#i'm saying them as a writer and a story analyst

[sapphire-weapon]

My personal take on this whole aeon debate, as a non-shipper is that their relationship is just so unhealthy and I feel like his character deserves a little bit of peace in his life. Ada cannot give him that, and as much as I think she could be a great character - her character was born just from an idea of a James bond-esque sexy untrustworthy spy and....that's it. She hasn't been developed further because it would ruin the mystery.

I imagine Leon flourishing with an honest and capable partner in his life to support him. Maybe as he's estranged from his family (or whatever happened there) yknow if he's not on a mission during Christmas then he could go with her to visit her family, then the soft inner-leon could start peeking out. Or something.

I just don't know what there is to support aeon as a ship bar chemistry. I get the vibe some aeon stans thrive on toxicity. Ada is not nice. Sure she's got a soft spot for him.... But he ended up in a mental spiral because of her.

I'm nervous for separate ways. Capcom has really set up for him parting ways with Ada but I'm not sure I trust them to follow through.

Just my thoughts!

So, there's a lot going on here in this ask.

I don't like looking at ships from the perspective of "What does this character deserve to have happen?" because that's not how reality works, and it's not how storytelling should work, either. There's nothing in the universe that states that if you put X amount of work in or you suffer for Y amount, you will/should get a certain specific outcome.

What Leon deserves? Is the consequences of his actions, whatever they might be.

OG Leon does deserve Ada, because he keeps making the same dumbass fucking mistakes that keep him attached to her. If he can't let her go -- if he can't allow himself to mature emotionally past age 21 in 1998 -- then he deserves the misery and discomfort that it causes him. His horrifying, manic mental breakdown at the end of RE6 when she gets shot is earned. He did that to himself. No one else did it to him -- no one forced him to keep sticking his hand in the fire. RE4make proved that Leon can still care about Ada without becoming obsessive to the point of a horrible downward spiral that culminates in him becoming a functional alcoholic. OG Leon refuses that reality, though, and he reaps what he sows.

Is that what's best for him as a person, in order for him to live his best life? HELL no. But those are two different things. Leon gets/got what he deserved, and what he deserved wasn't what's best.

Don't be nervous for Separate Ways. Leon's role in the story of RE4make is over. Leon and Ashley are done. Separate Ways will deal with Ada, Luis, Krauser, and Wesker. If Ada is still romance-coded towards Leon in Separate Ways, then that would actually be really fucking interesting, because what Remake will have actually done is switch their roles around. Now it'll be Ada's turn to get attached to Leon in a hugely unhealthy way, and she'll get what she deserves for it, same as he did in OG. (This was also kind of foreshadowed already a little bit, with Wesker saying "don't come crying to me if you get bit.")

Personally? I get the appeal of toxic/mutually destructive ships. There is something very cathartic about them, especially if you're a self-destructive person yourself or you've just been through a bad breakup or whatever the case may be. I don't ship Joseph/Kidman in TEW or Tseng/Aeris in FF7 because I want a happily ever after. I ship them because they can never be together, realistically -- it's a dream born from a wish that will never manifest in reality, and I find the pain and longing and the "if only" that comes from that -- from the state of being so close to a person but never actually ever being allowed to touch them -- to be very cathartic.

Aeon is a similar kind of ship in concept, except Aeon goes one step further, and Ada and Leon do actually touch each other, and it just makes everything so much fucking worse. And there is an appeal to that kind of thing. I get it. I do, really, I do. The only reason why I don't ship them is because I think it's written poorly and executed even worse and it fucks up Ada's entire character and screws her over in terms of her contributions to the overall plot of RE.

But the issue from the fandom perspective is that that's not how the vast majority of Aeon shippers actually view/treat them, and that's where my disconnect with the whole thing comes from, personally. I don't understand how someone looks at Leon and Ada and thinks of retirements for them that are happily ever afters, or has fucking family/children headcanons for them??? THAT'S ANTITHETICAL TO THE NATURE OF THE SHIP I seriously don't fucking understand Aeon fandom in the slightest, and that's why I say that it's very likely just a case of a bunch of people self-inserting onto Ada really fucking hard because they want to suck Leon's cock (which, I get it! I'd suck it, too, holy shit I'd suck that man dry).

So like.

Would Leon flourish with a supportive partner? Yes, absolutely. Is that what he deserves? Not necessarily.

I would argue that Remake Leon deserves that, which is why the romance with Ashley has already been set up. But OG Leon? He's on his fuckin own. He had so many opportunities over the years to grow the fuck up, and he never did. And that's on him.

[cursedvida]

The romance with Noa and Soona feels shoehorned lol. It was like halfway through the film the writers remembered that the main lead needed a female love interest. I feel no chemistry between them, and Noa never gives those intense gazes or even looks at Soona for longer than a few seconds, (as compared to a certain somebody *ehem* 👀). I also don't want poor Anaya to become a third wheel all of a sudden 😔

Usually, I tend to stick quite closely to the canon of the stories, and it would surprise you to see how I'm quite a shipper of couples that are very unpopular in some fandoms, but if they're not canon, they're almost like they are, and I defend them to the death even if I'm alone in the battle. But they always have in common that they are well constructed, the characters have chemistry, and there's consistency. In the case of Noa and Soona, it feels very forced to me. I mean, yes, I understand the childhood friends-to-lovers trope, but honestly, throughout the entire film, you completely forget that supposedly Noa has a crush on her. They have to remind you narratively several times, and that clashes with the main idea of any script, which is precisely 'show don't tell.' For me, the most WTF scene when it comes to taking Noa/Soona seriously is the fact that when Proximus makes him choose between her and Mae, he doesn't know what the hell to do. I mean, I get that Noa is a good guy and has quite a few ethical principles and clearly he doesn't want anyone to die because of his decisions. He's the hero, I get it. But come on, you're choosing between a girl you literally met like four days ago and your childhood friend who supposedly is also your crush, shouldn't your first instinct be to save her even if you later reconsider and have moral doubts? It's something I don't see, and honestly, if they really intended to make Noa's attachment to Soona seem realistic, they should have approached everything differently. And I'm not saying this as someone who has other ship preferences but as a simple script analyst here.

