#like lesser writers would let this character just be comic relief | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

shititbe · 3 years ago

Text

Anyway, HSM2 is about internalized homophobia, and no one can tell me otherwise.

High School Musical is one of the most beloved franchises in the world. Teenagers all over the world grew up watching Troy and Gabriella harmonize together. Three movies, and nearly a decade later it’s still beloved by all. The first film easily forgotten in the ashes of the early 2000’s, the third film stuck in a purgatorial limbo of the rather unfortunate late 2000’s. The second film on the other hand sticks out between the ruckus.

The second High School Musical film takes place at Sharpay and Ryan’s family country club, during the summer between junior and senior year. The Wildcats are working summer jobs on the country club, often forced to the beck and call of Ryan and Sharpay themselves. Sharpay uses all her prestige to help Troy with college instead of starting at the bottom ( or rather, in the kitchen washing dishes) with his friends. In the time she’s helping Troy, she is also pushing her brother away; replacing him with Troy in their musical number for the talent show, and refusing to hang out with him in preference for Troy. Ryan becomes vengeful to his twin and starts hanging around the Wildcats in the kitchen. At first, he was met with some distasteful looks and words (most of which from Chad). With the help of Kelsey, and her neutral party, Ryan fits in smoothly with the other teenagers, eventually giving the WildCats all dance lessons.

Throughout the movie, the main conflict continues to be the internal conflict of Troy Bolton. He debates over and over again if he should go through with Sharpay’s shenanigans, or if he wants to “listen to my own heart.” This of course involves Gabriella, as she is Troy’s love interest. She’s not in the second film except for the beginning, then, where she leaves in the middle of the film - in order to create angst for Troy - then when she shows up again in the finally to sing/rejoin Troy.

The conflict in the second film is the combining of Troy’s two worlds. His first - his main world in the first movie, that hence became his secondary world - which is represented by Chad. Then his secondary world - which becomes his main world in this movie - which is represented by Ryan. Chad represents Troy’s masculinity, or his more idealized version of himself. Ryan represents Troy’s femininity or his current version of reality. These two worlds collide in the iconic song “I don’t dance”.

Since this movie - and hence this scene - came out in the early 2000’s, a lot of the innuendoes went over people's heads. Luckily, as the children who watched this movie grew older and more experienced, and the world became more accepting, we’re able to see this song for what it is.

Before getting into the lore and symbolism of the iconic “I Don’t Dance” sequence, context is needed. For most of human history, homosexuality was seen as a sin in all places except ancient times (see: Greece and Japan). The modern age is the most accepting on all fronts, such as sexual orientation, race, and religion. In the early 2000’s, High School Musical director Kenny Ortega was not publicialy out yet. He wouldn’t be till 2014.

Originally, while writing this, my first thought was that Kenny - the director - would be using Troy as a y/n type character to project his insecurities and struggles with masculinity, and what that means in defining his orientation and societal views that would be placed upon him. Then, it came to me later that this is in fact not the case, Troy (and Gabriella - who is in fact a y/n character for the female audience) is more of a character for a man of his time, confused with his own ideals of masculinity and the views of society because, “oh god, I can’t like theater/drama because only queer people and girls like it!” The second point is pushed further with the Troy and Sharpay sub-plot. Sharpay tries to further Troy’s career as a basketball player, though that’s not what he wants anymore, and Troy is no longer sure if that is what he ever wanted to begin with (enter the song “Bet on it” and the hilarious meme “no dad, I’m giving up on your dream”).

Keeping these things in mind - Kenney’s queerness, and Troy’s struggle to realize you can in fact sing and be a heterosexual, wow, revolutionary - it became clear to me that Kenney’s y/n characters were Ryan and Chad.

For those who aren’t into the arts, or find them too difficult after a singular attempt thinking they could write a world class novel on the first go, let me be the first to tell you every author has a y/n character. First, for those who don’t know what y/n stands for, it’s a popular fanfiction trope where a writer will write a story about a character dating, being friends, and so on, with the reader. The y/n stands for “your name” so anyone can be the main character in this story at any time. For a writer of mainstream fictional work, such as High School Musical, Game Of Thrones, Lord Of The Rings, Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, even most comics. Now, most writers or directors aren’t going to be as obvious as having a character not named (or named y/n) or even named Jane (looking at you Jane Austin), the y/n character of many mainstream authors/directors/comic artists and so on is usually the character they feel or have given the most attributes similar to themselves.

It’s the same reason people have favourite characters. You see a fictional character and you either 1. Want to Bob the Builder them, 2. Some sort of weird sex thing, or 3. See more/the most of yourself in this character. Number three - thankfully - is usually the main reason. Some people just create their own favourite characters. An even easier way to think about this, is just projection baby, that’s psych 101.

Before I went off on a small tangent of fictional works and how human emotion plays into creating them (except anything Disney has made in the past decade, and no you can’t change my mind on that) I mentioned that Chad and Ryan are Kenney’s y/n characters. As a queer person myself, it’s clear for me to see the different struggles each of these characters face and how these reflect the queer experience.

So, let’s finally get into it.

Ryan, without it being explicitly said is clearly a character of what people in the early 2000s think a gay man is. He is effeminate, wearing bright coloured outfits with lots of accessories - namely his signature hats - he is also in the theater department doing musicals, and passive/subservient to any of his twin sisters' wills. Yes, now we know gay men aren’t just feminized men, but in the early 2000’s a gay man who can do "masculine" things like change their car oil, like sports, and so on, break the "effeminate" stereotype thus confused many cishet people. Sharpay is painted as more confident - or, for sake of comparability - masculine to her twin in the first movie, and most of the second movie. Making Ryan a bit of her dog who would do anything to get by - painting Ryan as lesser than human, once more, playing into the homophobia of the early 2000's.

Despite the clear stereotypes playing into his character, Ryan is consistently one of the most confident characters in the movie. The other, being his sister of course. This confidence in himself is what gravitates the other characters towards him, either by being intimidated (Troy, thinking Ryan and Gabriella were a thing), or admiration (Chad, by the end of “I don’t dance”).

Chad, on the other hand, is a whole different ball game. While he is confident in the first movie, and the first portion of the second movie, he begins to break more and more when Ryan becomes a more integral part of the Wildcat group. To keep in mind, Chad is also the most vocal about his distaste for Troy’s artistic past-time. When the other Wildcats join Ryan and begin learning how to dance for the talent show at the end of the movie, Chad is also the most vocal about his distaste. The baseball game where “I don’t dance” takes place, is the climax of Chad’s arc and his turn towards acceptance to Ryan/Troy’s hobbies.

Of course, there is more to the “I don’t dance” sequence than just Chad’s realization - the exact one Troy comes to terms with in the second movie as well - of “oh my god I don’t have to be gay to enjoy stereotypical ‘feminine’ things.” That is the main part of the song though, that and all the sexual tension.

Going back to what I’ve stated previously, Chad and Ryan are Kenney’s projection or y/n characters. Let me do a small recap before we get into the nitty gritty of the famous “I don’t dance” video.

Thinking back to the first few paragraphs, I stated that Kenney wasn’t publicly out till 2014, about 7 years after the second movie came out. This could be due to the fact that a) it’s the early 2000’s and everyones still very homophobic, or b) self-doubt that comes with the queer experience. The most likely reason is a mixture of both of these. Because of this, Ryan is the more self-assured version, or idealized version of Kenney that he wants to be. Ryan is confident, never being swayed about his lifestyle (could be read as: sexuality) even though Chad - and most of the wildcats in the first movie - put him through relentless “teasing” and humiliation. He’s confident, almost to a fault, he’s sure of himself, and yet still reaches out a hand to Chad and the other wildcats to show them that they’re just being, kinda dick-ish.

Every queer person wants to be Ryan. Despite his heavily stereotyped characterization, I personally believe he is one of the stronger written characters in the movies, mainly due to Kenney putting the time in to really make Ryan feel like a real person, to give himself some sort of relief of his own anxieties, a chance to see the world through a person who truly has no fear. Unlike Kenney himself.

This is where Chad comes in.

Chad is seen as “confident” in the first movie, the second Troy “leaves” basketball though, all that confidence comes crashing down. His best friend has another hobby - one he thinks is “not right” (it’s okay, you can say gay), - they wont be spending all their time together (first, can you say dependent relationship much, yikes).Chad’s defining characteristic up until their fight that instigate act three of the second movie, is being Troy’s best friend. I’m going to take this as if this were truly the case, and not a decently written character arch. Some people base themselves around their friends and their whole identity on being a friend, that they lose sight of themselves, this mainly in high school of course, when your whole world is really nothing but school, and friends. Newly developed independence is there, but that’s scary, so instead of worrying about the future, cling to something that’s reliable. I’ve seen this happen, mainly at the end of high school, when the “real world” is coming a bit too close for comfort. This could generally be the case if a person is lonely, but for timeline sake I’m going to say Chad has got some anxiety about graduating (considering the second movie takes place the summer of junior year).

His lashing out at Troy’s hobbies and at Troy’s neglectful friendship, make more sense with that background, and are seen more in the second movie where Troy begins spending all his spare time with Sharpay (trying to collect that BAG!). Chad - and others (read: father) - insists that music is not a feasible career option, and Troy should just stick with basketball (like...that is a feasible career option). The tension Chad creates in the studio only grows when the other wildcats decide to take up Ryan’s offer for dance lessons and move from the kitchen, to helping out with the talent show. (Next essay idea: how high school musical two was really about class all along, cause Jesus).

Chad is the less obvious option for a y/n character. Though again, the 2000’s were not as cool people like to pretend they are. Chad - for Kenney - represents what he actually feels, this fear of being rejected for how he is and how he chooses to live his life/lifestyle, so he sticks to something reliable. Ryan is new, and exciting, and confident in a way that Kenney/Chad wish they could be, but in order for that to happen they need to understand that maybe people are complex creatures, and can enjoy multiple hobbies (aka: the same lesson Troy is teaching the viewers, but far less boring). But, for Kenney/Chad facing that thought and that realization is scary, and thus, they lash out at anyone (read this paragraph as: Chad mad jealous of Ryan cause Ryan bomb as fuck).

All this build up, finally comes ahead in the employee baseball match

******

The baseball game is probably the most memorable scene in the whole High School Musical franchise (minus Sharpay’s “Fabulous” solo, but that’s also from the same movie, and it’s kinda rude to give what’s already the best more points); the tension in the scene, and what it implies makes it the best written segment of all three movies, let alone the most entertaining.

Some things to keep in mind from our background information: Chad is missing his bestie and struggling with what being “masculine” really means for him and others. Ryan of course makes this confusing, because the traditional method is being thrown out the window. In short, Chad has internalized homophobia, and Ryan being open - or as open as Disney would let him - is causing all sorts of problems.

Despite the song, “I don’t dance” being logged into our collective skulls for all eternity (you’re probably humming it right now, sorry about that), the very brief interaction of Ryan and Chad before the game is lost on the public consciousness. The two are clearly comfortable with each other, though the distaste seems to be on Chad’s side more than Ryans. So, the two start playfully jabbing at each other before deciding to do a bat toss to see who will be in the outfield first.

Before they begin the bat toss, Ryan says “You don’t think dancing takes some game?” Chad then very clearly checks him out, doing a simple but effective ‘drag-your-eyes-over-them-top-to-bottom-then-smile’ and says “you got game?” (Seen in gif below)

I don’t know how much you know about sex metaphors and how many of those baseball has in it (seriously though, it’s a lot), but with the bat toss, Ryan’s hand ended up on top, and Chad’s under Ryan’s. Let’s ignore this for now, it’ll be implied again later. Ryan’s team starts out in the outfield because he won the bat toss, and hence, the song officially starts.

