#like purely in canon like textually evident.

[slitheringghost]

Snape’s home life

These endless debates about the Blacks’ abuse (whether it existed or how severe it was) are interesting because you know which character we actually have no evidence of being abused by a parent, and especially not physically? Severus Snape.

(Which, for the record, I personally think he was, but I’m just trying to make A Point about fandom interpretations of abuse).

There was apparently a Pottermore article saying Tobias whipped Snape, but that’s completely extracanon, and iirc the article wasn’t even written by JKR. This is what is in actual canon:

Snape staggered; his wand flew upward, away from Harry — and suddenly Harry’s mind was teeming with memories that were not his — a hook-nosed man was shouting at a cowering woman, while a small dark-haired boy cried in a corner. . . . A greasy-haired teenager sat alone in a dark bedroom, pointing his wand at the ceiling, shooting down flies. . . . (OoTP)

This is his dad verbally abusing his mother while Eileen cowers, and Snape cries watching them.

“How are things at your house?” Lily asked. A little crease appeared between his eyes. “Fine,” he said. “They’re not arguing anymore?” “Oh yes, they’re arguing,” said Snape. He picked up a fistful of leaves and began tearing them apart, apparently unaware of what he was doing. “But it won’t be that long and I’ll be gone.” “Doesn’t your dad like magic?” “He doesn’t like anything, much,” said Snape. (DH)

Here again, the focus is on the conflict and fighting between his parents rather than Tobias’s treatment of Snape.

Snape’s response and agitation here certainly indicates a bad home life - but witnessing your father constantly scream at your mother is still extremely scary and traumatizing. And would lead to the child feeling unsafe in the household, regardless of if it was directed towards him. Correct me if I'm wrong, but these are the only canonical allusions to Tobias's abuse that we have. (I suppose Snape's hatred of Muggles is another, but that could happen with far less severe abuse too - i.e. with Tom Riddle).

But there is no confirmation that Tobias’s abuse extended to Snape. (And we don’t even have evidence of Tobias physically abusing Eileen, much less Snape.) “He doesn’t like anything much” does indicate a bad relationship between Severus and Tobias too, but the actual severity of it is ambiguous. And it’s not always necessary that the abuse is inflicted on both spouse and child, and we have a very glaring example of this in canon - Barty Crouch Jr.

Crouch was abusive to and hated his son but deeply loved his wife. We have Barty Jr. saying “He loved her as he never loved me”, Crouch Sr. risking his job and reputation and even the possibility of being sent to Azkaban himself to give Mrs. Crouch her dying wish of freeing Barty Jr., Winky’s ability to guilt trip Crouch Sr. into letting his son attend the Quidditch match using his love for Mrs. Crouch, etc. We even have Mrs. Crouch crying as she witnesses her husband’s cruelty towards her son, just like Snape was crying while he witnessed Tobias abuse Eileen.

While Lily asks "doesn't your dad like magic?", Snape doesn't really confirm that as being true; magic clearly wasn’t banned in the house the way it was for Harry (due to the Dursleys’ hatred of it as much as the Statute), since Snape came into Hogwarts knowing a lot of magic, and it seems like Eileen had taught Snape a lot about the wizarding world as a child, and we see him use it to shoot down flies in his bedroom.

And “He doesn’t like anything much” is MUCH tamer and much less violent of a statement than “My mother had no heart, she kept herself alive out of pure spite”, “How she hated him, what a disappointment he was”, everything Walburga’s portrait says, the abuse getting to the point that Sirius ran away and then was blasted off the tapestry, Walburga blasting her brother off the tapestry for merely helping Sirius financially, Walburga being textually compared to Umbridge, Walburga’s portrait stretching clawed hands as though to tear at people’s faces (a clear allusion to physical violence), etc etc. We have MUCH more detail about the Blacks’ abuse than Snape’s.

So where exactly are y’all getting “Snape’s abuse was worse than Sirius’s/Tobias beat Severus/Tobias was physically abusive and Walburga and Orion weren’t/Walburga and Orion were better parents than Tobias, etc” from? Because it sure as hell isn’t canon!

As I said, I personally view Snape and Eileen as being physically abused by Tobias and think it’s implied in the text, but this shows the double standards for Snape vs. Sirius / view of the Black family as a whole.

(And this matches fandom's constant tendency to portray privilege and abuse as mutually exclusive, and framing severe domestic violence as Something Only Poor People Do And Aristocrats Would Never Because They're Above That. This is not the hot anti aristocracy take that y'all seem to think it is, lmao)

[gwemrys]

okay genuine question does the show state a distinction between ‘warlock’ and ‘sorcerer’ anywhere textually … bc from what i read in fics it seems ppl think ‘warlock’ is when you’re born with your powers and ‘sorcerer’ is when you actively persue the art of sorcery… is this distinction like a general consensus in the english language (that i’m unaware of bc my native language doesn’t have this distinction afaik), or did the show specify this somewhere, or did we make this up as fans?

either way i’m always kinda peeved when in a fic merlin answers someone calling him a sorcerer with ‘actually🤓 i’m NOT a sorcerer bc i’m a warlock Because i was Born with my Powers’ like omg … yes he’s a warlock but canonically merlin also refers to himself as a sorcerer… he may have been born with his powers but he did also academically strive to improve in the art of sorcery and learned spells and enchantments actively. and it’s a bit silly i guess to be irked by this but i always feel like the fic writer seems to think merlin is more morally pure for having had no choice in his magic. which is. i guess understandable in a way bc if you condemn ppl for something they had no choice in then you are in the wrong no matter what. but also… the whole point of the show was that magic is not evil ergo it should be fine to practise magic even if you DID choose it. and merlin canonically knows this so i feel like regardless of whether the word sorcerer is the most suitable word for him he still, in solidarity with the whole magical community, wouldn’t bother to correct someone when they call him a sorcerer (as soon as he's ready to own up to having magic at all obviously)… it’s not even wrong plus he wouldn’t want to distance himself from them… or like probably he would add that he was born with his powers but only because this information is part of who he is, and maybe as supportive evidence that magic can't be evil bc it would mean some babies are born evil... but not bc he would object to being called a sorcerer methinks . after all he is one

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Wanted to ask, is Eridan's relationship with his dad ok? Like when Eridan was learning how to use his harpoon gun he seemed very much distressed and not enjoying any of it

The only real canon characterization we have of seahorsedad is that the version of him that's Cronus's lusus is "stern, fatherly" and that he ditches Cronus for Hussie, although that last one is mostly just a Bit so I don't really count it as characterization. He's also willing to go along with Eridan "doing something ridiculous," though, again, that's kind of a Bit and it's unclear how canon that is.

