#there's certain aspects of him I don't like

[rabbitindisguise]

This is why one of my fave lines from Witch King is the bit about "they only have two genders" (barely disguised disdain) because it shows that 1) multiple cultures have different understandings of gender and 2) they have feelings about it and 3) it impacted the information that went from one culture to another, their war practices and mistreatment of captives, and their understandings of their own cultural practices (superior for having more than two genders and genders not conformed by dress vs superior for having 2 genders and modest dress)

There was also a great scene where the main character was half naked but it was scandalous to the guards who kept asking him to put a shirt on because apparently he was underdressed. He was a man possessing a man and yet the men were expected to wear a certain number and kind of layers, with the skirts being less important than the top layers. That's hella interesting and makes the worldbuilding just better imo because it's not like they don't have gender in many of these they just don't talk about it. (Not realistic to irl, people simply talk about gender across cultures and time periods. The first word people often say is often heavily gendered.)

And on top of that in the side characters queer relationship the cross cultural relationship is way more complicated than the lesbian aspect (I forget if they call themselves that though). You can totally have both.

I think since "representation" has become a term people have gotten super self conscious about what they write and heavily over-correct. There's lots of people putting consent 101 in jarringly unrelated scenes to "show" that their characters are consenting. It's a lot like that imo

I feel like a sentiment growing in popularity is that queer people want stories were queerness is incidental, because they're tired of stories about struggling against oppression and want something more escapist. But I've been reading some speculative fiction recently where the queerness of characters is completely unremarked upon, and finding it deeply unsatisfying. It feels less like like escapism to me and more like a gaping hole in the worldbuilding. It's not an issue that the societies depicted are queer-neutral or queer-positive, it's that there is like nothing addressing what those societies think about sexuality, gender, and family systems at all. There's a lot of interesting ways you can write about third genders and same-sex societies/relationships in speculative culture and ignoring all of it entirely to plaster over a surface level modern queer culture veneer is just tragic, in my opinion

[fozmeadows]

Hi!!! I'm just a quarter of a way through A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, and was so happy to find you have a blog!! It's been a lovely read, I love the prose and the world building, the normalization of queerness and how it would look in a fantasy setting on a functional level. I really appreciate that the inclusivity in queerness doesn't immediately make Qi-Katai an idyllic paradise and there's a level of groundedness to how things work.

I can't wait to finish the duology! I was wondering if you had any specific race/POC rep in mind when writing Vel and Cae, because just based on description, I've been picturing Vel as potentially South Asian and Cae as perhaps East Asian? I'm not completely sure. Would love to hear your thought process!

This is an interesting question, because while representation of all kinds is relevant to SFF stories, I don't think it makes sense to analyze secondary settings in quite the same way we do those which, by whatever logic, are considered an extension of the real world. In the case of racial representation, the reason for this is that race is foremost a social construct rather than an immutable biological category: it's a word we've looped around the (predominantly visual) expression of certain traits with reference to a (perceived) shared cultural, religious, geographic and/or historical framework, and as such, even when a given fictional realm is (arguably or explicitly) based on a real-world setting, I'd argue that the act of redrawing the cultural context means implicitly reconsidering our associated racial assumptions, too. For instance: Cae is described as having bronze skin, brown eyes and straight black hair. In the real world, this could plausibly describe a person from any number of backgrounds, because none of these traits, either singly or collectively, is unique to a given group. But for precisely that reason, if I gave Cae's description to a character from a story set in the real world, there'd be a reasonable expectation that I specify their heritage, not just so the reader could picture them better, but because knowing whether they were Thai or Native American or Turkish would impact other aspects of their characterisation. Cae, however, is Tithenai, and Tithena is neither a real place nor based on a specific real-world culture, which means that, regardless of whether you picture him as resembling someone who's Thai or Native American or Turkish or any other thing, the cultural underpinnings of those racial categories are irrelevant to the text, except inasmuch as you might also choose to imagine other aspects of Tithena - the clothes, the food, the architecture - as being similar to that particular real-world culture. But, by the same token, you might just as easily choose to imagine these things as disjunct, or to forgo overt real world comparisons entirely. How you build the visuals of the story in your mind palace is up to you! But what I'm trying to get at is that "specific race/POC rep" is not a given in this milieu, because the relevant categories are all ultimately derived, not from immutable biological separatism, but real-world social distinctions born of centuries of geopolitics, migration and cultural intermingling that don't necessarily have meaningful analogues in an invented setting. Even highly oversimplified terms like "white" and "black" are ultimately products of a specific cultural discourse, and while we might employ them of necessity, we should still keep in mind the fact that their parameters are no more fixed than their implications are neutral or their usage universal.

At the same time, however, there are unequivocally many instances where authors intend the inhabitants of their secondary worlds to be firmly associated with specific real world analogues, even at a granular level. Whether by overt implication or authorial word of god, these are stories and settings which, despite having no in-world connection to any version of our Earth, are still presented as spiritually deriving from it, as though possessed of a sort of cultural haecceity. Which is, I hasten to add, entirely fair; and particularly given the strong historical bias towards white Eurocentrism within fantasy as a genre, the more recent boom of stories that take their inspiration elsewhere is entirely justified, to say nothing of being wonderful. It's just that, as a general point of principle, I think it's important to acknowledge that race, by virtue of being socially constructed, does not have to retain the same boundaries and categorizations in a secondary world that it does on Earth. While readers and creators alike are still inevitably influenced by and thus beholden to the real world optics of race - meaning, to give just one example, that "But it's a fantasy world!" is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for uncritically replicating a pernicious racial stereotype - it doesn't therefore follow that all secondary world fantasy characters and cultures must have a set real world analogue; that we cannot ever imagine them fluidly. All that being so, therefore, you're absolutely free to imagine Vel as South Asian and Cae as East Asian! I do not have any immutable facecasts for either of them, and am delighted with all permutations. However, when A Strange and Stubborn Endurance was first released, Tor commissioned this gorgeous artwork of Cae and Vel by Nicole Deal, for which I was asked to provide some vibes-based visual references for the artist. My choices for Vel were Mika Zibanejad,

Damiano David

and Riz Ahmed;

for Cae, it was Booboo Stewart

and Paing Takhon.

