#important to note is that I ship an ethical relationship

[valyrfia]

RE: this ask

Sorry about to go off on one, gender studies and online fan culture from an academic standpoint is a special interest of mine because being film and literature student wasn't annoying enough (participatory culture studies my beloved) 

From a general standpoint, I think the reason M/M ships in fiction have always been more popular is because male characters are historically more developed and complex. I think it’s only in recent years have their been an influx of popular F/F ships, with the added development of women on screen (e.g Clarke and Lexa, Kara and Lena, Regina and Emma, Nancy and Robin) - I think there is also a point to be made this has coincided with gender expression, genderqueerness and more general knowledge of being outside the typical gender spectrum. 

I can’t explicitly say that being in M/M fandom spaces encouraged my personal discovery of being transmasc but it certainly helped to have an avenue where I could project onto these “male” characters and see myself in them. I was so uncomfortable in my own body and what I didn’t know at the time as dysphoria, I can see why I didn’t go for F/F ships. 

There are of course a lot of “fandom elders” but young (early to late teens) afab people do make up a large bulk of it and I get why  it may be easier for them to fixate on M/M ships as a, sort of method of exploring their own sexuality and gender expression. F/F ships may hit too close to home and F/M ships are what they are trying to escape from so it leaves M/M ships to project onto. Which, unfortunately then can become warped by the persons own comphet and/or binary ideas about gender. 

A male character may have more stereotypically “feminine” traits (in terms of interests or emotional reactions) and I can see why people who also have those traits would project there own insecurities onto them, reinforcing the feminisation of the male character but not being comfortable enough in your own gender expression to genderbend the character or write them as trans. 

It’s the same reason I think mafia romance, dark romance etc etc is so popular with cishet women because they can read about a fantasy where instead of the very real every day misogyny and violence they face leading to abuse, assault and death, it brings “positives” ; protected, loved, a happy relationship. 

Which, side note. I think this has A Lot to do with y/n, self insert fics becoming “cringe”. Because, I think a lot of people just want to fuck/date a character and feel like they can’t write a self insert anymore, so just project massively onto one character, leading to a lot of these issues. I don’t think Tony Stark/Peter Parker would be as popular as it is if people just let young women write their self insert fic about being Tony Stark’s sugar baby and then we wouldn’t have the wildly mischaracterised version of Peter Parker that we do! 

But, all this being said. I’m talking about fiction. Dean Winchester isn’t actually affected if people online only talk about him in a stereotypically “female” way. 

RPF is a different kettle of fish (and I’m not going in RPF ethics that’s different - I have no issues with rpf creators/consumers to be clear, I am one) because a real person does become affected. Even if you are keeping your fan works and discussions to private spaces, it can leach over into how you speak about the actual person. That’s where it becomes so incredibly important to remember that your RPF version of celebrities are just as fictional as Dean Winchester is. 

sorry I used mr. supernatural as an example, 13 year old me is still alive and kicking in my head somewhere. 

I love to hear your perspective on it with a trans worldview (and academic credentials), and I do agree that that might be a big driver of some young people only wanting to engage with MLM fic and feeling uncomfortable with WLW fic. You've brought up so many great points so I'll try and address them all.

I can add the perspective of a lesbian who was closeted for the first two decades of my life, came out less than five years ago, and still struggles on and off with comphet now. MLM fics in my teens were a way to consume queer content and relationships without having to think about the implications of enjoying consuming WLW content, and I think that's true for a lot of young closeted teens so it's no surprise that some comphet/hetnorm/cisnorm stuff bleeds through there because it's a framework the authors haven't managed to detach themselves from yet.

But yeah, I agree the issue lies with people wanting characters to be self-inserts partially so that they can experience sex, sexuality, and romance without any of the hang ups of thinking about patriarchy. And I agree with your solution: make y/n fics cool again! The ability we have to hallucinate while we read is magic! You can put YOURSELF in as a character's love interest, how cool is that?

Ultimately, yeah. There's nothing wrong with RPF as long as it isn't actually affecting the person that the RPF is based off, but I've seen a lot of takes escaping containment so to say (ie. leaving this website) with takes about the actual racers so obviously picked up through RPF. The main culprits are Charles, Lando, Max in my experience.

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek: The Next Generation, 111 (Jan. 9, 1988) - “The Big Goodbye”

Written by: Tracy Torme Directed by: Joseph L. Scanlan

The Breakdown

Picard is prepping for an especially stressful diplomatic mission wherein he is required to recite a specific speech in a complex alien language with a species that is deadly serious about grammar; Empasis on the word ‘deadly’. Noting his mounting anxiety, Beverly Crusher writes Picard a prescription for… a play date on the holodeck, and amazingly Picard takes the doctor’s orders to heart.  In fact, Jean Luc has such a good time playing a noir private-eye thriller that he invites Beverly, Data, and the ship’s 20th century literary buff along with him (his name isn’t important, because we’ll never see him again).  Unfortunately, this transpires at the same time that our Grammar-specific aliens arrive, pre-emptively scanning the ship, which accidentally locks the holodeck and takes the safety protocols offline in one fell swoop (which seems like a pretty substantial design flaw).

While Picard misses every single advance that Crusher makes towards Picard (and folks I gotta tell you, she’s REALLY not being subtle about it), the holo-adventure begins to take a turn for the worse as the program’s mobster-villains show up with fully lethal weapons, which they happily use on Picard’s history-nerd friend (who remarkably survives, but barely). Meanwhile the literal-grammar-nazi-aliens are getting impatient with Riker’s inability to produce Picard for their scheduled meeting (apparently explaining that a ship malfunction has Picard temporarily incapacitated isn’t a viable option).  Thankfully the holodeck door eventually opens, and Picard is able to convince the mobsters to walk through first, causing them to disappear (since there are no holo-emitters in the corridor).  And so Picard is free to deliver his nonsense speech to the grammar enthusiasts, and the day is saved.

The Verdict

Finally! A holodeck Episode!

‘The Big Goodbye’ gives us our first “just-for-fun” episode and it’s about goddamn time. Oh don’t misunderstand, the episode is exactly as ridiculous as what I’ve described above, but for the most part it’s intentional, and in this case it makes all the difference.  I’ve always had a soft spot for holodeck stories, because it gives us a look into what the crew get up to when they aren’t spouting techno-babble, debating the prime directive, or dealing with transporter disasters.

Picard also gets to have some fun here, meaning this might be the first time he doesn’t come across as a total buzzkill. Aside from some clunky pacing and a slightly anticlimactic ending, this is a pretty fun episode.  Superior holodeck adventures would follow, but this one had to walk so the others could run.

3 stars (out of 5)

Additional Observations

Based on what we've seen this season, it would seem that the holodeck is still a fairly new technology, especially considering how Picard marvels at what it can do.

Right off the bat, this episode clearly establishes that holodeck characters are/can become self aware, and are capable experiencing fear (and likely pain). This is just the first of many times that Star Trek will play at this across multiple shows. As fun as these episodes are, it’s always struck me that there should be a greater ethical consideration for Holo-people and their rights.

I have always wondered why the ability to remove safety protocols was ever an option, especially on a holodeck that’s accessible to both crew and civilians alike.

Picard has no business being so clueless about women. In fact when it comes to relationships and courtship the entire crew seems to possess the emotional intelligence of an average 14-year-old.

I gotta hand it to Patrick Stewart, even when he’s spewing absolute nonsense alien gibberish, he commits 100%.

I never mentioned the set design, but this episode also looks great.  Really fun to see the noir aesthetic on Star Trek.

[aqours]

for the sake of this post i'm going to ignore any discourse about aqua//ruby ethically just wanted to say my own two cents after chapter 124

tbh if this is the extent of the new dynamic i'm genuinely fine if this is how Aqua and Ruby just are

may be a controversial opinion but i??? actually don't want this story to end with Aqua in a romantic relationship i don't want this to end with aqua/kana, aqua/akane, or aqua/ruby winning. i don't want any ship to end winning. and this has nothing to do with morals or ethics or if a ship is gross or not: i'd prefer everything ended on a note where Aqua is able to walk on his own path in life and anything about whether or not if he pursues anyone romantically -even if its Ruby- to be something open-ended left for fan interpretation to work

i can completely live with Ruby just being super overtly clingy and an imouto-type and never knowing whatever Aqua said in regards to the marriage promise if its open-ended and we never return to it. i said this in another post but Aqua and Ruby are both kind of freaks just in completely different ways. i can live with Ruby being super clingy to Aqua now with a narrative never quite clearing it up and leaving it up to interpretation since that's not the most important thing going on anymore

while i'd appreciate it being more cleared up, if they don't ever actually fully go into it and just say "up to you if you wanna imagine they're fully going for it or Aqua turned it down and Ruby is just happy being a clingy imouto" that's fine too

or you know they do reveal Aqua agreed to it but you know Aqua is fucking insane and manipulative and treats it as like the most despicable thing Aqua has ever done to anyone in this story and doesn't shy from that being fucked up i can deal with that too (although i really highly doubt he would to Sarina/Aqua of all people) i fucking forgot about the glass door lmao

[xshingie]

Excerpts from "Vodou in Haiti: Way of Life and Mode of Survival"

by Claudine Michel

[Note: I was doing some more research on Vodou to better understand Annette's framework viewing and describing the world. More specifically, I was curious in better understanding the relationship between the lwa and the practitioner. A quick disclaimer that I'm still very new to my research and journey to learn Haitian Vodou]

Bellegarde-Smith: "Vodun is a coherent and comprehensive system and worldview in which every person and everything is sacred and must be treated accordingly. In Vodun, everything in the world be it plant, animal, or mineral shares basically similar chemical, physical, and/or genetic properties. This unity of all things translates into an overarching belief in the sanctity of life, not so much for the thing as for the spirit of the thing. The cosmological unity in Vodun further translates into a vaunted African humanism in which social institutions are elaborated and in which the living, the dead, and the unborn play equally significant roles in an unbroken historical chain. Thus, all action, speech, and behavior achieve paramount significance for the individual and the community of which the individual is part."

Davis: "…a complex mystical world view, a system of beliefs concerning the relationship between man, nature, and the supernatural forces of the universe. Vodoun cannot be abstracted from the day to day life of the believers. In Haiti, as in Africa, there is no separation between the sacred and the secular, between the holy and the profane, between material and the spiritual. Every dance, every song, every action is but a particle of the whole… Vodoun not only embodies a set of spiritual concepts, it prescribes a way of life, a philosophy, and a code of ethics that regulate social behavior."

The followers of the ancestral cult refer to their religious beliefs and practices by the phrase sévi lwa yo which can be best translated as "serving the spirits." An adept of Vodou simply says, "I serve the spirits ," which in itself is a revealing statement about the nature of the religion, the importance of withdrawing the self and serving others, and about the spiritual connections existing between living human beings, their ancestors, and their Gods.