[macaronnya]

Since everyone and their mom are releasing their frustations regarding PB's newest update, I'm also gonna give my 2 cents. In short, I'm not angry but sad and disappointed. The game is doomed to end and I can't even do anything about it.

Like, What in hell is bad is so silly and fun. The premise is interesting, the characters are all fun and intriguing, the character designs are even more amazing with how unique and cool they are. I didn't mind the sometimes wonky translations and the, in the beginning, slightl difficulty in getting L cards, not even when they announced the 3 month rule, because it was worth it for me. I like it, I could still experience the world through the stories. I cared about the characters.

This kinda game lives and dies through their story and characters. If the players don't get attached and don't care for them, then it's over. It's why events and merchandise work. You get more about the characters, lore and collectables, in a limited time frame so you wanna work hard. And if there's limited stuff you gotta pay for, that's ok bc you really really like them through all the times you've read about them.

But it's simply impossible to do that now. It's been a while since chapter 5 got released. The last event story was really short and scarce between the release of new gachas and nightmare passes. You need L cards AND their corresponding artifact to read the whole card story. How am I able to read anything? How can I come to care for everyone when I barely get to know them?

You could say, well it's a small company; they need money and more time to get work done. Well, Cheritz was also small but they managed Mystic Messenger just fine (I'm gonna leave The Ssum bc I'm out of touch). Isn't it easier to make a player fall in love with the game so much they want to pay for it regardless of financial sitiation, than to solely rely on the wealthier players? A game is also dependent on the community but what community is left if only whales can play the game? The games' content is already scarce so fans gotta entertain themselves. Well, what about the fanartists, fanfic writers, cosplayers, lore analysts, the yappers, the incomprehensible ones? They're gonna be gone. And soon after the game.

I'm gonna unlock the remaining stories from my L cards but after that....I don't know anymore....🥲

[eldritchamy]

hey, what do you think about stories where non-affini transition into affini? like sui generis and (sort of) affini domestication guide? i really like them and i wanna see way more of them...

I have not read any stories like that yet and therefore do not currently have any strong feelings about the concept, but Sui Generis and Affini Domestication Guide are BOTH on my priority reading list at the moment.

But I know Sui Generis was written by Kanagen, who is WIDELY regarded as the best writer in the entire setting on a technical level, which bodes REALLY well for how I enjoy stories.

If anyone's wondering, THIS is my current Priority Reading List:

Dandelion Fluff

Wellness Check

No Gods No Masters

Nurture And Acquisitions

Ultima Robo Planetarum

Five Lives

Guilty Pleasures

Sui Generis

Affini Domestication Guide

Cross Pollination

A Beast At Bay

Blue Stripe

Negotiations on Shaky Vines

Irregular Orbits

Ramification

One Analyst's Opinion

Milk & Cookies

Soar Higher, Fall Farther

Cat And Mouse

Dog of War

And yes, it is quite long. There are probably over 4 million words worth of stories just on this list. Dog of War alone will be around 418,000 when its final 3 chapters are posted. (and the author has assured me that it will kill me.)

As for right now, I'm ALMOST FINISHED with Divaricated. I'm on chapter 60 out of 62, and I think I'm close enough to the end now that I can comfortably say

DIVARICATED IS THE SINGLE GREATEST PIECE OF LITERATURE I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED IN MY FUCKING LIFE.

It is finally the thing that has dethroned The Grand Folia Hotel for me. This is the most masterfully woven tapestry I've ever seen.

It's science fiction, erotic psychological horror, PROFOUND philosophy, and deeply DEEPLY horny nightmare fuel all wrapped up into a beautifully terrifying and fucked up and intense love story.

I cannot fucking BELIEVE how good Divaricated is, and I WILL be writing a specific post for that soon.

[midmorningsong]

man the trigun fandom has had a grip on me like no other fandom in my life; I've noticed a pretty consistent trend with myself of finding out about x show/book (usually through osmosis via online memes) -> watching said show -> recirculating in the fandom for 1-3 years via fanfic and tumblr memes -> fandom starts waning at some point after the show finishes -> start engaging more with another fandom -> cycle repeats

...and this same pattern is holding true for trigun thus far- except --EXCEPT-- the frankly insane hold it has on me. like I'm sure I've thought about fandom brainrot(affectionate) and all that as a fun little metaphor for being in fandom but no actually this is a valid term for all that I'm experiencing it.

I can measure my obsession with trigun via the very definitive method of 'how many AO3 tabs to I have open on average', because in all my years I'd say anywhere between 3 and 20 (at the absolute most), but right now? the past year? for trigun fics? I actually don't want to go count because it's embarrassing but I would say at least 50 as a lowball, and that's not even considering the entire vashwood big bang collection from last year I'm still working through.

SERIOUSLY in any fandom I'm actively checking for new fics and going through writers' works I might go for 1 in 25 stories I see- but with trigun (saying this now currently in 2024), there will be, say, 8 new or updated fics in the vashwood tag in 24hrs and I am extremely interested in reading like 6 of them. And ALL of them will be some kind of sublimely delicious whether it's a beautiful writing style, extremely poignant character introspection, a super engaging AU with a fleshed out world, the best smut you'll never find again, or, you know, ALL OF THE ABOVE.

I'm so curious as to what perfect storm has made this trigun renaissance- if it's a factor of an old established fandom getting more traffic again with new material, or a certain amount of time passing from the original media (so fandom oldies here for the long haul have had plenty of time to write and read 10k meta analyst posts), and trigun itself being a very complex story that has so many deep themes relevant and relatable to our struggles today.

In any case, I'm just thrilled to be here in the thick of it and am of two minds between having some kind of restriction on myself so I can actually have a good balance of hobbies without descending fully into fandom at all possible moments, OR just enjoying the amazing stories and engagements while I'm on the wagon lol

[literaticat]

What do I do if I, as an author, don’t know if I’m qualified to tell a story? I’ve been thinking about writing a story that deals with gender identity, but I’m cis. I like the idea, but I almost wish I could give it to someone nonbinary or with more experience…

You don't have to tell every story that pops into your head.

