#if anyone knows media with these kind of themes... which are very specific... and probably for the second one itd be impossible to

[glypt0don]

So, this is quite a rant. You can skip to the bottom, if you want to know my opinion but don't want to read that much... But I worked hard on it and I think it's important, so it would make me very happy if you read through the whole text.

So this fits into something I wanted to post about anyway: a broader theme of why do we frame things as wars? Like, why is it culture war, specifically. First I liked the concept, I thought it described something quite complicated reasonably easily. But I pondered on it a bit more and I think there's more going on.

It's pretty trivial, that most societies went through a huge change over the last half century. It's not just feminism. I could make a whole list of things we as a people took on. Anti-racism and civil rights, religious acceptance, global trade, reinterpreting the meaning of peace, connecting the word through the world-wide web, etc. We ( or, as I am barely an adult and have no idea how to change things for the better, I should say you, or maybe chat) decided it was time for change, so change came. You brought it about.

And I agree. Change WAS and IS necessary. What that change should entail, well, we all have our ideas, right? And they have the ugly tendency to differ from each other. The question then is, how do we coincide our contradictory ideas on society? The answer is both worrying and very important.

To be fair, our race doesn't have a great track record on solving these kinds of issues. I dug into my historical knowledge, since, you know, those who don't learn from it, repeat it... The only thing I can compare to what's happening today would be the Reformation (which probably says a lot about my historical knowledge). That's the only time I know, where societal assumptions were altered so much in such a short time. That time it was specifically about the Catholic church (if you don't know, what I'm talking about, you really should, so Google it), and the result was a series of wars, that ultimately may have wiped out about a fifth of Europes population. The wars were of course led by powerful men, who capitalised on the divide to further their own goals.

As back then, now too, we can't rely on institutions to tame the public. Many media and political identities have a direct interest in polarising society. Because that's what happens. All these contentious issues about gender, class, or foreign policy become dividing lines between folks who are supposed to be parts of the same whole (call it community, state, nation or humanity, depending on how wide you can think). You know, how it works, probably saw it a few times, whatever your interests are. It's literally everywhere! We fight it out with the perceived enemy of the week sometimes, when there is an election, something notable happens, or it's simply Pride Month. Then everyone goes back to their respective corners, where they vehemently agree with themselves. We don't talk a lot, just throw words at each other, like Buggs Bunny, playing tennis with a dynamite.

I should say, this post is a notable and refreshing outlier. Thanks, @trans-androgyne , for starting a discussion for a change!

I know, it's a bit like nuclear armament. You can't just stop, because THEY won't, and then they win, and you can't allow that. It's life and death! And I don't have some magic pill to make it all go right, or believe me, I wouldn't sit here, typing this out at 3 in the morning Central European Time. But let me propose this: don't call it a war! Neither culture war, nor gender war, nor anything like that. Because this isn't a war. Just ask anyone in the middle east! They can tell you, what is war, and THIS IS NOT IT! And also, because it may not be guns and destruction yet, but nothing guarantees, that it stays that way. We already had multiple attempted takeovers of capital buildings since this cursed decade began, because our social reality became so fragmented, that you can't accept the results of a popular election anymore. That should raise alarm bells. I know it does, but it can be much worse! Learn from history, do not repeat it! Hit the Wiki page on the Huguenot war! On the siege of Magdeburg. Or, if that's not your cup of tea, watch Civil War! I genuinely think it's the best movie of the year.

Call it Social Discourse! That sounds much more manageable, doesn't it? Or you can come up with something else, as long as it isn't some warmongering bullshit. And maybe the next time you meet someone with sexist, homophobic, racist, or maybe radical left and anarchistic views (whatever you're opposing), don't attack them with your words! Those aren't weapons. Try to talk to them instead! Try talking about feelings! Listen to theirs, make them understand yours! I say feelings, because you both have those. Try finding a common ground, however small, and build up from there. Like Minecraft Skyblock. It can be hard in a challenging way, instead of making you want to shoot yourself in the head. Remember, you aren't fighting a war. You are having a discourse.

All of it is to say, the world and society are changing, wether you like it or not, and we have to change with it, to survive. That is the simple fact. If you call that change a war, that's just gonna make the whole thing unnecessarily painful for everyone involved.

This was sociopolitical advice from a giant armadillo.

Genuinely, what happened to “feminism is for everyone”?

That’s the feminism I grew up with: encouraging people to recognize that fighting sexism and restrictive gender roles helps folks of every gender. We’d push back on the idea that feminists hate men, pointing to inclusive feminist literature and how many men are feminists.

Now, there are so many people insisting that the solution to patriarchy is to openly hate and ostracize men no matter what. Why? What is the benefit? It’s certainly not effective in fighting oppressive structures to exclude half the population from your cause on the basis of immutable traits. It may feel cathartic to say horrible things about men and try to punish them for your frustrations with patriarchy. But the only actual effect I see is the increasing right-wing radicalization of young men, who are being told that the left hates them for the way they were born and presented with an abundance of proof that it’s true.

Why are we going back to treating men and women as different species? It doesn’t fix things to say “well women are the good gender and men are the bad one” this time. If you sincerely want to dismantle sexism, you’re going to have to unpack and let go of all sex and gender essentialism—even that which considers women inherently pure and men inherently immoral.

[funniestbusiness]

Genshin Impact: The Magnus Archives AU

or How to Mix Media With Wildly Different Vibes Because They Have This One Thing in Common

OK SO

You wanted to know! There's an audience for my thoughts! I shall inflict them upon you!

So we have the Archons in Genshin, inflicting benevolent or neutral concepts upon the world. We have the Fears in TMA, inflicting, well, fears upon the world.

*approaches blender*

(Be warned, this is probably rather superficial, no deep character analysis here, literally just "Which Archon could be which Fear?" Also, I'll use the Archons' common names because I like them more, except for Focalors for obvious reasons)

1. Venti - The Vast

Well, first of all, it fits elementally, but that alone does not make a Fear. Venti's major topics are those of being untethered, lost, small in comparison to everything. The thing is, he's not inflicting those on anyone, unless him abandoning Mondstadt counts. For the time being, let's consider this to be enough.

2. Zhongli - The Buried

In comparison, this one is easy. There has been very literal use of stone and earth to bury his enemies (just ask Osial). The Buried's more metaphorical manifestation are obligation and debt, especially financial debt, and the God of Contracts and Mora seems tailor-made for the position.

(We also have a rather obvious pick for a devoted avatar - Ningguang)

3. Ei - The Lonely or The End

A very strong case can be made for both.

The Lonely: She closed off the country and divided its people, abandoned Kunikuzushi and eagerly isolated even herself.

The End: She started the Vision Hunt, where deaths of ambitions metaphorically or literally meant deaths of the people themselves, chased the kind of eternity that is identical to death in its stillness, and is famous for how her Musou no Hitotachi is an unavoidable strike.

I like The End more, but take your pick!

4. Nahida - The Eye

Another easy one. It's knowledge, knowledge, desire for knowledge all the way down. Additionally, through the Akasha Terminal, she was able to execute surveillance, and currently is capable of reading thoughts. And yes, we have an archon who may not want to ever execute their power maliciously - but who definitely could.

Being assigned the colour green is only a nice bonus :D

(Two avatars quickly come to mind - Alhaitham and Cyno. I want to see them and/or Nahida "ceaseless watcher"ing someone. Badly.)

