#obviously there’s a lot of nuance blah blah blah

[v0idwraith]

I’ve had more than 2 seconds to process and I’ve decided to double down on being a Jayce defender. I stand with my cancelled wife. I also wanna slap him but I’m standing with him.

[mieczy-stiles]

The thing about Luca is that. And I say this as a writer, I suppose, but also as a queer person, that he exudes a certain feeling of safety, and comfort. Like, to have him play something will mean he's going to give you his everything. No matter the character, you'll see a sincerity that isn't just the product of the script, or the demand of it, but also the mind of the actor.

To know that a person of his calibre is out there playing queer characters so effortlessly, and without a doubt in their mind, without any prejudice blinding his artistic choices and who he is as a person, it's obviously a ray of hope, but it is also, then, a kind of trust, even if it is just parasocial in many ways.

I know if it's Luca playing a certain queer character - regardless of what happens to them in the script, that is if the script is stupid and insincere to the queer perspective in certain ways - I'd still easily trust him to do justice to the queer experience, for how sincerely he plays everything.

The whole every-character-of-his having a underlying homoerotic quality to them is all fun and cool and great and beautiful, but also, it's so fucking refreshing

It's been decades of asking for the correct representation in media, it's been years and years of queerbaiting and, if not that, just general lack of care

I've been accustomed to just wanting some of my favourite characters to be gay. Just thinking and wishing and hoping that someone someday will let them reach the full scope of their personality, let them have the right sort of ending, see first the fabric of their person, and not just the thread of their sexuality, and maybe then write the script. There have been all sorts of emotions, and so to find now a person who is doing just that? It's pure beauty.

For a while now it's been changing, more and more shows and films are becoming inclusive and accepting and understanding of the queer gaze, and it's so beautiful that Luca contributes to it with his whole heart, and has been for a long while.

Many must remember how it used to get with artists and makers always denying or trying to tip toe around the obvious queerbait, or shying away from the conversations that involved that queer perspective, or outright rejecting the very idea- it happens still - but then you see the likes of Luca and Marwan being comfortable in each other's company and also about the love they shared on screen (especially, i think, it begs to say, with them being men), talking happily about their characters, making playlists for them, recommending poems for them

A lot many actors now are open to these conversations, a lot of them now talk about it with nuance and care, with just the right words, and though it's in no way any less a contribution to the conversation, or any less genuine, but again, there is something to be said about the ease Luca shows.

Again, as I said before.. it feels safe, with him.

In a lot of his interviews, he doesn't bat an eye before saying things like - I was lucky to have him as my husband. And he means it, you can tell that by the smile on his face. When people are focusing on the movies' objective and the friendships in it, he easily goes and says it's not only the friendship, but also the love.

In another of his interviews, there was once this question about Roberta, about if he knew what was demanded from him and how he prepared for a transsexual character. I remember it because I was almost sure I'll be hearing some generic answer like I studied trans people for this role and this that blah blah, something ignorant, basically. I was braced for it. But he just said. (And he was talking in english, and all that he was trying to say was conveyed more through his face and gestures, it was super cute actually) - I read the script, and I just felt something. I didn't think about playing a transsexual, but a woman, with a friend. It was important for me to show the love she had for him. So. I just played a woman helping out a friend :)

And I was like ?? wait that's? That's all? You're not going to go deep into the character's psyche and the great moral upstanding you must be feeling for doing a role like this? You're not going to talk about how you "prepared" for this role or how it was "different" for you?

I was so used to people doing that, his simple answer took me by surprise.

and that's what's so refreshing, so comforting.

There's no hesitation in him, no prejudice or preconceived notions or activism, even, compelling his choices and words.

It's just him, plain and simple.

He's committed to his art in a way that people rarely are. Especially in media, where even big companies and huge hollywood stars often fail you.

I wish more people in this world were like him. So gently open in his ways, so effortless in his understanding and acceptance that it becomes intrinsic to him.

He's one of the few people, I would say, who are an artist not just by work, but also by nature.

[gloriousburden]

srry this is gonna be long and i keep sending asks but i have to yap:

do u think he slides more towards being evil or morally grey, or good? i know obviously the answer is nuance like for literally character and irl person too...but i mean like i see a lot of ppl, even og loki fans who are anti series, who seem to ascribe to the whole "he's a little shit/asshole" type that is pushed in the series and say if u think otherwise ur woobifying him and its making me question how much i even understand his character now :/

also just how like sarcastic or cold/aloof do u think he is? like how much is that a wall he puts up vs being the real him, and how do u think he'd act if he warmed up to someone completely? same with the traits of him being like vain, arrogant, pretentious etc. do u think he'd ditch those behaviors completely with that person, or just lessen them? or not?

and how do u see his chaotic side? as like super all over the place and loud like the joker and those kind of entp like archetype characters, or more like subtle, almost calculated or controlled chaos (ik it sounds like an oxymoron but hear me out) like in TDW when he tells the to take the shortcut and then just sits and smirks reading the book quietly.

and finally, srry it's nsfw: do u think he's been intimate a lot, is hedonistic, or is a virgin? bc i don't rlly see him as having slept with a lot of ppl or if he had slept with some, not like he's super lecherous or anything. tbh i lean towards more thinking of him like a virgin bc i feel like he didn't have the time to even think or care abt lust and those urges (if he did i imagine it was like when he was adrenaline fueled and really rageful and just took care of it himself if u know what i mean) throughout his life after thor 1, and prior to that i feel like he was seen as like a nerd and black sheep and no one would rlly want to, unlike with thor who would probably be popular...thoughts?

