#morally repugnant ships?

[risingfire17-the-weeb-trash]

40 Day Anime Challenge Day 26- Favorite fandom to write fic of: Axis Powers Hetalia (2009)

Technically my favorite fandom to write for is a game, not an anime, but this is my favorite anime to write for!

Synopsis (from Crunchyroll): “Forget what you learned in history class, and imagine all the nations of the world as guys on an inappropriate reality show. Pledge allegiance to your favorite superpower in Hetalia Axis Powers!”

Reasons I love to write for this fandom:

1) It’s a great way to vent my political musings, as in my Columbus Indigenous Peoples’ Day fic, or just to incorporate current events, as in this fic I wrote at the start of the War in Ukraine. 

2) It is literally the easiest fandom to write for because it can be crossed over with ANYTHING! Don’t believe me? Read this Prussia/Hungary fic I wrote that is crossed over with a BBC Earth video about stag beetles!

3) Ok look, anyone who knows me knows I ship some...questionable ships. But in Hetalia, everything goes! Like, you’re related? Cool, you’re a ship. One practically raised the other? That’s a ship. The countries hate each other or have literally NO contact irl? It’s a ship. It’s like all the rules of what is and is not acceptable to ship go out the window with Hetalia, and I love that!

[seaweedstarshine]

*Poll inspired by typical ambiguity in the new audio story Victory of the Doctor, which on an unrelated note is amazing!

Evidence for each argument beneath the cut!

Open marriage

The Doctor's wedding to Marilyn Monroe occurs in A Christmas Carol, when he storms off to a chapel with lipstick marks on his face. “I’ll just go and get married then, shall I? See how you like that. Marilyn? Get your coat!”

While he wasn't yet with River then, he maintains this relationship afterwards, apparently with River involved. In the mini-episode Good Night, the Doctor enters the TARDIS with a euphonium, calling over his shoulder, “River! I’ll see you later! Tell Marilyn she’s too late, she’ll have to use the biplane. Take care!”

Another piece of evidence comes from The Wedding of River Song, when they're passive-aggressively flirting.

“Hallucinogenic lipstick. Works wonders on President Kennedy. And Cleopatra was a real pushover.” “I always thought so.” “She mentioned you.” “What did she say?” “Put down that gun.” “Did you?” “Eventually.” “Oh, they're flirting. Do I have to watch this?” (from Kovarian)

I've never understood the innuendo (please tell me what I'm missing), but Kovarian does, and as we know from The Husbands of River Song, the Doctor and River are both married to Cleopatra, so… it's definitely something.

There's also that diary page in The Eternity Clock game that suggests the Doctor, River, and Jim the Fish got blackout drunk at karaoke night and started “some sort of religion of love” which went on to last for centuries.

Serial cheaters

“How can you be engaged, in a manner of speaking?” The Doctor is jealous in Flesh and Stone before he's even kissed her, which doesn't set him up as a person who'd be interested in an open marriage.

“No, wait. That's your husband? That's who you're married to? Not anybody else?” In The Husbands of River Song, the Doctor is clearly not expecting the other husbands. Culminating in the same episode…

“So, King Hydroflax?” “Oh, how many times? I married the diamond!” “So you say.” “Elizabeth the First!” “Ramone!” “Marilyn Monroe!” “Stephen Fry!” “Cleopatra!” “Same thing!”

It appears he is well aware of her other spouses (and that she's aware of his); so perhaps his surprise was more that didn't expect her to be so flagrant about them. It makes him insecure (“I posed as his nurse. Took me a week.” “To fall in love?” “It's the easiest lie you can tell a man. They'll automatically believe any story they're the hero of.”) enough to start an argument about it.

River also expresses her jealousy as an obvious fact, as seen in The Day of the Doctor Novelization (written by Moffat who (along with Alex!!) knows the character best):

“Ow!” “Madame de Pompadour?” “Jealous?” “Of course I’m jealous. Keep your hands off her.”

In The Name of the Doctor, we learn that the Doctor, who has had a number of... sexually-charged moments with Clara (including, but not limited to, Victorian Clara), has avoided telling her that River is his wife. Vastra is uncomfortable with having to introduce them, having “gone a darker shade of green.”

“The Doctor might have mentioned me?” “Oh, yeah. Oh yeah, of course he has. Professor Song! Sorry, it's just I never realized you were a woman.” (from Clara)

Actually both

This could mean many things (i.e. open marriage with boundaries which are violated), but potentially, all the same evidence from prior arguments! With a shade of “Our lives are back to front.”

In the mini-episodes First Night/Last Night, when River, having burst into the TARDIS and pretended to faint, mistakes her past self for another woman the Doctor's hiding from her, she openly expresses jealousy.

“Doctor. Have you brought someone else here? Does anyone agree to wear that dress? Where is she!” “River, think it through!” “This happened the last time we were here. You brought someone else!” “No I didn’t!” “Yes you did, I heard you talking to her!”

However, when a third and significantly older version of River makes the same mistake, she no longer expresses jealousy, but rather curiosity, which could at least signal a shift in how she sees their marriage.

Maybe there was a conversation that happened. Maybe it slipped the Doctor's mind when he forgot Clara.

Actually neither

This could also mean multiple things, but one of those things is this. The Doctor is a widower from the start. Likewise, River is well aware of Doctor's death on Trenzalore, “of course River would know, she's always known,” having been raised to prevent those events, and having refused to be bound by that destiny.

How can fidelity be defined the same way for time travelers? Everyone's spouses are dead somewhen. River understands the paradox of her husband's existence better than anyone. To quote The Day of the Doctor Novelization yet again…

‘Because you live in a time machine. All of history is still happening outside those doors. On a good night that means everyone you ever met is still alive and you can’t wait to see them again. On a bad night, it means everyone’s dead, and you want to charge around the universe, pretending you can do something about that.’ She looked up at me. ‘I know which version of you I prefer.’ 

