#making the paragons mean girls is so fun

[feroshgirlsims]

Subplot 4.1 - Revenge is Best Served How?

I wanted to do some Halloween-y and fun and use this gorgeous cc and build by @surely-sims and @doctorsimcraft! If you get an invitation to Magic Town, make sure you go 😈

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(Part 2 of 5)

TRANSCRIPT

Villareal Residence, Forgotten Hollow

[Incoming Email]

Mr. Mysterio’s Floating Circus Back in Town! Hurry! Hurry! One night. Get your tickets today from MagiCo and experience everything Magic Town has to offer!]

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[Text Message from Luna]

Srsly Sofia? Wake up! Mr. Mysterio’s Floating Circus is in town, and last year you promised we wouldn’t miss it.

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[Phone Conversation]

Siobhan: I’m on the treadmill, Luna; what do you want?

Luna: Mr. Mysterio’s Floating Circus is back in town!

Siobhan: This again? Aren’t we a little old for that?

Luna: Oh.

Siobhan: (sighs) Don’t be like that. I can’t believe you made me promise last year. We’ll go—

Luna: Yes!

Siobhan: On one condition

Luna: (gulp) What’s that?

Siobhan: You finally let me take you to get your hair cut. 

Luna: But I don’t want a haircut! My hair looks fine.

Siobhan: Your hair makes you look like you’re still 16. Take it or leave it.

Luna: Fine. I’ll do it. 

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Luna: I-I thought Akira was going to take me. 

JJ: The fae don’t do cars.

Luna: What about werewolves?

JJ: Werewolves do cars just fine. Get in.

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Mr. Mysterio’s Floating Circus

Siobhan: I can’t believe you brought Gemma fucking Charm

Sofia: I had to! You get it, right, Luna? Her grandmother is on the board of the newspaper, and my dad said I could either do this favor or sign for my own apartment in San Myshuno.

Siobhan: Sofia!

Luna: Uh…I think what Siobhan is trying to say is that we talked about this and agreed it's important for our image that we do this alone.

Siobhan: Exactly. 

Sofia: (muttering) Daddy’s money doesn’t make it your own. 

Siobhan: What was that?

Luna: Can’t we try to make the best of this? Besides, Gemma’s family throws a gala for the fall festival. Maybe we could get an invite and meet some clients.

Siobhan: Gemma! Have I told you how much I love your dress? Did I mention we have an event planning company called Paragon Parties? 

Siobhan: Let’s go find the drink tent, and I’ll tell you all about it. 

Sofia: Ugh. Good riddance. Come on, Luna, we can still have fun. 

Mr. Mysterio: And for my next act, I’ll be doing something musical, so I’ll need an assistant... 

Sofia: Sorry, Luna, this could be my big break! I’ll find you later! 

Sofia: (shouting) Don’t start without me! I have my own backing vocals!

Luna: Seriously? I come here with my friends and I get ditched in the first ten minutes!

JJ: I’m still here. I mean, partially because your dad will kill me if I leave you alone. But…I dunno. I like carnivals. 

Luna: You do?!?!?

Luna: (clears throat) I mean, you do? Whatever. That’s cool. We can look around, I guess.

[supercrazyangel4]

The thing I've always loved most about aa4 is how much darker the tone is than the rest of the series in a way that isn't just edgy for the sake of it, but subverts your expectations from the original 3 games in a really interesting way. The trilogy was built upon the trust Phoenix had in others, and it was something we as players could almost always feel certain in. AA4 flips this on its head and makes it so Apollo effectively can't trust anyone but himself.

Your mentor, who the in the trilogy was a paragon of wisdom you could always turn to no matter what, gets revealed to be the culprit and sent to jail in the first trial and by the end of the game his list of crimes has stacked high but you still have so few answers on why he did any of it.

Your boss, the goofy protagonist of the trilogy, is now inexplicably a washed-up, disgraced, cheating poker player with an implied drinking problem who seemingly found a new hobby in evidence forgery and jury rigging.

He has a codependent relationship with his daughter, your assistant, who usually is a completely innocent and hapless victim of circumstance. She sees herself as the provider for the house and will help her father cheat at poker, or forge evidence, or guilt trip the poor attorney they knowingly screwed of out of a job into working for them for dirt cheap.

The detective, the only other returning main character, a previous assistant, is completely changed since we last saw her. In the trilogy she was chipper and bright despite the hardships she faced, and now she's unfriendly and burned out, turned bitter by the world. The scene we're first properly introduced to her in Apollo genuinely spends several minutes thinking his boss is making him bribe her with cocaine.

Every single defendant is a criminal guilty of something other than what they're charged for. Each case centers around an underground black-market poker ring, a mafia family and medical malpractice, a smuggling ring, and a family of forgers and an incredibly shady troupe of magicians. The one thing all of these people have in common is that none of them will tell you literally anything about what's happening, half of them clearly reveling in being as big of cryptic assholes as possible.

The only person who doesn't fit this description is, for once, the prosecutor. Usually your biggest obstacle and the most morally corrupt of the main cast, he's the only person who's both 100% on the side of truth and on the same page as you for the entire game. He's just as clueless as you, being used nothing more than a chess piece just like you are.

But the truly masterful thing about AA4 is how morally grey it is. These characters aren't just one note villains. They're not even villains at all. Most of them aren't even malicious.

Your boss, for all the low levels he stoops to, is underneath it all the same guy he's always been, doing everything he can to bring a criminal to justice and protect his family. Your assistant is a sweet girl who truly cares about you, she's just prioritizing herself and her fathers safety before anything else. The detective is the same passionate and kind woman under everything else. The rest of the defendants are genuinely well-meaning young people who got involved in shady stuff they didn't fully understand.

