#in conclusion f*ck these writers

[where-theres-smoak-2]

You know, I think some people in the fandom often forget that not everyone has read the fire and blood book. I've seen a few posts saying that people who say that daemon didn't give the go ahead for blood and cheese to kill jaehaerys if they couldn't find aemond are stupid and dumb or daemon sympathisers. That it was obvious from daemon's silence when cheese asked what if they couldn't find aemond that he was indicating that any royal son would do. But here's a thought, just an idea, have you ever considered that maybe your opinion is influenced by the fact that you have read the book and in the book daemon did give the order for them to kill jaehaerys. Maybe you are then projecting the opinions you got from the book onto the show.

Because here's the thing, I love watching YouTube reactors after I've watched a tv episode, I enjoy seeing what other people's reactions, opinions and theories are. When it comes to hotd I also enjoy the reactors who are non book readers like myself. What is telling about the reactions to blood and cheese is not a single one that I watched believed that daemon ok'd jaehaerys' murder, they all pretty much came to the same conclusion, the silent look daemon gave cheese at his question was a you'll find him or else look, a kind of 'did I stutter' look and then jaehaerys being killed was a colossal f*ck up by blood and cheese who got caught, panicked, and then figured daemon would be OK with jaehaerys' head as a consolation prize as it would still be a son for a son. They couldn't go back empty-handed and figured this would do, type situation. They all had varying opinions on what daemon's own reaction will be, some say that he'll be upset, others say he won't care, many still put the blame on daemon for sending the assassins into the castle in the first place.

I see a lot of people bringing up the son for a son line and how this is supposed to indicate that daemon gave the go ahead to kill any royal Prince that blood and cheese come across. But here's the thing as a viewer, who has no knowledge of the book, the only other time we hear the line 'a son for a son' is when daemon is talking about aemond at the start of the episode, which means show only watchers' only interaction with the line 'son for a son' is in connection with aemond. So when they hear that line, they aren't going to immediately think ah yes, that's in reference to any royal son. They are immediately going to think of aemond and make the connection back to when they first heard the line in reference to aemond.

Personally I thought the question and daemon's subsequent silence was really ambiguous, I definitely didn't think it was obvious at all, obvious would have been them making it very clear through dialogue that daemon said any royal prince's head would do if they couldn't find aemond, but we didn't get that and as I said above the son for a son line didn't make it clear enough to give that idea to the general viewer.

If you believe that daemon did give the go ahead to blood and cheese to kill jaehaerys as a back up plan then that's your interpretation, like I said, I myself thought it was ambiguous, however just because someone has an opinion that is opposite to yours and does think that daemon wanted aemond's head and only aemond's head and that jaehaerys was a screw up on blood and cheese's part, doesn't mean they are stupid or dumb, especially as it seems the majority of the general audience came to the conclusion that daemon wanted aemond and it was blood and cheese who screwed up. After all the book and the show are not the same.

If it was the writer's intention to hint to the audience that daemon did give permission to blood and cheese to kill a child then they failed, as it seems to me that the general audience completely missed it. Personally I think it's more likely that the show decided to go a different route and have it be more of a mishap as that does seem to be their mo. At most I think the writers made it a bit ambiguous for the book readers so they could speculate just how involved daemon was in it all. But to say that it was obvious is a bit of a reach because it really isn't, like at all.

[lemotmo]

To the...

... lovely 🫖 Nonny: Thank you so much for the information and the heads up. I do appreciate it very much. Thank you! ❤️

... 'ooc dumpster fire that was s7-rant' nonny: Listen, I appreciate your passion and I realise that I can't tell you how to feel about a show, so I won't. But if you hated season 7 so much and you seem to be absolutely certain that Tim and the writers will f*ck up season 8, maybe it's time to take a break from watching? Maybe hold off from watching, but keep up with the show through Tumblr? Based on that you can decide on whether or not you want to start watching again. I understand from your post that you don't blame people for remaining positive and happy, but you want us to recognise and validate that some people fear the worst when it comes to Buddie. Well, I do recognise it and I definitely validate it. I understand the frustration. Trust me. I do! I've also been here for 7 seasons now, 6 of them I've watched how important Buck and Eddie became to each other and for all 6 I shipped them. I have been very very frustrated by the writing of the show in those 6 years, sure. But I've never stopped loving it. And I've actually had to take a step back with the last part of season 6, because I could feel my frustration growing and I didn't want it to overpower my love for the show. It really helped. I read spoilers, so I was more prepared for what was going on and then I watched the last few episodes after the finale had aired. I felt more calm when watching, because I knew what was coming. My mind was prepared for what I was about to see. Now we're here, close to season 8 and I guess I just don't see the point in getting stuck in negative thoughts when we only have a few puzzle pieces from a 1000 piece puzzle. We haven't a clue what they have in store for us and that is part of the excitement for me. So, when I see some people (mainly on Twitter) drawing the absolute worst conclusions from seeing one single bts picture? I don't understand why their mind would go to the absolute worst theory ever, when there are so many other plausible reasons or things that could be going on. My mind doesn't work that way. Also, was season 7 the best season ever? No, it wasn't. Especially 7b was questionable. Tim made some interesting choices.🙄 But 7a was quite good and the one thing that stayed consistent through this entire season was definitely Buddie for me. Their scenes together remained solid and heartfelt. So yeah, I like where all the clues we've been getting seem to be leading. I have a good feeling about Buddie for season 8. Am I deluding myself? Are we all deluding ourselves? Possibly yes. But also... maybe not. You know? We're at the point where the story can go anywhere, so I'm holding off on negativity and I'm approaching season 8 with an open mind. Que Sera, Sera. 🤷‍♀️

[avatarskywalker78]

2, 10, 11!

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

I plan!! Not every single detail, but I found out it was much better to have an outline than just winging it.

10. Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

Unfortunately no blinks, but here's a blinked!

“Scott?” He asked, and watched as the guy blinked at him, confusion in his gaze.

This is from my Logan & Scott WIP, an X3 AU where Jean takes control of the Phoenix and leaves Earth...but decides to resurrect Scott before she does, and Logan happens to be there at the time.

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

The first is forty years in the wilderness (and the following holiday weekend) by sunsmasher, a post AA4 Wrightworth fic where Miles returns after 4-4 and not only do he and Phoenix get together but decide to get married, and it's a heartwarming and very funny fic and very on brand for them.

Second is Anti-Hero by pinkgrapefloyd, a fucking hilarious CK fic which starts as a divergence of 2x10, where Miguel dodges the hit that would've sent him over the railing and Robby promptly hits a wall, gets knocked out, and wakes up 16 hours later with a very panicked Johnny nearby and no memory of the last year - and on overhearing part of a conversation Daniel has with Johnny, plus seeing how they interact, comes to the conclusion that the two of them not only got married but divorced in this timeframe, and makes it his mission to fix this!!! The fic made me laugh out loud so many times, especially because Robby manages to get a lot of people on board - their reaction is always some variation of 'yeah, that tracks' and it's great!!!

Thirdly, this world is not made for you by squireofgeekdom, a fic where Eobard Thawne, on finding out his destiny as the Reverse-Flash, promptly decides 'fuck that' and runs to Earth-2 and becomes the Flash of that Earth instead, building his very own team in the process...but Earth-1 still comes to haunt him.

Get to know your fic writer!

[batri-jopa]

SHIT 'N' STUFF NOBODY AWAITS PART 3 OF 3:

So I'm writing fic again and maybe other normal writer are doing it from A to B and C but NOOO! I had an idea I had to write it down, then next day - write a different trail of thoughts, and the other - write something connected to the first one, but with a bit new conclusion... Now every time I sit to edit that is like: try to connect these trails of thoughts, so I read them, the first, the last, and the middle, and try to reorganise their order, but then this one and the second are so alike yet I used a bit different words and concentrated on this while the other is more concerned about that so...

And, for goodness sake, erase or rewrite those sentences repeating the same phrases, I beg you! what do you think you can aim to turn it into hebrew poetry or something? or being so naive to make it feel like two people mutual thinking the same way? F*ck you know about mutual thinking! So: no, it's just dull and all it reveals is your luck of both vocabulary and imagination!

