#why do i care so much about stories and characters

[azzandra]

Aw, man, can't believe it's been two years since I wrote that.

When I reblogged and added my little commentary, I actually hadn't anticipated my comment to be reblogged by more than a couple of mutuals or be seen outside of my followers. I was just sharing a term that popped up in my head as a joke.

If I knew this glib comment I dashed off one morning without much thought was going to breach containment and take on a life of its own, I probably would have added a few disclaimers.

Since then, I've seen some people miss the point about what I was talking about in a few huge ways, so I'll clarify now a few points:

I have nothing against the cockroach wife dude.

I don't know if that story is true or not (there are some weird people out in the world, so I won't dismiss it out of hand, but like. come on) and I sincerely do not care that his spankbank was exclusively taken up by a cockroach woman. The part of his tale that we should take as a parable is where he solely and without being forced by anyone else hinged his entire sexuality around an imaginary construct that then made him incapable of being attracted to real human women. Remember, his story starts with him complaining that he can't get it up with his human girlfriend without picturing her as a huge cockroach. He did that. Nobody forced him to develop this condition. This is a lesson for the rest of us.

people going 'I think they're both pretty!' like that's the centrist silver bullet to this phenomenon.

Listen, yeah. I agree. Both versions are meant to be attractive, just to wildly different demographics. You know who doesn't agree? The guys I'm talking about.

The dudes I am referencing do NOT think both characters are attractive to different people. They think the original is attractive to NOBODY, and everyone else in the world is just PRETENDING that the first one is attractive in any way, and they're convinced everyone else also objectively knows the original art is ugly but there's a conspiracy to subject poor defenseless heterosexual men to pictures of butt-ugly women in order to brainwash them or something.

The guys afflicted with Cockroach Wife Syndrome are on some gamerbro qanon shit where their perception of reality is slanted to a comical degree, but they think their experiences are objective and unbiased, and they're making it everyone else's problem.

people smugly going 'OP has an anime girl in their icon' like that's some sort of gotcha

Yeah, man, I'm not opposed to anime girls. I'm not even opposed to hentai, or blender porn, or masturbation. I think everyone deserves to masturbate if they want to, and the way the world is going, we all probably deserve to masturbate a lot more (porn addiction isn't a real thing, my dudes). I accept that some people are going to jerk it to stuff that I don't find attractive, and maybe consider repulsive, and that's just going to be a fact of life from here unto eternity. We all need to come to terms to that.

But the Cockroach Wife Syndrome sufferers do NOT want to accept it. They want the entire world to have only one porn preference that aligns neatly to their own, and also they want all fictional depictions of women everywhere to adhere precisely to their porn preference.

And like, why would we do what these guys say? Now, me, personally, each time I see one of their yassified sexy edits of an already pretty female character, it always looks like the tackiest shit to me, like they're a toddler who got into mommy's make-up. I want to start a GoFundMe to send them to beautician school. I don't care how much they screech about it, they cannot convince me their aesthetic tastes are something to emulate, so I coined this term for them just so I had a name for their obnoxious behavior.

All that being said, in the time since I wrote this post, I discovered it gained some traction outside of tumblr. "Cockroach Wife Syndrome" was added to Urban Dictionary. There are people slinging around the term on twitter. I personally got jumpscared by running into it in the wild on reddit, which was how I found out people are actually using it. Honestly, I am not that hyped about this being my legacy (and I am so sorry to the OP of this post that I got them stuck with seeing every reply or tag someone ever makes about the cockroach wife guy, like I'm some malevolent storytime cuckoo who dropped disturbing internet tales in their nest). But ultimately, I think this one is actually on the thousands of people who reblogged it and considered that I described a phenomenon that they also observed.

Y'all stay safe out there, and remember to vary your masturbation material once in a while.

i wish i could see this picture for the first time again

[feyburner]

hello, i hope you're doing well, the world keeps getting crazier which means that i'm spending more time on fanfictions and i've been thinking about your jaytim fics. particularly, jason and how human he is when you write him. his awkwardness bc he was dead for a while and then doing. not very good. and how he probably has to catch up on simple stuff like who even taught him how to shave??? sure he learnt how to wire bombs but that didn't leave much time for stuff like sexuality and romance? just some experiences that he was robbed off. also very much interested in your take on jason's morality re: killing and what it means to him. anyways i'll dive back into my jason comic marathon <3

God yeah I think about this all the time, it's one of the things that interests me most about his character. Like how fucked up to die at 15 and wake up at like 18 and immediately launch yourself into your big crazy revenge plot that you think it's going to make you feel less howling animal inside but all it does is destroy your chances at ever having like, a normal interaction. By the time you calm down a little you've basically skipped from 15 to like 20. And everyone around you is also a freak who will never live a normal life and some have even also died but you're the only one missing a huge chunk out of your formative years. (Don't care about conflicting canon timelines or retcons.) (I also like this on a meta level bc it mirrors the fact that Jason was For Real Dead from 1988-2005.)

Re: morality, killing: A lot of his character is about catharsis to me. He is hotheaded and impulsive and direct and unsubtle (see: heads in a duffel bag) in a way the other Bats aren't. Who among us hasn't seen a news story and thought "I don't believe in state-sanctioned violence but damn, someone should kill that guy"? He is the guy who kills that guy. And sometimes it's for "noble" reasons and sometimes it isn't, and sometimes he might like to think it is but it isn't, and sometimes it immediately backfires and makes things worse for the people he is trying to help, and it can and has made him a hypocrite. It is also, I believe, an understandable stance for someone who was murdered as a child by a guy famous for essentially walking around wearing a T-shirt that says "I Love Hurting and Killing People (and I'm Definitely Going to Do It Again)." Bruce doesn't kill people because senseless violence made him an orphan. Jason kills people because senseless violence made him dead. Of course a child who lived and a child who died would look at death from opposite sides. It destroyed both of them at a formative age in opposite ways. Bruce crystallized around the after, and Jason around the before. I think it makes perfect sense that for the rest of their lives they would keep seeing only the after, and only the before, and in doing so keep looking past each other.

