#just me rambling about the political landscape

[cupcakegalaxia]

I'm not Conservative. I'm certainly not Liberal. I'm a not-so-secret third thing.

[kirkwallguy]

verilybitchie's comment on taash's non-binary identity within the narrative spoke to me so bad. so i will say that plain representation is just "here you have your cake too" when it's giving... no context. like what kind of gender confusion a rivaini-qunari can have? this is a question that can only be answered if we can get an answer for what rivaini see gender as. is gender nonexistent and only thing that matters is the genitalia, functionally? is being a man or a woman just about who's giving birth and nothing else, not even clothing? like what are they giving. you cannot connect any dots because there's no dot to connect with.

not only there's cultural context to such things there's also the way of experiencing confusion/questioning depending on that IS so interesting to write, read and think about.

so i feel similar to sexuality representation. like what affect does it have for them and to their life. through dorian (and krem, in gender topic) we could even learn about tevinter culturally and politically that ties to class, poverty, money, and how did they effect them. it's not even about "struggle" it can be a culture that is totally fine with LGBTQ+ but like experience-effect is still experience-effect, negative or positive, and where does a character's own personal takes lie in them. it makes it feel real and fleshed out.

god ykw i STILL haven't watched that video despite meaning to for ages. when i do you'll probably know because i'll go into annoying essay mode lol

but yeah i completely agree. it's really weird because rivain's main narrative function is to contrast the negative points of qunari society. if rivain and the lords of fortune are majorly queer friendly, then why has taash never considered that they might be non-binary before? why do they need to go to tevinter to find trans people to speak to? (even having that initial conversation about not liking being a woman be with isabela might have felt slightly more cohesive lol.) then again, if it ISN'T a society that's welcoming of trans people, then why is the qun the only one whose issues are explored? obviously this is mostly due to the writers' (ie: weekes') weird hangups about qunari society and insistence on demonising them as a regressive "other", but it also feels like it flattens rivaini society in a way that does them a massive disservice imo.

honestly i wrote out a long thing on how dav feels less interested in exploring transness than it does representing transness but it got long and i was rambling. but anyway, i really agree that it's about portraying culture more than struggling, though. as much as i don't like the way bigotry is pushed aside in dav because a lot of queer culture COMES from struggling, there are so many ways to explore how queerness can exist in a society beyond having characters be called slurs. language is one but that's off the table ig. it's nice that they wanted to go with more casual trans characters and did "person who just happens to be trans if you dig into their backstory", but it's also weird and unnatural what these trans characters choose to tell and what they choose to withhold when prompted. i mean, tarquin gives us his entire coming out story but wont give us the name of the healer who prescribed him fantasy minoxidil for his beard? that's just kind of rude. (and indicative of how transness in vg is paper thin. we aren't supposed to think about it deeply enough to consider how a character could transition despite that being kind of an important thing for lots of trans people to do)

obviously this isn't just a dav problem. i feel like I'd give the first three da games slightly more slack given that queer rights (especially in gaming) was a different landscape 10 years ago, but if we look at bg3 we can see pretty much the same issues. i don't really think aaa games are capable of tackling these issues anymore, even if it feels like they were once able to at least try to.

[24kmagiic]

saw one of your old posts about Davina and Bonnie. I know you ship Klonnie and I was curious if you think Klavina?(klaus/davinas) dynamic is what Klonnie’s would’ve started off as

I felt like Bonnie was robbed in canon but Davina is elevated in the show even when she’s kicked aside she still gets her happy ending by the end of it all.

Hiii!

So, while I used to be so against her, towards the end of the show's run, I didn't mind Davina because, at the end of a very long day, she was a kid caught in supernatural business. However, it was painfully obvious to me that Davina was who they refused to let Bonnie be. She was their pitiful attempt to erase Bonnie. However, it didn't work because she was quickly cast aside, which I believe was because they never had a real purpose for her EXCEPT to erase Bonnie.

With all that said, yes, the way Davina kept her foot on Klaus's neck would have been identical to how I imagined Bonnie would be. We already saw her be that way with Damon. Damon couldn't pass gas without Bonnie showing up to make sure no one else smelled it lmao.

The possibilities in which the two of them would eventually warm up to one another are endless, and I feel like every Klonnie story in existence has found its own ways of showcasing how the two of them would eventually come together.

I am a SUCKER for forced proximity which I think works excellent for Enemies to Lovers tropes. But I also think the two of them would just naturally realize that they're two sides of the same coin and find their stake in each other's lives that way.

(This next part is me rambling and has nothing to do with what you asked, so you can skip past the italicized text if you want lol.)

People always see Bonnie as this moral beacon that is full of light but if you really dig deep, Bonnie is a very dark character. She is the antithesis of evil, which does not always equate to what we define as 'good.' Bonnie's goodness is rooted in the way she masters evil, and she knows how and when to tap in. (For example: Trying to kill Damon by fire.)

Most "good' characters we see in media today aren't actually good, they're harmless. Elena is a perfect example of this. Just because she was physically unable to hurt a fly doesn't mean she was a good person. Her selfishness placed Bonnie in ugly situations plenty of times, but it was brushed off because she was trying to be good. (Think of how Seattle responded to the BLM protests and how it negatively affected the whole movement. They 'meant' well, but we caught the fire behind that mess.)

On the flip side, Bonnie would be classified as an 'extremist' if she was in a political landscape. That said, Klaus is also an extremist but on the opposite end. (Think 'right-wing' and 'left-wing' but without the political connotations.) In my opinion, this is why they work so well together but they're bound to bump heads because of it.

(And now, back to Klonnie!)

There are so many commonalities between the two of them that make shipping Klonnie so fun.

Similar to how two siblings can grow up in the same house and face the same trauma but end up polar opposites of one another, that's how I view Klonnie's commonalities (minus the sibling bit, obviously). They both faced similar traumas, but how they processed it turned them into different people. Klaus is the Yin to Bonnie's Yang.

Shared Traumas:

Parental Negligence

Bonnie: Rudy was negligent after Abby left him and Bonnie and thus Bonnie grew up alone with only Grams who failed to teach Bonnie about her heritage. (I'm aware it was against Rudy's wishes but I'm still side-eyeing lol.)

Klaus: Esther was negligent in keeping his father's identity from him and allowing her husband to abuse him. Also, she created that necklace to weaken him for her own selfishness, thus putting the target on his back when it came to Mikael.

Abandonment

Bonnie: Her mother walked out on her for no legitimate reason. Her father was always gone and Grams was an alcoholic (so they say). Even the people in her life were emotionally absent. Then you have her friends who left her to deal with the consequences of magic alone.

Klaus: After killing their mother, he had a deep fear of his siblings abandoning him. Therefore, he became obsessed with loyalty. His biological father was nowhere to be found until a thousand years later.

For brevity's sake, I'll stop with those two but they have others.

How they processed these traumas is so interesting:

They both gained an unnatural sense of loyalty, which lies in the fear of abandonment. Klaus forced loyalty onto others, while Bonnie gave loyalty to those who never earned it or didn't deserve it.

Bonnie became codependent on her friends because she had no one else, and Klaus became co-dependent on his family for the same.

Bonnie became overburdened by responsibility. She became everyone's 'go-to' for morality and protection, which gave her a skewed sense of importance, but it also burned her out. Klaus became controlling and constantly sought validation (from Elijah in particular).

Klaus ruled through fear because of Mikael's abuse. Everyone's acceptance of Mikael's abuse sort of validated his use of fear as a way of controlling people. Bonnie used her morality as a means of control for both herself and others.

Klaus is very self-loathing, and while Bonnie doesn't initially appear to be that way, she is too. Her strong moral code is just that, her way of torturing herself. (For example: Constantly sacrificing herself for 'good' simply because she has the duty of wielding magic.)

If Klaus controlled his siblings, Bonnie's control came with how she wielded that moral compass of hers. Seeing everyone around her live freely was triggering because she had to be responsible so early in her life. She never got to make mistakes. Mistakes meant abandonment to her, so she walked a fine line and tried to force others to do the same. (This may be why she struggled with her magic so often. I often wondered if the spirits were actually punishing her or if she was self-actualizing and punishing herself subconsciously.)

This is the tip of the iceberg with these two, but can you already see the pattern? My favorite aspect is how one craves what the other has. Klaus craves loyalty, and Bonnie craves control. They both want what the other (seemingly) has.

[dysfunctional-doodle]

Just watched Mutant Mayhem, here are my thoughts!

Overall: Yes, very good I suggest everyone watch it when they can or I will break your knees :)

I’m going to end up rambling far too much unless I split this properly, so I’m going to break it down into sections starting from what I believe is most important in a movie.

This post is still going to be a mess ngl

Story: 8/10

The story is actually very good! It was paced very well and ended in a very touching way. No character interactions or plot beats felt forced or cliché, and no forced identity politics which is always a plus.

The action scenes - of course they were amazing. Paired with the stellar animation, each action scene was brilliantly directed and choreographed. The start shows the turtles’ origin story is similar to most of the iterations with its own unique factors - in this case the ooze was created by Baxter Stockman.

The conflict of the plot was well written, the final act was great and ends with a hopeful and satisfying ending (there is a mid credit scene that teases something big for the series though!).

If it’s any consolation, it’s also very friendly to new fans of TMNT - I went with someone who has not seen any TMNT media before and they really liked it and understood it easily.

Characters: 9/10

Needless to say, all the characters were very well done. Despite its run time and large cast, each one feels grounded with their own unique personality.

For starters: the four main boys! They were done brilliantly - Mikey being hopeful and optimistic whilst naturally being empathetic, Raph channeling chaotic good energy with his iconic rage personality not being over the top, Donnie being a geek in the best way possible, and Leo trying to be a good leader and anxious, always looking out for his brothers but not a complete teachers pet. All very likeable, and I can’t wait to see them in the series!

Splinter: probably the best since 2003! Openly caring of his sons and worries a great deal about how humans will perceive them. Has his own trauma from his experience with humans so he tries to protect his sons by isolating them completely, but eventually realises that his own view of humans should not affect his son’s happiness and lets them fulfil their dream of trying to be accepted by humans even if he will never like humanity himself. Peak character development, 10/10.

Villain/s: all of them felt fleshed out and I look forward to seeing them in the series! Posed their own genuine threats with varying levels of morals. Again, all were fleshed out quite well and played a role in the story.

April: honestly, she didn’t have too much in it compared to the others but does play a key role in the final act and the ending itself. An interesting iteration of April, curious to see more of her.

Animation: 10000000/10

It was brilliant. What else can I say? Though inspired by Spider-verse it is its own style which is amazing to look at. It thrives in action scenes and landscapes. Another groundbreaking style that I hope to see influence others.