The game is filled with good people trying to make the best of bad circumstances. The game has just as many fun moments as the original trilogy. For all it's rough appearance, the game has a similar heart. For every unanswered question or unrighted wrong, there's a smile or a hope for a better future. For every bad action, there's usually someone trying their best behind it. The game is melancholic and dark, but isn't afraid to let good shine through. It knows there's no shadows without the light.

[gl1tchr]

Dano Riddler Is Actually A Very Standard Riddler He's Just Wearing A Freaky Mask

I'm gonna ramble here bc I bug the people of twitter way too much with my rants abt Dano Riddler. He is SUCH a good Riddler, he's just Handled very differently to others and I think to the average Riddler fan it's so alien to other interpretations, but he's actually. a VERY STANDARD RIDDLER in terms of his behavior. He's extremely self-centered, arrogant, and petulant. Yes he's suffered genuine trauma, but this absolutely doesn't excuse the fact that he's extremely uncharitable to others, does think himself Above everyone else, and doesn't care who he hurts. Other Riddlers have been abused by their own parents, bullied relentlessly in their youth, etc. and we obviously don't excuse their behavior for that, Dano Riddler is actually VERY CLEVER in painting his crusade as a populist revolution. He's a VERY dangerous Riddler because he recognizes that if he can silently concede some power/spotlight to others, he can gain even more attention and acclaim.

Edward is SO self-centered. He hides behind populist language to rally others to support him BECAUSE LIKE EVERY RIDDLER HE CRAVES ATTENTION AND OUTSIDE VALIDATION. He'll just never admit that. He'll paint this as rallying his troops, speaking for the people, but it's not. It's the exact same reason Riddler does the things he does in every other version - he wants people to SEE him. "Now they'll remember ME - they'll remember BOTH OF US". Your homework is rewatching the "Hey Guys" video but replacing all of his populist verbiage with I, Me, My, etc. instead of We, Us, etc.

"Oh but he puts himself down so often, how can he be arrogant" have you EVER met one of those really obnoxious guys who clearly thinks of himself as some amazing, wonderful dude and he's constantly like "ah I'm just lame, I'm a loser". It's that. His Actual perception of himself is someone who sees past all the "bullshit", and just because he genuinely did uncover corruption of Gotham, this doesn't make him some paragon of truth. He just happened to be in the right field of work to catch the funneling of funds through Renewal.

He also reminds me a LOT of Arkham Riddler the way he blows up on people. When he fusses at Colson for speaking over him, I was getting major Arkham Ed vibes. He stamps his feet and demands the game be played HIS way. Yes most of his breakdowns in the movie and comic are due to his trauma, but I also think a handful of them stem from him just being kind of immature. Specifically the Colson one, and the interrogation scene. I think those two specifically were not breakdowns, they were tantrums because things weren't going his way.

Dano Riddler gets a lot of guff for being a "sympathetically written" Riddler. He really isn't, people just find Paul Dano's performance very fun and he is - as we can all admit bc we are big boys and girls - very cute. But if he were maybe more off-putting, I think it would be clearer that he's actually a VERY standard Riddler, just in very unfamiliar packaging. And I think his evolution over the series is going to reveal more of his mean, bad natured behavior.

ramble over like and subscribe

[brbarou]

fitzamber in fool's quest/assfate was perfect. malta praising fitz after he healed phron and amber taking his hand and being like Yeah...he's a man of MANY talents ;)) girl shut up like😭 "those clothes look better on you than they did on lady thyme:)" the hand holding...ohh we would prefer to sit together haha...everyone on board the tarman/paragon being like So we made sure you and your lady are roomed together...have fun! don't go breaking any of the furniture you lovesick rascals!! meanwhile the only thing fitz and beloved are breaking at night are each other's hearts with all the venting sessions. paragon telling fitz that he's too lame for amber. STRAIGHT DIVORCE ARC ooh my wife is mad at me we should both kill ourselves. fitz being like "Amber is so mean the fool would NEVER treat me this way" when the fool has literally always treated him That Very Exact Same Way. nooo i don't mind you being trans pop off queen but i can't conceive being friends with a woman so could you please go back to being a dude again :// like this is everything. the only thing that can make toxic yaoi better is a drop of toxic heterosexuality

[punkeropercyjackson]

Pjo fans insist they don't see Percy Jackson as autistic but the proof is in the blue pudding in how they treat him that they know he's audhd and not allistic adhd

They make fun of him for his (special) interests because he's super into 'kiddy/silly' things and pretend he's into ones he's never even mentioned(The Little Mermaid,Nemo,etc)while ignoring his actual tastes,they call stupid 'affectionatelly' when he's expressed verbally AND in his narration so many times it's upsetting and that it's something he's resigned himself to eternally happening to him rather than growing to like it,they turn his younger loved ones into his 'babysitters' when HE'S the one constantly looking out for younger people on eldest sibling/pseudo-dad instinct,they treat his lack of social skills as a moral failing even though nobody ever fucking taught him how to mask so now he literally can't and the peer abuse,parental abuse,parental abandoment AND grooming into a child soldier for his entire teenage years did NOT help,they insist he's a stereotypically masculine cis man despite countless instances of misandry and discomfort in male roles and gender neutral at BEST gender presentation and several moments that heavily indicate he wants femininity and maybe even womanhood and they invalidate his autism as even a posibility with the excuse he has adhd,as if they aren't a super common combo platter and autistics/audhd people aren't misdiagnosed-on purpose at a number of not uncommon times!!!-as adhd is seen as more 'normal' than autism

