#posts that if i were a character on a tv show would get me labelled bad lesbian rep

[ennuijpg]

😵💫😵💫😵💫

[melbatron5000]

The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil

When Gabriel first arrives to Whickber street, a truckful of tomatoes dumps its load at his feet, he even squishes one and almost trips.

@scottishmushroom asked what this means in this post here, and I have some thoughts.

Every scene in this show is doing double duty, every image has symbolism attached to it. The symbolism needs to either be funny, or serve the narrative somehow (often both). And this season is lousy with Clues.

What twigged me to my thought was the further note that there seem to be baskets of tomatoes in the Job minisode. They seem to be a throwaway prop, except that they are placed exactly between Aziraphale and Crowley in the shot they appear in. The placement of objects matters, as it tells the audience what's important, whose POV we're seeing through, etc.

(Oh, hey! I just noticed that the plants in the shot with the pomegranates appear to be dracaena trifasciata -- common names include mother-in-law's tongue, SNAKE plant, and DEVIL'S TONGUE. Native to Nigeria, so not out of place here. I have a six-foot one of those in my sunroom! Hm!)

Back to the tomatoes.

Tomatoes in the Middle East during Bibical times? @docdust pointed out that those aren't tomatoes, they're pomegranates.

Aha.

Tomatoes used to be called "love apples" back in the day, and the Greeks referred to pomegranates as "grainy apples."

Apples, Bible, something something Eve ate something . . .

Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, then offered the fruit to Adam who also ate it. Then both were cast out of Eden, because God was worried they would also eat of the tree of eternal life and elevate themselves to Her own status. (That part of the story gets left out a lot, I wonder why . . . )

There's actually no Biblical reference that we know of to any particular fruit. Some translator at some point labelled it an apple, and it's been thought of that way ever since. But apples weren't found in the Middle East during Biblical times, either, so it's unlikely it was actually an apple Eve ate. Pick a fruit to stand in, any fruit.

(In the TV series Lucifer, Eve jokes that it was always a metaphor, there never was a "fruit" of any kind. Unless maybe a banana? (She grins at Lucifer.) But I digress.)

So pick a fruit to stand in for apples. Maybe a tomato (love apple)? Or a pomegranate (grainy apple)?

In both scenes where these fruits appear, important characters are having a big crisis of faith. In both cases, their first crisis of faith. They are learning that Heaven isn't what it's cracked up to be. Gabriel has eaten of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and has been cast out of Eden (Heaven). (Though we don't know that yet when he first shows up -- the tomatoes are A Clue!)

Aziraphale has eaten of the tree of knowledge and been cast out of Eden -- though in his case, Eden is simply naivete, his ability to go along with Heaven unquestioningly. ("What am I?")

Aziraphale's crisis of faith seems more clear -- even my bestie, while watching the show with me, got kind of upset at the Job minisode because of her own religious trauma. Job is touchy story for a lot of people. It's an appropriate place for Aziraphale to lose his confidence that Heaven is light and truth and good. It's a story that a lot of people lose faith over.

And Crowley, in this instance, is Eve. The one who's already tasted the fruit, and is offering it their partner. "Let me show you what you don't even know."

And so we have "apples" present at the moment of both characters gaining knowledge of good and evil. Or at least, gaining knowledge that Heaven isn't Good, and going against Heaven isn't Evil.

That's my take on it, anyway, and how I would interpret the symbolism of those two fruits present at that those two points in the narrative. Your mileage may vary.

[vladdyissues]

It's so cute that you uploaded some puffy, you're so kind 😭💞

But I have a question, why did they even block his account? How does Tumblr block an account? He didn't upload anything bad [?]

To the best of my knowledge—and I say this because I did not see every single one of Puffy's posts—Puffy did everything that Tumblr requires when it comes to posting "mature" artwork. She tagged her posts, used Community Labels, cropped and/or censored thumbnails, and made use of the "Read More" option. She was bolder than me when it came to posting certain art styles and speaking unabashedly, but that's a difference in personality. Puffy is a free spirit, incredibly witty, and absolutely hilarious. I'm old and crotchety and try to avoid drama if I can help it—not to say that Puffy in any way invited or deserved termination. She did not.

But she was no match for a targeted mass-reporting campaign. And, unfortunately, there's no way to know just how many people were involved or how much harassment she's been receiving since she joined Tumblr. I know there were at least three asks, likely more, and one rude comment left on one of her artworks early on.

But Tumblr has a poor track record when it comes to making decisions and meting out justice. They don't typically perform thorough investigations, they panic when they see certain words, and they're also prone to outrageous hypocrisy—like the fact that gifs of graphic, live-action porn somehow still manage to survive on this site after 10 years and a purge that cost the company a billion dollars in value, and how they claim to be "the queerest place on the internet" while simultaneously alienating and fostering a hostile environment for the queer artists who are largely responsible for Tumblr's success. Porn and spam bots run amok, but the blogs of marginalized people and artists are first on the chopping block.

I myself have had blogs deleted for lesser reasons. A couple years ago I created a "ship week" event blog, which was deleted simply because at one point in the TV show, one of the characters in the ship was a minor. The blog posted G-rated prompts. It was text-based with completely worksafe header graphics. It didn't endorse any age ranges, but left that up to the discrimination of the participants. The participants complied with Tumblr's TOS if they posted 18+ content, cropping images, using Community Labels and such. Everything adhered strictly to Tumblr's guidelines.

But I was the target for a lot of hatred from the rest of the fandom. They hated my guts because I shipped "the wrong ship"—because it was a gay ship, because it upset the canon heterosexual ship that one of the characters was in, because I wasn't sniveling in fear whenever they sent me hateful asks, because I refused to be bullied or shamed. They went after us because we were a tiny group of fans, easy to target and eradicate. Disgusting behavior, really.

I tried to appeal the deletion, but I never heard back from Tumblr. Fine. I moved the event to another platform (and it looked much better there, too), and that was that.

In short, Tumblr would rather delete a hundred innocent blogs out of fear of offending their ad sponsors rather than 1) investigate the claims made against the blog, or 2) give the blog owner a chance to delete the offending content.

One final thing:

Last month, around 17 June 2024, several Pompep fans on Tumblr received anywhere between 1-3 anonymous asks telling us to kill ourselves or "get raped".

Over cartoon characters.

It's a sad state of things when there's more sympathy, respect and agency given to drawings of fictional lines than living, breathing people.

[deeply-unserious-fellow]

Things in Zombies Re-Animated that I can't stop thinking about/just stuck out to me Idk part 2, Electric Boogaloo:

The moonies are just werewolf periods

Like. They're literally just werewolf periods Idk what to tell you-

That's not like, a BAD thing, I just think fucking werewolf periods is a wild thing to introduce to the lore of this series lmao

On a similar note, I made a whole separate post abt this but I'm very confused by werewolf family dynamics I want more lore for that

WYATT'S A RACCOON NOW DON'T GET CLOSE HE'LL BITE

Bucky's very slight redesign in the Halloween special is so funny to me- he looks. So so tired. And yet he's wearing hot pink wolf ears. That dichotomy is very funny to me-

I keep getting the song Ashley was singing along to in Teeny Witch stuck in my head smh

Probably bcuz I keep rewatching Teeny Witch for the Dae content...

Guys I love Dae she's so silly

She's one of the first characters I've ever seen who's actively described by the promotional team as "shy and quirky" who isn't the most annoying person on the face of planet

And her dynamic with Bucky is so fun- genuinely amazing choice to pair them up

Wyatt has so much more personality in the show than he does in the movies. I think he's one of the characters that's def benefited the most from the tv show format

The gag about Addison being obsessed with label makers is so funny omfg

I also liked it when Addison went insane in the woods in the Halloween special that was really funny

Basically I just like that Addison keeps randomly losing her mind in this show I think its a good recurring bit

BACK ON THE SUBJECT OF THE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL- I think the writers forgot why the wolves were mad in the movies

"Sick of living in the woods" GIRL YOUR LIFE SOURCE IS LITERALLY DRAINING AS WE SPEAK I THINK THERE ARE BIGGER PROBLEMS AT HAND HERE

I'm also kinda disappointed that they're retconning Bucky being from Missy's side of the family. I think the idea of Bucky having some alien in him has a lot of potential, and I wish Re-Animated would capitalize on that.

The whole Paint it Blech episode was a fuckin MOOD

Also you can tell Meg Donelly was having so much fun voicing the lil stick figure guy lmao

I absolutely LOVE that we got a whole episode dedicated to Bree, Addison and Bucky omfg- we never actually got to see them working as a trio in the movies, since Bucky was like. The main antagonist in the first 2 and fucked off to hang out with the wolves in the 3rd. So I'm glad we're getting some of that here!

And since we ALSO got an episode dedicated to just the wolves, I hope we get one for the zombie trio in the future, too. We've gotten more of the 3 of them hanging out than we have of the main 3 cheerleaders, but it'd still be cool to get an episode on them :)

Unfortunately I don't think there's gonna be an alien trio episode... unless they decide to bring A-li and A-lan in for one episode and then send them back to the void with the 'aceys?

Which SPEAKING OF- I'm disappointed they fully replaced the 'aceys with just one guy...

Like I think I know WHY they aren't coming back, probably some combo of the writers not wanting to juggle 3 more recurring characters & the person in charge of budgeting not wanting to pay 3 more VAs, but it's still dissappointing

BRING BACK THE POLYCULE PLS I BEG

Also not to go into conspiracy theory mode... but Singular Acey seems really down bad for Bucky, and given that he's meant to fill the role of the aceys...

BACEY'S IS CANON IT'S CANON THEY'RE ALL DATING WOOOOOOO FUCK YEAH I WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

(I am Delusional I am going Insane)

Bucky is unfortunately a mood-

I, too, am desperate for attention, annoying abt color theory to the point Ive gotten into fights about it, a lover of cool frogs, and won't stfu abt my pets

Wynter is also a mood but that's just cuz I have ADHD and she DEF has ADHD are you KIDDING ME-

Eliza making a version of the z-band to help Wynter focus actually really lends itself to the reading of z-bands as disability aids...