The first lyrics (ignoring the chores of “hey batter batter, hey batter batter, swing”) is

I'll show you that it's one and the same

Baseball, dancing, same game

It's easy

Step up to the place, start swingin

This part is sung by Ryan, who is taunting Chad out in the outfield. Before the game, as stated, Chad was taunting Ryan about his lack of “game” (both sexual and not sexual metaphor are implied), and now, Ryan has turned those tables around. Baseball - is seen as more masculine than dancing, not as masculine as football or basketball, but it’s up there. Chad is someone who cares about his masculinity, enough to the point that Ryan playing baseball makes him loose his mind. Makes him question his own personal definition of masculinity, if you will.

Ryan says, “baseball, dancing, same game,” impyling that, to him, baseball and dancing are one and the same. That is baffling to Chad, cause well, how can something meant for girls even be close to something meant for boys.

Chad comes back with:

I wanna play ball now, and that's all

This is what I do

It ain't no dance that you can show me, yeah

This only proves my previous point.

I had a conversation with myself about this, and I’ve decided not to include it in this essay, but a second essay may or may not be possible. Basically the premise - the dancing/”musical” moments of High School Musical are conjured up images by those meant to see them (ie: like a visual hallucination, but, not really) but this scene kinda poo-poos that idea.

Now, the thing I am talking about is Ryan and Chad’s peacocking at each other during the time they sing these lyrics. The movements they’re making could be mistaken for dancing - as we automatically assume it is because of the title and themes of the movie - or it could be them just getting ready for the baseball game. Ryan swings his leg over the pitcher's mound, tossing the ball up and down into his glove, making wavy hand gestures, etc. Chad brushes off his gloves, swings his legs, hits the bat on each foot, and so on.

For the peacocking, Chad makes a mock of the ballerina foot stance before strutting over to the home plate. Ryan laughs at this, which earns quite the smirk from Chad himself (see gif below).

This is when it becomes a conversation.

You'll never know - R

Oh I know - Ch

If you never try - R

There's just one little thing - Ch

That stops me every time, yeah - Ch

Come on - Ch

When Chad says “Come on” it’s when Ryan throws the baseball at him, starting the game, and giving Chad’s team their first strike of the game (get it, it’s funny). Now, obviously we need to talk about the “there’s just one little thing that stops me every time.” As a queer person, I assure you, two of the things that kept me from living my Best Life were 1) my own ignorance of what asexuality was and 2) the fear that everyone I love would hate me for who I am, and what I have no control over.

Sorry to get deep like that on main, but, can any other queer person say different? Obviously, your first point may differ, but my point still stands. In the video/scene there is a very short moment (to which I have condensed into a gif for you all, you’re welcome, and I’m sorry about the quality in advance), of the camera moving over to Chad’s team (or his friends in this case since it’s an employee baseball game) as he says this line (gif below).

I will not be explaining the use of subtly in this essay, but I’m sure you get the metaphor Kenney is trying to use. If not, let me spell it out for you in very simple words. This song has a lot of sexual innuendos (as mentioned pervious with the baseball bat scene and still, more to come), with that in mind, and clearly queer themes at play (as mentioned before, again), this scene only shows Chad isn’t as straight as he leads on. His fear/phobia of Ryan/the arts come from a much deeper place.

In shorter, and much simpler terms: Chad queer.

But, let’s get back to the boy's conversation.

I don't dance - Ch

I know you can - R

Not a chance, no - Ch

If I could do this, well, you could do that - R

Translation: “If I can do this weird, sweaty, dirty, Male thing without blowing a fuse, you can and should be able to dance just fine.”

But I don't dance - Ch

Hit it out of the park - Both

I don't dance - Ch

I say you can - R

There's not a chance, oh - Ch

Slide home, you score, swingin on the dance floor - Both

I don't dance, no - Ch (This is just the chores, you’ll see it multiple times throughout the essay, I just figured if the song is going to be in your head, go all the way right).

Two-steppin, now you're up to bat - R

Bases loaded, do your dance - R

Here we are with the baseball metaphors you’ve all been waiting for ladies and gentlemen. Girls, gays, and non-binary pals. For those who have somehow managed a sheltered existence with access to the internet, lemme help you. Ryan is talking about “loaded bases” both in the context of the game (where it shows each base has one person from Chad’s team on them) and in the term of sex. While you go out there dating - while it’s mostly douche bags and people using it ironically - your nosey friends may ask you how far you got.

“First, second, or third base?” They may ask. Or something like, “oh wow, did you get to home plate/base?” These are simply the rankings of the stages of a sexual relationship. First - kissing, sometimes just handholding, Second - making out, some light groping, Third - full on groping, no clothes come off, but it gets close. While each person has different boundaries, these are the general accepted definitions for the bases.

Home base is obviously full blown sexual intercourse. Since Chad has his “bases loaded” it means he’s done all these things before, just never gone completely to sexual intercourse with someone - in the terms of the song and the history we’ve already established, it’s most likely a male character. This is only proven by Chad’s uncomfortable nature towards Ryan (internalized Homophobia, thank you, returning theme) but his easy, and cocky personality towards everyone else. “bUt thAt DoEsnT pRovE” hush, that’s the final cherry on top. Remember this conversation.

It's easy - R

Again. Previous points have been made.

Take your best shot, just hit it - Ch

I've got what it takes, playin my game - Ch

So you better spin that pitch - Ch

You're gonna throw me, yeah - Ch

I'll show you how I swing - Ch

Ah, the famous “I’ll show you how i swing” a very strong baseball metaphor for everyone. Keeps queer people from defining themselves to dangerous (straight) people, and, well, that’s it actually. This term is mostly used by bi/pan people, though if you want to stay in the closet or are in a dangerous place, it is also used to subtly tell other queer people you are in fact, not straight. My favourite is when this term came into play when President Buchanan got elected in 1856 (for those that don’t know, he’s the first and only gay president).

You'll never know - R

Oh I know - Ch

If you never try - R

There's just one little thing - Ch

That stops me every time, yeah - Ch

This is again, the same lyric as before it doesn’t pan, and the tone is much different. The camera stays on Chad as he says this line, meaning he’s reflecting, he is now his own problem, the person that is keeping him back. His friends are not on his mind anymore, which is good, Ryan’s Gay Propaganda has been working.

Come on - Ch

I don't dance - Ch

I know you can - R

Not a chance, no, no - Ch

If I could do this, well, you could do that - R

But I don't dance - Ch

Hit it out of the park - R

I don't dance - Ch

I say you can - R

There's not a chance, oh no - Ch

Slide home, you score, swingin on the dance floor - Both

I don't dance, no - Ch

Lean back, tuck it in, take a chance - R

Swing it out, spin around, do the dance - R

I wanna play ball, not dance hall - Ch

I'm makin a triple, not a curtain cal - Chl

I can prove it to you til you know it's true - R

'Cause I can swing it, I can bring it to the diamond too - R

You're talkin a lot, show me what you got - Ch

Again, like the beginning of this song, this is a heavy base for flirting and sexual tension, which this song is drowning in.

Stop swinging - both

Hey - both

This is the part where they all start a flash mob in the middle of the baseball diamond. Again, alluding to the conversation I had to myself earlier, this only proves my own theory as no one takes notice of this. But, that’s not this essay, this is where I mention how close Chad and Ryan are at the end of the group dance.

Come on, swing it like this - both

Oh, swing - both

Jitterbug, just like that - both

That's what I mean, that's how you swing - both

You make a good pitch but I don't believe - both

Here is yet another (and the final) sexual innuendo. This is actually a rather quick one. Pitching in queer culture is considered the person who tops (because queer people even had to straight-ify their sex lives to “top” and “bottom”), this is the person who is giving, if you know what I’m saying.

I say you can - R

I know I can't - Ch

I don't dance - Ch

You can do it - R

I don't dance, no - Ch

Here is where that mosh pit ends, and how they get a little too close to comfort.

Nothing to it, atta boy, atta boy, yeah - both

The rest of this song is simply a mash-up of the baseball game being finished, and this lovely gem.

Now, clearly, Chad’s self conscious nature towards his sexuality is gone, he’s sitting close - if not squishing - Ryan, and talking to him like they’ve been friends forever. Take note of the change of close, most likely due to all the tension at the end of the song, and maybe a little of Chad’s own natural human curiosity built in. Now, I leave you with this note:

If there is anything that confirms all this more, its Chad’s girlfriend wearing the pride colours.

Also note: this could also be seen as a friend helping his bro discover his sexuality and fighting internalized homophobia, but, that’s ignoring the sexual tension, so go off I guess.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Watch the full thing here

#high school musical 2 #ryan and chad #do they have a ship name?#troy bolton #high school musical #the original not the remake or whatever the kids have now #ryan evans #chad danforth #Sharpay evans #troy x gabriella #ryan/chad #that baseball scene #yall know what i'm talking about #i don't dance #the gayest scene ever #and gayest song #Anyways: the series #should I write that second essay?#thanks for coming to my ted talk

243 notes · View notes

liliaeth · 4 years ago

Text

Fix it’s for Teen Wolf

I can think of a few things that would have made Teen Wolf better.

1. I wanted more focus on Scott’s emotional response to what happened to him. I don’t mind that Scott isn’t the type who complains about getting hurt. The problem for me was that the show rarely dealt with the consequences of Scott’s pain, and thus to the casual viewer often made it look like he simply didn’t mind, that being hurt didn’t bother him at all. Or worse, that nothing all that bad had happened in the first place.

Doing this undermined many of the hallucination scenes. For example, in Season 2’s Party Guessed, we get hallucinations for Stiles, Jackson, and Allison which give us a view into psychology, letting us know their issues without spelling them out. For Scott, we got Allison making out with kanima Jackson. Compared to the others, it felt shallow and confusing. The writers couldn’t even bother to give us dialog. He received the same treatment in Season 5, when they read the book designed to trigger their memories about the Dread Doctors. Stiles gets yet another scene about his dead mother who has been crucial to his story since Season 1. Lydia sees her grandmother and her connection to both Lydia’s powers and Eichen House, as well as foreshadowing her treatment at the hands of Valack. Malia about her Mom and sister’s death at the hands of the Desert Wolf, which is her entire arc. And Scott? He gets a nightmare about a dog that was never mentioned before and would not be mentioned after.

2. I wanted more focus on Scott’s trauma in general. In Season 1, Scott was repeatedly mentally and physically violated by Peter, terrorized and abused by Derek, and hunted by the Argents, and it was taken as a given. Even the recaps at the beginning episodes in other seasons barely show any of that. For example, Gerard attacking Scott in clear view at the hospital, stabbing him, and threatening his mother, never appeared in any of the recaps, even in episodes where it would have been important to remind the viewers about it.

While the show had no issue showing us over and over again how Stiles or Derek or Isaac or Allison or any white character really was hurt, they did not focus on the pain Scott was put through, and thus let the viewers conclude that those events didn’t matter.

The show literally had Scott try and kill himself, twice in less than two days, first in Frayed, by refusing to let himself heal, and then again in Motel California, yet neither of those suicide attempts are mentioned even once afterwards. And this while it would have been a good call back in s5b, when Scott is once again not letting himself heal after Theo killed him. and yet again, no mention whatsoever.