Of course Perseo 'Percy' Isadore Jackson is autistic!!He's the personification of black audhd and the abuse and alienation that comes with it!He's also the paragon of how cool black audhd people are and our cycle breaking and reclamation of our traits we were forced to think means there's something 'wrong' with us but you whatever the greek equivalent to weaboo is geeks won't let him be cool,BECAUSE he's audhd and you think every autistic person is 'supposed' to 'accept' we're losers so you can't get uncomfy🥺 when confronted with the fact autism IS a spectrum,not as a joke but as a reality,but you don't wanna say that so you deny he's autistic to not feel bad even though what you're doing IS bad!!!!!Like objectively,Percy is a role model for neurodivergent kids to show them they're not what their tormenters say they are and that they can grow up to be the adults they needed to save them when we were younger when everyone just choose to hurt us!Percy is NOT allistic,he's the most autistic character of the entire american media 2000s-2010s era and if you insist he's not,just call him a r*tard instead.It would be less ableist than this embarrassing disaster you oldheads who harrassed a lil black girl,for existing as something other than a blonde unnatural eye colors white girl,have been pulling since what is going to be 20 years in not too long.What if i killed 'Pjo fandom elders' who want the gender ambigious autistic afropunk anarchist to sell out for their premordial booktok ships with hammers

[lullabyes22-blog]

Just quickly dropping by a compliment: The entire weekend I spent reading Mal de Mer, and I couldn't decide what I liked best. First Mel is so beautifully captured in her aspiration to have her methods work, and shinning by politicizing. Although going against Silco, trying to compromise while not getting shallowed up is a perfect ground to showcase how gifted she is, and has found a worthy for in Silco. But the added tension of them loving desiring each other while walking the razor blade thin line of being political bodies with primarily political interests? I have neither and idea nor words how you were able to capture that tension which is simultaneously magnetic, dramatic and delicate to describe but you did it! What I also liked is a rare fanwork in which Mel's and Jayce's past romance got treated fairly. With all her ambition, Mel's and Jayce's feelings were vital to their connection, they still care for each other no matter what might stand between them. Last but not least. Your prose with high register adjectives, the dialogue which is constantly working like a labyrinth with an endpoint both characters want to direct the other to reads how I would imagine Mel to narrate a story in her mind. I enjoyed your work greatly, and will be happy to read Forward but never forget next! (Also, I already had my suspicion how rarepare-ish Mel/Silco would be but I didn't expect to find a multichaptered work of art in that corner of the fandom.)

Thank you so much for such an incredibly thoughtful and eloquent comment<333

Mal de Mer was absolutely one of my favorite pieces to write, and it makes me so happy that you picked up on all those themes explored!

Much as I love Silco and Mel as characters, it's impossible to separate them from the 'body politic' - which is the entire reason why the Zaun-Piltover dynamic in S1 was so much fun imo. That Mel is a woman who wants to succeed as a woman is not just a personal choice; it's a statement of her city's prosperity, and also of not being diminished by her mother's shadow, and the shame of banishment that still haunts her like a spectre. And through it all, she must carve a path through her family's bloody legacy, and leave behind change that ushers in light instead of shadow, while making sure her personal desires don't eclipse her empathy.

Mel's not a moral paragon by any means; but she is a moral force, and I really wanted her characterization to reflect that the most important thing for her isn't always what's right, but what's just. (The flipside of the 'equity' theme that Silco espouses in Forward but Never Forget/XOXO)

Jayce's presence was always important to the fic because he's such a perfect mirror for Mel - absolutely radiating that raw goodwill and visionary drive for progress. He's the person that's most likely to remind Mel of how far she's come, how much she's sacrificed, but also how little she's grown up at heart from the girl who wanted nothing more than to be merciful. His relationship with Mel in S1 is so interesting because it's built, ostensibly on political gamesmanship, but beneath that, on a mutual understanding that is both deeply sweet - and deeply tragic - because in S2, Jayce's idealism only urges him to fly closer to the sun, only to get burnt and fall, while Mel must sacrifice her own idealism on the altar of a better tomorrow.

(Weirdly, that theme got mirrored in FnF, too...)

But through it all, I do believe that they'll always care for each other; and that their feelings are genuine and pure, even if their motivations aren't always aligned.

Thank you for the lovely comment, and I hope FnF proves an enjoyable read<3

[comicaurora]

If you still have Sailor Moon on the brain, did watching it at all give you any options you wish to share about other magical girl esk media you wish existed or your own take on how you would create a story in that media space?

If not, then maybe, if you're inclined to, recount some interesting findings about the connections that exist between shojo and shonen media?

(If neither then please disregard, sorry for imposing)

It was interesting! I was surprised at how much it had in common with shonen action anime. Half the boss battles get resolved with a beam clash and the only difference between Super Saiyan and Neo Queen Serenity is whether the hair or the outfit changes.

The one part I found myself sliding off of - due to personal writing preference - is how Usagi is the defacto center of the universe and everyone else is very explicitly playing support. That's part of why I liked the Outer Senshi so much - because they've all got their own ludicrously OP stuff going on, they feel more like equals to Usagi than glorified bodyguards. The inner planet senshi get their own character arcs, which is excellent, but after a while it's pretty clear that none of them can ever finish a fight without Sailor Moon. And that's fine, that's the pretense of the story - their jobs are very explicitly to protect the turbopowerful demigoddess moon princess while she gets her act together enough to remember she can win - but I prefer writing an ensemble cast where everyone feels like the hero of their own story, not the support in someone else's, and that's pretty much antithetical to the core premise of the show.