I think it's neat that Zed clearly still has strong oppinions abt the MLP rip off he watched as a kid. That is also a mood.

I'm starting to think that maybe everybody in this show is just a fuckin mood...

The depictions of siblings in this show, while not really a main focus, are really accurate lmfao

Also YES IM COUNTING ADDISON AND BUCKY FUCK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

The interactions between Willa and Bucky in these episodes were all golden(even if they only interacted in like 2 of them-). I will never shut up abt how much I love them being friends.

It's funny how borderline photo realistic the Shrimpy model is

Okay that's it :)

[dw-humps-n-snarkives]

My two cents at the Johnto discourse since "complexity" is at play here:

1. The audio has explicitly called back on the imagery of mirrors representing the fact that the events that took place in this particular audio is an alternate timeline. Everything in this audio did not happen in TV Torchwood's canon.

(Although, I'm one of the people that don't believe in canon when it comes to the Whoniverse, but we're speaking in narratives here. You can argue that TV John is still capable of doing such things considering what transpired in the episodes involving him, but there's still a particular part of his character that we tend to overlook which I will be picking up at #5).

2. You are ALLOWED to be uncomfortable with the contents of this audio as you can with many other forms of media and many types of fandom. This audio was an experimental approach to Torchwood as a whole, John is Jack's narrative foil and his character is supposed to show that "this is what would happen if Captain Jack Harkness never attempted to be the better person in any chance he gets."

Jack is not a good person, but he's not inherently evil either. John is definitely not a good person, you could say he's Jack's evil counterpart, but you can still see a sense of humanity in John's character especially when you see him interact with Jack.

(See: The latter portion of TDOCJ when Jack realized that John went back to him because he wanted to stop the universe from collapsing, the entirety of Peach Blossom Heights in The Sins of Captain John, and smidges of dialogue between the two where John's behavior can be easily labelled as "a crazy and clingy ex.")

3. Ianto wasn't the only one who suffered in John's reign in the audio (I know that sounds horrible since I'm putting him aside but bear with me here, he'll have the whole portion after this).

Gwen was coerced to have sex with John and it immediately moves to the part of the timeline where John deliberately killed Gwen, John killing Rhys when he was (understandably) upset with not being informed that his girlfriend died, Tosh was literally treated as a disposable, and you could barely get anything from Owen since he was only mentioned once.

What Ianto went through is undoubtably SA. The way John toyed with Ianto is completely unacceptable and it should not be glorified, romanticized, or repeated in any way, shape, or form. That being said, as a fellow polycule Ianto, Jack, and John enjoyer, this audio is definitely NOT the sole reason why people ship Johnto, or conjure ship content involving John.

I'd like to refer you to this post involving Ianto's many horrible non-consensual happenings in his relationships throughout every Torchwood timeline out there (with Ianto ALWAYS being the victim). John and Ianto's relationship in this audio is also the potential outcome of "if Jack and Ianto's relationship were to be more toxic and unethical in the workplace" (and their relationship in TV Torchwood was hardly on equal grounding, too).

A VERY IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL NOTE:

I'm not stating that Jack and Ianto's relationship should be seen in a negative light, pointing out the flaws and toxic traits of a relationship doesn't make their love for each other and entire relationship any less valid. Their relationship is complicated and that's normal, I'm only pointing out the power imbalance in Jack and Ianto's relationship when viewing it in a workplace setting (being Torchwood).

Said power imbalance doesn't mean I'm ignoring the choice of both Jack and Ianto to start and keep the relationship going as they are both consenting adults, whatever problems that may cause between and outside them will follow (it's just unfortunate that in Ianto's story, he always gets involved in fucked up arrangements in his relationships because of Torchwood, whether platonic, familial, or romantic).

4. Creating ships and pairs that could potentially be toxic for either or both parties is not a new concept. If done right, liking complicated ships and pairs only means you find the dynamic, the narrative, and/or the reaction between each persons interesting, it could even be used as a study for people who are interested in making a story because stories cannot exist without conflict. This also means you don't actively support the good or bad things about a ship or a narrative, that's the point of having an audience in the first place: members of fandoms are meant to criticize the source, whether it's in a positive or negative way, because people find a way to make something new out of it in the most creative way possible. That's what fandom is.

5. Captain John Hart as a character was never meant to be taken too seriously in the first place. His behavior in The Sins of Captain John proves as such, and using him at TDOCJ was a perfect way of presenting the exaggerated "what-if" situation as he perfectly thrives in parodies and he thrives in the purest form of pettiness and unfiltered, somewhat childishly edgy entertainment. No doubt, he's a murderous, selfish asshole, but liking a villain character doesn't reflect your character as the viewer and consumer of the character's content (See: The Master).

Remember that this is Torchwood, the show where everyone is capable of doing the most unethical and immoral thing to get to their objective, and Captain John Hart and Ianto Jones are not exempted from such influence.

Most importantly, always handle discourse in a civilized manner. Coming after people while making a point will become futile as there will be no discussion made when someone gets hurt.

You're allowed to critcize the content, but don't judge the people who enjoy it. Appreciating a supposedly problematic ship does not reflect on their overall humanity.

[lilyginnyblackv2]

List of Anime Produced by NitroPlus:

This information is from MAL and is only looking at TV anime.

Steins;Gate, Psycho-Pass, Fate/Zero, Madoka, Fate/Zero 2nd Season, Psycho-Pass 2, Aldnoah.Zero, Gakkougurashi!

Suisei no Gargantia, Aldnoah.Zero Part 2, Psycho-Pass 3, Robotics;Notes, DRAMAtical Murder, Azur Lane, Buddy Daddies, Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu

Togainu no Chi, SoniAni: Super Sonico the Animation, Blassreiter, Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru, Gunslinger Stratos The Animation, Tokyo 24-ku, Revenger, Hina Logi: From Luck & Logic

Zoku Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru and Warau Arsnotoria Sun! 

----

I haven’t watched all of these anime myself, but for the ones that I do know, a good chunk of them tend to have some queer aspect about them. 

Steins;Gate: has Ruka/Luka, a character that is gender-conforming (I know that there tends to be heavy debate on whether or not Ruka is a trans character or an otokonoko character, which is a bit different and more like a Femboy identity). Regardless, Ruka is shown to struggle with gender identity and also has a canon crush on Okabe, the MC and a man. 

(The image below is of Ruka stating “I want to be a girl!”).

I’m not super well versed in Steins;Gate though (I watched it when it aired, but never got super invested in the series, games, and etc), so if anyone has anymore info on this character and series (in regards to queer aspects), feel free to share.

Psycho-Pass: I have only seen Season 1 (the other seasons are on my “To-Watch” list), but there is a canon lesbian couple in the series: Shion and Yayoi.

They are shown post-coital and everything (like, in the bed, putting underwear back on, etc.). Shion, the one in the white lab coat in the image above is also stated as being bisexual over the LGBTQIA+ Wikia. They are more minor characters, but they aren’t just background characters either.

Madoka: I watched the show when it was airing back in the day. I haven’t seen any of the movies or spinoff stuff, but I do remember there being very heavy queer subtext (specifically yuri).

Madoka and Homura are a huge yuri pairing in the anime community for a reason, lol.

DRAMAtical Murder & Togainu no Chi: Both of these anime were adaptations of Nitro+ video games. Those games were very GAY  and very sexually graphic and kinky. It’s been a while since I watched either anime, but I do know that they had to tone down these series down a bit.

DRAMAtical Murder (I think the above image is from the game though).

Togainu no Chi

Interestingly, MAL has Togainu no Chi labeled as a BL, but not DRAMAtical Murder.

Anyway, both of those shows are very gay.

Finally, Revenger: this is a currently airing anime. I haven’t watched it myself (I got too caught up in Buddy Daddies, which also caused me to fall behind on watching The Fire Hunter too, my brain can only do one anime at a time, lol). But, I do check out the discussion posts on this series over on MAL and r/anime from time to time to get an idea of how they are handling characters and themes.

And apparently one episode contains a gay brothel. Okay. I was also aware of the character: Nio.

I checked out the official site before it aired, and I wanted to wait and see/hear how they handled Nio’s character. The official website describes Nio as 両性具, which is a word that is generally translated into English as hermaphrodite or androgenous, but not as intersex. Japanese also seems to deferentiate these words: 両性具有 vs. インターセックス (intaasekkusu). So, I’ve been a little uncertain of how this particular representation would play out, but regardless if it is well handled or not, the fact of the matter is that Nio’s character exists outside of the gender binary as well and is a queer character in this way.

Basically, what I’m getting at here, is that NitroPlus is an anime producer that has series which explore queer themes and has queer characters in them. Not everything they produce has queer elements to them. From what I remember of Suisei no Gargantia, for example, was pretty heternormative and straight, and one of the script writers for Buddy Daddies, Vio Shimokura, wrote for one other series: Tokyo 24-ku, which seems to lean more into “close childhood friends” category of writing with its male characters. But, I haven’t actually watched the show, so I can’t really say (this is just going off of the synopsis).

The other Buddy Daddies script writer, Yuuko Kakihara, has worked on a bunch of different series, but nothing that really stands out as being specifically queer in the sense of having same-sex relationships and whatnot. But, the company of NitroPlus itself hasn’t shied away from queer characters or themes before, either. 

NitroPlus is producing Buddy Daddies along with PA Works, so I think it is important to think about what other series and kinds of content the production companies have made before too. It can add better context and layers when figuring out how to read the themes being presented in a series. 