5. Focalors - The Web or The Stranger (with Furina as an avatar)

See, this gets complicated because this duo leans in different directions. Focalors herself is more of The Web, masterminding a grandiose plan to deceive Celestia, for which Furina would need to deceive all of Fontaine, spinning a lie for hundreds of years. But the fact that she's specifically an imposter, together with the general theatre and performance theme, brings Furina closer to The Stranger. You could say it's now the fear of "archons, but not quite" instead of "humans, but not quite", hehe.

(For either Fear, I feel like Arlecchino is a good avatar candidate? Jury's still out on how many layers there are to her)

Murata would likely be The Slaughter or possibly The Desolation, and the Tsaritsa could of course be The Web but I have no idea at this point.

Finally, we have another divine being in Teyvat who deserves an Entity of their own. I decided to get a little edgy with it~

SPOILERS FOR MAG 134 AND BEYOND

6. Neuvillette - The Extinction

...or is he?

He could have been, that much is true. He could let the people of Fontaine be eliminated due to "their sin" (at best becoming Oceanid hiveminds and at worst vanishing entirely) and Fontaine itself be destroyed in a catastrophic flood.

Which he did not do - the only thing he wants to eliminate is Celestia.

And Celestia itself is much more realised as The Extinction. It has once laid waste to the world order, replacing the inhabitants with humans, and later, repeated this on a smaller scale, casting down environment-warping Divine Nails and destroying civilizations it deemed full of hubris.

If Neuvillete is Extinction, he only is, for lack of a more elegant way to say it, their personal Extinction.

(Also he just doesn't go with The Vast, he has no vibes of it beyond his element. Even The Eye fits better)

So, here are my thoughts on this AU! Feel fre to add (please do add). I currently have no other avatar ideas in mind other than Childe being very obviously Slaughter-coded.

People who expressed their interest (thank you SO MUCH for enabling me): @hawk-in-a-tree @smokinghotcrow @ninthfeather @paxoculi @thejoespooky

[lilith-vodkaaunt-of-demons]

So I've been listening to a lot of music from my childhood recently, and that inevitably lead me to listening to The Pillows, a great Japanese Alt Rock Band that was pretty big in the late 90s, early 2000s (iirc.) They produced most of, if not the entire OST of cult classic anime FOOLY COOLY or FLCL.

FLCL is, in my opinion, an anime everyone should watch at least once, and imo it's a very good litmus test for whether or not a person has any kind of media literacy and is able to pick out themes and stuff.

I say all this as basically the long way of saying I listened to a song I really liked when I was younger that was also part of the OST of an Anime I really liked when I was younger and so I watched it all over again today, and now I'm gonna make it your problem.

So anyone with any kind of media literacy can tell you that the major theme of FLCL is growing up, and anyone with decent media literacy can tell you that on the flipside the actual theme of FLCL is "The most immature thing you can do is grow up too fast." With a secondary theme being "Adults will use maturity to manipulate you."

But what if I told you there's a secret, third theme, and it actually changes who the main character of the show is, and it's stated in the opening scene of the first episode, with the REAL main character?

So the show opens on Naota and Samemija Mamimi, immediately establishing Naota and Mamimi's very codependent relationship, with Naota using Mamimi to feel more mature than he actually is, and Mamimi using Naota as a rebound and stand in for his older brother Tasuku, who moved to America to pursue a career in Baseball, which has burned both Naota and Mamimi in different ways.

This is also the establishing shot for the actual theme of the show. In a voice over, Naota explains that nothing amazing ever happens in the town of Mabase, directly after Mamimi explains to him that if she were ever to "Overflow" something amazing would probably happen.

Naota's claims of nothing amazing ever happening in Mabase are, of course, undercut by the antics of the entirety of FLCL, but, as an itty bitty Egg living in a small, nowhere town in Kansas USA, and even later, as a Trans Woman, in a different, but still very much the same Small, Nowhere Town in Kansas USA, the specific type of Ennui Naota feels is well known to those who live in Small, Nowhere towns across the globe.

It's the kind of apathy that lives and thrives in small communities that revile change. It is, in its truest form, Stagnation, and it is what FLCL is really about. Stagnation is the Enemy of Maturity. And that is why Mamimi is the true protagonist of FLCL.

Mamimi has the most to gain from holding onto the past, the most to gain from nothing ever changing. And she fights against it with all her strength, to the point that she'd rather die (or have the world destroyed) than have them change. When Naota manages to "Swing The Bat" and stop the bomb heading for Mabase, she's disappointed, showing that she's tired of the life she's got, but not so much yet that she's willing to take her life herself.

Mamimi yearns for Stagnation. Yearns for the past, when things were better. We never see what Mamimi's home life is like, to the point that there is no credible evidence as to whether or not she's homeless. What we do know is that she's incredibly poor, bullied, and alone, and for at least some of that, it didn't used to be that way. She used to have Tasuku, or Ta-kun, she used to not be bullied, she may have even had a good relationship with her parents, or a home to go to.

But things keep changing. Tasuku left, people look down on her, Naota is maturing, meanwhile she's stuck in the past, and is fighting to stay there...until she can't anymore. Naota is no longer satisfied with being a stand-in for his older brother, she's going to need a job to support herself, and Tasuku isn't coming back.

Through out all of this, there is a theme of Mamimi taking pictures, hinting that even she, in fact, has dreams of the future. Which does culminate in the ending, of Mamimi leaving Mabase to become a Photographer, her picture of Naota holding Haruko's Rickenbacker 4001 is even seen in the magazine the anime is named after, Fooly Coolly.

Mamimi is the secret protagonist of FLCL because she embodies the secret theme of the show, that Stagnation, never growing beyond the fence posts of your backyard, is truly the enemy of Maturity. Throughout the show, all the children spend their time trying to be more mature than they are, while Mamimi is seen as having never matured despite actually, secretly, being more mature than all of them, but wishing she didn't have to be. Throughout the show, she is abandoned, belittled, and bullied, and it isn't until the very end of the show that she breaks, feeding the technology of all the people who wronged her to Core Ta-kun. Even trying to stop Core Ta-kun from eating the truck of the Friend Trio because they didn't do anything to her. Then she escapes. She breaks the confines of Mabase, and goes on to become a Photographer. Was she successful? Was she happy? We'll likely never know, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is she broke free.

[atotalpitch]

Ohhh I have a headcanon question (...again, lol). If the Bellas were to read fanfiction, what would be their go-to tag be?? (eg. found family, enemies to lovers, hurt/no comfort etc)

ooo i like this one! ty for asking (once again /pos) . this basically turned into a list of every au to exist but. whatever. they like aus okay.