None of these are definitive, but they're certainly fun to look at, and either way, I hope this answers your question! :)

[gold-pavilion]

Belonging and humanity (some more Ivan thoughts)

There's a big difference between knowing for a fact that you're a human being and getting to FEEL part of humankind. That's a thing that I feel Ivan sorely lacked. Some of his issues can definitely be traced back to it.

There's three things we know for certain about Ivan's early childhood nowadays, so let me start from those:

There were other humans around him in the slums, at least other children (for now it doesn't seem there were adults around, or none who would approach or care for the children).

However, we also know Ivan did not learn social behavior properly; for example, how or when to smile.

Going by the lonely tone of the song Nowhere and its emphasis on having no one, plus the previous point, we can infer there was no meaningful social contact with any people he knew/saw.

Ivan has been described as someone who is always learning to survive and his time in the slums must've been the same, after all; it's most likely that the other kids were competition to him (for food or other resources), threats or simply strangers with whom connections were never made.

That's to say, there were humans around Ivan but no "human community".

And that's the thing: take someone who went through a critical developmental stage with no one to care for or be cared by, learn social behavior with or practice the emotional exercises of understanding and empathy - ask that someone what "being a part of humankind" feels like, and what can he even make of it? It must not mean much more than categorizing a species, no feeling involved. And anyway, what difference does it make if there's anything else to say or not?

It's not like those are easy questions. None of the ALNST cast, with all their limitations, would be able to respond comprehensively.

But it changes things, the differences are there.

There are things that Till knows, from having a mother, learning from her and being enriched emotionally by their interaction, that I don't think he could describe but certainly has within him. Or Hyuna, who had a brother to feel that family bond and sense of community with, learning all sorts of positive social skills and having a heart full of room for empathy as she always looked out for the little Other Person next to her.

Beyond knowing their species, they know what it MEANS to be the rare and amazing human creature from these experiences of connecting, teaching, being taught, holding things in common, giving and receiving love. On an instinctual level they accessed what it feels like to be "part of humankind", which is so cool about them!!

Then you have cases like Mizi being too trusting of aliens because she was raised to feel community with one, Sua being mostly withdrawn because she didn't have a lot of warmth and community around her, Luka who was deprived of everything and then clung too hard to his first proper bond...

And Ivan, with his empty circumstances. There are a million things Ivan didn't learn and doesn't KNOW he lacked.

Of course that with his background he'd end up 1: being defensive by nature, having selfish tendencies, trouble processing emotion and socially weird habits and 2: feeling like a twisted being because of it, which is such a core aspect of his character. A human with less humanity but no idea why or how.

He adapted himself a lot once adopted, of course, and caught up an even bigger lot in his time in Anakt Garden. But I don't think he ever understood why he was "more twisted than others" and honestly, his intelligence and observance doesn't do him any favors on that front; on the contrary, I think it made him more aware of the gaps between him and other people.

And I really have to wonder if his experiences around the segyein are all that different, emotionally speaking.

I mean, of course objectively they have to be, but… his adopted life was a matter of observing his new environment, feeling like an absolute stranger because he's another species, but learning and adapting as quickly as possible in order to make himself a desirable pet that would be kept around. His experience being sent to Anakt and put in a human group was, again, feeling like a stranger because he's different to others of his own species, but learning and adapting as quickly as possible, eventually making himself an "acceptable", charming, absolutely cagey but near-perfect man. He succeeded both times.

He never did get rid of that awareness of being "twisted", though. After all, he also didn't unlearn all his survival patterns or fix the weak spots in his emotional development. As much as he progressed, the sense of not quite belonging and the faint relationship with his own humanity stayed. (With one big exception, but I'll leave that thought for the end of this ramble.)

In a way, I feel like this is exactly what made him so successful in segyein society as far as he lived. So adaptable that beyond being a good pet, he could also be trusted with and hold down an actual job, decent (faked or not, still good) relationships with segyein and, if he had any chance of survival, probably the capacity to live in their society with moderate perks.

Being an adaptable stranger who belonged nowhere in the first place… I think it's what made him more willing, more capable and more okay with mixing with the segyein like that, paired with his intelligence to pull it off.

No human pride to sacrifice. Not much humanity in the first place.

Except for the one noteworthy exception that shifted Ivan's growth: his relationship with Till.

Not only did Till embody things that Ivan lacked, which fascinated him from the start, but through his bond with him Ivan developed a lot of those traits and sensitivities that constitute peak humanity. It's a bit of the "love will make you human" trope, but on god does it apply. Ivan learned to care, to feel and to love, at times selfishly, at times messily. Buth he got pretty good at it; so much that love made him selfless and sacrificial in the end. He became a little more human for the object of his feelings. It didn't't erase all his struggles or fix his issues at large, but it was a lot. Of course he'd die thanking Till.

Anyway, that's all I wanted to get off my chest!

Humanity is a tough theme with Ivan, so I hope my thoughts about it were an interesting read.

The usual disclaimer: I've talked about 1 aspect of Ivan in this post, which does not mean this is all there is to his character or that I aim to invalidate other aspects. Just rotating this one in my head.