[brian-in-finance]

Diana Gabaldon spoke at the University of Glasgow's Outlander conference. Photo: Martin Shields

Diana Gabaldon recalls how first Outlander book ‘almost cancelled’

Best-selling Outlander author Diana Gabaldon has created nine beloved books and a seven-season TV series - but the franchise almost didn't happen.

The American writer told fans in Glasgow her first novel was almost cancelled because publishers could not decide what to do with it.

It took more than a year to go on sale as a debate raged about where it would sit on bookshop shelves.

The series has boosted Scottish tourism with fans flocking to Scotland to visit the book and TV programme's locations.

The author spoke at the word's first international academic Outlander conference at the University of Glasgow, which has been the backdrop for several scenes in the Starz TV series.

Expert scholars and Outlander fans have come together for events in the city, exploring themes such as Jacobite history, screen production, Scottish tourism, Gaelic and Scots, costume design, fandom, main character Claire Fraser's medicine, and witchcraft.

Ms Gabaldon - originally an academic herself - was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university in June last year.

The drama series stars Catriona Balfe and Sam Heughan as Claire and Jamie Fraser. Photo: Starz

Speaking about her first book, she said: "It took the publishers 18 months to figure out what to do with it. I learned later that they came very close to cancelling the contract and giving me back the book because they couldn't decide how to sell it.

"This was before Amazon where a book can be classified as several things at once and people can pick off the web what they want, and they still get the same book.

"Back in the day it was only bookstores, you had to put a book on a certain shelf, the shelf had to have a label and the book also had to have that label."

She said the decision to sell it as a romance came as a shock.

"My agent finally called me up and said they had decided to publish it but sell it as a romance. I said, 'What?' that isn't what I wrote.

"He pointed out that a best seller in fantasy fiction was 50,000 copies in paperback while in romance it is 500,000 copies. So we sold it as romance."

'Too weird'

She said that the success of the books was down to readers' recommendations.

"My first editor said to me early on these have to be word of mouths books because they are too weird to describe, which is totally true and that is also true about the word of mouth.

"So that being the case it made total sense to expose the book to 500,000 people in the romance category who will go out and tell their friends and the word will spread.

"So we did that and that is exactly what happened."

The Outlander series is currently nine books, with the author working on the tenth - and believed to be the final - book.

It follows the story of a post-World War Two nurse visiting Scotland who accidentally time travels to the Jacobite era.

Roger (Richard Rankin) and Brianna (Sophie Skelton) are main characters in the show. Photo: Aimee Spinks

It has now become one of the bestselling book series of all time and spawned the popular TV series, currently in its seventh season.

Ms Gabaldon's talk was entitled, '"Why Scotland? Why Not Mexico?" Genes, Borders, Culture and Fiction: Why They Matter and When They Don't'.

In it, she explained why she picked Scotland as the location of Outlander.

She said: "What I learned from my research and contact with Scots is that Scots are, and historically were, very literate. They wrote down things. They also have a very strong oral culture, they told their stories.

"They also have a lot of history available. Then there is the nature of Scottish history, it has a lot of heroes and heroines as well as conflict which is what you need for a good story."

The conference runs until Saturday and has seen fringe events including music concerts and battle re-enactments in the university's famous cloisters.

Transformative impact

Senior Lecturer in Gaelic at the University, Gillebride Macmillan, who has appeared in the programme, said it had been really important for the Gaelic language.

"It's so important for a minoritized language, such as Gaelic, to be seen on a world level, on a world stage, and Outlander gives Gaelic that opportunity.

"And I think it's been fantastic to hear Gaelic spoken by the actors and in the books, and also the use of Gaelic music, Gaelic song. I've been very lucky myself to be a part of that and I think it's been an incredibly positive thing for the language.

"Which I think has been born out by things such as, one and a half million people learning Gaelic in Duolingo. Obviously, many people are learning Gaelic for many different reasons, but Outlander has been one of the major factors for that."

Prof Willy Maley, professor of Renaissance studies (English Literature), at the university, said: "Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series has had a transformative impact on Scottish culture, generating global interest in the history, languages and landscapes of Scotland.

"Vivid and visceral, Outlander is an otherworldly but never unworldly phenomenon that takes a time-travelling nurse-turned-doctor and propels her from 1946 to 1743, two worlds of war that collide in an elaborate and painstaking reconstruction that make the series much more than historical fiction and more an innovative and pioneering rethinking of how we excavate and examine the narratives of the past.

"Outlander has also been a brilliant boost for the Scottish film industry."

BBC News

Gifs: @scotsmanandsassenach S01E03 The Way Out, Gillebride Macmillan as Gwyllyn the bard

Remember… I think it's been fantastic to hear Gaelic spoken by the actors and in the books, and also the use of Gaelic music, Gaelic song. I've been very lucky myself to be a part of that and I think it's been an incredibly positive thing for the language. — Gillebride Macmillan

[lensman-arms-race]

You don't like Dafuq's scenario about humans turning into robots because they are smarter or because they are cruel and dark. I see that in your fiction, Cameraman scientists are all stupider and less professional than Human Phaeton (actually it makes sense, the scientist who created Titan was a human who transformed into a robot, not a robot 100% operated by artificial intelligence)

I'm having trouble parsing the first sentence of your ask - I don't know if it's meant to be a statement or a question (and whether it's meant to be an either/or question), and I don't know which group (humans or robots) you're referring to with 'they'.

If you're asking me "How come you dislike the idea of humans becoming robots?" the answer is because robots are cool in their own right. I want to appreciate robots for what they are - a cool robot is cool because it's a robot, not because it used to be a human. It reminds me of stories where you think the message is 'anyone can be a hero if they're in the right place at the right time and they have the courage to do what's right' (hell yeah) and then you get bait-and-switched with 'actually the character is a hero because they were the Special Chosen One all along.' It's the same kind of vibe. Also I don't want Camera Matriarch to be called Cathy or Plunk to be called Dave!

Doubleplus, as I said in a recent post, a lot of the comedy in my writing comes from the differences between organics and hardwares, as does a lot of the characters' personal development as they learn about and accept each other's differences. If the hardwares already know everything about being human because they used to be them, all of my fun gets farted out the window!

I'm curious about where in my fiction you get the impression that Camera scientists are meant to be 'stupider and less professional' than Phaeton - that wasn't the impression I meant to give! There are themes in my work of humans being better than hardwares at 'improvise, adapt, overcome', but the hardwares aren't stupid.

If you're referring to the fic ('I'm made of metal, my circuits gleam') in which Titan TV states that it normally takes 3 of the engineers from Antlia-Four Base to match Phaeton's output, bear in mind that that's also the fic in which Phaeton says "Antlia-Four's a Bumfuck Nowhere base, and it shows. My skills compared to the workers in the main Camera Base are probably just average." The engineers from Antlia-Four aren't less competent than Phaeton because they're Cameras and Speakers; they're less competent than Phaeton because they're from a minor base that's basically a dumping ground for units that the major bases don't want. Phaeton is probably average compared to a typical Alliance scientist; they just seem clever because they're in the company of relative dumbasses. (Which is pretty much how I feel in my job in real life.)

If you're referring to the fic ('After hours in the core chamber') in which Phaeton outperforms the TV engineers, bear in mind that they were overworking themself, and the chief engineer calls Phaeton out on it and tells them to pace themself (and even makes Phaeton take a longer break). Phaeton isn't being hyper-competent, just working at an unsustainable pace that would bite them in the bum if they kept it up.

As for the scientists who created Titan Camera being former humans who were transformed into robots, we don't actually know that yet. It's a possibility given what we saw in episode 73 part 1, but DFB hasn't revealed the humans' role yet.

Thank you for reading my fics! It makes me happy that people do that!

(New readers, there's a link to my fics in my pinned post if you want to see. But, fair warning: the two fics I named above are smut. Hell, most of my fics are. I reckon they're all clearly labelled on my site and on AO3 so you can avoid those if you'd rather.)

[tomtenadia]

Stranded

Good evening all,

I while ago I posted a snippet of a fic I was planning. The idea came to me after watching a Netflix mini series called Jules storm (A Christmas storm) in English. in the series a group of people get stranded at Oslo airport after a bad snow storm. For this floc I took inspiration from two characters in the series. I was watching it and realised it was a perfect Rowaelin. Rowan is the grumpy pilot and Aelin is the one keeping him company.  They start as reluctant stranded passengers, until they realise the other is not too bad.

CW: it’s meant to be fluff but it has a smidge of angst and also mention of miscarriage.

I wrote a part 2 already and... if you want I might work on a further part 3 if anyone is interested.

The storm had been raging all through the night. An event that in Doranelle had been labelled as extraordinary. 

All morning all Aelin heard on the tv was the news of the incredible snowstorm that had hit the land. People in Wendlyn were not prepared or used to it. It was very likely that some of them had never seen snow in all of their existences. She, on the other hand, was Terrasen born and bred and learned to walk in heavy snow since she took her first steps.

And it was because of that snow that now she was walking to the subway station instead of taking a taxi to the airport. She was going home. For good. She was closing a chapter of her life that had left her depressed, hollow and with a divorce at the age of 28.

It had been three months since that horrible morning when she woke up in blood soaked sheets and the scary realisation that there was something wrong with her pregnancy. Her husband was not at home so she had called an ambulance and was rushed to the hospital while the dreadful realisation spread in her. It was not long after that the doctor had confirmed that she had lost her baby girl.

She felt broken and hollow and alone. Her husband Chaol had showed up in the evening and while she grieved he just stood and offered little comfort.

Aelin shut down and pushed the world away while Chaol was never at home. Until one day the truth. He had been cheating on her with his secretary.

As soon as she was able to face the world again, Aelin grabbed her resolve to get out of bed and get an appointment with a divorce lawyer. A week later she strolled in his office and served him the papers. On that same day she had bought a ticket home to Terrasen and called her parents with the good news. Rhoe and Evalin had been delighted. She needed healing and felt that with her parents was the place where to start. She knew her mother had suffered with pregnancies too and she was positive she’d be the best support she could have.