((cw for abuse and stuff beneath the readmore))

As such, pretty much anything I say is going to be pure extrapolation that serves my characterization of Eridan, and I can't really back it up with hard textual evidence. But, personally, I think Eridan believes his relationship with his lusus is "good" in the way that many children growing up beneath strict, emotionally neglectful, and even outright abusive parents do.

We know that Eridan has very few friends. He doesn't even really talk to half the people in their group chat, and according to Feferi, he's never spent more than a few days underwater, total, in his whole life. Add onto that that lusus murder (and, by extension, the culling of the orphaned troll) has been his duty long enough that he describes it is "the only thing i evver did," I think it's a reasonable assumption to make that he also has no IRL friends, aside from Feferi.

And to give an idea of how old Eridan was when he started having to murder lusii, here's how old Vriska was when she was expected to start feeding spidermom:

This, and the fact that Dualscar was called "Orphaner" because the job of feeding Gl'bgolyb was his even into adulthood (as he lived before the Summoner's rebellion and the removal of adult trolls from Alternia), and the fact that no one, including Feferi, ever shows any gratitude towards Eridan for performing the job, supports the idea that feeding Gl'bgolyb has always been a violet blood's responsibility. After all, Feferi makes overtures about not being better than other trolls, but she sure does revel in being royalty when she can get away with it. It'd be in character for her to not be particularly grateful to Eridan because she sees lusus murder as fundamentally being his responsibility, especially if he started when they were both REALLY young.

In other words, Eridan was expected to start murdering lusii (and by extension, other trolls) from the moment he was old enough to do so, which, judging by how old Vriska was when she started killing trolls for Spidermom, is not very old at all.

Also, given the lifespan of violet bloods, it's entirely possible - and my personal belief - that Seahorsedad was Dualscar's lusus as well as Eridan's. Even without that being the case, since it was always Eridan's job to hunt and kill lusii, the biggest possible culprit for inducting him into his role would be his lusus.

And let's be clear, I think the fact that having to murder lusii/trolls is the biggest culprit for what's fucked Eridan up the most. The pressure of having the safety of the entire race on his shoulders, the fear of Gl'bgolyb and what happens if he ever fails, and the guilt of taking lives (which we do know Eridan thinks about) have left him with genuine struggles caring about other people, a nasty martyr complex (which isn't unjustified), extremely unstable and negative emotions, shattered interpersonal relationships, and a deep, nihilistic sense of resignation towards his place in society. The latter has directly led to him attempting to embrace that place by tricking himself into thinking he believes in hemocasteist, sea dweller supremacy rhetoric - which his actions contradict - because, without the game's intervention, he had no other options available for him but to become a key figure in the imperial army, continue murdering other sapient creatures until he died, and watch all his few friends die before him, either when they got culled, killed on the battlefield, or purely dropped dead of old age.

And, like... a parent who does that to their child, even if we assume the absolute best (that Seahorsedad does genuinely care about Eridan), can't possibly have a fully healthy relationship with said child. And I think it's not unreasonable to assume that the best is not what's happening between Eridan and Seahorsedad, because Eridan's psychological profile is so fucked up that I highly doubt he was receiving much, if any, actual affection or support from his lusus. Personally, I think his lusus was "stern and fatherly" in the worst possible way - high expectations, no emotional warmth, and complete disregard for Eridan's psychological well-being, as long as he was producing adequate results.

Because Eridan craves attention, and has very little distinction between good and bad attention. He's naive and trusting to a fault, hardly ever suspects anybody of lying to him, and has basically no social skills. These all say to me that Seahorsedad is just, like... not giving him any emotional attention at ALL.

And poor Eridan is just 13 years old - still too young to fully realize how poorly he's being treated by people who are supposed to care about him. Like, yeah, he's completely obnoxious and exhausting to talk to, and you can't really blame Feferi or Kanaya for being sick of listening to him, but at the same time, some of the shit they do to him as a result is honestly just mean. Like Kanaya is just actually bullying him- training him up to be a wizard as a joke, shitting on him behind his back with Rose, making fun of him to his face - and yet:

He's just that fucking desperate for people to care about him and support him; I can't help but think he's just not getting that at home, you know?

So I think if you asked Eridan, he'd say that his relationship with his lusus was good, and that his lusus was proud and noble and stoic, and absolutely a great custodian, and there were no problems at all.

But I think if you were to dig deeper into their relationship, you'd start to hear worrying things like that Eridan never got to celebrate Twelfth Perigrees, and was instead dragged out to go lusus hunting because it was particularly easy to do so on that day. Or that his lusus had to pull the trigger FOR him the first time they ever went hunting, because his own hands were shaking too hard. Or that he'd be locked out of the hive every time he cried, until he stopped crying altogether. Or that he thinks he's never been sick a day in his life because he was never allowed to have an off day and not go hunting and now he's just used to ignoring any and all symptoms. So on and so forth.

