Was it cool to see more dragons? Yes. Was I on my phone more times than I'll admit during the episode? Yes.

And I wanted to like it, I did, even though much of me is watching for love of the actors- some of which I hardly see. I remember during the episode I kept tapping the screen to see how much time had passed so many times, because I was like okay? We've been at Dragonstone for like forever? Show me Aemond at his council, more of him interacting with Helaena and her daughter, or Alicent, or Aegon, or even him alone, anything. Sorry if my little review felt overly negative this week, Ange. Here are my positives:

Aemond on a horse- it made me giggle idk why

Vermithor and Silverwing, even though I always pictured Silverwing as more shimmery

Alys, even though she's not in this episode

Gwayne, even though he's not in this episode

Aemond on a horse....again

Helaena and Aemond in the preview (We both know it'll probably be just a tease to nothing, like the last time, but I like to delude myself it seems)

One more to go, Ange, and though I'm disappointed, I do like sending my little post-show asks. Interacting in fandom has hurt me in the past, but our little thing's making me come out of my shell more and more.

-🦋 anon

Oh, and I hope Ryan Condal sleeps with both sides of his pillow humid, hot and miserable, like he's made me watching this season.

I am so glad these exchanges are helping you to come out of your shell, and I am beyond flattered that I am able to provide a space in which you feel comfortable doing so! I hope you continue to once this season finishes - honestly, once the season ends is when the fun stuff happens. People's brains switch from taking in and processing every episode, to creating for what they have seen, and I think we have been given a bucketload to work with this season. I'm excited to see what people are inspired to create, as well as getting stuck in myself.

Onto my episode thoughts!

What on earth was the point of Alicent's depression camping trip? Visually stunning, but utterly meaningless to the plot. Yes, she's fallen out with Aemond, but Aegon and Helaena both need her and she's fucked off to skinny dip and sulk in the woods. UGH.

I do not understand the timeline we are working with at all here - last episode, Aegon resembled a half cooked pizza, his leg was still broken. Now Orwyle has him up and about, and attempting to walk? His burns look healed? WHAT???

That scene of Jasper telling Larys about Seasmoke was utterly pointless and I'm angry that it was laid over the top of one of the only Aemond scenes we were given this entire episode.

No Helaena. Otto isn't back in King's Landing yet. Why are they hiding the Greens from us?!

I thought Rhaena would claim Sheepstealer this episode. I would like to see more of her tracking him. I feel like when she actually does get him to bend his neck to her, it's going to feel rushed. This is something they could have spread out over a few episodes, and I wouldn't have minded.

I loved seeing so much more of the dragons this episode. They all have such interesting designs. I think I find Syrax the most aesthetically pleasing, because she looks like a Boglin and it's cute.

In this episode I do feel we got a glimmer of Rhaenyra being as cruel and callous as Team Green have been portrayed to be - simply shutting all of those people in with Vermithor, knowing they would likely die, and having given them no instructions for how to actually lay claim to a dragon is wildly irresponsible, and she didn't seem at all perturbed by the fact that he was burning and eating them all alive. Unfortunately, to mainstream viewers that will be perceived as something to be revered than to be critical of though.

I'm glad that Daemon's storyline has been pushed along, now that he has the fealty of the River Lords, despite the fact they all fucking hate him lmao fingers crossed that that is the last of the hallucinations.

I very much enjoyed Aemond's two thirds of a Valyrian triathlon - the horse, and then dragonback. His physicality is so interesting to watch, and it was cool to see him panic at the sight of all of the dragons on Dragonstone.

This episode was hit and miss for me, and I cannot help but wonder what sort of a cliff hanger they are gonna end season two on! There's going to be a death, I can sense it...

[duchess-of-oldtown]

House of The Dragon, Season 2, Episode 2 "Rhaenyra the Cruel"

Just clarifying, these are my own thoughts, you don't like them, don't bother telling me so. Also, I'm not a book purist, I like adaptions taking putting their own spin on things - if it makes sense to do so. So, here were my thoughts. Obvs, this post is dark and full of spoilers.