It also has a lot of the hallmarks of a soft magic system that I personally struggle with - the old "you win by believing in yourself" thing basically means "you win when the plot demands it would be most interesting for you to win" - but again, they can get away with a lot by letting the actual core premise of the universe's power system be stuff like "a pure heart gives you strength" and "the power of love will legitimately make you more powerful." And I respect that the show doesn't just give people powerups whenever - one of the parts I found most emotionally impactful was in the finale of season 3, when Sailor Saturn is going to fight the big bad all by herself and will 100% definitely die in the process, and because Sailor Moon has sacrificed the season's macguffin, she can no longer transform into her powered-up form to help - which doesn't stop her from screaming the transformation phrase over and over, because she is desperate to save Sailor Saturn even if she's been told it can't possibly work. When she gets her The Most Purest Heart Ever powerup at the last possible second, that feels excellent because it's a profoundly impactful character moment that's being supported by the plot with a tangible powerup. It's pretty telling that we don't even see the final bossfight; it's not about the spectacle or the beam clash, it's about the character arcs that surround them. I think that's a really interesting way to handle it and to add depth to an otherwise basic "whose number is bigger" style struggle.

I'm also deeply fond of paragons, and as the seasons go on I really like how Usagi's ultimately kind personality drives her to constantly help, no matter the personal cost or how aggressively people try to dissuade her - and I like that she gets angry and frustrated and even says or does harsh things sometimes, but will ultimately always do what she thinks is right. It makes her feel like a real human being, and the "weaknesses" and flaws in her character - aka the parts that make her something more complicated than a perfectly stoic problem-solving machine - are a lot of fun to watch.

Personal preference, I'd like to see more magical girl stuff where the central pillar of the plot is not a constant will-they-won't-they het romance - but I also like how Sailor Moon as a series is legitimately aware that this is not actually the de facto most important relationship for everyone. Surprising multitude of gay characters aside, I recently caught a season 2 episode where Makoto donates blood to save a close friend, and explains to Usagi that she isn't in love with him, but they have an incredibly profound friendship that's more important to her than any boyfriend, a concept with startles and confuses Usagi. It seems to be a case where the heroine has a Foundational Romantic Subplot that defines the course of her life and the plot, but the rest of the characters get to have more complicated dynamics where their life goals aren't "omg boys", and I liked that a lot!

When comparing and contrasting it to shonen action anime, I think the magical girl genre manages to integrate the lower-stakes slice of life elements significantly more smoothly, and to great effect - the 90% of the show that's silly and ridiculous makes the 10% of it that's extremely serious and gutwrenching much more impactful. That's something that a lot of shonen series struggle with, where the tone goes from "moderately serious with the occasional goof" to "extremely serious with major character deaths." The magical girl genre going from "the dumbest episode premise you've ever heard" to "extremely serious with major character deaths" is a much more precipitous plunge into icy water, as it were.

When I think about how I would write a magical girl story, I basically just smack into the premise of Exalted. Its worldbuilding has exactly what I want - an interesting system of powerset-reincarnation into worthy hosts that allows for complex interpersonal dynamics through varying levels of memory preservation, several different flavors of magical transforming person including Evil Versions, and the one thing I prioritize in my own writing - a world that feels like it can have a lot of main characters and heroes of their own story. Everyone in Exalted has their own shit going on and their own past-life drama, including former friend groups/adventuring parties, soulmates (both regular and evil versions), and anyone who might've previously killed them. Most importantly for my preferences, there's no default main character of the universe. If I were to make an urban fantasy magical girl setting, I'd probably use an extremely similar premise because I find the ramifications of it unbelievably interesting in a way the system itself is not designed to explore.

[thefloatingstone]

How would you compare Presley's racism vs Ashley's racism. Although now that I type this at least Presley never compared them animals. Hmmm...

Honestly it's all down to "root cause" and "how they express it".

Pressly is a veteran of the first contact war who was shooting at these people less than 30 years ago. His racism has its roots in a perspective forged during wartime and all the baggage THAT drags up. But we get clear and straightforward addressing of Pressly growing out of his racism by his own words, remarking in his log "Reading back on my older entries, what a damn fool I've been."

Ashley on the other hand may have similar baggage, as her grandfather is a disgraced military man and caused her entire family to be blacklisted because of the First Contact War with the aliens, and that would be a similar place to draw her prejudice from and help her grow out of by realising her true feelings of anger and resentment are misplaced. But the way she voices her racism is full of venom and true, deep seeded contempt and hatred. Comparing them to animals is the big one, and ME2 itself mocks her for this comment if she died on Virmire. But it's more than that. Ashley's entire personality is that of "High School Mean Girl". The second Liara steps on board of the Normandy Ashley is GUNNING to bully her. Not just because she's an alien but ALSO for being "one of those lesbian sluts". (reminder, in ME1 Liara is an extremely shy and awkward historian and archaeologist)

When Shepard tells Ashley to NOT bully Liara for being an Asari, Ashley straight up says "No fun, Commander >:("

Also there's this line which some people miss because it requires you to have the discussion with Liara about the Prejudice and racism Asari face galaxy wide and then going directly to Ashley and speaking to her)

(the clip starts at 2:44)

idk if I said it here or if I said so in discord to a friend, but I see kaidan and Ashley as being written as the answers to Bioware's handling of Renegade and Paragon options. Kaidan is more geared to reflect a Paragon playthrough and Ashley is more geared to fit a renegade playthrough. Possibly the thinking was whichever way the person is playing, it would affect who they decide to spare on Virmire.