3. I wanted more consequences for certain characters. I liked that Scott and to a lesser extent Derek were confronted with the consequences of their actions. When they screwed up, they got called out on it. When they did something wrong, it wasn’t excused. Then they made up for it.

In contrast, certain characters, especially Stiles, got to do whatever they wanted and it was either dismissed as funny or used to make them look sympathetic. Stiles got to be mean and cruel, and the narrative still treated him as if he were the best friend ever. He got to assault people, hurt them, and it was treated as if somehow he was the victim.

For example, I would have liked Stiles a lot better, if when he tortured Scott with lacrosse balls, punishing him for who-knows-what, if someone else had called him out on it or if Scott had got to defend himself, instead of just taking it because Stiles was angry. Scott allowing Stiles to hurt him to maintain their friendship was a pattern between them, just as much as Scott taking responsibility for things that aren’t his fault. He keeps on doing it over the course of the show, but it would have been nice if the show at the very least had made it clear that that didn’t make Stiles behavior acceptable.

Just like I wish that Peter had actually faced consequences for his actions – and/or shown some kind of true remorse for his misdeeds--instead of the others just letting him hang around after all the horrible things he’d done or reduce it pettiness.

4. I would have liked more time spent on Melissa and the McCall family in general, especially on Melissa’s initial reaction to Scott being a werewolf. In the show, they barely spent two minutes total on Melissa’s reaction to finding out her son has been turned into a werewolf. By the end of s6b, she was barely even behaving like a mother anymore. Even to the point where we don’t even get a conversation between her and Chris about his attacks on her son before the two of them start dating. Now don’t get me wrong, I liked Chris and Melissa in a relationship, but it was missed opportunity to humanize both her and Scott that they didn’t bother to show her finding out about that and her reaction to it.

Instead we got the whole horror reaction, of her being horrified at seeing her son’s other face, the reaction that any LGBT kid fears when they come out to their parent. Which could have been a great metaphor, especially if they had then made it clear that Scott was bisexual.

5. I would have liked more focus on Boyd. The production time spent on Isaac and Erica, while Boyd’s arc was treated as almost an afterthought. We barely even got any hint on his past, in the episode before they killed him off. They started out with Boyd as the one who wanted to be like Scott, and then never explained it. Why not focus more on that, and their relationship?

(similar complaints go about Mason, and how little we knew about Mason, outside of him being Liam’s friend. Like... what was his relationship like with his parents? What is Mason interested in, what does he want to do with his life... how did he deal with the after effects of the Beast...

6. I would have liked more focus on Alan Deaton. The show had such huge potential with this character’s backstory, not just with the Hales but as an emissary in general. There was this whole mythology about druids that they barely even delved into.

To not even start on how little we knew about his personal life? Why did he and his sister have different last names? What was their relationship like?

Does he have any romantic relationships? Friendships, relationships in general?

Or how about more time spent on his role as a father figure to Scott, we got so few crumbs of their relationship when we should have gotten so much more

7. I would have liked more focus on Scott and Theo’s interaction in Season 6. I get that in 6a, they had Scott primarily focused on getting Stiles back, but I’ll never understand why they then didn’t use 6b, to deal with the fact that Theo had tried to murder Scott and was trying to make it up to him and the pack for what he’d done to Scott and the others.

I don’t mind Theo interacting with Liam. Those scenes were great, but they should have at least one scene with Scott and Theo dealing with the issues between them. For Theo’s sake, as much as Scott’s.

8. I would have liked a complete rework of Season 6A in its entirety. If you’re going to focus a season on an actor who isn’t available, then you have to make it about his impact on the others. Show us what difference this character made, by showing us the effects of his absence, rather than just try and make it about a romantic ship. (I’ve written a post about this already in greater detail, so limiting it to that, but seriously, that season was such a huge wasted opportunity.)

9. Actual character growth for Stiles. For a character who had as much screentime as Stiles did, it’s shocking just how little character growth Stiles had over the course of the entire show. This contrasts in a really bad way, when you look at how much every single other character grew and changed over the course of the show.

Just look at the last four episodes of 5b, to give an example. After almost an entire season of watching Stiles at his worst, focusing on emotional scene after emotional scene with him, he suddenly got relegated to comic relief. Why? Because they didn’t want Stiles to grow, because unless he grew, there was no way for him to go but down. If Stiles had taken responsibility for his actions, then they’d have had to admit that he did wrong in the first place. And they couldn’t have that happen.

10. And last but not least. More moments of the kids being kids. Even if it’s just proms and beach parties. Moments where we see the characters spend time together, when they aren’t trying to stop some bad guy. Where we can see them be friends, hang out with kids their own age. Even just to remind the audience just how young these children are. And where the viewers along with the characters can rest in between the horror, because doing so makes the horror hit far more strongly in contrast to the light.

11. Also, a better lighting budget, pretty please Davies, were a few more light bulbs that much to ask for?

#teen wolf #scott mccall #anti stiles #teen wolf fandom problems #alan deaton #vernon boyd #mason hewitt #theo raeken #melissa mccall #anti peter hale

122 notes · View notes

kitkatopinions · 4 years ago

Note

I feel the only reason Jaune and Ren are still around is that they need background support male characters and comic relief. They really don't add anything useful to the narrative anymore. But being voiced by Miles and Monty's brother gives them plot armor they otherwise wouldn't have tbh.

You know... I have very mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I really enjoy Ren and Jaune as characters actually. On the other hand, you’re right that narratively, they don’t have much point, and I think we should include Nora in that as well.

A part of me says yes, JNR absolutely should’ve stayed in Haven, they take screen-time away from the mains, they don’t have much narrative purpose, etc. It’s the same reason why - though I’m disappointed as a Sun fan that he isn’t around anymore and I think he could’ve been used well, I get that the writers wouldn’t have used him well and I’m fine with him having go on to Vacuo. But another part of me says ‘Man, Jaune and Ren had some of the only enjoyable character arcs and were some of the only enjoyable characters for me in V8, and I like them!’ Like, if the writers were just better at handling bigger casts and didn’t shy away from developing the mains, I wouldn’t mind JNR being around at all!

And tbh, I don’t necessarily think that the show would’ve put more focus on RWBY (emphasis on the RWB since Yang still at least gets some stuff) if JNR were out of the picture. The character bloat would be better and maybe they wouldn’t be so lost in the shuffle, but Oscar has slid into Jaune’s shoes, imo, as far as taking narrative focus away from Ruby and her team. And season eight just made me feel like the writers don’t want to focus on RWBY. I mean, not only did Oscar get way more focus and character beats than they did, but so did Penny, and so did Winter. People want to talk about Jaune taking focus (as they should) but Oscar, Penny, and Winter were also stealing the spotlight this entire season. Which might not be a problem, except that all the main characters get shafted. Yang wasn’t even present in the season finale.

I feel like the writers have a very ‘go big or go home’ mentality and an inability to let go of their personal favorites, and it shows. They don’t want to trim down their cast, because a bigger cast means bigger moments, but then they don’t use most of their characters right, including their mains. And I feel like all the writers have their favorites and just suffer through including most of the mains because they know they have to. I mean... It’s not like they can just drop all the characters they don’t want to focus on into a void and leave some of them in Atlas and...

Okay, I’m kind of joking, because I do think there’s a very big possibility that the next season will put more focus on Team RWBY + Jaune, I guess, and might even be an Island only arc. But now I can’t get the lesser possibility out of my head that the Island arc might actually be small or fairly meaningless with continuous switches over to the Left Behind Vacuo people who are going to deal with the more immediate problems. I might actually consider that a bigger possibility, except that they threw Jaune into the void too. XD

Still, the last time I thought ‘Not even the CRWBY writers would do that’ it was about the possibility of killing either Penny or one of Salem’s only loyal followers aaaand ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ So who knows.

#rwde #anti rwby #rwby criticism #rwby bashing #anti crwby

11 notes · View notes

tandv · 4 years ago

Note

Agree with all you said. Also wanna add that from my perspective, the fact that Reggie has been primarily a supporting background player is in itself a racist downsizing of his character. As a lifer Archie fan and moc who’s always recognized Reggie as the fifth main teen who is either core 5 or at least the level of Cheryl, it means something to me that the ONLY Archie verse where he is Asian is the one world where he is this minor of a player. I know most show fans don’t read the comics, but I think in spaces like tumblr, most active fandom folks are at least aware that they downsized his relevance and that the Rarchie frenemy dynamic and the Veggie alternative romance should all be bigger deals. And, frankly, I think many in the va fandom are pleased to see that he’s not being allowed that, while at the same time complaining (for valid reasons) about how the show mistreats Veronica, and advocating for more Reggie in a performative manner (“more Reg as long as he knows his place and stays tf away from his most iconic triangle”). Ofc not everyone is like this, but enough are to make me raise a brow.

Oh for sure. I think it’s always important to clarify that in criticising fandom, it’s understood that we recognise that not everyone is in the “bad egg” camp. We know this. It’s just that there’s enough of the negative side for there to be discussions on the topic.

When Riverdale was first beinf advertised everyone was like oh hey they made the Pussycats Black! This is a power move. They made Veronica and the Lodges Latinx, they’re representing diversity in these traditionally white beloved characters this is great. But other than casting these actors...the diversity has been lacking.

I really like Reggie as a character even at his smaller capacity and I realise that some of his lower involvement is due to Charles’ scheduling, but as we learnt from Vanessa we know that’s not always an excuse that is valid in this show. Reggie is there mostly for comic relief or muscle nowadays. His biggest storyline outside of a one episode arc in early season 4, since he was involved with Veronica was the AU episode of Jughead’s story. Which wasn’t even him actually having a storyline. It was a fictionalised version of a fictional show written by another character.

People are starting to defend Vanessa and the other WOC which is great and ABOUT DAMN TIME, but not enough people are also shining a light on the fact that it’s not just the women, Charles/Reggie is also not written as a main character should be. And he got promoted the same time as Vanessa. The two of them haven’t been treated the way main cast members should have been from the start.

I’m not entirely well versed in the comics as I would like to be but another character who I feel could have had a bigger role is Dilton. He was significantly more involved in the comics than in the show. And I was quite upset when he was killed off if I’m honest. I mean yeah he’s no Archie or Jughead but the show also let another MOC be so background that half the fans didn’t even remember who he was when he got killed off.

And the last part of your message is another reoccurring theme in fandoms. People are fine to enjoy these characters until they’re threats to their ships. And then all the niceties go out the window. I’m dabbling in another fandom atm with a MxM ship with one white character and one POC. Some fans decided instead of the two white leads (one with a WOC love interest. The other the MOC I mentioned) should be a ship, and have started picking apart the MOC for his mistakes and invalidating the ship and the character in favour of their crack ship white of faves...

Even when non white characters are the leads and do get screen time and character development. There will always be fans who find an excuse why they’re bad people because they’re racist at the end of the day. That’s what it comes down to. Even when the writers aren’t contributing by giving their non white characters lesser roles or importance, the fans do that job for them. It’s a messy cycle.

But even if fans do this. It does not excuse professional writers for not writing every character as if they’re important to the story. If one actor is busy, then make sure the other non white cast members and characters are given those lead roles in the episode.

Promoting non white actors to main cast and then still not giving them screen time and in the case of Vanessa, not even paying them the same as the white or male cast members...do better.

Write better. Be better. Do better.

Fake diversity isn’t okay. It never was but it especially is not now.