Aelin tucked those thoughts away and climbed the stairs down to the subway station. Luckily Doranelle had a direct line from the city centre to the airport. She doubted that buses would be able to cope in those road conditions. She had missed the snow, the cottoned silence, the smell.

The subway was packed and arrived at destination a good thirty minutes later.

As soon as she stepped in the airport compound she felt a pang of joy. She was going home.

But the weather had other plans for her.

*

Rowan stopped at the big airport windows and looked at the runaways covered in deep snow. The vehicles could not clean the tarmac quickly enough, that a new layer of snow was already down again. He sighed. He had taken a flight in that very same early morning from Antica and it had been a shitty approach. He had almost asked ATC to abort the landing, but then managed to take the plane safely down without too much drama. Rowan was about to leave the crew offices when his phone rang.

“Hey.”

Rowan listened to the voice on the other side.

“ATC closed it. Good.”

His brows furrowed at the next pause “What do you mean you want to keep me on standby? Nothing is fucking moving. Doranelle is not equipped to deal with this, it will take days.”

With his right hand he pinched the bridge of his nose in pure exasperation “Fine. You owe me one. I will go and be lazy in the First class lounge.”

He closed the call and stared for a few more minutes at the airport operations grinding to a halt. The storm had even grown in intensity and the visibility was now close to zero. 

He adjusted his uniform, grabbed his suitcase and walked to the lounge. Well, at least he had a big book that should last him for a while.

*

Aelin was  still in front of the huge departure board. All flights were cancelled. The recorded voice over the tannoy kept repeating that due to extreme whether all flights will be heavily affected, please contact the airline desk. She texted her parents to let them know that she was stuck in Doranelle due to the storm. Her father replied to stay safe and that they were looking forward to have her back.

She went to check-in anyway and got rid of her heavy luggage and the assistant told her that for now the airport was closed, but she was on the list for the next available. 

With a sigh she grabbed her backpack and stuffed her jacket under her arm and slowly walked to the customer service area as recommended and prepared herself for a very long wait on the airport’s chairs and numerous bored walks around the terminal.

*

Rowan made it to the lounge and greeted the assistants whom he knew already since he and the other pilots were regulars there when on stand down in between flights. 

“Hey Ro, stuck here?”

The woman was called Lyria and according to all of his colleagues she had a thing for him.

“Yeah, looks like we are in for a long one.” He scanned his staff badge and the barriers opened for him.

The room was packed and it looked like a lot of other people had the same idea. He finally spotted an empty table and with his long legs strode there and crashed on the comfy seats with a heavy sigh. From his suitcase he pulled out his book and went to the buffet to grab some orange juice and food. He was technically still on duty so strictly no alcohol. A shame. A beer would be a dream right now. 

Once back he deposited his bounty on the table and cracked open the book.

*

It took Aelin a good ten minutes to find the customer service desk. She was busy talking with the assistant when a tall blonde woman dropped her bag quite abruptly on the counter and pushed her aside.

“Put me on the next flight to Rifthold.”

“I am sorry ma’am, but the airport is closed and no one is going anywhere.”

The blonde woman took out her purse “I can pay, I have all the cards. Tell me a price and I will pay.”

Aelin stared at the customer assistant take a deep breath “I am sorry, but the weather does not take cards.”

The obnoxious woman grunted in annoyance “You must be one of those foreigners who stays here and don’t bother to learn the language, because you are not understanding me,” she slammed all the credit cards on the desk “Give me a ticket to Rifthold.”

The petite woman behind the desk pushed the cards away “I am sorry to disappoint you but I was born and bred in Doranelle and I can understand you perfectly.” Aelin noticed that her Wendlyn accent had become more pronounced almost as if on purpose “As I said, unless you have a direct line with the gods who control the weather, you are stuck like every other soul.”

The blonde woman took her cards back and stormed away.

“I am sorry, miss.”

Aelin shook her head and walked back to the counter “Don’t worry, you have held yourself very well. And nice touch on making your accent clear. That shut her up.”

The woman smiled “speaking of accents, you are not from here.”

Aelin gave her a timid smile “No, I am from Terrasen. Loved it here but it’s time to get home.”

The assistant started tapping on her computer “I should not really do this, but this is a shitty situation and I don’t care. Better you than her.” She passed a new ticket to Aelin “You are now upgraded to first class on your next flight which means you can enjoy the lounge. There’s food and it’s cozy.”

Aelin was speechless and almost hugged the woman “I…” words failed her “Thank you so very much. I hope the next customers will be much nicer to you. Than you, thank you.” She held the ticket closer to her heart and grabbed her stuff.

She could not believe it. 

Aelin was excited at going into the first class lounge. She always travelled economy and had no idea what lay behind those doors.

At the entrance she saw barriers and stopped, unaware of what to do.

“Scan the boarding pass,” said the brunette at the desk.

Aelin followed the instructions and the automatic gates opened and took a step inside.

*

Rowan had grabbed his headphones and was now relaxing in peace while snacking on hummus, pitta bread and other foods offered in the lounge. He was stuck and was definitely making the most of the situation. 

He was soo engrossed in his book that he did not notice the woman standing at his table and apparently talking to him.

*

Aelin stepped inside the lounge and was amazed. It was buzzing and at the centre there was a massive buffet table with what she discovered was free food. Technically complimentary, those people paid a first class fare, she didn’t and for an instant she felt like an intruder.

Without passing as too eager, she grabbed a tray and filled it with a few small dishes, then got a cup of coffee with a crazy amount of sugar as she liked it and started looking for a table.

The lounge was choc-a-block and there were no seats left. Getting into the first class lounge and then not finding a seat seemed like a cosmic joke. She wandered a bit until in a corner she spotted  a man with silver hair occupying a four seats table all by himself. The nerve. She noticed his uniform and that he was a pilot. Aelin took a deep breath and marched to him.

“Do you mind if I sit?”

Fine, he had headphones and was reading.

Aelin waved her hand “Hey?”

Pine green eyes stared at her. The most stunning green eyes she had ever seen. And a face that promised murder.

“What?” He growled as he pulled down the headphones.

“Can I sit? The lounge is very full.”

The man in front of her exhaled a deep annoyed breath and pulled down his legs from the chairs on the other side and went back listening to the music, reading and ignoring her.

*

Why? Wondered Rowan as the stranger sat opposite from him. Why some people thought it was acceptable to occupy a table that is already taken? The lounge was full. She could just go back to the terminal like all of the other passengers. He was a pilot and needed his down time.

Sneakily, he looked at her and she definitely did not belong there. She was probably flying first class on mum and dad’s money. Oh yes, she was the classic naive rich brat who goes around the world and never has worked a day in her life. The man in him though, could not fail to notice that she was stunning. Her hair was almost as gold and the eyes. They were piercing blue, with a ring of gold in them. Yes, she was annoying but he could not deny the facts. She was probably the most stunning woman he had ever seen.

Rowan was busy secretly staring at her that he did not notice that the woman was talking. To him apparently. Hellas, fate had given him a chatty table partner. 

“What?” Another growl.

“Is that Wendlyn airlines colours? Are you a pilot? You must be, you have the wings and the cuff-rings. Were you due to fly today?”

Rowan wondered how to murder her and how to make it look like an accident. He placed the book down, careful not to lose his spot and stared at her “Yes, princess. I am a pilot and now I am stuck here, trying to relax and I have this annoying woman ruining my day.”

Aelin glared at him “Mala save me, you are grumpy.”

In irritation, he straightened his back “I am grumpy? I landed this morning and I was due to finish. But then my boss asked me to be on standby because as soon as this hellish snowstorm is over I will have to fly out any poor irritating soul that has been stuck in this damned place.”

He was hoping that shut her up but the woman instead smiled at him “But you are taking these people home or on holiday or to work. You are helping them achieving their goal. And if they are going back home to their families, it’s a happy ending.”

Rowan’s mouth fell open in disbelief. Who was this woman? “I don’t care who these people are. For me they are a number on my manifest that I am safely carrying from A to B.”

“That’s a very cold way to see it.”

“I am sorry princess if I burst your bubble,” his tone now harsh “Next time fly with Unicorn airlines  and the captain will vomit rainbows once you land.”

Aelin grabbed her coffee and tried to ignore the comments.

“You better be a good pilot, because you are a shitty human being.” Aelin stood and stormed out of the lounge and found a quiet spot in a corner of the airport. She sat down and let the tears flow. She was so tired and felt lost. Her life had been put on hold. She had a plan a goal but then all came crashing down and in the past few months she had just existed. Aelin sniffled hard. That arsehole. As if a pretty uniform allowed him to treat people like garbage. She had been trying to find positivity in the small things to cope after her post miscarriage depression. Maybe she seemed naive to strangers but it had become her coping mechanism not to plunge in the abysm of desperation once again.

She sat in silence and let the tears flow until she was spent, then grabbed her stuff and started walking. Her experience in the first class lounge had been brief and ruined by the worst pilot in Wendlyn airlines.

Knowing that she had possibly many more hours ahead Aelin started walking back and forth in the terminal, noticing all the people who, just like her, were trying to pass the time.

Her feet took her again at the end of the terminal where all the lounges were. The first class had a window on the runaways and another right on the terminal. She looked up and noticed the table she had occupied before. What she was not expecting was the silver haired pilot staring at her from the big window.

*

Rowan had felt bad. Yes, she was a bit naive but he had been downright rude. Maybe he really had to start to keep his grumpiness at bay. He could not remove from his mind her dejected stare at his words. He had hurt her. Of that he had no doubt. He stood and went to window to stare at all the passengers walking around the terminal and thought about her words. Those people were not just a number on a manifest. He could see their smiles at the prospect of going on holiday or home, businessmen and women itching to get off to run to their meeting. The woman was right, there were stories behind those faces. But his job was to fly them safely to their destination and to keep his cool in a crisis. Having some sort of detachment made his life easier.

