#in my interpretation of canon none of that ever happened

[musclesandhammering]

Something about the fact that Thanos had no idea loki wasn’t asgardian but immediately recognised Thor as his brother & knew he was the best way to manipulate him. Like… how does their working relationship even get to that point?

“The Tesseract or your brother’s head. I assume you have a preference?”

Have….have we ever considered the fact how utterly disturbing it is that Thanos a) waves Thor in front of Loki because he knows that Loki would kill the universe to save him, and B) HE RECOGNIZED THOR AS LOKI’S BROTHER ON THE SPOT? 

I don’t think that Thanos, Thor, and Loki had a little sit down before the battle started and talked about familial relationships. 

This line, usually thought of in passing, means these things: 

Thanos knows how important Thor is to Loki, which means Thanos and Loki have talked about this beforehand. 

Thanos knows what Thor looks like which means Thanos has seen Thor from Loki’s head before

Thanos knows that Loki has the Tesseract. He could have chosen ANY PERSON on the ship to convince Loki to give up the Tesseract, but instead, he picked Thor out of the group and CHOSE to use Thor against Loki on PURPOSE. 

Thanos didn’t demand the Tesseract from Loki first, he WANTED to play with him and he WANTED to torture Loki and he WANTED to see Loki mouth “please” and he WANTED to see Loki’s desperation and he WANTED to see Loki break again, and he WANTED Loki to think Thor getting tortured was his fault, not Thanos’

Thanos knows Loki on an intimate level that we do not fully understand. 

Thanos probably knows Loki better than his family does

And Thanos, more than likely, killed him in the way that he knew Loki was terrified of 

[antimony-medusa]

gosh i am so so sorry to come into your askbox with this but you seem a knower of things and as an extreme latecomer to this fandom, i have been. a little bit genuinely mystified by the ""dadza"" phenomenon in general? like i've seen figures or characters Assigned Dad At Fanbase before but it's usually because of like. dad hobbies or jokes or fashion sense or an actual child they talk about often or a tendency to actually make "ah yes, i'm your dad" comments/jokes, none of which the real streamer seems to have or do, or a some manner of "gruff character is soft and caring under the surface and looks out for children" archetype, which his RP character doesn't seem to be (outside of MAYBE qsmp, the story that literally became about parenting through peril, but i know this goes back further than that). Is it just because he's older by internet standards and people can't imagine people with more than a 3-year age difference interacting in a way that isn't """parental""? was it a one-off joke that got taken too far? is this all a symptom from the dsmp plot point that snowballed to the extreme? i need to ask because it is just SO far-reaching and i see no clear origin and as you can imagine that is confusing.

Okay so. This is a fascinating question because as I throw my mind back I am a little fuzzy on the actual order of events. I think it was a bunch of things happening that kind of compounded, but to the best of my knowledge what happened was:

Through SMPEarth and MCC, the original sleepy bois becomes popular. Technoblade, Philza, and Wilbur Soot. Shipping is frowned on, so people start getting invested in a family dynamic (often with all three of them as siblings). Through a MCC win, Tommyinnit (also exploding in popularity) gets added to the "official sleepy boys" dynamic, and now we have 4/4— still often interpreted as siblings, if you ever read Snapshots in Lavender, which is drawing from this time period.

Wilbur particularly is huge into the family dynamic, often talking about being twins with techno, brothers with tommy, and referring to Phil as dad and Dadza (cause he was ten years older and that means of course he's OLD and DAD, and Wilbur had a daddy kink). When SBI joins DSMP, wilbur takes the opportunity to canonize Phil as his dad in lore at the same time as he makes Phil kill his character, and tries repeatedly to make Techno his twin, and refers to tommy and him as "like brothers" a lot. Tommy plays into the dadza stuff (he is like a decade and a half younger than Phil so at least it makes more sense) and also is clearly relying on Phil for things like tech support and moral support as the fandom is exploding. Phil is dependable and safe, therefore dad. Fandom takes this and RUNS with it. Passerine happens, and Phil gets written as the dad of wilbur and tommy, Techno as an ambiguously sworn brother to phil, and brother/father/mentor to wilbur and tommy.

Pandemic is happening. 30k people are showing up to Phil streams. TTS off kids basically in distress are latching onto Phil as a supportive and dependable figure who they are seeing as dad in fanfic and on Wilbur streams as Wilbur is playing up the dad thing whenever he interacts with Phil. Phil is like (to the fandom) sure if you haven't got a dad or a good dad you can call me dad I guess and just sort of laughs at his friends calling him dad.

Techno puts his foot down in canon that Wilbur is not his twin, though that doesn't stop either Wilbur or the fandom, and Phil clarifies that Tommy isn't his kid, and Techno isn't his kid, just Wilbur, and this does not stop fandom at all. Tommyinnit's Unbeatable Method and Clinic for Supervillains are written in this period, and Phil dad and techno+wilbur+tommy trio of kids are locked in. Other huge fanfics use this lens— importance of being kind, ars poetica, his curse of binding— a few people such as silverwing are doing techno and phil platonic marriage with wilbur and tommy adopted kids, but the phil=dad lens is inescapable. Even bones in the ocean, which I think might be the biggest phil-centric fic, has a subplot about him being wilbur's dad and how that went.

We start getting into fandom schisms about if Phil is a good dad or a bad dad in canon, with his treatment of Wilbur/Ghostbur/Tommy being variously argued. A common refrain is that cc phil is a great dad, c phil is a terrible dad, so this fic is writing phil as a good dad cause that's what's real. Phil in real life continues to have no actual children, but the fandom refers to Phil as techno+tommy+wilbur's dad so often that he puts "father of three" as his end screen. [EDIT: i have been informed that Tommy made that and send it to Phil and told him to put it as his end screen, so that was still Phil just playing along.] It becomes a common interpretation that okay in LORE phil is only wilbur's dad, but in like pure SBI phil is everybody's dad, and people are writing just the pure character dynamic, not LORE. This is still tagged as not RPF. Dark SBI starts to happen.

The DSMP kind of stutters to a halt, with various endings good bad or contentious. Technoblade passes. The fandom declines, but the fan fiction is kind of self sustaining at this point and has firmly established character interpretations. People are regularly showing up to Phil streams to call him dad. He keeps saying that he's just a guy playing block game, but it's fine if people call him dad if that helps them.

QSMP happens. Wilbur immediately assigns Phil as his dad again, though Phil manages to wiggle out of it enough to say that it's not a bio relationship, they just met on the train. Phil becomes a father of an egg child, and the Phil good/bad dad wars start up again. People start interpreting DSMP canon through the lens of Phil's QSMP actions and explaining how that makes him a good or bad dad. However, shipping is kinda legalized due to Phil having a (platonic) husband, so the lens of viewing Phil as a character in a relationship starts up, but the phil-dad people also continue, notably interpreting team bolas as a family with phil as the dad, and starting wars on the wiki about who gets listed as Phil's family and how/why.

Wilbur is revealed as a domestic abuser, the QSMP ends, and both arms of the fandom decline again. Phil's stream numbers are declining to a more manageable level where he can actually read chat and respond to donos, and he starts responding more firmly to people saying that they love him, dadza, saying that that's parasocial and they don't know him. He is notably no longer laughing at it, and he re-emphasizes that he's just a guy playing block game on the internet. We still get like one dono a stream fully latched onto him as their dad.

A year later, Phil blocks dadza in his chat.

Which is to say to my knowledge it mostly came from fanfiction/other people, and Phil went along with it, and now he is no longer going along with it. He has never seemed particularly dad-y to me, but people viewing him through a wilbur-centric or tommy-centric lens had that wiring laid down for them, and then the fandom fucking Took Off With It with how popular those characters/character focuses were. That's my understanding of what happened, if anyone else wants to chime in go for it.

[boymeetsluve]

I dearly wish Nico was allowed to exist in the fandom outside of his trauma and/or sexuality because he’s such an interesting character I could talk about him forever. Like I would give a limb for Rick to write about what the hell he was doing after he left camp after BoTL. His powers are so cool and highly underestimated. His relationship with Hades is so interesting. His role in the underworld both as prince and ghost king, his relationship with Persephone, with Bob. All of it spins around in my head 25/8.

What I think about most (and why his defanging by the fandom irks me so bad) is the fact that I think he’s the only character we see kill someone on screen. Like, a person. A demigod. Dead. Directly by Nico’s actions. Percy is hyped up for his monster body count and sometimes people talk about the collateral deaths he’s contributed to (I.e. Michael Yew), but Nico’s canonical kill count is largely ignored. Which is so crazy to me because he straight up murdered Bryce Lawrence in BoO. Turned him into a ghost and sent him to the underworld. And after he woke back up his main concern was not the moral implications of what he did but whether or not Reyna and Hedge would judge him.

And that’s not even the last time he did that in the book. Before Octavian accidentally shot himself in the sky, Nico was straight up planning to shadow travel into his tent and assissinate him. It happens right before running into Will and the others so it’s often overlooked and then Octavian killer himself so you all forgot but EYEEE did NAWT! Also, with that last part he was team letting Octavian end himself and was the one to convince Will to let it go.

Even in ToN, he’s metal as hell. When he saved Lester from the Germani (who are human or at least human-adjacent if I remember right), he did so by turning the guy into a skeleton. Like he straight up had that skin and flesh crumble away and started ordering around the skeleton left behind, spooking the SHIT out of the mortals that were also there. When facing Nero he was going straight for kill trying to cut him in half with his soul-sucking sword.

None of this is to say I think he’s like, a cold blooded murderer. He isn’t happy to do those things and does wish that things hadn’t gotten to that point, but he also didn’t angst over it. That alone sets him apart from so many other demigods and I wonder if it’s attached to the way he sees death and the underworld as the Next Step rather than the End like other non-underworld kids do. TSATS tries to touch on this but I think it’s kinda cheap relationship drama rather than a real analysis of Nico’s moral code — especially because they use Octavian to make a point rather than the person Nico actually killed. And they don’t even talk about the attempt assassination just the quasi-assisted suicide which is more about inaction rather than deliberate choice and Octavian was past listening at that point.

TLDR: Nico di Angelo is cool as FUCK and is 100% the deadliest demigod we’ve ever come across if you would just let go of your 2010 interpretations of him (and if Rick let him be OP without fear of overshadowing Percy as Coolest Demigod).

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

OMG RAVEN YOU’RE INTO EVER AFTER HIGH? I love it but can’t talk about it bc none of my friends have seen it 😭 I wish it was talked about more, especially with how deep their lore runs. I love EAH’s dynamics with the complexities of destiny. If twst followed the same logic as eah’s world it would be so interesting. How would you feel if the worlds were to mesh together and how it would work? You can interpret that in any way you want; the characters meeting or twst being bound to the same rules and societal expectations of eah, or whatnot.

Also who’s your favorite eah character compared to your favorite twst character (Leona)?Jade, right?

And have you read the eah books? I haven’t, but I’m going to try to sometime!

Eah alt account when?