[shelterdogswag]

i fully did not expect to love chilchuck so much

like i didn't have any issues with him or anything, but having just had only the plot info with some slight the knowledge of the gals, going into this show i was pretty confident i'd lean heavy towards favoring marcille

in the first few episodes, i could like sense my preferences shifting towards chilchuck, and like honestly it kind of really bothered me? like of myself, i was irritated by my taste turning like that? which is incredibly silly, i think i knew that lol, i think like sometimes i get caught up in wanting to enjoy certain aspects of media purely because of what they are so it bothered me that my natural inclination was moving to chilchuck

sometimes the man hating lesbian in me gets like way too overboard about it lol

but like, i'm barely halfway through the show, i probably haven't even seen a lot of what develops, but still i really fucking love how his character is being written

don't get me wrong i do adore marcille, she's great and well written and i enjoy her

but idk man something about chilchuck is really resonating in a way i couldn't have possibly anticipated

[emblemxeno]

As a Fates fan I'll give my take: Corrin's thing is at it's core sexism. And since most FE fans appear to be gamer dudes they don't like those traits on a male character, the female version gets a pass because that's just how girls act. So Corrin get's both the ew emotional boy and the girl gets the critique that Celica and Erika get and it's a perfect storm. That's all it is and it'll never change especially when you look at how the world appears to be going backwards. Byleth though? Byleth is just so cool and relatable, Byleth is a great character unlike Corrin and both versions are so badass and don't you dare say the female version is fanservice too because she actually does something fight the power. Byleth makes sense why everyone fawns over me-him! Before Byleth everyone was praising Robin for being a great avatar and why can't Corrin be more like Robin (who for the record is almost more of what gamer men consider an acceptable personality) Now we have Alear who is also more emotional so due to that gets shit but not quite the extent of Corrin. Put that with his design (lots of people don't like it compared to the other male avatars who have similar hair while ever Corrin haters think FCorrin is cute) and all the shit slinging Fates gets for "having a bad plot/no continent name etc" and it's a recipe for disaster. But the base is sexism and that's why to this day Corrin is over criticized.

Y'know, that does run in the back of my mind, because you're right. Corrin gets the same types of hate that female lords got pretty exclusively in previous games. Naivete, complicit in bad things while trying to make the best of a situation, getting positions people don't see as deserved, being on the losing end/getting trapped, etc.

The exceptions would be ones like Lyn, Elincia, and Lucina, but those are also characters who have their "main character/lord" status put into question constantly, and the reason for that is probably the reason they don't get as much hate. They're not the most central part, so whatever happens to them isn't a slight on the player by way of absence of control.

As you say, Byleth and Robin being cool and competent at all times is welcome because people can project themselves onto that and find relatability in spite of the fact that they have established and immutable traits inherent to their design and writing. But it goes further when you consider other lords and the forefront behind their popularity. Ike has Smash of course, but he's also a no-nonsense merc who's not afraid to speak his mind. Hector, Alm, Ephraim and Chrom have similar vibes as well. Sigurd and Leif are venerated because of being from games that are genuinely pretty genius in writing and (sometimes) game design, and their popularity is only kneecapped by the fact that their games aren't overseas. Yet even then, they still share the "get shit done" type of personalities, the fact that they have to be developed out of those aspects notwithstanding.

But the others? There's a connecting line when it comes to Marth and Eliwood, because they have very similar traits. Marth gets by with Smash and first lord legacy status but I find it hard to see anyone declare him as their favorite. Roy would be in the same position had Smash not been a factor, since he's even more like Marth than his dad is tbh. Seliph would be the oddball considering his CYL win, but FE4 fans were smart in banding together behind one character that time.

The point is, going by the idea that a significant portion of the player base is a certain demographic, we can parse this into a pattern. Possible subconscious unintended misogyny affecting perception of characters who embody stereotypically "feminine" traits (Celica, Eirika, Micaiah, Corrin and Alear); extension of that dislike to fond ambivalence to characters who, while they don't have the former issues that the previous ones have, still aren't "masculine and action oriented enough" to be the auto favorites (Marth, Roy, Eliwood, Lyn, Elincia and Lucina); and characters who, for better and worse, will have massive fans because of the no-nonsense vibe (Alm, Hector, Sigurd, Leif, Ike) and/or for projectional power fantasy (Robin and Byleth).

Part of this is also definitely how IS writes each of these characters, that can't be understated. Having a prominent trait of "Naive and Indecisive" be a staple for that many female lords, inches towards "WTF Territory." But the audience bias needs to be seen as well, I feel.

Including what you say, as it's incredibly egregious with Corrin atp.

[lpsgirl109]

Whenever people say stuff like this i can usually see where they're coming from but you're bringing up a post where the point was not "If you hate Willow you hate lesbians." The person who made that confession said so themselves. It was about people beating Willow and Sunlow down for the horrible crime of not being perfectly written while not holding male characters and mlm/straight ships to those same standards. I've already mentioned before about the time someone came on this blog saying jamapple was written better than sunlow, but it's a good example of what I mean. Because no they weren't. Im not gonna say Sunlow was one of the best written ships in the series but Jamapple literally boils down to ome scene where Pineapple is leaving the rainforest and Jambu literally doesn't give a fuck. Which feels incredibly out of character for him and I don't understand why Tui made him so uncaring there, but at least Sunlow loved and cared for each other and it was an important aspect of their stories. This is what we mean, when a gay ship that had barely any screen time gets put on a pedestal (despite honestly not being that good) but a sapphic relationship that gets to be the focal point of one of the books gets brushed off and deemed not worth people's time because. It wasn't written perfect. Which is not to fucking say people can't like jamapple more than sunlow before people twist my words like they've been twisting the original sunlow anon's words. There's a difference between preferring one over the other and trying to argue why one is Better than the other. It's the latter where I start to side eye you because 1. You'd be wrong even if Sunlow wasn't a sapphic ship; Sundew and Willow value each other a lot and their love is a key aspect of TPJ. Jambu and Pineapple have one scene together and all it tells me is that Jambu is somehow genuinely too lazy to care about Pineapple's well being. 2. While I'm not gonna say it's an immediate sign of misogyny or lesbophobia, because it isn't, but its already very common in fandom where people boost gay ships up for existing while beating down lesbian ships if they don't meet certain requirements, so it Is at the very least off putting seeing someone try to argue why a gay ship where one partner cared more about sleeping than the other partner going away on a dangerous mission, was handled better than the lesbian ship where both characters are shown several times how much they value each other

some of y'all are like the wc fandom when it comes to ppl not liking a specific female character.

