#incorrect in their interpretation of the shows they claim to enjoy

[hecksupremechips]

Listen I don’t really care about this play anymore and I haven’t interacted with it in ages but in Be More Chill I think Jeremy and Christine were good together and I won’t STAND for everyone in that fandom trying to convince me otherwise!!!!!

[xray-vex]

Thinking about this and how there are certain people claiming to be fans of OFMD who complain, rather loudly and repeatedly, there is no chemistry between Ed & Stede, and/or that their kisses had no passion, etc.

This leads me to believe that there are several possible explanations for how those people might have reached that conclusion:

1.) The people complaining have a hard time reading body language/facial expressions, so they literally can't perceive it

2.) The people complaining hate the main ship: they don't like Ed and/or Stede and/or their relationship, or the fact that their head canons for the show didn't become canon and are still upset about it, and are therefore in denial about the chemistry between Ed and Stede and refuse to see it.

3.) They are somehow from an alternate universe that has overlapped a little bit with the one most of us are in, and they literally didn't watch the same show because they watched the OFMD from their universe, not ours.

In all of the above cases, though -- the people who insist that Ed & Stede had no chemistry are just wrong. It's not really an opinion. So, based on these ideas, either:

1.) They're drawing an incorrect conclusion based on their inability to interpret body language (***and there no shame in that in & of itself, not everyone has that skill set) -- However, not being able to perceive something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Humans can't perceive ultraviolet or infrared light naturally, either. Those things still exist even if you can't see em.

2.) They're choosing to draw their conclusions based on their dislike of/disappointment in the show, and therefore willfully ignoring the evidence presented in the text (the show itself). -- If you want to argue a point and be taken seriously though, you have to provide adequate evidence. And their various arguments just aren't convincing. (I could expand upon how it's also much more difficult to prove that something doesn't exist, but I've already written way more than I intended to for what was gonna just be a short rant).

3.) If they literally watched a different, alternate universe version of OFMD, then they're not gonna convince anyone in this universe that 1+1=3 like it does in their universe. Maybe that's correct math in their universe, but that's not how it works here.

Here's the thing -- and I'm gonna use a simple example here. You can say that you don't like cilantro. You can hate it, you can be disgusted by it, especially considering that it might taste like soap to you. And that's ok! But you don't get to make the claim that it doesn't enhance the flavor of other foods/dishes in a positive way or that many people think it's yummy.

So take this simple advice, would you? You can just say "This isn't for me" and just not eat it. You don't get to say "This is bad and I'm going to keep pushing my thoughts about it onto people who do enjoy it, even while they're eating it, because I need to convince everyone to hate it too." That's not an opinion, that's just being a fucking dick. Go join your local chapter of the Cilantro Hater's Club and complain about it there with other like-minded people, and let the rest of us enjoy our cilantro in fuckin peace. And don't be surprised if we shut the door in your face (muting/blocking) when we're sick of hearing how much you hate something we love.

[messiahzzz]

thank you sm for the ask!! 💕 i’m glad you enjoy my posts and it is not a strange request by any means!

note: this is merely my read on gale’s sexual preferences/kinks. i don’t want to police anyone on their headcanons or claim they are “incorrect”. since the game doesn’t provide too much detail, many things remain up to interpretation. (and lest we forget fanfiction has always encouraged the exploration of dynamics that may not be present in canon.)

gale is a character who isn’t interested in walking the straight and narrow route. he is all about new experiences, favoring non-traditional means, putting his own spin on things, and the thrill of seeking the forbidden. the sheer romance of the uncharted and the unknown. he is enthusiastic in almost every aspect and possesses an infectious zest for life. in regards to his sexual preferences, this translates into an eagerness to explore, witness new sensations, and reach new heights together. while approaching the topic of sexuality with a generally playful, adventurous attitude.

if you’re looking for harder kinks, however — i don’t believe gale is the character for you. and in case it needs to be said again: there is nothing wrong with being vanilla.

initially, i see gale as a switch, who gravitates more towards assuming a dominant role, due to his ever-present desire to give and to impress. i do think he enjoys giving up control, yet you still have to actively convince him to let himself go and be spoiled for once. his first focus will always be to fulfill his partner's needs and drown them in his all-encompassing love and adoration. i also believe that gale will grow more comfortable with being the center of attention, once their relationship has reached a point of total security (and he had ample opportunities to show in just how many ways he can wow them). gale is not a strict dom, nor a sub. in his ideal relationship roles would be discarded entirely, deeming them too restrictive in his expression of intimacy with a trusted partner. it’s all about variety and ridding oneself of the shackles of the worldly, after all. melting into one perfect whole, not knowing where he ends and his partner begins.

gale: we are all sensual vessels. illusory magic lets us sail farther, and feel more deeply.

gale: [..] i could use the weave to make us feel sensations beyond reckoning.

based on what we know about gale, these could be some of his kinks:

lots of praise (this is non-negotiable), sensation/temperature play (waxplay, electrostimulation/all the many perks magic has to offer), sensory deprivation, light restrictions and bondage, the occasional roleplay, katoptronophilia (self-explanatory), altered mental-states (hypnosis, psychedelics), orgasm control & denial, body worship, olfactophilia and given his propensity towards verbosity: narratophilia and some very inventive dirty talk. as for my own self-indulgent take: due to the recurring emphasis on hands during his romance, as well as his being the main tool in how he shapes and navigates the world: quirofilia.

nodecontext: flustered, standing in front of his romance partner in bondage gear. not necessarily uncomfortable with the bondage aspect, just trying to stay focused.

now, what are gale’s hard-limits?

gale, after the player received loviatar's blessing: your hide, your choice. not quite my cup of tea though.

while projecting your own kinks and fantasies onto fictional characters is fine and well, disregarding and ignoring the source material (and the character's stated boundaries) is another matter entirely. fanon!gale is rather ooc and very different from his canon portrayal, which is something that tends to irk me. although this remains a common fandom phenomenon.

personally, i don’t see gale as someone who enjoys pain of any kind, be it giving or receiving (with the exception of spanking and light choking, if a certain mood strikes. although it is kept mostly playful). contrary to what fandom may claim, having self-worth issues, being loquacious, emotionally expressive, and vulnerability-seeking (as well as being commonly perceived as arrogant and insufferable) doesn't automatically equal having repressed masochistic tendencies. he could be convinced to dip a toe into sadism, but only upon his partner’s insistence. although i doubt he himself would find enjoyment in that.

the same applies to degradation/humiliation. i doubt that a character who is still very much struggling with inherent self-worth issues and a general feeling of being defective/not worthy would derive sexual gratification from being degraded. yes, it can certainly be healing for some, but gale doesn’t strike me as someone who would find particular enjoyment in that. quite the contrary, actually. nor would he like to do the degrading for that matter (he would vehemently refuse. all he wants to do is sing your praises.) gale wouldn’t enjoy being leashed and/or collared in any way either. the prospect of being tied up or restricted is rather intriguing, cause it serves to center one’s vulnerability while also allowing for more intense sensations. anything that taps into the puppy play/slave territory tho? he would find it demeaning… and, quite frankly, silly.

gale is also not a voyeur, nor a cuck. the entire scene with the drow twins leans way too much into dub-con territory for my tastes. the only way you can get him to participate at all is by rolling a persuasion check with DC 25. in every other dialogue option, he immediately (and explicitly) declines. even if you do manage to pass the persuasion check, he is still very hesitant about participating.

gale: i might enjoy watching you tangled up with the drow, as long as i was five paces back.

he then immediately runs from the room, because sending a simulacrum in his place was the only way to somewhat remove himself from the situation while still being able to please tav. because of course he wants to please and clearly this is important to tav so he might just… have to discard his reservations and... just go through with it?!

gale: well i suppose it would do no good to back out now. let us begin this little anthropological study, if we must.

i am aware that fandom uses the fact that his “orb lit up in telltale excitement” as a justification that persuading him was the right choice, as well as confirmation that he was secretly into it and “just needed a little push" to explore his desires/get out of his comfort zone. that implication alone is very suspect and goes straight into the sort of logic abusers often use. you can be physically aroused by certain scenes, images, or sounds, even while being visibly uncomfortable with the presented scenario. it is a natural response that you can’t often control. which is what he is showing throughout the entire scene: discomfort. he was coerced into this situation, without any prior discussion or an opportunity to talk about his boundaries. furthermore, this is what he has to say if you approach him after the threesome:

gale: ahem. i hope you're not here to ask about our recent, erm, activities. i'd rather those were consigned to the footnotes of our romance, if it's all the same with you.

since he is strictly monogamous, any arrangement involving another person is also a no. he made this rather clear when tav sought him out after receiving halsin's proposal. him being monogamous isn't solely rooted in his trauma, it isn't something he has to “overcome” in order to heal, nor does it mean that their relationship is any less fulfilling. call him greedy, stubborn, or old-fashioned, but he cannot comfortably agree to that.

[abrisaber]

Why Saying "Asmodeus/Fizzarolli are inaccurate depictions of sin" is stupid

It's been far too long since I've made a post about Helluva Boss so here we are.

It's been a consistent "criticism" of HB that Beelzebub and Asmodeus are not "accurate" depictions of the sins of Gluttony and Lust. (Though for Beelzebub it's more about design)

For context, in the recent episode of Helluva Boss Asmodeus goes on a tangent when Stolas asks him for a favor involving his relationship with Blitzo.

Asmodeus: "Well I can tell ya, if you're looking for a love potion you came to the wrong fucking guy. I don't fuck with that artificial bullshit. Lust shouldn't be about force. It's an art. To be earned and enjoyed. It's all about that journey to pleasure town. You feel me?"

This quote sparked some criticism, saying it's inaccurate for Asmodeus to not think Lust needs to be forced, or inaccurate for him to care at all. Of course, he is the embodiment of a sin after all.

While I can understand why people would think this isn't an accurate take on the sin of lust, I don't think that's a problem with the show. Especially since Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel are built on the idea that even though Hell is a horrible place full of bad people, it's also a society of sentient beings who can and have developed mortals. Not to mention the 7 Deadly Sins have been around presumably since the beginning, so of course they've been able to develop their own opinions on how their own sin works.

In fact this critique of Asmodeus is exactly what he's talking about in this clip, at least it's a way it can be interpreted.

A humans view of what lust is is exactly why humans end up in hell in the first place. Indulging in the negative, shallow side of lust. Using it only for personal pleasure rather than an experience to enjoy.

A lot of people's views on what lust is as a sin is better represented by Valentino rather than Asmodeus.

Valentino surrounds himself with prostitutes and exploits Angel Dust sexually. He runs the porn industry in hell, which is infamous for the way it exploits people's hollow views on sex (and by extension lust).

Asmodeus, however, has a singular romantic partner whom he cares about deeply. He respects Fizzarolli and isn't dismissive of Stolas when he tells him he's caught feelings for Blitzo.

