#what people care about in fiction doesn't translate one to one irl

[sarasade]

When I see those "Fujos/fangirls only care about m/m, dudeslash, BL and ignore women" -takes it feels completely alien to me and seems like a total misunderstanding of Slash fanculture.

Someone clearly hasn't witnessed the intense lesbo pining between female(*) Naruto and Sasuke cosplayers who LARP their fave ship at a local con.

Earth-shatteringly fierce homoerotism between slash fiction fans is the corner stone of shipping culture. Always has been.

[tbhimnoteasyonmyself]

Who is White?

If it is not I, your friendly neighbourhood non-binary deranged literature major, once again to tell you about stuff that the voices™︎ have prompted me.

This time, let's talk about the elephant in the room, the odd one out: Mr. White, a.k.a the fandom's babyboy.

(me as Fluke in this GIF, walking in ready to dissect this bitch)

So, what do we factually know about this man?

From what we're directly told in the show:

He's Tee's boyfriend, at least, since 12th grade, meaning they have been together for about 3 years, maybe 4 (depending on when exactly we are in terms of time in the present and when exactly during 12th grade they started dating).

He's younger than the rest of them, according to Por and Top in episode 1.

He studied at a different school from the main gang AND from Phee (yes, despite the embroidery having a similar colour, the writings where the institution's name should be are nothing alike, thus, not from the same place)

He cares a lot about his appearance (he does skincare when Por is literally dying downstairs and he sees a rash on his body while under the effect of New's absynthe - idk if it's absynthe or not but my friends and I have been calling it that since we saw them drink the green drinks so it's absynthe for me and there's that).

He's generally a very respectful person (he always speaks formally and nicely to everyone, even when people are hostile to him, like Tee or Fluke).

His fear doesn't seem to paralyze him in high-pressure situations (he strikes people with a tripod twice to save himself and others when he thinks they're in danger).

Another source could be the Yearbook, which, now, we have to be a bit more skeptical about because, as seen in New's case, it's not 100% accurate. One can argue that it is accurate because the yearbook would have Tan's info, since that's who he's living as and no one knows any better than that, including the institutions and, sure, yeah, fair. But while we don't know that White is hiding anything from us as well, we can't be sure of it. So, take the following with a grain of salt:

(translated with Google Translate)

His legal name is Watcharin Siriphan

He was born on the 25th of February 2005 (which confirms what Por and Top say)

His blood type is A (which according to the Blood Type Personality Theory means he is shy, stubborn, a perfectionist, polite and hard-working, apparently. tbh this thing is super shifty, no source seems to agree on the meaning of each type and, of course, it's a pseudoscience and all, so... yeah. take it as you will)

He's studying Software Engineering

He likes cakes

He dislikes cockroaches

He plays games and programs in his free time

So... We don't know much. He's the most generic person ever. Like... I too, and half the world's population, like cake, dislike cockroaches and like to play games. It's not exactly very special. Which is exactly why he is so intriguing. After all, we had 5 whole episodes so far, which were just the backstory of the people we see together in the mansion in the present. We've seen their personalities, their qualities and flaws, what they did and what they didn't do. We've been given a reason as to why they're here. Not just in the more direct sense of "they agreed to come here for Jin's goodbye party" but of why exactly they needed to be put all together in these conditions for this story. All except White. White is just... Barely an afterthought. We're shown when he comes into this story for the group (when he becomes Tee's boyfriend), but we're not given a reason so far as to why the narrative wants him there.

Because, sure, IRL people sometimes end up in random places and things can be pretty meaningless but this is a work of fiction. One that, evidently, has been greatly focused on details (Non's framed apple picture and Phee eating an apple alone, for example, or the correlation between the group and the colour blue). So why would it just throw us a character that is, seemingly, irrelevant to the story?

And to this, there are 2 possibilities my friends: either White is a narrative tool to get to the audience or White is not who we think he is. So let's explore it, shall we?

White = Narrative Tool

Let's start by assuming, possibly the most likely outcome, that White is exactly just a guy who ended up there due to his connection to Tee. Why would this narrative need that character?

Glad you asked. Because he's the only person who's 100% innocent. If he's just some guy who, as we've seen, keeps being respectful and nice and trying to always do the right thing, then he's got nothing to do with the others who, in different degrees are all guilty of something. He's the odd one out.

Because, yes, this is not a show of villains (at least, not in which concerns the main characters). They're all morally grey. But they have some drop of black that makes them grey.

Por is arrogant and a liar and selfish.

Tee is aggressive and manipulative and a control freak.

Top is an overall asshole and a coward.

These 3 actively bully Non. Por steals his work. Tee and Top blame him for shit he didn't do which puts in the situation where he owns Por and they spy on him. Tee manipulates him into mafia money laundry and threatens him.

Fluke is selfish and refuses to take action even when he knows it's the right thing to do.

Jin's doesn't have the capability to realize that the peaceful passive way with which he normally carries himself with won't solve the issue. Plus he's overly emotional. And a bit selfish too.

They didn't help Non when it was their moral obligation to do so. And Jin records him being abused by their teacher and possibly posts it online (though that's still up for debate).

Phee is too stubborn and also overly emotional and even overly empathic.

New is obsessive and vengeful.

Phee never really helps Non because all the ways he offers Non help are the wrong ones. He almost tries to control him. And he fails. And then he tells him awful things and breaks up with him in a terribly vulnerable moment for Non. And even when he regrets it and tries to bring justice to him, he fucks Jin because he wanted to and tries to cover it up as if it was part of the plan. Sure, they were broken up, technically, but Phee himself seems to have had "take-backies" over that breaking up. So, in his mind, at least, it's fair to say he cheats on him, which is very hypocritical after how he reacts to Non being abused. And New... He tries to help sincerely because he feels guilty but he only makes things worse. Nothing is solved and their father curses them both before committing public suicide at their mom's funeral.

Non (which may be even more relevant if he's still alive) is overly independent and uncommunicative.

He doesn't tell Jin he has a boyfriend when it's clear Jin's trying to make a move on him, event though Non's not interested. He hides very important things from Phee. He commits fraud (understandably, but yeah). And yeah, he's justified in his rage and attack but... Does he ever think of how his actions affect other such as Jin, for example, who, in his eyes, is innocent? Not really.

"Oh but White won't die!", I hear you say. "The innocent people never die in slashers!! Only the people who did the killer wrong do!" And that's exactly where I have to disagree.

So, amidst a sea of grey characters, White is, funnily enough: white. He's just good. He's done nothing wrong. And the narrative needs him because, when the others die, we'll feel (to different degrees, sure, but still, we will) that there's a reason. Even if we like the characters, those deaths will make sense. But what happens when an innocent man dies? What happens when you kill the man who wasn't even supposed to be there (he joined the trip at the last minute)?