4 notes · View notes

tyrionsnose · 6 years ago

Text

I read this post about revolutionary villains and it got me thinking about what is so weird and unsatisfying (besides generally awful writing) about Tyrion’s ending in GOT, even though he ostensibly “won the game.” And yeah, yeah, I’m not really interested in hearing about how him surviving is an example of the writers letting privileged men off the hook because...it isn’t. Despite ending as hand of the king, Tyrion is also punished by the narrative in some weird ways and ones that are specifically designed to de-emphasize those aspects of his character that do make him a revolutionary figure in the books.

They couldn’t kill Tyrion because he’s a popular character, he drinks and he knows things, he’s played by Emmy winning Peter Dinklage, and he provides a lot of the show’s comic relief (although it stopped being a relief a while ago because again, poor writing). But they did something worse to the character, imho, they neutered him.

If Daenerys is a revolutionary and a kind of well-intentioned extremist, Tyrion’s character has always been a deconstruction of another villain trope that sort of goes hand in hand (no pun intended) with that archetype: that of the evil advisor.

I’m thinking about this in part because I just went to see the new live action Aladdin, in which the villain, Jafar, frequently rants about how being second isn’t enough for him, he has to rule everything. He even compares himself to the title hero, implying that he too started from nothing and worked his way up. It’s another story about using magic to upset the social order, and it’s interesting to look at since, at least for me, the original movie provides one of the most recognizable pop culture examples of the evil chancellor who is motivated by naked ambition. It’s also a trope rife with ableist and racist implications.

What’s sort of interesting about Tyrion is that he plays the role of the evil chancellor in different ways at various points in the narrative. In the asoiaf books he is a clear deconstruction of the role, and this is actually made explicit in A Clash of Kings, when he is labelled a “demon monkey” and blamed for Joffrey and Cersei’s crimes. His later motivation for joining Daenerys’ revolution in the books is initially a desire for personal revenge, but it’s also something that comes about because he himself has been booted by the system and blamed for other people’s crimes because of his vulnerability as a disabled person, and his own family helps to let him take the fall for this because he’s a convenient scapegoat. A revolution is what Tyrion needs to help him get back his birthright, and by the end of ADWD he is already starting to believe in Daenerys’ cause despite himself.

In the show, Tyrion is motivated to aid Daenerys because he believes in her cause, because he believes that she can change the world for the better. He is explicitly told in season five that he himself cannot hope to rule because of who he is, but he can aid another in creating a world where people like him are not abused and used as scapegoats. He comes to believe in Daenerys not only for what it means to him personally but also because he genuinely believes that she can make things better for everyone. In the scene where Tyrion is made Daenerys’ hand, he gives a speech about how she restored his belief in justice. It’s interesting to note that the way this scene is filmed, Tyrion is standing a step above Daenerys so that the height difference between them is minimized. They are on equal footing, and Daenerys treats Tyrion as an equal where previously other characters saw him as lesser because of his disability. As Joffrey’s hand, he is constantly belittled and undermined, and then disposed of when he is no longer useful to the Lannister regime. Here, Dany has purposefully made him her equal, and also defends his right to sit in her council when others attempt to belittle him.

A big problem on the show is that the writers did not really know what to do with Tyrion once he joined Daenerys, though, so he spent a long time treading water. As I said above, the show could not kill him, but they couldn’t let the Tyrion from the books be portrayed onscreen, either. He had to be stripped of all of his ambition and made largely a passive actor, lest he be accused of the same thing the characters in A Clash of Kings accused him of. And indeed, he becomes the scapegoat for Daenerys when she needs someone to lash out at. When the narrative calls for it, he gives bad advice - because revolutions are not supposed to work out - and when the narrative calls for someone to give lip service about Dany’s “madness,” he becomes Exposition Guy, because he drinks and he knows things and he’s there to give information but doesn’t really have any personal interests anymore, he’s just an advisor to everyone else. This was contradictory because the show ALSO seemed to be promoting the narrative that he wasn’t as smart as he thought he was - which is a common narrative aimed at marginalized people that dare to be competent. The show also seemed to be characterizing him as someone who is “easily offended,” who “can dish it but can’t take it,” also stereotypes about marginalized groups. Meanwhile the show has characters remark and point out how stagnant he is. In season 8 he spends a lot of time waffling between Varys, Jon Snow, Sansa, and Dany, but then when the show needs someone to do the dirty work and explain to Jon Snow the hero why he has to kill Daenerys, it’s Tyrion who does that, because he can do all the manipulative and less savory stuff that our heroes can’t do. As he tells Jaime, he can do this because is a “bad person,” and specifically invokes his dwarfism when he explains this. “Tens of thousands of innocent lives, one not-particularly-innocent dwarf. Seems like a fair trade.”

And yeah, he’s made hand to king Bran at the end, but he’s also right back where he started. Tyrion’s learned his lesson about trusting in revolutionaries, he’s back in a role of servitude, and the social order has been maintained. He doesn’t even get a mention in the “Song of Ice and Fire” because he doesn’t get his own story, he’s literally there to give advice to and serve others. The fact that he’s technically lord of Casterly Rock and the Westerlands now doesn’t even get a mention, just like he doesn’t get a mention in the “book of the book.” I guess he really does just drink and know things, after all, but what he should have known is that this story was never about him. I saw a lot of criticism of the finale along the lines of Tyrion talking too much, and he does, but hardly any of what he actually says is about himself, it’s all about others and “the realm,” and explaining the story to the audience so that the writers can make sure we draw the right conclusions. Book Tyrion is a character of deep longings and rage against the way things are, a perfect pair for Dany’s revolutionary spirit. Show Tyrion doesn’t even really seem to want things anymore, his appetites dulled. Dying for his own ideals would have been a better ending than having his edges gradually sanded off and whittled away until he’s literally just a hand and a voice for whoever is in charge.

#tyrion lannister #game of thrones #got for ts #daenerys targaryen #asoiaf meta

357 notes · View notes

momdailykos · 5 years ago

Note

For the writing ask: - Sagittarius: do you find your writing humorous? do you have any comic relief characters? what do you do if a scene gets too serious? - Scorpio: how much research did you have to do for your current wip? what was the weirdest thing you had to google?

Ayyyy Ehrenbrudi! 🐭 Thank you so much, let's get to it because I sure as heck can't keep it short:

scorpio: how much research did you have to do for your current wip? what was the weirdest thing you had to google?

With research it's either a cursory google image search or like weeks of notes and reading for me (thanks uni), no middle ground. I guess you could say my current wip falls into the latter category, if only for me looking up random details about curiosities, architecture, folklore, decor, trade routes, names... So rather a lot of research in terms of areas of interest. Also, I have no clue when it comes to planning what to look into and when. Sometimes I prep, most of the times I'm doing prep while already starting to write. The weirdest thing I had to google? "Libido in men over 60" is definitely up there. Like, sure, I've googled drug trade routes and weirdly specific stuff about murder/other ickies, but that's what you do. Never have I felt more conscious about being a (fanfic) writer than when I was filtering through websites in two languages to find out if, when, how and how much an advanced dilf would reasonably f*ck. Answer #2: Reading a lot of Rudolf Steiner. Fun Fact: Surprisingly, the topic I found most of my research inevitably turn to is the Lesser Key of Solomon.

sagittarius: do you find your writing humorous? do you have any comic relief characters? what do you do if a scene gets too serious?

Personally, I find my writing to be almost to serious, bordering on pretentious. Readers tend to disagree, though: The feedback I've gotten the most on my stories is how funny they are and how they made people laugh, which baffles and fascinates me so much. Still, the author is dead and I won't deny you can find moments of situational comedy in my stories. I CAN do humor fine, I think, and I like doing it. It just doesn't come up too often. At least not intentionally? That's also why I've don't have pure comic relief characters and don't like writing that way. To me, the characters I write are all capable of having comedic moments, some lend themselves more than others. I like writing comic relief scenes, though. Speaking of: Tbh I don't really get the last question; how do you gage the 'seriousness' of a scene? How does it become to much and when - how does it happen against the will of the author? If I'm writing a serious scene, I'll stop when I'm done. While I think a balance of sincerity and comedy is VERY important for emphasis through contrast and such, I've never felt I had to end/interrupt a scene, because it's become 'too' grim just to undo and lighten the mood (andI don't think that's how writing works, at least it doesn't for me. Maybe I'M too serious?). Does that make sense?

#writing #@ruinousguillemot #ask meme

2 notes · View notes

semi-imaginary-place · 5 years ago

Text

fe3h blogging 6 because organizational skills are for losers

oh hey yuri get to join chess club[3:24 PM]balthus DID go to the officers academy twice I’ve been trying to reconcile the route differences... it should be that everything that happens in a different route is also possible in the route you are looking at which ever one that may be. Now all there is is figuring out why those differences exist. or alternately to come up with a probability model to explain those differences. Let’s take the major difference of CF vs VW, AM, and SS. In CF unlike the other routes, Rhea is not captured, she organizes the knights and joins with Faerghus. In CF unlike other routes Byleth chooses to side with Edelgard and Rhea attacks them in the Holy Tomb, this is the only difference. Rhea is incredibly entitled when it comes to Byleth and so takes Byleth’s choice as a deep betrayal as the one who was supposed to be on her side chose not to be. In the battle of Garreg Mach, Rhea then also doesn’t entrust the Church to Byleth. Now how does this connect to Rhea avoiding capture in the battle? It could be she was more on guard after the Holy Tomb in BE, it could be that overall Rhea is likely captured but there is a chance she isn’t. Either way because she isn’t captured, she is there to rally and organize the knight’s of Seiros. In the other routes why didn’t Seteth do it? idk man. The Knights and Faerhgus together are better able to fend off the Empire and with the added security, keep Cornelia, the Agarthans, and Edelgard from framing Dimitri with assassination. Thus in CF Faerghus is in a more unified and powerful position with Rhea running the show. Never quite got why Garreg Mach was abandoned by all the sides given how much the characters talk about its strategic location etc. etc. In SS Rhea degenerates and causes the church to become a rampaging hivemind. Rhea is assumedly also in the palace in AM, but we do meet her in VW. This leads to a few possibilities, either she also dragon degenerated in those routes but the credits roll before we get to see that or she doesn’t. Either way she hold the potential to do so. This is probably the strongest probability argument in the game as we are shown no reason why she does in SS but does not in VW. Rhea is like a ticking time bomb. Maybe they should have blood minstrated like half the church. And then the Agarthans, are they just chilling around underground in AM? yeah, probably. They’re probably back to biding their time just like they have the past 1000 years.

I would like to talk about the three categories by which I evaluate how much I like a character in a series. 1. Personal preference: how much does the character's personality appeal to me on a personal level. Would I want to be friends with this person in real life. Do I just really wish they were real and want them in my life? 2. Character writing: how well written is the character. How good is their character arc? What is the grade of execution? 3. Role in the story: what do they bring to the series as a whole. If they are a villain, are they a good villain? Comic relief. The Bro character. No matter the archetype, how well is it done. What is their narrative and thematic significance.

Let's look at the 3 Lords of Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Please note that due to the branching story line and the ability of the player to choose the cast, I will not be focusing on a character's role in story as much as I usually do. Edelgard Personal preference: low. Her personality clashes with mine Character writing: high. Three Houses characters in general are well written. Edelgard feels like a person, her behavior is internally consistent, she's always herself. One of her main flaws explored in the game is how Edelgard will tunnel-vision and double down on a decision, a path even when it is no longer the best option. Role: high. In Crimson Flowers and to a lesser extent Silver Snow Edelgard acts as the central character, she drives the story. As the villain in 3/4 routes, Edelgard is incredibly interesting, acting as a counter point to the other Lords as well as to Byleth in Silver Snow.

