#that ik are very good and holy people and are also queer

[littlelav107]

i think Jesus accepts and cares for us queers btw, like He spent His time befriending and eating with and talking to the outcasts of society and the judged minority and in His Kingdom there will be no night or sorrow for anyone so like this kinda connects with being queer for me

[hermanoga]

gay gay homosexual gay : link click Yingdu episode 4, Yaoi cocaine and shoujo agenda and why it matters

Part-1/?

I will not talk about anything serious, it's pure crack (and my horny thoughts) and at this point I don't even care about the plot rn rn. Let the plot flow I'll catch up with it later.

Highlights of this episode

1. Xia Fei and Vein being spouses for 15 minutes straight (on screen and off screen)

2. Cheng xiaoshi's bi awakening era strengthening

3. Lu Guang being a cat for the entirety of the episode

4. Vein's Chinese and Lu Guang's English are making me question my sexuality (vein and lg are transmasc and gender queer to me so technically it's not a problem but I've never ogled at apparent amab bodied people so)

5. Holy fuc, fucing fuc, Lu Guang, that body of yours is absurd!

6. And...they pushed two beds to make one!

7. Another ao3 trope coming to reality : sickfic and hurt/comfort

8. Comedy runs all through the episode

9. Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi being comic spouses (may ramble a bit seriously on this)

10. Xia Fei doesn't like Liu Xiao and that's NEWS!

11. Xia Fei's attitude changing at the mention of Vein

12. Liu Xiao's 'friend' agenda and his (palpable) connection with Lu Guang intensifies

13. "You look tasty" 😍

I am rewatching right now, so that I can create a master-crack-post on episode 4.

Let's begin!

I have been mimicking Xia Fei's 'laoban!' for 5 minutes straight lmao. The way Vein looked back and we see a teared up Xia Fei... Ugh that's so nyaka of him tbh. Like a spoiled little wife, precious damsel in distress crying in relief when his husband/saviour arrives (btw when I refer Xia Fei as 'wife' and Vein as 'husband', I do not imply any kind of comphet homophobic standards, some classic/popular culture tropes just fits very well)

Lu Guang is behind Cheng Xiaoshi cause he is scared as fuck and his cat eyes are posing a threat "come near me and I'll scratch your face!" Myriad of emotions, though completely polar opposite to each other, are painted on lg and xf's faces while Cheng Xiaoshi is standing there with his signature : head emptu no thot style.

But the first shot of Vein made him look much younger actually. My red hot pookie 🎀. I need his eyeliner tutorial tho.

Am I wrong for saying his aesthetics scream transmasc lesbian 😭

Honesty speaking when your wife is just standing there, you should not approach a random stranger and pass the remark : you look tasty 😏😋 like sirrrr 🤨

Xia Fei, knowing his husband's antics, is still a bit frustrated here.

Lu Guang's 'don't dare you touch my bitch!' attitude was so spot on! 🤣 it's a shoujo romcom , ain't no way that's just the scene of a traumatized man defending his partner (in life and death) from his murderer. That's more like : he is my maal, back off!

The vile in lu guang's voice when he said, " He said... ni hao" was so delicious!

Cheng Xiaoshi used all of his english knowledge in one sentence and Vein is smiling. Lu Guang and Xia Fei, nerd bitches are judging him so hard but too polite to point it out. Lu Guang is disappointed that Cheng Xiaoshi is again shaking hands with a man (his murderer even!) like " Ik i am done with this shit! " and Xia Fei... probably doesn't like some other man shaking hands with his husband (moreover when your husband says something like "you look tasty" to a random man he just met, when he should have approached you first and patted your head). Both of those nerd bitches are jealous and irritated the way they should be. People! collect your own maals and move. Don't be greedy, that's the sin they talk about in the bible. (Also imagine if veifei switch, it will be SO GOOD)

But Vein looks very cutie pootie happy fruity when he shakes hands with Cheng Xiaoshi tho. Vein, your fashion sense is top notch, your make up 10/10, your braid, I will put pearl hair ornaments on it. He is so perfect, so perfect, I just can't 😭. Xia Fei, keep your man safe or I'll just pounce on your husband. His voice so deep you can hear lesbians drowning.

You know those specific type of people who support their spouse's rights and wrongs no matter how weird and undefendable they are? Xia Fei actually wanted to have a talk with Cheng Xiaoshi patiently explaining "he didn't want to say that, I hope you don't mind, his intentions are not bad, (my husband) is like that sometimes, even if I have pointed it out to him countless times but he doesn't listen. I hope you don't mind, want to go for a walk together tomorrow? "

No, I mean...that is the LEVEL of emotional intimacy you could yearn for. They are very very explicitly spouse-coded that my head hurts.

Oh. My. God. Vein's formidable glare when someone attempts to hurt his wifey~ hot! hot! hot!

It's giving 'omae wa mou shindeiru'

It's so refreshing to get those shoujo tropes back. You can't deny that THIS is the focus of this scene. The interpersonal dynamics and not the main plot. Why would you need that rock to hit Xia Fei specifically? And those close up shots. It's very recognisably shoujo you can't convince me otherwise.

YES, KING 👑, HOW DARE THEY HURT YOUR QUEEN?! You are standing in Vein's vicinity and daring to hurt his Xia Fei's pretty face? you are damned, you are damned, dude.

I can't help attaching this video clip because I simply can't resist

This is simply...peak!

the way he saves xia fei

"the youth these days don't seem to know their manners" (the youth these days don't know how dangerous it is to mess with boudi when dada is around)

THE SONG STARTS PLAYING, BANGER! ABSOLUTE BANGER!

compulsory danmei flashbacks where those chinese fans are lethal spiritual weapons

I love every inch of his being, I understand you, xia fei, I understand you so much i can't-

and here LMAO 🤣 kitty reclaims his own maal too. I mean it's so funny how this scene is pure comedy. "come here you little bitch!"

It's funny how in these first few minutes, people (xia fei and lu guang) are very frustrated and want their partners' attention back. Lu Guang has his own reason but STILL it's so shoujo. sorry.

it's the first part of my episode 4 rambles and it will continue until I am satisfied. the agenda is gay, it has no relevance to the main plot of link click whatsoever (or... really? 👀)

but before ending the first part, I wanna say something

Personally, I don't think the relationship between Xia Fei and Vein is toxic. Vein's profile released today

his dislike includes : Lying

his character pv bloody storm continually asserts that whatever he does, he does with dignity. He may be evil but not machiavellian, that's Liu Xiao's department. And idk my *heart* says to me, he is not cruel, abusive and manipulative towards Xia Fei. He genuinely cares about him. There may be other reasons Xia Fei is important to the plot but Vein has a soft corner for him. It's a very irrational but strong innate voice that's telling me to have faith in my veifei and I will.

Actually, I have very few ships I am actually invested in. and crazy like this. I love reading different permutations and combinations of ships but I never emotionally invest. Johnlock, Wangxian, Shiguang...these are the only ships I am devoted to. But their own interpersonal relationships come from a...what should I say, 'clean' and 'innocent' and 'pure' background. It's the society and fate that brings chaos to their relationship. But Veifei is different. But I ship them with no less passion.

[flowerspeakz]

Lmao I remember seeing images of vi as a pitfighter and thinking "noo spoilers 😭" (I didn't want to know ANYTHING about season 2 before watching it--get the best experience, yk?).

But like,,, Vi's pitfighter phase was so insignificant? Like actually so brushed over? I totally forgot about it because it had one stupid montage and that's it.

Why did she even become a pitfighter? Ik that it's her coping with her life falling apart, by why pitfighting? And also where's the pitfighting happening? And why is that vander replacement there? What??? Can they not like continue the insane worldbuilding they had from before please?

ffs I'm tired of people claiming that people critiquing arcane have no media literacy and want to be spoon fed. Be so fr the first season of arcane is so so SO GOOD because the reasoning behind characters' decisions were explained/shown before the decision was made. (silco choosing that kid to be the first human shimmer weapon because that kid fucked up his recon mission on vi/powder/mylo/claggor so badly, powder wanting to prove that she isn't a jinx because mylo keeps dissing her about it, marcus being a mess of a dirty cop because his family's safety is in silco's hands, etc, etc)

Characters are not real people. Sure, a real person can make decisions out of left field. Yeah, real people have microexpressions that can tell you a lot about what they're thining. But a character's motivations and how they think should be clear to the audience (generally, ofc there's exceptions im not stupid yo).

Yeah, I know why each character did what they did in s2, but not in the way I did in s1. Not in a way that matters.