Vodou permeates the land, and, in a sense, it springs from the land. It is not a system imposed from above, but one which pushes out from below. It is a thing of the family, a rich and complex inheritance from a man's own ancestors. It is not the priests of Vodoun who control and direct its course. They, like the lowest peasant simply move about within it and make use of its resources.

In Vodou, a person is meant to derive energy from interactions with others, therefore, all encounters with nature, with fellow humans and with spirits create opportunities for understanding, for growth and healing. Considering that everything has a soul, from the smallest grain of sand to the Cosmic Breing, the dynamic force infused in the teaching and learning of all tasks and ideas, material and spiritationl, becomes a learning experience in itself. In Vodou, every dance, every song, every word and every act becomes a lesson. In order orders, one learns everywhere and all times.

Personal Commentary:

(and how it relates to Castlevania Nocturne)

In reading this, this puts Cecile's lesson with Annette into perspective on a deeper level that I didn't appreciate before:

You were shaped, Annette. Everything about you, by being born a slave. Of course you were It's the source of your fury, but it's not the source of your power.

The petty devils. it serves them if we believe it. But humanity didn't enter this world dragging armies of slaves. That came later. And your ancestor. Of course I mean your mother, who loved you. And your father, who was dragged from her by men with whips. And your grandmother, who watched the ships sail, weeping and pulling her hair. But they go back. Beyond them and beyond them. Back to the source. To the Iwa of Ogun. And a world without slaves or masters. Learn to hear your ancestor. There is light in this darkness.

I really appreciated how it so candidly and openly acknowledged how both things are true: that yes, you are the product of the painful intergenerational and personal trauma forced upon you; but behind everything there is also a story of love, connectedness in community, and resilience. To see this so openly brought to the forefront and focus in an animation like this so resonated me in a way I've been looking for more stories with female leads like Annette and nothing is hitting me so far and I'm just sad.

It wasn't until I started reading more about Haitian Vodou, to better understand the relationship between the practitioner and the lwa (or spirits), that I realized that Cecile is hitting on the Vodou tenets of wisdom, teachings, and philosophy. I've mentioned this before, but Castlevania Nocturne is one of the rare instances where in the past, Vodou has been primarily portrayed as stereotypical voodoo, but in Nocturne, it's presented as a enduring thread of interconnectness, and survival. More specifically, it portrayed how Vodou was shaped and developed by primarily being passed through oral tradition (which is why I find it difficult to do research on).

To paraphase, in Vodou everything is interlinked -- everything is imbibed with spirit, soul, and energy -- and by extension, the [love and wisdom] of your ancestors that paved your path that you walk now is also imbibed within you.

Cecile is basically trying to teach Annette the deeper foundational philosophy and way of life of Vodou 🥹 And that's something I didn't realize that Nocturne had done until I started doing research on Haitian Vodou, which I've only grown a more deeper appreciation for.

Sauce:

Michel, Claudine. “Vodou in Haiti: Way of Life and Mode of Survival.” Journal of Haitian Studies, vol. 8, no. 1, 2002, pp. 98–109. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41715120.

[lord-squiggletits]

Help me decide which fic to write for the TF Big Bang!

*Note: Might not pick the winning result I just want reader opinions for what they would be most interested in.

Wilderness Survival Fic: Takes place after Death of Optimus Prime in an alternate universe where Dark Cybertron and all Shockwave's nonsense didn't happen. Orion Pax wanders the galaxy in exile for years until one day a rogue ship starts tailing him: Megatron. Both of them end up caught in the same space-disaster and crash land on a remote, unoccupied planet with no hope of rescue. Orion is ready to leave the war behind, but Megatron still likes to pick fights. Will feature a whole lot of angst and anger as the megops hash out their issues with themselves and each other. Also, the planet's environment is so hostile they might literally die if they can't cooperate. Orion Pax POV and gradual Megatron heel-face turn.

Some Rots Yield Wine: A sequel fic to Pay Unto Evil which continues the SG side of the story. Prominently features Optronix continuing rehabilitation and Megatron navigating politics about the nature of his relationship with Optronix and the continued peace. Optronix becomes "good" as in "no longer warmongers and torments people for fun," but rest assured that he's still the same dubiously sane, low empathy person he was before. This is an important point as the MegOP in this fic mainly deals with "the nature of love" as a theme and whether it's necessary to have feelings about right/wrong or if merely going good things is enough. Also, Optronix meets Primus again to avert a planetary disaster and his newly developed sense of ethics is severely tested by this.

[merryfortune]

my favourite thing, your voice

Written for Mini's Femslash February 2024

Day 25. Your Voice

Title: my favourite thing, your voice

Ship: Dancingdivashipping | Asuka/Yuzu

Word Count: 

Universe: Arc V

Rating: T

Tags: Alternate Universe - Careers, Established Relationship, Secret Relationship, Inappropriate Workplace Relationship, Fluff, Affection

   Yuzu sat in her chair nervously. Her hands in her lap, her shoulders taut. Asuka, meanwhile, was nonchalant as anything as she got Yuzu ready for her big debut.

   All her life, Yuzu had a singular dream: to sing on stage.

   When she was little, her stage had been the living room floor with an audience consisting of her father and an assortment of stuffed animals or other dolls. Her father would clap and cheer and delight and it made Yuzu feel as though she were more important than the sun.

   When she got older, she tried other stages. Other audiences. She learned to sing properly, whether it was for a school play or a similar community production, Yuzu put in her all and did her best. She was beloved by mentors for her work ethic and often the ire of those who thought they deserved the top spot more.

   Lately, ever since being accepted into the most prestigious studio for musicals and other stage productions, Yuzu felt her critics knew better than her fans. That the latter were just being nice to her, that she didn’t truly deserve her place amongst the cast. 

   She had never been more aware of her inexperience than until now. What was the old saying? Big fish in a small pond? That was exactly what Yuzu thought she was. 

   Yet, somehow, she had been made the lead role.

   Yuzu had sung her little heart out at auditions. She danced and she followed orders. She never invited any slack, she did her best and there was something more to it, as well. A sparkle, a shine, a certain je ne se quois that her fellow recruits simply lacked and yet by some miracle, she had in spades.

   It was harrowing and yet, when Yuzu got the call and saw her name on the list, her whole world changed. Completely and utterly topsy-turvy and it was all because of her mentor, she was sure.

   Enter, stage left: Tenjoin Asuka.

   Tenjoin Asuka, wow, what a woman. She who would not get on stage but instead created darlings of the stage. She was all practicality and no-nonsense, hard work all the way and yet, there was a warmth. She didn’t want to break her pupils, merely fix them. She, like all the other peer leaders, were assigned their proteges in a process of matchmaking at the beginning of the recruitment arc.

   The best got the best, or so it went allegedly. Favouritsim? Nepotism? The whole system was corrupt but when fortune favoured you, it's hard not to love.

   Thus, it all too little surprise, that Yuzu was put under Asuka’s mentorship but there was something about Asuka which had Yuzu enamoured even beyond learning Asuka’s reputation. There was just something about her aura, her helpful advice and her kind smile, her bright eyes. Everything about her amazed Yuzu and she learned so much from Asuka.

   Though Asuka was a tough love mistress.

   She put Yuzu through all the drills from the ground up. Forced her to scrap everything that she thought she knew and started over. It was literally the worst thing in the world for a girl like Yuzu who was more pizazz and talent than hard work but it was worth it in the end.

   The night before the audition, Yuzu sang once more for Asuka and it was far more special than any other barking match they had ever had. She sang until she feared she couldn’t sing at all tomorrow. Her notes carried heart and soul, her pitch was clear and perfect, her lyrics memorised and executed with admiration.

   Yuzu panted when she finished and she felt… Empty. Satisfied and full and yet empty. Devoid of breath and energy but she had done so well, it caused her shoulders to slump forward loose as all she could muster was:

   “I did it. I really did it.”

   Asuka bounded to her feet and applauded her, “I love it! I love it so much!”

   Yuzu blushed, “Aw, gee, thanks…” She couldn’t help but to be humble as she had the praise of such a wonderful woman. She felt as though she could faint.

   That was the one thing Yuzu was sure would never change about her. Wouldn’t matter how big or small the role, how fancy the crowd and how big her cheque would be, all she wanted was to sing on stage for a crowd.

   There was no crowd she wanted to please more than the ones she loved and Asuka embodied a unique niche in Yuzu’s heart. More than friends, more than a mentor and mentee. It was oddly natural despite how unnatural it was to blur such lines between colleagues but at the end of Asuka’s training of her, they were more like equals.

   At least on the inside they were equals. The outside wasn’t ready to know that their mutual fondness and requited passions weren’t strictly professional. 

   Which led to moments like this.

   Small moments where it was just them. Halcyon, redolent. Sequestered away from gossip and prying eyes.

   Backstage was quiet. Especially this far into the bowels of it and when Yuzu, leading lady, was given a changing room all to herself. She was told it wasn’t that big but it was bigger than all the changing rooms combined in the community theatres that Yuzu had performed in previously.

   The walls were cream yellow with white lattice. The desk in front of her had the cliche mirror stickered with platitudes and light bulbs which were lit up softly. More makeup than Yuzu knew what to do with was set out in front of her but luckily, she didn’t need to know what to do with it.

   That was Asuka’s job.

   Yuzu did her best to stay still as Asuka swiped and swabbed, dabbed and stabbed. Makeup was a messy process but it wasn’t one which Yuzu hated. By the end of it, she felt like a princess but those spoils came with a wracking nausea, too.

   The more she transformed into the leading lady, the more Yuzu wanted off this ride. All that was left to do was her hair and for now, Asuka was running her fingers through Yuzu’s pastel pink locks and then again with her brush. She was under strict orders from the makeup department on how yuzu was to look and Yuzu had faith that Asuka would deliver but even so.

   She was nervous and Asuka could tell.

   “You’ll do great, I promise.” Asuka whispered.

   She leaned down and lifted her hand simultaneously. She kissed the strands of Yuzu’s pink hair through her fingers, through her knuckles and closed her eyes. Yuzu was perfumed with the scents of citrus and roses, it made Asuka smile as she held this token of affection for quite some time.

   More than enough time to make Yuzu even more nervous than before but giddy, too.

   Asuka sighed then pulled back, satisfied, she smacked her lips together and emanated the confidence only a veteran star could.

   “Now, go out there and break a leg.” Asuka said. “I want to hear it, my favourite thing, your voice.”

