#its okay! youre allowed to make a character whos just like you in that aspect

[dduane]

I just read the part where Kirk experiences the Enterprise's point of view in The Wounded Sky to someone else, where she sees the crew as children she is training up to the Great Desire of exploration for exploration's sake, especially Jim. His reaction, essentially: "That was really pretty. ....And then he blows her up."

I hadn't thought about that before! I checked the copyright date, and it looks like The Wounded Sky came out a year before The Search for Spock, so you were writing without knowing that sacrifice would eventually happen.

How did you feel about that? Do you wish that writing decision had been made differently? (If, as a Trek writer, you're allowed to comment on other Trek writers' choices!)

You know, I tend not to think a whole lot about such issues. First of all, because (in the long run) it gets you nowhere in particular that's useful. And secondly, because it's not a thing that, as a Trek writer in any medium except film, you have the slightest power to change.

Now, at this end of time I think we can safely say that no one's going to hire me on to write a Trek film. And also that no one at that end of the creative spectrum is going to pay the slightest attention to anything I say, either. Both of those situations are just What's So, and neither of them bothers me. (Since I have universes of my own to manage at the moment, and that's where my attention properly lies.) So as regards my opinions about other writers' work, I'm pretty much off the hook.

If I had been on screenwriting duty for that film, would there be things I'd have wanted to do differently? Hell yeah. From the premise up. But the important thing here is: would those things necessarily have worked better on the screen / with the audience? Impossible to tell. And speaking as someone repeatedly given permission to work in someone's universe, the main thing to be aware of is the expectation that your chief responsibility is to do what best serves the characters and the IP of which they're part. (There's a post over at Out of Ambit with a lot more of my thoughts on the subject:)

The other thing to remember is that, though I've worn the Canonical Hat in my time, novel work is by definition non-canonical. Doing it, you are at all times working with the understanding that the licensor rarely views your work as anything better than a corporate side hustle—a way for the IP to make some cash on the side—and will ignore you and the stuff you've created unless given pressing reasons to do otherwise. (Such as when they might make some unexpected money off it... at which point you remind yourself as forcibly as necessary that what you did is Work For Hire; they own it, lock, stock and barrel, and you should not realistically expect to be given any credit.)

And, if you understand the rules and enjoy the work enough, all of this is okay. The reward is not in making a lot of money doing it, or even in having aspects of your work openly assumed into canon. The reward lies in being allowed to contribute to a given universe in public (and, yeah, getting paid for it by the licensor). It's not payback: it's payforward. And you're left an astonishing amount of freedom to bring your vision to that universe. (Sometimes... as one colleague has McCoy say... you have to be "very, very careful" to get away with it. But it can be done.)

The truth is that even in the 1980s, I was sharing this level of playing-in-a-universe with a goodish cohort of editors and writers: a big roomful at least. Now I'm sharing it (retroactively speaking) with hundreds of them. With the best will in the world, even in the 80's the licensors (as regarded film) couldn't have realistically polled/listened to all of us regarding our creative opinions about the screenplay end of things. As for what that'd look like nowadays... I'll leave you to your own deductions. 😏

Anyway, thanks for the question. It's always nice to know that there are people who want to know what you think. 😊

[imaginepostingonmain]

if theres one thing i could say to roleplayers and writers and oc makers it would probably be that you don't have to make your oc good at the things they enjoy!!

i remember one of the first people i ever really roleplayed with (we fell out of contact a long while ago; i hope they're doing alright now) was a big doer of this- their ocs would have talents or hobbies that they were very, very good at-- they never needed to learn or practice or anything of the sort- and i ain't condemning them for it in any way! the world of fiction is a wonderful place and a great form of escapism! that's what the "you don't have to" aspect of this is all about!

but it led (at least in this case) to this vein of thinking that was centered around "(x) aspect of my life isn't how it is in stories; does that mean i'm doing it wrong?"

when you don't have any other reference for things like hobbies or relationships- or when trouble with hobbies and relationships comes first, and you make ocs that are very, very good at dealing with these things to cope- it can sometimes skew your way of thinking about these things-- which i know because i did exactly the same and it did exactly the same for me. there weren't any characters out there who sucked at what they liked and liked what they sucked at, and honestly it just began to make me feel worse about myself. was i not improving fast enough? was this not the sort of route of life i should be pursuing? would my favourite characters be disappointed in me?

sometimes it works with escapism! sometimes it makes you feel worse abt your own life! sometimes- and this is entirely possible- it does both at once!

and honestly, there's a lot of things you might be able to accept in the worlds you create and the fiction you consume that could help you- like that it's okay if you (and your characters) don't fall in love as a teens, or it's okay if the relationships said teens build aren't concrete aspects of their life. it's okay if you (or your characters) never fall in love at all! it's okay if your characters are messy, complicated people and it's okay if they're not right or good or nice all the time!

but the biggest (and funnest, and perhaps most freeing) thing is they don't have to be good at what they like!! you can have singers who aren't prodigies and artists who aren't secretly talented and bookworms who aren't geniuses- and you can have people who like romance and aren't good at falling in love, or who like being good and aren't skilled at being morally upstanding!!

you truly can do what you want forever!!!!!

[ellecdc]

HI QUEEN 🎀🩷🎀🩷

I literally just atalkws all your marauders fics for like 2 solid hours. You're writing is healing me at this point.

I was wondering if your requests were open? And if they are can I please request a fic that happens directly after the first war (marauders era) and reader has ptsd and maybe got triggered by the smallest of domestic actions done by one of the boys and comfort ensues for the episode and aftermath guilt?

I'm sorry it's oddly specific, just fighting some demons rn and your awesome writing kinda does the trick heheh

please feel free to ignore this one! love u <33

thanks for your request, love. hope things have been easier on you as of late <3

poly!marauders x fem!reader who is struggling with PTSD [1.5k words]

CW: PTSD, post-war, mention of past character death/grief, panic attack, hurt/comfort

The war had taken its toll on all of you; ghosts of the people you lost and the people you all once were haunted you, reminding you of scars both visible and invisible that coloured every aspect of your life.

There were things that the four of you staunchly refused to talk about; Remus refused to speak about his time in the feral packs, Sirius refused to speak about his brother, James refused to speak about Peter’s betrayal, and you refused to speak about what happened when you went missing.

Perhaps there were healthier ways to manage the grief and pain, perhaps you would all benefit from reconsidering those lines each of you had drawn in the sand.

But you were all alive, you were all together, and you had your whole lives ahead of you, and for now, that was enough. 

It was enough until it wasn’t.

It was enough until Remus was sitting on the floor of your kitchen with you pulled into his chest as Sirius hovered in front of you, holding your hands against his chest as he begged you to breathe, to copy his breaths, to come back to him. 

To come back to him. 

You and James had been fussing in the kitchen making breakfast this morning; Remus being wholly uninterested in mornings but very much interested in the two of you had been sitting at the kitchen table in camaraderie as Sirius shuffled sleepily into the room. 

He took the time to admire Sirius’ sleep rumpled hair and the faint lines over his face and bare torso, clearly having rolled straight out of bed before going in search of his loves. 

You were reaching into a cupboard to retrieve Sirius’ favourite mug when he came up behind you and placed his hand at the nape of your neck at the exact moment that James burned himself at the stove; cursing loudly and dropping the pan which landed on the floor with a bang, closely followed by the sound of breaking glass. 

Remus was up from his seat in record time, aching joints be damned, and at James’ side.

“I’m sorry, I’m okay; sorry.” James gritted out, acquiescing to Remus’ probes and allowing him to examine his hand.

“Awe bubs, you got yourself good.” Remus cooed as he cast a quick aguamenti over the burn.  

“Shit, yeah.” He breathed out. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

“What broke?” Remus asked then, looking down at the pan that had landed horribly close to James’ feet and searching for evidence of a broken bowl.

“What do you mean?”

“Did you not drop something?” Remus clarified.

James shook his head with furrowed brows. “Just the pan.”

Their bemusement turned to concern when they heard a choked “baby” coming from Sirius’ lips. 

Remus’ stomach dropped as he turned to see you half keeled over, leaning against the counter with one hand at your abdomen and the other over your mouth as if you were suppressing a scream. 

“Is she hurt!?” James asked quickly, moving swiftly along from his own pain.

“It…I- it was me. I-” Sirius started, sinking to the floor in time with you as your legs seemed wholly unable to hold you up in your current state. 

“She’s panicking.” Remus surmised aloud, quickly tiptoeing over what he realised were shards of Sirius’ mug that you’d been procuring moments before. 

“Dove? Hey, look at me.” Remus offered as he crouched in front of you.

You shook your head quickly and sucked in a stilted breath. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry, my love, just look at me.”

You shook your head again and tried to back further into the lower cabinets as if hoping they would simply swallow you whole.

“I’ll clean it up. I’m sorry.”

“Sweetheart,” Sirius pleaded, “we’re not worried about the mess.”

“I’m okay.” You sobbed, sounding anything but.

“I know you are, dove. You’re okay, come now.” Remus said as he finally joined you on the floor, leaning back against the cabinets and pulling you into his lap so that you were fully enveloped in his embrace. “Big breath, babylove, can you do that for me?”

You made a high pitched keening sound and shook your head quickly. “I’m sorry.”

Remus looked over to notice that James had his burnt hand held protectively against his chest while his other kneaded into Sirius’ shoulder as he whispered into his ear.

“Look, dove, Jamie can fix the mug no problem, and Siri’s gonna help you take big breaths, okay?” Remus tired then, stirring both boys into action as James straightened and cast a quick reparo to Sirius’ mug and Sirius shuffled over on his knees to station himself between Remus’ spread legs and in front of you. 

“Can you copy me, baby? Like this?” Sirius begged. “Just like this.”

Sirius pried your hands away from your face and encouraged them to flatten out against his chest where Remus was sure you could feel the hammering of his heart as he took a dramatic breath for your benefit. 

You choked out a few more apologies that both boys gently admonished you for as you tried to copy Sirius’ breaths; they were nowhere near as deep or graceful, but Remus was thankful for your effort nonetheless. 

James reappeared then, his own hand now wrapped with medical tape and smelling strongly of Remus’ healing balms when he held something out for you.

“Angel, can you do me a favour?” He asked extraordinarily softly that it even had Remus feeling more at ease. “Can you hold these for me?”

Remus watched your face as you wretched your eyes open - another ‘deep breath’ stilted by a sob as you looked to him - to see him holding two large spheres of ice that Sirius had for his firewhiskey. 

Sirius kept his hands gently stationed on your arms as you removed them from his chest and accepted the ice from James, still never letting go even as the ice began to melt and drip freezing water down your wrists. 

When your sobs became the occasional hiccups and Remus felt you deflate further into his embrace, he braved a gentle caress of your upper arms in warning of his presence.

“Better?” He murmured lowly into your shoulder, earning him a deep sigh that came out only slightly shaky. 

“I…think so. I’m s-”

“No, no, dove.” He admonished quickly, peppering slow kisses along your shoulder and the column of your neck. “There’s nothing to apologise for.”

“I didn’t mean to cause a scene.” You murmured quietly, and Remus watched as Sirius’ face crumpled.

