#writers weren't sexist

[shaxza]

[lindensea]

Man, Highlander was so bad why did I just watch that

[endiness]

okay, i have gone through probably 50+ s2 interviews of hc researching this so far and i have to say that at this point i really don't see how he wasn't deliberately trying to manipulate the fanbase and the media against the writers and the show to get them onto his side. (and also, like, a very specific, extremely toxic section of the fandom at that.) (it's the sexist incel gamerbros. i'm talking about them.)

"I wanted to represent as much of a book-accurate Geralt as possible and a lot of the fans did as well, and so I campaigned really hard to make sure that he was more verbose, he sounded more intellectual, his choice of words was more thought out and that his approach to Cirilla and everyone else wasn’t antagonistic. Because it initially came across as he was just grumpy all the time with everyone and everything and I really wanted to show this three-dimensional character […] It’s gonna be tough to do the stuff which is as brilliant as Sapkowski’s writing, but it’s something I’m always gonna campaign for and it’s hopefully fit into the vision of the show."

there are so many interviews (ie virtually every interview out of 50+ with the exception of maybe, like, 3) where hc says the exact same thing about how he just cares so much about book accuracy, specifically where geralt's characterization is concerned, and that he really started to push for a more book accurate geralt in s2 and wanted him to be more verbose and intelligent and show that he isn't just a one dimensional character who just grunts and says hmm all the time like in s1 — and at no point does he ever take any responsibility for how that was due to his acting choices in the first place because he would cut his lines.

he also just straight up lies about the situation because the writers originally wrote geralt as being more verbose and book accurate in s1 but then changed the way they were writing him due to the acting choices he made. and yet he acts like that was never the case and that geralt was never originally written that way and he pushes this idea that a book accurate geralt went against lauren's vision. even though, once again, that was the original vision and it only changed due to him.

and on the extremely rare occasion (i'm talking, like, maybe 2 con panels here) that he ever takes any kind of responsibility for his role in all of that, he still waffles about and tries to present this image that he wasn't really cutting that many lines and they weren't really that important anyway and it didn't really matter:

"I didn't even cut that much. Just little bits when someone says how they feel, I thought if Geralt says nothing, and maybe the well-known grunts or hmms and sometimes the occasional f-word, people can take from that what they will."

even though that can't be true as confirmed by joey:

"Henry likes to cut his lines, 'cause he's lazy. No, he literally just likes to cut them. He likes to do more up here [frames his face with his hands] and just with face and hmms and grunts. There's a lot of hmms, and so I often have to take a lot of his lines and turn it into a lot of my stuff so that the plot happens."

and even hc himself confirms this and what joey said in a s1 interview:

"All the grunts, I either added or I didn't say anything and just grunted instead. It was often up to the other actors to go, 'I think he's not gonna say anything now.'"

i also have to point out that hc directly links his push for a more book accurate geralt to reading comments on reddit as i think that's very relevant to what section of the fandom exactly that he's pandering to and why he's been so vocal about it while lying about the role he played in everything and what actually happened:

"I’m on all the Reddit forums. I’m reading all the reviews. I’m literally trying to get everyone’s information. Some of it is not useful, and other criticisms are incredibly useful. I take it all in, and I look forward to bringing it even closer and closer to Sapkowski’s writing. I think any of those criticisms, they often lie in things like I was saying—we don’t have the advantage of a long involved conversation or dialogue with Geralt, so they are criticisms which I think I was prepared for. So for me, it’s about seeing that, understanding it, and working out how I can do my job better within the framework provided, [how to] appease and make those people feel comfortable that I do actually understand this character—and love this character just as much as they do."