I'm still salty that the Monster High x Ever After High crossover movie never saw the light of day-- Part of the reason why I don't like Disney (I mean the faceless corpo, not all Disney products) is because they have such a strong association with fairy tales that it pushes other interpretations out of the market or it leads to people assuming Disney "owns" those fairy tales. Ever After High's lore and themes run so much deeper than most other fairy tale reimaginings I've seen (and I've seen a lot). It's such a shame it doesn't get the respect and recognition it deserves even though EAH is the one out here challenging the status quo whereas modern Disney is content with mediocrity that appeals to the masses.

I think EAH and TWST, at their cores, share similar ideas so combining them would work well. Friendship, self-identity, defining your own future, questioning what "good" and "evil" truly are... It's all there. I'd imagine that if Twisted Wonderland (or at least NRC) followed the same rules as EAH, then everyone would be descendants of their Disney counterparts. (This is actually a common misperception of what TWST was to new fans; people mistakenly believe the TWST characters are children of the classic Disney villains. This has never been canon.) Unfortunately, I'd have to take away the Disney villains being twisted to be "good" guys in Twisted Wonderland's world in order for this to work by EAH rules, so... There's that to consider. This, in turn, can result in the student body splitting into Royals (pro-following one's destiny) and Rebels (anti-following one's destiny). Perhaps RSA and NRC could be one school in this AU...? Just so we have a mix of "good" and "evil" descended children in the same vicinity as one another. A must-have are the constantly bickering Narrators!! It's only really when Yuu shows up that the majority opinion starts to shift. Maybe then Crowley becomes concerned with students rising up and fighting back against the system that relies on them being complacent to keep the cycle of stories going. I've seen some readings of EAH which theorize that Royals guaranteed a happy ending is a stand-in for privilege, and that interpretation leads into very interesting conflicts when we also consider that magic in Twisted Wonderland is a privilege afforded to few.

To cover just the dorm leaders (because covering all the TWST characters would make this post way longer), I definitely see Riddle, Kalim, Idia, and Malleus as Royals and Leona, Azul, and Vil as Rebels. Here's my thought process:

Riddle is pretty self-explanatory. He comes from a background where he's used to being told what to do by his mother and so he also heavily relies on her strict, unyielding teachings to play by the book when he goes out there in the real world. Riddle is inflexible and hesitant to go against the grain--and, more importantly, he fully believes that following the rules will lead to his happiness... that doing as his fairy tale ordains will lead to a happy ending. What happens to the Queen of Hearts is dubious in the end since it's framed as Alice's dream, so I think that vagueness gives Riddle hope that by behaving himself, he'll earn the happiness he desires.

Leona is a Rebel, and not just because that's the aesthetic of his dorm. Being that he is highly intelligent and demonstrates a lot of foresight, he'd be aware of what future is in store for him and aggressively fighting against that. It would make him more desperate than ever to prove his worth, because not only does everyone see his powers as terrifying, but they also see him as a future brother murderer and dictator that will bleed the land dry of resources. It'd make the situation with his family even more strained than it already is, not to mention the extra jealousy he must feel toward Cheka, who is still too young to understand what's going to happen later.

Azul is someone who acts like a Royal but is actually a Rebel. He acts polite and like he plays by the rules, but clearly he doesn't behind the scenes. I see Azul as the kind of Rebel akin to Duchess Swan... as in, he believes he can steal away someone else's destiny for himself. Azul would constantly be looking for loopholes to save himself. He's put way too much stock into becoming a better, stronger person and he'd want to defend this new life he has made for himself. His obsession with protecting his contracts could translate well here.

Kalim is a Royal because he's mega rich and has been sheltered from the concept of bad things that happen to normal people; he has nothing to worry about. It also helps that Kalim is twisted from a character that doesn't meet a bad ending. I think he'd be aware of Jami's doomed destiny, but Kalim is so ignorant that he thinks it'll just be fine and it'll work itself out. Part of his growth could be being forced to reckon with the reality that Jamil is suffering under the legacy assigned to him and accepting the role that he plays in that by not acting.

Idia is a Royal--or at least pre-book 6 Idia is. He's a very pessimistic guy and repeatedly expresses hopelessness about the future, bemoaning the curse he and his family have to bear. Idia doesn't want to try to fight his fate, he's already accepted that it will happen and so closes himself off from others to save himself that heartbreak. Post-book 6 Idia will have swapped over to the Rebel side thanks to Ortho reviving the hope in him.

Vil is a Rebel simply for the fact that he fights social conventions. He's already out here shattering gender roles, but finds it much harder to breach that expectation that villains are just villains and nothing more. Vil keeps getting rejected at every turn, told that it's impossible to rewrite his story, that his frustrations are the natural result of jealousy and an ugly heart that festers in side of him. He steels himself to prove that notion wrong, working himself to the bone to get up on that stage and stay on it, waiting to be lavished with praise that he truly is the fairest one of all. I feel this would be so fascinating for Vil's own arc about self acceptance; maybe he wears himself down emotionally because he HAS to basically be perfect due to his job but also denies himself normal feelings like anger and jealousy because confessing that you have such "ugly" feelings only validates that you're shallow just like the stories say you will be.

Malleus is a tough one, but I settled for Royal in the end. Maleficent is doomed to be slain by a sword, right? So am I saying that THE Malleus Draconia, who is infamously arrogant about his magical abilities, would lie down and take a stab like that? Of course not! However, I do think that Malleus is initially someone who values tradition and living up to noblesse oblige. As the future ruler of a nation, people's stories are relying on him to play his expected role out, which he'd be fully cognizant of. I also think Malleus would be afforded the luxury of not having to face his destiny as soon as his peers are due to his long life span. This is in part because the person destined to slay him doesn't come into his life for literally hundreds of years. Then when book 7 arrives, Malleus has to deal with his loved ones leaving and/or betraying him as well as the realization that this is his destiny: dying alone and unloved. That'd just break him.

ahdbiqwdbqwli I COULD TALK ABOUT THIS AU FOR FOREVER BUT I'LL CUT IT SHORT OR ELSE I'LL NEVER SHUT UP 😭

EAH has so many good characters and interesting storylines, it's hard for me to pick a favorite! I of course love Apple and Raven's dilemmas, but I feel like it's cheating to pick one of them as my favorite. The whole Wonderland gang is also fantastic... I'm a sucker for their aesthetic, but they're so fun and silly in general. Kitty, Lizzie, and especially Madeline are 👌

Mmm, when I think long and hard about it, I think my favorite EAH character has to be Briar Beauty, daughter of Sleeping Beauty. Firstly, I love all the pink, roses, and bramble in her design. Secondly, I love the layers to why she is the way she is. Briar's a party girl not because "lmao, wouldn't that be a funny haha subversion of Sleeping Beauty" but because she wants to live life up before she falls asleep for 100 years and literally loses all her friends and family to the natural passage of time. That's seriously so smart and such an inventive way to think about the trauma a descendant of Sleeping Beauty might have. Seeing Briar transition from one of Apple's besties and biggest supporters to an outright rebel is satisfying as heck. (Gotta take a moment to shout out this classic moment :3)

I don't know if I would compare Briar to Jade since they're entirely different characters. However, looking at the source material, I'm actually surprised I like Briar as much as I do since I have never cared for the story of Sleeping Beauty. A part of me finds this ironic since Malleus harbors a similar fear as Briar (losing loved ones) yet I see Malleus's desire as way more selfish and self-serving than Briar's. I believe that's because Briar doesn't have the same arrogance as Malleus, so I'm more forgiving with her. EAH's actual equivalent to Malleus is Faybelle, daughter of the Dark Fairy, but I don't like her as much as I do Briar (hence why I'm comparing Malleus and Briar, not Malleus and Faybelle).

I haven't read the EAH books but I want to one day! I'd prefer to borrow them since I don't have enough space in my room for more physical books, so as soon as I find copies at a library or something...

This blog has kind of become a place where I occasionally talk about my other interests, generally as it relates to TWST, my main interest. I'd like to keep it like this since managing multiple blogs can be so draining. It already takes quite a bit of time to regularly write responses to asks just on one blog!

[crimson-and-clover-1717]

Ed: Izzy, Izzy, Izzy… Look out there. Those clouds. Do they look like Frankfurters to you?

Izzy: They look like clouds, Boss? Can we just focus on…?

Ed: Yes, yes, they look like clouds because they are indeed clouds, but if you just put some fucking imagination into it, man!

Izzy: [long pause] I suppose they look like sausages…

Ed: Frankfurters, yes! Exactly. It’s like pulling teeth with you sometimes, man.

Izzy has worked with Ed for years and still doesn’t understand his mind works best in simile or metaphor; that he needs a certain level of creative social interaction to keep him sane, that the bouncing of an idea helps consolidate things in Ed’s mind.

Yet we see Ed give Izzy every opportunity to interact. Ed already knows the answer really, and the significance. He’s trying to build rapport, include Izzy; but also feel this is a team effort, that Ed’s not carrying the safety of everyone alone. He’s trying quite naturally to share the load with his First Mate.

Unfortunately, Ed’s met with barely-veiled disdain - ‘They look like clouds, Boss.’ Even if Izzy can’t understand what’s being asked of him, he could ask questions for clarification, or even, I dunno, just agree and trust Ed’s judgement. But he’s not bothered because he wants to focus on his plan, the one that’s better than his boss’s who he says rather contrarily, is ‘the most brilliant sailor [he’s] ever met.’

We hear Ed’s frustration, and the key word ‘imagination’ clarifies much of the issue. Izzy has none, or doesn’t care to cultivate any. Imagination isn’t for real men. Having a plan involving firing canons at a superior vessel is the done thing, apparently.

When Izzy does finally give in to his boss’s Very Silly Game™, I find the answer irritating. He uses ‘sausages’ instead of ‘Frankfurters’. It’s a way of agreeing whilst not agreeing. He’s diminishing Ed’s observation. He won’t use Ed’s word, his more imaginative and precise word, a very particular type of sausage. Izzy’s being blasé, truculent, even. Imagine an AU: ‘Does that look like a car to you?’ / ‘I suppose… it looks… like a vehicle.’ It’s the response of an adolescent. The use of ‘suppose’ has tone as well. Ed’s response reveals years of frustration. ‘Pulling teeth’ is being kind. Feeling you want to bang your (or Izzy’s) head against a wall is a more appropriate response.

— -

Ed: What’s that painting? What is it? A grain tower?

Stede: Oh, it’s a lighthouse. I should’ve been one for my family. And guided them.

Ed: Hmmm… well, technically, you’re supposed to avoid lighthouses, so you don’t crack up on the rocks.

Stede: I never really thought about it that way.

Ed: Hmm… no one does.

Together: We need to be a lighthouse!

I still don’t know what to make of Ed who sees lighthouses possibly daily, and thinks he’s viewing a picture of a grain tower. But it reinforces abstract thought and lateral thinking. Ed often doesn’t see what is there; he sees beyond, creative alternatives, the non-obvious answer.

Stede could’ve given a taciturn response, ‘Oh, it’s a lighthouse.’ If he’d stopped there, they would’ve all died, probably. But because Stede is open and conversational, he goes on to explain why he has that picture, and the symbolic importance of it.