His eyes scanned the busy terminal until he spotted a mane of golden hair that attracted his attention. The woman stopped and looked up. Blue eyes stared right into his soul and in that instant his right hand took a life on its own and rose waving lightly in her direction.

He saw her eyes widen at the surprise and waved back, but no smile reached her eyes. A second later he was gesturing like a madman for her to come up.

Once she moved he ran to the bar and asked something to the bartender and once ready took it to the table and then walked to the entrance of the lounge and waited for her.

Behind him he could feel Lyria’s stare but he ignored her.

The woman arrived a few minutes later and scanned her boarding card to go back in.

Rowan pointed to the table and she followed.

“A peace offering,” he indicated the warm drink on the table “the bartender assured me it’s sugary and sweet.”

Aelin looked at the drink in front of her. It was a hot chocolate with cream, marshmallows and sprinkles of various colours and a few chocolate sticks popping out.

“That’s a drink you’d get on Unicorn airlines.”

Aelin chuckled lightly “I am Aelin by the way.”

“Captain arsehole, a.k.a Rowan.”

She took a sip of the drink and it was sweet just how she loved it and noticed he only had a black coffee “no hot chocolate for you?”

He waved his hand in a dismissive motion “nah, I will leave eating unicorn stuff to you.”

The smile he gave her was very faint and Aelin wondered how he’d look with a full smile.

“So, why the peace offering?”

He played with some of the olives on a small plate “I had no right to talk to you that way.”

Aelin took a sip as an excuse to gather her thoughts “I am not a princess, or a spoiled brat travelling with her parent’s money.”

A sharp air intake left Rowan’s lips.

“Yes, you had the face. You judged me as soon as I sat down and assumed that I was all of the above.”

He stared at her and once again he noticed that veil of sadness in her. He wanted to see her smile and lit up the room.

“Bad habit,” he chuckled “You know when you get off the plane and sometimes you have the captain there too telling you good bye?” He explained hoping to light the mood “Once the plane is empty, the crew and I love to comment on some of the passengers. Nothing cruel, sometimes is to destress after a long haul flight and have a laugh.”

Aelin gave him a weak smile “anything weird?”

“Once we were flying to Melisandre and one of my crew told me that this couple had their blankets all over them. They kept an eye on them, refused in-flight meals and then half way through the flight they got to the toilet one at a time. When they disembarked they were tomato red in their faces.”

Aelin burst out laughing “Holy shit, no.”

Rowan nodded solemnly “We have a feeling they went for another type of in flight entertainment.”

“Fuck, people can be so disgusting.”

“It was a good thing it was the last flight of the day. We managed to sanitise the seats heavily.”

Aelin munched on a chocolate stick “So, is being a pilot as trendy as it seems?”

Rowan went silent. He loved flying. He did a few years in the airforce and when he left he got easily a job as commercial pilot. He already had the training and a lot of flying hours. It had been an easy transition and less traumatic. But no, definitely it lacked all the romanticised aspects “It’s a job. I love flying.”

“But you can visit so many places.”

He snorted “On a short layover I have little time. If I fly domestic routes in Wendlyn it’s very much a back and forth.” He explained, playing with his spoon “Today I should have come off the Antica flight and got home and come back tomorrow to fly out to Melisandre.”

Aelin was silent.

“I don’t get to see much of the lands I visit. I put the plane down, there’s a lot of stuff to do, then I will probably have to go through customs, although crew has priority, and most of the time I go back to the hotel, eat and sleep.”

“That sucks,” she stuffed a marshmallow in her mouth “I love airports, the buzz and the excitement of a trip.”

Rowan rolled his eyes “you have seen one, you seen them all.”

Aelin shrugged and Rowan studied her reaction “How can you always be so positive?”

He stared at her face grow dark all of a sudden while staring outside the big window.

“To cope,” she said very, very quietly.

Rowan did not miss the pain in her voice. His hand slowly moved to hers and covered it gently. When he hard her sniffle he realised there was something hurting her. And for some reason, he felt the urge to comfort this stranger who had sat down at his table on a shitty day.

“Aelin…”

She brushed her face quickly and gave him a tired smile “sorry… I am fine.”

He stared at her. She was not fine.

“I know I am the last person to whom you want to bare your soul, but I am not as a bastard as I appear.”

Aelin broke. Heavy sob escaped her and her shoulders shook. All Rowan could do was to sit at her side and pull her face to his chest and hide her from the crowd.

“Your uniform will get wet.”

“Having beautiful women cry on you is part of the job.” He hoped that the cheesy line lifted her spirits a little.

“I am twenty eight and I am moving back to my parents because my life in Doranelle went to shit,” she sobbed hard “I am divorced and I was useless as a wife.”

Rowan felt the need to hold her tight “I doubt that.”

“While I was bleeding in bed after a miscarriage, my husband was busy fucking his secretary.”

Rowan did not know the man but all of a sudden he felt the need to smash his face.

“I lost our baby and…” her sobs intensified.

“I am so sorry, damn Aelin that… must have hurt.”

“I feel like a failure.”

Rowan pulled back and grabbed her face in his hands “No, I barely know you but you cannot call yourself a failure because you lost a baby and,” he paused “if your ex made you feel so, well it’s a good thing that the bastard is gone.”

“I am sorry…” she apologised “I just dumped all my troubles on you…”

He squeezed her “sometimes it feels nice to vent to a stranger or in our case to another stranded partner.”

That made her chuckle and he relaxed at the sound.

Rowan then stood and offered her a hand “Come.”

Aelin was not sure but then accepted and grabbed her backpack and jacket.                         

Rowan took her hand and they started walking. She followed him in silence until he stopped in front of the multi faith chapel. 

“Come.”

Aelin was puzzled and followed him inside. The room was beautiful with wooden walls and a big window.

“When it’s quite I like to come here and sit. It’s empty and I find it relaxing.”

There were wooden benches along the wall and he sat down, patting the spot at his side.

Aelin sat and closed her eyes. The place was silent and a sense of peace descended on her. She felt Rowan’s shoulder brushed hers and she inhaled his scent. Rowan smelled of pine and snow. He smelled like home.

“I am sorry I cried all over you.”

At her side Rowan sighed “I am sorry for how I treated you. I assumed things…”

“We both said horrible things.”

Rowan chuckled “We can start from scratch again.”

Aelin turned her head to him “Hi, I am Aelin.”

“Hi, I am Rowan.” They shook hands and then they fell back in silence for a moment.

Rowan turned his head to the window and stared at the snow. It was even worse “I don’t think we’ll fly today.”

*

They spent a few hours in the room and talked and Aelin could not believe how easy it was to talk to him. She learned he was born in Doranelle, that he had been in the airforce for a few years and then retired and joined Wendlyn airlines. He had confessed that he was not a fan of sugary stuff and Aelin had almost left him alone in the room. She would admit that he was a pleasant person to be around. 

When some people came into the room they left and Rowan gave her a tour of the airport but with a personal touch and from the perspective of someone who was in there multiple times a week.

In the end, they went back to the lounge and Rowan retrieved his suitcase from the bar staff and occupied a table with two comfy sofas at each side “Looks like we managed to find a much better spot,” Aelin smiled and sat down and looked at the window that now gave them a view of the runaway.

Rowan came back a bit later with food for both and a pitcher with orange juice “Hope this is okay.”

“Is the lounge staff staying here all night?”

He nodded “yes, staff for essential shops and lounges have been asked to stay open to help all the stranded passengers.”

Aelin took her food and they had dinner and chatted happily and got to know each other a little more.

*

The following morning Rowan woke up after falling asleep on the sofa. He had a lovely night with Aelin and realised she was nothing like he had pictured her. She was an editor and loved books just as much as him and they had talked for hours about their favourite authors. He had never felt that connected with anyone and it felt amazing. When she fell asleep he made sure to cover her with her coat and then stared at her sleeping. Her face peaceful in her slumber.

He went to grab some coffee and noticed that the sky was a deep blue and the snowstorm had cleared. The ploughs were busy scurrying around the airport and clearing near the hubs and the main runaways. That was a good sign. He took his phone and saw that he had been allocated a flight. It was the 14:00 hrs flight to Orynth. He smiled.

Back at the table Aelin was awake and was brushing the sleep off her eyes “Morning, princess, I bring coffee.” He then smiled “look outside.”

Aelin turned her head and squealed in delight when she noticed the sun and the blue sky.

Rowan had loved that sound and the smile that burst on her face.

“Are we flying?”

“Check your phone.”

Aelin quickly grabbed her mobile and noticed a notification from her airline telling her that she was booked on the 14:00 flight to Orynth.

“Yes, my flight is at 2 p.m.”

Rowan hid his smile behind the cup of coffee.

“What about you?”

“We’ll see.”

*

Aelin and Rowan had exchanged numbers before going separate ways. Somehow she wanted to stay in touch with him. He had promised her to text when he was in Orynth so she could be his guide.

Now she was finally at the gate ready to board her plane. Excitement was bubbling over her. After almost 24 hrs stuck in an airport she was ready to finally go home, but a pang of sadness hit her too.  She wished she had more time with Rowan.

Aelin took her seat and was giddy at being in first class. Crew brought her wine and Aelin indulged and treated herself. She heard the voice from the cockpit tell the crew to put the door on manual and cross check.

“Good afternoon, I am Rowan and I will be your captain for this flight to Orynth. We are expecting to push back in about twenty minutes as the ground crew is finishing to load your bags. Flight time is expected to be around three hours. We might encounter some turbulence over the Great Ocean and then it should be a smooth flight as far as Perranth. Current weather in Orynth is snowy, but the guys up there are more equipped than us to deal with a bit of white stuff. Local temperature is -10C which I am told is basically summer.”