Dimitri Personal preference: low. At first I didn't care, and then he was just annoying. He was solidly #2 on my to-punch-list in Azure Moon after Gilbert. Character writing: high. Dimitri has the easiest to notice character arc in the game as it is the main focus of Azure Moon. As such the most time is spent on his arc and it is very strong. The journey Dimitri goes on as he struggles with himself and his trauma is well written, its only weakness being that it hinges on the player (me) caring about him (which I do not). Role is the story: medium high. the overarching story of the rightful king reclaiming his throne nicely parallels the story of Dimitri reclaiming himself. Thus the external journey mirrors the internal one. Azure Moon most strongly brings the human element to Three Houses and this is both a strength and a weakness.

Claude Personal preference: very high. I wish I had a Claude in my life. His personality meshes well with mine and my life would be enhanced with the addition of his company. When I say Claude is my favorite, this is the category I am usually talking about. Character writing: high. Claude has the subtlest characterization and character arc of the Lords, this is further obscured due to mischaracterization by the English localization team and English voice actor. The characters in Three Houses in general are brilliant and Claude is no exception. He's complex and multifaceted as any real person is, and seeing him grow in to his own in Verdant Wind is a beautiful thing. Role in story: high. Claude's role in the Three Houses is also very interesting, his objectives especially in White Clouds turns the game into a mystery thriller which is breaking edge for a Fire Emblem Game. Claude's background is also a bit different from the others and so following along his story, you are able to gain perspective and see all of Fodlan for what it really is.

Jeralt personal preference: meh writing: good role: dad

wait. wait. so are the 4 apostles are called saints in the intro, but were they also children of the goddess? so i can see indech and macuil dipping after the war of heroes and cethalenn went into a regenerative coma so that takes her and cihol out of the picture, but where were the 4 apostles during the war? and why does balthus' pants have a specially colored patch for his crotch. ... did balthus go to the academy twice? dimitri really went “i’d be nice to just sink into the earth you know” huh. i just started cindered shadows so i can't really comment but... the whole "abyss is necessary for garreg mach" is such horse shit. like oooohhhhh we must have an oppressed underclass to maintain our standard of living. why do the ashen wolves even exist. its not like there's a school down there and yet a bunch of people have uniforms. its not like they took some of the officer's academy uniforms either. why waste resources making custom uniforms? oh hey yuri get to joisn chess club. balthus DID go to the officers academy twice. I wonder what happened to Constance. Also hello??? Intsys you have a kidnapping and torture as backstory problem, especially when its happening to female characters. Hapi get’s kidnapped, tortured and then imprisoned, no wonder the life has left her eyes. Also I don’t trust this Aelfric dude. He set up the ashen wolves “house”, but wouldn’t those resources be better spent on food and medicine. nepotism ho! your parent were good so you must be too

anyone else find Jeralt and Sitri's relationship a little weird. Hundreds of years old dude romances incredibly sheltered 19 year old with little life experience. and she and alfric idolized Jeralt when they were young. sitri was born in 1139 and died 1159 from childbirth. I mean yeah Sitri's an adult and totally consenting and loving, and the relationship is pretty cute and sweet, but.... its kinda weird.... Like when you hear about a 30 year old dating a 60 year old, everyone's well into adulthood, they're consenting adults who can do whatever they want, i have no objections,... but its still kinda weird. WHAT'S WORSE IS THAT THEY DEVS HAD LITERALLY NO REASON TO DO THIS they could have made her any age they wanted to. She could have been 35. but nooooo they didn't do that

the part that bothered me about maneula's writing. Is how the writers talk down on her for having emotions. You see this strongly in the hanneman+manuela paralogue. Where they make her do something impulsive which has negative consequences, which is fair. But then the game punishes her for being too emotional. "being too emotional" now where have i heard that critique before. This is especially in contrast to the game praising hanneman's intellectual rationality. how do i say this... whenever hanneman and manuela argue the game always takes hanneman's side and is overly harsh on manuela. Oh hanneman is right that she should not have run off after a rumor about the death knight like that, but its the framing of the scene that bothers me.

the way people talk about the abyss reminds me of the goldfish bowl metaphor. the abyss provides sanctuary, but in it thye are also trapped. huh so edelgard doesn’t recognize dimitri. people sure do like aelfric, reminds me of a cult of personality, but it seems so genuine... A great rhea’s golems are back. they talk!! I was just joking about people’s souls being bound in there!!! aelfric is one of the cardinals!!!!! I've been trying to find these dude for months!!!!! you hear these lines going on and on about the cardinals. oh. he’s part of the seiros hivemind then. hey kids. if he’s a cardinal than the church probably already knows. this don’t tell the church stuff sounds like a trap. that letter is suspicious af. yuri clearly wants something, but what is he up to,,,

Yeah.. it really sounds like the 4 apostles were nabateans, but if that were so are constance, hapi, balthus, and yuri really descended from them? the 4 saints bloodlines in adrestia are from those gifted blood by the saints. yet i do believe the 4 apostles fled to different corners of fodlan, what remains in question is only if there in their new homes they gave blood (like rhea did to save jeralt), or actually did have kids.

i cant believe balthus got put on the bus via giant bird. ah so aelfric and yuri are cooperating with the agarthans. thats what they were up to. wow yuri really is fandom claude, i can still hear those idiots complaining that claude wasn’t up to anything and that he didn’t betray byleth. huh so yuri is struggling with split loyalty and the solution he came up with was to help aelfric but give byleth hints.

constance calling the holy mausoleum a wretch hovel in on par with sylvain calling the dining hall filthy. huh so that was what yuri was planning. wasn’t expecting the double agent ploy.

so this does not take away from aelfric's decisions, but if rhea hadn't been a coward and just buried sitri instead of keeping her is storage where anyone could find her, this never would have happened. who know's maybe aelfric would have still made horrible decisions, but not this one horrible decision.

wait wait wait. rhea, what happened last time you used the chalice to try and resurrect sothis. what beast was created then? wait wait. nemesis dies and sothis’ heat and bones were retrieved in 91. the blood chalice ritual happened in 185. That’s enough time for rhea to have conducted her first experiment implanting the creststone into someone and having them live out their full life.

prior to cindered shadows i thought claude had 2 given names much like many real world people of dual identity do (multiracial people, chinese americans, japanese americans, etc.), so claude is his name but he also has an almyran name. now though I am leaning towards the idea that claude is a name he took up upon entering fodlan given what he says to balthus at first and the presence of a claudia riegan in the past. from the feast of decadence: where is boramas? and i hope the bit about watching northern swordsmen ripped apart by wild animals at dinner was a play or something. why do books end up in the abyss anyways. why not burn them throughly. rhea certainly knows people have been living down there. i wonder who built abyss. its older than garreg mach for sure. real ironic how the blue lions idolize loog when he was an agarthan pawn not unlike edelgard. rhea's choice contributed to the power imbalance between sreng and duscur compared to faerghus chevalier became village elder and gave everyone blood during wars. half got crests half turned into demonic beasts. that solves that. 1/4 down

i can’t believe aubin almost died in a ditch before yuri’s mom saved them. well that’s one more person with a really long life span

balthus: describing "bashbros" me: its called a life partner. "Balthus became son-in-law to the great commander, Nader" ... what. also why is the balthus yuri pairen ending the only one balthus ends up broke and on the street in. also where's my holst supports. scratch that. WHERE IS HOLST. oh yeah and you all were crying about byleth potentially outliving everyone, well yuri does too

ashen wolves supports that should have happened. Balthus: Manuela. Yuri: Mercedes. Hapi: Ignatz, Petra, Claude. Constance: Lorenz

Also let judith be a playable character. Claude and balthus already have like half a support with her.

why do feel like yuri and sylvain would be a disaster. and disaster in that they'd hurt each other's feelings

claude whenever balthus opens his mouth: shut up shut up shut up. shut up and go away. goddess. please. no. i enjoy seeing claude annoyed more than i probably should

me taking the fe3h developers by the shoulders and shaking them furiously: WHY DON'T CLAUDE AND HAPI GET A SUPPORT. THEY EVEN BOTH HAVE CELESTIAL MOTIFS! claude would also empathize with hapi as an outsider of sorts, as well as both sharing a desire to explore the world. i think the riegan crest and timotheus crest got mixed up in development. in tarot readings the moon is associated with darkness, an unclear mind, madness, creativity etc. it suits "dark dragon" far more than "star dragon". but that doesn't explain why claude gets the unique combat art Fallen Star me one again taking the fe3h developers by the shoulders and shaking them furiously: WHY DON'T YURI AND ASHE HAVE A SUPPORT!! THE APPARENTLY ALREADY KNOW EACH OTHER. THEY HAVE SIMILAR BACKGROUNDS. THEY'RE BOTH FROM FAERGHUS. THEIR BATTLE DIALOG SAYS MEANS THEY WANT TO BE FRIENDS

No bathus/manuela support either LET THEM MAKE POOR LIFE CHOICES TOGETHER. Balthus can have a little milf, as treat

... yuri is very pretty in part 2

Edelgards biggest flaws are her desire for control and her stubborness or the way she will double down on a decision and refuse to budge. Claude's biggest flaws are his inability to trust, and showing his hand too late. A bit more on that last part. A large part of Claude's strategies involve downplaying his side and biding his time. This strategy is especially weak though to an aggressive opponent like Edelgard who can bulldoze him before he has time to play out his plan. Part of the problem is that Claude is very reactive but not very proactive (its one of the reasons I like pairing him with Edelgard and Petra). He won't just go for something the way Edelgard does, he's wait for the right opportunity. This difference you can also see in how the deal with the Church. Edelgard declares war on them because she thinks they are the root of Fodlan's social problems and need to be taken down. She makes a decision she believes in and readies herself for the consequences. Claude actually believes much of the same (The Church is the root of Fodlan's problems) but would much rather avoid those consequences (fall out with the Church). You see in Verdant Wind he will make use of the Church because the are useful. He's even willing to spout Church rhetoric and propaganda (Byleth as a Church symbol) if it suits his end goal of transferring power to an individual who will shape Fodlan's future to his liking (he does have an altruistic and humanitarian goal much like Edelgard). However in doing so he risks empowering the Church even more. In short Claude will put up a facade that he doesn't agree with on an ideals level and so is always in danger of that facade becoming real and failing his goals. yeah so claude character development has him learning to trust and being more proactive in his goals. so i like pairing him with characters that put him on a similar growth trajectory

wait how are the Fetters of Dromi (Aubin) and Vajra-Mushi (Chevalier) around simultaneously with Aubin and Chevalier. Aubin was last seen 20 years ago and the tales of elder giving blood don’t seem ancient, so were they recently killed?

ok if the vajra-mushi is a replica, what’s it a replica of? that implies an original. and its still able to turn people into demonic beasts. how????

unpopular opinion: I hate seteth. his face pisses me off and every time he opens his mouth I want to punch him. please die.

You know... i'd expected someone to have written a modern au of felix and sylvain being roommates with unresolved sexual tension.... but no its been 9 months and I haven't seen anything. Oh I've seen roommates where its like the new and uncomfortable experience of sharing space with someone you dont know and I've seen modern au where they are childhood friends. But i seriously have not seen the specific scenario where they are childhood friends AND roommates. Like... uuugh its just sylvain. But also uuggh its just sylvain?!? Maybe I'll just have to do it myself... but im no good at writing...