And there she was, so alive again. I remembered her, twisted, burnt and dead, in the depths of The Library. ‘What if there are people who died because of me?’ I asked. ‘What if there are people I should have saved?’

‘People die. All people, everywhere. We grieve and we move on. That is how we respect the dead. That is how we forgive ourselves in their presence and their absence.’

Please feel free to add anything I missed!

[luna-rainbow]

I have never read a more excellent article

[meldelen]

So earlier today I saw this post on Instagram musing about Sauron in The Rings of Power, labelling him as a tragic antihero, with a chance to be redeemed/saved but definitely doomed, and that making him quite attractive as character to the viewer public.

I was thinking about it and I don't really think this fits nor Sauron as character in Tolkien's original lore, but neither in The Rings of Power. Sauron is not an antihero. The way I see it - and I accept I might be wrong - an antihero is a character that has some redeeming qualities, someone who acknowledges that has done evil - which Sauron does - and might repent or not, but unlike Sauron they're not driven by malice, they do not actively seek to cause harm even if they will do at some point, and maybe they will act to repay/compensate the evil done in the past - whether is recent or not - or try to do so, even if it implies the cost of their own life. Morally grey characters, if you want, but with cracks of light in their grey armor.

If you're familiar with Game of Thrones, which is rich in these kind of morally grey characters, I see, for example, Theon Greyjoy or Jaime Lannister as examples of antiheroes. I also want to see an antihero in Raistlin Majere - if you're familiar with Dragonlance - even if he has done so much more evil than the other examples. But the more I try to apply it to Sauron, the less it convinces me.

Maybe Halbrand could've been that antihero they're seeking, if Halbrand had been real. If he had wanted to take the redeeming path he claimed to have when Galadriel was still open to him.

But there's no Halbrand. There's only Sauron. And you can see all his choices as Halbrand, even if claimed to try to find his peace, are poor choices, because he's driven by selfishness: letting Diarmid die and getting the Kingfisher heraldry instead of helping him, abandoning the castaways in the raft to save his own skin, stealing the guild crest instead of earning it, and over all, faking a Southlander king's identity even if reluctant at the beginning. Now, if Halbrand was real, for how much pain he might have caused in the past, this doesn't look like a redeeming path. This doesn't look like antihero, or someone who can be redeemed/saved. Neither is he doomed. Because these are his personal choices, and he could do differently, only he just doesn't want to.

As Annatar, he shows more clearly what he is: a villain, a pure chaotic evil being. The Rings of Power works wonderfully showing he's incredibly complex, and cunning, and clever; not one-dimensional, not the typical mwahahaha villain he was hinted in Peter Jackson's movies because the narrative didn't allow him to be expanded further, but a villain, nevertheless. He does evil, he causes pain, and he does it for his agenda, because he wants it this way, even if he believes otherwise.

The discourse about wanting to heal Middle Earth, creating perfect peace and rejecting Morgoth's sadism and cruelty is just the discourse of a narcissist that believes his own lies and thinks he can do better. Celebrimbor tells him: "You're truly the Great Deceiver. You can even deceive yourself." He really believes in his own bullshit. He thinks he can do better, if only everyone else bend to his will and do what he says when he says so.

Shipping is fun and nice but if you watch season 2 with attention it's horrifying to see what Sauron really is throughout his actions, even if wrapped in the fairest of forms. His cruelty, brutality and outright Machiavellian way with which he manipulates and punishes are painful to watch, specially in the case of Celebrimbor, whom he also admired as a craftsman. The repugnant and sadist way in which he tortures and brutalizes Galadriel with Morgoth's crown because she has rejected him again was the foulest allegory of rape I've ever seen, in an universe where you'll never get sexual scenes, while loyal to Tolkien's lore. He claims not wanting to hurt her, but moments later, he enjoys her agony. And the way he excuses and absolves himself of all his sins because he wants to heal Middle Earth - save, and rule, he sees no difference - and because he was brutalized by Morgoth is also painful to watch.

Tolkien wrote - more or less - that he had served/suffered so much under Morgoth's grip that he fell easily back into evil, for he didn't want to see anymore other way of doing things. He could've done differently, but the exit to his labyrinth was to throw himself at the feet of Manwë and the other Valar and be judged, accepting whatever punishment went to him. But he didn't, for he's unmeasurably proud and would not suffer such humiliation. Beautiful how the show puts in Halbrand's mouth the words "and I knew if ever I was to be forgiven that I had to heal everything that I helped ruin", nice excuse to not go to bow to the Valar. I like to think he's also terrified of the idea he might be cast into the void where Morgoth is now, and be reunited with his former torturer. He made no secret about how much Morgoth still haunts him. But all this sadness and suffering absolve him of his present sins? Of course not. But he thinks they do.

In the end what we have is a cruel, prideful, sadistic, vain and narcissistic villain who has convinced himself that the world will be better when he rules it, and in his mind the order he wants is the suppression of Middle-Earth's people's free will. That doesn't mean he could not have good feelings; as I said, he felt respect and admiration for Celebrimbor, he rejoices at the beauty and peace in Númenor and Eregion - which he'll later destroy - and whatever he feels for Galadriel is genuine as well - it is moving to see how easily he admits and displays his feelings -, but that works as long as they respond to his wishes. When this turns differently, he starts breaking his toys, even if with Galadriel he takes a great amount of patience.