As @syrena-del-mar says in this post: "DFF is more than just a 90s slasher film imitation". It "sits at a novel intersection of genre: horror slasher on the one hand and BL on the other hand" as @brifrischu puts it here and, for that, it bends expectations and rules and subverts what are natural tropes and events of the slasher archetype. White dying is the sort of thing this narrative, and our inventive genius Sammon, would do. Because... Do you really think they're giving us grey characters instead of black ones because we're supposed not to question this revenge? Because we're supposed to be happy about this? No. Of course not. That would be dumb. If we're meant to 100% side with the killer, then why give us likeable characters as the targets? Because, and this is as much speculation as it is reading the room, we're not.

This story, I don't know how it will end, but regardless I'm pretty confident it's supposed to tell us something important about cycles of violence: that they're neverending until someone chooses peace instead. That aggression and bloodshed and revenge... They won't bring time back, they won't undo the mistakes we make, they won't restore that which is lost, they won't make the grief go away... That they won't make us feel better. More even: that they will only hurt more people, create more injustice and prompt more revenge. And, thus, perpetuate the cycle.

So what's White's role? Being the final drop into our collective cup of realization (and perhaps the characters' as well) that this revenge mission is pointless and won't solve anything. White's role is to die.

"Oh, but uncle Dang was also innocent! Is his death not enough??", I hear you ask. And well... Maybe, maybe not. I think, honestly, his death is too impersonal for us to feel too deeply about it. Like, sure, yes, it is the death of an innocent, but it's a distant innocent. It doesn't make our blood boil because we don't know shit about that man. But, for all we don't know of White's past, we've seen him cry, we've seen him scared, we've seen him fight for his life, we've seen him be a good boyfriend and a good friend. He might just be some dude but we like him. He's the fandom's babyboy, as I said. It is more impactful and it tells the story better.

But this is just a hypothesis. And it might not convince you. And that's fair. So, because I'm a persistent obnoxious fucker with a little too much free time, I'm bringing you a second theory. For this one, though... You might need a little tinfoil hat... Be prepared.

White ≠ Who He Says He Is

So, if you think just having a character be hollow and pure good in a show of very fleshed-out and grey characters is weird, even if he might be narratively relevant, then we can only assume there's something important to White's character we don't know about yet. (I'm adding this in retrospective because I forgot but this idea came to me partially from @yellingaboutkp and their great analysis of horns in the show that you can find here)

But what could that be? We've seemingly seen all the flashbacks we needed from everyone, White doesn't seem very relevant to anyone's storyline but Tee's but... We'd assume if there was something directly connected to Tee's actions and White that we needed to see, we would've. Admittedly, the next episode seems to be on its way to tell us what Tee knows about what happened to Non and Keng while they were captured by the mafia and he could be there but I think, honestly, that it goes deeper than that. And here's why: because there's a person who's even more of an odd one out then White: whoever Perth's character is.

Now, he would've been completely unsuspicious if it wasn't for one thing: Perth's presence in the promotion of this series. He's just... Always there, somehow? Like, his character has only really appeared last episode massaging Tee's uncle but he's constantly talking about this series. Plus, his name is very well credited. AND, the absolute cherry on top, his character appears in THIS poster:

Now, yeah, I understand Marketing and Publicity (it's part of my Master's, you don't have to explain it to me). So, I know this could very well just be a strategy to sell the series. After all, Perth did get a lot of attention after The Hidden Character, I know, I know. It's also a way to put his name out there for other future roles, kinda like a soft launch. Plus, this is the show that killed Us's character first when he was one of the most popular actors in the cast. HOWEVER, I'd argue that, considering the previously mentioned attention to detail, they would not have given one of their rising stars a role in this series if it wasn't important. Like... No other background character without lines (so far) was given an important actor to play it. So pardon me, but I don't buy it. Perth's character's gotta matter somehow. And, back to what I was saying, I think the next episode will be exactly where.

See, I made a poll here on the hellsite asking what y'all think happened to Non. It's this one. And it shows that, overwhelmingly, we all think Non is alive BECAUSE he was helped by the man himself:

"Okay, Dante, but, even if that's true, where does White fit in all this?" Glad. You. Asked.

Now, if we're assuming Perth's character's the one that's gonna help Non (and possibly Keng or maybe not, idk and it really doesn't matter for now), we've gotta assume he's a possible suspect for the murderer. And even more so under this optic that Non is alive. Who more than a person whose whole reality seemed to be the mafia and who might've escaped it would be okay with murdering people? Right? Or, on the contrary, that he took a liking to Non and is trying to prevent him from further digging himself a hole in life and is trying to save him from himself.

You see, I didn't watch The Hidden Character (and those who did apparently recommend it stays that way). I didn't know any of these people before except those who were in Kinnporsche. And you know what that led me to? Curiously enough, dear reader: confusing Fuaiz with Perth. So, yeah, you know where this is going... White and Perth's character might be related. Brothers, probably.

"All because you think they look alike?" Well, if you ignore the way I just explained how it would tie some very loose ends... Yeah, kinda. BUT, in my defence, it makes a lot of genetic sense.

See, no other characters in the show really look this much alike. Believe me, I tested it.

For this purpose, I tried many different sites but the one that seemed to give me the most reliable results was FaceShape. Most characters got no more than 10%, some even got 0% (e.g. New and Perth's Character). And you wanna know how much White and Perth's character got? Nearly 50%.

For comparison reasons, New and Non who are CANONICALLY brothers, got about 30%.

BUT, if this is not convincing enough, my sister and I (who share EXACTLY the same 2 parents) got lower than them.

(pls ignore the picture, I was trynna make it as accurate as possible so I took a front pic with a neutral expression. also, my sister is censored for privacy reasons)

Now... Will I claim this is irrefutable proof? No. Not at all, but think about it: if White and Perth are related that might maybe explain how Tee and White met. It might also explain that really weird scene in the pre-release trailer (albeit all scenes in that are rather odd) where White-

Yes, thank you, Obi-Wan. And Anakin Tee is looking up at him, as if White has more power than Tee does. Because then, it could probably mean that White knows something and is probably there to do something. What exactly? Idk, man. He could be there to ensure the group remains clueless/confused or that they remain where they need to be for things to work... Or he could be there to try and prevent stuff from happening much to the likeness of what I stated for Perth's character's case.

"Oh, but if he knows something, wouldn't he know what happened to Non? Why would he be curious to watch the recording??"

Well, not necessarily. We know Non is not communicative and that he doesn't typically share his problems with anyone (the exception being Keng, obviously, but then again, the exception confirms the rule). And sure, Keng might be more talkative but idk if he would say something if Non asked him not to. I have a feeling he probably wouldn't (since he has that weird thing JJ mentioned about how he "loves Non" and, therefore, even if he's an abuser, he doesn't perceive himself that way and wouldn't do something he actively thinks would hurt Non). So, while Perth's character would know what happened to Non while he was being held by Tee's uncle and even some things about why he is there, he probably wouldn't know the rest.