I feel like a lot of Jason meta is either "The Bats are so naive, Jason is the only realist" OR "Here's why Batman is right and Jason is an irredeemable monster" or whatever. Neither of those readings are compelling to me. I don't care which character is "right" or "good." If I wanted to read about good people making morally airtight choices I would go read Goofus and Gallant but only the Gallant parts and then kill myself. None of the Bats act in a way that aligns with my real-life morals. I think the "killing question" is most interesting viewed in the context of an individual character's relationship with violence and justice and atonement and forgiveness and consequences and least interesting in the context of pitting characters against each other to determine Who's Right and Who's Wrong.

I wrote the following exchange a while back as an exercise to explore this very topic.

Warning for CSA mention below the cut.

-

“I mean, hell, what if he got hit by a bus? Anyone can die, any time. Think of me as a big angry red bus.” Tim’s eyes on him feel like burning, but not so immediate as fire. More like the warning heat of sunburn: for now a faint prickling, for weeks after an ache. “End of the day? I don’t think he should be alive. I don’t think the state should get to decide who lives and who dies, but I’m not the state. And I know people can be rehabilitated. I know there’s a chance he could change, and never do it again, and spend the rest of his days saving kittens and helping little old ladies cross the street. But from what I’ve seen, this kinda guy, we’re talking a puny fucking chance. There’s people the system fails and people who could be helped by a better system and then there’s people who aren’t gonna fucking change. They’re just gonna keep doing awful shit, because it gets them off. Hurting kids. Hurting anyone they think is less powerful, or less of a person. Fuck that. The thing is, I know they’re people. And I’m a person too. And I don’t have the fucking right. To be the arbiter of fucked-up justice or whatever. But you know what? I can’t find it in me to give a shit. If those scumbags wanna kill me back, they can have at it, that’s their prerogative. Until then, some fuck rapes a five-year-old? No, fuck that. What if he does it again? He’s already done it. Hurt that kid forever. Snuffed out that thing inside them, whatever it is that makes kids think the world isn’t a shitshow. Can’t unring that fucking bell. Why should he—once was too many! Don’t you get it? That kinda guy—once was already too many! Why should he get to do it twice? And so fucking many of ‘em do it twice. Can’t keep your hands off a little kid? Fuck you. Headshot. Problem solved. You can’t change my mind about this, Red. I didn’t make the choice to kill people on a fucking whim. I thought about Hell and decided I’m up for it. Alright? Fuck off.” 

“You don’t have to convince me.” 

“And another thing—” His mouth clicks shut. “I—what?” 

“I said you don’t have to convince me.” Tim examines his glass, tilting the last swallow of watery gin back and forth. “If I were going to argue with you, I suppose I’d quote a statistic about how something like 93% of childhood sexual abuse is perpetuated from within the immediate family, and killing the abuser could drastically destabilize the child’s living situation and potentially place them at risk for other types of harm—”

“There’s nothing stable about—!”

“—but I’m not going to argue with you, because I don’t want to, because frankly I don’t care. I should—some days I’m better, and I do—but I don’t at the moment. Not tonight.” 

Jason stares at him for long enough that Tim grows visibly uncomfortable, shoulders stiffening. 

“What,” he says, eyes darting up to Jason’s, then away. His long fingers never stop playing with the glass, rolling it slowly, tracing the same wet circle on the tabletop. Jason wishes he would just finish his drink. And hold still. 

“You don’t care,” Jason repeats. “Great. Namaste. So what’s with the interrogation?”

“Interr—?” Tim looks startled. “Jason, I was asking.”

-

So yeah.

[elodieunderglass]

I just wanted to say, i'm SO READY to buy the jockey-romcom-family-drama-horse-sad-story book when it comes out, you have no idea.

(In reference to Killie the Jockey OC and his complicated little life)

Well, thank you so much! I called that incredibly kind and supportive of you, because you are by no means obligated, and I truly appreciate your encouragement.

I’m a new believer that when you are seized by a radiant alien urge to create, then you have been touched by something beautiful and genuine and true, and that you should graciously accept the gift, and follow it where it brings you. That’s why I keep finding myself writing fanfiction, despite constantly saying that I’m Not Sure How Important It Is As A Hobby (I Need To Weed The Allotment Instead). Sometimes you get possessed by an idea, and enter that spirit of flow and power, and wake up a few hours later having written the story - you know how that is? I increasingly believe that you have to say YES to this, and follow it where it’s going, even if it seems somewhere pointless or silly, and you can’t immediately see how it’s a better use of your time than weeding your actual material allotment. But I’ve been thinking about it since the summer, and now I think that being this kind of Possessed is a bit of a gift, and if you take it, and then give it to others in the spirit that you received it - freely, and with generosity and courage, and with no more expectation of reward than a wild animal expects another sunset - then you get more gifts. So we should do this!!

That being said, I’ve got no damned idea how to write a book.

Here’s what I think is probably involved:

Finish my two existing WIPs and the outstanding fundraising work for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund

Have fun with Killie asks for now, because they are FUN and a GIFT

Do my damndest and best in my free time to turn a whole folder of years-old Killie nonsense into three novellas that are also one book.

Hopefully have some friends willing to do this with me, ideally as parallel play with their own tasks, so we can throw eggs at each other

Hire and pay an editor who is brave and true, and who knows how to write a book.