I don't really get why Asmodeus having morals about lust is an incorrect way of depicting lust. Vivzipop never claimed Helluva Boss to be 100% accurate to the real version of the 7 deadlies. It's been well established through the plethora of characters that morals are a thing that exist in Hell. Assuming that everyone is just 100% Evil and wanting to be a horrible person is viewing the show through a one dimensional lense. It's ridiculous, to be frank.

[ihopesocomic]

I think what a lot of people who have issues with you (aside from the youtube lion show stans) is that you dont baby people

People ask for obvious spoilers and you just say "we'll see!" (Unless its been asked several times in which case you explain that)

People try to push for bigotry to be in your comic which you wont stand for

People refuse to actually read the comic and want it explained and you have to put your foot down and tell them to read the comic

Ect ect ect ive never seen you guys get unreasonable with any messages, angry? Short? Sure some of the anons you get are like "why is hope have 3 legs?" Its completely understandable to be angry at messages like that

Yea that's pretty much the vibe we get too tbh. But we're not gonna apologize for having standards and we're not going to change how we present ourselves if it means putting in extra mental energy to be overly polite to bad faith actors or people who just simply ignore what we put out unless its addressing them personally.

You mentioning the spoilers incident is interesting because the person who brought that up would later state that spoilers weren't their issue at all, just us being "condescending" because they made the personal choice to read our neutral responses as such. Or us using 'lol' whenever we indicate we're being light hearted. Because not everybody who uses 'lol' is being snarky or rude.

Ultimately, being given the benefit of the doubt would go a long way instead of people automatically assuming we're being nasty or "unprofessional" because of things like 'they criticized something I enjoy" or "Well, I didn't like that they weren't bowled over by an ask I sent two years ago' or just anything that happened years ago LOL

Anyway. Some people may be fine with spoiling the whole story of their project, but not us. We're having a lot of fun keeping people guessing, especially if they guess correctly and their theory is proven in a future chapter. We do big high fives when that happens lol

The people who outright demand inclusion of bigotry are especially confusing because at best its people thinking our one little comic that's not-that-popular-actually constitutes as erasure of the queer/disabled struggle. And at worst it's people who somehow can't find value in entertainment unless it's misery porn. And both of these instances they claim the existence of IHS in its current form takes away from the countless already-existing content that covers both, or somehow shames people for including it in their own story when we've never said such a thing. Anything we've said either applies to us personally or we're criticizing mainstream media that takes our experiences and makes them palatable to a mainstream audience. (At it's funniest it's nerd fans who criticize our comic for being a knock-off of MP while in the same breath complain that it's not doing the same thing as MP)

And an insincere sorry in advance to people who want us to spoon-feed them information in the comic. I was under the impression that when you saw a web comic, you had intentions on reading it. Heck, we have a dub now, you don't even have to read anymore technically. But I value my time too much to explain every single detail that may go missed in a chapter. Some stuff we feel confident in our readers piecing together on their own because we respect their intelligence, and most times there's no incorrect conclusion to arrive to because leaving some things up to interpretation is better than over explaining it. But maybe I'm just a meanie. - Cat

[secret-shipping-society]

Another lukewarm take:

It doesn't really matter if a fanfiction or fanart is "ooc". That sounds stupid, I know, we're reading for these specific characters and worlds, doesn't staying aligned with canon matter? Bear with me, alright?

Your interpretation of a character is different than mine. I might see a character as irredeemable, you might see them as someone deserving of redemption. I may headcanon a character to be trans, while you may headcanon them to be cis.

Our interpretations of a character aren't incorrect, they're just different. Maybe you relate to a character and you see them differently than the fanon interpretation, or you enjoy imagining them acting in a specific way that wasn't explored in canon.

My point is, we often see people citing "it's out of character" as an excuse for a fanfiction being "bad". And sometimes, the criticism can be justified (for example, a lot of older slash fanfiction tended to feminize the bottom, regardless of their canon personality). But other times, the criticism is invalid because two people just didn't interpret the character the same.

In a similar vein, I also find that recently, fandoms are scared to explore outside of canon. Don't get me wrong, I do understand that a character is best understood in their medium, but sometimes fanfiction doesn't need to abide by canon.

For example, canon didn't really expand on Celia's home life. We got some hints here and there through her dialogue and character description, but not an in depth view. What her morning routine was, her favorite food, her night routine. Did she drive herself to work, and if so, what car would she have? Did she grow up poor? Was she middle class? Does she cook her own meals, does she hire a chef, does her husband cook, or does she get takeout?

If I said "I think if she went to a fancy restaurant, she'd be tempted to order a medium rare steak, complete with sauteed onions and grilled vegetables. But I think she'd feel as though she'd be judged for eating something 'unladylike', so she'd order a salad instead," my interpretation isn't out of character just because I thought about a scenario that wasn't shown in canon.

Obviously, I understand that some people want to add to a conversation, but I feel as though "that's out of character" could easily be replaced by "hmm. That's not my interpretation but that sounds interesting. Could you explain what made you think this way?"

However I believe, unfortunately, that the majority of people that go "it's out of character" as a response want to make the other person feel bad for their headcanon. Especially if it doesn't go by the status quo.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting it, but I feel as though fandom has too much of a black and white view on characters. Maybe Lawrence knows how to play a bassoon, maybe Ren is great at soccer, maybe Mason makes his own soap using the fat from the animals he hunts. These headcanons, while not as dark as the source material, are not inherently "wrong" because canon didn't show them.

It's a completely different story if someone is claiming their headcanon is canon, but imagining a character to be multi-faceted isn't harming anyone. It's alright to disagree with others, just don't smother their thoughts.

[khaire-traveler]

Tbh I mostly sent that ask bc I'm listening to someone review an ARC of Crown of Starlight which is supposed to be a retelling of how Ariadne and Dionysus met, but sci-fi and its just so many things pissing me off.

Like the Moirai are a cult????? Who are obsessed with like, purity culture????? Like the Christian kind???

And the author boasts that she's writing the first ever androgynous Dionysus when DIONYSUS HIMSELF IS ANDROGYNOUS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN!! HE HAS AN EPITHET LITERALLY FOR HOW ANDROGYNOUS HE IS!!! HIS MYTHS FUCK WITH GENDER A LOT!! YOU DIDN'T INVENT SHIT!!!!

Ariadne is just a "I'm not like other girls" trope in such a stereotypical way and I HATTTTTEEE it. Like you can gave a girl not fit in and have it be interesting and not simultaneously shit on other women its not that hard. Like in Circe she showed interest in what Daedalus was doing and was curious about his inventions, and it made her more of her own character and also set her apart from the other women in her family. Not saying its the most perfect example but it's better than making her a fucking Pick Me girl who's pretending to not be a Pick Me.

Sorry just omg I could go on, I'm so glad this book will never be published.

Long rant incoming lol. Be warned.

Listen, I've come to accept that retellings will never be perfect to my standards because I'm a worshipper, and most of these authors are not. I've come to understand that it's ok for pieces to just stand on their own and exist without me interacting with them; I'm not being forced to engage with something I don't actually like. But this? What the hell even is this? There's a difference between creating your own retelling for the sake of artistic liberty with a story that means a lot to you and claiming to have created something that the thousands of years old culture you're basing your story on ALREADY created. See, there is a RIGHT and WRONG way to do retellings. The right way is more of a loose definition at times, but the wrong way sticks out like a sore thumb because it's typically extremely obvious.

This person has an interesting concept that fell right into their lap, then completely disregarded the original culture the story stemmed from. I don't want to ever discourage someone from writing again or trying to create an interesting story, since I understand how personal writing can be, but this is fucking ridiculous, and there is no excuse for being so blatantly incorrect about the source you're pulling your information directly from. "I'm the first writer to make Dionysus androgynous!" Read a book about Dionysus that isn't a retelling, and get back to me on that, jackass, because he's actually always been that way, and it's shitty of you to spread misinformation for the sake of boasting about your book.

People representing the gods negatively is no surprise to me, especially the Moirai - many authors seem to have a complex relationship with fate itself, in that way - but I really feel like they're being limited in a cult. It sounds so humanizingly plain, and I wouldn't enjoy that artistic liberty, personally, since to me, fate is inherently inhuman; I think it exists outside the bounds of human comprehension. It feels kind of boring and unnecessary to make them into a cult. There's so many other things you could do with them: make them into indifferent Eldritch horror space beings, depict them as strange yet slightly sinister sisters who live in the middle of nowhere and seem to have something just a little unsettling about them, or, hell, even depict them as animals who show up throughout the book as motifs of fate. Like, come on, a cult? I don't know; I guess it's just not for me. And making Ariadne a Pick Me? Ariadne? Really? There's so many things wrong with that interpretation of her, especially the fact that in the original myth, she was abandoned by Theseus on an island, essentially left to die, and was found by Dionysus who fell in love with her. It's not as if she was going out of her way to get picked up by him or something; she just happened to be there when he ran into her, from my understanding. She has gone through this incredibly traumatic experience and still persevered, and all this author can think of is "Lol she's such a Pick Me." Like???? Why???? Why do you think this???? You befuddle me. I am bemused. This reminds me of how people make Patroclus into a cute little UwU man who can't live without Achilles and can't really do much to defend himself, even though, in The Iliad, it took two soldiers and a GOD to finally kill him because he was so fierce in battle. I feel like a chihuahua barking at a wall about this, though, so I'll move on.

I'm not sure what book this is, but as a worshipper, and even just a fan of history, it's so frustrating to hear about. Like, if someone wrote a genuinely interesting book about this with the sci-fi elements, I'd find it extremely interesting, even if the gods weren't always depicted in the best light. Even ancient myths didn't always depict them in the best light, and that's ok, actually. Is it extremely annoying and upsetting when people lean too hard into it? Yes, absolutely. Is it an automatic reason to despise a piece of media? I'd say no because then you're going to miss out on a lot of really cool things that are out there. But there is still a wrong way to go about these representations, and this is one of the biggest ones: blatant misinformation for selfish gain. Another would be demonizing a god without giving them any redeemable qualities, since oftentimes, in myth, they are still rather complex, despite the wild things they do or that happen. It sounds to me like they've done this with the Moirai somewhat, though I don't fully know that.

These are just my thoughts on the matter, but yeah, this is wild. Thank you for taking me on this hectic ride lol. I'm always more than happy to hear about new weird things I've never heard of before, so feel free to share other things if you ever stumbled upon them. Also, I would love to know the name of this book if you remember it. I'm so glad I've never heard of this before, tbh. Take care, Nonny. 🧡

[aikoiya]

Ah... My apologies. I must've missed that part or forgot as I was reading. My memory can be kind of hit or miss at times.

Also, please understand that I didn't mean to be harsh. I just sometimes get very into things such as debate & informing & the like.

Now that I understand that you are not trying to brush off the crimes that we know Ganondorf to have committed, I think that I can be better able to meet you in the middle on this topic.

I'd like to believe that I am a big enough person to admit when I am mistaken. Or, at least I try to be.

Again, apologies for the confusion.

And, you are 100% correct in that we are more than allowed to interpret media in different ways.