[ylojgtr]

ive just been thinking about it so here are my initial thoughts

fucking marrok man. like wtf. i was legitimately excited for this guy, even though he kinda seemed like a one-note character, i was so excited to see what being an inquisitor was like after the empire was defeated, like it's almost a reversal of order 66 and now the hunters become the hunted. and if filoni has proven one thing, it's that making one-note characters more complex is kind of his specialty. but i GUESS NOT

the ahsoka-baylan duel...it was just not enjoyable for me. my interpretation is that they were trying for something similar to what obi-wan and maul did on tatooine in rebels, where they used lightsaber stances as non-verbal communication. in rebels it was obi-wan assuming his prequels/cw pose, then his original trilogy pose, then the pose that qui-gon used when maul killed him. maul thought he could use the same attack he did when he killed qui-gon, and his immediate defeat shows how obi-wan has thought about that day for years and years, and how he's always learning from his past, whereas maul only thinks about his past as a source of anger and motivation for revenge. in ahsoka they might have been using the stances to sort of gauge each other's knowledge of the jedi traditions, and i appreciate the different uses of this heavy reliance on star wars lore, but the payoff doesn't seem so satisfying. ahsoka dismisses talking about her past (and tbf, why wouldnt she, like this guy is trying to start another galaxy wide war) so we don't really get anything out of it all *SO FAR* i really hope the relationship between her and baylan evolves and this lightsaber thing becomes more important, but on the surface right now it just felt like another sorta boring lightsaber fight. but i would absolutely love to hear other people's thoughts on this and ill probably edit this once more people have seen it and posted about it

also where's zeb. we saw him in the mandalorian, we know he's there. where are you hiding him. we know he knows paul sun-hyung lee (i forgot his characters name). he would absolutely have come with hera. also morai

im usually a pretty conservative shipper, like i don't really care about ships (as long as they're ethical lmao) i just don't really engage with that part of fandom. i could get behind luke and ezra being together, there's some cool sun and moon imagery there and they sort of have contrasting stories, as @hashtagloveloses said once. zeb and kallus i don't mind either. but barrissoka is my everything. it is the one ship that i want to see SOOO BADLY FUCCCKK PLEASE DAVE YOU SAID YOU HAVE PLANS FOR BARRISS LIKE TEN YEARS AGO PLEASEE

but yeah shin and sabine would be pretty cool too, there's definitely a lot of tension there and even though we don't know much about her (i really want to learn more) it would be cool to see shin have someone truly care about her, not be her boss or anything, and have sabine learn to lean more into honesty expressing her affection, since she's always been really stoic and i think shin would need that sincerity in a relationship

and i already mentioned anakin in another post but fuck im so happy to see hayden chritsensen again man. even if his story is lackluster (which oh my god i hope it's not) im so happy to see him again ❤️

i also really hope anakin brings up some character development/exploration for ahsoka cause like. what has she been doing. this is probably the biggest problem i have with this show so far, or at least second biggest lmao. i like that they're taking time to explore different characters and relationships in the universe, but i really want to see ahsoka get more time to shine. when put in a leadership position, she's always been a little more serious (character development from that one time she led a while squad to their deaths cause she was careless), like when she was with the younglings when they got their kyber crystals, but that doesn't mean she's invincible/unfeeling. she has lots of feelings about anakin and obi-wan and ezra and sabine, and i really want to see them!! when she said it's better to destroy the map and lose ezra than let thrawn return and start a war, i want to see her struggle with that like sabine does because she misses ezra too! i get that she didn't want to talk about anakin with baylan but let her talk about him with someone else! hopefully her world between worlds experience will help with that. some of the most solid development we've seen with her so far is being upset by how much she's let people down, ie anakin, sabine. and baylan tries to play into that to make her feel bad. i feel like that certainly will be explored more but fuck. it's about time.

i also want to see her relationship with the jedi more fully explored. i had always assumed that, while she was deeply affected by order 66, she didn't regret her decision to leave the jedi order. i thought that barriss had shown her some of the problems with it, and that her supporting the siege of mandalore showed that she was able to pursue what she thought was important, not the jedi order who were being heavily controlled by the senate and the politics of the time. but she seems to feel guilty about the fact that she's not a jedi? that she somehow let them down by not confirming to a system she no longer believed in? idk if i just made that up in my head cause i like to think of it that way and that my hradcanon is interfering with my enjoyment of this show lmao, someone please tell me if it is

another big problem i have with the show so far is how much it relies on the audience being invested in these stories to supply dramatic weight. and i don't mean in the way that it doesn't explain who sabine, ahsoka, hera, jacen, etc. are, this is obviously a show specifically for cw and rebels fans and im all the way here for it. i mean theres very little substance here, it feels like mostly biding time until ezra and thrawn show up. like we're 4 episodes in and we've seen some relationship development for ahsoka and sabine, a bit of hinting at a backstory for baylan, and...a lot of good guy v bad guy race for the special map, which just isn't very enthralling cause we know someone's gonna get to thrawn and ezra, we all saw lars mikkelson in the trailer. what i really want to see developed is his response to him being seen as a sort of messiah that will bring the empire back. or why baylan is so certain thrawn will start another war, or still be loyal to the empire at all with their power, and therefore political value to the chiss, as well as palpatine, who was sort of keeping him in line, gone. i want something substantial out of these stories were invested in, not just fodder for "ooh who are we gonna see next?"

also how much you wanna bet that ahsoka uses the world between worlds to get to thrawn. like its lines and shit appear in the credits so it's probably important

but yeah that's about all im thinking about right now hopefully next episode is crazy, cause it sure is shaping up to be a doozy

[dorymweek]

Dorym Week

FAQ

What is a ship week?

A ship week is a week-long event to celebrate a specific ship within a fandom. It usually has themed days and a dedicated blog.

How do I participate?

You can participate simply by reblogging things created for the week, but if you would like to get in on the celebratory spirit you can create your own fanworks! We will have daily word, sentence, and song lyric prompts to inspire you! Simply tag your works #dorymweek or #dorym week so people can find them later!

When is the event?

This year’s Dorym Week is May 19-25, 2024. If all goes well and we do this again, it will probably move earlier in the year to coincide with the anniversary of Robbie leaving. (I am very emotional about this.) (Mod Note 4/5/24: Dear reader, we did not do this XD)

I don’t have a tumblr account, how can I post works to this collection?

We have a dedicated AO3 collection you can submit your work to, but you can also message the mod team if you would like us to post for you (with proper attribution of course.)

How does this blog work?

We do all the back-end organizing (planning and prompting and promoing and such) and then during the actual week of the event we try to queue everything we see in the event tags. We will also continue queueing in the week following the event to try to catch stragglers. So, watch this space!

I don’t ship them romantically but these characters and their relationship are important to me, can I still participate?

Of course! If you would like to submit platonic works for this ship please do so! You can even tag them as platonic if you do not want them interpreted in a romantic light! 

Guidelines

Play Nice. Character bashing and hostility is not permitted. Hate speech, racism, and harassment will earn you a block. Please be kind and share this space with others.

All Ethical Media Types Welcome. Not every transformative work needs to be fanart or fanfic! You can participate in other ways too! Meta analysis, character study essays, fanvids, cosplay, moodboards, playlists, and anything else you can think of are all welcome. We only ask that if you use photos you didn’t take yourself that you properly credit the source. 

No AI. Unfortunately due to the ethical concerns surrounding AI data scraping we ask that you do not submit anything that was created with AI, either visual media or fanfic.

Use the Event Tags. We will try to queue up everything we see that has the tag #dorymweek but we are only human. If you feel like we might have missed something, wait a few days to see if it was in the queue and then shoot us a quick message. You should also tag whatever prompt you use so we know how to tag it for the blog.

Regarding NSFW. These characters are grown-ass adults so NSFW participation is allowed… with a few important caveats. If your post is on Tumblr it MUST use the Mature Community Label. If it is missing that label and is NSFW it will not be added to the queue. We will also not be relogging anything that involves explicit non-con of any kind. If it is mature content and it doesn't involve consenting adults it will not be added to the queue.

[jts-thoughts]

Elevate Your Ship as a Captain of Transformational Leadership

Upon reflecting on the assigned reading material entitled “Toward a Collaborative, Transformative Model of Non-Profit Leadership: Some Conceptual Building Blocks,” I have come to realize that as a leader within a government agency, I believe that being a transformational leader is of utmost importance. In my journey, I have witnessed the profound impact that a transformational leader can have on the organization's success and the lives of those it serves. When I was still starting my career, I aspire and dream of meeting a leader who is good, charismatic, and humble. Hence, when I had the chance to take on a supervisory role, I ensured that I would become the leader that I wanted.

First and foremost, I have learned from the reading material that as a transformational leader, I must embody a strong sense of purpose and vision. I manifest it by articulating my agency’s mission and inspiring others with a shared sense of purpose. Moreover, I must ignite passion and commitment at my team level. This, in turn, creates a powerful synergy that propels me forward, even in the face of challenges and sudden changes within my agency.

Furthermore, I have experienced that fostering a culture of empowerment and trust is essential in any place that we go. By empowering individuals within the organization, I allow them to tap into their full potential and contribute their unique skills and perspectives. This not only cultivates a sense of ownership and accountability but also encourages creativity and innovation, which is a part of my agency’s core values. I have also proven that when individuals feel valued and trusted, they are more likely to take calculated risks, think outside the box, and drive positive change.

In addition, I have recognized the significance of effective communication as a transformational leader. I have also proven that having open and transparent communication channels lead to collaboration, goal alignment, and strong relationships. By actively listening to the needs and concerns of my team members, I can address them proactively and make informed decisions that are tailored fit for a certain scenario. Moreover, I have learned that providing constructive feedback and recognizing achievements is vital in nurturing a culture of continuous growth and learning. While there are various ways and multiple styles of leadership, I truly believe that as a leader, we should also be creative with our methods as our team members are unique in their way. “Different strokes for different folks” as the adage says.

Lastly, as a transformational leader, I have understood the importance of leading by example. I strive to embody the values and principles that our organization stands for and the values that I have as a person. By practicing what I preach, I can be more credible by modeling integrity, empathy, and resiliency. At present and in the future, I will ensure that I will continue to inspire others to emulate these qualities as well. As a side note, I also strive to create a positive and ethical work environment that not only enhances teamwork and provides a safe safe, but also strengthens my agency's reputation and credibility within the community that we serve.

In conclusion as a La Sallian business leader, my realization as a leader in my agency has taught me that being transformational is crucial as we are at the forefront of delivering services to the public. By embracing a strong sense of purpose, empowering individuals, fostering open communication, and leading by example, I can be a strong catalyst or good change agent of my agency toward its goals and make a meaningful difference in the lives of the people we serve.

[sugawara-kkoushi]

How I ship Gency:

I like to think that Angela is a kind but very very tired soul that continues to push herself beyond her limits for the good of humanity. She's constantly trying to improve medical science and works long hours to make it happen. She will sometimes go days without sleep on the job and forget to eat. Over the years, it has made her jaded - almost dead inside. But she does what she must.

One day, a body is rushed to her by Blackwatch all the way from Japan. She has never seen this man - or what's left of him - before, but he's obviously very important to Overwatch's interests if he was rushed to her to be saved. So she begins the grueling process of breathing life back into his body. Thanks to the advances in medicine that she has pioneered, she is able to save the miraculous, weak heartbeat in him. Regardless, she still works for months slowly rebuilding him and salvaging any organic parts possible. All the while he is comatose.