What do I think Loki is morally:

fortunately for you, I made about 30 posts about it after you sent this LOLLLLL I think he is morally grey. It makes the most sense to me and relates to the Myths as well 😁

Oh I really hate the ‘little shit’ archetype that is pushed. Is he very much a menace at times? Yes. Is he a quirky menace in a bad behaved toddler-like manner… No. People forget that even though he’s the god of mischief and he’s sassy and silly blah blah blah, he’s also very eloquent and is not.. very quirky in ways that they assume he is. He’s a well behaved menace. Yes that is an oxymoron, and so is he. I hate when people call him a bastard, an asshole, a little shit, etc.. like it’s so condescending and weird… and also unfunny as fuck. Have some respect!!!

Like if people were just saying that in a joking/lighthearted manner, I wouldn’t gaf that much. But, I can tell they really think it’s accurate to who he is as a person. They really think it fits him. I just know they loved the improvised snake joke scene in Ragnarok, and think that Loki was constantly stabbing Thor 🤦🏻‍♀️

How sarcastic or cold/aloof do I think he actually is:

I do think that he genuinely does have these traits. I mean, to those who know him and have fallen for his tricks, it is believable to them to a certain extent. There has to be some truth to it. There’s a thin line between his deceit, and his true nature. One of my favorite Loki quotes:

Frigga: “Cast enough illusions, and you risk forgetting what is real.”

Loki: “Precisely.”

Oh yeah he’s very sarcastic. Without a doubt. Even when being threatened by the Other, he is sarcastic lol. That is something that will never leave him. During Illusions, or the most vulnerable moments of his life.

I think that once he’s warmed up to someone, he will be a little less aloof and a bit more expressive. Though, not by much. Not series level. I still see him as genuinely being more reserved. I don’t see it as just a part of his facade. Oh he’s pretentious to his core. That doesn’t change.

I do not see him as being very hyper or heavily expressive in the same way it’s been represented in the series when he got “comfortable” around Mobius and Sylvie. I do think he genuinely is a bit cold and reserved, even when he does warm up to someone. But at the same time… he’s very playful it’s just not very loud. Ahhhhh. Loki is very expressive in ways, but it’s just… DIFFERENT!!!

How do I see his chaotic side:

Sort of like how I said above. No, I’m definitely hearing you out. The way you explained it, is how I see it. Though, he may ON OCCASION have outbursts where is more all over the place and.. well, chaotic. Yeah it’s more “controlled” for the most part, but I do think he has moments of louder chaos. It’s sinister, but not loud. I don’t really know how to explain it but he’s not maniacally laughing and jumping around all over the place like a buffoon. There is a middle ground I fear. Even at his most chaotic moments, he’s not.. extremely loud. It’s more toned down. Idk what that says about him. He’s chaotic, but he’s elegant and classy with it.

(Suggestive)

Do I think he’s been intimate a lot:

I kind of wrote an imagine a while back where I sort of implied that I think he has been intimate a lot in his past, but ngl I wrote that when I had brain fog and I was kind of dumb as fuck because I don’t even agree with that. Idk where that came from. I do not think that he is a complete virgin, but I also do not think that he’s hedonistic AT ALL. I think he has definitely had a few lovers/flings in the past, but nothing too serious. Nothing that really made him feel loved. He’s selective with lovers.

Loki, in my eyes, loves very heavily. When he loves someone, he wants to spend the rest of his life with them. He’s very devoted/loyal. He hasn’t found that person yet, though he’s messed around a few times.

Yeah, I honestly agree with what you said about it for the most part. I think Loki views hedonistic behavior as a sign of low intelligence (in his eyes) and likes to deprive himself of such “earthly” pleasures. Because he’s pretentious like that. But also, maybe he feels like he doesn’t deserve to indulge. He’s not good enough, yet. Maybe he’s weird about types of self pleasuring too idk.

Loki definitely was overshadowed by Thor, but he was still of a high status and was also very cunning/charming. Not that I think he was tricking people into sleeping with him, but I think that people were drawn to his high status of course, but also his mysterious nature. People always want to figure out those who are mysterious, and reserved. Most people probably thought that Loki was emo and weird af, but then you had people who were intrigued by it, and intrigued by his intelligence.

When people say that Loki is highly experienced, I don’t see that as meaning he slept around a whole ton and was fucking 30 people a day. I see that as he slept around a few times, not many, but is a very quick learner. He got the hang of it quickly, and is also quite in touch with what makes himself feel good. He can read people very, very well. So I think he takes advantage of his intelligence, and uses that in bed in ways. He’s alluring in that manner. He reads people, and understands what they desire from him. Loki understands body language. He knows how to disguise his own, and he knows how to read other’s.

Not that you said anything about this but i now have a chance to talk about it hehe. I think he likes pleasuring other people. It’s a bit of an ego boost for him. He has that authority over them, and he could easily take it away. He likes having control. Maybe sex is an outlet for him in ways. It makes him feel useful. He may restrain from allowing himself to be pleasured, because that’s him giving in. That’s him giving up that control to someone else. Though, I think he would accept it from someone he really loves. He’s a bit weird about intimacy.