Hire and pay sensitivity readers who are brave and true, so that Jewish and Irish characters remain brave and true: also ideally someone who knows more than me about horse racing, so that nobody forgets about the blood-soaked Problematic Sport.

Work out some self-publishing mechanism by which I don’t have to care about Marketing, or the fact that sad-drama-romcom-messy-sports-fantasy isn’t a marketing genre. Or that people who see that there’s a gay relationship might be expecting Romance.

I will simply be saying HERE IS A GHASTLY LITTLE MAN, BEING TRAMPLED BY 20-30 BUSINESS HORSES. take it or leave it

Include the Killie comics in the books.

Take advice from cleverer people on correct Authorial Behavior, which I believe to be things like being very cool and distant about your work on social media. (Will have to check this.)

Fantasy stretch goal: make enough money from the book to earn back what I paid the editor and sensitivity readers (unlikely but always possible)

Sounds like a fun project for spring/summer if I scramble!

I will be very brave and do this, as a promise and a gift and a privilege.

I would love it if you would be brave with me this year and do something similar too.

[will80sbyers]

You're literally my favorite byler blog, I just wanted to thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. ST is my favorite show but I feel like I don't belong anywhere in the fandom, reddit is homophobic, twitter is hell, and most of byler tumblr is just... not something I agree with (and I'm too old for tiktok lol). I don't see Mike as gay or as aware of his feelings for Will (so I don't think he has internalized homophobia) or as lying to El in his monologue. I feel like you have to break so many rules of storytelling to come to these conclusions, and go against they way characters have been written.

What I think is happening is: Mike is an oblivious bisexual mess, but as soon as it clicks for him, he'll be all about loving Will! I don't think he would have a problem with that, he just doesn't know it's a possibility! This also makes the story a lot simpler, without having to retcon anything from past seasons, and it would be easier for the GA to digest, rather than having to negate 4 seasons of the show. El will always be Mike's first love, but Will will be his true, mature love. That's a great story.

Anyway, my point is, you really are my only safe place in the ST fandom these days, so thank you so much for that <3

Thank you, that's really sweet 🫶

I'm just saying what I genuinely think tbh I don't see this as being "controversial", everybody else does it so why can't we do the same?? it's just a different point of view on the story, but I agree I don't think he's aware for now!

I think he always loved Will in a way but it's something he didn't realize was going on in the background of his brain, because he didn't know he could feel like that for another boy, I think he does have a little bit of internalized homophobia but I also think he's gonna get over it very fast as soon as he learns Will loves him, I think Mike always accepts "being different" much faster than other characters would tbh he's been doing that since season 1 again and again so I think he will continue on this pattern, he thinks being different mainly means being special and he views it positively if you're not hurting anyone in the process, which love doesn't do! Plus he's not been bullied specifically for that, unlike Will which has grown up with people hating him for that, calling him gay to bully him and even with his own father calling him a fag... Will has internalized all that hate much more and it's the reason he feels like he's a mistake sometimes, like his whole existence is wrong... He's not over that yet but I think Mike's role is going to be that of helping him also in that department in a way, or at least their relationship will do that for him and I think Mike will not care as much as people think, he will care about proving his love way more and not about what other people say ❤️

[elise-the-blind]

So I’ve seen some artists show their idea of the next generation of Jak and Daxter aka the future kids Jak and his friends might have. Have you ever had thought about or drawn Jak and Keira kid and Tess x Dax kid?

ok, imma gonna have to admit something since this isn't the first times I've been asked this, but I actually have never made or had much interest in making fankids. I honestly dont know why I lack this brain chemical, with the amount of headcannons I come up with this should be right up my alley, but no.

But whatever, I'll think up as much as I can for this, just know that for my AU, its very unlikely these characters will be a part of any of it.

Damascus (son of Jak and Keira)

Named after Damas (because I think its funny). Grew up copying his dads constant scowl, but has never had an angry thought in his life. Took up his mums love of gadgets, focusing on precursor tech and will sneak around the monk temple for info (the monks are aware of this but dont mind, alittle confused on why he insists on sneaking in). Even though not mute he's still the least likely to speak out of all four. Was told a story about lurker sharks (probably told by Daxter) and now has a fear of the ocean.

Jak is very, VERY careful with what stories he tells his son and what lessons he might take from them and gives evil eyes to anyone who tries suggesting Damascus does the same hero stuff Jak did as a kid. Bro knows how badly all of that can go and does not want any of that for his son. A result of that is Damascus doesn't have a lot of experience with eco, only what he knows from Keira's family (green eco for first aid). He's only heard about light eco from the monks and he DEFINITELY doesn't know nadda about using dark eco. Damascus has only rarely seen the dark Jak, and always when he's in danger, so thinks of it just as "man my dad is so cool he can kick the butt of anyone that messes with me".

Has any of Jak's dark eco been passed on to Damascus? Something to ponder, I'm sure it wont affect him too badly.

The Triplets (Tess and Daxter's kids)

Cally (bow), Cash (piercings), Cade (gloves): They're the offspring of a sarcastic ego-filled furball and a gun manic bossbitch, you think any of them would be normal? no. All three are all different levels of shitshow, and are determined to make that everyone else's problem.

Cade is the honorary 'nerd' of the family, fixated on studying precursors and the worlds inner workings. Had an existential crisis at age 6 after thinking about whether or not they had any sort of human DNA from both their parents not being born an ottsel. He always follows Damascus around when he's snooping, making their own sworn oath of secrecy. Cade will sometimes ask his dad about dark eco which all of the time loops to "shit stings, stay out of it son." Once asked uncle Jak, got shut down real fast (bro you're giving your uncle Gol and Maia flashbacks pls stop he's too old for this).