But then why would he date Tee? Well, this is a narrative so... Foils are something that can happen. Having White and his relationship with Tee be a parallel to that of Phee and Jin is not weird and, in fact, has happened in the very first episode when both couples arrive at the room where the singles are, in pairs. Therefore, it wouldn't be weird to think of White as someone who maybe also fell in love with the guy that was supposed to be a means to an end or, alternatively, and perhaps more interestingly, have White NOT be in love with him and actually succeed, unlike Phee. Thus, drawing the comparison that, while Tee and White are in a relationship, White didn't fall in love and, inversely, while Phee and Jin aren't in a relationship, Phee did fall in love.

And this would mean that all we've seen of White's fear might, in fact, be an act to throw suspicion off of him. Or even more justified because he knows exactly what's lurking in the woods... After all, why would he suddenly join Jin's goodbye party if he's not a friend of Jin's? What reason better than to tag along your boyfriend's getaway with his friends if not to protect him from the terrible consequences of his actions?

But I get it. It's an extremely convoluted theory and, in all honesty, maybe makes the show more dull and boring if it's true because... Why would they repeat this "secret brother" twist? Or the dating with second intentions trope? It could be a narrative parallel, yes, but I can also definitely see how people could point that out as uncreative or lazy writing.

Either way: these thoughts were circling around my head and, before the next episode confirms or destroys them, I wanted to get them out into the world for y'all to, maybe, hopefully, join in on the hype for it, as it's less than 24h 'till it airs. Hope in that I was successful, at the very least.

Anyway... As usual feel free to (politely) argue with me, tell me I'm wrong, tell me I missed this and that, add to it, etc... Because if there's one thing I currently love more than DFF itself, it's definitely the fandom and I want us to make the most of it!!

I'll see y'all tomorrow when we're freaking out about episode 10!!!

All the love! 💜💜💜

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

https://www.tumblr.com/yourtoradorasextendedwarranty/754963612882337792/antis-twitter-freaks-and-tumblr-crazies-seem-to

This is what you spend your time on? This? Defending your lolis? This is what you consider something worth spending valuable time on this earth for? Holy fuck, the human race is just cooked isn’t it. You people are actually serious about this shit.

It isn't "Defending Lolis". It's making a distinction between CP, and Loli which are not the same. NOT EVEN REMOTELY the same. As well as the people that see short women IRL, and deem them "Child Coded" because they are short, with smaller bodies/features and as such have to deal with people saying their partners are "Pedo" or "Pedo adjacent" or some bullshit like that.

No matter what you say Loli is in modern day is representative of, it's fiction. And no matter who fights me on this I don't care. And people have. Loli is a body type in modern day. People will say that's cope but it's not cope. Because Loli doesn't mean, "Child" or "literal child". And even though it's base word come from "Lolita" which I'm aware was also the name of a French film about a girl that was a minor, today that word doesn't have the same connotation. Lolita fashion for instance does not mean, "Minor girl fashion". And even the movie title itself didn't mean, "Minor Girl". It was just a movie name.

My point was never that "Loli good". I never said that. My POINT was that loli in modern day is a term to represent anime characters. Characters that are NOT real. Characters that are humanoid but not exactly human looking. I mean you have 14 y/o characters that look 20 and 50 y/o characters that might could look 18. But my supposed "Defense" of Loli is just saying it's literally just art of small bodied characters. If you ask me if I like it personally? No. I don't care about it. My issue is people that compare it to CP when it's not. And THEN translate that sentiment to real life to point at real women whose bodies would be considered "loli" if they were anime characters, and then told that they are not allowed to date tall men because their boobs are too small and they are too short.

And for the record. I was assaulted as a kid. I'd have preferred if he had been into actual child shota. Because MAYBE (though unlikely) I would not have been harmed. Anime is fiction. Dwarfs are fiction. Changelings are fiction. Other fantasy races that are short or small are fiction. And modern day norms according to twitter freaks are, "If I deem it looks like a kid it IS a literal child."

Except that ignores one very specific point. Which is Pedophiles. If Pedophiles were just into people that LOOKED like they could be "kids" then they could just date midgets or women with development disorders. Except for the fact that Pedos themselves are not in it for the body. They are in it for the power over another person and the innocence those kids have. Kids are easy to manipulate and they have an ignorance to them that makes them easy to control.

Fictional content does not give most of these people the thrill they seek. And if you listen to interviews with some of them in therapy sessions you will hear that.

My overarching point being. Real women are not fictional. Which was the broader point of my ENTIRE post. And that fiction and reality are NOT the same. So if that's "Defending" loli, whatever I don't care. Because you know what. Even IF Loli was about age and not body type (again it's not an age) at least it's not real people being hurt (and this is ignoring the difference between loli characters and lolicon). And anime characters again only look mostly human, but distinctly not human enough to qualify as realistic.

[barnabybugspeopleonline]

as per my wonderful mutual [@gaypplreal]'s request: i will be speaking about THE YAPE AU

[or scissors pmtok: reanimator, the official unofficial title]

CONTENT WARNING: LITERALLY EVERYTHING

[blood, gore, death, surgery, clearly unhealthy relationships that are only fun to watch in fiction...]

also this is long

and a comedy-horror because it is silly, but very bloody

so, for starters, this is a gijinka/humanised au. so that way the gore makes sense.

the way i interpret scissors is sort of like a reserved mad scientist. she's still the dual-blade duelist first and foremost, this is more of a side thing.

this "science thing" is the human-world counterpart to what she does ingame. cutting people up and sewing them back together would be pretty grisly if this world wasn't all-paper.

[handaconda being our main canon example. it's alive! and scissors is the one who gave life to it, somehow. alongside the paper cutout soldiers. in my head this translates to something like a lab experiment.]

so scissors is pretty quick to take life, but she also likes to play with it, since she can somehow give it.

she likes to play with life. killing people and resurrecting them just to kill them again. like windup toys.

in a realistic context, this would obviously be bloody. she'd do surgery just for fun, as an act of intimacy. it's as simple and it's as caring as a kiss to her.

[sidenote: i also see scissors as being skilled at embroidery (and sutures) since fabric scissors are a thing]

so, we're getting closer to the crux of my point. but not quite! this au is scisstape centric, kind of. [sorry.]

i would go into my dynamic for them but then this post would be even longer so to cut a long story short [ha-ha]

i don't really ship them, i just think they're dating and it's horrible. they do love eachother but in different and [sometimes] disgusting ways.

you know how i mentioned surgical intimacy earlier? scissors would take tape's heart out just to hold it closer. [don't ask how he doesn't die: it's magic]

i used a literal analogy for my version of their relationship once: you can't use tape without scissors but once you have that pairing one is just going to chip away at the other. forever.

[so their relationship sucks and i would not condone performing vivisections on your partner irl but fortunately they are not real]

[also i think non toxic versions of scisstape are really cute this is just my version since i'm insane]

with everything established, i think, finally, we can get to my point.

yape.

in this au, yape is a busted zombie-ish copy of tape, created by scissors herself. for a plethora of reasons, and from a plethora of parts.