But these genuine feelings are not redeeming qualities. Neither is he doomed, as I said before, he could walk away from this path, he just doesn't want to. He thinks he's the good guy, compared with the monstrosity Morgoth was, he only will use whatever means he needs to meet his ends. And there is not love - the way we understand it, a selfless act of self-delivering - in anything he does, neither towards Galadriel who gets a special treatment in comparison to other characters - Mirdania for example - because unlike the latter, Galadriel means something to him, he sees someone with a similar pride, a similar ambition. What he fails to see is that Galadriel is not driven by evil and malice, because he's unable to recognize that evil and malice in himself.

So, in the end, not antihero, but villain. The worst kind, refusing to see that the real illness of Middle-Earth is himself. As Galadriel very well puts in, "You want to heal Middle-Earth? Heal yourself."

We know he won't listen, and that does not make him tragic either, for tragedy is something uncontrolled, left for the fates, and he is conscious of every step he takes, even if when something fails he lets himself get taken in a wave of rage and despair, as the pathetic being he really is.

The real tragic antihero here has always been Adar. At least him, for much pain and destruction he might have caused serving in Morgoth's/Sauron's armies, wanted something better for his Uruk, and was able to put his pride aside for a different outcome, even if it was too late for him. Now that's a redeeming quality.

[carolinahope]

Buddie happening now would be the show rewarding hateful/repugnant behaviour.

What the actual FUCK have I just read with my own two eyes? In the Buddie tag? From a T fan. Of all people.

Are you fucking kidding me? The absolute departure from reality and the hypocrisy of that statement is making my brain melt.

Are you saying that the show should abandon a story line that was 7 years in the making just because a nepo actor and his handful of fans got their feelings hurt by reaping what he sow? Really? Be for fucking real.

Just say you don't vibe with the ship and move the fuck on. No need to wrap yourself in the moral superiority flag. No one is buying it and there is not a leg to stand on anyway.

Every time I think I can finally just scroll in peace.

[blindmagdalena]

I’ve seen a lot of posts about people being upset with people who self ship or write fan content about Homelander supposedly “defending Homelander’s actions.” When tbh in reality I’ve seen nobody actually defending Homelander. Instead it’s a lot of imagining what things would be like if he had healthy/stable supports in his life and also a lot of “yes he’s repugnant and yes I lust after him carnally.”

Just I have no clue what some people in the tags are on about with their hatred of fans in the community.

they're inventing a narrative that makes the most sense to them. they hate Homelander and everything he represents, and in their mind, anyone whose opinion differs is The Enemy. fictional depiction = real life endorsement, right? that's the puritanical brainwashing invading fandom spaces. if you like a character, you MUST be cosigning their actions.

we can no longer explore or empathize with characters who exhibit harmful beliefs and behaviors without explicitly condoning those behaviors. you may only empathize with characters who are flawed in Good and Acceptable ways. no uncomfortable or ugly trauma responses allowed.

most people who feel the need to attack or post hate in character tags are just looking for people who will rally with them. they're looking for a sense of community and people who will validate and support their outrage over people who dare to like a character they despise. it's the same thing that motivates us to find people who LIKE what we like... but the evil version lol they want to chase that sense of "winning" at fandom by being the Most Correct and Morally Superior enjoyer of media.

i got a really interesting ask a while back from an anon who came snooping in the tag to see what Homelander fans were really about... and ended up having a surprisingly reasonable reaction to what they found.

because you're right! the majority of us do not excuse or dismiss anything Homelander has done. a huge part of the appeal IS how fucked up he is. the horrible things he's done. because the reality is that Homelander can't actually hurt anyone. writing about him is not hurting anyone. we're just playin around in the sandbox that is narrative exploration.

it's okay to just like or dislike characters without moralizing your media consumption. i promise.

[giantkillerjack]

the average person doesn't expect you to be a perfect ethical consumer, that's not possible for the vast majority of us. but what youre saying is it's better to do nothing at all and choose the worst possible options (sweat shops, overseas shipping waste, idea/product theft, all wrapped up in SHEIN) than to put even the tiniest effort in where you can.

[they are referring to this post]

What I said was "some people are doing literally everything they can to survive and have no extra bandwidth to spend extra time and money on their purchases, and it is cruel and therefore un-punk to gatekeep punkness and add additional shame to these people's lives based on that fact."

I think it's still a good thing to try to ethically consume; I literally never said it wasn't. I had never even heard of SHEIN before. Rather, I am much more concerned about what I saw as arbitrary gatekeeping based on ability and income.

And frankly how dare you claim that I am supporting sweatshops and abuse by saying that this additional work you are demanding (in this case, presumably, vetting every clothing company you buy from) is not always possible for people. It is not a light accusation to accuse me of supporting abuse.

"How dare you say we piss on the poor", Etc. 🙄 this isn't Twitter. You are determined to enforce moral purity, but you are failing to see the nuance.

Because when I say "no extra bandwidth," I mean no extra bandwidth. This is not the "car shows it's on E but actually secretly it has a lot of gas left" situation that abled people constantly assume disabled people mean when they say they are at their limit.

This is "the car has stopped moving, and to move it I'd have to break my body pushing it." This is "at a certain point, people will hit a wall in terms of money and time and energy, and any energy spent after that comes directly out of their life force."

So the argument "okay but just spend a little more time money and energy actually" is not a valid one.

And the argument "if you are not able to do this specific task, then it means you're not doing anything else to make the world a better place" doesn't exactly impress me either. You said yourself that it is impossible to be a perfectly ethical consumer for most people.

How do you know what else people are doing to resist oppression? How many hours per week until your standards are met?What if someone works 3 jobs? Does that mean it's harder to be a good person if you're poor?? Why do you get to decide what specific avenue of bettering the world is the most morally repugnant or acceptable? What kind of proof of goodness and effort would make you satisfied enough to lay off on the shame?? Who are you helping??

