#stories that identify with the monster and ask what it means to be a monster and how one can respond to that label

[yea-baiyi]

about hua cheng re: that conversation w xie lian about his “true appearance”, and why hua cheng freaks out when xie lian’s asks to see his real appearance — like san lang is basically his normie appearance. whereas he usually prefers to be full makeup platform heels acrylic nails. but when xie lian asks the question, he wonders if xie lian would consider his “true form” as his ugly self. (after all, that’s what most people mean when they ask for someone’s true form — they mean their original human appearance). but the way xie lian phrased it makes it clear that it’s about being open and comfortable with each other, not about some demand for truth. which reassures hua cheng not only that xie lian will like him no matter his true appearance, but that he would accept hua cheng’s chosen appearance as his “true self” because it’s how he truly sees and portrays himself, rather than his original appearance. xie lian’s words assure him that it’s not the Honesty or the Original appearance that matters, just that he’s aware that san lang is a facade for his benefit and he’d rather see hua cheng the way he prefers to appear.

[jessica-problems]

Seeing @thydungeongal constantly wrestling with people interpreting her posts about D&D in ways that seem completely alien to me has convinced me that there are actually multiple completely distinct activities both being referred to as "playing D&D" Before we begin, I want to stress that I'm not saying one of these groups is Playing The Game Wrong or anything, but there seems to be a lot of confusion and conflict caused by people not being aware of the distinction. In fact, either one works just fine if everyone's on the same page. So far, I think I've identified at least two main groups. And nobody seems to realize the distinction between these groups even exists. The first group of people think of "Playing D&D" as, well, more or less like any other board game. Players read the whole rulebook all the way through, all the players follow the instructions, and the gameplay experience is determined by what the rules tell each player to do. This group thinks of the mechanics as, not exactly the *whole* game, but certainly the fundamental skeleton that everything else is built on top of. People in the second group think of "Playing D&D" as referring to, hanging out with their friends, collaboratively telling a story inspired by some of the elements in the rulebooks, maybe rolling some dice to see what happens when they can't decide. This group thinks of the mechanics of the game as, like... a spice to sprinkle on top of the story to mix things up. (if you belong to this second group, and think I'm explaining it poorly, please let me know, because I'm kind of piecing things together from other people saying things I don't understand and trying to reverse engineer how they seem to be approaching things.) I think this confusion is exacerbated by the fact that Wizards of the Coast markets D&D as if these are the same thing. They emphatically are not. the specific rules laid out of the D&D rulebooks actually direct players to tell a very specific kind of story. You can tell other stories if you ignore those rules (which still counts as "playing D&D" under the second definition, but doesn't under the first)And I think people in both groups are getting mad because they assume that everyone is also using their definition. For example, there's a common argument that I've seen play out many times that goes something like this:

A: "How do I mod D&D to do [insert theme here]?" B: "D&D is really not built for that, you should play [other TTRPG] that's designed for it instead" A: "But I don't want to learn a whole new game system!" B: "It will be easier to just learn a whole new system than mod D&D to do that." A: "whatever, I'll just mod D&D on my own" And I think where this argument comes from is the two groups described above completely talking past each other. No one understands what the other person is trying to say. From A's perspective, as a person in the second group, it sounds like A: "Anyone have some fun inspirations for telling stories about [insert theme here]?" B: "You can't sit around a table with your friends and tell a story about that theme! That's illegal." A: "But we want to tell a story about this theme!" B: "It's literally impossible to do that and you're a dumb idiot baby for even thinking about it." A: "whatever, jerk, I'll figure it out on my own."

--- Whereas, from B's perspective, the conversation sounds like A: "How do I change the rules of poker to be chess, and not be poker?" B: "uhhh, just play chess?" A: "But I already know how to player poker! I want to play poker, but also have it be chess!" B: "what the hell are you talking about? What does that even mean. They're completely different games." A: "I'm going to frankenstein these rules together into some kind of unplayably complex monster and you can't stop me!" ---

So both people end up coming away from the conversation thinking the other person is an idiot. And really, depending on how you concieve of what it means to "play D&D" what is being asked changes considerably. If you're only planning to look through the books for cool story inspiration, maybe borrow a cool little self contained sub-system here or there, then yeah, it's very possible to steal inspiration for your collaborative story from basically anywhere. Maybe some genres are kind of an awkward fit together, but you can make anything work with a little creativity.

If, however, you are thinking of the question in terms of frankensteining two entire board games together, then it becomes a massively difficult or even outright nonsensical idea. For example, for skill checks, the game Shadowrun has players roll a pool of several d6 at once, then count up how many rolled above a target value to see how well a character succeeded at a task. The whole game is full of specific rules about adding or removing dice from the pool, effects happening if you roll doubles, rerolling only some of the dice, and all sorts of other things that simply do not translate to rolling a single d20 for skill checks. On a basic level, the rules of the games work very differently. Trying to make them compatible would be much harder than just learning a new game from scratch. Now, neither of these approaches is exactly *wrong*, I guess, but personally, I find the rules of TTRPGs to be fascinating and worth taking the time to engage with all the weird little nuances and seeing what shakes out. Also, the first group, "TTRPG as fancy board game" is definitely the older and more widespread one. I kind of get the impression that the second group largely got into D&D through actual play podcasts, but I don't have any actual data to back that up. So, if you're in the second group, who thinks of D&D as basically a context for collaborative storytelling first and a game second, please let me know if I'm wildly misunderstanding how you approach D&D. Because I'm pretty sure it would save us a whole lot of stupid misunderstandings.

[abyssal-werewolf]

Fluid kintypes - identity doesn't need to be static

I used to be a wolf, once. Not in a past-life sense, but in a therian sense - I was a wolf therian and then I wasn't. Sounds weird to you? I'm not surprised!

Something that I have repeatedly been told by other therians and otherkin is "you are what you are and if you find out you are something else - well, then you never were the first thing at all." Especially when I joined the community several years ago, I saw this statement everywhere. But let me tell you: it's not true. I had several different kintypes over the years (side note: we are plural and for the sake of this post I am simplifying some internal structure things. if you want the complicated details, feel free to ask! /gen), started as a wolf therian, then I was a cryptid, a dinosaur, a dragon and some kind of monster. Now I am Khhanivore (from Love, Death and Robots) and Mewtu (from Pokemon, Mewtu is the German spelling) - and a raptor kintype is coming back. (I am also a werewolf, but that's not a kintype, that's just Purely Me And My Whole Essence)

"Okay Istasha, but isn't that just questioning or maybe flickertypes?", you might ask. Fair point, but no.

I honestly never really questioned my kintypes - if I truly question something, it turns out to either be a hearttype or Nothing at All. As for kintypes, I just know - all of us just know what we are, it's like chilling and one day, suddenly, one of us is like "oh, I am a horse. alright, carry on" and that's it. Our kintypes stay with us for several months at least, theoretically they could stay forever but tend to change along the way - which brings me to the next point. They aren't flickertypes either. We only really get fictionflickers and sometimes animalflickers and those are extremely short and always tied to media we are currently consuming - they feel, technically, like kintypes to me. For example, if I watch a lot of Supernatural, I sometimes get an intense feeling of belonging there, of being a non-canon character, of being part of the story, etc. I am this non-canon character in that moment, I might even get pseudo-memories or shifts, but as soon as I don't engage with that show too much again, it instantly fades.

Our kintypes don't work like that. Take my re-emerging dinosaur kintype as an example. I was walking somewhere a few days ago and suddenly had a pahntom sensation in my legs and feet and in the same moment I knew "ah shit, new kintype". I gave it a day because maaayyybe it's nothing? But deep down I already knew what was going on, so I have an Utahraptor kintype now. I am this. I identify as this through and through and it feels like I've always been this way. But it wasn't - a week ago I wasn't a dinosaur and now I am. I did not choose it, I did not engage with any dinosaur media at all, it just happened.

My kintypes have always been changing and trust me when I say I had a complete identity crisis when my wolf kintype first went away. But over the years Ive learned to accepot it - my identy is not static, it never was and it never will be and that's okay!

It doesn't make my kintypes less important or less real and it also doesn't mean I never was a wolf. I was. And then I wasn't.

I honestly think it is so, so damaging to still have this "kintypes are static"-sentient floating around in the community, because that's simply not true for all of us. For me, it honestly even makes more sense this way. Our brain has always been unstable, I lacked a true identity for so long. We grew up with untreated BPD andf although the symptoms are 95% under my control now (read: it's in remission), our brain still has a ton of habits from that time, like clinging onto different things to try and form an identity, to try and fill the void where a person should be. And the fact that the void is filled now, that I finally am enough of a person to fill it, this habit never changed. Our brain still randomly grabs things and makes them one of us, leading to fluid kintypes.

Let me end this with saying: being wrong about a kintype is fine. Figuring out you are X instaed of Y and never were Y is fine. But it is also fine to be X today and Y tomorrow.

I think I've said this before but I'll say it again: we, as a community, need to take our identities less and more serious at the same time. Let's stop the gatekeeping and policing others, let's stop overanalyzing ourselves so much. Let's stop looking for rules and asking "is it possible to be this?" over and over again - because the answer is yes. There are literally no rules as to how, why and what you can be. In order to be otherkin you need to do exactly one thing: identify as The Thing in question. Nothing else. On the other hand, we need to kindly educate those who confuse identify as and identify with, we need to kindly educate young therians who "choose their theriotypes", we need to make sure we are not watered down to being "a fun thing you can do".

I sometimes feel like the focus and effort of this community is in good faith but in the wrong place - static kintypes is one of them.

There are no limits. Be who you are today and if you are something else tomorrow, be that then. <3

[scoonsaliciousupdates]

5.1 Major*

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader

Summary: Lily McIntyre, trainer for new SHIELD recruits at the Avengers Tower, has been in love with her best friend, Bucky Barnes, from the moment she met him. She's been content with her role of the #1 girl in Bucky's life, even if it means she has to sabotage a romantic relationship or two. It'll be worth it when he realizes that they're meant for each other, right? There's just one small problem: Lily McIntire never expected Bucky Barnes to fall for You.

Warnings: (For this part only; see Story Masterlist for general Warnings) Language, explicit sexual content (hand stuff, protected PIV).

Word Count: 1k

Previously On...: You want Bucky, he wants you-- neither one of you can wait to get back to your place.

A/N: Car sex! Huzzah!

I feel like I wrote "cock" too many times...

NOTE! The tag list is a fickle bitch, so I'm not really going to be dealing with it anymore. If you want to be notified when new story parts drop, please follow @scoonsaliciousupdates

Thank you to all those who have been reading; if you like what you've read, likes, comments, and reblogs give me life, and I truly appreciate them, and you!

It was a tight fit, but so worth it. The sports car didn’t have a back seat, so Bucky had pushed the driver’s seat back as far as it could go so you could straddle him as you kissed each other and ground your pelvises together. 

You moaned into Bucky’s mouth. Even through the fabric of his pants and your panties, he felt so good, hitting almost all the right spots. “Pants,” you grunted. 

Bucky chuckled into your lips as he reached down and started unworking his belt and fly. “So needy,” he murmured, moving to suck beautiful bruises into your skin. 

“Yes,” you agreed, your breath coming out in gasps. “Desperate.” You reached over into the passenger’s seat, grabbing your clutch. Opening it up, you pulled out a handful of condoms.

At the sight of them, Bucky chuckled. “Were you a Girl Scout growing up, doll? Cause you sure came prepared.”

“Let’s just say,” you paused to rip the foil packet open with your teeth, “I had high hopes for tonight.” 

“Well, far be it for me to disa–” Bucky sucked in a breath as you rolled the condom down on his exposed member, taking the liberty to start stroking it with both hands. “Fuck, sugar, just like that.”

“Look at this big cock,” you cooed as you looked down at where you were working him. “So big and thick, I can’t even get my little fingers to fit around it.”

You couldn’t even identify the sound Bucky made at your words, but you were fairly confident he liked them, so you went on: “How’s this giant, beefy cock going to fit in my tiny, tight pussy, Sergeant?” you asked, your voice coming out in a purr. “Gonna tear me in half with this monster dick. Split me right in two ‘til I’m screaming.”

Bucky’s mouth was hanging open, his head lolled against the headrest and his eyes closed. “Keep talking, sugar,” he panted. “I’m so fucking close.”

You grinned. “Think I can take it, Sarge?” you asked as you jerked him. “Think I can be a good girl for you? Take every inch you have to give me? Let you stretch my pretty pussy wide open? Gonna make me choke on this dick?”

With a growl, Bucky gripped the back of your head with one hand, pulling your mouth to his in a brutal kiss. His other hand slid between your bodies, under the skirt of your dress. Skillfully, he slid the gusset of your sopped panties aside, then grabbed his cock from you, guiding it into your entrance.

You gasped at the intrusion, luxuriating in the feel of him as he pressed fully into you. Then you began to move, riding his cock, the both of you now silent as you stared into each other’s eyes. His hands moved to your hips, helping you as he fucked up into you, handling you as though you weighed nothing. You grabbed the lapels of his suit jacket for purchase, pulling him to you and capturing his lips with your own.