So okey, now: which part is better, which should be deleted, cut, joined? That's what editing should be and... No, not adding another sentence to what already is a mess, stop doing it, STOOOP!!!😖

This kind of chaos can not even be named WIP😮‍💨 I can't promise ANYTHING good going out of it, even to myself🙄😑

Ps. What does this Part 3 have to do with Part 1 and 2? Absolutely nothing! That's my "shit 'n' stuff" that nobody awaited!😜 I just thought that, for once, I might try to share something that is not filled with my frustration. This? Nah, that's not frustration - it's just me babbling nonsense that you have to listen no matter if you're interested or not - it's like what I do when feeling comfortable with someone so... I guess you can imagine I was a dog who just licked your face all over😆

Love you and have a nice day or good night or whatever😘

[quecksilvereyes]

okay descendants rant:

i hate vk day. i hate it. the whole concept of it makes me want to murder whoever came up with it. to make these children’s lives and fates hinge on them kissing up to the core four who left them to rot instead of helping them in a meaningful way is just disgusting and gross.

i hated that beast and belle pushed mal to make the decision to close the barrier so she could be blamed for the repercussions of it, she is too young and she needs therapy before she should ever make decisions like that. not to speak of the fact that she shouldnt be making those decisions at all if she thinks hades zapping her a bit justifies dooming everyone to exist on the island forever. no one, not even the parents who actually committed crimes, deserve to be on the island and be stripped of their basic human rights. mals survival instinct is diametrically opposed to helping other people because she has spent her whole life learning that helping people only traps her and that is something she needs to go to therapy for and not be exploited so you can get what you want BEAST. that isnt to say im not holding her responsible for her shitty actions, i am just incredibly frustrated with this franchise and how it treats mal as if she can never do any wrong, not in a meaningful way anyway.

i hated the way they did audrey’s villainy because a) it could have been explained with a spell which defeats the whole “everyone has the capacity for evil“ thing they were trying to do and b) i thought her reasoning was a bit weak. for her main motivation to be that she didnt get the boy feels demeaning when theres a bunch of other things she could have gotten very upset about, ranging from mal’s behaviour towards her and her mother’s fate to the way everyone keeps glossing over the fact that mal spelled ben, not even because she wanted him, just because it was useful. i wish we got more exploration of the fact that all the isle parents are abusive, what was up with that 180 the core four did at the end about their parents missing them? we spent two movies establishing that they do not care about their children at all, and now we’re supposed to root for them reuniting with their parents? what?

i hated the hades thing. it wasn’t even needed, all it did was technically op mal, and it didn’t even do that. it undermined hades’ power as a god and implies that fairy godmother is more powerful than him since she could trap him on the isle in the first place.

“nothing except hades’ ember is stronger than maleficent’s staff“, here is a noncomprehensive list of things stronger than the ember: - the barrier - fairy godmother - enchanted lake water - mal and uma together

like, if they wanted to do an uma/mal rekindling of their friendship, they could have done that without making hades mal’s dad and completely erasing not only persephone or the child hades had in the books but also the fact that mal was half human in the source material and it was her mother’s reasoning for the abuse she faced. Are you seriously trying to tell me that Maleficent wouldn’t have told her if she was half god? Her whole goal was for Mal to be the most powerful thing, why would she stunt that? Also apparently Mal knew? And we never heard a word of it before? What even was the point of Hades, he could have easily been written out.

Mr. Jackson, sir, I am so sorry.

Also I hated the complete lack of regard for Evie, Jay and Carlos’ established characters, none of them would have been okay with half the stuff they were okay with in this movie. Not to mention that I am still very upset that neither Evie nor Jay have magic.

Uma came around too fast for me, Hades came around too fast, there was nothing happening with Celia the way I hoped it would, she would have been perfect as someone getting mal’s favour, getting the f*ck off the isle and then doing her own thing, but NO.

i’m just AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

(also. they made light of the food situation I will literally MURDER)

[billiejean485]

Also an add-up to this:

(Be warned - SPOILERS IN THE LINK!)

All of Adrien's HUMONGOUS character development was tossed out the window with a conclusion in which he never learns about his father's crimes.

The writers really decided to let him stay a pretty little 'perfect' puppet, and with a little will of his own, if things stay the way they were up til now (please, please don't let Marinette screw THIS up). PERFECT choice for the main heroine's love interest. 👌

Thomas, ZAG - what the f*ck!?

[onesheeptwosheepandachicken]

Analyzing Weiss and Whitley Schnee’s relationship

With R/RWBYCritics poisoning R/RWBY on reddit, any pro-rwby posts or comments now get downvoted to hell.

And any positive RWBY statements get downvoted on R/RWBY as well.

Here is one example from a RWBYCritic claiming that Miles and Kerry create division within the fandom, and the RWBYCritics took advantage to attack the writers, the show, and the fandom in their malicious glee.

Here we have a person who delivered a FANTASTIC analysis.

“Once the story leaves the author's hands it's no longer their story, the interpretation is up to the person who reads it.

The problem is not how it is written, the problem is that people can't accept people have different interpretations.

To me this looks more like a problem of perception more than writing.

Perception in the sense that it looks like this critic is written from an "outsider perspective" of a characters actions that should be perceived from the character's point of view.

The Schnee's family story is written from Weiss' point of view from v1 to v3.

-her brother and mother are not mentioned. -her father is mentioned under a negative light. -her sister under a positive light.

That tells us at least that in her eyes she's neutral/indifferent towards her mother and brother, Hostile towards her father and friendly to her sister.

At this point it doesn't matter if the characters for Willow and Whitley exist or not because they don't have any influence in Weiss during this point of the story.

For v4 and v5 we find out what kind of person is Jacques and we understand the issues Weiss had with him.

Then we are introduced to her brother and we see that he's just as Jacques at a surface level so it's understandable that Weiss acts hostile against him. But then we see the first hint Weiss gets that her brother is just as much as a victim as her.

-"it's foolish to disobey father."

Here is where the problem starts. We as an audience with an "outsider's perception" are able to start putting the hints together and come to the conclusion that Whitley is a victim of Jacques' influence and control.

BUT that is not a conclusion Weiss can reach on her own.

-"to me you, Blake and Ruby are more family to me than my father or my own brother."

To her on this point in the story her brother is an extension of her father.

After that we don't see anything about her family until we meet her mother.

-"unlike others I'm trying to do something about the problem."

We could see that Weiss is not happy with her mother about the lack of action to fix her family (leaving the fixing to Weiss).

-"my bother doesn't want anything to do with me" -"of course he doesn't, you left him here with us"

At that point 6 volumes in Weiss understands that Whitley is a victim like her.

But can he change or does her brother became another Jacques?

The moment she had her dying friend in her arms, the weight of the world in her shoulders and its looking for a safe place to tend her friends (mortal wounds).

She's received by a Whitely scolding her about her decisions (Jacques-like) so she points a sword at his face so he could stop talking and save her friend's life.

(friendly reminder that under that situation anyone would be stressed as f*ck and they didn't have any time to lose to save Penny)

To this point Weiss still sees her brother as another Jacques, but then he calls Klein to help Penny.

And it's at that moment and ONLY that moment when she understands that her brother is not a lost cause so she finally embraces him.

-"you didn't do this for me, for you or the family's name. You are not Jacques."

Of course, as I said earlier the interpretation of the story is up to the perceiver, by under this logic I see no problems in the writing for the Schnee's family from Weiss' point of view.”

As you can expect? the RWBYCritics downvoted it because it portrayed not only the show, but also the writing, in a positive light.

[tevanbegins]

Hey y'all, it's rant o' clock again! 😒

.

.

So, this could be a hot take but as hard as I stan Schmico, personally I have always had more faith in Nico's love for Levi than Levi's for Nico. Despite his flaws, there are so many things that Nico has done for Levi over the seasons...but honestly I don't have much to tell when it comes to answering what Levi has done for Nico. Levi fell in love first, but Nico fell harder — it's plain to see that. Love isn't just always about saying it out loud for the world to know, it's also about the little things like caring and supportive gestures that really matter.