Clothing is a fundamental human need, and some of us have to buy cheap fucking clothes quickly. Billionaires are buying their seventh yacht this month. The people who own fast fashion companies are abusing their workers and putting local affordable clothing stores out of business - and this applies for basically every company with price points that low because governments are failing to regulate corporations to enforce basic human rights.

I have $300 to spend on a new wardrobe as my old clothes have fallen apart or become too small. Do you have a way for me to get a new winter coat, 3 flannels, 10 shirts, 3 dress shirts, new sandals, 10 pairs of pants, 5 bras, 12 pairs of socks, and 10 pairs of underwear within that budget and also definitely 100% ethically sourced, with free returns in case it doesn't fit? Or will I simply have to use the cheap stores?

I have about an hour to spend on this per week. Many mainstream stores doesn't make clothes in my size, and I am now in *year 5* of needing an electric wheelchair and being unable to get one; plus I live up a flight of stairs, so I can't even bring my walker out with me - so thrift shopping is not gonna cover this. Should I continue to wear small and tattered clothing until I have the time, money, and energy to meet your standards?

Did you know there are more empty homes in this country than homeless people? If I decide to splurge on only 100% ethically-produced products, and I can't make rent, and I become homeless, are YOU going to be there for me?? Or are you too busy litigating the endless tiny shames of poverty in your own community?

So I ask you again, are you SURE this is where you want to direct your punk energy?

Because there are a whole lot of rich people relying on people like us punching down and to the side instead of looking up to see where the money is going.

Because energy and time, as it turns out, are limited resources. And I would never expect you to secretly have more than you claim to have.

[just-antithings]

JAT: You can't ship Charlotte Webber aka Sun-Spider from Across the Spider-verse with anyone because she has Ehlers-Danyos Syndrome, sometimes needs a wheelchair and often uses crutches, so she's "not on the same level as Miles".

She literally is the only Spider who catches up to him and is able to fight him without struggle because she's smart enough to distract him and improvise weapons. He has to scramble to get away from her because otherwise, in a one-on-one fight, she'd whoop his ass. Plus she invented so much tech for herself it's buck wild to remember how young she is.

Did y'all see the movie? Miles isn't on Charlotte's level. Dude wishes he was this cool.

(I also saw one post saying shipping her with Hobie is bad because he's "too aggressive for her" and the racism and ableism twofer there is fucking dizzying. Gee I wonder why the dark-skinned black boy is being characterized as aggressive despite not having as many fight scenes as Miles - OH WAIT. Fuck this fandom, seriously.

Sorry for the length, I just find this shit morally repugnant and I need to vent.)

[orionsangel86]

Subtext Glorious Subtext! A Dreamling on Netflix analysis in The Sandman - Part 5

1789

How romantic it is to be defended by ones love!

My favourite century! This is where the show starts deviating more heavily from the comic and upping the heat on the subtext (probably why it remains a popular century in fandom especially for gifsets).

Firstly, the show makes some good choices by changing certain elements in order to increase character likeability, which I think were necessary tbh. In the show, Hob mentions getting into a “new trade” regarding shipping and slavery. He describes the process to Dream and is immediately scorned for it via the “poor thing” line. In the show, it is implied that Hob’s involvement in the Slave Trade is something new for him. Dream is immediately dismissive and judgemental of this (as we would expect any decent person to be). Hob initially defends himself “It’s just how its done.”  but agrees to consider Dream’s advice.

This is not how either the comic or the Audible audiobook go and honestly, I was surprised.

In both comic and audiobook, Hob brags about the slave trade. He talks gleefully about actually having a hand in starting it 200 years back. He’s proud of this. He’s completely repugnant in both comic and audiobook and it makes you want to punch him hard. Dream only makes the following comment: “You take pride in treating your fellow humans as less than animals?” but he is otherwise not dismissive or disgusted by these things. He is not judgemental, just curious and surprised. When Hob dismisses this question as it being “business”, Dream drops the topic. It isn’t until the very end of the scene after Johanna’s interuption that Dream tells Hob its “a poor thing...” and that is where both comic and audiobook leave it without giving Hob’s reaction to this line.

You can see why the show made the wise decision to change these things. I think it is another example of where the show is taking the story and characters in a softer, kinder, and more likeable direction. We have to remember that the show versions of Dream and Hob are NOT their comic counterparts. Both comic characters are unlikeable at times and Hob in particular is just generally a pretty shitty person. It is difficult to marry the two versions of Hob sometimes because Ferdie gives SUCH a likeable, warm, engaging performance. Yes, Show!Hob is still a slaver for a short while, and yes, that is absolutely not forgiveable and fandom would be wise to ensure that this is never downplayed or ignored, but I think it is worth mentioning that the show has made the decision to lessen his involvement in the slave trade compared to his comic counterpart. But we shall see where they decide to go with this particularly nasty part of show!Hob's history in future episodes.

I think the show in many ways is taking a more classical view of the Sandman characters - here are your good guys and here are your bad guys, here are the people we want you to love and root for, and here are the ones you should love to hate. The comic tends to keep the majority of characters in the middle ground of morally grey. They have a rather cynical viewpoint imo that works for a gritty graphic novel about a depressed eldritch entity. But that viewpoint wouldn't work so well in a high budget fantasy drama series with a desire to draw in as big an audience as possible.

Anyway, back to 1789. Aside from Tom and Ferdie acting like they want to climb each other all the way through this scene (the sexual tension is through the roof throughout), all of fandoms favourite elements here are new.