Beca: tbh i feel like she would intentionally find the worst (i, by no means, intend to offend anyone with that) smut fics and laugh at them. on the other hand, her inner teen angst would probably take over and she'd read awfully angsty stuff. like Whump / dd:dne level shit. but also found family fluff?? depends on the day. her top tags are probably Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Enemies to Lovers (even though she'd never admit to any of them willingly)

Chloe: Fake Dating AU (with no further explanation, sorry). mostly she doesn't necessarily search for specific tags, just scrolls through an entire fandom/ship/character tag and reads whatever's interesting enough. deep deep down she does have a thing for Vampire AUs. lord knows why. also maybe kinda Slowburn?? she absolutely will sit down and read fifty chapters of insanely gut wrenching heart break and then sob over it for days even if it has a happy ending. Aubrey: Canon Divergent AU. or just AUs in general (childhood friends, soulmates.. yk whatever there is) i think. she likes to see authors put their own twists into what actually happened. also maybe because her favourite ships and characters always get ruined by whoever's behind the actual media,,, but that's like. totally unrelated. Stacie: High School AU. do you guys see the vision here?? because i don't know how to explain it in coherent words. but she's all for the teen drama. (later in life) on very random occasions she also reads Family Fluff because it reminds her of Bella and she loves Bella. Amy: she finds the most disturbing, explicit tags known to mankind. Improper Use Of Eyesocket? Creating a New Hole? Watersports? yeah. those. and worse. nobody knows how she's even able to read them. Emily: Found Family, Fluff, Light Angst, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort (which she often mistakes for hurt/no comfort and regrets it for months after). she LOVES fluff and all the mushy gushy stuff. but also kinda similarly to Chloe, she can get lost in an intense Slowburn for a while. and cry about it after she finishes. Flo: she absolutely reads Smut. dirty mf. if not smut then probably Found Family as well (seems to be a common theme with them all). Firefighter AUs are also high up on her list for some reason?? i mean i don't blame her Cynthia Rose: i feel like if i went with how her character is (sadly) portrayed in the movies, then Lesbian Sex would be the obvious answer. but i feel like she'd be more of a Marriage / Wedding kinda girl. she's in love with the idea of making a huge deal out of it to show everyone how much you care about someone and spending your life with them. Lilly: can she read?? does she know the concept of fanfiction??? questions that will forever go unanswered. no, but seriously though she'd read the most odd-yet-normal shit (eg. Fluff with a side of Murder) Ashley: Childhood Friends to Lovers, i don't know how to elaborate further. she just gives off that vibe. if we go deeper into her search history though there are some very intense Hurt/Comfort fics from her early to late teens Jessica: she's absolutely one of those crazy readers who will love the most desperate Whump fics ever on one day, then completely flip to Tooth Rotting Fluff on the other. it very much depends on her mood, mental wellbeing and whether she's angry at the world or not. most of the time not. so she just reads Fluff like 24/7, not that she'd tell anyone. (except Ashley, but that doesn't even count) this was kind of a difficult one because i blacked out the second i tried to think about what tags are out there, but i hope it was up to expectations 🫡

[chainsofaether]

Is your character inspired by, or takes inspiration from, any kind of existing media? Is it because of a character, trope, setting or other aspects of the story/media you vibed with? How have you adapted that media to make your character yours?

Oh look a question I can easily answer if I just rant. I really want to rant, but I'll try not to.

I can't say I don't take any inspiration from existing media because I'm not some font of infinite creativity disconnected from the world. Neat as that might be. But I can say I don't really take from anywhere specifically.

I consume a lot less media then I once did. Don't read as much, watch fewer shows. Actually what do I do? Mmm something to think about. Lots of video games I guess.

So media is a thing and pressured I could probably point at things? But more I think it tropes and themes I pull from. But getting more specific to Nyxathe, and maybe Nexa.

So Nyxathe's one big thing is Apotheosis. I can hardly tell you were I got caught up on that from specifically but I've found myself increasingly annoyed by the near constant portrayal as godhood as a bad thing. Which isn't to say I don't understand, I do very much. Still I've like to see the other side of it, if it exists.

So much so I started building a little, not so little, world where I can create stories for the very topic. Yay world building, but that's mildly off topic.

Maybe I should talk about that someday, but for now back on topic.

So there's different motivations behind wanting to be a god. Nyxathe isn't so emotionally devoid that it is purely part of just wanting to understand. Part yes, not completely. Instead Nyxathe is a deeply traumatized individual that saw a god being and got in to the thought that maybe with that kind of power things could have been different. If nothing else she could do better.

Is she right? Probably not. Who knows if she can even succeed. Still she'll peruse personal power until someone or something stops her.

That drags us to another topic. Corruption/Monsters. In Nyxathe case ties heavily in to her humanity. How far can she take her core goal without becoming a monster? To this point in time I don't think anyone could call Nyxathe more then obsessed, certainly not a monster. But Nyx is definitely corrupted by her obsession. The further she takes her research the more she starts to find the limits of ethical research. It would be really nice if she could just take an animal and do a few things to test a few theories. Or better yet a person.

But in spite of where her thoughts take her she hasn't crossed that line. Yet. Considering her personality I think it's nearly inevitable she crosses that line. Like taking our dear Angel's character Anna. Have I mentioned I love Anna? Anyway Nyx's horror about Anna would last all of a few minutes till she realized how convenient Anna's way of doing things are, and how much more power comes from that route. Given Anna would almost certainly just murder her before she got that far, so not a meeting to be I think.

Still that's lots about dark talk about a character who is otherwise pretty nice to be around. Who's pretty ethical despite how much advantage is her not being. With the right influence she could even solidify her moral stance on research.

That I think displays my real interest in the theme/idea of corruption. Least the mental side of it. The lack of inevitably in it. Few characters/people are doomed from the start. It's a life time of situation and events that lead them. Exploration of that is pretty interesting.

Of course we have the physical side of that. That was decidedly not something I was thinking about when I made Yrys. That's much more a new thing thanks to a few things I played and had a very big 'huh, that's pretty interesting' in such a strong way I needed to explore it. So I came back and start looking at how it could apply to Yrys turned Nyxathe.

Which, very easy. Super easy. Nyxathe's whole manipulation of corporeal aether, particularly her own, was such an obvious avenue to physical corruption. Yay body horror?

Okay. Well this turned in to lots of rambling. Less ranting though so that's good. I don't really want to get in to real world stuff on here no matter how much It shapes my thoughts. I didn't touch on Nexa at all. Rip but this was getting long. One day I'll sit down and do stuff for my catgirl. Also I tied Corruption and Monsters together, and I think that's a mistake, or limiting anyway. But if I go back and rewrite all of it will end up twice as long. Plus I need to sit and really think about that now. Another post maybe.

Anyway thank you Sea for the ask. I've been very quiet for a while now. I'll see about slowly ramping back up now that I don't feel so bleh.

[orangechickenpillow]

Hello, fellow enjoyer of BG3/Prospect/Arcane/The Ghoul Boys/TAD/WWDITS/probably other things I've yet to discover because you clearly have stellar taste in media! ✨

I wanted to throw an idea at you that has been rotting my brain: TAD songs for BG3 characters.

"Inkpot Gods" simply IS Wyll and Karlach. "The Old Witch Sleep and The Good Man Grace" might seem the obvious choice for Astarion but I would like to make an argument that "Farewell Wanderlust" is even better. "The Horror and The Wild" is Karlach's all on her own. "Elsa's Song" is giving Gale for some reason? Unsure why.

Anyway, sorry for the random long-ish ask. But what do you think? :D

Ahhhh thank you so much. I've seen you in my notifs and am happy to report that we're officially best friends now <3

Thank you so much for throwing this idea at me holy shit???? I went back and listened to all three TAD albums specifically to answer this, so.... yeah, we're definitely best friends.

I'm loving what you've got so far -- Inkpot Gods works so perfectly for the Avernus duo, and honestly could be the theme song for bg3 in general. Jesus christ, what a song, am I right. Farewell wanderlust is sooooo Astarion I'm going to lose my mind about it I mean be totally normal. Also I feel like it fits Lae'zel really well too. I actually found that a lot of songs I liked for Astarion worked for Lae just as well. Interesting. Anyway, during my trillionth re-listen to the TAD albums here are the notes I took on my phone lmao:

Love Run for Wyll. The wholesome, strong, hopefulness this song radiates fits him so well. It's also really fucking romantic, and so is he.