Cash took the love of demolition from Tess and spends alot of time hanging around uncle Torn and aunt Ashelin learning about military mechanics and tactics used by the guard. She gets super hyped when hearing battle stories and sometimes pesters Damascus about anything his pa might have told him about metalheads. Because of the closeness Cash has with the leaders of Haven, she's one of the only kids that know in more detail about Jak's dark side and see's her uncle as a much more intimidating figure. She doesn't plan on telling Cade any of that despite his studies, she's alittle worried he'll get himself into trouble.

Cally got all the showboat center stage child energy from her dad, serving as the distraction for when the trio are doing crimes. Cally acts alot like 'Precursor Legacy' Daxter, always talking, always going for everyone's attention. Alot of that's an act of course, and Cally is often stuck running around making sure her siblings aren't caught in any mess or that the blame of any damage is shifted from them to someone else/her. Cally makes sure to involve Damascus in the chaos the three get into occasionally, even if he doesn't act interested. She once tired racing with Keira for the sake of fame, and while racing was dropped because of a fear of crashing, Cally is very skilled with vehicles and can speed across the city if she ever needs to get anywhere. She knows all secret paths in Haven and Spargus, if you're a target you will never get away, she will catch you.

Everyone takes part in keeping an eye on all of them (especially the triplets) but Sig makes sure that Damascus gets home safe each night, wouldn't want the past to repeat itself would we.

Pretty sure that's all I got. Maybe I'll do more with these guys if there's enough interest. Otherwise I'm back to comic stuff.

[dukeofdelirium]

the way that mileven shippers attack byler shippers for simply believing that it has a chance of becoming canon in the final season is crazy to me.

it is NOT delusional to believe that a gay ship could happen. we deserve to enjoy good gay romances in media just like anyone else. calling us names makes you a homophobe, sorry about it. if you think were weird or insane for rooting for a gay ship, you’re just a hateful person idc. and it is NOT crazy to think that a character that has two canonical love interests might end up with the second one as opposed to the one said character started out with.

so many stories have love triangles like this. Mike canonically has issues with his girlfriend and can’t voice that he loves her romantically without being essentially forced to do so. we don’t get to SEE why Mike can’t do this. but in this very same season, his best friend is canonically confirmed to be gay and in love with him (for the entire show)? and the entire season, Mike is then paired up with this second love interest as opposed to his girlfriend????

how does anyone view Byler as “shipper delusion” ?? It’s not delusional to think Mike and Will are going to end up together at all. they’ve had 4 seasons of build up, they have explicitly been shown to have a different bond compared to other male friends in the same show, there is so much gay coding and subtext, Mike has shown time and time again how much he genuinely cares for Will and it has ALWAYS been depicted in a drastically different way compared to how he treats his other male friends, Mike has never shown romantic interest in any female character aside from Eleven (who was literally said to look like a boy and more specifically like Will in season 1), etc.

the whole reason Mike and El still have a relationship at this moment canonically is because Will LIED and pretended his own feelings for Mike were El’s. he lied and then pressured Mike to tell El he loved her, thinking he was doing something good for a friend and because he is self sabotaging. if Will hadn’t done that, would Mike and El even be a thing at all post season 4? I highly doubt it.

and the second that Mike finds out that Will lied, and that his entire “I love you” to El was said on the grounds of a lie, that all of those feelings he thought were El’s are actually Will’s, I have to ask antis… WHAT do you think is actually going to happen? what do y’all genuinely think is going to happen the second Mike finds out about the lie?

because the thing is: he WILL find out. this has been narratively set up and it hasn’t been resolved. it literally has to be resolved to conclude the storyline. and no offense, but I have a very VERY hard time believing said storyline will be concluded with Mike finding out about the lie, and then rejecting Will.

you don’t write rejection storylines like this. you don’t write unrequited love like this.

[glamorous-egoist]

Whitaker, please he’s just the best.

More under the cut for Ep. 9

Mr. Silent Heart Attack, honestly the only words out of my mouth was asshole, what a fucking dick. My girl Dana?!?! Are you serious? I hope that’s the last we’ve seen of him, but I doubt it. Dana is the best, the end.

Whitaker catching the rat and killing it? You go farm boy! I was dying of laughter because they were all amused by it, also the nurse flirting with him? Give my boy a win! A girl and clean scrubs he is on top of the world. Seriously though, I do like that he cares enough about the kraken and is willing to go out into the field. He’s probably one of my favorites with Mel, just both really well written. I hope next season we get to see that outreach team with McKay!

Speaking of McKay, she had a rough hour. Trying to get a human trafficking girl help she didn’t want, though the pen with the hotline was so smart! Then the UTI that wasn’t a UTI coming back in, I felt for her, especially with the bias mention from Collins. Which is another thing that happens, bias with heavy set people, I really like that this show is addressing that along with the POC struggle.

Also Robby tweaking his back? Ok old man (I love this old man very much, so very much affectionate). It’s either a tweaked back or a urine infection, that man has not known a moment of peace today. Two things 1) I had to go back and listen to what he said to Langdon after he walked in on him reaming Santos out because of how he appeared behind the curtain it was giving “hello there” and 2) trying to distract Collins with the rat, again a glimpse of Dr. Carter (the lawsuit wants to know my location). Also the Robby school of compartmentalizing emotions was in session briefly, sir I know why you have been having issues getting over Adamson’s death…

He was right to ream out Langdon, he’s been riding Santos hard, but also two sides to every story, I mean Santos has been out of control all day. I get it but she also keeps doing things to set people off. It’s just not kosher. Though figuring out what the MDMA patient needed was a great save, but not taking credit and how she spoke to Mohan after was odd. Also I think the drug thing with Langdon is a red herring, I just get this suspicion it’s Abbott I don’t know why… we shall see. Enough about Santos, I don’t want her redeemed, we need a bad guy of sorts.