I suppose that one of my issues is that I've seen many fans, not necessarily in the Zelda Fandom, but definitely across several fandoms, outright reject actual canon & insert their own hcs as canon. Admittedly, part of the issue is, possibly, that I simply have trouble at times reading the tone-shifts that indicate when someone is joking. So, it is very possible that this exact thing happened in at least a few of these instances. Meaning that I may have misinterpreted those fans as having been serious.

However, with some of the things that happen these days, it causes me to believe that some of those claims were also very likely meant in total seriousness.

That isn't to say that I think that fans shouldn't be allowed to hc things. My issue is mostly when they present it as canon. And while part of it is my preference to stick as close to canon as possible while still maintaining my creative liberties, that is mostly just me & I'd never wish to try & control how others enjoy media.

In reality, I am somewhere between Word of God & Death of the Author. From my perspective, the creator should at least be given a form of consideration &, for me, that consideration is mainly just acknowledging that your hcs are, by their very nature, hcs & that canon is canon.

In essence, I believe that fans can do whatever they wish within their hcs so long as they are acknowledged as such.

As a result, I get a bit miffed when I believe that someone is trying to present their hcs as canon with insufficient evidence.

Obviously, I was incorrect this time & jumped to conclusions.

Again, I'm sorry for that.

Now that I'm a bit less defensive, I can admit that, by & large, you are, indeed, correct & I will not dispute that we don't possess enough evidence to say one way or the other if the Gerudo of those settlements fought against Ganondorf or not.

However, I would like to remind you that, as I mentioned before, these other Gerudo settlements are only ever mentioned the one time & never again, which itself is fishy.

This brings up the possibility that they may not exist anymore. However, being fair, we also cannot determine if this possible none-existence is due to Ganondorf or something else that happens after his sealing.

And yet, I still think it is worth at least bringing up.

Another thing is something you, yourself, brought up. And, having checked back myself, you are, indeed, correct. The Gibdos were summoned by Ganondorf in the 10th Memory.

And while, yes, you are also correct in that we do not see them do anything, even if they don't do anything, the fact that Ganon would summon a Gibdo at all, even if only for intimidation purposes, is very disquieting & does not speak well of him. Even back then.

Because, it is implied quite heavily that the Gibdos are specifically the infested corpses of dead Gerudo. First & foremost, even if the body of that Gerudo had, in fact, been loyal to him in life & had pledged that she would devote herself to him even in death. Or if she had, instead, been a traitor to the Gerudo as a whole, it still implies a degree of disrespect for the dead. Specifically, the dead of his own people.

Even if, in the very best of circumstances, one, the other, or even a combination of both options are true, then it would still show a degree of willingness to cross certain moral lines to benefit his own ends.

And, furthermore, if he is able to bring himself to disrespect the dead of his own people even in these specific situations, then why would killing the innocent subjects of someone he considers an enemy be so farfetched?

Furthermore, why would he choose to use Gibdos when he could've instead summoned Redeads, which are dead Hylians. You'd think it'd be more intimidating. Though, even in that case, it'd still be a disquieting level of denigration toward the dead, even if it is the dead of those that he considers enemies. Despite this, he still chose to use Gibdos, which indicates intent.

The only ways that I can see that would absolve him of such would be if he actually had no control of what monsters he summoned or if the stone had somehow subdued his inhibitions or outright altered his personality to such a degree that you can no longer really hold him accountable for anything that happened in the game after he'd killed Sonia. Which… honestly just feels dissatisfying & like a cop out as far as his character goes.

Not that I'm trying to accuse you of such. I just want to make sure these things are clear.

(But, please, do remember that he did, in fact, kill Sonia when it's possible that he didn't need to in order to take the stone. He didn't even make it a quick death. He broke her spine. Possibly broke her ribs too, which probably punctured her lungs, thus causing her to experience internal bleeding. Even if he hadn't intended to kill her with that blow, that would still mean that he didn't care if she was left crippled for the rest of her life. And if he had intended to kill her, he specifically did so in a way that was painful & cruel. This is, VERY SPECIFICALLY, something that he did before obtaining the Secret Stone & before his sealing, so the only interpretation that I can see here is that this was something he decided for himself & went through with of his own accord. So, while most of his actions in the game up to that point can be interpretted in many ways, this one really only has a handful as far as I can tell & none of them are good. In fact, the best interpretation of his actions here that I can think of is that, for some reason, Sonia did something to him specifically. Yet, the fact that Ganon didn't even pay her any mind after getting the stone & was instead focused on Rauru tells me that it's more likely that it's actually Rauru that he has beef with, which makes it possible that Ganon chose to kill Sonia partly with the intent to hurt Rauru. Which, killing one's loved ones just to get at them... That's just low-down & dirty. An effective tactic, granted, but absolutely reprehensible!)

There's also the fact that in the Japanese version of the scene where he charges forward on the back of an emo edgelord unicorn, he commanded his army to "leave no survivors."

I'd also like to bring up the fact that, even though it's possible that Rauru was occupying the Gerudo settlements. It's also possible that Ganondorf was mistaken in his belief that Rauru was trying to control him. Because, at least from my perspective, he very much comes across as more the leader of an alliance. Because if he had strong-armed the Gerudo, then why had the Sage of Lightning sided with him? Also, if this were the case, then wouldn't it also be possible that he did the same to some of the other races?

And, if he had, then why would they promise to aid Zelda in her fight against Ganondorf even after Rauru had died & Mineru was fatally injured? Why didn't the spirit of any of the Sages speak out against Rauru to their descendants? Not even the Sage of Lightning?

I just feel like there would need to be a lot of very specific coincidences for this to work.

Again, apologies for the mix up & thank you for being willing to discuss rather than just outright dismiss.

I don't always get that, so this is refreshing.

Once more, I do not intend any ill nor wish to disregard your perspective, simply make my own clear, bring to others' attentions a broader view, & possibly have a good conversation while I'm at it if at all possible.

Either way, I'm enjoying myself, but do please tell me if I go too far. You seem a very reasonable sort, so the last thing I'd want is to make this discussion fun for me, but not fun for you.

TOTK THOUGHTS

I'm gonna briefly talk about my thoughts/points if asked I'll elaborate ALSO, it's fine to have your own opinions its good to form opinions based of information you read about. If you have a different opinion that's fine I would love to talk about it. Also remember to be kind it's just a video game, no need for pitch forks we can agree to disagree. ♥︎

I feel like Ganondorf is givin too much credit in TOTK, a lot of people like to say that he was just mindin his own business until one day the evil white (he's not) goat man and his cult of masked individuals came in a ruined everything. Also people say that Rauru forced ALL the races to bow to him, but I'll mainly touch on Gerudo because these people need help😭

I think that's not true in anyway, this man is not a good man, he's not a good person and he's not a good leader. It really makes me angry when Rauru forced the Gerudo to be apart of Hyrule and the Gerudo didn't want that. THIS IS NOT TRUE! In the memory where all the sages and Rauru meet up (Memory 12 "Sages vow") the first line is "King rauru...We just received word that the last free Village in the Gerudo Desert has fallen." -Sage of water. They were free until Ganondorf came along... if he is king of the Gerudo and was a good leader why would they need to be free from him? It's almost like he's a bad ruler.

(quick side note yes ABSOLUTELY are an oppressed race and that should be a discussion! but they're not just oppressed by the other races their oppressed by their own leader)

[somnianus]

On Chinese and Eastern Dramatic Acting vs Western

Part 1    Part 2

Mostly in ref to the Untamed/Word of Honor, but applies to a lot of East Asian works-

I’ve been getting the sense that people I know from the west (also being Asian-American myself) often interpret Chinese/Japanese/Korean drama and theatre to be too corny/cheesy/over-acted. A quick search on some internet forums confirms this. Maybe it’s because I used to watch a lot of C-dramas when I was a kid (Legend of the Condor Heroes/Return of C Heroes/Journey to the West/The Reincarnated Princess/etc), I personally did not notice that the acting was over the top. 

I don’t really speak for the quality of acting of these actors because I barely follow them in their careers, but I do know that some of them are immature actors or don’t have much formal training (which may cause the cheesiness above). However, Eastern dramatic acting in general does seem like a common complaint, so I decided to look into it - this is all coming from someone who JUST recently got back into watching C-dramas btw, doing my own research so don’t mind me if there’s some incorrect things down here, I am by NO means at all an expert in drama and theater (lol):

^Villains are often depicted with very exaggerated facial expressions (Above, Xue Yang, The Untamed)

Part 1

1. Chinese concept of mo vs western equivalent of “mimesis” or “imitation”

From this, an excellent chapter on Chinese theatrical concepts vs Western concepts.

Mo plays a significant part in traditional Chinese theatre, usually held to be antithetical to the realism of Western theatre because of its emphasis on theatricality. 

Mo means mimesis or imitation, but in a very different sense from the Western concept. One of the first Chinese scholars to use this term, Fu Sinian, used it to compare Western theatre to Chinese theatre:

Presenting a real event and performing an entertaining show are not compatible. The former emphasizes imitation (yige zhong mofang^b); the latter stresses spontaneity and entertainment. The former performance produces a lifelike image; the latter has nothing to produce. The former puts emphasis on the plot; the latter puts emphasis on theatricality. Therefore they are completely contradictory to one another.

This guy actually goes onto critique Chinese theater, saying it should be more like Western realism, so that there will “be no singing, and the acting will imitate people’s real gestures.” However! Other Chinese critics tried to approach Western vs traditional Chinese drama as two DIFFERENT but still valid forms of art. For example, Yu Shangyuan (1927) said western performance is “writing realistically” (xie shi) and chinese performance as “writing suggestively” (xie yi). Western dramas really rely on an accurate/semi-accurate representation of life and realism. Traditional Chinese drama and acting relied on the “symbolic and imaginative.”

Then what is mo? It is the emotional display, the emotional revelation, that is shown on stage. Starting from the Yuan dynasty, the Chinese drama was thought to be a continuation of poetry rather than its own independent stage art.

Poetry is where the intent of the heart goes. Lying in the heart, it is “intent”; when uttered in words, it is “poetry.” When an emotion stirs inside, one expresses it in words; finding this inadequate, one sighs over it; not content with this, one sings it in poetry; still not satisfied, one unconsciously dances with one’s hands and feet. [anonymous, 1975, from Shi Daxu 200 BCE]

Chinese drama with dancing and singing, was the most expressive product of poetry. The importance of mo cannot be stressed enough - it is the measure by which traditional Chinese drama was judged, how well this drama make you feel? Love, pain, loss, guilt, happiness? Plot becomes something that doesn’t matter as much (more on that later).

^Beijing/Peking Opera - highly stylized, emotive, “unrealistic” performances

To emphasize how central and important this concept is, it’s thought that a good Chinese playwright never fails to “seize a highly dramatic scene to stage an elaborate presentation of an emotional state.”