The windows of the car were long fogged over, encasing the two of you in a private cocoon of lust and heat as you bounced on top of Bucky’s cock. “You feel so good, sugar,” he moaned. “So tight, so perfect.”

You reached behind your head and pulled at the ties behind your neck that held the top of your dress up, letting the front of it fall down your chest to your waist, exposing yourself to him. Bucky’s eyes followed your movements, and when your breasts were revealed, he let out a low groan. He took one hand off your hip and brought it to your tit, palming the flesh until your nipple pebbled beneath his touch. Leaning down, he brought his mouth to the other, sucking and biting at the hard nub.

You threw your head back, lost in the sensations he was giving you. Grabbing the back of his head, you pressed it against your skin, never wanting him to take his mouth off of you. He switched, moving to your other breast to give it the same loving attention. 

“Bucky,” you gasped, pulling his hair so that he had to look at you, “Bucky, I’m close. Cum with me, baby, please,” you begged. 

Bucky nodded vigorously, taking the hand that had been paying homage to your breast and moving it down to your clit, where he began to rub it furiously. “I’mma get you there, doll,” he said, voice husky with his own impending release. “I’ll be right with you.”

It was your turn to nod, desperately, as you locked eyes with him. You kept up the eye contact through your individual orgasms, cumming within moments of one another. You cried out as you came, his name a garbled prayer on your lips, and you couldn’t believe you’d known this man for just over 24 hours, yet he already knew how to work your body so well, as though by pure instinct, or as if you were made for one another. 

As you both came down from your highs, you rested your head against his chest, breathing heavy as you listened to the sound of his rapid heartbeat. Lazily, you brought a hand to his chest, wanting to feel the pounding beneath his skin.

You felt Bucky’s hands come up around you and caress your bare back, now slick with sweat. “You’re fucking perfect, sugar,” he said, and you had to laugh when you could feel the husky rumble of his words inside of him.

“Pretty sure you’re the perfect one,” you said, feeling blissfully fucked out. “I think I’m becoming addicted to Bucky Barnes-induced orgasms.”

“Well,” he said, kissing the top of your head, “I am more than happy to keep you well supplied, doll. So long as you don’t mind returning the favor.”

You let out a laugh. “Not even a little bit,” you said. 

<- Previous Part / Next Part ->

[elysianholly]

This fucking guy

My villain origin story is people claiming that Riley's biggest crime in the series was being boring. He wasn't just boring. He was a passive-aggressive chauvinist who the show bent over backward to defend. A while back on Reddit, I made a list of reasons why Riley sucks. This is that list, and I'm adding to it.

The only reason he punches Parker is because Parker is mouthing off about a girl Riley likes. Everything about this interaction suggests that Riley has heard him say similar before, and hasn't cared until the woman in question was someone he had a vested interest in.

He calls Buffy stupid for not wanting to date him (if this guy slid into your DMs and called you stupid for turning him down, lbr, this would not lead into a healthy, lasting romance)

He immediately puts himself in competition with Buffy. Even at his most inoffensive, he says things like "I don't even know if I could take you."

He has an inherently chauvinistic view of the world (established in The Initiative)

He is upset that Buffy had a significant relationship before she knew him and assumes Buffy boinked Angel in The Yoko Factor

He uses abuser language to excuse his shitty behavior like, "I love you so much I can't think straight."

He decides that Buffy doesn't love him all by himself

When he decides that Buffy doesn't love him, he confides in Xander and doesn't communicate his relationship issues with Buffy

He wants to help Buffy but only in jobs that are "manly." In No Place Like Home, for instance, he nopes out when Buffy suggests he help with the spell to identify what might be wrong with Joyce. Even if there wasn't a lot for him to do, he could, idk, stick around to be moral support for his partner who is trying to figure out what might be attacking her mother. That seems like a pretty standard partner thing to do.

He gets upset that Buffy "doesn't get all worked up over him" the way she did with Angel when "getting all worked up" in CONTEXT means "isn't constantly miserable."

He is sad boi at Buffy in OoMM for also prioritizing her mother's health after she believes Riley is healed rather than sticking around to play nursemaid

He wants Buffy to show emotion over Joyce at a time when Buffy literally cannot (if you've never had a parent in the hospital with a life-threatening illness, maybe you don't know that there are times/places to break down and "in the hospital" where you're supposed to be strong isn't one of them)

He doesn't care that his girlfriend's mother is sick, possibly with something life-threatening; he cares that he got to be the hero of the piece, the shoulder for Buffy to cry on. His only reaction to any of that was to be hurt that Buffy didn't respond the way he thought she should; no concern for her well-being or Joyce's, just Riley getting his feelings hurt because he wasn't the center of Buffy's universe or the rock for her to lean on when all went to pieces

This is further confirmed by the way he just doesn't mention Joyce's absence at all in As You Were. When he leaves Sunnydale, it's after Joyce has had a successful operation. He returns and she's not there and no questions? No condolences? It's because he doesn't care.

He doesn't ask about Buffy's death when she lets him know she died.

He starts separating himself from the Scoobies and then gets mad for not being included

He literally cheats on Buffy with vampire sex workers (there are people who say they were not sex workers, but in a show where monsters are metaphors, you have to be especially dense or willfully obtuse to not realize this is what they are)

Riley intentionally puts himself in a position where he might be killed or turned specifically to SPITE BUFFY, which demonstrates his lack of consideration for what she might have to do later if things go bad

Riley blames Buffy for being roofied by Dracula (again, monsters as metaphor)

He never apologizes or owns that he was unfaithful

He blames his infidelity on Buffy, actually

The first time Buffy learns Riley isn't happy, she's told she should've seen it, which is classic victim blaming and happens from Xander AND Riley (and a good amount of fans who want to excuse that behavior)

He is fine with torturing sentient creatures, and in fact had a stake made specifically so he could torture vampires without killing them

He goes behind Buffy's back all the time

Riley was not boring. If he were boring, he would be inoffensive. Dull to watch but not rage-inducing. But he is rage-inducing because, despite all the passive-aggressive gaslighting bullshit he gets away with, people in this fandom still believe he was "Buffy's best boyfriend." That she was to blame for the deterioration of this relationship. That he was the healthiest of the Buffyverse men. The show does, too. That's why Xander (Wh*don's mouthpiece) gives that sanctimonious little speech to Buffy (the audience in this case) in Into the Woods to scold us for not treating Riley better. Then they double down in As You Were to make Buffy fawn all over herself to let this gaslighting asshole off the hook for everything he put her through.

Riley's sin is not being boring. It's that he was actually awful. Wh*don himself once called Riley a "healthy relationship" for Buffy, and if that doesn't tell you something, there's no talking to you.

[yuurei20]

Small changes to Twisted Wonderland the first novel, official translation (pt1/4)

Did a word-for-word comparison of the EN novel, and there are no significant changes to the story/characters! 🥳

(Though there are some places where the novel decided to use EN-game content that does not match the original game's or novel's content.)

Original Novel (Grim): “I’m gonna put on those clothes, and then I’ll—“

EN Novel (Grim): "Now unless you wanna get burned to a crisp, take off that—"

--

Original Novel (Yuuya): “An incessant rumbling, like something hard rolling along the ground."

EN Novel (Yuuya): (removed)

(This line from Yuuya's recollection of what happened just before he appeared at NRC was removed from the English-language novel.)

--

When Crowley returns to the opening ceremony with Yuuya we originally receive five comments from unnamed students. In EN, there are only four.

The line, "Does that mean they're special, I guess?," was removed from the English-language novel.

--

While trying to identify Yuuya’s home, Crowley originally asks him if he has a health insurance card. This was changed in the English adaptation to “driver’s license.”

--

Original Novel (Grim): “Nyahaha, what’s with that stupid look on your face? You already forgotten what I look like?”

EN Novel (Grim): "Myah ha ha! That look on your face is priceless. Like a bat that got blasted by a water gun!"

(This EN line is accurate to both the original and EN game but was changed for the JP novel, and it seems the EN novel opted for the game version, instead.)

--

Original Novel (Ace): “Maybe it’s 'cause he wasn’t born a king that he was able to be considerate about issues to do with status. Pretty cool.”

EN Novel (Ace): “’Maybe he could look past status and all that stuff 'cause he hadn't been born royal himself," Ace said. ‘Pretty cool, huh?’”

--

Original Novel (Ace): “Do your best cleaning up with that monster.”

EN Novel (Ace): “I'll let you get back to picking up trash with your little monster friend."

(Directly after this Yuuya confesses he has has no friends and is shocked when the ghosts comment he and Grim seem like friends.)

--

Original Novel: “How dare you mock me. I'll show you which of us is superior!’ ‘Hah. A mere monster is gonna take me on?"

EN Novel: “‘No one makes fun of Grim, master of fire!’ Grim snarled. ‘I’ll show ya who's boss here!’ ‘Ha!’ Ace snorted. ‘You wanna throw down with me, shorty?’”

Grim does not call himself “master of fire,” and Ace does not call him “shorty.” Ace calls Grim “shorty” often in the EN novel, which he never does in the original, and it seems that this is another instance of the EN novel taking something from the EN game that did not originally exist in the JP game or novel.

[stevelieber]

Thoughts on giving critiques to comics artists.

Seeing lots of discussion from students about sour experiences with an unhelpful art teacher, so here's a long, long post about giving critiques.

NB: I have no formal training as a teacher, but I was a student, and I've spent decades giving artists feedback on their work.

When someone brings me a portfolio, I like to establish my limitations & clarify my perspective. My work is firmly rooted in traditional US comics storytelling (i.e., not manga or art-comics.) I can give feedback on other approaches but they should know where I’m coming from.

“We've only got a little time for this, so I'm going to spend that time focusing on things to correct. That doesn't mean you're doing everything wrong, or that there’s nothing good here, but it’ll be more helpful if I identify some problems and show you how to fix them.”

Why? Because for many young artists their entire sense of self worth is wrapped up in being good at what they do. (It was for me!) In school they were probably the best artist in their peer group. But now if they're hoping to turn pro, they’re at the bottom.

Sometimes you know what’s up when you see page 1, but try to keep an open mind. Some build their portfolios by sticking new pages at the back & don’t weed out the old stuff up front, so the work gets better as you go. When it’s like that I ask: “Show me your best 8 pages.”

I ask questions: "What's the goal? Do you want to be hired to work on someone else's project, or to get the story you're showing me here published?"

If 1, I steer towards a portfolio that'll showcase hirable skills. If 2, I look for what tweaks will make that particular story more effective.

"Do you have teachers giving you regular feedback? What are they telling you?" Sometimes a student is getting bad advice. In cases like that, I'll do my best to be extra clear WHY I'm giving them advice that's 180 degrees from what they've been hearing.

“What artists are you looking at? Is there someone you admire or try to emulate?” This often helps me understand choices they're making, and I can sometimes incorporate things those artists do into my suggestions.

I ask myself questions about what I’m seeing. First: Is there a narrative? If not, I make it 100% clear I'm not speaking as any sort of expert. I'm good at critiquing storytelling, but don't have anywhere near as much to offer illustrators or designers.

Can I follow the story? Or am I confused about what's going on? Are the characters and settings drawn consistently? If not, is the artist at least making use of tags (distinctive clothing, hair etc.) to keep the characters recognizable?

Does the artist demonstrate a good command of basic academic drawing? If not, Do I think they need it? Do I focus on "how to draw" or on "what to do when you can't draw?" Is the artist putting the viewer’s eye where it needs to be to tell the story effectively?

(At this point I’m usually doing little doodles to go with my instructions. I scribble out ugly little 5 second diagrams that I hope will clarify what I’m talking about. Or they might make me seem demented. Hard to say!)

Is the artist making choices that are creating more work than necessary? Is there a particular weakness? I once spoke to an artist with a portfolio full of great work when he was drawing animals and monsters, but his humans were amateurish in comparison. I spent that critique talking about drawing people.

A crit can be a grab bag. In addition to big-picture advice, I'll point out tangencies, violations of the 180-degree rule, wonky anatomy, weird perspective, places where the artist neglected to do important research, odd choices in how they spotted black, whatever catches my eye.

I also try to make a point of defining the terms, so that jargon like “tangency,” “180-degree rule,” and “spotting black” don't go over their heads. Find simple, concrete ways to talk about these things, & clarify why it's a problem when they aren't done correctly. Draw diagrams!

Recognize that even a perfectly phrased explanation might not sink in. Some lessons can only be learned when a student is ready, and it might take a year or two of work before they can understand what you were saying. It's good to plant seeds.

Are there other artists who are particularly good at solving the problems the student is trying to solve? I steer them towards that artist's work. And I always recommend life drawing & the use of reference to give work specificity, variety, and authority.

Despite what I said earlier about focusing on what's wrong, I try at the end to find something encouraging to say. And if I’ve really piled on the criticism, I emphasize that I only spent the time and energy to do so because I take their efforts seriously.