I mean, I totally forgot that Mel and Jayce were in a relationship in s1. Where did that go?? I guess people are so obsessed with jayvik that they were probably celebrating that the writers forgor about that important character/plot point. You're telling me not a single character has ANY curiosity??? Jayce sees that Mel is a mage and doesn't, yk, insist on getting the full story??? And vice versa??? Even if they implied that that conversation happens off-screen that's not enough. Seeing how these two very close characters express these very traumatic events to each other would be such a good look into their internal mindscapes and how they view the crazy shit that just happened to them. But nooo. We can't explore their relationship together because jayce needs to be obsessed with viktor.

GOD I want a bi character in a show to come out of a same-sex relationship and end up in a "straight" relationship just to watch the internet fucking implode. Every bi/plurisexual person deserves a smooch on the forehead and a little voice that tells them 'love who you love, nothing could make you less queer than you are. yeah, people sure do think otherwise but fuck them ong holy shit'

omggg dont even get me started on caitvi... can we not get a healthy wlw relationship that isn't rooted in codependency and general toxicity?? "people just cant let lesbians have anything can they," i've heard people say in response to people criticising the caitvi sex scene... NO! I want sapphics to know that they can have healthy, non-abusive relationships where you, yk, actually talk to your partner and ARENT just the dirt under their nails. tf.

[weirdcat1213]

Hi....If you don't mind me asking, can I ask, what are your top 7 favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series/etc) and your top 7 favorite (fictional) characters from any media? Why do you love them all? Sorry if you've answered this questions before......

Hello :D

omg i get to yell about things I like, exciting!

first im going to go with my top 7 in no special order cuz I would never be able to decide

Trigun (98, manga and stampede): I've talked WAY to much about this one but holy shit has impacted my life. The story, the characters, the pain THE SWEET SWEET PAIN MY GOD. It just mixes a lot of tropes/themes I really like. And we have 3 versions of it! How cool is that?

Steven Universe: again another classic. Discovered the show when I was young and it just grabbed my soul. Very formative and influential while I was growing up. So soft and p a i n f u l l as all thins should be :3. Plus the music is a banger. Like to this day ik songs from it. Favorite one is change btw.

Legend series (book series): no one paid attention to this series because it came out the same time as divergent and hunger games and other big titles. But I was! And it's still one of the best book series I've ever read. It totally has the 2013-2015 vibes (except for the latest one in the series, rebel) but it's....honest. not only because all the struggles in the book are real but also because the author really believes in her characters. She created them but also let them become people. Plus the writing is amazing and her description of specific moments and emotions UGH I have a huge post about it because of how cool it is. I still remember opening the first book and getting SLAPPED by the first line. Yes it's that good.

Signalis: newish game :D saw lesbians, saw violence and I was on board but I never thought the game would make me think and stare at the wall that much. So far I've played it 5 times and going for a 6th. It's so abstract and no one can decide on what's true or not but that's part of its beauty. Really clever and interesting game. Nothing is real, only lesbians with guns.

Our Flag Means Death: cool show that was about queer NOT IN THEIR TEENAGE YEARS??? IN THIS ECONOMY??? AND NOT ABOUT AIDS (sorry pose I still love you). Of course it won me over because of the queerness but also the characters themselves. It was nice to see myself in a lot of them, personality and racially wise. The fun gay pirates came to my house, destroyed my life and also gave me life. Easy as that.

Pose fx: don't like the main writer of the show too much but the rest of them ATE WITH THIS. A story about black queer woman PORTRAYED BY BLACK QUEER WOMEN. It deals with the aids crisis through the lenses of trans women and gay men but the thing in that show that blew me away was the love for femininity and the community they created around it. They actually took their abandoned and traumatized selves and became someone. They formed families that actual give support and I'm a sucker for found family. I've cried many times because I wanted Blanca to adopt me. 10/10 show about overcoming shit circumstances and the importance of community. What if I cried again.

Houseki no Kuni (manga and anime): weird manga that I've been following for YEARS because its so fucking good. The anime is beautiful and captivating af and honestly the whole thing needs to be analyzed by a Buddhist. it makes me want to learn about that religion so i can understand more. but yeah its sad, its hype, and once again its about gay rock MMM my favorite. you dont know the hours i spent looking for videos/animatic about it. hard to explain but i like to describe it as "human growth: the manga/anime"

Maybe it seems like I don't watch many movies and it's kinda true! I'm more of a shows person. but there are movies i like. maybe another day

Now onto my favorite characters but again I can't decide so this is in no special order. Also because I can't decide I'm giving the spotlight to characters that are not from the media mentioned above (for example if you dont see vash in here is because i yell about him enough like. 3 times minimum per month). Because I can. Because I'm normal about media and stories i like.

1.Steven (su): MY BOY MY MOON AND STARS. ok a lot of this list is about characters i relate to, but this one is the og. this mf is one of the kindest, awesome yet misunderstood characters of all time. theres so much rage and trauma in this little guy but there are many other feelings that get lowkey explored in the main show until BOOM the emotions explode in su future. its amazing how complex my son is. im so lucky that i got to grow up along side him in a way. and in another way it was nice to see myself kinda represented in him? fun times.

2.Tifa (ffvii): PRETTY RECENT BUT SHES THE COOLEST. ejem sorry. i love cloud, zach and the others from the game but tifa doesnt get the recognition she deserves. she survived so many tragedies and became stronger because of it. not only in body but also in mind. however she also became cautious and tries to not explode in front of others. she tries to be a safe place for people, even when shes scared. i think thats pretty admirable of her. i would say more but i dont want to risk spoiling the game but there are little moments and scenes where she just tries to be there for people because she has no one in her life anymore and fuck it makes me sad. also shes pretty hot-

3.Elektra (pose): MY QUEEN. shes just. evil sometimes. shes really a bitch to most of the characters but DAMN SHES COOL WHEN SHE IS. elektra knows she was born with a huge disadvantage in life so she grabs power like a mf and bites it. i kinda aspire to be that, to not let anyone get in my way. she just really speaks to the part of me that has bigger ambitions. but shes also smart and caring (when shes not being a bitch) and every time the world puts her down she stands up and kicks the world again. she's the power of femininity itself and yes i also think shes hot (i mean look at those cheeks of thunder) but shes like a fucking storm in a person and how i can not love that? We love poc people in power.

4.Phos (houseki no kuni): This fucking child (they're a child in my eyes) is so important to me for weird reasons. I got deep into hnk when I was in my sabbatical year. It was a time where I didn't know where I would go and phos seemed to be in a similar place. To this day it surprises me how ichikawa managed to create a "simple" character and then by all definitions made them human. I like their journey, the transformations they went through, the stages they went to cope or to confront their situation. Plus the design is pretty affff

5.Edward Teach (ofmd): I just.....really connected with this guy ok? The feeling of always being at the bottom so if you are going to rise your only option is to make people fear you but that's not true BOY HE LEFT NO CRUMBS WITH THAT WHOLE THING. he was just really cool when he entered the show and then it was "oh this guy is really fucked up actually" and he's so funny and MORE OLD POC QUEERS? FUCK YEAH. but i guess what puts him on top for me is how he explored himself and his needs. All that while being funny and tragic and gay. Really cool.

6.Anthy (revolutionary girl utena): MY DAUGHTER RRRRAAAAHHH. Anthy is a really tragic and complex character. to this day i cannot put together every reason why shes my favorite from utena. Shes tragic and my god the things she goes through break my heart every time I think about it but...shes also incredibly strong and funny and a weird keeping animals in her room. The creators did an excellent job showing her lack of agency and how she already had given up, but also showed her humanity and wish to retain things in her life that gave her joy. And movie anthy? That girl is a no nonsense girl. She will get her girlfriend no matter what from the people who abused her. She left that fucking school as a mature, smart and kind adult. We fucking stan.

7. Richard (requiem of the rose king): another recent acquired son. Idk why this one hit so much and honestly for how short the manga is (79 chapters) they did such a good job with him???? Banger themes and metaphors, banger character moments, banger GENDER moments. I've seen a few people not being able to take him seriously but idk, ir sounded honest and serious to me. A kid who has been told since birth they were a demon became one to survive but not really. Because no one with his wish can fully be a demon. Idk maybe it's cheesy but his quest for love and acceptance was a banger in my eyes (please read the manga. We can leave the anime behind). Also I like him cuz he's cool and is a character I CAN ACTUALLY COSPLAY THANK GOD-

AND THOSE ARE SOME CHARACTERS AND SOME PIECES OF MEDIA I LIKE :D IF ANYONE WANTS MORE PLS ASK.