"As a source for information, it's really helpful for me to see what everyone's saying, what everyone's thinking, and to see how much my thinking falls in line with whichever side of that spectrum it is and whether I'm doing the wrong thing, for example, by campaigning hard for the book Geralt to exist or whether I'm doing the right thing."

and just another important thing to point out imo: virtually the only times hc ever takes any responsibility in any capacity whatsoever for his own role in the show not adhering to the books (which even then he barely does and it's still always with a lot of excuses), it's only ever at con panels — which are far less likely to get picked up by news outlets and seen by a broader audience — and not in formal interview settings. (except for, i think, one interview he gave early on when s2 first went on hiatus. but even then, it still has the same problems that the con panels have where he comes up with a lot of excuses that don't match what happened.)

then there's an interview hc gave where he went on about how he added some book dialogue into a scene and he made it out to be like it was some kind of rebellion against the writers and he didn't consult them as he was just going to do what he wanted, consequences be damned:

"I did not feel like having long discussion about whether I could add this bit somewhere. So I just did it, said the words in front of the camera, and was ready to face the consequences."

and meanwhile what actually happened was that lauren eventually let hc have free reign and rewrite a scene that he was unhappy with. which, y'know. kinda fucking weird to present what happened in the way he did.

and then there's him pushing this narrative that the female characters — namely yennefer and ciri — were given more depth and focus than geralt and the male characters as if that came at their expense and all of which is somehow due to lauren's women-centric vision of the show as if that's somehow opposed to how the books themselves are:

"On season two, I wanted to bring as much of 'Book' Geralt into the show that Lauren's vision and that the plot would allow. That's a tricky thing to do, because the plot, as Lauren has said, is very centred around bringing women into the centre of The Witcher."

"In Season 1, there wasn't really much of an opportunity for expansive dialogue which Geralt is known for — in the books, he's often known to monologue — because we had two original origin stories which were the center point of the show."

"Lauren’s vision was more of an ensemble piece than the first Witcher books. It’s driven a lot more by the characters of Yennefer and Cirilla."

"I wanted to make sure we really explored as much as showrunner's vision could allow. She has her own plan, so I’ve got to toe that line between book Geralt and Lauren’s vision."

"I wanted to try and bring as much of the book’s Geralt into Season 2 as possible, and as much as the vision, the plot and storylines would allow. The toughest part for me was finding that balance between the showrunners’ vision and my love for the books, and trying to bring that Geralt to the showrunners’ vision."

"It’s important for me to have the character be three-dimensional and it’s tricky to do, as I was saying earlier, because there’s a certain vision and there’s a certain set, storyline and plot. And so, it was about me trying to find Geralt’s place within that."

"There’s only so much space to provide the same character from the books within the showrunner’s vision. But, I did my best to provide a bit more of a three-dimensional character with a bit more emotionality."

"It's important to me that the men in the story are three dimensional as well."

like, first off — and not to continually reiterate this but — that's not true. in s1, geralt was originally written as being just as verbose and intellectual as he was in the books and that only changed due to hc cutting his lines and we know that joey often had to take his lines, too. so there was, in fact, always plenty of time for geralt to be book accurate and for yennefer and ciri to have their own focus. these things were never mutually exclusive and it's definitely some kinda take to imply otherwise.

secondly, while it is true that geralt is the main character of the short stories, ciri is the main character of the main series starting from blood of elves, the book that s2 adapted. and despite claims otherwise, her pov has always had the most focus — yes, even more than geralt (sans baptism of fire, obvs.) and it's not like ciri is the only female pov, either, or that there aren't other important female characters that make up the series. there's yennefer, triss, milva, philippa, fringilla, nimue, condwiramurs, kenna — and that's just off the top of my head. there are plenty more where that came from. women and their stories have always played a central role in the books. nothing about that goes against them or is unique to lauren's vision.

and just with boe in particular, like. triss's pov is either focused on more than geralt's or at least about as much as his depending on how you want to break things down. and with dandelion following very close behind them, too! like, ciri may be the main character of the main series and geralt may be the main character of the short stories and their povs are the most focused on overall, but the books are still very much an ensemble piece made up of a collage of many, many povs to paint a full picture of the universe. and, yeah, the women make up a huge part of that. so the show focusing on ciri and yennefer and the women — and, yes, the men as well because it does actually do that! — is um, still book accurate. so y'know, why the fuck is he presenting this idea that's somehow not the case.