OK, but where is the panic here? The most important kid in Westeros just got his literal head chopped off in one of the most secure cities in the world with Vhagar on watch and other than his dad, mom and a few servants, everybody is just "yeah that happened".

I would have loved a scene of them telling Aegon about Jaehaerys. Like a build up. It feels like there's something missing.

Aegon smashing up Vizzy T's legos is valid because it's him having revenge on the man at the centre of the conflict that killed his son.

Why Aemond looking around his room like he thinks somebody was looking at his porn collection?

Give us Alicent's rage. Why isn't she angry? Why is Jaehaerys "the child"? Alicent's line about Helaena? Where's the rage?

Why is there all this speculation of who ordered this? It's obvious.

Tyland, you fucking bell end.

Aegon drag Cole, fucking drag him.

Aegon's got the rage. Where's the tag off of everyone else?

Ironrod, they could never make me hate you

The Aegon and Otto vibe is giving me Tywin and Joffrey.

Otto, that boy just lost his kid, why are you saying this shit

Alicent's human moment at the suggestion at the funeral, glancing at Aegon. She knows it's wrong

The Dragon pit? Which is a ruin after Meleys?

Jaehaerys is your Great-grandson, Otto. And yes, I'll say you aren't grieving.

Aegon looking to Alicent to make it stop and her not doing it.

Alicent? You just said this is a good idea, convinced Aegon and then go on and call it a spectacle? The hypocrisy?

Helaena. Phia, you broke my heart.

Alicent, they cut off that girl's child's head and you're worried about your hookup becoming public??? Priorities?

The costumes for the funeral, absolutely gorgeous. The little crown for Jaehaerys, we need more crowns.

The whole Blood spills everything when he sees the tools is funny but also let's us know that Larys has a reputation.

Helaena's hair is gorgeous.

Alicent stop touching Helaena, she doesn't fucking like it, she doesn't want to be there.

Aegon killing Blood *chef kiss* but that scene too short

I actually thought the wagon would knock Jaehaerys off at one point.

Phia Saban is a fucking star because I got so uncomfortable with her during that scene.

Rhaenyra upset for Helaena but also her quick thinking about protecting the island.

Also fuck that one guy on her council. Fuck you Alfred.

Also slay Rhaenys.

Book accurate Rhaenyra not letting Jace out.

Jace, your brother is dead, your mother is at war and your cousin just died, and you're serving face?

I'm sorry but that look Rhaenyra gives Daemon, the lil head fuck when she realises, it's so familial that you literally can't forget they're related. I've given that same look my siblings a hundred times

Daemon, that's not the right expression to have there. You didn't forget to take out the rubbish, you killed a kid

Rhaenyra, what's with the "it"?

This scene between Daemon and Rhaenyra, you can see while they love one another they can't trust one another. But I think Daemon told her the truth, he didn't really want the throne himself.

Why did they turn Daemon into a wife beater? Why? This is the man who gave us "I want Rhaenyra" and the hand thing, why does he have to come at her like that?

Rhaenyra, you fucking remind him of Visenya. You remind him how he left you alone.

Harrenhal. Daemon has been planning this war for so long that he's just desperate to see it all done.

Daemon's jealousy of Rhaenyra and Viserys.

Baela, I fucking love you. She was ready to chase after Daemon with Moondancer after seeing the room.

The costumes are really getting good.

CARAXES, MY BOI

Am I the only one who thinks the armour got worse? It's all bulky now

The Helaena and Aegon scene. You can see both of them have so much to say but neither are able to say it aloud.

Fuck you Cole, that's right you look at your mistake.

I thought that one servant was Pod.

Rhaenyra playing with Viserys and Aegon. Oh they're so sweet.