Have you ever seen Seth Meyer's "Jokes Seth Can't Tell" segment? They are up on YT. Silly, but the grain of truth that is applicable here: There are some jokes that would sound shocking or just ignorant as hell coming from Seth, a cis straight white man, but funny, or at least not offensive coming from a Black woman or a lesbian. Any joke could be told by any comedian -- but not every joke SHOULD be told by every comedian.

So... yeah. Same with books, I think. Probably a lot of people would like for me to say "oh, any writer can write anything! if you can dream it you can do it! :D :D :D rah rah write on!"

But actually, I think your instinct to NOT need to tell this story is probably spot on. That's self-awareness, and that's a good thing. My reasoning is two-fold -- one half outward / selfless, one half inward / selfish.

On the selfless side: There are few enough opportunities for marginalized creators -- if a given publisher only has room to publish one Groundbreaking Story about Gender Identity per year or whatever -- why should that slot go to you? "I almost wish I could give it to someone nonbinary..." -- well what's stopping you? Authors share ideas all the time.

(BTW, that doesn't mean a given nonbinary person will WANT to tell the story you've thought of -- or that they will tell it the exact way that you would have told it -- they probably won't, in fact! Because every writer is different! And they have their own ideas! But the point is, there isn't anything wrong with sharing ideas and no reason you can't. Again, you don't have to write every story you've ever thought of, ideas are abundant, etc.)

On the selfish side: That's a lot of work. Feh. Why do you want to make writing a book harder than it already is? There are plenty of narratives about trans and nonbinary people and gender identity written by cis people, and they range from fine whatever to actively harmful. I'm not saying YOURS would be the latter, but it could/would/SHOULD add an extra level of difficulty and care for you to make sure your book isn't harmful, as this is not your area of expertise or experience.

And btw, if you, cis person, write a book starring a trans/nb main character, and the book is published, and you haven't done that work or you haven't done it well enough, and there is anything in there that might be construed as harmful, you can FULLY expect internet forensic analysts to pick apart every single word of the story and drag you for FILTH. Which fair enough honestly! I don't know if most people would be ready for that level of scrutiny. It couldn't be me!

So before somebody says "IT'S FICTION! So-and-so brilliant writer wrote a book about such-and-such different identity from them and won a Pulitzer Prize for it!!! ANYONE CAN WRITE ANYTHING!" -- yeah. OK. For sure.

Just like any person with halfway decent hand-eye coordination and a little practice can probably hit a baseball. If you have it in you to step up to that plate in front of a stadium full of onlookers and knock it clean out the park, fantastic for you. I just don't think most / many rookies would want to bet their career on it.

[hungnitan]

Penacony TB 2.6 Impression

Don't click below if you don't want get spoiler, I gonna spill a pretty big spoiler happens in this version afterall

Before onto overall pointer, I must say I didn't expect anything after seeing trailer and Rappa plus these monkey and banana things keep popping (lol). But around half of stories, it suddenly become interesting !

Overall this story premise, it's scary (lol) with how human could become a monkey just from letting go our dreams and become despair.

I kinda have some analyst about Dr. Primitive personality like in some ways they hate human to the point want every human become an ape instead or maybe his face/race are monkey like.

On other side, I can see how slyly writer manipulate players brain. Why I said manipulate ? The very first of them all mostly from Rappa backstories. I'm sure no one feels sus looking at these out of place scene (I know most players just laugh with how absurd it is🤣). It only could happened because before onto this scene, we already feed by her chunibyou talks, monkey and banana absurdness which make us think "this version seems just a joke like hsr usual do"

Of course there's other scene too, but this small scene already telling how the writer are scarily well manipulated us this time...

Important scene :

It's kinda funny knowing Danheng already fed up with Boothill antics and now Nanoka taste the very same medicine (lol)

Rappa's past, one of three element I didn't expect happens in this story. Then again, her past remind me of Honkai storytelling, it's unexpectedly and manipulate reader minds.

Is this just me or child Rappa reminds me with Yae HI3 ? (lol)

I guess this story conclude with Dr. Primitive denisovan level notice Penacony changes could progress their plan and infiltrate them by sending their minions so we still not meet them directly.

And I kinda feels they're treat similar with how Nanook saw Duke Inferno team (so yeah it's sad lol)

Overall story are incredible, I can't find any big hole here ! Even those overflowing banana and monkey mentions then Rappa Reca chunibyou talk all to manipulate player thinks (I really agree it's annoying though lol). If there's small flaw, I must say there's no need for Robin came in this story. She's there only for getting special permission to enter a club, negotiate with Micah and DJ ing. I think those could be handle by Boothill alone...

[liyazaki]

MOR! My beloved. I can always expect the truth from you. Overall thoughts on Between Us? I know the final ep was not your fave but how about the series? What would you want to keep? What would you want to change?

Eboni, my darling- hoo, boy. you're about to get way more than you bargained for, but I got some Thoughts™️ & some Things™️ to say.

disclaimer: Between Us was a sweet, serviceable, inoffensive show. I mostly enjoyed watching it & I loved being back in the UWMA universe, however tangentially.

speaking to the collective “you” here: if you loved the show from start to finish, I'm sincerely happy for you! if it'll lessen your BU fandom experience to read critiques- which is valid & completely understandable- click away. I swear I'm not trying to rain on your parade (or argue with anyone, which I won't be- period).

also, let's check ourselves: this is a show. it's not that serious- it couldn't be less serious, actually. sometimes I just like to go off the analytical deep end...it's a good time for a nerd like me. this is my house (my blog) & I'm just having fun, throwing digital paint around.

with all that out of the way, let's jump into it.

UWMA set an extremely high narrative standard. we knew from scene one the writers weren't messing around. that opening is burned into my memory forever.

from compelling flashbacks, to multiple couples that had something for everyone, to little plot details weaved in from the beginning that only made sense later- they knew exactly what story they were trying to tell & they told it in a big way. it was tightly constructed, cleanly delivered and hit all the right notes for me personally.