[she couldn't have both if she took all of tape's parts. just, snippets, if you will. alongside various grafts she had laying around.]

but why did she make him? yape is a love letter to tape, in a terrible way. i'm saying terrible a lot.

"i love you so much that i made another you." "don't you like him?"

tape, unsurprisingly, does not like yape. he's usually tolerant-ish of scissors, but this is just too far.

yape, conversely, loves tape. i described it as christian man following the god whose image they were made in.

yape functions. well enough. he bleeds a lot from places he should and shouldn't. sometimes the stitches peel away and sometimes his guts are out on the ground.

but through scissors' miracle of life, yape can't die. can he feel pain? sure. can he understand it?

yape was a mistake. and yape is a mistake.

because he's still within the present tense.

IF YOU READ THIS FAR I OWE YOU MY LIFE

FEEL FREE TO ASK SPECIFIC QUESTIONS, ALTHOUGH I HAVENT FLESHED MUCH OUT YET [THIS IS A NEW IDEA]

also scissors and tape are both lesbians tape is just really butch. masc-ing tape. ha-ha.

[yourlocaldisneyvillain]

⭐⭐⭐ talk away!!! pls talk about whatever suits your fancy, maybe what kinds of traits and themes draw you to a character/story idea, or what themes or traits you notice reappearing in a lot of your works?

oooooh hi hello!!!! thank you for sending this and enabling me lol

okay, so as for what i'm drawn to -- i definitely have a Thing(TM) for poor soggy little meow meows lol. i like my female characters to resemble wet orphan kittens abandoned in the rain lol, but also have a very strong side to them that is in direct opposition to their soggy-meow-meowness lol. i really enjoy that duality. i enjoy that in all sorts of characters, and when it comes to fanfic i do read m/m and only very occasionally m/f pairings, but i am very rarely -- if ever -- inspired to write for them. i guess the formula for what compels me to write something is the combination of 1. soggy woman i wanna keep in a jar 2. is it something i want to read and feel there isn't much of in the world?

i exclusively write f/f pairings and woman-centred storylines -- not bc it's the only thing i enjoy in fiction, but bc it's the sort of thing i wanted to read when i was young and there was just so little of it, and i found it almost exclusively in fanfiction, with some exceptions such as sarah waters novels that i really enjoyed, but weren't translated in my language when i was a kid so i did struggle with them a bit (i would really wanna reread those now that i have a better grasp of the english language and am no longer a tween lol, i wonder if my opinion on them would change). i like to write from experience, and my experience is that of a rather odd gay woman moving through the world, so i like to channel that in my fiction. i feel like i'm Qualified(TM) to write it lol.

i'm about to be an old man shaking my fist at the world and demanding people get out of my swamp lol, but i feel like even though there has been a huge change in the amount of wlw storylines media we are Served every year (when i was a teen i feel i could count them all, that's how few movies/books there were, and at one point it was like okay..... i've seen it all lol or at least all that was accessible to me). and even though the media landscape has changed drastically in the last 10 years, i still feel like there are such few stories that really resonate with me? and we are generally being bombarded with very meaningless stories/media, just regurgitating the same shit over and over again (disney live action remakes are a good example of that trend, saying that as someone who was always a fan of disney if you couldn't guess by my username lol, and hasn't seen any of the remakes bc i simply Do Not Care, stopped caring around 2014 when maleficent came out). if you asked me to name a wlw story, or even a woman-centric story that doesn't involve a male love interest, that i really, truly enjoy, i feel like i'd struggle a bit. we get a lot of storylines in media that, imo, lack substance, and are often audience pandering (idk why supergirl came to mind, but it's a good example i feel). and tbh, the audience isn't picky. most people will just watch whatever lol, and honestly good for them but i Cannot lol. it needs to Hit A Spot for me. as for books, there is a better choice there i feel, but a lot of it is ya novels and i am simply not interested in that lol. no shade, but it's just not something i like to read. i want an old hollywood style romance with lesbians. i want phantom of the opera, i want the Drama(TM), i want a fucking hugh grant cheesy movie with lesbians. and so that's what i like to write -- just things i always wanted but never had lol.

i feel like in my works the Themes(TM) that appear a lot are:

1. loneliness and finding something or rather someone that quenches the thirst for company in a way that matters (i have always found irl that there's a lot of people who listen but don't hear what you're saying, and since i was a child i was always searching for people who will genuinely try to understand where i'm coming from and not just immediately try to put me in a box in their mind so they can Place Me somewhere and understand me in their own language. can you try to understand me in mine?)

2. pondering of morality, what's right and wrong and is there such a thing, rejecting and questioning societal norms.

3. a lot of kinky lesbian sex lol, through which i like to explore the psyche of the characters (or sometimes i'm just horny lol and sexuality and kink is something i like to think about a lot, esp bc my formative years were so traumatic in that aspect)

4. very character driven plots/characters changing their own fate or what *should* happen to them

5. the Intricacies of interpersonal relationships/developing a deep connection with someone and generally exploring emotional connection

6. this will be most prominent in the thing i am yet to post but is almost written, but i do enjoy some horror elements, gothic horror to be specific! i guess it's all the gothic novels i read in my youth :))

[slightlymore]

oh wow that chan astrological analysis is so in-depth 🙃 do you think you can you also do one for doyoung? please 🥺 i heard his chart is a bit polarizing...

actually its interesting you ask because on paper they have similar signs (air energy, aqua, scorpio, gemini etc) yet irl they can't be more different

let's see why

first of all aquarius sun (and most air signs) is generally considered to be a fuckboy placement (and the nct aqua line supports this i said what i said lmfao) yet if you ask any person they would not put doyoung into the fuckboy category.

again, gemini moon? sly witty fuckboy

scorpio rising? double fuckboy

pisces venus? that man has 45 partners

then why does doyoung looks and feels like a decent committed person who barely fucks and has never seen a boob? (exageration shhh) is he that fake and we can't see it? or is something else going on?

signs and houses

so of course aqua doesn't only mean fuckboy. aqua is ruled by uranus modernly but also saturn traditionally (who also rules capricorn). aqua is a very independent sign, very open minded, and also it is fixed (together with scorpio, leo, and taurus). very intelligent, logical, analytical and somehow even cold. they go hard on themselves and others too. they might appear as if they don't care about your feelings or that feelings are superfluous and sometimes (although we know what a softie doyoung is) he does appear very analytical and cold. this is also why an aqua can traditionally play multiple people at once and fuck around but doyoung's aqua sun is in 4th house which is the cancer house. 4th house is all about home, tradition, softness, motherhood, femininity and emotions. cancer is also ruled by the moon which is all about feelings and the inside world. this gives doyoung's aqua edges a very soft feeling. he does appear like a milf mom most of the time thus making him quite emotional and less likely to behave like an aqua fuckboy. he has the power and skills to do so but he knows he shouldn't

gemini is also infamously known for the fuckboy qualities, the rizz, the social aspect, the center of attention, but also for the incredible intelligence. doyoung's gemini moon makes his inner world very rich with ideas and new ways of living life. his aqua sun, although in the home-rooted 4th energy, with the addition of the gemini moon makes him hate being restricted (to a place or a relationship) which is why many gemini feel a sense of boredom in a relationship and want something new. yet, doyoung loves very deeply because his gemini moon is in 8th house, the scorpio. we all know how intense scorpio is and again, just the way his airy sun is influenced by the water of the cancer, his airy moon is influenced by the water of the scorpio.

