#idk i like to think the more you care and the more involved the greater the potential to REALLLYY hurt the other

[lyriumsings]

thinking about octavia x seven 1.0 from when they first dated and i like to think the relationship while like passionate and full of like love it wasn’t as perfect as they may remember it. I think any relationship with super high highs probably has pretty low lows too.

Esp when it’s someone you’ve actually already known for a decade lol. I think there are certain things/behaviors that are fine with a friendship but don’t carry over to a partnership so i like to think while no one ever thought they would implode the way they did, i like to think it was always possible just because of the nature of their relationship which bordered on codependency fjdjdd.

I wanna get more into specifics but i have to wait until there’s more information but for what i have now on seven x mc (specifically for octavia) dynamic. i like to think seven was always just a little bit more in love than octavia was. While octavia would never have voted seven out of the band. They also never would’ve given up on their dream for seven, or left the band because they’re not that kind of person or friend. The idea of abandoning the rest of the band is really a place they would’ve put their foot down, because while they love seven (and even tho seven is incredibly important to them) and it honestly kind of disappoints her that seven would think that way.

aNYWAY that’s most of the thoughts i have rn i can’t wait to actually get all the information and see what all the after-vote party fight was about. i’m on the edge of my seat, legit this is all i think about rn DJSJ

[ae-neon]

Going from throne of glass to crown of midnight and realising sjm is not gonna let Celaena face the consequences of her own decisions

WHAT WAS THE POINT OF PUTTING HERSELF IN THIS POSITION TO SERVE THE MAN WHO MURDERED HER FAMILY

AND DO HIS DIRTY WORK IN THE CITY SHE GREW UP IN, ON THE PATH OF PEOPLE SHE ONCE KNEW?????

IF SHES BEEN PLAYING HIM FROM THE START???

If the main character isn't afraid of the villain, why should the reader be?

sure she almost pisses herself in his presence but clearly she doesn't actually think he'll do anything because she's not even done one single mission for him??

I hate hate hate that sjm introduces these characters as complex and morally gray and then cannot have them do things that are bad with no narrative excuses or greater good justification

Celaena should have killed those nobles because it's her job. Because she prioritises her own freedom above their lives. Above whatever the king has planned

THEN you introduce Archer Finn as the next target and have her hesitate and change tactics

Celaena is an assassin. LET HER KILL PEOPLE

I had to skip the assassin's blade novella because from the very first story she's out here doing the most to free slaves. And it's not the action itself. It's sjms vile writing where Celaena doesn't actually give a fuck about the slaves but as the main character, she must be a white saviour so she'll do this dangerous stupid thing that benefits her or changes the world in no way

And it's not even character development either, Celaena from AB is the same as tog and so far the same in com. She's flat. Perfect except for her allowed flaws. Unchanged by her experiences

Again, you could have easily done this in a different way. A better way. A way that is cohesive with the world and doesn't have the main character be the only moving piece in the world

Have it be that the pirate king is the one smuggling people out of slavery and it's fucking with nobles money so Celaena is sent to kill him. but something happens, maybe someone there is from Terrasen, and without doing a 180 we see an understandable reason she can't keep her cold assassin persona going. She refuses to do her job, leading to her being betrayed or something idk I didn't finish the story

see how easily that then plays into the beginning of tog and makes her even more sympathetic and real without sacrificing the character's flawed morals? Or making her the only active character in the story? Almost like the world is real and exists outside of her?

The Celaena from the end of tog, the one who gave up Dorian because her life and freedom meant more than kissing princes, would have slit those nobles throats.

Mind you she's not even from Ardalan, why does she care enough about these people to risk her life and freedom. If even one of those nobles she let fake their death and escape, tried to get revenge on the king for sending his assassin, she would be hanged at best. How does she know those nobles weren't involved in or benefitted from the fall of Terrasen or slavery in general?? Why are we pretending assassins only kill "bad" people??

She should keep her head down and let Ardalan cannibalise itself until she's hit with a personal connection then have her risk the king's wrath not just for the "greater good", the hope of rebellion but also for herself - for the name Celaena and the life she lived under it

SIGHHHH

annyyyyyways

[shesnake]

I wanted to know your thoughts on this but do you think it's fair to say either Louis or Armand are abusive in their relationship? Idek if this is a valid angle to view the characters from because I guess they're all monsters or whatever but a part of me thinks that it's kinda lukewarm to refuse to engage with the complicated themes of the show, which abuse is featured heavily and pretty clearly imo. This isn't aimed at you btw. Something I noticed is people tend to use some of Louis's less favorable moments to justify the violence he experiences. Like that post about Armand just matching Louis energy in ep 5, most of the notes are taking the stance that Louis is a cold, unempathic pimp who doesn't care about sa victims, that Armand genuinely is completely right when he says he is always cleaning up after Louis that he was only worried and tenderhearted and Louis escalated in the worst way and that after Louis said that he deserved everything that happened after. And I may be biased but to me that is so fucking crazy. To me it seems like fans, specially nonblack fans, have zero empathy for black abuse victims, actively enacting abuse culture even. But idk if that is a too reactive view. I don't want to say Louis isn't flawed because he is. But I mean we are watching the season about Armand getting Claudia killed on purpose and somehow people are still like Maybe Armand didn't do it, maybe it was all Louis, maybe Louis really asked for it. All of it. I think there's a problem there but idk I kinda feel a little crazy too. Btw disclaimer I fuckin hate Lestat this is not about comparing Loumand/Loustat lol

hi! and wow there is so much to discuss here...

I think it is fair to describe the actions of both Louis and Armand towards each other as abusive by definition but it's always important to remember that it is Armand in the position of greater power over him. Armand is older, stronger, owns dominion. He can walk in the sun, manipulate memories, and live without constant debilitating hunger for blood - all of which are things that impede Louis from being his own person outside of Armand.

Louis also faced this same predicament when he was with Lestat, but unlike Armand who uses his own innate powers against Louis, Lestat mostly used his social advantages of whiteness, wealth etc in addition to withholding key knowledge about vampirism to keep himself in control and Louis dependent on him.

and sure Louis can lash out all he wants! He can mock Armand's sexual trauma (trauma which Armand himself already gets them both to fetishise... but that's a whole different conversation...) he can hit back when Lestat hits him but when he's with either of those guys he is always going to be the victim. Nothing shitty he does to his partners, or to Claudia, or to Daniel, justifies what is being done to him by these men.