Collins, I feel for her, I really do this is so rough. Dana and her have such a sweet relationship. Collins cares a lot which I love, just despite everything she’s still going above and beyond for her patients. Speaking of relationships, are we ever going to get what in the ever loving fuck happened between her and Robby, that banter was flirtatious as hell excuse me y’all.

Mel! First off the excitement about getting to pick gravel out of the man? Please my girl was so happy, I love it! Also her and Langdon, he’s a really good mentor to her and I love that, but also I am suspecting he may have a special needs son, because he just knows what to do. I just really really love her character and their friendship. Also not Langdon calling her his least problematic trainee, please you dork. I like the guy and his dog, not going to lie gave me a good laugh.

Speaking of Langdon, mask on or off during surgery, sent me reeling, like get her! That whole debacle in chairs was funny, I know it wasn’t supposed to be, but between poor Earl on the floor and Dana absolutely taking a shot at Philly, just great. The tooth thing freaked me out, but I’m also squeamish about teeth, this show gets too graphic sometimes.

We’re starting to see the first glimpses of issues at Pitt Fest and the cops for her incel shooter. We know it’s hinting towards mass causality for the season finale just from where is the question.

Honorable mentions this week? Javadi and Mateo girl we have all been there, Mateo not knowing how Erik Estrada is and of course Earl with his rom com quip.

I’ll miss episode 10 live, I’m traveling, but I’ll try to catch up Sunday when I get back!

See you next week!

[creatingblackcharacters]

I'm rewriting a Black woman character from Disney's Descendants (yes, the same Descendants where poor Uma got shrimp dumped over her head and we were supposed to think she was in the wrong for being extremely upset,) Uliana, sister of Ursula. She's played by Dara Renee in Descendants four, she was created specifically for that movie and was put in the role of the main mean girl bullying a white girl, being needlessly mean and aggressive. There's also a scene where she steals something from said white girl, winds up getting spelled by said thing and partially turned into a flamingo, and chases the girl around the courtyard until she accidentally falls in a four-foot-deep fountain in front of everyone, nearly drowns, and everyone laughs at her and she's pretty upset about that (this keeps with the trend of publicly humiliating Black girls and expecting the audience to be against the girls who were humiliated.) Later, Uliana seeks revenge against the white girl (fun fact, her friends all suggested brutal murder and Uliana played the part of the common sense friend and got them to settle for a dumb prank,) and long story short her revenge does not work and she gets in massive trouble for breaking into the principal's office and trying to steal a cursed book. We are supposed to hate Uliana and delight in her every failure, which doesn't sit well with me. She's the darkest named character in the movie and also the only Black character who uses AAVE, plus the only one with natural hair. It feels like there was a lot done wrong here and I personally think she deserves better, as do Audrey and Uma.

I'm going to rewrite this movie and I'm trying to figure out how to do Uliana better as a character. I'm expanding on her as a person, giving her a life outside of evil bully who's tormenting someone for no reason, giving her motivations and stuff. After her brother, Triton, betrayed her and their other sisters she became distrusting of everyone. When Bridget kept trying to get close to her, Uliana couldn't figure out why this pink perfect princess wanted anything to do with their group of teenage villains so she assumed Bridget was just trying to get an in to betray them and that's why she was pushing back. I also plan to make Maleficent (who is white) the head of the group and the one who Bridget accidentally turns into a flamingo (the scene will be much less humiliating but I digress.) They start plotting revenge because they're dramatic villains and Uliana still plays the role of common sense friend, talking Hades down from burning Bridget to death and Hook down from executing her and instead convincing them to pull a dumb prank that won't end them in prison. It's a fairly harmless prank, turn Bridget into a troll to get even over her turning Maleficent into a flamingo, and they have no idea that this prank is going to make Bridget become the evil dictator Queen of Hearts and start executing people. Two people who went back in time to stop the prank manage to keep the VKs from getting the book needed for the spell and the VKs are forced to abandon the mission because it's either that or get busted. After that, they can't do the prank and Bridget never becomes and evil abusive parent. Uliana grows up, realizes how dumb this entire thing was, and goes on to be the best aunt ever to her niece, Uma, and reconcile with her sisters, stays friends with her old high school group because in the movie they clearly care a great deal about each other, and lives a happy life rather than meeting the terrible life I've no doubt Disney has planned for her

I'm also changing a few other Black characters, like Chloe and Ella, so that Uliana isn't the only one with natural hair and skin that wasn't lightened post-production. I'm not sure how to approach Uliana using AAVE, I think I'll just write that out to avoid caricaturing her. And I'm giving her motivations, a backstory, a personality beyond "evil witch who hates this poor white girl for no reason," good friends, and a good enough head on her shoulders to keep her friends from assassinating a monarch. I want to give her a hobby with her hair, as she has knee-length dreadlocks that she does up in this cool do and that clearly take a massive amount of effort, and just let her be an actual person with interests, likes, and dislikes. I don't know if there's anything I'm missing, anything I should change or keep in mind, anything here that I shouldn't do, so I figured I'd ask. I apologize in advance for this insanely long ramble ask, I just have a lot of opinions on how Descendants treats the poor Black girls.

(And no, in my rewrites, Uma never gets shrimp dumped over her head, she and Mal fell out for a different reason and there was no public humiliation or demeaning nickname.)

It sounds like you got it fr 😅 there's nothing I can really do here with what you have. It'll all come out as you write. Keep in mind (unless we were supposed to pretend it wasn't and that was her real hair, which fine!) that Uliana has faux locs. Even if you were to say they were faux in universe, but her hair is still those colors, that'd be a cool hobby to have as she works with her hair.