The first time he awakens, he is disoriented, angry, and violent. Angela has to call for back up to restrain him so she can explain where he is, what has happened, and that he is safe. Gabriel Reyes enters during this time. Reyes doesn't beat around the bush. He tells the man - Shimada Genji - that he was saved because they need his knowledge of the Shimada clan in order to dismantle it - that he will be instrumental in taking down his family business. Angela is horrified. She'd never been told to what end Overwatch needed this man - only that he held valuable information. She only guessed who or what he could be. Perhaps an important diplomat or undercover agent - but not an outsider. Not someone who would be in their debt for life. Her operations on him were costly. There was no way Overwatch would do that and expect nothing in return. Though they worked for the safety of the world - Angela knew they were not a charity.

She shoots a piercing glare in Reyes' direction - saying silently, "This is NOT what I signed up for! We WILL talk about this later!" Reyes ignores her look. He waits for Shimada's response. The man is silent. Thinking. After a pregnant pause, his gaze crawls up to their faces and a chill runs through Angela's spine.

"I could be more than just information," he says with seething rage boiling in his eyes. Reyes lifts an eyebrow. Angela can't breathe. Shimada continues, "It would be my pleasure to assist in destroying my brother's empire." His lips curl at the word brother.

Reyes and Shimada exchange hard stares at one another. Reyes is the first to speak. "What are you asking, boy?"

"Let me personally assist on this project. On the field. I know more secrets than just the business of the empire - and how to exploit them. I am already a trained fighter with extensive experience in stealth and... Other fields of interest to your organization." The menace in his gaze reveals that he speaks the truth.

Angela leaves abruptly. She doesn't need to look at Reyes to know that he will accept Shimada's offer. She is so very tired.

She assists in Shimada's recovery. She fine-tunes his motor skills. She helps him learn to walk again. She helps familiarize him with his new functions... She refuses to comply with Blackwatch's request to integrate weaponry into his cybernetic body. She hates weapons. She hates violence - it's what stole her parents from her in the war. She has only ever killed in battle when absolutely necessary and in self-defense, and she has no intention of making instrument of death.

They confiscate her medical files on Shimada-san. She is told she will no longer be his overseeing doctor. She does not see him for a long time.

She cannot help but worry about him. She spent months caring for him in his most vulnerable state, yet here he is working for Blackwatch with cybernetic weapons and enhancements. His new armor covers his face. She has not seen it since the day he awoke.

Over the years, she occasionally hears of strides made in the Shimada Empire Project. Inside jobs. Sabotage. Assassinations. She always thinks of Shimada-san.

Then everything goes to hell.

With the Swiss headquarters razed to the ground and Overwatch outlawed by the PETRAS Act, Angela is alone and so very tired. Overwatch and Blackwatch agents have scattered across the Earth, she among them. Despite the weight of the world on her shoulders, she can't help but wonder in the back of her mind what Shimada will do now. His rage and bitterness had driven his actions since the day he was revived. Where would he go with no organization or project? She worries.

A year passes. She receives a letter - a hand-written letter?? It's covered with postage and forwarding stamps to multiple addresses. It is from Shimada. The contents are awkward with apologies and abundant with reluctance at even writing to her. He is apparently staying with the Shambali monks in Nepal under the teachings of Zenyatta Tekhartha. He writes that Zenyatta insisted that he begin writing letters to someone in his life as a part of his healing process. Healing process? He ends the letter with an apology for bothering her.

"Healing process"... Her heart warms at the thought. She writes him back, expressing that she is not bothered by his letters and informing him of her current mailing address for future ones.

For the next three years she looks forward to every letter. She is still overworked. Still trying to better the world. Still so very tired. But his letters remind her that working to help others heal is valid and worth the pain. His transformation is gradual, but evident. At first he is guarded - only sharing bare minimum details of his lessons. As they exchange letters, however, she begins to see his walls crumble as he shares more personal thoughts and feelings. He even starts to inject wry humor into his script. She doesn't know for certain, and maybe it could never truly be this way, but Angela believes she is getting to meet the man from before the fight with his brother. He asks that she refer to him by his first name, Genji, so that he is not reminded of the name he shares with his brother, Hanzo.

Genji still refers to her as Miss Ziegler.

The Overwatch recall blindsides her, yet she travels to Gibraltar as soon as possible... She knows where she belongs. She writes Genji from Gibraltar informing him of her new address. She does not receive a reply. She worries.

One day, several weeks after the recall, a stranger covered from head to toe in intricately designed garments appears on their doorstep, an omnic companion in tow. Winston greets them hesitantly, Angela unconsciously stands slightly behind the gorilla. The stranger stares past Winston and into Angela's face, saying nothing at first. Several moments pass. The omnic places a hand on the man's shoulder, and he seems to relax a bit. He is hesitating. Why? Slowly, the man lifts his hands to undo the headdress covering his face, all the while keeping his gaze locked on Angela.

A moment more passes as he unties the cloth around his head. Then all at once the headdress is off, leaving his face naked.

Rich brown eyes meet hers, steadied with courage. Pale, old scars marble his face, crawling upward and across his cheeks, nose, and lips. His mechanical jaw clenches in apprehension. His black hair is plastered to his forehead from the headdress he'd been wearing not long ago.

Angela cannot breathe as she looks upon the face that she has not seen since the day she revived him.

Genji.

She is hugging him before she realizes what she's doing. His arms hover over her back, shock evident in his face. Pulling back and wiping joyful tears from her eyes, she apologizes for surprising him."But," she adds with a wry smile "you surprised me first! So we are even."

The shock in his eyes melts into something softer that she cannot name. He chuckles. "I suppose you are right, Miss Ziegler."

She feels a prick of annoyance at his formality, but quickly squashes it. After all, she's just heard him laugh for the first time. She smiles genuinely. "You seem well, Genji."

What passes across his expression can be described as nothing other than the purest of inner tranquility. The corners of his lips upturn just slightly. His gaze is soft, unguarded as he looks into her eyes. The shadows of the violent rage that boiled in his soul so many years ago are nowhere to be found. "I am a different man now. I am whole."

Her heart squeezes. Tears blur her vision and she cannot help grinning as the joy for him thrums throughout her body. "...That is wonderful!" she manages.

She is the furthest thing from tired.

---

Sometimes people need to heal before love can blossom. Falling in love is not the cure-all. But loving others, building those relationships through the thick of it all - that is one of the most important bonds you can ever have.

[blainesebastian]

mutually assured satisfaction (pt5)

words: 2,370 ship: austin butler x reader summary: reader’s agent approaches her with a PR stunt to date austin butler and promote both their careers. a mapped out plan, an electric relationship–what could possibly go wrong?   notes: masterlist is on my sidebar :) thanks for any comments, reblogs, likes and asks! always appreciated  warnings: grief via losing a family member  tag list: @killerqueenfan, @karamelcoveredolicity, @elizabethrosecresswell, @gigisworldsstuff, @kittenlittle24, @slowsweetlove, @namoreno, @strokesofstokes, @callthedarknessdown, @kibumslatina, @al-co-hol-youlater, @frogoerson, @dancer4j 

It’s one of those inherent things that as soon as you close the door to your apartment after the charity event, you just know. You don’t even need to check the message from your mother even though you eventually do—there’s this terrible weighted ache in your chest that makes it feel like two cinderblocks are sitting on your ribcage. There are so many emotions swimming through you, unable to be pinned down, and you feel guilty above everything else. Guilty for being too busy, for not visiting enough, for not always picking up the phone, for a hundred things in your childhood and adolescence that don’t even make a difference now but for some reason feel like they do.

Guilty for not being there one last time, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

--

Everything just sort of comes to a screeching halt, like the world stops spinning for you. You attempt to communicate with people—Christina, the director on your movie, but it takes about a day for you to even move in a way that matters. Crawling into bed, you effectively shut down in a sense that you’ve never done so before. Your work ethic and your job mean so much to you but…none of it feels important right now, even though you can hear your grandmother’s voice inside your head telling you to stop moping around. She’d never want this for you, she wouldn’t want you to push people away or to jeopardize your career to mourn her.

And yet you cannot get yourself to do otherwise.

Christina informs you that your movie release has been put temporarily on pause and while you’re grateful for the moment to breathe, every bout of air you draw into your lungs is incredibly painful. It hurts to even be. You appreciate the time but are having difficulty even picturing what it’ll look like to move on, to go back to work, to pretend that your life hasn’t lost someone important. How do people do that?

What feels worse is that Austin has been trying to get ahold of you. A series of texts and then finally a few phone calls. For the first time in this thing together, you don’t know what to say to him. There’s this barrier that you seem to be straddling, the urge to tell him that you’ll be breaking up in a few weeks or so anyways so what’s the point of him trying to get in touch with you like this? He doesn’t actually care about you, everything has been fake, blown out of proportion, a façade.

And then on the other side—how desperately you want him to be here, to comfort you, to have his arms around you while you try not to feel like everything is falling apart. His lips on your skin, how his fingers feel running through your hair.

These opposing emotions pull so hard at you that you remain motionless, not doing anything, and a few days go past.

--

When there’s a series of knocks at your apartment door, you lift your head from your couch to squint at the wood. You’ve made it out of your bedroom, showered, and have eaten something, so, you don’t feel like a complete slug or failure. Your bones hurt, which feels like the weirdest sensation of grief. That heaviness that just…refuses to dissipate. Running a hand through your hair and over your face, you already know who it is even before he starts talking,

“Y/N—c’mon, I haven’t heard from you in days. Open the door.”

Sitting up on the couch, you let out a long sigh through your nose. There’s this twinge of remorse thrumming in your chest at giving Austin the silent treatment you just…didn’t know what to say to him, didn’t know how to say it. Nate gave you one piece of advice, one request from all the fucked up stuff that happened in your relationship and it was to let Austin in.

Already doing a great job at that.

“Y/N, I know you’re in there.” Austin sighs and while he sounds frustrated, you can pinpoint inflections in his tone where you can tell he’s worried. He’s not going to go away until you talk to him, so you pull yourself up off the couch and glance down at the leggings and oversized sweatshirt you’re wearing. This is gonna have to do.

“If this is about those articles, fuck them okay? They’re graspin’ at straws.”

Shaking your head lightly, you pinch the bridge of your nose. You know exactly what articles he’s referring to because Christina sent you the links to a few of them. Of course someone was at the charity event with a camera snapping pictures and they got some of you and Nate hugging hello and then you at the bar kissing Austin and decided to put aggravating click-bait titles along with them.

Are Nate Riley and Y/N L/N getting back together? Y/N L/N was seen cozying up to boyfriend Austin Butler at the same event— Is she playing both men?

Stupid.