UWMA is a tough act to follow. in the end, it felt like Between Us barely tried. to quote an MDL reviewer (before the finale even aired): in with a bang, out with a whimper.

step one of any good story is solid character development. it's what draws us in, making & keeping us emotionally invested. we have to like these characters- and know enough about them- in order to care. that- and a good, solid plot- is what sustains our attention.

in a pretty atypical way, Between Us had serious emotional fan investment long before it had basically any character development (thanks to BounPrem's chemistry, IMO).

Win and Team had roughly 31 minutes of total screentime in UWMA, but you'd have never known it from the fever-pitch fandom support years before its release. we didn't have much real character knowledge or depth to go off of, but many of us came into this show ravenous for more of their story (raises hand).

the show's over now and, disappointingly, I don't feel like I learned much about either Win or Team that I didn't already know. we did see them struggle- Team with his guilt and insecurities; Win with his vague intimacy aversion and self worth issues.

Team and Win had plenty of things between (heh) the two of them to overcome- so what went wrong?

for me, Between Us suffered from a tragic case of barely-scratching-the-surface character development (there was so much there to play with narratively & yet- sigh), paired with serious flaws in the rising action.

every single story in existence uses rising action. to quote Henry of The Closer Look, a media analyst I like: "rising action is basically narrative tension. it's the way the conflict builds as the story goes along."

when a story utilizes rising action effectively, the audience ends up feeling almost elated by the end. it's almost like we actually went on the same journey as the characters, and we now get to bask alongside them in just how far they've come. we want to see characters we care for improve, persevere. overcome, conquer.

when rising action is handled correctly, the plot progression looks something like this.

via Henry's excellent analysis on why TLOU2 divided its fandom so thoroughly

Between Us had tension, it had conflict- but it looked something like this (I'd add way more hills, personally).

"what you're seeing here is an abomination of story structure." hey- Henry said it; not me.

the conflicts went up and down throughout the story. Team internally spirals; Win does something sweet and pulls him out of it. everything seems fine; Win pulls back.

rinse, wash, repeat in an endless cycle, made worse by the fact that they struggled with- and apparently overcame- the same. exact. issues, over and over, the entire time.

conflicts that seemed to be resolved came back exactly as they were, sometimes multiple times in a single episode. by episode 7 or so, it was getting tedious. by the end, I was just bummed.

for me, watching Between Us was going around in circles, hoping we were working towards some actually-important climax that never came. and I wanted to believe we were going somewhere, right up until the bitter beige-on-beige end.

there were no scenes that actually made me hold my breath, ala Bad Buddy’s confession-of-legends on the rooftop. no repeating themes, masterfully culminating in the finale (running up the cape in ITSAY). Between Us left me with an itch for depth and impact that only fan fics can scratch at this point (bless you writers).

yeah, Win and Team ended up together- of course they did. I don't think anyone had any doubts they would eventually. but standing at the finish line, do I care that they ended up together?

I hate to say it, but- not really. they didn't give me enough to make it feel meaningful- like it actually meant something. it just- is. yay? I guess?

this post was brutal enough, but to answer your question about what I'd keep & what I'd change? it's hard to pick when the whole thing just felt like special episodes (filled with lots of cute, sweet moments, to be fair) with an enormous dash of missed opportunity.

all in all, I don't regret watching but it's a universe I'll only be returning to via fan fic fixes- and UWMA, my forever top 3 BL beloved.

[mdhwrites]

Woah there, I think you need to take a deep breath. I'm sorry I upset you with my earlier ask. I know you're fed up of people complaining about Sasha and Marcy's parents, and maybe I should have worded my ask more carefully. I apologize if I came off as ignorant or whiny.

I think you misinterpreted what I was saying a little, though. I was never suggesting The Core and The King be 'thrown out,' only that Sasha and Marcy also got an episode or two exploring their relationships with their parents. Yes, I know The Core and The King was about more than just Aldrich's relationship with Andrias; I'm not stupid. I was simply wondering whether the narrative had unintentionally created a double standard between the girls and Andrias, and was curious to see if you had a thoughtful rebuttal to that query.

You're under no obligation to answer my questions, or anyone else's, if you don't want to. I just wanted to clarify things a little, and let you know I'm sorry for upsetting you. Take care.

Okay, so first: Knowing that it is you, and I had somewhat suspected this, helps me a bit because I can actually consider this argument having been made in good faith. That you actually do want a response and may listen to it. I'll pretty much spending the entire blog explaining why I didn't think that because refuting what you said is the easy part. I want to talk about how someone gets to an argument like this because it is...

This is an argument one only makes when backed into a corner, protecting a hypothesis they NEED to be right. It is akin to the mad scientist in a show who is going to blow up the planet in hopes of proving his hypothesis right because he's been wrong for 50 years. And that isn't an extreme because the actual argument you're making, the one that I should take seriously, requires discarding 90% of... Everything to do with Marcy and Sasha? Bare minimum Sasha. Dear god this argument reduces Sasha so you are absolutely killing what you care about for this argument.

Because narrative equality is a AWFUL shield you're using to have fancy rhetoric for a terrible argument. If you were actually meaning the argument you made before, where you brought in how they as morally better characters than Andrias and them being 14 years old mattered, you would not be arguing for Sasha and Marcy. You would be arguing that Maggie, Anne's bully, deserved an episode exploring her parents. Not her. Just her parents.

That is all it takes for me to point out how INSANE the argument you made is. That what your argument literally states is that ALL that matters here is whether or not a show had a character's parents show up. That's it. Otherwise, it is committing a grave sin against some of its cast for not doing so. That it is fundamentally flawed in its theming or narrative because it didn't literally do this for EVERY. SINGLE. CHARACTER.

That is why I say you argue that The Core and the King should not exist. Andrias by your argument is too evil a person to deserve such things such as motivations or backstory. Not when that time could be spent having Sasha and Marcy's parents show up. Are you starting to see why as an analyst and a writer, your argument pissed me off as badly as it did?