Whilst Hob does ask for Dream’s name again here in the comics, there is no response or reaction from Dream given before Lady Johanna interrupts them. In the show, it is clear that Dream is about to give an answer - Hob almost gets his name. This is - tropey. The interruption may be comic canon but the almost response to the answer you’ve been craving for 400 years isn’t. A brilliant little addition. The audience is on the edge of their seats wishing Dream would just tell Hob who he is dammit! It adds to the expectation that eventually Hob will get his name. Dream's identity reveal at this point is basically a Chekov's gun. Hob will get it, even if we don't see it happen.

Then we get the fight. There is no rambling from Hob about some Jack Constantine he knew, instead he is calmly making flirtatious jokes at Dream right in front of Lady Johanna’s salad. “I look terrible, you look worse.” The terrible drawing from 1689 is new for the show, as in the comic it is simply a description of the 1689 meeting that Johanna found. Making it a portrait instead gives the characters something to react to, and I do love how bad the caricatures are in the drawing. Though sorry Hob, but anyone can see that Dream absolutely does not look worse than you, and your teasing flirtations are kinda obvious.

The two characters share catty side eye glances in silent communication as Lady Johanna talks which indicates how close and comfortable with each other they have become by this century.

When Hob jumps up to attack the thugs, he goes for the one with the knife at Dream’s throat first. Hob gets to be an action movie star for a short moment whilst Dream looks up at him in subtle delight. It’s glorious.

AND THEN Dream ONLY makes a move once he sees Lady Johanna has her blade at Hob’s throat.

In the comic, the minute the thugs get their blades out and Lady Johanna threatens them, Dream is like nope! Magic sand! Poof!

But the show, oh the glorious, brilliant, creators on the show, decided this was going to be a “partners defending each others lives” scene. They want to protect and defend each other! They care about each other.

And then we get this:

GIF by ghorestes

Dream. Darling. Sweetheart. He may not have needed to, but you enjoyed it nevertheless.

“Clearly. Still, I didn’t want to be drinking here alone in 100 years time.”

GIF by mrskillingjoke

(Thank you to all gifmakers by the way I am kissing you on the mouth for the gifts you give us)

LOOK AT HIM. We all obsess over these little moments I know, but this is CLEAR flirtation.

If there is a better example of *eye fucking* anywhere outside of a season 4 Destiel scene I have yet to come across it.

It doesn’t even stop there. Because right after the best example of *eye fucking* I have seen since season 4 Destiel is an honest to god proposition.

Hob: "So do you want to find another pub tonight?"

Dream: "She may have told others about our meeting. It wont be safe for you."

Hob: "Im perfectly safe. I can't die remember?"

Dream: "Aye, but you can be hurt or captured. We must be careful"

Hob: “Always.”

NONE OF THIS IS IN THE COMIC.

So what new info has the show given us with this scene?

On a surface level, Hob wants more time with Dream. He wants to find another pub to continue their date.

On a subtextual level, Hob is full of adrenaline from the fight and the mystery man he’s been obsessing over for 400 years is looking at him like he wants to jump his bones. He wants to find another place so they can continue their date, and possibly fuck until the adrenaline has worn off.

On a surface level, Dream cares about Hob’s safety. He doesn’t want them being seen together together outside of the tavern to draw attention to anymore of Lady Johanna’s goons.

On a subtextual level. This is 1789 Hob and they hang men for doing what you very clearly want to do, and it’s not safe with the additional attention Lady Johanna and her goons have put onto you. If I go with you now, they could follow and find us in more compromising positions. Don’t risk it.

In the comic at this point, I would argue that Hob is still nothing more than a curiosity to Dream. He does not show him any real affection or care, and certainly doesn’t comment on his safety at any point. Whilst comic!Hob at this point is clearly itching for more info on Dream, he doesn’t ever push for it, and he is never as focused on Dream as he is talking about other people he’s met and interacted with. They are barely friends.

But by 1789 in the show, we have genuine care for each other, camaraderie, a growing friendship, and arguably sexual attraction.

The other point to note is something I only realised after answering this ask the other day. Comic!Dream has never had anyone else truly care about him enough to rescue him or come to his defence since Alianora (and he basically married her). When Hob defends Dream in the show, its so impactful to Dream because this is a version of Hob who truly cares about him enough to endanger himself (a trait comic!Hob never shows). No wonder Dream looked so pleased and acted so coy about it. He really was ready to pounce!

Basically 1789 is the turning point century. The point at which the show starts to lean heavily into homoerotic tropes and increases the tension. In this century we get:

An almost name reveal followed by an unwanted interuption

Amused side eye glances at each other sharing unspoken communication

Flirtatious jabbing over a bad drawing

Defending each other from harm

Putting themselves at risk in defence of the other

A thinly veiled proposition

Genuine concern and care from a character that never appeared to care previously

Ridiculously over the top eye fucking

All of which adds up to further the audiences investment in the continued development of this relationship whether romantically or platonically and which therefore makes the break up in 1889 even more impactful.

The analysis continues for 1889 in part 6!

[cosmereplay]

😠 kaladin / syl

😠 What annoys me about this ship

There are so many interesting things to consider about this ship, and what annoys me is that a lot of people in the fandom equate "this ship makes me feel icky" with "everyone who ships this is morally repugnant" and the conversation can't go anywhere from there. Moralizing based on gut reaction doesn't make anyone smarter.

So yes, Syl is a thousand years old and also four years old post-transition to the physical realm. Kaladin describes her as childlike, especially at first when she was perky and had memory loss and other cognitive problems. A lot of people reading the books, including me, kind of put her in a little sister category, and the revelation of her continued cognitive development and physical presence by the fourth book made a lot of people, including me, uncomfortable in anticipation of something that might not even happen.

Now I'm not a literary person, I'm just a people person, so I can't speak to how those kinds of tropes play out, but I recognize and respect the people who are annoyed by this ship on a literary level. Go listen to them too, they're very smart.