She had a gorgeous character design and a gorgeous actress too, like just from looking at her I knew that fans and the writing were gone do her wrong lmao. The world doesn't like unapologetic Black women; "bully" is not an uncommon sentiment when we're not even being mean, so to put that all on her character does feel wild.

[amethxxt]

so... what do we think of the new D5 characters?

Look at me ranting again :)

I wanna start off by saying that this is no hate towards the actors. My problem is with the writers.

Am I excited for Red to have a younger sister? YES. My personal headcanon is that Red has 3 younger siblings (y'know, in a universe where the Queen of Hearts isn't an absolute tyrant), and now I can't wait to see what dynamic the two of them are going to have.

My problem with Pink, is that her name is Pink. WHY? WHAT WAS THE REASON?? It took me forever to get used to "Red" and now that's what they go for when Rosa/Rose was RIGHT THERE????

I seriously don't understand why Disney's so lazy when naming Descendants characters. Sometimes, we get absolute bangers like Calista Jane and others we get shit like Pink/Li'l Shang/Herkie/Hadie and I'm like… couldn't you have at least tried? Couldn't you go to a baby name website like every author in the world has done at least once and look for something better?

How do you expect us to care about the story of those characters when you couldn't be bothered to give them a decent name?

And speaking of Hook, we have a Hazel now :)

This one surprised me because I don't think I had ever expected them to come up with another child of Captain Hook. To me, Harriet, Harry and CJ are perfect and enough.

My problem isn't even that I think it's out of character for Hook to have four children. Actually, he seems like the type that adores the sex part but doesn't give a shit about his kids and is an abusive parent. My problem is that WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH HAZEL NOW????

I have such a perfect idea of how Harriet, Harry and CJ's dynamic is and now I have to worry about introducing a brand new sister. My second problem is that I love the idea of CJ being the baby of the family for more than one reasons.

Of course, I could just ignore her, but I'm actually curious about Hazel's character and love writing about the Hook family, so I've been trying to come up with my own headcanons for my version of Descendants in case Hazel lives and in case she doesn't and we're left with the original 3.

Max is... whatever. I hate that they're gonna have him be Red's love interest because she seemed so close to Maddox that it's weird to think she'd ever see him as anything other than a friend/brother figure. Also, I'm sure he only exists because they can't have Ace in the movies because it would contradict the book or something.

I just want glassheart to be canon, is that too much to ask????

Now (just let out the biggest sigh of my life), Luis Madrigal. He might actually be my new nemesis.

Again, no hate to the actor, but seriously?! They had to throw Encanto into the mix?? I would have no problems if their new character was like, Moana's son, for example, because I can see Moana existing in the Descendants universe.

Encanto, though? I love the movie, but no. Absolutely not.

It almost feels like those skits people post to make fun of Descendants with children of characters like Lightning McQueen and Buzz Lightyear.

Luis is not ever going to be a part of my fics but at the very least I hope Disney isn't so lazy as to make him have super strenght when that's not how gifts work in Encanto. It's not hereditary.

Honestly, I can't believe someone came up with his character and it got approved.

Everything points out to the new "core four" being Red, Chloe, Pink and Hazel, but since Rise of Red didn't do such a good job at developing Red and Chloe's friendship, I'm worried about how they're going to do that and introduce two new main characters and develop Red and Pink's dynamic because I'm sure Red isn't going to start off as the perfect older sister.

I think it'd be interesting if she felt resentment and jealousy towards Pink, because she didn't have a sister before the timeline change, but now not only does she have one, but Pink got to grow up with the good version of the Queen of Hearts and all the love Red never got.

Really nice room for angst, especially since Red and Chloe are the only ones who remember how things used to be and can't just go around talking about it.

Well, I don't know what else to say right now because I just needed to vent a little. At the end of the day, we can only hope that D5 turns out to be a good movie.

[pricechecktranslations]

This is really not important at all but as an Elluka fan, I'd like to know how you feel about the (SPOILER LOOK AWAY FOR READERS) fact that she's Levia? I don't really know how to feel aside from mild discontent and it feeling a bit... Like a cheap plot twist

Really? I thought it was an exceptional twist.

There were things about Elluka that didn't 100% make sense to me that were explained by the reveal (like the actual mechanics of how she was brought back to life and made immortal), and it served as a solid demonstration of a lot of lore that was only vaguely expounded on previously (mostly the reincarnation mechanics and the concept of a body having residual memories in it separate from the soul inside it). It's also something that is interesting to reflect on when looking back at prior character interactions (such as Held and Gumillia), and adds a layer of complexity to them that we didn't have before (like Gumillia asserting that even though she took on the position of apprentice as a front, she has embraced it for real). Not to mention--Levia at that point was largely an unknown for the readers, other than being an "evil god" alluded to in the religious lore of the setting. So the reveal that Elluka is Levia was a strong introduction that overcame the prejudicing portrayal that previous content had.

I think probably my favorite part about it is the reveal that the "seven deadly sins" quest was literally just a waste of time. Held sent Elluka to do it because he knew it would keep her busy, not because he expected her to actually succeed. Hence why it doesn't really matter that she fails to collect the vessels in almost every novel.

I don't want to go into it too much, I'm not trying to convert you to liking the twist or anything, but it's something that feels, to me, like it was very obviously intended from the start. There's so many things that make sense in hindsight. Like how Elluka named herself after Kiril in honor of him and yet she doesn't seem to mourn his loss much (she reacts strongly to Kaspar's corpse because it reminds her of Kyle, but not Keel who looks exactly like Kiril)? She doesn't seem to have any emotional reaction to Irina having been her sister in law? When would she have developed a friendship with a "heretic" god, as a priest of a temple to LeviaBehemo (and how can she hear him speak in the first place when no other human can)? By all accounts Elluka Chirclatia was loving and supportive but Elluka Clockworker is vain, overdramatic, and rude?

