#she has so many little trans coded moments

[calm-with-horses-mp4]

how do we feel abt transfem britta.. she feels so transfem coded . to me.

with the whole thing abt her not experiencing girl stuff before college (specifically going off the ep where she has to learn how to behave in the girls bathroom i.e. providing support to other women) and then im watching the episode where shes nominated for the "tranny queen" (at the tranny dance 💀💀💀) and it just like... Lines Up... 🤔🤔🤔

YES TRANSFEM BRITTA IS SO REAL! also i see jeffbritta as aro4aro t4t personally 😌

[batboyblog]

In the almost month since the election I’ve gone through so many emotions. I’ve felt hopelessly crushed, furious, overwhelmed, and just plain exhausted. I hate that this has happened, and that the orange shitstain is gonna put the most awful people in power. I’m not gonna lay down and die, but I’m just so tired of this. That man has slowly drained the hope out of this nation for the last ten years and I’m sick of it. I know this didn’t start with him, but he certainly emboldened blatant authoritarianism. I know every generation feels at some point the world is ending, but at this point it feels so difficult to try to have hope for the future. I believe we as a country can be better than this, but I’m not sure at the moment how we can get there.

I know the feeling, the tired part any ways.

in 2016 I was in the Hillary campaign and like we talked about HOW! bad Donald Trump could be, Hillary had a tweet "we can't trust a man who can be baited with a tweet with the nuclear codes" and for us inside the campaign we took all that very seriously for us it was not talk we meant it, we believed he was really dangerous, deeply corrupt possibly criminal already, and totally unqualified and unfit. And we said so, and no one took us seriously, I always remember a nice middle aged couple stopped at our office to get some signs they weren't from the state and were just passing through. But Democrats, supporters and I was trying to push them to maybe volunteer (as was my job) and I talked about how a Republican President (Ie Trump) could appoint up to 4 Supreme Court justices and they would surely do away with Roe V Wade. And They literally rolled their eyes at me and said "I know thats a good line but do you really believe that'd happen? they'd do away with Roe?" yes, yes we did.

So any ways I believed Trump 1.0 would be every bit as bad as it turned out to be, it was even on January 6th a little worse. So I went through the emotional roller coaster in 2016

2024 has been just sad, and tired.

But I do feel something growing in the guts of my soul, rage, pure burning rage. Someone once said that the thing that fuels every good activist is rage at the world for being imperfect. I don't know if thats right or true.

But it's whats getting me up in the morning, we offered hope, and kindness and a better world and they threw it back, well fuck 'em. This is my patch of dirt on god's good earth goddamn it and they can't fucking have it without a fight, I'm a miserable cockroach motherfucker, I will out fight them, out last them, and win and stand on the ashes of their fucking fascist dreams.

more to the point, I did feel like giving up, and saying "well they picked this, eyes wide open, now we all suffer, w/e" but I don't get to give up, Bill Clinton said "there are no permeant victories or defeats in politics" and he's right, this is the call and the cause, to struggle unendingly for the better world and if you're very lucky you live to see it turn a little and a new battle for the better of man kind than the one you spent your life on be engaged. For me personally, my nephew is trans, he's 17 looking at colleges, picking states that are safe for him. I don't have the power to protect him, I did EVERYthing in my power to stop this, because of him, and for him, I'll be out there again and again and again. I wish deals with the devil were real because I'd just go to hell so he could be safe and happy, but sadly only hard work and uncertain outcomes are real.

I have no easy answers, no clean hope of a better world or a better America about to be born from the bitter ashes of this election. Harvey Milk said "I know you cannot live on Hope alone, but without it life is not worth living" And the last 10 years, the forces of darkness have across all of society, wearing many different faces tried to take hope out of our souls, and its brought us here. My favorite speech is by Ann Richards and I quote the end a lot, but here I'll quote something she said way way back in 1988

This Republican Administration treats us as if we were pieces of a puzzle that can’t fit together. They've tried to put us into compartments and separate us from each other. Their political theory is “divide and conquer.” They’ve suggested time and time again that what is of interest to one group of Americans is not of interest to any one else. We’ve been isolated. We’ve been lumped into that sad phraseology called “special interests.” ------ No wonder we feel isolated and confused. We want answers and their answer is that "something is wrong with you."  Well nothing's wrong with you. Nothing’s wrong with you that you can’t fix in November! We've been told -- We've been told that the interests of the South and the Southwest are not the same interests as the North and the Northeast. They pit one group against the other. They've divided this country and in our isolation we think government isn’t gonna help us, and we're alone in our feelings. We feel forgotten. Well, the fact is that we are not an isolated piece of their puzzle. We are one nation. We are the United States of America.

in the 2020s we're doing it to ourselves but its helping the cynical just as much. Each of us trapped on our phones in our own personal self made hell, well not self made, there are algorithms feeling you stories designed to make you feel like shit, because when you feel like shit you stay on-line, and keep doom scrolling. We're divided and our culture, the way we speak to each other it only makes us more divided, we're rubbery and inauthentic.

So I guess, you want hope, get out there and find something you believe in and fight for it, there's a local candidate near you I'm sure you can believe in, a ballot measure, a local group, something, and break the isolation we have to talk again because if we don't, well its already eaten us alive and we're trying to get out of the whale.

[whore-ratio]

I do genuinely want to ask about the dropout transmascs/transfems thing. Because what transmascs are already there? Ally might consider themself transmasc, but nobody else has ever referred to themselves that way, unless you consider every nonbinary or genderfluid person automatically transmasc ? But that's not true, a lot of trans people aren't either. I mean, there should always be more trans women, but I would argue this isn't a competition where only one kind of trans person gets representation. I mean, I'm a trans man. I feel more represented by persephone as a fellow binary transitioning trans person than ruha because we're, idk, "female". Absolutely there should be more transfems, but I don't think it's fair when people think there are so many transmascs. Because there really aren't more than one of us, either.

I suppose you're right. I haven't watched a lot of dropout's shows, mostly game changer and just a few episodes of d20. It's not like I have a problem with there being transmasc and nb rep. I think there should be more of that too. A show entirely consisting of trans people would be neat but we're not going to get that. I still do see there being more transmasc rep, though. Ally has been there from the beginning, from the collegehumor days, and we got to witness their transition throughout the years. They are a permanent fixture. I have yet to see any representation of transfems that thorough. I have yet to see a trans woman be a permanent fixture to the point where we can watch her evolve in realtime. I would love to see an actual response to the concerns on here, but it hasn't been taken seriously. It definitely feels like our voices are being swept under the rug. All for asking for a little bit more representation.

I suppose it especially struck me because there is basically no good transfem representation in our broader cultural context. There are trans-coded stories, there are characters written as trans, but I basically never see a piece of media telling the story of what it means to be trans without hiding behind metaphor, or to just let trans women speak about their experiences, what it means to them.

I don't see this as oppositional either. I would never argue for there to be less transmasc representation, I would argue that trans women in particular are especially in need of representation. And on the platform where diversity is a selling point, the lack of transfem visibility feels particularly like a gut punch. We see Ally all over the place, but trans women don't get that treatment. Just once, I would like to see a trans woman in the spotlight as she discovers herself, transitions, and speaks about her experience, and not have it blow up in the end. It's funny, for a moment I thought we were finally seeing that with Ava Kris Tyson. Then, you know. There was backlash before anyone even had a reason to be upset, and then they tore her apart once they had something they could point to and say "see! we were right all along!" It's extremely damaging that the most well known trans women are her and Caitlyn Jenner and Chris Chan, and that most of the "representation" in fiction is either an intentional mockery or extremely misguided.

[lilliesofinspirationvalley]

Cunning Hares Headcanons

First of many posts sharing my personal interpretations on ZZZ characters and their dynamics!

Nicole Demara - 27-28, Mexican/Indian, trans woman, sapphic

Anby Demara - 19, Filipino, demigirl (enby Anby rights), aroace spectrum, definitely has autism.

Billy Kid - 27-28 (at least with physical/mental age… there’s a very reasonable chance he’s been active for a long or short period of time), Argentenian (idc if he’s a robot, he’s latino in my heart), bisexual, inherently got some genderqueerness by being a robot but primarily male/masc, and sentience gave him adhd /hj

Nekomata (Nekomiya Mana) - 15, Black/Japanese, sapphic, potentially has adhd and/or autism (she hasn’t really looked into it much)

Billy doesn’t like rock music (that much anymore) because it was all the Sons of Calydon played on the road. All the time. So he (understandably) needs a break from it.

While we’re on the subject, I’m so curious about classical music putting him to sleep. Does he mean standard “lullaby songs” like Clair de Lune or Sugarplum Fairy? Or would this guy conk out to a Dies Irae? Classical/orchestral music has. A very very wide range.

This is technically more related to Sons of Calydon, and we can’t really say who he does/doesn’t know in the gang yet (Caeser for sure, most likely Piper— Burnice and Lighter are kinda up in the air, but they probably know our silly android man too… and I’m betting Lucy is the newest member? There’s a chance they could know each other— like she joined and he left a little after). But!!! He was often sent out to get booze for the gang because everyone mistakes Piper for a high schooler. Even with a proper ID.