I also think that Two Minutes is fitting for him. That whole vibe of an abandoned child, of someone who is so tired and beaten down by life but still manages to keep going despite it all. I really adore Wyll, and the more romantic TAD songs fit him perfectly.

I love Wild Blue Yonder for Karlach. It's silly but heartfelt, and so full of yearning. It has a light approach to life while still acknowledging how hard things can be, and that's just so Karlach. Also, "We don't know what's out there -- could be ghosts or monsters, or a robot vampire, I don't know" sounds like something she would say lol

You're so right about The Horror and the Wild. That's just. Karlach and Gortash. "Give me back my heart you wingless thing" are you fucking kidding me right now, I'm going to pull a Karlach and explode.

Also I think The Horror and the Wild fits Astarion equally well. I'll always yammer on about how Astarion and Karlach are two sides of the same coin, and this song is a great representation of that. "You passed your fingers through my hair and called me child -- witness me, old man, I am the wild" -- Astarion and Cazador. Please send help, I am ill over this and will not be recovering.

"Think of all the horrors that I promised you I'd bring" Karlach. Astarion. Shadowheart. Lae'zel. Literally help me.

Blossoms for Gale. It's a very intense song, but it's also weary. It's strong but desperate, yet determined. I also think it fits him as the one who would be leading the group if Tav wasn't around. It's a somber and dramatic song, but it's ultimately fueled by tender love. Sound like anyone else we know?

Similarly to you pairing him with Elsa's Song (which I love btw), I think The Rockrose and the Thistle is VERY Gale (and, dare I say, bloodweave? The singer begging to die and the other person "sewing" them back together??? Hello?????) Just like the more romantic songs fit Wyll, the quieter, more subdued songs fit Gale. I think those songs really capture desperation in its most potent form, and Gale is kind of like the human version of that (sorry Gale)

Okay, New York Torch Song could be any of the ladies. Literally any of them. It's perfect. This one also makes me think of Karlach and Wyll.

I adore That Unwanted Animal for Astarion. The helplessness paired with the subtle sense of revenge and violence. The sexual tones throughout. The lack of romance.

I like The Old Witch Sleep and the Good Man Grace for Astarion, and I also really like it for Lae'zel. Her whole being raised by a cult thing really aligns with the vibe of the song -- being told that you're one thing and having to fight to be anything else, the desperation of feeling like you have no purpose. Fighting it all and coming out on top anyway. The steady increase in the intensity of the song representing getting your power back. It's so herrrrrr

King fits her well too. This song is so badass. I think it represents the soldier archetype well. It's cool, she's cool, it's perfect.

Pray makes me think of Shadowheart. Obviously the religious tone of the song fits her well, but also its pure spite. It's really giving "abandoned daughter" vibes, which is perfect for her. Also, "honey I'm no man, I'm what's left when children go to war" are you fucking kidding me.

Anywayyyyy, this was long, yikes. I have a lot of Thoughts as you can see. Thank you SO much for letting me yap about two of the things I love very much and might be obsessed with, who knows. I'll end by officially asking for your hand in marriage <3

[valeriefauxnom]

Interesting(?) Corollary on Aroarce!Euden

So, I've kinda already dug up the more obvious scenes that hint that Euden seemed to be Aroace (as seen here if you missed it).

But as I was spamming Dragalia to my friend today, I found another thing that I think is an interesting addition to this previous evidence.

Specifically, Orion's stories. His base form doesn't exactly give out any flags, aside from his continuing absolute blind spot re. romance...

...But his Valentine's alt has an interesting line in it indeed.

The exchange is as follows:

Again, pretty innocent. Euden thinks he's 'too young' essentially, to be worrying about that, etc. Fair enough.

But this concept seems to be echoed again all the way later in Summer Mym's story.

I'll stress the 'not mature enough to understand what it means to be in love' part for this one.

Here's where it gets hypothetical, but to me, it almost comes across as if Euden, growing up, has learned to associate 'romantic love' with 'maturity' in some fashion. It might stand to reason: kids are often told that, when they see couples behaving certain ways that are weird to them, etc, 'you'll understand when you're older/an adult/when you find that special someone/etc.' So child!Euden might have had a similar moment or three, and associated that romantic love=maturity.

The mere omnipresence of romance as a major theme in society probably doesn't help to dissuade the notion that it's the 'normal' state in the world, and that he is the weird one as he grew up to never having that spark of 'oh now I get romantic love'. Combined with the aforementioned connection he's made, Euden might believe that since he still doesn't feel it, it means he's not mature/too young.

Combined with his other comments over the years like flat-out stating to Naveed he doesn't understand the kind of love he's talking about (romantic) to Malora's story where he says "(romantic love/'capturing someone's affections') [is] just not the kind of thing [he] think about", Euden is consistent on the notion that he just flat out doesn't understand what people mean and feel regarding romance and the corresponding love.

At the very most, he can echo some of the trope sentiments people commonly say word-for-word in media, but even that kinda reinforces that he can at best throw out the most common tropes when trying to come up with what 'romantic love' is: this fanciful 'love at first sight' devotion where one puts absolutely everything about their partners ahead of anything else.

Even then, he doesn't mean a word of it and doesn't really understand why Elisanne is acting all weird about it, because he understands it was an act, she knows that, why would anyone react to having that spoke to them? He was just mindlessly repeating tropes from romance books to upset a dumb fiend. At most, he could see why it was uncomfortable - because it is uncomfortable having that kind of stuff professed to you when you don't like someone, which Euden would perceive Elly as feeling (Heck, he doesn't even really know Elisanne is big into romance novels, thinking 'it's not like her'). In fact, he more bases this comment on making her uncomfortable from a religious sense with the whole 'undying love of Ilia' thing she's forsworn above all else.

So yeah. Valentine's Orion provided an interesting prequel to Summer Mym's story that I felt added a new little layer of elaboration about what Euden thinks of love. All in all, it's surprising just how consistent they were in the messaging some of Euden's thoughts regarding romantic love and its associates.

Bonus round:

Also, apparently the dev team was being funny, and decided to add a running joke for Orion's anniversary lines that Euden just immediately starts walking away and ignoring him whenever he starts waxing poetic about love:

Which, as my friend said, "Honestly what a mood for Euden to walk away/zone out when it comes to things he doesn't experience, aka romance. If he doesn't know what it's like then it's hard to focus or even relate"

The idea of Euden just getting a glaze over his eyes and meandering off whenever somebody starts talking like this is a funny one, though!

[frayedcircus]

Whatcha thinking about rn?

i like horror, but you know what i like more than horror? what happens after the horror. what happens to the ones who survive.

an experience like that leaves you pretty messed up, especially if the events were in some way supernatural. like what are you gonna do when a demon kills all your friends? the cops show up and find you covered in blood, surrounded by bodies and you’re gonna tell them it was a demon? a monster? a ghost? there is no way they’ll believe you. and if they don’t think it was you, you’ll probably get institutionalized for telling people what really happened.

but if you choose to lie, keep the magical business a secret, you’re left with this horrible truth rotting a hole into your mind. you can reason away the events, try to forget it, but something like that will never really fully leave you. maybe you manage to block out at least the ghost parts, but those memories, that fear, will always be lingering in your subconscious. you will always, in the back of your mind, know.

and you’re suck with this. alone. everyone else who would fully believe you is dead. anyone you tell might apprehensively listen to your story, but they can’t fully believe you. how could they? they weren’t there. they didn’t see it all. but you did. only you did. you’re alone in this truth, no one to tell, no one to talk to who would really listen.

it’s a special kind of loneliness, the isolation that comes with such a burning secret.