The scene itself is well executed too, that it comes with an element of tragedy--this is the "death" of the Elluka we knew (for now at least), framed from the POV of someone who loves her (Gumillia), after an entire novel of shifty behavior and foreshadowing on her end.

The thing I really like about it is that it changes nothing about her actual character--she's a callous do-gooder who doesn't take things seriously at first, and then as she begins to accumulate more suffering in her life she starts to care more, but maintains a facade of nonchalance to hide from that pain. The twist just re-contextualizes why she's like that and where she stands in the broader story. And it's interesting to think about a character who was a "villain" but develops into a hero after getting amnesia.

Also I like the thought that her obsession with looking pretty and being surrounded by pretty women might have been a bit of Behemo peeking through, idk (since she doesn't seem to do that much as Levia).

There are a lot of twists mothy's made that can feel "cheap" but this isn't one of them, not to me.

[the-fabled-void]

Give you a fandom phenomenon? Uhhhhh how about the fact that people overcorrected with Sans and his edgy 2016 characterization and instead had him...not care over anything, including Papyrus' death. I'd be mad at it but honestly I can't help but imagine people cringing so hard at their 2016 characterization that they went in the complete opposite direction and it's so funny

Oh yeah it's a very interesting phenomenon for sure! It's extra noticable with Sans due to how popular he is. As for you mentioning people cringing at their past interpretations - that's probably a part of it. People who joined the fandom as angsty preteens are now young adults with different views.

Not to mention, especially the AU fans, but also a lot of others spent a huge amount of time in fanon echo chambers (cough cough, evil Chara effect) instead of interacting with the source material. The fandom being a video game you can only play a few times before it feels repetitive probably doesn't help.

So, there are the old fans. But mainly in 2020, other people have also joined. And unlike the old ones, they just started interacting with the game. It's still fresh in their mind.

... And 2020 led to a lot of people who are new to fandom joining fandoms without knowing proper fandom etiquette. Those people that comment on noncanon ship posts to complain about the fact that it's not canon, and neglect to ignore that fandoms are about fun.

By trying to make him more 'canon' people basically just make him fanon in the complete opposite direction. I also feel like people saw what they did back then by making him so depressed, not just from his brother's death in a no mercy, but also just in general. Usually from a knowledge of resets.

One thing that I haven't noticed a change in is interestingly enough is how people treat his knowledge. Which is way less than people make it. He knows there's a possibility and that the human is connected to it. Hell, he tests if Frisk is a time traveler by giving them a silly password because he doesn't know for sure.

Not that I'm criticizing stories that give him more awareness. The fact that there's so many just means it has great potential. Aftertale is probably my favorite example of that. Geno is such a cool character and the nightmares are a creative way of handling it. 4th wall breaking is probably my favorite phenomenon in all of fiction.

Recently, people have started exploring the idea of other characters having that awareness. I mean, Flowey is canonically aware, and is a mere millimeter away from grasping his world's nature as a video game. He's already treated it as one himself. So, UT!Dusttale was born.

A lot of AU Sanses have that baked into their very character, so I get why people wouldn't touch that (though, it would be extremely interesting to figure out how Dusttale or Something New would work if it was just a deja vu feeling)

I am totally not biased to say I would love a take involving Chara. Pretty sure No More Deals is a similar thing. And you specifically know exactly the details I've thought of for Storyshift: Elevation :)

Oh, and another aspect of the overcorrection thing: AUs.

Back then you could just read up on the concept of an AU Sans and put him somewhere and nobody would give a shit about mischaracterization. Which, you know, isn't perfect but I have to admit it was really fun to do.

Nowdays you compare Dreamtale to Celestia and Luna ONCE in a Discord server to make a bad joke and all hell breaks loose. I get wanting to respect creators more than we did back then, but we have to remember that AUs are just as fanon as 'Don't curse around my bro' Sans.

The creators' words are not gospel.

As much as I love Toby, his words aren't gospel either.

People are allowed to have their own takes, their own opinions. I am never going to police anyone's takes on fandom shit. But one important thing to note is: people can have their own takes, but people should also aknowledge what's their own take and what's the creator's original vision.

[j0kers-light]

Trust is for Fools

Still can’t get over how I quoted Azula from ATLA for this chapter title 🥹

“Ah yes.. that night." Joker continued telling his story to the audience.

Back to the story! Isn’t J such a good storyteller? 🥳

“Joker! What are you doing in here!?" You placed a hand over your beating heart. His eyes trailed down to watch it heave with every startled breath.

Is he? Is Joker checking us out on the low?!

He snagged a cooked shrimp from a platter sitting on the counter and bit into it. "I decided to eat dinner out-sidee of my room today."

Seems familiar huh?

“And you'll sit there and behave?" You asked. "Mhm yes ma'am." Joker purred.

Your honor he’s a slut I fear. His knife kink is showing and he does not care. 😳

Another thing you were slowly teaching him; patience.

Love is patient, love is kind. Y/n is teaching Joker a lot. Patience, empathy, table manners, you name it! He’s becoming a better person for us!

“Duhh. You have to be more careful playing with fire." Joker's green eyes snapped up to meet your own e/c. His words held a double meaning and you both knew it.

The man was fiddling with his chopsticks trying to hold them properly. Key word, trying. This was the person you were slowly catching feelings for. God you were so desperate.