This then allows Ed again, to offer an alternative interpretation - you’re technically supposed to avoid lighthouses. But Ed only gets there through the openness of the interaction, the to-ing and fro-ing.

And Stede’s reaction is important also. He doesn’t dig his heels into a rigid interpretation of what a lighthouse represents. He doesn’t say, ‘I suppose’ or ‘Why are we talking about this when we’re all about to die.’ He says, with genuine surprise and curiosity ‘I never really thought about it that way.’ Stede has an adaptable mind. One willing to learn and see things from a different perspective even in the worst moments. Which is why what happens next happens.

The joint ‘We need to be lighthouse!’ reveals a lot about where these two are already heading. The camerawork is phenomenal, moving between the pair, but also blurring background and foreground, bringing Ed, then Stede into focus. They have an already-developing symbiotic relationship. Furthermore, Stede, the new kid on the block, the one who’s apparently a bit of an imbecile, comes up with the plan the same moment as master-strategist Blackbeard. And that means something. That means a lot actually.

It’s very clear what we are meant to understand about the characters. The juxtaposition of Ed and Izzy’s relationship to that of Ed and Stede’s shows how starved of an intellectual and creative equal Ed has been for years… possibly since forever. They come up with a plan that’s equal parts ridiculous and sublime - a little bit like them, really. And it works! - because of respectful reciprocal conversation. The outcome will always be one of my favourite scenes.

[yanderespamton78]

sometimes i feel like toby fox made spamton and the addisons especially for people to hyperfixate on. everything about them seems so perfect for people to go rabid about its insane to me

for one, spamton himself pretty much counts for 4 people, those being addispam, big shot spamton, in game spamton, and spamton neo. now sure you mostly see people going rabid about in game spamton but ive seen plenty of people who are obsessed with a version we dont get to see on screen

secondly, even the main in game spamton himself is kinda up to interpretation. loads of people characterise him differently. if i compared two aus to eachother theyd often be very different and depending on the ones i chose could be almost like 2 different people, and then if i compared those to in-game spamton, theyd still be very different. also since you dont see addispam and big shot spamton on screen you dont even know what they acted like so again basically you can make your own guy to fixate on with a few prompts as to what he was like

dont even get me started on the addisons. now im biased as fuck here seeing that ive been fixated on the addisons for like 6 months now (send help) but toby fox basically gave us 4 templates for us to have fun with. sure based off of in game dialogue you have a bit to go off of when it comes to their personality (pink being an asshole and blue being caring for example) but even then every addison in every different au is slightly different and i have never seen two addisons turn out exactly the same. ALSO you dont even know the relationship these characters have to spamton meaning you can have them be siblings, you can have them be friends, or you can ship them based off of what you enjoy. OR you could just ignore them altogether (which a lot of people do lmao)

also another thing is the fact that you dont necessarily need to have your addisons' personalities just reflect off of spamtons. I mean the main 4 addisons give you enough to go off of to make your own, and you are given cyber city, an entire fantasy world for you to put them in. cyber city again is up to interpretation, some people have it be like a normal city, some people make it a utopia, some people make it a hellscape. the choice is yours!!

and even then in game spamton is so versatile. he is perfect for angsty stuff, fluffy stuff, or jsut silly stuff, and none of it is out of character. you couldnt really make an angsty spongebob edit could you, itd be weird and out of characer and no one would take it seriously. but also you couldnt make a silly walten files video, sure people do but its out of character and wouldnt actually happen canonically. but spamton on the other hand. hes the kinda guy who you can draw holding a wallet in his mouth like a cat and generally being silly but also you could draw him sobbing at the bottom of dumpster and neither would be out of character!! AAAA

also extra thing i thought id add but his backstory is also very up to interpretation, like i dont think ive ever seen two people who think spamtons rise and downfall went exactly the same. sure everyone has the same general idea of how it went but some people believe in acid theory, some people believe in puppetification theory, some people have a mix of both, some people have their own idea of how it went down, and with that you can project different parts of your own trauma onto whatever happened to him.

ok sorry that was so long thank you for reading my very biased ramble about why spamton is perfect byeeee

[mdzs-fanon-examine]

MDZS Fanon VS Canon: 10/?

Wei Wuxian was called the Yiling Patriarch during the Sunshot Campaign

Rating: FANON – CONFLICTING

There is, understandably, a bit of confusion about when Wei Wuxian started to be known as the Yiling Patriarch. For convenience's sake, he's often called by this title throughout many fanwork depictions of the Sunshot Campaign, and/or the period in which he was coreless. This makes sense from an aesthetics perspective, as during this point in his life he was already adopting the persona associated with the Patriarch brand, but in canon, the title was only given to him after he liberated the Wen prisoners.

Put simply, it's not possible for Wei Wuxian to have been called the Yiling Patriarch during the Sunshot Campaign, because by definition the title must have been given to him once he was based out of Yiling – after he liberated the labor camps and set the Wen settlement up in the Burial Mounds. Although Wei Wuxian had been thrown into the Burial Mounds by Wen Chao, ostensibly drawing that connection before the Sunshot Campaign, nobody else (besides some of the Wens) knew at the time.

However, the title was not given to Wei Wuxian immediately after settling in the Burial Mounds. We can actually pinpoint the exact turning point when Wei Wuxian "became" the Yiling Patriarch:

After Wei Wuxian defected from the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng and became the Yiling Patriarch, he’d been in significant conflict with the Lan Clan of Gusu, especially in the months prior to his death. (Seven Seas Ch. 4)

Wei Wuxian was only known as the Yiling Patriarch after his split with Jiang Cheng and the Yumeng Jiang Sect. This means there was a period of time in between the formation of the Wen Settlement and Wei Wuxian's defection, in which Wei Wuxian was living in the Burial Mounds but was NOT yet publicly known as the "big bad evil cultivator" Yiling Patriarch.

We also know the first time the words "Yiling Patriarch" are mentioned chronologically:

None of the fierce corpses Wei Wuxian had ordered to patrol the foot of the mountain actively attacked anyone—the most they did was hurl them away with teeth bared in a snarl. No one was ever hurt. And so, more and more people crowded at the foot of the Burial Mounds. Wei Wuxian once saw a long pennant in the distance, emblazoned with the title “The Supreme Evil Yiling Patriarch,” and spat out an entire mouthful of fruit wine at the sight. (Seven Seas Ch. 17)

This implies that the title of "Yiling Patriarch" was formulated not by anyone in the cultivation world who saw Wei Wuxian as a threat, but by the common people who idolized him. The title could have then spread to members of cultivation sects, who adopted the common name.

In fact, the next time we see a reference to the title is when the Jiang siblings secretly meet with Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning, and Jiang Cheng uses it to tease Wei Wuxian:

“Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were still standing inside the courtyard. Jiang Cheng raised his bowl. “To the Yiling Patriarch.” “Hearing the title reminded Wei Wuxian of that long pennant fluttering shamelessly in the wind, and his mind was filled with its huge dazzling words: “The Supreme Evil Yiling Patriarch.” “Shut up!” he said.” ... He finished the rest of his soup in a single mouthful and stood. “Impressive. Amazing. As expected of the Yiling Patriarch.” Wei Wuxian spat out a piece of bone. “Are you done?” (Seven Seas Ch. 17)

Meaning while the title spread incredibly fast, it was not taken seriously (by Wei Wuxian, at least) for at least a short period of time while the rumors surrounding Wei Wuxian were building up. Notably, Wei Wuxian does not associate himself with the title.

My interpretation of why this happened is that during the period that Wei Wuxian was still part of the Jiang Clan, his actions were seen as representative of – or at least the responsibility of – the Jiangs. Regardless of whether the cultivation world knew he was working alone, as it were, he was still beholden to a sect who had power over him. Wei Wuxian would not have been seen as a "patriarch" in his own right.

After the defection, however, Wei Wuxian was an unknown in terms of affiliation, and thus a potential threat. With the rumors about him already beginning to paint him as evil and unstable, combined with the fact that he was going on public night hunts with Wen Ning, he quickly became notorious:

After stealing the show at several Night Hunts, quite a few people came knocking, drawn by admiration of his reputation and in hopes of joining the “Grandmaster” to become disciples under his banner. (Seven Seas Ch. 17)

Thus, the title of "Yiling Patriarch" would have only been popularized once it was assumed that Wei Wuxian wanted to start his own sect. This would have only exacerbated the hypothetical threat that Wei Wuxian was to the cultivation world as well, and contributed to his mythologizing as a quintessential sort of boogieman. This is actually an excellent example of a major theme in MDZS, of how quickly rumors can cause severe harm.

In the end, regardless of how or by whom the title was created, Wei Wuxian was only (unwillingly) given the title of Yiling Patriarch after he defected from the Jiangs.

[jalluzas-ferney]

Cole wasnt “changed” to be gay. He never was STRAIGHT in the first place.

and hell- whi says he’s strictly gay now? Cole could like girls as well for all we know 🤷‍♀️ uk like, be a Bi king or smth.

The thing is, just like people are used to seeing characters from books as white as a default until stated otherwise, just because they’re so used to it, this happens with straightness as well.

People are will BEG and SWEAR that a character is straight just because they were never outright stated to be otherwise. And emphasis on “outright stated” because even when there is coding, hinting or just blatant portrayal of it, people will still deny that that certain character is queer because it’s not like they canonically turned to the camera and told the audience that “I AM NOT STRAIGHT.”

But to them, even if the character rarely showed any interest in the opposite gender or ever really talked ab their attraction, the character is just automatically straight. It’s just inherent. Of course they’re straight.

And you know what? Even if the character does, who said Bi people don’t exist? I have a lot of Bi friends and a family member that either are bi or are dating a bi person, and their attraction towards the opposite gender has never invalidated their attraction towards the same if gender non-conforming.

And even then, a lot of gay men or lesbians have struggled with comp-het in the past, reuniting them in having tried to date or even marry people from the opposite gender only to then realize they never truly were straight, and were just compulsively trying to conform or believe that they are straight because again, straightness has always been seen as the status quo. As the normal thing to be. The default.

And this isn’t me saying that “the writers were writing Cole as a dude with comp-het this whole time” or smth because I don’t know that. And while I could theorize that I don’t think the writers really were thinking about implementing compulsive heterosexuality into this silly Lego show.

But just like I can’t assure that Cole canonically has suffered from comp-het or that he is gay and not Bi or hell he could be asexual or smth while being gay WHO KNOWS-but just like we can’t exactly assure that he is exactly one of those labels, people cannot come here and act like Cole was ever REALLY canonically straight. Hell. You could even say None of the characters of the show are STRAIGHT because who said they were? You can def interpret them as straight! But why do people insist on acting as if portraying Cole as having a male character a romantic interest as them CHANGING him as if he really ever WAS straight?

No one acts that when a character is straight that it was a huge betrayal or smth because the character was “OBVIOUSLY” gay by default. No. People just see it as normal and move on because that has always been the status quo.