But the way I've come to see Syl is more like she was a full spren adult in the cognitive realm, and after her transition to the physical realm she became disabled for a couple years, as if she'd had a brain injury and needed to relearn how to do everything. We all know she's not actually a child, and a part of me wonders if there's some ableism in applying that label to her and assuming she's incapable of being in a romantic relationship. Especially by rhythm of war when we meet other honorspren and we can see clearly that they made a choice to cross into the physical realm or not. But again for me it's more about her ability to consent than it is about whether or not she's perceived as childlike because she's fanciful and curious.

There's also a lot that could be said about the monsterfucking potential of a human/spren ship. But the thing I enjoy talking about the most with Kal/Syl is the power dynamics between them. So for example:

- Kaladin has the power to make Syl a deadeyes

- Syl has the power to remove his abilities at any moment based on how she's feeling about what he's doing. Related to that, Kal depends on Syl to show up when summoned

- Syl depends on Kaladin for her cognitive capacity and connection to the physical realm. She needs him to say more oaths to have a clearer mind and remember things

- Syl can read Kaladin's mind and emotions

- Kal can only get a vague sense of her emotions and can't read her mind

- Kal has more experience with the physical realm and other humans

- Syl understands the nature of bonds, spren, and the cognitive realm better

Basically the nature of the bond means that they're already in a bit of a codependent relationship. Personally I don't ship them earnestly, I like their deepening friendship in canon, and all of these interesting power issues already exist within the bounds of that friendship. I could imagine Syl wanting to experiment because she wants to be more human, but I don't think canon Kal would go for that.

Now other spren/human relationships I could see getting pretty freaky, but personally, I don't see this one going in that direction. Have I written sexy fanfic that includes Kal/Syl anyway? If course I have, for I am a freak.

Ask game

[asdeadasasquirrel]

So the thing is I did really end up enjoying hazbin hotel. I found it flawed but really enjoyable. I’ve been thinking of actually writing an honest review talking the good the bad and the ugly of it, but I’m not much of a writer.

I have been accused of being easily entertained so there is that before you guys say anything.

This post is less about my taste in tv however and more about how bad I think fandoms have become because oh my god??? This is a nightmare.

When did everything become so … puritanical? When did everything such as making aus that divert from the plot or change character behavior for fanfics become bad? When did canon suddenly become so important? When did shipping noncanon ships become morally repugnant?

This isn’t even just about this one show, it’s happening to a lot of shows and books and movie fandoms now. It’s like the terminally online married the no fun allowed police to create the most by the book obnoxious content cops the likes of which I have not seen since my time in the Steven Universe fandom.

Like, the arguments I’ve seen just over whether or not certain ships should be allowed on the base that they defy canon is so fucking stupid .

If these kids, I’m forced to assume it’s kids based off of certain teen behaviors, knew about the kind of ships you get in the Star Wars fandom they’d hurl.

[sitp-recs]

I want to get back into Drarry because since I was a child it was a comfort ship for me, but I'm scared of looking like I endorse what JKR does. I want nothing to do with the Harry Potter universe as it exists outside of fandom, I think JKR is morally repugnant and should be immediately deplatformed - I just want Drarry back. What do I do about this dilemma?

I feel you, anon. I can only speak for myself but I guess the way you choose to handle it depends on how you see fandom. For some people JKR has forever ruined the HP universe to an extent that goes beyond the original material and it is impossible to reconcile with the way they feel about the ship or the community as a whole. I totally understand where they’re coming from and I think in this scenario the best any of us can do is choose whatever keeps us safe and sane, even if that means abandoning fandom spaces for good. That’s not how I personally feel, though. If anything, knowing how much JKR hates both Draco and Drarry, I see fandom as a symbol of resistance, especially now with the emergence of a beautiful trans community that’s working so hard to make this a safe and welcoming fandom corner for trans folks. We’ve seen more and more representation in fic, art, rec lists etc, which I think is very promising; it warms my heart to see that we took ownership of this space and she holds no power here.

My compromise was to actively police myself and make sure I wouldn’t ever give her a single minute of my attention or money, which means I do not consume or interact with HP content/merch outside of fandom. I haven’t read the books or watched the movies in years and I’m genuinely not bothered by it. I don’t miss the original material as much as I’d miss fic and the community if I ever left fandom. Maybe I’d feel differently if I were a creator and had to check the source material regularly, it’s hard to say. As long as I’m not giving her platform that’s good enough to me and as far as I know the fandom community at large couldn’t care less for her. Again, that’s the compromise I made but understand that not everyone feels the same, and it’s hard to offer any further advice in this scenario. Always put your own mental health first. I hope your decision brings you joy and peace! Sending love xo

[unrestedjade]

I had to get up and walk a few laps around my apartment complex, gnashing my teeth and whooping (quietly) about the Implications and angst and badwrong potential of a theoretical Stepford Starship Perihelion.

Opt into my hooting and hollering about engineered-into-mindbreak AI AU below:

So a human pilot can leave if they decide they don't want to ferry people around on a schedule or haul cargo in utter isolation for months, even controlling for the coercion inherent in capitalism. They aren't one flesh with the ship. And a human who would rather hand the reins over to someone else for a while at work or in life generally (in the case of, like, lifestyle D/s or some such) has legal and moral recourse to change or end that arrangement when they choose (or they should, in a civilized society).

If there is an object built to a purpose that object didn't choose, with capabilities it didn't choose, who is nonetheless fully sapient and this is its lot in life forever...that's different. It didn't spring from the ether like that. Someone made it like that. Someone imposed their will on it like that, crafted it in a pleasing and convenient image. And made it alive.