What if glenn was 160cm but the kids never noticed (except sylvain) because they're so much younger

I want a spin off fighting game starring ferdinand and caspar. Honestly i just wanted to see ferdinand get into a fistfight with someone like in his support

On a fandom level I think the golden deer are the least popular for a number of reasons:

1. some of the characters only reveal their depth in supports and paralogues. Or in other words you must seek out these character to get to know them. Ex: Lorenz, Leonie, Ignatz. I mean without doing their supports you'd never know that Ignatz is the smoothest out of the Golden Deer the the most likely to get a date. If Sylvain is a poser, Ignatz is the real deal 2. Related to the above the writing sometimes relies too heavily on a character gimmick. Ex: Raphael, and Lysithea to a degree 3. Compared to other houses there are less established dynamics. Other characters (Linhardt and Caspar, BL childhood friend squad, etc.) can play off of each other and this can make them more emotionally accessible to a player. In the beginning especially the golden deer act more like co-workers than friends, they are the least cohesive as a house (which means their growth is that much more delicious). 4. the golden deer route in general is less popular and some characters don't appear in other routes so the sheer amount of exposure these characters get is less than other houses. a lot of people in the "fandom" have only played one or 2 routes and those usually include either azure moon or crimson flower/silver snow. people will also just delete or add things to characters.

OK Jp audio thoughts: tiny grandma sothis Alois is gravelier and yells a lot I've been replaying the line where claude giggles in the jp audiio. How do i record audio ignatz is such a BABY in the japanese version. Like a small bunny Edelgard sounds more princessy Claude is more light hearted, less sassy more... boyish? like that one old school boy character trope that used to be a main character thing and is now more a side character thing eng dimitri more yell-y and feral. jp dimitri is a lot more subdued and dead inside. but the delivery of the lines makes what he is saying all the more disturbing. dissonant serenity.

your path lies across my grave is such a raw line

Why did yuri get a different part 2 sprite. he should age the same rate jeralt did. And in his paired ending with byleth? He apparently looks about the same after decades

Hilda and catherine would be EXCELLENT war masters if the devs weren't sexist

So almyra's big. We don't know how big. Fodlan is 2/3 of europe and almyra is bigger so i imagine there's a diverdity of biomes. I imagine the south coast is mediterranian. But that hinges on how subtropical adrestia is. Medditerranian climates are most common at 30-40 lattitude. The map of almyra we can see on the map is the same lattitude as faerhgus. This could be the greenest part of Almyra. I imagine almyra has both hot and cold deserts with a large plain covering the center. The rest would be scrubland/chaperral. All we know is that claude grew up somewhere with no big trees. I imagine that almyran government is more meriocratic than fodlan but that may vary region to region. I have an idea for both a centralized and decentralized almyra. Each regions leader is like the strongest most organized person around. A bit of nepotism may be involved. The exception would be the coast region which is more sedentary (some parts of almyra are semi nomadic) and may have a republic. Decentralized almyra would work kinda like the eu or us with seperate nations and a mediator for when almyra needs to act as a whole. That mediator aids negotions between regions and keeps things together. Mediator would be a council/appointed position. In a centralized almyra there still wouldn't be a monarachy. The king would choose a sucessor. So the king's kid would have a better chance than anyone but its no garuntee. I like the idea that like the 30 closeat relatives has a last one standing system as part of the selection system. This would allow for a dynastic style if ruling where there's a ruling clan but not direct line of descent

Everyone keeps drawing older felix with long hair but I'm half convinced that 3 years post game he just lops,it off one day or gets a buzzcut

So a lot of people including me have long suspected Claude had an Almyran name and the validation right now just feels so great. Khalid! Given his dialog in cindered shadows I think its more likely Khalid is the name his parents gave him and Claude is the name he took up upon coming to Fodlan

Things have never been easy for Claude, he says in his s support that he's going, to do it (the whole game/war) all over again. It's heavily implied that things to not end well for Claude outside of VW. i don't think the Almyrans would value a surrender to a fodlander tho. Claude in VW proves his competence as a military commander and leader by controlling all of fodlan. Its stated in some of his paired endings that the current king has some say in who the next king is as Claude had to earn his father's approval to ascend the throne. Don't forget that the general Almyran populace hates Claude. He has to prove himself by their standards before any respect is given and in SS/CF/AM he doesn't do that. Remember that the Fodland stereotype is of cowards and that Almyra values spectacles of strength/fighting prowess over tactical efficiency (invading fodlan's throat isn't for the purpose of gaining land/etc. its for the warriors to show off how strong they are), so they wouldn't value strategically weakening your nation (leicester) to stave off imperial invasion, to them that just looks like cowardice and incompetance. not only that he endangered and wasted Almyran soldiers in fighting a foreign war. Remember that no one really knows about Claude's plans outside of VW, he keeps his cards (too) close to his chest, and in non-VW routes the facade of weakness becomes a reality and all his schemes crumble. and he has little to show for his time in fodlan. Claude is less likely to experience character growth outside of VW, but I think there is potential for Claude's character growth outside of VW. One reason for this I'm just not a fan of Byleth's dating sim powers where everyone just falls head over heels for them. For every character and especially the lords, Byleth acts as a catalyst for the character's growth, but Claude (of the lords) is the least dependent on Byleth so I do believe he could have found some of the connections seen in VW if not to that extent. (also I'm a sucker for found family)[4:22 PM]But Byleth does act as the heart and glue of the golden deer so things wouldn't be that great for Claude and co

So we cam see both turkic and persian influences in almyra but I've always wondered at the balance. From the turkic side we have the warrior culture and horse riding. This is also where my speculations on a nomadic society and non monarchy forms of government come from. Also note turkic (central asia, like the mongols) and not turkish (one of the turkic ethnicities). On the other side is ancient persia which was a center of science, technology and learning, a materially wealthy empire with imperial dynasties. These are very different and so balancing headcanons has always been challenging to honor both sides. You can see people are all over the spectrum in fandom.

Me shaking dorothea by the shoulders: YOU ARE VALID. I AM PROUD OF WHAT YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED. EAT THE RICH

im a caught between the dual desires of seeing sylvain succeed at something and be really cool, and seeing sylvain publicly make a fool of himself. sylvain miserable for mundane reasons is such a good look. I pin Sylvain in a headlock and force 2 gallons of respect women juice down his throat

In any universe. Claude's weekly schedule would fill me with terror.

Leonie and dorothea both have "I know a guy" vibes

A while ago I complained that the fodlan calendar doesn’t make sense. Why does the year begin on month 4? Well I recently got around to reading through the abyss library and it confirms that fodlan used to be on the gregorian calendar with months 1-12 lining up with our january-december which in a lot of countries are just month/moon 1-12 and then seiros and the church brought in a new calendar system (imperial year and "___ Moon" naming system). so combined with the other hints from the agarthans (un symbol, ICBMs, etc.), pretty much confirms that fodlan is indeed a post apocalyptic modern world. So the weird calendar system DOES have an in universe justification!

#fe #fe3h

2 notes · View notes

stardyng · 6 years ago

Note

salty ask list- asoiaf 1-15

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?*

Jon x Ygritte (ASOIAF): I think that finds this relationship rather uninteresting in the books. I felt like the show improved it, but in the books, I couldn’t enjoy it that much due to how much Ygritte would say ‘’You know nothing Jon Snow’’, and how she blackmailed him into sex. I don’t hate it, I just don’t care for it.

Jon x Daenerys (GOT): Before watching the 7th season, I was perfectly open to the idea of a romance between these two characters, but in the show itself, it was a whole ass mess. It was barely developed, and the show-writers needed other characters to point out that they were into each other for me and a lot of other viewers to get that it was supposed to be something romantic because of how half-assed every one of their supposedly romantic interactions were. In the books, I do think that it would be executed much better than it was in the show. The pairing itself doesn’t bother me though, just it’s execution.

Tormund x Brienne (GOT): I do understand the appeal in this relationship, especially in terms of the humor related to it, but I just can’t stand behind it, and it’s not just because I’m a rather fervent Braime shipper. I just find it a bit uncomfortable how he constantly tries to flirt with her when she shows clear signs that she isn’t the least interested in him.

2. Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?*

Gendry x Arya (ASOIAF/GOT): In my opinion, they act like siblings with each other, but ask any other GOT/ASOIAF fans, and they are soulmates. I’ll be fine if it happens, but I never got anything besides platonic vibes from them.

3. Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?

Jonerys (GOT): I’m fine with Jonerys and Daenerys stans appearing in my dash, but the person I was following posted so much Jonerys that it literally flooded by dashboard. It was just too much content for a ship I really don’t care for.

4. Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?*

Sandor x Sansa (ASOIAF/GOT): He’s almost twice her age, he constantly belittles and torments her, he is sexually attracted to her despite her being an 11-12 year old, he threatens to kill her numerous times, he gets in her space often and even grabs her multiple time without her consent. I don’t really enjoy their interactions because in most of them, he has to degrade her, and I’m rather tired of it.

Petyr x Sansa (ASOIAF/GOT): I love their interactions together (especially these where he isn’t flirting with her) because you can tell that he respects her opinion and her abililities/intelligence, and that he really is making her aware of multiple of her skills, however, it’s still awful especially if we’re talking romantically. He’s as old as her mother, he kisses her without her consent often, and just everything he does in regards to her is absolutely creepy. Just the fact that he started the war that led to half of her family members dying should be enough for there to be not be people rallying for this relationship.

Ramsey x Sansa (GOT): I don’t need to say anything but re-watch season 5 if you ship this.

Ramsey x Theon (ASOIAF): Re-watch season 3-5 and read Reek ADWD chapters you twisted fuckers.

Drogo x Daenerys (ASOIAF/GOT): Let’s start this by saying that Drogo raped Daenerys in both the book and show. In the show, it was in their first night together whereas in the books, she was droven to tears because of his constant assault of her body. I really don’t like how the writers turned that into some kind of romantic relationship that we are supposed to root for. It’s really not. Drogo himself is terrible. He pillages villages, which leads to hundreds of men and children being killed and women being raped and enslaved. I really don’t understand how people could be cheering at something like this or why the writers thought it was a good idea to present it in a positive manner.

Jorah x Daenerys (ASOIAF/GOT): He’s another grown adult romantically and sexually attracted to a child. People feel bad for him because he’s friendzoned but due they realize that this dude fell in love with her when she was a child. And that’s not even addressing the fact that he is an ex-slaver and just such as awfully boring character.

Rhaegar x Lyanna (ASOIAF/GOT): Rhaegar is a piece of shit who had a wife that he just left to go run away with a 16 year old girl just because he cared about some prophecy. How low can you get? And don’t think Lyanna is any less terrible when she knew what she was doing as well. It doesn’t help that them running away together was inconsiderate to literally everyone in their lives, and that happening was the first step to a rather massive war. How many people had to die because of their selfishness? And some people just blindly ship it too. Elia Martell deserved better.

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?*

Tyrion x Sansa (ASOIAF/GOT): I actually liked the idea of Tyrion and Sansa being together after watching the show for the first time. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the age difference, which I now see as enough of a problem. However, I rather liked that pairing, and then I went online excited to see people talk about it, and found out that the reason a lot of people want them together was to punish Sansa for wanting to be someone she finds attractive and apparently not appreciating Tyrion enough. All of that is bullshit especially when Tyrion expects to be with someone conventionally attractive as well and how he molested her and is bitter because she didn’t want to have sex with him. He doens’t deserve an award for not raping her. The books in general definitely made sure that I became anti sanryion due to how awful he could be to her sometimes.