BUT.

That is not actually your argument.

Your argument is that by bringing Aldritch in and even potentially exploring his and Andrias' relationship means that Andrias got multiple levels of development and exploration beyond Sasha and Marcy. That these two kinder characters who are also just children were slighted because they didn't get that. They didn't get a full exploration of their motives, desires, etc.

Which... Means bluntly ignoring the rest of the show. You have discarded literally an entire story because these parents didn't show up. Sasha's motivations and desires are such a huge part of her and why she is the dynamic character so many fell in love with. The Third Temple is arguably the only episode with Sasha in it that is not exploring some new part of her personality, motivation, desires etc. The next closest is her introduction where they have to establish her personality. Even then, that one episode paints so many vibrant colors on early Anne that it is a HELL of a twist just by how this one bitch treats other people. Because, you know, as a 14 year old girl, friends have a fuckton of an impact on you.

Marcy's motivations are explicitly clear with the few lines we do get out of her parents and how much that clearly states that her friends matter to her as a character WAY more than her parents. She was willing to discard her parents for her friends, that is how little they matter to her. Meanwhile, we do get her personality and her fears and worries throughout S2. Even with being potentially the weakest element of the show to me, she still elevates herself above most supporting cast members in anything by the fact that she is vivid and properly realized, even if her narrative intent is more clear than with other characters in the show.

Your argument also discards Andrias though. Aldritch is NOT an impact on his son. Andrias literally spends the entire episode questioning his father (which btw, Aldritch is cold and distant, yes, but abusive? GOD NO and will people stop throwing that term around so much. I won't get into it hard here though). Aldritch's final statement to his son isn't about needing to make him proud, it's to fix how Andrias' trust in his friends cost Amphibia the peace and prosperity that Andrias grew up in. That world that actually molded him, that is far more indicative of him than his father, is now GONE in a single action by his friend who betrayed him. Who he sees as having never been his friend and that cuts him to his very core. It's why the letter from Lief beats him WAY more than Anne's fist does.

All of this, all of these character's complexities, you have thrown away for an old asshat who showed up and interacted with his son for less than four minutes. Do you see why I couldn't believe this was in good faith? Why I assumed you actually didn't a single damn about my answer? Because this is not a position you get into when you are actually wanting a discussion about something.

You only do it to keep trying to convince someone else that you're right. And that's why I like Marcy and Sasha less. Not just because of your last ask. It's because I KEEP getting asks like these. This is what? The fourth? Fifth ask I've debunked on why Sasha and Marcy's PARENTS, NOT THEM, THEIR PARENTS being out of the show was some sort of crime. It's the first time I've truly understood what people mean by "The Undertale fandom ruined Undertale for me." Because I like the whole show. I like the frogs, the newts, the toads and yes... The humans. But the humans are not literally the entire show. Marcy is available to be in the show for less than an entire season. So can we stop butchering Amphibia just because these two characters and their angst seem to be all you people care about?

So again, because I will never drop this position (and there's still so many more arguments I could make against them showing up so trust me when I say this):

Your anger about not seeing Sasha and Marcy's parents will literally never be justified.

And, just for transparency: Like with so many topics that admittedly elicit such a strong reaction out of me, there is a personal side to this. When I was nearing the end of my time with the MLP fandom, I made a weirdly high number of erotic one offs that would include a lot of titilation, nudity, etc... But no sex. It would swerve at the end because I felt like the characters' relationship and dynamic was better that way for one reason or another, usually in that wanting romance they stopped looking at the other character as just a sex object. Can you guess the comments I got on those stories? That I CONSTANTLY got on those stories? "When is chapter 2?" And at least with those, it's porn. There is a built in expectation to expect a satisfying climax from them. It still hurts like hell though as a writer to see this story you like and believe you did clever things with be entirely discarded and stomped on just because you didn't include ONE element that your readers have for whatever reason decided is the end all be all for your story to have been good or even complete. It was so bad, I still state it as a major motivating factor for me leaving the MLP fandom permanently.

So yeah, can all stop focusing on a blade of grass instead of the forest? Because requiring the parents to be there isn't even acknowledging the fucking trees.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[sapphire-weapon]

So, in light of recent events, I've been doing a lot of thinking. People ask me a lot how to get into analysis and where to start if they want to analyze characters and media -- and, historically, my answer has always been "start with the themes."

But there's actually a point 0 place to start. I never mentioned this, because I thought it went without saying -- but that was stupid for me to do, because people are coming to me with nothing and I'm expecting them to have something by default. That's dumb.

The real place that you start?

Is with the writer and the target audience. Who is writing this story, and who are they writing it for?

This is the exact reason why I've also said, in the past, that not all readings of a text are valid. The only way to make all readings of a text valid is by invoking Death of the Author.

So, what is Death of the Author?

Very plainly, Death of the Author is defined as: a literary theory that argues that the meaning of a text is not determined by the author's intention, but rather by the reader's interpretation.

A lot of queer media analysts and scholars, for example, invoke Death of the Author in their work, because they know that an author did not intentionally set out to write a story that was reflective of the queer experience -- but their argument is that there's a way to read the text that is reflective of that experience. They're not saying "this is what the story means." They're saying "this is what the story means to me."

And this is a very valid form of literary analysis, because it provides extra meaning to a work beyond what the author intended and makes it more accessible to a broader audience.

But the thing about Death of the Author is that you need to acknowledge that you're invoking Death of the Author. Because if you don't, then you're making a completely different argument, which is: "the author/work intends for us to take this meaning from it." And you can't say that in good faith for all readings of a story. There is no way to make a claim that there's a positive allegory for the trans experience within Harry Potter, because that is most certainly not what JK Rowling set out to do. However, you could make a Death of the Author argument in favor of that -- which would be great, because it'll piss her the fuck off.

That's what I mean when I say that "not all readings of a text are valid." When I say that, what I actually mean is "that is absolutely not what the writers intended for us to take away from this scene/character/relationship/line of dialogue."