(tma the lonely tma the lonely???? i could talk a lot most abt how this ties in specifically with the lonely from the magnus archives)

the horrors you experienced cast a shadow over your whole life, your whole future. what’s the point of anything if there are demons and monsters and horrible evil things beyond mortal human powers? college certainly seems insignificant in the face of an eternally hungry evil.

it’s interesting to see how traces of these themes show up in media that isn’t horror as well. children’s media where the teen main character discovers another world? so often in those stories, keeping this discovery a secret from their family and the rest of the world is a major point of distress. We see them bonding with people in this new world, but when they inevitably have to return to their own dimension, of course it’s so much harder for them to connect with their peers or participate in normal activities. befriending jessica seems a lot less significant now that you’ll never be able to share with her this place that is so important to you. history class or ballet lessons dont seem so useful when you’re learning to cast spells with your new fairy friends.

in more recent media(i’m thinking of two specific cartoons that i won’t name bc spoilers), the main characters share a lot more with their family and friends, and they’re mainly very supportive and loving which i find really nice. it helps the main character feel grounded in their own world and less isolated.

anyway back to horror movies, so many of them cut off right after the “final girl” is saved, which i think is a real shame. i knowww i know the main plot is over and the after stuff isn’t really necessary but MAN is it interesting. show me the survivor going back to school and not being able to find words for what happened when someone asks. show me them debating how much to tell their family and friends. show me them trying to return to normal and ignore how everything feels hollow. show me them struggling and healing and falling apart. pls and ty.

(also like two hours ago i saw a guy with the LONGEST pair of wireless earbuds i’ve ever seen and i’m still reeling from how strange they looked)

[strangestcase]

Idk if you’ve posted about this or not, but why do you dislike tgs/tgs fans? This isn’t even me questioning you btw, they have been proving themselves to be insufferable…

I was honestly just wondering if there was something I don’t know about atp…

I don’t like the comic for a variety of reasons which are mostly subjective (samey designs, too much focus on romance, very casual but poignant antiblackness, very casual but poignant misogyny, me not liking how Hyde and Frankenstein’s Monster look) but the main one is that it’s influenced the perception of Jekyll and Hyde online for the worse. It kind of started a “trend” of infantilizing Hyde to various degrees, sometimes to the point of depicting him as a straight up child or doubting he has adult capabilities which reeks of ableism and I honestly can’t stand.

Piggybacking on to that, yes, the fans are indeed insufferable, with very few exceptions (and thank god for them!). Part of it might be that this is a comic for thirteen year olds and most fans are teenagers that don’t know better, but the adults have no excuse.

Back when I was in the fandom I couldn’t criticize a plot point I didn’t like or a scene I felt fell flat without them descending upon me all like “well this comic takes TIME and EFFORT to do so DON’T insult it” or calling me names… eventually I decided to distance myself from it and after looking back on the fandom experience I realized we really gave a comic for thirteen year olds a chokehold on fannish Mr. Hyde depictions.

So long story short I just feel like this comic, regardless of how anyone personally feels about it, shouldn’t be 90% of the Jekyll and Hyde tags by volume (I’m probably exaggerating), but the same I would say of literally any adaptation, even those I like or feel neutral about. It’s just that this one specifically uses some cutesy design cues and clichey tropes I dislike (specially when applied to derivative media). It’s less the content and how it is presented and pushed to the rest of Jekyll and Hyde themed online spaces, awful fandom aside.

[writer-haley-e]

I saw some other people doing a WIP questionnaire and I decided to join in and do it. No one tagged me to do this, I’m just doing it cause I want to.

I’m answering for my NaNoWriMo WIP (camp nanowrimo’s tomorrow! Anyone else participating?) which is a post-apocalyptic tragic fantasy where magic was released into the world causing mass death across the world. The MC, Nia, takes in a small horde of children and struggles to keep them fed and cared for while they’re also dealing with a magical world they know nothing about.

Now onto the questions:

1. What was the first part of your WIP that you created?

I first created the ending, which I can’t say without spoiling the story. But it’s a tragedy, and I thought of the ending that makes it a tragedy before any of the characters or worldbuilding or plot.

2. If your WIP was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

I have no idea, but it’s probably be something gentle-ish that reflects the more wholesome/lighthearted bits of the story.

3. Who are your favorite characters you’ve made? Why?

I really like the main characters brother, Andy, who in draft two will be getting his own POV! I know so much more about his character than what’s currently written into the story and I love him so much haha. He’s the kind of guy who always has snacks on him, though you probably won’t notice until he starts eating them. He’s got a girlfriend and baby daughter who he’s so sweet with and I will definitely be showing more of their relationship when I add in his POV to the story. Hes an extrovert who loves to make friends with as many people as he can, and is very ambitious. He does what he can to help others, and despite some of the things he does in the story and before it, he’s a pretty good guy.

I also love two of the child characters that the main character is taking care of, too. I didn’t portray them exactly how I liked in the first draft and will be fixing that in the rewrite. I love who I’m intending them to be haha. Theyre five year old twins, named Anna and Adam, and they’re pretty much always seen beside each other. Most likely because of anxiety after losing all the rest of their family outside their older sister. Anna ends up getting a power that impacts the whole end of the story and I feel bad for the weight she has to carry.

4. What other pieces of media do you think would share a fanbase for your story?

I’m not really sure about specific media’s, but people who enjoy the genres fantasy and tragedy would enjoy it, as well as post-apocalypse fans.

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your WIP?

Sticking to it to finish the first draft probably. I’m so close and I’m not letting myself put it on hiatus, especially because I really want to read the finished product. I enjoy reading my writing, but I have such a hard time finishing anything. I’m maybe 20k words away from finishing this first draft and I will get it done during camp Nanowrimo! Hopefully, at least.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

There are a handful of chickens and goats, but they’re not very interesting. Just another source of food for the characters. There are mythical creatures, who may not count as animals but are pretty cool! Not to the characters, though. The mythical creatures are just more things to fear and struggle to live alongside.

7. How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

Walking or cars, typically. It hasn’t been so long since most of the world died and the gas is still usable, so they make use of it.

8. What part of your WIP are you working on rn?

I’m about two scenes away from act 3! Probably about 20k from the end and I’m excited to get it written! It’s the part I’ve been looking forward to writing since the beginning stages of planning.

9. What aspects of your WIP do you think will draw people in?

Probably the focus on non-romantic relationships. There’s some found family as well as reconnecting with biological family and friendships and all that. The main character does not have a love story, it’s not a romance. But the connections with the other characters are very important and I hope readers will enjoy it as much as I do.

10. What are your hopes for your WIP?

I hope to get it published one day, and have some kind of audience reading it. I genuinely think it will be an amazing story once finished, and I just want a few other people to think so too.

[inkofamethyst]

January 13, 2024

LOVE when the girls (Batman and Superman) start to tussle. Like yes, the Bruce/Clark friends dynamic is cute and fun and they're totally a power couple, but the tension when they disagree is so good. Anyway some other commentary no one asked for: 1. Superman TAS should not have ended like that lol. We never even got to see Lois figure out who Clark was, never got to even see them together. The episodes were fine, but the show had at least another season in it. 2. The music in Justice League (animated) is so bland, I don't think it's live. I do appreciate when they play character themes though :) 3. JL S2 definitely improved over S1. The stories are more interesting, the writing is snappier, overall more fun. 4. In love w Shayera. Like actually. Like to the point where I would even get back into comics just to read her stuff fr.