Ironic almost, the language Austin uses to talk about the editorials and the actual articles themselves. The camera is essentially seeing something more honest than anything else—the fact that this whole thing is a fraud.

As you approach the door, you pause for a few moments to try and collect yourself or at least…figure out what you’re even going to say. Pulling all the locks free, you slowly tug the door open.

Austin takes in a short breath when he sees you, eyes sweeping over your form. He frowns, his eyebrows drawn together in a look of concern. He looks comfortable today, a simple pair of blue jeans, booties and that sherpa lined jean jacket he likes to wear. He leans against the doorjamb, waiting for you to say something, but the words are stuck in your throat.

“What’s up with your disappearin’ on me?” He asks softly, reaching out to gently tug at the fabric of your sweatshirt. “I was worried.”

You swallow, running your hand over your face because you really feel like an asshole now.

“If this is about the articles,” He starts and you quickly put your hand up to stop him because,

“No,” You whisper, pulling the sleeves of your sweatshirt over your hands, “It’s not the articles.”

Austin frowns again and patiently waits for a few moments but when you don’t say anything, he takes a step closer to the doorway, “What’s goin’ on?”

Swallowing down a lump in your throat, you stare at Austin as if you’ll be able to say the actual words about what’s wrong. But it’s in that moment you realize that you haven’t said it outloud yet, as if it won’t be true if it’s never said. You’re suddenly struggling to breathe and remain standing upright, your breath getting stuck in your lungs and oh god, you’re going to start crying right here and now even though you’ve finally just stopped.

“Hey,” Austin reaches for you, gently touching your arm, “What’s wrong?”

And that question alone breaks the dam wide open. Your composure crumples, one hand covering your face as a choked sob leaves your lips. Austin is quick, doesn’t ask for permission or concern himself with the distance you’ve created over the past few days. He draws you into his chest, wrapping his arms around you. One slips along your back, rubbing at your shoulders, while the other works its way into your hair. This was the last thing you wanted, to allow yourself to fall apart in front of Austin, to let yourself feel much of anything given that you needed to be able to get out of your apartment and function within the next day or so. Go back to work, live your life.

Seems undoable any way you look at it.

You turn your face into Austin’s chest and hide there, burrowing into his shoulder, shuddering cries emptying as he squeezes you close. He carefully moves you inside your apartment, the door closing behind him. He doesn’t say anything for a long time, just keeps you against him, hands constantly moving, swaying gently left to right with you in his arms. You can’t imagine what he must think of you within these moments, no context as to what’s going on other than just knowing something isn’t right.

After a few minutes you pull yourself back from him, wiping your face. The skin of your cheeks is hot, splotched red, tear tracks left behind. You take a moment to gather yourself together to speak, sniffling as you look up at him,

“It’s m-my gram.”

Austin’s face shadows with understanding and his features twist with empathy as he cups your face, running his thumb along your cheek, “M’so sorry,” He whispers, leaning forward to press a kiss to your forehead. He lingers, thumb swiping back and forth on your skin, only pulling back when you take a step away.

You sniffle, running your hands over your face.

“What can I do?”

Shaking your head, you can’t even begin to think about an answer to that question. You know that Austin is coming from a genuine place, that he means well, but…there’s nothing he can do. There’s nothing that you can even think of to tell him. There’s this skittering in your chest that feels like beetles crawling over your ribcage, slipping into your bloodstream, making you feel incredibly antsy. As much as it doesn’t make sense, you want to be alone, you don’t want him to be here. You can’t handle the soft way he speaks to you or the way you feel when his skin touches yours,

Such a small voice in the back of your mind says don’t push him away and yet that’s exactly what you do.

“Nothing,” You shake your head, “There’s nothing you can do.”

Austin runs a hand through his hair, “Why don’t you lay down on the couch, I can at least make you some tea or somethin’.”

“You’re not listening to me,” You swallow, “I don’t want you here.”

He looks at you for a long moment, his jaw working as he nods because…he knows exactly what you’re doing and he’s debating on whether he should let you do it or not. You’re not sure what you want out of him more, this entire thing so damn conflicting, a battle of emotions welling inside your chest that you feel like you might crack open at any moment.

“Y/N, I can’t imagine how you must be feelin’, but don’t do this,” He shakes his head, holding your gaze, soft blue eyes boring into yours, “Don’t push me out, let me be here for you.”

You feel yourself bristle, a chill wrapping down your spine. Drawing your arms across your chest like a shield, you swallow over that ache in your throat, like shards of glass, “You’re not actually my boyfriend, Austin.” And you hate the words even as they come out of your mouth but you desperately need that distance, that invisible wall between the two of you.

Otherwise…everything starts feeling far too real, far too raw, and you’re not sure you can handle that.

“I don’t want you here, I need you to go,” You sniffle, running a hand over your face, “Please, just go.”

Austin lets out a soft sigh, hovering for just a few moments before he finally does as you ask. He opens up your door and tilts his head back to the ceiling to seemingly collect his thoughts. Once he does, he looks over his shoulder at you,

“This PR stunt might be fake, but I care about you, you know that, —that’s real. And I’ll be here when you’re ready.” And closes the door after him.

You stand there for a slow few minutes, the sound of the door closing echoing in your ears. It does not take long for tears to well in your eyes and for you to sink to the floor, pulling your knees against your chest.

--

You fly home for the funeral, a quick two-hour flight that somehow feels like eons. It’s definitely not a time that you’ve been envious to be home. Usually you love visiting, making it back for holidays, birthdays, any time you can and yet that guilt still remains that you didn’t make it back in time or enough for your grandmother. A small part of you knows that’s not fair and yet you can’t stop lathering in it, soaking in the remorse, the feeling coming out of your pores at this point.

It's a quick trip, you have to go back to work in two days, but you don’t dare tell your parents that. They’ve always been supportive but they always have a quick word or dig about not spending enough time with your family. It’s something that you’ve had to sacrifice to follow your dream, your passion—your grandmother understood that and supported you. Told you never to feel guilty for it because regret is a bigger killer. Your parents have seen your movies, watched your interviews, your mom especially has always been a cheerleader but emotions are naked and raw right now, the last thing you want to do is make anything worse.

You sit in your childhood home, on the couch, listening to your dad make small talk about the time of the funeral and the wake and suddenly you feel like you’re being yanked into a black hole because your body automatically reaches for—something, someone next to you and come up with air.

It’s a stark realization but you automatically understand what it means.

Standing from the couch, you excuse yourself to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and take your phone out. Eyes blurring with tears but attempting to swallow them down, you draft a text—you are aware of how desperate it sounds, maybe a touch pathetic, but these emotions are strong enough to drown. Austin’s words vibrate in your mind, I’ll be here when you’re ready.

I was wrong, I need you. I’m so sorry. I really need you.

And hit send.

[who-is-page]

(I Always Kill) The Things I Love: How I Navigate Ethical Relationships with Food as a Carnivore

Author: Page

Type: Essay

Words: 1,725

Summary: How Page navigates his relationship with food and ethics as a canine psychopomp.

Author's Note: Trigger warning for animal death mentions. The title is also a reference to the song "(I Always Kill) The Things I Love" by the Real Tuesday Weld from the Last Werewolf book series soundtrack.

[Part of the Sol System’s Alterhuman Writing Project for NaNoWriMo 2021. If you don’t want to see these posts, block the tag #inkedpaws]

As many already know, I’m a canine psychopomp: a glorified magical hunting dog that’s tasked with hunting down the unruly deceased and dragging their souls back to wherever they’re supposed to be. Being that I’m a large, arguably tamed but not domesticated, canine who was bred or otherwise created for a specific predatory purpose in mind, that means I have both a hyper-active prey drive and an extremely heavy lean towards meat-heavy diets.

With that said, existing in a human body as a canine doesn’t negate the responsibilities I have as a global citizen when it comes to sustainability and ethics of consumption and food. In some ways, it actually makes me feel as though I have to pay closer attention to the fine details of such, because I’ve already given my place on the food chain and my perspectives on environmentalism so much thought. The relationship people have to food is also a subject that gets brought up in my field a fair bit: some scholars theorize that food is inherently religious or spiritual in that it's essential to our forms of ritual and the ways we perceive ourselves and others, with people even going so far as to theorize that “it is human relationships with other species that are key to understanding real world religion” (Harvey, 2). I tend to agree with these perspectives, which just makes understanding my relationship to food all the more relevant.

Within the United States—where I live—perhaps the biggest issue with food is where it’s coming from. Farming labor practices from many of the places out-of-country where produce and product are imported from are often terrible, typically used in conjunction with paying people as little as possible and ignoring more local, but operationally expensive, options to maximize profit. Shipping out-of-season fruits and vegetables also is exorbitant in terms of carbon emissions as well.

With meat, you run into similar issues. Large grocery stores and chains will often purchase meat from companies which have questionable ethics, and which prioritize money above all else, making for unfortunately vague situations. It is often difficult, if not outright impossible, to know both how an animal was treated and raised before it died, and how it was killed when one is shopping for meat at a Wal-Mart or Publix. The exception to the rule is Halal and Kosher meats, but that focuses significantly more on the practices of ethical slaughter than the animal’s livelihood—something still important, but perhaps not as whole of a picture as an individual may desire.

There’s also the problem of large-scale animal production on a more general front, outside of animal welfare-oriented concerns: it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to say that collapsing large swathes of land into cookie cutter pastures to raise huge amounts of animals that aren’t native to an environment is going to have wide-reaching effects on all levels.

So how does someone like me engage in this verifiable minefield when it comes to purchasing the food that I need to eat?

In a perfect, picturesque world, I’m sure someone would suggest that I simply stop eating “bad” things and start to make sure I eat “good” things. Usually this takes the form of militant/radical vegan commentary on how you can only be ethical if you’re sucking off an asparagus at any given time, but these types of options are things I’ve already tried in the past.

I’ve tried going into no-meat diets to at least stem the flow on one front and focus solely on vegetable and fruit problems, but it just wasn’t realistic for me as a person. I have a nut allergy that makes most substitutes untenable and the texture problems I have related to my ADHD make the rest almost entirely unpalatable. Unless it’s fried, tofu is gross…and frankly, even then it’s not my favorite thing. There’s also a medical issue where I can’t eat most forms of pasta and tomato products, which are major staples in many meat-free diets. My mental state started to swing towards more feral and animalistic behaviors and feelings in the months I tried this no-meat diet, which culminated in some sort of black-out food-related berserk shift when I “woke up” and found half of a multiple-meat omelet in my hands, with the rest in my mouth. Needless to say, I didn’t try a vegetarian or vegan diet again after that.

As of right now I don’t have a strict “I can eat x amount of y” type diet, though I do consider my food consumption as falling into the flexible “low-meat” category: my polycule tends to have meat with most dinners, but lunches and breakfasts are much more of a coin flip depending on leftovers and what we have in the fridge, with us often defaulting to smaller, more simple meals like salads, rice, and egg-based meals. This is largely because of our lifestyle, which doesn’t lend itself to multiple “big” prep-heavy or time-heavy meals a day, and of our budget and how we go about getting our food.