doyoung is a deeply emotional person and his air quality somehow makes him cringe at his own depth, but also his water quality makes him appalled at the airy energy. he can't fully be a fuckboy and he can't fully be a good boy. this probably creates a lot of friction inside of himself and it might translate into his relationships. he might not find the right person to be with because he craves an emotional depth that not many can give him but at the same time he might run away when things get too serious because of the aqua/gemini energy.

when it comes to why he is attractive so far, doyoung is peak broody man who is cold and even kinda rude only to have a very soft and tender heart which is pretty popular in fiction etc. this is also what makes him my fave enemies to lovers trope character. also he might be the ideal type so far for people who have a saviour complex and want to "save" him by loving him a lot (which can turn a bit toxic) also very popular in fiction

his mercury is capricorn which is very interesting. capricorn is an earth cardinal sign, very manly, very serious etc, cap is usually considered the father in astrology. so doyoung's way of communication might come across as the one of a father. together with his sun in 4th (cancer which is the mother of astrology) he can come across as the parental figure many people like and seek in a partner. contrarily, it can turn off the people who enjoy a very easygoing and danger-seeking partner (thinking of fire and air). sometimes he can be too direct and again analytical. but we also know he's capable of incredibly sweet and loving words, that's because his mercury is in 3rd house, the original natural mercury house ruled by gemini. 3rd house makes you the perfect speaker, with incredible writing and speaking abilities (we also know he's a great mc) and huge amount of wits. he knows what to say, how to say and when to say it. in romance doyoung is very good at romantic little words, dirty talk, and overall rizzing you up with a good conversation. he is also very good at manipulating (which is also why again gemini are infamous for). but his cap mercury balances it out once again making him realize deeply how hurtful that could be for someone. also, cap is ruled by saturn which is a very blocking energy. doyoung is very capable of dirty talk and being a fuckboy but again it would make him cringe a lot and feel guilty

pisces venus is a very very soft placement. but pisces is also a mutable sign (like gemini) which also has the vibe of loving hard and a lot then getting bored. pisces venus is also very good at romance. it knows how to romance you well and is highly intuitive. they give a lot but they also need it back. pisces venus can be quite emotionally demanding, and paired with his moon in 8th he might come across as intense and make you feel as if you're not enough or not doing enough romantically as he is. very very sensitive placement, it makes a "cold" man like doyoung very attractive when he lets this side of him show, especially for people who like a sensitive man his pisces venus is in 5th house which is the sex and crushes house (if you've read the chan one he has most of his planets in it making him the rizz king). again doyoung is 10000% capable of making everyone crazy with his mere presence and fuck 3 people every night (and maybe he does), but it being pisces makes him again sensitive to others' feelings way too much. paired with his other placements who evoque a need of commitment, doyoung probably has the best sex in a serious loving relationship and considers casual sex as a body need he might not need that much. he even might get fully horny only when he is in love. this house paired with this other placement though also makes him a great performer and stage person. very good actor. again, doyoung attracts many people because of this energy and sometimes he might even give in when he's in his airy energy and slutty eras, but ends up feeling hollow after a bit of fun and he craves deeper connections instead. this is why he might push people away and not give in to the mindless flirting energy his air placements might push him into. at the same time, ignoring this fun side of himself can make him miserable and bored with life. it's a full-on fight inside of himself

aqua mars seals the deal on his chart. again, like his sun, he craves freedom, unusual life styles, unusual partners, some crazy ass sex, even dangerous sex (unprotected, public etc) BUT it is in 4th house, the cancer one, so again, it adds to the venus energy of the fight between safety and committed and the screw everything im having an orgy tonight. this might lead to some destructive behaviours and going too much on the extremes: either 0 sex for months, or 3 orgies in one night and regretting it, which is of course very unhealthy. adding this to the why he is so attractive to some, aqua mars makes him look like the cold dom many people think he is - emotionless, kinda sadistic etc (which he might be but it's only one side and he's definetly merging it with his loving soft sexual side)

speaking of destructive behaviours, scorpio rising makes him ruled by mars traditionally but pluto in modern times. both planets are very intense and very manly. this is a very intense placement and it recalls his moon in 8th house. he feels deeply, acts deeply, likes and enjoys deep stuff. scorpio rising with his air energy and the pisces venus makes him highly intuitive. he knows how people feel, he understands every pov, and he might even have occult powers such as predicting the future, reading tarot etc (both because of pattern recognition since he's so sensitive and smart, but also because of actual occult predisposition, depends on what you believe in). when it comes to why he's attractive, scorpio rising is very alluring, it's sexy, decadent, erotic. if you fuck him you'd feel like merging souls and that's something many find very attractive. also scorpio rising makes him very hard to pin down, and if you take into consideration the fact he's basically many people in one body because of the air/water dichotomy he really appears very mysterious and dark. doyoung would make a perfect dark sensual main character who's cold and witty and maybe evil then you discover he's been hurt and he's a softy in some romance book. the ruler of scorpio pluto is in sag, which adds to the whole need for freedom. he want to go away from home, to be free, to try new different things, to date from different cultures, but he also wants tradition and he has a deep need for comfort

other considerations

pluto in sag also gives him a very good leader energy, he's good at leading and paired with his colder placements and his airy highly intelligent brain but also his sweet empathetic nature, he makes a perfect leader (and parent). pluto is also in 2nd house which makes him very attracted to money and he is very good at handling it. he's very responsible and it's very attractive to people who enjoy the cold rich who's secretly a softie ceo trope

his midheaven in virgo which usually comes out on the job, makes him very responsible and organized. he's very practical, doesn't let useless feelings go in the way of what he must do wich also adds to his image of very independent and responsible man that many like. mercury the ruler of his mc being in 3rd adds to the energy of him desiring to travel and meet people from different cultures both for pleasure and because of his job, which might again go against his need to also have roots (he wants to see everything and sleep in his room both at the same time basically)

his moon in 8th adds to the energy of him being very good with money. he's attractive because he has rich boy energy but you also know he doesn't splurge or spend it aimlessly

saturn in 5th house makes him again very wary of having fun and have casual relationships and sex because saturn blocks that energy. there might be many reasons to it, as mentioned it can be his double need to have freedom but also roots, but it can also be the sense of responsibility that weights him. doyoung is not reckless and would never do anything to taint his reputation or image or even health (body and mind). so even if his chart is highly sexual and erotic, he might even go at lengths of consciously hiding this side of himself as to not attract that kind of attention and end up being involved with people he doesn't want to be involved with