There absolutely has to be anti-blackness involved in any argument that says Louis deserves any of this. (Of course Armand as a brown South Asian man is not immune from fandom racism but his treatment is racialised in a different way that is also a different conversation). Any negative behaviour from a Black man is going to be seen by racists as exponentially more aggressive than it is, especially the cross-section with those you mentioned who aren't engaging with the complicated themes of this show exploring abuse.

They can see that Louis yelling at Armand is bad, but don't notice that Armand is being manipulative. They can see that Louis stabbing Lestat that one time during sex is bad (and still sexualise it), but don't notice that Louis is disassociating in every sex scene he has with Lestat afterwards (because they're too busy sexualising it). They can see that Louis making Daniel upset is bad, but don't notice that Daniel has been leveling dozens of racist and homophobic micro-aggressions at him since episode 1.

Armand got a few minutes to tell his tragic backstory in Louvre, Lestat had 2 or 3 different scenes in season 1 to recall his own. It's just been words. Meanwhile racists erase Louis' experiences with trauma because they never had enough fucking empathy for him to begin with to even register it happening to him! on screen! in real time! right in front of us!

And yeah Louis and Armand and Loumand are incredibly complex and compelling, and I do enjoy seeing Louis' moments of cruelty towards Armand! But he's never going to win against him in the game Armand built for him.

And in terms of Claudia, I do think that Louis failed her, as he has always failed her. And is responsible for her death in that regard. But that failure involved letting those other two fucking sharks eat her!!! I personally haven't seen anyone pushing the blame completely off Armand and onto Louis but I wouldn't be surprised. This week I've more pissed off about people levelling it all on Armand and think of Lestat as an unwilling participant.... this is of course the blonde white vampire show....

anyways sorry this is so long! thanks for the message this was really interesting to think about.

[sturionic]

hey, you said your inbox is open and I was curious if you have any ideas for someone who can't get involved irl in things like protests and local antifa groups (physically disabled and incapacitatingly severe anxiety), and who can't get involved in online activism beyond reblogging stuff (personal reasons, difficult to explain)?

I've been considering trying to put together care packages for local unhoused people, but I'm poor and I'd have to convince someone to help me put everything together so idk how well that will go.

I don't want to sit around doing nothing.

Hey anon! I am very glad you reached out, and this is a question I get asked a lot by people IRL, so you are very much not alone here.

I think the first order of business is expanding your definition of activism. We have been done a great disservice by having activism framed for us as protests, charity, & singular heroes making speeches and changing hearts through celebrity. In reality, the smaller actions in your community have a much greater impact; and most of all, the things you personally have to offer make the greatest impact.

This diagram is specifically geared towards climate action, but really applies to all activism:

For you to be an effective activist/volunteer/community member, it's crucial to find the centre of that diagram, or else you're on a one-way ticket to burnout. Don't get caught up in trying to judge which is the most "important" activism, because that answer will be different for everyone. The most important thing you can do for the world is the thing you can do.

I've done lots of volunteering and volunteer management in multiple fields, and there really is lots of choice out there for things that suit you; anything from sorting files quietly in a back room to using computer knowledge (often VERY absent in community groups lol) to help with maintaining websites & promoting community events. One of my personal favourite volunteer shifts was acting as a helper to the organizers of a queer electronic music festival, running a "build your own synthesizer" workshop. Literally I was just ticking off names on a registration sheet and doing setup and fetching things, but it was one of the coolest things I've had the joy to be involved in.

The other plus here is that activists in a given city all usually have some social overlap. If you email, say, your local community centre, explain your interests & circumstances & skills, and ask what you could do - they might not have anything right that moment, but likely someone there will know a different group that needs something similar, or they'll have ideas for who you could try next. Even if you're not finding a lot online right away, have faith in the (slightly haphazard) offline community org social scene. Same deal if you get involved with something and realize it's not your thing after all - just be honest, and ask for help in finding something more suited to you. It's so, so common, and no one's going to get angry with you for wanting to help in ways you're better suited for.

Don't mistake me when I nudge you towards volunteering - there's a certain way that well-meaning (usually) liberals treat volunteering, like they're 'donating' their time as charity, and I am not advocating for that. I'm just saying that you really don't have to reinvent the wheel. There are structures in place run by people who know well how to do it. Part of the importance is the work itself; the file-sorting, the computer help, whatever. But another part is building connections with the people around you, and also letting those people benefit from the privilege of knowing you. And that will happen naturally over time. The muscle will grow as you use it more, even if you need to start with something that feels to you like it might not be enormously significant in the grand scheme of things. Maybe you move on to 'bigger' things, or maybe you gain new perspective and realize just how significant your contributions are after all.

[neptune-scythe]

Do you ever think about how Kaz making sure Inej is reunited with her brother is so he doesn't have to deal with his own grief?

Hear me out

Obviously he cares about Inej and wants her to have her family back and that's his main focus, or at least his main focus consciously

But here's the thing

They're mirrors of each other. Two people who lost brothers, Kaz's is gone forever ... But inej's is still out there (probably). Now we all know Kaz has never dealt with his grief, and probably barely even acknowledges it, mostly because he doesn't know how. That's not something people just ... Know how to do, grief is a process and if you don't have a single other person to help you or even be the slightest bit supportive it's going to be nearly impossible to grieve in a healthy way. Let alone being in a constant state of survival mode having to watch your back all the time because you're a kid in a very dangerous place and pretty much ever single person is an enemy, or at least not someone trustworthy or helpful. But I hella digress my bad

My point is Kaz hasn't dealt with the loss of his brother (why have I not used his name once? Bitch idfk my bad Jordie you deserve better bestie), which was a meaningless death. And by that I mean Jordie didn't sacrifice himself for some cause, he wasn't a casualty of a greater issue ... He just died. Because that what people do.

And especially for a kid who's all alone with not a single soul left on the earth who gives a damn about him, that's a pretty tricky concept to grasp. That your whole world, the most imporant person in your life could just die ... Just be completely gone in a moment. Thus why Kaz immediately blames Pekka and devotes his life to revenge, even though Pekka was only indirectly involved in Jodie's death. But blaming Pekka gives his death a meaning, it means there's something he can do to make it mean something.