Rhaenyra is serving ✨face✨

"have you told anyone?" Alicent he'd fucking be executed? Sent to the Wall?

Cole leave that Cargyll alone. You're the one who literally fucked the Queen and had her put it back on you. You're the one who defiled the cloak. Your purity? You fucking whore.

Headbutt him Cargyll.

Cargyll asking the real fucking questions here.

I love how all the kingsguard just left because well, they remember Joffrey Lonmouth.

Criston Cole fall down a privy already.

I miss Ser Barristan.

Cole needs a headbutt.

Baela and Jace, serving cunt together, we could of had it all.

Jace, Daddy Harwin, Ser Harwin loved you. Why question it?

Just "I miss luke", there's a scene missing there.

Aemond at the brothel... That boy was abused by that woman, why would they do that to him? Also, why the fuck would he tell her about Luke?

The FUCK are you allowed to call him Luke.

Oh, they teased you? They teased you you school shooter vibes momma's boy?

Why is Hugh Hammer getting a storyline? I don't care about him? Where is Nettles? WHY COULDN'T WE HAVE NETTLES?

Yeah his wife and kid will die.

OK, but why are Alyn and Adam giving off that one Tiktok about eating at Olive Garden?

Corlys with the whole "I'm not a king", girl it was 20 years ago. Also, dom!Rhaenys. He gets pegged.

"I'm here, Meleys is here." DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME

Rhaenyra and her book about Visenya.

Mysaria and Rhaenyra? It's not giving me anything. It feels out of place. But good on Mysaria for fixing the accent.

Seasmoke 😭

Hanging the ratcatchers is fair enough. Now, give us the Red Keep cats pls.

The dog 😭

Otto why are you more upset over PR?

Also WHY IS OTTO SERVING CUNT? WHY? WHAT IS HAPPENING?

That look he gives when he asks "and what... Has cole done?" it's so dad core

Otto's hard on for Viserys? No, girl.

Aegon vs Otto yesss

Aegon "my new hand is a steel fist", Aegon he hast done thy mother

Please tell me Mysaria is going to stay and cause trouble, give us that at least.

The Erryk walking up to the door and giving out to the guards, it's one of my favourite tropes.

I love the whole swapping of the twins. But I would have made it more confusing.

ELINDA MY QUEEN

Rhaenyra walking away when Elinda is doing her hair, why does it remind me of a pint getting it's hair brushed.

Also Rhaenyra's pillows low key look hard.

Erryk giving commands to the Lord Commander? The fuck?

Elinda, get in there girl, throw something

Rhaenyra, the door is literally just there. Just there.

The Cargylls scene is top notch. A Roman death.

I miss Mushroom.

We're getting Daeron and Tessarion.

Leave the Tyrells out of this.

Alicent, comfort your son, that's your boy, he needs you.

No, but go fuck Cole I suppose. That worked out fine the last time.

Is every episode going to end with Alicent getting railed?

Rating: 8/10.

[eldritcheden]

so it's totally past my bedtime but I've been watching NCIS again lately and need to go on a ramble so here goes

...not the full rewatch like back to series one and JAG and Kate and such, just from Netflix's catalogue on so like season 10 or something onwards

it was my number 1 obsession in my tweens and early teens but up until now I had seen little to none of the post Ziva era

here's a collection of thoughts:

I used to ship Tiva soooo hard - like I used to use 'Tiva' in usernames! and now I watch them and am just like euuuhhhh idk I feel like Ziva deserves better. In all honesty a lot of my ships (particularly when I was younger) are basically just a reflection of whatever the piece of media 'wanted' me to ship. like it was all just pattern recognition and the autism y'know.