“You didn’t cause a scene, baby.” He argued quickly. “You were scared; I-”

James made a sympathetic sound in the back of his throat as he wrapped an arm around Sirius and pressed his lips to his long-haired boyfriend’s head.

“Should we not touch you like that, dove? Here?” Remus asked carefully then; dragging a barely-there finger across the nape of your neck and watching goosebumps appear.

“No, that’s fine, I- it wasn’t that I…it was just both and I…I didn’t sleep very well and it was just…”

“Too much?” Sirius offered as James relinquished you of what was left of your ice that had you and Remus damp, drawing circles into your wrists that he still had secured in his grasp.

“Just at once, I’m sorry.”

“Angel…” James chided.

“I am sorry.” You insisted as you looked at James imploringly. “I’ve not been doing a very good job handling my shit lately and now I’ve ruined the morning for everyone.”

“It’s not your shit, baby, and it’s not only yours to handle; we’re supposed to be helping you too, yeah?” Sirius pressed as he craned his neck to meet your eye that you were trying to avoid. 

“And you didn’t ruin anything; you could never ruin anything.” James added. 

You sniffled at that and took another deep breath that hardly shook at all as you leaned further into Remus. “Is your hand okay, Jamie?”

James smiled softly at you before bending down to press a kiss to your forehead. “It’ll be good as new, but I owe Moons some healing balm since I used a whole jar from his stash.”

“I’ll buy it!” Sirius announced quickly, surprising a small laugh from you.

“I’d think not, Pads; I’m the one who used it up!”

“Yes but you’re the one who was hurt, I’m the one who upset our girl.”

“I upset her too.” James countered as they began arguing who had played a bigger hand in this morning’s commotion. 

You and Remus shared a fond yet exasperated look before the two of you stood - on shaky legs after being folded up for so long - and opted to take a warm shower and change into dry clothes.

It may not have been the start to the day any of you would have liked, but you all made it out okay, you were all together, and you had your whole lives ahead of you. 

And for now, that was more than enough.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Magic Systems

Magic - change wrought through unnatural means

Most fantasy can be placed along a spectrum where there are 3 main points: soft magic at one end, hard magic at the other, and a middle ground between the two.

Soft Magic

Magic that is not well-defined for the reader.

Generally, we don’t understand where the magic comes from, who can use it, or what its limitations are.

Readers can see this type of magic being used.

But they can never anticipate when magic will be used in the plot because they can’t begin to guess how it works.

You can’t break a rule if the rules don’t exist!

Most stories that feature this system will have the magic users be secondary characters, allowing them to avoid explaining exactly how the magic works.

It’s also argued that without knowing everything about the magic, it tends to hold more wonder and excitement for readers.

Hard Magic

Has very rigid boundaries.

Readers know where the magic comes from, how it’s used, who uses it, and what its boundaries and limitations are.

We know the limitations of the characters and can understand why they can’t simply magic themselves out of any particular challenge.

Stories with hard magic systems do not need to avoid the main character being a magic-wielder, as they have the capacity to explain to the reader what is going on.

A lot of writers this system because it gives them very explicit guidelines to follow in their plot and creates some more satisfying pay-offs for readers.

The Middle Ground

The meeting point between the soft and hard systems.

We might understand a bit about the way the magic works, but not all our questions are answered.

While most of the content adheres to rules, these rules aren’t fully explored.

This system relies on the reader’s suspension of disbelief.

The main character can be a magic-wielder or not, and it’s up to the writer to determine when magic will be used in terms of plot.

How to Choose a System

You can and should use these guiding principles to build your magic system. Remember that you don’t have to choose one or the other. Your system can draw from aspects of both. Just stay aware of the weaknesses of the path you choose, and ensure you utilize its strengths.

Use a hard magic system if:

You are going to use magic to solve problems

Your audience is accustomed to the tropes of hard magic

You are okay with jumping through hoops to expand your system

Your magic doesn’t convey a theme

Use a soft magic system if:

You want to convey a theme through magic

You want to create a sense of wonder

You want the ability to expand easily

You want to be accessible to a broader audience

Your magic won’t regularly be used to solve problems

Branches of Magic

Like most writing processes, there isn’t really a correct place to begin designing a magic system. A common, and efficient, place to start, however, is by choosing what type of magic system(s) you wish to employ, such as:

Nature-based magic: water, earth, fire, air, and everything in between

Divination magic: see beyond sight and peer through time and space

Conjuring magic: move objects through space over any distance

Psychic magic: master the world of the mind

Life and death magic: tap into the very forces of life, death, and un-death with this surprisingly versatile collection

Animal- or creature-exclusive magic: some creatures just do it better

Magitech systems: the blurring lines of sorcery and science give magic a next-gen, high-tech flair

Eclectic magic: it doesn’t have to be “real” magic to have a real effect

Uncommon magic systems: the unsung heroes of fantasy magic

AALC Method

How to create your own magic system using the AALC (Appearance, Abilities, Limits & Cost) Method

Appearance

What the magic looks like

Makes the world feel more exotic

Can cause problems for characters but cannot solve them

Usually tied to a character arc

Abilities

What the magic does

Points calculated based on magical effect, range, number of people affected, and duration

Characters have a finite amount of fuel (mana) to use abilities

More powerful abilities require more fuel

The fuel does not have to be overt for the audience to understand

If points not overt, cannot solve conflicts unless a cost system is added

Limits

Unlimited uses of magical abilities

Abilities stratified in codified levels defined by their limits

The more the levels' abilities and limits are known by the audience, the more they can be used to solve conflicts

Focused on clever uses of abilities against stronger foes

Cost system can be added to enhance dramatic moments

Cost

Costs must be greater than or equal to abilities to make them dramatically satisfying

Costs can include time, exhaustion, materials, sanity, morality, etc.

Adds dilemma to magic by forcing characters to make choices

The greater the character's sacrifice, the more audience satisfaction at conflict resolution

Each system builds on the previous ones, so that Cost Systems use all four, while Point Systems only care about Abilities and Appearance.

Multiple systems can exist within the same story, and systems can harden over the course of the story.

The Force, for instance, has been a Soft, Point, Level, and Cost System depending on who wrote it at the time.

SOFT SYSTEMS (Appearance Only)

Window Dressing - magic for secondary characters; can instigate conflict but cannot solve it; e.g., Gandalf

Soft Villain - No explanation or upper limits needed; makes villains more powerful to make heroes greater underdogs; e.g., The Emperor

Chosen One - Unknown power keeps hero safe throughout story; can be considered plot armor unless earned through character arc

Sort Hero Incomplete - Curse or positive ability the character cannot control; hero still learning limits of ability at story's end; powers and arc continued in next adventure

Soft Hero Complete - Hero embraces ability to complete arc and solve main conflict; magic must become harder in subsequent adventures

POINT SYSTEMS (Appearance + Abilities)

Points Opaque - Non-explicit reservoir of energy fuels powers; cannot solve main problems without cost option because characters finding hidden energy reserve feels like deus ex machina

Points Hard - Both abiliites and points system must be explicit like in video games; becomes about resource management; easy to understand but takes sense of wonder out of magic

LEVEL SYSTEMS (Appearance + Abilities + Limits)

Soft Level Static - Unchanging power without upper limits; cannot solve conflicts because feels repetitive; power must be used cleverly; e.g., Wolverine's healing factor

Soft Level Advancing - Increased powers or new powers with unknown limits; cannot solve conflicts unless tied to a character arc like Soft Hero Complete, at which point "unlocks" new abilities

Hard Level Static - Unchanging abilities with clear-cut limits; can solve conflicts so long as setup is properly seeded, usually resulting in sacrifice; e.g., Genie

Hard Level Advancing - Well-established abilities with limits; can solve conflicts based upon clever uses of abilities, usually against stronger foes; e.g., Airbender

COST SYSTEMS (Appearance + Abilities + Limits + Cost)

Static Cost - Well-established cost remains consistent for each use of ability; can solve conflicts since based on personal sacrifice

Cost Fluctuating - Costs change based upon dramatic need; costs must be greater than or equal to ability; possible costs include lost time, money, sanity, health, memory, life, morality, etc.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 ⚜ Writing Notes & References Writing Notes: Magic System ⚜ Fictional Items; Poisons ⚜ Fantasy

[worrynoodle]

Okay. Now that I'm caught up, I would like to put in my two cents on this.

⚠️Warning, if the whole fandom panic thing stresses you out, please go ahead and skip this, but I tried to make it reassuring. There's no need to go worrying yourself over rumors and hearsay. ⚠️

For one thing, there's no amount of asking and pressure that is going to make any of the show creators reveal the ending. That isn't how tv shows work. You wait, you watch, you see. It also isn't fair for those of us who hate spoilers for them to constantly be asked for.

Two. I know that a lot of us on here are neurodivergent and have anxiety, and a HUGE part of that anxiety can be the unknown, especially about things we care very deeply for and identify with. This show and its characters hold a very special place in our hearts, and we fear not knowing the ending, especially with a big bang cliffhanger like s2e6. But please try to sit in that discomfort and allow yourself to feel your feelings without panicking.

Third, this story has been beloved for 30 years, yeah? Of course, OF COURSE, it's not going to be a bad ending! It's obviously something that all of the creators involved have been passionate about. Why on earth would it end badly? And all of them - Neil g, Terry p, the directors, the actors, the cast and crew, set and costume designers, the hair and makeup crew, ALL these wonderful people - put an unfathomable amount of care and thought into every aspect of the story.

Next, please, please, please try to remember the show on its own, right? All the details, all the scenes building Aziraphale and crowleys history individually and as a pair weren't put in there for no reason. Take what we actually see on screen and separate that from metas, theories, fanart, and fanfiction. We all love diving into what each detail could mean, but remember, it's all speculation until it concludes.

The story, what we have so far, is kind of a mostly completed puzzle. There's a lot of missing spaces, that's the season three bits. And right now we can't see the bigger picture but you have to remember that each piece of the puzzle was made by the people who painted the whole picture. Every piece that we have was made to fit with the whole story so once we have all the "season three pieces" they're going to fit right into place as they're supposed to.

And maybe, if you have very very high expectations - like very specific headcanons for how you think a perfect ending would look like - maybe it wouldn't be too bad to lower your expectations and open your mind to new possibilities. Ones that can be just as good!

So please, take a deep breath. Count to ten. Get your hot chocolate, your tartan blankets and comfy chairs, pull up some happy-ending fanfics and remember that it's all going to be alright. It's 2024 and this isn't Sherlock

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but how has your opinion changed on Steven Universe now than when it first aired? Like I have fond memories of watching the show while it was airing but now I realize that it had a lot of problems that I feel like a lot of fans either flat out ignore or bend over backwards to make sure their rose tinted glasses stay on.

... okay, fair question. Let's talk about this.

I'll try not to wax poetic too long, but there are a lot of things to be said here.

First and foremost - how has my opinion changed since the show has ended?

Simply put - it hasn't.

When I started watching Steven Universe over 7 years ago, I didn't have much knowledge of it. I sat down, saw a few of episodes and went 'well, this is a silly show for kids with a goofy but loveable protagonist... but it seems like it's also incredibly charming with its delivery and has some nice, more complex themes about loss and healing and grief throughout.'