So, if you're someone who's coming to me, personally, and asking "how do I do what you do?" -- I don't make Death of the Author analyses. That's not what I do. So, my step zero to writing meta is to consider who is writing the story and who they're writing it for.

And there's a few reasons why I do this.

First and foremost, I'm in the business of theorycrafting. In order for me to try to accurately predict where a character arc or storyline is going and how it's going to manifest in future titles, I need to try to hone my focus on the writer's actual intentions. Because if I can't see things from their perspective, I'm never going to be able to chart out a course for where they might be going. And I'm not always right -- but sometimes I'm really right. Like, really super right. And I can't stop being right. And that feels really good.

The second reason is because acknowledging the writers' intentions opens them up to criticism. It's hard to criticize a writer for a lack of inclusivity if you take the stance that all readings of a text are valid and therefore any of the characters could be XYZ marginalized group. It's hard to criticize a writer for a sexist narrative or a sexist framing of events if you make the argument "but it's possible this completely alternate interpretation is also valid."

Like, I love DBZ. I love Akira Toriyama. I cried openly when he passed. But DBZ has some sexist bullshit going on in it. And you can't criticize it or him for turning all the female characters into housewives and babymakers while also supporting a reading of the text that says "but this is the happy ending that the characters are fighting for in the first place, so it's actually empowering."

So, in the case of Resident Evil...

Resident Evil is being written and developed by Japanese men in their 30s, 40s, and 50s for a group of Western cishet male gamers between the ages of 18-35. That is their target demographic. They are not talking to my coworker who's a 24 year old afab bi enby who desperately loves the series; the series just happened to reach them despite that.

And while everything in RE released prior to 2005 is pure survival horror meant to make you constantly feel like you're on the back foot, everything from RE4 onwards is a power fantasy. There are still horror elements to the games and movies, but RE more turns into a monster-of-the-week series about cool characters doing sick wrestling moves on cool monsters.

The devs and also the majority of their target audience project onto the male protagonists of the series to a certain extent -- which is why there has only been one title released since 2005 with a focus on a female protagonist, and that's Revelations 2 -- and, even then, Claire had to share the spotlight with Barry. Women have been playable here and there and been considered "main characters" -- but they've never really been the focus of any new titles that have come out. Sheva is considered Chris's partner. The RE6 campaigns are primarily about Leon, Chris, and Jake. Revelations 1 is seen as a Chris and Jill game in equal measure. And even though Death Island was supposed to be about Jill -- it wasn't, really. Because every other character had to be there with her, too.

So, when I get shit for taking a "heteronormative perspective" to my RE analysis -- there's a reason why I'm doing that. It's not because this is how I inherently view the world. It's because that is the intention with which the games are being written. That is who is writing the games and who the games are being written for.

Let's take RE4 Remake as an example, here. Capcom had to mash three different women together in order to create Ashley and turn her into an idealized fantasy woman so that she had the perfect face, the perfect body, and the perfect voice.

And the games are being developed by and for men who project onto Leon and see him as a power fantasy.

That is why it's absurd to me for people to say that Leon and Ashley never flirted with each other in the game. Of course they fucking did. Capcom created the perfect woman with giant tits and a small waist and a huge ass and a supportive personality and put her into close quarters with a male power fantasy protagonist. They put the flirting in so that their target cishet male audience could live that.

What people don't understand is that the eagleone romance wasn't created for the sake of the ship. It was made because of:

dudes who want to fuck Ashley and

Yoshiaki Hirabayashi's love for fairy tales.

(What makes me say that Hirabayashi loves fairy tales? He wrote RE5, which has a shitton of fairy tale elements surrounding Jill and Wesker specifically and even an alternate costume for Sheva that's called "fairy tale." To find that he turned RE4 into a fairy tale wasn't surprising to me at all, considering what the source material was. But the RE5 thing is for a separate post.)

Capcom doesn't care about your ships or our ship wars. They didn't create a Leon and Ashley romance because "we ship these two characters together." They created a Leon and Ashley romance so that guys who want to fuck Ashley can feel like maybe they could.

And because Hirabayashi fucking loves fairy tales.

And I also love fairy tales, which is why I love the ship. But I also do recognize that there's a sexist element behind the construction of Ashley's character and am capable of criticizing the ship for that reason.

So. Yeah. Start there. Start with the writers. Start with the intended audience.

I know that RE isn't being written for me. So I have to look at it from the perspective of the people who it is being written for. And if you want to analyze media, you have to do that, too.

[rosieblogstuff]

🍄Decriscribe your wip/one of your wips in the format of “_ + =__”

🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

(asks from the Asks for Writers to Procrastinate list)

🍄 Decriscribe your wip/one of your wips in the format of “_ + =__”

The irony of a question that describes the title for 90% of my WIPs & at least 75% of the fics for this fandom in general. 😂

How about

rare disease + lying about your job = near-death medical mystery

(That's the WIP I've been working on for over a year and someday SOMEDAY will actually finish.

I had this idea that if I made myself not post it until it was done, I'd write faster. 🤣 Turns out this was not the case. But I have 7.5 chatpers/20k words and someday I'm going to post like a whole story in a week. I swear. BUT NOT UNTIL IT'S ALL DONE this time.)

🤔 What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

Ooooh well. That depends on your definition of "havent even started yet". If I have an idea for a thing I have almost certainly written at least half a scene about it and, if I'm lucky enough to have more ideas about the thing, written down some notes. If I don't write it down at all the details will fall out of my brain like water from a sieve and then I'll be annoyed with myself later.

But ok so an idea I've written very little of. I actually have a couple "big" ideas that I haven't gotten far with. They'd require a lot more outlining to make them come together. But ok.

So someday I'm want to write this fic idea where Matty decides she's just DONE with James MacGyver and she's going to take care of the problem herself. And not by just by sending Mac on a wild goose chase until he decides to give up. She's going to eliminate all possibility of James ever showing up at all by having him assassinated.

And who could do this job for them? Maybe even for free, because it's basically taking out the trash? Murdoc of course! Bonus that he really has a personal thing against abusive father figures.