Aelin giggled and the rest of the plane did the same. Rowan was taking her home and her heart raced madly.

“Now sit back and relax and let the crew look after you. I will give you updates as the flight progresses.”

“

It was three hours later when they finally landed. The flight had been bumpy, but nothing majorly scary. She had worse.

Aelin waited till everyone was off to stand from her seat. Rowan had popped out from the cockpit and was greeting the disembarking passengers.

She grabbed her belongings and walked towards the crew.

He gave her a smile.

“Thank you for the pleasant flight, captain.”

He winked at her and she exited the aircraft into the tunnel.

*

She was at home unpacking her suitcases when a text reached her.

I will be in Orynth for a few days. I have been given extra layover time since I was not meant to be on duty. I will need a guide. Someone told me there is a great coffee shop in the old part of the town.

Aelin smiled and texted back whoever told you that is a wise person. I need today with my parents. Can we do tomorrow?

I am on my way to my hotel to crash and sleep. I will be rested by then. Text me a time and I will find my way there.

Just be careful in the snow, you Wendlyn people cannot cope with our levels.

I will see you tomorrow, menace.

Aelin squealed in delight and in silence she thanked the weather for stranding her in airport.

TAGS:

@rowaelinismyotp​ @swankii-art-teacher​ @whimsicallyreading​ @elentiyawhitethorn​ @aelin-bitch-queen @bruiseonthefaceofhumanity  @mis-lil-red @thegreyj​ @sailorsassley @leiawritesstories​ @clairec79 @morganofthewildfire​ @sv0430 @heartless--aromantic @autumnbabylon @rowanaelinn​ @backtobl4ck​ @susumaus98  @gracie-rosee​ @mybloodrunsblue​ @tanvee1231 @avenrebekah @whoever-you-choose-to-love  @theywillnotsingforme @universallytreepost @black-daisy-water @goddess-aelin @whispers-in-the-darkest-heart @lovely-dove-zee

[artandhijinks]

Why I believe in the TV show all of Marius's fledgelings need to be POC

I mentioned in my post about possible future interview with the vampire characters that can be race swapped, that I thought all of Marius's fledglings needed to be race swapped. I know it sounds a little weird but hear me out

For some reason Anne liked to draw this weird comparison in between Lestat and Marius something about how they looked alike and they were Aryan. It was weird. But the reason I think all of his fledglings need to be race swapped is the same reason I think Nikki needs to be white. Mostly on social media some people are worried if they race swap Nikki Lestat could be accused of fetishism which is true and exactly why I would make all of Marius's fledglings poc.

Have him go full Colonizer as in he adopts these poor fledgling of color and teachers/colonizes them into what he thinks of vampires should be. Which is a very european westernized view of society and culture. Because like I said before, he rescues them same mentality the European colonizers rescued the indigenous people of the new world. They gave them god and civilization so they should be thankful and willingly give up their natural resources. Or in the case of Marius and his fledgling, it's the dark gift in exchange for him to do as he pleases to their bodies and that's putting it lightly. Even in the modern day I would like preferably Daniel to confront him or at least pointed out that it's a little weird that all of his fledgling that he slept with under questionable circumstances at best are POC. But Marius is also one of the oldest and most powerful vampires in existence so nobody can really do anything about it so he literally gets to live based on power and privilege alone. So everyone just has to tolerate him.

But back to this weird comparison to Lestat. My veiw is that Nikki needs to remain white simply so we don't get this colonizer fetishes comparison that label needs to belong to Marius and David. Lestat is an ignorant idiot that doesn't understand race relations for the most part, and when it comes to Lestat's racist behavior, I don't think we should be contributing to malice what could just as easily be contributed to stupidity. And because I believe most of Lestat's bad behavior should be attributed to religious trauma and the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, not because he is prejudiced against POC. And as long as modern day Lestat is genuinely trying to understand the nuance of race relations and is working towards understanding. Compared to Marius who does not care, never will and will always blame his fledgling for not conforming to his standards. He's already doing better even if he's got a long way to go.

I know it sounds weird but it's playing into this colonization theme. And I don't think they're just planning on adding it but they already have. A fellow Tumblr user @lynnenne wrote a series of essays about the theme of colonization in season 1. I will link them here. So, characters specifically Marius and David, are the two big characters moving forward I see this being used for but really any older vampire could be guilty of this in some way.

[damnfandomproblems]

Rounding up a few asks regarding Fandom Problem #5724 and ensuing replies.

Anon: (replying to this ask)

you are engaging with the fiction in a purely diegetic sense without thinking about how it interacts with reality. yes, vulcans are not autistic. but Spock was written by human writers, based on their experiences in exclusively human culture. Spock is not autistic in the canon of star trek, but it is absurd to claim that he was not inspired by, nor is metaphorical for, autistic experiences. also, what does Dan Olson's character have to do with the validity of that hypothesis?

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Anon:

Response to the headcanons asks. The issue I personally have is when people claim their "character X is autistic" headcanon is canon. There's this TV show where one character is thought to be autistic by a lot of people in the fandom. He is not autistic in canon. People just think he is due to certain traits of his. Which would be fine, except if anyone ever says they find the character annoying, or they dislike some of these traits of this character, these fans jump up and call you ableist. By all means, have your headcanons, but you don't get to make accusations against people just because they dislike things about a character that you identify with.

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Anon:

Hi, the "Spock is Human and Vulcan" anon that I think I started the whole ableism argument thing here. I realized I didn't explain that last part very well and want to clear it up. The ask was a rant about how the submitter omitted facts about Spock's heritage in order to justify why he can't be autistic, which to me came off as both racist and ableist (because intersectionality! You can be multiple things lmao). Disagreeing over headcanons is valid, but when you use racist and ableist arguments to do so, then it starts to be a problem. And I question why some people get so upset about neurodivergent fans seeing themselves within a character. Also, perhaps we should bring back the term "allegory". I'm not actually an expert on autism so I'm not going to diagnose Spock or make headcanons, but, I can acknowledge that he can be an allegory for autism because of the traits he exhibits, his behaviors, and challenges he faces, which people, and especially autistic people, can relate to. It's like how Jadzia is a transgender allegory because of the way in which her species and culture works, even if she herself isn't transgender. Once again, it shouldn't be used against fans who do headcanon a certain way, but idk maybe it can clear up confusion?

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Anon: (replying to this ask)

Autism can be a huge part of peoples' identity, but that OOP person said "leave labels out of it" because that's literally what people are doing with characters: labeling them as this or that. Categorizing them. As autistic, or as anything. Surely that's obvious? "Label" isn't being used as a dirty or reductive word here. I'm bi and the word "bi" is still a label. It's a way to quickly explain what I am without having to wax poetic. Stop reading in bad faith. From your responses to these asks, it's happening a lot.

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Anon: (replying to this ask)

I don't wanna make it seem like I'm taking an harmless joke post super seriously and I'm not really saying this AT that anon, but it just reminds me of a thing that's been bugging me, the fandom trend of going "what if actually the minority group were the MAJORITY group! ^^" (i.e. "everyone is neurodivergent" "everyone is queer" etc) Just 'cause it's kind of like. Missing the point? "A (relatively) small group of people struggle / are discriminated against because they're not understood or society was built without taking their needs into account, who largely confide in each other because they're able to find common understanding, which they often can't find elsewhere." If things were "reversed" the same issues would still exist, it doesn't actually fix or improve anything. Speaking as someone who IS queer and neurodivergent.

[ltwharfy]

"Bob's Burgers" Season 1 Episode Ranking Rewatch (Long Post)

Remember that "Bob's Burgers" episode ranking spreadsheet that @babsvibes came out with a while back? No, well, that's okay. But I personally thought it was one of the coolest things ever.

I particularly love how it calculates average ratings for the seasons because, honestly, I have no freaking clue what my favorite season of "Bob's Burgers" is. I'm certain it's somewhere between seasons 3-10 (inclusive), but other than that, I couldn't say. Because it is an episodic comedy with a rather consistent high level of quality, the individual seasons don't feel that distinct to me. (Now ask me about seasons of "Buffy" or "Deep Space 9" and that's a totally different ballgame...) The writer and director ratings appeal to me for the same reason- I recognize the names of the writers but have never noticed enough variation to label one as a favorite (again, "Buffy" and"DS9" would be contrasts to this.)

But I quickly realized that I couldn't just sit down and rate all the episodes because, for a lot of them, I've never really thought about how good they were. I know the episodes I love and practically have memorized (hey, "Bob Actually", I see you) and I know the rare episodes I had a strong negative reaction. But, honestly, I hadn't thought about "The Hormone-iums" enough recently to be able to assign a number to it.

The solution to this is: rewatch! I'm rewatching every episode and entering a rating in the spradsheet within minutes of finishing it- the ratings are very much a gut reaction after watching the episode! I've finished rewatching season 1 and my thoughts on it are below (I'm also watching episodes I come across on cable when I have the time, so I do have some episodes from later seasons filled in and I'll share subsequent seasons as they get completed.)

Oh, and here's a word about what the ratings mean to me: I'm seeing this as a 1-5 scale that I could rate all TV shows, or even all types of entertainment, on. So, a 3 doesn't mean I think it's an average episode of "Bob's Burgers", it means I think it is an average episode of television. It means it's fine, I wouldn't turn it off if I wanted to watch TV and it was all that was on. I also think of the scale a lot like letter grades with 3= a C, 4=B, and 5=A. That also explains why I haven't actually rated anything a 2 or a 1 yet. The Belcher kids might get Ds on their report cards, but "Bob's Burgers" rarely makes D episodes, IMO.

Okay, if you actually read the several paragraphs of introduction, here are my Season 1 episode ratings (the episode rating is the number in the furthest right column):

The average (mean) for the season was 3.54 and the mode (most common rating) was 3.