And if you ask me what Steven Universe is now... I would probably say that exact same thing.

Am I wearing rose tinted lenses? Interesting question.

What ARE 'rose tinted lenses' in this context anyway?

What do these lenses represent? What do they obscure?

Since you didn't go into specifics, I can only assume what you're referring to when you say that many fans ignore the show's problems.

There have been many discussions surrounding various aspects of the show and how it might be read as 'problematic' (ahhh how I've come to despise that word.... without context, it has all the descriptive power of the word 'icky' - none of the critical details and all of the emotional punch of scrunching up your face like a cat that just sniffed a lemon...)

Is this about something as simple as the 'SU doesn't have a consistent size for its characters' debate?

Because that has been gone back to, over and over again, and proven to be a point of opinion. SU favored allowing storyboarders to show off their personal flourish, and even though Peridot was 30% hair in that one episode, it did not overall take away from the plotline being told, which was their goal. If you wanted to watch a show with consistent styling throughout, you can always watch a 3D modeled show, but keeping that up was simply never one of SU's main pillars. And I feel like it didn't have to be.

Is this about something more complex such as the way Rose was presented?

...and how her arc was shown backwards instead of forwards - showing first the person she became in the end, and afterwards revealing all the growth she had to have to get there?

That was on purpose! And I don't think this is a problem. It's a feature, not a bug. Rose was never meant to be an ideal character - she was meant to be complicated and messy, and I think the fact that the fandom is so split in their opinions of her shows that the Crewniverse pulled that off really well!

She fucked over Bismuth! She forced Pearl to be silent! Those are both parts of her character arc that were never resolved because she died before she could resolve it - that's BY DESIGN. Sometimes, you just do something absolutely stupid and cruel, and you cannot go back to fix it.

Is this about the Diamonds? The fact that they were not put in space jail, after being put on trial for space crimes, and then publicly executed for space eco-genocide?

Here's the thing - most people I know who watched and loved SU are fully aware of that. But simply put - Steven Universe was not a story about Revenge.

Steven Universe was a story about love. A story about family. A story about truth, and lies, and hurt, and healing. About how sometimes healing doesn't happen. And how sometimes it will, but you won't be around to see it.

But it's not a story that can be all things for all people.

That is the thesis of my reply: It is a story.

It is not a manifesto. It is not a bible. It is not a Complete Truth.

It is a single story. Made by a group of very talented people, who cared about these characters, who did their best. They made a funny, emotional, well-drawn and complex cartoon show about the things THEY personally wanted to tell stories about.

Does it answer all questions the way everyone wants them answered? No. That's impossible.

Everyone wants a different story. Everyone wants a different solution, a different resolution. A different ending.

Steven Universe is one story. It cannot satisfy all people.

So when you ask me 'has your opinion of Steven Universe changed'? The answer is 'no'.

I went in, expecting to see a story. I saw a lot of what I liked! I saw some parts which I thought were interesting. I saw some parts which, yes, I disagreed with a little.

But overall, it's a good story. And that's what I expected, and that's what I got, which means I'm pretty satisfied. I love that story.

I feel like recently, there's this expectation of media, to be Everything For All People. And it's a bit unrealistic. No one call tell the perfect story. We are all simply telling the stories we want to tell. And people will vibe with that, more or less.

A single story, made by a small group of people, will never be that for you. There will never be an Unproblematic Cartoon that you watch that will be devoid of things you disagree with.

Being critical of media doesn't mean 'Criticize the FUCK outta that media, and the one with the least criticisms is the best one'.

Critical thinking is about evaluating things critically - that means being critical of YOURSELF. Being critical of your OWN reactions. Asking 'why did I like this?' and 'why did I dislike this?'. Asking 'this doesn't mesh with me, but who WOULD it mesh with? It isn't for me, but who is it for? Who would it hurt, but also who would it help?'

Some people HATED how SU: Future ended. They beat their fists on the wall and cried about how Steven was leaving his family behind, and how THEY could never imagine doing something like that, and how he was running away from his problems just like Rose had.

Me? I loved it. I think it was the right choice, and I COULD imagine it and thought it was in character. I thought he needed to be his own person, instead of shouldering everyone else's responsibilities for once. Was one of us more right than the other? Maybe not? Maybe that was the whole point?

Loving things is not about putting on rose colored glasses. Sometimes, choosing to love something with flaws is an act of rebellion. It's about knowing you have differences, but understanding that there is value in the things you DO agree on, and knowing you can consume that.

Healthy consumption of media does not mean throwing the whole cartoon away as soon as you notice something is wrong with it, like a bruise on an apple.

Healthy consumption of media involves critical thinking AND feeding yourself. Acknowledging you may disagree with parts of it, but not starving yourself just because your apples all have small imperfections.

Eat, for fuck's sake. Feed yourself. You'll feel better.

Thassit.

[tritoch]

Something that bugs me a lot in Dawntrail discourse is watching people who think they are defending the expansion argue away its best aspect. Because here's the thing: Wuk Lamat isn't like prior FFXIV characters. She takes up way more space than them. That's good!

A common thread you see in defenses is that people are complaining about things they were fine with earlier in the story. "Oh well actually Lyse was also the main character of Stormblood and people didn't hate her as much!" or "Heavensward is the story of Aymeric and Estinien and Ysayle, and the Warrior of Light doesn't do that much!" or "No one complained when Gaia jumped into the Eden raids, or when Emet showed up during Seat of Sacrifice" with the implied conclusion of "Wuk Lamat's not different from any other previous major character, your complaints have more to do with [sexism/transphobia/your crippling insecurity about not being the main character] than the way she's written." First of all people did hate Lyse. I get what you are saying but they very much did hate Lyse.

But Wuk Lamat is different. She's different because Dawntrail is unapologetically, full-throatedly her story. She is there at the start, she is there at the end, she is there basically all the way through except for a brief interlude. She is the character you talk to the most, she is also the character that talks the most. She has more of a complete arc than anyone else in the expansion. The antagonists develop much stronger direct and personal relationships to her than they ever do with you. Several major characters have relationships to you through her more than they do with you directly. At multiple points in the story you explicitly step back and are like "Go right ahead, queen, do the main character stuff." She 100% takes your role in certain ways. She's literally a new WL to your WoL!

and that's awesome! Like, holy shit! If you had traveled back in time and told me after Endwalker, "Hey, the next expansion will be almost solely and entirely focused on the character journey of a young woman, and she'll be nuanced and complex and allowed to fail but also allowed to succeed wildly, and her characterization will be interesting and her ideals will be very directly challenged, and she'll get to do some real classic 'sorry my noble opponent but I must stop you, even though I sympathize' shit, and the way she is framed won't feel excessively male-gazey, and she won't get stuck in the FFXII Ashe Miniskirt, and she won't just be someone you watch and clap for while the real protagonist and narrator is some random guy in her entourage," I would've been like "haha, okay, I like FFXIV as much as the next guy but I don't think it's shaken its baseline sexism off enough to do an expansion entirely about a woman and her personal growth and what makes her a good leader, especially after Stormblood's mixed reception. And CBU3 definitely doesn't have the guts to make her even more of a main character than any other prior NPC, and you didn't mention this part future time traveler, but I also don't believe they'll be willing to cast a trans woman in the role." And I would have been fucking wrong!

Yes, Wuk Lamat is the main character. Yes, she does get more attention than other NPCs, or even your Warrior of Light. And yes, that's totally fine, and even something to praise!!! You don't have to run from it to accommodate people who are looking for something to complain about!

[faelapis]

hotd: team green or black? (or?)

rhaenys thoughts?

rhaenyra x mysaria…???

house of the dragon asks! VERY LONG ANSWERS AHEAD:

1: team green or black?

there's two answers to this - the intellectual answer, and the team sports answer.

the intellectual answer is that this isn't really "the point." both sides have (and will) lose a great deal. there are no winners in war, only survivors. a petty conflict between the rich will result in the death of many.

on a broader, thematic note, my impression is that a big point of the entire "song of ice and fire" is that the unjust hierarchy of monarchy and feudalism hurts people. especially the lower classes. they are affected when lords flex military might, when they put their own survival above the realm, when they act petty, selfish or cowardly, which they frequently do. the rare "peaceful" ruler does not justify the system. the lower classes also suffer the most in war. but the system hurts everyone - even the royals themselves. they are literally killing each other for power.

THAT. BEING. SAID.

i actually disagree with the take that you can't have some fun with the team sports aspect. this is a fictional television show. Fun is allowed. it's drama! murder! crying and screaming!!!

so while HotD has overall thematic messages, the show encourages you to enjoy the back-and-forth between the characters. i don't begrudge people for their stan wars on twitter. we all know this is a fictional show - and its okay to be ruled by your emotions when watching fiction.

so. with that said? team black, 100%. i think they have more compelling characters and reasoning for their cause. fundamentally, their cause is to put a woman on the throne in a society ruled by traditional patriarchy.

look, i love alicent for her complexity. she is a well-written character who makes sense with her society... but she is not a girl's girl. she is trapped both by external forces of patriarchy and its effect on her own mind. she is stuck fighting for men and fulfilling wifely duties - never fighting for herself.

she seems pretty miserable, at the end of the day.

yes, rhaenyra is also complex. she's often a bad person - but sometimes, i like seeing a strong woman on a dragon do some crimes :) especially one who has had to fight for respect as often as rhaenyra. that's compelling tv, even if Monarchy Bad.

the greens have A Point somewhere, about stability > rhaenyra, but they are also clouded by self-interest. they didn't even TRY supporting a woman. (also, remember, this is emotion/vibes-based.)

the "aagon's dream" misunderstand was initially frustrating, which also makes me side against the greens a bit more. i like when characters are compelled by real, sincere differences in opinion. i dislike when it's just a misunderstanding that can be easily quelled.

and alicent DID have real motivations, previously! she was right that rhaenyra would have reason to kill her children to claim legitimacy - even if that's more of a Matter of War now than a real intention of hers early on.

oh well. one good thing about the misunderstanding is that it didn't actually convince anyone other than alicent. otto hightower and the council were already planning a coup. it seems mostly that it was a good tool to further their cause, not something that actually convinced the masses on a deep, personal level. you can also make the case that alicent "heard what she wanted to hear".

but it doesn't really matter because nobody was going to suddenly switch sides. the material reality is more important: the council wanted aagon. otto wanted to secure his interests. alicent wanted to secure her children's safety. the war is already happening, so alicent's misunderstanding being cleared up doesn't change anything.

and it causes alicent to realize she doesn't really have much power. society around her will keep turning, and her influence is very limited. the rabble may hate or worship her, and she has little control over it. she may be important in the council, or dismissed from it. which is leading her on a compelling arc that i'm interested to see where goes!

2: rhaenys thoughts?

very few! uhh... she seemed nice? i like her death scene?

the show seems to use her symbolically as a shorthand for "what a good woman ruler could be like" for the kingdom. but i don't know if it would've played out that way. it is hard to tell, because if she WAS queen, the society she lives in could have turned against her. or maybe she could have found a way to earn their trust. maybe viserys would've been chill enough to support her claim (probably?). but we don't know. she's The Queen Who Never Was (tm).