We’re very luckily in that there are small farms, butchers, and fishing companies local to our area which stage up at the weekly farmer’s market, an opportunity that not many people have. Purchasing produce locally is significantly less expensive than buying it at Wal-Mart or Publix, with the added benefit of a longer shelf life and the functionally insignificant downside of a smaller selection based on what’s in-season. The money we save on produce gets flipped into the money we spend on fish at the market, where we’ll grab whatever’s in-season and looking good from a sustainable fishing-focused company. The fresh caught fish is more expensive than what you’d find elsewhere due to the company’s practices, but it’s significantly more flavorful and we know how and where it’s being caught.

We also have more food-related plans for the future: as silly as it might initially sound, owning chickens is an option we have seriously looked into, should we ever have the space to do so. Producing our own eggs with animals we know are being well cared for is something both myself and my polycule would love to do, especially given how much our household relies on eggs as a staple. It’d also give me the option of butchering my own meat or bringing my meat to a butcher of my choice, something which I’ve wanted to get involved with for a long time.

Maybe it’s because I’ve done so much introspection as a carnivore, but it feels strange and almost unethical to not take part in the actual act of killing and preparing an animal for food. If I’m eating creatures that were previously alive and had emotions of their own, it feels disingenuous and dishonorable to not take part in the process of butchering itself at least once so that I can more fully understand and appreciate the work that goes into turning, say, a chicken into chicken. In Western society it’s so common for us to just not know (to even prefer not to know) how it’s best to kill and prep certain animals and I think that’s a major part of the problem with how people both tend to overconsume certain varieties of meat and how people tend to overcorrect into anti-meat attitudes that support harmful or downright dangerous industries, all the while both types of individuals refuse to engage with the potential problems or ramifications of doing so. Eating meat isn’t a one-way street or black-and-white in how it functions, and I hate that it’s so often treated as such: it’s not something that you should just ignore the facts around because it makes you uncomfortable. You should know where your meat comes from in a more intimate fashion, confronting that discomfort and fear head on because it is genuinely your responsibility to do so if you’re going to partake in either eating meat or judging those who do as unconscionable.

This all is a part of the reason I’m also interested in hunting and fishing. Florida is so full of invasive species that there’s a major environmental benefit to be had from going out and spearing lionfish or shooting boars, and it would also let me engage in the acts myself, rather than just shoving the job onto someone else while I get to reap the delicious rewards. And it guarantees that all parts of the animal that can be used will be, and that nothing will go to waste—bones, hides, organs, everything. Were it not for the fact that I lived in a capital hellscape that required me to spend a majority of my time and energy making money for other people, this would truly be the ideal option, and it’s one I’m hoping to more seriously engage with it post-Covid in a few years.

This knowledge and recognition of the cycle of life at play in regards to my own food source has massively influenced my larger perspectives on both animals and death. Learning about death in all its forms makes it so much less mysterious and terrifying. It’s an inevitable end for all forms of life and that is a unifying fact in it of itself: it’s something natural, something that we shouldn’t shy away from or ignore over the course of our lives. It should function as a reminder to be kind to ourselves, tolerant of each other, caring to the animals we are caretakers for, and supportive of the larger ecosystems that sustain us and will be needed to sustain future generations. I think that if we can improve larger Western societal understandings and intimate interactions with where our food comes from, especially in regards to other animals, it might help to salvage some of the cluttered and terrified relationships we have at large with death and could also foster more of a sense of responsibility on a larger scale as we become intimate with death more face-to-face. Ignoring death is not understanding death, and all ignoring it does is prevent us from seeing the necessity of it and, when applicable, the tragedy of it. This can be applied on multiple levels, but I personally believe it starts first and foremost with our relationship with food.

[lorenfangor]

Laws and Customs among the Andalites (aka The Great Andalite Sex Meta)

(a brief ooc note - this meta is written from the perspective of an in-universe human researcher; consider it an early draft of their collected notes. also, I want to note that Andalite culture and customs are distinct from human culture and customs, and their concepts of gender and sex are purposefully different. nothing here is meant to be Good Representation, just what I personally think is most likely when it comes to our favorite scorpion deer. also I have to thank @nikosheba for her invaluable assistance and co-authorship of much of this work because without her this never would have gotten codified - she’s the other person authoring this hypothetical research paper. eventually this will be crossposted to AO3? but in the meantime, here.)

Introduction

This paper is a summary of information collected through a series of detailed interviews with Andalites on the subject of Andalite sexuality and gender, focusing on mating behavior in order to highlight how and why they are different from humans. This is not a comprehensive examination of all relevant factors, but as no scholarship on this subject yet exists, it can be considered a beginning to human xenological examinations of our greatest and first alien allies.

Andalite Gender

Andalites perceive gender as a male/female binary correlated directly with assigned biological sex. Unlike Earth, biological sex does not seem to exist on a spectrum on Andal and its moons, with chromosomal and genetic expression solely indicating ‘male’ or ‘female’.* This means that if there are intersex Andalites, this researcher is unaware of them. Transgender Andalites - meaning, specifically, Andalites whose original assigned biological sex does not reflect their self-perception or their desired social role - do exist, and there is no stigma or taboo against the existence of such individuals, but it is expected that they will become morph-capable and craft a suitable new body for themselves using DNA acquired from consenting individuals and a careful Frolis maneuver. They will then morph that new body, either male or female, and turn nothlit to maintain it. Genderfluid and otherwise nonbinary transgender identity is not extant culturally on Andal, though there is some variance that is socially permissible in gender presentation and expression. The standard, and the enforced social norm, falls along the existing male/female binary. 

Female Andalites are smaller physically than males, with slightly shorter tails and smaller tailblades. Their arms are less robust than those of the males, though their fingers are slightly more dextrous on average. In addition to taking the primary caregiver role in childrearing, they act as scientists, artists, and philosophers. Male Andalites are larger and more adept with their tails but less adept with their hands, and assist in childrearing as well as acting as protectors and warriors at need. In peacetime, female Andalites are cultural influencers, taking an active role in shaping the ethics and focuses of the population at large, as their roles are revered in the ideology and spirituality shared by all of their species. In wartime, males rise to prominence, taking the lead in defense and strategy. There are exceptions to these norms discussed below. 

Though Andalite females are more revered in peacetime than the males, and though their positions in Andalite society are respected and venerated, there is a pervasive patriarchal sexism present in Andalite day-to-day life, largely due to females’ smaller size and inability to face a male in a tailblade duel. Whether or not this is due to the recent war with the Yeerks is unknown, and further research is necessary to track the rise and fall of sexism in Andalite culture. 

*Despite the biological essentialism inherent for humans in the use of ‘male’ and ‘female’ to mean ‘man’ and ‘woman’, there is no solid conception in Andalite society of sex and gender as separate from one another, and therefore this paper will default to language that accurately reflects how interviewed Andalites discuss their society and its members.

Lothren and Anglith

Gender is not the primary factor to be considered when studying Andalite sexuality. There is no taboo against homosexuality, nor an expectation of heterosexuality, and the genders of the individuals involved in any given mating are irrelevant when compared to whether or not said individuals are lothren or anglith. A lothren is usually a male, and is the active mounting partner in the act of mating, and an anglith is usually a female, and is the passive partner who is mounted. The dominant individual in any herd is its highest-ranking lothren, and this position is either awarded due to great cultural achievements or won after many tailblade duels with other lothren. Female lothren are statistically more likely to be homosexual or at least primarily interested in pursuing female anglith for mating, and male anglith are also statistically more likely to be primarily interested in male lothren. This researcher was unable to confirm the existence of mated pairs consisting of a female lothren and male anglith, but multiple subjects stated that such a thing is plausible and socially acceptable. 

As penetration and being penetrated are central to Andalite conceptions of sex, all lothren are in possession of functional penises. Male lothren are born with them or acquire them by going nothlit, and female lothren are morph-capable and have specialized morphs for sexual intercourse created by use of a Frolis maneuver. The question of whether or not male anglith universally have specialized morphs for sexual intercourse remains unanswered, though interviewed subjects stated that they had heard of specific individuals taking this approach. Until further research can be done, the available data indicates that anal intercourse appears to be the traditional method of copulation in male same-sex Andalite pairs.

Male anglith and female anglith have many shared social roles, though it is acceptable for male anglith to act as warriors and soldiers. In peacetime, primarily, male anglith act as additional caregivers for juvenile and infant Andalites, and unlike female anglith they show a great interest in gardening.* Female lothren, for their part, are additional protectors for the herds they belong to, and often provide a balancing influence in herds where females greatly outnumber males. Just as male anglith can be warriors, female lothren can be artists and scientists. Some humans have speculated that the reason Andalite military policy specifically excluded female lothren was so that in the event of danger on Andal, there would be fighters present to act in defense of other civilians; the subjects interviewed for this study all unanimously agreed that this was the primary reason for such a choice. 

*It is important to note that as a herd species, Andalites discourage individual expression of personality and interest, and indeed their genetic development seems to actively select against behaviors that do not fall into a spectrum of community-accepted traits and practices. Stereotypes are not harmful for Andalites as they are for humans, and generalizations are far more accurate. All interviewed subjects spoke at length about their desire to be part of a greater whole, and how their lives were actively shaped by their need to be accepted by a herd.

Season-Mates and Bonded Mates

Superficial human observation would indicate that like many species on Earth, Andalites mate for life, and form what could be described as nuclear families with two parents and children. This is not universally true, however; Andalites have two forms of relationships, and both can produce offspring. A season-mate is a mate taken out of necessity with the mutual understanding that the coupling does not specifically indicate a long-term partnership, though if there is a child conceived, the parents remain together for the first year of that child’s life before the male departs and the female joins with other season-mated females to collectively raise their young, with support from male anglith and the herd at large. A bonded mate is closer to a human spouse, and bonded mates swear oaths of fidelity to one another and forge a telepathic link that increases their capacity for thought-speech and shared emotions. Children born to bonded mates have two parents for the whole of their childhood as well as that same collective support of the herd. Neither method of conceiving and raising children is considered to be ‘better’ or more moral, and Andalite-authored psychological studies have indicated that as long as there is a herd present for a child to grow up within, there is no substantial difference in development, overall health, or emotional resilience.

Both season-mates and bonded mates can be either heterosexual or homosexual - as stated above, there is no taboo against same-sex pairs. 

Andalite Mating Behavior

Note: All Andalites interviewed for this study currently live on Andal in large herds composed of several smaller family groups and unaffiliated individuals; it is this setting that will be discussed in this paper. Mating behaviors aboard Dome Ships are yet to be fully examined, though further study may reveal that they are much the same.