So I absolutely disagree with Jake Borelli when he just dismisses Nico's significance in Levi's life and gives up on Schmico all because of his obvious bias towards the character he plays himself. His comments in his latest interviews might be coming from knowing all the dirty things that the writers have in store for them, but as much as I love Levi I can't tolerate any baseless crap being said about Nico — because I love him equally if not more. Jake always sees Levi through rose-tinted glasses but he needs to accept that Levi has his own flaws too and that he isn't always the sole victim in their turbulent relationship drama.

The show, its writers, and even Jake might be giving zero f*cks about Nico's perspective, but his feelings matter too. At least to me they do. It's not a surprise anymore that Levi – the series regular character, trumps Nico – the insignificant recurring character. But it begs to be asked that does the show care much about Levi over the other regular characters? Just look at the terrible screen-time he gets even in Nico's absence and you've got your answer. It should be interesting to see Jake share his honest opinion regarding this issue, but I know very well that he'll never be candid about it.

Levi always has this perpetual sense of entitlement despite few of his own actions that have been rather unfair to Nico, so I'm not going to buy into the prejudiced narrative that Jake is trying to feed us. Of course I adore Levi; it breaks my heart to seem him in such a rough shape right now and I sincerely want him to survive this dark phase and get out of it eventually. But if he tries to justify ending things with Nico even after he is fine and tries to portray him as the bad guy for reasons that defy history, sense, and logic, then let me make it known now itself that I won't take that nonsense kindly. NICO DESERVES BETTER too and that man is every bit deserving of getting his own happy ending whether it is with Levi or not. He too can find his dream job with the Mariners or whoever and meet the true love of his life. That's my vision of a happy conclusion to his storyline in the much-dreaded scenario of Schmico not being endgame, because I know that if the writers intend to write either of them off by separating them forever — then Levi at least stands a chance at rediscovering his happiness, but Nico'll just be tossed aside into oblivion on the show.

This entire week all my days have been ruined by reading Jake's hopeless and pessimistic interviews first thing in the morning. The past few weeks have already been so depressing yet I'm trying my best to cope, but Jake is definitely not helping my situation. I know he has the right to have his own opinions, but sometimes, knowing that the actors show love and loyalty towards the on-screen ship that they are a part of (regardless of what crap goes on the show) can be quite comforting to a distressed fandom. There's a reason why Marina stans hold so much power in the Station 19 fandom — because you've got to admire the passion that Stefania Spampinato and Danielle Savre have not just for their individual characters but also for the ship as a whole. Jake has never let us completely enjoy that pure joy with his fickle, conveniently-changing views on Schmico, and Alex Landi rarely ever gives interviews (at least not many of those where he gets asked about Schmico in depth.) All of this makes me super mad, frustrated, and broken-hearted, because this lack of empathy for the Schmico fandom's feelings on Jake's part is a lot worse than the havoc Krista Vernoff is wreaking on the show. And that's why I wrote this long rant because I really needed to vent. At this point I'm so done with everything that's been going on, I can't wait for this mess to be over for good. 😪😪😪

[raya-rhaenyra-ahsoka]

Why Daenerys Should've Stayed Longer in the North Than Attack Cersei Too Soon (Which is a dick move, really) PART 2

This is a continuation from my other post, as promised. Here’s the link to Part 1 here.

ALLIES FROM THE SOUTH

The Stormlands. With Dany recently legitimizing Robert Baratheon’s last living bastard, Gendry (Yay!), and appointed him as the new Lord of Storm’s End, I think he had pledged his loyalty and full support to her.

Now since the Baratheons are the overlords of the Stormlands, it ultimately makes the Stormlands part of Dany’s new rule in Westeros. And if the Stormmen questioned Gendry’s legitimacy, there are two people who can back him up: Ser Davos Seaworth, a landed knight, and Ser Brienne of Tarth, literally the heiress to Evenfall in Tarth Island. Both of whom are from the Stormlands and have served the late Baratheon lords, Stannis,

and Renly, respectively.

TV show-wise, Gendry had taken over Edric Storm’s plotline. Edric Storm was another one of Robert’s many bastards and it was him who Ser Davos saved from being killed by Mellisandre in the books, not Gendry. Gendry himself was grateful to Davos for saving his life and he sort of stepped up as his own parental figure. I also think Gendry reminded Davos of the son he lost during the Battle of Blackwater Bay.

As for Brienne, she and Gendry never shared a conversation in the show, but in the books, he even saved her life. Brienne came from Tarth, an island in the Stormlands, where her father Selwyn Tarth is lord and one of the many bannermen of the Baratheons of Storm’s End. Brienne came across Gendry in the Inn at the Crossroads while she was searching for the Stark girls. When she saw him, she literally thought he was Renly because of his striking resemblance to his uncle. Their exchange went something like this:

Brienne: Oh my god, Lord Renly?!

Gendry: Uh, what? Lord? Lol no, I’m just a smith.

I wished it happened in the show, it would’ve been funny.

Dorne. There isn’t much plot regarding Dorne in the show. (Again, f*ck D&D for ruining a great sub-plot of the story!) But in the books, the Martell heiress, Arianne was the ultimate feminist icon. She supported and fought for Myrcella Baratheon’s claim to the Iron throne over her younger brother, Tommen, and she hoped that the rest of Westeros would follow after Dorne’s right of inheritance regardless of gender and order of birth. But no! They disregarded that seemingly important plot that even George R.R. Martin was disappointed about the changes. (We hear you, George!) Nevertheless, Arianne would’ve supported a queen, yes. But between Daenerys and Cersei, she’d probably go with Dany mainly because of their family ties. In case you forgot, Rhaegar’s late first wife, Elia Martell, was Arianne’s aunt. Also, because of what happened to Elia and Oberyn Martell in King’s Landing, the Martells practically loathed the Lannisters. In the show, Oberyn Martell’s paramour Ellaria Sand, and his bastard daughters, the Sand Snakes, hated the Lannisters, that’s why they sided with Dany. But with all of them dead and House Martell now extinct, I think the new prince of Dorne would’ve allied himself with a tamer ruler, not one who plays with wildfire. (Note: this is when Dany stayed in the North and did not march south yet.)

Spies. In the Art of War, the use of spies implies gaining knowledge of the enemy, knowing their motive and their next move. With Lord Varys the Spider in Winterfell, who’s still serving under Daenerys, has its advantages. Vary’s networks of spies or as what he called them, his “little birds” are literally scattered across the seven kingdoms.

His little birds are actually children, and appearance-wise, cannot be easily identified as spies. With his intel, they could easily formulate a plan to defeat Cersei.

DEFENSE AT SEA

 If Cersei couldn’t do it by land, she’ll go by sea. Which, Daenerys of course, have the appropriate fleets to defend, covering both the Narrow and Sunset Seas. Here's a map:

(Source: pinterest.com)

Enemies to the East. If Cersei will be stupid enough to attack through the Narrow Sea by sea, Daenerys has the fleets to defend. The Northern fleet, a.k.a the Manderly Fleet of White Harbor and the Arryn Fleet in Gulltown in the Vale will join forces.

Enemies to the West. And if they invade through the Sunset Sea, they’d have to pass the Iron Islands, where Yara Greyjoy’s Fleet will intercept them, with the help of the Mallister Fleet in Seagard.

Who would win depends. The only other person that’s probably as good as Euron at sea is his niece, Yara. The rest of Dany’s fleet would have to get lucky or outnumber the number of ships in a fleet.

At this point, you’ll probably be like, oh, what if they steer clear from the fleets and enter the North’s weakly defended areas? Okay, that job falls to the castles nearest to their borders. The northernmost castle is the Last Hearth, the seat of House Umber, which is practically already deserted. On the south is Greywater Watch, which has the strongest defense out of all four cardinal directions. On both east and west hold the seat of two branches of House Flint, with Widow’s Watch on the east, and Flint’s Finger on the west (Again, refer to the map above). Once they see Cersei’s fleet, they’ll inform the people in Winterfell.

People tend to forget that Daenerys has the only air support with her dragons. So when she hears about this, she’ll easily burn the enemy fleet with one dracarys away.