Might make a post about how I think Loki views certain pleasures as well as how he feels about certain things related to sexual intimacy. I have a few opinions on that I think

[woodswolf]

anyway im going to make some minor changes to existing chapters of DLD. im going to make a point to differentiate between the Hocotate and Hokotate pronunciations in-text since that's actually kinda really important and informs a lot about where olimar and various characters come from.

i don't think ive said this before anywhere (at least outside of DMs with my partner/ideas ducky), but the TL;DR is that both the "american" and japanese pronunciations of Hocotate/Hokotate are kind of an important background detail that inform how i see the pikmin universe Working in DLD. Hocotate ("american" pronunciation, "hawk-a-tate", rhymes with Freight) is the "standard" pronunciation across the galaxy while Hokotate (japanese pronunciation, "hoh-koh-tah-tay") is how Hokotate natives would refer to it. and this like, really really informs a lot of characterizations.

the ship for instance always pronounces it as Hocotate because it literally wouldn't know any better and nobody's ever said otherwise because it works well enough for an interplanetary business setting.

olimar also pronounces it as Hocotate unless he's specifically in a situation where everyone involved would Know to pronounce it Hokotate. however, he Thinks of it as Hokotate except in the context of Hocotate Freight.

the president is obviously from Hokotate but intentionally always pronounces it Hocotate and obviously named his company Hocotate Freight.

lamella would always pronounce it Hokotate which might make some characters (i.e. basically anyone who isn't from Hokotate) kinda 🤨 at her.

etc. like these are 4 very different outlooks that imply a lot of very different things about each of the characters.

also to be clear, Hocotatian is the "standard galactic" name for people from Hocotate. if asked by anyone Familiar With The Hokotate Distinction, though, they'd call themselves Hokotateno. but some people (such as olimar, aka Mister Nuance) would naturally have a conditional answer depending on who was asking and why.

in case anyone can't tell from the tone of this post, a lot of the reasons for this relate to some of the background lore of this universe that ive alluded to both in-text and in comment replies. i don't think it's ever going to come up explicitly in-text (so far it's mostly just been alluded to in things such as Hokotate's socioeconomics as olimar ranted about in chapter 2), but in DLD Hokotate has a history of Being Colonized and exploited for resources which can pretty clearly reframe a lot of those attitudes mentioned above if you didn't get the vibe already. it just hugely informs characterization so i think it's a change that's important to make sooner than later (even if it's mostly going to be relevant in much later entries once we start getting people Not From Hokotate involved in a major way, e.g. the Koppaites).

also blah blah blah everyone is technically speaking different languages but something something universal translators are standard features or something. i can have my really nuanced worldbuilding AND handwave things. if you're going to get mad at me about handwaving stuff though id like to introduce you to a cool game called Pikmin 4 which definitely does not handwave 90% of its plot and is 100% internally consistent all the time.

anyway ill probably make these changes tomorrow night or something. all im really gonna do is change 13 instances of spelling (the other 9 are going to remain unchanged as either part of "Hocotate Freight" or one instance in dialogue) but i can't be bothered tonight lol. i also might rewrite this post to actually use sentence case etc. since it'll be an important reference post to link in the chapter 1 author's note after making this change but i just expanded this from a discord message lmao

[underlust-but-like-acearo]

Yeah, I don't want to make it a big thing but like.. Aside from the obvious things that were wrong with Underlust, as someone on the acearo spectrum and a nonbinary indivual, I do wanna point out the sort of general queerphobia that's attached to Underlust? Obviously there's more nuance to be had, but here's just some things I've been sitting on for a while.

The biggest thing in my mind was definitely the issue of how morality and sexuality were handled, because this has just always been something so glaringly obvious to me. All the quote on quote "good" characters are less sexual or not sexual at all, and the "bad" characters are overly sexual. Blah blah blah it's not up to the author to tell you what is good and what is bad, be critical... But it has always been very disconcerting to me how the character we're guided to sympathise with, Mettaton, blatantly calls the characters who are more sexual (and also portrayed as kinda unlikeable), "gross". There's a general vibe that sexuality is bad, sexuality is gross, and also that it's not the most real or goodest form of love. It's up to the asexual character to go to through the Underground and snap these goddamn heathens out of their lustful trance! And like wow?? What can I say but yikes.

Also, the issue of libido. Libido being heavily conflated with a lack of restraint and also being presented as something that makes you attracted to everyone all the time? It's not a very flattering image of sexuality, and it's also sorta misinformed. To put it shortly, libido (sexual arousal), sex acts (e.g sex), and sexual attraction (if and who you're attracted to) are different things. All the monsters in Underlust have high libidos, have a lot of sex, and wanna have it with everyone. And the asexual character we got, Frisk, probably was gonna have low or no libido, never have sex, and be sexually attracted to nobody. You had all three or you didn't, which is very reductive to say the least. It's good that asexuals were acknowledged and I love ace Frisk with all my heart.. But this is a very narrow, misguided and unfortunately common way people understand sexuality. High libido and bisexuality aren't intrinsically attached to one another. High libido and allosexuality aren't intrinsically attached to one another. High libido and sexual acts aren't intrinsically attached to one another <- being aroused doesn't make you a jerk that crosses people's boundaries, and being aroused is not always expressed openly by said person. Again, it's all just a very reductionist way to look at sexuality.

Also, this is just a teeny weeny thing, but aging up is a bit complicated of a topic for me. Having a character be of consenting age is important if they're going to be sexualised for obvious reasons, but the complete absence of children from any story featuring or discussing sex can be troublesome in its own right. Making sure kids are educated about sex from a young age and letting them be a part of discussions is important for protecting kids from sexual abuse and ensuring their sexual health. Removing children from the conversation makes them ignorant, it makes them feel ashamed, isolated, and puts them at greater risk of harm. Also, Underlust is just so obviously queer, and I'm sure I don't need to get into a conversation about how some people think that children can't be queer, or think exposing them to queerness is inappropriate. This is all wayyy beyond the scope of the original work, but I think it's important to think about.