So far the only instance of Billy’s guns “talking” a la Liz and Patty Thompson is from his combat promo video and that’s it… I really really hope we get more elaboration on that at some point. But for now! He totally named them: Annie (the more demure personality) and Jane (the less enthused one)

Unless canon reveals something that makes this completely go out the window… Nicole used to be a defense attorney. Because a briefcase as a weapon is a very lawyer coded trait, you need to have a pretty solid understanding of laws to run a business— especially more legally ambiguous ones like an odd job agency, and y’know. Law school debt.

It’s a big part of why she involves herself in representing Canvas Street against Vision as well!! Though she’s not an attorney again by a long shot— for one, she’s on the prosecuting side against Vision, and she lost her attorney license years before starting Gentle House. But the point still stands that Elle Woods, Mia Fey, and Phoenix Wright walked so Nicole Demara could run

Most humanoid/half(?) thirens are born with animal ears and tails— but there are several genetic exceptions to this standard. Nekomata, for example, has cat ears… and cat feet. Without her special boots and mechanical tails to keep her balanced, it’s incredibly difficult for her to even stand up. In other words, she’s a disabled icon.

Understandably, it takes her a long time to feel comfortable/safe enough in places to keep bare feet. Fortunately (or unfortunately, if you’re an embarrassed little teenage thiren), all of the Cunning Hares can pick up Nekomata and carry her around no problem! They’re more than happy to do this (and/or just get stuff for her) if she doesn’t have her boots on at home.

Nekomata gets very snuggly and affectionate when she’s asleep. She likes to lay with all her teammates at different times, but the most frequent victim is Billy. I mean c’mon, he’s a walking heater.

Billy: We had a bonding moment! I cradled you in my arms!

Nekomata: Nope!!! Don’t remember!!! Didn’t happen!!

Anby occasionally gets ptsd nightmares from her days in the defense force. It used to be a lot more severe when she just joined Nicole… and by force of habit, Anby sneaks into her room the most. Billy and Nekomata catch her drinking tea in the middle of the night sometimes though, and promptly set up a pillow fort on the couch for everyone to hang out in so Anby doesn’t feel so alone.

Nicole: What are you guys doing making so much noise????

Billy: Shut your mouth and get in the pillow fort, Boss.

Nekomata has a collection of fidget items. It’s got every thing from puzzle cubes to random pieces of string. Honestly I could see her picking up crochet, kumihimo (cord weaving), and/or other textile hobbies to keep her hands busy.

The other three have all tried the flashlight thing™️ with her. It works a little too well (Like “Duke do you want the ball?” too well— she just flies across the room).

Anby, much like her interest in movies, has a very wide range of music she likes. It’s anybody’s guess as to what she’s listening to at a given time.

Nicole: Wow, Anby’s really focused right now… I wonder what she’s listening to?

Anby’s headphones: 🎶 Life is like a hurricaaaane here in! Duckberg! 🎶

Nicole has so much rabbit themed stuff. Plushies, little figures, definitely some scarves and hats, etc. Most of them are gifts from people she’s known in the past, along with the other CH of course.

Nicole and Nekomata would play Animal Crossing together, Billy would freaking love the Kirby series, and I think Anby would really enjoy Miitopia/Tomodachi Life

Billy’s definitely the most proficient gamer of the team. Fighting games, racing games, what have you… he’s won most matches, sometimes without even meaning to. Nicole and Nekomata argue he’s “cheating” because he’s literally got a computer for a brain… and if Billy responds with something akin to “git gud,” his ass is getting tackled.

We know from when Billy appears at the arcade after you played a little, he supposedly has moments where he’s “cursed” and doesn’t play as well with the CH— I don’t know if performance anxiety has anything to do with it (he’s really not the type)— but given Nicole’s association with divination, Nekomata’s inherent connection to yokai and Japanese supernatural, and the CH’s luck motif in general… it’s very funny to think that they “manifest” periods where they can beat him at games. I think if Billy found out, he’d be a little miffed they were trying to nerf him but… honestly it’s really funny and he’s a good sport. They’ll probably stop once he actually knows, though. Anby has literally no part in this, she just finds it entertaining /hj

Anby has to try a burger from literally every restaurant she goes to if it serves them. Practically a connoisseur at this point, though it’s rare for her to find a burger she doesn’t like (unless it’s like. Raw meat or something).

Forgive me for the Soul Eater coming out again, but I’m so fascinated by Nekomata’s socks saying tsubaki on them. And the flower buttons and stuff in her design in general. The flower in general representing devotion. Red camellias (tsubaki in Japanese) represent being in love, or perishing with grace. Yellow represent longing. White represent waiting. “A flower without fragrance. When the petals fall, it is silent and tragic.” There’s so much we can unpack about all of this with our catgirl.

Anby and Billy do it the most, but they all have silly quips of quoting different movie/tv show/internet media lines. They all kinda learn about different stuff through this osmosis.

Nekomata was the most hesitant to warm up to Billy because he reminds her a lot of Miguel Silver. I know we don’t have much about Silver in canon, but… Very competent and can be genuinely threatening, but also a lot more emotional and sentimental than most people would probably expect. I was surprised and kinda endeared when Silver was introduced sobbing and all dramatic as he spoke lmao.

I don’t think she fears a fallout like RFG happening again (at least, it’s not a major anxiety). The fact the CH committed to helping Canvas Street without a second thought is enough proof to her that they’re really not the types to be morally corrupted and all that. But… running into someone who reminds you of a past relationship— but who’s like. Better morals or more well-adjusted or whatever. That feels. So weird. It makes Nekomata think about what could’ve been. Why did her adoptive father become such a hypocrite— how is a robot more sincere about values than he was?

She definitely warms up to Billy a lot more by Ch 3/Ballet Twins stuff. I think it’d be sweet if she talked about her grief with him— Nicole and Anby too, tbh. Even if she separated herself once things weren’t sitting right with her (which takes so much internal strength), Silver was still her dad. She probably found out about his fate in the news broadcast at the very beginning of the game…

Yeah that's definitely also another reason why she clings to Billy the most in her sleep too. She misses her papa,,, and you tend to go towards the familiar and all that.

Anby keeps a small journal of letters to Soldier 11 (or Eleven, as I like to call her). Movie reviews/analysis, reports on commissions, snippets of her domestic life with the others… it acts more like a diary than actual letters she’ll send out. But Anby truly wishes she can share all of the joy and freedom she’s found with Eleven someday. Both in all the stories and helping her experience it too,

I’m a firm believer Anby and Eleven are twins— Burnice definitely has a connection to them too given her own little pack thing… but she also has more blondish hair and looks/acts a little older than them??? So probably not exact triplets or maybe not even biological sisters. But some sort of Huey, Dewey, and Louie grouping would be hilarious

I feel like Nicole is. Very into astrology, horoscopes, tarot cards... online quizzes. We know from one of Anton's trust events that she dabbles in fortune telling for quick cash, but honestly I feel like the others gotta hold her back from doing that more often because it drives them nuts. She's tried to get them in on it but... they're not very good at it. Anby's descriptions are just movie tropes, Nekomata gets distracted by the cards and other trinkets used, and Billy can't keep all the symbolism straight for the life of him.

Nekomata clearly has some education, likely from the RFG/potentially her orphanage... but given she's a street kid, even now (more lowkey) with the CH, it might be a minute until she gets into high school. I don't know if she'd even be that interested in school... probably curious to try it but she'd get so bored so fast lmao. Regardless, Nicole and the others would probably want to help her enroll.

Nekomata when socializing and learning stuff in class: Ok yeah! I can get used to this! Nekomata when she has to do homework: WTF THIS SUCKS

But she more or less gets straight As like the smart lil kitty she is. She asks the others for help/overview fairly often, though.

“Billyyyyyy” 

“I’m not an generative AI, I can’t do your homework for you. Besides that’ll get you into loads of trouble for. Several reasons.” 

“I’m not asking that!! You know more about Outer Ring than I do— can you check if my research for this project is accurate so far?” 

“… Oh yeah, sure!”

Anby is usually the first person to be ready to leave, while Nicole is… the last. You can tell these two are sisters because they always bicker about it /lhj. (Note to myself to make an animatic of these two to this very fun song)

While the CH all share a tv and gotta chart out times for it, they also have group movie nights! Usually they’ll watch really bad movies they can all laugh at and make fun of together. This is where a good chunk of their inside jokes come from. 

Nicole loves to give Anby and Nekomata manicures! She would give them to Billy too, but whatever polish she tries will come off immediately. Anby and Nekomata tend to have theirs chip off fairly quickly too rip

Nekomata moved into Anby’s room when she joined the CH— they’re the youngest and Anby had the most space. While the two had a lot of tension in Ch 1, and some of that can still carry over sometimes, they’re actually pretty good roommates! 

Her whole scene with Billy in the prologue was her attempt at humor to cope with stress (plus finding Billy probably relieved her a lot)… but she struggles with knowing appropriate times. Given Anby has also joked about becoming a monster and tried to nom Billy’s hand (“Rawwwwr”), I don’t think this is too out there lol.

[spinningalbinoturtle]

The fellowship of the Kinsey scale aka LoTR characters ranked from most to least fruity

Btw this is a joke (well sort of) so don’t take any of my stereotype arguments too seriously. Although I do genuinely think most of these characters are gay.