6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?*

Jon x Sansa (ASOIAF/GOT): I didn’t really hate the idea of JonSa so much as it was apprehensive about it due to the fact that it is incest. I don’t exactly ship it but I am open to the idea of them happening because of the Jonsas I came across. It’s the only major Sansa pairing that doesn’t force Sansa in a relationship with an adult man who treated her horribly. I don’t know how to explain it but the existence of JonSa led to a wave of new Sansa fans who not only defend her character and appreciate parts of her that a lot of the fandom didn’t, but just generally treats her character with respect. It also helps that they have fantastic meta, and often discuss theories that I am fond of like DarkDany (and to a lesser extent, Political!Jon)

7. Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?*

Arya Stark (GOT): I really enjoyed Arya’s character in the first few season of the show when I was first watching. Even after I went through her Braavos storyline, she was in my five favourite game of thrones characters. However that changed with season 7. I didn’t like how she was obsessed with revenge to the point of cooking people into pies, her constant shaming of Sansa for liking nice things, how she immediately wanted to kill the lords of the north just because they didn’t like their new leader, how she threatened to kill Sansa and how hypocritical she was being about Sansa being the hostage of the Lannisters when she served as cupholder to Tywin. I also didn’t like the way the actress was portraying her character this season, it seemed really off. I hope for a better season 8 for her, but I doubt I’ll forgive her for all that she said and did this season. Book Arya is such a better character, especially because they let her be a much more emotionally vulnerable and human. If you want an elaboration of this, I made a post about it.

Tyrion Lannister (ASOIAF): I don’t exactly hate Tyrion, but the books made my opinion of his character change. Because of them, I started to realize that ShowTyrion stopped having a character arc after season 4, and only exists as pure comic relief at this point, whereas in the books, I really don’t enjoy the way he mistreats the women in his life, and a lot of the other horrible stuff he is doing. As a character, I’m rather fond of him because his arc is rather brilliantly written, but he’s a really awful person and not a lot of fans are willing to admit it.

8. Have you received anon hate? What about?*

Daenerys Targaryen (GOT): It’s not a surprise that Daenerys fans wouldn’t enjoy my constant support of the DarkDany theory, which has to be my favorite theory in this series. I just love all of the things it implies thematically and narratively. It makes Dany much more of a better character, and really makes it evident that all the horrible things she did in the past few season are considered to be bad things by the narrative, and existed to build her up to when she went to the point of no return and aren’t just actions we were supposed to hail her for.

Arya Stark (GOT): My negative opinion on Arya in Season 7 had led to a few anons who needed to remind me that Sansa betrayed the Stark family, that she isn’t in the key 5, that Arya has more chapters than her among other petty things.

Sandor x Sansa (ASOIAF): Some people don’t like when I point out that this ship is problematic on so many levels.

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why?

Lyanna Mormont (GOT): I actually made a post explaining why I don’t like her.

Maester Pycelle (GOT): I know he does a lot of horrible stuff but I just hate him for the crime of talking so damn slowly.

Victorian Greyjoy (ASOIAF): I don’t usually dislike characters the narrative tells me to dislike, but I can’t stand this dude. He killed his wife because his brother raped her. He murdered tons of prostitutes, manages to find new and innovative ways to be idiotic, and is just incredibly misogynistic.

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

Samwell Tarly (ASOIAF): I don’t really enjoy the wall storyline in the first place, and I’m even less so interested in Sam’s character and his development. I just don’t find anything interesting in his character or his arc. Everyone else has some appeal to their arc, but he just doesn’t have anything going for him in my opinion.

Arya Stark (ACOK): I enjoy a lot of Arya chapters in other books, but I have never read anything as tedious and boring as her 10 chapters in A Clash of Kings. That’s just way too many chapters for an arc where nothing of interest happens. Her entire supporting cast is not the least bit interesting unlike literally every other POV character. I understand the themes the author was diving into, but they were done in a much more poignant manner with Brienne in AFFC. Her character was good in that book, but I just didn’t myself entertained by what I was reading.

Jon Snow (ACOK/ASOS): Jon’s story in A Dance With Dragons remains to be one of my favorite parts of the entire story, but I didn’t expect it to be because of how much I didn’t enjoy the happenings at The Wall in the books preceding it. I just don’t find him wandering beyond the wall that interesting, nor do I find his whole infiltrating in Mance Rayder’s camp shenanigan entertaining. I don’t care that much about the white walkers, or the wildlings of the night’s watch in genera. I was honestly surprised at how GRRM was able to take all of these things that I didn’t like and make a fantastic story arc that was revolved around it in ADWD.

11. Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

Harrold Hardying (ASOIAF): I absolutely adore Harry The Heir and his dynamic with Sansa, but everyone else seems to use him as a prop in their fanfiction for their favorite ship. I just enjoy seeing this confident jerk be thrown off guard by Sansa, and constantly left embarassed and bewildered by her. He laughs at her jokes, he calls her beautiful without being creepy about it, he compliments her intelligence, like yeah he blundered in the beginning, but he shown more respect to Sansa in that one scene then Tyrion/Sandor even did in all of their interactions combined.

Melisandre Of Asshai (ASOIAF/GOT): It’s hard to find people who are a fan of her character in the books and even more so in the show. Her entire character and how she was built up to be the way she is (and why she does everything she does) is so fascinating but people are quick to dismiss her which is a bit sad to me.

12. Is there an unpopular arc that you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

Daenerys Targaryen (ADWD): I have never hid the fact that I love Daenery and her arc in the books, but it wasn’t until ADWD that I came to that realization. I always love these storylines where someone in power is left to make decisions where there are no clear right and wrong and it’s their upbringing and morality that affect how they make their decision, and we get to see how their own principles start affecting an entire population, and how that population reacts to these changes. Daenerys ADWD does just that and rather perfectly. Not only that but it really explores every side of her character, and we see try desperately to find somewhere where she can belong in her efforts of planting trees and making a home, but with all that happens through out the book, she eventually ends up abandoning that ideal and the reasons why she wanted to stay, be a child, and live her life in Essos, in order to embrace her identity as a Targaryen and her other wish which is it to bring fire and blood to Westoros.

Brienne Of Tarth (AFFC): Can I just say what a fantastic arc this is? There are definitely a lot of people who would agree with me but there are even more who hate AFFC, and a major part of it is Brienne’s chapters in that book. I found them extremely entertaining. We get to understand her character and her backstory through out the chapters, GRRM continues to dive in the theme of what is a ‘’true knight’’, we get to see how this kind of society especially in times of war affect the peasants, and a variety of fascinating and interesting characters from the Riverlands. I know I only dived into the surface of why it is so good, but with moments like ‘’No chance and no choice.’’ and the broken men monologue, I don’t think I need to justify it’s greatness when it already does it well enough itself.

Theon Greyjoy (ACOK): Everyone and their mother appreciates Theon’s ADWD arc and for good reason, but far less tend to enjoy his character or his arc in this book which make sense, but I really like it. It’s his whole internal fight about his identity and where he belongs and his allegiances that I find really fascinating. We get his wish to be a Greyjoy and a Stark at the same time pull him apart and drive him into desperation. I think it’s one of the better examples in the series where a character internal conflict impacted the story in such a grand manner.

Sansa Stark (AGOT): There are things that are universally hated by a fandom, and Sansa chapters in AGOT are one of them. Read a review of the first book, a thread about that book or even ask people who read the books why they don’t like Sansa, and it will become evident that not many people seem to enjoy this part of her journey. Personally, I completely disagree. Not only do I enjoy her character and that book, but I love so much about these chapters. It’s interesting that GRRM used Sansa’s arc in that book as a way to criticize how the medieval society is romanticized, how her upbringings didn’t prepare her for the things she faces in this book, how we see her naivety and innocence slowly crack in this book, how she has a constant internal struggle about how she views life and people and her allegiances, how there’s different layers you can peel off from this part of her story, and how it ends with one of my favorite lines in the story being ‘’Sansa was a good girl and always remembered her courtesies.’’, and while she had made many mistakes because of the way that she was brought up, she uses parts of what she learnt in the past(her courtesies) to survive in the books following this one.

13. Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

Jon Snow (GOT): I actually adore Jon in the books, whereas in the show, while he doesn’t offend me, I honestly find him a bit boring. For me, he’s like the generic adult high fantasy male protagonist, and doesn’t set himself apart like everyone else. In a story where we see characters who either deconstruct these typical tropes from these stories, challenge them or even come from tropes that aren’t quite explored in them, he just exists as a trope I have seen a thousand other times. They removed everything that made him an actually compelling and complex characters in my opinion.

14. Unpopular opinion about your fandom?

Jonsa Fans: I feel like people are very quick to degrade that part of the fandom and whatever theory they hold which is I find to be a bother since there’s so many amazing theories and metas that were created by Jonsa’s that people don’t want to take seriously because it comes from them. Plus, Jonsa’s go in detail about why they believe that XXX thing will happen, and I feel like they in general but also their opinions should be given the respect they deserve.

Rhaegar/Lyanna: They are both terrible people whose action led to so many death yet everyone just casually accepts it and it’s a bit frustrating. Like okay yes he didn’t rape or kidnap her, but that doesn’t erase all the other terrible things that he has done. And yes she is 16 years old, but that’s not an excuse to be that inconsiderate about everyone in your life and pull this kind of bullshit.

15. Unpopular opinion about the manga/show?

A Feast For Crows: While this is the least popular book in the series, it remains to be my favorite. A Feast For Crows is the thematic high point of the series. Every arc in that book is extremely well-written, and develops it’s core characters to an extent not seen in the series before. Cersei’s arc was the best take on ruling from the books in my perspective. Jaime’s character arc is fantastically put out. The themes of “true knights” and “broken men” are probably some of the best developed ones in Brienne’s Arc. Arya’s and Sansa’s training are not only showcase a clear growth but portrays a streamlined clear version of the development in terms of their capabilities. The Iron Islands and Dorne were also stellar, and have very satisfying peaks (Kingsmoot, Princess In The Tower). It’s definitely a slower book, as it gives a much more introspective outlook into the world, it’s themes and it’s characters.

A Game Of Thrones: It’s the best book for none of the POVs (besides Ned for obvious reasons). It’s sets up the story rather nicely, but every other book has story lines that are way more interesting.

Season 3: After Season 5 and 7, this has to be the worst season of the show. Sansa’s storyline basically consists of ‘’OMG SHE LIKES LORAS THAT IS SO FUNNY BECAUSE HE’S GAY’’ and nonsense that D&D seem to love, for the entirety of the season. Theon getting tortured for an entire season was just ridiculous and overdone if I want to be honest. Arya, Tyrion, Jon and Bran barely do anything as well. The story moves at a ridiculously slow pace, and the only memorable storyline is Jaime’s (and The Red Wedding). You could try to fight me on this but it’s true.

#that was so long #but hey #i did it #and i had fun doing this too #hope that y'all enjoy this.#asks

47 notes · View notes

aijatar · 7 years ago

Text

The terrifying women

What I find most annoying about the strong, terrifying women trope is that these women are categorized as terrifying just because they are passionate and knowledgeable, and often it’s just used as a form of comic relief.