And the last thing on my mind doesn't have to do with the au itself actually, but I'm looking towards people in the UTMV fandom. Some of y'all with your shipping are just.. Uhh.. Well. I've said it before and I'll say it again, but being overly sexual or flamboyant does NOT make you feminine. If you think being promiscuous is an inherently feminine trait, you are partaking in the sexism my guy. If you think that a gay ship NEEDS to have someone be assigned 'the guy' and someone be assigned 'the girl', you are partaking in homophobia my guy. And if you think that LUST should be the GIRL in a relationship when paired with someone else, double whammy, that is both sexism AND homophobia!! I'm bonking you on the head, cut that out. (If a gay man wants to call themselves the 'wife' in a relationship, that's their own business, but treating it like that's the standard is not okay.)

Maybe I didn't go over everything as thoroughly as I could have here, but I've been typing for a bit and I'm sure you guys get the picture. If you have commited any of the cardinal sins here (joke), that's okay. I honestly don't think the creator meant to portray this, and I don't think anyone in the fandom has bad intentions, but it's still important to examine our own prejudices and misunderstandings and learn to be better. Just because you did a bad thing or didnt know better before doesn't mean that you're a bad person. Peace and love on planet earth, let's make Underlust best au in the whole world, okay?

[pixiecaps]

What do you think are some of the biggest misconceptions of q!cellbit?

ive seen a lot of people just reduce his character to being an asshole and i think when it comes to qbagi people misinterpret his actions to mean something else when there could be a lot of complexity behind them besides oh he hates her oh hes so mean etc etc

like with his monologue when he thought green was dead and people going on he only mentioned bagi because of blah blah but he doesnt actually care and its like well theres actually a level of depth there you can analyze and try to explore if u wanted to……… i think his dynamic with qbagi is really interesting and i think theres some nuance to be had when it comes to discussing it that people throw out the window just for the sake of saying hes an awful person (which obviously yeah on some levels but theres more to what he does and says than just being a “bad” guy)

but im not a qcellbit main so 😼live laugh Stop reducing characters of their complexities

rereading this and giggling at all my “i think”

[possibilistfanfiction]

"the neoliberal rhetoric of the pronoun (ESPECIALLY in english) as the ultimate form of advocacy" -- it's such a relief to hear your take on ava's thoughts on pronouns bc i've always been frustrated by how limiting they are? how much stress they cause? i know pronouns are important for some folks but also we're so much more than that...

whew like ok i work in dei, mostly for youth (sport, schools, etc) but also doing lgbtq 101 workshops for upper level execs who run big sports orgs, school districts, blah blah, & it's like... people really think that getting someone's pronouns right (or even trying to get someone's pronouns right) is like........ you have done it! u are not transphobic! u understand the nuances of everyone's gender if you use the right pronoun!

& like... i get paid a fair amount of money to lowkey sell out & explain what a pronoun is (lol) but at the same time it is the fucking bane of my existence. i personally hate pronouns. i think they are legitimately so stupid lol. like... to distill the vast nuanced experience of both having a gender identity AND being perceived at all times as a gendered being (which sometimes match & sometimes don't) into a PRONOUN is just baffling to me.

i think cis people (especially those who don't really want to do the work needed to understand what abolition means -- how queerness & especially gender expansive trans identities are a crucial part of the intersection of where that ethic is rooted) just see pronouns as a sort of easy way out. like you're cool with trans people if you can remember someone's they/them pronouns. it's so gross & so deeply tried up in representational politics (diverse oppressors are still oppressors, white supremacy can be present in ethic & politic even without a white person in the room, etc).

& of course like you said pronouns are definitely important to some people (it is always nice to feel seen & respected at the most basic level 🤪) & definitely not at all saying that anyone should like get people's pronouns wrong, obviously, but i just really hate the concept of how my entire experience as a dyke & a person in general has to be reflected to the world at all times in a silly word which is so vastly incomplete. & i genuinely (not anyone's fault!) hate how that can get tied up in my writing, especially my writing about queerness. when ppl rly care abt terms & IDs etc i can understand bc the common messaging is all rooted in neoliberalism & "representation" instead of anti-state resistance, etc, so it's like. okay lol. but i am intentional in the way i write queerness bc of my own ethic & politic, so you know

ANYWAY yes. queerness & transness is so deeply expansive, to make it only about (or mostly about) pronouns is, to me, ethically against what queerness & transness really is, especially if those pronouns are mostly talked about in the context of english. & i would be remiss in saying that using non-normative &/or neopronouns is a privilege rooted in safety. often i don't disclose they/them pronouns bc i just don't want to explain myself, & i deeply do not care, but i'm always protected in a lot of ways by my whiteness (& that i'm educated, able-bodied, cis-passing, employed, etc etc etc). for a lot of people, for a lot of reasons, pronouns aren't safe. being out as trans isn't safe. but that doesn't mean their gender identities are any different or less important or less vital.

so yah ur right sorry this is a rant lmfao & once & for all.... ava is the most anti-state anti-institution character lmao. she genuinely would not give a flying fuck about her own pronouns. god doesn't fit into a pronoun anyway :)

[5-7-9]

So in my Reclamation AU prequel after Bruce Wayne adopts Dick, well actually I should mention the rumors before he adopts Dick the thh ethe th. Okay when he got back, wait should I mmention before too? Nahhhh more backstory to actually further down the storyline, weirdly enough that the past and future are linked together for some reason. (TW mentions/implies of homophobia and bi erasure and pedophilia and slut shaming)

So when Bruce gets back home after being legally classified as missing and dead, he assumes a neutral persona of socialite. But the missing gaps get filled in of vacations or illegal sites or something wild. Bruce decides to use the weird playboy assumption to his advantage and uses his looks to try going on dates with people.