Once again super digressed from my main point whoopsieeee. Hope y'all are enjoying the wild ride of my thoughts rn (I'm literally just stream of consciousness writing this shit, and for shits and giggles imma leave it that way no edits this is a first draft post you're welcome)

N E WAY

Jodie's death WAIT A SECOND HOW MANY TIMES HAS IT AUTOCORRECTED TO JODIE 💀

I'll never know because I'm not rereading this shit

Anyway

JORDIE's death meant nothing, and Kaz's revenge on Pekka didn't give it meaning either ... Which he probably knew deep down that it wouldn't. But those are the kinds of thoughts we ✨silence✨ because we need the rage for vengeance to keep us alive and doing things.

Now back to Inej and Harij.

Reuniting them will for Kaz make his own situation mean something (in my opinion don't at me these my head canon thoughts). That even though he can't bring his own brother back, he can bring back hers. And knowing that they're together will make his own grief a little easier to bear. It balances it out, if you will.

Two brothers lost, one brother found. Good math

OK BUT ALSO HAVE YOU CONSIDERED

Harij is Inej's younger brother

So consider Kaz is doing it as much for him as for Inej. He's making sure another little boy (he's obviously not a little boy anymore but like ... He was 12 ((idk how old he'd be know)) and that's plenty young) doesn't have to lose his older sibling forever.

And also consider

Kaz knows he doesn't deserve Inej, he knows he most likely won't always have her ... And more importantly she won't always have him.

He won't always be able to protect her, to keep her safe. But her brother could. Her brother could be there for her and her support her and even do a far better job (probs idk what bros personality is like but I bet Kaz Brekker is assuming shit too) than Kaz could. So by reuniting her with her brother he's making sure she's taken care of, that even if he lets her down, she'll never be alone.

Because real talk her

Y'all are allowed to have your head canons and shit I am NOT gatekeeping

But canonically Kaz Brekker is not the jealous or possessive type. If Inej wanted to leave him for someone else he'd be upset yeah but he's knows full well Inej is a living Saint and worth far more than he could ever deserve in a billion lifetimes, and he's also far more concerned with her happiness and well-being than what she can provide for him.

So he'd be satisfied being away from her, not knowing a single thing about her life, as long as he knows her brother is there with her.

He doesn't need to take care of her, he just needs to know that she is taken care of.

I rest my case

Send tweet

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk 🫡

(addition because I did actually reread it and damn I somehow forgot my entire point???

So yeah

About him using reuniting Harij and Inej as a way to avoid dealing with his grief.

It's like this

Brother dies

Kaz goes straight to revenge, never actually processes any of it, just jumps straight into making Pekka pay for it ... Which tbh is dealing with it in a sense but it's in a very passive way of going straight to doing without ever processing ... If that makes sense.

And that's repaying violence with violence, which leads to more violence. It's a cycle of destruction that Kaz is playing into, which is very hard to get out of once it starts.

But reuniting Harij and Inej is a break in that cycle. It's Kaz using his own pain as motivation and incentive to do something that will heal others. And making sure that neither Inej nor Harij get caught in the same cycle as Kaz did, it's using his own knowledge of that cycle to protect others from it. And more specifically, he doesn't know how to heal himself, he doesn't know how to move on or process and grieve, he doesn't know how to leave the cycle ... So he's helping Inej and Harij heal from their pain instead, and making sure they never enter the cycle.

Because he probably is well aware that revenge isn't the healthiest way to channel grief (but bro doesn't care because Pekka needs to be put in his place and we stan him for that), but channeling it into helping someone he loves is healthy.

And real talk here

Kaz probably believes he will never move on or heal from Jordie's death. Thus him being trapped in the ouroboros of suffering ... And go with me here.

If we view the ouroboros (snake eating its own tail if y'all don't know) as a literal scenario Kaz is trapped in, it's a mental prison basically, and one he has accepted that he will never leave. His fate is sealed, and he can't do anything to save himself from that.

BUT even if he can't ever break out of the ouroboros, he can keep others out, he can't save himself but he can save others from being trapped there as well.

And because of this he won't have to deal with the fact that he's trapped, he can focus all his energy on keeping others out ... And it gives it meaning. That even though he's trapped forever and can't do anything for himself, he can do something for other people because of it. Because the only way to avoid the ouroboros is if someone inside warns you.

That was a wild metaphor I hope that made sense lol

Also once again these are my head canons and I wrote it from Kaz's perspective so to speak, so when I say things like He cAn NEVer HeAl that's because that's what he thinks (imo) not what is objectively true. Healing is absolutely possible and bro can get it he just doesn't know it yet.)

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

the realization that he’s sitting on centuries’ worth of accumulated corpses for absolutely no pay off or greater purpose is itself a looming source of anguish that he’s trying very, very hard to avoid.

This sort of broke my brain but it's so true damnn. What do you think of his pov in rule of wolves? I read it years ago and never read the book again all I remember is bits and pieces which confused me. Darkling looked very... idk messy? He saves Nikolai in the war but a moment later he's like "uhh nvm" then he also sacrifices himself in the end so maybe some of it is starting to seep in especially after Alina's words that he kept repeating to himself and also insisted that she wasn't true and how he Just Didn't Care 🙄 *insert the pretending not to cry wojak meme*