Love is of source unknown, yet it grows ever deeper. The living may die of it, by its power the dead live again. [Peony Pavilion, Mu dan ting]

This quote really shows how important it was to show these emotions on stage, to inspire the audience to feel deeply. Chinese critics believed that the best part about drama was how efficient it is to display emotion. Playwrights should “depict extreme bitterness, extreme happiness, extreme silliness, and extreme sobriety; imitate these feelings to the utmost (miao mo jin xing^p).”

Such performances are not necessarily accurately mimicking reality, but they are obtained through the “revelation” of a character’s internal emotional world.

2. Mo vs the depiction of reality or theatrical truth

The Chinese concept of aesthetic truth relates a lot to theatrical truth. In a lot of traditional Chinese art, painting, poetry, etc, aesthetic truth is not empirical, and doesn’t have to be accurate to life, or realistic. It’s a “truth that lies beyond mere superficial likeness.”

To the Chinese artist, an accurate resemblance between art and reality is not only superficial but often distorting. Chinese artists hold a dialectical view on the “form” (xing) and the “spirit” or “content” (shen) of an artistic object. According to them, xing  and shen are not always complementary. On the contrary, they often stand in opposition to one another. (referenced in the chapter above)

Traditional Chinese artists would rather represent the object with the wish that their representation matches its spirit, or abstract identity, than its actual form because a “photographic image is a shallow image.” It’s easy to draw a picture of something realistically, but it’s much harder and more satisfying to depict its nature, its feeling, its spirit.

This also naturally affects theater and dramatic performances.

Dramatic writing can be divided into two types: “a painting-like work” or a “transformed work,” in which the latter has higher artistic value because it reaches more towards the essence of dramatic object. Realistic imitations are fine, but they’re not really enough to reveal the mo or true feelings of something.

In addition, traditional Chinese dramatists believe that “all dramas are nothing but allegories. One need not ask about their origins in actual life.” You might be able to see, then, that these older playwrights and critics really fancied the overdramatic depictions of emotions.

a. The Chinese notion of theatrical truth/aesthetic truth vs European

Onto what we, as part of the Western audience, are more used to:

For Italian neoclassical critics, the pleasure of a drama hinges  on how accurate, how realistic, the depiction is. Castelvetro, the leading Italian Neo-Classical critic and creator of the concept of “the three unities,” claims thus:

We cannot imagine a king who did not exist, nor attribute any action to him.

Another Italian critic, Robortellus, said that a creative/imaginative story with no “verisimilitude” (truthfulness, in this context, realism) is less appealing than one that imitates a real-life event:

Thus if a tragic plot contained an action which did not really take place and was not true, but was represented by the poet himself in accordance with verisimiltude, it would perhaps move the souls of the auditors, but certainly less.

So basically, it’s fundamentally the opposite of Chinese theater. Italian dramatic works prized being realistic, being properly adapted from reality and real events. Chinese dramatic works, however, enjoyed the emphasis on heartfelt emotional demonstrations, or mo. Even in critical writings, the word “truth” is used, but it is usually used to modify the word “heart” or “emotion.” It is very concerned with the internal, the truthfulness of heartfelt emotional expression.

Taken these contexts, you can see why the Chinese stage/dramas are wholly “unreal” as Tao-Ching Hsu puts it. Everything, the makeup, the costumes, the props, is expressive and suggestive rather than imitative.

b. Bejing/Peking Opera, jingju

A famous example is the Beijing/Peking Opera, jingju. The makeup and costumes themselves are fantastical representations. The colors and patterns suggest different moods, temperaments, characters, and even changes in emotions. Actors would make distinct movements to depict distinct emotions with varying levels of energy. The stage itself may be sparse, because it is not as important as the expression of emotion and drama. 

The stage is sparse not because of the lack of technology or funding, but because it leaves room for the actor themselves to fully express their internal thinking/feeling/emotions. Characters can cross hundreds of miles in a few steps or may take the whole stage to cross a supposed road. This representation looks “unreal” to a realistic-minded audience, but it is very genuine to a Chinese audience.

Summary (so far)

This crucial understanding of the concept of mo (the emotional revelation), and the way traditional Chinese drama depicts life and stories, informs how their modern works are also portrayed. Coming from a Western dramatic background, where realism and plot are the most important aspects of a work, it can be very confusing, right? Even Chinese scholars began to judge their own dramatic works through a Western lens.

How does this traditional background affect modern Chinese dramas and works? I think it still has a very large effect, even though much of Western ideals about dramatic works have been heavily integrated into modern Chinese dramas.

Part 2: On Theatricality and how it transfers into Chinese Cinema

[avatarfandompolice]

Really easy ways to feel validated about a bad opinion on fiction with minimal effort:

• Don’t actually watch the show and just read Wikipedia plot synopses

• Base all of your inference off of a singular viewing of the story from several years ago

• Make up your own context so you can prove your own points

• Pass off incorrect information as “my interpretation”

• Claim the writers are bad when they do something you didn’t like/expect because you know you’ll never actually have to confront them for it

• Contribute quality only to the story doing things you predicted rather than its actual execution

• Call people proving you wrong “antis” or “racists” or “sexists” or anything of the like

• Only converse with people who agree with you

• Call characters and/or story elements “problematic” just because you didn’t like them, and create scenarios where the said instance is somehow against moral standards

• Use things inconsequential to the story to prove how “bad” the story itself is (animation, art design, wardrobe, etc.)

• Blame your lack of knowledge on a story element on it being “underdeveloped”

• Stockpile emojis to use as responses to your metas that are actually trying to say something intelligent, because that’s all you are capable of responding with

• If you do legitimately enjoy some aspects of the story, find one person on staff that you idolize and put all the credit on, even if they didn’t do it. This is especially helpful if they are physically attractive.

• Also if you enjoy aspects of it, solely base all your arguments around how that aspect had more potential and how the writers were stupid for not exploring it more, whether it deserved to be or not

• Refuse to consume any auxiliary media related to the story and write it off as “bad” because of your frustration about some elements you didn’t like in the core story

• Isolate your analyses to only a couple scenes in the story so that you don’t have to think too hard about their context within the wider narrative and/or other parts of the story that would prove you entirely wrong

Hope this helps!

[anxiouslyfred]

Dreaming, Wholly, Sincerely

Summary: Roman writes letters to characters from films as a way to build himself up or rationalise things happening around him. Today the films written to are: Dirty Dancing, Stardust, Grease, The Princess Diaries, and Epic

I’ve got a couple other fics like this but cba to find them currently. on AO3 they’re in a series together

/\/\

Dear Baby,

What is your name actually? You say at the start of the film that it was the summer everyone called you Baby and you never thought to question why, but I don't know what your name actually is. It feels like writing to you like this is using a name you no longer go by and I would loathe disrespecting your identity in such a way.

For years I've admired your dedication to doing what's right but also to following your heart in the things you enjoy, but I wonder sometimes why it feels like you're an echo in your own story. I've been feeling like that myself however, as if even when I'm following my dreams and enjoying myself why the moment actually seems to be happening away from me.

Perhaps if I figure it out for you I can begin joining my own moments again a bit more. Just like you did at the end of the story.

Yours musically, Roman

…

Dear Captain Shakespeare,

I am in awe of you Captain. In fact your life seems like a dream to me and I would adore to join you on your quests.

Of course, I myself am aware of what it's like to have to wear a mask of what's expected when among even your closest companions and the freedom of being able to explore and express yourself only behind closed doors.

For the adventures that come and the friends that accept us as we are, I salute you.

Yours in arms, Roman

…

Dear Frenchie,

I know that's just a nickname, and that you've carried on further than the first Grease film shows, but your story has always confused me, as much as it can be just a background to Sandy and Danny's. You were trying to figure out your passions, your dreams and that is always admirable.

People tell us that high school will impact the rest of your life and I am so thrilled that that's a lie, a deception society crafts to discourage learning and career changes once people are adults. Recently though, I feel like I've kept being told to go back to where I was before, to avoid changing even while being forced to change and adapt. It's exhausting.

Are you able to send those advising hairdresser singers over to me? Because I could really use some clarification rather than being the one to provided ideas I'm never allowed to fully explain before others are jumping in with incorrect interpretations for Thomas.

Regardless of if it's possible or not, I shall sing a few songs to see if that helps.

Yours Dreaming, Roman

…

Dear Princess Amelia Minuet Thermopolis Renaldi,

If I were to compare how I'm feeling right now to your film, I would be packing my things away while the cat hides an important letter from me. Everything is going wrong and no matter what people have claimed about my abilities I can only see the ways I've failed.

Sadly I don't think there's a letter of encouragement to show someone else believes in me hiding around my room, but I think there is someone who can help me still; myself.

You didn't change your mind purely because of your father's letter but because it was fear that led you to running. If I can recognise what fear is keeping me still and either face it or find a Lily to help me tackle it, then perhaps I can become the Prince I wish to be.

Yours Hopefully, Roman

…

Dear Tristran,

You go through the story trying to become someone whole, who knows who they are and what they can do, but fail to accept that although you're learning you are forever whole, forever carrying the core of who you are in you, whether it sits comfortably or not.

I'm trying to remind myself, that even when I feel prevented, limited from being my whole self, that it is still there in me. That's I'm not a fraction of a whole because of Remus being around, or Logan editing my suggestions constantly.

It's difficult, even without witches and other princes trying to steal it from me the entire time. I'm looking to your story for help, and I guess if you can get there without even knowing you're a prince, then I can reach that point also.

Yours Wholly, Roman

…

Dear MK,

I'm actually writing this with Logan in mind and think you should know that from the start. You don't seem to believe in things that aren't shown or proven to you, even at the end of your movie and sometimes I feel sorrow for you, not sorry, because you still have an amazing life, but sorrow, that you can't share in things on faith or believe alone.

And still I want to thank you, for accepting and trying with your father, so ready to believe in the bizarre or unknown he could get lost in it. I know you wanted to leave him before getting caught up with the leafmen, but you were ready to understand and learn when things were proven to you. So thank you for putting up with some of our nonsense while still knowing your boundaries for it, as well as for sharing those boundaries with me.

Yours Sincerely, Roman

[jackoshadows]

I'm sorry, but do you hate the sansa of books too?

Sorry for the late reply, but I get asked this so many times lol. I am pretty sure I have already answered this as well and it’s somewhere on my blog.

But honest question, are there any blogs out there who actually like the Sansa of the books? I haven’t seen any. The people who claim to love book Sansa stan for a hyped up, sanitized, white washed version whose only flaw, as per their interpretation, is that she’s just a little naive. But also she’s super intelligent and smartest character in the series. And all this without any text to back up this strange dichotomy - naive and super intelligent at the same time!

Any discussion of actual book Sansa is labelled as ‘Sansa hate’ and hordes descend on such posts demanding that it be tagged ‘anti-Sansa’. So people who like Sansa think that the Sansa of the books is anti-Sansa!