Because this is a heteronormative society as much as people try to act as if making a character gay is “appealing to the world and the general public” as if straight people are suddenly oppressed. Hetero friends of mine or my family will always automatically assume I’m straight because that’s the norm to them. People will always assume someone it het or cis unless outright stated otherwise.

And if you can’t tell what’s wrong with that…

…

And you know what? Get all pissed off about it. Complain. Make petition for “saving your boy Cole” (save him from what exactly? It’s not like Christianity exists in Ninjago so yall can scratch hell out of the list at least) the season was made. The character of Geo was made. The scenes where Geo fantasized about Cole being awesome and handsome were made. Scenes where Cole and geo talk about needing each other were made. Scenes where geo and Cole hold hands and look at each other all lovey dovey were made. None of that bigoted complaining is going to change that. Theyre not going back and deleting those scenes and they’re not suddenly gonna write Geo and Cole in completely different way from what they were written before. Womp. WOMP.

[whatsourmotto-whocares]

OK the best way I've come up with to boil this all down to is fandom shipping vs fandom canon shipping. And it is specifically NOT TO SAY that fandom shipping is bad!!! But they are different.

I'm a huge rickyl (Rick/Daryl) shipper in the TWD fandom. The way I ship rickyl is pure fandom shipping. I KNEW (/know, but don't ask me about my spinoffs reunion delusions) that the show would never actually pair up the two. I admittedly held out hope for a queer / ace Daryl for a long time, though that's a different beast, but I didn't ever realllyyyyy think they'd make Rick break from comic canon so far as to be queer and fall for a non-comic-canon male character, especially when we were given explicit canon, in-narrative evidence Rick is straight. That doesn't mean I didn't see every split second of loaded interactions, chemistry, queer undertones, and potential of those characters that made me ship them extra hard and overanalyze all of those moments and explore their potential, alongside thousands of other rickyl shippers. We aren't crazy; we're fandom shippers. It's fun. It's sexy. It's imaginary.

The crazy part comes in when you think your interpretation supercedes canon, reality, and explicit narrative evidence so much as to manifest it into the show, to the point of delusions that cause you to harass real living people.

Anyway. All that about shipping rickyl is completely different from shipping Buck/Tommy, because none of that ship is wishful thinking. It being endgame? Maybe. Them getting back together? Maybe. But IT. IS. FACT. that they were together, banging, catching feelings, building something, etc., all in-narrative and canon to the show. (And we haven't gotten an explicit "NO" that that ship has sailed, but again, different [fire] beast.)

Eddie has been explicitly illustrated as straight time and time again, and was wonderfully casually supportive of Buck's bisexuality and interest in Tommy without missing a beat, which would've possibly demonstrated any personal crisis about Buck being into men if he HAD hesitated or freaked out. We've been given explicit acknowledgement of the *potential* that exists with Buck and Eddie, but I believe *specifically* to acknowledge the proverbial elephant in the room to get it out of the way for their real intentions with Buck and Tommy.

My endgame opinion aside, it is unavoidable truth that Buck and Tommy are a real ship while Buck and Eddie are a fandom ship. And THAT IS OKAY. Fuck, I was a buddie shipper before s7, but I shipped it the way I ship rickyl: as fandom fantasy shipping fun. Tommy changed everything, and IN A GOOD WAY. The wish for queer and bi male rep expansion was happening before our very eyes, on screen and in 4k. THAT'S AMAZING. I can't even begin to emphasize the victory that is bi Buck and the Buck/Tommy storyline being on a cable TV show.

ANYway.

TL;DR - buddie is fandom shipping and bucktommy is fandom canon shipping, and while neither is better or worse, it's important to acknowledge that one is for the fun of it while enjoying a TV show, and one is for the celebration of its reality in the world we live in where this TV show exists and support of its continuation because it matters.

Thanks for reading my rant, ily.

P.S. - Don't get me started on where destiel fits into all dis.

[lesbiantaylorswiftstan]

no offense, but some of you jemily stans - especially the younger ones (and yes i know i'm part of that demographic) - would believe me if i said i wrote "gullible" on the ceiling. we're not getting canon romantic jemily in s18 or very likely ever. paget is not queerbaiting. aj is not queerbaiting. the cm social media team is not queerbaiting (and i would like to add that none of them have a say in how the show is written, so begging them to make jemily canon or accusing them of queerbaiting does literally nothing except make you miserable)

yes, jemily is the word used to refer to the potential romantic relationship between jj and emily, but it's also always been the word used to refer to their friendship. saying that there will be jemily moments or that jemily will be "alive" does not mean they're promising romantic jemily. after not getting any jemily interaction in s16, we should honestly be thankful that they're giving us these moments between jj and emily (that you can interpret however you want!!!)

like in my opinion, the ultimate jemily moment last season was absolutely perfect. we all (or at least most of us) knew that romantic jemily was not going to become canon, but they gave us a moment that made up for the complete lack of interaction in s16, acknowledged everything they've been through together, and could easily be interpreted as having romantic subtext if you so choose. and yet some of you were still complaining because what? you honestly thought jj and emily were going to kiss and/or confess their undying love for each other despite all the circumstances inside and outside the show that make that completely unrealistic?

the worst thing is that i know the people who want jemily so desperately to be canon would probably still complain about it if it became canon because it didn't happen in the way they want, just like they complained about the ultimate jemily moment

[the-most-faithful]

I take down MovieFlame video (Morgan Ross) In Defense of Snape

I found a video in my YouTube feed that deals with a comparison between Snape and James and who was worse, now we know well that this clash has been going on for years and I don't think it will ever stop. The beauty of fandom is also the fact of being able to explore the subtexts, give personal interpretations and compare with other fans. So I don't want you to understand my intervention as a declaration of war against one side or the other. Whether you are supporters of Snape or James we must be honest and say that what we know through the canon is partial. We know many things, but not enough objective. James Potter is a character that we see only through the memories of a person and that is told to us. It is unfair to judge a person just by hearsay. So the comparison between Snape who appears in all the saga, and James who died in the time of the story is an unequal comparison.

My annoyance, however, comes from the certainty with which some fans, often Marauders stan (although not always) maintain that James was better than Snape. They assert it forcefully but when you dig deeper you realize that they have no solid evidence. If we don't know enough to judge James negatively then we don't have enough evidence to consider him better than Snape either. We can't have double standards on this. Either we know or we don't know. For this reason I usually avoid embarking on a comparison like this, but it is James' fans who first started, for years, to throw mud at Snape and to justify their hatred towards the character. They started comparing him to James, elevating the latter as a hero based on the little information we have. So let's move on to specifically dismantling this video, which reports most of the points that are brought up by James' defenders. (for fairness I invite you to watch the original video HERE, so you can get a personal and balanced idea) The first point brought up in the video is this:

“it's true that James bullied Snape when they were kids which wasn't right but Snape took part in this rivalry as well oftentimes going after James but people just conveniently forget that”

I would like to point out that the first part, absolutely correct, which admits that James bullied Severus, admitting that this was wrong, is followed by a BUT as big as a house. Bullying is always wrong, it doesn't matter if the victim is a good person or not, I've already discussed this point other times but I will never tire of repeating it. If you think that bullying is less serious because the victim is someone you don't like then you are blaming the victim. And this is what many fans have been doing for years. First they try to minimize the seriousness of what James (and Sirius) does, then they justify it until they deny it by claiming that it wasn't bullying. And in the first minutes of the video this is exactly what the boy tries to do.

Snape took part in this rivalry as well oftentimes going after James

Again, attention to detail, the linguistic choice, first he admitted that James was a bully and now he is instead very subtly invalidating the first part by saying that it was a rivalry, because Snape also attacked James. This means that either the first part of the sentence is false or this one is and let's look at the facts. How do we know that this thing happened? In which case in the canon are we ever shown Snape attacking James? In none, because as I said at the beginning we know little about James, we only see snippets of his life, of his attitude and then we are told what he was like by his best friends, boys who even as adults justified his bullying. How can they be reliable? The fact that Snape attacked James is not shown to us, it is only told to us and by Sirius and Remus in the fifth book, after Harry has spied on Snape's memories in which he sees James and Sirius attacking him for no reason in the worst memory. (and don't try, memories in the Harry Potter world are objective, not emotionally modified) Sirius and Remus explain to Harry how Lily started dating James, the two say that James toned down a bit in seventh year and stopped hexing people just for fun. And when Harry asks if James stopped attacking Snape, Remus says this:

"Well," said Lupin thoughtfully, "Snape was a special case. I mean, he never missed an opportunity to curse James, so it was only natural that he would react..." (Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix)

This is the only part used by the Marauders Stan to justify James. The subtext is clear, James stopped cursing his classmates, but not Snape because he had to defend himself. But this is simply a reversal, James has heavily bullied Snape for years, and this is canon, but if Snape defended himself and responded to the attacks according to James' defenders this makes him on par with James. In short, if a victim rebels, he is no longer a victim according to them. While on the contrary, after years of heavy bullying, if Snape attacks James and James responds then Gryffindor is the poor victim who in short has the right to defend himself? Am I the only one who smells double standards? For consistency, we should always use the same approach. Either James was a bully for six years and Snape was entitled to defend himself, so they were not on equal footing. So in the last year Snape was in the wrong and James was just defending himself. Or they were equally in the wrong all along. This second hypothesis is absurd, after all, if someone attacks you, do you just have to take it? This message is terribly dangerous. While in the first hypothesis, that is, that it is legitimate to defend oneself (even for James), then the scales tip to one side. To be clear, we are comparing six years of James's severe bullying of Snape to just one year, the last one, in which Snape instead began attacking James at every opportunity. 6 against 1 How can one year be worse than six? Six in which Snape's life was ruined, in which he was humiliated, stripped naked in public and even risked being killed in the prank? Even if we take Remus' words for granted, it means that what Snape suffered from James is clearly worse than what he inflicted on Gryffindor. So first point dismantled. (and we're only at the first minute) Let's continue:

snape disliked James because he was jealous of him he envied James' popularity but meanwhile he spent his time practicing the dark arts with other future Death Eaters there's a reason he wasn't popular like James people saw him

Once again FALSE. All this information comes from the opinions of unreliable people. I have debunked the idea of Snape's alleged jealousy of James in the past but let's get back to it quickly. Who says Snape was jealous of James? Guess what, Sirius:

“The thing is,” said Sirius, “James and Snape hated each other from the first moment, it’s one of those things… you can understand that, can’t you? Because James was everything Snape wanted to be: popular, ace at Quidditch… ace at pretty much everything. Whereas Snape was just a little weirdo up to his neck in the Dark Arts, and James – believe me, Harry – has always detested the Dark Arts.”

This is an opinion of Sirius, James's best friend. He lists things that he considers essential, being popular, an ace at Quidditch. Things that Snape has never cared about. When did Snape ever try to be popular? When did he ever care about Quidditch? The truth is that Snape hated James because from the first train ride James was hateful to him, insulting the Slytherin house that Snape hoped to end up in. James butted into the conversation between him and Lily and already on the train James and Sirius started calling him Snivellus and tripped him up. Do you really think that the antipathy was born because James was popular? James started to annoy and bully Snape right away, it is clearly shown in the canon, in the seventh book. And the question of the dark arts? Same thing is Sirius who tells us, also giving an unflattering opinion, he considered Snape "just a little weirdo immersed up to his neck in the Dark Arts" Do we trust the words of a bully to judge his favorite victim, really? “my ex was really crazy” said the ex-boyfriend who cheated on her several times. Little angel.