(also I have a good relationship with my family but Ashley going "WHAT DOES SHE MEAN SHE DOESN'T LIKE HER MOM???? THAT'S STUPID." comment also makes me really fucking angry considering how many irl friends I have who have moms who suck ass)

Pressly's racism is problematic (same as Garrus' racism in the first game) but he outgrows it and openly says "I was wrong."

Garrus has a full on conversation with Tali in ME3 and directly says to her "I'm sorry and I was wrong."

Ashley never apologises or excuses her early comments and behaviour. She just at some point stops doing it so overtly and comments how "no I like Tali a lot" (Everybody likes Tali) as if this somehow undoes everything she said. More than anything, she tries to justify and excuse her past comments and opinions while also saying the most hateful things about the crew.

She's a racist bully from a heavily religious traditional military family who makes no effort to understand people from family structures or upbringing she doesn't understand, alien or otherwise, who immediately started picking on the shy nerd the SECOND she stepped foot on the ship and never apologises for any of her actions, racist or otherwise.

The racism is a symptom of a much nastier whole.

She's a VERY well written character. I just heavily dislike her.

[emmg]

I ate up the latest chapter of Aftertaste with both hands. LOVE Rook's pov LOVE her blend of cynicism and inexperience LOVE how calculated she was about going to hunt herself a rich man. Emmrich isn't going to make it out alive

@excited-hiss

Lol, I’m ever so glad because this is my feel-good project. It doesn’t drain my mental reserves, doesn’t tire me out; it’s just silly. It’s fun. And the fact that other people enjoy it too? That’s the literary equivalent of a warm, cozy blanket and a cup of hot chocolate.

On another note, I adore problematic female characters. Love them. Eat them. I mean, I do have a soft spot for goody two-shoes, when they’re well-written. There’s something undeniably satisfying about a paragon of virtue done right. I love reading about them.

But when I write? Oh no, my girls are morally grey disasters. Ambiguous, somewhat selfish, just the right amount of redeemable qualities to make you think they might be good, but ultimately? Deeply entrenched in the middle of the moral spectrum, sipping wine and side-eyeing the optimists. Cynicism, like you said.

Thanks booboo, you rock. Mwah 💋

[royalrebelpropaganda]

ooh you should elaborate ooh

( @oklotea ) ( @dollmenace )

why ofc 🤭 with no further ado here are my transfem headcanons & explanations

duchess :

manifesto largely here , here , and here , but I don't ever clarify as to WHY I think she has trans girl energy, so I will elaborate now.

first of all, narrative role of swans in stories. especially in stories like the ugly duckling, where there's an "ugly" kid who is socially outcast, excluded, harassed, and ends up becoming something beautiful like they were always meant to be-- it works really well as a trans metaphor, and duchess is literally a swan <3

but that's not her story! and you'd be right to point that out. to me, there's something about the way she's constantly feeling left out of the other princess groups because she's not a "happily-ever-after princess," the way she's basically dismissed by the princessology teacher by her saying "are you sure you're a real princess?" -- and wanting so desperately to be one.

so she follows around ashlynn, so she yells at apple, so she tears raven to shreds. she is so jealous and I honestly really think that the jealousy translates really well to a sort of gender envy -- especially since she's constantly dismissed by the same girls. she's constantly portrayed as wanting to "steal" their stories, and really all she wants is a happily ever after, the same safety and comfort they get by being a princess. I think the metaphor kind of speaks for itself.

"Seems to me we need to win this thing so you can always be a girl." - Sparrow Hood to Duchess Swan, Next Top Villain

dexter :

manifesto here + also I ADORE @tiny-leafbug's transfem dex art

now I know a lot of people headcanon dex as transmasc, which honestly I can actually fully understand in the context of the show and diaries. the idea that he's constantly trying to perform this paragon of masculinity, and constantly falling short. I get it.

HOWEVER! the books is where I fell in love with dex, and in the books dex's vibe is different. he doesn't care about being a "prince charming," not really, and his relationship with his brother seems much more affectionate, with him responding to daring's ribbing in turn and not really caring about daring making fun of him. this lack of caring makes all that pressure put on his shoulders by his parents seem more like something he never wanted to live up to in the first place. on the boxes, he says -- well, I'm good at hero training. and in the books, raven notices the calluses on his hands, the skill he has in PE class. it's not that he's ever been bad at what his parents what him to do. it's that... he doesn't want to do it.

at some point he says "well ... everyone else has been able to recite their story since they learned to talk, while I'm facing this huge unknown." there's something about this lack of direction and destiny that sets him completely apart from students that need to be a certain thing. all dex ever had to do was be a prince, and still, he wants to rebel. still, he followed raven into the dark. because maybe he didn't want to be a prince at all.

raven said "check you out, totally rocking the prince-to-the-rescue gig," and dexter said "what? no, I mean... that's not really me." - Storybook of Legends

dexter, in the books, is constantly torn between the royals and the rebels, this loyalty he has to the first person that's ever seen him, and daring, who still wants him to be, yknow, him. he is expected, at all times, to perform as his brother, to be his brother. and he doesn't want that. he doesn't want that at all.

“And Prince Dexter Charming?” Kitty smiled hugely. Her smile lingered a moment after she disappeared. She reappeared beside Dexter, holding a broom, which she thrust into his hands. “He might become a wicked witch!”

Dexter looked at the broom, shrugged, and gave a small laugh, glancing over at Raven as if to check what she thought.”

- The Unfairest of Them All

cedar :

I don't have quite as much to say here; this isn't a headcanon I have 24/7, it's just fun to think about

she is constantly talking about how she "wants to be a real girl" and idk there is something trans about that. to me.