His POV was fun! I just didn't like the duology; I think the plot was a mess and it was inconsistent with itself, not to mention the trilogy before it. But I preferred RoW to KoS bc my evil goth son is in it at least. I've said this before but I dislike the base premise of resurrecting him at all, especially in a narrative where Alina remains out of the picture as protagonist. I think it undercuts her arc and efforts too badly, and like his send off was already good. He doesn't need to come back! But he's clearly LB's favorite blorbo and she refuses to let him stay dead lmao. So like, if he must come back, then I do think that is the funniest possible premise for it, where he's lost all status and power and is completely out of his depth. It is interesting to see him in such different context! I just wish it made sense or contributed to a better story. Personally, I liked his silly little glass prison arc and wish it had lasted longer. They needed to fully just Hannibal Lecter him and keep him as their pet war criminal to advise on random plot or the Saints or whatever. I did think it was clever though the way he got maneuvered into a grudging near redemption, where he's completely and entirely unrepentant,* but tricked into saving the day from sheer ego. He's the self appointed main character of the world, so of course he has to be the one to go to tree hell. In general, I feel like the characterization in KoS suffered? Where most of the characters got flattened, but I think he was the most intact. His actions were messier, but I got the impression that that's more him being unused to not having the power that he used to have, and flailing a bit. My main gripe is that I do think he would probably be petty enough to demand Alina see him off to tree hell. But LB super, super didn't want her involved in any meaningful way, which, I can understand! But in-universe it didn't really feel consistent. *Or so he claims! I did think it was really fun the way he was grappling with pretending to being an emotionless husk of a person as per usual and also just not quite fitting into that anymore. I don't think he was sorry, but it's like that one tumblr post that goes "not evil anymore i want to be loved now -> evil again" rinse and repeat dfghj

[crabbunch]

ETHUBS SLAY THE PRINCESS AU CHAPTER TWO ROUTES:

The Witch: This timeline's this au's version of Hermitcraft season 5 (the one with the NHO and the jungle). There's lots of plants. Etho is distrustful of Bdubs. There's frog and scorpion metaphors. But also if Bdubs is careful he can give Etho his knife and let her stab him. Which is basically the same thing as the jungle eating Etho, slowly driving Bdubs insane, and then also eating Bdubs. Or was that the convex. Whatever it doesn't matter. You get the vibes.

The Damsel: This one's based off of secret life. In stp, the damsel's whole deal is that your perceptions of her warp and twist her into something that is no longer a person. I kind of had a hard time thinking of something that fit but I eventually settled on secret life just because those tasks sure did weird things lmao am i right???? anyways this Etho seemingly says all the things she never said directly to Bdubs face and means none of them. Because she is only wish fulfillment. It's not satisfying to see the horse course leap up from the ground, no contribution from Bdubs necessary, anyways. He doesn't like this Etho.

The Stranger: This timeline's based off of Etho's single-player world. More specifically, it's based on episode 404. Bdubs isn't supposed to be here. There's lots of Ethos. It's a sort of warped version of the true multitudes that Etho and Bdubs hold. They don't ever know each other. Bdubs isn't supposed to be on Etho's single-player world. His voice is familiar, but he's not supposed to be here.

The Adversary: This timeline is based off of various UHCs. Etho is good at fighting, and violent, and very very hot. Most importantly, she's not really mad at Bdubs. She's just kind of bored and lonely, and when he shows up, she's READY to fight to the death with him. For like, fun. If Bdbus plays his cards right, he and Etho can fight to the death as many times as they want, respawning just to pummel each other into a bloody pulp again and again and again. Peak romance <3. His other options involve running away, not getting in the right mindset and killing Etho "permanently" or dying permanently." Grian is incredibly unimpressed by the fact that Bdubs has a crush on the VERY MURDEROUS AND BLOODTHIRSTY PRINCESS. as if he doesn't have worse taste.

The Spectre: This one's based off of double life. Etho's kind of petty and passive aggressive but doesn't really outright make any moves against Bdubs. Bdubs acts like nothing's going on between them and like everything's the same as ever. They team up in the end, but it doesn't have time to go anywhere because they die right after that. And by die I mean Etho is swallowed up into the greater consciousnesses of Etho goddess edition and Bdubs into his own god.

The Beast: this timeline is based off of Survival of the Fittest. Mostly because it's super duper dark down in the basement, and I think that it's a funny dig at Bdubs' terrible footage where you can see absolutely nothing. However if you think about it getting eaten by a creature so that both of she can escape the cabin only to get taken away by your greater self before you can really taste the fresh air is sort of like killing a guy's teammates and then handcuffing him to you so that you have to team. and then loosing.

The Prisoner: This one's last life. Etho chops off her own head and trusts Bdubs to take it outside the cabin? Trusts Bdubs to believe in her? That's only one route. They can beat each other to death. They can get locked in the basement together and watch the eons pass. Idk how to explain it but this is just so last life to me. There's a fragile trust between them. It's all fun and games. They're both deadly serious. Grian is there. Head in hands.

The Nightmare: This one's based off of Mindcrack- specifically the Death Games and a few other pranks that Etho plays on Bdubs. I think that psychological damage via seeing every single timeline ever is sort of the same thing as the obsidian coffin. Also I think that needing a guy in the back of your head to recite "heart, lung, liver, nerves" in order to stop your organs from shutting down is very early videos Bdubs.

The Razor: This one is Hermitcraft season 8. Bdubs dies over and over and over again. Nothing he does stops it. Etho is silly and goofy and doesn't really realize the weight of the situation. "I'm going to kill you now ^_^" most etho core thing ever.

[saturnniidae]

🔥 shipping 🔥

🤓

This goes for like any fandom, but I think the constant need to ship literally everythingn is very tiring and alienating to aspec fandom members, and people need to learn to better appreciate platonic relationships (not even just in fiction lmao 💀) and that romance has no greater value than friendship.

and when theres canon aspec characters allos need to leave tf alone.

And like, this is fully unrealistic, because people just dont actually Care, but I wish people would ask themselves why they're doing it and why they often feel a need to especially when it's just like. For not reason? If you're invested in the involved characters and like see ways in which they could play off each other well and possibly add to each other's stories, then yeah, it makes sense. But if your doing it just for the sake of doing it (ive noticed a lot of people dont arent actually like invested in the characters themselves, only the ship and it's so ????) I think it's an effect of amatonormativity and you should think about that?? Idk.

Also, back to aspec characters, The way people use the guise of 'queerplatonic relationships' to just ship canon/heavily implied aro characters (and yeah qprs take pretty much any form and it's different for everyone. But when it's an aro characters you're putting in a 'qpr' why does it need to exactly resemble expectations for a romantic relationship?) It's really tiring and honestly. Gross?? And not to do the 'if it was the other way around 🤓☝️' but really, if it was a gay /heavily implied to be gay character, there'd be a lot more outrage about erasure 💀

But it's really not that deep, is it. Anyways sorry for the whole ass essay it's like 3am rn

[smilesrobotlover]

So for King of the Gerudo you brought up some world building ideas involving the Knights and Maiden titles being the highest honor someone can get, and the Champions being the first examples of non Hylians getting those titles. And as a fellow over thinker in world building, I just can't help but wonder about the different responses people would have to it.