Of course she can't do this alone. She's going to have to drag some into this mess with her. I honestly have had a tough time deciding if she's going to enlist Riley or Bozer to help her out. I've been leaning toward Riley, although I could see Bozer doing it out of loyalty and sour memories of James. (Jack gets left in the dark again, for various reasons including that she thinks it's best if he has plausible deniability in all of this.)

There will be problems later because Murdoc is still the #1 baddie on Phoenix's list, and analysts get wind that he's up to something locally. Mac and Jack decide this is a great time to hunt him down. It's not like Matty can say no to that, especially when James is probably barking at her to get rid of the hitman who's after Angus.

This is sort of the part where I haven't untangled the rest of the plot because there are so many possibilities. At some point somebody (James? Jack?) is going to get suspicious of Matty's behavior. At some point Murdoc is going to get caught, or almost caught, and there's no way he can stop himself taunting Mac. At some point Riley is going to have to decide if she's going to take the fall for Matty because either way, she's going to end up in trouble somehow.

Yeah so that's as far as I've gotten.

Come to think of it my other big unwritten fic idea also has to do with the problem of James' existance... but that's a fic for another ask sometime. :)

[will80sbyers]

Can I reject the idea that I'm a "byler analyst"? It makes it sound so professional and serious when I'm just saying shit about my favourite fictional characters on a blog online and reflecting about them but I'm just a fan and I'm not and never will be saying that I'm more or less qualified to talk about a fictional story than others are or that my opinions have more value than yours, I'm not the writers and for how much I can think I understand something personally I can't be the authority in these matters and don't even want to be one, you should form your own thoughts about the show like me and everybody

[tradedsymmetry]

I think maybe I hadn't looked before because I am SHOCKED to see there's only 6 fics on AO3 about Jane by Design?!?!! and NONE of them are about Ben Quimby and Rita Shaw?!?!?!!! or Ben dealing with Mom Feelings?!?!?!!!?? this show is RIPE for fix it fics (like where the fic fixes the show in general, idk if fix it fics are usually something more specific to a ship but I always thought it was more about anything in the story but wanted to specify just in case). it has such an interesting premise and amazing characters but some of the acting is less than fantastic and sometimes story lines are rushed, and it seems like they avoided concrete details like Jane's age so that they could drag it on for as long as possible by saying she was younger in the beginning, or wrap it up really quickly by saying she was older. I mean, in addition to not wanting to be too blatantly weird about the age when jeremy is flirting with her and other encounters in adult world. it's less weird if it's vague, I guess. and there's other things that miss the mark that I'm still figuring out bc I'm not a story writer or analyst or anything. but so I guess I just expected to find more fics dealing with stuff like that! oh well. I do not need to be reading fanfic today 😅

[soul-dwelling]

Eh about the reboot thing I think its wrong to assume that one has to care for it in the first place - for example I liked Shaman king and especially Samurai X (even if its sad how horrible the author turned out to be...) - yet I just didnt bother watching them and dont feel like I lost anything - maybe its because I dont really look into the fan discourse of those shows as I do with Soul Eater.

That’s fair. 

I sure as hell am not going to give Rurouni Kenshin another try, I feel badly for people who worked on that series (especially actors) who had nothing to do with the creator--and I look side-eyed at certain creators (Oda) who can't muster enough criticism and seem to be actually supporting the fucker.

But let me put it another way to clarify where I’m coming from, as I’ve had enough years to think about what I would do if a reboot happened. 

On the one hand, yeah, I don’t have to watch, write about, reblog, or otherwise engage with a Soul Eater reboot. For the sake of my time and health, if I have such an adverse reaction against even the idea, then it doesn’t hurt me or anyone else to skip watching it. 

On the other hand, however foolish this may seem, I do want to see this blog through to whatever conclusion it ever has, and I don’t think I can keep the blog running without engaging with a reboot, for however little time I can. If I honestly just hate even a minute of it, then I tap out and fulfill the small obligation I set for myself. I wanted to set out to make a Soul Eater blog, it is a project that I get to keep working on, and I want to see it to its end, whenever that time comes. 

Also, I think I’m being pessimistic to the point of being annoying. I doubt the majority of fans or even a potential audience is this negative and is more likely willing to give a reboot a try. 

Yes, I have to do what I think is best for me, but I also don’t want to ignore valid potential counter-arguments. I should listen to what friends, frequent submitters to this blog, and those artists, writers, analysts, essayists, chroniclers, and others in the fandom whose opinion I respect all have to say, not to overwhelm my own thoughts by drowning in a sea of other people’s takes, but because, again, I respect what they have to say and am willing to listen to their insights only after I actually engage with the primary text myself. All of these people have shown over and over that they understand what works in this series, and sometimes I get to figure out what works in the series only because these people were already literally explaining it to me.

And, where I disagree with these people, I hope I would at least hear them out. I mean, this is just a comic turned into an animated series, that is one of the few things I think people can agree to disagree on (except for the dealbreaker stuff: Chapter 113 and all the stuff Ohkubo did with Tamaki’s story is still pretty bad and a horrifying hint about his philosophy about girls, women, sex, and humanity). 

So, I hope I would give the reboot a chance--even if all I do is look at a trailer or a still image or a GIF on Tumblr and say, “Wow, this looks awful to me, this doesn’t work for me, no thanks.” 

(I’m already behind on enough other reboots, continuations, sequels, and remakes to watch. I fell off of Spice and Wolf--if just because I really think they should have hired a new director and studio...Massive content warnings there.)

I guess I am stuck still thinking I have to be a completionist and see things through to the end. But I do wonder whether there will be some "official" iteration by Ohkubo, Square Enix, BONES, Kodansha, or some other related party that is too poorly handled and finally makes me say, "I'm done, no more."

[lyricallymelodic]

Crazy thought.

Might be controversial, but hear me out.

So Lyric interpretation. I feel like in a few different music bandoms I've been floating in there's been some talk about lyric interpretation. So I'm gonna put my little two cents in the ring, just as a musician, as a song writer.