That is, if Qyburn hadn’t installed that big-ass crossbow in one of the ships, then she’ll have to be better at dodging them. It gets better if Jon’s willing to help her with Rhaegal, but we’ll never know.

OUTNUMBERED AND SURROUNDED

The map shows the Crownlands and its neighboring kingdoms of the Vale, the Riverlands, the Reach, and the Stormlands. (Source: pinterest.com)

Territories. With Cersei sacrificing Casterly Rock to tighten her grip on the Iron Throne, she technically had also sacrificed the Westerlands, which meant everything north of King’s Landing is Dany’s territory now. With Dany’s army and territories secured, the Crownlands, where King’s Landing is, is technically surrounded by the Vale, the Riverlands, the Reach, and Stormlands. I included the Reach because, well, she roasted the Tarlys and took the remaining men to her cause with a choice, bend the knee or die in a blaze of glory.

Armies. Dany has the combined armies of North, Vale, Riverlands, Westerlands, Reach, Stormlands, and maybe Dorne, plus, the Unsullied; fleets of the North, Vale, Riverlands, and Yara’s fleet from the Iron Islands; and the only air support, her two remaining dragons. Cersei on the other hand, just had the army of the Crownlands, King’s Landing’s City Watch, the queensguard, plus, the Golden Company without elephants; and Euron Greyjoy’s fleet.

I think it’s obvious that Dany outnumbers Cersei’s army, by a lot. And at this point, Dany has enough allies to lay a siege on King’s Landing.

DAENERYS VS. CERSEI

Let’s discuss the difference in the personalities and motives of Daenerys Targaryen and Cersei Lannister.

They both have blond hair, are the only girl among three siblings, and are queens in their own right. But that’s where their similarities end.

Cersei currently sits on the iron throne, and she is loving the perks that came with it. Endless Power, which meant she can do whatever she wants and not care about what people think, like sleeping with her brother. With the news of Dany coming back to Westeros, she sees her as a threat and wanted nothing more than for Dany to disappear so she could stay in power.

Daenerys, however, claims that being the queen of the seven kingdoms is her birthright, as it was the Targaryens that reunited the whole continent of Westeros. Of course, it’s still power, but at the same time, she sees it as a responsibility as well. (With great power, comes great responsibility. Wow, I’m quoting Spiderman now.) She believes that as a queen, it’s her job to take care and provide for the needs of her subjects and even makes an effort to hold court as she listened to their demands. She also thinks that slavery is a big no-no, so she freed them.

The key to becoming a great leader is finding the balance between being loved and feared by your subjects. Cersei is more likely feared than loved. She also doesn’t care about her people, a fact that she admitted to her brother, Tyrion once. Daenerys most likely had the scale tips on balance, with her being equally loved and feared by her subjects. She’s loved because she actually takes time to listen to the people’s needs, and feared because she could take you out using her dragons with one word.

If Dany did lay siege on King’s Landing (again, we aren’t counting her major mad queen moment), the only thing Cersei can use against Dany is the people living within the city walls. Cersei might have heard that Dany’s been freeing slaves in the cities surrounding Slaver’s Bay, and figured out that she has a soft spot for the common folk.

In conclusion, if Daenerys had simply waited out and took her time planning and gathering allies and supplies against Cersei, she would’ve been successful in her campaign to retake Westeros. But then again, we aren’t the writers for this show. In the end, they had Jon battling through himself while he chooses to reply with either of his two favorite lines, She’s my queen or I don’t want it. Or that Sansa and Arya doesn’t like Dany at all and think that she’s a power-hungry, dragon-riding bitch. Or that Bran doesn’t give a f*ck about anything. So, yeah. What do you guys think?

[wenellyb]

do u think the show was queerbaiting us?

Hi Anon, 

Thanks for the question, but I don’t think I’m the best expert on that, but I’ll share a few thoughts anyway. Anybody feel free to add something, as i said i’m not an expert! And I think there are already a lot of interesting things about what could be considered queerbaiting or not. 

I personally never thought TFATWS was queerbaiting, and i still don’t, not at the beginning, not after the 2nd episode and not now. 

For 2 reasons mainly:

1.  First, of all it’s only queerbaiting if they don’t follow through. I could never say a show is queerbaiting or not if I haven’t seen everything, and for now we have only seen the first season. I know nobody have faith in Disney, and neither do I, but we should be waiting a little bit before coming to any conclusion. To what conclusion? I don’t know.

2. Since romantic relationships are never the focus with Marvels, sometimes we do end up in some surprising situations. Marvel really has a weird history with romantic relationships, for instance, the Peggy-Sharon-then Peggy again. Or the Bruce-Natasha relationship that got people upset because Natasha didn’t end up with Clint.

So whatever happens or doesn’t happen with Sam and Bucky could also be due to Marvel weird history of portraying romantic relationships. Because, a lot of things come into play: actors contracts, public reaction, change in writers, change in directors, etc,...

So for me I never even considered the show being queerbaiting because of these reason and because the term “queeraiting” is a very serious accusation.

The word queerbaiting comes with a lot of story, and baggage. I know it’s used a lot on here, but it is a serious accusation, I have stopped watching shows because they were queerbaiting. And I woudn’t want to support a show that is guilty of queerbating.

I know some people use the term very casually, without any ill-intentioned or deep meaning, but I do feel it is a word that should be used carefully. Because it can give the wrong impression to people who are not watching the show, if used wrongfully. 

Queerbaiting and shipping have to be handling with caution and  also very separately in my opinion

For instance, Sambucky shippers might feel queerbaited, and unhappy, but if Bucky had been put in a relationship with a woman, but then explicitly said he was bisexual, some people would still be upset because their ship didn’t become canon. But in reality, it would already be a big step, to have for instance, a main character like Bucky or Sam acknowledging their bisexuality even if they don’t date each other. 

Queerbaiting is more about representation and shipping is more about shipping I guess, and a little less about representation.

So I feel like it’s a questions that should be handled carefully.

I am a SamBucky shipper and it is clear to me that the relationship between Bucky and Sam is depicted as a romantic one. Not intrepreted, but depicted.

I’ve written a lot about this so I won’t expand, but the boat scenes and ending scenes alone are proof that the showrunners and director are using tropes, music and scenes usually used in a romantic setting and they are doing so intentionally. The only way I would change my mind would be if the writer or director did a shot analysis explaining their choice and how those scenes were only used to portray friendship. That is absolutely the only way.

That being said, do I think the show is queerbaiting? Absolutely not. The thing that makes it difficult to conclude is the fact that it is a Marvel show and relationships are always handled very differently from one movie to another, 

But my personal opinion on why it is not is that:  1) It’s too soon to draw conclusions ( I know we’re impatient, but I cannot come up with a conclusion with just one season, I need the whole picture), 2) I don’t feel like they’re portraying Bucky and Sam’s relationship this way as a way to lure in more viewers, 3)I just think they are telling a story, and I don’t think it’s appropriate to say queerbaiting just because the pace is slow or because they didn’t f*ck on the kitchen table. 

So we should wait and see before coming to a conclusion.

The show not being queerbaiting doesn’t mean that Disney isn’t homophobic,  because their refusal of having at least one openly LGBT character is already a big problem. 

I think representation is an issue for a lot of Big Studios etc, in general, I’ll never forgive them for making a big show of how they would have the first openly gay character in the MCU in Endgame and it ended being a Russo cameo that lasted literally 2.5 seconds. Some people might think it’s enough... spoiler alert: it isn’t.

Why couldn’t it ave been one of the main characters coming out? No kiss or anything? just a sentence is enough but coming from a main character, like they did in Power Rangers. But not some character nobody will remember.

TL:DR Homophobia is still a recurring problem but the queerbaiting debate should be held outside of the shipping fandom otherwise the debate becomes a mess. 

[fabuloustrash05]

Okay guys, serious talk:

Stop spreading false rumors that TMNT 2012 is coming back for a season 6!

Coming from someone who absolutely loves TMNT 2012 (it’s what got me into TMNT) I highly doubt that there will ever be a season 6. The show ended 4 years ago and ever since then I’ve been seeing many people spread the season 6 rumor and it’s honestly getting annoying. We need to move on and except that it has ended and won’t be coming back.