If I've done my job right, they'll leave my table with tools to make their work better. And maybe in a few years they'll be looking at some younger artist's work, surprised to discover just how much you can learn when you're asked to teach.

[toko-tuesday]

Don't Forget Your Keys (Diluc x Reader)

For definitely not the first, but probably not the last time, the Darknight Hero had overestimated himself. After yet another encounter with the Abyss Order, Diluc found himself dragging his feet through the streets of Mondstadt in the middle of the night. He winced as he covered the bleeding wound on his side with his gloved hand. Despite the pain, Diluc continues on, making his way towards Monstadt’s gate. He’s praying to every Archon above that he doesn’t get spotted.

But eventually, he feels too weak to continue on.

“I won’t make it to Dawn Winery in this condition,” he thinks to himself, leaning his back against a wall as his chest heaves.

His break is short lived as he hears the sound of what would possibly be the eighth Pyro Abyss Mage he’s seen tonight. He swears quietly as he begins to walk again, hoping the monster hadn’t seen him already.

His breath hitches as he remembers something. Your house was nearby. In fact, you had given Diluc your spare key just in case he needed it. He silently thanked the Archons for giving him such a caring and thoughtful partner before he made his way to your doorstep. He leaned against your door as he reached into his pocket to grab the keys you gave him. His blood instantly runs cold when they aren’t there.

He defeated sigh rolls off his lips. Your bedroom was on the top floor of the two story house, meaning he would have to knock loudly to get your attention. With the area still being compromised by the Abyss Order, he wouldn’t want to knock and risk being found by them in his weakened state. Plus, he would feel guilty about waking you. The pain from his battle wound courses through his veins like lighting as he thinks, causing him to groan.

He looks around for something, anything, that could get your attention without making too much noise. His gaze falls upon a nearby flowerpot. He sighs, rolling his eyes at the pathetically cliche idea that’s formed in his head. He quietly shuffles over to the flower pot, reaches into it, and pulls out a few small stones. He shamefully shakes his head to himself before looking up to the window of your bedroom.

One by one, he begins to weakly throw the stones. They each bounce off your window with a rhythmic “wa-pap!” sound. He pauses for a few seconds between each one, just in case you wake up and open the window. He begins to lose hope as the pain from his wound becomes more intense with every throw. He looks down at his hand, eyebrows furrowing as he realizes that he’s quickly made it to his last stone. Though he doesn’t believe in it, he kisses it for good luck before throwing it at your window… maybe a little too hard.

The sound of shattering glass jolts you awake. You’re practically panting from fear as you sit up in your bed. You turn your head to identify where the rude awakening came from, only to see your bedroom window has been broken. You light the lantern on your bedside table, and begin to investigate. You make your way over to the window, careful to avoid stepping on any of the glass shards or the small stone lying amongst them.

You cautiously look out your broken window and see a familiar silhouette. You rub your eyes to make sure you aren’t dreaming, but doing this only makes your vision clearer. There, in the middle of the street, stands an embarrassed and extremely guilty looking Diluc.

“What the fuck, Diluc?” you whisper-yell, not wanting to wake up your still sleeping neighbors.

A string of apologies fall from your partner’s lips before he explains, “I forgot my keys, love. I was just trying to get your attention, but it… backfired.”

You sigh and roll your eyes as you make your way downstairs. You unlock your door and motion for Diluc to come in. He quickly enters your partially shared house, quickly shutting and locking the door behind him like he’s running from something. “Diluc?” you begin to ask, surprised by the redhead’s out of character behavior.

He doesn’t meet your concerned eyes, his chest rising and falling heavily as he leans his back against the door.

By now all the color has drained from his face. The bangs of his fiery red hair are stuck to forehead by the cold sweat streaming down his face. Your eyes trail down to his gloved hand which has been firmly planted against his side since you saw him. He winces as you gently intertwine your fingers with his, slowly pulling his hand away so you can see what’s wrong. You gasp upon seeing the long, heavily bleeding gash on his side.

“Archons above,” you whisper as you look up from Diluc’s wound to meet his eyes.

Thankfully, you look up just in time to see Diluc’s eyes flutter shut. You brace yourself as his body becomes limp and falls towards you. You use every ounce of your strength to keep him from colliding with the floor. You begin to slowly guide him to the living room couch.

“‘Mmmsorry…” he mumbles as he slowly starts to regain consciousness.

He groans as you help him sit down.

“Stay here. Don’t move a muscle,” you say, before making your way to the kitchen.

“Couldn’t if I wanted to,” he replies quietly, his half lidded eyes following you.

From your cabinet, you pull out a small box of medical supplies, along with a white cloth. You set the supplies down on your living room table before returning to your kitchen. You then grab the loaf of bread you made earlier, cutting off a slice for your wounded partner. You bring it to him with a glass of water.

You sit down beside him on the couch, bringing the glass to his lips. His head falls back as you help him drink the water. After a few sips, you move the glass away as a drop of water rolls from Diluc's lips. You gently wipe it away with your thumb. You sigh with concern at how weak he's become. 

"Let's get these off of you," you say, tugging at his heavy leather jacket. 

You're pretty much puppeteering the crimson eyed man as you stand in front of him, helping him out of his blood soaked gloves, jacket, plethora of belts, and his disheveled white vest that was now stained red in some spots. He reaches his weak, trembling hands up to his neck to undo his tie. You gently push them down into his lap, sighing as you remove the fabric for him. 

Now for the most emotionally taxing part. You slowly undo the buttons of his torn undershirt, silently praying that Diluc’s wounds wouldn’t be as bad as they seemed once you could see them better. Your prayers unfortunately fall deaf upon the Archons’ ears as Diluc’s shirt rolls off his shoulders. Apart from the bleeding wound, his whole torso was littered with fresh bruises and cuts. Your hand flies to your mouth at the sight.

“Diluc…” you say, barely above a whisper, “Honey, what happened?”

He turns his head to avoid looking into your worried eyes.

“Abyss Order,” he mumbles, causing another sigh to escape your lips.

You grab a small vial of medicine from your box of supplies. You pour a moderate amount of it on the white cloth before gently pressing it against Diluc’s wound. He hisses at the contact.

“So, is it safe to assume that the Darknight Hero got his ass handed to him tonight?” you ask as you carefully swipe the cloth over the gash.

Diluc “hmph!”s in response before saying, “Well, maybe someone has to get a little roughed up to keep this city safe from the horrors of the night.”

He winces again as you continue to clean his wound.

“This isn’t ‘a little’, Diluc,” you say, matter-of-factly.

With help from the medicine and applied pressure, the wound has stopped bleeding. Now that you can see it clearly, it isn’t awful. Still pretty bad, but not awful. 

You give him the slice of bread you had cut for him. He quietly takes small bites out of it while you begin to tend to his smaller cuts and bruises, placing small drops of medicine and bandages over them. You then reach into your med box once more and pull out a roll of bandages. You position yourself so that you’re now straddling Diluc’s lap. You place his aching arms on your shoulders. They rest there as you start to wrap the bandage around his waist, covering his now medicated wound. 

“You know,” you begin as you continue to doctor your partner, “It seems a little unfair that the safety of Mondstadt is on a single man’s shoulders when we already have guards and whatnot.”

For the first time tonight, Diluc turns to face you. He studies your face, taking in how focused you look while trying to secure the bandages around him.

“Mondstadt wouldn’t need me to protect it if the Knights of Favonius weren’t so damn incompetent,” he retaliates, his voice coated in annoyance.

You scoff at Diluc’s comment as you give the bandage wrap one last tug before securing it.

“Oh, so proving you’re better than the Knights is worth more than your own life?” you ask sarcastically, your eyebrows furrowing in frustration.

“Absolutely. Without a single doubt,” he sternly replies through gritted teeth.

You groan so loudly that it practically comes out as a scream. Before you know it, you’re off of Diluc’s lap and pacing around your living room, while he continues to sit on the couch with his arms crossed over his well bandaged torso.

“I just don’t understand it, Diluc,” you say, stopping in your tracks to face him, “I know you don't see eye-to-eye with the Knights of Favonius, but risking your life every night isn’t the way to go about this! Why do you insist on dancing with death for the sake of proving a point?”

You feel your face become hot with anger when your question is met with silence. You fight back tears as you watch Diluc continue to avoid your gaze by staring at the wall.

“You are so fucking stubborn. Would it be too much for you to just consider your own well-being for once?”

The tears that you’ve been fighting begin to make themselves known as they stream down your face.

“Because you aren’t being careful,” your words become broken as your sentences turn to sobs, “And I’m tired of being scared that you won’t be able to see tomorrow if you step out that door.”

You don’t know how you ended up there, but you find yourself kneeling on the floor, sobbing loudly into your hands. Before you can even process anything else, Diluc is on the floor with you, holding your trembling body against his chest.

“I’m sorry… I’m so so sorry,” he whispers over and over again, “I never intended to make you cry.”

His large, warm hands cup your face as he wipes away your tears with his thumbs. He places soft kisses on your forehead as he continues to apologize to you until you’ve calmed down.

“I… didn’t realize how much this was affecting you,” he says, quietly.

“Clearly not, asshole,” you mumble, but he still hears.

He lets out a soft chuckle at your brutally honest reply.

“Then, I’ll make you a promise. After tonight, the Darknight Hero will no longer make nightly appearances. You’ll only hear about him when the city needs him the most. And I’ll try to be more cautious. Okay?”

You tilt your head up upon hearing Diluc’s proposition. You scan his face for any hint of deception. His tired crimson eyes look back at you, filled with nothing but honesty. Nevertheless, you hold up your pinky, never once breaking eye contact with him.

“Are you serious?” he asks, laughing softly at your childish gesture.

You don’t say anything. You reply by raising your eyebrows and waving your pinky in a slow circle.

Diluc sighs, wrapping his pinky around yours before bringing your hand to his lips to place a soft, apologetic kiss on it.

Soon, waves of exhaustion crash into you, reminding you of how late it’s become.

“Let’s go to bed,” Diluc says as he pulls you into his lap.

He brings you as close as he possibly can to his chest before standing with you in his arms. His weak legs shake as he tries to gain his balance. “Don’t push yourself,” you say, gently placing a hand on your shoulder.

He replies with a soft kiss on your nose as he begins to make his way up the stairs to your, and sometimes his, bedroom.

Once in the room, he’s reminded of how he woke you up in the first place as he gently sets you down on the bed.

“I’ll make sure that gets fixed,” he says, referring to your shattered window.

“I sure hope so,” you reply with a yawn.

He carefully makes his way to the other side of the bed, trying to avoid stepping on any of the glass shards still on the floor. He kicks off his boots before getting underneath the duvet covers with you. You bury your face into his chest as one of his arms snakes around your waist, pulling you closer to him. The sound of his heartbeat and shallow breathing begin to slowly send you back to sleep.

But suddenly, you and Diluc hear a sound that makes both of your bodies tense up. It’s the familiar sound of a lone Abyss Mage still roaming the streets of Mondstadt.

“Shit,” Diluc whispers, recalling the monster he hid from moments before coming to your house.

He gives you a pleading look, knowing he won’t be able to sleep if he doesn’t take care of the problem now.

You sigh, giving Diluc an affirming nod. He gives you a small, thankful smile before he pulls you in for a kiss. He kisses you slowly and longingly, like he’s apologizing for having to leave again.

“Don’t forget your keys,” you mumble sleepily against his lips as he continues to kiss you.

He chuckles softly, thanking you for the reminder.

“I’ll be back before dawn. I promise,” he says as he slowly begins to shuffle out of bed.

He begins to rummage through your wardrobe, searching for some of the clean clothes he’s left behind. He settles on a white button up.

“What else do you promise?” you tease, as you watch him button up his shirt in the moonlight.

“I… promise I’ll be careful?”

“And?”

“And… I promise your window will be fixed first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Atta boy.”

You roll over on your side, snuggling into your warm pillows with a sleepy smile. Diluc hums softly as he makes his way back to you. He plants a gentle kiss on your cheek before saying, “I love you”. You hum back in response, already being pulled back into another dream. Diluc smiles as he makes his way back downstairs. This time he makes sure his keys are in his pocket before leaving the house. He’s going to need them if he genuinely intends to keep his promises to you.

[artist-issues]

From one Christian to another, you seem like someone who stays true to your values, convenient or not, and that’s exactly what I need.

In short, what’s your stance on writing LGBTQ characters? Does including such characters normalize sin, or is it comparable to writing about any other flawed human? I’ve heard some say I could write such characters out of a sense of realism, but fiction is made up of a writer’s intentional choices, and I don’t think one can have those choices and not say something to the audience.

I’ve looked all over the internet for a definite answer to this, and most results are either vague or very permissive without any scriptural backing. Your thoughts?

I think your head is on good and straight!

I am not an expert on this but I'll give you my unprofessional opinion.