The apology from Keyleth to Laudna in c3e81!!! "For... everything." I mean that's not particularly specific, but 1. it certainly sounded like it carried the weight of the Sun Tree and 2. if anyone out of VM was going to apologize for what happened to Laudna even if it technically wasn't quite their fault it was going to be Keyleth for sure. I don't know if she'd gotten a heartfelt apology from any of them before that. (Of course, this could just be me being hopeful. Keyleth/Matt totally could've not been insinuating that at all and I was just reading into things too deeply. I don't watch Talks Machina so I guess I'll never know for sure lol.)

Found a steampunk playlist on spotify and it's really just driving orchestral in peculiar time signatures, sometimes with the classic Hans Zimmer flair, but I do kind of adore it. Makes me feel very powerful. It's been several years since I was into the "epic"/"scorecore" genre and I'm enjoying it!

Really only a week left of break (how???). Still a few things I want to get done, but I've made decent progress on the goals.

Today I'm thankful that, on clear nights, I can see stars from my bedroom window. Not many of them (light pollution probably), but I can pick out Orion :) A bonus feature, along with the sunset views, I lucked into here which I've never had before.

Re:Dressing Up to Walk About -- sometimes it's more important to just get out and walk, and if putting a coat over some house clothes and a scarf around an unwashed face is the answer then so be it. Beats spending a full day inside a single room by a mile. [edit, next day: upvote, just got caught in a cute little snow flurry!]

Last thing: halfway through The Winter King. I still think the romance was rushed, but there's been a bit of sweetness added which did make me feel warm and fuzzy inside so, points for that. I think I prefer more of a.. tender loving care romance with dashes of angst rather than an angsty romance with dashes of TLC (but I also don't read much true romance at all, so (and I think that's the crux of it, this is a fantasy-romance, a romantasy if you will, and I think I'm learning that this is just not my genre? I don't mind romance (Geralt/Yennifer, Kaz/Inej, even Tress/whatshisface), but I think I prefer when it's kind of secondary to a more driving plotline (or maybe there are better romantasies out there idk))).

Lots of media talk today hehe

[professorspork]

For the writing game, 5, 17, 19, 94?

5. have you ever made a playlist about something you were writing as an elaborate means to procrastinate when you could have been actually writing and if yes drop a link, son

PLAYLISTS ARE NOT PROCRASTINATING I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL. I cannot link any I have made because I, uh… don't believe in streaming music services, standing by my trusty analog media is another hill I will die on… but for most projects I always end up making some sort of playlist, even if it's only ever in my head instead of iTunes.

the unique aspects of music-- the way lyrics and melody and composition come together to be greater than the sum of their parts-- is massively inspirational to me. it conveys tone and vibe and purpose; it can help me see characters in new ways or remind me of certain aspects I really want to hit in any given chapter.

it's very easy to see the playlist I made for my massive Kristanna story because the chapter titles are all from the songs in the right order. writing Newsbees has actually been a bit of an amusing mental challenge in this regard, because while the Newsies soundtrack has PLENTY for me to work with I also have lots of other songs I would normally have put in the running for chapter title status, were I not trying to stay on-theme. I did end up making a little baby playlist just for my own edification, there.

Actually, this is a fun anecdote I might as well say now: when I first started writing Newsbees, I thought that every chapter would have an epigraph of lyrics of songs from other musicals, in addition to their titles which are all taken from Newsies itself. and then I realized that this was a) excessive even for me and b) distracting, so I took them out.

17. what is your favorite line you’ve ever written?

Can't pick; my style isn't really designed for me to be able to pick.

My sentences are meandering monsters or staccato fragments, and they don't really lend themselves to picking out soundbites. that's not how my brain works. my focus is always on how a sentence works within a paragraph, how a line of dialogue furthers the scene its in, rather than making any one of them stand out. I'd like to think that means I polish all of them to equal shine, but your mileage may vary on that.

Like, if I had to pick one, it would probably be the "Emerald brings the rain" bit from send 'em howling, but the line doesn't stand on its own. The whole reason it works is because of the meticulous set-up I put in front of it, and several paragaphs of set-up followed by the punch probably doesn't meet the definition of a "line."

19. what are some books or authors that influenced your style the most?

Oh, goodness. You know, I'm not sure? I don't think my writing sounds at all like Douglas Adams but I can't think of an author I turn to more often for inspiration when I'm trying to find a novel way to convey an emotion or come up with a simile; the man just had an absolutely marvelous brain for connecting two seemingly-unrelated thoughts and turning them into the perfect metaphor. I haven't touched my H2G2 anthology or Salmon of Doubt in years, but that's the drawer I'm drawing from. Which means I'm probably actually drawing from Wodehouse, whom Adams was aping in the first place. (I have never read Wodehouse myself).

Jacob Clifton, who used to write recaps for Television Without Pity, is not a book or an author but was also massively inspirational in terms of the way I think of themes and turn phrases.

Honestly, though, I think the biggest influence on my writing lately has been other fanfic authors. I don't mean this in the terms of how certain kinds of fanfiction (like the kind i write, with all-caps titles that are song lyrics) tend to have a poetic sameyness to them and we all mutually decided that carding hands through hair and toeing off shoes are a thing-- though I'm as guilty of that as anyone-- but there are definitely specific writers I can think of whose thoughtfulness and accuracy when it comes to word choice, lyricism and cadence has affected me greatly. And I shan't name them here because then you'll all see my writing style for what it is, a clockwork automaton I've built using stripped-out parts stolen (borrowed!) from these other writers I admire and the illusion of my individuality and lone genius will be shattered.

94. do you prefer dialogue or description?

I will always be a dialogue-forward writer and consider dialogue to be the engine that actually makes the story go, and it will always be the thing I find easiest and go to first. See again-again my answer about characters affecting my style-- the way I learned to not hate description was to turn description into yet another way to write dialogue, by doing it in a character's voice.

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

[This got very long, for which I'm very sorry, there was probably a more concise way of putting all of this but I'm bad at it.] Setting aside the questions of whether Harry wants to continue with his Blank Space approach to image (basically unknowable as fans) and whether it's long-term feasible (fascinating but different conversation), I wonder whether you think it's likely to be a successful approach even in the short (ish) term. Of course, Harry is wildly successful right now and I don't want to imply that's not the case or not acknowledge it. But I do think that the attitude towards him has changed, at least in the kind of media and cultural conversations about him. Some of that is I think just due to the fact that he got incredibly popular, but I do think some of it is as a result of choices he's made about how to handle things in the last year.

I tend to think that Holivia (writ large - it, the conversation around it, etc) did in fact harm his image, but I also think a lot of people who think that think it's because Olivia is a bad person and associating with a bad person made people dislike Harry, and I disagree pretty strongly with that explanation. But reading your post about the foundations of Harry's womanizer image made me think about this question slightly differently and maybe realize something. I think you were spot on in describing Caroline Flack and Taylor Swift as two seminal PR relationships in establishing Harry's appeal with women, and I think they both played into female fantasies. Especially, I think about the fact that one of the "dates" Harry and Taylor went on (and one that I still see a lot of pictures of brought out to this day) is the one where they took Lux. I think it was in part meant to soften the womanizer image - like, Harry might sleep with a lot of women, but he's not sleeping with hot models, he likes older women, he likes kids, he's a sensitive womanizer, or a womanizer without edge, maybe?