his uranus is in 4th house with his sun and mars. again, this is the home and mother house and it might be an overall indication that he has deep mommy issues which also explains his desire to have roots and be in a idealistic romantic relationship while also hating everything about the house ideology and wanting something completely different and not traditional, mainly because of the pain the home/mother might have brought him. this is enhanced by his lilith in cancer meaning the main source of his pain is the mother, family, the home, his homeland, the traditions etc. he really wants to break free of these elements but he also craves them because they bring him comfort so he really doesn't know where to find that sweet middle point

chiron in libra and 12th house is also a very hard placement revolving around relationships. it's a very pessimistic placement which might give people the idea that love is unattainable and unrealistic because of how deeply they love and are somehow not loved back as much. this is also why people with this placement might push people away a lot and this could be another reason why doyoung can't have casual relationships thus making him not go on the fuckboy player route his chart wants him to go on

sun conjunct mars is also a confirmation of his multifaceted personality, these people have a lot of energy then suddenly a lack of energy altogether, adding to the whole i want to do things but i also want to be in my room cateogry

moon square venus is another hard chart side because doyoung might have issues understanding his feelings and emotions and for a person like him with intense and huge feelings, not understanding them might drive him crazy. he might turn his feelings off completely because of it making him lean in the airy heartless and cold energy

moon opposition jupiter also makes him peak introvert, which is very contrasting with his gemini and 3rd/5th house vibes. again, multifaceted and onion person, very attractive to people who like a man like that

moon square saturn again phew, deep deep need for comfort and safety. his mercury in 3rd and pisces in venus makes him want to scream his feelings from the top of a mountain but it's completely blocked and he can't do it. acting or being on stage can be a way to get off the intense emotions he feels inside in a safe controlled environment

venus conjuction saturn also adds to his difficulty to trust his feelings and engage in deep relationships (which he very much craves)

his rising square the sun gives him a lowkey fake public image which adds to the whole cold vibe he might push to hide the tender soft core inside of himself. he might also hate when people claim to know him or understand him because he feels like so many different people in one that to him no one can fully see all of them

why some people might not like him

doyoung might appear boring when you initially look at him even if he's very airy. with this blog ive had countless of people come at me saying wow before reading your considerations of him i didn't notice how attractive and hot doyoung is. it can be because he's pretty serious and not that flashy (he has no fire in his chart) and he might not be the one for people who really like people with raw intense sexual energy. doyoung is often described as a docile nerd who's not shy because he's shy but because he's just not that sexual overall. which is far from true. doyoung needs to feel fully comfortable to get there and he needs to be in a good mindset (the way he's casually erotic and posting slut pics on ig all of a sudden)

some people might not like him because he's too parent-like which might come off as nagging or being full of rules or the friend who tells you to not do this and that because it's dangerous etc.

finally some people might not like him because he's very sensitive and deep if they're people who often roll their eyes at this behaviour and want everyone to have fun and stop taking everything so seriously

[dio-breaker]

A Meme Inspired Dio to get on their Weird Pulpit

I will never understand how people can just spontaneously talk to strangers without some kind of social prompt. Like, I've never met most of you and even the ones I have I met online through shitposting mostly. Some people just seem to have a sense for how to spot people they'd vibe with and I don't really know how to do that IRL. Like, I enjoy peoplewatching sometimes, but I don't really want them to *see* me, y'know? I don't know this person, I have no reason to interact with them, I just kind of assume our interactions would not be very satisfying for either of us. I feel like as a person I'm kind of an acquired taste. You have to really enjoy my weird infodumps and bizarre dry humor where I laugh at things that are explicitly not meant to be funny or are overly serious. Like, I enjoy learning about history and religion and culture and all of that, but ultimately it kinda scratches the same itch that video game lore does. It sounds made up a lot of the time especially when it comes to religious belief and kinda silly, but also really cool and badass and interesting. I'm kinda laughing at what these people believe, but the thing they believe is fun for me to read about. Like, that's a weird way to look at the world. I know that. I try my best not to be directly disrespectful, I'm not judging them for believing in silly things necessarily, but I do think most religious belief is kinda silly. People find comfort and guidance and community in it and most people are born into their religion, I just don't get how they don't understand that their beliefs are kinda silly. Like, I'm relatively certain that if someone got killed in some kind of Star Wars fandom feud, we would all kinda laugh at that. It would be tragic and sad, but weird that someone cared that much about a debate over whether Darth Vader or Darth Revan was the more powerful force user. Yet if you make it some kinda religious thing, suddenly people take it suuuuper seriously because it sounds really cool and deep and poetic, and sometimes it is, but usually it's just describing things in really obtuse ways because it's a platonic dialogue that was never meant to be taken literally in the first place and has been translated through at least three languages and two paradigm shifts before it reached you. That doesn't make the guidance and comfort you get from it any less meaningful, it's the same kinda comfort and guidance people find in Star Wars, it's why fandom debates get so heated. People care about this stuff, but they inherently know it's silly. It's fictional. There are no stakes in a debate over whether red lightsaber crystals are weaker somehow or if the weird dark horse independent comic series where that was introduced is even canon anymore, like, shit doesn't matter. But people care about it as if it does. They don't generally go on to kill each other over it. Death threats do get thrown around, but rarely does that threat hold any weight, the internet just allows people to get away with that shit and sometimes people are assholes. idk wtf I am saying or if I have a point here, that meme just made me think all this stuff and I had to get it out. Something about meeting new people to vibe with and it being hard because I'm weird.

[androgynousblackbox]

Mind if I rant a little? If you watched Popculture Detective, you'd probably know the "born sexy yesterday" trope. It refers to female characters who are very sexy but also "immature" so the male characters must take care of them.

While I understand the problem with "a man must take care of this woman because she knows shit" trope (it's pretty misogynistic sometimes), my biggest criticism is comparing immature adult character to a "child in an adult body". Aside from the fact how you can define immaturity and maturity, which is another can of worms, a fictional character who doesn't get someone's language or culture can still be an adult if source material states so. I just get the feeling the people criticising this trope often would spew some "this character is child-coded" BS.