having said that, and while we're on ships. I enjoyed the ride Ellick (apparently that's their ship name?) took me on. honestly as an extension of Ellie's arc in particular. Like there's that episode when she's dating Qasim but the team doesn't know yet and they talk about her compatibility with Reeves vs Torres, and the thing is like they were totally right Ellie and Torres totally weren't compatible at that point in Ellie's character arc. When she joins she's like the most stable 'normal' member of the team, she's maybe even a little naive, she's happily married to a fellow intellectual business-y soft-boy type. Then there's Qasim, still a fellow intellectual still a soft-boy type but much more of a romantic idealistic(?) soul. And throughout her tenure Ellie becomes more and more 'NCIS'- she gets more reckless and badass etc etc etc until the point where she kinda meets nick at his level for their compatibility. Like his character is comparatively relatively unchanged in that time, like he's settled a little bit really it's Ellie that 'matches his freak'. But her arc wasn't finished- she had to keep going and left him behind in her wake. and I dont think i really latched on until Ellie left but Torres is really one of My Guys at this point - like Elliot Spencer of Leverage flavoured guy. Y'know on the outside a bit of a broody (slightly sassy) lone-wolf badass type, super strong protective drive, vulnerable inside and don't believe they're worthy of love... Love that flavour of guy.

Okay that was a long one but I'm not really done with this topic but just think about the potential this holds for the future. I don't know why the actress left the show and that will effect how likely she'd ever be to come back but ugghhhh just imagine.

They run into Ellie on an op. She's undercover and 'working with' the bad guys. To protect both her cover and Torres she shoots him ala Gibbs and McGee in 1mm. THE ANGST. His little heart broken eyes. the tension the conflict. Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom delicious. She becomes one of their reoccurring 'villains' maybe her pic is even up on the most wanted wall. Maybe there's tie-ins with the Tony and Ziva series? Cause like I've seen that speculation and it kinda makes sense but again I need the drama of her being 'in opposition' to our mains. and anyway I need the friends to lovers to enemies to lovers /enemy lovers pipeline for them. The tension they could deliver, both dramatic and sexual, unprecedented. Sign me up.

I'm rambling, this isn't even general thoughts lol it's all Ellick with an honourable mention to Tiva.

Quick actually general thoughts:

They keep setting mcgee up as future director, and have been for a couple of seasons, I wonder if thats gonna come to fruition any time soon

12 yo me really did have a moment when Ziva came back.

Having said that I'm really not a cast purist. (I probably was at 12 tho lol) Like I don't mind people leaving and being replaced, that happens in long running shows and I feel like so far it's gone relatively well. Even Gibbs leaving- like he was iconic but they managed to make his departure seem refreshing rather than.. 'emptying'.. if that makes sense.

I guess I was surprised to find out that LA was cancelled, just cause it was the most solid spinoff they'd had but honestly I hadn't seen that in years either so who knows how it was actually doing.

I think 12 yo me is very excited for the Tony and Ziva spinoff. I just can't quite hear her over current me's excited projecting about future ellie possibilities- there's so much meat on that bone.

Ok. I really don't even know what I'm talking about at this point. Good. Night.

Edit: I remembered another thought. I was honestly low-key surprised that Knight and Jimmy became a thing cause I feel like at first they were kinda setting knights character up to be a lesbian- the way she clocked Marcy, and I feel like there was at least one other moment that I can't think of off the top of my head. I guess she could still be bi, but idk, I feel like I definately clocked a few hints early on that she wasn't into dudes? She and jimmy were a cute plotline though so I'm not gonna knock it

[lovl3igh]

You know, it be preferable if certain Jily artists would bother to tag their art with poc/desi james potter tag. Cause not all of us consider that headcanon to be ‘canon’. The author is problematic and all, but that doesn’t mean race swapping existing white characters is any better/makes y’all superior. It works for Hermione because she’s a muggleborn and the added subtext of her being picked on by a racist, pureblood white prick like Draco and the garbage Malfoys. And this doesn’t fucking mean Jily=Dramione! Fuck no. If anything, James being the reverse of Draco, but similar in he too was a white, pure blood privileged boy raised and pampered but was actual taught to not be a complete dick to those who’s blood status isn’t pure. Changing his race to fit a certain headcanon is bs and makes Dursleys hypocritical and worse(but skin color logic, they should hate Kingsley too). And it’s always James & Harry. Never Sirius, Remus, or Lily(who has the most reason to be race swapped). So overall, this fandom is a joke

overall after reading that i think every word you wrote is a joke (yeah, i'm answering just now, i had no time in last few weeks whatsoever)