In any event, I can see how Holivia, in theory, hit some of those themes again - older woman with kids, yes, but the idea being, Harry is okay with women who have power, women who have complicated lives, hitting the liking kids theme again and hinting at a maturity in his image. And yet, it seems to have really fallen short of communicating those themes about Harry to the public, in ways that I think also translated to his broader image. Even though I think a lot of it was rooted in misogyny, it's impossible not to reckon with the fact that Olivia did draw a lot of negative attention and criticism while dating Harry, and I think that's where the Blank Space approach maybe fell apart. A lot of narratives about Holivia sprang up, even outside of Larry circles, that kind of had the effect of "absolving" Harry of dating someone as hated as Olivia. (I find it fascinating that there is a significant story in his fanbase in which Harry is attracted to and dates women and yet Olivia specifically was a PR relationship forced onto him by her/his team.) But there was also the good boyfriend Harry story, where he was in love with Olivia and hurt by her treatment from fans. Those two strands of stories were very inconsistent, in ways that made the Blank Space, leave room for both approach very difficult, if not impossible. I think people were expecting good boyfriend Harry to more definitively signal his support for Olivia and commitment to her, but doing that in a significant or definitive way would have jeopardized the alternative stories. And, for reasons that he knows and we don't, Harry never really seemed willing to definitively signal that support (i.e. at Venice, even just calling her his girlfriend - the most we got were his kind of mild comments about fans making it difficult to date, but that also included the "I don't think I've ever publicly dated anyone" comment so it was kind of a wash overall).

I think in choosing to handle that issue that way, Harry did some damage to his image, because the Blank Space approach seems to hinge on leaving room for multiple plausible positive stories to explain your behavior. Post-Holivia, I think the good boyfriend narrative has warped a little bit and people who believed that story now see him as more of a typical womanizer, and what had previously been believed to be a genuine sensitivity/maturity became perceived as like, a faux-soft fuckboy, because for all his sensitive lyrics when his girlfriend was getting absolutely hammered in the press and by his fans, he still didn't even call her his girlfriend (so how good of a fantasy boyfriend is he really?). I'd also argue this is where the queerbaiting discourse about Harry should be categorized - it's all kind of in the space of, we believed there was more to Harry behind what he showed us publicly and now we think there really is just blank space there, he's not as interesting as we gave him credit for (not saying any of that is either fair or true, but I think that's the undertone to conversations other people are having about him). And on the other side, by continuing to leave open the space for the Harry as victim narrative (and by playing into it with the MFASR mv), that narrative has only continued to grow - the Houdini/caged bird narratives about his upcoming music video (whether official or, more likely, fan-made), the response to the new tour dates. I just think Harry's been remarkably lucky in that the Blank Space approach has allowed for multiple positive narratives to coexist about him without really many negative narratives arising, whereas now it seems to me like, by failing to commit to one of the narratives he was trying to tell, he seems to have undermined the strategy as a whole and allowed for a lot of negative narratives to fill in that space. And I guess I just wonder where he goes from here, if not to actively establish some positive story about himself to combat those negative stories.

Thanks for your thoughts anon - I think they're really interesting and have sparked a few thoughts in me.

I'm going to deal with the Olivia question first and separately I think, before moving on to Harry. I think the important piece you're missing is that Holivia turbo-charged Harry's career and moved him up a level in terms of celebrity. If you're assessing the impact on his career, but only looking at the last six months, you'll miss entirely.

In terms of the questions you ask about Harry - I think it is a really interesting one. The idea you seem to be exploring is that by being too much of a blank slate has backfired and allowed negative narratives to rise up.

I think I'd question a little bit some of the timing. When it comes to 'queerbaiting' - I think you're suggesting that the people who are responding to Harry in that way used to think that there was more to him, and have become persuaded that there's not. I actually don't think that's what is driving the 'queerbaiting' discourse. I think it almost exclusively comes from people who have had a vague idea of Harry and are now really thinking about him in any sort of way for the first time when he's on the cover of Vogue in a dress. It's people who are annoyed by Harry who are justifying it - rather than people who are invested in him (one of the many reasons why 'queerbaiting' is a terrible term and a terrible way of understanding the world).

More generally - I think it's possible that the last six months has had an impact on Harry's image, but it's way to soon to tell. It's certainly had an impact on the way he's talked about. The Guardian opened it's paragraph naming As it Was the fifth best song of 2022 'In some ways it’s been a hard year to be Harry'. But the Guardian is not the world - and I don't think there's any way of telling if it's made a difference to either the fans or casual listeners, which is what's important to his career. We may get a sign if ticket sales are soft, but I suspect we won't have any way of knowing until we see how his next major project is received.

[toftie]

orv spoilers under but just had some thoughts about it

specifically, the metafiction. i'm probably using the term incorrectly but i just wanted to refer to its theme with the example above. i actually didnt realize this until after and i think its such a cool interpretation of kim dokja's fables spreading everywhere and reincarnating into anyone that reads orv, which from my understanding, in turn causes the real kim dokja's consciousness (51%) to awaken his fables again and rebuild and return to his original body.

i just love the inclusion of the actual authors referencing themselves in the novel too because it really builds on the whole reality of the fiction. that it transcends the novel and that they, as well as you, the reader, are also a part of the novel, and always have been a part of it the whole time. my interpretation was the reader's very act of just reading orv in its entirety helped kim dokja reach his true epilogue and reunite with his companions, thus fully finishing the cycle in a satisfying and moving way.

i thought about how meta often interludes with different media, my favourites being undertale/deltarune, oneshot and ddlc but those are mostly video games. i think i've heard house of leaves does something meta-like but i haven't read it, though i think this kind of just incentivizes me to read more meta novels, either web or physical

but regardless i think i just really appreciate the interconnectivity of it all. a story cannot exist without a protagonist (though there are some exceptions that arent character focused works but the majority of stories are heavily focused on having protagonists) and it cannot be completed or fully realized without a reader. theres just a lot of passion and care put into dissecting these roles and how their relationships are built upon through the interactions of kim dokja, han sooyoung and yuu junghyuk. its about how a story can save a reader, and how a story is saved in turn by a reader, even if by just one person. how a protagonist can save a reader by being someone's comfort character, to the point of sometimes pretending to be them as a coping mechanism as with dokja. how a reader can be a protagonist's worst nightmare but can also be the only one who can save them from it. whether its with fanfiction, art, interpretations, theories, au's, everything that comes after and how the reader wants to interpret what their ending would be like or different types of scenarios/universes for them. its a love letter to the process of writing stories, of being in a story, of experiencing a story and the whole interplay of it.

as my interpretation, just because a story doesn't have a complete ending doesn't mean it was a failed one. personally, i thought of berserk and the passing of kentaro miura. even if the story is incomplete, i found the last chapter he managed to create before he passed away to be satisfying enough to me. he didn't fail just because the story wasn't finished as he intended and the value of the story doesn't diminish because of it, to me at least. because then, its up to the reader to derive meaning from it. to make sense of it and find peace with it. to make their own ending or epilogue as they see fit in their heads that makes sense with the journey the story has gone through so far.

omygod also the fact the 3 most powerful beings in the entire story, most ancient dream, secretive plotter and tls123 turn out to be the main trio, just 3 normal people. theyre not gods at all, theyre just as powerless as everyone in the story despite being the main causes of it. the same can be inferred with writers, readers and protagonists in general. writers can be seen as all knowing gods but actually, once the story is completed, it leaves their hands and not even they can control everything about it anymore. even the most strongest and invincible protagonists has their limits, whether its due to the narrative theyre in or other obstructions stopping them from reaching their goal or ending. and readers, even if they have complete knowledge of the story, even if they can take the story and change parts of it as they like with their imagination, they are still subject to the story that it practically becomes a part of them, too much of it and it can completely consume the reader as a whole though whether thats good or bad is up to them.