Others bloggers have done a better job than me of explaining fandom’s perception of Sansa versus the actual book version. This post for example:

https://aiyassalt.tumblr.com/post/188322664000/honestly-i-greatly-dislike-sansa-both-her-book

https://aiyassalt.tumblr.com/post/188450445310/star-crossedvoyager-aiyassalt-honestly-i

One only has to look at number one Sansa stans David Benioff and Dan Weiss to understand how for most of her fans, they can only genuinely like the character and enjoy her when she is given the character traits and plots of other characters. Weiss and Benioff constantly claim Sansa is their favorite character and yet they are busy stripping Jon, Arya, Bran, Dany and other characters of their book characterization for Show Sansa.

Shit like this:

"She's like the warrior of Winterfell" - Sophie Turner on Sansa wearing armour for the first time in Game of Thrones season 8

Arya has needle? Well, Sansa will also get one!

Clapton’s view on creating Sansa’s new style is that it’s centered  around using found materials since Sansa sews her own dresses. Sansa’s  spiked necklace is a reference to Arya’s Needle- this is Sansa’s Needle,  the designer has explained.

Teaching grizzled warrior Yohn Royce about the importance of castles as a first line of defence -  She’s the warrior of Winterfell! She knows more about how much rest the soldiers required than Daenerys Targaryen who commanded armies for like 7 seasons!

And when she was walking around saying that they need food so ask everyone to bring grain to Winterfell and the two blokes walking behind her just look at each other like she said the most cleverest thing ever and omg they should have made her queen instead of Jon! Meanwhile book Jon Snow is breaking his head over how to get food for like 5 chapters and has still not solved the issue in the last book.  

And a lot of book Sansa fans don’t have an issue with all this - they think the smartest character in the whole of Westeros will just be better written in the books - meanwhile book Jon is stupid, Arya is just a revenge obsessed killer and Dany is headed for a dark ending because she’s ignorant and impulsive. Their version of book Sansa is more diplomatic and intelligent than Jon and Dany - characters who are actually written going through grueling leadership arcs.

I was indifferent to book Sansa. She bored me. She was a spoiled, selfish brat in book one and a political pawn and prisoner in later books. I did sympathize with her situation and appreciated that at least now she was slowly starting to realize that appearances are only skin deep and trying to help whenever she could.  I used to skip her chapters on re-reads because Tyrion’s POV was more informative and kept me entertained about the KL plots. But there were all these ‘Pawn to Player’ threads and Sansa BNFs on Westeros.org discussing book Sansa  becoming so smart, that I would go back and read her chapters. And nothing.

And her fans overhyping the character and inserting her into other plots is what is making me dislike even her book version now. Jon’s story is wholly unconnected to her in the books, and yet the Jon Snow tag is full of Sansa. That incorrect-Stark or whatever blog is going to be my supervillain origin story.

One of the reasons for why I am desperate for the next book, is so that we can go back to discussing Jon Snow on the Jon Snow tag instead of it getting clogged by Sansa stans with pro-Sansa and anti-Dany stuff. The Jon Snow tag is not for ship wars and for Sansa stans to hate on Dany.  Please George write the damn book.  🙏. We are desperate here.  

I don’t want to talk or write about Sansa. It’s the last thing I want to do. But the show inserting Sansa into Jon’s plot because Benioff and Weiss was bored of book Sansa’s actual plot and wanted their favorite character to be more important and become a warrior and defense expert and Queen and all that means that Jon Snow fans are now stuck with the character’s toxic stans.

I can empathize with Arya fans now. For a long time they had to deal with Sansa stans because in the books, its Arya and Sansa who have a contentious relationship and Sansa stans were always taking away from Arya and blaming Arya and Sansa BNFs were writing negatively about Arya.

But the show has changed that and the only reason I even started writing about Sansa was because of season 6 when Jonsa stans invaded the Jon Snow tag like cockroaches that can never be got rid off.

So yeah, that’s my rant over. I just want The Winds of Winter. I want to read about what happens to Jon at the wall, the Night’s watch and the Wildlings, Theon and Jeyne Poole, Stannis and the battle of Ice, The Boltons, a bad-ass direwolves vs Ramsay’s hounds battle, Rickon and Davos, Northern houses plotting and conspiracy and playing the game, is Mance alive? what’s the deal with the Pink letter,  Melisandre and Ghost and Jon and Arya somehow reuniting. I want to stop freaking talking about Sansa - a character I really don’t give a damn about.

When TWoW comes out, hopefully Sansa fans go back to discussing lemon cakes and feasts and tourneys and the most realistic (though strangely flawless) and best character in asoiaf.  I, on the other hand, am just a simple fantasy fan here for the swords and magic, direwolves and dragons, ice zombies and 3ERs - and hopefully TWoW will be written one day and will be chock full of material to keep me happy!

Hope that answers your question? 😁

[into1-wonderland]

Baby!Into1 x Daycare au | Intro

(ft. Bo Yuan as the caretaker of the 10 chaotic bunch, ranging from the ages of 3-5)

a/n: hello hello yumi here~ so this is the first into1 au of mine that will ever see the light of day. at first I was going to write things for it, but honestly I'm going to make it into a series with incorrect quotes to attach with it. this post will be the bios of all the babies and our lovely caretaker Bo Yuan, so enough of me babbling and I hope you guys could enjoy~

First off, we have the Caretaker™ Bo Yuan:

my mans is like in his 20's rn

wanted to open up a little day care as like side job/internship because he wanted to teach kids in the future so he was like “might as well start working with kids now!”

and so

he did it

only regretted his life decisions when his devil number 1 and devil number 2 does something bad

other times he really enjoy looking after them! and he doesn’t even feel like it’s a job!

has been thinking about taking a field trip with all 10 of them but he’s afraid: 1) he might lose one 2) he might lose himself 3) can they behave themselves

his favorite thing to do is having all of them gather around while reading a fairytale to them for nap time

or sometimes he would sing a song

he has a lot of favorite things in day care, literally having all 10 of them just there makes him happy

except when lin mo and nine is having a scream off:

lin mo: ahh

nine: aHH

lin mo: AHH

nine: AHHHHH-

bo yuan, running into the room: what’s wrong?

ak: screaming

bo yuan: why?

patrick, with his hands over his ears: TO SEE WHOS LOUDER

all the other boys: *nods*

isnt always watching the kids 24/7, since day 1 when the kids came in he told them the rules of the daycare and kinda just let them familiarize the place

(bo yuan: its a daycare, and they are kids, they are suppose to have fun!

keyu, in the back, mumbles: i wanna climb the tree in the yard

bo yuan, turns around: keyu no)

///////////

And now we have the kids!!

Liu Yu:

4 years old

very quiet, just likes to sit and read and draw

the most obedient one, and likes to follow around bo yuan

well,, most of the time

he’s played a few pranks on bo yuan like:

bo yuan: liu yu nap time is over you have to wake up

liu yu: *not moving*

bo yuan, gently nudged liu yu: liu yu wake up!

liu yu: *continues to fake sleep and not move*

bo yuan: *leans closer to liu yu’s face to make sure hes not sick or has a fever*

liu yu, scares bo yuan: WAH

bo yuan: liu yu dont do that! you scared me!

liu yu: *giggles*

likes to stretch and bend himself in odd positions

(bo yuan: everyday I’m in fear that he will snap himself in half)

kinda an introvert but once he hangs around everyone for a bit he will open up to them and fit himself in very well

likes to organize and keep things how he found them/have special places where he organizes his toys

jiayuan: *moves liu yu’s fan*

liu yu: hey! put that back!!

has really good etiquettes and never really fights or argues or bicker with the other kids

but likes to joke around and mess around with once in a while

patrick: wahhh i put my cupcakes here who took one!

liu yu, hiding it behind his back: idk maybe keyu took it?

the least of bo yuan’s worries since he’s always in bo yuan’s sight, also he’s aware of his surroundings so he actually helps bo yuan make sure everything’s okay

(bo yuan: i made a checklist for myself on the whiteboard and liu yu likes to check things off for me, he said “coloring in the boxes is fun” so now he's the reason why i get all my work done)

-----------

Santa:

4 years old

riki’s best friend

super happy and bright, like a ray of sunshine

is easily scared

lin mo: hi

santa: WAHHHHH BO YUAN GEGE

really likes bo yuan, would stick on to him a lot and ask him about everything

santa: bo yuan gege whats this?

santa: bo yuan gege what’s that?

santa: bo yuan gege what are you making right now?

hangs out with liu yu and mika a lot (other than riki)

riki is older than him but would hold riki’s hand and take him around like a didi

also really likes racing with mika for E V E R Y T H I N G

(bo yuan: yeah couple days ago they tried to race who can fall asleep faster but because they kept on peeking at each other so they basically didn’t sleep till i said i’ll watch for them)

really likes to dance, every time he hears music he would start grooving around

loves learning new things, which is probably the reason why he always asks bo yuan so many questions

also least one of bo yuan’s worries, just gotta make sure jiayuan and lin mo don’t pull pranks on him

(bo yuan: well they dont really pull prank pranks, its just once lin mo grabbed a frog and started running around and showing it to everyone, but lin mo lost grip and the frog jumped on santa)

-----------

Rikimaru:

5 years old

looks like he’s 3, acts like he’s 3, but is actually 5

best friends with santa! always sticks around him and likes to tug on a corner of his shirt out of habit

bo yuan: alright everyone it’s nap time! i’ve made the beds for everyone

riki, sees his bed is not next to santa: bo yuan gege can you switch my bed next to santa? i wanna be next to santa

he didn’t start speaking till he was 4 so he often stutters when he talk and just looks confused a lot (it's because he’s thinking and formulating his words)

santa and the other kids would always have to interpret for him

bo yuan: riki I brought some snacks today do you want cookies or marshmallows?

riki: ???

santa, motioning with his hands: bo yuan gege said do you want the white fluffies or brown crunchies

riki: oh! crunchies!

squishy cheeks,, bo yuan’s favorite thing is to squish his cheek everytime he sees him

riki: gud mooning bo yuan gege!

bo yuan, squishes riki’s cheeks: ahh I haven’t seen you in so long good morning!!

nine: wait wasnt riki here yesterday??

also likes to stretch,, often seen around with liu yu and they just help each other

(bo yuan: i am afraid he will snap himself in half too)

not too much of bo yuan’s worries, besides the fact that he might get kidnapped because he’s so oblivious

(bo yuan: we were playing outside in the yard once and riki just wandered off because he thought the neighbor’s flowers were pretty)

-----------

Mika:

4 years old

also kinda an introvert, doesn’t interact with too many people

usually it’s santa that approaches him first or keyu^^

found a ukulele in the toy bin one time and wouldn’t let go of it (he claims it’s his now)

his favorite activity at daycare is when they all sing together, that’s when he smiles the most and has the most fun

the one that likes to nap the most

also likes to help bo yuan cook once in a while (mostly just having mika washing vegetables and passing things to bo yuan)

very laid back and not noisy (till he starts playing the ukulele)

often gets scared by lin mo’s sudden screams (actually, lin mo scares a lot of people, sorry to mika’s ears)

also not one of bo yuan’s worries, literally there’s nothing to worry about with mika, all the kids just likes to sit around mika and pet his head so he keeps everyone safe