“I don’t know what to do,” said Cedar. “Am I supposed to sit with my friends same as always? Or pick a side based on what I want? I’m not a Royal, but then again I do want my destiny, when I’ll be changed from a puppet into a real girl, but then again, I do want others to be able to choose if they don’t like their destiny so… so I don’t know what to do now!” - The Unfairest of Them All

I hope this helped <33

[fromtheseventhhell]

Sansa is a girl who vomited when Dontos was killed in book 3, who, in book 4, wept hysterically while recalling her aunt dying after trying to kill her, and who helped a stuttering man finish his sentence without mocking or ignoring him in a small moment of kindness, and doesn’t shame or judge Myranda for having sex outside marriage, is going to become a villain. If so, GRRM’s pacing is way off. I mean Arya is killing people like Dareon and Daenerys displayed no emotion when her brother died, and ignored hundreds of people getting burnt in favor of the joy of flying on dragonback and if none of that is any indication that they’re becoming villains, how can Sansa even come close ??

Okay, so people have just decided to play in my inbox today. That's fun.

I'm not sure why you decided to send this to me considering I've never said anything about Sansa turning into a villain. Let's not pretend that this is some popular, wide-spread idea in fandom either. The most people discuss is her story taking a darker turn, which all the signs are there for. We know that TWOW is going to be a dark book (per George) and that, as of her current story, Sansa is currently part of a plot to poison a child. She's not going to be a paragon of virtue no matter how desperately you want it. If you dislike the idea then you need to take that up with the author. And putting down Arya and Dany to try and prop Sansa up is just boring at this point. We get it, it's the only way you guys have of making her look better but it's getting old. I guess talking about her on her own just isn't punchy enough huh?

[fancyfade]

Been reading your posts and saw the meme about how other dc characters act when they are around a Batfamily member and they loose all their critical thinking skills

Has that been a problem in comics for decades? I noticed that with Damian in titans stuff…to the point I became annoyed because it just making him a mini Bruce rather then played with the potentially interesting dynamics he could have.

Do Dick and Tim suffer from the mini Bruce approach in their titans stuff a lot too? It gotten to a point in Damian’s stuff for me, that there should be an editorial mandate saying “Just because they are Batman legacy characters, doesn’t mean they are clones of him.”

for Damian, it's been a long time since I read his teen titans stuff (and I didn't read a ton b/c most of it wasn't good), but I do remember that in the intro arc it did feel very Damian centric, and some of it was like.. the other characters powers were too easily cancelled out by some random gadget. like the gun that shot kory when introducing the capturing the team part of the plotline. that was stupid. (and in general, characters powers get randomly cancelled out by a gadget is a common thing in the batfam characters stuff). I can't remember WRT critical thinking, been literal years since I read the comic, but I do narrative focus was disappointing.... even for being a Damian fan while reading it.

for Tim in YJ I guess it felt like he was the leader for no reason, but I can't remember who had the general critical thinking skills or if none of them did. But he also got randomly super tough in one plotline in a way that made me give up on the series for a bit (where he was treated as like. the only person capable of standing up to Harm for some reason which was 9_9). However, in Titans / Young Justice Graduation Day Tim definitely felt like he was the only YJ character who was allowed to be portrayed as "right" (in which "right" obviously means listening to Dick, the paragon of reason) , because everyone else's recklessness had to be exaggerated to explain why the YJ team is so terrible. But god forbid Tim be slandered with the rest of the team 9_9

Dick it definitely holds so true, he was part of the inspiration for me reblogging it :P like the whole "robin is the default leader" thing doesn't start except with Dick, and it wasn't just because Dick was such a logical choice. It was b/c the writers decided to not let anyone else have ideas besides him in the original teen titans series. I've heard it as "everyone had one character trait and his was leader" but like... many characters didn't even have one character trait. Donna's was "girl". like the writing was clearly not balanced or good. and it's sooooo conspicuous because even in NTT, which is generally a pretty good series, the other characters will come across investigations when doing stuff while Dick is absent and be like ":C :C :C oh no dick our critical thinking person is gone whatever shall we do". Like multiple times! and IIRC that happened in the 1966 Teen Titans comics I read too in 1 issue where Dick was off screen. but like "dick is the smartest teen titan" "dick is the best leader" "dick could take out the other titans with planning but just won't b/c he's nice" - any of these situations existing is basically because he's writer's pet a la bruce. inb4 - I'm not saying any instance in which Dick is a good leader shouldn't count. but like. him being the obvious choice over other people is writer's pet-ism and Marv does not give other characters a chance to shine in the role, yet gives Dick plenty of chance to shine. So there is no fair comparison or way to say "he's best".

Anyway, I'll say Dick is by far the one I have noticed it being most true of. If you want to just read Teen Titans comics and have fun he is fr like the Batman of teen titans comics.

[thekatebridgerton]

In one of your older posts you described Eloise and phillip as a single dad x magic pixie dream girl.

I was wondering if you could expand on this concept?

I've always wondered what happened after end of the book.

Honestly I need to read the Bridgerton Epilogues too.

I don't remeber when I said this about Phillip and Eloise being an example of the single dad x manic pixie dream girl trope. But it does sound like me. Mostly because to me Julia Quinn averted falling into the trap of making Eloise relationship with Phillip entirely two dimensional.

So we all know about the MPDG she's the female version of the hallmark hero. She's fun, quirky, outside the mold and seems to have landed on our hero's doorstep to cure his depression and make him feel like life can be fun again (then Julia said 'hey, what if the manic pixie dream girl had trauma after seeing her dad die and also had a family of wacky, equally traumatized siblings). Then we have the single dad, he's often overworked, depressed and his dubious approach to parenting has turned his kids into unruly brats.