1. Frodo- Frodo is gayest the character. He’s constantly described as queer, his deepest connection is with Sam and their relationship is incredibly romance coded. Plus he reads poetry all the time, wears his sparkly elvish top and that fall in Return of the King movie? Homosexual. Not to mention he has THE gay haircut. Man looks like a starbucks barista. Galadriel is his gay icon.

Sam- although more masculine than Frodo and also bi Sam has the second most Gay EnergyTM. He’s a bit overemotional he spends the entire series simping over Frodo and is obsessed with flowers and poetry. When his wife dies he leaves his kids to spend eternity with his husband and the elves. Gay behavior

Legolas- Legolas is a petty drama queen and I love that for him. Loves his dwarf husband. Just look at his hair-no straight man cares that much about their hair. Gay gay gay.

Gimli-a bear but in the dwarf way. Galadriel is also his gay icon. Loves his elf husband. Loves some sparkly diamonds and jewels. Lord of the GLITTERING CAVES you say? Sounds kinda fruity

Gandalf-he’s basically a minor god and thus does not conform to human ideas of sexuality and gender. Literally all the LGBTQIAs. Gandalf Big Naturals , Gandalf the Gay are just a few of this bitch’s many names.

Pippin-Y’all on this app have convinced me Pippin is not cis gender. I don’t know in what form trans, non binary, gender fluid? Honestly could be any one.

Merry-pansexual and very open about it. Just seems like a chill queer dude who smokes a ton of weed and is open to a relationship with anybody

Boromir-excessively emphasizes his straightness but has homoerotic battle moments and after battle showers with his comrades in Gondor. Very repressed bisexual

Aragorn- I think its funny if he’s the token straight but THE BIGGEST ALLY YOU WILL FIND. Literal king passes a bunch of laws enshrining LGBTQ rights cause all his friends are gay

Bonus

Faramir- is transfem and you can’t change my mind. Lesbian with her wife Eowyn. Has bi-to drag queen-to trans character arc.

Eowyn-butch lesbian horse girl and ya know what? We absolutely love her for it. After the war she has a buzzcut.

Bilbo-ace icon. I’M SORRY if you ship Bagginshield but I headcanon him as ace/aro. Hates the idea of sex but wanted kids so he adopted his gay little nephew.

[last-flight-of-fancy]

I would love to hear your trans alphinaud and lesbian alisaie headcanons or more about the subtext you see! Especially alisaie.

AHHH oh gosh i would love to answer!! Though I must admit that these are built from many (MANY) small moments across the whole game more than a few easily pointed at examples, which means its.. kind of difficult to pull up (and remember) all the evidence.

That being said, i do still have Many Thoughts about it :DDD

First off trans Alphinaud was set into my mind very early on by one simple fact: identical twins are almost always born the same sex. like almost invariably, with the very rare exceptions needing some wild extenuating circumstances. and you cannot tell me those two are fraternal.

now ofc this is fiction, and a fantasy world besides. who's to say the writers knew that particular fact? well good news! alphinaud presents a *lot* of other common trans experiances, which are scattered throughout the msq and optional side dialogue.

(shoutout to me for having the exact same thought four years apart before and after playing the game myself. i have absolutely no memory of the first post at all because i also have no memory of watching my partner play shadowbringers even though i definitely did. rare adhd memory loss win! i got to experiance my favourite thing for the first time twice!)

post 1: dated 2019, talking about how alphinaud is extremely trans coded, being an identical twin of a different gender to his twin, cannot swim, is body shy and *extremely* hesitant about using public showers, and having interests that are traditionally coded as feminine in fiction.

post 2: dated 2023, the same thing but this time talking about how wonderfully alphinaud and alisaie are made to complement each other in opposite ways.

he cant swim: related to the body-shyness and hesitance around the showers, its VERY common for trans people to experiance these things due to dysphoria and societal perceptions. i myself started experiancing this (even though i LOVE swimming) when pubescence started to hit. (it sucks!) alphinaud was probably one of those ones who realised VERY early what he was (logic boy who is too dang smart for his own good) so he just.. never learned to swim at all. kept his nose buried in books instead.

traditionally feminine interests/abilities: sure it could be trope subversion, but personally i think theyre also things he just enjoyed before transitioning and thus continued to do.

and one more that i can remember off the top of my head: alisaie's reaction to estinian mistaking her for alphinaud.

"but alphinaud has no problem with being mistaken for-" let me explain, i swear it makes sense.

see, alphinaud is a little logic boy at heart, we know this. he knows he and alisaie share their features, that is simply a fact. alisaie though? alisaie is ruled by feeling, and reacts accordinly. most notably the Incident when she first meets estinian.

what i find especially interesting about this is that prior to that moment with estinian, neither of them appear to have much issue with their similarities. it's only after shadowbringers that alisaie reacts with such contempt

(probably not helped by her not liking estinian much in general lol)

what this says to me is that some time before or during ShB, alphinaud told alisaie that the way people mistake him for her does bother him, but he can't blame them for the mistake considering the circumstances, so he just doesn't mention it.

alisaie however can and will blame them and thus the next time someone mixes them up (rip estinian) she EXPLODES. because it's not about her. if it was about her i honestly dont think she would care nearly as much. but it's about her brother, and how dare you hurt her brother's hidden feelings by not being able to tell them apart.

(completely seperate headcanon but i do think that estinian is faceblind as fuck, which means he never stood a chance on this one, poor guy)

okay now for lesbian alisaie <3

what WAS it that thancred said about battle scars and maidens? and whyfor are you thinking about this alisaie? :3

also: Tesleen.

also also: Emery (A Malm in her Shoes short story)

fr tho alisaie pays attention to and talks about girls a lot. in a way she never does about boys. bringing up my complementary opposites wrt the twins thought from before, it honestly could've been another way the writers COULD have done that, having alisaie attempting to impress boys with her athletic skills the same way alphinaud tried to impress girls with his artistic ones (something he is teased about repeatedly). like the absence of this potential parallel is almost suspicious tbh...

once again, any one of these things in isolation is probably simply a choice in writing, but all these things together spell out to me one thing: alisaie likes girls. exclusively.

(im sorry you wanted lesbian alisaie thoughts more and i have less of that than the trans alphinaud ones, but if you come back in 3-5 years when i've finished my second msq run i will have compiled a far more complete list of evidence for both complete with screenshots, probably lol)

[clonerightsagenda]

Arcane S2E5

Oh hey it's the guy whose jaw Vi broke last season. He's got a metal jaw now. I relate to him.

Vi looks like she's doing awesome. Of course living in the underground she's constantly bombarded by either people cosplaying her sister or her ex establishing military law.

Are these drunken hallucinations, or does Vi also have elements of her sister's psychosis, and she just wasn't under the right kind of stressors to bring it out before?

Oh man Mel your skin has gone so ashy, have you been in a coma with no lotion for the entirety of the timeskip

What exactly did the doctor do to Jinx to save her life? She's corpse pale, and I don't like the look of those veins around her eyes. Did she die?

Journey into the transgender cave (trans flag walls)

Sibling behavior

Singed and Hilbert should hang out

That's… not really her brother is it

Nice, Mel caught on quick and immediately went for the kill, she internalized at least a little bit of being mommy's little monster. Not everyone could immediately smash the head of someone who looks like their brother

Oh hey, Mel has magic powers? Iirc she wasn't a LoL character pre-show so I figured she'd be normal

Unrelated but having rewatched s1 where Jinx was driven to a jealous frenzy over Caitlyn and Vi standing next to each other I'm surprised she threw in that "I hope you at least got to have gay sex before I kill you <3" comment. You'd think she'd be in more of a love loses mood.

Oh god I can only imagine how many people are now thirsting over scarless young Silco. Young Vander on the other hand is objectively a downgrade imo

Not sure how I feel about Vander and Silco knowing Vi and Jinx's mom beforehand. I kind of liked them just picking up random kids off the street rather than doing it because 'hey I know that kid'. Vander in the spirit of community mutual support, Silco because he has problems

Appreciate that Warwick comes with color coded mood signifiers

I'm sure this one moment of the sisters happily hugging their werewolf zombie dad is the last hope spot for the next 4 episodes. Since I just read Anne Carson's Antigone and it is On My Mind I'm thinking about the chorus while all the characters rush offscreen hoping to make it in time to stop the tragedy (they won't. it's a tragedy. they were all doomed from the beginning) going "we're still here, we're all fine, we're standing in the nick of time"

Aaaaaaand nick over, we are now in the industrial chamber of doom

Oh hey when the transgender furry mentioned a good doctor I thought she meant Singed, not Viktor. Well, enjoy your new legs I guess, elf council guy. Possibly evil legs? Because all prosthetics in this show are Sinister except Jayce's mom's fingers. Actually Jinx's finger is fine. You heard it here folks: fingers! the one body mod the showrunners don't think is too scary

Jayce is back from the shadow realm. Is he… glitching?

Jayce what the fuck man

Wait if Jayce was in some weird nightmare dimension that he just popped out of was he... in.... hammerspace........... (I'll see myself out)

[grayintogreen]

Okay I've never done this for LitMoR because there's three times as many OCs and I always feel weird talking about "voice claims"" in a fandom that doesn't... do that. Or really have a huge OC culture in general, but since Hellaverse does and I HAVE seen people going "if my OC was real, they would be played by x" before, I wanted to provide the list and some references so you can hear them as I hear them.