(bo yuan: one time I couldn’t find any of the kids in the play room, apparently they were all in the napping corner petting mika’s head since he just got a hair cut)

-----------

Nine:

4 years old

loud, very loud.

pouts a lot

everyone calls nine cute, even the boys who are younger than him

likes to boss around patrick because he’s older

nine: patrick gimme that juice box!

patrick: you’re closer you get it!

nine: i’m older than you!

literally scared of everything

if he hasn’t seen it before and it’s living, he’s scared

jiayuan: *holds a bowl of tadpoles*

nine, several feet away: WAHHH WHAT IS THAT

the happiest when he gets snacks + real food food

also really likes to sing!! his favorite thing is watching disney movies because there’s so much music in it and he just loves to sing along

he’s not part of bo yuan’s worries because he’s literally scared of everything, but nine is really naive and would do things that the other kids tell him to do so, it’s a 50/50 on nine

(bo yuan: there was an edible decorative flower on keyu’s birthday cake couple days ago, and somehow jiayuan convinced nine all flowers were edible. so today during outside time nine almost ate the neighbor’s flowers)

-----------

Lin Mo:

3 years old

LOUD. VERY LOUD.

probably the craziest most hyper one out of them all

he and jiayuan always have something bad planned

literally doesn’t have a moment where he’s calm

constantly in bickering mode with ak

lin mo: NO IM RIGHT

ak: NO. IM RIGHT

patrick: what are they arguing about?

keyu: *shrugs*

but is also best friends with ak so he’s also calm around him

(bo yuan: yeah these two have on and off days, you can never predict it)

and also constantly naruto runs around the daycare

bo yuan: lin mo stop running!

lin mo: *nyoom*

he also once nyoomed into keyu

keyu: ow what was that for?

lin mo: you were in my way!

and now he nyooms into keyu for fun

a very good mood maker

likes to smile/laugh a lot

would calm down if you show him a movie or a cartoon

number 2 on bo yuan’s worry list because he’s the "bad influence" for everyone, also he reduces hearing for everyone

(bo yuan: i’ve secretly made a tally book on how many times i have to say “lin mo” in a concerning tone this week and he came in 2nd. he was only here for like 3 days!)

-----------

Zhang Jiayuan:

3 years old

YOURE THREE STOP SMIRKING LIKE THAT

couple months younger than lin mo but this is the real culprit under a lot of his and lin mo‘s plans

it’s just because jiayuan has a lot of crazy ideas and he says them out loud and lin mo is just like “yes”

also sometimes they are just accidents, but he's always doing weird questionable things with lin mo

got really sad one time because he brought tadpoles and put them in the fish tank and killed them since the fish went nom

but then started to constantly catch for tadpoles to feed the fishes

bo yuan: jiayuan stop, you’re killing the frog population!

jiayuan: but the fishies are hungry *pouts*

likes to fight/mess around with keyu for no reason

keyu: *sitting there, drawing*

jiayuan, with a squishy hammer: *bops keyu’s head*

but also will protect keyu if anyone tries to mess with him

lin mo: *nyooms into keyu for the 3rd time of the day* jiayuan, hugs keyu: stop hurting him!

the calmest thing he likes to do is taking care of plants, probably because he saw bo yuan spraying the plants one time and he like to squeeze the spray bottle

number 1 on bo yuan’s worry list, this child is literally not safe alone or with anyone. they were trying to celebrate keyu’s birthday and jiayuan tried to touch the candles, while it was lit, by the flame.

(bo yuan: i just got the tablets and haven’t set up children mode, so i’ll take the blame for this one. but also why are kids so good with technologies nowadays??)

-----------

Patrick:

3 years old

squishy :D

smiley :DD

favorite thing is nap time and snack time

somehow knows every location where bo yuan hides their snacks

bo yuan: *getting the snacks that he hid in the piano*

patrick: *sitting next to the window sill with the snack* hi~

of course bo yuan can never get mad at patrick for eating the snacks because patrick doesn’t do anything bad

also he's a growing child

best friends with keyu,, and drags him on to “adventures”

*the daycare got a new toy play house*

patrick: bo yuan gege, keyu and I are moving out so we can go on an adventure!

keyu: I didnt agree to this??

wants bo yuan to add dress up into the daycare games, since he wants to dress up the other boys in the daycare

patrick: i call it, patrick fashion!

not part of bo yuan’s worries till he’s on his hunt for the hidden snacks, just because bo yuan is afraid he might hurt himself

(bo yuan: i started hiding the snacks higher up and one time i saw him trying to climb on keyu’s shoulders to grab it)

-----------

Zhou Keyu:

3 years old

smart, but really clueless at the same time

tall, but has the personality of smol

likes to draw

also likes to read with patrick,, but usually patrick falls asleep so it’s him, the book, and a sleeping patrick

wears glasses all the time since his vision isn’t so good but somehow he makes glasses look good on him???

has a chain with his glasses because there too many glasses incident with keyu

glasses #1 keyu: I don’t like them! *takes it off and loses it*

glasses #2 keyu: *takes them off for nap time, but riki accidentally rolled on to them and snapped it*

glasses # we don’t know how many: *disconnected from the keyu universe*

also like a month younger than lin mo but literally has to make sure lin mo doesnt “blow” the place up

lin mo: what if I stuck this fork into the pluggie thing?

keyu, picking lin mo up: nope you’re not

when keyu is clueless he either stands there or just sit there and space out, not really noticeable but bo yuan ran into him doing that a couple times

(bo yuan: I thought he was an ai that was malfunctioning, it scared me at first but now I know he just doesn’t remember what he’s doing)

oh did I mention this,, even though he’s one of the youngest, he’s the tallest, with that advantage he likes to try to pick people up

jiayuan: keyu pick me up!

keyu: no

patrick: keyu likes me more he will pick me up!

keyu: no

patrick: *pouts*

keyu: *tries to pick both jiayuan and patrick up at the same time*

bo yuan, running over: ZHOU KEYU PUT THEM DOWN YOULL BREAK YOURSELF

not too high up on bo yuan’s worry list, give him a piece of paper or book or anything he would just calmly sit there and do something with it

(bo yuan: every time when we do art or reading its so hard to pry keyu away, he has to finish what he was doing and he’s so concentrated he doesn’t hear anybody)

-----------

Liu Zhang (AK):

4 years old

loud, VERY LOUD.

he doesn’t know he’s loud

bo yuan: ak you don’t have to yell

ak: OKAY

monopolized over all the instrument music type of toys in the daycare

bo yuan: ak you know you have to share your toys right?

ak: I gave the ukulele to mika

honestly having ak is like having a walking megaphone so bo yuan ended up actually making ak his little helper for announcements

bo yuan: ak go tell everyone is lunch time

ak: alright!

ak: *da da da running to fetch his little stool*

ak, stands on a little stool in the middle of the play room: ITS LUNCH TIMEEEEEE-

nine, swats ak’s leg: YOU SCARED ME

the only time ak is quiet is when he’s around lin mo, he kinda just likes to watch lin mo and follow him around so that’s that

unless lin mo starts messing with him, then you just lose your hearing for the day

also at first bo yuan was trying to see what ak is interested in, and he taught ak hot cross buns on the bells and thought that would calm ak down,, but oops ak ended up making more noises

patrick: I WANNA SLEEP AK

(bo yuan: I swear something happened to this kid or something. he’s not hard of hearing but he’s just naturally so loud)

i too would lose my hearing if im around ak so much

not to high on bo yuan’s worries but he just make sure ak isn’t being too loud and bothering the other kids, usually he’s pretty good about that but you never know when a little patrick will start napping or anyone really so gotta contain his energy

(bo yuan: ak is usually the first one that’s awake from nap time but its usually like 5-10min before everyone else so i told him he can go and play but he just has to be quiet)

///////////

alrighty !! now you've met everyone in the daycare, what kind of fun and chaotic adventures are they going to have??

(all future daycare au things will be incorrect quotes + short little one shots, this intro mostly served as a bio so you understand their personalities a bit, and i hope you enjoyed it!)

[dreamsmp-megaritz]

what is Dream SMP analysis? why is Dream SMP analysis?

I see DSMP analysis as being a fun ongoing activity of collecting and interpreting evidence—in a very broad sense of “interpreting,” and in a very broad sense of “evidence.”

The goal is not to reach some final end-state—one where we’ve proved the correct theories and debunked the incorrect theories. The goal is the process, not the outcome.

There are many different degrees to which one can engage in the activity. I’d say everyone who watches DSMP at all is doing some DSMP analysis-- at least in the minimal sense of forming some understanding of what they’re seeing, even if they don’t write or read any essays about it afterward.

Not that I’m against having arguments for or against theories, of course. The effort to support some theory, or to undermine some other competing theory, can be a helpful framework for collecting and organizing and interpreting the evidence.

This activity often can be fruitfully done…

[A] by oneself, or

[B] (often better) in concert with others who hold the same theory, or

[C] (perhaps ideally) in concert with others who hold differing theories, some agreeing and some disagreeing.

But ultimately I think the activity itself is the interesting part. Maybe over time the activity leads us to hold more correct theories and fewer incorrect theories—but I’m not sure whether this is the case or not, and anyway it’s a secondary consideration. And, in general, persuading other people to “agree with the correct theories and reject incorrect theories” should probably be even further down on the list.

For one thing, what would make one theory more true than another, in an analysis of DSMP? By what criteria should we judge a theory? (For now I’m using the word “theory” in a vague manner that could be worth returning to.)

I don’t think I would accept an extreme subjectivism which claims any interpretation is “just as valid” as any other. But I also don’t have a clear answer here. It’s not particularly obvious what the criteria for truth are—in an analysis of any sort of fiction or art, let alone something like the DSMP. I am also not sure whether we should speak of “truth” as opposed to some broader concept like “legitimacy” or “plausibility” or “reasonableness” or even “goodness.”

Should we use the criterion of logical consistency? For some kinds of investigation, we’re looking for consistent theories in which we’ve resolved all the contradictions. In a scientific investigation, it is a very bad sign when a theory’s predictions are contradicted by the observable evidence, or when one element of the theory contradicts another element of the same theory. The application of a logical consistency standard can show when a scientific theory is flawed. But is logical consistency a good standard for interpreting DSMP? It seems debatable.

There are internal inconsistencies within many works of fiction—perhaps especially one such as the DSMP, whose story emerges out of a combination of writing and improvisation by multiple people, and which is set within a game-world that has unclear and flexible rules. DSMP is likely more prone to internal contradictions than many other stories are, for reasons that will be worth exploring further sometime.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. But it means that on some points of contention, many (if not all) theories will likely run into some inconsistencies. There may be cases where a fully consistent theory is simply impossible.

So there is reason to doubt whether we should be judging DSMP theories according to their consistency.