Then, he decided to use modeling to also hinder any suspicions, he couldn’t show his scars so he went with clothing. He somehow made tons of model friends where he got them to pretend date him for publicity. Between the models, they think he either has an ego, has a secret lover, or is gay. Now the socialites and public see the fake model dates between the few real dates. Socialites get jealous and starts making up stories like “yeah we totally slept together (fuckkkk why doesn’t he like me???)” or “y’know it’s kinda weird he never keeps any of those hotties it’s almost like he’s a bad boyfriend or there’s something wrong with him yeah? (Please please please date me instead)”

(almost forgot) I already mentioned Selina, but her rumors consisted of slut shaming, and the infantilization of Bruce. Talia is actually included for a small while (idk how to make the timeline work, so I think it’s just easier if I just don’t think about it? Intentional plot hole). So to work with my timeline, either Talia already had a baby before Bruce gets back to Gotham, or they have a fling almost right when he gets back home. Either way, the media thinks she’s one of Bruce’s foreign flings from vacation (true actually), so they kinda dismiss her as a partner candidate. She doesn’t gets brought up again until later when i figure out if she needs to meet with Bruce again before Damian. Most of Bruce’s dates include bastardization or angelification, zero in between because nuance doesn’t exist (drama is always extreme, which imo is stupid but whatever).

After Bruce adopts Dick, things take a major turn for the worst. A single father not marrying when becoming someone’s guardian??? What’s wrong with him!!! The biggest conclusion created the pedophilic rumor. “He must’ve not stayed with anyone because he likes kids!!!” This lead to the other rumor to take a twist, homophobia.

So out of pure plot convenience, Clark at some point gets in touch with Bruce to talk about the Justice League, but that gets turned into a fake relationship. See the only way to distill rumors is to use more rumors! Obviously. Idk how to deal with Clark’s reputation, so I’m making it technically a fake secret relationship that protects Clark’s identity mostly. Anyways, now the rumors leaned into the gay rumors instead of the homophobic rumors, society started saying the pedophilic rumors are homophobic. Blah blah blah and then people got “scared” of getting “canceled” so they reverted back to the average playboy stance. This has made lasting impacts towards both Bruce’s and Dick’s lives but yeah they’ve moved on.

(Honestly i just wanted to explain the fake secret relationship plot point but now I really wanna go for all the rumors)

The gay rumors including the (fake) secret relationship really got the media questioning who he’s in romantic/sexual cohorts with, male specific only. It affected some characters to distance themselves…

Jason got classist rumors and reputation, which turned into “missing or dead” rumors just like Bruce had so lots of people were expecting him to come back. Tim was basically “the perfect child” since he was already upper class and he was considered most likely to run the Wayne business in the future. Damian had two sides where one was racist and blamed Talia for existing, and the other side where they blamed Bruce for being reckless. Cass had the standard stereotypes but with ableism included. Steph never appeared in the news besides as Tim’s ex. Barbara only showed up as Gordon’s daughter.

Actually Barbara got the “dating Bruce” rumors with Bruce but that never went anywhere significant, just made things awkward between them and with Gordon. (It’s sorta related to another side plot but i don’t feel like sharing here).

Duke appeared as an adoptee but also not because he avoided the Wayne’s reputation. He gets a passing mention as someone who sometimes takes refuge in their house, as if he was never there, but he sometimes is but he just gets ignored for probably racist and classist reasons. Among Duke’s citizens group of people near him totally know him as the guy with a rich guy’s backing tho. (I have completely different ideas for him, i’ll do another post later).

Well that was fun

[burning-bubble-tea]

Ok. I get Disney sucks. I do. I hate the mouse as well. I agree it’s all bland capitalism. But I dunno something really rubs me the wrong way when people compare modern Disney villains to dreamworks villains. Like these are probably the same people to go “animation isn’t a genre” and then here they go technically treating it like a genre by comparing two different movies like Puss in Boots and Turning Red.

One is a coming of age story of a preteen with a pinch of fantasy and one is literally a fantasy. They’re different genres so comparing their villains doesn’t really do anything.

Like I’m fully just pissy about this because turning red is for me seeing Asian Canadian art on the big screen and as an Asian Canadian it really was so beautiful to see a story made by someone who went through similar struggles create a beautiful story.

Like even with my biases puss and boots is a better movie but like we cannot discount the art of Domee Shi.

Also I think these memes are harmless and people can do whatever and I’ll just not look at them but I do hope that behind the jokes people do understand that we are poking fun and not trying to put artists against each other. But trends are a pendulum. Before we wanted more complex villains who make us ponder if they’re actually evil now we want simple evil and back and forth it goes and there will always be stories like that.

Turning red is about healing a rift between generations of an immigrant family and I don’t think I’d like the movie as much if it had the mother be pure evil because the story doesn’t have a villain it has an antagonist.

Like I bet at some point some has/will make a thing about how Jack Horner being pure evil is bad actually and blah blah blah and now there’s no nuance. Cause right now it’s nuanced because a lot of media has redeemable villains or whatever but it would seem cliche if all the movies surrounding puss and boots had pure evil villains.

Obviously this entire thing is just like irking me because turning red made me feel really seen and seeing people say how lame or bad it is makes me a bit upset because I want Asian American art to be visible. I want us to be able to tell our own stories. And I know these jokes are harmless but it also just unintentionally feels like we are tearing down a piece of art in relation to another piece of art that is in the same medium but ultimately is in a different genre.

We can’t judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, but I want to see asian art swim to the top of the waterfall and turn into a beautiful dragon.