Music: 8/10

It slaps. Almost all of them I will be playing for the next week or so. The soundtracks really set the mood beautifully, especially the sombre track. Paired with the animation - ugh - chefs kiss

Overall Rating: 8/10

I am usually very very harsh with films, so for me to rate anything above a seven is basically unheard of. Probably my favourite movie of 2023, and my favourite TMNT movie. 2003 only just beats it overall but that’s mostly because I’ve known it for longer - who knows, a few more rewatches and it might overtake.

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

You know this isn't even going to be a deep and thoughtful ask like all the previous asks, but I just need to chime in and say that every time I think about mangahood Ishval, I just know that shortly after the end of the manga there will be an Ishvalan War of Independence type event.

Like to me that was the only I could reconcile the ending of the manga/09 anime; and while fmab is the Elric Brothers' story (well really it's actually Ed's story and Al is also there because we all saw 03 and know what the real Elric Brothers' story looks like), my mind keeps straying towards Ishval and I just have this gut feeling that there will be another war because I cannot see a future where Ishval will ever be fully incorporated into Amestris without More Violence. They really are so ethnically, religiously, and surely even linguistically different + the painful history between them that a true union will never be possible

And Miles/Scar shippers this is when we rise up and pray that Mr Copaganda's third eye opens🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Also I'm SO sorry because I know you're an 03 enjoyer and consequently think less about the political landscape in 09's Amestris (good for you btw; I am not happy being stuck here and honestly desperately need to rewatch 03), but it genuinely baffles me how people fail to make a connection with Amestris' fifty billion border conflicts + Ishval = Amestris' is the local Imperialist

Speaking as a Briggs enjoyer, I just have to sit there and shut my eyes when they talk about how it's sooo important to stand strong against Drachma because every evidence points to Amestris being the instigator fhsjhdjd

Add to that Amestris' border wars with Aerugo (who supplies Ishval with weapons for seven years as a means of conducting a proxy war) and their skirmishes with Creta and the outright genocide they committed in Ishval and the only conclusion I can draw from this is that Amestris is at fault every single time, which makes it very difficult to sympathise with sad war criminals when they serve a country that's harassing no less than four nations😭😭😭

I love Scar's brother, I do, but his whack optimism in the face of annexation and imperialism is exactly why you can't just study STEM without at least taking a few classes in world history and ethics dhsndhns

Scar meanwhile was the star student in AP Religious Studies, and one can only assume history as well based on clergymen's traditional role as record-keepers, and that's why he was able to correctly assess his people's situation and went after state alchemists - Amestris may have denied him the chance to get a Master's degree in theology, but they'll never take away his critical thinking skills and Bachelor's in History😤

(They didn't have to because Arakawa did that for them😭😭😭 I literally just ignore the second half of his arc in mangahood and just world-building Ishval in my head as a form of copium because nobody else in this fandom will provide😔 I've actually seen more people draw half-Ishvalan Elric Brothers to avoid handling full Ishvalan Scar the way he is presented at the start of the series😑)

Anyway, I do apologise for rambling!!!! And thank you again for all your thoughtful responses to my asks🙏🏻

Ramble away my friend! I'm no better at restraining myself lol. Sorry for the wait in replying to yet another excellent ask tho. 🙇‍♂️

The political landscape in mangahood is a major reason why I don't fuck with this side of the series. (Not the only reason, but a damn big one.) That being said, it's fun to actually dissect it and mull things over with folks who can actually look at mangahood with a truly critical eye. So no worries, no worries, I'm enjoying this ask!

--

An Ishval War of Independence is damn near inevitable, agreed. The ending for Ishval is just straight-up terrible, but like so many aspects of mangahood's epilogue it's sold as if it's a satisfying conclusion to such a weighty issue. The Amestrian military being fully invested in rebuilding Ishval should have sent alarm bells off in everyone's heads, but no no, the military is its own protagonist and we ought to see this as a character making reparations. It's totally not a soft-takeover of Ishval and total colonization if the heads of this project are a pair of Ishvalans, right? /s

There's no way that the state overreach, the acquisition of wealth generated in the rebuild that siphons to the military itself (let alone investments made on a burgeoning economy they're set to rig), and the establishment of the rule of law that will certainly carry Amestrian standards and codes won't tip off returning Ishvalans that this is just another form of occupation. If autonomous Ishvalan councils or looser associations of Ishvalans outright reject the military's aid or presence, what do we realistically think will happen from there? Having a pair of tokenized countrymen doesn't smooth over tensions as well as imperial-colonial forces often think it does. And there's no way Amestris just up and leaves on command of the people it's imposing itself onto.

Ishval should have been released from Amestris' grasp entirely. Funds and resources could have been sent in as part of a reconciliatory effort sans military/state presence, so that the Ishvalans have what they need to rebuild at their own behest. Amestris should have no say or active participation whatsoever.

And it will never not be completely out of character for Scar to agree to act as a liaison between the Amestrian military and the Ishvalans. That shit makes no damn sense. He already did too much for Amestris, all so that the same core (human) imperial governance can remain. (Amestris certainly wasn't ending any other occupations or breaking apart as an entity to allow autonomy of the lands it coalesced into one over its ~400 years of development.)

I like to think that it would take one moment for Scar to snap out of his bootlicker phase, and it would be finally witnessing a fully sighted-Mustang. He would just have to ask Marcoh, whom I have no doubt would stupidly and callously reveal how the future leader was healed. And he'd go rogue once more, though I would imagine with greater tact and in coalition with a rising Ishvalan liberation front. He could feign his continued obeisance to Amestris, act as diplomat, and feed that intelligence back to Ishvalan networks.

Something will break the faux peace eventually, such as actions that are seemingly sporadic rising in frequency against the state. Miles would either catch on by his own observations or be given the opportunity to finally align with his people. As much as I see him attempting to report back to the Armstrongs (since he's much too loyal to them, plus they're definitely a benefactor of this military rebuild; their lineage's wealth derives from a military nobility and philanthropy is no less colonial and financially sound). But I leave it to you Miles/Scar shippers to sort that man out how y'all see fit. 🫡 May the power of back blowouts cleanse the nationalism from his heart

"[B]ut it genuinely baffles me how people fail to make a connection with Amestris' fifty billion border conflicts + Ishval = Amestris is the local imperialist," it's incredible, isn't it? We're even discouraged from making the extremely obvious connection in canon. The show will literally reveal the creation of Amestris from a tiny central point that slowly radiated outwards into its present circular formation and no one sits there thinking "Hold up. How did we accrue all of this land? Who were the people living here before becoming amalgamated into the burgeoning quadrants of this nation? How many Ishvals did it take to make our 'glorious' country?" The characters don't think it and neither do the fans lol. I recall Ed early on musing how bloody conflicts have been consistent since Bradley came into power and like. I can see a lull in war campaigns and skirmishes while the state and Father were grooming new viable candidates for the Wrath stone, but really Ed? Do you think this is a disturbing new phenomenon in Amestris' sordid history? Really?

Amestris' major neighbours do make me wonder though. Given their geographic sizes, I have my doubts that they aren't any less imperialist. (Given how this region of the world is broadly Europe-inspired, and much of Europe is a collection of colonial-imperial forces.) Drachma especially, given its enormity. Which isn't to say that Amestris would be any less antagonistic towards them and wouldn't expand its borders into Drachma territory if Father et al thought it useful. Of course expansionism would need to be roughly radial as its always been, so that necessitates further incursions into Aerugo, Creta, and the seeming no man's land that is the entire desert to the East. (Would Xing see such a land grab as a power play in their direction? Perhaps.)

Even without attempting to swallow hunks of land and people from Drachma, Creta, and Aerugo, continually agitating them for those blood seals is part of the game. So yeah, Amestris is the core instigator in so much bloodshed that leaving it mostly intact and with a change in military governance doesn't bode well for anyone. Let alone feeling any sympathy for soldiers and war criminals in the Amestrian military for willingly getting involved. Again, the Ishvalans and all other occupied peoples will quickly catch-on to this false start to a "better, reformed" nation.

People can say what they will about the Sacred Star of Milos, but I did like its portrayal of both Amestris and Creta vying for Milosian land, and how both imperial powers shunt the Indigenous peoples into the bottom of the canyons that make up the land. It hints that no, imperialism does not stem from homunculi usurping the rule of a nation (can't usurp what a homunculus created to begin with, but mangahood seems to forget this key fact). Human beings create societal systems that are the bedrock for empire building. Creta, Aerugo, Drachma, hell Xing aren't massive nations run by homunculi who want to become gods. They're governed by people who wish to maintain and expand their own power. Aerugo waging proxy wars with Amestris by supplying the Ishvalans with weaponry while denying Ishvalans escaping the massacre refuge shows that Amestris isn't the only bastard empire who use entire peoples like disposable pawns.

But I digress. Certainly hearing Olivier bloviate about the significance of Briggs to protect Amestris is yawn-inducing. Just a nationalist from a wealthy military family who sees Amestrian power and aggression as a proud way of life. No doubt the Briggs platoon sees Drachma as an evil invader without any self-awareness. Even if it's imperial nation vs imperial nation, I'm not shedding tears for the Amestrian side lol (and both can burn lolol)

Oh Scar Bro, why did they make you a bastion of bizarrely positive vibes while gunfire, fire, and bombs rained down on your long occupied people? "Whack positivity" lmfao real, real. I get different people handle atrocities in their own ways, but ???? Guess having cracked the code on why Amestris is arranged the way it was, and having developed the insignias for wielding alchemy that is in-tune with the planet's energy made him extra jazzed that everyone could be free.

Still comes across as a metatextual rebuttal to Scar's pain and fury.

(I like Scar Bro too, rest assured.)

That's a good point regarding Scar's academic/clergical background. He would no doubt be an excellent student/bearer of knowledge, likely learned in numerous subjects given his years of monkhood. When not training his fighting skills or body, he had to have been studying not only Ishvalan theology but the culture, its history, politics, and the natural sciences. His background in the clergy would make him quite the asset for restoring lost documents, life ways, knowledge, and passing down these lessons to future generations. He'd absolutely lend himself to the more back-breaking labour too, because this man would work himself to the bone for others.