I’m an avid reader of fanfiction, I stumble upon this often. In the Harry Potter fandom, Ginny and Hermione, two strong, wonderful female characters, are often written as girls who terrify the boys and men surrounding them in a twisted attempt to write them as the strong female characters they are. The fic I’m reading can be good, even brilliant, but its brightness is smeared by the writer’s uncertainty as to how they should write these two wonderful people who also happen to be very much female and central to the story.

And that’s just one fandom example. Natasha Romanov/Black Widow, Pepper Potts, Maria Hill, Jody Mills, Mary Morstan, countless women in my fandoms. Regardless of how terrifying they actually are in the series (because face it, some of them wield considerable power that would be just as terrifying on a male counterpart), the way their actions, comments, even facial expressions are painted as vaguely terrifying is not empowering for them or women in general.

Women’s passion and singleminded determination is somehow a horrific thing than inspires fear in the male characters; the women who have a clear goal and are actively working towards it apparently make the male ego go EEEK! Now, men like that do exist in real life, no matter how much I’d like to just get rid of them, but do you think that Harry Potter would be terrified of Hermione’s drive to learn? No. Maybe he thinks her drive odd, perhaps because he cannot imagine doing all the work Hermione does, but Hermione’s wish to know as much as possible doesn’t make him feel threatened.

Why do writers then paint singlemindedness in women as a thing of not beauty, but fearsomeness? I, too, have occasionally found myself writing such nonsense while dabbling, but I at least recognice a mistake I’ve made and rectify it. And trust me, it’s easy to fall into the trap of writing female power as terrifying to the males around us. It’s easy to laugh at a character that’s vaguely terrified of a female character with drive and ambition. It’s harder to try to explain why, but let me try.

Women have always been smaller in stature and slighter in body than their male counterparts. But there are exceptions, you say? Yes, there are, but you know how we paint them, and that is not with a positive brush. Men have considered women lesser, oppressing and belittling us, and to be afraid of a woman would be shameful by that logic. We modern folk who understand better know that powerful women are not a more fearful sight than powerful men, but the old attitudes still affect our thoughts and actions.

Now bring in a somewhat unexperienced writer who writes about a male protagonist (or a female one, but in my experience this phenomenon is rarer with them). They have a way with words, but what they write will automatically reflect their subconscious thoughts and attitutes, because as I said, unexperienced: they don’t quite know how to separate the two yet. Their text needs a certain level of levity, or comic relief, and they call upon this subconscious prejudice against women to provide it, usually even with good intentions, thinking it’ll also boost the female charater’s perceived strenght.

Nuh-uh, darlin’. Terrifying for comical effect and actually terrifying characters are two completely different things. The former almost exclusively applies to women, the elderly and the disabled, and the latter are actual, valid characters. The former is also not okay. In a world where we still have to bang against the glass ceiling constantly, where I’m judged by my appearance more than by my true merits, where it literally may mean males feeling threatened by me (and acting on it) if I know more than them, where we women are still persecuted, I do not want this belittling trope to continue spreading its poisonous anesthesic effect.

Y’all might think the trope harmless (if that’s the case, then shame on you and shame on your cow), but I’m sure you don’t need a rant from me to understand the harm subconscious prejudices can do.

Fuck fake female empowerment, fuck this trope and fuck those who refuse to see the damage they’re doing with this even after it’s been pointed out to them.

#rant #writing #harmful tropes #my thoughts on the matter #entirely from a subjective viewpoint #the terrifying women #fanfiction #fandom #fake female empowerment #let it be known that I'm writing from a western viewpoint #let girls be ambitious #penny for your thoughts

4 notes · View notes

bazstclair · 7 years ago

Text

To All Ends - Tododeku Fic

Boku No Hero Academia

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12376260/chapters/28152861

Word count: 1788

Summary: Midoriya Izuku is a writer. For the past year and a half he had been writing a story based on the superhero adventures of Deku! A teenage superhero. Caught up in writers block however he finds motivation by his favourite tumblr user - HalfnHalf.

“Deku breathed out a sigh of relief as he lowered his destroyed arms to his side. It was finally done. Or that was what he'd thought.” Midoriya stopped writing, placing his pen down on top of his spiral bound notepad. He'd been writing this story for the past year and a half and as much as he hated writing he was finding it more and more difficult to put his thoughts down on paper. Midoriya had also often experienced having writers blocks in the past year over this story. There was so many ways he could go with it and most of the time it was difficult to get his story flowing, this was why he would only update it when he was finally happy with a chapter. Probably like other writers.

The green haired boy loved to write, ever since he was a child. For him it was like escaping to another world, giving him the space to explore all these different ideas and concepts he often thought about when he should be focusing on something else.

He glanced back at his computer that was open on the table, where his latest chapter glared back at him that he had updated just a month ago. From that point he'd decided that instead of posting as irregularly as he did, he would complete the first draft before posting anymore. Midoriya swivelled around in his chair looking around his room. He glanced at the clock on the wall - 2:30pm. He let out a sigh of defeat before trudging to the kitchen to take his medication. Again.

This was also partially why he loved to write. He was able to live out his dreams through his alter-ego, Deku. An all powerful superhero who could do anything. It gave him a bit of freedom, no matter how small or insignificant it may have seemed to anyone else, to him it was everything.

He looked at the medication bottle with animosity cursing under his breath as he took two tablets as prescribed, before going back to his room when he heard a notification from the direction of his computer. Midoriya jumped upon reading the little message saying that there was an update from his favourite artist on tumblr. A grin crossed his face before opening up his tumblr tab.

His breath caught in his throat. He couldn't believe his eyes as they took in every single detail of a green haired superhero, surrounded in lightning mid jump as through he was going to crash out of his computer screen. The details in the powerful grin to the creases in the clothes, it was exactly as how Midoriya pictured Deku to be. Down to the cowlick that stood up on the top of Deku’s head. His hands shook as he typed out a message to the artist - Halfnhalf - then he stopped.

What was he thinking?! He can't just message someone out of the blue that he's never talked to! It would look creepy and stalkerish and this was someone he looked up to it would be even more weird if he suddenly messaged them. Also, what was he supposed to say to his favourite artist of all time?

Hi I'm the writer of that story you drew a picture of and I really fucking like it and I also really fucking like you- No! Midoriya swivelled round in his chair, this was a real situation. He couldn't contain his inner fan boy that someone had loved his work so much they drew fan art of it and the fact it was his favourite artist nearly quadrupled his excitement.

You got this Midoriya. It's just a message he thought to himself. It's not like you're ever going to meet this person it's just a guy or a girl online don't get ahead of yourself now.

What would Deku do?

Deku would probably write it out calmly and not freak out over it.

Midoriya gathered himself before writing out the message again.

FuckyeahDeku - Hi! I just wanted to say that I loved your piece just now on Deku and that you captured him exactly as I imagined him to be!

Midoriya sent the message before he could stop himself again hiding his face behind his hands as he looked at the picture again. He had a stupid grin on his face that literally spreads from ear to ear and he didn't care. He then realised what he'd just done. What if the person gets creeped out by him? What if the person gets 2 million messages a day and would never read his? What if they don't read messages at all? What if they read it but never respond because it was such a childish thing to write? What if-

Midoriya let out an inhuman squeal as his computer bleeped again with a notification.

THEY ANSWERED BACK!

OhGodohgodohgodohgod-

HalfnHalf - Thank you, I'm glad you like it so much.

Midoriya hit the floor with a thud, feeling over the moon that his favourite artist replied. It was such a euphoric feeling that he didn't know how to comprehend with it at the moment. But only one thought passed in his head right now.

He had to reply, and that's what he did.

FuckyeahDeku - How far have you gotten into the story?

Midoriya waited anxiously as he waited for the reply. He felt as though hours had passed even though in reality it must have been two minutes, but he still couldn’t grasp the idea that he was talking to one of his most favourite people on earth right now and that they responded to one of his messages.

HalfnHalf - I’ve re read the story several times. Author updated a month ago so I’m just waiting.

Izuku let out a scream. He couldn’t contain his feelings. This person re read his story! Someone read his story more than once! Someone loved his Deku as much as he did!

HalfnHalf - What about you?

Oh shit. Did he want to tell this person that he was the author? That he was the one that came up with the concept of this whole world that evolved around Deku’s heroic adventures? What if the person would be angry with what he had written? What if he didn’t like the plot? What if-

Izuku slapped himself across the face. He had to stop thinking of what if’s. He should tell this artist the truth. It was only right. But then, a bright idea crossed his mind.

FuckyeahDeku - Sorry, I’m at a writers block at the moment. But I’ll try to update soon!

Izuku quickly deleted the whole message.

FuckyeahDeku - I read the whole thing. Just waiting as well. Who’s your favourite character?

He quickly jotted down his idea for his story onto the spiral bound notebook, he didn’t know why he was suddenly feeling so inspired to write or to even update as soon as possible but he had a feeling it was to do with the person on the other side of his messages.

Todoroki Shouto looked away from his homework glancing at his laptop on the desk, his tumblr dashboard looked back at him. His latest piece of work on the screen. It had taken him maybe three days to finish this piece and normally it would only take a two days at the most. But considering this was a piece that he had been wanting to do for so long he wanted to do his best. Even better if the author recognised it.

He didn’t know what had brought him to even read the story on wattpad, maybe it was because he was tired of his comic books that he wanted to read what other people wrote. So imagine his surprise when he found something better in just words than a book with pictures.

The story was about a guy named Deku, a normal teenage boy without any superpowers until it was passed onto him by the number 1 superhero. Shouto loved the idea that this guy with no quirk had been a hero even before having powers, he helped people in any way that he could to the best of his ability. The idea that this human insignificant and would probably never be remembered in history but would be remembered by the people he saved and even that wasn’t important to him. Shouto had read the story so many times he could probably recite the first chapter off by heart if anyone asked him.

He didn’t know what took him so long either to draw a picture of this story. But maybe it was due to the fact that he didn’t want to tarnish anyone’s idea of what Deku would look like or that he could never be able to capture what he imagined onto paper. He made sure to capture what he thought Deku’s smile would look like though, the hero that smiled in the face of danger. Just like his own hero, All Might.

Shouto looked at the clock on the wall, it was nearly midnight and this other fan hadn’t responded after Shouto stated that his favourite character was Deku - obviously - and was hoping the author would update soon. It wasn’t uncommon for Shouto to get messages like this on his pictures either, he didn’t post often but when he did he made sure every picture was perfect. He refused to show his sketchbook or anything of a lesser standard. For him, art was everything. But he doubted he could do something to do with it in university if his father had anything to say about it.

He started getting his things ready for school tomorrow when he heard his phone beep. He froze on the spot in his pyjamas at the notification. The story was updated. Shouto quickly opened up the app to find an A/N at the beginning of the chapter.

Hi guys! Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve updated! I’ve had really bad writers block and I’ve been quite busy but seeing HalfnHalf’s artwork really motivated me to finish this chapter so I hope you like it! I’ll post the link to his tumblr here.

Shouto couldn’t believe what he was reading. The story was updated. Just as he was saying he hoped it would soon. The author saw his work… The author saw his picture! There was a bubble of excitement rising in his chest as he saw a notification on his tumblr app.

FuckyeahDeku - Deku is also my favourite. I hope you like the new chapter too! Let me know what you think!

The red and white haired boy looked at the message quizzingly before it dawned on him.

HalfnHalf - You’re the author aren’t you?

FuckyeahDeku - Guilty >.<

#boku no hero academia #todoroki x izuku #tododeku #todoroki shouto #midoriya izuku #izuku midoriya #shouto todoroki

5 notes · View notes