[honestmouse20]

As promised, here's a masterlist of all the things people said they enjoyed about Crystalized! Just for positivitiy sake :) Plus my own favorites after!

The ninja's reactions to grief! Specifically Zane turning off his memory swith! All of the ninja's responses were really good and in character, even tho the show doesnt go super in depth. (personally i like how they left it up to us to fill in the details after they gave us the main idea as to how they reacted)

Pixal having more screen time! Bonus: her scene with Zane when she thinks he's gone. 10/10 pain

lots of call backs to pilots/season 1! like the original four's interactions with eachother.

Adding on to the previous one, Wu going up to Cole and Jay first, bc they were the first ones of the original ninja he found (not counting Zane) This was somethign I hadn't noticed until pointed out!

Reunions! Cole and Vaniam + the Uply! Benthomar showing up, ect.

The weekend whip being the final prophacy!

Zane screaming in the prision when he flips back on his memory switch briefly

Many people said that Garmadon (and fugidove but we'll give him his own bullet point) absolutly STOLE Crystalized. Namely Crystophern and Survival shipping

the fights/battles are epic and have a lot of cool call backs to old enemies and friends alike!

the crystalized whip fucks and everyone seems to agree on that lol

nya being the one to decide to come back And figure out that she had to get rid of her element to do so

dragon forms are cool!

harumi's lullaby coming back! (definatly gets stuck in my head all the time, despite how creepy it is lol)

card title for "A lesson in anger"

Wu's absolutly Epic quote to The Overload about how he "grew up afrraid of [him]" gave me absolute Chills

power of love and friends saving the day! Cheesy but still very good :)

Lloyd and Garmadon's relationship!! How Lloyd is still grapling with everything that happend Plus his 'father' now just Being there and trying to learn compasion

Poor Lloyd really goes through it! And everyone seems to agree that it was Very Good to see those glimpses into his jealosy and hurt towards Garmadon/Crystophern.

Survival shipping. Adding that one again bc it poped up A lot :)

Harumi's redemption. Mixed bag of feelings but another case of a nice base line for the fans to fill in the hows and whys

Zane and Mr. F's fight :) nice call back!

Multiple people said that scene with Cole getting a concussion and Kai taking care of him! It was really sweet and a lot of people said they liked how they showed the ninja actually getting hurt and it STICKING. Showing the concequences. 10/10

Nyad being tragic and also very sweet as a character!

FUGIDOVE! holy shit I'm so glad everyone loves him as much as I do!! He's so autistic and queer coded and it's Fantastic! More on him later in my section lol

multiple people mentioned it being nice to see Skylor again!

ronin redeption :)

the paper kids!

And now, My Personal Favorites :)

Survial Shipping!!! 10/10 also I love how Garmdaon says Vinny of NGTV news!

Crystophern Hurts and I love seeing Lloyd in the background looking so Hurt by Garmadon seemingly loving the plant more than him

That scene where Nya comforts Garmadon and tells him Crystophern is still alive and Garmadon spills about it being 'the only green in his life' and Nya has to be like, we're still talking about the plant right??

FUGI fucking DOVE! He is my all time favorite villan (not counting Garmadon ofc). The scene in the desert is 10 times better if you pretend he's a figment of Jay's imagination. but also it's hilarious on it's own. I don't ship him and jay but also, maybe?

"Quanish was a fool"

Wu and Garmadon being on the same side again!

Wu having a similar speech to lloyd and leading a similar resistance

OH! Wu's fucking quote! in his fight with the overlord! It's so epic! Ik i already said it but it's just so good

how all the ninja look so Happy while they're being arrested bc nya's back. I cry so hard

ough lloyds line about 'never being responsible for anyone ever again' Pain and suffering

I'll add more if i think of it! I have to leave for work now!

[your-friendly-neighbourh00d-fag]

#mcr #TRUUUUEEEE #tbh any song that explicitly talks about how children/teens/young adults are treated like nothing more than bodies to be used in #the military industrial complex #is a win in my book #the first time i read the teenagers lyrics i was like holy shit he doesnt hate teenagers. #the people who have power hate teenagers especially now more than ever when military enrollment is at a low and more and more kids are queer #that one post i saw about the oppression of children changed me forever and now i cant stop thinking about it #i think about it every time i see military recruitment shit at college #at arcades #on buses #we're / they're (because im almost 20 and feel a bit weird saying i am a Teenager) just supposed to shut up and listen and be sacrificed #for some greater good that doesn't exist #the cruelty is the point etc etc but ALSO sorry OP ik youre australian this is a very US-centric take lmao #i mean mcr is from the US so i think the analysis makes sense but ough #they could care less as long as someone'll bleed yknow !!! #'they' in this case isnt the teens who are (often) bloodthirsty its the fucking . people in charge .. . #so darken your clothes strike a violent pose>:) they might leave you alone but not me #(i go to a trade school and have to actively try my hardest to avoid working in a military adjacent company) #so sorry for . these tags.

oh my fucking god. wow. say tha.t say that so loud.

your conventional weapons poll (part 2) sent me here. i need to talk about Gun. i need to express my shame for not liking it sooner. i used to think “as soon as i get my gun” was a boring lyric, like come on gerard, you can do better than this. I USED TO SAY GUN. WAS A SKIP. but i was so blind. the repetitive simplicity of that line IS THE POINT!! and obviously the chorus is a searing, sarcastic, heart-wrenching stand-out. CAN I BLEED ENOUGH. THEYRE TEACHING ME TO KILL, WHO’S TEACHING ME TO LOVE??? i wish we talked about it more. i wish it’d made it onto swarm tour setlists. i hope it wins the poll

NO THAT IS SO REAL AND TRUE I USED TO HATE GUN SO MUCH I SKIPPED IT EVERY TIME.

but like. obh. why did it just hit me like a TRUCK one day.

WELL IF IM OLD ENOUGH TO DIE FOR YOUR MISTAKES!!!!!!!!!!! THEN LETS GO!!!!!!!!!! CAN I BLEED ENOUGH TO FILL UP WHAT THE ENGINE TAKES!!!!!!!! WE DONT KNOW!!!!!!!!!

anyway. conweap 2 is severely underrated and gun haters dni 😤😤😤 [/hj]

[wickedpact]

A ranking of all the TTT stories in order of how much I liked them.

(Oh god this is so long)

1 My Mother's Axe

BABY ANDYYYYYYYYYYYY. Honestly this one had the trifecta of developing a character's motivations, developing a character's backstory, & developing their personality. The story starting out with Andy teaching Nile to use the axe was so charming and fun, and you could feel that chemistry they had in Opening Fire, the way they teased and bickered with each other so naturally. I loved the wedge between them on the subject of the axe, how Nile was perhaps a little too young to understand Andy's feelings about whether or not its the 'same' axe. I also love how the axe is obviously the symbol of the franchise and hugely important, but you never get a sense of exactly how important it is to Andy until you read the story.

I love the entire Ship of Theseus theme, and how it feels so natural that for Andy she has to get attached to the idea of things rather than the things themselves because she'll always outlive the things themselves-- the axe is symbolically her mom's axe, even if physically it isn't. And I love how she clearly clings to that concept so tightly. "This is the labrys she held in her hands...." IT GETS ME.

And the fact that this sense of BELONGING, of FAMILY, of CULTURE is so important to Andy that she clings to it (figuratively and literally) with both hands. And of course it's important to her, she spent so long alone that the woman doesn't even remember her birth name. That axe (or the idea of that axe) is all she has left of her mother and that family/culture she was born into.

PLUS on that note I love how Andy doesn't remember if her mom was her actual biological mother, but it doesn't matter to her. This woman was her mother in all the ways that counted. And how her mom BETRAYED AND KILLED Andy but Andy loved her so much that she avenged her and carried her axe for thousands of years. THOUSANDS OF YEARS!!!!!!

I also loved how the story transcends the timeline of the whole franchise and seeing Andy through the years. Loved seeing her with the varying squads and with varying axes. Also baby Andy was so cute. It was cool seeing her so young. like holy fuck. Andromache The Scythian, Immortal Warrior (but smol). Love that.

Also I think this one is one of the few ttt stories that doesn't suffer from length problems.

tldr: goddammit greg you've done it again.

2 Zanzibar and Other Harbors

Zanzibar my beloved. I've said before, but it's downright comedic how little regard there was for Joe and Nicky's character designs in this story. The same person who does the colors for the regular comic did the colors for this one too, and you can tell, every panel of this story was Beautiful.