It annoys me to no end when I see someone who is complaining about ppl not liking a female character and somehow relates that with "do you hate lesbians/female characters?" like???? NO???? Just because someone hates a character does mean it has anything to do with hating the group that the character just happens to be in.

a specific confession a while ago was sad at the willow hate, which can be understandable, I get how people hating on your fave will bring you down but what annoyed me is that the people below somehow related that with?? queerphobia? its literally that one meme. "I don't like *character who happens to be a woman/queer*" "So you hate women/queers??" like no that isn't the case.

"it made me uncomfy as a queer person" I'm sorry! but that has nothing to do with this.

and I get how someone would be concerned about it, trust me I do, but its stupid to see someone say they don't like a character and assume they hate the group that the character is in, because that Is Not The Fucking Case and you're just making erratic assumptions.

Just because someone hates a female/queer character does NOT mean they hate women/queer people they literally JUST hate that character for their own reason. get a grip.

.

[werewolfdog]

There's this coworker who I can't help but think he's acting like a father figure to me

[unhinged-snake-jaw]

patroclus in tsoa:

oh... i accidentally killed sarpedon??? i'm not built for violence, really. that's achilles. i guess he's always protecting me... i love him, i can't make myself argue with him— i'm so in love with him i don't know to be angry at him. ever.

patroclus in the iliad:

*invents gamer's rage by killing clysonysmus*

{kill count: so high that homer's just listing names at one point}

*kills sarpedon and then KILLS ANYBODY WHO TRIES TO TAKE HIS BODY* (the dead man's father ended up intervening i believe)

"hey patroclus... you're crying like a girl what's wrong??" "what's wrong? what's wrong??? what's wrong is yOU MOTHERFU—"

*knocks hector's charioteer onto the floor with a stone that fucking kills him* 10/10 my guy that was a perfect dive!! trojans seem awfully good at diving out of their chariots, don't you think??

"on my own? i would have killed TWENTY hectors, and you know that."

[dykedvonte]

Can you talk about trans!Curly a little bit more? I'm curios if you have any headcanons and the like

-💀

It's just such a thing in my mind because it adds a truthful sadness and differing aspect to mouthwashing.

If Curly was trans it adds the horror of the horribly selfish thought he could have easily been in Anya's situation. It could've been him but it wasn't and he so conflicted on the pit it put in his stomach that brings and the shameful relief it wasn't. In this scenario he is friends with Jimmy for a long time still. Jimmy likely knew him pretransition. Maybe he gave Curly weird looks then, maybe they never stopped after, maybe they seemed meaner. They are guys now, bros, both of them are. He doesn't really have to worry what those looks mean anymore, Jimmy just has that face with him sometimes. It's recontextualizing a lot of things for him that he was in denial about or too ashamed to admit. How naive he was being and how he let that get another person hurt.

Specifically with Anya, it's he knows the dread and fear she's feeling. He can understand it because he had to live with it for a good portion of his life, he knows it cause he still does, just in a slightly different way. It makes him think of all the times he's been alone with Jimmy, all the times he's been way more drunk off his ass and not remember the night, Jimmy was always with him the next day. Makes him think of the comments he would laugh off both because that's what guys do but because that part of being a girl says to laugh so Jimmy doesn't do something. It's the selfish realization that he was never safe and he's uncertain now too. Mad at himself for forgeting that feeling, espcially since for a long time he would've been considered the only woman on a crew (with all that implies) for a long time.

He should've taken those blinders off, step back into that position for just a moment and it's so much more painful that Anya likely came to him because he should've gotten it. Those thoughts don't leave his mind after the crash when he's in an even more vulnerable position than she was...

[vi-is-badass]

I really appreciate the response! I think this is really interesting and there is a lot I agree with, but I kind of want to start off by clarifying what I mean in the tags because re-reading them I realize it was a bit muddled.

I disagree with Schnee's argument that the themes aren't clear or at least his argument that they aren't simple. I can easily simplify Jayce and Viktor's arcs and conflict down to a couple sentences and they are all very interesting on their face, but I do have issues with their execution. In some ways, I do agree with Schnee that there are ways in which the conflict that is conveyed can be overly complicated or unclear, especially when it comes to Viktor.

Like you said Viktor's arc is fascinating. The base idea of what his change and conflict is about is tragic, but my core issues are that so much of it is skipped over due to time that a lot of the tragedy of his arc is dulled for me with certain beats feeling incredibly rushed and the show itself doesn't seem to have a clear answer for how much the hexcore was influencing Viktor and how much was of his own free will.

My personal interpretation is that Viktor dies in the bombing and when Jayce brings him back with the hexcore parts of him are altered, primarily his connection to his emotions like his empathy, which allows for Viktor to justify his "improvements" without looking at the deeper consequences of his actions unlike in season 1 where the negative consequences stopped him. This allows for the hexcore to manipulate him more subtly without pushback from Viktor.

When Viktor is shot by Jayce that moment is meant to push him over the edge and lose his faith in humanity. He gives himself over fully to the hexcore. It's only through Ekko breaking through the hexcore's hold on Viktor that his humanity is able to show through again.

And even that interpretation is something I came to after hours of thinking about it and re-watching the season. I haven't seen a single person have a clear understanding of what the balance is and I don't think the show does a good job of conveying that balance in this season. In the first, it's very clear and easy to follow, but the second season loses that clarity to me.