[cancerian]

The only “dense motherfucker” is one that believes it is women that must do so (make men feel comfortable) for men. You live in a society highly governed by your fellow males, if anyone is making you feel “bad” or “sad” it is because of the rules and laws created by your fellow males. Why should women who have been oppressed and subjugated for years, and are still subjugated by a different name care for your hurt that is caused by other men.

The biggest threat to women is men, the biggest threat to men is other men. At these your big ages, you would think that half a braincell would have formed by now. There is nothing that men will do now that they have not already done in the past. This is why women’s history and their experiences with the men they loved is very important for young girls to know. That way they don’t fall into the trap of “if you show them love, they will change and be kind.” Stop trying to put women in dangerous situations under the guise of loving all humans.

You have to be small minded to think women treat all men the same, your kind needs their ego stroked. Which is why women/girls are required to say “but not all men” when discussing things that disproportionately affect them. No one owes you love, but as humans we owe each other some sense of respect. So, you must respect women’s decisions to interact with you how they feel safest doing. The same way women have learned to respect that not all men are going to respect them. Only a dense pig would think that women do not understand the concept of viewing others as humans. In fact, time and time again it is women that are viewed as less than human by the same group you’re forcing them to care for.

As women (regardless of age), and especially as black women (moving away from the POC bs) you should prioritize your safety, you are not mother Theresa (even she was proven to be a fraud) and should focus on your own wellbeing. Don’t let an idiot calling you “dense” put you in situations many never come out of alive. As someone who has a male in her life that would do anything to see her happy and accomplished (and vice versa), I don’t go around with rose colored glasses trying to change anyone’s opinions because they chose to adopt an ideology that demonizes the living experiences of others. If being called “brother” is the only way you feel welcomed, then you need to rethink your entire life. Once you’re above 25, I implore that you try using at the very least 1/3 of your brain. I know using even half would probably cause a headache, so for now let’s aim to use 1/3.

Also you bring up the fact that men disproportionately hold more seats of power, so maybe direct your sadness to the people actively causing it. Which is the men in power not caring about the broke men (any man not in power). “It won’t pan out great for anyone who is not a male” because this is what males have done throughout history (I know you used man, but I used male for a specific reason and no I’m not a terf, but I don’t care about being called that). What a pathetic thing to say, especially if you’re not the man in power. This is an issue that egotistical idiots have (not calling you an idiot, but it is what it is), claiming men created this and that, when your ancestors are not the men that created it. Stop claiming power you personally don’t have. Stop claiming other men’s hard work as your own, especially when they put in the work to actually be productive members of society.

To the original twitter post, my dude you sound very stupid and seem like the kind that spends more time watching videos than actually reading on your countries history. The win was predictable, not because “men are becoming more right wing” but because this has been a common theme in America. These people are influenced by certain kind of media because deep down they already hold these beliefs, which is why they accept them. Men don’t genuinely want to see equality, hence why when they notice any group they view less than getting more rights they retaliate. The election result only tells us the reality of America as it pertains to race and sex (even more so when we look at the outcome of certain women’s voting history). So, the replies need to stop trying to make women take the blame for actions caused by other men. We should all aim to grow up.

To all the women/girls out there, avoid men that always want to be coddled and victimized. Most importantly find ways to protect yourselves, utilize the 2nd amendment given to you not by all men, but by the men that actually wrote it in. Protect yourselves by all means, and don’t be made to feel guilty for opting for safety over danger and stress.

Edit: have come to the conclusion after reading a substantial number of replies, Tumblr has a significant number of idiots who think they are smart. As a collective, we should all go touch grass.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

[gaykarstaagforever]

Disney...come on...

Is this all we're doing with Star Wars now? Hours of flat, pointless lore shit only the worst people on the Internet care about (because they're mad that you got it wrong), with a tiny random cameo by part of Yoda at the very end?

You paid like $4 billion for this property. And you made one mediocre trilogy that was itself mostly confused references to the old movies, two good seasons of one TV show (The Mandalorian), then a whole bunch more TV and movie crap that amounts to pointing at the logo and going "See? SEE?!"

I didn't see Andor and I absolutely do not care about more stupid Space Conflict lore garbage, but people seem to like that. But people also seemed to like Rogue One, and, besides Donny Yen, I fucking hated that movie. But I also actually liked the Solo movie, so apparently I live in a pocket dimension that consists of exactly me and no one else.

My point is, you need to goddamn figure out what it is that is worthwhile about this IP, and focus on that. And the answer is "the three genuinely good movies from 50 years ago."

Those movies were a fluke, in that they were way better than they had any right to be, entirely because they were written and produced by boring Hollywood professionals who were just doing a job they were probably sick of. That's how that happened. The rest is Baby George Lucas bouncing around, screaming about how he likes Flash Gordon and DUNE and Triumph of the Will. And we know that second thing is not enough to make good movies, because that's what the Prequel Trilogy was, and aside from the podracing, those were also mid to awful.

...People also seem to hate the podracing. I guess that's another me in the pocket dimension thing.

Whatever. Stop making Yoda bonus DLC at the end of crap. Stop making weird CG versions of old and / or dead people bonus DLC at the end of crap. Just hire boring Hollywood people to do more stuff with the 70s characters, recast with young sexy actors, because that is all anyone likes and is coming here for. The rest of this is just wasted time and money.

"YEAH BUT THAT WAS BACK WHEN STAR WARS WAS 100% WHITE AND STRAIGHT, YOU TROLL!"

It's not my fault Disney keeps putting brown lesbians in bad movies and TV shows. One could argue they are only doing that because they KNOW this stuff is shit otherwise, and hope to hide behind their virtue-signaling. Which makes the brown lesbians look bad. And that's not good for anyone, especially the brown lesbians.

If you need Disney Stellar Struggle to provide you with queer media representation, you need to stop being a small child in Kudzu Country. They're not qualified to do that, and they do it terribly. Go elsewhere for that. Stop rewarding their shit version of that. Speaking as a big fat homo, I'd prefer Disney shut up and go back to the one thing they're good at, which is paying skinny teens to over-dance to remixed pop versions of cartoon movie songs from the 40s and 50s in overpriced theme parks. That's also lame, but in a fun way. Bad queer representation in crap scifi media isn't even the fun kind of lame. It's just embarrassing and gross.

Hire boring Hollywood people and let them make a good movie about good characters that people care about, that weren't specifically engineered solely to deflect criticism with pastiche liberal bullshit. Stop letting executive vice presidents of analytics stop the entire production and order rewrites because a computer told them people in Eastern Canada need less shots of fingernails. You can't make art nor product like this. As proven by the last 15 years of forgettable pointless Disney shit.

Luke Skywalker and R2 can hang out exclusively with brown lesbians. No one would care if it was written better.

...Okay. Obviously Ben Shapiro and Charlie Kirk and Shad Brooks would still care. But they are easily shouted down.

The writing (and production in general) are the problem, here. Probably because of this virus of "design by executive committee" shit, that is also murdering the MCU.

Disney has a LOOONG history of being bad at live action stuff. See the late 60s through the mid 90s. And always for the same reason: executive demands, based on mythical market "research". That has been demonstrably wrong and useless for 60+ years now.

Yoda isn't a cool extra. This is supposed to BE ABOUT Yoda. Stop using him as icing on your flavorless virtue-signaling cellulose cake.