He reacts EXTREMELY POORLY to Feferi saying she feels like she needed to look after him - more poorly than to the initial news that she was trying to break up with him:

And I think that's because weakness was punished in his household growing up. He wasn't allowed to be weak - he was nobility, royalty. He had duties, responsibilities. If he faltered, their whole race died. And when you consider the fact that "you have to kill things for the good of everyone you care about, all the time, constantly," is the abject lesson that's been hammered into him since he was old enough to walk and talk, the fact that he's so incredibly fucking adamant about murdering angels starts to be a little... sad. He's just stuck in that mindset. He doesn't know how to escape it.

So... yeah. In summary: his relationship with his dad is great!

[punkeropercyjackson]

Within the writing themes of Spiderverse and on a meta level(which counts as one),Ghostpunk makes more sense than than Ghost.Flower.Important note:I'm not anti G/M,this is simple my meta on why Hobie and Gwen work so well

Gwen went to visit Miles but she thought to put on Hobie's sweater first and he lets her add her own customization to it as seen by the patches on it that were confirmed to be hers and not his.Gwen steals Hobie's clothes as a way to make herself feel safe and even took his chucks too to emulate his style.She did steal Miles' jacket but only way after she did that with Hobie's clothes at multiple points

Miles accidentally forced Gwen to get a haircut and Gwen chose to dye it part pink,the color Hobie turns when he's happiest,notably only after she met Hobie and it brings to mind she wanted to always have something on her that reminds her of Hobie

In the comics,Hobie was a Gwen Stacy fanboy and Gwen was that cool slightly older girl it'd easy for most boys to get a crush on.In the movies,Gwen looks up to Hobie and he's that cool slightly older boy it's easy for most girls to get a crush on.And also in the comics,Gwen owns a The Ramones shirt and Hobie is a The Ramones fan too as seen by his playlist.They're the same......in the important ways

We see Gwen yapping about Hobie first thing as his drop in the movie,to Miles and when he inquires if he's her friend like he is,she replies 'That's different!' and i say oh i'm sure!!!There's hint drops that indicate Gwen might've talked to Spider Society about Miles often but we don't get to actually see it happen like we did Ghostpunk's part so it's hard to believe the former is romantic and completely textual but the latter isn't

Following up that point,Pavitr states in a teasing tone Miles wouldn't know about Hobie from Gwen twice and the implication is obviously that Ghostpunk is romantic in some way and if it's not Gwobie evidence,then 'He must be in love with you!' isn't Gw.iles evidence either as Gwen denied both anyway

Hobie was never trying to make Miles jealous with his way of flirting with Gwen and was made so he could be taken as genuienly crushing on her confirmed by his VA.Hobie also already saved Gwen before Miles did,by letting her crash in his dimension when she was homeless and convincing her to join his band so she could feel like when she was back then before Peter died and giving her the emotional support and fun she needed as she did him by helping him like a real kid post-adultification and even crafted a Watch for her when she needed to save Miles but not before destroying her cop dad's ass and not without forcing him to leave her his love note.The specific 'In case it don't work out' wording used inline with the attempt at a Ghostpunk + Ghost.Flower love triangle reads as a double meaning and in-universe subliminal messaging that's absolutely in-character for Hobie to pull(he pulled Gwen already too)

Self-Love suits Ghostpunk directly rather than mostly just metaphors.Drink too much,think too much,thoughts drownin' me(havin' a laugh at a pub with the mandem),you don't know love you just show love stop doubtin' me(fitting to both Gwen and Hobie's canonical traumas and their coping mechanisms,including them not becoming official purely because their insecurities had them thinking the other could would never love them romantically,at least at first),cuff me told the truth to him he don't trust me(George and Hobie's interaction),hate to see yeah woah money scheme yeah woah(it's a metaphor for capitalism),live and questionable(i'm not a role model + him encouraging her to punk out to her full self with George no longer holding her back),love hanging out say you hate it now(Gwen's Hobie love denials she only used so Pavitr would shut up and never holding back when it's just her and him)

Gwen is pastel watercolors and Hobie is an old school zine but they're both basically human mood rings.They both had scenes of teaching Miles how to use his hands to better Spiderman and standing up against an authority figure as they turned a blue as deep as how much their rage towards the system for screwing them over runs

In every other universe,Hobie Brown is a bad guy or not that important.But in this universe,Hobie Brown isn't actually evil,he's just a good kid who's really troubled because all the adults in his life are either gone or failed him on purpose and despite everything,he rose to be the personification of afropunk and Earth 138's Spiderhero.In his universe,Gwen Stacy is still a ghost and she dosen't haunt him since she wasn't his Gwen.His Gwen wasn't a canon event for him and that plays up his not believing in consitency

And Gwen feeling so comfortable around Hobie she's not afraid to fall for him is proof they should be together,not proof she dosen't love him.How deep their connection goes is up them(direct quote by Daniel Kaluuya,Hobie's va)not canon and that's what Gwen wants.She chose Hobie this whole time

I be writing heartfelt academic papers and and then this is the ship

[threalcrabbysamantha]

I’m very ship and let ship, largely because, well, it really doesn’t matter all that much what ships people like, and on top of that, I think shipping is really personal and often says more about what YOU desire about of connection (romantic or not) than anything else.

And yet it DOES baffle me when people ship a canon pair that has just a terribly written romance. Like just soooo poorly done. And then they don’t go around being like “this ship deserved better and I engage in discourse and fan work about this pair that fleshes out their romance.” No, instead they’re like “I ship these two because their romance is amazing 10/10 no notes.” When even just like cursory critical analysis of the text would tell you that it is NOT well-written romance or character work.

It’s just so strange to me. Like there are plenty of ships I love that got screwed over by the writing, and I still love those ships - but I’m not under the delusion that those romances are super well written. Spuffy comes to mind here especially because while I love them, let’s be honest, Joss Whedon was actively sabotaging anything real between them and it shows in the writing.

It just makes me wonder what kind of relationships those kind of ride-or-die-my-ship-is-textually-perfect-despite-overwhelming-evidence-to-the-contrary kind of shippers have in their lives. Or maybe it’s not about that at all. Maybe these kinds of shippers are equally as blinded by everything they like, and they’ve fallen into the classic thought trap that the things you like have to be perfect to keep yourself morally pure.