This list is painfully biblically accurate to the casting pool Vivzie uses (either Broadway actors or voice actors who have done musicals), barring a couple exceptions. It also contains the Canon OC's, because lbr my interpretations of Eve, Crymini, Lilith, Baxter, and Arackniss are not going to be canon and I'm okay with that. Roseverse is an AU.

ANYWAY. BENEATH THE CUT ARE A BUNCH OF YOUTUBE CLIPS + long-winded explanations. ENJOY. I’ll have to do another one because there’s a ten video limit and I had more characters to cover plus there’s characters who haven’t been introduced yet.

EDEN ESPIONSA AS EVE

Listen I will fully admit this decision was spurred on by "Nothing Left to Lose" but Eden Espinosa is hella good at playing resentful second fiddle bad girlies, given her entire career feels like it comes down to "Idina Menzel but affordable" (don't listen baby girl you're amazing).

ELIZABETH MITCHELL AS LILITH (SINGING VOICE: LADY GAGA)

I've gone over this one before, but I stand by it. I know Vivzie's hc voice for Lilith for real is Lady Gaga, but it wasn't vibing with how I've been writing her, so Lady Gaga plays her when she's singing (specifically the very raw, less sylized way she sings ASiB) and Liz plays her every other time. Watch that Blonde4Blonde love scene and tell me that isn't Lucillith reunion coded.

CHRISTOPHER FITZGERALD AS BAXTER

Now if Baxter appears in canon as more than a cameo, I would want him to be played by an actual trans actor because WE CANNOT IGNORE THE FACT THAT ONLY FEMALE ANGLERFISH HAVE LURES (and Viv denotes trans characters in imps by their horns so we know she's done this kind of thing to cue the audience in), but since this is just for fun and for me to have something to refer back to when I'm writing for vocal consistency, I gotta go with this nerd.

Note: I did NOT realize he played Kimiko Glenn's love interest in Waitress until I was looking up a video.

BARRETT WILBERT WEED AS CRYMINI

This one is actually at least marginally possible because BWW already voices Octavia. Part of the reason why she and Stolas have that cute little moment in Chapter Five of OWDLIF is because she shares a VA with his daughter and it was a dumb little moment for me, personally. (The clip in there with the live version of Dead Girl Walking where she sounds a little drunk and she's reading the lyrics off her phone is the exact energy for Crymini.)

Also “Fight For Me” from the Heathers musical is the Crinomini theme.

BRENNAN LEE MULLIGAN AS ARACKNISS

Here's one of our exceptions! This came out of nowhere because at first I was using Jeremy Jordan in Newsies as the basis for his voice, but it VERY QUICKLY- like while writing the first chapter- morphed into Sean, so that's what I'm stuck with. Also I'm sorry it's so long, but trust me it's worth it. Brennan is an improv god.

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA AS CHANCE

YEAH YEAH I KNOW. YOU LOVE CHANCE ANYWAY. I will say that Roseverse Chance is specifically closer to In the Heights!LMM, whereas LitMoR Chance is very specifically Lee Scoresby. Ergo In the Heights.

ERIKA ISHII AS DIANA

The third exception. Though Erika has been doing voice work and has been in a musical game, even if they didn't sing in it, so who knows.

Also this video clip is so Dianacore. The whole thing.

KHARY PEYTON AS AAMON

This is like the main reason I posted this, because I need everyone to be aware of just how hot Aamon sounds despite him being a giant toolbox.

REBECCA FERGUSON AS ROO

Listen. LISTEN. She can sing. She's got a sexy voice. She's NOT LIKELY TO EVER BE CAST, but Rose the Hat is like 85% of my entire aesthetic for her. Her secondary aesthetic is Kate Shindle as the Mad Hatter in the Wonderland musical who is slightly more castable.

[gibbearish]

with my last post that reminds me it's been a while since i told people about solace so this is your daily reminder that if you are trans and live in the united states you should consider downloading solace

it's an app that walks you through the transition process in as much or as little detail and has a bunch of other helpful things too, for instance name testing:

multiple pronouns options and customizable language options:

notifications:

and the main perk, being able to set and track transition goals:

you pick as many goals as you want from a big big list sectioned off between legal, social, and medical goals, and you can then open up the goals and each one will walk you through the process of getting there in a ridiculous amount of detail. it also lets you mark goals as complete (that's why binding is yellow) as well as unmark and remark them as many times as you want in case things change.

it used (?) to have a link to the map of every informed consent clinic in the united states, i can't find it at the moment though and i very much hope thats just me being bad at searching and they didn't have to remove it for some reason.

one thing i will mention is that the goals offered are determined by the pronouns you pick, so if you select he/him you'll be offered masculinizing options, she/her feminizing, and they/them or custom are offered both, which. isn't Great, but given how good the rest of the app is i think they get a pass, especially because they've been actively updating it the whole time i've had it. initially you were unable to update your name at all and they had a note in that section being like "we're sorry we're sorry we know not being able to update your name is like the polar opposite of helpful for trans people its just that coding is hellfire and technology is evil and its been actively resisting letting us do that, we're working on it as we speak sorry again" and now you can bounce it back and forth as many times as you want, so it is still being improved as far as i know.

but yeah, if you're trans and in the us, this app can be really really helpful as a starting point for a bunch of different things, definitely recommend 👍

[oathofkaslana]

hi hi hi leeeee :] as a colleiwarrior it is my duty to ask about collei o7 and if you want to do it id like to hear your thoughts about xiao too hehe

HAI PLUTO!!!! ill do collei and then xiao :3

Collei:

First impression:

OHHH I LOVE HER ALREADY SHE'S SO SNARKY AND HER LORE IS SO COMPELLING....... very very excited to see her in game i hope she comes out soon (<- had to wait like what. two/three years????)

Impression now:

gives me brain worms my God. i think i've thought about her too much bc theres so many lil symbols that i associate w her that just aren't intentional in the slightest. she has so so so much lovea nd heart in her and i wishhhh people understood her better. also extremely disappointed in her in-game writing for multiple reasons but like. the ableism and misogyny being a big one. :( colleination could fix her...... i wish she were more mean in the game.

Favorite moment:

her fight w kaeya and the subsequent "confrontation" w amber....... makes me so so sick in the head that was The original collei trio to me. i looove how it plays w all three of their characters even if it isn't shown very well. it's also the basis for a lot of my interpretation of collei since it shows the extent of her beliefs/lack of belief. dear god..... it's so so good.

Idea for a story:

i've talked abt wt spin off au and windblume rewrite a bunch on this blog so let's go with amber and collei liyue trip!! :DD someone comes and tells amber they heard something about her grandfather in qingce while collei's in town and obv collei's like i can't hold you back on this! so they jsut decide to go together bc collei's packed a bag anyways and they're both adept w survival skills surely their different skills will come in handy for liyue. going to qingce leads them to going to yilong port (i'd do qiaoying but i feel like its too close) and amber's like. kinda stumbling w her broken canto-mando and feeling weirdly emotional and she and collei both bond w "coming back" to a generational homeland while feeling like a stranger and its an important moment to both of them bonding as friends and a pivitol point of collei changing her idea of amber as a savior as more of amber as a best friend yk :''). also ga-ming....... i don't know if he'll stay for long bc honestly i do want it to focus on amber and collei but i think it'd be fun for him to at least make an appearance or sm yk!! the narrative there could be so compelling.

Favorite relationship:

........................okay yeah obv it's amber and collei aksjbdkbsdja BUT. her and cyno are a close second :]

Favorite headcanon:

SNAKE MOMENT. i have a moment in my wt spin off au where she tends to a snake in spite of a phobia of them and it's representative of her first step towards healing AND her caring for her younger self even if she's still wrapped in so much hatred of her. also trans (she/her) lesbian.

Xiao:

First impression:

he's so sad :(( i want him please come home.... he has so so much heart and he doesn't even know it because of his own grief and guilt and objectification of himself :(( he's bruce-coded FUCK.

Impression now:

MAKES ME VIOLENT. i love him so so bad i miss him all the time. his story is soooo entangled with grief and acceptance and every little step he takes reflects that. he's such a fun character bc it's kinda a study on what comes after the tragic hero's story yk? except the tragedy is in part because he lives! he feels so so much and has such a big hear tbut denies it any priority bc it's easier not to. :((

Favorite moment:

PERILOUSWS TRAILS CUTSCNEe......... MY GOD. DERA GHODDD. FUCK. it makes me so so sick in the head that entire quest. xiao so readily sacrificing himself for the others because it's his duty to and because its what all his loved ones did. him closing his eyes and accepting it and finding comfort in the fact that he knows what happened to bosacius and that he's following his footsteps. him being saved and being surprised but That being such a key moment to his grieving process. also the poem from the waterborne poetry event :'') (aka the only part of that event that matters). it referencing all of the yakshas :'''''') and talking of him missing them

Idea for a story:

i don't have an actual story w xiao in mind... i would loooove to see another story quest w him and the other adepti though :''') i wanna see him in the past so so bad :C

Favorite relationship:

him and zhongli! :] they're both characters whos stories are about grief but both have different timelines to it and i think that's so so interesting especially when you remember how zhongli showed no emotion during the archon war and how his depart from his duty was his final stage of grief (acceptance) whereas xiao plunged himself into duty and emotional repression as a means to cope with all the grief and guilt and pain that he feels.