The truth is, sin is normal. I mean, it's normal in this world. We're living in a cursed, fallen world. So if you were going to write a story about wildlife in Africa, there'd be a place in the story for a zebra. Because zebras are normal... in Africa. You wouldn't have to be making a comment about zebras to include them in a story about Africa; they just naturally are in that setting.

When you're writing a story about this world, and humans, that same sense applies. There's a possibility for any and all sin to be mentioned in the story. Because that's normal in this world.

Now, I guess that wasn't always the case. Even ten years ago having a homosexual couple in your story would've been surprising, and you could've run the risk of "normalizing it," because of the low percentage of people identifying as homosexual. But now? With the social contagion and overwhelming popularity, especially in adolescents, of the very idea of gender-fluidity and open-ended attraction? You're not so much "normalizing it" anymore.

Everybody's talking about being LGBTQ+. Everybody's making a statement. The question is no longer "are you going to say something about it?" The question is kind of "WHAT are you going to say about it?" Even by leaving the topic out, if it's a story about modern day life in the West on Planet Earth, you're saying something by leaving it out.

(Note: if your story isn't on Planet Earth in the Modern ((and RECENT)) time period, and even if it isn't in the West, then I wouldn't put homosexuality in your story. I can elaborate on why if you'd like in a different ask.)

So I'm basically saying it's comparable to writing about any other flawed human. 😅

As for Scriptural basis, there's no verse that says "don't talk about homosexuality," --and talking about it is all that "telling a story which includes the topic" is.

For storytelling principles found in the Bible: Jesus put one guy choking another guy out over a debt into one of His stories. That was to illustrate the depravity of the guy who was forgiven of much, but wouldn't forgive his fellow man of a little.

So now I have two very important questions for you!

If you are going to put a homosexual couple in your story, why are they there?

You have to answer this question for every decision you make in a story...but with this, because you are putting a sin in your story, the important thing to note is that the culture we're in doesn't actually consider it a sin. So by putting the sin in the story at all, you're right, you have to say something about it. You have to say that it's good or it's bad.

Doesn't have to be super in-your-face. I mean, Kuzco's "sin" is that he's selfish. So in the first scene he insults a bunch of women. And they all react like he's a monster; one of them's crying, the other one's lunging at him, but it's all just in the background. The point of the scene is that he's funny but he's a jerk and he's selfish; and those traits, "jerk" and "selfish" are treated like they're bad things, not good things, about Kuzco. A good rule of thumb is "call what is good 'good,' and call what is bad ''bad."

2. And this is the really important one, from one Christian to another: why are you considering adding a homosexual couple to your story?

You don't have to answer me, but ask yourself that question super honestly and examine every possible reason. Of course it doesn't really apply if you're not writing a story, you're just wondering about it on principle.

More on the point: I think sometimes, Christians cover up some sins by not talking about them, and it's not out of a desire be self-controlled and careful with their words. It's out of a warped desire to appease the culture.

C.S. Lewis says something like this in Surprised By Joy. My understanding of him was, Christians in the 40s didn't want to ever talk about homosexuality because, to them, it seemed the worst of sins...but when you examined how they came to that conclusion, you realized that the only things that made homosexuality different from other sins was that, if you were discovered to be engaging in homosexual sin, you'd lose your job and your fame. So Christians were choosing not to talk about it, even if all they were planning on saying was "homosexuality is wrong and God's definition of sexuality is right," because to address it at all was taboo to your public appearance.

That's a really bad reason for Christians not to talk about something. Christians know that all sin has been defeated and conquered by Christ. So why are we acting like mentioning it gives it power? Mention the sin (not the people sinning, but the sin) like it's a monster that WAS terrible and scary, but once Jesus gets ahold of it it's actually powerless and slain.

Christians have done the same thing with sex. It's supposed to be this awesome act of worship that God created to point to the cosmic idea of oneness with Him. It's supposed to be a wonderful thing, like singing beautiful songs or eating good food; all in the right way, in the right time. But Christians saw people using it sometimes in the wrong way, at the wrong time, so they threw the whole freakin baby out with the bath water and now the Church in the West is just starting to turn the corner and talk about sex again. But young people really needed to hear about it, the right way, from the Church, generations ago.

Anyway. Soapbox. The point is, if you know that homosexuality is a sin that is only destructive when it isn't submitted to Christ, and you're going to call it THAT, then what's to fear? Why does the corrupt culture get to hog the mic? So what if it wasn't a widely-accepted sin again until recently? Acting like it wasn't worth addressing, or like calling attention to it would've made the sin expand, didn't do anything to actually stop the culture from treating it like a good thing.

If Christians don't remind everybody of truth, the culture will twist it.

It's like being at a kid's birthday party, and you notice a tiger slinking over the backyard fence. Only instead of warning everybody you just sit there and try not to look directly at it. Try not to draw attention to the tiger. Because if you do, the kids might run over and try to pet it. So it's best to just sit there and hush everybody who points the tiger out up? No! The tiger's in the yard! It's too late to ignore it! Point it out, and point it out for what it is: not a big kitty you can pet, but a big dangerous beast that will hurt you if you don't treat it like that's what it is.

Rrrrg.

Thank you for asking me this question.

P.S. VERY IMPORTANT:

If you ARE writing a story, and you DO feel convicted about putting homosexual couples in the story—don't do it. Why? After everything J just said?

Because the one scripture that trumps everything I said is the one about your personal convictions: Romans 14:23. It's talking about meat sacrifices to idols, but the principle is, if you make a decision that is not based in faith, it's sin. So if you read everything I just said and still feel convicted about writing in a homosexual couple, it's not a good idea to force yourself to do it anyway. Because if you're forcing yourself to ignore conviction, it means you're making a decision based on...what? Peer pressure? A sound argument? Neither of which are agreed with by your redeemed-conscience? Can't be a decision based on faith, then, right?

We can talk more about that if you want!

Pray about it. Have you done that? Sometimes I get so spun into my own reasoning and puzzling something out, and then I'm like, "God is literally watching the inside of my brain spin itself out, He's standing right there with the answers and I don't even bother to ask 😅" Don't do that!

Thanks again for the hard question.

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

Hey I thought your post in response to that ask articulated really well why I don't like mangahood's approach with the ishvalans. And your line about how the bulky, towering scar is contrasted against the cowering form of winry made me think, and I went back and checked and yes, even though the manga does do more to show the ishvalans during the genocide, it's still showing only men. Men dying, young and old. There are no women or children there. We do see the children who have been treated by the rockbells and those are boys too. It really shows how dehumanised Poc men are. Because if arakawa actually showed mustang burning little toddlers or wailing mothers or trembling teenage girls that look like winry it might make us actually think that *gasp* he is a monster in a way him killing ishvalan men who are actively fighting back does not. Also one of the reasons why 03 Rose's stated SA makes the 03 version "darker" for many people than the on page deaths of ishvalan men other then SA being much more horrifying for people than violence like that.

You really hit the nail on the head regarding mangahood's choice of showing rebellion only from the perspective of Ishvalan men, and the mass slaughter of only Ishvalan men. Barring the Ishvalan child who Envy kills to throw a match into the amply-built tinder that was Amestrian occupation of Ishval (and once again, note who does the "unthinkable evil" against a "real innocent": Envy, not our lovable human war criminals), Ishvalan women and children evaporate from the scenes and topic of genocide.

The audience can logically infer that women and children have been murdered in the ethnic cleansing of Ishval, but by hiding this infuriating imagery we spare the creators and audience the additional horror that people are primed to feel when it isn't men being mowed down. This is what I mentioned regarding in-built biases of the audience being catered to by the narrative, as well as baked into the narrative.

There is a cisheteronormative and patriarchal bent to fma that people, even supposedly feminist fans, struggle to identify and contend with. Particular to mangahood especially, as fans continually pedestal this continuity as being "filled with strong, powerful, fleshed-out girls and women". It's not that this statement isn't true to some extent, but (without my rambling for 6 trillion paragraphs solely on a tangent) there are major holes where women/girls are treated with normative sex/gender constraints or wholly erased. Ishvalans are a massive blindspot here. Ishvalan women and girls barely exist in mangahood. The only figure we really see in Brotherhood, who even has any lines whatsoever, is the elderly woman who is sure to regale Ed about how monstrous Scar had been to the kindly Amestrian doctors.

So this leaves the men who, again, there are barely any that can be considered capital-c Characters (Scar and Miles. That's it.) But, they make excellent fodder for our heroes to butcher and feel sad about, and for our noble national coup to also butcher, but no one even acknowledges that loss of life. el-oh-el. And when we're not seeing them as vicious rebels who dare point their weapons at Amestris, Ishvalan men can stand in the background making this face 😟 at Scar's actions. If, ala the manga, we meet any who suffered from the genocide and hold animosity towards Amestris/ians, we can both feel some sadness for their situation while also feeling alienated from those who would hate our beloved protags.

I love trotting this out, but the fact that everyone can easily despise Shou Tucker for what he did to Nina and his family, but they cannot fucking connect the fact that Mustang, Riza, Hughes, Armstrong, Marcoh, and every single other participant in the genocide murdered children, families, girls and women by the hundreds of thousands means anything these fans have to say about fma as a story about genocide and imperialism is grotesquely lopsided at best, outrageously racist at worst. Tucker has actually enacted fewer atrocities against children alone than the staggering numbers Mustang et al committed. But Tucker killed his little white daughter. Mustang et al murdered invisibilized brown children. Don't mention the elephant in the room.

And to swing back to the point about the magnitude of dehumanization men of colour, and thus men characters of colour, face: yeah, the scores upon scores of murdered Ishvalan boys and men hardly registers as anything more than mildly off-putting to most fans. A sad factoid of the show's and manga's canon, nothing more.

(Or. Y'know. Excellent whump material for your fave military ships and light-skinned characters to grow. Haha. Ha. Haaaa. 😐 Don't worry, this isn't just the fans either. Arakawa, ma'am. Wut.)

Fma 03, in contrast with mangahood, really didn't fuck around with this topic. Again, not enough major named Ishbalans and Ishbalan women, but women and children ARE shown being decimated by the Amestrian forces. We actively talk about the horrors they too suffered. We don't sugarcoat that Mustang et al are war criminals first and foremost. We don't pretend like Winry is the greatest victim of the squashing of the Eastern Rebellion. And the truth is, 03 paying direct attention to Liore (and the choice to depict Liore as a predominantly brown ethnic group) is another way to show that this is systemic. That it doesn't matter who is in the Amestrian military: they will follow orders to invade, murder, and rape their targets. Ishbalan and Lioran men, women, and children are not spared. And this isn't revealed so you can weep for fascists, it's so you can see the fascism inherent to nationalism and the military.

People run from 03 because it's "too sad," "too dark," "makes the lives of its characters hell," but they love genocide when it's feel-good, (imperial) family-oriented, and ship-fodder! When it says "All Lives Matter," not when it says "Your life is built on the mountains of corpses your nation piles high for its own gain. And you are no less culpable even if you didn't pull the trigger yourself."

"Rose gets raped in 03, and because we think rape is an untouchable topic, we're going to slander the team behind this anime as racist misogynists," people who say this shit couldn't analyze media or politics in any meaningful way if their lives depended on it. Yet this is a common enough refrain, even amongst some 03 fans. Depiction is not inherently endorsement, and far too many people are exceptionally terrified of the reality that rape, sexual assault, sexual slavery, and trafficking are war crimes. Any war, any invading soldier, will have been party to or directly committed rape. They are routine to the point of mundane actions that imperial armies utilize.

Rose, as well as 03's narrative and characters, never demean, mock, sexualize, or reduce her down to the atrocity Amestrian soldiers (and likely Hakuro) did to her. But mangahood and some 03 fans? Boy, they sure as fuck do exactly that! Great job, assholes! Is this feminism? The denial of systemic misogyny as it aligns with imperialism? Not girlboss shonen action wholesome #inspirational enough for you to look directly at and address, instead of bluster and hide away from?

Cough. I'm getting off-track here.

Rape is not a uniquely worse form of violence than murder, let alone mass slaughter. Genocide and ethnic cleansing includes rape. Though girls and women suffer rape from the soldiers of imperial forces at a higher rate than boys and men generally do, they too can be and are raped as well. But, once again, we can't and shouldn't think about that. We can't think about and shouldn't witness that in our silly fun media. We can't discuss this in fan spaces. We can't consider rape on par with tearing brown men's bodies apart in an explosion. We can't see girls and women as brutalized victims of our protag war criminals, period. All of this, murder and rape, violates autonomy, the body, the people, but one form of violation is deemed 'worse' than the other and so that makes 03 "too dark and edgy with nothing to say" while mangahood is "so deep, so anti-imperialist, so anti-military."

All while fans and the narrative forget (willfully and otherwise) that Ishvalan men are being mass violated by the thousands.

Scar killing their violators, his violators; the rapists and murderers of Ishvalans, is villainy. So says mangahood, so says Arakawa, so says the Broho team, so says the fans.