[bluiela]

Some of the many stuff that shows gwyn is a luring lightsinger is just a crack theory

(like 100s made by them for HOFAS which was no where near canon)

No Direct Evidence in the Text

The term "lightsinger" appears only once in ACOSF, in a throwaway line about dangerous creatures in Prythian’s folklore living in the bog.

There’s zero relation or parallel for Gwyn and them. Lightsinger don't glow or sing, and Gwyn doesn't appear as friendly people to eat fae for sports, it’s purely fan (Gwyn haters) speculation just to save their already sunk ship. And to explain Azriel behavior for Gwyn (internalized misogyny much?)

SJM has never tied Gwyn to luring, manipulation or anything, unlike other characters (ianthe, the Cauldron, the bone carver, weaver or even Bryaxis etc).

Gwyn’s Character Undermines the Theory

Lightsingers are described as deceptive, siren-like beings who lure people to their doom and to eat them for funsies.

Gwyn is:

A survivor of trauma on a path of healing. (her backstory mirrors real-world assault survival).

A devoted priestess who deeply respects her sisters (she was very grateful for them to give her a home and loves the services and so on yk the obvious stuff)

A Valkyrie, symbolizing sisterhood and resilience.

Turning her into a predatory creature would contradict her healing arc and reduce her agency.

Azriel’s Shadows Don’t Fear Her

If Gwyn were a lightsinger, Azriel’s shadows would likely flee or resist her. (like with cauldron and Koschei)

Instead, they sing, dance for her and play with her breath suggesting attraction, not antagonism.

Compare this to how his shadows retreat and "skitter back" from Elain, which shows actual incompatibility. (they react same with Mor who isn't his endgame) (they also sensed and reacted to cauldron and koschie so they would also know about a luring LS or it would be a big plothole)

It Would be repetitive

Making Gwyn another "beautiful but deadly" (OG Amren and other characters who are good questionable in the beauty department are the weaver and the bone carver and bryaxis) female would feel repetitive, especially when her current arc is about reclaiming strength without losing gentleness.

Thematic Mismatch

Gwyn’s story is about breaking free from victimhood—not hiding a secret, monstrous nature or being one unknowingly.

If she were a lightsinger, her trauma could be twisted into "See, she was dangerous all along!", which implies victim-blaming narratives.

SJM’s Writing Patterns Favor Simplicity

SJM’s mates/fated bonds are usually straightforward (e.g., feysand, Nessian’s, huntar, rowaelin, ruhnlidia is obvious). The guys who have obvious mate hints are mates. The clear contrast shows how Gwynriel is obvious.

While the lightsinger theory is fun for speculation, it lacks textual support and clashes with Gwyn’s established character. The narrative leans more toward her being a genuine, kindred spirit to Azriel—not a luring predator.

[mxtxfanatic]

Genuine question: where did the headcanon come from that Feng Xin was “looking” for Xie Lian during his 800 years of banishment?

Hey, I saw your post and wanted to comment, but not under OP because I don’t have the energy to deal with self-righteous people, (I used to be a fan of fxmq, still am, they’re both interesting characters but some people). The thing is, what they’re saying is pure delusion. For them, it’s not just a headcanon, it’s canon. But there’s no textual evidence backing up their claims. They probably saw it somewhere and just ran with it to fuel their wishful thinking. In fact, I believe headcanons can be as meaningful as canon in some cases. But why are people so willing to twist the actual narrative just to suit their own biases and paint it as canon?

IMO, maybe FengQing were looking for Xie Lian, but only after they heard he ascended a second time and then not only was he banished shortly after that, but also fought with Jun Wu, the Heavenly Emperor. Maybe the reason Feng Xin reacted to his cooking in that way is because they tasted it once, when they tried to reach him and he slipped from their hands again because of his misfortune shackles and Jun Wu. I think the most underappreciated friendship in the fandom is Xie Lian and Shi Qingxuan, ngl.

FxMq, they do care about Xie Lian, but their egos and personal biases got in the way most of the time. They need to set that aside and see Xie Lian as someone who’s fully capable of looking out for himself, this is the personal growth i want. I get it he still looks like a 17-year-old prince (physically), but that’s on them. This is someone who survived 800 years of solitude and misfortune without any kind of spiritual power. I just want this fandom to show him the respect he deserves as the no1 martial god.

Well, that's a little disappointing, because I see it in some older fics, too, and figured it had some tangible origin point. Maybe it's just been lost in the chaos of endless fanon discourses.

Xie Lian actually ascends and gets banished the second time before they'd ascended into the Upper Court (and I'm not sure if Feng Xin went the route of Mu Qing and rejoined the Middle Court before he ascended, either), but other than that, yeah I agree with your assessment.

[enlitment]

d'Alembert's Dream (and why you should read it)

I feel like I need to put my (very scattered) thoughts down.

Don't expect much academic value, the text absolutely deserves an in-depth analysis but it's currently so hot in Prague and my brain is just running off on iced coffee & vibes

it also a sort of continuation of this post which finally pushed me to start looking more into Diderot! (thanks to @frevandrest for kick-starting the interesting thread ✨)

Few gems (indiscreet jewels?) from d'Alambert's Dream in no particular order:

It reads like a philosophical dialogue between to equal partners one of whom is a woman

Another feminist brownie point for Denis? It does get a tad bit mainsplain-y at times, but not more than any texts that would be published in the 21st century.

The majority of the text is a dialogue is between a doctor and Mme l'Espinasse, who is consistently portrayed as curious and intelligent. She asks interesting questions, understands what the doctor is talking about almost immediately most of the times and she even comes up with one of the central allegories/metaphors (the spider one!) than then runs through the text.

It was honestly refreshing to read.

The doctor also tells a story about a woman overcoming her mental health issues with regular training and pure strength of will, all on her own! (I'm not saying it's realistic or that it's not often necessary to seek help but purely on the gender discussion level, you can see how a story like that grants women a lot of agency, right? Love to see it!)