Wait a minute, what do you mean that the resident MPDG has trauma? And a life of her own? so here's where it gets fun. Because as the story progresses we learn that not only was Eloise not placed in the story to solve Phillip's problems, she is quite frankly going trough a existential crisis of her own, and he and his kids are invertedly helping her trough it. Because we come to learn that Eloise is a lot more than this talkative extrovert who likes to give orders. She is deeply concerned about life passing her by and everyone moving on with their lives except her and she just really wants to find out if falling inlove IS actually something she's been missing out all along.

And it turns out that our depressed single dad really never had anyone to teach him how to be a good person, other than his brother who died. But he's been muddling trough and all this time the depression was because he simply has been beating himself up most of his life, for not being good enough or 'man enough' to fix everything that's wrong in his life without help.

And this is where we reach the deconstruction of the trope, because at the end of the story, Phillip comes to terms with the fact that Eloise isn't this perfect idealized woman of his dreams, I mean she's certainly brilliant and wonderful but not perfect. And that's okay, he never wanted perfect, he just wanted someone who would smile and maybe love him. He never expected Eloise to change his life but she did and he doesn't know how to go back to living without that.

And then we see Eloise, who never thought anyone would need her or appreciate her for all the things everyone told her were flaws, like being loud, bossy and energetic. And tho Phillip is not perfect, he does try his best to be better every day and appreciate who she is as a person, not because of how she's good at fixing his life, but because she's herself, a kind, friendly no nonsense woman with a heart of gold who can and will stand up for herself even against someone she loves. He's not her perfect one dimensional hallmark hero, he has a life of his own, and hopes, dreams and fears, outside of just pleasing her and being her husband. But he would do anything to make her happy and that's all she needs to build a good marriage.

It's very much real, in TSPWL how sometimes we idealize the people we are writing to, when we have never met them in person and build them up to be these perfect paragons of virtue and then we meet them in person and it turns out the manic pixie dream girl has trauma and the hallmark one dimensional hero, is actually just a guy trying to figure out his life.

Maybe that's another thing i love so much about this couple.

[sol-consort]

omgg a mass effect blog?? in 2024?? unreal and amazing (0-0)!!! I saw that you write for every character so I was wondering if you could write some relationship hc’s for Jack x gn! Renegade!Shepard? I’m such a sucker for the asshole x asshole but are secretly soft for each other trope😭 Also i’m amazed you write fro Ashley too?? Like is my girl finally getting some love? I remember how much the fandom hated her some years ago, like say something as simple as “I like Ashley and her character arc” and boom you were labeled as alien racist yeehaw 💀. It was hard being an Ash enjoyer 😔

I'm reviving this bitch! I just discovered the fandom this month I will be loud and annoying about it until the zombies come out.

And here you go! Here is your request. <3 I hope you enjoy it.

I had to go watch renegade maleshep with Jack so i can get the vibes right and my god, I am so happy I picked femshep bc the male voice acting is very...stoic potato with angry eyes drawn on it. But I missed on Jack's romance which is bullshit bc she states she has slept with woman before so why not meee :"(

But I also it gave me a different perspective on her character. Kelly mentions how avoiding having sex with Jack is the way to gain her respect. And because femshep can't romance her, it means Jack respects you way earlier than maleshep and it kinda shows in her dialogue. Like she got a true friend and women supporting women!

I took the paragon options, which yeah made her make fun of me, but I felt like she was owed some kindness. I am making my Shepard a bit naive too, It adds flavour when i get betrayed.

AND ASHLEY I LOVE HER I ADORE HER. if i had a nickle each time an hated woman character in the fandom with little fanwork made me start a whole blog out of spite just to post about her then I'd have two nickles, which isn't a lot but it is weird that it happened twice with bg3 Minthara then this.

Ashley is just so adorable? Even without her romance she genuinely shows love and devotion. Like yeah Kaidan is Shepard's bf but that's all it feels like. Just a romance option.

But Ashley??? Ashley is femshep true pal and bro. She's been there through thick and thin. Her voicelines are priceless and I took her with me on every single mission in ME1 new game plus.

But damn yikes- they do know that half the humans start off as alien racists and change? Even Ashley wasn't that extreme about it, and she goes through character growth and becomes fond of aliens. Pressly also called them animals, and Kaidan says he isn't big on alien cultures.

Ash wasn't afraid to speak her mind, she always expressed her opinions and took it in stride if you criticise her views and tell her to pull herself together. She considers your words and becomes better.

And we can make Kaidan more alien racist, that guy is willing to become a xenophobe for some pussy, but only if you're femshep. While Ashley can be changed without having to romance her. People really can't handle women with flaws or personality.

And let's not forget that it was Ashley staying on the deck with three different aliens on it and not once did a problem accure. Ash was defensive because she thought they wouldn't like humans, not because she hated them. Not once do Garrus, Wrex or Tali mention anything bad that Ash has done ever. They were right besides her too! Because she hasn't done anything bad.

She is so cute, so precious and the fact her grandpa salutes to her. The fact she walked into the military where they blacklisted her family just to restore their honour and make her grandpa proud? I'm choking in tears rn. And her precious sisters that she took care of, she practically raised them.

She is strong and unimaginably brave. Also, look at this adorable video of her saluting.

[menacingmetal]

Mass Effect Trilogy Tag

tagging my pookies @nowandthane @xoshepard :3

I am a fan since: I guess since early highschool era so 2013? i had played a bit before then tho

Favourite game of the series?: ahhh i rly like all of them, i guess me2 bc i like the vibe and updates to the game, but i do rly appreciate me1!!