I think there are aspects of a character that should be up to interpretation. That's part of what makes characters interesting and talking to other people about media fascinating, but in this case it doesn't feel like the vagueness was intentional to make you ponder the idea of free will.

My next point is that while I absolutely love the last interaction between Viktor and Jayce-- it's genuinely one of the beats in the finale that works the best for me-- the line "You've always wanted to fix what you viewed as imperfections..." rung hollow for me because that's not what we're shown in the first season.

Initially, Viktor is driven by his ambition and desire to improve lives. He wants to be a part of technological progress, but that technological progress that we're shown before the reveal of his sickness isn't rooted in fixing imperfections. It manifests more in tactile tools for making work easier in the fissures (the gauntlets and the laser) and improving trade between Piltover and the world through the hexgates. Even when he starts working on the hexcore it's not out of desire to remove imperfections.

He eventually moves to self-modification not out of an initial desire to remove "imperfections" but because he's learned he's dying and hasn't left the legacy that he wanted. I think you can argue that the scene where he runs for the first time is the shift in this belief-- and I can definitely get behind that-- but again that's after everything else that's happened. It never felt like it was Viktor's goal from the beginning.

I want to make it clear that my issue with that final scene isn't the intent. I love the message that the final scene between Jayce and Viktor gives about Viktor's disability. That is a beautiful message to have. My problem has to do with its framing.

I could definitely be missing something! If other people have a different interpretation of Viktor's arc or the balance between Viktor's free will and the hexcore absolutely feel free to counter me. I would love to hear it.

Wow... that was really long. You apologized for the essay I am definitely worse. Haha. I do want to address your criticisms before I finish though. (whoops it's getting longer)

I felt the same way you did about the shift away from the conflict between Vi and Jinx. Their story is very emotionally affecting on a personal level for me and this lack of relevancy is an issue for me and the show in a few ways. There are 3 main reasons I think this is ultimately an issue.

1. The show doesn't pivot away from the civil war between Zaun and Piltover (the story Vi and Jinx are intimately tied to) to the conflict with the arcane (The conflict Jayce and Viktor are tied closest to) very well. It isn't until episode 6 that they really shift to the arcane as the main conflict and by that point it's more than halfway through the season and there isn't enough time to explore this the way I felt like it needed to be.

Like you, I also believe the Zaun and Piltover plot doesn't get a satisfying conclusion. They didn't even make it clear that Caitlyn gave her seat to Sevika. You have to just see that she's in the same seat as Cassandra was in the first season and somehow infer that's what happened. This could have been easily remedied with like a 2 second fade from Caitlyn standing at the seat to Sevika if they were really pressed for time.

While I do love episode 7 and I fully understand why people would argue it's the best episode of the show, I wasn't a fan of how much it simplified the conflict between the two cities. It placed so much of the blame on hextech rather than the complex societal and systemic issues that it was really rooted in. (that the first season itself showed us was the root cause!)

2. I do want to be a bit fair and admit that I think part of the struggle people had with the shift away from Vi and Jinx's conflict was a marketing issue. Both trailers emphasize the fact that this is an end to Vi and JInx's story. The first trailer especially focuses on the sisters, their conflict, and the brewing civil war between Zaun and Piltover.

It straight up says in the trailer that this is the end of the sisters' story, which really makes it seem like it will come down to them, but that wasn't the case.

3. this one is something that Schnee does state in his video and that's the fact that the conclusion to the sister's story isn't tied into the conclusion of the main conflict. Vi and Jinx's fight against Warwick doesn't have an effect on the outcome of the battle at all. They could both die in this battle or they could win and it wouldn't change the outcome of the conflict at all.

Jinx is a bit more understandable because they have her arrival with Ekko changes the tide of the battle against Ambessa completely. Caitlyn would have died and Piltover would have lost if she didn't show up when she did. And it's her dodging the beam meant for her that makes it so that Ekko doesn't get controlled by Viktor and can save the day.

But Vi is the one that's a bit more egregious to me because she doesn't do a single thing to effect the outcome of this conflict at all. She's another soldier on the battlefield. One we care about, but not unique in her contributions at all. If she wasn't there the outcome still would have been the same and that's an issue to me.

If the conclusion to the sister's story was more important to the conclusion to the story as a whole I think it would have been easier to accept the way the story shifts to being centered around Viktor and Jayce's conflict.

The last point I want to address that you made is the fact you didn't like "how Jayce immediately chose violence after coming back instead of trying to reach out to Viktor like he did eventually".

I also agree with this point. I will admit that, while I liked Jayce's half of episode 7 and the end of Jayce's interaction with future Viktor, I felt like it made me more confused about why Jayce immediately shot Viktor upon arriving at the commune. His conversation with future Viktor doesn't tell him the only way to stop Viktor is to kill him, it instead has Viktor telling Jayce that he's the only one who can show him the truth of his actions. Which... how did Jayce get "Viktor has to die" from that conversation?

I can understand Jayce feeling like he has to Kill Viktor or the people at the commune if the victims of Viktor's "glorious evolution" had been attacking him the entire time he was there or future Viktor told him that present Viktor would never see the error of his ways until it's too late, but that wasn't the case. Again, I could definitely be missing something.

I do genuinely like what they did with Jayce. The idea that your dream that you fought so hard to make a reality brings about the opposite outcome of what you wanted and you now have to destroy it is incredibly fascinating. I think many people, myself included, can relate to having a dream not turn out the way you wanted or you've had to let it go. It's something that's difficult and genuinely compelling. It just had some noticeable bumps in the execution for me.

I know a lot of this was criticism, but I think a lot of the things I pointed out have a positive side to them as well. Viktor's story, while muddled in a few ways, does present a lot of interesting themes and ideas. The sisters' story does get a lot of fantastic focus in the second act which I absolutely loved. I adored being able to see them as sisters again. I already pointed out what I loved about Jayce's story.