2. The format is hilarious

So I've long held the opinion that it's a real shame that most contemporary philosophy feels very dry in comparison to past centuries when they just wrote some of their deepest thoughts in the most bizarre format imaginable.

This one follows a dialogue format that can be perhaps best described as 'I argued with my friend too hard about philosophy the night before and now he's having a weird nightmarish experience. Let's have this doctor record him talking in his sleep. Oh, and Mme. l'E is also there for some reason.'

(plus it canonically features d'Alambert in a sleeping robe and a night cap!!)

3. Not only not that sexist but also Gender™?

It's only one paragraph and of course, it's a product of it's time but still, it does talk about blurring the lines between the male and female biological sex in an interesting (though outdated) way. Don't let anyone convince you that discussions about gender are a 21st century invention!

4. I'd also lovingly describe the text as an 'epistemological discussion with palpable erotic tension', aka:

No honestly there's much more tension between the Doctor (a very obvious Diderot self-insert) and Mme l’Espinasse than in your average Netflix wannabe period drama.

It features gems such as:

a passage in which they discuss bodily sensations and the sense of touch in which the doctor proceeds to asks Mme. l'E about female orgasm. Or something very close to that. In a very hush-hush 1700s coded language kind of way, but still?

she also says something that the doctor deems to be really smart, after which he asks for a permission to hug her (weird. but yay for consent?), at which point d'Alambert wakes up, sees the two hugging and comments that it is 'very much like him to do something like that'

There's also links to mental health and interesting parallels between the text and my thesis! Also Voltaire mentions, because of course.

I read it in Czech but I should be able to look up the receipts... I mean textual evidence upon request if anyone happens to be interested!

[noemitenshi]

You mentioned before you had a theory Troy is a virgin. Why is that?

Hi nonny :) I gotta be honest with you, it's pure vibes 😂😂😂

Ok, let my try a more serious answer... So, there's not a lot of textual evidence either way… however. Fromt what we are shown of Troy in s3, he seems very much to be an all or nothing guy. Means, at least for me, that I can't see him having had casual sex. If he did have sex I think he had to be deeply in love with this person(s). But since he makes no reference to love lost or anything like that, not even once, not even a little, I don't think he'd been in love before. Additionally, consider his dating pool; I think it is rather small. Sure there are other people on the ranch he could've dated but again nothing like that is shown in canon (like what I could believe is that he had something going on with Mike… or well, I could understand if people thought that haha). But overall he doesn't seem interested in anyone on the ranch in that way. Then there's of course the nearest town (where he presumably went to school, and then later on where just Jake went to school)… I think his bad reputation probably made the rounds there, too, so it's not like people were lining up to meet him… And I don't think that Troy sought out social situations like, dunno, going out partying or whatever. Later on hanging out in a bar.. can't see that either honestly. He doesn't seem interested in "frivolous" things like this. Then there's Jake's friends, as potential partners. Though I think Jake warned everyone he brought around off Troy. I also believe that he didn't really bring people over often - ashamed of his family, his drunk parents, his out of control brother… So even if Troy tried to hang out with them I think Jake made sure he didn't feel welcome (I think he may have humiliated him… Troy's not easy to scare off but humiliation from his family (=ppl he cares about) might work. I base this on his reaction when Madison went "wanna be a mama's boy?" and all that). So yeah, I get the sense that Troy hasn't experienced love yet (and thus no sex) which is why he's so responsive to Madison and later on Nick - though I think in both cases this isn't a romantic love - if you favor another HC that's valid too :) Just not my cup of tea. In either case he's been starved for love/affection all his life, is my point.

(Also personally, I just love writing Troy as a virgin, experiencing his first time late in life, every touch felt so strongly, the way he'll get overwhelmed so quickly from almost innocent touches, a few kisses… the wide-eyed, trembling expression he's sure to make at his s.o. as if they are his world, his lifeline… It's a lot of fun)

Thank you so much for the ask and have a great day 🧡

[maxdibert]

A character being strong or independent means nothing if the story presents her as an unhinged fanatic, flatter than a pancake in terms of personality, and ultimately reduced to being a lapdog for a man who does get narrative weight and complexity. BTW Bellatrix never had a daughter in the canon sorry but no we are talking about the original material no that stupid shit of a fanfiction The Cursed Child is. I’m not gonna take any shit that came from that rubbish seriously.

Your opinion is just you being unable to accept elements that are actually canon. You don't like her personality and find her lousy, saying she's just a lapdog or whatever that means to you, even though JKR made a point to write such a well developed character, one that she herself said she hated and still making her so defiant, fiery, the most alluring and confident in who she is. The sheer amount of effort.

Once again, you don't like Cursed Child but denying that it is canon makes all your arguments lose credibility, it's like trying to deny reality. You dismiss it because you have no real counterargument when it comes to your opinion about women, considering that Bellatrix did have a daughter. So how would you explain the stereotype of bitter, childless women in this case? You simply don't have fair arguments, maxdibert.

Look, if we were talking about Hermione or even Luna, I might give you some ground. But claiming Bellatrix is a well-developed character? That she’s not flat? Come on. She’s a recurring character, not even a proper secondary one. Everything you’re arguing is pure fanon headcanon, don’t try to sell it as textual evidence. Even Tonks has more storyline and personality than Bellatrix, so I genuinely don’t know what the hell you’re on about.

And no, I’m sorry, but The Cursed Child isn’t canon. Rowling didn’t write it, canon is what appears in the books or what Rowling directly created for them, not something she rubber-stamped after the fact for a cheque. So no, the one lacking actual arguments here isn’t me. I’ve even given you feminist theory to read. You’re not going to come in here and lecture me on feminism, especially not by holding up a character whose only role in the saga is to embody irrational fanaticism and chaotic violence. Sell that story somewhere else.