3: rhaenyra x mysaria?

ok so, i do actually have a hot take on this, cuz i've seen some call it "rushed." it may ruffle some feathers. here we go:

i dont think every gay kiss has to feel like an "earned" 50k slowburn fic. it's well-established that instant or near-instant attraction is a thing. i dont think it will be "endgame," but i dont think it needs to be.

i think sometimes - often in this show - you see a man and a woman meet and fuck the same night. people tend to just accept that. not every case of attraction has to be based on a Deep Bond of Many Years. sometimes, a man and woman on this show have no real bond, yet as soon as they Walk Close to Each Other, it's accepted "they will fuck that night."

i would also suggest that not everything is literal. it's addressed in canon that rhaenyras' attraction to daemon came hand-in-hand with what he represented to her. which was, in a word, freedom. she wanted to BE him more than anything.

if we take a non-literal approach, what might mysaria represent?

right now, i think its rhaenyras desperation for someone to listen to her. her council belittles her for being a woman. it protects her like a "daughter" rather than a ruler. mysaria both listens to her, and plots with her on equal level. in a way, she represents (and yes this is a somewhat cliche thing in gay pairings, but not for no reason!) a sense of equality and mutual understanding in a patriarchal world.

they are not "literally" equal in terms of rank - but again, it does not have to be completely literal. mysaria feels Treated like an equal by rhaenyra. she's trusted (and given agency), and earns rhaenyras trust (+expands her own agency) in turn.

mysaria additionally seems to represent a different idea of rebellion against patriarchy - an involuntary one. because she cannot perform its most core obligation of (presumed cisgender) womanhood: she cannot bear children. she must find other forms of "worth" in the world. she has no choice.

rhaenyra herself desires to take up sword, rule in a "masculine" way. so being the only other woman there + both of them standing outside patriarchys desired paths for them + being able to help/depend on each other... seems, to me, to serve the Themes of rhaenyras repression vs liberation well.

not to mention, it's interesting in light of rhaenyra being kinda gnc-coded in... other ways!

anyway. like i said, i Highly Doubt these two will be any kind of "endgame." but that's okay. sometimes, you dont need an eternity together - you just need a moment.

i think there's a certain breed of fan who sees many things only through shipping. so if there's not a long, "satisfying" arc of these two developing feelings for each other, it's a "badly written ship." especially for gay couples. and i don't think this is even conscious homophobia, i think its (partially from queer viewers!!) because they WANT to root for those ships. they WANT a gay ship to feel perfectly "right" in a heteronormative world.

well i'm sorry to say, this show is not a romance. it is not about ships or the idealized, perfectly developed couple. sometimes, people find an attraction to one another in ways that are not ideal. shit happens. people get lonely. people find relief in the only other person there who seems to understand them. sometimes it's quick. sometimes it's the opposite of a 50k coffeeshop slowburn AU.

but that does not mean it's bad. it's just reality.

[licorice-and-rum]

My response to some "critics" about Babel

Okay, I'm gonna start by saying this: English is not my first language so I may commit some spelling and grammar mistakes here but I felt like I just had to write this down, especially because of the negative reviews this book has that just… didn't get it.

Don't get me wrong, of course you're allowed to not like this book, I recognize that it's most certainly not gonna be everyone's cup of tea but some of the people here just didn't get what this book was all about. Babel isn't a fantasy like ACOTAR, or HP, or whatever (in the sense that, for those, the story guides the message while Babel is the contrary): like many classical books, Babel was written to make a point, it's a romance, sure, but it was written to argue for something - the necessity of violence.

So, first of all: Babel is a historical fantasy, it talks about colonialism, racism, sexism, and other matters with no qualms, no embellishing to make it digestible, no allegories or metaphors because this isn't the point. Kuang's "lack of nuance" as someone here pointed out is very deliberate and extremely important for the story because the points she wants to make are always lost in nuance (just think how many people go on misinterpreting Star Wars, Hunger Games, or even anti-system songs like The Wall ffs), and the message is too important to get lost in allegories.

Second, as to the story, many people seem to think what she's pointing out is obvious "ur dur colonialism is bad, we get it". No, you clearly don't. There's a profound difference between getting it and actually comprehending it to an elemental level. Robin's travel to Canton illustrates that perfectly: he knew that colonialism was bad, he knew it was violent but he didn't comprehend it until he was forced to face it happening in front of him - to people who could've been easily him. More than that, because that was when he finally connected the theory with the reality, it became palpable to him.

It's not enough to get it, you have to actually stay attuned to it, to feel the flow of its violence throughout the world because then, and only then, I'll realize you can't be complacent, you can't turn your head from it. And Babel is an attempt, however tiny, of showing this to you. Of telling you "Look, you're ignoring it, the discomfort you felt reading this is your conscience telling you you relate to that". So no, I refuse to accept that Kuang should have been more nuanced: she was as clear as she could because she knows people say they get it but they don't, not really.

Third, the magical system is just chef's kiss. I've seen many people complaining about it but the thing is: the silver working is not about having magic in the world, it's about creating a palpable, material place where Kuang could center her attention as she talked about the economic aspect of colonialism. That's because colonial power is not centered in one place or thing, it is scattered all around but you can't hardly make a point like Babel's if you have your characters fighting off colonialism in all corners of the world. Like the Capital in the Hunger Games, Babel is a material place that symbolizes something.

Moreover, the silver working symbolizes the Industrial Revolution and its need for the advance of colonialism. More than that, silver-working is about capital, it's about technology to generate more profit, quicker, for a specific class that doesn't care who they have to kill to continue, doesn't care whether it is good or bad for the common folk.

Fourth, many people pointed out how academic Kuang's writing style felt during Babel and they're right, it is indeed very identifiable. I'm sure I even commented something along the lines of "it feels like I'm having the best History lesson of all time". But I'm going to challenge people who say things against the notion that the historical description of Kuang was unnecessary: every time Kuang chose to give the readers historical context has served somehow to the narrative.

I remember early on in the book when Robin was still a teen walking through London and reading anything he could put his hands on, and then we get two paragraphs of historical and political context for the time, then Robin comments that he didn't understand why this mattered so much. That paragraph served so much, both because it made us know a little more about Robin and because it served to make us understand the profound environmental change England was going through at the time.

And every time she did this, it served for something. Again, Babel is a historical fantasy, it is supposed to make you think about the point Kuang is trying to make but you won't understand it if you don't know the context of which Robin and the other characters in the book are coming from. It was a time of decision: either England would consolidate itself as an almost all-powerful oppressor, or it could go down… if the oppressed people - who share a common enemy - understood their responsibility to do something.

The strikes of the English working class, the violent acts of rioters, the advancement in technology, the possibility of the Opium War, the colonialism… it's all important. It's important because it allows us to understand the deep connection between it all. It allows us to understand who profits off of it, and who doesn't; who is able to understand and who isn't. It's why Letty is upper-class. It's why Abel isn't.

It's not as simple as some people think to understand colonialism, the flows through which one thing is tied to another. Why do people ask "How does this affect me?" when we point out deeply unfair things like unpaid maternity leave (I actually saw an American once saying she "wouldn't want her tax money to go to someone who didn't plan through"), like the fact people starve when we have the ability to feed a world and a half, of that Palestine is going through ethnic cleansing? Because they are unable to understand how closely their lives are tied to other peoples they have never met and probably never will.

Kuang's message is not "colonialism is bad", she's saying "These are all the forms through which colonialism is bad to everyone but a few, do something about it", she's saying "Every single one of your struggles is tied together in more ways than you even understand. A person in Haiti, in China, in India, in the other side of the world, has more to do with you than these white rich people, fight with them, stand with them."

Fifth, I can't believe I gotta say this but I'm not going to even bother with you if you think this book is somehow "anti-white": just get over your main character syndrome. We're talking about a historical fantasy set in England in the epitome of colonialism through the eyes of a person of color. Of course, most white people are gonna be bad, get over yourself ffs!

The actual entitlement to the protagonism white people have is maddening. As a white woman (in Brazil, at least), I'm ashamed of some comments here. It's not because white people in this book are majorly racist (which, according to the setting is 100% accurate) that Kuang is talking about you (although, if you're so bothered by it, it's probably about you anyway). This is a book about the experience of people of color under the oppression of colonialism: white people are the problem!

You can't just expect someone to write about colonialism and not talk majorly about race. White people reap all the privileges of this system and not just that, they are responsible for it, and all the crying about being the bad guys is just insufferable (they're actually so right about having to console Letty once she learns about the racism they suffer).

Be f*ing accountable for your privileges, take responsibility for your internalized racism, and be accountable for the system that privileges you. It doesn't matter that it wasn't your fault, that you didn't set up the system, you still benefit from it anyway so get a grip. This story isn't about you at all, it isn't about how some white people fought against slavery or oppression, it isn't about you.

Let's be very clear about this: most white people who fought against slavery did so to serve their own interests, exactly as Kuang points out. This doesn't mean none of them were good people who actually believed slavery was bad but we're talking of a time when racism and racial discrimination weren't even discussed seriously. Most white people, even the ones against slavery would have a deeply ingrained racism in them, so get real.

More than that, though: if those people who actually have no shame in saying Babel is "anti-white" had actually read the book through, they would know that some white people actually help and are good people in the story.

Anyway, Babel is so good, it's so painfully real and so passionately well-written. You can feel Kuang's love for her people, the struggles of what it means to love something but still not be a part of it, the deep understanding of how the world works, and how intricately every single thing in our lives is.

I just felt so heard (as a person from a third-world country) reading Babel, like someone was telling me all this rage and indignation I feel is justified, it's valid. I just treasured it so much, how I identified with Robin's need for security contrasting with his indignation for the price of it; with the rage Griffin carried around him, sharpened and well-directed even in its volition; with the love Victoire had to learn to have for her country and its story; with all the pain I was able to share with someone who understood it.

It's an honor to allow words to change me so fundamentally. It's humbling to realize I'm not alone, that my actions and my feelings are shared by other people. It is really precious, you know, to be able to become a better person than I was before because of a book.

[ramblingguy54]

The more I think on it, the more I believe Wild Robot is arguably the perfect Dreamworks' movie for myself.

Roz & Brightbill feeling like outsiders to their respective origins really sells the weight of how truly lost and lonely both are in their pursuit of understanding what to make of it all. Their dynamic being brought together through heartbreaking misfortune is immensely profound. Makes me reflect upon what own my mother went through trying to fit in with her family, but never could. Just as I have always been insecure about trying to figure out my own place, when she brought me into this world and a big family. In retrospect, we both felt "defective" for our own reasons.

Usually, I don't cry often at movies, or anything for that matter, but their internal struggle of acting like a natural mother & son drives a knife through my heart in the best manner. A surreal mirror of my own life struggling to feel okay with being myself. Further reinforcing how much I love my mother went above and beyond to give me a life of happiness, in spite of whatever bumps in the road happened.

"The accident that killed your family saved you. Funny how life works...?"