Good thing Scar gets ~~~~~reformed~~~~~

--

Thanks for the ask! I'm glad I was able to articulate some mutual feelings on the mishandling of genocide, Ishvalans, Scar, and the Rockbells. And I appreciate that you double-checked the manga to see how it stands up in comparison to its 09 anime adaptation!

We cannot One is All, All is One our way out of white supremacy, imperialism, nationalism, and racism/colourism. No matter how desperately people close themselves off from acknowledging the truth.

[tragicbeauty1991]

So I know I’m extremely late to the party, but I FINALLY got around to watching Wish now that it’s up on Disney+ and…I genuinely don’t understand why it got so much hate?? Sure, maybe it wasn’t on par with things like The Lion King or Frozen in terms of the lasting effect it’ll have on pop culture but it was still a good, fun film with original characters and plot and catchy songs. While I can see where some of the complaints are coming from, I feel like ultimately most of them blow the issues out of proportion. As for my personal thoughts on the film…

- The songs were good overall. Maybe not as memorable as some of my favorite ‘90s Disney jams, but topping Phil Collins and Elton John is admittedly hard to do. Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine were great, though. I honestly had no idea Chris Pine could sing so well. “At All Costs” was by far my favorite song of the entire film. I would have loved to see it as a love duet rather than singing to the wishes but regardless, it’s beautiful. “This is the Thanks I Get” got a lot of flak, but honestly, I thought it was catchy and fun—rather reminiscent of Gaston’s pub song about himself.

- Speaking of Magnifico… More backstory, please! I would love for a sequel to do what they did with Frozen and explain all the things that were not fully developed in the first film. I want to know details on what happened to Magnifico’s family… But man, oh man… Was I EVER happy to get a “real villain” again with more of a classic Disney feel—dramatic, over the top, a little unhinged…and just FUN. I think the reason so many people seem to be having a problem with him is that they don’t quite know how to categorize him, though, before his ultimate downward spiral after being possessed by the book. (I think after that point, no one would argue about him being a villain.) But before…while he’s definitely narcissistic and has a temper…he’s not straight-up evil. There’s a big difference in being a bit of a jerk and being someone who makes you legitimately fear for your life. In fact, we have several heroic characters in the Disney canon who at least start out their story in a similar vein. Prince Naveen, Peter Pan, and Emperor Kuzco, for example, are all full of themselves and entitled…but they ultimately choose to do the right thing when it comes down to people they care about. That is to say, Magnifico’s less than ideal character traits we see early on in the film shouldn’t automatically qualify him as a villain. He could frankly go either way. And then when he does “go dark�� it’s ONE stupid decision on his part (going for the book) that ruins any chance he had of being like the aforementioned characters. Personally, I like the complexity…and the tragedy of what it means for Queen Amaya. Which reminds me…

- Yes, a villain power couple would have been fun. But honestly, I think I like this better. Partly because of the angst potential here. For all his faults, Amaya DOES genuinely love him, and watching him slowly lose his mind and himself to the power-hungry monster he becomes has to be absolutely heartbreaking for her. Also…maybe it’s just because I identify with Amaya here. I have been in a bad relationship where I did truly love the other person and thought they loved me…but ultimately, they seemed to love themselves more. And I made excuse after excuse for his behavior for a long time because I couldn’t see what he was doing to me…didn’t want to see it…because I loved him. People say Amaya had to have known sooner that something rotten was going on but I don’t know that she ever allowed herself to think anything other than the best of him. Amaya has a good heart…and sometimes those people see the best in others even when it isn’t there. What I really would have loved is to have Amaya and Magnifico sing a short reprise of “At All Costs” in which Amaya is asking, “Really? You’ll hoard all these wishes for your own selfish reasons even at the cost of losing your people’s love? Of losing me?” And Magnifico is just…stoically resolute. That would have hurt but it would have been so good!

- Similarly, I don’t get the complaint about Star. I wouldn’t mind seeing Star Boy like he was in the concept art and having a romance with Asha. But also…Star is ADORABLE, okay?? He may not speak but he has so much personality. Makes me think of like…Pascal in Tangled or even Tinkerbell.

- I know a lot of people complained about there being too many references to other Disney films but this just seems like a silly argument to me. Disney has always liked to leave little Easter eggs in their films and have some fun with crossovers. I am thinking of the Genie imitating Pinocchio and pulling Sebastian out of nowhere in Aladdin. Hidden characters in the background of other films like Flynn and Rapunzel showing up in Arendelle. Hidden Mickeys. And of course shows that were all about a Disney multi-verse that sort of pokes fun at itself like Once Upon a Time, House of Mouse, and even Ralph Breaks the Internet. With this being a special anniversary film, of course we ought to expect more nods to other films and Disney animation history. I thought it was cute. Especially Magnifico’s jab at Asha’s little moving drawing. (“Is that a talent?”) Made me literally laugh out loud.

- I think the one complaint I do agree with at least in part is the, “But Magnifico was right, though??” Some dreams shouldn’t come true. Especially if it’s a wish you’re making when you’re 18. There are definitely things I wished for at 18 that I am glad I did not get in hindsight. Sometimes what we wish for isn’t what’s best for us or others. And while Asha’s wishes are selfless and for others…she seems to assume that everyone else will also have equally harmless, selfless wishes. It’s sweet but perhaps a bit naive. Also…Asha has good intentions but it is rather funny and frustrating as the adult to watch this teenager come in and try to upset the whole system thinking she knows better than the person who has been running the kingdom for years. That said… Asha isn’t totally wrong either. The wishes do ultimately belong to the people who made them and it’s better even if it’s painful to have a dream in your heart than to be lacking purpose. It may be easier to forget the wishes entirely but certainly not healthier. Ironically, if only these two could have worked together, they actually would have made a great team.

Overall, I liked the film. And I think if I was still a child myself, I would have enjoyed it even more.

[starhaloeklypse]

Ladies, Gentleman, Those who identify as neither or both, It is FINALLY here. I am so excited to bring this comic to you all and I hope it resonates with many of you out there. Here is my cover of the Undertale Fan Comic I’m working on; “JigsawTale : The Ascension of the PuzzleMaster”. A Post-Pacifist ending long-running Undertale fanwork that centers the perspective of Papyrus. He’s our main character, and we’ll get to see how well he integrates into life on the surface in the human world , along with all of his friends and found family. How difficult is life for monsters who are perceived as even stranger than the average monster is ? He’ll have many obstacles to overcome because Papyrus just isn’t like most monsters. I’m very excited to share my work with you all, this story means so much to me and so much of it is inspired by and informed by my own lived experience. Papyrus is the character I relate to the most in pretty much all of fiction and I feel like I’m telling my story through him, sort of, but also his own at the same time. He’s my favorite for a reason and I think it’s time we give him a moment to shine. The story may contain some potentially triggering topics and events , but when the time comes I’ll be sure to give multiple detailed warnings for anything that needs it. It’s also meant to be viewed by older audiences as such, I’m not really intending for this story to be viewed by kids, it is a story that centers the perspective of an adult who doesn’t always get to feel like one and not only do I think it’ll resonate with that audience more, but it may not be suitable for those who are younger at all times, so I’d proceed with caution. Also I feel I should clarify, I don’t personally see this as much of an “AU”, To me it’s not an alternate universe, so much as it is an extended timeline that asks “What happens to everyone after the end of the ‘pacifist’ run, and what if we looked at all of that from Papyrus’ perspective ?” It’s closer to an epilogue story. Outside of Asgore and Toriel not being immortal in my version of the story and closer to middle age, there are no major differences to the original game, not enough to be considered an AU anyway, but if you see me tag it as one, that’s just to make it easier to find. Regardless , I hope everyone who’s interested gets a chance to read my story when it’s out, it’ll still probably be a while before that happens as I have a lot of things to work on and art skills to improve , but when the day comes , you will know. I plan to continue trying to update when I can. This is just to promote the comic and I hope it reaches as many people as possible. Thank you all for your time and patience, I’m beyond excited.

If you’re interested in the comic and would like to support its development financially , considering I’m a one-man band working on all of this by myself, I’d really appreciate it. If you’d like to request art from me I’d be happy to do so in exchange for donations as well. Any amount helps, and I’d be eternally grateful. Of course however, do not feel pressured to donate. I appreciate you tuning in either way and I hope you all enjoy the story.

[monsterfuckerconfessions]

Welcome to Monster Fucker Confessions!

~ This is a place where you may submit anonymous monster related confessions to our ask box.

~ This blog is for adults only, please! No minors!

~ "Confessions" can mean many things here. It can be just thoughts you have on the subject of monsters. It can be sharing your experiences as a monster enthusiast. It can be story ideas and concepts. Really anything goes.

~ "Monster" also can mean many things. I do not gatekeep what counts as a monster. In fact, even confessions that are regarding human fictional characters with "monster vibes" are acceptable. There is no judgement here in regards to the type of monster you enjoy.

~ In addition, confessions submitted here do NOT have to be sexual. They can be sexual, but that isn't a requirement. This is a place for monster enthusiasts of all kinds to freely shout anonymously into the void. Whether you're into monsterfucking, monster-cuddling, or you just think they're neat, you're welcome here.

~ Confessions are added to the queue as they are received. The frequency of the queue is constantly adjusted to insure that posts never wait to long to be posted but also that the queue does not run out too quickly. ~ Posts are not tagged with any sort of warnings. Please browse with caution.

Guidelines:

~ Please only follow this blog and submit confessions if you are a legal adult. There is a lot of sexual content on this blog. ~ Please avoid giving any identifiable information in the submission. ~ Do not sign your confession with a username. You may sign it with emojis if you wish. Any confessions that contain a username will be deleted. [New Rule] ~ All confessions will be anonymous. If you submit something without making it anonymous, it will be made anonymous by me when I add it to the queue. [New Rule] ~ Please be kind about the types of monsters others enjoy. Let's stay positive about each other's monster preferences! ~ Website URLs or images are NOT allowed in submissions. They will be deleted instantly and the sender is at risk of being blocked. ~ If you want to submit something that is too long to go in one ask, you may send it in multiple parts. Please be clear that you are doing so by marking them as 1/2, 2/2, etc. ~ ~ Please ONLY do this if the submission is too long to fit in a single message. Doing this for short submissions will result in your submission getting deleted. ~ If you are sending something that is not a confession, such as a question directed towards the person running this blog, please say "not a confession" somewhere in the body of the message. Otherwise, it will be queued with the rest of the confessions and not responded to by the owner of this blog. ~ "Not a confession" type messages should exclusively be about this blog and the running of it. Any "not a confession" messages asking questions that are not directed at the person running this blog will not be posted. ~ "Not a confession" messages will be posted publicly and will not be made anonymous if they are not submitted anonymously. [New Rule] ~ Do not include language that is harmful towards marginalized groups. ~ Do not insult other people's bodies or preferences. It's okay to voice your own dislike for things, but please word it in a way so it is clear that it's your preference and not a statement of fact. Statements such as "__ are gross and disgusting" are not allowed. ~ Do not send threats of violence towards real people. It is understood that some of these fantasies may include violence, but please do not direct it towards a real life person. ~ The owner of this blog is one single human and may miss certain aspects of submissions. If you see a confession that contains harmful or offensive text, please kindly send a message so that the situation may be resolved. Please be clear about what the issue is. Vague messages will not help.

New guidelines will be added as needed.

[girls-alias]

Hate - Sam Winchester

Title: Hate - Sam Winchester Words: 979 Relations: Sam Winchester X reader. TW: Extremely sad. [Didn't realize how sad it was until editing. good luck not crying] 

Prompt:

Sam hates himself for letting you leave.

THIRD-PERSON POV:

He didn't have a choice, he just couldn't admit that it wasn't his fault. He was the only thing holding him back. 

It was any other day in the hunting game, they'd tracked a djinn fought it and carried on about their days. Sure Sam was wondering what Y/N was doing when she seemed to run off all of a sudden but he didn't think it was anything serious.

She sat in the doctor's waiting room, bouncing her knee on the spot, staring at the floor. 

"Y/N L/N?" The doctor called into the room. Her heart instantly fell to her gut, she knew it was bad news from the expression on his face. She seemed to blackout as she walked into his office and took a seat. All she heard was white noise as he talked after he said he only had 2 months to live. She was shocked but knew it already, she had a feeling but hearing it out loud was heart-shattering. As she left only one tear fell, a tear which warned her of the rest if she didn't stop it. She was never the type to cry and now was not the time for her to start. 

She walked into the motel with a stone-cold face. Ignore Sam's greeting she instantly stormed over to her bed. 

"Y/N, what's wrong?" Sam asked in a concerned tone as he walked around the couch he was just previously sitting on. 

"I can't do this anymore," She snapped. Even seeing the sorrow in his eyes didn't stop her, she was determined. "Sam, I can't live like this! You might be fine, hunting monsters and drinking with your brother but I'm not, I have to go otherwise I'll be here for the rest of my life," She shouted. Tears in her eyes, all too scared to escape. 

"Y/N, why are you saying this?" He asked brokenhearted. She lost her breath, only to find it holding back her tears. 