Ik there was A Lot of criticism of this one (lmao @ how the fandom had no idea what was to come) but I thought a lot of The Discourse was a bit dramatic. I did think Nicky came off as a little oblivious to Joe's feelings in this story, but I've said before, I honestly think that was a 'tone not translating' thing. It felt like Nicky was nagging Joe for [checks notes] saving innocent people, but Joe was so amused by Nicky's complaints I really do think it was supposed to come off as teasing.

Plus I know the 'Joe running off into danger and Nicky reluctantly following' dynamic wasn't popular (I'm a pretty meh on it meself) but I did love how Joe's impulsiveness (if you want to call it that) was interpreted as heroism and not hot-hotheadedness. All of the examples Nicky and Joe talked about included Joe explicitly saving people. (and it also took A Lot for the nazi to actually provoke Joe).

I also feel like their characterization here was closest to the movie canon-- the bit where they hear the woman scream and Joe goes running in to save her while Nicky swoops in on Joe's heels to comfort her while Joe and the nazi were fighting reminds me of the train car scene. Joe had suggested First that they go find Nile because she needed to be protected, and Nicky later added that Nile probably also needed emotional support. Similar reactions.

But it was So Good, the themes of queer community and the enduring nature of queer culture are Not themes you see in media that often and it was such a delight how it was done. Also it's one of the few more modern TTT stories that has a completely valid excuse for taking place when it did. Chef's kiss.

3 Passchendaele

I love the Duality between seeing baby Andy and then seeing Mama Andy in the very next issue. This story doesn't have a ton of meat to it, but the entire concept of Andy adopting a war orphan straight off the battlefield PLUCKS MY TENDER LITTLE HEARTSTRINGS, and I think it's especially poignant for comic!Andy. I think most people wouldn't think twice about movie!Andy doing something like that but comic Andy is so hardened and almost cruel sometimes, and seeing that even for her the world hasn't beaten all of the compassion from her yet is SO!!!!!!! this woman contains MULTITUDES okay, she's violent and angry and tired and Done but she's also so kind and compassionate and THE STRENGTH OF HER!!!!! Also the idea of her and Yitzhak co-raising a kid together is so damn cute. It was #mysterious pre-Yitzhak-story but now it's cute. holy fuck. It's cute.

& the headbonk panel of her and Zeus lives in my heart. anyways.

4 Many Happy Returns

I Know people weren't thrilled about Booker being in this one, but I've developed a pet-peeve about that: this story was *not* booker-centric. Booker only exists in this story to the extent required to explain the importance of the gesture Nile makes towards him. If there was a story about Booker making some grand gesture of kindness to Nile no one would be saying it was Nile-centric. bc it wouldn't be! Booker exists in this story to explore Nile's kindness, its not about him. I saw that a couple times and it bothered me. anyways.

AAAAAAAAAA I loved this one, the art was beautiful, I loved how Andy Nile and Booker were drawn (like their comic selves but.. more looking like actual people). I loved Andy and Nile's Bants, how Andy wanted to jump right in and Do Violence but Nile was basically telling her to hold her horses.

I feel like I'm just repeating the post I made on this story a few days ago, but I LOVED how Nile's plan revolves not around violence or Cool Mercenary Skills but on Nile's own life skills (as she canonly did a lot of minimum wage job-hopping before the marines in comics canon). Her plan used her skills, not the skills of an immortal warrior, and HER SKILLS were in fact more useful for the situation! lov to see Nile's resourcefulness and planning skills.

AND HOW NILE WAS PROBABLY WATCHING BOOKER??? it's so Much bc 1.) nile knew booker A SINGLE DAY and yet he made such an impression on her emotionally that she had to keep an eye on him and 2.) she said in the movie she wanted Booker to get off free with an apology. Yes she's a member of the team but that doesn't mean she's necessarily going to follow orders like a good little soldier. I also love how she convinced Andy to go along with it. her HEART, her KINDNESS, her THOUGHTFULNESS, UGH.

5 The Bear

Honestly I have like no negative things to say about this one other than a.) character design issues which is less about the story itself and is more of a 'tog comic in general' criticism and b.) too short, but it was supposed to be a tease, so.

But I loved Yitzhak, I wasn't expecting to really like him at all but like I said in my other post, he tickled me. I love characters who are Kind™, especially if they have little reason to be so given their backgrounds. Chef's kiss. Lov him.

6 Bonsai Shokunin

I know this one was a little controversial bc of the outsider POV but whenever I see people upset about that they never point out that the Outsider Guy (the samurai) existed as a reflection on Noriko. His ideas are explained in the text to develop hers. The whole story follows how she gave mercy to a scared young man and in response he murdered Noriko, repeatedly! Who gave him the right to inflict such pain and suffering on the world? In his opinion, the lack of response from the gods was his permission. And for Noriko-- over and over again she dies and suffers because she gave mercy, which lines up with her ideas in FM about how it's their fate to rule mortals and if they don't align with that plan/fate/whatever then they suffer. It shows some background to those ideas and how they developed in her mind outside of Ocean Madness™. Additionally, his idea of 'the Gods have done nothing to strike me down so it's fine if I do these things' kind of explains how Noriko may justify her own morally corrupt actions-- she's died so many times and it's never stuck. Maybe if she did die any of those times, or while she was in the water, maybe that would've been a sign she was doing something right, or at least doing something normal. But she hasn't died. Fate isn't done with Noriko yet. And maybe there's a reason for that. In her mind, it's just not a very pleasant reason, is all.

There were things I was kind of meh about tho. I did kind of wish we saw something of Noriko and the team, or smth explaining the way she was before her dip in the pool-- personality, likes dislikes, etc. but it wasn't bad or anything. It was super vague tho, I had to read it a few times before I got what it was going for. Liked the art. Liked the bonsai metaphor. And of course I Respect the decision to use the 1300s (1200s? I don't remember off the top of my head) rather than using the last 200 years.

7 Strong Medicine

Honestly looking back, this one made me kind of sad because both this one and Bonsai Shokunin explored character's ideas on Fate and The Divine and how that intersects with immortality and I totally thought that theme would be continued, especially with Love Letters. But Then It Wasn't™.

Admittedly.... I had to re-read this one to remember most of it. I liked Booker's ideas on God, 'The conductor of the symphony just may not be very good at his trade' but the plot itself was kind of forgettable. Some fuckin cowboys try to kill a doctor (their second) because he couldn't save their sickly brother. Book tries to stop them, gets killed, and then comes back and kills them all before they get the doctor. Alright. I liked the artstyle because the characters were ugly in a similar way that leandro's are, but way more bearable.

I love the Irony of Booker concluding that there is no such thing as fate or destiny and nothing has meaning, AS HE UNKNOWINGLY SAVES MERRICK'S GRANDFATHER FROM BEING KILLED. Booker getting fucked over by life/god/destiny yet again. It also kind of explains about where the fuck hell Merrick's interest in immortal mercenaries even came from.

I originally had this one a lot higher and then I thought about it and moved it down like two spots.

8 Never Gets Old

I liked seeing Booker interact with his kid. And we got a name for the kid! Philippe was a little bitch though, he was a little obnoxious. I liked how Booker was so thrilled to experience a restaurant with his kid (and since we know he was there before, it can be assumed he went with all of his kids and yet he was so charmed each time). It fits with his line to Nicky in the moon landing story about how you don't appreciate beautiful things 'unless you have someone to share them with'. It was charming to see Booker interact with his kid, and to see him so happy. Also lmao @ Booker's big fat Ye Olde Crush on Andy.

However at the same time it was like.. of all the things to write about,,, I guess? Booker's Night Out...... alright. Especially since Book had so many stories.

I don't know, it was alright. The old man killing him really came out of nowhere, (but the 'Salut, asshole!' panel was funny tho).

9 How To Make a Ghost Town

I've hit a point where talking about these stories has gotten less fun. I liked this one but I felt like Achilles getting lynched was not really necessary for a story that was already tragic (a story that already involved Achilles doing a lot of suffering at the hand of bigots). When we first got the blurb for this story I thought it would be about Andy returning to the squad and making friends with Booker after losing Achilles and them butting heads on the idea of family and when to cut off ties. So a little bit of my underwhelmedness about this one might be just my expectations being different.

Honestly I was pretty interested in Andy and Achilles' relationship and I would've liked to see more of them-- like, what was their dynamic like? What did they love about each other?

But anyways Andy leaving and Achilles getting killed anyways feels so pointlessly tragic (which I suppose is the point..... I don't like tragedies) she left to save him and yet people killed him anyway. Meh.

I did love the bits about Andy wanting to have a domestic life (Andy and her multitudes again) and the little detail about how she buried her axe near the road but he buried his guns under his bed-- he was an escaped slave, he never had the luxury of assuredness like Andy did. It was a sad story.