How would the Hylians feel, would they feel it's more deserved and fine, given then Champions had helped save them all during the Calamity, or are there some spiteful ones who see it as an insult to Hylian customs and traditions. Has this spiraled into some people doubting Zelda's choice on the matter, thinking she's putting emotion over reason, choosing to give her friends better titles and disregard their traditions.

Or the Zora and the Rito, both of whom seem to be a little more honor bound. Would some of the more older Zora see it as a passive aggressive way for the Hyrulean Monarch to reiterate that their own Princess is below that of Zelda and the King of Hyrule, that a maiden is still one level below them? Would it lead to people questioning King Dorephan's more passive nature, that perhaps he isn't as outspoken for the Zora's 'honor'? How would the Rito respond to this, who seem to have a little more pride towards their dominion over the sky and their superior archery skills? Is it an insult that Revali was ranked alongside a princess, chieftain, and lord as if a way to cheaply elevate him, almost like a participation trophy?

Or how about some of the Yiga, noting how Impa was dubbed a Maiden but Kogha, in spite of his 'brave' defiance to Ganon, wasn't. Maybe now there are some Yiga who consider this a slight towards them, spawning a very small group of defecting Yiga going against the greater Yiga's reintegration into Hyrulesl's greater collective.

Idk, I'm definitely overthinking all of this and none of this needs answers or any thought put into it, but dang did my brain go a little overboard as I dreamed of this 😅

Oooh yes it’ll be a huge deal. I haven’t thought about the zora situation, but it makes perfect sense! It’s strange how Zelda and Rhoam seem to be of higher authority than Dorephan and mipha, and I think that with the status of a champion and a maiden, a lot of zora will be mad. Idk about the Rito tho, I think they’ll be happy that they’re finally out there, and some Rito may believe that they may be able to reach knighthood or maidenhood someday. But I know some will be upset that it was Revali to be called. But I won’t get into that drama UwU

Some Hylians will be VERY upset about all of this. The people already doubt Zelda’s ability to lead, and to see her accept non Hylians as knights and maidens will seem like breaking tradition, or even blasphemous. Now the soldiers who worked close to her won’t care. They saw how she led battling the calamity, and how she cared for each soldier, so they trust her. But a lot of people like the many gossipers will be upset. They’ll think that Hylians will never have a chance to be called as a knight or a maiden ever again (which isn’t true, those aren’t easy titles to achieve anyways).

Another thing is that it sorta breaks the mold. Knights are meant to parallel the hero, and tho he has a lot of magic, for a lot of incarnations like AOC link, he mostly just uses his fighting skills, not magic. And so to see knights that are proficient at magic will be a big deal, and many people will think that they’re not worthy of a knightly title because of it. Same thing with the maidens. Urbosa, Mipha, and Impa are magically gifted, but they are also very strong fighters. Take away their magic and they’ll still kick your butts. So many people that they’re not worthy of the title of a maiden because of that.

And the yiga…. Oh man… there will be drama with the yiga, and I’m sure a lot of them will be upset, but Impa never defied the Royal family, so she and Kogha’s situation aren’t similar enough to me to cause too much drama. It’s just another instance of the Sheikah being loved by the royal family and not the yiga (but the yiga kinda did that to themselves lol. But I have many thoughts on the yiga for sure)

But yeah overall mostly Hylians and zora will be offended by this. Everyone else may be excited that they’ll have a chance to reach knighthood and maidenhood.

[randomnameless]

Something that really bothers me about the rose coloured glasses vis a vis tellius and fe fans (ESPECIALLY from 3h fans who learned about tellius later) is that many like soren purely because of his main ship (i mean i like ikesoren too but come the fuck on) and jokingly characterise soren as a stereotypical nasty mean limp wristed sarcastic gay man instead of a deeply flawed branded angry at the world and definitely trauma bonded to ike, but micaiah is still absolutely getting raked over the coals over the blood pact and not being ike’s fangirl

Well,

Jokes often involve flanderisation, so Soren being flanderised to oblivion when people joke about him isn't something I really care about, but maybe that's because I'm not really fond of Soren to begin with lol

What annoys me more is when some people try to rationalise Soren's anger and backstory by either pointing at Almedha or Deghinsea being responsible for everything, and I'm like, what.the.fuck?

Almedha's just, idk, I won't call it sexism, but damn - that woman loves her son who is the only reason why she hasn't completely lost her mind over 1/losing her powers 2/being casted away like trash by her "BF" 3/being rejected by her dad 4/thinking her brother was tortured and abused to death because of her actions 5/being separated from her beloved child.

Deghinsea being "uwu bad bcs he's the reason why brandeds are rejected by both beorcs and laguz" is another take I really am not fond of, and iirc I wrote a post earlier this year about it? But to some people who buy the "Crusts BaD" as the reason why Fodlan sucks, I guess they need to have someone to name and pill all of the world's nonsense rather than, well, in Tellius' case, realise that the worldbulding and the lore really sucks, to the point where the duology touted as the most "against racism" of the franchise, is pretty much way more racist than anything Tru Piss can throw us (yes, because in Tru Piss we have characters rejecting coexistence, in Tellius, it's the world mechanics - whenever a Beorc and a Laguz coexist too much, the Laguz dies...).

As for Miccy,

Just like, imo, Soren gains some "new" attention and "uwu excuses for why he's being a snarky jerk at times", Miccy used to be bashed when FE10 was released (with all the Mary Sue accusation being thrown around!) because she was written to be a sort of foil/antagonist to Ike, and when the party reunited, she was demoted to a "soul-jar" role, let it be regarding the greater plot, or, even, her own backstory!

TBH, for people who didn't play FE10, if Ike is the bestest thing since melted cheese, Miccy, who opposes him, must be BaD and so you can pile everything you don't like on her, hoping to see it stick.