Also, this discourse around this trope just remids me of "DDLG is normalizing irl pedophilia" discourse so it makes me sick with how much the talking points overlap sometimes 😶

The thing with that trope is that it's a mostly fictional one, unlike other tropes like "jelousy is love", "stalking as love", etc. Nobody is creating humanoid partners out of thin air or finding out women who fell from the sky into the back of their taxis and survived. Not like there is real cases of people honestly mistaking abusive behaviour for love since they weren't taught any better. The biggest criticism that I have for that video is that it doesn't take into consideration this or that if the trope is actually unaplicable to real life, which is the real life equivalent? Neurodivergent women. The trope taken to a real life scenario with real life women will result on ableists assumption about the autonomy and independence of neurodivergent women, who then will be seen as defenseless children "too pure for this world". And hey, wouldn't you know it, that is literally exactly what people do right now in fandom. Every time there is even a hint of a character being neurodivergent, wether intentionally or not, garanteed someone out there is going to have the brilliant idea that this means she is incapable of having a romantic relationship and, yes, this also translate on the way people in general view women like this. It doesn't even matter if the character in question is actively seeking out that connection or giving out enthusiastic consent since she is "pure" and what does she know anyway. Likewise, DDLG literally cannot normalize pedophilia because it's always about an adult woman actively choosing to take that role. If you dismiss that then you are way too comfortable dismissing women's agency. Futhermore, the trope treats the inability to navigate the world not as a journey of learning or as a oportunity for growth for the female character, but as a quirky cute thing that only makes the designated male hero fall more in love with her and her "innocence". It's literally infatilizing these women and turning them into a chance for the "good guy" show how good he truly is, depriving them of showing the true complexity of their character as full human beings. The trope should not be problematic because "but she is like a child on a grown woman's body!", because no, she is not unless stated otherwise, but rather because she has no personality beyond what affects the male character (often because she was created with a single purpose, as the trope often goes) and so she has zero agency regarding whatever happen to her or around her. The video considers it a subset of Manic Pixie Dream Girl Trope and, hey, coincidentally, there has been some articles talking about how many of the traits usually associated with MPDG (not caring what people think, being impulsive, "quirky", etc) are also neurodivergent traits. They both serve the same purpose of just serving as an extension for the journey of the male character, supposedly to teach him how to view life or find a new appreciation for it, while she herself doesn't seem to gain much of anything from the relationship or doesn't have any interior life at all. I like PopCultureDetective videos but it often feels very Feminism 101 in that it doesn't seem take into account a lot of things beyond men and women as axis of oppression. There is a mere mention about how the trope also falls into colonialistic ideas about how "civilized men" view indigeous women, but it's just that, there is no exploration of that idea or any other beyond "well, this doesn't happen when the male character is the naive one!", which feels like a wasted opportunity.

[markipwiwer]

I'm on an angst train and you've written quite a bit lately with angst for Wilford and Dark but what about our boy Anti? I don't really have any ideas as to how it'll be angsty... and Anti doesn't deserve angst, but here we are.

Was this actually angst in the end? Who even knows, I had like zero angst ideas and a lot of head cannons and this was a hot mess but shruuuug emoji

-

Wilford had many, many guests on his show, both real and fiction. In general, he usually tried to avoid people he knew, people he had too many connections to, because what was the point of blackmailing someone that he could already get to from so many different sides?

Dark hadn’t been particularly miffed when Wilford decided to interview Mark. In fact the only thing e was disappointed about was the fake stabbing. Dark wished it had been real. But nonetheless, if Dark didn’t mind Wilford interviewing Mark, then by extension Anti shouldn’t have minded Wilford interviewing Jack.

But Anti did mind. He minded an awful lot.

Wilfords first hint was the studio losing power half way into the interview. It wasn’t stormy out and Jack wasn’t exactly supernatural. But it hadn’t been the first time, and it was by the by. They carried on with the episode once Bim reset the grid, making some off-hand comment about faulty wiring.

But Anti didn’t know what Wilford was saying or doing. At first, he was just angry about Wilford being around Jack in the first place. It was only later, once Anti dug through Bing’s network to find the footage, that Anti was ridiculously pissed off.

Maybe Anti wouldn’t have been so pissed off if Wilford hadn’t been so… himself? Because Wilford was a hardcore flirt, and although he was usually dismissive and demeaning about it to those he didn’t really care about, he still did it. And that was what sucked.

Dark didn’t hate Mark in the same way that Anti hated Jack. Anti had, at one point, almost wanted to be close to Jack, close to this perfect little clone of himself. But Anti was, according to everyone else, the shitty evil twin that everyone hated and didn’t want to talk about unless Anti made it impossible for people not to talk about him.

So when Wilford said things like “You look so familiar” and “That’s a face I know intimately well” to fucking JACK, it just… it sucked.

Because Jack was perfect and everyone loved and cared about him oh so much and no matter how much Anti tried, he would always, ALWAYS be in that fuckers shadow. He didn’t want to be in Jacks shadow in his own goddamn relationship.

Anti accidentally made the building surge as he watched back the footage of the interview. He didn’t even notice, he kept the computer running that was playing everything and that was it. And then Wilford, that pink fucking bastard, had the gaul to pretend to strangle Jack at the end of the interview, in the same way he pretended to kill Mark.

That fucking cunt. Anti wanted to be choked out, damn it! Why the fuck did Jack get the privilege? It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair.

As Anti went to storm out of the media room, Bing burst through the door. He immediately did not look comfortable, and it seemed he was already panicked before he’d seen the state Anti was in. Glitching, eyes glowing, thick ‘blood’ leaking onto his shirt and dripping on the floor.

“D-dude… the whole building just went nuts! The Googles surged and everything ‘cus they were plugged in!”

Anti didn’t say much in reply. He knew it was probably his doing and there was some tiny Conscience in the back of his head that told him he should feel bad for surging the IRLs.

Behind Anti, the monitor continued to play Wilford slowly, surely choking Jack to death. Anti wondered how he made it look real, since Jack looked like he was turning blue.

“I t-traced the outage back to here and… Dark’s coming, dude.”

Anti let out an annoyed, animalistic groan at the idea of Dark trying to parent him again through another one of his ‘outbursts’, and he disappeared in a flash of gross pixels that sent a chill down Bing’s artificial spine.

Not two seconds later, Dark walked into the room with just Bing and some fading pixels. He took one look at the monitor and transported himself to the studio, where Wilford no doubt was, consulting and editing and directing some of his secondary projects.

Bing stayed in the media room, very confused, as the monitor flashed a little and turned off.

-

At first, Bing had assumed Anti had gone to confront Wilford. And it appeared that Dark had made the same assumption, as Bing could see on the back up security monitors. Dark appeared almost directly in front of Wilford, completely interrupting whatever conversation Wilford had been having, but the pink man was happily oblivious to any… well, would it have been danger? Did Dark think Anti could have hurt Wilford if he was jealous enough? At the very least he found it important enough to not hesitate with.

But no. Instead, Wilford and Dark seemed to duck a little, almost looking like they were blocking their ears or something. Everyone else in the studio seemed to be doing the same, and Bing would have had time to be concerned if it weren’t for the rumbling and then ear shattering screech that seemed to run through the house with a fury. It sounded like a pained cry, artificial, broken. Staticky. But still loud enough and powerful enough to completely wreck Bing’s audio input, and he was quite suddenly deaf. He could still feel the rumbling in the ground for a few more seconds, and then it just… stopped.

-

None of the Ipliers saw Anti for another two days and Wilford felt gross and guilty. Once Dark had analysed the footage, he explained to Wilford what the problem may have been. And Wilford felt very sucky. Of course Anti didn’t want to have to compete with Jack any more than he already usually did, and overall, it just looked bad.