10 Lacus Solitudinis

'You put this one above love letters crim??? how could you???' easy, lmao.

There was stuff in this one I liked. But to talk about stuff I didn't like: (I'll keep it brief, I know ragging on this story has been done time and time again)

UH, setting aside the 6 year cold shoulder between Joe and Nicky, I thought their chosen method of conflict resolution was... bad at best. Nicky's inability to talk about his feelings was also annoying, especially since the entire point of this story is a fight Joe and Nicky had, and yet we don't get both sides to the story, which is...... important? That fact is especially annoying bc in the absence of Nicky explaining his side of the story, it's absolutely a possible (and admittedly probably unintentional) interpretation of the text that we do get that Joe routinely resolves conflict between him and Nicky by simply cutting Nicky out of his life entirely until Nicky just. caves? Even if it takes years?

WHICH i could get into that interpretation and how fucked up i find it. but im not going to. out of restraint.

I don't know, I think there are a lot of interesting ways to go about this conflict but 'Nicky wants to kill a guy and Joe refuses to acknowledge his existence until he stops because he thinks Nicky is too much of a Good Boy to get his hands dirty like that' ('I wont watch as the world turns his (...) compassion into something ugly'. ) wasn't.. how I would've done it. (I mean you know Joe doesn't give a shit about what Nicky is doing in a moral way, because Joe doesn't even care or mention that Booker is killing those cops too. Joe only cares because he doesn't like the idea of Nicky changing in a way he finds undesirable.)

admittedly I've said before, I do like the emphasis Joe's reaction puts on Nicky's kindness. Joe has a complete inability to cope with Nicky simply Not Being Kind. It speaks to the steadiness of Nicky's compassion all those years. but still that fact doesn't make it the conflict feel worth it

hm. I said I would be brief and I wasn't.

oh well. basically I thought there was interesting conflict potential there but it wasn't done the way I would've liked, and the way it was done leaves a lot of disturbing (and again probably unintended) interpretations to lie.

What I did like? Andy and Joe having that pessimist/optimist dynamic. Joe nerding out about science. Andy not being impressed by The Achievements Of Man. I loved Booker needling at Nicky about his outdated slang and also trying to give him Older Brother advice practically in the same breath. I loved Booker giving The Worst relationship advice ever and Nicky being like 'I Will Not Do That, Ever, Thanks.' the family vibes were so good. The Joenicky vibes left a lot to be desired tho.

11 Love Letters

I talked about my problems with Nicky in this story (and Lacus Solitudinis). I don't know, the story isn't bad but I do hold a little bit of a grudge towards it because its very existence begs the existence of a solo Joe story and we didn't get one. If we never got this story, then we could happily count Lacus Solitudinis and Zanzibar as The Joenicky Stories™ and move on with our lives. sigh.

I remember when we first got the blurb for this story I was really curious about why Nicky specifically + the setting, and the answer kind of feels like 'the author had an idea for a story like this and saw ttt as a good enough place to utilize that idea'. Plus I was really underwhelmed by the Romantic Sentiment in the letter. If you look at it line-by-line, the majority of the letter is actually Nicky talking about how lonely and disturbed he is, rather than actual,, yknow,,, Romantic Sentiment. I mean, compare the van speech and this letter and this letter is just kind of meh in comparison. I liked nicky calling joe wise! and I liked the brief sun/moon metaphor! and otherwise it was eh. It didn't even have cute squad banter, which is why Lacus Solitudinis is above this one.

12 An Old Soul

Nun orgy. Nun orgy?????? Nun orgy.......

The whole story felt like a setup to have a nun orgy. Why did Booker have abs? Why did they do that to Andy's nose? ?????? the art was good at least.

nun orgy.

[reanimatedmagpie]

It's just infinitely funnier to introduce Volk's story as "just 10th century slavic t4t couple things" also yeah, man's got three names, but it's not like modern transmascs are any different at all Sche'nok starts out as a wee village child that after some thinking and a very gender euphoria summer celebration ritual [one of our gods calls for a very specifically afab young person to represent him] he ends up kinda snapping at being told to 'finally start learning girl things from the other girls' as he didn't have a mom to teach him sewing n' shit. He ends up kinda causing a scene and running away, which got the attention of the village volchv

Now, volchv were a position to communicate with the gods and also... called for someone who had 'balanced feminine and masculine qualities' so y'know, very specifically a queer role.

Naturally, the volchv had followed him into the forest where he'd run off all upset and sees Sche'nok face to face with a bear obviously, the dad that just caught up panics, the volchv is about to try and coax the bear away but The kid looks the beast straight in the eye and with unprecedented hubris calls the bear not by the name of the bear among the common folk, not by 'медведь' which is the nickname by which people call it not to call it on the village but by the actual proper word bear

and it listens now, because the kid's clearly no girl, because holy shit you made a bear go away, and because bears are also a primary symbol of Veles, the god of night, winter, and all that is wild and unknown - the god to which volchv answer to first the volchv takes him apprentice [the old volchv is a gay man that's big and hairy because will I pass up an opportunity of having a character associated with Veles look like a bear? no]

The dad's kind of upset, less so because hh trans people, since transphobia is a modern invention, and more so that great, he had a son, after all, that could help him out with the blacksmith trade, but no, he has to go learn how to talk to the gods instead

The Sche'nok name that's given to the boy by the volchv means 'puppy' says 'we'll see if you grow up a dog or a wolf' Sche'nok doesn't protest, it's a fine name, and boy does he know who he is yet either

he studies all matter of things, does it well. It's not so much strictly healing that's up to them, that's more the job of the village witch, as much as making sure the village people have good means to talk to the gods, be it holding holidays, seeing how and when to give them gifts, what they have to think about mortals, and what goes on with nature these days protecting the place alongside with witches, in ways seen and unseen, from dangers seen and unseen

as he grows older, bit more rebellious, gets called Vol'chok [wolf pup] jokingly by his mentor more often he keeps on hearing whispers of the major warring city-states squabbling near the village, grows more resentful of the essentially helplessness of the situation should one of those attack One day that does come and as the village people worry as they've got little weapons and fewer battle-ready people Vol'chok slips out into the forest unseen with a desperate plan

people say if you stick a knife into a stump of an old tree and jump over it spinning you'll turn a wolf

[wild ik russian myths just be like that sometimes]

And so he did, donning a wolf's pelt for the night, and being a beast scaring off the enemies away it came with a price though, as, if no one is to bring him back and make him human again soon a werewolf he'd forever become

A village maiden had tried having found herself interested in him romantically, but, ultimately failed and forever now he'd be a man-wolf though if that's bad no-one's to say a village guarded by a werewolf is a safe one still, the enemies would keep coming and he alone would not be enough sadly with one day, Volk's mentor dead and him wounded he was running away to heal but hadn't considered the ice on the river still being fresh and brittle

he fell through and met face to face with a puzzled rusalka

rusalka are spirits of drowned women, often of heartbreak and tragedy, and often they lure men into rivers to drown them but Volk's a peculiar case

He's a little different not a woman nor quite a man, a human but not, living but not quite, not really mortal but no god either, just like Rekah herself so curious she had cracked the ice underneath those chasing him and brought him ashore unlike the human woman she could see what he saw the life to be, she, like him found a place in the world in being an outsider and had found it nothing short of comfortable

so she agreed to help drown the rest of the enemies in a flood if he takes her for a wife because wolf boy cute and why wouldn't you marry a furry

so yeah! t4t couple :)

Very much a finding place and fulfillment in being an outsider to the mortal realm the story :) I'm very much having fun w/em because it's really refreshing to write trans characters where they wouldn't really be under a pressure to transition or pass