"I'm leaving and there is no way you can stop me, I'm sorry but I'm not dying a hunter," She scoffed throwing the bag on her shoulder. "Goodbye, Sam," She softly spoke before turning towards the door. Sam watched after her not noticing her hesitate at the door before forcing it open and never returning. Growing more and more reckless as her time ticked on. She didn't mean what she said but it was the only way to save Sam. To save him from the heartache of losing her to a slow death.

He hated himself for weeks on end, regretting it all, and considering leaving but no matter where he looked she wasn't there, he only found her when it was on the news. A heroic death. 

"Reports show that the woman, Y/N, was a hero, she had been given 2 months to live in the early weeks of June and since had saved many. A hero to the locals and a number in the system," The TV spoke grabbing Sam's attention. He couldn't believe it, not because it was unbelievable but because he didn't want to, he simply reduced. Even with her picture on the screen, he was in disbelief. 

Even hearing she was gone he continued to search. Though it hurt, Dean was the one who had to identify the body and with Bobby's help gave her Hunter's burial. 

Sam would sit alone, thinking, crying, searching, hoping. Deep down he knew, but even deeper down he was in denial. He had felt loss and pain but not like this, not this intense. 

He couldn't sleep. Not without her, he refused to eat until he was on the brink of passing out. It hit him hard and when the night felt long he would sit outside the bunker, his back to the wall and stare off into the distance, sometimes imagining Y/N would appear and explain a crazy story that would justify it all but as the night went on nothing happened, she never came, and he never forgave himself. 

His eyes were always red from crying, his throat raw and he was heartbroken. Dean tried all he could, giving him space, and distracting him but Sam wanted revenge and the only person he could blame was himself for letting her go. He punished himself, eating next to nothing and as time went on Dean was afraid to go on hunts with him and afraid to leave him alone. 

Once again he sat outside of the bunker but this time it was different, this time he knew he couldn't imagine her there. It had been months since he saw her and he was forgetting the details. 

"Cas, I don't ask you for much, but I need this," He spoke to the world and heard no return. He waited, he waited till the sun arose. 

The flames burned in his face before Crowley appeared behind them. 

"Wondered how long it would take you," Crowley sassed taking a seat and acting like he owned the place. 

"Is she in hell?" Sam asked demandingly. Crowley's eyes softened.

"No, even when she was hunting, I had nothing bad on her," Crowley explained in a softer voice than usual. "Not everyone's a Winchester, you can't bring her back," He added. Sam only scoffed. 

"I'll give myself in for her, I'll give you my soul, I'll give you anything," Sam demanded but Crowley looked at him sadly. It only angered Sam, the eyes he had seen since the news. 

"I can't. I promised I wouldn't," Crowley sadly explained. 

"Since when did you make promises and keep them?!" Sam now screamed. 

"I'm sorry," Crowley added before disappearing. Sam shouted in the thin air. Dean heard it all and waited by the door knowing there was nothing he could do as he heard Sam scream and cry. It only hurt so Dean walked away just like she did.

[rosesradio]

Piper McLean in Ceaseless Eve: Let's Discuss

⚠️ The following contains spoilers for any & all of Ceaseless Eve ⚠️

At first, I was not planning a whole lot for Piper.

Of course, I didn't want to do nothing with her, leaving her to be essentially a cardboard cutout carried around by the boys as a prop for 90k words. She was there, and she was cool—the girl that knew what to do around the pegasi, the girl that Leo crushed on but never had a chance with. But as I continued to write with her and discover more about how she fit into the story and the ceaseless-verse in general, I realized that she wasn't laid back at all. It was a facade, and she was terrified.

I hadn't planned her arc, it kind of formed on its own over the course of the story.

Piper is a character who spends this story recovering and reassessing her past. She's very similar to Leo in that way, as she had an uncertain grasp on her abilities and how they fit into her life and who she wanted to be. But unlike Leo, there comes to be a point when she reaches a certain age, where she is able to identify the implications of her abilities, and how she can control others...and yet she uses her abilities anyways to get what she wants.

Piper is a selfish character in her youth, a person whose development is altered as she is used to continuously getting what she wants. It isn't until her early teens that she begins to realize that by continuously using her Charmspeak, she is taking away the free will of others, especially people she cares about. She begins to realize that most of the people in her life don't actually love her or even like her. She realizes she's never actually had a real friend that she had not manipulated before.

"I have what I need now. I know my Charmspeak is a gift, and I should use it in emergencies. And, I mean...I made some real friends while I was here. I didn't have to ask you, or Leo, or Hazel to be my friend using Charmspeak. You guys really like me..."

—Piper McLean, Ceaseless Eve, Chapter 20.

(As I'm writing this I realize with a bit of bitter humor that fandom really doesn't like selfish female characters. In Piper's arc, even at the beginning of CE, she is opposed to using her abilities for malicious intent at her point of introduction. I'm very grateful that many of CE's readers understood her nuance and loved her in spite of her past and flaws. Not everyone did. I can't help but wonder how different the fandom would see her/her arc if she were a boy, but alas...)

The only person who remains there for her is her father. She stopped using Charmspeak on him altogether quite a while before she stopped for everyone else. Though she felt tempted to in darker moments, she also found he was easy-going, and some of the only honesty she had experienced—good or bad.

That is, until her dad became busy, and the paparazzi buzzed with a nervous, unsettling energy—and Hollywood was going to Hollywood.

So, Piper tried to pull him away in the only way she knew how—using her Charmspeak to get into trouble. It is at this point where her character arc aligns the closet with canon and the familiarity of other demigod arcs: she steals the BMW, gets sent to the Wilderness School, though she escapes after a monster attack and makes her way to CHB with the help of a dove from her mother.

It was then that she met Nico.

One of the most important aspects of Piper and Nico's stories is their relationship to each other. She comes to CHB in search of protection from monsters, an escape from her previous life, and a restart. Despite how hardened Nico can be, it wasn't hard for her to become friends with him due to a moment of vulnerability after a monster attack. They become an outlet to each other, even if it's not often that they delve into things that are too serious. In a way, their friendship is an opportunity for them to both be normal teenagers in a world that does not often provide that peace for demigods.

As the group started towards the camp's entrance, Piper grabbed Nico's arm. "That was the longest car ride I have ever been subjected to in my entire life." She whispered, and her eyes displayed the extent of her suffering. Nico, suppressing a laugh, allowed her to link her arm in his as they headed up the hill towards home.

—Ceaseless Eve, Chapter 18.

Piper's friendship with Leo is also particularly important to the ceaseless trio's dynamic. Although I wrote Leo as less of a, uh, ladies man from the start, I contributed his friendship with Piper as the thing that broke him out of his desperation for a girlfriend. They are able to be open with each other easily, vulnerable from the start in a way that most demigods are due to their environment. Piper is seen as easy to talk to, so if she is friends with Nico, how bad can Nico be?

Overall, her arc comes to a close with her decision to go back to her dad. Admittedly, this is partially done to follow Richard's "rotating cast" method, but also because I feel it is best for her character. By resolving to only use her Charmspeak in emergencies, and by making friends by simply being herself, she builds up the skills needed to get back out there and mend things with her father. There might be even more mortal-type adventures in store for her in Hollywood, though we will have to wait and check in on her in Ivory Rain.

Bonus: a small fashion tip from Piper: the color-changing eyeshadow ✨

I love Piper's color-changing eyeshadow ! I decided to alter the canon of her eyes changing color like a kaleidoscope; I've heard in the past that it was an element of HoO that did not age well or was problematic, though I don't think I am the right person to delve into why that is. I decided instead to have her eyes stay brown, and gave her color-changing eyeshadow. Where did she get it from? Her mom? Iris? That's up to you. ✨

Bonus character! Apollo: Let's Discuss

Apollo has always been one of my favorite gods—he's kind of the Barney Stinson of the bunch; you feel like you should hate him, but he satirizes the things you'd hate about him so well, you can't help but feel the opposite.

I knew from the initial plot points that I wanted something to happen with "kidnapping the sun" and a dark aesthetic, think Titan's Curse. Still, I will admit that the bit about him falling for a trap at a music festival came a bit later than I'd like to admit. It does sound like him though, lol.

From what I have seen of canon, Apollo seems slightly more caring than other godly parents of the series. That's one of several reasons why I had him be Sarah's godly parent. Also, I made a few comments throughout the story about how uncaring Apollo might seem about demigods that aren't his kids. In spite of this, I'd like to think he does care about all demigods at the end of the day, especially heroes that have helped him out. He's still a bit of an asshole, but hey, maybe he could return the favor and help out our friends in Ivory Rain.

[bluedalahorse]

Philosophies of Justice and Narrative Catharsis in Young Royals

Do you ever just have… conversations with yourself at 2 am?

Me: Wow. August did some bad shit. I want him to get therapy and help, but I also want him to face some kinda legal punishment.

Also me: Oh, self. You don’t trust cops or judges or prisons. The legal system would be way harsher on Simon about the drugs. Doesn’t that give you anxiety?

A third me, thousands of words in and possessed by a hyperfocus demon: Well fuck. We might be doing a meta about it. It’s okay, this can just be building blocks for our graduate school thesis on YA literature. Ahaha it’s fine.

The following meta looks at philosophies of justice, both retributive and restorative, as they appear in the worldbuilding Young Royals. This is a monster of a meta, like ~6500 words long, so be aware of that going in. Content note for discussion of all the usual crime topics in YR, as well as the injustices present in real world legal systems.

Intro: Shifting the Focus

Fandom loves discussing—and disagreeing about—the redemption arc. Who can blame us? As human beings, we’re wired to notice novelty, and redemption arcs involve a character experiencing some sort of dramatic transformation. This transformation could be gradually built up to for a series of chapters or seasons, or it could be sudden and jarring. It could involve one big dramatic gesture or a series of small changes. Whatever happens, fans end up debating what they see onscreen.

Now, I love a good discussion. I also love stories that poke beyond simple notions of good and evil, where characters are capable of change in multiple directions, And yet, as someone who has spent years in fandom, I increasingly find the discussion of redemption arcs unsatisfying and even boring. Everyone seems to have their own definition of what constitutes “enough” good deeds for a character’s redemption, and even their own opinions of who is worthy of redemption in the first place. It seems we can’t entirely agree on what the term means, and everyone gets bogged down in discourse.

At first, my dissatisfaction prompted me to ask what I considered a well-written redemption arc. Well, no, that’s not accurate. There was a little arrogant voice inside me telling me that I, the great bluedalahorse, who has devoted many hours of academic study to various literary texts and even made complicated spreadsheets to track ideas in my favorite books, could use my genius analytical skills to find out what a perfect redemption arc is supposed to look like and develop a formula for it. And then I stepped back and laughed at myself. Since when did good writing ever follow a formula? All the best writers know how and when to break the rules. Also, I am not as much of a genius as I think I am. I’m literally just hanging out here and overthinking my fictional faves like the rest of fandom.

A lightbulb moment switched on when I attended a workshop focused on restorative justice in schools, back in the summer of 2022. As I listened and processed the things I was learning, my storyteller brain kept poking me. Hey, it was saying to me. Heyyyy can we use restorative justice principles to write better character arcs? Particularly redemption arcs? I talked to my MFA adviser about this as we began to workshop ideas for a critical thesis in Young Adult literature. We started to explore the ways that restorative justice principles showed up in books like Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay and All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. I got a little further along in my theories, identifying techniques authors used to show characters confronting their privilege, unlearning old behaviors, and making amends for harm that they caused others. Still, something was missing. I just wasn’t getting where I wanted to with my analysis.

A few weeks ago I had a second lightbulb: what if we stop looking at justice in relationship to character arcs alone, and start looking at worldbuilding?

That clicked. Oh, boy, did it click! You really can’t talk about characters without understanding their world. Once I attended a panel on writing villains, and one of the panelists asserted that you can’t develop your villain as a character until you’ve developed your world. (Whether villains are outcasts hellbent on revenge, or oppressive tyrants at the top of their society, their world plays a role in shaping them.) Since what we call redemption arcs so often involves taking a character out of a villainous space and into a more heroic one, naturally worldbuilding has to be a factor in that kind of story. I also realized that the framing of the “redemption arc” frustrates me because on some level, it’s still tied to the Western Christian idea of individual salvation. I didn’t want to necessarily focus on what what one character does or doesn’t do individually without also focusing on that character’s relationship to other characters and their communities.

So I decided to experiment with shifting the focus of my thesis research. There were only two things left to do: come up with a framework for exploring my ideas, and test those questions out on Young Royals. Because it’s my favorite show, and it has a lot to say about justice. That said, a lot of what I say here and the methods I use could be applied to other shows as well. I’m curious to hear what it might have to say about your other favorite works of fiction!

The Framework

After some drafting during early morning bus commutes, I came up with three questions I wanted to explore when looking at Young Royals and other texts. These questions are:

What is the authorial philosophy of justice? What principles of justice are at play in how the author constructs the characters, world, and storylines?