Or even worse, I've seen posts here and there comparing Miccy to Supreme Leader and how misunderstood uwu she is, which is the worst insult poor Miccy ever received since FE10 came out rofl

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

I think i need to take a proper break from this fandom because I just had a dream about some new discourse involving Nyx

Okay so, in the alternate universe of my dream, there was an animated acotar tv show which caught up with the books pretty quickly and also no new books came out after acosf, but instead of slowing down or stopping or anything after they were done adapting the series, they just made up their own stuff and it was entirely unclear if that new stuff was in any way based on SJM's ideas for the series or approved by her or if the creators of the animated show had just gone rogue. But basically, it got to a point where Nyx was now an adult or maybe a teenager and was basically the protagonist of the show. Its really unfortunate that I dont remember any of the actual plot of that show, I wouldve loved to tell you all about it

The latest episode airs and people enjoy it as much as they do all the others, and I think on that same day, someone drops this fan animation. Its insanely high quality, it looks exactly like the show but no one cares because its an animation set to what i recognized to be The Villain Song from the count of monte cristo musical (no, not A Story Told, my brain made up a new one) where its basically Nyx talking to Helion and either Tarquin or Kallias, one of the whitehaired bitches in any case, youd think i'd be able to tell them apart but no about betraying Rhysand. And Im not talking a Tamlin-siding-with-Hybern-temporarily-for-the-greater-good kinda betrayal, Im talking a betrayal that would completely and utterly destroy the night court executed by Nyx without remorse with a smile on his face. so more of a feyre-style betrayal i guess. How heartwarming, he truly is her son

Anyway, the animation already caused quite a stirr on its own but then the creator went on to say on some social media of theirs that it was actually based on foreshadowing they observed in the show, and that they believe something like that will happen in canon soon. Predictably, this upset a lot of people, although the discourse didnt really have any layers or depth, it was just a bunch of people being like "Nyx would never betray his father!!" "Nyx would never betray his family!" "Nyx would never betray Rhysand!!!!!" over and over again (interestingly enough I dont remember anyone saying that he would never betray Feyre on her own) and I dont think I engaged with the critical side of the fandom in that dream so idk what kinda memes your alternate dream-selves were making about this situation :(

[insomniac-101]

God so I just recently purchased the Blu-ray edition of the tenth doctor's run and have been watching the commentary tracks for each episode (which btw, are soo good if you're a major fan of this era. They add a lot of context and extra details to the episodes).

I just finished the girl in the fireplace's commentary track and thankfully hearing the cast's comments on the scenes made it all the more bearable. Not because i hate the episode, but because everytime I rewatch it, it feels like reopening a flesh wound lol

Like it makes me so sad for everyone lmao.

Personally I am not of the opinion that it is badly written, I think the episode does a good job of exploring the more unflattering sides of the Doctor and his duties while also simultaneously exploring the strengths of those choosing to associate with him.

Within the episodes, the three leads make the ultimate sacrifice.

With Madame de pompadour sacrificing a slow path with the doctor for the greater good.

With Rose letting him go, knowing that his selflessness would never allow him to see someone he has come to care for, suffer a meaningless death

And the Doctor, choosing to step in and save Reinette, because it's the right thing to do in spite of knowing there's a possibility that he will never return. Especially with the amount of flirting they did, he formed a connection and now is made to pay the price for it.

It's such a sad episode, and the hurt on all sides always makes me feel so bad for everyone involved. Especially for Rose in particular, who has to put aside her personal feelings and step in spite of knowing how the doctor and Reinette feel about one another ( I wouldn't say love, but there's an attraction there definitely)

It goes to show how brave these two women are to do what is right even if it directly hinders their own needs. How much strength it really takes to accompany the doctor, given that one never knows how their adventures will end.

It also goes to show why you often don't see the doctor make promises to those he rescues. Why he often keeps people at a distance, because getting to know these people in peril personally makes losing them all too real. They become a priority above his better judgement, and he cannot escape the consequences of letting himself feel something towards them.

It's an unfortunate situation, but I think it goes to strengthen the bond between Rose and the Doctor further. As it not only explains why submitting to romantic attraction is a doomed endeavor on the Doctor's part, but why they both function well as a pair. Making them the only two in the scenario to really understand the repercussions of what has occurred on the big scale of things, but nonetheless letting the other grieve regardless.

Idk it's a war of conflicting feelings really lmao because although I am not a fan of the romance between him and Reinette (for other reasons), it manages to humanize him further. Making him a flawed individual that is not above making insensitive decisions or falling for flattery. He has feelings and emotions, that although help him sympathize to those around him, can also make him vulnerable in the same way any human is.

I think it adds to his character, although I will admit it had unfortunate timing on when it took place over the course of the overall character development (which ironically is a point that I have seen most agree with, even those that aren't the biggest fan of the Doctor and Rose romance). Overall, just very conflicted lmao

Lol just had to write out my thoughts, there will probably be more to come about these episodes since I'll be rewatching them.

[vtmgremlin]

Can I ask you to gush/rant/rave about your most favorite, and then your least favorite clans? Just totally go off. I live for it.

Oh!! Omg hello (sorry for the wait)

Gosh I wish I had more energy to answer this properly but I shall try lol (Read more to not clog mutuals dashes!)

I favorite has to be the Hecata (Specifically the Cappadocians, Harbingers, etc.) Love me the clan of death (save for....the Giovannis...looks at them from afar).

I just think their whole deal is so much more interesting (personally!) than most others. The fact that y'all are traversing past the shroud and can interact with the shadowlands and just...idk I find it so much more amazing than the board room meetings of the Ventrue's.

That being said my next top three are Ventrue, Lasombra and Gangrel LMFAO

Love the Ventrue because they are just the equivalent of wolves being domesticated into those little crusty white dogs. Fantastic, really. (Also they are awful in so many ways but so much of it is looked over because they are so BORING about it !!!! which is so slay honestly). Personally, to me, they are the more Yaoi Clan.

Lasombra because like come on ya know? Shadow Lords of the highest fuckery. You're telling me these guys get Oblivion (Obentenbration), Dominate, AND Potence???? So i'm just supposed to sit here and get my shit rocked, a'ight. (Also fully believe that the Oceans are a mirror of the Abyss, which is why they were saliors ye old ages ago. Something Something, they were called back to the sea....hmmm...)