[friccinfricks]

why i’m lowkey in love with rock of ages

- the music fucking slaps harder than any other shit ever in the history of my time on earth - i would actually argue that some of the covers from the movie are at the same level as the original songs, if not better - look ik that’s a bad opinion but if you don’t believe me, watch this shit. it’s phenomenal - it very shamelessly involves a “fuck taxes and the government they’re freaking losers” theme and I LOVE THAT SHIT - i eat that shit up - it also has two pretty significant actors (alec baldwin and that one british guy that’s just kinda wild) in a pretty nice, queer relationship, even if it isn’t the main relationship of the movie the fact that it was included was nice and it made me happy - (the british guy’s name is russel brand, my bad) - and the hetero relationship is honestly a vibe - cutesy girl from oklahoma coming to LA and meeting the sexiest simp alive? okay fuck yes - the movie has some flaws, but it shows real, human things.  - it had legitimate issues and didn’t really, gloss over them, despite it still being a fun musical and still feeling light - the tom cruise portrayal of stacee jacks felt really spot on, and reminded me a lot of Bohemian Rhapsody and The Dirt, in reference to stardom kind of taking over rocker’s lives and making them feel incapable of love, only being sex icons, and overall outcasts in society, even if they’re revered by a certain populus - i think he as an actor (or maybe some of it hit kinda close to home, who knows) did a really good job with it, and the movie offers a similar observation as Bohemian Rhapsody did, but only from the opposite perspective. i think tom did great showing the inhumane part of being a rockstar, just like rami malek did - so even if it was a little bit uncomfy seeing a drunk-off-his-ass-kinda-strange-and-very-dark-conceptually storyline, it felt real - and that’s why it mattered to me - “yeah sure whatever that means” I LOST MY SHIT KNOWING THAT DIEGO BONETA IS LITERALLY SPANISH AND PUERTO RICAN AND SEEING THAT MADE ME LAUGH SO HARD LIKE YES DIEGO, YOU PLAY THE FUCK OUT OF THAT VERY TAN WHITE BOY YES - he is literally so underrated as an actor and singer but like, i’m super confused on how that happened since he’s so adorable - like ??? - excuse me have you SEEN his HAIR???? - or his EYELASHES???? - or his EYES???? - OR HIS CUTE LIL CHIN THING IDK WHAT THAT’S CALLED BUT IT’S ADORABLE - he was only 22 when this movie was released but by god he has the talent and charisma of, like, idk, an immortal god - don’t ask i don’t fucking know okay - can you tell that i am also half puerto rican and in love with him and the fact that he’s also half

- also getting back to real human things - it shows what it’s like to be cheated on (or think that you have in drew’s case) and the evolution of making brash decisions, healthy or not, and their consequences

- but ugh that scene gets me so mad where that rat-faced agent convinces him to let Sherrie walk away bc UGH he was trying to communicate with her and so many things could have been avoided if that whore-good-for-nothing-money-hungry-agent had just let the dude be happy holy shit - okay let’s talk about sherrie/julianne hough - SHE IS MY BIGGEST CELEBRITY CRUSH OKAY - NOBODY FUCKING TOUCH HER - i thought she was fantastic, as always - if you go on youtube you can find cut songs/dances and her talent is just so ?? fucking remarkable holy shit - like i distinctly remember watching dancing with the stars and seeing her brother (derek) and being like wOW OKAY BE HOT THEN I SEE YOU - AND THEN I SAW HER AND I JUST AVGEHIKIEW$IFHNK$ - so yeah - loved that she became a stripper and in comparison to drew admits that being in a boy band was more embarrassing lmfao - plus like, she was fucking fantastic - she makes me want to invest in a pole, she was seriously just amazing - i’ll say that about the back-up dancers from the club she was dancing in, too - THEY HIRED THE MOST FANTASTIC FUCKING DANCERS FOR THOSE SCENES OMFG - also can i just say that mary j. blige is such a queen omg - her VOICE holy shit - i can’t even listen to Don’t Stop Believing by Journey without wanting to hear her freaking vocals omfg - girl’s got pipes that’s all i gotta say - overall i just love this movie and would suggest it to anyone and everyone - and while i wish they included some of julianne’s cut scenes, they were worth the find on youtube and i get how they could have made this film Very Not PG-13, which is lame but i’m just glad they’re out there tbh - also if you didn’t know i’m in love with pretty much the majority of the cast so my opinion is extremely biased but who cares - i kinda just made this post for me so that i can allow myself to die over and over again when i think about all of the very talented people in this film

[fr3aklike-me]

And here I am responding late too so don’t worry. I love talking to you too!! I totally agree with you about graffiti adds to the visual aspect of a city or street, and how since it’s not paid it’s vandalism. I think they could change it to be legal on public property, like parks or stuff like that. It’s interesting to think about the possibilities. Ahh thank you for thinking my idea is creative! I’m gonna try my best and I’ll keep you updated on how it goes! I am interested in Ramadan, I love learning about other cultures and religions so I can at least have a basic understanding and be respectful. What is the holiday about? Ik you’re supposed to fast during the day, and obviously no horny stuff lol, but what else are you supposed to do or not do? Also if you don’t mind me asking, how is the lgbt+ community viewed by Muslims? I’m just curious. And even tho horny asks are allowed and you just can’t read them, I’ll still beat the disrespectful people up. Anytime. Even during horny time 💕

-✨

omg I'm so glad!! I relish in our conversations so, so much. exactly, it adds so much character to a given city or neighbourhood. I truly don't understand why it's looked down upon. the art contained in graffiti is truly stunning, and so much of it is also done to symbolize unity and friendship and community, so it boggles my mind that it's not more appreciates. and same here, I don't think it should be done on, like, people's cars, but I think it absolutely should be open to public property, it breathes so much life to a city. I think your idea is so cool because doing a city can give you such a wide scope on what to do, and can carry so many possibilities for details and different sections and how you position everything. it sounds so, so cool, I'd love to be updated.

it's honestly such a good trait to have! to want to learn more of different cultures and religions to possess that understanding and respect. it's an amazing trait to have <3 so, I'm currently not super religious and am even questioning religion (which my family does not know LMAO), but I still love participating in Ramadan. basically, Muslims follow the Lunar calendar, and the month of Ramadan is when the Prophet (PBUH) received the Quran, which is the holy book of Islam. and in order to commence and celebrate that occasion, we basically dedicate the month to self-reflection and building our character and faith. so, yes, everyday we spend sunrise to sunset fasting and abstaining from sexual acts. but, it's also meant as a time to focus your attention onto your faith and behaviour, and in improving both, whether it be through reading the Quran, doing extra prayers or even working on being a kinder, more patient person.

and I don't mind you asking at all! it is quite a topic. basically, the reason many Muslims perceive homosexuality specifically as being not permitted is due to one of the stories within the Quran and a certain verse included. however, Arabic is such a complex language, and over the years, people have come to bring up different interpretations of the verse that have nothing to do with homosexuality not being permitted. so, while those more accepting interpretations aren't as widespread, sadly, they are very much valid. so, you can find Muslims with all different kinds of opinions - some people are strictly against it, others are tolerant, and some are totally welcoming and accepting. it really depends on their interpretation and views of the Quran and how queerness correlates with it. (I'm so sorry I ranted about this for so long omg I just get super invested)

[aemiron-main]

ok so i put this in the tags on my other rb but im being a brave boy and putting it into a full rb it makes me INSANE that people genuinely sit down and say outright that  brenner and virginia were right about  henry like. holy shit. just say that you have some biases to overcome and that you need to work on yourself and how you see victims and GO because frankly it’s a terrible rhetoric that ends up getting applied to real people.  'his inherently evil nature' thats LITERALLY the same excuse that brenner and virginia give to abuse him they literally use him being broken/inherently bad as their justification as to why he deserves the abuse. like. how the fuck do people justify that to themselves??? how do they make the mental leaps of saying that a child deserved abuse and was inherently bad like just sayinggg its no surprise that ppl perpetuating casual homophobia Also believe that people can be born inherently 'broken and evil' like its no surprise that ppl with warped biased views on gay ppl (even if theyre queer themselves) also have a warped biased view of abuse victims.

catholic rhetoric has some ppl (even non catholics) in a grip FR like just say you have a black and white view of 'good' vs 'evil' people and use that to justify abuse. just say that you're fine with demeaning victims so long as you can keep your biases and preconceived conclusions in place and that your precious ego is more important than Not spreading harmful and OUTRIGHT FACTUALLY FALSE rhetoric about abuse victims deserving their abuse. like its so fascinating to me because thats literally one of the core ideas of MKultra: to make victims feel as if theyre at fault for their own abuse. how the FUCK are you gonna watch ST and walk away believing in ideas that align exactly with the core tenets of mkultra and with all of the abusers in ST? like god its one thing for people to genuinely misunderstand something or not notice it! i do that ALL THE TIME! it’s another thing to go out of your way to willfully ignore the blatant surface level text of the show (that henry was not born bad) for the sake of confirming your own biases like. imo this is a hard thing to willfully misinterpret unless you have some pre-existing fucked up beliefs about victims and victim blaming are are seeing things through That lens and ignoring text of the show in favour of your biased and narrow pre-existing beliefs about victims and abuse and about people being 'born good or bad'/inherently evil. again, i’m not talking abt people who genuinely misinterpeted it or didn’t catch onto parts of the narrative but rather abt ppl who willfully ignore contradicting evidence that is presented to them and hell even just willfully ignore the text of the show and dig their heels in about it because they dont want to take the ego hit of being fucking WRONG and they dont want to have to confront their own biases (something that ST tries very hard to make its viewers do with characters like mike too like literally all of their characters). and so i think thats part of WHY we get some people misinterpreting things so badly and in factually wrong AND morally harmful ways bc morally harmful beliefs in ST are often presented in the show in a way where they go hand in hand with being factually untrue in the text of the show (ie being homophobic is morally bad from the pov of the show/writers so homophobic rhetoric, even just casually homophobic rhetoric is always factually wrong in the context of the show/homophobic theories have no textual support bc thats how the show has intentionally been set up) and so people who are unable/unwilling to confront their own biases often struggle with effective, text-of-the-show based analysis and instead draw their conclusions first and analyze around those conclusions and tend to focus on what they WANT the show to be saying instead of what it’s ACTUALLY saying (and even unintentionally focusing on it) because the factual text of the show conflicts with their existing biases/is trying to force them to confront those biases. and EVERYONE has biases, it happens, i’ve had mine that i’ve had to reconsider and rethink but the core thing is being open to rethinking them. but some people cannot get over their victim complex long enough to reconsider their biases and as a result have consistent bad takes which is what i meant earlier when talking abt how it's no surprise that the same ppl perpetuating casual homophobia as part of their analysis are the same ones perpetuating victim-blaming and the idea that henry deserved it/that people are born inherently bad.