Amestris may have denied him the chance to get a Master's degree in theology, but they'll never take away his critical thinking skills and Bachelor's in History😤

(They didn't have to because Arakawa did that for them😭😭😭

hsgvskehdhxbdndkslmfaooooo 💀💀💀 Yeah, I uh. I too wanna ignore what Arakawa and friends do with mangahood Scar's arc because that shit suckssssssssss. Our babygirl is too smart to cowtow to so much pro-Amestris nonsense. Love your tactic of focusing instead on world building Ishval, especially without centering the goddamned Elrics in all of it. I really find that drive to side-step the racism and racial privilege they have in canon by making them mixed Ishvalan just so distasteful. They won't address especially Ed's canon racism but they'll pretend like he too suffers like the Ishvalans in their fanworks. Making some Ishvalan ocs would be preferable, if focusing on Scar and other canon Ishvalans is apparently too high an ask for these fans. 🙄

(Have you seen some folks theorize Riza to have some distant Ishvalan heritage, just because her eyes are a bit ruddy in colour? Sounds like another attempt at imbuing the pain of an ethnic minority into the racial majority characters without actually engaging with these topics whatsoever. Also reeks of "How juicy would it be if the genocider was genociding their own people," which is 😒)

Anyway, Scar would absolutely turncoat on Amestris and aid in Ishvalan liberation, but this time fully embraced by his people and without having to be the sole bearer of direct violence too.

[funnyscienceman]

listen im not. i could never claim to be an expert in politics or anything and ive tried keeping up with the news day to day and it was draining and i barely have the emotional energy to handle uni, let alone myself. it's just that arcane is so hard to think about without the politics. elections in my country are a popularity contest. everyone knows about the corruption running rampant in the government. we have had martial law, and hunts for criminals (""""criminals"""") that did not care about the innocents caught in the crossfire. for fucks sake the league champion expressly meant to represent my country is a zaunite. like it's genuinely baffling to me that one would balk at any hatred or even dislike or apathy to characters who are politicians, or capitalists, or crime lords.

like im sorry, silco does absolutely nothing for me. my eyes roll to the back of my head whenever he starts monologuing, the tripe he says about loyalty and wanting freedom for zaun is just two steps from the bullshit our politicians spout about improving the country, all while they're the ones actively making it worse. sorry mel didn't really interest me up until episode 8 — mel is the richest person in rich person city, which we know gets an amount of its riches from literal child labor in zaun, and she's remorseless in her participation of both that and corruption within the council, and the wider political-economic-developmental landscape of piltover. and fuck heimerdinger for literally being the founder of rich person city and being so oblivious to all the corruption and classism and ableism and whatever the fuck else piltover has in its laundry list of fuck-ups. idk why ekko welcomed him into the firelights, but i'd accept he's probably a much stronger and better man than me for it

ambessa's funny and also she's a proud colonizer. i love jayce, i understand he is overwhelmed by everything happening so suddenly and getting caught up in the rising urgency of the progress day incident and the imminent civil war, and also he fucked up by staying in the council and then later participating in the corruption at the opera house. those are just the facts.

idk arcane shot itself in the foot w the colorblind casting i think, being an american show with a presumably primarily western audience. simultaneous to that, personally im not really fazed by most of these characters being POC because. my entire country is POC. it's in asia. we are all asian. everyone is some varying shade of color from each other and all bets are off. greed is greed. tbh in terms of poc rep it's zaun that's the weird one, but we all know by now that the writers (at least Those Three) are shit and stupid and it's 3am i dont. have the brain for that i barely have the brain for this im just ranting. rambling. venting. idk. i have an idea for a jayce-centric fic and i wanna dig into the political landscape of piltover post-s1 but i try to find analysis on him and mel and it's just shit-slinging and racism and homophobia and ableism and it's like dude come on.

[carryoncastiel]

Rambling about politics (german and in general)

To say I've become disillusioned with politics over the last year is an understatement. I've been very much in the "not voting/voting for a very small party that has zero chance at winning is very bad" camp for a long time but everything that happened over the last year has pushed me over the edge. Other (nonwhite, less priviliged) people have been there much longer and they've been right this whole time.

Yes, a lot of people still grit their teeth and vote for "the lesser evil" and it's good that they do. But in the end you are voting for the status quo and if the status quo is already unbearable then it's very disingenuous to blame people for not voting for parties that not only completely fail to represent them but also go against their morals by supporting the brutal murdering of thousands upon thousands of innocent people.

You can say this about the US election but it's very much true about any election.

I'm not looking forward to elections in Germany next year because we're in a very similar situation to the US (even if we have quite a few more parties to choose from).

Nazi party that's getting more and more votes, conservatives and "moderates" who are basically doing the same bullshit the Nazis are doing but in a slightly nicer package, currently governing "progressive" parties who are doing a surprised Pikachu face at every right wing win and then go "Guess we need to do more right wing, racist politics to get these voters back" which only puts off the people who actually voted for them before (myself included).

And that is on top of literally every (relevant) party and the entire media landscape being 100% pro Israel and now trying to criminalize any opposition by just branding it antisemitism and also insinuating, or in some cases outright saying, it's "imported" aka immigrants, especially muslims, are the real problem.

Which is incredibly rich - especially considering our countries history and the deadly right wing extremism still very much prevalent today.

It's a fucking shitshow.

Now the day we got the US election results the chancellor has fired the finance minister which will break the coalition.

I would've been happy about this two years ago because that minister and his party have been doing nothing but blocking any and all even remotely progressive policies the other two parties proposed.

I hate that neoliberal asshole and his party from the bottom of my heart and the damage they've done with their bullshit cannot be overstated but right now is probaly the worst time to break the coalition.

We were gonna have a new election in September next year anyway (which was already not looking great) but now it's gonna be months earlier when the popularity for the Nazi party is so high and the aformetioned problems with every other party makes me not want to vote for any of them at all.

It's looking bleak to say the least.

[princesssmars]

love's philosophy

a catherine the great x reader

during a political trip to russia, you meet the rather peculiar emperor and his no less than extraordinary new bride.

wc: 5.779

contains: fluff bc catherine is a cutie who can do no wrong. me hating on peter. peter cheats (boo). catherine almost cheats (yay). i binged the show months ago so some things might not be accurate im sorry yall.

the only thing you could see outside of the carriage window were woods. cold, thin, and mostly dead.

what you guess would be the typical landscape for an russian spring.

but, occasionally, youd catch the patches of green of the rising grass, the small buds of blooming tree blossoms, and the rare small animal making its way from its winter slumber.

you hoped these signs of new and returning life were signs of what was to happen on this trip.

you and two of your most entrusted advisors had been sent to negotiate some new trade deals with peter, the emperor of russia. he had taken the throne after his fathers passing a few years ago, and youd heard many things about him through the grapevine.

(granted, none of the things you heard were very pleasant. in your opinion, he sounded like a bit of a man-child, unfit for the throne after his father's passing. but you kept these thoughts to you. this would help your country prosper, and create a hopefully helpful alliance.)

"i just want to remind you, princess, that things work very differently here in russia," your best friend and first advisor, anna, whispers from beside you, her big fur coat and scarf nearly obstructing your view of her face. her worried eyes peeked out from the gaps and you'd had to try not to laugh when you saw it. "its nothing like genovia here. the people are crass, rude, vulgar-"

"sounds like this will be a fun trip then." you jest, cutting off your dear friends ramblings and smiling when she glares at you. she always was a bit of a worrywart. but it was endearing.

"normally id critique our dear annas worrying, but this time she is right." a deep voice pipes up from in front of you both. the person in question is your other friend and advisor, thomas. he was the more critical and pessimistic of the two, but he was a softie at heart. "things work differently here, so we should tread wuth caution. i should give you some warnings before we enter the palace."

"alright, what do i need to know?" you sigh, relaxing into your seat. this could take a while.

"as you most likely already know, the new czar peter has taken over after the death of his father, also named peter. stop smiling, yn. the boy is much different than his father, known for his rather...extravagant ways. just try not to piss him off. he should be a bit more mello after marrying his new bride."

your head perks up. "bride? i didn't hear anything about a bride. why haven't i heard that hes been married? shouldn't you have told me this?"

thomas' eyes widen as he tries to argue against it before realizing that yes, he somehow forgot to tell you. he tries to ignore anna's teasing face.

"my apologies for forgetting, princess. yes, he has recently married a girl from france. her name is catherine. from what i've heard shes a rather timid girl, at least to russian standards. there should be no trouble on the front."

his knowing stare on you makes you pout. so yes, you might have slightly flirted with the wife of the ruler of italy. and you might have ended up in the same bed with her. whoops. but to be fair, she told you how dreadfully boring her husband was and how she was looking for something exciting and new in her life, looking at you with those big, wanting eyes...

"yn! stop daydreaming!" annas elbow nudges you, pulling you from your memory. your face feels hot when both of your friends laugh at you.

"oh please, you both know me. ill be on my best behavior. princess's promise."

.

.

.

so you might have fumbled with the promise. just a little.

after a long...loooong ride, you all had finally arrived at the russian winter palace, the grand estate nearly taking your breath away. or maybe that was the biting cold. your admiration was cut short by a gruff voice welcoming you. it came from a tall and stout man, his white wig contrasting against his flushed face and permanent frown.

"welcome to the palace, your royal highness. my name is velementov, peters war general. i've been tasked with escorting you inside safely. if you'll follow me."

he immediately starts towards the entrance, forgetting to check if you were following. as hes walking he nearly trips over some of the gravel on the ground. thomas whips his head over to you and anna when he hears a muffled giggle.

"sorry, that one was me." anna whispers, trying to compose herself.

you and your party follow the general in to the palace, walking through the grand halls and admiring the art within them. including the massive statue of peter the first.

"oh, this is just a great piece of work," anna awes, craning her neck up to observe the statue in greater detail. "how long did it take to complete?"

"i don't really remember. maybe two years." the general grunts, taking a pause before continuing on his way. the look on thomas' face makes you think hes regretting this decision.

eventually the peculiar general stops at two large doors, leading to what you presume is peters chambers.

"um, shouldn't we do this somewhere more formal? a meeting room or parlor, for example." thomas says, walking a bit faster while speaking to walk directly next to velementov.

"ideally yes, but first i must check if the prince is ready to meet you. he could still be hungover. or fucking. or both."

the three of you are a bit too stunned to react.

when velementov opens the doors, the muffled sounds of grunting, moaning, and a loud thumping on the walls rings through the hallway leading to peters bedroom. velemontov grunts, whispering something to one of the guards before escorting the three of you back into the wider hallways.

"peters busy. until he's ready you may be escorted by a guard around the toyr of the palace. they will lead you to the meeting room when we're ready. goodbye."

velementov briskly (as briskly as a clearly hungover man can go) walks away, not even checking to see if what he said was alright with you. three guards come up to you, their faces and postures remaining stoic.

"ohhhhhkay. alright, this is fine!" anna chirps, clearly trying to hold herself and the two of you together. "we are just. alone in a strangers castle in a strange country. this is ok. i wont freak out."

"good, because there is nothing to freak out about." thomas reassures her, sounding more like hes trying to convince himself. "we expected this, so lets make the most of it, hm? its a beautiful palace, and we can explore it while each looking for some of peters advisors."