How is justice enacted (or not) through the legal system(s) in this story’s setting? To what extent do the ideals of that legal system match up with its reality? To what extent should they?

What are the individual characters’ experiences of justice in their day to day life? What social norms do they end up creating in their smaller communities to enforce their ideas of justice?

What I like about this series of questions is that it allows a text to speak in multiple voices. There has been a lot of fandom discourse over the last ten years (and even longer, honestly, this shit goes back at least to Plato’s dialogues) about authorial intent and whether depiction equals endorsement and so on. I don’t think I’m going to end those debates today. Still, I do think it’s worth pointing out that a TV show or a book or a movie is able to tell a story and make a point in a different way than an essay or campaign speech does. You can have different characters own different parts of the truth. A particular setting can be positive for one character and negative for another. Fiction is really good at exploring paradoxes, contradictions, and tensions. I created these questions because they force me to tease out the tensions in a narrative and where there might be meaning in them.

Come on, Blue! you say. We know Young Royals has a lot of tension in it. When are you gonna start talking about your fandom? Okay. Fine. I’ll get to the sad teenagers now. Put on your school uniforms, everyone. We’re going to Hillerska!

No Good or Bad People, Only Good or Bad Actions

The title for this section comes from me paraphrasing Omar paraphrasing Lisa in an interview.

Two questions you may have about this section are: 1. What makes authorial philosophy (a term I am pretty sure I just made up for the purposes of this meta) different than authorial intent? 2. What’s the relationship between the author’s philosophy and their worldbuilding?

To answer question 1, I am defining authorial philosophy for the purposes of this meta as what the author intends + how effectively they convey that through their storytelling and craft. So like, authorial intent, but we’re also holding the author somewhat accountable for how their message comes across. Generally I read Lisa and the rest of the team as pretty intentional in how they craft their stories, and I can see how their ideas play out in practice, so I am more likely to give credence to authorial intent. I might not do that for other authors. As someone who reads heavily in the YA novel field, I’ve seen plenty of books with surface progressivism that end up being kinda reactionary when you scrape beneath that surface. Usually it’s a craft issue or the author not being intentional enogh. Young Royals, so far, has not been that kind of text.

As for question 2, authors can use their worldbuilding to reinforce their authorial philosophy, whether that’s through having characters in the story espouse said philosophy, or by using the story’s plot and character arcs to test their story, or by some combination of the two. Lisa is a writer who affords her characters a lot of grace, but I also see her as willing to test that grace and our her personal philosophy on trial. She’s very aware that ideals don’t always match up with reality, and those tensions are part of what she explores so well in her writing.

Now that we’ve addressed those questions, let’s address the authorial philosophy of Young Royal.

Young Royals stands out from other school dramas because it handles nuance so well. But how do Lisa and her team achieve that nuance? Part of it is the way their approach to characters resonates with the philosophy of restorative justice.

Restorative justice can be defined as “a system of criminal justice which focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large.” This website has some additional information about what restorative justice looks like in theory and practice. (Plenty of other websites do as well.) Restorative justice is really hard to pull of IRL, but philosophically it does ask us to think about the ways in which more retributive and punitive justice systems are failing people.

Now, before I get too far into my explanation, I don’t know if Lisa chose a restorative justice approach to her writing on purpose, or how much she’s read about the subject. But a lot of what she prioritizes as a writer lines up with certain RJ principles anyway. For example, RJ practitioners believe that every human being has worth and dignity, and that leaning too far into a retributive justice model (more on that in the next section) can be dehumanizing for both victims and offenders. In Lisa’s writing, each character is humanized, there are no characters who are caricatures. Everyone in Young Royals has their own reasons for behaving why they behave—even when they make choices that harm others. There aren’t excuses, but there are explanations.

Two other important ideas in RJ are accountability and dialogue. Season 2 of YR deals a lot with the question of accountability. Wilhelm’s positive growth is signaled by his willingness to be accountable for his actions; August’s more tragic arc is characterized by his baby steps toward accountability followed by his dramatic backflip away from it.

Regarding dialogue, Wilhelm’s growth is fostered by important and vulnerable conversations with others. Sometimes these conversations are with the people he harmed or impacted in a negative way. He and Felice have to talk their way through the weirdness of that kiss, while he and Simon have to talk about… well, everything. TBH they’re not done talking yet. But they’ve started, and that’s where the progress and catharsis is happening. Other times, Wilhelm’s conversations with other members of the Hillerska community—Nils and Boris come to mind—help him to see things in a new light and clarify his ideals. When we cheer on Wilhelm as he comes to better understand his privilege in the world and the weight that his actions have, we’ve been enlisted by Lisa to support restorative justice philosophy.

No one character represents Lisa’s philosophy entirely, because she’s so committed to all characters being fallible in their own ways, but I would say that of the main cast, the Eriksson siblings and Felice are the most likely to express different parts of restorative justice philosophy. All of them strive to look for people’s human side instead of relying on stereotypes. They want the people close to them to be accountable for their actions. They talk things through. They recognize the needs of multiple people in a situation. This doesn’t happen all the time, with every person, in every instance. They get distracted and led astray. There may be times where it would benefit them to get outside help and they don’t. Sometimes their efforts blow up in their face. But they’re trying, and I think Wilhelm has definitely joined them by the end of season 2.

So sure, all the characters in Young Royals might brush up against the principles of restorative justice, but they still “live in a society” as we may or may not still say on the internet. In order to understand more, let’s talk about the legal system as it’s presented in the show.

Call Your Lawyer Stepdad

As a writer, Lisa may believe in restorative justice principles, and this likely guides how she depicts the characters in her story. The legal systems she depicts in her work, however, are not restorative. What’s more, they are applied unequally based on the identity of the person who breaks laws or rules. Young Royals is very clear about the distinction between the ideals of the law and how the law actually gets enforced.

Obligatory disclaimer: I’m not a law student or someone who’s studied much comparative politics, so I can’t say for sure whether Sweden’s legal system leans more retributive or more rehabilitative. I also can’t say whether the ideals of its legal system match its reality, but I am making a safe guess that they don’t entirely. (Sweden, my ancestral homeland, I love kanelbullar and ABBA, but your current right wing government and your response to the COVID pandemic and your history of colonization, among other things, shows that you are just as capable of bullshit as any other nation. Forgive me if I approach your legal system with caution. If anyone from Sweden or another Nordic country has more info and can weigh in, feel free to weigh in.) It’s also worth mentioning my own preconceived notions here. I live in a country with a massive mass incarceration problem and a legal system that was specifically created to reinforce white supremacy, so my trust in law enforcement and courts and the like is… not high.

What I can say about the legal system in Young Royals is this: the writing of the show primarily focuses on the retributive aspects of the legal system. In a retributive justice system, those who break the law are criminals, and they are punished for their crimes. Punishment is seen as a way of deterring crime and keeping it from happening in the future.

We see the impact of a system like that when legal consequences motivate characters and the choices they make. Simon is afraid of getting caught and prosecuted for bringing drugs into school, while August fears being put on trial and imprisoned for leaking the video. What’s interesting to me, though, is that it isn’t just that both characters fear punishment. They also fear the stigma that comes with being publicly convicted of a crime. Simon doesn’t want to be stereotyped as the poor kid who comes into school and pushes drugs on the rich kids. He knows how dangerous drug addiction can be from witnessing his dad, and he brings the drugs into school out of financial desperation. August, meanwhile, wants to think of himself as an untouchable elite who is discreet about secrets, and probably (more sympathetically) also wants to think of himself as a relatively helpful guy who showed Wilhelm around school and took care of him the way Erik would have wanted. I think it’s very clever how Lisa had Simon and August each break the law in ways that betray their respective core values, because it brings this issue with a retributive justice system to light. Once someone has committed a crime, how do they move past that stigma and make themself into the sort of person who doesn’t do a crime again?

This leads to another issue with retributive justice. We often equate legality with morality subconsciously, but these two ideas are not the same thing. In August’s case, leaking the video is easy enough for us to label—it is both illegal because it is against the law and immoral because it violates Simon and Wilhelm’s right to sexual privacy. Simon bringing in his dad’s drugs—that’s against the law, sure. But is it immoral? Simon is up against a corrupt teacher who rewards students who can pay more with better grades. He needs to pay for tutoring if he want to succeed. He’s at a disadvantage because of his socioeconomic status, and he also probably hasn’t had time to process trauma around his dad’s addiction. From the point of view of a Hillerska parent, however, they’re just going to see Simon as a threat to their kid’s well-being.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Simon’s reasons for breaking the law are absolutely more sympathetic than August’s reasons. I cannot stress this enough. We see the way the system screws Simon over, and how it drives him to do what he does. Simon gets drugs to students who consent to take them, but when August films him and Wilhelm it’s without their consent. Moreover, August is complicit in Simon’s lawbreaking because he ends up being the guy who sells drugs on Simon’s behalf. (Jesus, August, sell a painting or something.) But who is the legal system in the YR universe more likely to give grace to? August. Who is it more likely to come down hard on? Simon. Simon does not have the wealth to afford a trial. He doesn’t have a lawyer stepdad on speed dial. He doesn’t have an in with the media like the royal family does, so he can’t control the public narrative of his life the same way that they can.

On a purely literal level, August dangling the threat of the pill bottle in front of everyone is the most textbook example of August being a little shit. On the thematic, level, however, this reminds us who the justice system really serves. It’s a caution against relying on the justice system—or at least relying on the justice system alone—for narrative catharsis in this story. Instead, we should be looking for narrative catharsis elsewhere. And, we should definitely be looking at more than one character arc if that is the case.

The Only Person You Can Truly Control Is Yourself

While season 2 includes the retributive justice of the legal system as part of its worldbuilding, we also see Wilhelm embody the philosophy of retributive justice through his actions. Wilhelm starts his arc in a place where he wants to punish August for what he’s done by taking away everything he cares about. He justifies this by pointing out the problems with the legal system—rich kids never actually face the consequences of their actions. While Wilhelm is correct to call that out, he ends up transforming himself into a more extreme agent of the retributive philosophy in order to pursue what he sees as justice.

Now, this is a writing gambit that could have failed spectacularly. We’ve all seen versions of the “if we are awful to our enemies, we’re just as bad as them” story that end up reinforcing an icky status quo. But that’s not exactly what happens in Young Royals. The first thing to notice is that Wilhelm’s approach works… initially. August has lost a lot at the beginning of season 2, part of it due to Wilhelm’s efforts, and that’s made him more willing to reflect and be vulnerable and listen to Sara when she tells him he can preserve his self-respect by turning himself in. I actually don’t think Sara’s being entirely naive when she points out that January August would have turned himself over. The problem is that as January August becomes February And March August and starts to gain new things to protect (an in with the palace, a new relationship with Sara) he becomes afraid of losing everything again, and starts to go back to his old ways.

The other thing to notice is that Wilhelm mostly acts alone. Felice is his confidant, but she’s not working alongside Wilhelm, suggesting they swap out August’s hair products with toothpaste. (I kinda wish she would have, though.) In spite of the fact that the video probably hurt Simon even more than it did Wilhelm (reminder: Wilhelm has access to a press team and hired security that let him walk away at first) Wilhelm doesn’t center Simon in the process of doling out punishment. He does it with the best of intentions—he doesn’t want Simon getting hurt—but that moment where Simon’s like “You did ALL THIS TO HIM when we could have reported him together???” Yeah. That’s extremely valid. And it hints at one of the central ideas of s2—yes, dealing with August is important, but priority number one for Wilhelm is Wilhelm taking accountability for his own actions (denying that it was him in the video) and making things right with Simon in that way. With that relationship restored (see what I did there? restorative justice?) they can lean on one another as they slay their next monster. At the end of the day, the person who Wilhelm has the most control over is himself. That’s why we end season 2 on him making the speech and publicly acknowledging his relationship with Simon, not with the arrival of cop cars at Hillerska.

Speaking of the choices Wilhelm decided to make, I invite Young Royals fans to consider how Wilhelm’s role as crown prince give his actions symbolic weight. The royal family may not have real lawmaking power, but they’re still supposed to represent Swedish values and traditions to the general public. If Wilhelm starts pursuing a kind of justice, then he’s making a statement about what justice looks like in Sweden whether he wants to or not. If he had shot August in the field, that would have been more than a murder—symbolically that would have been an execution, in a country that banned capital punishment in the 1970s. (Then again, Stella and Fredrika would probably be okay with that.)

I want to make one more point here as I transition into the next section. I don’t think Lisa is necessarily saying that August shouldn’t be punished or face consequences for his crime. But I do think she’s being very clear that a retributive justice philosophy is going to hit marginalized people without the resources to defend themselves—people like Simon—a lot harder. And that opens up the question of where we’re supposed to find catharsis. Can we really exhale at the image of jail cell doors clanging shut, knowing that this same legal system can come for Simon using the same tools? If Simon somehow manages to evade prosecution, can he ever really find relief? How long will that last? What’s to say the system won’t screw him over in other ways, and what’s to say that other rich kids won’t get away with what August did, or worse?