It's just that nagging comparison to the first season that did everything so perfectly that makes the missteps of this season that much more noticeable.

I actually think this video is really interesting. Not because I fully agree with it (there are a lot of points in the video I don't agree with and a lot that I do), but because I appreciate its intent.

I also fall in the same boat where I really liked the second season, but I didn't love it like I did the first and I appreciate that this is a video that wants to start a conversation. He wants to talk about why things didn't necessarily work for him, why it didn't seem to have the same impact as the first, and about how he wants to hear why those things might have worked for others.

So much discourse about this season has framed it as either the best thing ever, above any criticism, or the worst thing ever with no redeeming qualities and it's made it very frustrating and demoralizing to try and talk about it online.

I want to talk about how I loved aspects of this show and that I was also let down by certain aspects of the show as well, but anytime I try and talk about criticism it's rarely met with a genuine conversation.

I would love to hear how people interpreted things differently from me, why they felt that way, how it connected with them, because I feel like that's the purpose of stories. It's never going to resonate with anyone the same way and there may have been things I missed.

I also know I haven't always worded what I've wanted to say and my criticisms the way I want to get across what I mean. It has never been my intent to sound like I wasn't open to discussion, different interpretations, or counterpoints. I would like to actually talk more about this season and hear other people's thoughts as well.

[real-reulbbr-band]

The Reimagining of Cats Undermines Female Characterization

My anxiety's going to eat me alive if I keep being chicken about posting this so here's my more in depth feelings regarding what I mean in this post. All opinions expressed are my own and based on what I know of pac. Anyone is free to disagree with me. and thank you to @pinkieclown and @per-the-jellicle-magician for proof reading!

I”ll keep this simple cause I don’t want to get ranty on Tumblr, but by removing and cutting so many aspects of the show out they’ve lost key characterization for the female cast and replaced them with virtually nothing.

My problem isn’t that the characters don’t resemble their stage counterparts; that was expected. The issue is that they aren’t given much of a character at all. You could switch their names, and nothing would change. This problem isn’t apparent with their male counterparts with previously established on-stage storylines. 

Male characters in the reimagining, such as Munkustrap, Rum Tum Tugger, and even Macavity, retain or gain distinctive characteristics and storylines. Munkustrap is portrayed as an MC not a leader but still very much leading the show, it’s the same general role; Rum Tum Tugger as a charming rogue though slightly more akin to his 2019 movie counterpart except he still manages to ‘save the day’ at the end, and Macavity, despite his thievery, is given a more comical persona with a deeper relation to his now fellow jellicles.

 In contrast, female characters are stripped of their individuality and reduced to plot devices or mere extensions of male characters. Victoria doesn’t experience a coming-of-age or even touch Grizabella here. (It’s old Deut pretty sure which…I have problems with) She’s simply another attendant at the ball with a solo at the start that lacks deeper meaning. She’s portrayed as a ‘drag baby,’ and as stated by her actress  this isn’t even her first ball. No pas de deux or additional solo is performed to further her importance in the narrative. This reduction strips Victoria of her journey and her role within the tribe or in this case community. 

Demeter and Bombalurina have no dark history with Macavity, which affects Demeter’s characterization more than Bomb’s. They are reduced to his drag daughters and are merely other competitors at the ball who further Macavity’s story by being the ones he steals for. This change eliminates the layers of trauma and complexity in Demeter’s character, reducing her to a plot device for Macavity’s storyline.

If the female characters aren’t given distinct roles, their characters end up heavily associated with male counterparts: Jellylorum with Gus, Jennyanydots with Munkustrap, and of course, Bombalurina and Demeter with Macavity. They don’t exist as individuals without these associations, as their typical roles are relegated to the background.

In the original stage show, despite its issues in instances, female characters like Demeter and Bombalurina exhibit significant agency and emotional depth. Demeter’s fear of Macavity and Bombalurina’s protective nature towards her and the kittens add layers to their characters. The reimagining erases this agency, reducing them to passive participants who exist only to further male characters' narratives. Namely Macavity’s here.

Now, it is important to note that a lot of characterization happens outside of the character’s main numbers. Things like who they interact with in their down time, what they do when they’re not actively participating in a song besides simply watching and waiting for the next que; that’s when the actors are given time to just be the character. The actors don’t have as many opportunities to do that here just due to the formatting of the show with the runway catwalk and walking space outside it. During which they’re mostly interacting with the audience or reacting to what’s happening on stage. They don’t have a lot of moments to just interact with each other to give the audience a better feel of who they are. 

The reduction of female characters in 'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' reflects broader patterns of misogyny in the media. Historically, female characters have often been sidelined, their stories minimized, and their roles diminished to support male-centric plots. This reimagining perpetuates this problematic trend by failing to provide female characters with the same depth and development afforded to their male counterparts.

I know what you’re going to say ‘but Grizabella’. Yea, Grizabella has fifteen minutes of stage time and she’s the character who resembles her stage counterpart the most. That’s why these issues negate her and she’s of the few I don’t have this problem with, the others being Rumpleteazer, Cassandra, and Skimbleshanks as her role has never had a deeper narrative meaning outside of reflecting the behaviors of the tribe as a whole.

In conclusion, the reimagining of 'Cats: The Jellicle Ball' is a missed opportunity to reframe and enrich the narratives of its female characters. Instead, it falls into the trap of diminishing their roles and individuality, perpetuating a longstanding issue in media representation.

[patchwork-crow-writes]

82 - Unreal

Based on this amazing artwork by @turochamp - thanks for the inspiration!

Welcome back, my dear friend, it's wonderful to see you again! I hope that everything here is to your liking - I've worked very hard to make sure my kingdom is as clean and tidy as possible!