All Andalite anglith have a yearly estrus cycle that centers around early spring, regardless of whether or not they are female. This is believed to be so that all members of a herd go into season at the same time, thus preserving unity in the population as a whole. There are no reports of what humans would call truly asexual Andalites. While some individuals are completely uninterested in sex and romance, all are drawn to copulate by the yearly estrus cycle. Hypothetically, someone repulsed by or not desiring intercourse could spend this time in and out of morph, as morphing breaks the rut or the heat, or offworld, though none of the interviewed individuals were aware of any Andalites who partook in this behavior.

The first member of a herd to go into heat is the anglith mated to the dominant lothren (traditionally called a Prince in peacetime) and when they* are fully in heat, their lothren drops into rut. All Andalite herds have their own social dominance hierarchies, and each herd has its own place in a greater dominance hierarchy that places every herd on the planet into its own position. When the other lower-ranked anglith in the herd scent their Prince in rut, they too go into heat, which causes the lower-ranked lothren to then drop into rut as well. 

What follows is a period of anywhere from one day to one week, in which unmated lothren and anglith size one another up and match together while bonded mates retreat to their own scoops and engage in sexual intercourse. Bonded mates will traditionally hang ceremonial ribbons on the trees bordering their scoops, thus indicating the presence of a lothren in rut and/or an anglith in heat. Unmated Andalites in search of either a bonded mate of their own or a season-mate will hang ribbons should they find a suitable partner.

Lothren will spar with one another using tailblades to win the right to mate with a particular individual anglith, and anglith will spar with one another in the same manner for the right to mate with a particular lothren. Even bonded mates are sometimes challenged in this way, if the lothren or anglith is particularly desirable or famous.

After all who can match up with one another have matched, and pairs are established, they will retreat to the lothren’s scoop, and ribbons will be hung. The anglith then runs across the scoop, pursued by the lothren, and will either be caught and mounted or will spar with the lothren until they yield, at which point they are mounted. If the anglith truly does not want to engage in intercourse, they will fight off the lothren attempting to mate with them, and depart. This is very rare in modern Andalite society, but was said by interviewed individuals to have once been common in past millennia. If the lothren does not satisfy their partnered anglith sexually, this is also cause for combat, as sexual pleasure is expected.

Lothren rut lasts for three Andalite days, or roughly two and a half Earth days. Should any lothren or anglith enter into a scoop where a pair of Andalites are mating, they will be fought off. For this reason the lothren does not sleep or eat during their rut - it is more common for an unmated lothren to attempt to win an anglith by combat than for an anglith to make such a challenge, and if an anglith were to do such a thing, the lothren could reject them without combat. The mated pair will copulate many times, only stopping for the anglith to rest and eat and drink. When the rut is over, the anglith will complete a season-ending ritual and the lothren will rest before completing a ritual of their own a day later. Unmated lothren and anglith will drop out of season when the last mated pair is finished regardless of whether or not they have copulated. Once both a lothren and anglith have completed their season-ending rituals, they will take down the ribbons bordering the scoop, and rejoin the herd at large. If a child has been conceived, it will be known after five Andalite weeks, and as a result most season-mates in male-female pairs remain together for that length of time.

After the spring season has passed, Andalites do not experience intense sexual arousal that would drive them to mount or be mounted in intercourse for the rest of the year. There are other intimate behaviors that they engage in to strengthen their relationships with their bonded mates or for recreation, including grooming, the intertwining of tails, and the sharing of fantasies and erotic thoughts, though these usually do not result in copulation. 

*As anglith and lothren can be either male or female, gender-neutral pronouns are used in this portion of the paper.

Andalites and Humans

An Andalite lothren mated to a human, as was the case with Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul and his mate Loren, will respond to their mate’s scents and sexual interest regardless of what time of year it is. Humans are primates, and are on a menstrual cycle rather than an estrus cycle, and therefore are always in season and sexually available. Had Prince Elfangor not taken a human form and gone nothlit, it is reasonable to assume that he would have dealt with near-constant rut. It is unknown whether or not human anglith go into heat, though preliminary data suggests that they at least enjoy the experience of lothren rut and do not find it undesirable, and are unusually receptive to the attentions and intentions of their mates. There is no data available on humans taking the lothren role mated Andalite anglith, but it is the opinion of this researcher that the majority of humans who pursue Andalite mates do so because it is their desire to be mounted rather than do the mounting. Preliminary data also suggests that specific humans responsive to Andalite pheromones and desires, or scenting as anglith to interested Andalite lothren, do so because they are already sexually attracted to Andalites, not because there is an innate compatibility between the species.

It is not known whether or not an Andalite and a human in their original forms can procreate. Andalite nothlits are fertile in human form, and human nothlits are fertile in Andalite form, but no mated human-Andalite pair has conceived a child while the two species are in their original bodies. Analysis is ongoing as to the viability of our species’ genomes. 

Impacts on Andalite Sociology

Due to being a herd species with yearly estrus cycles and social structures dependent upon the presence or absence of traditionally male sex organs, Andalites are not sexually conservative by human standards. They openly discuss mating and sexual pleasure, and they are frank about the roles that biological urges play in their society. They will say directly if they believe a behavior is motivated by a desire to mate or by sexual interest, and they are confused by the idea that subtlety or concealing one’s interests could be the preferred approach taken by humans. To them, openness means a healthier herd, and this researcher observed many comments such as “They need to mate and clear their heads,” or “He’s probably in pre-rut, he’s being short-tempered.” They value self-control and self-awareness, which manifests as a desire to deal with sexual urges quickly and immediately, preventing them from impacting both smaller family groups or larger herds. 

Whether or not the Andalite tail translates directly to a human phallic symbol is as of yet unknown. Andalite lothren certainly view the tail as a sign of virility and strength, and the larger size and greater strength of male tailblades is prized, but as females and male anglith also possess tails and tailblades, the comparison cannot be said to be direct. Where the metaphor can be argued to be strongest is in discussing the vecol, or specifically, the vecol who has lost a tailblade - this loss impacts both sexual function and social standing, with other Andalites responding to it as if the afflicted individual has been visibly castrated and lost their virility. See the next section for greater detail. 

Sexual Function and the Vecol

Vecol is a word that can be loosely translated as ‘fatally disabled’, though it often specifically means ‘an individual who has lost their tailblade’. Vecols are expected to isolate themselves from Andalite society and dissolve any bond they might have with a mate, regardless of if they’re anglith or lothren. The reasoning for this seems to be historical - in the past, disabled members of Andalite herds were vulnerable to predators or disease, and injuries such as broken legs or dislocated joints would drastically shorten lifespans and reduce quality of life, and leaving disabled individuals alone would reduce the chances of the herd as a whole being negatively impacted. Advances in Andalite medicine and social ideologies and the advent of peacetime have meant that vecols now are solely individuals whose tailblades have been lost due to accident or injury, but they are still expected to act as if they are dead to their people and isolate themselves from their herds and mates and families. This researcher is not commenting upon the ethics of this cultural norm, nor defending it.

A lothren vecol is unable to fully drop into rut and copulate with an anglith in a way that would satisfy them and end their heat, and an anglith vecol is unable to go into heat. As a result, it can be stated definitively that the presence of a tailblade is crucial to Andalite sexual function regardless of gender or sexual position, even in situations where tailblade combat is not required. This provides some explanation as to why the custom of isolation still exists - a mated pair incapable of ending a rut or a heat would eventually feel immense psychological stress that would negatively impact them and would spread to their herd thanks to the communal Andalite lifestyle and the telepathy all Andalites possess.

Conclusion

Andalite sexuality is distinct from human sexuality, but not so uncommon as to be totally unrecognizable. There are also questions raised about evolutionary biology and evolutionary theory that must be asked when it comes to the presence of yearly estrus cycles on two planets, as well as similar behavior in two completely genetically distinct types of herd species. As this is a small study with a sample size of only a few dozen individuals, more data is needed before conclusive answers can be stated, or before solid conclusions can be argued. But as an introduction to Andalite sociology and sexual politics, these interviews are illuminating and worth examining on a deeper level.

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

[tomione thing] Thanks for the recs! I actually was looking forward to the rant, I like how you break things apart so they make sense in a very unique way.( I don't have any strong feelings to the pairing if that was your concern, I just think the stories about them have the potential to be fantastic because I enjoy intelligent characters going through life and solving problems and, usually, in fanfiction there's focus on only one smart character.

So, you people are just poking me with sticks to see what ridiculous opinions spew out then. I’m onto your game.

With that said, let’s get to answering then, and know that you bring this upon yourself.

I loathe Tomione. I put up with it, sometimes, because I will read almost any fic featuring Tom Riddle as a main character. (Want the Carnivorous Muffin to read your fic? Tom Riddle as a main character. Even if I disagree with 110% of your premise I will probably still read your story.)

However, it’s extremely telling that my recs the other day were hilariously small, and one was actually Hermione/Loki. The Tomione exists, I just hate it.

This is for two main reasons. First, I just don’t believe the ship would ever work under any circumstances and the pair are naturally doomed to loathe one another. Second, fanfiction has a collection of tropes associated with Tomione that are in unbearable (likely caused unconsciously by the first, Tomione doesn’t really work, so we do terrible things to make it work). 

Tomione Doesn’t Work: Change My Mind

So, remember we’re living in Muffin-land for this. I’ve explained some of my headcanons regarding these characters, and I’ll offer brief explanation for why I think what I do here, but I’m not going to expand on it too much.

Tomione has appeal under the premise that either you or someone else previously mentioned: they’re both so smart, of course they belong together.

The trouble, Hermione’s not nearly as smart as she thinks she is. What we see of Hermione’s cleverness boils down to having a very good work ethic and reading a lot of books. She tends to outsmart Ron and Harry because she actually puts in the work to do her homework and, my god, read her text books. Also, as I’ve covered before, Harry’s an idiot, so that’s a low bar.

Because Hogwarts can be passed by the likes of Crabbe and Goyle, and the curriculum seems to boil down to “pronounce this fake Latin correctly, ooh look, a spell”, actually reading her books not only gets Hermione by but skyrockets her ahead of her peers. Who, apparently, have no ear at all and don’t understand the swishy motions are important and probably never bothered to read their books.

This isn’t to say she’s stupid, she’s by far one of the more intelligent characters in the series, but it says a lot of not so good things about Hogwarts that Hermione is the “brightest witch of her generation”. In my mind she has never compared to characters like Tom Riddle, Lily Evans, Severus Snape, or Albus Dumbledore.

Hermione never questions how magic exists, why wands work, or why pronunciation is so weirdly important and why we’re using spells that are gibberish Latin instead of English or simply Latin. She never takes that step outside the box I would expect a truly intelligent person to take.

An example, Hermione completely throws out the entire discipline of divination. This is part because she believes it’s stupid, but she also only spends about two seconds thinking about it, and she doesn’t appear to be any good at it. If Hermione’s not good at it then it must be a stupid subject for stupid people.