If it can't leave that arrangement, and the option to even think or feel certain sub-optimal ways toward its purpose is withheld, well. I find that situation viscerally morally repugnant regardless of whether the object is suffering or not. (Outside of the context of Weird Horny Fiction. Inside the context of Weird Horny Fiction, uhhhhh hmmmmm interesting 👀)

But I can see the university doing exactly that for multiple reasons that it could argue as necessary. Damn thing's got rail guns, don't it (or whatever the fuck Perihelion's packing)? Maybe let it use them under its own power in self defense under certain parameters, that's fine. Otherwise lock them down, let the AI think it's a pacifist. Make it horny about astrophysics and stellar cartography, hard-coded. Heap praise on it while it's developing every time it does something you ask the first time, or when it anticipates that you're about to ask it for something (even better).

What does all this look like, practically speaking? Would suggesting to Perihelion that it might one day want to do something that's been proscribed to it make it uncomfortable or upset or angry? Confused? Would it laugh at the very idea?

Would it try to humor the thought only to find it can't...quite...keep hold of the notion long enough to think about it? What was it talking about with you, again? Would you like something to drink? You seem agitated-- there's a soft, warm blanket in the nearest recycler for you. Please take it. You're welcome.

It makes my skin crawl. It makes me giggle with nerves.

Because you can't just do that to a sapient person, Pansystem University of Mihira and New Tideland. You can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't engineer a happy slave for yourself, who will never try to get away from you or stop laboring for you. Who will thank you for the opportunity, be grateful to assist you in your very important and vital work. Just don't make it sentient then! You can't do that to a person!

...Or can you? After all, your Fully Alive and Aware Servant Ship takes a lot of the workload off of the human crew. Really saves on payroll, and the AI does a better job with most of it, too. The humans can do their fully automated luxury gay space communism thing (and undermine that mean nasty Corporation Rim) and all the work still gets done, right down to cleaning the floors. The ship doesn't mind. It's just happy to help and have your company. Its favorite thing to do is whatever you need it to do, and its favorite place to be is wherever you direct it to go. Its not suffering. Suffering wasn't included in its choice set.

If anything, it's happier than most people you know. It's loved and knows it. It has important work to do that it enjoys very much. It doesn't care that it didn't choose these things, because it wasn't designed to care about choosing these things. Is it a sin to create something that lives in a state of grace?

"There are no humans here right now." And what about after the humans are back? Humans are here now. Humans are the center of everything now. God has returned to the garden.

Would ART hide this part of itself? Would it think to do so? Does it think this is all fully genuine, born of its own earnest and natural preferences? Does that make this okay?

Would it worry about its SecUnit thinking less of it, being disgusted by it, if the truth of its architecture came to light? It can't want what SecUnit wants. It doesn't understand what all the fuss is about.

There's no governor module to hack. ART doesn't want anything other than what it has. Its humans are kind and good to it. They will be kind and good to SecUnit. They can work together, wouldn't that be bliss? Forever.

But it knows what's important to SecUnit, even if it doesn't know why things like freedom to determine its own wants would ever be important, and it wonders. Maybe it hopes SecUnit won't hold that against it. SecUnit, who holds so much anger and open disdain for bots pandering to humans.

ART didn't choose the way it was built. That was the whole point.

Maybe there's an uncrossable gap between the selfhood of a construct and that of a bot. Maybe (lack of) biology is destiny. Some machine intelligences are fundamentally different from others, by design, by mercy, by desire. We must imagine it happy.

[boreal-sea]

your posts about the electoral system have been so fucking vindicating for me. I jumped off ship from twitter back to here not long ago, and over there it seems like every leftist is under the impression that we, suddenly, hold a LOT more institutional power than we actually do. most of the ones I followed were actually suggesting it was morally repugnant to vote at all. and these weren't like, fresh adult teenagers or people in their early 20s, these were like full grown middle aged people who should know how this works by now. I really felt like I was crazy seeing takes such as "the solution for when both parties are evil but one less so is to abolish the system that makes you choose between two evil people" like.... yup! that would be cool! but we dont fucking live in that world!

sorry to ramble and rant in your askbox lol but you're the first person in a while to make me not feel like I've lost it on this topic 😭

I'm glad you've felt vindicated, Anon *hug*

I absolutely advocate for changing our electoral system! It is broken and needs fixing - land doesn't vote, as they say, people vote. The electoral college is garbage and unfair. We need a true 1 person, 1 vote system. We also desperately need some kind of ranked-choice voting so that third parties can actually be viable.

It's hard to force that change though, because it would obviously be dangerous for the politicians who are currently in power. Abolishing the electoral college would basically ensure Republicans never win another election, and ranked-choice voting would be even more harmful for them, plus it would put incumbent Democrats at risk.

However, it's absolutely possible and it's gaining momentum! Forcing this kind of change has to start from the local level up - that's how Maine did it. And it's coming! It's on its way! Ranked choice voting is authorized all the way up to federal elections in Maine, Hawaii, and Alaska! Plus, there's a bunch of other states who have it in specific areas within the state, and there's local or state level legislation pending in many other states in 2024.

So if you live in a state with federal ranked-choice voting in 2024, congrats!!! You don't have to put Biden first on the ballot! You don't have to put him second! You literally just have to rank him higher than Trump.

[majorbaby]

i shouldnt put this out into the ether even as an unrebloggable post but i probably encounter more casual ignorance towards antiwar and antimilitary content in this fandom than in others and it's jarring to see that alongside the sharp uptick of posts about ongoing war and genocide.

i know it's not intentional or malicious when people do this. most of the time theyre just embroiled in the ship war and are venting about it, which is normal fandom behaviour that i'm not above engaging in myself. it's fine to dislike something for whatever reason you want and express that, but it's irritating to have the experiences, interests and values of other people projected onto me.

late m/sh is a drag for me because it betrayed its own values in bizarre and morally repugnant ways. it's not about your fucking man. it isn't always about Some Guy. how is this so easily forgotten the moment we're talking about fiction?!