[from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras]

I see you very much as an expert on all things Rohirrim, so I bring to you this question, hoping I can pick your brain for info to use in my own fics (full disclosure). 😅

It seems to be a popular fanon that the Rohirrim/Riders of Rohan have tattoos, and that body art is a part of their culture. Do you have any thoughts or personal HCs about this that you're willing to share?

Thank you in advance! I appreciate you and your blog so much (if you didn't already know that).

Oh my goodness!!! I am so very honored to be thought of as a person who is knowledgeable about my beloved Rohirrim, and I hope very much that I can live up to that reputation. Thank you!!!

I’m not aware of any real textual evidence for body art among the Rohirrim, and the historical record in the medieval Anglo Saxon and Norse societies that Tolkien used as a reference for them seems to be disputed. But I absolutely understand and agree with the conventional wisdom that tattoos are a thing in Rohan. It just fits well with a warrior culture that has a wilder, dare-I-say more pagan aesthetic as compared to the smooth solemnity of Gondor or the formal elegance of the elves. And since they’re a culture that doesn’t document things in written words, pictorial representations such as tattoos and body art would be one way to fill that gap (along with their songs and oral traditions).

In my mind, tattoos in Rohan are common but basic—they’ve really only got the technology for the “stick and poke” method so the designs are kept simple because anything too elaborate is difficult to pull off well. They’re mostly in black line (using soot) but some have color using powder made from grinding up certain dried roots and plants.

Each village/community has its own distinctive tattoo motif that is worn by all of that community’s members. So you can tell just by looking at someone whether they’re from Upbourn (a fish because it’s a river town) or Dunharrow (mountain peaks since they’re in the White Mountains) or Everholt (a boar in honor of the wild boar that live in this part of the Firien Wood), etc. And soldiers also tend to share tattoo designs specific to their éored—getting your éored’s mark is a formal rite of passage for the younger members when they first get assigned to their company. These shared tattoo designs are important both for group cohesion and as a means of identifying fallen Rohirrim even if the deceased isn’t known to whoever finds the body.

Beyond these ritualized and practical functions, I do also like to think that there are some purely decorative tattoos among them as a means of personal expression and/or to help cover small scars that so many Rohirrim have from battle, riding accidents or other mishaps. Obviously horse-based designs would be very popular, as well as other flora and fauna of Rohan. But they’re a very sentimental people and so I think little emotional signifiers would also be very common (again, especially because they generally don’t have a means to pay tribute to beloved people/things in written form, this sort of symbol would serve the purpose of making some kind of record of those tributes).

In terms of specific people in my head canon: Éomer has a little simbelmynë blossom for each of the major figures in his life that he’s lost (forearm). Háma had a sun to remind him of his wife, who brought warmth and light to his life (shoulder). Théodred had stars in the shape of a particular constellation that is visible every year on his mother’s birthday (chest). Éowyn has a representation of her father’s sword (left wrist) and gets a quill (right wrist) to represent Faramir after they get married. (Faramir got a little running horse in her honor on his first trip to Rohan. He was glad he did it, but he never wants to sit through that again.)

Merry brought tattooing back to the Shire when he showed up with a tobacco pipe on his bicep (both for its association with Buckland and in tribute to Théoden, whose last words to Merry were about smoking together someday when peace was restored). Unsurprisingly, tattoos did not catch on with the other hobbits, but Merry remains very proud of it.

Anywayyyy…I hope that was in any way helpful! Thanks so much for asking!! I remain a huge fan and am so grateful to you for helping convince me to put some of my thoughts and stories out there vs keeping them all in the confines of my own Google drive!

[mdzs-fanon-examine]

Introductory post: Please read! :)

[ON INDEFINITE HIATUS]

hi everyone! welcome to my very own MDZS-specific iteration of the unparalleled @svsss-fanon-exposed and @tgcf-fanon-exposed. this blog is designed to find the differences between canon and fanon in the Mo Dao Zu Shi/Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation fandom.

this blog is ENGLISH NOVEL CANON ONLY. although i may occasionally cite the drama or the donghua as the potential source for any misconceptions, the canons of these adaptations differ too much from the novel canon for my purposes (plus i haven't finished either one. whoops).

how this whole thing works:

send me an ask! is this thing you thought was canon actually fanon? is that fanon idea supported in the books? where? why? how?

i'll answer the ask with a rating, using SVFE's helpful rating system (explained below), and then go into detail. generally a post will include textual evidence supporting my rating, and possibly an analysis of what this means/where an idea came from.

i'll do my best not to introduce my own personal opinions or biases into the posts. if you have any textual evidence that you think disproves or otherwise contradicts one of my posts, i'm always happy to be corrected! HOWEVER. please do not argue with me or anyone else unnecessarily; this blog is not supposed to be a site for or source of discourse. i will block anyone who is repeatedly coming at me with bad faith. i'm doing this project for fun, and i want to keep it that way for everyone :)

posts will probably be sporadic so i don't burn myself out and lose interest. however, i want to try and answer as many questions as i can! submissions will open and close based on demand so i can stay on top of things.

some important things to keep in mind:

i'm not here to dunk on anyone's headcanons, and i am fully supportive of everyone's creative choices in the fandom!! (in fact i have many headcanons myself.) DO NOT harass anyone for their interpretations of the series. my purpose here is just to clarify whether certain ideas are textually supported, NOT to give an opinion on them.

i'm doing this blog for fun, so i'll be treating it as a casual project. i will only be using the official english translation of the novels, with the supplementary exception of the exiled rebels fanlation. i don't speak any chinese, so i will not be using the untranslated raws or any non-english fandom sources in my posts. although i'll be doing research as needed, i also will not be evaluating any headcanons purely based on chinese cultural norms, due to my unfamiliarity with them. if you are more familiar with any of these sources and have more information to add to a post, please let me know!

another thing to keep in mind: the official translation of the novels is not considered fully accurate to the original chinese. i am not immune to making mistakes, either. please take my posts with a grain of salt.