So like, Unless there's a very specific like story being told (Example: Goodbye Earl - The Chicks) or like very obvious meaning (Why Don’t We Do It in the Road? - The Beatles) Maybe...Maybe, individuals interpretations are, individual?

Like there's what the songwriter meant, which they are at liberty to share or not its kind of up to them, and there's even like the interpretations of professional analysts, which y'know they spend a lot of time learning how to do that good for them, but you know, if a song means something to someone maybe...its okay?

Crazy I know. individual thought how dare I? (sarcasm) But If I wrote a song about... lets keep it simple, a glass of lemonade, but to you the song is about, a glass of orange juice... I'm okay with that. I mean, I might say "Its interesting you think that because I wrote it about Lemonade but That's cool."

So, I donno maybe I just like it when people enjoy music and if you enjoy music by analyzing it then go for it but like...You're opinion is not the only opinion in the world? I'm all for healthy debate but maybe don't be an ass?

Me: You all:

[royalberryriku]

Okay, I don't usually do this but I stopped reading halfway through the replies by around the third or so post. I need to really make something clear here; totalitarianism thrives off of division, presumed power struggles between marginalised groups and the fear that the lesser evil is all that prevents you from being next. Historically, we have seen this in many different dictatorships and regimes. Many analysts, writers and political advocates have warned of this in their works; 1984, The Handmaid's Tale, The Hunger Games are a few fictional examples of using real world events as inspiration for heir dystopian systems. Every regime in these stories all use this exact method; fear to suppress resistance and hope for something better than he status quo. This needs to be considered before any of the above is even touched; are you acting out of fear?

It's okay to be afraid, I know that sounds contradictory to what I just said but it's important we understand that. It's valid, because this is scary, totalitarian regimes are terrifying. But that doesn't mean we should act out o that fear, because it's exactly that which these types of governments use to suppress their people and prevent potential uprisings. So, where does that leave us?

I'm Australian, but even I would be effected if Trump were elected. Even so, the problem is that I only say that because it's "worse" than what I have right now, which is still a fascist, oppressive government that has been controlled for literal years by a fascist totalitarian rogue state that switches our prime minister's when they don't align with the US's interests. While Biden has been in power, Australia has passed anti gay, anti trans, anti disability, anti indigenous laws and the labour government still acts as if it wants me and people like me dead. I'm not helped by anyone voting Trump out by choosing Harris because the "lesser evil" is exactly what ensures the next "Trump" will get in and ensures the system itself functions as intended; through fear. I don't want Trump in, but it will be a continuation of something much deeper and sinister to allow this system to use our fear of Trump to ensure even more fascists can take power. That is just the reality of totalitarianism and how the US has evidently functioned as one for generations, no matter if you do decide to vote Harris out of fear and you feel that this was the best you could do, that fear and it's very purposeful usage cannot be denied.

So, what do we do? "Well all we can do is vote so we can't let them take that power away by not voting!" You're right about not letting them take out right to vote! But, no, voting isn't all you can do. And especially in a situation where you're denied the right to vote (which is literally what the US does both in its own elections and it's interference in other elections) I think that should be remembered. The right to vote and choose who runs a country is something that needs to be protected; which is why we ought to have an actual democracy and not this fascist system that pretends there's a presidential race when there's just a magical chairs game with the same group of fascists. They'll be back, no matter how much we vote them out. If not now, the next and the next and the next will ensure that only those we fear take a seat while a lesser evil takes the other. What we need to do is remember we're people, and so are they.

They're not so powerful as to enforce a police state when police strike after being overworked (as seen in Australia currently with protests, it's causing us to burn out their enforcement and physical ability to stop us), or throw their military at its own citizens when the military burn their uniforms (as seen in the US) and leave. They can't enforce power when the people that make up that power refuse to comply anymore. Yes, the government is powerful, but don't forget that they are only human and this is a system that relies on the compliance of other people; including each and every one of us. You and the people around you rallying together are powerful too, refuse to comply and cripple the power at these people's disposal. Make a command meaningless by that command falling on ears that refuse to listen anymore.

Sure, you can vote Harris, or not vote, whatever. She'll be voted out next election for a fascist so as much as you say you did your part, you only did for a term, and then we'll vote in another Harris to stop that fascist and wonder why nothing every changes. The US empire is a totalitarian regime that doesn't genuinely allow democratic voting and will reinstate whoever they like by next election, Trump will run again and we'll cry about the lesser evil again and we'll wonder why the US is so dystopian despite voting in the "right" person and why the policies only get worse and worse. It didn't happen overnight, it's always been like this. Trump is the result of something deeper, not a sudden new shift from something good or normal. Trump came from a place that creates Trumps, so no he is not the last. There'll be more and worst, and you'll wonder why your vote didn't prevent it all over again.

If you're truly scared Trump? Turn that fear into anger and and turn that anger into hope; take to the streets and organise, think about what YOU can do, not what a representative could do if you vote for them enough times. Talk to your local activists and local civil rights groups, refuse to comply, refuse to serve in the military and refuse everything you can refuse until the US regime falls. Resist, because votes don't matter in the eyes of a government that can easily switch out whoever is voted in when they go against the system (and yes that has happened here in Australia and in many other countries too, so maybe think about if that happens to your governments too and how much value your votes really have in a system that can dismiss and deny that right). You as an individual can do SO SO MUCH! You don't just only have a say when you write a name on paper, you can do so much more so don't sell yourself short. Gather together, remember the strength we have in numbers and the power we all have as people.

TLDR: Remember who the real enemy is.

If Trump wins they'll let Israel destroy Gaza's entire Healthcare system including American-built hospitals & burn patients alive in their beds, that's already happening? Well if Trump wins they'll let Israel send their soldiers who've killed in Gaza to study at American universities and brag about their war crimes to the students who's families they've killed. That's already happening? Well if Trump wins he'll send American soldiers, missile interception systems, and naval task forces to stop anyone on earth from attempting to enforce the responsibility-to-protect under the genocide convention that the US was a signatory to. That's already happening? Well if Trump is elected he'll hurt ME.