"so try to find the people who hopefully have common sense?" you question, eyeing the way the guards eyebrows raise in shock at your not so subtle disrespect.

"exactly." thomas agrees, the three of you agreeing before heading off in seperate directions of the russian castle.

what you see along your short journey is nothing short of shocking yet amusing. multiple couples unsuccessfully hiding in the shadows while having intercourse, drunk soldiers and children running through the halls, with parents and hungover residents looking on in annoyance.

eventually you pass two large open doors which you can see lead to a library. walking in you see its quite expansive, with practically no one inside.

(to be expected, you didn't think most of the people here could read a paragraph let alone complete a book.)

you walk inside and observe, walking through the aisles and touching the spines of the novels. most of it seems to be in russian, of course, but maybe there was an international section...

while thinking, your mind spaces out and is only brought back when the body of another knocks into yours, the books they were carrying falling to the floor.

"oh my gosh, im so sorry. i wasn't looking where i was headed, here let me help you with those," rushes from your mouth, quickly dropping to the floor to help pick up the books for them; A Guide To Russian History and The Insides of Russian Aristocracy.

"no, no, don't apologize. I wasn't looking where i was headed because i was reading this book about...nevermind." the stranger says before joining you on the floor before also trying to pick up their books.

its only after the stranger speaks and you see their pale, slender hand on top of yours that you look up to meet eyes, your e/c meeting piercing blue.

its a woman, and not just any woman but a gorgeous one. she has fair skin, smooth and with nearly no blemishes at all, surprising since most of the other members of the court you've passed at least had a tint to their cheeks whether it be from sickness, alcohol, or both.

she has a striking face, both angular yet soft. it makes her beauty both intimidating yet welcoming. and at this moment you don't know which one you feel.

the both of you still for a moment, observing the other for longer than what was most likely deemed polite. you were speechless until you noticed one of the most striking things about her - her naturally blonde hair. youve seen a few other women here who were blonde but you could tell they were wearing wigs. with no shame of course, it was a regular among members of court life nowadays. but hers had that growth and effortlessness that let you know it was all hers.

"you aren't from here, are you? im guessing western europe, maybe france, germany?" you suddenly ask, finding yourself intrigued with this beautiful stranger you've met in an otherwise empty library. her face lights up at your question, making you glad she didn't find it rude.

"yes, born and raised in germany, how could you tell?" her questions makes you raise your brow, looking from her eyes to her hair. she catches on and laughs, looking down in slight embarrassment. "right, sorry. silly question."

"it wasn't silly, don't worry. i just asked because i was curious why you don't look like the rest of the court members. are you visiting from your home?" you quickly reassure her, not liking the slightly sad look that appeared on her face when she called herself silly. she looked much better with a smile.

her brows slightly scrunch together, looking to the floor before back to you with a sure smile. "yes, im visiting for a while. sent to study the russian culture and all, trying to help with politics."

"another thing we have in common, and thank god for it. i swear i was so nervous about me and my party being the only foreigners here." you exclaim, resting your hands on the mystery woman's shoulders in excitement. "would you mind chatting with me and telling me what you've learned? im sure there's some things i can tell you as well."

her eyes are wide and her face is bright as she stares into your eyes, nodding along to answer your questions. its just when you realize your hands are still on her shoulders and when she reaches hers up to gently grab your elbows, yet again dropping the books in her hands. you both look at the fallen materials for a second before looking back to each other and giggling.

.

.

.

you had spent who knows how many hours talking with the blonde woman, who you'd come to know was named sophie, about subjects ranging from politics to your home countries to even your favorite foods. you found her point of view on things interesting, her positivity coming off a bit naive but refreshing. but beneath it you sense a bit of sadness.

"are you feeling alright?" your questions cuts her off from what she was saying. she was enthusing about how she misses the landscapes form her home, how when she looks out the palace windows she can feel bits of herself start to wither away just like the outside landscape. she says it so calmly that you cant help but ask the question.

in response shes quiet, staring at you like you just asked her is she preferred to eat chicken eggs or duck eggs for breakfast.

"jesus, when's the last time someone asked you that question?" you put a hand on her shoulder, your tone playful in the hope she wouldn't answer. but the look on her face gave you your answer.

"if im being honest...it's been quite a while. if i tell you this, will you promise to keep it secret?" she asks, her voice unsteady with the hesitance of telling a stranger the problems of her current life.

"cross my heart and hope to die." you dramatically cross your hands over your bust, smiling when she manages a laugh at your theatrics.

she sighs, putting her hands in her lap and closing her eyes. "i have a husband, back home. arranged marriage." her eyes peak open to look at you, and you hurry to fix the look on your face from one of disappointment to understanding. "i was so hopeful before the wedding, but then i met and moved in with him and it's nothing how i imagined it would be. he's nothing like i hoped for. and i know i now have a duty to my country and people but i only have one other person to voice my sadness and just...anger to. but it doesn't feel like enough. i feel like i need to do more to fix my life or i'll go insane."

at the end of her rant she lets out a long sigh, relaxing her shoulders and slumping back into the wall behind you. she looks at you for your reaction to see you smiling at her. "what could possibly be amusing right now?"

"nothing, nothing. it's not everyday you meet a beautiful monarch on the edge of killing her husband. well, i take that back." she rolls her eyes and gently smacks your arm at your jest.

"i just poured out feelings i've only told my most trusted servant and you're going to joke around with me?"

"i've found that during the most dire times, nothing makes me feel better than saying 'fuck all' and laughing."

she sits in silence, staring at you as she seems to think over your words. it feels like the two of you are drifting closer together, her blue eyes flicking from your eyes to lower to lower-

"yn! yn are you nearby?" the loud voice of anna from outside the library causes both of you to flinch and look to the doors, waiting with held breaths as the sounds of annas heels pass by. the sound of her crying out your name grows quieter, but you both know you have to depart soon.

"i suppose that means i have to go now," you groan, standing up and smoothing out the fabric of your dress as you look sophie. shes just looking at you with those big blue eyes of hers until she collects herself as well, "its time for me to see the emperor, i suppose. will i see you around the palace any time soon?"

"yes, you'll be seeing me around. at least i hope so." her gentle admission makes you smile, and she clasps her hands together in slight nervousness. "i don't have many friends here. its nice to talk to someone who understands."

you smile at each other for a few seconds more until the sound of anna's voice rings out in the halls again. wanting to stop her before she causes a ruckus, you sidestep sophie and leave the library quickly, heading towards your duties and leaving her behind in the library.

.

.

.

“where have you been? i've been looking for you all over this god-forsaken palace!” annas harsh whisper spits at you, the shorter woman grabbing your arm and yanking you towards her as she continues walking down one of the wide halls of the palace.

"im sure they heard you over in india, my dear friend," you tease, letting out a squeak when she pinches your arm, "i was just in the library and having a very interesting conversation with a young woman when-"

"dont even finish that sentence. i dont want to to know what you get up to in the shadows with young women." anna groans and stops walking when you get to a quaint but grandiose set of doors. she pushes them open to reveal a grand bedroom, fit with a small area to converse with others over tea and snacks, a wide desk near the window with your bags containing your papers and documents set beside it, and the back of the room contains a large bed and intricate designs on the bedframe and sheets.

“nice of him to give us a grand room after his grand absence.” you deadpan, nodding thanks to anna and flopping down on the chaise near the fireplace. you kick your feet up and let out a long groan, closing your eyes and resting your arm over your eyes.

“dont talk like that, I heard he has spies inside of the walls,” anna jokes, closing the chamber doors and striding to sit in the armchair next to you. “besides, we’ve been formally invited to dine with the emperor, and his wife tonight, along with some of the other important members of his court. this could be your chance to judge his character, see what he's like to plan how you’ll go about your proposals with him for trading.”

you groan louder, smiling over at anna’s burst of laughter. “i have the feeling he'll be too consumed in drinking himself silly and doing whatever else these russians do."

"well then, lets at least get you dressed to the nines so he'll feel completely embarrassed that he turned down the chance to speak to you earlier." anna gets up and moves to your bags, propping them open and pulling out a gown that's not too gaudy but just lavish enough for a dinner with an emperor.

you smile, already imagining the look on the emperors' face when he realizes what an idiot he was for turning you down.

.

.

.

so, it turns out that peter was a bigger idiot than you thought.

upon entering the dining hall you come to see that the room is still mostly empty, save for a few maids preparing the table for dinner and what looks to be the chef getting into a heated debate with another servant.

walking over, the pair seem to stop speaking instantly when they notice you, bowing over as a sign of respect and not moving until you ask them a question.

“hello, i’m princess y/n. i was told i was to dine with the emperor and company, am i too early?”

“n-no your highness, i believe the emperor is a tad bit busy at the moment. he should be joining you soon.” the servant tells you, stuttering over some of his words as he fixes his position to look at you while speaking.

anna quickly takes her place in front of you, clearly able to tell by the shift in your stance that your mood has quickly soured upon hearing that peter has the gall to do this again. shes right in the middle of explaining when noises from the kitchen cause her and the room to go silent. you're on the verge of asking what it was when it comes about again.

moaning.

very damn loud moaning.

if you weren't so furious you'd be laughing your ass off, and by the way anna’s posture goes rigid you can tell she's holding herself back from doing the same. the chef and servant look so red you wouldn't be surprised if they were the tomatoes that were on the menu. you got the feeling that the embarrassment was from you having to bear witness, and that they'd likely been through this before.

“i think…we are going to find our seats now.” you let out a long exhale from your nose and smooth off your dress, putting on an amused and polite smile.

you roughly grab anna’s arm and pull her to the end of one of the tables, you sit yourself down in a chair in the middle of one of the side tables and she sits in the one to your left.

“look, your highness, we can walk through the gardens, w-we can go for another roundabout this damn gaudy castle, but can we please not stay here and listen to russian lovemaking session? and you've got that scheming look in your eye that you know i hate-”

“we’re staying here.” you cut her off, your tone letting her know your say is final. she fake pouts and sits correctly in her seat, staring at the wall ahead of her as you both try to ignore the familiar sounds of skin meeting and the rampant onslaught of moaning and groaning.

it feels like the longest few minutes of your life. as the seconds tick by a few more people slowly start to enter, all wearing posh clothing and powdered wigs that make it seem like they'd walked right out of a cheaper version of france. but you remain polite, smile, and do the basic introductions when they come up to you. you notice how they all ignore the unmistakable sounds of ecstasy from the kitchen as well.

you have to press your lips in a thin line when thomas rushes into the room and sits in the other chair next to you, hurriedly giving his greetings to the other court members and turning to you. he raises his brow in confusion at your teasing look, then follows your eyesight to the timid orlo who had entered the room and had sat near the head table. thomas’s face flushes when he turns back to you.