Favorite headcanon:

i think the wangshu inn staff gives him li xi sometimes and he's just like "i am literally older than you please stop i have no need for this" but he keeps it anyways. they have a small room saved for him at all times just in case he ever wants it (he never takes it but he appreciates it). <- its small bc he'd die if it was an open space.

[eeblouissant]

hii !! @witchybitchybisexual tagged me a while back to answer some tgg questions, and I’ve finally gotten around to it haha! Thank you soso much I had lots of fun with this :D (under the cut so I don’t clog anyones tl)

1. How did you find out about the show?

I was raised on it! My mother always (and I mean always. I’m very grateful she kept all her DVDs in such good condition so that I can rewatch!) had it on in the background when I was little, my great grandma too I believe. (I’m also convinced Bea Arthur was my gay awakening, i used to sit and stare for hoursss lol)

2. One storyline you'd eliminate?

Listen … there are so many but. I feel like you all already know what I’m about to say - firstly, the bit where Dorothy almost marries Stan again. I’d get rid of many of the Stan storylines (and get him much further away from Dorothy, honestly it’s a little upsetting to see him near her at all but maybe I’m just overly sensitive when it comes to the things Dorothy’s been through because of him? He shouldn’t have been a reoccurring character imo.) but that one especially. I can understand the need for it, because it dives into a part of Dorothy’s character that I find very interesting and that I love expanding on, but god it just hurt my heart way too much. He makes me very upset and I’m just a viewer - so I can’t imagine what it would be like for someone to actually have to put up with him. I really think I’m just overly sensitive because of the subject matter but oh well 😅. Anyway - that and, I’d change how the show ended. And not in the way you think !!!! I think it was crucial that Dorothy got her fairytale ending, she deserved it more than anyone (sorry rose, blanche, sophia) after the way she’s always treated, even if it’s not really meant, she deserved to hold that over their heads. I wouldn’t change a thing about that. But I would change that exit scene, where she isn’t able to respond to roses’ “is this goodbye?” It is goodbye. It shouldn’t have been goodbye - I hated that they ended it that way so badly. And the affect is seen later in the golden palace (they don’t even patch things up really!!!!!! It was so horribly done imo!!!! Maybe I’m just bitter I’m not sure 😭)

3. Best guest star/character?

The two times Sophia’s sister appears are my favourites, so I’ll have to go with her 😂

Also - I’m forgetting his name at the moment, but the trans man that made an appearance in that one episode. The way he was never misgendered or deadnamed!! that episode has a very special place in my heart!!! (Jean as well, that episode is also a huge comfort. But I don’t think I need to say that - it’s kind of implied)

4. Character you most relate to?

Dorothy and Rose equally 🚶🏻‍♀️ but is this really a shock at this point lol

5. Favourite character?

Rose !!!!!! You may think otherwise but she will forever be my favourite. She’s just too relatable, I see a lot of myself (unmasked) in her and it brings me a lot of comfort. Shes actually helped me start to be okay with the idea of unmasking a little more outside of the house. I love her soooo so much.

6. Favourite story of a cast member?

This one kind of involves all of them? So I hope it counts, but learning that the crew were the photos in the ‘men of blanches boudoir’ episode 😂 hilarious!! I can’t remember if the girls were expecting it, I hope it all came as a surprise because their reactions seemed genuine!

7. Which was the episode that got you hooked?

I can’t really answer this one because I’ve always loved the show, simply because I grew up on it 😅 my mum & I have a very similar dynamic to Sophia and Dorothy, so I actually think that’s what kept me hooked; the emotions and memories attached! And then of course growing up and picking up on how queer coded those three are, good lord.

8. You could wear one girl's wardrobe for the rest of your life, who would you pick?

Sophia and Rose, no hesitation. Dorothy is too tall and flowy for me (I’m 5’2, no way I’m pulling her wardrobe off lol), Blanche is too, well, Blanche 😭 although I do adore her wardrobe, it’s just definitely not for me (I will however be stealing her robes & housecoats immediately)

9. How many kids do you think they all actually had?

Okay, I know Dorothy for sure only had two. That’s talked about lots. Blanche had four? Because she’s only ever talked about having four, possibly adopting? And Rose, I’m actually unsure, does she ever say it outright 😅? I’d guess three or four. I know we see one or two of her kids but otherwise I’m unsure.

10. Do you think the actresses would've gotten along with their characters if they met in real life?

Why/Why not?

Sophia and Estelle would be two peas in a pod and I stand by that. They both just have this way about them that makes me think it wouldn’t turn out any other way haha

hhhhmmmm … I think that Dorothy and Bea would be able to relate on a different level for sure. Cheating husbands, very specific insecurities (until Bea was a little older that is. Her confidence was contagious!) fashion choices, similar opinions on how comfortable shoes actually are lol - but I feel like Dorothy is a little too much of a romantic. That might have thrown them off. Bea was also a very shy person, and Dorothy is a little more bold. That would have gone one of two ways I think! Either Dorothy ends up being her scary guard dog or they clash for all the wrong reasons 😂

Rose and Betty? I don’t have much to say other than, again, it would have gone one of two ways and been very black and white 😂 either they’re hitting it off, or never speaking again.

Rue mentions once that shes all Blanche with the exception of not being from Atlanta Georgia, and friends of hers have mentioned that she had a hard time shaking Blanche off after the show ended - so, I’d say they’re practically twins 😅 they’d question if they were related!

11. What are your other comfort shows?

The crown! (special interest, you know how it goes), I don’t watch much, because I always fear getting too absorbed in media and developing another fixation 😭 it’s also just hard when I’ve got such intense interests going on. I can’t delve into new media because it’s almost overwhelming? Idk can’t explain that one. Anyway, talk to me about the crown and I’ll marry you on the spot (/j)

12. Headcanons? (Feel free to list as many as you'd like)

Oh BOY. Oh here we go. You’ve all seen many of my headcanons by now so this might get repetitive, but I’ll list some anyway:

First off, because oh my god I think about it daily, Blanche has a natural tan!! Partly because she lays out in the sun so often but I also see her just being born with it. Something about it suits her so well! She gets a tiny bit paler in the winter but in the summer she’s almost unrecognizable (Thank you Blanche for adding some colour to the group lmao, those ladies are white !!!!)

I headcanon strongly that Rose is autistic. Or at the very least neurodivergent somehow (definitely autistic, but you get my point) - as an autistic person she reminds me a lot of myself when I’m unmasked and it’s actually really lovely unintentional representation! I feel so seen by her!

Honestly, a lot of what I would want to headcanon about Dorothy is already canon (her chronic illness, depression, hearing aid etc) but one thing I do headcanon her dealing with that isn’t explicitly stated is dissociation. It would come naturally with that one really awful thing that I won’t name that happened to her - and having to them live with Stanley for 38 years after the fact? I believe dissociation became less of a concern to her and more of a very, very dear friend. Anyway, I’ve rambled on that a million times so I’ll spare you all 😅

I also headcanon that Dorothy is an extremely repressed lesbian, be it her religion or, again, the very awful thing that shall not be named, etc - there’s something about the way she treads so carefully around the topic of lesbianism that just … yeah. We know Dorothy. It’s okay. I headcanon blanche being bisexual, since it’s kind of hinted at once or twice? Or like? Straight up implied? Cut to all the times she just happened to ask Dorothy to “help her out” or pick between her and rose lmao. I can see rose being pan or bi as well, but I think I headcanon her being unlabelled honestly! She just wants to love and be loved, if she loves someone, she loves them!

Honestly, I don’t have many headcanons for Sophia - she’s perfect as she is 😂 10/10 no notes!

13. What would you change (if anything) about the show/ characters if it was set in the modern day?

Again, how it ended, and in this case because of the insane amount of queer coding and subtext - need I say more? I can’t see this show being set in modern times, I honestly think it would ruin the vibe 😅

14. Which other Fictional Characters would you like each one of the golden girls to meet?

oh lord okay, I’ve saved this one for last because I’m actually not sure? I don’t think I can answer this one but I’ll edit and add if anything comes to mind later 😅

15. Who were your favourite duo?

Rose and Dorothy!!!! Although it’s very hard to separate the four, rose and Dorothy always had the most precious scenes.

16. Who should've got more 1:1 screen time with each other?

Rose and Dorothy 😭😭 pleassseeeee oh my god

16. Calmest season?

Two I think!

17. Most chaotic season?

Seven or three - season seven felt rushed, so it felt chaotic in a way I hated, but season three was so filled with lore and things that it felt chaotic for all the right reasons!

18. Favorite Season?

Three and four!

19. If the girls hadn't had their established careers, what other ones could you picture them doing?

Well firstly I’d give Dorothy her antique shop dream, obviously. I cant not see Blanche doing something with the arts… if she really put her mind to it I think she would make an incredible artist. & rose … hhhmmm. Maybe a preschool or kindergarten teacher! (Sophia is exempt here, let the woman rest lol she’s much to old to be working)

20. Best aspects of the show in your opinion?

All the different kinds of representation! How much it leaned into topics that were otherwise considered kind of swept under the rug. There’s been a billion posts made explaining this already though so I’m sure I don’t need to talk anyone’s ear off about it 😅

21. This question is for my fellow cheesecake lovers) favourite cheesecake flavour?

Ohhhh strawberry has to be my favourite.