It's true that Snape was fascinated by the dark arts, so what? How do we know that he spent his time practicing the dark arts with other future Death Eaters? When is it shown or said? Do you really want me to believe that at Hogwarts, the safest place in wizarding England, students practice dark magic undisturbed?

“There’s a reason he wasn’t as popular as James. People saw him.”

Really? People saw it and what did they do? Didn't they warn the teachers, didn't they try to intervene? The truth is that this is an idea of ​​Sirius that is passed off as fact without any proof. Snape was fascinated by the dark arts as were other housemates, period. People, teachers or classmates never saw him practice illegal spells, no one ever saw even the future Death Eaters do it. The strength of the precursors of the Death Eater, the Knights of Walpurgis in the era of Tom Riddle was that no one knew. Only Dumbledore SUSPECTED but he never managed to prove anything. Do you want to tell me that years later some teenage kids knew for sure what a capable wizard like Dumbledore never managed to prove about the dark wizard par excellence? This is simply ridiculous, an act once again only to try to justify James's bullying of Snape. I repeat, the subtext is always the same: Snape was a bad person, strange, passionate about the dark arts, jealous of James and therefore deserved to be bullied. This mentality, in addition to being horribly wrong, is dangerous. And do not forget, most of these suppositions are either false or unproven, so even if they were true, and it is a very big IF, they cannot justify the bullying suffered. The next point is very interesting instead, the creator of the video says this:

Lily also called Snape out because she wanted to join the Death Eaters.

This is a half-truth. The conversation you quoted comes from Snape's memories seen in the chapter The Prince's Tale in the seventh book and takes place after the worst memory in which Snape was bullied by James and Sirius, and threatened to be stripped in public, (which happens a few months after the prank) here Snape insults Lily after he saw her smile or almost while James was bullying him, he called her Mudblood. That same evening Snape went in front of the Gryffindor tower to apologize and Lily didn't accept the apology, and by bringing up the fact that Snape hung out with shady people, like Avery and Mulciber and that he himself wanted to join the Death Eaters she ended their friendship. But that's a later thing, Lily had known for a long time how Snape thought about Muggles, she knew who he hung out with and what his Slytherin classmates did and yet she remained his friend. The rift came after Snape insulted her. Lily, even if she badly tolerated Snape's ideas for years, as long as she was the exception it was fine, the problem arose only when she was personally insulted. But what interests me most is the sequel, the boy in the video says that Snape did not change his mind even to save his friendship with Lily, I quote:

“can you which for Snape is more damning than anything else I can think of thinking about this the person whose opinion he valued more than anybody else saw him as a bad person and he still didn't try to change let me repeat that Snape could not make himself a better person even for the woman that he loved like nobody else if he couldn't do it then it's clear that he could never change

This point would require a much longer and more in-depth discussion, but I will try to be brief. Snape was prejudiced against Muggles, there is no point in denying it, he frequented future Death Eaters and aspired to join them, not to torture Muggle-borns, but to gain power, to become respected. Something he never experienced. The same "good guys" who were supposed to represent good marginalized, mocked, humiliated, bullied him and were never really stopped. Snape had no one but the future Death Eaters to welcome him. Lily, his best friend, in all these years, even with the authority of Prefect, has never managed to stop the bullying or protect him properly. From his point of view, Snape's distorted one, the Death Eaters were the only way to gain respect. Statements by the author. So the idea of ​​changing sides, of joining the good guys who humiliated or marginalized him didn't make sense. Snape improved in the future, he understood his mistakes and tried to redeem himself as an adult, but as a teenager what did you expect would happen? After his best friend also turned her back on him what should he have done? Improve in what way? Marginalizing himself even more from the only ones who accepted and appreciated him? I understand what the video is saying, if Snape loved Lily so much he should have changed for her, but in the real world it doesn't work like that. If you change just to please someone, the change is not genuine but only superficial. It's a very manipulative attitude. Real change must come from within, it must be desired by the person who implements it, not be performative. Snape will change, even if it will be many years later, precisely because he will understand his mistakes, but as a teenager he lives that separation as something definitive, so much so that he no longer gets close to Lily, respects the girl's wishes and leaves her alone. On the contrary James does the opposite, he pesters her for years, threatens her so that she agrees to go out with him. He bullies her best friend as a moral lever, lies to her and in the last year he shows himself changed to go out with her. As I said before this is a superficial change, since we know that james continues to attack snape in the last year without telling Lily. James has never apologized, he has never understood his mistakes, if there has been a change in his not cursing his classmates for fun it was precisely in function of Lily. This distorted idea that changing for the girl you like is a romantic sign is problematic. You don't have to show that you've changed for the person you like, you have to change to become a better person for yourself first and this must happen for a personal desire that cannot have any exceptions.

If James continues to attack Snape then he hasn't understood his mistakes, he has only learned to hide them. If he had really matured he wouldn't have hidden it from Lily, if he had really been the victim in his last year he could have told Lily and instead he doesn't. Shortly after the boy in the video confidently states that James has changed since in his last year Dumbledore makes him Head Boy. And this simply doesn't make sense, why should Dumbledore's judgment be a moral compass to judge James? I don't know if you realize this but every time someone tries to show how good a person James was you have to go on trust with weak assumptions:

-Lily started dating him so he got better. - Dumbledore made him head boy so he matured. - Lily married him so he was good.

These are all assumptions with big gaps. Dumbledore also gave Remus the Prefect badge in the hope that he would keep his friends at bay and we saw how it went, it didn't help. The next point really made me turn up my nose. The boy in the video brings up a very interesting point, many people who were bullied as teenagers feel empathy for Snape and understand what he felt, but the video states that no, it can't be the same thing, because someone who is bullied in real life doesn't plan for years to join a group of assassins, such as the Death Eaters. On this point I can see the logic, but saying that you understand a character, that you feel empathy for him, maybe even because it reflects a personal experience in a small way does not mean justifying his mistakes. Understanding and justifying are two very different concepts. I rationally understand Snape's actions, but on many occasions I don't agree with them. Fortunately, most people who are bullied have not joined violent groups, but that is not an absolute. The world is complex, people react differently to trauma and yes, unfortunately in reality there are victims who have joined violent groups. The classic phrase "the abused becomes the abuser" must not become a way to justify wrong actions, but as I said before it is a way to rationally understand situations.

Bullying someone, even a bad person, is never justifiable for this reason too. What you trigger in the victim is a sense of helplessness and anger. Feelings that in the worst case can lead a person down dangerous paths. Those who understand this understand how strong she was when she was young, how difficult it was to remain a good person. The saga teaches us clearly, you have to choose between what is right and what is easy. But I breathed a sigh of relief when the boy in the video said with clear feeling that he was sorry for all the people who were bullied because they didn't deserve it. I smiled slightly and thought: "finally a nice message, thank you." But before I had time to inhale, he dropped the bomb, I quote:

“you guys did not deserve to be bullied and I am so sorry that that happened to you... but Snape kind of did deserve to be bullied”

The hypocrisy of this sentence makes me tremble. He clearly said that Snape deserved to be bullied. *Ok I'll take a breath* I'll repeat it clearly: NO ONE DESERVES TO BE BULLIED. If you justify bullying you are mentally a bully. The reason why he then justifies bullying is somewhere between absurd and exasperating, once again falsehood

"Snape himself was a bully, he and his little Death Eater friends picking on the other Muggle-born students"

FALSE, I know exactly where this idea comes from and it's so tiring to have to repeat the same things over and over again. Snape never attacked or cursed any of his fellow muggleborns. Was Snape a bully? In a way yes and I'll tell you why it might be correct to call him one (the fact that I have to do it is absurd) because he called muggleborns Mudblood, all except Lily. And we know that in fictional narrative that is a very serious slur. This is where his bullying begins and ends, and yes using insults like that is a form of bullying, I agree with that.

Now, what does this tell us? That using insults is a form of bullying and therefore those who use them deserve to be bullied? Again I smell double standards. By this logic then even James deserved to be attacked by Snape last year, because for years Snape was attacked, bullied, mocked with the name of Snivellus, stripped naked in public, suffocated etc... Why is Snape a horrible bully to demonize if one uses the term mudblood while the people who tormented him for years are justified? After years now I understand the game, I know perfectly well where people want to get with this. They want to make James look like a vigilante, someone who bullied Snape to defend the muggleborns. But once again it is false. James was a bully who attacked those he considered inferior, when he was in numerical superiority. He never attacked people like Mulciber, Avery or Malfoy. James started bullying Snape as early as the train ride, long before Snape had even heard of Death Eaters.

“Snape has always been a racist, even at 11 years old.”

.Funny how the video clearly quoted the part where Lily worriedly asks if it makes a difference to her being a muggleborn and Snape says NO. Snape hesitantly says it makes no difference.

“the only reason why he said no was because he wanted to make sure that Lily liked him the way that he liked her”

Excuse me? This is your baseless assumption, Snape has been her friend for years, he defends her, helps her understand the magical world. I understand not wanting to sanctify Snape, really, he has so many flaws and no, he wasn't a wonderful person, but if you take his clear words and start from the assumption that he is lying you are being unfair. Also because I would like to point out that this is exactly what James does. He shows himself to have changed ONLY to please Lily, didn't he praise him for this just now? Even taking the boy's false interpretation as true How come if Snape does it he is a manipulative liar while if James does it he is to be praised? Oh look, another double standard has entered the room.

"James's bullying is not responsible for Snape joining the Death Eaters."

This is a simplification of the speech, the bullying that Snape suffered is not the reason why he joined the Death Eaters but it is one of the reasons, not the only one but one of the. The difference is clear. If Snape had not been bullied and marginalized, if he had been able to live the Howarts years in peace with his best friend he would not have felt the need to be accepted by the future Death Eaters. Mind you I'm not saying that he would not have been attracted to them, his childhood experiences, the violent Muggle father would have remained, but with a positive contrast and a part of the "good" who defends him and helps him he would have been much less inclined to approach the Death Eaters. But we know that with the if you don't make history, it went as it went, but pretending that the bullying suffered did not play any role means denying reality. As well as trying to make it less serious than it is.

When we then go to compare the more "adult" versions the discussion becomes even more partial because we know even less about the first war. The fact that James joined the Order as I have reiterated several times is not a sign of maturation, he has always been against the dark arts and not by choice. His parents were against it, as they were against the purist ideology. He did not have to rebel, he simply adapted to the ideals that were fortunately right. Could he ever not have been interested in the war? Actually not since his wife was a target because she was Muggle-born and shortly after his son too. It is not a sign of maturation and if I may say so, not even of who knows what reasoning. Even Peter Pettigrew joined the Order, what does this prove?