[hagfishviperfish]

some thoughts on this game which are not spoiler free idk if anyone gets this game they absolutely need to go in blind

really enjoyed the game, gorgeous art, heart wrenching themes, loved how every section of the game had its own full-fledged atmsophere and every detail & nuance thought out, writing was lovely and full of passion, not without its flaws but very good gothic piece overall. enjoyed it with little complaint up to the end where it’s just dropped jacopo is a pedo. he was already a piece of shit but 😭 it was so completely unnecessary. that whole thing would have been fine without that age gap. there was NO reason for that to be a thing (hes a 22 year old in love with a 12 year old)

i don’t like how a lot of visual novels always sneak in some weird shit like pedophilia. this is a problem w/ fata morgana because in the sequels this is like. an actual ship it sucks. the incest plotline was hard to sit through as well but whatever at least it was self-aware about being bad and messy

michel is a great character. i love u morgana. giselle is cute too. classic gaslight gatekeep girlboss representation with maria. one of my personal favorites is yukimasa (guy on the right in this picture) because anyone who’s had more than one conversation with me knows i love freak ass bitches. it’s a shame how he was so obviously the character the writers were the least interested in, he had so much potential. his relationship with race is interesting and felt pretty real. i like his problem i like his mental illness i like men who are animals i like his codependency and i like how he’s a more typical gothic archetype, inflicted by complexities and contradictions and self-loathing and bloodlust and isolation etc. like that dramatic ass sprite with his face in his hand. i like how he was likened to a loyal dog with the way he latches onto people and puts them on weird ass pedestals (and the general… you know… gets violent when hes nervous)

the modern sequel of fatamoru - reincarnation? i think it’s called. did this guy dirty in my opinion i know it’s Their Character but i don’t like the way they made his “””urges””” so cut and dry… the ambiguity and psychology of it made so much more sense in a historical setting and when you translate that into modern it doesn’t really. carry over well. like there are so many ways to flesh out a mindset like that… i think that sequel’s just weird in general

another thing i wanted to point out is that the gruesome suffering of a trans/intersex character is so needlessly drawn out it feels almost excessive… i can see why pretty much and the impact it’s meant to have, i’m mostly neutral on it, but. holy fuck. it gets to a point where he’s dead and literally watching his body decay and shit and it’s ??? 😭 and as far as i know there was no poetic theming blah blah blah here it was just. “look what this guy went through isn’t it awful” … we get it

on the bright side THERE IS A TRANS/INTERSEX CHARACTER it was really fucking delightful to come across that

started playing house in fata morgana. nightmare blunt rotation

[vinyls-and-valentines]

Do you think there are religions in the zones? Aside from destroya and the witch I mean

Mhmm. A lot of religions actually survived the Wars, though in time they’ve blended in with budding Zone customs especially since older ‘joys or zoneborns found themselves responsible of teaching and/or explaining it to undergrads. Usually the older someone is, the closer their faith is to its pre-war counterpart

[gillianthecat]

11 and 20 for the ask game!

11. a trope/genre you’re kind of sick of  blushing maiden uke. please make it go away. although to be fair, BL as a whole does seem to be moving away from this trope.

I've never been a fan but I think the moment I snapped was the end of Theory of Love. How does that even fit the character?!!

I do distinguish blushing maiden uke from when the character has a valid reason to be reluctant, either because of personality or circumstances. So Amagi in Takara-kun to Amagi-kun makes sense as shy, he's young and inexperienced and feeling desire for the first time. Or, to take another OffGun example, the plot of Not Me gave a good reason for White to be reluctant at first.

Anyways, sex negativity, weird sexist heterosexual dynamics overlaid onto queer relationships, blah blah blah... We can pretend I wrote a brilliant essay about it all.

20. drama you thought you’d never watch but did (and liked it?) Hmm. Well four months again I never thought I'd be watching BL at all. (I barely knew what it was!) And obviously now I like it. So I've kind of dived in to it all, often starting things without even really knowing what they're about.

I guess maybe Young Royals? I wasn't avoiding it, but I had no plans to watch it until an anon suggested it to me, and I'm really glad I did. I liked it a lot! I expected it to be much more melodramatic and Gossip Girls-esque than it was, and, although dramatic, it's also very nuanced and grounded.

(also: jinx.)

[i-fucked-your-milkshake]

I don’t usually spit my hot takes here but since we’re all talking about it, my hottest take is that Goncharov is….not that great. Scorsese was clearly putting all his creative energy into Mean Streets (also released in 1973) and the result is that Goncharov is a film that feels desperate for anything to say without ever finding the footing to actually say it. Katya feels underdeveloped as a character and frankly all the nuance that gets seen in her is the result of years of fans trying to push emotion onto her where it, frankly, doesn’t exist.

Cybil is obviously great and clearly doing the best she can with the material that she’s given but that material is shallow and undercooked. Scorsese is clearly trying to bite the effortless cool of Jean-Pierre Melville (a recurring theme of especially is early work) and other stalwarts of the New Wave cinema but where directors like Melville and Jacques Demy have mastered the art of the quiet cool, Goncharov always felt like it was trying too hard, you know?

Yeah, yeah “that’s the point blah blah blah” I get it. I’ve seen the fucking movie. But frankly that critical approach didn’t gain traction until Roger Ebert’s critical reevaluation in the 80s. His original review (a key piece of film criticism history and one of my favorite written reviews of all time) called it “drier than Tucson in a drought and not near as fun.” And let’s not forget Pauline Kael called it “an entirely lifeless affair that feels desperate for any semblance of a raison d’etre.”

And I get critical reevaluations are a thing and frankly lots of films deserve that treatment but in this case the love for Goncharov feels less like the love of the film and more like the love of who its maker would eventually become.