“stop it, nothing happened,” he whispers,” we discussed what's going to be addressed at your meeting with peter.”

your brow twitches.

“i think emperor peter has his hands full with other responsibilities.”

thomas’s mouth opens to ask you to elaborate when an “oh god, yes!” booms from the kitchen. anna snorts as his face shows mass embarrassment.

“he did tell us russians were very different, y/n.” anna jokes, butting her head from your side to look directly at thomas. “they’re crass, rude, and what was it, T? oh yes, vulgar.”

you’re on the brink of closing your eyes and banging your head on the table when the site of a familiar mop of bright blonde hair grabs your attention and nearly makes you sit straight up from your seat. you don't even hear the sound of your friends asking what the matter is, all you can hear is the sound of your heart beating erratically. it’d scare you half to death if you weren't so excited.

she makes eye contact with you and you smile, nodding politely. she nods back, looking on edge as she moves farther into the room.

“that's the woman i was talking to earlier,” you say, turning your head towards anna. she nods and smiles, and you decide not to acknowledge how it's the you've got another crush don't you bitch smile.

“she’s pretty.” anna whispers.

“she’s sophie.” you tell her.

“she’s princess catherine.” thomas butts in.

what.

you don't get the chance to question him when a man burst through the doors of the hall, his clothes in disarray and his hair even more so.

peter.

his beady blue eyes connect with yours, the man smiling as he would at an old friend and clapping his hands before raising them above his head.

“ah! your highness! welcome to the palace, i hope you've found your stay comfortable so far.” he greets you too little too late, getting distracted halfway through his sentence as a brunette woman in the same state of dishevelment, the pair smiling at each other as she passes to sit next to another man, his smile strained as she presses a kiss to his cheek.

“it’s certainly been memorable so far, your majesty,” you answer, your eyes following him as he moves next to soph-catherine, whose eyes dart between you and her apparent husband. she sits down, seeming to decide there’s no point in making eye contact as she stares at the china on the table.

“well, i hope during your stay you find many more things to remember. boris! bring us our food!” peter shouts, clapping his hands together as he turns toward the kitchen. it's a struggle to keep a courteous smile on your face.

the dinner is odd, to say the least. throughout most of it, peter is boasting about himself and his accomplishments, which honestly don't sound like anything important to you and more like thing your child brother was worrying about the last time you saw him. but he wasn't completely an idiot. just mostly.

the other half of your amusement comes from your new blonde friend. over the course of the dinner she continues to avoid you like the plague, only joining in conversation with you when prompted by peter. you aren't a fool, you know most diplomatic marriages are purely that, but you can help but notice the way she looks at him when he speaks. it's not just fatigue or distaste, its something more. something sharper.

when you and the other nobles have finished eating peter insists on moving the festivities to a parlor room, giving you some semblance of hope for a normal evening. which was quickly thwarted by the dancers and loud music and even more alcohol. its not all bad though, you get to see anna convince thomas to drink some hard liquor, resulting in him spouting from a chair about the history of the wood it was made from.

while laughing you notice from the corner of your eye catherine whisper something to one of the guards near the door before rushing out. looking around you, you see how no one seems to take much notice to the empress’s quick disappearance, so you simply stand up and walk out the door as well.

you underestimate how quickly the empress can walk, only able to catch glimpses of her skirts as she darts around hallway corners. after a few minutes of trailing her you find yourself in the palace gardens, only getting a few seconds to admire the hedges. catherine starts to slow down to catch a breather and you can faintly hear her muttering something to herself before you come up behind her.

“going for a little late night stroll, your majesty?” you question, keeping a cool smile when she turns around and looks at you like a startled doe.

“y/n, i mean, your highness, i didn't take you for a person who admires gardens.”

“and i didn't take you for someone to lie so easily, but i guess today is the day for surprises.”

you both go silent at your rebuttal, only the sounds of crickets in the garden and the faint noise of the still partying emperor in the distance being heard.

“i apologize, your majesty,” you sigh, remembering that you're here to make peace with the Russian and getting catty with them isn't the best idea. “i didn't mean to be rude. I'm just upset that you lied to me about who you were when i made it very clear who i was.”

catherine sighs as well, wringing her hands together as she steps closer yo you. “im sorry as well. for lying to you and avoiding you. its just that…you’re different than the other people around here.”

“i hadn't noticed. was it my complexion or my soberness?” you joke, laughing along with the empress when she giggles.

“more than that, you listened to me.”

the simple sentence felt like a light punch to the gut. it reminds you of the countless times you would sneak away to the village from your palace, conversing with the people in the market so you could have a normal conversation without someone sucking up to you. how you’d even settle for someone telling you off for bumping into their shoulders was appreciated because it was so real. you had to admit you had even found some joy and amusement in peter’s complete disregard for your visitation.

“i understand. truly, i do.” you mimic her previous actions and step closer, the distance between the two of you only about a few feet at this point. you take the chance to take her in more. they fly away hairs that frame her face, the few freckles that dust across her nose, and the softness of her lips…

she starts speaking again, causing you to compose yourself. slightly.

“thank god. it was just that as soon as you started talking to me like a human being i couldn't get enough of it.” she blurts, her lips pursing at the implications of what she said.

“its alright, i felt the same. i still do. I'm up for another chat as we walk if you are.”

she smiles. “i think i’ll take you up on that offer.”

the two of you talk about everything and nothing as you walk, with you teasing her for her rather foolish husband and her laughing along and agreeing. she tells you how often she’s found herself sick of him these past few weeks and that darkness returns to her eyes.

“i mean I've truly met some incompetent leaders but your husband truly takes the cake,” you chuckle as you slightly kick away a pebble. “im surprised no ones tried to overthrow him at this point.”

you keep walking for a few more steps before you notice catherine has stopped behind you, frozen in place. her face is conflicted, her lips in a pout and creases forming between her brows. you gently call her name and are shocked at the sudden intensity behind her eyes. even more so when her head darts to look around in all directions before she rushes to you and pulls you behind a bush and holds you by your shoulders.

“if i tell you something, something that could change you life, do you promise to keep it between us?”

“yes of course,” you answer, and you'd be slightly embarrassed at the speed of your answer if your brain wasn't preoccupied with her closeness.

“if i told you that someone was planning to revolt against peter, what would you say? honestly?”

“that it seems rather overdue at this point.”

her eyes scan your face, looking for something before she lets out a breath. “im planning a coup. against peter.”

you don't reply. you simply look at her, waiting for the crack of a smile or an eye roll or anything she didn't mean what she just said. but it doesn't come.

“you’re quite serious?” you ask.

“deadly. me, my handmaiden, and one of his advisors have been talking about it. we should have one of the generals on our side shortly and i thought with your support as well-”

“my support? catherine as much as i don't think that man should be on the throne, you do realize if this fails i could be targeted and killed?”

“we won't fail,” she states and says it with such assurance you find yourself fully believing her.

“well, how am i supposed to help from all the way in my country? it doesn't seem like peter is much interested in an alliance so me giving you resources isn't exactly on the table.”

“leave that to me. he’s done some horrible things to me in the last few weeks so if i ask for this as a gift i’m sure he’ll accept.” she tells, her grip on your shoulders steady as she gives you a bright smile.

you grin. “you really are something extraordinary, empress catherine.”

“sophie. you can call me sophie.”

her words are no more than a whisper, and its silent yet again. your eyes quickly look from her eyes to her lips to back, and you catch her doing the same. her head starts to lean in, and you slowly start to do the same until her lips graze yours-

“your majesty? catherine where are you?”

its almost violent the way you pull apart from each other, your respective hands quickly smoothing out your clothes to make sure you look presentable. when you finish your eyes look at each other, and she still has that dark look in hers with an added dash of a hunger you know all too well.

“catherine? are you over here-there you are. I've been looking everywhere for you.” orlo comes from around the corner, looking exasperated as he rests his hands on his hips. when he notices you however he resumes an appropriate posture. “your highness, im terribly sorry that i didn't see you. catherine, i will talk to you later-”

“its alright, orlo. i told her and she’s agreed to join us.”

“you what?”

.

.

.

the emperor's discussion room is wide and bright, the sun shining in the windows and creating a warm feeling. it could be because your friends are on both sides of you, or because catherine is sitting beside peter with a barely concealed look of excitement on her face.

“princess y/n! i apologize for yesterday. i was very busy, as you could see.” peter clasps his hands together and smiles at you like you understand his excuses.

“all is well, your majesty. i know that certain pleasures can distract us from our responsibilities. i don't mind. is there a reason you called me here?”

his eyes squint. “why yes. there is. i would like to officially form an alliance with genovia immediately. my wife here was telling me about your encounters yesterday and how you seem like a more than perfect ally.”

you and catherine share a look.

“where do i sign?”

its a rather quick process to sign a piece of paper that changes history, and when its over things feel different. permanent. peter gives you a handshake before departing, just leaving catherine. she warily opens her arms for a hug, and you envelop her in your arms.

“welcome to the winning side of history,” she whispers in your ear, and you can help the excitement that rushes through you.

[deafmangoes]

I've been mulling over Nex Benedict's death. That news struck me in a way I didn't expect.

I'm British, but my spouse's family is American, originally from Oklahoma. Eighteen months ago or so, my brother-in-law got married and we flew out to Tulsa for the wedding.

I had come out to my spouse as a trans woman one month earlier. I spent the whole week kinda worried that I'd say the wrong thing, give myself away, even though I was still outwardly presenting as masc. It was the first time I didn't actually feel safe. I didn't know how people would react. I heard them speak in open terms about their politics and opinions, expecting (of course) that I was fully in agreement with them.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy myself there. We'd both been dreading it. But... I did find things to like about Oklahoma! The landscape was beautiful. The day we spent in Tahlequah was wonderful, and I even thought to myself that I'd be happy to live there.

At the end of last year, my spouse's whole family decided to move back to the states, leaving her behind. It's been really hard on her. We still haven't told them that I'm trans, or that we're still happily married - just lesbians now. They all live just outside Tulsa now. I guess at some point we'd be expected to go visit.

Then I read about Nex Benedict. Nex was 16, like Brianna Ghey. The news of Nex's murder (and it is murder, no matter what the cops say) hit me in a similar way to Brianna's, because I'd begun to hope that maybe there'd be a small corner of Oklahoma that I could visit, a patch I could enjoy authentically, as myself. We could come out to our parents, and navigate those waters, but still have somewhere to go.

Then Nex was murdered. It's ridiculous of me to mourn some ephemeral wounded feelings, because they were murdered. 16 years old. Half my age. A whole life ahead of them. Murdered. Fucking murdered.