BECAUSE this is a casual project from someone whose only credentials are being completely obsessed with mo dao zu shi and knowing how to write an essay, anyone is welcome to make a blog that does this but. better. let me know if you start one and i'll point people your way lol.

finally: i will NOT be entertaining any character bashing in or on my blog. again, this is not a personal opinion-based blog, i'm looking at textual support, so honestly i don't think this disclaimer is necessary. but. just in case.

💥💥the rating system:💥💥

CANON: what it says on the tin! this fact is supported by the text. if you're trying to be as canon-compliant as possible, this rating is for you.

RUMOR: this fact is an in-text rumor. although this idea is mentioned in the novel, it's still not explicitly confirmed as canon. the characters themselves don't know if it's true or not!

FANON – SUPPORTED: not directly stated in canon, but it's a very likely interpretation, taking into account factors like cultural norms and occam's razor! this rating might be retroactively added to a post previously rated FANON – NEUTRAL, based on crowdsourced information about the raws or chinese culture.

FANON – NEUTRAL: it's not canon, but it's not NOT canon. the text neither confirms nor denies this interpretation, so it's up to you whether you want to consider it true to canon or not. the world is your oyster.

FANON – UNSUPPORTED: not directly stated in canon, but it's a very unlikely interpretation, taking into account factors like cultural norms and occam's razor. this rating might be retroactively added to a post previously rated FANON – NEUTRAL, based on crowdsourced information about the raws or chinese culture.

FANON – CONFLICTING: this idea directly contradicts something stated in the text. if you want to stay as canon-compliant as possible, this rating is not for you.

[gendertrickster]

could you elaborate on your take that Aradia's oppressive relationship to femininity means she cannot be textually transfem? i find that a bit of an odd take

like, obviously i think people can have whatever headcanons they want, and it's good to understand what is canon, what can be supported by canon, and what is pure fanon. i just don't see how there's any less textual evidence for Aradia as transfem than there is for, say, Vriska. am i missing something?

lemme use that last st8ment as a jumping-off to set the groundwork here. the core reason vriska is transfem is because femininity is something she must constantly perform and strive for to be recognized as a girl, whereas for aradia it is something put upon her by society that brings her only torment and oppression. the expectations for women of their respective castes is far different; for vriska, it is to be vengeful and powerful, but for aradia, it is to be compliant and subservient.

both of them hate conforming to their society's traditional gender roles for completely different reasons — vriska's conscience eats at her constantly for all the bad things she does and the person she really wants to be conflicts with the values of mindfang, the sole object of vriska's gender envy (next to tavros. not that she'd admit it). aradia hates her role in society because it is very deliberately forced upon her — it pushes her down and disarms her of her own agency and forces her to accept that there is nothing she can do without permission from someone or something else.

aradia's gender role in alternian society is very intentionally analogous to that of an asian (particularly japanese) woman: sexualized, exoticized, infantilized (a lot of which by equius), not allowed to speak for herself. this is key to understanding aradia's arc to me. as a maid of time, she is at the service of causality itself, not unlike her ancestor, tidying up myriad loose ends across the sgrub session and small parts of alternia's history such as the creation of doc scratch, across thousands of alternate selves, because if she didn't, the story would not be able to progress. she knows this. the story knows this. no one is happy about this.

her arc culminates in totality when she accepts her own death and dares to face the unknown, self-destructing, ascending to the god tiers and, for the first time in her life, feeling truly alive. freed from the shackles of her role as both parts burgundy-blood and woman, she makes her own choice to save her friends and then leave homestuck forever. not being in homestuck is its own reward, but all characters inherently fear death, because that is what they know and it is an instinct sburb requires. aradia, however, never could have feared death, for she had not been living until this moment. she becomes ultimately at peace with what is feared by all but her.

aradia's choice to leave behind what is known and "safe" in favor of pursuing the chance that she could ever reach a point where she is free to make her own decisions again is one of the most transgender actions in the entire story. aradia's abandonment of gender is synonymous with her rise to freedom.

[alfredsolos]

hey, you know how you did a review (basically) of colin’s character and kinda outlined or corrected any misinformation ppl make ab him (like that he’s Jon kent 2.0?) (idk how to explain- character study??? u just explained him rly well with good textual evidence)

anyways~

do you think u could do something like that for Maya Ducard? like, clear up any misconceptions ppl have ab her character and such? i want to write her but i don’t have the ability to read the comics/don’t rlly want to anyways.

Alright! Before going into a character analysis, let's talk about Maya's story. Who is Maya Ducard?

Maya Ducard is a vigilante/hero called Nobody. She is the second person to take up that mantle. The first Nobody aka Morgan Ducard aka Maya's father, was killed by Damian Wayne in Batman and Robin.

Maya finds the remains of her father's corpse beneath the sea and watches the clip of Damian killing her father. So to take revenge, she goes after Damian to kill him.

But during that time, Damian goes into a redemption trip where he tries to undo the damage he did when he was an assassin.

During on of those missions, Maya and Damian cross paths and she tries to kill him. But when she finds out that he was on a redemption trip, she decides to go with him and ensure that he is doing what he's supposed to. And she tells him that in the end she'd kill him.

Damian let's her tag along and they go on adventures together, growing closer and closer. And in the end, Maya forgives Damian.

Now, going back to the topic. Coming across Maya fics are harder because there are too few. So I don't really know how the fanon portrayes her.

I do know that most of the time she is portrayed as a supportive big sister, which is true but she is also so much more. So in this post I'll give out some facts about her and explain her character using canon panels.

****

1. Maya does not like the idea of innocents dying:

Even when she was trying to kill Damian, she interrups her plans to save the innocent people. This tells us that she indeed has a pure heart. Along with her potential to be a hero.

2. She knows how to get inside someone's skin:

During the times where they have a temporary ceasefire, Maya does not hold back from hurting Damian with her words and trying to get under his skin. This tells us that whoever her target is, she will do proper research on them and make sure to know them on a personal level. Which makes her dangerous.