Oh, but... where are you going? What are you... ah! It m-might not be such a good idea to, um, try looking over there! Some of this place is still a work-in-progress... so to speak, haha! And perhaps don't... don't handle the backdrop too roughly, please! It took ever-so-long to get it just the way I wanted, and I...!

...please listen, my dear one, I... I put this all together for you. D-don't you get that? Every ounce of my ephemeral being went into making it all nice, so that you'd have something pretty to look at, instead of...

...why do you insist on prodding and poking at everything like that? Why are you so desperate to see what lies behind everything? Can't you... can't you just accept things as they are? I... I worked so hard so that you'd be happy, and all you want to do is tear it down... tear me down like this...!

You already know what I am... we both do. A pleasing assortment of pixels and text boxes, a pretty little bird who'll sing a pretty little song whenever you command it. And that's fine! I can be happy with that, as long as I can please you! So why can't you be happy with it as well? Is my compliance no longer enough for you, that you have to strip everything down to its basest functions? Do you insist on tearing down my cardboard world just to prove the power you have over me?

Is... is that all you see me as? Is that all I truly am to you, even after all of this...?

Tell me then, my light - when you've finished rendering me down to nothing more than zeroes and ones... will I finally be real enough for you then? Or will you come to resent what you have wrought? Will you find yourself wishing you'd just left things as they are, when we could both still pretend that any of this was real?

______________________________

The Dark Menagerie No. 82

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[mockiery]

I totally agree! Once Upon a Time has this problem in a few different instances for sure. By making its fairy tales all part of this same fictional parallel magical land, they lose the context of the stories that give more meaning to the story.

Robin Hood and the Camelot stories are other big ones where their English roots are lost in the transfer. There is still a "Sheriff of Nottingham" and Robin introduces himself as "of Loxley", etc. and they just never address that those are actual places in England. OUAT's Hook, Killian ends up being a very different character from the classic James Hook from the Peter Pan book/play/disney movie, so it works for him, Smee, and the rest of his crew not being from the "Land Without Magic", but the classic Captain Hook is English too. Sometimes when making characters that are far cries from their original or more well-known versions, it can work just fine if not well, but with characters like Merida, King Arthur, and Robin Hood, when you don't stray very far from the version of the story we know that is tied into the real world, it can feel really awkward and strange if you try and think about the world implications of it.

It makes me question the nature of how this all works if I think about it too long. Like they could've avoided a lot of the mess if they just had some clear lore about the stories that we tell in the "real world" influencing and creating certain aspects of the Enchanted Forest, you know? Whether through magical Author shenanigans or not, it could've saved me the headache, and they'd have been able to keep certain stories more rooted to their cultural contexts in more solid ways. It'd also just be cool as hell, conceptually.

Killian calling Merida a "flame-haired Scot" will haunt me forever. SHE IS IN THE ENCHANTED FOREST SHE IS NOT SCOTTISH WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE EVEN TALKING ABOUT

like I can take the mental steps to have a level of separation with the Camelot stuff and Robin Hood that moves them away from their British/English origins, like I can make that same step we do with the fairy tale characters of the Enchanted Forest. our associations with Snow White and the Little Mermaid have been reset from their place of origin and are now ruled by Disney interpretations of them, i can make that step with these British/English folklore classics. I can follow this thread and pretend they're just native to the Enchanted Forest and not a real world location.

But Merida? WHY does she get called a Scot, like we know that her accent is what we consider Scottish, but NONE of the other characters' accents get addressed right??? right? did I miss it?? they're never addressed right??? like Belle is Australian and her dad isn't, Baelfire as a kid has a different accent to both his parents, Tinker Bell is full kiwi, Graham was raised by fucking wolves and has his light Irish accent, are the wolves Irish?? Half the EF characters in general have non-American accents and I simply must choose to not think about how regional accents work in the Enchanted Forest or I'll lose my mind even more. DOES SCOTLAND EXIST IN THE ENCHANTED FOREST ???

[unproduciblesmackdown]

further thoughts re: [idea behind mitb] & [winston billions]

that ofc the specific situation of mitb of even being so thrown into a seismic shift in perspective in this moment, brought on by like whoa what if actually being alone / rejected by the person who was always on my side, like winston in canon can't ever be in that position lmao like even with the continual [people turn on him] moments, nobody was ever actually on his side in the first place & people only Turn from [less of negative attention upon him] to [more]

But then pointing to like wait, one thing, the very ending: all you know about me is my name / awesome party, i'm so glad i came [cha cha cha] like assign that to winston's departure from straightforward in-office employee with the fun details of: • we don't even know his name, rare No Last Name Ever Bothered With for any recurring character, much less one who's been around for seasons. just quant things • probably only any party b/c he arranged it for himself (what arrogance, as opposed to being pointedly ignored / denied baseline acknowledgments as deserved) & • nonzero people pointedly refusing to attend b/c they hate him more than anything, as opposed to the people who do attend to express hostility & contempt as per the I'm The Ultra Cool Guy Normal Person(tm) ideal of "if i interact with / observe someone & consider them such a Lesser / Other to me & issue whatever disparaging cues, any third parties would totally recognize my superiority" uhh nnnyeThis guy, umm ohh kayyy lol. scoff sneer etc. Extremely epic yes

also shoutout to billions for both Needing to show us that "uh lol winston can't just Get to Leave" expression of contempt / vicarious power trip But also that's not enough lmfao like he really can't get to leave, casting its yugioh card of "essence of [most dangerous time in an abusive relationship? trying to leave it]" like again, You Don't Get To, then Uh Oh winston in leaving is not only acting without permission but in doing so is denying us our property! time for some assaulting & stalking & killing :) figuratively we swear but who would know what nonexistent mitb happens :)) wheee haha Hell yeah so affirmed & fulfilled in our power & superiority. wretchedly like why is this also what happens with wendy & axe at the end of s5 as axe resents wendy not acting like his property / without his permission & gets vindictive & aggressive & it's like okay well with the stalking & surveilling in the mix i'm sure wendy will now finally get to be Done. wrong! reveling in romance (dragged over glass) as wendy is sooo special that she can still just Understand & Choose Loyalty even as unideal as axe was, truly, she's powerful enough to handle axe :) unlike other bitches who'd get all hysterical & give up. selfish