The whole next part is based on pointing out that if Snape hadn't told Voldemort the prophecy, the Potters would be alive, but once again what ifs lead nowhere. If Snape hadn't eavesdropped on the prophecy and told Voldemort, the events that led to his destruction wouldn't have been triggered and we would never have had the saga. Drama is the engine of events. In the narrative fiction, Snape was reporting important information to his boss, he didn't torture or attack anyone, he just passed on information without knowing what it would lead to. What's the point of blaming him for what follows? Do we use the same reasoning for all the other characters in the saga? I don't think so, so let's not waste too much time on it.

Another great classic:

snape was going to let Voldemort kill a baby and probably its whole family without batting an eye until he realized that Lily was involved he asked for mercy only for her and even Dumbledore is disgusted that Snape doesn't care that James and Harry die.

I have often spoken about this and it is always the same story, couldn't Snape ask for mercy also for Harry who was Voldemort's main target and poor James? Why would Snape have cared about the boy who made his life hell? Snape dared to ask for mercy for Lily and to be sure he also went to Dumbledore risking his life. Allying himself with Dumbledore is a clear betrayal towards Voldemort, if he had been discovered he would have been killed. And I would like to remind you that Snape is terrified of Dumbledore at this point in the story, so much so that as soon as he sees Dumbledore appear he begs him not to kill him Dumbledore is then disgusted by what exactly? From his interpretation of events. Dumbledore thinks that Snape wants Lily all for himself. How distorted is this thing? It is disturbingly similar to what Voldemort thinks. Snape doesn't want Lily, he just wants her to be spared and is so panicked that he asks Dumbledore for help.

snape aided Voldemortin killing a baby without batting an eye

Ehm, no? Snape couldn't know that the prophecy was referring to a child, the prophecy is not clear, it is only said that whoever has the power to defeat Voldemort approaches. Approaches does not necessarily mean is about to be born.

I also approached the supermarket checkout yesterday to pay, I wasn't born in front of it. Snape learned that the prophecy referred to a child, Harry, only after Voldemort interpreted it that way. As soon as he learned that it referred to him and therefore Lily, he was activated. (and for those who pretend not to understand cause and effect, Snape's request to spare Lily is what allowed Lily's sacrifice to take effect)

james Potter died protecting his family and died a hero meanwhile Snape changed sides because he was obsessed with a girl who he called a racial slur and who probably hadn't given him a second thought since that incident snape holding on to this high school crush is creepy and honestly the fact that he even loves Lily in the first place is

James died protecting his family, true great thing he risked his life to try to protect the ones he loved. Commendable. Snape risked his life to protect the ones he loved by starting to snitch on silent after silent made it clear to him that he was disgusted by him and was clearly trying to use him. He risked his life for years. Disturbing.

Hey look at more double standards. Also this whole obsession thing really tired my soul. You want to think that Snape was obsessed? Ok say it, I don't feel like repeating it all over again, I made a whole video about it, HERE. (Italian Version)

"honestly the fact that he even loves Lily in the first place is pathetic because Lily never showed any sign of feeling the same way i get it if you're hung up on your first high school girlfriend but Lily was never even close to that for Snape in fact most of their middle school and high school career she was questioning their friendship"

Really Morgan? Is unrequited love pathetic? I've had friends confess to having a crush on me and even though I didn't reciprocate I never thought they were pathetic. A relationship like that, as turbulent as you want, wasn't questioned until Lily was insulted, she and Severus had been BEST FRIENDS for years. She had doubts about Avery and Mulciber and exposed them to Snape of course but she never questioned Snape until her worst memory.

"Everyone commemorated James' heroic death"

But don't tell me? James was loved and popular, right? What's surprising about him being praised after his death? Can I remind you that even Peter Pettigrew was considered heroic because he faced Sirius until he lost his life against him? At least in public opinion. Whoever dies in war becomes a hero, wow what news.

Snape became a teacher at Hogwarts spending his days bullying children as an adult people fault James for bullying a kid when he was a kid but Snape bullied innocent children as a grown man there was no excuse for that no matter how hard you were bullied.

Ah here we are, the comparison out of scale. James is dead so he is a hero, Snape survived, the comparison should stop there, you can't make a comparison between a dead person and a living person. Snape treats some students badly? Absolutely yes and I have already spoken about it. Is it unfair? Absolutely yes, but what does this prove? You see him getting closer, right?

The point is simple, James was a bully (so at least he admits he was) but as a boy, teenager against teenager, while Snape (bad guy) takes it out on children. What is there to do with it? first James is a bully, then he isn't, then in reality it's a rivalry, then he still was but he matured and Snape still deserved it and the thesis changes again, James was a bully but less serious because he took it out on those his own age. All aimed at downplaying James's faults. But he is totally blind to the evidence, even at the same age James always took it out on those who were lower than him, he attacked classmates (not just Snape) in numerical superiority 2 against 1, in superiority of magical ability, in superiority of status, he was popular and the others were not. by Sirius' own admission many turned a blind eye when they did these things. Where would the equality be?

But hey the video doesn't end there, everything that is brought up after that is already tired and hackneyed points, Snape bullied the students? I talked about it HERE. Snape was Neville's Boggart I also talked about this HERE. Then he goes on to say that Snape treated Harry badly in the first lesson because he still hates James and also the fact that Snape saved Harry's life in the first book doesn't count because he didn't do it to atone for his guilt but because he had a suspicious account with James, because he had a life debt since James saved him from The Prank.

Snape couldn't bear being in your father's debt i do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father quit then he could go back to hating your father's memory in peace

But guess what? This is a supposition of Dumbledore who in order not to reveal the truth to Harry says this thing but it is HIS SUPPOSITION. I understand that Dumbledore is wise and knowledgeable but he really is not the omniscient narrator, not everything he says is true and we know it well. Snape feels guilty and tries to atone as he can. Invalidating his commitment to saving Harry is absurd and unfair.

this was not heroic whatsoever it was immature selfish psychopathic and honestly I would even say evil

Ok there is only one thing I can agree with here, Snape is immature in some ways, he is in his early 30s and has some immature attitudes. but selfish? he sacrificed his life to fight voldemort, he gave up everything, he risked himself over and over again to protect Harry and not only that. How can you call him selfish? If he was, he simply wouldn't have agreed to be a spy, he wouldn't have cared. psychopathic? really a term used inappropriately just because it sounded good, I guess. evil for what? I'm really curious about this

"I will admit that Snape was brave for going behind Voldemort's back..."

oh great, at least this is... no wait talk again

"but the reason why he did this wipes away any credit he would get for it the fact that his inspiration for this was his “love” for Lily is concerning."

Oh well, even a brave thing he did is invalidated because he did it for the love of Lily, what a surprise. Then he tries to get back to the obsession thing and it reaches new levels of detail:

"he had not spoken to Lily since he called her a mud blood 22 years ago his last memory of her was a 16-year-old girl while he was a 38-year-old man thinking about this I'll let you sit on that for a second his obsession with Lily for 22 freaking years is disturbing"

Ok please tell me I'm not the only one with an image in my head here. it's clear what Morgan is referring to right? Snape alone in a dark room that reminds of his adolescence, remembers Lily, her beautiful green eyes, her red hair and then he goes down and... OMG I know I know some James stans are wild but this is just hilarious. You want me to believe that you actually spent time thinking about snape going you-got-it? This is disturbing, the fact that you thought about it. xD This is just a rather sick assumption by some fans, disturbed on multiple levels but with no basis in canon.

Snape may have died a brave man but he also died as a man who brought nothing but harm to the world.

How annoying is it that there is always a BUT? Snape is brave BUT... Snape saved Harry BUT... Snape gave his life BUT... We could do the same with James, but we're better than that, I hope.

nobody was better off because Snape was on this earth.

Of course not, except that without Snape, as mentioned before, the events that led to Voldemort's two downfalls would never have happened. But hey, who cares, right?

everything that made him a hero and made people argue that he was a good person was avoidable if as James said he wasn't alive he should not be commemorated the way James a true hero was

If Snape had died during the first war, you mean? Well, he certainly wouldn't have been considered a hero because he wasn't one yet. Really, what kind of nonsense reasoning is that? If James had died at 14, he wouldn't have been remembered as he is remembered in the canon for fighting Voldemort. But thanks to Zeus, it's obvious. Snape becomes a hero later, and is remembered as such for this, just like James. The fact that James was a bully doesn't erase his merit in fighting Voldemort, but the opposite is also true, merits don't erase guilt. This also applies to Snape, his guilt doesn't erase merits and his merits don't erase his guilt.

snape is an evil person and always was james' bullying might have brought that out a bit but deep down it was always in there

Evil again, I would like to understand why, but obviously it doesn't go any further, because all the things listed are just a constant invalidation of Piton's merits and belittling his suffering. even here, when for the umpteenth time he retracts on the bullying he suffered he ends up saying that the bullying he suffered only brought out that part of him but it was always there.

"if you're still defending Snape after everything I just went over you are absolutely delusional i'll leave you with these words FU*K Snape"

Yes the video ends like this. Very mature I would say xD. I am Snape Stan precisely because I can dismantle all these weak arguments. The real delusionals are those who for years have tried to throw mud on a character as complex and imperfect as Snape, driven by anger and precisely by disappointment because there are those who can appreciate a gray character and see heroism even in a not so nice person. And to justify all this it is precisely the James Stans who have started this unequal comparison that they are always destined to lose, in which they compare a complete character with one who only appeared in past scenes.

I also made the video version DEBANK SNATER'S ACCUSATIONS - YouTube

@moonlightdancer26 @doeprince-blog @snapedefender @snapedefense @soraya-snape @lilithofpenandbook

[we-are-richard-lotf]

this shit terrifying whoever the mod is you’re doing an awesome job

I know this ask has been here since the beginning of the blog, but I think it is a nice time to finally answer this one.

Alright, so I decided to make this entire long post dedicated to explaining in full detail on what I did during the entire time the Richard blog was running. I just felt like you guys deserve to know what exactly comes to my mind during the process, and I just really wanted to talk and reflect about it, since it did took a bit of dedication and planning to pull it off. So, as a thank you for all the support (and for the hilarious reactions on the reveal), here is a fully detailed explanation on how, where, and why I made Richard.

Where did the inspiration come from?

Now, I do know that we already talked about this in one of the Mod QnA questions, however I do like to get more indepth with what exactly happened now that I can be more honest with y'all.

Yes, all of this IS still inspired because of Leonard [see this post]. It was a genuinely nice concept, since I have NEVER heard of non-human LOTF OCs, and it was GENUINELY creative and inspiring. In my infinite (autistic) creativity, I just decided to make a hivemind, and in just an hour, I made Richard.

Now, his exact character was kind of like a half-canon, half-OC since he IS based off of the ACTUAL beast in the book (aka the pig's head). It seemed really cool and interesting, so I played along. However, instead of claiming ownership publicly like the rest, I decided to be a little secretive over it, which brings us to another question:

What was Richard's lore exactly?