The Wild Robot's biggest feat, if not one of many, is managing to make all the denizens of this island not feel insanely mean spirited. It is more so capturing that harsh aspect of nature's morbid atmosphere. In this regard, those chances of Brightbill making it as the runt of that litter were practically nonexistent without Roz's unexpected arrival. He likely would've been either killed by nature's intense elements, a lurking predator of some kind, or end with his biological mother giving up on helping him learn to fly. It served to emphasize nature's survival instincts, in contrast to Roz's evolving compassion for Brightbill. No one else wanted to help the poor kid out because all they saw was dead meat, more or less. Even Fink, despite warming up to Brightbill, wanted to eat him right off the bat after coming across his egg.

Brightbill's weak wings weren't psychically capable in achieving normal flight, much less even a full on migration. However, Roz's determination allowed him to be able to survive from winter, just like the rest of his species. It's the beauty of showing kindness, even to those who may or not like you that can inspire emotional growth. Learning to stay optimistic in an unforgiving environment can bring out the best surprises from places you'd least expect it.

"This is my migration. And when it is time I promise I will find my way home."

The Wild Robot's heavily endearing lesson about kindness persevering makes its ending feel entirely earned. The animals don't just get along with each other right off the bat. Almost dying from that terrible winter storm was a serious wake up call they can't rely on being by themselves forever. Survival instincts or not, it's about opening yourself up to the possibility of trusting and relying upon genuine emotions. Much like Brightbill's entire character was learning to accept Roz did genuinely care for his well being as his mother. Tragedy may have created their situation, but it doesn't define whatever comes next in building a heartfelt connection.

Honestly, it's why I believe The Wild Robot is among Dreamworks' very finest stories they've animated to life. Taking basic ideas spicing them up to feel more emotionally introspective about ourselves. Hell, I'd probably place at it the very top of my number one spot in my favorite Dreamworks' content. It seriously affected me in ways I didn't expect. A bold statement to be sure, but that alone should be a damn great enough reason, as far as I'm concerned.

A simple story about parenthood can do wonders. Especially when it's executed in this caliber of writing. Chris Sanders and his team are legends in their own making.

[geometricgiovanni]

YOU ARE NOW A PRETTY PRINCESS! ✨

This blog contains references to threats and violence. You have been warned.

(hey guys cool sexy man here to tell you first half is in-character, second half under cut is out-of-character)

HELLO! I MADE THIS ACCOUNT OUT OF SPITE OF THAT DISGUSTING THING THAT PLAGUES THIS GOD-FORSAKEN SITE!

NO, DON'T ASK ME ABOUT IT. IF YOU DO, I WILL CRUSH YOU! LETHALLY. You will feel pain. also he blocked me on all 8 of my accounts so um, y'know........

ASK ME THINGS! ASK ME TO DESCRIBE IN EXCRUCIATING DETAIL ASPECTS OF MY LIFE! ASK ME TO DO OBSCURE ACTIVIES THAT WOULD SEVER MY LIMBS IF I HAD ANY!

So here's some info in a similar format to my other blog, some things, such as boundaries, will be copied and pasted:

Blog Information✨

This is an ask/rp blog for Jeremy from regretevator, specifically the Jeremy referenced in @displ3azant. I might use this blog to more freely talk about my specific headcanons about characters from the perspective of an outsider, so that account is likely the only specific one referenced on this blog.

Jeremy in this blog uses he/any!

MAIN TAGS:

#geometric asks - Asks

#geometric posts - Non-ask related posts/reblogs

#ooc - Out-of-character post

BLOG OWNER 🔥

Hello! I am Hex! Yes, you will see me talking to myself! No, do not comment on it. Please refer to me using he/him or it/its pronouns.

My other accounts are: @hexexists - my main blog, if you receive notifications from this account, please know it is just me! @hexational - my regretevator blog @displ3azant - afformentioned Unpleasant rp blog

I'll try to respond to most asks with a drawing of some variety, and if it's something I can use to reveal little ass-shit and bull-dumps about my version of Jeremy.

Please note, however, I am not just one singular guy but also a senior who should really be spending his free time studying, so sometimes I will just give a text response.

Also to note: I am 17 years old, therefore a minor! Even if I was not a minor, I am still not comfortable with weird shit! Keep it in your fucking pants, asshole! Apologies if I sound rude, but holy shit the only blog gets SO many weird asks! I will just be blocking and ignoring any freaky anons, apologies if you are my friend trying to mess with me, but I genuinely cannot take any more risks.

Boundaries ✨

Shipping content: Shipping content is okay, but I don't care much for romance personally and so will likely not play much into it. Please don't push anything, I guess, and nothing that promotes proshipping or any kind of literally illegal pairing. If you dislike any direction taken ship-wise for this blog, then block me and move on with your day.

NSFW content: NSFW CONTENT IS NOT ALLOWED. I am a minor. Thx. Also, "suggestive" jokes are very selectively okay. Basically, if it makes me uncomfortable or is literally disgusting, it will be ignored and likely deleted, and I will probably make fun of you.

Roleplaying: I am totally okay with roleplaying and sending/responding to asks in character!

(ps: i'm also happy to rp with other regretevator ocs too, i think those r super duper cool)

That's all, really.

your mortal enemy,

-Hex

[saltywinteradult]

What I hate most about the last Rhaenicent scene is how holier than thou Rhaenyra is shown to be, the writers aren't even trying to hide their bias.

In the first season they told us Alicent's evil for putting a child abusing rapist on the throne rather than their Mary Sue who's so perfect she won't even order Vaemond Velaryon's execution.

Then in the second season they have Alicent become a pathetic cockroach who will hand her son over on a silver platter to save her own skin. It doesn't matter if you see it differently, this was their intention: to show how much better a mother/woman/Queen/ruler/politician Rhaenyra is because she would scream bloody murder if anyone even suggested disowning Jace whilst Alicent doesn't even protest when she demands Aegon's head.

This show is not for Alicent Hightower fans, Rhaenicent as a ship is not for Alicent Hightower fans. I think the sooner we accept this the easier it will be to abandon HotD once and for all.

(I'm going to assume you're the same anon​ who sent me this.)

*Sigh* Okay. I've already said that I think Rhaenicent can't be canon without butchering the characters, like they have now done with Alicent, and therefore it shouldn't happen. Alicent has been made into Rhaenyra's bootlicker and I hate it. I have already said, very clearly, that I agree with all of that.

However, I have also said, very clearly, that I still enjoy Rhaenicent in some ways despite this. So why are you sending me this, anon​? Are you trying to convince me to stop liking the things I still like about Rhaenicent? Are you trying to convince me, an Alicent fan and a Rhaenicent enjoyer, that it's not possible to be both? Because I'm not the only person in this fandom who is both. We're in the minority, but we exist. You are entitled to your opinion that Rhaenicent and HotD are not for Alicent fans, but this Alicent fan has to disagree. It's not for you to decide what is or isn't "for" anyone other than yourself.

I agree that the writers' intention with that awful last scene was to show Rhaenyra in a better light - because that seems to be their intention with just about everything. This is an issue with the entire show, not just Rhaenicent. The whole story has been twisted to fit into a cookie-cutter pseudo-feminist narrative with Rhaenyra as the hero she was never meant to be, and every character, not just Alicent, has suffered for it. (I would argue that Rhaenyra's character has been butchered too. Making her a feminist hero is so much less interesting than she was in the book.) So as it happens, I don't see that differently than you.

But so what if I did? I'm sorry, but what the hell are you trying to say with a statement like "it doesn't matter if you see it differently"? I am allowed to see it however I want. People can and do have different opinions on art than its​ creator, or different opinions than you for that matter. That's literally just how art works.

And not to be blunt, but if you hate the show this much, why are you even here, anon? Are you trying to convince me to stop watching? Because if so, that's really not for you to decide. Why not just stop watching the show yourself and let other people do what they want? Personally, I'm still watching the show because while the writing is shit, I still think the cinematography is gorgeous, the special effects are great, the music is beautiful, the acting is amazing, and the schadenfreude of watching the Targaryens self-destruct spectacularly is as satisfying as ever. I enjoy some aspects of HotD and not others, just as I enjoy some aspects of Rhaenicent and not others.

[marupunch]

Hello! May I please know what exactly are your thoughts on the craftsman and why you hate him so much? /genq

(I do agree with you but I want to know why so much hatred if you don't mind)

Don't worry and thank you for asking! Sorry this took so long but I wanted to deliver something complete and objective (I had to write this 3 times because the first one looked like a rant...)

Even though I don't like Craftsman, it's not like a "I hate the character" kind of hate, more like "I don't think he's a good person but I'll try to reflect that on my art instead of downright hating the whole character" kind of hate. There's actually some background on why I think like this so I'll try to be as objective as possible with my arguments to make my point clear.

Remember, this is just a personal opinion and it's okay if someone doesn't agree with me!

These are video game characters and we're all allowed to have different perspectives about them.

(...)

⚠️WARNING OF LOOOONG TEXT AND SPOILERS FOR ORIGAMI KING⚠️

It's important that we understand that Origami King is a game that relies a lot on Japanese culture to tell a story and that's why there's a lot of misunderstanding in the western part of the fandom about Olly and his character, motivations, etc. We must also understand that origami is a highly respected and important art form in Japan, therefore, its creation entails different guidelines rooted in the culture of this country.

Let's start with the most basic. According to the rules of this art, you are not supposed to write over origami. To be honest, you are not supposed to use any type of tool on origami other than the paper and your hands. I'm not saying that it is completely prohibited but this reduces the value of a work. See it as a form of "cheating."

Writing over origami gives an aspect of informality to your piece. And it greatly influenced how Olly perceived himself, since he took Craftsman's writing as something that reduced his value as origami and even ruined him, as a work of art.

In Japan, a very important aspect of society is how people perceive you, the image you give to those around you. Olly was supposed to be a king, immaculate and perfect, but he was tainted by the very creator of him. His image was ruined and his appearance became a symbol of shame.

Hence his fury towards his creator, which is more highlighted in the Japanese version of the game and is not hidden behind a joke of "All Toads are the same", as in the American version.

At the end of the game it is revealed to us that the message were words of encouragement and good wishes. But again, these are only visible once Olly is on the brink of death, as they were inaccessible in his normal state. They were good intentions, but they did a lot of damage, in the end.

It makes me wonder how the Origami craftsman, being someone who practiced this art every day, did not know such a basic rule. Or maybe he ignored it, but this also leads him to be a bit indifferent, since it doesn't seem like he had the implications of creating a life in general in mind, much less ruining an origami work.

Which also brings us to his motivations. In the game, Craftsman mentions, and I quote, "I don't get to celebrate my craft very often, so I might have gone a bit... overboard."

(Note: I'm the Spanish version, he says "Because people don't compliment my work very often." Yeah, that doesn't help my view of him.)

Although the general perception leaves us with a father-son relationship, Craftsman never refers to Olly as such, since from the beginning, he had created him as a craft, a way for people to praise his abilities, never having in mind a family or considering what responsibility it had to create a new life.

I think he never fully understood the concept of what it was to bring origami to life beyond them being talking dolls, a striking party trick, because also, seeing what Olly has done, he mentions to Olivia that he should never have used the Fold Of Life.

The reason she and Olly are alive in the first place. Even Olivia herself understands the implication of this comment, responding to her creator "Don't say that, I love being alive!".