MShep or FShep?: I love both of em but i've played femshep more.

Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer?: Colonist baybee. love that added trauma

Biotics or Tech: biotics are so fun but i play tech more?

Paragon or Renegade: Renegade voice lines can be extremely hilarious and badass, but I cannot be mean to video game characters so paragon ^^;

Favourite Class: i've been playing engineer recently and thats fun, but I do like vanguard and sentinel

Favourite Companion: you know its Legion

Least favourite Companion: Don't really have any bc I love them all, might have to say Jacob just bc of how bioware wrote him, and hes mean to tali, garrus and thane... and the fact he can cheat on you??? But its not fair, its not his fault they made his character like that. He deserved better. :/ (and also Liara SORRY just mainly bc of how much she is shoved into everything)

My squad selection: I have a soft spot of garrus & tali since you can have them in every game! but otherwise I mostly pick whoever would be good on the mission...

Favourite In-game romance: Garrus is what got me into Mass Effect but I dunno, I enjoy a lot of them. Jack and Thane's are very sweet, i'm a bit partial to Miranda bc she's my fav girl. Oh of course how can I forget Samantha, i love hers a lot!! Probably between her and Garrus!

Other pairings I like: Oh geez we will be here forever if i list them. But also I like almost everyone together lol. some top picks are Joker x Edi, Miranda x Jack, Shepard x Wrex, and Shepard x Legion of course lol

Favourite NPC: Kirrahe, Aethyta, Shiala, that smoking salarian lol

Favourite Antagonist: hmm... Bioware really got em right out of the park with Saren and Sovereign

Favourite Mission: I dunno they can be fun but then some parts can be annoying, i was literally gonna say the below answers but they're loyalty specific lol

Favourite Loyalty Mission: Kasumi, Thane and Samara, I love undercover mystery spy stuff. Legion bc well I like to spend more time with them even though the result in that is painful

Favourite DLC: Citadel obviously lol, lair of the shadow broker is also pretty good

Control, Synthesis or Destroy: you're not bioware you can't make me choose. (I do like synthesis personally only bc I wish I were a robot.)

Favourite Weapon: assault rifles, kassa locust and carnifex my beloveds

Favourite Place: wahhh everywhere, I wish I could actually go and live on the Citadel DESPERATELY, Illium is pretty, Ilos is gorgeous and I love the atmosphere

A quote I like: "Show me yours tough guy, I bet mine's bigger" Hot and badass femshep line. Of course anything from Legion, especially "Do these units have a soul" (not does this unit have a soul.)

[mdhwrites]

Luz wanted to live that harem isekai fantasy. Just saying, it's pretty obvious.

Also that's the most cringe genre of animes out there and the only thing stopping toh from being just as cringe is that it's kid oriented, in ratings at least. Agree to disagree if it's not but I doubt it.

I don't think harem isekai was on her mind but I'd be surprised if Luz wouldn't be super okay with that if that was how things turned out. She's not exactly adverse to attention after all. I do want to say that I don't think I personally want to call Harem Isekai the most cringe category of anime out there but that's a personal belief thing. Harem anime is pretty trashy oftentimes, I'm not going to argue otherwise but there's also plenty of them that follow the Tenchi Muyo style where sure, it's a harem anime, but the main guy does have some agency, it's exploring some fun concepts and the like and the harem aspect is frankly just a part of the appeal rather than the whole appeal. It's simply another part of how they're exploring dynamics, relationships, etc. Admittedly, this shouldn't be surprising as I'm a polyamory writer which a lot of people would claim even two main love interests is enough to make something a harem anime. I think there is a lot untapped potential in those sorts of relationships though.

What's generally kind of a shame about them is a problem in the romance genre as a whole: They're only allowed to get together at the end and only with ONE. So something like Negima obviously has a main girl who will be the final one but spend the entire series trying to convince you that one of the other dozen girls is a viable candidate when they're clearly not.

On the other hand... I will never condemn something for having fun as much as I will for it being mean spirited and cruel. I am not against wish fulfilment. At all. I don't think me as a writer am the best for it but something that just makes you feel good and gives you pleasant characters to spend time with will always appeal more to me than torture porn that's just gratuitously cruel and violent for no reason. Then you get anime mixing the two like the infamous first episode of Goblin Slayer which is... WOW. I actually could do a whole blog on why the basic premise of Goblin Slayer is reductively 'subversive' much like a lot of TOH's subversions. Though admittedly, I have never watched the show so it would be secondhand knowledge I gained when the show first aired.

That's kind of why I go hard on TOH being so... not fun. If you're going to be wish fulfillment, because that's what it is even if it's not a harem anime, then make it an experience someone actually wants to have. Not that it has to be all sunshine and roses but make the adventures compelling. The magic interesting. The world be a place where you want to be.

I just don't get it with TOH. The magic is boring and bad, the adventures are mostly blue collar crime with a very light twist and the world is just our world. Why would you want the escapism and wish fulfillment of TOH besides just wanting to be Luz? The weirdo that everyone loves without any effort and will never question your worst actions?

That's of course the most negative reading but it's not like it's a new as far as people who are critical of the show go. It's hard to say what is still appealing about the show by the end besides wanting to be Luz and Luz is just not a great character in the end. Or really a great person. Even kinder takes aren't going to say she's some sort of paragon.

It all makes it so that rather than feeling like you escape into a magical world, you instead are sent into a portal at the bottom of the Uncanny Valley where what you're supposed to be getting out this wish being fulfilled is pretty questionable. And it's just not fun.