Richard's lore was mostly improvised on the spot, really. I just kind of set up a general guideline (for this case, I just basically flesh out what Richard's core identity is and what motives he has), and that is what pretty much helped me go through the entire creative process without running into problems. I recognized that most of the LOTF OC lore is kind of made up at the spot based on what the other might react unless they planned it, however I DID have interesting facts and things that I WISHED was utilized more during the whole runtime.

Richard isn't just a bunch of flies! In fact, he can actually attach himself into anything that the boys (or anyone on the island) think he is. His hivemind form IS the one he commonly uses (and his favorite one), but if we are realistically looking at the book, he was technically the dead pilot AND the pig's head. He is also the symbolic representation of decay and rot, and it doesn't even have to be anything ACTUALLY rotting either. He can also be the boulder, the fire, the wooden spears, the rosary, the skull— literally ANYTHING.

He is also essentially a nature documentor to the boys, as it has been such a long time that he has ever seen a human being —much less approximately thirty boys on the island — in years. He would have been very excited to observe them, as he has been dormant. Richard is basically like a nature documentor to these kids to observe their every move, every intention, every interaction, and perspective. Sometimes that documentor would throw a chunk of meat to the lions for kicks. In my opinion and interpretation, the beast is unfeeling, a third person, a narrator, a director. If you notice in the earlier days, however, he seems to be more of an active mocker, and it's because I was planning on making him more of a character that points out people's flaws in the most humiliating way possible, however I was planning on changing that and toning him down because it seemed too predictable.

I wished Richard was used more often, but I guess the reason why none of these were utilized more was because of the lack of opportunities presented. It felt really empty sometimes but hey, it was a good run.

Now for the part that I might have to yap a whole lot on:

The Creative Process

Now, this is where I talk about the process and operation I had to do— how I kept my identity hidden for so long, how I managed to fool a couple of people, my thought process on every single action I made, and why I did all of this.

It really all started when I got bored.

So I did made Richard, and I was like "man I would REALLY love to make this into my OC", and then the mischievous idea of making an OC blog with an anonymous mod came to my mind. You see, I kind of have done this kind of bit before back then, so I have slight experiences with this kind of thing (it WAS complicated tho since this was during a time of trauma and stress and it gave me an identity crisis so whaddya know). I decided to use that experience to make Richard, just messing around seeing if people could catch me.

Slowly, but surely, I did make Richard have some impact in the community. It's not that much, but it was worth the entertainment.

I pretended to just be a REALLY big fan to attract some attention from other people. I recommended him to people, reacted to his crazy responses and all that jazz, all the while being the mod. I got bored once again and decided to terrorize everyone by inserting Richard into their ask boxes instead of waiting for people to go to his ask box. It did get some nice buzz around, and just casually seeing the panic as everyone talks about how Richard got to them. Sure, there was multiple other blogs, but I got to most people atleast.

Now, I was part of this small investigation team dedicated to Richard, as I decided to join them because I was curious what they would uncover. Granted, I did help (and sometimes misdirected them) in the investigation, but it was so amusing and actually exciting to see how dedicated they are while having fun in the investigation, which is why I decided to start adding more ciphers in the mix. Of course, most of it will come to an end since the trend died down, and it was the most fun I had yet.

Most of it was just a mix of being a menace and improv, really. Sure, I acted performative and formal with my Mod persona, but it was all in good fun. If anyone was actually emotionally hurt or felt like I genuinely deceptively used this project as a way to manipulate anyone, I never mean it in a malicious way nor do I ever even intent to do so. I was actually pretty worried about this aspect, so I was making sure that no one was hurt during this, but seeing the initial reactions, no one seemed to be offended. Again, if anyone has any problems with me they can always slide up to my DMs and talk it there. I am not scary to talk to, dw.

My General Opinions

Honestly? I wished we could have done this a bit differently, even though Richard is decent as it is. My execution is okay-ish in my opinion.

I wished I could have leaned into the mystery and the menace and really push the boundaries, to make him a bit more well known. It's not that Richard is a bad character per say, I just don't think he is well known enough. I am satisfied with what happened, but I wished I could have collaborated with other creators on what Richard's lore is, but that might leak my identity.

Speaking of me, I feel CRINGED at my Mod posts. I think I tried way too hard with what I was doing just to get people keep looking, and I think that instant gratification is NOT great in hindsight. Sure, I was bored to death and I wanted to shake things up, but man.. I sometimes don't really like how I did it.

Overall? He's alright.

Would I do this again?

Maybe. It really depends what you think I will be doing in the future. Yes, I do have other accounts, but they are mostly multi-admins and I barely talk there, however I MIGHT plan on something interesting or two. It really depends what you are guessing.

This project kind of rekindled the creativity I have in my head, since it forces me to quickly think a lot. I find myself wanting to be in a different person's shoes, or even multiple at the same time. It just feels right for me. Whether or not it's morally correct is something I am still questioning myself.

Now, if someone tries to (theoretically) do this kind of thing, I don't really recommend it unless you REALLY know what you are doing. I don't want to dwell on this topic since this feels WAY too dramatic but srsly I don't recommend it unless you also want to have an identity crisis or smth. Your choice.

This project really gave me some awesome ideas and a LOT of fun, seeing people and knowing how they work, what makes them human, and what makes them tick. I am still everywhere, folks. Still do.

[meldingintheunderdark]

The Drow twins and Halsin

Notwithstanding Halsin's peculiar predisposition with drow, yet another interesting topic about the man tbh, the foursome is honestly quite sad.

First things first, solo romanced Halsin ends up as a mute bear. There is none of the daring flirt present with Astarion and Shadowheart. Absolutely tragic. While I understand dirty talking to an ever changing PC would have been a logistical nightmare for Larian, the scene feels rather stale. But it's nothing compared with Halsin's behavior before, during and after the "Underdark experience".

Halsin: An intriguing pair. Takes me back to my youth... Sszazar: Interested, Halsin? Halsin: More than interested, if you feel the same. [...] Sszazar: I would like to hire both of you. And I hope my partner will join us as well. Halsin: So long as all are willing, I see no reason why we should deny ourselves...

Whilst I've read comments arguing Halsin is not enthusiastic at all or cocky and happy to show off, I disagree with the lack of nuance.

Clearly, during the initial talk to hire or not the twins, the bear is down to have fun with them and, from my pov, the fact they are drow is the driving force motivating his choice. He craves drow as much as he despises them (Lolth-sworn).

Sorn Orlith: I can't quite believe it - a night of passion with the famous Halsin? I might faint before I can expend myself. Nym Orlith: Legends spread of you throughout the city... We heard tell that you can change into a bear. Halsin: I hadn't realised I was that popular. But we must give the people what they want, mustn't we?

It's interesting to note the first allusion to his traumas happens during said talk. Furthermore, as soon as they're in complete darkness, Sorn immediately admits they know who he is. The twins explain that Menzoberranzan drow (they seem to hint they fled this city) aren't merely spreading rumors about Halsin but legends. In other words, his traumatic years are widely distributed folktales, retold over and over again. We know that legends are altered over time, thus I wonder if details are embellished. Since Nym mentions his wildshape the instant Sorn is quiet, I do believe his traumas are now a bunch of raunchy, bawdy tales Menzoberranzan drow like to share when they're feeling naughty.

Of course, some stories may come from his other visits. Unfortunately, the canon doesn't give sufficient info to differentiate their content, let alone their sources.

So, Halsin is already thinking about his captors, moreover he is physically vulnerable because they're all blind and butt naked, then he is hit with this information.

Halsin: I hadn't realised I was that popular.

This sentence alone is worth analyzing.

Halsin is already aware he is popular amongst drow (and everyone else with good taste in men). This is probably related to one of his statements during his love confession :

Halsin: And I've been to the Underdark. Many times.

He returned to the Underdark despite his traumas (or rather because of them), therefore he has surely been exposed to his fame. Some of it, at least, because the emphasis "[...] that popular" implies he doesn't know how famous he actually is. He is now exposed to the glaring fact that he is (and his traumas as well) fetishized to a certain extent by Menzoberranzan drow.

Halsin: [...] But we must give the people what they want, mustn't we?

English isn't my first language, so my interpretation may be erroneous. Nevertheless, the use of "we" instead of "I" intrigues me. In my opinion, the pronoun is very significant. Why does Halsin switch from "I" to "we" the very next sentence? Because he is diluting the first person with the pronoun "we". He's distancing himself.

"But I must give the people what they want, mustn't I?" sounds harsher. He must do it. It's an obligation. He's compelled to do so. The pronoun "we" helps him feel safer. He's trying to have control in the given situation. People write novels about Astarion dissociating, rightfully so, yet I believe that "I" vs "we" is a form of dissociation too. He sees the twins. He thinks about his captors. He is sexually attracted to the twins. He was and still is trauma-bound to his captors. He learns his traumas are saucy tales in total obscurity, naked.

But it isn't the icing on the cake yet.

If we rewind to the very beginning, who are Sorn and Nym? They're prostitutes. They are paid 1000 gold to service their clients. And yet...

Sorn Orlith: Will tonight at last be the night I die during an act of pleasure? [...] Nym Orlith: Doesn't it...? How does it even fit? [...] *The drow are filled with awe at your and Halsin's habits throughout the night, time and time again.*

In the end, Halsin is servicing them, like he did with his captors. He shifts to a bear because they want it. Their overeager reactions and the narrator line may indicate they are thrilled to get the famed bear and have him at their entire disposal. He is a legend. Do they truly ackowledge him as a common, but thick af, wood elf? Or do they solely see the mysterious hero of some spicy tales? I particularly dislike the scene because it seems Halsin and, in my case, Sszazar are observed rather than pleased by the twins. I suspect that for Sorn and Nym Halsin is an exotic toy and not a normal client.

Also, he only shifts back to his hunk self when the twins are out of the picture. In the closing shot of them all napping, he's still a bear. I assume he spent the whole night as a bear. Is it merely to become the best pillow available? I bet his wildshape make him feel safer.

Halsin: Indeed. Our time with them was... certainly bracing. Takes me back to some youthful misadventures in the Underdark.

Last but not least, the option to ask Halsin about his "misadventures" in the Underdark is available thanks to this encounter. Technically, Halsin can reveal his traumas without ever leaving the Underdark room at Sharess' Caress. His years of suffering are at the forefront of his thoughts and he opens up about them the moment he's asked by the one person who reciprocates care.

To conclude, I think Halsin did not have a grand time during the foursome, even if he appears eager at first. I don't believe the night was downright traumatizing, however it did reopen old festering wounds. His decisions are heavily influenced by his unhealed, unaddressed traumas.

It does bother me to read countless lame takes about Astarion vs Halsin, as if one deserves more care and attention than the other. They're both terribly traumatized. Because Halsin reacts differently to his traumas, because he is not the perfect, ideal victim, too many fans disregard his pain. The way I see it, the foursome is full of hints about his traumas. He's not dumping everything out of nowhere when morning comes. His pain was here all along. It's a fascinating encounter.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Do you know if Riddle, or Tray, ever stands up to his mother? I think i saw it in a Pinterest post once of teen Riddle being slapped by his mom and Tray taking him away.