22. Storyline you wished they had expanded upon?

Okay this is going to sound silly so bare with me, but that time Sophia got a job (dressed up in that pirate costume) - they never expanded on it, in fact she kind of disappeared for the rest of the episode!!!! I have to know what on earth was going on there 😭!!!

23. Questions you'd ask the actresses?

Honestly, if they actually got along. Because there have been rumours and things. (and then, you know. The Thing Rue Said that Bea had said about Betty because of the way she was picking on Estelle. And also Betty admitting that Bea was never too fond of her. I just have to know!) id also ask Bea Arthur specifically what she thought of the possible queer subtext around Dorothy’s character - I have a feeling she’d be fond of it actually 😂

24. Episode that brings you the most comfort?

Any episode that isn’t from the end of season 7 😭 I don’t think I can pick just one

25. Episode that made you laugh the hardest?

The episode where Dorothy sleeps with (or well, attempts to. We all know how that went) stans brother. I could write an essay on that one but oh my GOD I was laughing so hard at the parts that weren’t ripping my heart out!!!

26. Which other work that the actresses did you enjoy the most?

You’re asking me to pick only one of Bea Arthur’s other works???? I’d have to say Maude I think, basic answer I know - but oh my god I love her 😭 I’ll have to say Maude for Rue as well. The Beatrice Arthur special is Very close behind her though. & Betty - hhhmmm. Probably Password (if it counts?)

27. Best St Olaf Story?

The Great herring war hands down - I CANNOT with that scene 😂😂 when rue started to giggle I knew exactly what was about to go down - BEA lost composure, and I’d imagine that’s a hard thing to get her to do!!!!

28. Best slut story?

does this count I’m not sure … but I’m very very fond of that little moment where rose and dorothy are recalling different men Blanche has told them stories about to ask if they’re true (after she admitted that she tends to over exaggerate sometimes) like oh my god. They actually remember all the nonsense Blanche tells them 😂 I can’t !!!!

29. Best Sicily story?

The Pablo Picasso story !!!! Oh my god I think about it daily !!!!!!

30. Which girl would you be most interested in seeing a prequel of? And at which point in their life?

Young Dorothy !!!!!! OH MY GOD !!! She should have had her own show I’m so serious!!!!! The fact that she didn’t get a spin-off is a crime - I don’t know how that never happened. I’m so fascinated by her and how she survived back then. I need all the details big and small or I might (will, I will) die

[azurenightowl]

Notes on the show Gravity Falls,

written by someone who didn’t watch the show until 2023 but was in the fandom through osmosis because of mutuals and irl friends who watched it. Binged it in a week.

damn it really do live up to the hype

pacifica is a way smaller part of the show than i realised, and candy and grenda have a way larger presence. (not to be like. annoying but. i wonder why the rich white girl is prioritised over the asian girl and the trans-coded girl. hmm. forget the author, this is the real mystery.)

the mystery and romance elements are actually pretty much equally balanced. there’s more romance than i realised; then again, i guess bingeing the show and already knowing the big mysteries (stanford, who is bill, what is his plan, etc.) means that the mystery element seems much smaller because there’s nothing to guess, only evidence that confirms what i know as fact.

i love that emotionally speaking, everyone’s arcs are complete, but there are still some mysteries left hanging. like the axolotl. whats up with that guy?

i kept waiting for the other shoe to drop regarding mabel, but she’s just like… a really optimistic positive person? like she can be annoying but she’s not evil or self-serving or unnecessarily selfish.

compared to dipper, the show is "nicer" to her in that she has less episodes where we focus on one of her personal problems like we do dipper, so her flaws are less explored. this makes her less interesting, and so potentially people go looking for flaws in other places?

most of the times where she’s shown to be concerned about boys over dipper’s problems (eg sock opera) she has like, half a second of deliberation before she does the right thing. she’s 12! and a lot of the time doesn’t have the same information as the viewer does, hence doesn’t have the same sense of urgency.

i kind of get the frustration, especially about the finale and the end of episode 17; personally i think it’s wrong of mabel to ask dipper not to take the opportunity, because adulthood and planning for it is important, as well as following your passion. dipper made the right choice for him (in that moment), and was explicit about still being in contact with mabel. 

HOWEVER mabel is totally entitled to feeling hurt and upset about this! and she was preyed upon by a monster in a moment of weakness; it is a little bit selfish, and a little bit naive, yes, to want summer to last forever. but these are normal, human traits. 

also, it’s very important that she didn’t even know what the snowglobe was when she gave it to ‘blendin.’ she was emotionally distraught and was told that a small trinket no one would miss could make her happy and prevent what she saw as a disastrous future. no one told her—granted she didn’t seek the knowledge out either. no one is at fault for her not knowing the value of the snowglobe.

i really love the depth of the show’s world. by which i mean; we don’t get to see everything. i’ve seen many instances where you see everything, except one thing called "the incident" thats inevitably a recurring joke. here, we get references to a bunch of stuff that never appears onscreen—mabel’s encounters with vampires, dipper fighting a demon bat, the family bonding day that ended with a night in county jail. you get the impression that the characters have rich and full lives outside of this.

this show is SO funny. like—

s2e6, that crack about animators and the fact that they can’t afford stop-motion.

s2e12, talking about the in-universe show they’re watching, there’s a twist where the main character has an identical twin and the characters voice different opinions the writers predict the fandom will have: from "bullshit" to "i predicted that a year ago."

s2e16, stan says "do i look like an amnesiac?" LMAO. i mean not funny but like such fun foreshadowing played off as a joke. 

i got TOTALLY misled about what bill’s personality was like, and i’m so, so pleased. i cannot explain how cool show!bill is. i thought he was--well standard tumblr sexyman. suave and dapper and whatnot.

bill doesn’t actually have that much screen time, but he has so much presence from the triangles everywhere to the effect he has on the characters—and then, you know, the whole finale. but im thinking, especially early on before he’s a named character, the fact that he’s present is really ominous, especially for someone who doesn’t actually know what happens in the show, only that he shows up at some point and starts the apocalypse.

bill just doesn’t care about dipper basically at all and it’s great! you can construct an argument that he cares (in a really fucked up way) for ford, paying him special attention and having spent a lot of time building the portal. mabel, too—the deal they make, he gives her the nicest prison, he didn’t have to, you know? in-show, based on how worried ford+stan are than bill won’t honour his deal to leave the kids alone, you learn he’s not actually bound by the deal. also when he possessed dipper and straight gave him nothing in return. but yeah bill is just off doing his own thing and you really get a sense that he's above all of this. everyone is a pawn to him, he just wants to party!

im getting off track. in all honesty, bill straight doesn’t care for anyone except himself and it’s amazing. no creeping on the 12 year olds—based off fanart i thought there was some sort of rapey vibes, but nope he’s just here to have fun and cause chaos. 10/10.

all in all, even knowing the big mysteries, this was a blast. for people who feel like they won’t enjoy the show because it’s been spoiled, definitely check it out anyway.

[felikatze]

it has been A Full Year and i finally finished DR season 1. so that's right fuckers. it's time for the grant return of Feli's Season Review

the short of it: i like it!

the long:

Okay it's been a bit since i watched the first episode (a year.) but i remember that I really liked the opening. The set design is gorgeous, the character designs are extremely varied by ninjago standards, i love including more of the weird and wacky species across ninjago that only get their one off appearance.

love seeing serpentine again, and skulkin, and those underwater snake guys, and all sorts of new creatures brought in. it really opens pandora's box to potentially bring in any setting that was usually only reserved for special appearances.

like the realm of madness. the administration as an extension of it is so fucking funny. passierschein A58 bitte. it's just that asterix and obelix skit. it's FUN that they can just pull as many places out of a hat as they want without having to justify it at all. also chima is canon and i think that's where raz is from.

arin and sora are also just a great first duo. i have mentioned it before (a year ago.) that having arin as the fanboy and sora knowing fuckall is a great setup for some natural exposition, AND YET it doesn't overstay it's welcome, with arin (and later, the ninja) only ever giving as much info as is required to understand something and not a single bit more. no we are not going to explain in depth what the geckle and munce are you can understand enough to interpret this as an allergory for a mixed race bastard unwanted by either of his cultures god bless

sora is so trans coded i love it. generally a lot of really good rep going on! it's down low, but i do think a lot of ppl r gonna see themselves in this show. again, sora trans real, arin being black coded (his VA is also black, i believe), it's good!

and cole is gay godspeed. (alive, but gay.)