like its so ironic for someone to have an absolute victim complex and also then turn around and hate on victims/act they deserved their abuse. although i guess that acutally tracks bc ppl with a victim complex are generally ppl who are FALSELY thinking that theyre always the victim and so they struggle to understand actual victims, and I don’t mean 'actual victims' in a comparing trauma way but in a 'acting like victim in situations where they are Not the victim/trying to find a way to frame themselves as the victim in Every Situation’ way. Because like I said earlier, imo this is a difficult thing to willfully misinterpret unless you already HAVE pre-existing, warped, biased views about victims and abuse and about the nature of humanity and about people being born ‘inherently good or bad,’ and so many people have those warped views about victims/those biases but aren’t willing or able to look past them. like i said: it’s no coincidence that so many bad takes go hand in hand. it’s not a coincidence at all: it’s the result of how stranger things is intentionally written and set up, written and set up in a way that a.) forces people to confront their biases and b.) links factual incorrectness with moral incorrectness and so things/viewpoints that are deemed morally wrong by the writers (such as victim blaming and homophobia, even casual homophobia) are also factually wrong in the context of the show & analyzing it & there’s no evidence in the show to support those sort of viewpoints/arguments and this is INTENTIONAL, and again, is why so many bad takes (ie not takes that i Personally Subjectively Disagree With but rather ones that are rooted in things like casual homophobia and/or victim blaming and ones that as a result ALSO have no factual basis in the text of the show) go hand in hand with eachother. it’s because those takes are often the result of people being unwilling or unable to confront their own biases, which is something that st REQUIRES for effective, accurate, text-based analysis.

How are you going to look at him, a child…

And tell me he deserved any of it.

(screencaps 1-4 (w/ captions) from the lovely @heroesbyler)

[gascon-en-exil]

A Not Actually Definitive Ranking of Fire Emblem Games

So after a lot of deliberation I’ve decided not to revisit last year’s Zelda ranking project on a full scale for FE, but that doesn’t mean it’s not something I really wanted to do. 2018 is the year we’re going to get alternatively hyped for and disappointed by FE16, after all. With that in mind have an abbreviated list that will end up being one very long post. I’ve got games to gush over and an anon or two (and very likely actual followers…eep) to piss off, so here we go.

The “personal favorites of the series, love revisiting them” Tier - FE10, FE2/15, FE4

I’m never going to argue that Radiant Dawn is a perfect game or even just a perfect FE game, but damned if it doesn’t manage to do so much right all at once. An extremely ambitious story that builds off its mostly conventional predecessor in a variety of interesting ways, deconstructing a bunch of series narrative standards (life in a defeated country kind of sucks and there are people that don’t warm that quickly to young and inexperienced rulers, go figure) and taking an eleventh hour hard right at Nietzchean atheism as read by a Pride parade. Kind of falls on its ass by the end, but every experimental FE story does the same thing so I can’t fault this one. I love the army switching as motivation to try different units almost as much as I love the oh-so-exploitable growth and BEXP mechanics. Its Easy mode also hits a sweet spot for me of being challenging enough to not be a complete snore while also allowing the freedom for all manner of weird self-imposed challenges that don’t even require grinding. By all accounts Hard mode is one lazy design choice after another, but I don’t play at that level so no complaints here.

Never played Gaiden, but to its credit around half of the unique gameplay mechanics I like in Shadows of Valentia were also in the original: the modest army size, the novel approaches to inventory management and magic, the pretty basic class system with just a hint of nuance. The remake threw in some hit-or-miss questing, dungeon exploration, and achievements, but all the rest was either a solid addition or a continuation of NES-era annoyances that I could live with. And the story…SoV makes me dislike the DS games even more just because this game does so much with so little. Even leaving aside the mostly great voice acting there’s a bunch of new content that characterizes almost everybody and makes half of them (the men, anyway, because this is a remake of a Kaga-era game and therefore misogynistic as can be) gay because why the hell not, and then some development that constitutes the only solid attempt at worldbuilding Archanea-Valentia-Ylisse has ever really gotten and also retcons some stuff from Awakening into making sense. It’s even got some solid DLC with lots of character stuff for the Deliverance, the least sucky grinding of the 3DS games, and probably the only context in which I’ll ever be able to comment on anything from Cipher.

No remake needed for Genealogy of the Holy War to make it competitive with the rest of the top tier - just an excellent translation patch and the standard features of an emulator. I’ve never watched Game of Thrones and probably don’t plan on it, but I gather that this game provides the same essential experience with less blood and female nudity and marginally more egalitarianism for all. I can forgive it for being the original Het Baby Fest since you’d be hard-pressed to find a single entirely healthy and well-adjusted individual anywhere on Jugdral and I relate to that just as much. Screwed up family dynamics for everyone! It’s also arguably got a more fun breeding meta than either of the 3DS games, lacking Awakening’s optimization around a single postgame map with very specific parameters or Fates’s high level of balance that ironically stymies analysis. This is another game for interesting inventory management and unit leveling that isn’t too obnoxious, which mostly makes up for the maps taking an eon to play through even with an emulator speeding through those enemy phases. This would be a strange game to remake, but if it got a localized one of the same caliber as SoV I fully acknowledge that this could climb to the #2 spot. SoV would probably have the queer edge though unless they do some strange things to the plot or just make Gen 2 really gay…but then again Gen 2 is the part that’s more in need of fleshing out as it is. (Also, this game has So. Much. Incest. That’s not even really a kink of mine especially as it’s all straight incest, but I just find that hilarious in light of how Tumblr’s purity culture speaks of such things.)

The “good games, but don’t come back to them as much” Tier - FE7, FE9, FE8

Blazing Sword is not here for nostalgia purposes, especially since when I first played the game at 14 years old most of what I like about it didn’t really register. It was just that game with RPG elements that I liked and permadeath that I didn’t, and it took a few games after that for me to become an established fan of the franchise. Massive props for putting such an unconventional spin on a prequel to a textbook FE; this is a game in a series about war in which no war is fought, how crazy is that? We actually get to see the backstory of FE6′s tragic antagonist, even as it’s completely tangential to the plot of this game and so just feels like random Jugdral-esque family drama without context, and on top of that we get the first hints of interdimensional travel and kinky human/shapeshifter sex several years before either of those became controversial talking points about how they were ruining the series. I am so there. Lyn doesn’t matter to the saga, but her character arc is distinct and self-contained and also she picked up a disproportionately large fanbase while being bisexual and biracial so go her. Eliwood is sympathetic and homosocially-inclined even if his growths frequently make me want to cry (at least he gets a horse unlike his similarly-challenged son), and I can live with Hector even if I could have done without his lordly legacy. Throw in some average-for-the-time gameplay with just enough variety across the two routes and even more good character work *waves at Sonia and Renault and Priscilla -> Raven/Lucius and Serra and…* and it’s all in all a solid experience. The ranking system can go die in a fire though, which funnily enough it did after this game. Yay!