His background is sadder than Shoto Todoroki from BNHA

We don’t really get to hear about how things are going back home with Mrs. Rosehearts outside of one brief instance. In 4-3, Riddle is leaving for winter break and mentions he intends on speaking with his mother, though he isn’t optimistic about her listening.

Trey states in the same part of the story that he isn’t allowed at Riddle’s house (because Mrs. Rosehearts has banned him). However, Riddle is still invited to visit him and Chenya at the Clover family bakery (though it’s very unlikely Riddle would be able to, since he hasn’t canonically seen Chenya again since the unbirthday party of book 1).

We never get a follow-up on how the conversation between Riddle and his mother went. It’s never touched upon again, and his mom isn’t really brought up beyond this case. (I did happen to write a short piece about Trey, Riddle, and Mrs. Rosehearts interacting though, if you were interested in seeing my own interpretation of this idea.)

Riddle spends most of his time at NRC since it’s a boarding school, meaning there are few opportunities for him to directly interact with his mother. Even if Mrs. Rosehearts were readily accessible to him, I highly doubt we would get to witness Riddle or Trey doing much to talk back to her. As we see in book 4, Riddle is still quite meek and uncertain when it comes to speaking with his mom. Trey, meanwhile, is generally very non-confrontational and may still be dealing with his own complicated feelings about interfering with what are family matters. (Recall that the last time he encouraged Riddle to be adventurous, it resulted in his friend being severely punished and Trey may harbor guilt over this occurrence.) I feel that neither of them would realistically develop the courage to talk back to Mrs. Rosehearts when only like half a year has passed since Riddle’s OB incident as opposed to like seventeen years of Riddle living under her rules.

***CONTENT WARNING: I will be discussing abuse at length under the cut, so please be advised to avoid reading further if the topic makes you uncomfortable.***

Regarding the comic you saw on Pinterest, it is fan art. That is in no way canonical; Mrs. Rosehearts may be very stern and have a temper, but she has never slapped or otherwise put a hand on Riddle. The closest thing we get to a slap is this panel from the manga adaptation, which isn’t even a slap. You can tell from the movement lines and the FWP sfx that Mrs. Rosehearts is just quickly pulling her arm away since Riddle is trying to latch onto it in an attempt to get her to listen to his protests. There is also no mark on Riddle or harsh slap sfx to indicate contact was made.

Now then 💦 There's something very serious and relevant to this ask I'd actually like to discuss, so I hope you'll stick around to hear me out on this.

I know none of us really like Mrs. Rosehearts (which is fair, she has done a lot of terrible things to her son). However, I think it's dangerous for us to speak about her as though she's a total monster and nothing more than a monster. I'm NOT going to stand here and advocate that she has done nothing wrong (she definitely has committed many wrongs). What I'm saying is that I don't agree with her being treated like "just" an abuser.

Let's say we do demonize Mrs. Rosehearts. We see only her negative traits and allow those to define her entire character. This creates a scenario in which she is alienated and dehumanized, left as a caricature of a woman that is solely known for hurting her child. But the thing is, this ISN’T how abuse really works. Few abusers are completely wicked people through and through. Part of the reason why it is so difficult for victims to leave their abusers is because abusers almost never start off abusive. They usually act totally normal, and the abuse often doesn’t come until later or specific situations arise. It creeps up on you in an almost insidious manner, and you don’t expect it coming. I’d also like to mention that abusers often don’t act with the intentional thought of, “Yeah, what I’m doing/saying is abusive”. Abusers typically justify their actions or convince themselves they are acting out of goodness. They don’t do bad things “because they’re bad people”, they do bad things because they think they’re GOOD people. Some abusers may even be victims themselves.

By painting abusers (even fictional ones) as cartoonishly evil, irredeemable, or always cruel, it makes it harder for us to believe the very real danger that we, whom we see as “good” people, could become “bad” ourselves. It makes it harder to believe victims when they report abuse because “oh, the abuse isn’t THAT bad”. It erases the idea that abusers are also human, and that humans have the capacity to be awful sometimes or to perpetuate hurt. It makes it so much harder to identify abuse because we’d only be looking for the most extreme examples of it rather than noticing the small, subtle signs. By “othering” abusers, it’s inadvertently denying so many nuances of abuse... which ultimately is counterproductive.

I would like to point out that even in the example provided of another abusive parent, Endeavor is portrayed with some nuance. He physically and verbally abused his wife, neglected the children he deemed worthless, and pushed the child he deemed to be his successor to the brink. However, Endeavor is also shown to remember a detail as small as his (arranged) wife’s favorite flower when she only told him about it once. He is notably much more lenient when training his first son, who didn’t have the ideal Quirk he sought. Endeavor at one point even confesses to pursuing being a hero in order to avoid the demands of fatherhood, which demonstrates a realistic insecurity and vulnerability… his humanity.

The same could be true for Mrs. Rosehearts. We only assume he is “just an abuser” because we see her in such a limited scope. There are valid reasons to believe why she is a “good” person outside of how we see her acting in Riddle’s recollections, and this may help to explain why Riddle feels so hesitant to “stand up” to her. I would really recommend reading this post, which goes a lot more in-depth about the complications surrounding Riddle’s relationship with his mother. Again, I am in NO WAY defending Mrs. Rosehearts; I am only pointing out that abusers—no matter how horrible their actions—have identities beyond the label of “abuser” that should be acknowledged.

[meskit]

asks you about their dynamic (builderman and 1x1)

smiles at you so big and wide in a non-threatening way

before i get into it i feel it's important to dip into my interpretations of them both.

1x1 is canonically the embodiment of hatred, malice, and negativity. we all know this. i kind of took her a step further and made it so that he is the embodiment of whatever emotions they can feed on. it just so happens that the ones she fed on the most upon creation was telamon's (and eventually shedletsky's) hatred and ire. because of this, in forsaken, he kind of is always passively feeding on everyones emotions (usually fear and frustration). having this constant source of sustenance is what allows them to remain corporeal

builderman is viewed as a very level-headed and laid-back leader. he holds everything together behind the scenes and makes sure that things can run without a hitch. i think that pre-being forsaken he held a lot of pent-up emotions about how he never got recognized for all his hard work on the back end, at least not to the degree the others did. this carried over into forsaken, and has started to fester and eat at him. he's very angry at the world but has a persona to upkeep so he never gets the opportunity to really deal with decades worth of frustration and anger.

ultimately, theyre not good for each other, but theyre "happy" (they think theyre happy. they don't really know what that is though). there's a lot of major imbalances in the way they interact with each other, and they wouldn't necessarily be romantically involved or whatever, considering... everything really.

i'm going to copy and paste a huge chunk of what i yapped about to my friends yesterday here :]

- 🦷 -

i think 1x would be drawn to builderman because of this. initially in a "you can get me closer to my goal of tearing shedletsky down, of ripping this world asunder with my teeth for what he made me. you will be my pawn, my bargaining chip. you will be my vessel for finally being free." way. builderman is drawn to 1x because the deep, simmering fury within him over everything-- always being second to telamon and eventually shedletsky, never being known for his work and achievements, always having to be the one to make sure things run smoothly and being blamed the one time something is out of his control... being forsaken and having lost everything he has tried so hard to maintain while having to pretend that he is still capable-- seems to ebb away the more he's around 1x. he doesnt know that its because 1x is literally absorbing it until later

obviously i think the dynamic could go in many ways over time. none of them would necessarily be . healthy? but i do think that 1x would kind of become parasocial with builderman LOL. i think 1x would play into the knowledge that builderman is always one wrong word away from imploding and going scorched earth on everyone, so they would DEFINITELY play into buildermans wants to fester the hatred with the other survivors . kind of in the-

"you fight so long, so hard, just to be tossed to the side. you let yourself be outshined, for *nothing.* none of them deserve the praise they get, not when you're the key to their success every time."

- way

and i think, regardless of the intent, builderman would come to also be a little parasocial with 1x in return. but i dont *quite* have the dynamic i have in mind down yet

arguably you would think 1x is getting like. a lot out of this dynamic but i think builderman technically is getting more out of it than her.

even though he's being very blatantly manipulated, i don't think he'd really care? no matter how genuine 1x is being, it is still some of the only acknowledgment for his work that he's received in a long time. the only acknowledgment of how much blood, sweat, and tears he's poured into making sure the team doesn't fall apart. it is the most emotional fulfillment he's potentially ever had since building up robloxia. and it makes him feel wanted, seen, and in some twisted way loved. i mean, in order to notice just how much time and effort he's put in, to such an extent as 1x, that has to be love, right? not that he'd know. all of his time is spent making sure the cogs in the machine run smoothly.

1x gets the fulfillment of having a steady source to feed on, of having someone who's lost his way to meld into something more suitable for their needs and goals. builderman gets the ache of his forever growing distaste for everything finally eased. he gets to finally rest.

1x thinks this must be love, as love is a power dynamic just as what they have is a power dynamic. his wants and needs are being met and he gets to make builderman feel good. 1x is the one pulling the strings, just as it always has been, this must be love. wholly being able to alter the course of someones life must be love

neither one of them knows what actual love is for aforementioned reasons 👍 in my epic "post-forsaken au" they grow to actually love each other but its still like. weird. but its okay because they're weird together about it

[foxedfriend]

Supernatural spoilers for like the whole show//

Thinking about how it was ok to make God canonically bisexual in Supernatural, but Dean Winchester wasn’t allowed to be.

It was so easy for them too. SO EASY. They were just like “oh btw god has had bfs as well as gfs!” And that was it. No hints, no subtext, no dramatic buildup and easing the audience into it. None of that. Just. God’s bi I guess 🤷‍♂️. Even though it seems like a throwaway, practically a funny gotcha! line. It’s still there.

That’s what hurts the most for me. Just how easy, how effortless queer rep seemed to be for the show in later seasons. Nothing crazy. Nothing extreme. A simple sentence. A romantic interest who happens to be of the same gender.

Even for God. Something from our reality that a lot of people believe in. Religious people generally don’t like it when people make things up about him because it messes with their image of something they genuinely believe in. But the show did it anyway. They didn’t really seem to care about upsetting people. Even though their target audience was originally macho cis het men (those who are generally more conservative and Christian leaning). Oh yeah just make him bi.

But not Dean. No, never Dean. There’s no way they could make him bi or gay or anything like that. He’s our manly hero. Our main good guy.

No, that’d be crazy. You’re crazy. Oh yeah all of these random side characters are queer and engage in queer behaviours: evil witches, the king of hell, the most macho burly hunter you’ve ever seen (shoutout Jesse), LITERALLY GOD HIMSELF. But not Dean. Don’t be stupid now. Oh yeah Cas is queer and in love with Dean. Maybe. But Dean would never reciprocate that. Dean isn’t gay. He can’t be. For some reason.

And that’s how the show ended.

I appreciate everything said and done by actors and writers later on and I know what’s true in my heart and have my own interpretations of the text of the show, but it kind of would’ve just been nice to have something concrete and official in the show. A small line. You know. Would’ve made me feel a little less crazy. A little less alone.