Does it suck that TMNT 2012 ended without a real proper conclusion? Yes! I highly agree! But at least we got something other than nothing at all!

Even after 4 years I still see some fans messaging/commenting to the old TMNT 2012 crew members harassing them and demanding to make a 6th season. Guys! Wtf?! Stop doing that! You’re just making our fanbase look toxic as f*ck!

Listen, TMNT 2012 ended, ROTTMNT came by and took its place, creating a new generation of TMNT fans and are even getting a movie on Netflix (which btw I’m REALLY excited for!). If there was by some miracle that the ROTTMNT movie decides to pull a Teen Titans Go To The Movies ending then cool. But sadly I don’t believe TMNT 2012 is ever coming back for a season 6.

If there’s by any chance an official announcement by the creators, the official TMNT Twitter, Nickelodeon, or even by Netflix that TMNT 2012 will continue and/or get a movie then that’s great, but please don’t spread lies/rumors or harass former writers just because you want TMNT 2012 back or that you just want ROTTMNT gone.

TMNT 2012 had its time to shine, but now it’s time for a new TMNT generation to come into the spotlight <3

[alexromero]

The thing about Ted & Rebecca is that if she was 15 years younger (not even both of them, just her) there would be no doubt that the romantic set up was there. They make my heart hurt in the best way.

I was going to stay silent in regards to the onslaught of tags “I love their friendship” on my gifsets but anon... you hit the nail on the head.  As someone who’s been internalizing how middle-aged romantic narratives are written in our media landscape, it doesn’t surprise me at this point that there’s always a good number of people who want to peg older couples as “friends”. More importantly, female middle-aged characters are one of two things: a. the motherly figure b. the friend. 

So yes, if Rebecca’s character had been 15 years younger, I wouldn’t see so many people default to friendship when it comes to two older characters, especially concerning a younger woman with an older man. Don’t get me wrong, every great narrative of older couples that I’ve seen starts as friendship, but it develops into something more. What is so concerning is the negativity or the unconscious denial that these two characters could EVER develop romantically. 

Let older characters fall in love. Let them be sexy. Let them be the leads of a show where they are the focus of interest in a romantic way. There are shows dedicated to catering to younger romantic couples every other day and in almost every network. I can say with the utmost certainty that 99% of middle-aged romantic narratives are never handled properly or they’re sidelined. Either one of the characters is killed off or one of them does something so out of character in terms of characterization just to break them apart.  

So, don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining (not referring to you anon). I’ve been through this before. I had people ship incest as opposed to letting that same female character be with someone that heals her. I’ve seen people want another character to be with a younger woman, as opposed to a character of his own age. I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen writers flick a big fuck you to every single middle-aged couple because in their minds older = tragedy or impossible. So, if Ted Lasso is making an attempt at breaking that trope... I applaud them. I applaud them for taking a very nuanced interest in this middle-aged couple, especially casting a woman like Hannah who doesn’t conventionally fit the aesthetic of the “love interest” for any Hollywood actor. Also, she’s hot as f*ck and I want to see this woman be her dynamic self fall in love with a character like Ted Lasso. 

In conclusion, older couples deserve to occupy this space in romantic narratives. They also deserve to have a fucking happy ending, and if Ted Lasso is the show it seems to be... they will and I’ll be there to watch it. Friendship is many things but it’s not the added extra effort of Ted wanting to throw a dart into Rupert’s head for disrespecting Rebecca, or consistently feeling like Ted needs to step in to be her support system. Or, Rebecca visually short-circuiting when she sees Ted in a suit for the first time or every other time they’ve flirted. Do I need to remind everyone of the “Hi Boss” scene?  I could go on but I think if you see the first season.... you get the point. 

So, thank you anon. A lot of people’s ageism is showing. 

[camrensrealbish]

Can we talk about this interview? #2

Interview published on 12th March 2015.

We’re not even 5 seconds in and Camila is brushing Lauren’s arm with her boob (and Normani slaps Dinah on the face). 

Camila’s sense of humor is seriously underrated. 0.30 “And I’m Camila...”

Around 0.50 Camila’s touching Lauren’s leg. Twice

“Hi guys, I’m Karla”

Lauren’s brushing Camila’s butt.

About the songwriting question; interesting to see how the “approved answer” has been changing over the years. In the interviews about their EP they were “grateful the label let them be a part of the songwriting process and have an input”. With “Reflection”  they had “an idea of what they wanted the whole concept and the sound to be like and the writers executed the idea for them”. With “7/27″ they “had more say this time round” whatever that meant. And with “Fifth harmony (ST)” they “finally had more creative freedom and wrote more than a half of the album”. You can see how uncomfortable they were talking about their input throughout the years and very much so in this interview. Around 2:50 it looks like someone told Normani to smile, because she looked so pissed. Lauren is just looking at the floor. The answers are always similar, even the wording, which makes me think it’s been rehearsed, new answer for each album.

Also, don’t you think that not letting them write was used in the whole breaking C from the group narrative? Because they knew that the girls were competent songwriters when they let them have an input on the EP. Why do that and take it away when writing for “Reflection”? It’s possible they started planning the whole narrative in  2014. What other (public) reason would Camila have to go solo, if she could write in the group? And how could THEY better LAND’s situation after C leaving? Easy. Let’s take the creative freedom away from them and give it back when it’s convenient for us. This way no input in Reflection < “more say this time round” in 7/27 < and finally getting to write on “Fifth Harmony” while being “the happiest they’ve ever been”. Ok, back to the interview.

4:15 “I hate to go here, but it’s five women” I wonder what Camila thought he was gonna ask.

4:44 Cue Lauren laughing at my joke

5:04 Camren moment. So underrated in my opinion. How they just forgot they were in the middle of the interview. They are facing each other and got so excited to share their thoughts. That moment was so good, that Camila even put two picture of them here in her birthday collage for Lauren’s 19th birthday. (Btw this collage is something a CS could make and Camila knows it.)

Ally’s trying to intervene, but they don’t notice her. So Dinah steps in and then they realize they should’ve not done that. Lauren says sorry three times! Once to the interviewers, second time kind of to the girls and the third time looking in front of her. I wonder who was listening behind the camera..

6:42 Camila’s touching Lauren’s leg and Lauren’s touching Camila’s boob simultaneously.

Funny how Lauren wasn’t even the second messiest in 2015 but was the messiest in 2017. She picked the bad habit from her in 2 years.

7:22 What did you say Camila? “Let’s do each other?” Honestly, Lauren’s reaction would fit.

Ryan Gosling, MCM. Straight enough for you, management?

8:05 Lauren playing with her zip a.k.a touching Camila’s hip

Look how much easier it is for Camila to come up with WCW even multiple ones. No Spiderman here.

What’s with the stage? They weren’t “kidding” when they said no. You can see Normani saying “no, we didn’t” to Dinah. And Camila was so quick to catch Lauren when she slipped. Something’s not right here. Probably the same story as with the songwriting.

Camila initiating a group hug.

Conclusions

A lot of touching, talking to each other and even whispering. Camren didn’t give a f*ck at the beginning of 2015. Camila doesn’t know how to pretend to be straight. Their label and management are a piece of shit. 

Previously: Interview #1 Camaustin and Brauren PRs. HALO Awards Nov 2014

[michael-runs-hot-guerin]

Ok so the last 2 episode synopsis came out for season 3 and IDK how to feel. Neither one of them (episodes 12 and 13) have Alex in the main plot. In season 1 Alex was in 6 episode plots as a main storyline, in season 2 Alex was in 7 episode plots as a main storyline and then in season 3 Alex was only in 4 episode plots as a main storyline. I thought with Carina gone we would get more Alex spotlight and stepping up on his own but we have actually gotten less! Its like this season they gave Maria and Kyle the spotlight and basically said f*ck Alex. Also when it comes to Malex we have gotten wayyyyyy less! Yes Chris put Malex together unlike Carina but at the same time we got less interaction which sucks!