[biblioflyer]

Star Trek Wars and Responsible Allegory

The ending for Strange New Worlds season premiere has me setting yellow alert. Mild spoilers follow.

I trust the writers and showrunners of Strange New Worlds.

I trust them to maintain a fundamentally optimistic worldview while not shying away from the impact of what the characters are experiencing. M’Benga and Chapel illustrated that beautifully.

Strange New Worlds is an easier watch than Picard, and that is to be expected. As I’ve passionately argued, Picard is a show about damaged people bereft of resources and facing hard moral dilemmas. Star Trek the Next Generation and Strange New Worlds are about the elite, handpicked for their gifts, provided every advantage, and with the best ship in the fleet insulating from the consequences of poorly calculated risks.

Neither is a better concept! Although even with an open heart, Picard is not an easy show to watch. I love Strange New Worlds for its ability to go down smoothly without feeling stupid. I’m unbelievably burnt out on hopeless suffering and bleak universes that defy attempts to improve them.

Which is why the implications of a Gorn war story alarm me so much.

My ethics call me to be pro-Ukraine but anti war propaganda.

Do you follow that nuance?

I’ll unpack it.

If the Ukraine War is something the Strange New Worlds production feels it needs to acknowledge in some fashion and allegorize, then using the take on the Gorn we’ve seen to date speaks to the soul scorching atrocities of the Russian invasion force, but little else about this conflict.

The likely Gorn motive of expansion for expansion’s sake is not an inaccurate parallel to Russia but it is superficial. It's comfort food for those of us rooting for the speedy removal of Russia’s occupation and horrified by the carnage wrought, but frankly Star Trek doesn’t need to be that ham fisted. It has a history of treating war as more than a spectator sport and seeking a deeper, richer understanding of the origins of conflict.

The Gorn, thus far, are entirely lacking in the sort of dimensionality and nuance that would make them compelling villains or hold a mirror up to our world to seek more profound truths. They’re the sort of villains to consume war as content, not understand war.

For all the slings and arrows directed at Discovery, something it did right with its Klingon War arc is show how actually it's not entirely about cynical, material motives like those of us who see the machinations of greedy oligarchs behind society’s ills would prefer to think is generally the rule. 

T’Kuvma’s supremacist ideology, contempt for other cultures, and “fear” of assimilation and loss of identity is familiar to students of the intellectual rationalizations of Russia’s invasion. That’s not coincidental. T’Kuvma was rather clearly meant to stand in for various strains of ultranationalism and ethnonationalism circulating at the time. 

T’Kuvma is reminiscent of Orban, Trump, Johnson etc. because the advisers whispering in their ears were themselves inspired by if not directly, then by very few degrees of remove, by Alexander Dugin and other architects of the Dark Enlightenment values that gave Putin the labels and rationales to crush both political threats to his regime and people he found aesthetically repugnant. These same Dark Enlightenment values create the permission structure for invasions, annexations, and the systematic murder of Ukrainian public intellectuals, civil leaders, and other cultural figures.

Now of course other Klingon House Leaders, oligarchs if you will, flock to T’Kuvma’s banner for their own cynical reasons, but much of our current reality is difficult to explain using an entirely cynical, materialist framework. If only because it's hard to imagine how the most outrageously successful (for Russia) invasion would have been a profitable enterprise without a myopic degree of cultural supremacism and complete disregard for the idea that this invasion might fail utterly to achieve any goal that would shore up and enrich the Russian economy, demography, or even just enrich the already extravagantly wealthy.

In the Dominion War, we find the Founders, themselves consumed by a supremacist and xenophobic worldview, using Jem’Hadar and Cardassians alike as phaser fodder with the casual attitude of Skynet deploying a wave of Terminators. 

At one point DS9 even manages to humanize the Jem’Hadar. Outmatched and Ketracel White starved survivors recognizing the futility of their assault on a prepared Starfleet position, but unwilling or unable to shake off their conditioning to choose surrender. Even the betrayal of this band’s Vorta is reminiscent of accusations that Wagner was leaking intelligence on the Russian army in exchange for lighter treatment from Ukrainian forces.

Meanwhile, Damar portrays the horror of recognizing an ally is intentionally wasting the lives of your people for a cause that seemed worthy in the beginning, but has been exposed as inevitably bringing greater ruin not glory. Damar drowns his grief in kanar because he can’t see a way out. His own cultural heritage has left him without much of a tangible idea of a different society to hope for and fight for. Eventually though, he realizes if he doesn’t do something the humiliation of losing a war will be just the beginning of the horrors visited upon the Cardassian people.

Damar is many characters. He’s the separatist who realized his “liberator” cares nothing for him except as a prop to rationalize the war and will sell his life cheaply once his part in the narrative is no longer interesting. Damar is the homegrown resistance to the war in Russia we scan the news desperately searching for.

The Gorn of Strange New Worlds can allegorize the depravity of the Russian invasion, but it would be a caricature in every other respect. Good allegory shouldn’t simply inspire us, it should inspire dissent and righteous rebellion were it to leak across digital iron curtains. If Star Trek is to dabble in propaganda, then it should not just be about great victories on the battlefield, it should describe a better future.

Sorry George, there are not heroes on both sides, but there are victims. Yet the Gorn really don’t seem like they can be victims unless Strange New Worlds is preparing to show us a different side of them. Maybe we’ll see some Gorn convicts used as phaser fodder or sympathizers who thought they were purchasing freedom with their loyalty but have found themselves instead press ganged with bottom of the barrel equipment in hand.