At least, if we use the criterion of consistency, it would need to be done in a special way—to account for the peculiar features of DSMP’s story, including perhaps the impossibility of fully consistent theories. I am not sure how to do this! Maybe it is certain kinds of consistency we’re looking for in a theory, and not other kinds. What kinds of consistency are important? What kinds of consistency are unimportant?

Additionally, we should probably judge a theory by several different standards—not only consistency. I’m not sure what other criteria for judging theories could be used instead.

For one thing, there seem to be various standards of “thematic cohesion” (or something) which are appropriate to analyzing a work of fiction. Some of these might resemble consistency, but a lot looser than strict logical non-contradiction.

I’m also thinking of some vague idea like “being faithful to the spirit of the story.” It’s probably got to have affective elements, as well. The legitimate reasons in support of an interpretation can come partially from our interests and what we care about. The structure of a viewer’s emotions might play a role in grounding the structure of some kinds of legitimate theories (in a manner to be explored further sometime). Again, I wouldn’t agree with full subjectivism, but rather some kind of mixed criterion that involves a role of the psychology of the viewer and/or community of viewers as co-creators of the meaning of the story through the interaction. More broadly, the DSMP media itself is a kind of canvas upon which we can overlay additional significance, meanings, conventions, headcanons, and whatever else.

I’m really making this up as I go. Unfortunately, I’ve barely studied any literary theory or philosophy of art—fields that probably have produced a lot of ideas which would be useful here!

In any event, analyzing the evidence is pretty interesting (despite my meta-level uncertainty on what kinds of things it can be evidence for). The evidence is made up of lots of details from lots of media. The evidence is large in size, it’s difficult to navigate, and many pieces of it can be interpreted in various different ways. One’s broader background theory could lend support to one reading over another, but a different background theory could perhaps support a different reading. There are a lot of interconnected things going on here.

It’s cool and good for people to explore these ideas and share them with each other, and see what comes out of it. It’s a good activity, and people should enjoy doing it. If you’re doing DSMP analysis in a manner that seriously hinders your own enjoyment or the enjoyment of others, then something has probably gone wrong.

[violent-optimism]

Rey as a Palpatine and Why it’s Grown on Me

Hello my lovelies!

I think it’s been quite a while since I posted any kind of essay on here. Between work and other things I honestly haven’t had much time for it. However in recent days I’ve felt very motivated to work on a very particular kind of essay; a subject that I’ve been stewing over since December of last year.

Obviously from the title you already know what I’m going to be talking about. I’m not going to deny that this is a rather heated subject for some Star Wars fans, particularly those who disliked this plot choice and The Rise of Skywalker in general. As per usual in my essays, my goal is not to change anyone’s mind or argue over who’s opinion is “more right”. Plain and simple, this is just going to be me talking about MY thoughts and MY observations about Rey’s journey and lineage in The Rise of Skywalker. I hope this doesn’t need to be said but if you read something in this essay that you disagree with, I politely ask that you keep it to yourself and move on. At the end of the day, we are just talking about a movie, and this is all just for fun.

Now, with that being said, let’s get started! This essay is definitely going to be a bit more structured than my usual efforts and I hope this will result in a much more straightforward and clear-cut essay. Enjoy!

 1.      My Initial Reaction

 While I don’t want this to be a major part of the essay, I do think it makes sense to start this off with a little story about the time I first saw TROS in the theatre. I can remember it pretty well. My whole body was tense, my eyes glued to the screen for what I knew was about to be some kind of major reveal in the story (even if it felt very late in the film for such a scene). Then came those shocking and irreversible words from Kylo Ren: “You’re his Granddaughter. You are a Palpatine.”

Wait…what?

My mind recoiled at this statement. My heart sank into my stomach with complete rejection. This can’t be right. He must be lying. I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit. A man behind me just snorted with laughter and I can totally see why. Rey being related to Palpatine sounds more like a crazy Youtube fan theory than something that could actually be canon in the Star Wars universe. We had always thought she might be related to Luke or even Obi-Wan, but…Emperor Palpatine? Darth Sidious? No, just no.

So yeah, suffice to say that my first reaction towards this plot twist was not very positive. I admit that even once the movie was over, I still didn’t like this reveal. I don’t even think I began to warm up to it until my 3rd or 4th viewing of TROS. I had become so used to the idea that Rey had no special lineage and she was just a very force-sensitive girl from nowhere that it was extremely hard to let go of that. And honestly, if JJ and everyone else involved had chosen to keep it that way, I would have been perfectly content. So why…you might ask, has Rey’s true lineage grown on me in the last several months?

Now, don’t get me wrong…there’s still a part of me that thinks it was a very odd choice to introduce a reveal like this considering what happened in the previous installment. However…this fact has already been discussed to death and this essay is intended to be more of a story exploration rather than a critical film review. So let’s talk more about Rey being Palpatine’s Granddaughter and how I have actually grown to love the idea.

 2.      Rey’s Journey

 Throughout the trilogy, Rey has had to overcome quite a few challenges in her path to becoming a Jedi. Her journey has been one of mostly self-discovery and personal growth. In The Force Awakens, Rey discovers that she is strong in the force and can do things she never imagined. In The Last Jedi, Rey’s strength in the force grows stronger and she learns to accept that her parents were nobodies and that some things do not turn out the way we expect.

And so, thematically, it would almost seem like Rey has reached the end of her character arc. This is Rey at her most powerful. There’s nothing left to learn, and there are no more secrets to be revealed…right? Well, we know that this is not the case. Even from the first scene with Rey we know that something is wrong. She knows that something is wrong. There is a darkness inside of her; she fears for her destiny and who she is meant to become. It’s not until later that we understand why these feelings have come to the surface.

Up until TROS, we didn’t truly know who Rey was or where she came from. However, by this point in the story anyone should be able to describe her as a character. Kind. Brave. Resourceful. Curious. Compassionate. Strong. Rey has proven time and time again that she is an incredibly kind and capable individual who wants to do the right thing. Although both TLJ and TROS strongly hint towards Rey possibly turning to the dark side, we know that our protagonist never actually would because we know who Rey is.

And this a huge reason as to why the Rey Palpatine reveal works so well for me. There is an incredible juxtaposition with Rey being the most heroic, kind-hearted person imaginable, and yet she is related to the most evil man in the galaxy. There is something deeply profound about the last living Jedi having Sith blood in her veins. Part of the reason why this reveal is so shocking is because the two characters are complete polar opposites in terms of good and evil. Rey is absolutely nothing like Palpatine and so the familial connection seems impossible. It doesn’t just seem like an unlikely truth, it feels entirely incorrect. And yet, that is also what makes it (again, in my opinion) so interesting and bold.

 3.      Meaning and Impact

 Apart from giving Rey one last emotional challenge in the final installment, I think this choice was made for other reasons as well (3 to be precise).

1.      It made Rey even more similar to Kylo as he too is grappling with the dark influence from his Grandfather

2.      This decision subverts a long-existing trope in fantasy stories

3.      Used to further tie the 9 films together as a story about the Skywalker and Palpatine bloodlines

Since The Force Awakens, it was made very clear early on that Rey and Kylo were connected in some way; their destinies were intertwined. Although this was further explored in TLJ, we would not truly understand just how similar their journeys would become until the final installment. The dynamic between Rey and Kylo is infinitely interesting because at first glance they seem like completely opposite people, when in reality they share a very similar struggle, especially in The Rise of Skywalker.

Both Rey and Kylo experience the overwhelming darkness of their respective families. Kylo even says it quite bluntly before the lightsaber duel on the ruined Death Star: “The dark side is in our nature, surrender to it.” He is quite obviously trying to use Rey’s lineage against her in an attempt to turn her over to his side. What makes this so interesting is that we know Kylo himself is not yet completely taken over by the dark side. Despite his evil deeds, he has always been conflicted during this story.

When Rey finds out that she is related to Emperor Palpatine, she becomes withdrawn, angry, afraid and unstable. This is the closest to the dark side that we have ever seen Rey at. Indeed there are some moments where she almost seems to be channeling behaviour that would be more suited for Kylo (snapping at her friends, using anger as power). Although Rey eventually comes to her senses and realizes what is happening to her, she was clearly affected by her Grandfather’s dark influence, just as Kylo was.

 Despite the fact that both Rey and Kylo come from families with a history of the dark side, the film makes it very clear that one character’s lineage is far “worse” than the other. This is where the subversion of a common fantasy trope takes place. Now, to be clear, this is only my interpretation and I don’t claim this to be exactly what the filmmakers were going for; however this subversion is yet another reason why I enjoy the Rey Palpatine reveal.

How many times have you watched a movie or a TV show where a character’s lineage was a significant part of the story? It’s probably more times than you can count on one hand, right? My point is that the idea of a character’s lineage/family history becoming a main plot element in a story is nothing new, we’ve seen this before a million times. For example, in Disney’s “Tangled” (2010) Rapunzel learns that she is the long lost princess who was taken away from her family when she was an infant. Disney influence aside, does this sound somewhat similar to Rey’s story? Yes, it absolutely does…but not in the traditional or conventional sense.

This is where Rey Palpatine (for me at least), becomes extremely appealing. This reveal is like the evil, twisted version of a heroine discovering that she is the secret heir to a royal family. And instead of the protagonist being overjoyed and enlightened by this information, the reveal comes with great personal shock and emotional turmoil. In this case, Rey is the Granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine, which essentially makes her Sith royalty if we’re being really comparable. Am I the only one who (for lack of better words) thinks this is insanely cool? Not only is it a direct subversion of a very common story trope, it directly ties into Kylo’s arc and it also parallels Luke’s family revelation in “The Empire Strikes Back.” Coincidentally, this also makes Rey’s journey similar to Luke’s in that regard, but I’ll get back to that later.

Now as you’ve probably heard before, as we look back on all 9 films in the Star Wars saga we can see that this is clearly a story about the Skywalker and Palpatine families. Granted, the Palpatine bloodline is largely unexplored in comparison to the former. We know that Rey’s Father was the son of the Emperor, but we still don’t know his name or who he really was. Ultimately this information is not relevant to the story as a whole, but it’s clear that Emperor Palpatine has been pulling the strings throughout basically the entire saga.

More specifically, Palpatine himself has always been tied to the Skywalkers. He seduced Anakin Skywalker to the dark side and later tried to do the same to Luke. Via Snoke he was also able to turn Ben Solo, who shares a dyad with Rey, Palpatine’s Granddaughter. It kind of comes full circle and it’s really quite clever in my opinion. The Villain of the ST is related to the Heroes of the OT, and the Hero of the ST is related to the Villain of the OT (Did I just blow your mind?).

Put simply, Rey being a Palpatine makes a lot more sense thematically when you examine the story that came before her. Families are complicated and messy, especially in Star Wars. Rey’s experience echoes this, but in a much darker and harsher way. Her journey is meant to resemble Luke Skywalker’s in many ways, but their stories do have differences. In Luke’s case, he actually got to see and interact with Anakin, the real face of who his Father was. Anakin Skywalker was certainly not a perfect person, but in his last moments he turned to the light and saved his son’s life.