But after two days of hearing nothing, they began to get worried. Bing had his hearing fixed and the Googles hadn’t lost anything important, luckily. And, after a careful plan was constructed as to how to apologise to Anti, Wilford and Dark made their way to the Septic house.

-

The Septic house was a lot smaller than Ego Inc in general, it was almost homey. Considering the way Anti usually acted around them, around the Egos and around Dark and Wilford, they were very surprised when they transported into the living area to find Anti signing wildly at Jameson. Jameson watched intently, before signing back, and Anti made some sort of a noise. His body made it seem like it was supposed to be a laugh, but the actual aural output seemed to state otherwise.

Schneeplestein, who had been reading a book on the couch, exclaimed when the Egos just appeared in their abode with no real warning. Anti and Jameson shot around, both looking… almost guilty. Anti hugged himself, struggling to look at either Wilford or Dark, and Jameson waved a small ‘hello’.

Schneeplestein stood up, extending his hand to the Ipliers in greeting, saying it was nice to see them, then turning to Anti, and spoke with that strange German accent.

“Would you like me to translate?”

Anti looked genuinely sheepish, not something commonly seen in him, as he nodded and begin to sign, generally in Darks direction. He barely addressed Wilford. Schneeplestein watched his signing closely and spoke for him.

“I would not like the lecture. I broke my voice and I came here so that I could think. I’m not sorry for my anger, but I am sorry for not talking about it. Now I cannot talk. I feel this is ironic.”

It was clear that a lot of Antis general mannerisms didn’t totally translate through sign, but even his hand gestures were slightly different from the way Jameson did it. Where Jameson was very proper, almost well-spoken in that sense, Anti was quick and flicked his wrists a lot and used more interesting facial expressions.

Wilford spoke first, because there was a lot of silence happening here.

“No. I’m sorry. I should have been more sensitive, I should have asked you, I should have focused on you more.”

Anti shrugged and signed, with Schneeps voice translating again.

“You always pay attention to me. Probably too much. Besides, I got to come back and spend some time with these… A-S - oh, assholes.”

Schneeplestein seemed to struggle slightly with that last part, but it was okay. He smiled anyway and so did Anti. It wasn’t the huge, cheeky smile Dark and Wilford had come to know, but it was a start.

Dark spoke next.

“We have missed you an awful lot. And if we can work past this, we’d love to have you back home.”

Dark didn’t often seem soft or genuine or just plain caring, but his missing Anti had gotten to him. He hadn’t even directly been involved and the situation, yet it felt like a punishment not being able to see him.

Schneep watched Anti and spoke.

“Alright. But I might need a white board.”

Wilford smiled as well, not his usual beam, but something sweeter, less threatening or even charming.

“A small price to pay for your forgiveness, Kitten.”

Anti shoved him, playfully, while Jameson and Schneep gave each other a knowing look.

Sometimes, every now and then, when he was forced to take a long look at his own ego, Anti didn’t have to be the evil twin. Sometimes he could be rather wholesome.

[exotic-panda]

I'm relieved at your response. I was worried it'd be more lashy, but you have have good insight to your perspective as well. I didn't say this earlier, but thank you for clarifying that Amaya is deaf, not just mute. That changed a bit of my perspective and for a moment I did think it would be weird for her nephews to not know ASL especially since she needs a translator. But I also remembered irl experiences.

I do agree that in an ideal world, there would be no bigotry, and I wish fictional worlds didn't have to reflect the truth of our own. But every world that does remind us of how rough humanity can be, it serves as a lesson. A lot of novels and worlds usually depict people as greedy and corrupt (The Lord of the Rings, 1984, James Cameron's Avatar) and it hurts to see the trope thrive because it's a reminder that humanity can't change. We will always be greedy and selfish, but at the same time, we will always be compassionate and fight for things and people we care about. That is why I like Tdp, it shows the bad and good of people and how in reality the two moralities work hand in hand.

But to tie it in with Amaya, this is the template I applied to the show. In Xadia, ASL doesn't seem to be used much, but people who need it aren't discriminated against. The general of Katolis is a deaf woman, which reflects how society in xadia treats disabled people as equals. ASL is just a language barrier which doesn't mean exclusion is involved.

You also have Kazi, who is nb, and while it seems that there may not be many nb elves or people in xadia, the ones who are are treated just as equal as cis characters. The same can be applied to queer couples. The two queens dying was just really, really, bad timing on the teams part, but their daughter just saved everyone's lives, while still a child. She is around Ezrans age but is already leading an army and doing what is right. Her being a string character teaches people that even same sex couples can raise good children, and that it won't "ruin" them. Runaan and Ethari practically raised Rayla, who is good by nature. Another example of a good child being raised by a Same sex couple.

But to sum up my point. The world of Xadia does seem to have few minorities in sexuality, gender, and disability, but to those who do make up that small percent, they are treated just as equally and fairly as everyone else. No one made fun of Amaya for being deaf, nor did people refuse to talk to her. And I'm glad THAT is being shown in tdp, that even the 1% are just as valid as the other 99%.

Though in reality I think it's just to save animation since sign language is very fluid and a pain to render in 3d. Amaya and gren did it to keep consistency, but they couldn't make all the models do it since it would cost too much. If the show was live action I'd say more people would use sign language.

[image description: screenshot of replies to a tumblr post. @exotic-panda says: “Or they haven’t learned it well enough. Not only that, but very few people knew it. It’s not something easy to teach, especially back then. Amaya isn’t deaf either, so she can’t still hear them.”

@plusultracrocs says, “b-but they both understand sign language, and didn’t callum use sign language in season 3 at one point? they are trying and that’s what matters.” End description]

First off this isn’t a intended to be a callout of specific people, just to address some common sentiments.

General Amaya is deaf. This is well known. She can read lips to an extent, but any deaf or hard of hearing person will tell you that only a small percentage of words can actually be lip read. Sign language is no harder to learn than any other language. Callum and Ezran are her nephews. They definitely would’ve been taught sign language from birth. In fact, Callum does use sign language multiple times throughout the series, just not consistently.

I’m not sure what you mean by “back then,” as this series takes place in a fictional world. Sign language in our own world has not been harder to teach because of what century it is. Even if it was difficult or not widespread, there’s no reason a fictional world would necessarily have those constraints.

I am not making an attack, I’m just stating facts. I love General Amaya and that we have such a great, interesting, prominent deaf character. But her portrayal affects real people (people who have had no problems discussing how they feel about this character). It doesn’t make sense from a world building perspective that her own nephews wouldn’t always communicate with her in her own language (even if they also speak at the same time) and it doesn’t make sense from a real world representation perspective. We can like Amaya and appreciate how they show is including real world diversity instead of making it artificially white, able bodied, heterosexual, etc. and still point out shortcomings of the show. I suggest you follow actual disabled people on social media at the very least and listen, just listen, to what they have to say on the subject.