In season 1 Malex interacted:

1×01

1×02

1×03

1×06

1×07

1×09

1×10

1×12

1×13

In season 2 Malex interacted:

2×01

2×02

2×03

2×04

2×05

2×06

2×09

2×10

2×11

2×12

2×13

In season 3 Malex interacted:

3×03

3×06

3×08

3×09

(We have a few more episodes to go but still look at how much less! And we are told Echo and Malex are equally important and held to the same standard! 🙄)

I mean granted a lot of the most memorable and well loved Malex moments happened in episodes where one of them or neither of them were in a main plot for the episode which gives us a little hope for the rest of season 3 I hope! I mean Tyler did say he likes how season 3 ends which means something good for Malex because why would he like it if something bad happened to Malex and they break up or something unless he was a fake fan (lol jk) but the show needs to stop treating Alex like nothing and give Tyler actual screen time, storylines and plots both for Alex and Malex! I thought when Chris took over things would change and get better. I mean they changed a bit like having Malex get together but at the same time they were trying to sell us the friendship thing and only interacted for 3 episodes before deciding to date and even then they didn't even interact until episode 3!

But my question is do we think the rest of season 3 will have good Malex content even though they aren't in anymore main plots and do you think season 4 will be better in terms of Alex getting what he deserves and Malex being together with actual screen time, storylines, and plots together?!

Ahh the discourse. For one thing Kyle deserves his screen time and story lines, each and every second, the man is fabulous and they did him dirty by basically ignoring him & hardly even mentioning him in passing since he got kidnapped slash put in a coma (twofer!) aaaall because Maria was a much higher priority. I suppose the degeneration was more urgent but god, can't y'all multitask? Besides, Kyle could've been dead for all they knew.

Honestly if they were trying to make up for her writing the first two seasons, they didn't manage it. She's still a plot device: 1) the vision was overdrawn over the first half of the season, was still nonsense at its conclusion (why would Liz be late? Why would Max be crying inconsolably and unable to speak? Where was Kyle's mom?), and was thrown out as soon as Kyle got kidnapped! 2) the information she gets abt the Lockhart Machine was probably the same as the Caulfield file that Alex received. She could've stalled and waited for Liz and Rosa to split the connection. Yes, they don't know that, but the writers do! (They also used this memory to kill a black alien off screen and show him on an autopsy table, thanks for that 🙄) 3) she's been so focused on Her Vision the entire first half of the season (never mind that jumping off the building and making Max try to catch her could've killed him), then on how Patricia's memory affects Her (never mind her grandmother who actually lived it), and then on how Jones was preventing her from boning a less gay Manes brother, that they even had Isobel regress to her early s2 self where she didn't know who she was just so that Maria could sound "wise" or whatever even though she was 💯 WRONG about where Isobel's focus should be (on saving her twin brother and best friend!! Her person!! Y'all remember the first time the phrase "your person" was used on this show it was @ Isobel abt her brothers right?) ANYWAY

Tyler is supposed to be contracted to miss one more episode, as is Trevino. Heather has yet to miss ANY which 😒 whatever I guess. I think malex ought to be glued together at the hip. I think Alex needs storylines that are less isolated from the whole group. Like once a season he gets a scene or a few with someone other than Michael. And his scenes with Michael are obviously 🔥 but this man has friends! He can have his hand in multiple plots!

As for echo and malex being equal, I actually think they've done that this season...by bringing echo down to their level. (Liz please shake Max next time he insults his brother who literally helped to save his life with the pacemaker. What the fuck was that. "Help Michael be like Michael like" my ENTIRE ass.)

But to be honest, for a queer ship to be on the same level as a m/f ship, they have to give us more. Because there's simply not enough queer relationships on tv for us to make assumptions about who's feeling what. Plus they have to make up for all the, you know, hate crimes, and "if I were you I'd choose (a woman) too" and things I will not mention for the sake of my mental health. Meanwhile Liz and Max's other partners each acknowledged that they weren't The One ("no, use me, use me" "we're just using each other as scratching posts") whilst Michael said "I love you" to someone besides Alex. 🤢

[chibimyumi]

Kinda personal question but what makes Elisabeth special to you? (Trigger warning) And in your opinion, does it romanticise things like mental illness and suicide? I think that ‘Die Schatten werden länger’ is a pretty apt metaphor for how it feels to have depression and suicidal thoughts (depending on one’s interpretation of what Death is) or to be emotionally abused. I ask about the productions with Furuka Yuta as Rudolf and the recent one with him as Death.

Dear Anon,

‘Elisabeth’ is my ultimate gateway down the rabbit hole of theatre and story-telling. Before ‘Elisabeth’ I was mostly a passive consumer of media, but after, I started to consider mechanisms of story-telling, and saw how different performers can tell different stories using the same script. This taught me how actions (dictated by the script) are just that - actions; and before we can understand a character, we must delve into what the context is of those actions.

Of course, the music is also just phenomenal, and it IS a musical, after all.

TL;DR: But importantly, I love ‘Elisabeth’ because it’s literally written to be a “F*ck you, Hollywood.”

In this post I discussed how ‘Elisabeth das Musical’ managed to save crumbling European cinematic culture. I am very tired of the Hollywood conventions, and ESPECIALLY tired of the glorification of romance. ‘Elisabeth’ subverted both of these stale conventions for me, and I was able to enjoy an alternative to the popular tropes of: “the superhuman lover, the caged bird, lonely at the top” in a new context.

This post will be divided into the following chapters:

1. Elisabeth

1.1. Deconstructing romance

1.2. Wife- and Motherhood

1.3. No pedagogical message in yer face!

2. Rudolf

2.1. Deconstructing romance

2.2. Depression in children

2.3. Crushing expectations and grandness

2.4. Deconstructing masculinity

3. Der Tod

3.1. Villain?

3.2. Predatory lover?

4. Conclusion

Trigger Warning: The text below contains mention of depression and suicide.

Romanticising mental illness?

‘Elisabeth’ is admittedly a bit of a problematic fave to me; it does indeed romanticise mental illness. However! Contrary to mainstream conventions, ‘Elisabeth’s does not show that mental illness can be cured because of THE POWER OF LOVE! It unapologetically showcases the destructiveness of mental illness, and how it is a long and painful struggle without promise of success. And that is exactly what a mental illness can be.

1. Elisabeth

1.1. Deconstructing romance

Elisabeth herself is the clearest example. She was a happy-go-lucky girl who was not destined to become Empress (her sister was), and yet she was chosen as bride by the handsome and young Emperor, Franz I, against his mother’s will. It is the dream many girls are taught to have.

And yet, it was exactly after becoming part of a fairy tale that her life sank into hell. Not just because of Sophie, but also because of her husband. Her husband did not turn out to be ‘a bad guy’ like Hollywood will make you believe is the only reason a relationship will fail. No, Franz was just entirely ignorant towards anything Elisabeth needed. Franz’ failure as lover was not what he ‘did’, but rather, what he ‘did not’. I think it is very important to show how real relationships require compatibility AND hard-work, but that without both, it just won’t work.

1.2. Wife- and motherhood

In conventional media, a woman like Elisabeth’s journey would be to find ‘the love she deserves’, she would still be ‘someone’s romantic interest’, just not Franz’. But in the musical, her arc is preserving and exercising her autonomy, and make the best out of a terrible situation. Women are trapped in patriarchy, and usually there is just no escape. And therefore seeing the strength of a woman who makes the best out of her pain is inspiring, and more relatable.

Usually in media, if the woman is not ‘the wife’, then the way she is strong is her focus on being ‘the mother’. Elisabeth however, was shown to be a terrible mother! She was not callous, she was very loving in fact. But because she had so much going on, she simply did not have extra mental energy to spend on her son. I find it very refreshing that love is simply not enough to make human-relations work, whether it’s romantic or familial relationships. Saying that somebody fails in a relationship ‘because you don’t love x enough’ is shortsighted and backwards.

It is breathtaking for me to see a narrative that solely focused on a woman’s struggles without the romance, and without the shackles of motherhood. No, she was struggling because she could not be a person.