And when I saw that one of the OK senators referred to people like Nex - like me - as 'filth' that 'we don't want here', after they were fucking murdered, in their own school, by other children. And they said it in Tahlequah, the Cherokee capital. At the heart of a town that serves in memory of the tens of thousands of slaughtered Native Americans, just like Nex.

I'm angry. I'm upset. I can't even really explain it properly. I hoped writing all this rambling out might help, but now there's just burning in my chest and tears in my eyes. I'm sorry, Nex, that you suffered. I'm sorry for all my trans siblings. I know that come November, we're going to have another gut-wrenching list of names to read out on the Day of Remembrance. And all the while, politicians and feckless, evil people sit there and gloat about it.

I want them to hurt, too. I really do. I want them to understand it.

But. Tomorrow, I have to just... bite it all back? Go on living? I know it's said to be the "best revenge", but it sure doesn't fucking feel like it.

For what it's worth, I don't think I'm going to forget Nex's name. I think I'll think of them every time I talk to my Republican in-laws who will vote for that hateful senator this year. Every time I think back to that beautiful day in Talehquah.

Shit I don't even know where to wrap this up. I'm just...

[leighlew3]

For some reason I couldn’t send the link of this post but I could download the picture and send it (hopefully)

This is what I was references in that ask to you lol

Ah. And... yeah. A painful and unnecessary creative choice.

Look, overall I'm loving Picard, despite quite a few issues with some creative choices and contradictions, because this nostalgia is incredible and so appreciated and being able to witness these characters in action again has been WONDERFUL.

That being said... well, I'm about to launch into a ramble.

Buckle up, and keep reading if you'd like...

Picard had an ICONIC legacy female character in an interracial wlw relationship with a dynamic new Black female character -- both women over the age of 50 no less, an amazing thing to explore on screen -- and it worked. And so many fans loved it and felt represented and thrilled to kingdom come. And it fit with the Star Trek brand of inclusion and acceptance in a modern society. It also made Voyager fans of 25 years feel vindicated and seen, having Seven not only confirmed as sapphic, but actually exploring it on screen and finding love, even if a "happy ending" for Seven was never in the cards for many reasons, they could have explored why instead of just sweeping it under the rug off screen and reducing it to one awkward glance between them, a joke from Worf, and that was it. Seven and Raffi deserved better. Queer fans deserved better.

Alas, they tossed it in the trash for no valid reason at all, and at the worst possible time in our current social and political landscape of an outdated and frighteningly dangerous resurgence of homophobia, transphobia, etc. Life imitates art, and art imitates life. And thus, now we see conservative-run media companies catering again to the vocal, hateful little groups and extremist far right fear mongers. There is a very obvious bias of late again against LGBTQ content (especially wlw due to the frightening rise in misogyny yet again lately) across nearly every channel and streamer and studio.

For that matter, even beyond LGBTQ stories, there's also a significant reduction in the exploration of ANY sexuality on screen across the board lately, even for cishet couples. We somehow went from Hollywood being absurdly and unfairly exploitive towards women and putting actors in uncomfortable and unnecessary situations, to some sort of bizarre, puritanical, utterly sexless exploration of romance on screen. And even a reduction of romance entirely in many cases, for that matter. We went from one extreme to the other, and it's absolutely nuts.

Anyway, back on the topic of Picard, the two actresses who previously were captains of the ship and ALL about the pairing have since seemingly now had to backtrack, make excuses for this bizarre decision, or just not speak on it at all. And that's beyond sad.

And again, it makes me concerned that if Seven does get her own spin-off or is a part of a new spin-off again, they'd likely not include Raffi nor explore Seven being with women further. Which would just be LITERALLY going backwards in time to the days of Voyager where many (not all) straight male fans tried to claim her as theirs and theirs alone while reducing her to just "the hot Borg in a cat suit" even though everyone else knew she was three dimensional as hell, one of the best written and acted characters in franchise history, and inherently representative of the LGBTQ community.

Anyway, I really really hope they prove me wrong and Saffi get a satisfying ending in this show, and if nothing else, even if they don't have a future together in other series, any other shows at least continue to embrace Seven's pansexuality. It's important.

Alas right now my trust in creatives in the TV space who are under the pressures of conservative-run media conglomerates... is limited. Even once seeming allies are showing sides to themselves lately that are... concerning, to say the least. People who previously would tell incels to F' off, and weren't afraid to stand up to and block phobes on Twitter are now blocking queer fans for just asking "WTF?" about queer favorites being sidelined or ships being tossed in the trash. People who previously seemed to truly see and value queer fans are now bordering on just using them for clicks and stringing them along on likely hopeless efforts regarding show survival. And people who actually do mean well and usually stand up loud and strong for LGBTQ audiences are suddenly growing very, very quiet if not even in some cases TURNING on their queer fans entirely as TPTB remove more and more wlw content from airwaves and streamer services.

It's all very disheartening. As a writer who has had this conversation so often with producers and executives, I GET IT. The fight is NOT an easy one. And most the time inclusion efforts are flat out shot down. But it feels like so few people are walking the talk anymore. People who capitalized heavily on LGBTQ characters and ships and fans for a few years when it was hot are now turning their backs when the going has gotten rough. And that's frustrating for us all.

But, the good news: these things are often cyclical. So if everybody can hang in there, stay strong, and fight the good fight online and IRL, rock the VOTE, etc and drown out the hateful voices that want the LGBTQ community silenced or worse, then I believe we can set (or force, in many cases) the misguided, fearful, extremist-rightwing-catering media companies back to the proper side of history.

[chronicparagon]

A Journey with a Reaper

Happy birthday @beloved-death!

How strange life can be. Life is a journey with all its twists and turns. Sometimes, the mundane becomes something extraordinary from meeting unusual people to deep conversations. Such deep conversations that can alter perceptions. At least, that is something Harmony discovers during one chance encounter.

 Harmony hardly ever saw anyone lurking along these trails through the lush wilderness. She’s normally alone during these walks where she finds solace while her dearest is away on business. The evergreen canopy with notes of pine and cedar in the air brings some comfort. The birds continue their daily serenade along with the crystal waters flowing along the creeks. It is here that she finds a stranger, though he seems to mean no harm.

He's a tall young man with his purple locks framing his face. Those bright red eyes are out of the ordinary, but he is certainly no vampire. No, she’s sure he isn’t human but also not a vampire, much less among her lover’s kin.  He certainly has an intense, though dark aura. It’s hard for Harmony to explain but something tells her it’s best not to pry into that.

The encounter among the morning mist is polite, though a bit awkward. Harmony greeted the stranger with a gentle smile and a quiet hello before introducing herself. He returned the greeting but said his name did not matter. A peculiar answer that takes the young woman aback, but she respected his choice with a nod.  She wonders if he prefers to continue his journey alone, but a part of her wants to stick with him. It’s been a long time since she last had company. The staff back at home are polite but they were never the ones to stay for conversation. Not when there is a lot for them to do.

“Excuse me, sir…If it’s not too much trouble…Is it okay that we walk together? Perhaps talk too?” Hands play with the lock of her hair resting over her shoulder. Silver eyes sheepishly look away as she spoke to him. “It’s okay if it’s a no! I mean, I just-Well…It’s been a long time since I see a visitor here. My fiancé has been away on business for the past week. It gets too quiet at home without him. I don’t want much. Just-well, you know…Someone to hang out with.” Then, dark brows rise, and lips spread to a grin as she remembers something.

“Oh! If you walk with me, I’ll show you a great place to see the mountains! Colorado has beautiful mountains, you know! I go there lots of times!” Harmony knows just the spot to show such a breathtaking view. It’s where she goes to relax and share stories about her people with the little ones. Though the twins are not yet born, she still talks and sings to them. They can hear her voice. That much she knows. “It’s not a hard walk to get there, either and not many people know about it!” The intensity of hiking is always something she must consider. Though her clothing and jacket do wonders hiding the small bump in her stomach, it won’t be long until her condition begins to show, and she won’t be able to hike as long until after birth.

The man considered her invitation for a moment before agreeing to follow. “Great! We start by going further up this trail. Then, we take a right…” Excitement sparked in her eyes as she leads him down the trail.

The trek is slow, taking in the sights and sounds nature has to offer. Harmony speaks every now and again, fighting the urge to ramble in fear of scaring her possible acquaintance.  They speak about general topics, such as the weather, what this park has to offer, things Harmony is more than happy to share.  The sun drifts further up towards the brightening sky as the two reach an overlook. There, they find the vast landscape with the mountains reaching toward the heavens with snow capped peaks.

“This is it! Isn’t it beautiful? I love being here!” Harmony exclaims, “It’s just one of the many things that make being alive great!” She adds while taking in the ethereal beauty of the wilderness. However, the newcomer asks her a couple of questions. These questions are a bit startling but they piqued her interest.

“What do you think of life and death?”

“What do I think of life and death?” Harmony repeats the question before she lowers her gaze. Silence falls between them as she reflects on her views of it. Slender fingers of her right hand gently play with the engagement ring embracing her one of her left fingers. “Death is a natural part of life…It’s part of the journey of life.” She starts,

“But death is not the end of that journey, you know?” With that, Harmony tilts her head back, her gaze returns to the mountains. “Like, you know, death varies between how a person sees it. It depends on culture and things like that. In my culture, your journey doesn’t end at death…Really, it’s a transition to start on the final journey back home. In Chickasaw beliefs, the soul leaves the Earth and goes to the stars. That is what we thought the underworld looked like since the underworld and upper world flips at night. The soul starts the journey on Ofi’ Tohbi Ihina. The White Dog’s Path…That’s the Milky Way.” She continues the story of that journey where the soul joins the guardian known as Ofi’ Tohbi through the trials laid out before them throughout the journey.

“The White Dog protects us during the trip back…In the end, we go back to the afterlife where Abi Binnili is. That’s our supreme god. But really, I think when that happens, we find out that the journey doesn’t even end there. The afterlife is a vast universe full of forests, valleys, oceans and cities. Far more beautiful from the mortal realm and free from illness and sorrow. The possibilities are endless there.” Harmony smiles gently before gesturing to the mountains. “You see beautiful things like this, but far more grand! However…that doesn’t mean we have to rush to get to the afterlife.” Harmony turns to face the man, still smiling.

“The beautiful thing about death is also finding value in life. The little things mean far more and makes life wonderful, like tasting coffee in the morning, seeing the stars, and be with the ones we love.” Her hand rests on the center of her stomach as she takes in a deep breath.  “Life and death are beautiful in their own way. Though death can be scary because of the unknown…it doesn’t mean the end. At least, I don’t think so. Because after everything…We can have many adventures with loved ones in the afterlife. But for now, we should treasure every minute in life and make many adventures with those around us.”