[kitkatopinions]

I think one of the most frustrating things about RWBY is that I’m still giving it chances. I’m still finding myself being like “okay, so they’re not gonna be able to quite come back from this, but they could spin it into something decent and-” and being like “okay, so X, Y, or Z is unlikely to happen, buuuuuut if it did, it could actually be really interesting-” and “there’s pretty much no hope for these characters or this story improving because of how the writers seem so oblivious to any flaws in their works, but I mean just imagine if they did this thing. That’d just make everything so much better!”

I’ve done this since V4, actually. I like V4 and V5 a lot more than some other people did, but there were still pretty big flaws and I was still waiting around for things to happen and some characters were treated badly and other characters didn’t get developed well, and some of the fights like the Haven fight were so badly done. But I was still sitting there like “well, it’s gonna get better, obviously. They’re gonna improve on this dynamic, obviously. They’re gonna work through this, obviously. They wouldn’t have set up this thread and then just drop it for seasons. We’re gonna see these characters develop so well. We’re gonna see this plot point executed well. They’re gonna build on this moment here.” etc.

V6 happened and I was like “some of this was such a big mistake, what a bad turn this show has taken, what were they thinking, this is such amateur, badly done writing,” but I was still sitting here like “Okay but it’s gonna get better. Okay but they’re gonna work through this somehow. Okay, but Qrow’s gonna feel super guilty for hitting a child and apologize and the group is gonna sympathize with Ozpin soon. Okay but Neo is gonna get a bigger role and some development in V7. Okay but if they’re going with Yang and Blake as a ship, they’re gonna start working through their massive problems and get confirmed and all. Okay but the kids are gonna be humbler now after they almost caused the destruction of Argus for no reason. Okay but it’ll be so good to see them put some serious emphasis on Weiss and her relationships with her team and family during the Atlas seasons.”

V7 happened and I hated it, I thought it was a big mess of self-important, badly written drivel with even designs that I couldn’t stand. And yet I was still waiting for the inevitable good that was probably going to come along sometime. I was still going “Okay okay, okay, they could still do some amazing things with this! They can come back from this! Ruby’s going to learn a lesson, Ironwood’s gonna feel super guilty about shooting Oscar, Ozpin’s back so finally people can apologize to and/or sympathize with him, Blake and Yang can get confirmed sometime next season, they have an opportunity to develop Neo and use her well, this Ren and Nora thing can be done in a nuanced light that acknowledges that forcing kisses on people isn’t okay, they can remember that Blake isn’t a meek and submissive person, they can still have Qrow realize how fucking stupid he’s being, they can do this ‘Maiden Penny’ thing well, and it’s not all bad! Penny, Winter, and Oscar are at least still kinda good, and they can spin the others still! And since there’s probably gonna be a third Atlas season, there’s plenty of enough time - Oh wait, this next season is gonna take place over the course of like two to three days and this is the last Atlas season? Aaaaaagh, okay, they can still salvage this somehow!”

And now, post V8, I’m doing the same exact thing. I’m still sitting here coming up with all the ways I think they could try and salvage this show and get it to at least ‘somewhat decent’ quality and improve on the characters and work on establishing clear consequences blah blah blah. I’m still holding out hope that the characters I love who I haven’t liked for three seasons or don’t even recognize at all anymore (like V6 and onwards Blake) might still recover or might actually get to talk to each other in ways that don’t feel totally fake and shallow. I’m still thinking about how this could be cool or how I’d be excited if they did that and saying “I’m actually looking forward to if they did this for at least this or that reason.” And I’m even looking at the (mostly) totally ugly V7-V8 outfits and going “Okay, but these outfits could be deconstructed into much lighter, cooler clothes for the warmer weather that’s gonna be in season nine and actually not look too awful, so maybe I won’t have to look at these for much longer!”

I know I’m probably gonna be disappointed again, but I can’t help wanting this show to be good and enjoyable because it’s at least somewhat well written, with writers who at least kinda care about putting out a good product and not enjoyable just because I like criticizing bad media. Tbh, it’s almost a compliment - though I don’t think the anti-rwde crowd would take it that way lol - that I’m still hoping the show will be better and sticking around to see if it improves, when there’s other fandoms I’ve loved that I’ve dropped like a hot potato and don’t care about the new content of at all and have zero hope for like the MCU and Doctor Who and Pirates of the Caribbean.

At the very least, I can never be accused of hating RWBY from the start and never giving it chances. Well, I could be accused of it, but the people who accuse me of it would be liars lol.

[yellowocaballero]

Do you have any star wars fic recommendations? You and your fics started my spiral into star wars hyperfixation hell and I C R A V E substance

AH OH JEEZ

I've been reading Star Wars fanfic literally for the past ten years, I think the Prequel section just all around contains the best fanfic on AO3 as a whole, and I almost basically do not. Every one of my favorites is still on ffn, and they would be such a pain to find. Check out the TvTropes SW fanfic rec page, they have The Real Old Timer Favorites.

I will say that the reason that the lead of the recent story is Fox is because of Our Guard and pretty much Our Guard exclusively. I need to finish it but it's deeply funny.

Similarly, a big part of the reason for The Cody Love is False Dichotomy , which influenced a lot of the way I see him. Another super good Cody (& Obi-Wan & Luke post O66) is the No Choir Series, first I Gathered You Here. My favorite Dad!Cody would definitely have to be Edges, which is just super good plotty casefic in general.