1.3. No pedagogical message in yer face!

I also absolutely love how Elisabeth is not an idol that we are supposed to learn from. It’s not: “women! Look at this woman and [be/don’t be] this woman!!”. No, ‘Elisabeth’ leaves its viewer alone, and does not try to impose onto any ‘how to be a woman’.

We are simply supposed to see her life, and sympathise with her as human. The story never justifies her shortcomings, and never glorifies her as the fairy tale Empress ‘die Junge Kaiserin’ would have you believe.

‘Elisabeth das Musical’ does not treat its audience as people that must be educated; instead it assumes the audience has a mind of its own, and can participate in the story as Elisabeth’s peer.

2. Rudolf

2.1. Deconstructing romance

Rudolf’s arc is likewise one wherein his mental illness is not ‘magically cured by romance’. The historic Rudolf was married and he was VERY unhappy in his marriage. However, his unhappy marriage was not the cause of his depression, nor did it really matter that much in making it worse. Rudolf did have a lover (Mary Vetsera), and they loved each other deeply. However, that was not enough to make his mental illness bearable for him.

This forbidden-love part of Rudolf’s life was so insignificant to his depression, that the writers left it out entirely in ‘Elisabeth das Musical’, and his arc was still perfectly round without it.

2.2. Depression in children

‘Elisabeth’ is an excellent example of how depression is not limited to certain groups of people; anyone can be haunted by it. Rudolf is able bodied, white, wealthy, the crown prince of an Empire, intelligent, etc. etc. And yet he had crippling depression, and it is NOT because he was whiny within privilege.

Just like with his mother, Rudolf is also not an idol we’re supposed to imitate. However, we are supposed to learn from seeing him. We first meet Rudolf as a young child, and because he was not given any help, his depression escalated into suicidal depression later on. Many people either don’t believe that children can be depressed, or simply don’t take it seriously. Rudolf however, shows everyone how depression can in fact destroy the lives of children, not unlike adults. Even better; he is a historic character who actually existed. Good luck denying that!

2.3. Crushing expectations and grandness

As discussed above, Rudolf’s struggle has nothing to do with romance, but crushing expectations. As Furukawa explained in this interview: “When Rudolf finally figured out what he wanted to do, he was faced with his country sinking into crisis. He was stuck in the situation where he did not have the power to say anything, and yet had the status wherein everyone expected him to act for the benefit of the state. If he did not act he would be a neglectful man, unworthy of the title of ‘crown prince’, but if he did act for the benefit of the state, he would be a rebel.”

I think it is very refreshing too that despite all the good qualities Rudolf has (2.2.), he simply could not live up to the crushing expectations. It is very important to see how failure is often not the inability of the person, but that too much was expected of ONE human being to begin with.

2.4. Deconstructing toxic masculinity

Rudolf performs a very refreshing form of masculinity that is a departure from Hollywood’s ‘male hero’ model. His entire character is centered on his vulnerability, but he is NEVER portrayed as the loser. Instead, we see a man admitting his vulnerability and looking his depression in the eyes, and never being ashamed of it. He never blames himself for ‘not being man enough’ to live up to social expectations. Instead of “becoming a proper man!!” Rudolf knows that what he needs is compassion, a person he can talk to (his mother), and a fucking break.

Death is almost always without exception ‘punishment’ in stories. However, with Rudolf there were clearly external factors that have nothing to do with his supposed inaptness. The perpetrator was active in the sense that LITERAL Death manipulating him into committing suicide. Rudolf was a victim instead of someone punished for a “sin of not being man enough”.

3. Der Tod

3.1. Villain?

I am very tired of the good vs evil dichotomous story telling of Hollywood. Another thing I love about this musical is how it is entirely ambiguous who the villain is. It’s easy to point at Der Tod, but is he really the villain?

The script of this ingenious musical is written so freely that depending on the performers/director, the villain is either ambiguous, or non-existent, WITHOUT the story being vague. Depending on the actor of Der Tod, he is either an actual entity who governs over life and death, or the product of one’s imagination.

3.2. Predatory lover?

Der Tod’s existence and his pursuit of Elisabeth’s ‘love’ is the main factor that plays in saying “‘Elisabeth’ romanticises mental illness”. But depending on how the performers of Elisabeth and Der Tod interpret these roles, the story either becomes:

a toxic romance that is self-aware of its toxicity,

or like how Furukawa Yuta and Manaki Reika in 2019 managed, into a heroic tale of preserverence and a battle of wits.

Most importantly, in (most) non-Takarazuka versions, after Elisabeth dies, she is not there anymore to ‘reciprocate’ Der Tod’s feelings. She is just gone. Only in the Takarazuka version (I believe) does she enter the Underworld and actively becomes Der Tod’s lover.

So outside Takarazuka’s version, Der Tod is never rewarded with ‘a lover’; he simply gets his prey as a predator. Whether this ‘predator’ is a lover however, is again up to interpretation. But otherwise, death getting a mortal is just a very natural phenomenon, not victory as Furukawa puts it.

4. Conclusion

In conclusion, yes, ‘Elisabeth das Musical’ does have many elements that may qualify it as ‘a romanticisation of mental illness’, but ultimately I think it is not just that simple.

We must consider what the message is that the musical sends, and it is NOT: “because Elisabeth/Rudolf are mentally ill, they embark on an epic journey.” If anything, the musical makes very clear that the mental illnesses of Elisabeth and her son are the main culprit that MAKES them miserable, and that Der Tod is the personification thereof, hence his predatory nature. In ‘Elisabeth’, mental illness ‘preys’ on its victims.

The romanticisation mostly (though not solely) comes from the consumers, because we are conditioned to read stories like ‘Elisabeth’ as a romance.

We see a man (???) claiming to love a woman, and he chases her and won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. He goes through extreme means to impress her, and the story even comes with a ‘love rival’ (Franz).

We see a woman ‘yearning’ for something, and that something can only be given by Der Tod, and finally she does find peace when she is with him.

But, we must pay attention to what Elisabeth says when she is dead. It is not: “I’ve been looking for true love, and now I found it,” or “I wanted freedom, and you’ve been kindly offering it to me, but I was too foolish to accept earlier.” No, the very last thing she sings is:

“I have cried, laughed, been disheartened and I have prayed. There had been days where I tasted defeat in my senseless battle.Regardless, I have entrusted my life to myself alone!”

“Winning Elisabeth’s love” is the term Der Tod set without Elisabeth having any say in it. The term she set for herself is staying true to herself and not giving up; which she NEVER did. As such, THAT ⇈ was Elisabeth claiming victory of always having stayed true to herself, and it has NOTHING to do with Der Tod. She does not need Der Tod, she simply needed freedom.

[helsaguy]

hi i love frozen and just found your blog and was hoping you could answer some questions because i see a lot of stuff on your blog that surprises me and that i haven't known. i hear rumors of some course correct going on but i was wondering if this is true and how people know this? what would happen? did they really think to redeem hans at one point? where did they talk about how they got hans' actor to come back? can helsa become canon with honeymaren and people wanting elsa to be gay?

If you love Frozen, I’m afraid you find my blog at a dark time. As I no longer consider myself a Frozen lover. Yes, I still hold some good old memories from the first film but all my love and respect goes to Helsa (Elsa and Hans). I love Elsa, I’m a Hans fan, and a Helsa shipper forever and always. None of those categories include me being a Frozen fan. And I don’t even want to talk about my extreme hatred toward- I don’t even feel like typing the title of that forsaken sequel.

Having said that I’ll try to respond as much as I can, as much as I know, and as much as I heard.

I’m going to add a cut here because this is a very long message. Like 1900 words long.

I have a little of an idea about those “some course correct” you talk about. But first of all; I don’t think anything is confirmed. It all started most likely with this video #StarsInTheHouse #30: Bobby Lopez, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Santino Fontana, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff. If you go to ‘1:07:50′ you hear Kristen Anderson-Lopez mention “Frozen 3″ but nothing is really said about a third movie happening. I think someone asked if there was a wedding somewhere. And Kristen says that’s Frozen 3. So I assume she’s talking about a Kristanna wedding happening for Frozen 3. Then again I don’t even know if they are being serious or they are just playing around talking about a Frozen 3 that is not in the making.