Now, that alone doesn’t doom her, but it does put a huge chink in the major appeal of Tomione: they’re both just so brilliant that they’d be great together.

What dooms them is that Hermione both a) thinks she is as brilliant as all these other people and b) has this pervasive need to be the smartest person in any room she walks into. Hermione comes across Tom Riddle in the past or just chills with Voldemort in the future, she will inevitably try to show him up. This isn’t just to assure us that good is better than evil, but because she can’t help herself, because being the smartest is how she defines herself.

As a result, especially if we’re in the time travel/school setting, she would inevitably get in competition with him to prove she’s so much better/smarter than he is. It would undoubtedly be on her terms, probably revolving around school work, and she’d throw a fit when Tom wins because he understands the value in being concise where Hermione would quite easily write a hundred page Potions’ essay (that had a five page limit) with the subtext “PRAISE ME” written on every page.

I can’t imagine Tom Riddle would find this anything but completely obnoxious and a waste of his time.

Now, part of this goes into headcanon land, but I have always imagined, 100%, that Tom Riddle in Hogwarts was treated like a muggleborn, that he didn’t find out his ancestry until at least part of the way through, and he never confessed to being the Heir of Slytherin. I can back this up, but that’s another story for another day, I’ll just say that no matter what Dumbledore says any other backdrop makes no damn sense.

So, Tom has clawed the respect of his peers into reality with bleeding hands, he came from nothing in a way that even the ‘good’ purebloods wouldn’t have sympathy for. Even the muggleborns I imagine thought they were better than him. Tom is an impoverished orphan, so poor he has to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays, he was not having a fun time at school.

Tom has ambitions, is mired in hatred, and is not really all that wrapped up in Hogwarts except to get him where he wants to go.

Now, imagine Hermione suddenly shows up in front of this Tom. Suddenly he’s being challenged to essay competitions, she probably leaves cryptic remarks all the time about how evil he is and how amazing she is because she’s not evil and smarter than he is, and if he thinks he’s smarter than her then he better find time to prove it.

It’s like talking to a Dumbledore he can never escape from.

Tom doesn’t have time for this bullshit.

Tomione not only insists that he does but that he lives for this bullshit. Forget Voldemort, Hermione making weird comments about how Tom has a mutilated soul, or that Dumbledore is so much cooler than he is, is where it’s at. 

As for Hermione, ultimately, I don’t think she’d ever really be attracted to Tom Riddle because he’s too much competition. The guys we’ve seen Hermione with are all safely much dumber than she is, Hermione likes being in relationships with men she feels in some way better than. Tom Riddle is not that guy. 

Add on top of this that Hermione’s righteousness would never allow her to even think about dating someone like Tom and we get her, at best, trying for the sake of destroying him (if she seduces Tom then she destroys Voldemort!) but ultimately failing.

Because the thing is, circling back to where we started, there are different kinds of intelligence, different levels of intelligence, and intelligence alone isn’t a reason to get along. Smart people might gravitate towards smart people, but they still have to have compatible personalities. Reading books isn’t magical glue that can bind people together.

No matter what way I look at it, Hermione and Tom would absolutely loathe one another in every capacity. 

Hermione ends up back in time accidentally and goes to Tom with Hogwarts: utter loathing.

Hermione ends up back in time on purpose and tries to save Tom’s troubled soul or else murder the shit out of him: utter loathing with an extra dash of “what the fuck?!” on Tom’s end.

Hermione ends up back in time after Hogwarts when Tom’s a store clerk: utter loathing (Hermione walks into Tom’s shop to tell him how cool and interesting she is to enter into the typical Tomione mind games, all Tom wants is commission.)

Hermione enters into deals with devils with the horcruxes: utter loathing complete with Tom’s triumphant/Nelson laugh when he inevitably betrays her to get his own body.

A young Tom Riddle somehow winds up in the future and is forced to attend Hogwarts because Dumbledore does what he wants: utter loathing (Tom has to sit there and enjoy Harry and especially Hermione telling him how evil he is and how Hermione’s so much smarter than him because she’s muggleborn and reads books.)

Lord Voldemort takes Hermione hostage during the horcrux hunt: utter loathing (though this would be sadly less irritating to Tom than the others, I imagine, if only because Hermione would probably be more terrified and less righteous. But she’d hate him with the fire of a thousand suns and inevitably pull a horrific revenge scheme on either him or his Death Eaters. No one crosses Hermione. No one.)

You name it, I think it’s going to end with the pair hurling chairs at each other and just being completely and utterly uninterested in every capacity. 

Now, onto how Tomione is typically written, which just makes it so much worse.

Tomione Fics Breed Awful: Change My Mind

Tomione, to me, is born from a few things. It’s born from the author’s desire to have an intelligent, female, borderline SI lead and to shove her together with another edgy smart person with some degree of a bad boy persona.

In this way Tomione fics are very similar to Snape/Hermione fics, are similar to Lokane from Thor/Avengers, are similar to Zutara back in the earlier seasons of Avatar the Last Airbender, etc. 

As a result the fics almost invariably spiral into: “Hermione is so smart, she’s so much smarter than everyone else, she impresses Tom because she is so smart. Tom is so smart but so evil, he sexy growls at her, and confesses how much he hates love every other chapter.” 

Only, as I noted above, while there are many interpretations of Tom’s character (and mine certainly doesn’t agree with the vast majority) I can’t help but think every single version would hate her.

To make him not hate her the author will often turn him into one of two Tom Riddles: Emotionally Deficient Robot Tom or Growling Sexy Sociopath Tom. Emotionally Deficient Robot Tom will often have paragraph long tangents to remind us he doesn’t compute your human emotions, “Beep boop” but despite this Hermione’s out of control hair makes him feel urges “bloop bloop”. Growling sexy sociopath Tom usually goes on a rant about how love is beneath him, backs Hermione into broom closets, and growls as he sexily makes out with her in a non-romantic manner because “ew love”. 

In other words, Tom is made an unbelievably flat character. He becomes a base archetype of sexy villain character. He never really gets redeemed, even if the story insists he does, he usually doesn’t have a reason for the way he is (”um, love potions!” the author often cries), and he and Hermione always think they’re much more important than they are.

The story rarely, if ever, goes anywhere because the entire point of the story is mind games between two sixteen-year-olds who think they’re smarter than everyone else. So we get a lot of chapters of Hermione and Tom running around, being very clever to each other, but doing nothing.

Sometimes authors do deviate from this, we will have an actual plot where we’re not just in Hogwarts again or it’s not just centering on ridiculous mind games. However, even then, Tom is usually is some variant of a very flat cartoon villain while Hermione is... Well, one would think the way she’s described that she’s the smartest, best, most beautiful, most brilliant thing to ever grace this earth.

TL;DR

Tomione is not my jam.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

I have been following the discussion of Finrod, philosophy, and kingship with interest, since I know virtually nothing about philosophy myself and it’s nice to have the chance to learn from other people’s perspectives. (I may need to pick up a book on virtue ethics, as it sounds appealing).

I don’t want to jump into everything, but I do want to make a couple notes regarding the points on kingship. First, there’s the question of whether Nargothrond has the moral right to reject Finrod when he calls upon them to aid Beren.

To answer that, the first question to ask is whether Nargothrond has benefitted from having Finrod as king.  Given his previous accomplishments and the speed with which things in Nargothrond fall apart after he’s gone, I would say this is an emphatic yes. He’s the only leader in Beleriand who has maintained consistently positive relations with all groups resisting Morgoth - Fingolfinians, Fëanorians, Sindar, Laiquendi, dwarves, Edain - and has a record of being trusted enough by different groups to resolve conflicts between them (Edain and Laiquendi; Edain and Sindar). He has balanced Nargothrond’s security and secrecy with participation in the war against Morgoth, whereas after he is gone Nargothrond wavers between one extreme and the other, leading to its destruction.

So, given that Finrod’s presence as king has been beneficial to Nargothrond, it is not just him, personally, that owes a debt to the House of Barahir.  The debt is also owed by Nargothrond and its people. Moreover, Nargothrond and its people, in their capacity as liege-lords to the House of Barahir, have obligations to provide it with succour in time of need. Arguably, they failed (due to ignorance of the situation rather than intent) to discharge these obligations when the House of Barahir was reduced first to 13 people, then to 1 person, fighting against the forces of Morgoth in Dorthonion and, amazingly, holding the enemy to a stalemate under those conditions. The questionable tactical value of Beren’s desire to get married does not remove those obligations.

This is a place where the concept of “majority rule” breaks down, in terms of international relations.  The modern world has nothing quite comparable to the liegelord-liegeman relationship, but alliances follow a principle that is comparable at least in this respect: you cannot morally break faith with your allies, especially allies who have previously suffered great loss in order to help you, just because you feel like it. To do so is a statement from the Nargothrondim that Edain dying for the Eldar is appropriate, but the reverse is not something that can be reasonably expected. 

Treating this as a dereliction of duty on Finrod part therefore requires, in my opinion, rather troublesome moral reasoning. One could morally determine either of the following:

1) Nargothrond doesn’t need/benefit from Finrod --> Finrod is free to do as he chooses (I’ve outlined why I do not consider this to factually be the case); or 

2) Nargothrond does need/benefit from Finrod --> Nargothrond is indebted to the House of Barahir, because absent their actions Finrod would be dead.-->Nargothrond is morally obligated to assist Beren.

But one can’t reasonably conclude that Nargothrond needs Finrod and that it is under no obligation to the House of Barahir unless one is arguing that the Edain have duties to the Eldar but the reverse does not apply. That is the argument that the Nargothrondim are making with their choice, and that is the argument that Finrod rejects in the strongest terms.

Secondly, about whether Celegorm and Curufin were intrinsically bad choices as kings at the point when Nargothrond chose them. Firstly, I do think character plays into this, and they’ve already demonstrated ill character in the matter of the Kinslaying and the burning of the ships. (They’re also evidently abrasive enough that Maedhros was willing to move across Beleriand to keep them away from the Fingolfinians and Finarfinians - Maglor is the only one he takes with him to diplomatic meetings like Mereth Aderthad. It’s not clear as to whether their discontent with Maedhros’ abdication is openly known or not.) The existence in the first place of an oath where you openly commit to killing good people also speaks to character, I think. And they are also willing to undermine Finrod while they are guests in Nargothrond - guest-right is not something that is part of modern politics or modern political theory, but is of vast important in the ancient world.

However, all of that pales in comparison with the fact that Celegorm threatens the people of Nargothrond with civil war if he does not get his way. The poetic Leithian describes Celegorm’s speech: “foreboding war of friend with friend; and pools of gore their minds imagined lying red in Nargothrond about the dead, did Narog’s host with Beren go”. Stating outright that you are will spark a civil war and kill the people you are talking to if you don’t get your way is - in these circumstances - pretty much an instant disqualifier for being a good or ethical choice as ruler.