It almost seems that for Craftsman, the Fold Of Life was just a creative choice about whether or not to put more detail into his creations. But for Olly and Olivia, that technique was their entire lives, literally. The choice of whether they existed or not.

Clearly until now there is a certain objectification on the part of Craftsman towards his creations, seeing them as just this instead of real children. And although there are vain attempts like the doodle on Olly or giving Olivia a weapon to defeat her brother, we can agree that they were not the most optimal tools to try to guide two children who he was supposed to protect. Not like his creations, but like his children. But so far everything is normal.

At least until the end.

Craftsman's first reaction upon seeing Olly's body is to appreciate the material with which he had made it. Yes, perhaps a bit of nostalgia in the creation of it, but ultimately it's a bit insensitive to mention that given that there is a life that has been taken, his son's life, again, showing the aforementioned objectification.

Even worse when, even if he's watching Olivia's expression, he congratulates her for "using the weapon he implemented in his design." At this point I'm trying to be objective, but this is a completely off-base comment. Not only does he not come close to comforting Olivia in a situation that is probably difficult for her, but he is too focused on what HE did to her that he barely does anything to support her beyond teaching her how to make a paper crane.

She just killed her own brother PLEASE just for once be a little emphatic

By the time the ending arrives, Mario seems much more affected by the loss of Olivia than Craftsman himself, who seems much happier for someone who should be mourning his creations.

I think that the scene in the Secret Ending is the closure of why I hate this character, because as I mentioned before, it dehumanized Olly and Olivia a little, treating them only as creations that served a purpose (making him gain recognition) only for them to end...

...being that. The key problem was never acknowledged, Olly and Olivia ended up being exactly what he wanted them to be.

As I mentioned before, this is my PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE about him. It's okay if people don't see him this way but the idea of Craftsman being this kinda insensitive and irresponsable parent makes a lot of sense to me. It just feels correct, specially after how Olly shows symptoms of trauma, like not wanting to see Craftsman's face again being the reason why he wants to get rid of all of the Toads, as mentioned on the Japanese version.

I'm not justifying Olly at all because I know he's wrong with a lot of things but the game tells you he's wrong. He gets his punishment and the whole character of Olly revolves around being a young, irrational king. On the other hand, the image the game gives you about Craftsman is a poor victim who didn't do anything wrong.

I think the worst part is that he never got a single punishment after this. Maybe being trapped in his basement but considering he was the one who started everything in first place, he doesn't seem guilty or even affected. I guess creating two gods, then having them both die in front of you it's just another day for Theofold.

TLDR; Craftsman is an irresponsable, insensitive and negligent father who traumatized Olly. Also a poop head. (?)

[amelikos]

Overall thoughts on the Terastal Debut chapter.

As usual, just stray thoughts and ramblings which I am writing for future reference.

I first came into this arc with apprehension because I am not really into the game characters (not just SV but in general, there are few I really love and could consider myself a fan of, but even then I don't necessarily feel the need to see them in another media because they work well enough in the games?) and don't like seeing them copy pasted into the anime and taking space (we really don't need to see the same story in the anime or any other media, that limits the potential for the kinds of stories being told). I am not really into the competition aspect either or the gyms etc (this isn't the only thing that goes on in the Pokemon world, there is potential for much, much more). (Yeah, I watched all of anpk. Yeah, I don't like the strong focus on competition or having to see the game characters. We exist, etc.)

Either way, I was apprehensive because I really didn't want this chapter to be about the competition or the badges or whatever (we finally escaped the curse of following the games or having to do the challenge, so..). Battles can be fun to watch and interesting, but I am not that much into them happening just for the sake of it, I mostly care about the story being told through a battle and what it's supposed to say about the characters involved, what it brings them, etc.

Overall, the way the Terastal Course was structured kind of dispelled my worries. I thought it was smart to frame this as a training arc and literally use the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four for training, and make them teachers and coaches who help students. It makes them likeable and approachable, and adds to the world too? The Elite Four and Gym Leaders being actually invested in trainers' growth, nurturing talents wherever they come from... and the Elite Four not being "out of reach" and hanging out around the school, talking to students, paying attention to them. They were not "untouchable" trainers who only allow a select few to battle them, they participated in the school's events and cared about all the students. Which makes them likeable to me. Because I understand what purpose their strength has. Which was one of my "problems" with the strong focus on competition before... it's like okay, but what do you use your strength for? What are you doing with it? Does it have meaning? And it's neat that in Horizons, we get this setting where experienced trainers nurture the younger generation in a constructive way (because they do elaborate on what the kids need to improve on). So we have the answer about the purpose of their strength. They help others find themselves and guide them. Might I add, this kind of setting constantly adds to the overall narrative and the Explorers side of things. We get Liko, Roy and Dot who get guidance from adults around them, and they are not left to their own devices, and it's shown as a good thing. In comparison, Amethio doesn't get the same amount of guidance and he had to master Terastal by himself. So even if Amethio's appearances were far and between during this chapter, the way the writing makes a point to show that one side gets guidance and help, while another side (Amethio) has to handle things alone by himself... I love how intentional and careful Horizons is about its writing and contrasts/parallels.

Also, I think the Terastal Course adds to the world because I just think it's fun to show that they can make up courses to focus on one specific thing... It made me think that maybe, they have other courses to help people handle other problems they might encounter. And the Gym Leaders are like coaches and professionals who could help them deal with their issues because they know how to handle Pokemon, etc. Like, not everyone necessarily wants to win badges and participate in some competition. But maybe people want to get stronger for other reasons (if they travel to places where they could encounter wild Pokemon who could attack them, etc), so taking a course who could prepare them for such a scenario is practical. And the idea of the Terastal Course loops back to my thinking that it makes the Gym Leaders etc more approachable. They are not just like "if you don't want to win my badge, die", they actually get invested in multiple sides of their responsabilities as Gym Leaders. Which makes them feel more invested in the community around them (nurturing the trainers and helping them, etc). Like, that bit of Friede calling Grusha's Gym in HZ064 to let him know about Liko being lost in the mountains was such a nice touch. It made me think that people can rely on Gym Leaders in such situations, and that they don't leave people to their own devices. Especially since mountains can be dangerous, it feels reassuring to know that they can just call up Grusha's Gym if serious trouble occurs, and he'll be there to help since he knows the area pretty well. Which, again, adds to the Explorers side of things. Because Friede immediately had the reflex to call for help and Grusha stepped in to help find Liko. And Amethio didn't have that, he didn't have an adult stepping in to help him (in fact, it was quite the opposite). The two sides of the story constantly linked, etc.

Either way, I thought the way this training arc occured to move the story forward was neat and well introduced (the ship getting broken at the end of chapter 2, thus giving a reason for Liko and the others to part from the Rising Volt Tacklers for a short time in order to get stronger, because their confrontation with Rayquaza made them want to improve). I also liked that we constantly got to feel and know why the trio was taking the course. Establishing in HZ046, the first episode of the chapter, each reasons they had for taking the course (and those same reasons were brought back during Liko's narration in HZ067) and getting reminders through the chapter that they were doing this to reach Rakua/Rayquaza, so the underlying purpose of the course was always at the forefront and served the overarching plot. For example, the string of episodes about the reports felt tightly woven because it was: the kids are doing homework -> why are they doing this and working on reports? -> because they are taking the Terastal Course -> why are they taking this course? -> to get stronger and to achieve their goals -> why do they want to get stronger? -> Rayquaza/Rakua, etc. These set of episodes were quite lighthearted, but just framing them as "homework for the course" made them feel much more meaningful to me because it constantly reminded me of the reason why they were doing this in the first place (which comes back to the Six Heroes).

I also liked the fact that they focused on different aspects when it came to the trio's arcs in regards to battling. The way Horizons explores battling or the approach to it is interesting to me. I liked the Gym Leaders the trio had to face and how it served their personal characters arcs and fit them, instead of being the same thing for everyone or just focusing on "raw strength". Roy had to perfect his craft (his arc's approach to battling is more of a "traditional" one in a way, and not necessarily one that appeals to me the most, but I do like that they make a point to address his issues, such as not focusing or being predictable in his style, and make him work through them so his growth as a trainer feels organic). Dot had her insecurities and tried to work through them while getting more confident and also dealt with frustration (over a loss and a win, so that was neat). Liko's arc in regards to battling is my personal favorite, I think it ties in very well with her arc of learning to put her feelings into words, learning to stop holding back (which Nyarote also had to go through since she held herself back out of fear of hurting others).. the approach of having her learn to enjoy the moment and then feeling fully immersed in a battle and enjoy it, and how it ties in with her emotional arc and connection to Nyarote and desire to understand Pokemon more.. very, very good. Just a very interesting and unique approach to battling for me, especially for a protag. Especially since Liko was someone who gave up on a battle because she didn't want to trample over her opponent's dream (Wakaba in HZ021), so seeing her grow to that extent is satisfying. Also loved that they pointed out that she is stronger when she fights to protect someone, rather than battling for sport (Liko is a magical girl...). I love her character and everything about her arc. It's so interesting. Anyway, it was cool to see the different approaches to battling depending on the characters. Characters like Liko and Dot already knew how to implement strategies and had quick thinking during battles, so their personal arcs weren't really about that and focused on other aspects.

Anyway, if I had to think about the battles which left an impact on me during the course (battles which stories I like because of what it says about the characters involved): Dot's basics test in HZ049/HZ050 (Dot's set of episodes with Nanjamo and learning how to be confident outside of her Gurumin persona was touching and well depicted), Liko's Elite Four battle in HZ056 (Liko and Kaede vs Chili, I especially loved how this episode focused on so many female characters... women uplitfting young girls my beloved... Chili and Kaede are so cool and they were who Liko needed at that point, I loved how Kaede was patient, gentle and supportive and Chili was completely different in terms of personality but they both got through Liko in their own ways), Liko's implementation test with Grusha in HZ063. The entire set of episodes, from Liko meeting to Grusha, to him failing her, to him acknowledging her in HZ066 and encouraging her to get stronger in the arc finale in HZ067, was amazing.. definitely liked the nuance and it's definitely the course test that will remain on my mind the most. I liked that Grusha was strict and had his own values and that his perspective slightly changed at the end. And I wrote about it before, but I liked that the resolution to this specific plotline happened without necessitating a rematch (it would have only encouraged Grusha in his views and he needed to open up his mind a bit, so it's good that they handled this differently) (also, I personally liked that Liko was set up against opponents who had the advantage over her in terms of typing throughout the whole course, it pushed her to her limits and made her improve etc). Also, I liked Liko vs Roy in HZ067 in terms of battle during the course (good friendship battle, and a nice way to close the chapter!).

In terms of characters from the game that were implemented in the anime: my favorite Gym Leaders are Nanjamo and Grusha. I was skeptical when Nanjamo first appeared all the way back in HZ015 but her relationship with Dot is really good and adds a lot to her character. Grusha is also really interesting (and it helps that he is a character type I am drawn to ww), I liked that they took time to delve into his background a bit, made him face Liko, and essentially making parallels between him and Amethio gave me lots to think about. Intertwining Grusha's appearance with the Explorers back into the action was nice.