GANGREL! I didn't care much about them before until I made my son Blake, and there is a good reason because they really got the fuckin' full fist : ( Like it feels as though everyone forgets about them, even their lore stated that they were meant for a greater purpose but...we shall never truly know. Not only that but in V5....? really?? you're going to make a beast man vampire and NOT give them the ability to use Shape of the Beast's Wrath??? Jail for a thousand years. Love them because a bit of bias now for sure, but also the way they view everything so so refreshing as well (Like the Hecata), so removed from the politics (in some cases). It feels like they see a bigger picture here, and yet they are called "cowards" for not getting involved. Like shit man, would you want to go help when an ANTEDILUVIAN is fully awake and going on a murder rampage?

Yeah, I really wouldn't either, honestly.

Least favorite...hmm...IDK! I truly do like all the clans for their own reason, I guess least though would maybe be Brujah? But that might also be a case like the Gangrel where they (writers) lost the plot a long time ago. Like the True Brujah, hell yeah, now we're talking. But Normmie Brujah are very one note and I think thats sad :,/

Personally, think that this could all be fixed if we BROUGHT BACK BLOODLINES INTO V5 but thats a talk for another time.....//flops around

Anyways, thank you again for the ask!!!! Very sweet of you ;; w;;)/ Hope that this suffices TT u TT

[lesbianyosano]

what do you think bsd is trying to say about war? do you have any other thoughts about political themes present in the story?

oh i have,,, thoughts,, for sure. also these are more loose threads that have been floating around in my head more than a concrete thesis so sorry if they dont make much sense as a whole

one thing i think is crucial to discussing bsd as a political story is to look at which countries' authors asagiri choses to include in the story.

obviously the main cast is japanese, but the other prominent characters come from usa and russia, and if you also take in characters from the light novels or ones, who have been foreshadowed to be important (like agatha), france and the uk come to mind. those are all states with imperialist past/present, and while there are none morally pure countries this specific selection is still pretty intense all things considered. many of the authors included in bsd were also involved politically one way or another (most had been active during the first half of the 20th century, and wrote about war one way or another)

the imperialism isnt really touched upon, unfortunately so, but ( and maybe this is just me being hopeful) i like to think its less about asagiri not seeing it and more about him not wanting to open another sensitive topic in an already complicated work of fiction.

ultimately i'd say bsd is anti-war. that's the most prevailing political theme, and one that has been slowly revealing itself and becoming more prominent the further we go into the story. worth noting is how elements that could've (and maybe should have) been shown as explicitly political avoided this framing in earlier parts of the story (fukuzawa's old profession, kunikida's ideals), but ig there's still time for that. the anti-war sentiment ties back to a lot of the works that the abilities are named after, esp in the agency. no longer human, thou shalt not die, the makioka sisters (tanizaki's light snow) are all prime examples (and kunikida's ability could technically be put under this too depending on how you look at it, since his war journalism is what made him a prominent literary figure). even if some of the authors had some questionable opinion's irl, the parts that asagiri choses to include always come back to the horrors of war.

decay of angels is another thing, given it's named after mishima's last novel, one that he left to his publisher on the same day he started a coup trying to restore the emperor of japan and commited seppuku. there was a theory i saw a while back that said bram wasnt actually a doa member, and the 5th person is yet to be revealed, and it'd be really interesting if we got mishima in bsd but he's still to this day a pretty polarizing figure (understandably so) and im not sure if asagiri would want to take that step, since it'd be a point of no return in terms of explicit politics in the story. and he's been pretty timid with that i mean look at the way he handles police brutality (cops in yokohama being portrayed as incompetent yet ultimately good people, jouno going from prime example of someone knowingly abusing their power to apparently caring abt the innocents, and this is obv a different, more complicated topic so uhh idk maybe ill talk abt it some other time adgsfgagd). idk it just seems like he's afraid to really push the ideas forwards, keeps them palatable to the general public although idk if this is a concious choice or not. im willing to give asagiri the benefit of the doubt bc of how he handles fukuchi though. people hate him bc??? idk he's not a twink and he killed someone ig but personally i adore him, goofy aah guy imo. it'd be easy to write him off as just an autoritarian crazy guy who wants to take control of the world for unspecified "greater good" but the arguments he makes are generally pretty compelling! and not just to readers, we see atsushi questioning the way world works and government's role after listening to fukuchi explain himself. its fukuchi's methods that are questionable not the ultimate goal of state abolition. and we still dont really know what his ultimate reason for doing all this is, just that he claims it's not revenge on fukuzawa, so im curious how this is going to get handled.

and the last thing is the brief anticapitalism theme in the guild arc but again, its like asagiri gave up on it before it became too prominent. fitzgerald is the ultimate capitalist and we see this esp in relation to steinbeck, whose dislikes list finansists in the enligh translation and capitalists in the polish one (no idea what is listed in japanese exactly). but fitzgerald is ultimately sort of redemed, with his (and poe's) wealth treated as a gag rather than a human rights violation

those are all the things that have been ping ponging around in my head and i hope this is in any way at least a little bit understandable. there are some things here that deserve a post of their own but id have to reread at least the last few arcs to talk about them in depth.

[the-path-to-redemption]

I wonder if i should get into rwby? I like sun wukong in any media he is but i wonder if its worth seeing him in rwby despite from what i heard is that in here: sun is his actual first name instead of it being the last name here in rwby

Or do i just stick to fanfics?

I am v fascinated by this sun wukong tho from readin your blog: it seem better if someone else took over this character (imo needs more JTTW esque lifestyle like him being wandering pilgrim and he takes care of ppl who he considered his family like the actual sun wukong from the novel)

Idk so do i?

cont.

Same anon that was asking about rwby sun wukong. I just think its neat if by having a character that has tie to sun wukong, he should share more similarities(or a bit of history) from the monkey of his namesake. Like for example he found a book called jttw (within rwby universe) that detailed how in a pilgrimage a human was traveling with a group that had a monkey in it and they were a family and our sun idolize that monkey and took up his name as his own. Or him got tired of ppl not calling his name right so he just lets them called him by sun(here it be his last name). Idk small details like that but idk much of RWBY besides my knowledge of JTTW and sun wukong.

Long post ahead

Oh boy, anon. are you in for a ride.