A gentle breeze flows around the pair as they stand on the overlook.

“I hear about different views of death like death being a person. A reaper as many people call them. I’m used to seeing them like how they are portrayed in media. It’s kind of weird…Like, death may seem cold and callous give the circumstance of how some deaths happen. However, I don’t think that’s the case. I never see reapers as someone evil or heartless. How I see it, they have sympathy for the living, especially when the spirit wants to stay in the mortal realm. I guess it goes in hand with the fear of death, which I think reapers can understand…But reapers have to do their jobs. As much as they may not want to guide spirits away from this plane, it’s part of their obligation.” She sighs as she thinks about it. A hand rises and tucks a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Sorry! I’m probably spewing nonsense at this point! I guess that can happen when you’re on your own for a while.”

[ahsterism]

as someone getting into re incredibly late, the rampant misconceptions surrounding leon's character are crazy to notice ngl— i've been on the direct outskirts of it for awhile now ESPECIALLY when r.e4.r came out last year and people love to pretend leon is meant to be a badass glorified example of american military/government forces or that he's genuinely cold and uncaring through 4make & beyond whereas EVERYTHING we see from him is always the polar opposite of this. he starts off with this genuine on his part yes but also incredibly naive idea of "wanting to become a cop to help people" but as time passes we see explicit references to his distrust in the government/political landscape he's surrounded by. i mean, if being threatened not only with his own execution but with sherry's safety ( a 12 year old girl ! ) to work as a special agent wasn't ENOUGH to shatter that naivety than being molded into a weapon, repeatedly witnessing the corrupt and cruel systems behind the horrors, and constantly having to fight an uphill battle to TRULY do any good like he still so desperately wants to SURE IS. his dejection when talking about not having a choice in 4make. his dialogue at the end of d.amnation. fucking all of v.endetta. in d.eath i.sland when the fact that he's a government pawn is thrown in his face and all he says is "it's a living." not a good living, not something he takes pride of satisfaction in, not something he's inclined to defend like claire and chris do, it's just surviving.

and the thought that he's cold and aloof? when he cares so much for the people he DOES still have and is consistently devastated by their suffering? he allows himself to be used as a weapon for sherry when he thought about just ending it all instead. he tries to put up that mask in 4, tries to claim he's changed, and is hit right back with you haven't, you just think you have, he CANNOT just treat ashley like a mission no matter how hard he tries. his willingness to deflect from orders for the people who need it. contacting chris in cv. speaking of, the awful reality that despite being the best agent they have he is consistently unable to be the one to save the people closest to him, he's always left to hope and what good is being a weapon if he can't save them?

this turned into more rambling than i intended but the fact that he never had a choice in any of this simply makes me insane. it's NOT meant to be glorified it's tragic! he's not allowed to walk away no matter how much disdain he holds he can't make any wrong moves because who knows what would happen to him or more importantly the people around him.

[baelpenrose]

Takeaways from the 2024 election that Dems should learn based on actually collating the issues people here and throughout the country say impacted them, and also basic understanding of the current media landscape:

1) republicans vote Republican. You will never pick up more Republican defectors than you will lose of your own base trying.

2) “it’s the economy, stupid.” I am not saying don’t help marginalized people, nor run right on any issues thaf affect BIPOC, trans rights, or women’s bodily autonomy. Maintain progressive positions on all of those issues - but the front and center of your campaign should be economic populism against corporate giants that make Americans go hungry and take their homes.

This election, as much as pundits want to pretend it was lost on “woke” was lost foremost on Americans being given a false dichotomy between groceries, gas and housing or basic decency, and picking survival. That economic survival was and always is a false promise from the right is part of the next point.

People are angry and the support of the Adjustor shows as much. The Dems need to start tapping into that anger - Americans are hurting, they want someone to blame, and unlike the right, the left can actually point them to the real culprits: the corporate overlords who own our politics.

3) the shift in Gen Z has been sworn to be the “end of the democrats future” (odd thaf when the young voted left for years the media never reported the republicans as a dying party) but when you break the numbers down, it’s the lower edge of Gen Z and first time voters specifically where republicans actually gained an edge.

This isn’t actually as grim as it need look. What happened is that the right has over a hundred dedicated content mill channels where young people are - YouTube and TikTok. The left really doesn’t. And the ones we do have are frankly, dogshit. They’re vicious, circular firing squad morons who go after each other constantly OR they’re people with no comprehension of their own ideology who run on vibes - and the vibes are “listen to me ramble condescendingly about a fandom.”

This isn’t to say that the left has no good video essayists - it does, but the person you thought of as a counterpoint to my previous argument uploads at most once every couple months. I don’t even know who you thought of, but the left wing video essays are all the same: solid research, interesting personalities you vibe with or don’t (fine on its own) but they all only update rarely.

The right wing mills crank out content every day. Multiple times a day.

And what’s more it’s not all video essays. Or political stuff. Where’s a left wing pewdiepie? Like just some left wing dude who streams games and is funny but in a way that isn’t all offensive edgelord shit? Or whose edgelord gags actually have a point?

When the right wants to radicalize young people, they’ve got a whole media ecosystem to do it.

When the left wants to - we don’t. And part of that is that every time a left wing Internet personality gets big enough, others tear them down, but part of it is that there just aren’t enough of us making content.

[whatudottu]

Ayo, bard anon here, have a few more of my epic (non-Ben related) mythology pitches for various species that I may or may not eventually make fanfics for (sorry if this is too rambley BTW, I tend to get carried away with this kind of stuff sometimes):

The Galvans having their very own version of Prometheus in the form of the very first First Thinker, who allegedly stole knowledge itself from a race of terrifying giants that regularly terrorized the prehistoric Galvans and kidnapped them to use as slaves and pets (exactly what alien species these giants were supposed to represent is still heavily debated to this day) and granting it to his people, which they used to become the scientifically and technologically advanced civilization they are today. Pretty much every First Thinker has at least one story about them and their achievements, for that matter. If Azmuth is anything to go by, the Galvans tend to pick rather unique individuals to lead them. 

The Cerebrocrustaceans having a similar myth to the Galvans where a legendary trickster stole lightning bolts from the gods and imbued its power into the foreheads of his species so that they couldn’t be reclaimed, created as a way to explain how they’re able to generate electricity from their brains. Despite the Cerebrocrustaceans claiming that the Galvans “stole” the story from them, the two myths seem to have been created completely independent from one another, although there’s still much scholarly debate over which one emerged first.

The Petrosapiens having tales that envision Sugilite as omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, having emerged from a gigantic space geode Ra style and sculpted the landscape of Petropia and the first Petrosapiens (who were created in his image) from a cluster of jagged crystal. Sugilite always found it too awkward to correct them about it and basically just rolled with it for eons.

The Vilgaxians naturally having many (extremely white-washed) stories of their great leader, the most popular one being how he was banished at a young age for speaking out against their planet’s cruel tyrant of a ruler, only to return years later to defeat said ruler in the Conqueror’s Challenge and usher in a new age of peace and prosperity for the Chimera Sui Generises (I think that’s the plural for them?). Most bards tend to change the names when telling those stories to non-Vilgaxian planets if they bother to ever tell them at all.

The destruction of the Incurceans’ homeworld being re-envisioned as them majorly pissing off the Gods and getting smited for it a la Atlantis or Troy. In such stories, Azmuth is usually portrayed as an emissary of the gods if not one of the gods in disguise, something that he has gone on record numerous times saying he isn’t a huge fan of, to put it mildly.

Bestie, you want to ramble you've come to the right place! Rambling is all we do here haha!

Oh and I am totally an utter HUGE fan for these little myth snapshots, especially with certain cerebrocrustacean folk complaining that the galvans took their story from them- Even with their similarities (a member of their species stole something from someone powerful and gave it to their people) I like how there's like a difference between the specifics, particularly how the FIRST First Thinker stole knowledge from another species and how it contrasts with a legendary trickster stole lightning from the GODS! Not only are these stories just additional worldbuilding, it's also packed with an additional set of worldbuilding down to political and religious roots.

And I am constantly a Mor'Otesi believer, even if present day it's barren of any people (love me an overgrown planetary wasteland), so anytime Sugilite gets all awkward about being deified I'm all for it! Irrespective of how I view canon I can totally see petrosapien myths about Sugilite being essentially a 'god' if not THE god of Petropia and them in kind, heck maybe a few vocal languages use Sugilite's name as inspiration for godly words lmao- considering how Mor'Otesi was mythologised in of itself, he himself would have probably been on Petropia for a LONG while (doesn't help that my mutants and magic Sugi would need to meditate for forever essentially to record the memories of a planet, so long in fact he might accidentally get overgrown by Petropia itself lmao).

Hehe- from one rambler to another, I would read the absolute fuck out of any worldbuilding fic you may or may write!

[kuwdora]

I always have thoughts about book-to-media adaptations running in the back of my mind these days since it’s part and parcel of our fannish landscape. There’s just so much that goes into translating something from book to a visual medium. And then the adaptation fails in some small and/or large way and it ends up being a disappointment. (I think there’s also a lot to be said about adaptations that are more Successful than not and what success means in an adaptation…but I think that deserves its own post.)

I’m often considering a person’s entry point to adaptations, whether it’s through the media or the original source, and how that plays into people’s reactions about failures of adaptations or—like, what each person is wanting to get out of the adaptation if they know the original source material. And what they’re happy with when they’ve just discovered it through the adaptation.

Just gonna ramble a little bit about my own experience with being a book-to-adaptation person. I think even when writing and production circumstances are the most ideal, it’s still fucking hard as hell to adapt complicated narratives to the screen. Still. I’m not immune to heartbreak about seeing something play out badly because I had been so attached to the original book material.

When I was a little girl I picked up a fantasy book featuring a little girl protagonist. This main character was living in a foster situation, had dead parents, and a wishy-washy background she didn’t know much about. She was a little bit of a ruffian and kind of defied everybody and everything because she had a very strong sense of self and moral code. She is, of course, a child of prophecy and has a lot in store for her.

Over the course of the first book she ends up embroiled in some social and political intrigue and ends up going on a grand adventure. She meets an outcast who is is hated by humans but they use his services anyway because he’s good at his job. He ends up becoming her protector and guardian and would do anything for her.

She eventually crossed paths with a world-traveling misfit with who brought levity and a heart of gold to every scene. She also ended up meeting a very old, very beautiful witch also fell in love with this child and would move heaven and earth to protect her and help her survive and thrive.

The whole series deals with a lot of complex issues of the moral and social variety, and there’s a running theme about how men and institutions headed by men wield their power and try to impose their vision of the world on everyone. Particularly on women.