My Leia characterization can be slightly blamed on the best Original Trilogy fic on AO3 is "no one can stop me, not even gravity or nasa". The best fanfic summary of all time belongs to Ad Utrumque Paratus which is also great and has a good Leia and whatever but, more importantly, "black-cloaked psychic cyborg sorcerer dad with a severe breathing problem throwing an old man down the Death Star reactor shaft." Literally I've never read another synopsis that ever compared, I think about it every damn day of my life.

For some reason I used to read a lot of fics set around the Jedi Apprentice era (and boy oh boy is it hard to find somebody who writes a good Qui-Gon these days why are people so bad at it, just make him a good person who is so fucking annoying), which is likely the reason behind all my teen Obi-Wan fascinations. Guy's life is just HILARIOUSLY fucked. I read so much Melida/Daan stuff it's just so funny. The best and most influential fic for me right now in that aspect is also Edges, so go read it. Despite how many I read I can't think of too many, sorry! Most Teen!Obi-Wan stuff these days have takes I disliked so much that I ran off and wrote reel to reel about it. I feel like such an old man grumbling about how Jedi Apprentice era stuff used to be good but now it's all woobie Mandalorian blah blah blah.

More generally and mainstream, Vod'e An is really really fun and intricate timeline nonsense that goes into backstories. Obviously anything esama does, but we know that.

There's a ton of others I can think of but they tend to fall into the "Luke and Leia roleswap???" and "time travelling Obi-Wan??" category and I couldn't possibly dig them up right now jalksdf. It's pretty telling that usually when people ask me for fanfic recs of whatever I'm currently writing for my answer is "I don't read any of it because I hate all of it", but I can think of so much for SW I can't even name it. But those fics have been floating at the top of my mind because they were big inspo for the fic.

There would be fics that are #mandalorianinspo if it wasn't for the fact that 90% of fics about Mandalorians had so much random Mando vocab in them that they're almost undecipherable grumble grumble. And nobody recognizing how interesting Satine can be as a character for favor of #hotdunks grumble grumble more nuances on Jango outside of shipping context please grumble.

But thanks for reading, this isn't a lot but I recommend them all highly! And also ignore my old man grumbling, anybody who's been reading fic in a fandom for 10 years has a 'good old days'. The old days were not always good. So much Obikin.

[initiumseries]

Can we get the Batman review ?

Sure, guess I might as well do it here:

So basically I just thought it was fine. I don't think it deserved 3 hours, but it also didn't FEEL like omg 3 hours. I did at some point be like...oh this isn't the end yet? I feel like the themes were quite pedestrian. We've seen Batman be over obsessed and isolate himself in his own mental machinations, we've seen him learn to let people in blah blah. They weren't really saying anything new. It was basically a repackaging of all the other batman movies with a new score and I just...don't feel like we needed that. I think, if we're gonna have so many batman movies in such rapid succession...there needs to be something different.

I find that all these movies focus so heavily on Batman and ignore Bruce Wayne, and I know this movie felt like, because Pattison (I am physically incapable of associating Edward with Bruce fucking Wayne but anyway) is meant to confront his father/parents being imperfect people, that they felt like they were dealing with Bruce Wayne, but they didn't because they keep leaning into this "Batman is his real face." which is FINE, but ONLY if they lean into how Bruce is the mask. Like LEAN INTO IT. Instead of making me want to throw myself off something high with lines like "these late nights have turned me into some nocturnal animal" (jesus christ you're called THE BATMAN. The nocturnal animal...IS A BAT), show the contrast with how he turns Bruce on. He's the eccentric rich bad boy *deliberately* to throw heat off of him ever being the batman in the first place. He wouldn't neglect that. They establish that even in Batman Year One. 

Pattison just...does not possess the presence to be Batman. Batman is supposed to be threatening, his mere presence very literally terrifies people, that's why that moment when he helps those people in Gotham Square Garden is supposed to be poignant, because they think he's scary, then at the end they don't.

Except....Pattison lacks presence and gravitas, so all it gives is...Edward Cullen in tactical gear which is just...such a letdown when the score is SO intense, these footsteps are echoing, and it's this big epic moment and then...pouty edward. lol. Let down. And then he's just a sickly pouty edward as Bruce? It's just...unimpressive.

Zoe and Pattison...I mean I grew up on Batman the Animated series and the chemistry between Catwoman and Batman is supposed to be...out of this world, electric, fire, constantly flirty. Even Batman will say a flirty one liner. And instead they were so focused on having their virtue signal-y tragic arrangement situation with the interracial shit and focusing A LOT OF ENERGY on Zoe's sexiness and not how sexy they were together...made their scenes like...ok well I guess that happened. Not sure why she keeps kissing him but I'm suspending my disbelief...

This is just...not it

Pattison was a DICK to Alfred. Alfred nearly died, for HIM, and the second dude opens his eyes, this ungrateful bitch just lights into him. He just isn't at all...charismatic isn't really the right word...but it is because, if he could muster up a fucking emotion lol, he could've executed that scene with nuance instead of just coming off as a brat harassing the only father figure he has while he's trying to fight for his life lol.

The Riddler was like...okay I actually like that we didn't fall back on the Joker, but obviously they introduced him in the end. I...just...wasn't really impressed. He embodied the Riddler in physicality but then he started having his breakdown and just was...yelling, then Pattison wasn't getting the that Batman level hysteria, so it was just 2 white men not committed to their breakdowns yelling on screen and I was just cringing the whole time haha.

Otherwise I thought some of the ideas were fine, like, really addressing the corruption in Gotham, how pervasive it is, and the mythos of Batman, but the casting was honestly, probably the biggest letdown. The score, the mood (so fucking dark, can we have a fucking light source please?), the ideas (although basic) and fight scenes would have been quite elevated with a stronger main cast.