You're right that if handled by anyone else, RWBY's interpretation of Sun Wukong as both an allusion and as his own character would've been so much better and I would've liked the route of him being a traveling Huntsman in the world of Remnant instead of being a team leader to a team that half of the members doesn't even like him. It would've made a lot of plot holes and unsavory writing decisions about his character in the books nonexistent.

However, the context of humanoids with animal features in this show relates to a racial subplot that was handled like SHIT. This isn't against you anon, but to have Sun read and idolize a monkey-humanoid entity like the OG Sun Wukong with this context in mind would raise A LOT of issues.

For example, the author of that book (spoilers) would not possibly exist pre-cleansing where humanoids with animal features cannot be found (that's after the global boom boom), so the author would be writing an epic with very racist ideologies in the context of racism in Remnant (comparing Faunus to animals is racist). And uh, yeah.

Please understand that I am highly biased against the show's many decisions involving its writing, but I did very much enjoy its 3 beginning volumes, where the writing and choreography were slightly better and could be excused as "the starting point" of something greater. Hell, that was why RWBY even got some relevancy in Japan and China with the two official mangas, manga anthropologies, game crossovers, and dubs. But I wouldn't recommend it to you, who want to experience a good Sun Wukong-inspired character.

That being said, please make your own decisions if you decide to check RWBY out. I recommend watching Volumes 1-3, or at the very least a famous fight scene between Sun and an antagonist, Roman Torchwick, here.

I wish you the best of luck, and I'm sorry if this answer is lackluster due to my own gripes with this show.

[topconfessions]

You are so real for saying the thing about the main reason TOP was chosen for the dearmoon crew. Im not throwing shade. It is was it is. The man doesnt get enough credit for his networking skill. Dare I say he is naturally better at the game than most people would think. Everything about his personality just magically aligns to create this image of warm-on-the-inside cool guy which is already appealing to most people, which I believe he really is but to a much more exaggerated degree in the case of stage image. The thing is, people expect him to be this wild card so even its just him loosen up a bit its already a game changer. He effortlessly charms everyone that way. I think he definitely awares of this power and knows how to use it well. And thats just the tip of the iceberg. Unlike SR, TOP is lucky his main interest is arts. Artist circle has always been full of elites and old money. These guys know how to keep their things behind the curtain. And idk if most fans are aware it, unlike what TOPs trying to do give off that aloof vibe, he care a great deal of what others thing of him. With dearmoon, he definitely has good intentions but it seems lacking self-awareness the way he put it as “for greater cause”, especially when we also have a space-dedicated youtuber on the same crew. Tbh the way I see it, dearmoon is a space business trip lol. TOP just happen to tick all the boxes they have in terms of needing someone with big social influence.

Thank you so much! yes, I had to keep it a 100 and call it for what it is. If top never knew that billionaire or made a close friendship he would never ever be a part of something like this cause technically if we're following merits it should be GD instead of him but TOP is more cultured, wordly and sopthsticated than everyone else in BB by default cause he expanded his interests in mature and lucrative things that he knew would keep him paid for life and elevated. His networking through the art and high art industry paid dividends for him and I'm a little upset for GD not reaching that level himself....He really doesn't get enough credit but at the same time, TOP is seen as so cool and smart that nobody feels the need to credit or praise him cause it's innate and he got it like that LOL.

Yes, exactly. You get what I am saying, TOP picked a lucrative and highly esteemed hobby that has done more for him than he has done for it, but top gives the illusion he has done a lot for the industry. Seungri got wrapped up in the maknae curse of not outgrowing his idol and agency duties of picking activites and business ventures where you yourself have to work overtime to exert physical involvement and be the hype for your product. Seungri played checkers and TOP Played chess, you don't see top involving himself in activities and deals that require him being in public pandering, putting in a lot of work and literal socializing to make his projects a hit like the aori ramen (I may have gotten the name wrong) or burning sun. Burning sun was the worse investment SR ever made and he had to over involve himself in it and overexert himself meanwhile TOP, I mean this nicely, picks hobbies he can be physically lazy in that he already has great interest in that is easy to finnesse if you know what you're doing. what top does despite his immense passion for it, is no different than what a typical tumblr user who loves art just as much as him does. He just incorporates it into his personal and professional life with consistency and the aura of being a master at what he knows.

Also, yes, top knows what he's doing. TOP has excessive spending habits and loves a lavish lifestyle now. He knew and knows he needs an interest / side career that can keep that lucrative income in his pocket. Art is old money and new money combined, the most powerful people in the world are invested in art or have some inclination to it. Seungri took a carrie bradshaw ignorant route and involved himself with ventures that don't pay at all and don't keep your money long, sigh. Good for top though. honestly, if I ever dated an older man or someone of means, I would rush straight to the art scene and snag a man LOL. Sothebys auction house baby, here I come. I'm still waiting for him to do more work with Sothebys but it seems on a stand still and a one time thing back then. TOP needs to get his wine into another business that sells all sorts of wine and not just be a self seller of it, he's too big for that. Also, although it's criminal, you can launder and store money through expensive paintings so we never know if top is the tax evading type to do that.

another thing: I think top avoids relationships at least that serious and mature like the plague cause he knows he wouldn't have the freedom and room to be fully focused on the art world and his wine if he was with someone. this sounds mean but dating is like being a parent to an adult you are having sexual / romantic relations with. I know thats a weird analogy but it is. Especially with top dating the younger girls. it's a responsibility and you can't really rise in the art world with a hanger on unless it's a woman who has her own wealth and interests or is from the same industry.

Basically. He fit what they were looking for and he had great influence but wasn't TOO overhyped or like craze worthy i.e a bts guy that would have distracted from the mission itself. The billionaire chose well in picking top. Yeah, this is honestly just a pleasure cruise and space business trip for experimenting. It's not for any charitable cause or specfic Nasa research, you know how top is, he has to verbally elevate things to make it grander than what it is LOL.

goodluck to top and I hope he has fun this will breathe new life into him for sure. He will accomplish something many humans never have. This is what he needed to rehab and repair his image. Once he does this space mission he will no doubt have the weed scandal 100% behind him especially if he can capitalize off of it more. I hope he continues working on that album too.