My favorite Elite Four member is Chili, she is very charming and overall fun. Honorable mentions to Kaede, Clavell and Botan. Kaede plays off others well (the way she interacted with Sango, had comebacks to Chili's jokes, encouraged Grusha to say some nice words..). Clavell was nice to Sango and Onyx, so that's a plus in my book. He actually paid attention to them and wanted them to make friends with Liko and the others... that was cute. Dot befriending Botan was a good show of how far her character came (first time she befriended someone on her own).

(I don't dislike the others game characters or anything, I appreciated what they brought to our main characters and their roles, but they don't make me insane basically. The others I listed above made me think a bit deeper about them and I wouldn't mind seeing them again. Also, I realized that all the characters I listed were involved with the Explorers side of things... Nanjamo helped find Liko when Spinel was involved back in chapter 1, Grusha is similar to Amethio and got to see Sango and Onyx, Kaede interacted with Sango, Clavell interacted with Sango and Onyx, Botan helped deal with Agate... Chili is the only exception? So yeah, there is definitely a pattern on characters I'm drawn to if they are initially from the games.)

Anyway, outside of the course and battles, I also thought the focus on the trio's Pokemon and seeing them grow was neat. Shout out to that one moment in HZ052 when Kanuchan split a berry in two with her hammer to share with Terapagos, because that was the cutest thing. And the whole thing with Nyarote being a big sis who had to take care of Terapagos in HZ051, and Mibrim coming off as the middle child who is trying her best to help too. Casual scenes showing that Terapagos just loves having fun, helps stop fights (back in HZ051) and genuinely gets along with everyone quickly (HZ057 when Terapagos immediately played with the wild Pokemon) also helps add to the characterization and makes Terapagos's reaction to Amethio stand out in comparison. Terapagos really likes everyone, but the sight of someone reminding him (presumably) of Gibeon makes him angry... Overall, I always like the Pokemon side of things and loves seeing them have their own personalities (like, the way Nyarote and Soublades both took care of their trainers in HZ065, which showed off their protective sides.. that was great) and seeing fun moments with them. I like when the Pokemon feel like characters.

On the human side of things, seeing the trio work more as a trio this chapter was also great.. also the way their individual characters had more bits added to them. Liko's growing confidence, the way she interacts with the world and people around her, the way she was challenged and had to deal with frustration at different points, her willingness to stand up for what she believes in... Seeing Roy's backstory and the reason why he loves singing added more to his side of things, and the implication that he sings to ease his loneliness is an interesting bit. I also enjoyed the fact that the Roy and Dot's friendship had more individual moments between them this chapter (the focus was understandably more on Liko and Dot individual moments before that). Seeing Roy lend her Kaiden back in HZ048 (emphasizing the trust between both of them), the way he encourages her and tried to include her when he skated on the ice, their high fives at some points etc.

Dot's character is also always good and I enjoy the way they keep adding depth to her or keep making her relationship to food interesting (she tried more food this chapter, she helped out a restaurant...). I also think Dot this chapter was very much about allowing herself to give back and love people around her. Seeing her being more openly supportive of Liko (and paying attention to her changes of mood) and her friends in general, trying to think of ways to help her friends, encouraging them (and also feeling encouraged by them), her relationship with her Pokemon, her making a new friend all by herself... I could keep going on forever about Dot, but yeah, she is just great. And I like that they keep adding a lot to Liko and Dot's dynamics, it somehow always gives me new things to think about and keeps getting reinvented. Their relationship feels so dynamic.

On the Explorers side of things, I enjoyed seeing more of Sango and Onyx in casual settings. I went from "they are fun" in chapter 1, to getting more and more invested in them as time went by. Very much took shippy enjoyment out of their interactions this chapter, too. Like yeah sure, keep telling me that they probably live together, that they go out to eat together and that they both stick by each other's side no matter what and that they need the other by their side to remain calm. Their last moment in HZ067 was basically everything I wanted for them (they care about each other so much, and love is stored in the sandwich, etc..). Wish we could have seen a bit more of their students lives this chapter though, but oh well. Even if they didn't show me them working on their reports or going through their tests, I will entertain the thought anyway.

The other Explorers characters gave me lots to think about, too. Seeing more of Agate in action was nice (I wanted to know what subject she was teaching though), and her personality showing through was fun. I wonder what's the deal with her and (potentially) her family... getting more of her insight bit by bit helps me have more thoughts on her too. I support her wrongs, anyway. And same for Spinel. I feel like the writers have fun whenever he is around because he is definitely a character (him and other adult characters like Friede or Agate) who allows them to explore specific things in writing that can only be explored with his kind of character (and not younger ones like the trio etc).

Also, a bit strange remembering that we only got confirmation that Gibeon was Amethio's grandfather this chapter. When we wondered about it for so long before that. Hopefully next chapter explores Amethio's family a bit more, especially since his father was brought up.

In terms of episodes that I liked the most.. definitely HZ065, if I had to pick only one. Liko and Amethio's episode, important narrative shift and seeing everything I thought about from the day the initial Horizons poster dropped and the narrative intent clearly laid out felt so satisfying. Still impressed with this specific episode because it feels so unique in terms of what we've gotten before in the franchise... just two characters stuck together in a cave and talking, and that dialogue being important for both of them (even if that info was already known by the viewer). Very much took my shippy enjoyment out of it too, AmeLiko good.. Amethio showing that he is able to be a listener and offering his own words of support, getting through Liko in a specific way that no one else could. And the narrative making a point to show him, in particular, as the only one who could get through her in that situation and making Liko reaffirm her desire to keep on going despite everything, and making her stick to her own path no matter what (which then leads to fruitful results, because both Onyx and Grusha acknowledged her etc...). And Liko, being someone who often keeps her worries to herself so as to not inconvenience others and who can get lost in her thoughts, having someone in that moment who offers a steady kind of support, makes her talk with no filter, and hears her out and tells her the words she needs to hear.. it's very good. Also still feeling something over the fact that Amethio's question was very specific and hit the nail on its head, since he specifically asked "you hesitated during our battle, when I used Terastal, why did you give up so easily" and essentially made Liko face her issue and try to talk about it. His question wasn't vague, and I think Liko is probably the type to pretend things are okay if she is asked "are you okay?" but Amethio's words were specific to her situation. It shows that he is someone who can pay close attention to others and notice their emotions too. I think it's neat, and cool. That, and Liko's offer to work together being officially out there for Amethio to consider more deeply. Very excited about their future. What are they planning with my shoujo characters.. (I have specific thoughts about how they are framed, but whether the writers make use of the whole setting or keep it open depends on them..)

Anyway! I might or might not have covered what I wanted to mention. Maybe I'll come back and add more to this post later, but I just wanted to get it out there before Rayquaza Rising begins next week.

Basically, I enjoyed what this chapter had to offer, even though I'm not big on the side that reminds me of the competition. Using game characters to serve the original anime plot is a good way to showcase them (and the trio needed to train against other people at some point anyway). Seeing more of the characters and Pokemon in different kinds of settings was fun, and advancing the Lucius mystery bit by bit kept me hooked. Wish we could have had a bit more of some things (like, Sango, Onyx and Agate at school).

I hope the next chapter features more of the RVT, because I missed them a lot this chapter. Pls, don't expect me to live without seeing or hearing Friede outside of his seminars multiple weeks in a row ever again :/ That, and hopefully more on the mysteries and Explorers side of things. (I'm side eyeing the game characters that will appear in Rayquaza Rising, but hopefully they'll be implemented well, like they did this chapter.) The original story and Horizons doing its own thing is what makes it so good, so I hope we'll get stuff to consider in the upcoming chapter.

[diaphin93]

Okay, so this post was brought to my attention and I considered at first, if I really want to react to it. On one hand I think it warrants a rebuttal and is a peak example of the general lesbophobia not only general fandom but also some queer men like to perpetuate, on the other hand I also originally didn't want to engage with his blogger anymore. For added context, Gascon is a blogger/youtuber who openly on this very websites has made some troublings statements and admissions leaning into the direction of Incest and Necrophilia. I will not go into further into detail about it, but it somewhat leaned into Lily Orchard levels of fucked up. And to rub salt in the wound, when I tried towarn people on the Edelcrit side of this guy and his takes, they immediately jumped into his defense and framed me as the bully here. Among other things, like very stupid and fucked takes which I personally don't stand behind anymore and which I did during a time when my mental health was on a really deep low, was why I took a break from Tumblr in the first place.

But yeah, at the risk of this firing back at me, I decided to make a blogpost engaging with his post. I'm a random nobody on this site, but I've noticed that at least some people seem to be interested in my takes and I consider a rebuttal to his takes important enough, as it goes into typical misogynistic and lesbophobic attitudes inside this particular fandom, but also fandom in general. So lets begin:

Initial ask and to be more of help than Gascon, the answer is yes. Naturally lesbians are wrong to be drawn towards a complicated and nuanced canonically queer female lead character with strong themes of abuse, vilification and loss of bodily autonomy, who tries to uproot an opressive social system that affects women in particular, duh. They should center their attention on a white man, of course. Didn't you know that good lesbians are supposed to produce male on male porn? Skits over, in all seriousness, whoever this anonymous is, if you ever read this: You're a fucking dipshit, what kind of asshole even asks a cis gay man whether or not lesbians and sapphic people should be allowed to like a female character. What a fucking imbecile.

He really had it with the first sentence, lol. I guess every dog has its day, but then he fucks it up. Though I somewhat doubt he is sincere here, considering my actual experiences with the f!Edeleth fandom, it really sounds more as a set up to weaponize and distract from the topic and push his male chauvinism and misogyny under the guess of feminism. First off, 3 Houses isn't mostly written by Intelligent Systems. Secondly, the issue lies in the fact that people like Gascon don't criticize misogynistic aspects in Edelgards character and writing which hurt her as a character, he is using performative feminism to instead bash aspects of the characters usually praised and appealing to queer women and feminist fans, as well as marginalize sapphic themes inside the game. Gascon is not only deeply fucked up according to some of his public tumblr posts which are visible to anyone, he is also just a plain hack. No civility politics from me here. This guy is practically the James Somerton of Fire Emblem Discourse, minus the plagiarism...maybe, don't know. But lets move on, just keep the reference to James Somerton in your mind for maximum entertainment.

Here is where things finally start to go down the gutter, rather early, by him already already attempting to dominish and marginalize the sapphic aspects of these games by chalking them down to male gaze titulation or flat comic relieve, while elavating the m/m subtext of his personal favs, Catherine and Shamir being the sole exception who he treats as the good token lesbians of the story, probably due to the attachment with the church of seiros, which he is super defensive and apologetic about, to my knowledge due to his own romanticization of patriachal concepts of chivalry which it supports and his catholic nationalism which I still clearly remember, trying to contextualize catholics as somewhat the most marginalized group in all of society.