She has a sharp tongue, so don't forget to apply this trait of hers on your fics!

3. Abilities?

Maya does not have any super powers. But she does have a super suit with numerous abilities. The most prominent ones being: Invisibility, sonic boom devices that are built into her hands, a device that distorts people's eyesight. She is also a very skilled fighter.

Another very important thing to note is that, her father wasn't the one who taught her how to fight:

She learned how to fight by herself, watching her dad from the shadows. Which indicates amazing strategic and martial ability. Not to mention how she tracked down Damian and manage to hold her own against him.

4. At first these two did not get along:

And by that I mean, they did not get along.

They did not fight due to the ceasefire. But the things they said to each other? Ouch.

5. Maya loves Goliath:

Before and after trying to kill Damian, Maya always loved Goliath. She even tried to take him away from Damian at one point.

Goliath also loves Maya very much, risking his life for her countless times.

6. Along with her hate for Damian, she was also jelaous of him:

One, he had a family that gave everything to him. Two; while her father never taught her anything, he took in Damian and taught him special moves and trained him. And due to this she naturally had a bit of envy of him.

7. Maya was still adament to kill Damian when they started to get along:

This didn't last that much, but in her mind it was some kind of divine justice.

8. Damian saved Maya from Deathstroke:

After Maya quit trying to become an assassin and killing Damian, Deathstroke came after her. But Damian basically pays her off and gives Slade 5 million dolars to stop trying to kill her. Surprisingly it works.

But Maya doesn't understand why he did this. She calls herself worthless and with this, we can get that she has very low self esteem and self-deprecating thoughts.

9. She is more laxed, compared to Damian:

As you can see, she does not shy away from resting unlike other assassins who do not stop until they complete their plans.

10. She has never killed anyone:

Even before or after Damian, she has 0 body count. She never killed or kills anyone in the future. This fact is the reason why Damian let Maya come with him after she tried to take him on. He knew that she wouldn't be able to do it.

11. Damian has a habit of calling her 'chica':

It's obvious that he does this to annoy her. But we can use this in the fanon as Damian annoying Maya by calling her chica

12. Damian gives Goliath to Maya:

After the redemption trip and Maya forgiving Damian, he tells her to take Golaith with him. Maya refuses and tells him that Goliath belongs to him. But Damian answers with:

Goliath ends up staying with her.

13. Damian shies away from asking Maya for help:

After the redemption arc, Maya settles in and is actually happy. Damian sees this and hesitates to ask for her help.

As you can see, this happens multiple times. Which is cute, to see Damian being shy. Maya could be the only person who makes Damian feel like that.

14. Maya gains a brother:

After forgiving Damian for killing her father, she tells him that he has gained a new sister. Which means a lot because this shows that blood isn't what matters, but love. Seeing Damian accept and love her, destroyes the 'blood son' argument.

15. Maya hates the al Ghul's:

She tells Talia that she hates all the al Ghuls, besides Damian. She also goes on to tell her that she is a horrible mother. And by that, she really goes all out.

16. She kidnaps Jon Kent:

We all know that Damian met Jon by kidnapping him. But the thing is, he wasn't alone! Maya also helped him to kidnap Jon.

****

Anyways, these were my intrepretation of Maya Ducard's character from her canon interactions. If anyone wants to add onto these, please feel free and thank you for the ask!

[19thcenturyfuck]

i think one of the funniest annoying tumblr fandom things is when a fandom collectively decides a character must be straight and cis despite textual evidence (if not outright textual confirmation) otherwise purely because they don't like that character. and they will post derisively about this character being straight or whatever and meanwhile the character is canonically not straight and you're just like man cmon. cmon man

[tanadrin]

john dehlin's interviews with david bokovoy on literary/textual criticism of the bible are super interesting in general, but i like how he talks about how you don't even need to know the first thing about the joseph smith papyri or the circumstances of its composition to know the book of abraham is a forgery--it's obvious from purely internal textual evidence alone that you cannot square it with any of the other books of the bible, even if you know comparatively little about the historical circumstances of the composition of the book of genesis, so focusing anti-apologetic attempts on the egyptological/archeological evidence is really a sideshow: historically interesting but not at all necessary.

in a later interview he also points out that purely from literary evidence alone we should conclude that there was probably a historical jesus of nazareth on whom the new testament figure is based--he points out that (just as now, really) the 1st century CE jewish expectation of a messiah-figure is so fundamentally contrary to the basic narrative elements of jesus's life that the nascent christian community is trying to rework into the biography of the messiah that it would make absolutely no sense for a purely invented figure. like, if you were going to invent someone (or if traditions were going to accrete around a purely fictitious character) to fulfill the basic characteristics of the messiah, you would think they would get basic assumptions about what the messiah is supposed to do right, and you wouldn't have to invent a completely new theology to make it work--that they did is indicative not of an invented figure, but of a real person for whom inconvenient biographical facts well-known to the community had to be renegotiated and reworked (and even then could only be renegotiated and reworked to a certain point). no one is going to invent a myth about someone who completely fails to meet every expectation of the messiah, as he puts it.

also--it strikes me that mormonism is really fuckin' verbose for a religion adding new scripture. like. okay, islam adds a whole new book (the qur'an), and it's not short, but at the same time it abrogates the hebrew bible and the new testament, so as a muslim you don't need to read those. mormonism adds not only a book longer than the new testament (~269k words to the NT's ~185k in English), the book of abraham, the book of moses, and doctrines and covenants, and the other stuff in the Pearl of Great Price, and it keeps the bible as part of the canon! that's too much damn scripture!

personally i think your religious scripture is more likely to come off as timeless if you keep it short. like, the ideal length of a holy book is the tao te ching (around 20,000 words in English). prophets and shit need to resist the urge to put every single petty grievance into sacred scrolls. save that shit for the commentary.