Like most early 3D games - except on Gamecube so it’s even more embarrassing - Path of Radiance has aged terribly by every aesthetic measure aside from the soundtrack. It’s also painfully slow, and my computer can’t run Dolphin apparently so an emulator’s not going to fix that for me. Those obvious flaws aside, it’s still an entertaining game, and more importantly it’s the prologue that had the crucial task of setting up all the pins RD knocked over in stellar fashion, whether we’re talking about the basic storyline that actually isn’t or the many het relationship fake-outs (more so in localization…I guess we’ll never know if NoA was actively planning that when they pushed Ike/Elincia like they did). PoR is also a love letter to Jugdral in both gameplay and themes, albeit an occasionally critical one. The jury’s still out on whether Jugdral or Tellius succeeds the most (fails the least?) of the FE settings at developing a complete world with a nuanced and resonant saga narrative, but that Tellius manages to be competitive while being kind of clumsy overall with racism and shifting the series’s overarching motif of dragon-blooded superhumans to one of kinky interracial sex is pretty impressive. The less I say about Ike the better since it’s only his endings in RD that save him for me; suffice it to point out that his worldview and general personality were clearly designed to appeal to a demographic that does not include me.

And finally comes The Sacred Stones, truly my average benchmark FE as I like it but struggle to have any particularly strong feelings on it one way or the other. The story is standard but has a few intriguing quirks, like the light vs. dark magic meta, surprise necrophilia, and how the main antagonist’s sexuality sort of depends on which route you take (except he’s still never getting laid so does it really matter?). It also seems to have been the first game to have made a legitimate effort toward the kind of replayability that’s normal for RPGs, what with the branched promotions, the route split, and the actual postgame. That’s all much more engaging than just filling up a support log. The gameplay is also more polished and (I think?) more balanced than the other GBA games, if one is willing to overlook the minor issue of Seth. Let’s see…something something twincest that’s now an IS running gag, something something guys talking intimately about their lances, something something SoV did the whole dungeon crawling with monsters bit better but I can forgive SS for not taking it that far. Moving on….

The “they have Problems” Tier - FE14, FE13

Probably qualifies as a fandom heresy, but yes I’m putting Fates first of these two. Fates is in every conceivable way for me the “You Tried” game, because I had such high hopes for it from the moment we got the earliest promotional content. I was expecting a World of Warcraft-style conflict between two morally grey factions with myriad convoluted grievances against each other messily resolving themselves one way or the other according to player choice (though note that this is already somewhat damning with faint praise as no one’s going to call WoW a storytelling masterpiece), with Conquest in particular a true villain campaign that I imagined might play out as European Imperialism: The Game. What we actually got was…not that, not at all, but amid all the complaints about plot holes and idiot balls and moral myopia most fans seem to have forgotten just how much there is to this game. It’s three full stories that together average out to be just about passable, with possibly the biggest gameplay variety in the series that fixed most of Awakening’s more broken elements (pair-up, children being unquestionably superior to the first generation) while also adding in new features that undoubtedly appealed to someone or other like Phoenix mode and the castle-building aspect. I can even mostly forgive the obvious growing pains Fates exhibits in terms of queer content, as they were pretty much inevitable once the developers realized that (almost) everyone was picking up on the subtext and that that approach just wasn’t going to cut it anymore. Again, they tried, and if the results included face-touching fanservice and plot contrivances left and right and two-way cultural posturing that inevitably crosses over into real world racism at some point I can still step back for a moment and acknowledge that Fates began as a distinctive, high-concept setting on par with Tellius and Jugdral that was willing to do something different with the narrative norm (for two of its routes at least, and even so I’m not begrudging Birthright its conventionality because that grounding is important overall). And who knows? Maybe a later game will come along and retroactively make this setting coherent.

Fates might have more sexual fanservice, but if there’s any FE that I feel ends up a slave to fanservice in a broader sense it would be Awakening. Yeah, I get that when it was in development everyone thought this would be the final game, so it makes sense that the finished product turned out to be a nostalgia-laden greatest hits piece. It’s still hard to forgive Awakening for feeling so insubstantial, doubly so since it ended up revitalizing the franchise and now it and Fates are everywhere. It’s got a plot that only makes some sense in light of SoV and possibly on a meta level (following my theory that the plot structure is meant to mirror FE1-3 in sequence), the first iteration of an Avatar dating game heavily coloring the characterization and support system, and a queasily feel-good atmosphere that allows almost no character to actually remain dead and centers everything around the self-insert and the power of friendship. So much for the series’s traditionally dim view of human nature and recurring theme of the inevitability of conflict. What’s more, in spite of its theoretically broad scope (including a criminally under-explored time travel plot with a bad future) and numerous call-backs to older games Awakening does surprisingly little for developing the series’s most frequently-visited setting. I think it was in large part how generic this game has always felt to me even before release that I never got very hyped for it and as a consequence was never very disappointed by it. It’s just….there, with its nostalgia and its chronic “no homo” and its host of hilariously broken mechanics. I wonder if we’d have ended up viewing Awakening more favorably if it really had been the last game? Eh, probably not.

The “needs a remake or needs a better remake” Tier - FE5, FE6, FE3/12, FE1/11

I don’t have a specific order for these, except that FE1/11 is almost certainly the bottom since 5 and 6 have remake potential and, lack of localization aside, New Mystery was a better remake than Shadow Dragon.

I still haven’t fully played Thracia 776, but I’ve watched and read through Let’s Plays and have read more than enough analysis and meta on the game to where I can definitively say that I wouldn’t enjoy playing it too much and don’t feel all that emotionally connected to the story except insofar as it relates to the overall Jugdral saga. The concept of a standard FE plot that ends with the playable cast losing is an intriguing one, though they really could have done better than the weird non-ending that is this game’s final boss. I’m also not as invested in Leif the fallen aristocrat as I usually am those types of characters, possibly because it’s a foregone conclusion that he eventually gets his kingship anyway. I would like a remake, hopefully one that smooths over some of the original’s mechanical roughness and also makes a bunch of characters gay because the material’s certainly there in places, but I also admit that I’d rather have a remake of Genealogy first. Or, for that matter….

Binding Blade doesn’t have the potential for an amazing story-driven remake that Thracia does; after all, it’s basically a soft reboot of FE1 with an equally bland lord saved by his Super Smash Bros. fanbase and possibly his weirdly large harem. That said, there’s a fair amount of character potential and worldbuilding opportunities what with the series’s first true support system and the content of its unorthodox prequel. Even by itself I feel like BB does more to sell Elibe as its own distinctive world than any of Marth’s games ever did for Archanea, and that’s even with the reality that like the Archanea games this playable cast is inflated with some really forgettable characters (that seem to have followed a semi-rigid numerical quota by class in this instance. It’s weird.). This game never really stuck in my mind as a good playable experience either, not helped by the fact that it feels simple and antiquated compared not only to the GBA games that followed it but to the Jugdral games that preceded it. Good on them for throwing out some of Thracia’s more unwieldy mechanics, but did they have to throw out skills, hybrid classes, and varied chapter objectives too? The space limitations of the GBA couldn’t have been that severe.

While I’ve been spending much of this post ragging on Archanea, I will say that (New) Mystery of the Emblem has some interesting character beats, like the resolution of the Camus/Nyna/Hardin tragedy, Rickard and the situationally bisexual(?) Julian, and some of the antics of Marth’s retainers. I did like bits of the remake’s new assassin plot even if most of it is cribbed from the Black Fang; Eremiya’s no Sonia, but Clarisse and Katarina have their moments. Also, Kris isn’t that offensive to me since I was never all that engaged in Marth’s inconsistent personality and from what I’ve seen his/her supports don’t all devolve into a dating sim. New Mystery has a broader array of characters than either the original or the previous remake, without requiring the player to kill off characters just to get some of the new ones. That said, the reclassing in the DS games is still broken and allows the player to strip even more character out of their personality-deprived units. I’m getting to the point where I’m having trouble separating the two actually, so I’ll just go ahead and remark that I think everyone can agree that Shadow Dragon is the worst of the three remakes so far, with no supports, the aforementioned killing of units, a prologue that adds to the story but only exists on Normal mode and also requires you to kill someone off (seriously, what is it with this game? Is it commentary on the necessary sacrifices of war that they tried forcing on the player for one game until they realized it was a terrible idea?), the needless removal of features from earlier games like rescuing even as others like weapon ranks and forging were left in, that first clumsy iteration of reclassing, and little to nothing that I can see as elevating the story above the standard fantasy adventure fare of Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light that might have been good in 1990 but didn’t look so hot in 2008. Archanea just feels so lifeless overall compared to every other setting in the franchise, to the point where I don’t even feel that guilty about putting the first game in the series way down at the bottom when over in the Zelda ranking I raised the NES games above ones I found more fun to play solely because of their historical significance. Isn’t FE1 arguably the first tactical RPG? I feel like I should appreciate it more, but I just can’t. *shrugs*