"not all of us consider that headcanon to be 'canon'" what. putting canon in quotation marks doesn't make that sounds any more sensible. people know that poc james isn't canon even if they don't like idea of him being white. no one makes it canon or 'canon', it's fandom thing. no one calls it canon for real. no one can argue canonically white james

no one feels superior because of making race swap to any character but there's also nothing wrong with that as long as it's not harmful. there's bunch of white characters in hp, most of them. james is canonically white so there's no problem that he stays this way for you. but the thing is most of the things about marauders is headcanon because jkr didn't do much with them and one of those is poc james. and it's okay! there's canon white james and there's desi james and asian james and black james and biracial james and there's no way that could be harmful to you to the point to write long ask referring to my old post

harry potter universe has a canon black character that comes from muggle family. he's called dean thomas. there's also canon white character that is muggleborn. hermione granger. there are white and black characters born either in muggle family or magic one or mixed. because yes, blood purists in hp can be seen as racists. and looking from our world into what we're reading and watching it can be a good analogy. but characters in hp can be both racists and blood purists. dean could have been hated for beeing black and for being muggleborn, jkr just never wrote anything like that in her work but to the moment when dean was haunted in book 7 for being muggleborn. ted tonks was haunted as well and he's white. it wasn't about race, it was about blood. jkr made basically everyone white there and pretended that the only problem in the universe is purity of blood as if racism didn't exist

so no, it doesn't "work for hermione because she's a muggleborn". it doesn't work for lily "who has the most reason to be race swapped". it works for any character in the universe. in universe when you can see how muggleborn and mixed blood people are treated worse than those with pure blood . and if you need added subtext of muggleborn being poc to see a problem with blood purists, that's on you. as if black hp character couldn't be a blood purist. blaise zabini anyone?

headcanoning james and harry as poc doesn't make dursleys seem worse than they are. they are already horrible people. they were abusing A CHILD. canonically they were abusing white boy because he was a wizard, not other reason. making harry poc in headcanon doesn't make them worse because they did that canonically to white kid. it's terrible enough. making lily and harry poc instead of james and harry doesn't work better. vernon canonically still is white, with poc petunia abusing poc harry wouldn't automatically make vernon non-racist. it's giving "i have black friends, i can't be racist". you can. but we know that whatever color harry would be, vernon still would hate him because of his magic

[lemonhemlock]

How would you have written the hotd story or maybe changed it?

GRRM, is that you??

I've had this ask sitting in my inbox since forever!! I'm sorry it took this long, but this question stumped me. 😅

I tried to do a little write-up re-imagining one of the more problematic scenes of the season here.

I will begin by saying that I really did enjoy this first season! Although sometimes it feels like I'm in the minority. :) But there were a lot of things that I loved, like the atmosphere, a lot of the storytelling, the humanized characterizations, the editing, the MUSIC, the costumes, it felt very, very recognisably Game-of-Thrones and such a relief to be going back to Westeros after these accursed last few years!

One of the things I really loved was how each episode gravitated around a specific event and corresponding concept & allowed the narrative to flow in relation to this one shared thread that kept the characters purposeful. Not many completely unrelated or superfluous scenes that I can recall.

I understand the need to keep to the tried-and-tested 10-episode structure, but considering all the time jumps, I would have made them longer. Streamlining is great, but even a few additional scenes would have helped a lot, I think.