Rey, of course, did not get to experience a moment even close to this. Palpatine is about as evil as evil gets. There is no hope or chance of redemption. She was forced to look upon her own flesh and blood and see nothing but a monster. It would be unfair to turn this into a competition of “who had the most devastating family reveal”, but the point I’m trying to make is that Rey and Luke’s journeys are undeniably similar, which serves to further strengthen the connection of Skywalker and Palpatine in these 9 films.

 4.      Conclusion: The Power of Choice

 I feel I must end on the note of choice, because this is how The Rise of Skywalker chooses to end. Despite everything I have mentioned and how much I have grown to love the idea of Rey Palpatine, there is something that I love much more than this: Rey Skywalker. Even just reading it or saying it out loud fills with me an indescribable amount of joy.

To put it bluntly, Rey did not have an easy life. In fact, she probably had one of the most challenging upbringings of any Star Wars protagonist. Yes, Anakin was a slave at a very young age, but he also had friends and a mother who supported him. Luke was even better off with a relatively normal childhood, friends and parental figures who loved him as if he was their own son.

Rey had nothing and no one.

She was forced into a life of struggle and hardship, not by choice, and certainly not by her parents’ choice. Although they loved and cared for her, she would never feel this or know it to be true until much later in life. Rey did not choose where she came from, nor could she choose who she was related to. This is perhaps the most powerful and meaningful message that one could take away from the Sequel Trilogy: You cannot choose the circumstances of your childhood, nor can you choose who you are related to by blood. However, you can choose your destiny, you can choose who you want to be, and you can choose who you consider to be your family.

Rey had all the makings of a villain, but she chose to be a hero. A Sith that chose to be a Jedi. A Palpatine that chose to be a Skywalker. It doesn’t matter where you come from, only where you’re going. At the end of the day, it’s up to you to decide who you want to be. That is a beautiful thing.

Well folks, it took me a long time to get here but we’re finally at the end. I hope this essay was able to make some kind of a comprehensible point. Even if you didn’t agree with anything I said, I hope it was still something that made you think. It was quite a lot of fun to really delve into this topic and explore every microscopic detail. I sure hope it made sense, and if not, I’ll try to do better next time.

Thank you so much for reading! Bye for now.

[synesindri]

some musings on shipping culture

just to get this out of the way: this post is prompted by things i have seen people say and reblog recently about a variety of ships and fandoms, some of which i have been in, some of which i have not. it is not directed at any individual in particular. 

i am also not upset. how other people like to enjoy fandom is interesting to me but ultimately it’s totally irrelevant to how i like to enjoy fandom. in fact, my apathy about other people’s favorite ships is a major reason i am curious about how some people respond to each other/canon/whatever.

the main question is: why do people care what other people ship and why they ship it?

here’s what i got. this list is not ordered by importance.

1) purity culture 

tbh i am kind of burnt out with thinking about purity culture. probably a lot of reasons are somewhat related to purity culture, but i don’t want to get into whether or not it’s ok for people to ship stuff they wouldn’t condone in reality (although for the record, if you couldn’t tell, my opinion is: ship literally whatever you want). so, moving on.

2) whether or not ships are likely to become canon

a lot of the time, this debate gets avoided either because none of the ships being argued over are likely ever to become canon, or because one of them is almost definitely going to become canon. sometimes it’s an argument about which relationship is more important, whether romantic or not (two examples: 1) most wincest shippers understand that sam and dean were never going to kiss on the mouth on tv, but are very invested in the brothers’ relationship being the central relationship in the show regardless. 2) debates over whether elsa in frozen should have a girlfriend or stay single). 

much of the time, people get passionate about ships going canon because of issues of representation. wanting the queer ship; wanting the ship involving at least one character from an underrepresented group; wanting the ship that resonates with some meaningful experience much of the audience can relate to. that’s all cool. i get all of that. i don’t personally have many feelings about ships i like going canon because that’s not really part of the experience for me, but i understand why it’s appealing to others.

i do not, however, understand why some people whose ships might become canon care about telling people whose ships are never going to become canon that their ships are, uh, never going to become canon. like, in my experience, usually people who ship a never-going-to-be-canon ship know that it’s never going to be canon, and while they might be salty about it, they aren’t claiming that their thing is going to be what happens in canon. i get why never-going-to-be-canon shippers might get pissy at might-be-canon shippers because it sucks to “lose,” or because often (not always) might-be-canon ships are very popular comparatively and it can get tiresome to see your fandom dominated by something you don’t like/care about. but why do fans of popular (might-be-)canon ships get pissy about fans of never-gonna-be-canon ships, within fandom spaces?

a lot of this tension might be because of fandom dominance wars, rather than canon dominance wars. the never-gonna-be-canon shippers might feel that the might-be-canon shippers are dominating fandom spaces, but the might-be-canon shippers might feel that the never-gonna-be-canon shippers are dominating canon spaces. often when this happens both ships take up a lot of fandom space regardless of which takes up more, and might in fact be equally popular. so this might be just misperceptions about relative popularity, and feeling like your ship is being attacked/ignored disproportionately in the fandom when in reality it isn’t. i have definitely seen this sort of attitude from warring flagship supporters many a time.

but ok, to come back to why might-be-canon shippers make arguments against never-gonna-be-canon shippers based on likelihood of canonization: why? i don’t get it. i’ve seen this happen even with people who ship fully realized canon relationships arguing against people who ship fully non-canon relationships. why? 

my instinct is to think that last one is a sore winner thing. like, you won dude. good for you. take your winnings and let everybody else lick their wounds/carry on with their own preferences in peace. i’m even inclined to think that canon shippers as a rule should ignore most baiting by non-canon shippers because losers should be allowed to be little a bitter, as a treat. but at this point, i realize that i have just made a claim about how people should act in fandom, and who am i to say that? no one. so: never mind. and it might not be a gloating thing anyway.

another piece of evidence i see people bring up in these arguments is about basis in canon, rather than likelihood of canonization. that seems like another major point, so let’s move on to that. 

3) basis in canon

whether or not a ship is likely to become canon, there are lots of conversations about which ships make the most sense given evidence from the canon. 

i, being a massive slut for characterization, get this sort of. usually even when i enjoy crack ships i want to make them work with textual evidence somehow. i personally just think it’s more satisfying to figure out how two characters might have met and what would have appealed to them about each other to lead them to connect/date/bang/whatever, even if it never happened and never will happen and nobody would even think about the pairing unless either they were trying to be funny or they were really far down a rabbit hole. that’s my own geeky cross to bear.

i don’t get why “basis in canon” makes any ship better than any other ship though. sometimes a ship is within reach of canon characterization/story, and the work to go from non-canon to canon is suuuper minimal. these ships make sense pretty much as they are. that’s cool! such ships are usually popular for a reason: they appeal to a lot of fans of the canon because not a lot has to be done to the source material to make it work. often, the more you have to modify/do interpretation footwork, the more people’s interesting is going to drop off because you’re getting further from the source, and the source is why everyone is here in the first place. (some fandoms are of course exceptions to this.)

but why is closer-to-canon better? sometimes the work to get from canon to a far-from-canon ship is really clever, and does actually make a lot of sense if you follow the reasoning. sometimes far-from-canon ships are satisfying in a way other closer-to-canon ships aren’t (at least to some people). sometimes far-from-canon ships allow for creativity that closer-to-canon ships don’t. sometimes the appeal of far-from-canon ships is none of that, and it’s purely because the ship is sexy, or it’s controversial, or it’s weird, or people have gotten tired of the fandom flagships and they’re looking for something new. 

i don’t understand why any of that is worse than the reasons for shipping something with “more basis in canon.”

personally, i get tired of fandom flagships in most of the fandoms i’ve been in very quickly. furthermore, i lose interest in ships almost immediately if/when they become canon. that’s not a value judgment; it’s just a pattern in my own preferences that i’ve observed from 15+ years of fandom involvement. i enjoy having to work in the murky waters farther from canon to justify my weird little ships. i find the moment of canonization exciting and satisfying (and sometimes emotional and vindicating), but i do not enjoy watching people actually being in romantic relationships very much (part of this is probably due to the fact that i personally do not enjoy being in romantic relationships very much). i also just tend to enjoy elements of ships that a lot of people find off-putting, but this is going back to purity culture and, again, i don’t want to get into that. these preferences reliably lead me away from close-to-canon ships and fandom flagships. 

(just to be clear: i’m not being attacked. i do not feel attacked. i'm just using myself as a rhetorical example here.)

does this make my taste in ships bad? i don’t know what "bad taste in ships” means, but if you’re going to say that my taste is bad, i’m going to want you to justify it. 

does it make my taste in ships stupid? well, sure, i do like stupid shit sometimes. but i also feel that it would be strange, if not flat-out incorrect, to claim that my taste in off-norm ships is not thoughtful. i think about many of my far-from-canon ships a lot — often, i think about them a lot before i start shipping them/see anyone else ship them, and i decide i like the characters together because i’ve come at it from a character analysis perspective. i have liked ships for some extremely nerdy reasons. a lot of people who like far-from-canon ships get there because they like thinking about characterization and plot and symbolism. to be completely honest, i often end up liking rarepairs in part because the people who end up liking rarepairs often have higher overall intellectual skill and desire to think about things extensively on average than fans of fandom flagships do on average. so, is liking far-from-canon ships stupid? that’s subjective. is it unintelligent? probably not.

is enjoyment of these ships dumber when people don’t get there through a lot of analysis, or when they don’t try to justify their enjoyment once they’ve decided they like a ship? i have seen extremely well-written, clever, extensively researched fic about pairings the author had no interest in justifying, and imo that’s just as intellectually motivated as analysis about why the ship makes sense. so, i would say, no.

is it bad to ship stuff and have no intellectual interest in it all? i mean, everyone can have whatever opinion about this, but in my opinion, no. this is fandom. this is for fun-having. i’m a nerd, but not everybody has to be a nerd. sometimes i like to read stuff that is not nerdy, that just shows me something comforting or new or evocative and doesn’t ask me to care about how we’ve gotten there. i might care anyway, but that’s on me, and it doesn’t make my enjoyment better than the enjoyment of someone who doesn’t want to overthink it.

finally, even if a ship having no basis in canon does make it worse somehow, who cares? what is the point of arguing over ship quality, of all things? is it just elitism? is it defensiveness against criticism of fan work being inferior to original work? is it a desire for everything to make sense, paired with a belief that people prefer things that make the most sense? if anybody has read this far and has insight into this, please tell me. i see this so often, and it baffles me every time. i don’t really want to agree, but i want to understand.

so, i don’t quite get this one. i get parts of it, but overall, i don’t get it. 

4) i don’t have a number 4. i put a number 4 when i started writing this post but i think i covered what i was going to say here in points 1-3. alternatively i forgot my 4th point in which case RIP.

if you read this far, i apologize for the messy organization. i wrote this primarily to sort out my own thoughts. i’m not sure it helped, but it was something to do for an hour XD