I LIKED THEIR ARCS AS WELL... i think it was very hamfisted when cole just went "wow the power was in me all along and geo just helped me believe in myself!" and sora was standing Right Next To Him and internalized none of it. girl. girrrrl. mädel.

but generally harkening back to the s1 arc of sora having to find her true potential and then making nya her mentor figure in that, pretty great. the entire story seems to revolve around sora and her potential as she also gets to be the one to dismantle beatrix' weapon right at the end. lloyd gets to do the final bit but sora got the big moment ysee.

and from discussion floating about arin not having powers and being mildly sidelined in the big moments in favor of sora will actually be relevant to his arc?? i'm so excited for that?? especially since it was revealed that beatrix, our big bad, hates elemental powers because her older sister had them and she was jealous. (reminds me of pre s5 nya a little bit??? why does my big brother get to save the world and i just have to sit around when i'm also capable of doing shit). if all that gets paralleled against arin's increasing feelings of uselessness, that'll be fucking fantastic.

arin's so charming. it's a bit sad to watch that he starts out starry eyed and enthusastic, yet his fanboy-isms wane as he trains with lloyd because he sees himself as a burden, no matter how often lloyd reiterates that what arin did, teaching himself spinjitzu, is Fucking Incredible.

in that way, putting arin in a duo w lloyd was also great, because lloyd is once again, The Plot's Special Boy, being the dragon conduit and all. i like all the new dragon lore.

love how more and more it seems like the first spinjitzu master was a hack, lol.

oh he created ninjago? well, um, the world already existed before he came there. it was just a big ocean. he created the elements? wellllll, the source dragon did that, actually? it's really funny, considering he's canonically a neglectful father and the plot probably could've been prevented if he told garmadon "i'm proud of you" just once, he can take the L.

but again like, Lloyd, Grandson of God, up with Arin. And Arin at first doesn't know all the previous adventures, just what's shown to the public, so seeing the actual day to day of his heroes AND how much more they did than he thought, tis sobering. AND YET, HE TRIES HIS BEST. ending the season with arin making pies to cheer everyone up was cute.

as you might notice, i really like the duo structure set up with the cast. first, we meet our new Main Characters and then we're reintroduced to the ogs one by one. It keeps up suspense, obviously, to see what's become of the ogs, but it also stops them from stealing the spotlight and lets the new faces find their footing first.

I also just, kinda, appreciate that not all the og ninja have to be main characters. Zane is pretty clearly a side character, and Cole has other shit to worry about. And Jay has less than a minute of screentime that is SO fucking funny because a new viewer isn:t even going to know he's important.

Anyways yeah, the focus is on Lloyd, Kai, and Nya, for the old characters, and they get much stronger scenes as a result. Narrowing the focus, yknow.

wyldfire is fucking hilarious and her and Kai are probably my favorite duo. Again, great to make duos of one new one old (even with Cole & Geo, and Zane & Frohicky) (i dont know how his name is spelled). Allows the new character to find their footing while also giving old viewers the characters they're familiar with. By connecting the cast so thoroughly across generations, you prevent old cliques from forming, stop the plot from separating the new and the old out. It's more transformative and cohesive that way, it's interesting new character constellations.

I guess my main complaints are the pacing in the middle kinda dragged. Splitting the plot three ways during the search for the dragon cores REALLY stalled progress to a standstill. That's what I loved about wildbrain era of the original - every 10minutes, every episode, you Accomplished Something. The plot moved forward in blocks. With it split three way, you'd have moments where all three duos eat shit at the same time. As much as I love the dynamic between Kai and Wyldfire, their segment was definitely the weakest outside of that.

And also the fight scenes are kinda boring. Really doesn't take advantage of elemental powers in any cool or interesting ways. They're all just lobbing around recolored fireballs. (Or just regular fireballs). Those then plink of the enemy, and they get smacked around. The fight choreography was overall just Lame. The fights were never my favorite part anyways.

yeah so like, i think i talked myself outta words. I could talk more how all the duos parallel each other, but I kinda don't want to atm. ninjago says trans rights

[fasa-umich]

The Origin Story of Tendra || Kendra Le, FASA's 2023-2024 Co-Performance Chair

Hi! My name is Kendra but some of you may have met Tendra… Just FYI, those two are not the same. So, I would like to walk you through my journey being in FASA.

Chapter 1: Twin 1

I want to start by saying, I am not Filipino. I am Vietnamese. Going to UofM I didn’t really know what to expect or what to get involved in. It all started when freshman year I bumped into Ashley, who told me I should join FASA when I had brought up that I was from the Chicago area and did battle during high school. She mentioned that FASA went to Battle the previous year and was planning on taking a trip to UIUC for FACT, which I found really intriguing because many of my friends go there. She really gave me the rundown of how FASA worked and told me to sign up to be in a FAM/LIN and not even knowing what that might’ve meant for me, I trusted her and did it anyway. 

So… My first FASA “event” was actually an afterset at Ashley’s house where a handful of the other freshmen and I showed up for “anything but a cup” and of course… on time. Board was scrambling to set up still and I still remember that night very clearly and Amanda and Celeste showing up as animals hehe. 

At some point, people started mistaking me for Ashley and vice versa for some reason, and either you see the resemblance or you don’t. Regardless, she is still my twin.  But I want her to know  how much I appreciate her for all that she has done for me. 

Sorry Ashley for the rug!

Chapter 2: Twin 2

I pulled up to Halo Halloween with a group of friends dressed as Sanrio characters but little did I know my lineage was also Sanrio characters! 

Fast forward, now, here I am going to FACT with a group of people that I’ve never met before. I hop into the university van and the first thing Emily Paras says is “ I think you’re in my Lin”. Then Nate Tran says, “ I think you’re in my fam!”. Not knowing what any of that means I’m like “Oh, cool,”. This is where I’m sitting in the back seat with Jess and Adrian and they’re CODING. Anyway, we got there and Emily introduced me to Kris. She says “ This is your ate,” and that my lin twin, Sofia, wasn't able to make it because she was sick. Of course I had to stalk her but her following ratio was scary. I took this opportunity to find out more about performances and then joined PCN dances, which was one of the best decisions I’ve made. But also can we take a moment to acknowledge the fact that I won PUSO Merch through their giveaway?!

That night, we had a senior x freshman bonding session and during hot seat, I got asked which senior I was looking forward to getting to know and I said Kris because she’s my ate. 

So real quick shout out to Kris: Thank you Ate Kris for letting me, Sofia, and Jenny spend countless nights and hours at 815 talking about everything and anything. As your double ding, I have looked up to you in so many different ways and you have really made me feel comfortable in sharing whatever it is that I am going through. I can’t express how much of an inspiration you have been and I really hope that we will continue staying in touch. 

Shoutout to all the freshmen that I met here 🥹

Especially Eli who blew up the air mattress and woke up next to a cockroach!

Fast forward again, Kikilan was having their first lin hang at Slurping Turtle! This is where I met Sofia, so I guess we can call her Twin 2! I am going to skip over the lore but who would’ve thought that we would be bonding over being twins! I must say I love all my Kikilan girl bosses.

Chapter 3: Twin 3

Well now, I’m like “hmm, what if I became an intern?” 

I didn’t even apply l o l.

But this gave me the opportunity to get to know the other freshmen better. We had freshmen pre-games at Markley and more specifically Taryn’s dorm, and boy were they unforgettable memories that we created. 

Look at this one! 

Anyway who knew this Cali Boy would be the reason for the revival of Tendra…

Chapter 4: Throwback Tendra

So how did I end up in this position when I’m not even Filipino??? 

For some context, I am from Skokie, IL, the LARGEST village in the US. (Don’t ask me what that means). Going into high school, we had a huge Filipino student body and most of my friends since elementary school are Filipino. My sister and I both had good friends that were Filipino. Originally, I wasn’t too involved in my Filipino Club, Kapit Bayan because I was more focused on my other dance club. Until it was my sophomore year and all my friends had competed in Battle of the Bamboo and won third place, I was dragged to join and unfortunately during my year we did not win… But I must say it was a thrilling experience! From actually slicing my friend’s scalp to rolling off the 5 foot stage. (You can ask me about it after ) We were also one of, if not the biggest student organization. Right after, COVID hit. Then at the beginning of Junior year, I was asked by the current coordinators if I would be interested in helping coordinate battle with them. I was hesitant at first but then accepted anyway. I spent hours researching and story boarding and it was extremely hard during covid. However when senior year came along unfortunately I dropped out of being a coordinator. Still, I was very familiar with Filipino culture and always felt a sense of community.

Chapter 5: As(h)endra Arc

Back to the question of how did I even end up in this position? I received a message from Ash asking if I would be interested in running as his co because of my experience with Battle. Of course I was hesitant because I wasn’t sure if this was my place to step up in a leadership position especially since many times when I tell people I am in FASA, they always ask why I’m in it because I am not even Filipino. Many times this did make me feel weird about being so involved, but FASA itself has never made me feel like an outsider. I ended up running because I felt that Ash’s ambition to bring FASA back into Battle as a competitor was something that I could help bring to life. 

With both of us living being from Chicago or whatever, when summer hit, we spent hours and hours either just hanging out or working on FASA stuff. I must say, many of those hours were spent grinding Valorant… so @ FASA Hater we are coming for you this Rice Bowl. Even being in Chicago, we made the road trip back for Kalayaan and then Blondra became a thing!

Then when we got back to school, we were already sucked into the PCN grind. I just want to say that I am so proud of everyone who joined a performance even if it was their first time. Everyone truly grew so much and I hope everyone was able to get what they wanted to out of it. Everyone looked amazing on stage! Starting as a general member being on the outside of the circle to being the one saying the chant and starting the hype circle was such an amazing experience.