Some thoughts on the season as a whole:

First, I think one of my less commonly-held opinions in "Bob's Burgers" fandom is that I don't think Season 1 was awful. It's not as great as the show would become but, honestly, I think it is far from the worst example of Early Installment Weirdness on a show that I love. I've watched the show since it debuted, and even in those early episodes I enjoyed it enough to keep coming back week after week. If it had been cancelled after season 1, I wouldn't've viewed it as a tragedy like "Firefly" or "Terriers", but I would've been annoyed because I thought it was a promising show that made me laugh sometimes and had some talented folks working on it.

Rewatching these early episodes, I still found a lot to enjoy about them. There are some classic storylines and jokes, and while there was definitely a process of fine-tuning that would continue through the first few seasons, I think most of the character's core personalities are pretty recognizable. (Bob is actually the character whose personality seems most different in my book. It was really Bob's personality and the general family dynamic that took the longest to figure out.)

Some thoughts on particular episodes:

One thing I noted while doing the ratings is that 3 can mean at least two different things to me. Sometimes, 3 just means the episode is meh; I'm kind of indifferent it to it but it's okay. "Torpedo" falls in that category. I have very little to say about "Torpedo". Other times, 3 is more of a mixed review, where I loved some things and hated others. An example of that would be "Human Flesh"- I hate the child molester and autism jokes. But I really enjoy other bits, like Hugo's poem, Bob's speech to the protestors that ends up going off the rails, the kids locking Bob out of the restaurant, etc. So, I just average out the good and the bad and give it a 3.

It was interesting comparing my feelings towards these episodes going into them versus the ratings I ended up giving them. I ended up enjoying "Sexy Dance Fighting" and "Sacred Cow" more than I thought I would. Can't really give a good explanation except "they were funnier than I remembered". With "Sacred Cow", I'll add that I really like Randy and his dynamic with Bob, and that, on rewatch, the episode wasn't as mean spirited towards vegetarians as I recalled it being (my sister has been a vegetarian for decades, so I hate when people make cheap shots at them.)

On the other hand, my ratings for "Hamburger Dinner Theater" and "Sheesh! Cab, Bob?" were lower than they would've been if I was just going from memory. For those two, the subsequent evolution of the show made me like them less than I did when they first aired. For "Hamburger Dinner Theater", I remember really liking the songs when it first aired...but the show has done so much more impressive musical work since then that I can't say it's songs elevate it. For "Sheesh! Cab, Bob?", I really dislike the mocking of Jimmy Pesto's diaper fetish towards the end of it. It just seems mean spirited and out of character for the show when compared to later seasons. Yeah, Jimmy's a jerk but we shouldn't mock his sex stuff.

I totally admit that the ratings are shaped by my own personal tastes, and maybe the best example of that is "Spaghetti Western and Meatballs" getting a 4. Why did it get a 4 rather than a 3? Mainly because its really the first episode where we see the softer side of Louise and realize how much her relationships with her family, especially her dad, mean to her, and I love that stuff.

EDITED TO ADD: "Art Crawl"! I can't believe that when I originally posted this I didn't mention anything about the first episode I give a 5. I wish I could give a better explanation than "I found it very funny: but that's pretty much it. It is one that I remembered considering a highlight back when I was first watching this season, and in this case, I found it even funnier than I remembered. I really enjoy Edith and Harold- their voices and hostility towards the Belchers crack me up- and this was a great introduction to them. I particularly love the scene when Edith refuses to let Harold drink water from Bob's Burgers. Oh, and this episode introduces Gayle, too, and does a great job with it! Just a solid, hilarious episode, IMO.

Random thoughts (stuff that doesn't affect the ratings):

Gloria is my least favorite "Bob's Burgers" character. If you had asked me prior to the rewatch, I might say she has no redeeming moments on the show. But in "Crawl Space" she sticks up for Bob and Linda to Mr. Frond. So she has one good moment, in the show's second episode.

The bit of Early Installment Weirdness that bothers me the most? Ms. LaBonz's voice is off! Contrasting her appearance in "Lobsterfest" to her later appearances makes it clear how much the voice helps make the character.

I'm a big fan of the supporting characters in Louise's 4th grade class- Rudy, Kaylee, Arnold, Chloe, Millie, Jessica...so it is so weird that none of them are present in these early episodes but Large Tommy is! Weird to think that after Louise, he was first of those 4th graders to be introduced- he has a non-speaking role in the pilot episode!

Is there anybody out there who ships Normal Sized Jenny and Regular Sized Rudy? They've clearly got a lot in common....(This is a stupid joke. The last thing I need is another Rudy ship.)

I'll probably post something like this when I finish rating each season. The other posts will likely be shorter because they won't have the several paragraphs of introductory text at the beginning. Thanks for reading if you did!

[operationnope]

In a way, I love that we Ozzy girls are being reduced to a T; that’s kind of what happens irl too. No one’s right for everyone, so I guess this is a bit of “natural selection” (the good kind).

Anyway, back to what I was saying before and the reply you got on the post - I’m the anon from before. I understand why people are upset (as I’ve already said), and I don’t blame them for it. When I sent that ask, I was just sharing my own and very personal opinion. I know that a lot of people - most people honestly - don’t feel that way, and that’s okay. But I feel what I feel, and I wanted to share it so that we weren’t all being sad about what happened today, but also trying to share some positivity.

(Now, being okay with it, that’s another thing entirely, and I’ve never said anything about it).

And speaking of my opinion, I also feel like Ozzy not having just the CA kiss “to explain” puts things into perspective, rather than making them worse.

Because if it was just the CA kiss, sure, that could’ve still happened because Ozzy was hurt and confused, but the storyline would’ve been much weaker (even more so in a route in which MC doesn’t return his feelings). But when you add Ozzy’s problems with Grace to his feelings for MC AND his desire not to hurt either of them, that’s when you get - under CA’s uncertain and peculiar circumstances - a pretty explosive combination.

Honestly, that’s the point and that’s what Ozzy’s whole storyline has been building up to. If someone doesn’t like it to the point that they want to switch routes, they have every right to do what’s right for them and choose someone else (seriously, I’m not saying it to be mean, everyone should do what they feel like doing).

Overall, I think Ozzy really needed to get to his lowest point to understand that good intentions do not always lead to good actions. Sometimes, hearts need to be broken, no matter how sad one can feel about it (by this I mean with words, before things escalate). Now, FB’s poor execution of this entire storyline - and their need to add very random and dramatic elements - didn’t help, but that’s not on Ozzy; it’s on them.

I guess we’ll see what happens going forward, but really, we’ve been through so much worse - every Noah girl or general s5 player knows what we’ve been talking about. And y’all who stuck with Levi after everything, you were brave.

Ozzy came with a warning label. We knew his route would be messy. And coming off the last season, the writing has been… let’s say lacking. We shouldn’t be surprised by this. Believe me, I was surprised, but we really should have expected something like this from FB.

And I get all the emotions people are feeling. We’re invested in these pixels, for better or worse, and when they let MC down we feel let down, too. But this game/story is based on a reality tv show where things like this happen ALL THE TIME. And most of the time it’s worse!! As the MC of our story, we don’t want it to happen to us, but sometimes it does- in fiction and irl. Relationships are never straightforward; there are bends and turns, high and lows. And Ozzy has led us to a ledge. And we all get to choose if we want to continue or not.

So if you still love Ozzy, love Ozzy. If you think he’s trash, that’s ok too. And I 💯 agree- the Ozzy drama has been building this entire season so something had to give. Just like irl, when you push your feelings down, things have a tendency to explode. And it’s never cute. I suppose I should give FB some credit for giving him depth of character. Did his freak out have to be so massive? That was a choice.

And I am a Levi stan, I’ve played for Henrik and Noah, and I even liked Finn. For me, it hurts so good. But that’s not everyone’s vibe, so there’s Bobby and Bruno and multiple LI’s this season who are loyal. We get to give our pixel hearts to the pixel LI of our choice, that’s the beauty of the game. Then we get to see if they’ll hold it sacred or break it. And then we can replay!

Thanks for your insights, anon 💖💖

[papirouge]

you are right, "woke" has truly lost all meaning as a term... one of my new favorite games has a very basic and positive message to it but because the localization inserted some nonsense about a nonbinary character it got labeled as "woke SJW trash" even tho the rest of the script is pretty accurate to the original Japanese

I also saw comments about how just including a gay relationship in this game is "agenda-pushing" like I really don't get that tbqh. it just reminded me of people complaining that the new Zelda game is "woke" because it has a few characters who aren't lily white and Zelda has short hair lmao

LMAO Dying at the "woke" Zelda bc some characters are Black. Isn't that a fantasy game? like, with magic, talking trees, trolls and shit but Black people existing is a reach?? (they did the same for Lord of the Rings TV show)

I think the reluctance of these folks to see non White people in fantasy content is bc White people want to gatekeep fantasy as a 'White only' genre. Which is funny because White people have no problem reappropriating foreign genre for their own gain 🙃

Funny how these woke hunter always forget those Hollywood movies adaptation of foreign stories where the studio ALWAYS need to shove a WHITE hero for some reason or purposely use a story where a White character can outshine others?