The little girl also eventually found out that her dad isn’t actually dead like she was told. The dad is alive and well and he’s asshole, also a bad guy. But he has the MOST CHARISMA EVER, holy fuck.

I ate these books up as a kid and reread them over and over and my brain and heart totally grew around them. I admired the protagonist and her sharp wit and mouthiness and determination. Her resiliency and perseverance to do what she knew would be right and just. As I got older and I reread the books and absorbed the more complex issues about personhood and agency. I thought more about how you can resist a bad situation or person when the world/person is trying to change you to fit their ideal. (That part was particularly important to me when I was young). But also the themes of good and evil, etc. I started seeing the politics and then understanding it more with every reread over the years when I started reading more history, more politics. It had always been there in the books but I could finally SEE it. It felt like a revelation.

A dozen or so years later it turns out someone was going to going to adapt these books! It was much discussed and heavily anticipated. These were well-known, beloved fantasy books from the 90s. Amazing characters and great scenes! Fascinating themes.

God I remember being so excited when I heard about the adaptation. And then I got to see it. It was the most confusing and disappointing experiences of my life. What I ended up seeing was pretty. Great costumes, CGI. Amazing actors! But everything that made the books interesting and magical and profound had been watered down, elided over the moral complexities. Or it outright changed things that would have fundamentally shifted the events of the rest of the books and make the adaptation even MORE incomprehensible.

I’m talking about the 2007 film adaptation of The Golden Compass from Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials. A lot of this probably sounds familiar to my Witcher mutuals, right?

Anyway.

The film had so many boycotts by the Catholic Church and other churchy groups in the United States for its depiction of institutionalized religion in Lyra’s world. So on the studio-side they made so many changes and demands that fucked the movie. So much doesn’t make sense or is just pales in comparison to what was actually originally intended.

After the film’s flop even more articles and reviews came out talking about Tom Stoppard’s original draft of the film and the director’s first take on the screenplay. Vulture read both versions and it's really illuminating what they discovered. The film was indeed supposed to be significantly longer but the studio wasn’t having it because they wanted kids to go and see this film and 2+ film wasn’t gonna be it.

Like. The studio was really hoping for another Harry Potter franchise and were treating this book-to-film more like a YA fantasy type of thing. When in reality someone wrote a sanded down version of the story for the screenplay that left me and a whole bunch of other people fucking jaded as hell. Because damn. Way to miss the fucking mark on an amazing fantasy series. 10000% missed it. I’ve blacked out most of the actual film from memory because I just could not believe it. The disappointment. The heartache of not doing the story justice.

But yeah…just… someone really thought The Golden Compass was gonna be a huge fantasy action/adventure hit because there were really cool talking animals.

It’s so fucking hilarious to me in retrospect. When you realize these books are Phillip Pullman’s AU fanfic/fix-it of Paradise Lost where Lucifer gets to have his revenge on the kingdom of heaven, there was noooo way that original film was going to even begin to set up a 3 or 4 film franchise. Nooo way.

The first book ends with an absolutely heartbreaking and horrific scene that is the catalyst for Lyra and what motivates her for the next 1500 pages of the series. I was there opening weekend in that theater for The Golden Compass. I have never been more confused in my LIFE while watching a film because they ended the film like 5 chapters before the end of the book. They lopped it off and made the first film a very strange Cliffhanger for a sequel that would absolutely never get made. I was flabbergasted.

The disappointment. The confusion. The despair. I was fucking depressed about it for a good long time. I had been so excited and been brimming with anticipation because I loved the books so much and I wanted it to be good and then what I got was….absolute garbage. To me. I mean maybe if I had been a little girl watching the film for the first time it would have been better. But as an adult who had spent the better part of my life immersed in Lyra’s character arc… I just. Could not feel more betrayed.

I can’t even be that upset anymore because I’ve had enough time to grieve and leave it behind. Then somehow the universe came together and HBO let Jack Thorne and company re-do the books as a series. It is a much more faithful adaptation. I’m too close to the book source to know if people who don’t read the books will get the same kind of experience out of seeing the show play through Lyra and Will’s experiences in the show.

The final season of His Dark Materials was also probably the most philosophical and abstract season of fantasy television I’ve seen. I fucking loved it. I don’t think it was perfect, but it was really enjoyable and did more to soothe my soul than I thought possible. It’s not a show for everyone—and I’m still not sure how it got made because HBO the last few years had been going through some changes. Maybe I’m very sentimental and forgiving, I don’t know. The narrative pacing was a bit weird to me in places and some of the dialogue was hit or miss but overall, I could not have gotten a better time from it.

That experience with the film a has made me much more intentional about managing my expectations of how I approach media adaptations.

Where am I starting with an adaptation? What am I hoping to get out of this? Who is making it and what are the production constraints working against it? How do I manage my expectations if I know the original source and what do I want from the visual media and acting? Etc etc. Do I want to go and read the original if I don’t know it already because I want to see what changes they made?

I keep thinking about everything with The Witcher Netflix. It’s so fucking difficult to get anything made through studios and networks (especially now, but even then in the late 2000s)… And when you’re trying to appeal to the widest audience possible, you’re only going to get so far when you’ve left the rest of the source inspiration on the table. And didn’t bother to make up for the difference in what you left there.

We all know how depressing it is. The streaming model has fucked television over completely. The depreciation of writers rooms… we had 20 and 22 episodes, and then 15 and 12 episodes. Filler episodes with great character moments. Space to flesh out complex narratives with nuance. And now 8 episodes as a standard runtime. The lack decent amount of time for production (including pre and post) to actually set things up in a way that serves the media narrative.

It’s so hard to cater to everyone when you’re drawing from a book/comic book. Also harder to cater to your specific audience. But when you’re trying cater to enough people so you don’t get cancelled and keep going to try and tell the story you’re trying to tell, that’s fucking hard and shitty and I don’t begrudge them for that. Even though it sucks.

Even though I can hate it as much has I can understand it. Wish it was different. Even though it can be a fucking travesty of epic proportions because these writers/showrunners/directors don’t get the space to actually flesh out what they’re trying to do.

Even if people are writing a very different iteration of the story that I don’t like/want/agree with/understand/etc.

That doesn’t even go into the issue of when showrunners and directors don’t understand the characters they’re working with or make fundamental changes because of their own vision, production constraints, and everything else. You might see a lot of this going around again with Red, White, and Royal Blue and what the director had changed in his film adaptation. People are worked up into a froth for very valid reasons. It’s all exhausting but this is all nothing new. Still demoralizing when people so attached to the original material.

Anyway. That’s….just some thoughts that have been sitting with me for awhile. Could probably ramble more if I can get the brain cells together.

Fun fact: George RR Martin looked at the 2007 The Golden Compass film and said (paraphrasing here): “I am never, ever fucking EVER letting anyone make my books into a film. A television show is the way to go.”

Fun fact #2: James SA Corey (Daniel Abraham and Ty Frank) worked with GRRM extensively over the years and I think others have written more extensively about GRRM’s influence the way they wrote sprawling narratives with multiple POV characters. Anyway they developed a tabletop RPG that they eventually turned into novels that became The Expanse.

Which eventually got adapted to television. SyFy network was in a bidding war with Netflix for the show and out-bid Netflix. This was a show adaptation that did not hold your hand whatsoever. Fascinating, new, interesting. Faithful adaptation. Still got cancelled after two seasons. Even though both authors had become producers on the show and were learning more about production and writing teleplays from experienced sci-fi showrunners/producers/television writers.

Show was later picked up by Amazon to finish out the last few seasons. But I would bet my bottom dollar that both these authors watched how the Game of Thrones adaptations went and probably went “we’re not gonna let this happen to us.” And I think that’s reflected in the way they and their team were able to adapt the story faithfully with multiple huge and small changes specifically so it would work with the television medium.

[crisiscutie]

What's your favorite sephiroth to write for?

I love all of them, but in order: C.C (Nibelheim Incident) Sephiroth, Fluffy Sephiroth and then Dissidia Sephiroth. Ramble and analysis below.

(Nibelheim Incident) C.C Sephiroth: It's strange, since he has the least amount of screen time in canon, but yet he just writes himself. Perhaps one reason I adore C.C. is because of how unabashedly he wears his heart on his sleeve, openly displaying his lovesickness for his darling. While the other Sephiroths do express their feelings, they try to maintain a cool front. C.C., on the other hand, is a sweet and feral baby boy who is not afraid to show his vulnerability to his mommy darling. The underdog aspect of his character is also endearing to me. As the youngest and weakest of the Sephiroths, he often becomes the target of their bullying, particularly from 7R. And boy, the mountain of trauma he has endured... first finding out about his origins, then being abruptly taken into another world while he was with his darling and Jenova, and now having to share his darling with other Sephiroths... All of this makes my heart ache for him. While the other Sephiroths had the benefit of spending time with their Jenova in the Lifestream and becoming more focused, C.C was not given the same opportunity to develop, leaving him as a broken man with a shattered mind and a broken inner child. Thankfully, the darling has taken over the role of nurturing him, but will she be successful? Keep reading HoS and find out.

(Pre-Nibeheim and Domestic AU) Fluffy Sephiroth: I adore him because he's an absolute sweetheart towards his darling and loved ones. I love to write about his emotions and inner conflicts. His upbringing had bred him to kill, not for love, which is why I find it fascinating to analyze how his psychological landscape changes with his darling. The tragedy of Sephiroth lies in the fact that he had the makings of a hero, but his inner demons got the best of him. In the Domestic AU, his darling keeps him on his toes, pushing him to be his best self and helping him overcome his past trauma. Maybe, just maybe, he can become that hero?

Dissidia Sephiroth: His design is captivating for me. It's a bit more regal than his other designs. You can tell he's a highly observant man, always calculating and planning his next moves with precision.... Yet despite his politeness, there's always an unmistakable tinge of hostility in his mannerisms, even when he doesn't intend on doing any harm (yet). You combine that with his mysteriousness, and it downright makes him uneasy to be around. It's interesting how he comes to accept his love for the Dissidia Darling despite being evil. He treats her like a pet or a brat on the outside, but his love for her is buried deep within. Another appeal is that I always love to imagine a yandere who can switch effortlessly between a gentle, nurturing demeanor and a domineering, commanding one. He is perfect for this type. And he really loves to especially prey on the Dissidia Darling's daddy issues, often exploiting them for his plans and amusement, making them a match made in hell heaven. Still working on his NSFW headcanons, had a lot of ups and downs with it..

In general, I love to explore different Sephiroth's dynamics with different darlings. Recently, I've been fascinated by the idea of an older darling (nee-san darling I like to call her) with EC/Fluffy/7R Sephiroths, who has an unrequited crush on her. Thanks for the ask!