I draw the connection to James Somerton, because ultimately his offhand misogynistic and lesbophobic attitudes combined with his androcentrism and male homosexual chauvinism feels just very reminiscent of him, Gascon falling into this trend of cis gay men who always push forward to center themselves and their identity in LGBTIQ+ advocacy and visibility, in what I call gay male main character syndrome. It plays into an undeniable history of cisgender queer men imposing male chauvinism and patriachal androcentrism into the LGBTIQ+ movement, pushing forward primarily their visibility while having historically contributed to the marginalization and invisibility of both cisfemale and trans queer people in broader society. I've seen another post of his where he gets somewhat pissed about anti-fujoshi discourse, one that is currently inside fandom explicitely pushed by sapphic women who are fed up with the andocentrism and male glorification inside fandom at the expense of sapphic characters and relationships which remain marginalized, with the self-serving comment revealing that his position is primarily founded in him being a beneficiary of the androcentrism and and female margilanization inside fandom. Though discussing all of this would probably go too far for this blog post, maybe I will come back to it later.

Whats clear is that Gascon here, to begin with the easy part, knows shit and makes just blanket uninformed statements about Fire Emblem 3 Houses development process and houses, as he credits IS for its writing, when the main scenario writers all were Koei Tecmo employees, 3 Houses being a collaborative Intelligent System and Koei Tecmo project and FEW3H being full on a Koei Tecmo game. They reference and build on older Fire Emblems, especially the Kaga era of Fire Emblem, alot but the game is mostly by a different company. And while it is not the team that developed the Fodlan Games, as a Studio Koei Tecmo actually as quite the history of including Yuri-Subtext into their games, especially Team Gust, which has titles like Atelier, Nights of Azure and Blue Reflection under their belt. So as a Company, Koei Tecmo is already an entire different beast and it really shows with 3 Hopes, that really ramps up the queer subtext or outright text alot compared to 3 Houses. Gascon is talking with alot of authority on the subject matter, yet displays not having done much research in who even developed and wrote these games. And going back into it, he again argues from a very dismissive and somewhat lesbophobic position of trying to play down sapphic subtext and text, especially as presented inside the Black Eagles. Is Monicas obsessive love for Edelgard often played for comedy? Yes, of course, many aspects of the game are played for comedy, even Dedues role as Dimitris caretaker is often played up from this angle. Is it it treated at her expense? Not really? Monicas Love and Loyalty for Edelgard have often a comedic undertone, mostly by being set up for jokes centering her photographic memory and Edelgard being overwhelmed, but they are also never mocked by the narrative and played as genuine, their support ends in appreciation for Monica. I think his own loathing towards sapphic characters and bias against Edelgard and possibly the black eagles (who are understood as somewhat of the gay house of the game) comes into play here. Monica does suffer alot from Hopes lack of supports and not having pre-existing Houses supports, which makes it rather unfair to compare her to Dedue, who benefits from Houses bigger library of Support.

As I mentioned in another post, its also a rather disrespectful downplay, as Monica is predominantly popular among queer women, with alot of dedicated Monica Fans I've seen being esplicitely sapphic trans women. It is obvious that she appeals alot to this demographic and it is easy to see why, Edelgard is a fairly big favorite and comfort character among queer female fans of the game and Monica, being basically the Nr. 1 Edelgard Fangirl, is a character they can immerse themselves strongly into. In this vein Monica also feels less like a mockery and more like a not to the yuri fanbase around Edelgard, after all, it is quite on your nose to make the new Black Eagles character the games only explicit lesbian. Btw, I also think one of the 3 scenario writers is a woman tbh, they at least have a female sounding name. I think Gascons argument becomes really weird and self-contradicting in this case, as he is really obsessed with dismissing the sapphic appeal and subtext of the game surrounding the Black Eagles, which leads to him dismissing the writers outright, which also plays into him basically claiming that the subtext he glorifies as superior and valid compared to the inferior ridiculous f/f subtext, is supposedly just accidental. He is also misrepresenting the scene to make his claim about the allegedly superior m/m subtext of the game. Because...like, its not the scenes which he quotes, it is a scene in which Dedue does lead Dimitris Hand onto his heroes relic and push him into fighting, which could be understood as more of an example of male machismo, lol.

I mean, I think there is legitimate queer subtext especially among Dimitri and Dedue, though their relationship has alot of problematic issues and context and there is the legitimate issue of Dedue being somewhat of a good token minority engaging in respectability politics, while there also being the context of him being a man of color genocide survivor who exists purely to be subservient and nuturing towards the leader of the people who commited said genocide, being made to crush liberation movements by his own people in favor of the genocidal Nation Dimitri leads. I think there is interesting potential inside their relationship, especially due to the themes of vengeance surrounding Dimitri, but the game does handle it by far more poorly than could be said even with the most criticial lense towards the obsessive fangirl jokes surrounding Edelgard and Monica. Something Gascon does not acknowledge, because he is operating under the double standart that the male queer ships he enjoys are supported, pure and true and that outside of one token example, the female queer ships he dislikes are just mocking or titulating. Because, and this is important to remember, Gascon is a gay male chauvinist mad at sapphic women. His language and arguments make this fairly clear.

And here we have it. All queer female rep and subtext in Fire Emblem, in Gascons mind, is his argumentation, at the same t ime in a blind spot but also exist purely as profitable male titulation. This is an extreme case of misogyny, in which queer sapphic fandom is just entirely dismissed and sapphic subtext depicted as something lesser, only serving men. Because you know that this chauvinist thinks that lesbians should instead spend their time focussing purely on male gay representation. It is also an argument which we see often inside broader fandom discurse and by Fujoshis to attack Yuri and reveals a deeply rooted lesbophobia inside fandoms. And this is a peak example in which falls into the James Summerton school of performative feminism underneath he hides a weakly disguised deeply misogyny that specifically targets sapphic women in an attempt to dismiss the notion of women existing decentered from men. It is a good example of how even a gay man can still participate in patriachy and misogyny, in perpetuating the notion that women can only exist in relation to men. What he also does is full on dismiss decades of sapphic subtext and reading inside the Fire Emblem Community, for example what is with Eirichel or the strong bisexual subtext surrounding Camilla, and the extremely strong queer female subtext inside 3 Houses itself, not only in the way Crimson Flowers overall themes and subtext works the best as a sapphic story between a female Byleth and Edelgard, but also the undeniable queerness of Edelgard and Dorothea, both to each other as well as in their relationship with other women. But no, for him, all queer female expression that isn't to his comfort and resigns to exist as a secondary behind male queerness is to be dismissed as pure cishet male titulation. This is a strong example of queer male chauvinism and lesbophobia.

Could be because Byleths support with Rhea is incredibly unpopular, probably due to Silver Snows general massive lack of popularity and its strong aspect of grooming, implications of being based on love bombing and the fact that for all intends and purposes, Rhea is Byleths grandmother and depending on Sitris genetic components maybe or maybe not somewhat like a biological half-sibling. Not that a guy who on this very website openly admitted to persueing incest irl while framing this as just a normal part of gay culture could grasp that one.

Ultimately, the issue is that this just moves the goalpost, as he does not engage with and instead talks around the fact that sapphic women inside the fandom gravitate towards Edelgard and are part of her fanbase, sapphic women inside this fandom gravitate towards Edelgard, which Gascon obviously does not want to acknowledge. Hell, we know that many of the more well known fanartis and writers outside of just Captain Flash are sapphic women and enbies. One of the most popular Edeleth Fanartists is a non-binary lesbian, we see on twitter how a large portion of sapphics engaging with Fire Emblem strongly gravitate to and center Edelgard. And the issue with Fujoshis and androcentrism is one that currently inside of fandom discourse is predominantly pushed by lesbians. It is often lesbians criticizing the way how female writers, often female writers who also identify as queer, center and prioritize male characters inside of Fandom over promoting female characters and sapphic relationships. And nobody even claims that Dimitri Fans are all horny fujoshis, only that the fujoshi community, and all of its problematic elements which certainly don't describe all fujoshis or even a minority but issues inside the yaoi genre itself, gravitates strongly towards Dimitri.

Hell, the m/m centric ships of the Blue Lions and Dimitri are predominantly criticized for being examples of androcentrism inside Fandom and the fact that Dimilix being wastly more represented than Dimidue reveals an anti-PoC bias inside the community. Something I even wrote about today, while he focuses on being the lesbophobe he always was.

thankfully, I have this guy blocked otherwise I would have to disappoint him, as I'm not a troll. I'm a clown. I might need some psychopathic Juggalo gang though, just in case somebody decides to call me a troll.

[karasbroken]

Okay, this week's moment might be controversial. But hear me out...

Doesn't that look like the smile of women who know each other a little more intimately than platonic friends?

Henta is presented as someone Aeryn was close to, a best friend even, at least in the period prior to her exile on Moya. And I'm not arguing that the script, producers, or actors intended to give fem/slash vibes. But they are not NOT giving frellmates either.

Farscape was progressive-ish for its time in the handling of queerness, but it wasn't progressive enough to make its female lead openly bisexual. However there are a couple hints that Aeryn isn't opposed to recreating with women, even if it isn't her usual preference. And this moment is one of them.

Of course people/characters can just be friends, and I'm not particularly into slash just for the heck of it. (Folks who queer everything, I love that for you!).

But I like bisexuality for Aeryn because I think it makes a lot of sense with what little we know about Peacekeeper culture. Sex isn't primarily for reproduction, it's for stress relief, to reduce sexual tension, and to promote unit bonding. People are expected to have sex often, but not regularly with the same person, to avoid jealousy, attachments, and especially relationships forming. Loyalty and sacrifice are highly valued. But lots of sex is one of those things that keeps PKs compliant during what is either a short and stressful or long and boring life.

In other aspects of Peacekeeper life, egalitarianism sort of seems to exist, though maybe in a "peacekeeper is your gender/sexual identity" sort of way rather than "men and women are equal" way because almost everyone is sort of masc-coded. PKs are required to have sex as assigned, for procreation and probably sometimes for recreation, so it wouldn't be that weird for people to be situationally bisexual even if it's not their innate inclination. (This isn't all just my speculation -- for example, Claudia Black had the understanding that Aeryn and Velorek started as an assigned pairing of some kind.) Some PK units are just five person crews, and as we've seen, they're mixed gender. In order to not pair off, people would need to sleep with all of their teammates at least occasionally (and I suppose take care of themselves too).

I particularly like the idea of Aeryn having had sex with Henta because it emphasizes that alien nature of Peacekeeper friendship. I can more easily believe that the warmth between Aeryn and Henta was caused by them having frelled on occasion (and fought together too, though Henta couldn't have been in her last unit because they were all demoted) than that they're close because Aeryn shared anything of her inner self, her emotional and rebellious nature, and created intimacy that way. Sex is the closest to emotion that they're really allowed, and even then they're not supposed to get attached. When Henta dies in front of her, Aeryn is affected but not devastated because there was a limit to how much and how deeply she allowed herself to care.

I see PK friendship as more "bros who grew up together" than "bosom friends". Frelling your shipmates makes it "no homo" where the forbidden dynamic isn't homosexual behavior but emotional involvement: Nah, we're just friends that frell sometimes like anyone else, no biggie. They're not important or meaningful to me. If we make long intimate eye contact it's because the sex was good and we had good times and were good comrades who were solid in a crisis, not because I care profoundly about them as a person...

Or I don't know. Maybe I just like to make everyone bisexual.