Josh Gad then jumps saying that ‘he won’t come back for a Frozen 3 if Santino Fontana doesn’t come back.’ Josh says that Santino has to come back. Santino either is touched by Josh’s words or he plays being touched by Josh’s words. Then Kristen says that there are a lot of angry people on the internet complaining about the same thing; I assume she means Santino not coming back for the sequel. And Robert adds that some people complain or blame the Anderson-Lopez for that? But the couple says they had nothing to do with that. Jennifer is the main culprit. Santino seems to appreciate that people want him back but comments about being hard to do so after “hanging a sword over a girl’s head” and he goes to talk about him now being father to a girl. Josh Gad goes to talk about how Darth Vader tried to kill both his children and he still was redeemed, meaning that there’s still hope for Hans.

And here I have to say that people seriously need to stop with the idea that Hans is this demon that came from Hell because they couldn’t be more wrong. This whole thing of Hans being an “Irredeemable monster” is so f*cking stupid and so f*cking forced. I’m so sure it came right from Jennifer Lee’s a** to spite fans. There are thousand of Disney villains, real villains, who are real monsters. Who have done far worse than Hans. But Hans is the one getting this absurd amount of hate? Are they f*cking kidding me?

I don't hold anything of importance said on that video as set in stone. But anyone who wants or needs to think there is truth in that conversation can come to the conclusions of:

A Frozen 3 could happen. I think anyone knew already that if this franchise keeps being popular, Disney would figure out a way to make a third film. Because all they care about is dirty money. Personally I'm only interested in a third film if they bring back Hans, redeem him, and have Helsa happening at-freaking-last. If they are going to make a third film all about Kristanna getting married and Elsa being treated like an immaculate supernatural being in the forest, all the while Hans keeps being forgotten and mocked for some cheap laughs, Jennifer Lee and her crew can very well go f*ck themselves with a giant cactus for all I care. That's just my personal opinion. My very strong personal opinion.

Josh Gad and the Lopezes, mostly Josh Gad, want Santino Fontana back. Which at that I’d like to think it is because they see how much he is missed and they know his character has so much to give. Also I would like to believe they are talking this way for the sake of the fans. Hans not coming back at all is one of the main reasons for why I’m beyond pissed at the Frozen sequel and I know I’m not the only one feeling this way.

“What would happen?” I don’t know what you mean by that.

“Did they really think to redeem Hans at one point?” Definitely yes. And this is the interview that gave many Hans fans, me absolutely included, hope 6 years ago. Jump to ‘minute 17′ and they start talking about the Frozen sequel. Santino got in contact with the writers to see if he was going to be in the new film and - I’m really feeling like insulting the writers right now. But I won’t because I have to focus on the fact that it is the directors and not the writers calling the shots - the writers tell Santino that they want to bring him back and redeem him. This has been known for years and the fact that Hans’ “participation” in the sequel turned out to be f*cking nothing, is a huge problem for me. A very huge problem. If there’s not foam coming out of my mouth right now, I’m sure that at least my blood is boiling in my veins.

I’ve read more about the dropped redemption plot from @leepunzel​. But I don’t know how reliable she or “her source” really is. So it’s up to you if you want to ask her more about this.

"Where did they talk about how they got Hans' actor to come back?” I don’t know where you get “Santino coming back” is a fact. Like I said, I don’t think anything of that Stars in the House video is official. As far as I know there’s been talks about a “Frozen 3″; I’ve seen people on YouTube who have access to press information drop the title, “Frozen 3″. But nothing is fully official or confirmed yet.

Also, 6 years ago Santino was ready to come back. Now? I don’t see him that convinced if the opportunity presents. Which, being brutally honest, I find truly sad. Painful even. I want Santino Fontana to come back. Hans’ redemption and Helsa are the only things that would make me want to give my money to Disney again. But I don’t blame the actor if for whatever reason he doesn’t come back if this “third movie” ever happens. God, there’s nothing I want more than for Hans’ redemption and Helsa to happen. Disney can come up with all the animated movies and live action remakes they want. But all I want, all I need, all I care about is Hans’ redemption and Helsa. Nothing more. Nothing less.

“Can Helsa become canon with *one*m*r** and people wanting Elsa to be gay?” Yes. Personally I don’t care about the new characters. They could be dropped and completely forgotten for a third movie and I seriously wouldn’t care. I think most people wouldn’t care. None of the new characters are relevant or important. And I think the only new characters people really care or talk about are the fire and water spirits anyway. I dare say that Helsa happening has even more chances of succeeding because that would be a compelling story and it wouldn’t cause the film to be banned in other countries. Besides, every time Disney (or Pixar) has come up with LGBT characters in their films they always seem to get backlash. It’s clear that it doesn’t matter how much Disney tries to insert an LGBT character, it just doesn’t work in a positive way. That’s what I’ve seen anyway. Very few people show their approval at the revelations while most only critique, bash, and complain. And I doubt very much Disney wants Elsa to be victim of that kind of treatment. While if Helsa happens, the story will obviously have to show how Hans really doesn’t want to be “the monster everyone thinks he is” and they would show how Hans and Elsa really grow to care for each other. Could something like that generate backlash? In my opinion it shouldn’t. Maybe a little? But it really shouldn’t. However I’m convinced that story would be beautiful.

"If we get Frozen 3 what do you think will happen and what do you think they can do with the characters with where they are right now?”

If Frozen 3 happens, I will always want nothing more than what I have already stated several times. But I really don’t trust the directors and writers. So I have no idea what they will do. Probably come up with bad ideas and poor development and characterizations like they have done already in the sequel. It’s going to be super hard for them to come back from that fiasco in my eyes.

What do I think they can do with the characters? First of all I think they should break Kristanna up. There’s this deleted scene from the sequel where Kristoff actually has a serious character arc that involves him being insecure or uncomfortable living a “royal life” and I think it hints at Anna thinking that maybe they shouldn’t be together? I think that’s neat. I think I haven’t seen that in a while in a Disney movie. The last time I saw a couple deciding they shouldn’t be together was at the end of Pocahontas 2. But not many pay attention to that direct-to-video sequel xD Quite frankly the whole idea of Kristoff being married to a queen and having to live as a royal is one of the most uncomfortable things the sequel came up with. I can’t imagine for the life of me that Kristoff is the type of character that would want something like that. For a character like Aladdin that story works. He wanted the life in a palace style and I loved how in the live action movie it is clear that Jasmine is the one who wants to rule the kingdom and Aladdin just wants to be there for her as her right hand. But as much as I imagine Kristoff wants to be there for Anna, the palace life doesn’t suit him. He never expressed wanting that life. And the same goes with Anna wanting to be queen. That’s not the life she wanted either. The whole “Anna being queen” thing did ruin Kristanna for me.

Hans is easy because he is a resourceful and adaptable character. To me his home lies with Elsa. If Elsa stays in the forest, Hans can adapt. I would imagine he would even adapt faster than Elsa to that life. If Elsa goes back to Arendelle, Hans definitely has things he could do. He could want to take a simple job as a commoner if he doesn’t have his royal title anymore. He could go for a military position as he already has military training. Or he could be taken as an advisor for either Anna or Elsa (if Elsa wants to take back the responsibility she literally dumped on her sister’s shoulders), as Hans has shown aptitudes as a diplomat and leader. He could be a big help for the inexperienced Anna, or he could help lift some of those duties from Elsa’s shoulders when she feels she needs some time out for her sake. Hans is more valuable as an ally than an enemy. And the directors were seriously stupid when they decided to keep him out. No wonder Hans wanted to “find his own place” in Arendelle. He really does have so much good to offer.

Something also interesting, although too political maybe, would be the "what if" Anna and Elsa want to end the monarchy? What if Elsa doesn’t want to be queen again and Anna doesn’t want to be either? Maybe Anna remembers she actually wants to have an outdoors life with Kristoff, or she just doesn’t find herself as queen? I honestly think that job will consume her. What if Elsa and Anna come up with an idea to turn Arendelle into a democracy or whatever? Both sisters would be free to do and go wherever they want.

This last option is the most unlikely to work, but who knows. Disney could find a way to not make it sound so political.