Hey hey!!! That’s your man now stick beside him! 🤣🤣

“Good." He squeezed your hands tighter and you whined feeling the sharp knife bite into your hands. "Now you know how it feels."

This is how Joker feels whenever we’re around. Like a sharp stinging pain that won’t go away. And instead of talking about it, Joker decided to hurt us back because that’s all he knows how to do.

He hurt you and he had no idea how to apologize. "I uh. Y/n... give me your.. um let me seeeee."

J is trying yall he really is. 😭😭

He wanted you to fear him since the moment he met you. At last you treated him with the respect and fear that he deserved, so why did his victory taste so bitter?

Sucks don’t it? Don’t always like the outcome of what you want.

How you managed to survive this long without him killing you was a miracle. You yelled at him, talked back, scolded, and belittled him numerous times over the past week.

It’s because he likes you Y/n. Trust me. Earlier drafts had the two of them fighting left and right. Throwing things, to Joker leaving pranks and boobytraps. A true, enemies to lovers if you will.

You almost forgot she asked you a question, you were wondering if you were being pranked. Did all medical personnel act like this?

Nope! This is just Dr. Sarai an oc of mine based loosely off of a friend ☺️ she’s quite the character.

Sebastian surprised you though and smiled, "You're Y/n Y/L/n that YA author my son won't stop talking about!"

Again I would dissolve if I met a fan in real life.

“Oh no.. I hope I haven't created an ax murder of your son!" You knew firsthand how the more mentally ill citizens of Gotham twisted your literature.

Okay Harvey Dent? 👀🙄😒 let my girl breathe!

“I am." The lady standing next to Sebastian spoke up and in that moment the posh names made sense.

I remember receiving a lot of compliments about how much I flesh out side characters. I give them names, character, and a moment to shine. 🥹 all my babies deserve it!

“But how? I know I was gone for a while but I mean.. do you even know how to wash dishes? No offense." None taken judging by his head tilt.

For the life of me I could not write Joker washing dishes. I’m sorry, it’s not something I ever see him doing.

“I did this." Joker stroked your hands over the gauze and you nodded slowly. "And I can do it again, far.. far worse. I wanted to hurt you more but.." He stared off to the side, missing the panic flash across your face.

He found his resolve and squeezed your wrist where the gauze ended and began. "I can do far worse to you Y/n but I won't. Never again." He vowed.

Oh my GOSH he’s down bad!!! He promised never to hurt us. Never again!!

A soft pressure, so gentle you thought you imagined it settled on the crown of your head before disappearing. Did he just kiss your hair? Were you dreaming?

NO YOU ARE NOT DREAMING! Joker kissed our head! But at the cost of him pulling away to “protect us.”

His Lighthouse Re-Read Thread

Hey hi my loves!!! I've read my own story 14 million times but I never did an official reread thread so thank @jaysmentalspace for what's about to happen! 🖤✨

This will be an interactive thread. Yes, you can join in with your own comments, reblogs, whatever! I will start from chapter one and I guess, review/commentate my own story! I hope you enjoy the ride. There's gonna be fun facts, behind the scenes commentary, who knows. 🤷🏾‍♀️

His Lighthouse masterlist let's get started.

[otaku553]

Haha

[nadiajustbe]

I think the most beautiful thing about writing of Howl and Sophie's pair is that they are written as people before being written as a pair. Let me explain this very quick.

The thing about book Sophie and Howl is that they are not really fully fitting into any "classic" romantic trope. They are not exactly enemies to lovers, as their angry chats are definitely cannot be considered a life or death battle, they are not rivals to lovers because the only aspect of rivalry between them is the cleaningness of Howl's room. They are not friends to lovers, as their relationship just doesn't fit into "friendship" structure at the very start, nor they are roomates (yes, they live in the same house but that's not the core aspect of their relationships). Of course, you can go on and fit the name of the trope you found specifically for them, but that's the thing.

They simply cannot be processed through a pairings lenses only, in order to understand how they act in relationship you need to analyse them separately, as a characters first of all. Cause that's what the book itself does!

Sure, it doesn't have a whole lot of romance instead, but it gives us time to learn and observe the life of incredibly written, alive characters, understand them as personalities first of all, while slowly immersing the dynamic between two characters (in this case, Howl and Sophie) into work. They are written as personalities, both being fully separated and interviewing, changing eachother's point of view.

It's difficult to find a trope for them. They're are not a trope. They are Howl and Sophie, and that's probably the only way their dynamic can be properly described. Just as real people, they are not really fitting into the boxes of linial character progression, but go way deeper into being complex, filled with little differences and moments only people with their personality can have in romantic (or any different) kind of interaction. They're imperfect, and silly, and multidimensional and the reader knows them well enough to imagine them interacting way beyond of what the book says to them.

They are being people before being a ship, a pair of a trope — and that's why they work so perfectly charming in the end.

Howl and Sophie are unique in being themselves.

[dukeofthomas]

I can't find it now but there's a post about suspension of disbelief and how it's broken when the story starts trying to excuse it. "character gets knocked unconscious for hours but there's no further issues from this" okay 👍 "and actually this makes perfect sense because of this and that" um no it doesn't why are you lying to me. like i am willing to ignore the holes and the discrepancies!! all you need to do is let me and not bring unnecessary attention to it!!!

and all that is my issue with the whole robin child soldier argument. like i am willing to ignore it i am willing to engage with the fantasy literally all you need to do is NOT try to convince me that Actually It's Fine Because They Want To Do It or whatever. like literally just shut up about it and i can engage with the fantasy!!

[klanced]

you are so lucky to not have watched s4-8

people always ask me 'katie why did you only watch half of voltron??' and i'm just like guys i thought we all agreed that voltron was not a very good show 💀