Then of course, Battle. We went through many battles with this. 17 hours of FASA for 5 weeks. How is that even real?! There were many times where Ash and I were really discouraged and worried about how our vision was gonna turn out. Many times where we were troubleshooting our story board, worrying about cultural accuracy, if we had the funds (*shoutout Andrew!!), and having enough people perform. It felt like a constant struggle with there being so many uncertainties going on and many times where neither of us wanted to do anything but we still pulled through. But even then, I felt confident that we would win. 

Again I would like to sincerely thank everyone who performed and helped us bring our vision to life. Thank you for your patience, and trusting us to lead you into Battle even when we were doing this for the first time, too. I really hope that you guys are proud of your accomplishments as much as I am proud of you all. 

But more importantly.

To Ash:

Hi. I know that we’ve gone through many ups and downs, but I’m glad that I was able to experience this with you. I would have to say that there were many times that I felt like we weren’t doing enough and it really stressed me out.  I know that I focused a lot on appreciating the general members, but I want to say that I acknowledge all the hard work that you have put into performance. Looking back at our year, we let our ambition drive us and it was a really fulfilling and full circle moment especially bringing home our well deserved trophy. I am really proud of us for being able to create FASA Pamana and bringing FASA back to Battle as a competitor. I am really happy with our results and thank you for bearing with me. I also had a lot of fun practicing for FASApalooza and I think our creativity really brought FASA performance to another level. I don’t know if I would’ve been able to grow this much if it were anyone else.  So once again, thank you for everything. It has been a pleasure working with you. 

Chapter 6: Back to Tendra

So, Tendra.. Tendra really started when Eli’s mom was guessing Taryn’s name before Kalayaan. Then for some reason, Philip Churchley says “It starts with a K and ends with Tendra,”. Now, Tendra has been revived! But also, for those of you who don’t know… people would mix me up with Taryn. This makes her Twin 4. In conclusion, I found my own little happy family within FASA. Papa Eli and his quadruplets: Tendra, Karyn, Pip, and Fifi. 

But lastly, my message to board as Kendra:

Dear Board,

Thank you for supporting me and Ash through our vision. I’m glad that I was able to start the Taho train. I appreciate all of you for all the hard work and dedication that you’ve put into making FASA a wonderful and welcoming community for me. I will forever cherish our memories together and wish you all the best in your future endeavors. And if you ever encountered Tendra, no you didn’t.

Tendra signing off.

[mamm00rin]

THAHB:

- the horse and his boy has a FUN STORY IDGAF!!! (Other than the whole… uh… racism part….. cause what the hell)

- aravis is a raging lesbian cause what was that whole thing with lazarlene about?! Hello?? I was so sad she didn’t invite or like idk save lazarlene and marry her in the end 😭😭😭

- completely interpreted Aslan tearing her back up as some sort of gay punishment or something (“it’s because she drugged her maids and they got tortured and punished for it” yes it is AND because Aslan is a homophobe!!!)

- ARAVIS AND SHASTA ARE SO SIBLING CODED I ALMOST THREW UP AT THE ENDING (MARRIED? WHAT? THE ? FUCK?)

PC:

- gay ass “he was tongue-tied speaking to a king” line

- Caspian 🏳️‍🌈

- Caspian is a gazillion times more interesting in the book as a dumb little dear in headlights than a rival to Peter, he’s clearly infatuated with the man

- in the movie, I interpret that line of “when I’m older I’ll understand” by Lucy to be hinting at her crush on Caspian in the next movie (horrible plot decision truly)

- when Edmund says “I’m older and I don’t want to understand” I see this as foreshadowing of his pretty much being forced into a whirlwind romance with Caspian (delusional), forced to understand himself (LOL!!!)

- not a fan, never been a fan of Susan and caspian in the movies nor the books (they don’t even interact in the book which is a shame!)

- I just think it would be more interesting if Caspian was part narnian or trans, something to set him apart from the pevensies

TVOTDW:

- movie infinitely gayer boys? Significantly toned down lesbians? oh my god

- Lucy had a crush on her friend, that’s why she was so hurt and clings to her lololol she’s such a lesbian

- book has its moments!!

- another exhibit in my “Caspian is gay” agenda, him pretty much not interested in women the entire time until he meets a FUCKING FALLEN STAR GIRL… She’s literally enchanting all of them 😭

- not sure what Lilliandil is supposed to symbolize biblically other than the child of Lucifer (Ramandu is very… Lucifer coded? Trying to get in the good graces of god by marrying his daughter off to the “King David” of the story much?) And a wrong and dishonest decision/test on Caspian because of the events of the next book?

- so many thoughts on the “dark island” being hell! It’s just an infinite feast every day! Why is Cain’s Edmund’s knife that killed Aslan there hm?

TSC:

- caspian is such a doomed character, from being raised by a tyrant and of multiple generations of tyrant’s blood, he pays with the punishment of losing his wife and child to another temptress (lots of temptresses in the story lmao… gotta be some sort of gay allegory)

- Caspian should have been in an even worse condition when they came back!! For the funnies!

- is this unpopular? JILL IS BLACK ! SHE IS NOT!!! A WHITE GIRL WITH BLONDE HAIR AGAIN ☹️☹️☹️ CS LEWIS TRY TO MAKE A DIFFERENT CHARACTER CHALLENGE!!, no but she’s black, I never and will never see her as some white girl.

- idk what some people are on about of “cant wait to see eustace as a badass in the next movie!” From TVOTDW movie cause he’s not really even a badass here 😭 he just suffers but this time with the bestie! The duo even does everything wrong here!

TLB:

- that bird evil devil Aslan’s design goes hard

Give me your unpopular Chronicles of Narnia opinions!

I'll go first, I actually liked The Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie better than the book. Also, Caspian in the books has the personality of a sack of potatoes. Movie Caspian is interesting personality wise, but book Caspian is really boring for the most part.

[bramblestardeservesworse]

Starless Clan Thoughts 2:

Partway into the second book of "A Starless Clan", some more comprehensive thoughts (spoilers for the first two books, and maybe spoilers for the rest of the arc that’s out too?):

A) Wow! after just a year or so of catching up I am now reading the current, unfinished arc!

B) Going in I heard that Sunbeam and Nightheart were gonna be an item, specifically that their relationship followed a trajectory suspiciously similar to BristleRoot, so of course I was dreading that. But so far I like their interactions much better than BristleRoot, at least looking at them through the lens of "these two are gonna be together romantically eventually". 

Some compare contrasts:

BristleRoot meeting: Bristlepaw saves Rootpaw's life, he develops an instant crush and she's like "yeah ok kid, I got my own crush to deal with."

SunHeart meeting: Sunbeam and Flamepaw meet at a couple gatherings. First time he gets huffy cause she comments about the fact that he doesn't look like a Flamepaw (he's an all-black cat and his entire arc is being upset that he was named Flamekit after his great-grandpa Firestar). At their second meeting they actually talk, after Flamepaw's failed his assessment the second time and Sunbeam's gotten friendzoned, and they have a sweet moment of validating each others' feelings.

BristleRoot early days: Rootpaw continues having crush, Bristlefrost is embarrassed about it and just wishes he'd stop popping up.

SunHeart early days: They're going on an adventure together, and they actually have debates about the changing warrior code/discussions about their values. And!!! Sunbeam actually describes him as /handsome/ in her POV! Literally that's all I ask, /some/ indication that the female character actually desires the guy she's getting matched with and it's not just cosmic wish fulfillment for him!!

That's all the comparisons I can make so far, until I read more. But yeah this is a relationship I actually enjoy reading a little, which almost never happens with the Hunters' "romances".

C) I also heard that Nightheart is incredibly whiny so I wasn't looking forward to that, but honestly he seems p reasonable for the first book. Like he messes up and gets really frustrated about it, but it's kinda understandable. He tries to show off in his first two assessments and it backfires, and he feels unjustly punished especially because in the second assessment he makes an impressive catch but is failed because his decision to risk fighting a hawk over a piece of prey was a stupid risk to take. He's more annoying in his first couple chapters of the second book, but what really makes them frustrating is a combination of him whining about having to "prove himself" while also continuing to opt for risky prove himself maneuvers instead of just getting some dang prey, and also the fact that his entire clan is /super/ unreasonable about his name change. Literally his mother and sister have basically disowned him for not wanting to be named "Firestar Fireson". And it just feels obnoxious in a too real way on their part, given the way that so many trans/enby folks are treated by their family when wanting to change the way they're identified.

D) Between some spoilers I heard about Frostpaw and her mom Curlfeather, and the way Sunbeam's mom is acting, I feel like this arc is gonna be an "evil moms" arc and I am here for it.

E) I’m really excited that we’re actually seeing the cats have relationships with their clanmates!! Sunbeam has two friends (two more than the average protag) and Frostpaw has that guy (Splashtail?) who was skeptical of her at first but supports her in her accidental leadership role now.

F) Bramblestar really needs to retire, with that change they made to the warrior code. Not only because he’s a bad leader, but also ‘cause of all the PTSD he and his clanmates have. Him from being in the dark forest, them from Imposterstar being slightly more evil than him.

Overall, I have mildly positive feelings for this arc. Definitely not as excited as I was at this point reading the broken code, and I know it’s gonna get much worse after the third book, but I’m interested to see where it goes in books 2/3.