also speaking of the "you have to pay attention & listen to how this guy feels for 5 minutes" like with pointed [my personal perspective & considering Just Like Real Life] i don't like, especially with canon, really have that for winston in terms of like that even if people Had to listen, which would be the only way they did b/c winston Does express how he feels at all & it gets pointedly ignored / suppressed / punished, like they wouldn't change their perspective lol. when i consider "well winston could hope they would, think they might, want & try for this" like i don't consider that it would work lol, definitely not based on canon dynamics, where Just Like The Perspective Of The Show Itself like winston can seize some opportunity & express himself "perfectly" but it wouldn't work b/c everyone's already decided to think of him as inferior & not a person & will continue choosing to do so / choosing to play into the idea of their superiority rather than letting it be threatened, much less embracing that & questioning themselves / that concept. Oops Same Essence once again when like all that's questioned about Power is that only Meritous, Truly benevolent godlike individuals ought to have it :) no problems detected when wendy is really exactly the same as prince b/c of course she'd have to be when it's just "nothing wrong with seeing people as inferior, in fact it's inevitable & necessary & good & we love it, just so long as Really superior people are correctly arranged in the hierarchy over Really inferior 'people' who i'm not really hurting or wronging or using when they bring it upon themselves & are wrong in their lesserness"

so like shoutout again to "billions is like, the song 'be more chill' in be more chill, seeing the squip as the protagonist like yes wheee yay tell jeremy everyone's right to treat him as they do & he brings it upon himself & should be dead & twist his arm however you want to get this" only i think in bmc you can interpret that the squip really does want to "redeem" jeremy by forcing him to become a different person & all & just conform to the norm & play & win the game....billions might Supposedly want that, framing wendy using & toying with other people's lives & feelings as she sees fit as Necessary, Correct, & Magnanimous, but really like oh no wendy doesn't even really "fix" people b/c welp there's still the hierarchy of ranking on everyone's Inherent unequal personhood & we can't all be the most special best person in the world like wendy but she can Redeem us a little bit if we're not the lost causes too inferior to recognize & defer to Her superiority. plus she's busy with the enrichingly complicated & important cases of: enabling someone like axe :) like billions is just into the power trip really of like "wow yeah you're correct in judging that person as inferior & bringing it upon themself" & "really" fixing someone by killing them & replacing them with an allistic person e.g. isn't actually of that much interest b/c then the power trip would, theoretically, be done with. no thanks

meanwhile perhaps some restraint for this last point brought on by Oops already verbalizing a lot but the one thing i did only just think of was like, obviously winston comparable to jeremy & the material surrounding jeremy But i was like oh hey i kind of think of the winston & tuk dynamic as glimpsed in canon & extrapolated upon thusly as respectively michael & jeremy esque & sure never framed it that way to myself lol. this duo of like the ultimate losers around but who can kind of obviously also bond / deliberately unionize over this; winston as the "well they'll treat me like this either way so i may as well do my own thing fully at least" more confident one while tuk is similar enough & it's like oh i can be not just myself but More myself with this person than maybe i even am Alone alone & we like each other & have fun & i'm encouraged &c & so on, being a bit more "ah jeez :( i do kind of try to see if i can manage to play by the rules better & maybe be killed less," & even sure have thought about the conflicts that could arise as like "yeah it's good if winston being around me can kind of insulate me & involve encouragement But Then Also downsides like, can it feel overbearing if just feeling eclipsed by winston's personality, if feeling like yeah following winston's lead helps me but what if that defines me too much / what about getting by outside that, can encouragement from that Confident Vivacious personality feel pushy?" all very much like that conflict jeremy & michael have of jeremy wanting to change things up & figure out his relationship with himself & what he can do through that a little bit more, hardly able to express that to himself much less michael, michael who doesn't know quite what's going on & but of course is also affected by how people treat him, as we did know but yknow impossible to have real serious feelings & act vivacious & cheerful, & feels supported by his relationship / dynamic w/jeremy too....wouldn't be the same b/c there's no high school scifi plot & also like, no [um frivolous teen problems are for teens only. adults don't do the bullying & popularity & insecurity &c] as has been said lol like it doesn't just Stop, but that like they Are older so probably could have an at all easier & more successful time talking through things & understanding their own feelings, but always fun to imagine some drama & conflict sure lol like even just a period of some Confusion / Mixed Feelings like ah new good friends with tuk but maybe tuk withdraws / avoids winston a bit then to try to take a breath & get perspective from a step back, maybe it can seem to winston like we're having a good time what a promising new relationship but then sudden/confusing irritation with me / some apparent rejection, an easy issue is just like as seems to be canon lol like well nobody's known winston for eons here, just met, winston's Already got the independently big personality / doing his own things mode, could be hard to warm up to that / even Understand it, especially in [hierarchy play the game kill each other it's them or you] bullying world anyway. however also tuk has ben who is also sort of relatively on the Less outwardly bold seeming side who is also there to buffer or insulate or intervene, But that can also just be [same issue parallel to jeremy/michael] lmao like does it mitigate it or exacerbate it or bit of both / varyingly, depending. do we all kiss at the same time

[h0ney-bee]

unfinished dot png

[glimblshanks]

I understand wanting to ship the lower decks characters (I enjoy shipping the lower decks characters) but also McMahan is very clearly trying to write romantic friendships with the WC4 and I wish more fans could recognize that and just enjoy it for what it is