It would be one thing if a crime only harmed the individuals involved, but restorative justice philosophy reminds us that this harm also impacts communities and involves communities. So, without further ado, it’s time to zoom in and examine how justice plays out (or fails to) in the Hillerska community.

Snitches, Stitches, and Scapegoats

In the microcosm of Hillerska, students have organized their own justice system in miniature. Conformity gets rewarded, while open nonconformity gets ostracized. While there is some understanding among the students that individuals will deviate from heterosexual, traditionalist, rich kid norms, this deviation is generally only tolerated when students do it in secret. In this climate, Hillerska students do a lot of self-policing. Stella and Nils cover up their sexualities in ways that may not work for them long term. Felice frets about her physical appearance and how people will perceive her if she pursues boys a certain way. You get the picture.

Because of the pressure to maintain a pristine image of the school (gotta make those admissions brochures look sparkly clean!) the student body as a whole sweeps crime and “deviant” behavior under the rug by closing ranks and agreeing not to snitch on one another. The elite status of Hillerska students allows them to get away with a lot their public school peers would not. While gossip flourishes within Hillerska’s walls, woe betide anyone who lets it escape into the outer world.

On occasion, there are crimes that can’t be covered up, and it may be that more than one student is involved. We’ve seen what happens in this case. Hillerska students do not collectively assume responsibility, but instead agree upon a narrative about what happened and choose a scapegoat to pin the problem on. We see this most clearly in episode 1.5, when Alexander is found with the drugs that the Society used for their party. August suggests they pin the drugs on Simon, while Wilhelm breaks with tradition and says Alexander should take the fall, because Alexander can easily bounce back from an accusation like this. Sure enough, Alexander is back at Hillerska next season, far less innocent than before and far more likely to engage in political intrigue. Wilhelm’s considerations about how Alexander can more easily absorb the blame for the drugs are well thought out and in some ways compassionate—and we’re happy to cheer him on for defending Simon and to some extent we should. However, Wilhelm’s willingness to participate in the scapegoating system backfires on him nonetheless, and also entrenches him in one of the most toxic parts of Hillerska culture. He’s cut off one hydra head and two new ones have sprung up to take it’s place.

One obvious danger of scapegoating is that innocent people are often blamed for things they have nothing to do with. We’ve seen this negatively impact Simon on the rowing team and elsewhere. Vincent makes Simon the scapegoat for the rowing team’s loss in episode 2.3 and uses it as an excuse to bully him. Simon doesn’t get to sing his solo because people will recognize him from the video and that will affect the school’s image and the royal family’s image. Simon is innocent in these areas, but he’s being made to take on blame for situations that are a lot bigger than him. Of all the individual students at Hillerska, Simon’s probably getting the shortest end of the stick, and that’s directly related to the fact that he lacks privilege.

Feeding the Myths

There’s other ways to make people symbols of crime or deviance, however, that can damage the fabric of social groups in other ways. Since scapegoat isn’t quite the right term here, because it tends to presume innocence rather than superlative guilt, I’m going to borrow some season 2 language and refer to this as the Worst Person in the World Phenomenon. Now, this is where I’m going to go out on a limb a bit and ask a question the show might not engage with in season 3. They might do it. They might not. It may be beyond the scope of the story Lisa feels she is able to tell. I’m going to ask this question all the same:

If August faces public consequences and punishment for leaking the video, what impact will that actually have on the culture of Hillerska students? Will it prevent such a thing from ever happening again? Will it at least encourage self-reflection?

You could argue that a high profile case like August’s could deter his classmates from engaging in harmful behaviors. He may affect some students that way. I mean, what he did is Very Bad on the Bad scale. You might even call him… the Worst Person In The World. Who would want to be like the Worst Person In The World?

The flip side of the Worst Person In The World phenomenon is that can actually discourage people from taking responsibility and holding themselves accountable. Because gosh, what I did isn’t that bad. It’s not serial killer bad, or Vladimir Putin bad. Do we realistically believe that other students at Hillerska aren’t doing problematic things? That the rowing team has zero boys who will show a topless photo of their girlfriend (without her consent) to some of his bros while they chuckle over it? That some of the girl groups aren’t spreading wildly inappropriate and homophobic rumors about classmates that seriously damage reputations? That kids aren’t paying one another for test answers or putting pressure on one another to unsafely experiment with alcohol and drugs, even when students express boundaries and don’t want to? That kids don’t collectively work to bully teachers at times? And generally the kids aren’t getting in trouble because they’re the children of rich, elite parents, who will grow to be the rich people who run the systems and structures in society for the next generation.

Now, none of the Hillerska kids (that we know of) are doing bad things on the scale that August did when he leaked the video. This is important to stress. But it’s also important to stress that this “getting away with bad behavior” culture of Hillerska and rich people in general is part of what made August who he is. Are the other participants in that culture willing to reflect on that and actively work to change the culture in question?

Again, this does not mean that August shouldn’t face consequences or punishment, or that he shouldn’t go to prison and undergo some sort of rehabilitation. There are excellent reasons for him to face consequences. He did revenge porn FFS. But I think it’s worth acknowledging that the punishment of a very obvious, high profile offender can feed the myth that the legal system is finally working toward justice when in fact the system is continuing to perpetuate injustice. We can see how this works when only a few select predator men were convicted to placate the #MeToo movement, we can see how this works with corrupt cops when only a few who kill are ever convicted but most get away with it, and we can see how this works with political parties taking advantage of the fact that other political parties are, well, worse.

And yes, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good, no ethical consumption under capitalism, etc etc. I think we can keep that in mind while also keeping in mind that we still bear a responsibility to Do The Work in whatever way we are able. This is wandering off of Young Royals a bit. But I’ve given a lot of thought to the way we point at glaringly bad examples of human behavior and say “at least I’m not that guy” while not really doing the reflective work about what we can do to be better and how we can change our culture and systems. This kind of rhetoric is what allows people, especially people like the Hillerska kids who are at the top of society and the peak of privilege, to sleep at night. And maybe they shouldn’t be sleeping so well.

I think a lot about how the scene with Sara warning August that Simon is going to call the police (which is about Sara giving August one more chance to embrace accountability) is followed by a scene of Henry showing up to his group project meeting with no work done. Henry might not have done his work on a literal level, but as a symbol, he’s doing a lot of work. Not only is Henry foreshadowing that August isn’t going to do the right thing and turn himself in, he’s also lampshading the broader culture of Hillerska itself. For all the fancy plaques about responsibility, the students use their privilege and power to avoid doing what’s right and keep the status quo going. This is who they are. This is what they are going to have to overcome to be ethical humans who make their world better.

Working for Catharsis and Healing (A personal opinion section)

I don’t make predictions. The idea of making predictions for season 3 is in fact pretty stressful for me. But what this intellectual exercise has opened up for me is a question of where I would find catharsis and healing in the narrative. It’s not in the sound of police sirens. Maybe that’s different for you. That’s okay. I think we can learn a lot from the discussion in question.

Let’s start with the obvious jerkface himself and the question of him facing punishment. I think it’s worth separating August from other people for a time, to prevent him from doing additional harm to others. If we’re going to call that prison, then sure, let’s call it that. But let’s unpack what that separation looks like. In order for Wilhelm and Simon (and Sara and Felice for that matter) to heal, they’re going to need to be away from him. They should not be the ones responsible for his rehabilitation. As a restorative justice nerd deep down (at least, mostly, but fictional teenagers are well within the broad spectrum of people I’ll offer grace to) I still think he deserves a chance to heal from at least his drug addiction and his eating disorder and his trauma over his dad’s suicide. I also think he needs to understand accountability and the impact his actions have on others, and needs to learn to act in ways that repair the harm he’s done and prevent future harm. This is what he owes the world. There’s not time enough for us to see that whole journey, but I feel like the writers could show us the first few steps.

I’ve seen some people try to argue that August can’t change because he didn’t respond enough to Sara treating him like a person. I can see their point, and I can see the show using the Sara subplot as a shorthand for the idea that August can’t change. Writers often have to use that kind of shorthand to make a point about a character. (The relationship between redemption arcs and romantic love is one of my ongoing problems with redemption arcs in fiction, just for the record.) The way I see it, though, Sara is just one neurodivergent girl with a family history of abuse experiencing her first romantic love. She’s not a team of trained mental health professionals and social workers and other help-minded adults who’ve studied up on how to de-program systemic nonsense. After all, we can accept that although Simon loves Wilhelm very much, Simon’s efforts alone weren’t enough to fully dislodge Wilhelm from his place of privilege. Wilhelm needed Boris and therapy, and a mom who made him go to therapy (Kristina often does more harm than good, but her making Wilhelm go to therapy is the broken clock being right twice a day), and Felice as a friend and confidant, and Nils as a different sort of confidant, and a literature teacher like Fröken Ramirez who’s assigning him books with queer representation. Wilhelm’s journey is still ongoing. Romantic love may be transformative, but individuals in love don’t change people on their own. Communities change people. I am an aromantic relationship anarchist and I will die on this hill.

Speaking of the Eriksson siblings, I want Sara and Simon to have a chance to repair their relationship and build it anew. This would be another point of catharsis for me. I’ve seen a lot of people saying “Sara needs to do xyz tasks…” like we’re in a confession booth and a certain number of Hail Marys will save the day, but step one is that Sara and Simon just need to start communicating again, and communicating honestly. I think it’s easy to point to August as being the root of their relationship struggles, but there were a lot of unspoken tensions between the Eriksson siblings long before he entered the chat. They would have had some other falling out even without Hillerska. Simon’s been led to believe he should parent his sister, and Sara’s been convinced she’s a burden to her brother forever. They both are still reeling from trauma related to their dad, and it may need that they need different things to heal from that. Even without all that, they’re both maturing and defining their values and exploring romance for the first time, and Sara’s getting friendships of her own without always tagging along with Simon and Rosh and Ayub. Simon and Sara are getting to the age where they may not always be the most important people in each other’s lives, and they need to learn to grow up without growing apart. That doesn’t always happen automatically; it takes self-reflection and commitment and listening. I don’t think we’ll ever be back to the innocent days of Sara teasing Simon about his fairy tale prince. But I do think they can move their relationship forward in a new direction, and bounce back stronger.

I also think both Eriksson siblings need to come to terms with the fact that they violated their own values. Sara didn’t do anything illegal, but she did do something that violated her own morals, and you can tell that she feels pretty awful about that when she’s alone on the bus and driving away from school in 2.6. As for Simon, I don’t know if he’s fully gotten a chance to sit with the fact that he violated his own values when he brought his dad’s drugs to school. Again, I don’t want Simon to have to go through legal trouble, or deal with the prison system. The legal system is stacked against Simon in ways that are not fair. But Simon values accountability, and Wilhelm basically rescued him from being held accountable in season 1. I imagine that’s caused cognitive dissonance for Simon he’s still sorting through. I wonder what that’s going to be like for him.

On Wilhelm’s end, I’d like him to continue growing in the ways he’s grown in season 2. He’s learned not to be a symbol of extreme retributive justice. What would it look like for him to model restorative justice practices instead? (Note: this doesn’t mean that he personally has to forgive August. That’s entirely up to Wilhelm.) How can he encourage his community to act differently?

For Felice—well, one of my few issues with season 2 was how they handled Felice, and how they made her ancillary to others’ arcs instead of having her own, but that’s a post for another time. All the same, I think Felice is learning to trust her instincts, push past her biases, and take a unique point of view on things. She’s able to look at the video and see the broken pixels rather than the scandalous gossip scene everyone’s talking about. She can sense Sara’s hiding a secret from her and knows Sara needs to talk. Even if the conversation they end up having is deeply upsetting for her, it brings truths to light that need to be shared. Felice doesn’t have every tool in the toolbox yet, but what she observes and how she interacts with people can be helpful in delivering justice.

I don’t have meta space to consider every parent and adult on the show and things they can do differently. But I expect in season 3 we’ll start to see some adults (I don’t think it’s likely that we’ll see all of them) consider the roles they play in perpetuating systems and cycles. At least, I hope so. It shouldn’t be all on the young people to achieve change in society.

As for the Hillerska culture, it needs to change too. It’s worth asking if a place like Hillerska should even exist. Every secondary Hillerska student is going to act a little bit differently in response to the events of the plot, and I don’t know if I’d buy it if the show tried to tell us the Hillerska culture changed overnight in a magical ripple of self-consciousness. We might see individual students taking baby steps toward responsibility and liberation here or there. We might just see status quo as usual. I think of all the threads in this story, this is the one I would be okay with seeing Lisa Ambjörn leave things unresolved or in a place of tension, as long as that tension feels intentionally placed. Because changing the world is hard, and not everything changes all at once.

Young Royals doesn’t have to tie up every loose end by the last episode of season 3, but I do think it’s already raised a lot of questions about the relationship between justice and storytelling and where we find catharsis in fiction and our own lives. These questions are worth us considering, even if the answers point toward all the work that still needs to be done for the future.