Remember the samurai movie with Tom Cruise? 7 years in Tibet? Also Mulan love interest was supposed to be a White man initially, but people complained and it's been scrubbed off. There are whole think piece exposing how the Whites LOVE inserting themselves into POC stories to elevate themselves as heroes. Even woke storyline don't go that far with their non White characters ; they are always confined as side kick and minimum screetime (is it true that all the dark skin characters of the house of dragon ended up dying after the first season?? lmaoooo)

And I always said that the issue wasn't non White people being shoved in "White people story" because when Black Panther happened their were still mad and were seething about that movie catering to Blacks (but don't you dare saying movies featuring mostly White people are catering to White, it will make you an awful wokester lmao). Whites will always feel entitled for other races to relate to their stories, but never the other way around. There's a post floating around cathblr with Catholics raving about Arabs discovering the Lord of The Ring and enjoying it a lot. And I couldn't help but think: would those catholics turn the favor and rave about an Arab movie with islamist undertones...? 🙃 lmao.... Those people are soooooo transparent 💀

Everything is woke if you try hard enough, anyway. Scrotes are seething because they consider some video game female characters are purposely made ugly (like Aloy from Horizon Dawn. A scrote was coping bc the mocap actress was much more beautiful and he couldn't wrap his hand as of why they would change her face to make her look more 'rough' ...when he's just too stupid to grasp that this choice is actually pretty coherent with the storyline since homegirl is nomad WARRIOR.).

I also remember when they made a revamp of Mortal Kombat chara design and changed characters body proportion to become more realistic, scrotes got mad lmao It's hilarious how they think they're really doing something 'counter-culture' but they only show how porn fried they are. There's no way to think this

...is better than that

Btw, all those ANTI praising Japan for being anti woke are up to a very hard wake up call. Many japanese celebrities are vocal LGBT+ supporters, a significant amount of online stars are gay/queer (Ryuchell, Peey, Kemio...). Even recently a member of AAA (a famous pop band) came out as gay 😬 there's a huuuuge push for LGBT visibility into the Japan entertainment right now, so it's obvious they have no idea of what they're talking about... The other day on Twitter I've seen a post summing up why Western conservartard scrotes love Japan

This post was in a thread about nuclear bomb and American burgers saying it was oKay tO kIlLs thOusaNd of CivIlIanS bEcAuse jApan wEre tHe bAd GuYs 🤡

The USA humiliated Japan in the non threatening " tech/anime obsessed pacifists". Unlike other countries that still have a minimum of pride and honour, Japan doesn't remind the USA how bad they are and the unchecked harm they done to them. They are also completely economically submitted to the USA (there are still American base out there.....). So the USA give them a cookie and constantly elevate them as the perfect non White country 🙃

[certified-scoundrel]

Plant Abuse: yay or nay?

an ongoing ‘scientific’ ‘study’ inspired by the hit book and tv series, Good Omens

WARNING: i may sound like an absolute wanker in this, as all of my knowledge of plant care, the scientific method, and other such things are based entirely on 3 things: my 9.5th grade level biology skills (.5 bc did some self studying for funsies), my 9th grade level chemistry skills (i took chem in 10th grade, im just not very good at it), and a fuck ton of googling.

yeah this post is gonna be a beast, so feel free to scroll to the end for a tldr (you will miss out on all of my absolutely hilarious jokes)

ever since i watched Good Omens, i was really curious as to whether or not yellingtalking to plants would actually help them grow. when i took to researching this, the articles were all over the place. one article would say ‘no, talking to your plants has no affect on them’; another article would say ‘yes, but womens voices are more affective than mens’; the article after that would say ‘yes, but you’d have to talk to your plant for hours for the vibrations to have any affect on them’. so, i decided to throw all common sense reminding me good omens is a fantasy story out the window and try this for myself.

now, im probably one of the literal worst people to try this out for many many reasons. one key issue is that i am extremely unintimidating. crowley scaring his plants into growing would definitely be a lot less affective if he was a 5’7 lanky teenager with joint problems. another, albeit more realistic reason, is my innate ability to fuck things up in the most random way possible. im not concerned about forgetting to water the plants or something like that, im concerned about somehow getting the plants so upset with me that they start a plant revolution and subsequent overthrow of my bedroom. obviously im being a bit hyperbolic, but its honestly just a bit. im like the main characters in a nickelodeon sitcom whos plans always go to shit even after they explain them aloud to each other.

however, despite all signs pointing me to put down my plant mister and finish my summer reading, i know what i was put on this earth to do: to be the reason there are ‘do not attempt this at home’ warnings on tv show’ and ‘for external use only’ labels on shampoo bottles. it is in my blood to beat the odds, to do things im extremely unqualified for, and to mirror the (sometimes questionable) things my favorite fictional characters do. It is time to metaphorically drink the apple-scented shampoo, and to finally settle this question.

now it is time to plan my experiment.

(most experiments have some sort of hypothesis, but im not like most scientists (im not one) so im skipping that. ill be leaving the hypothesizing up to you guys.)

once i get paid, im going to go to the nearest garden center to me and buy 3 matching houseplants and label them Plant A, Plant B, and Plant C. not sure what plants ill get, probably whichever ones are cheapest and the fastest growers, however once i have them i will do as much research as i can into how to care for them properly to avoid as many outside factors as possible. each individual plant will be placed in a separate room in my house, and treated nearly identically. I will do my best to keep things like water levels, sunlight levels, and things of that nature as constant variables. obviously, the independent variable will be how i treat the plants

~emotionally~

ill be completely silent when watering Plant A (Control). when i water the other the other two plants, ill spend a few minutes chatting with each plant. with Plant B, ill be kind to it, praise it, and other things of that nature; with Plant C, ill ridicule it, insult it, and so on. if the plants dont require daily watering (which i hope they wont), ill still pop in to talk to plants B and C every day. ill repeat this for however long i feel like, but at the end of every week ill take a picture of the plants to mark their growth and current state of wellness.

at this point, i can hear all of you saying ‘what the hell is wrong with this kid’. to that, i say: ‘that is a real loaded question, and im not sure you actually want an answer.’ i get it, just know. is this a stupid idea? yeah. is it the stupidest idea ive had? not by a long shot (see: drinking shampoo ‘joke’ referenced earlier)

TLDR: im going to buy 3 houseplants, keep one as a control, yell at one, and be nice to the other. every week ill take a picture of the plants to track their growth, and at the end ill compare all the photos to see how talking/yelling at your plants can affect their growth.

[ungirthed]

want to make a place for my thots of anything with no viewers if i remember to come on here. i cant believe i keep having to make these since i end up getting followers and interacting. but i'm an adult with shit to do irl and things to fight and this fandom is almost 20y old so idt i will do that. lol. just finished atla like 20y too late cos my parents hated me and my bro watching tv growing up. journaling/blogging thots!!! ugh. i wish i didnt hve adhd and dyspraxia lmao gonna split them up so i dont get overwhelmed reading my bullshit. if u stumble upon this it doesnt make sense sry

politically a lot of critique that i have to think about. character and plot wise it was pretty good and tight esp for a kids show. amazing female characters. can't wait for the bi agenda from LoK but i may take a while for that. p much i have to say these are great characters and i could talk a lot about them but i'm shocked at what i took away with regards to the romantic rships from the show and the characterization via it.

re love lines:

i wish kataang was written better in the show (MY opinion if any1 stumbles upon this). i don't ~ship~ zutara bc i am an adult and even back then no cos who cares lol but i see the appeal and am attracted to that. i do think we have to retire the trope of the "both sides but falling in love" not because it isn't possible but because post 10/7 (free palestine) i don't think it's worth it to look at it this way anymore. until someone proves themselves not worthy of death because of the resistance fighting back then they NEED TO PROVE THEMSELVES IMMEDIATELY. no more of this i'm in a concentration camp but he's a nazi bullshit. no more i'm a slave but he's the slave master's son (i mean in this case u could have been related but no1 listens to me!) it's repetitive, reductive, and untrue.

that being said: i just never care about the typical bildungsroman love story. you see the One Person bc i guess the kids tasked with saving the world have to be monk-adjacent (in aang's case quite literally) bc understandably theyre so fucked up lol. but it's always sooooo boring to me esp if it's f/m.

katara is such a complex character and mae whitman brings a wisdom to her voice that can be frustrating to connect with for me but her character arc, her strength, her MIND, her heart, and her fists. i think ppl probs like zutara the most when shes' going batshit and no one can understand aang's perspective. but aang is one of a kind and the cutest smartest sweetest loser ever. not my fav char but i love him. he's like if i had a younger brother and not an older one lmao.

of course they're (kataang) together. they were meant to be from the moment they saw e/o and that stupid cave kiss...this is why you don't wait until 32 to watch this lol.

but nothing surprised me and it was meant to be the way it was written. that's also why i find it understandable but shocking people in the universe and apparently outside of it were surprised at aang's turmoil over ozai. like are you joking? he's a 12 year old vegetarian monk. which: i loved his vegetarianism and obviously he was going to be but very casually they put in a line that hints as to why he would be and why many of us are...so i am dedicated to it again.

so wrt that and zutara...the episode where he's with her with the dude that killed her moms and his support of her i can see why people like them. the cave ep obviously but this show is veryyyyy free with affection i noticed and there's some jealousy but they all get over that pretty quickly. i read some of the comics and i could see different rships happening and i definitely think this world lends to queerness (me personally i love monogamy but a certain type lol so not rly interested in much poly but i do like a throuple) but i could see most being bi+ or having identified as that in the past, or labeling themselves but nto limiting. that's just an aside for meee...

so like katara was being katara. i could see suki and zuko being romantic but also a deep friendship that could be deeply affectionate either affect or physically or both bc that's who these ppl are. katara is a very intense person and that's part of why she can be annoying. that's part of why they ALL can be overwhelming. theyre intense, traumatized, repressed kids and teens with mostly good hearts (or just a person so disconnected from herself but also a fascist so u know. her going nuts lol)

hmm what else oh yea. so i came away with maiko......gjpasig the show was paced and plotted well. i am a libertarian communist (anarcho-commie) so MANNNNN i wish they did better on that front but again i must remember i am 32, ancom, and the world is diff. but anyway lmao so team avatar is who i would want to spend time with but i got so interested in mai and ty lee (mailee...). that beach ep conversation was so good, that whole ep, their argument. it was extremely teenage and showed how fucked up they all are. how confused and fucking lost and pathetic. how small their lives are. how boring....so mai...