The main issue I have relates to framing and audience manipulation. Let's be serious, they HAD to soften the characters up, because they have to captivate the audience moving forward. No one wants to watch a show where people are just irredeemable arseholes, as much as fans love to boast about it declaratively. Book purists are never going to be enough to sustain a big financial investment like GOT/HOTD. Casual viewers are the ones who have to keep coming back to the show, not us nerds dissecting it on tumblr, twitter & reddit.

So, in that sense, girlbossing Rhaenyra up makes complete sense. It's an easy framing that every Tom, Dick & Harry can follow along with. They did a good job with humanizing Alicent & Aemond as well. The problem is with Aegon. He is the only character in the show to have received Mushroom's worst interpretation. As Rhaenyra's direct rival, you cannot do that to him and still expect the audience to side with the greens. Even show!Daemon is sanitized from his book!self. If you're going to whitewash Rhaenyra, you have to present Aegon more indulgently as well. I'm inserting the answer I gave to a disgruntled anon a while ago. It's literally the only way you can play the "both sides have a point" angle to the audience.

I would have made Aegon the village idiot and drunkard and given him comic relief moments. I would have kept him bullying Aemond and taking him to a brothel, but I would have also shown him reaching out to his family members more as an adult. Maybe given him an OK relationship with Helaena, like they had in the books. Make him interact with his children a bit. This doesn't have to take up a lot of screen time, a few extra scenes could do the trick. Keep his characterization as incompetent and irresponsible, but refrain from making him completely reprehensible. Take away the distressing rape scene and the child-fighting rink, because that is just ridiculous when you're also giving RHAENYRA the white hart symbolism. Actually, make it even more ambiguous - Rhaenyra comes back with Ser Criston & the boar at the end of episode 3 and sees how a white hart has approached Alicent holding baby!Aegon. Who's the true heir now??

Secondly, I would have emphasized how the greens actually do have the legal high ground here and the better claim. I'm sorry, but including debates on medieval common law and inheritance rights are a must. The viewers were convinced at the end of the show that Rhaenyra should be Queen just because Viserys said so. And, I'm sorry to say, but that is just not the case. A lot of political elements from the Dance were taken straight from The Anarchy - Matilda's pregnancy, her not being in the country, her father making the lords swear an oath, him "retracting" his decision on his deathbed and naming Stephen instead. I'm begging everybody to go watch a few short primers on this succession crisis because this is just beyond. Just like Rhaenyra, Matilda is not acknowledged as a Queen of England, but as a claimant. Furthermore, Stephen was only Matilda's cousin through Henry I's sister. Aegon is Rhaenyra's brother. GRRM made her claim comically weak. The medievals are laughing at you. Please.

Thirdly, I would have highlighted how Rhaenyra's public perception actually is. I've spoken at length on this topic already, but she oscillates between appearing downright rude to unhinged (middle section of this rant here). There is no reason so many noble houses would support her. You have no way of telling that from the show, though, because there aren't any frames or lines of dialogue given to disgruntled nobles. Even young!Rhaenyra's behaviour in Storm's End as the heir to the throne is downright appalling. Therefore, I would include shots that make it apparent she is not well-regarded, despite her obliviousness.

Fourthly, I would emphasize how placing bastards in the line of succession to the Iron Throne is a crime and that crime actually has the cute name of "high treason". I feel like I've already exhausted this topic in my bastardposting tag. This is an issue of property rights, not of puritanical morals or slut-shaming.

And, lastly, I would make a point of showing dissent within the black faction as a result of the unfair treatment of House Velaryon. I would present Vaemond's murder as the extrajudicial execution it is. I would not have Baela & Rhaena so happy-go-lucky at losing their inheritance and exchanging it for status as Jace's and Luke's wives.

I tried to keep the changes as minimal as possible so as to not disrupt the flow of the show too much. I think you could have fit all of this in quite reasonably with an extra 10-20 minutes per episode. I know that what all of us really crave is full extra episodes, but I'm afraid that's not entirely possible all of the time. Show-runners do have their own constraints that we are not privy to. 🤷‍♀️