in general, hc emphasizes in a lot of interviews how much he fought for "male characters to be three dimensional." which yeah, given the context of everything else, is some suspicious kinda phrasing because it gives this undertone that the show wasn't writing three dimensional male characters in the first place as opposed to the women and that it's only due to his efforts that anything changed.

also, i have to highlight this quote of him talking about the three dimensionality of men because ~curious that he omits women from the list of people real menTM can be loving and caring toward:

"I believe that real men are very sensitive. They are very capable of doing things which can be violent, if possible, or necessary. But at the same time, they are incredibly capable of love and caring amongst men and towards children and family and all sorts."

and then there's the way hc talks about changing things which comes across as so suspicious, too, imo. especially when there is every other cast member to compare him to. because the way the rest of the cast has talked about this is that they all very consistently say that the whole process is very collaborative and that lauren is very much willing to hear them out about their thoughts and concerns and that it really feels like a team effort and that everyone is working together. and meanwhile the vibes that hc gives off is either "me vs the world (ie the writers)" or "but there's nothing that i can really do to change anything and it's all on the writers~" either way, his attitude very much comes off like all bad decisions are the writers' fault but meanwhile any good decision was due to him and him alone (or maybe the rest of the cast, but definitely not the writers.) like, weird af to play it off that way especially since every other cast member didn't seem to have any problems and they all gave credit where credit was due ie to lauren and the writers.

in conclusion, it'd be one thing if hc had just taken the l and admitted that he is the one who fucked up geralt's characterization in s1 and so he sought to rectify that in s2. but yeah, he doesn't really do that. instead he lies over, like, 50 times to create this narrative of him pushing for book accuracy as if that's somehow in opposition to lauren and the writers and as if they didn't originally write geralt book accurately in the first place and as if he played no role in the lack of book accuracy at all. and then that there's also him pushing this subtle (or not so subtle) narrative about how the women were taking a more central role as opposed to the men and that's somehow unlike the books and something purely due to lauren's vision, too? even though women have always played a central role in the books to the point where ciri is the main character of the main series? and that he's directly linked this narrative he's pushing to reading comments on reddit? (and that he also has a history, since s1, of trying to cater to game stans?) yeah, i just don't see how this doesn't add up to him trying to manipulate the media and audience — especially the worst parts of the fanbase — against the writers and the show and onto his side.

(also just one last thing i'd like to note as i find it super weird that when hc was asked about giving freya any advice, he immediately shut down the notion that he would ever do anything like that and he would never offer her any unsolicited advice and he would only ever give her any if she came to him first. like, there are literally s1 and s2 interviews where freya talks about hc giving her advice. i mean, maybe she did come to him in the first place, idk. but the immediacy in which he shut down the idea that he would ever do anything like that as if offering someone younger than you advice and being a mentor to them is wrong… weird. sus, even. like, why are you scrambling to cover your ass for something that's not even bad and, also, why are you lying about it by omission in the very least.)

[crooked-wasteland]

I think what annoys me so much about the way the show blasts Blitzo for being a cold and unromantic partner is that it’s a perfect example of ignoring worldbuilding to make a character look worse.

By human standards, Blitzo abandoning someone when they tell them that they love him is pretty cowardly and understandably upsetting. But in Hell standards? Verosika should’ve fucking known he’d run away because Hell seems to look down heavily at the concept of love. This is like knowing that it’s taboo to kiss and then getting mad at a character for not kissing you. You can’t blame someone for being adjusted to what society expects of you. Verosika can still be hurt but it’s genuinely insane how much she clings on to this hate like he did a crime.

And the fact that we just skip over seeing their relationship is also infuriating because I get the feeling that Viv was both not interested in actually showing us what Verosika was like and also afraid to make her do anything that feels more in line with her character which is act angsty and spiteful

I've had a thought about Verosika. From the we've seen this season, the writers have actually listened to and addressed criticism for the show. The Ghostfuckers leaks show an overhaul of the original story, the fact that episodes got shifted around at the start of the series, the blatant un-writing of the assassination plot, and the fact that Unhappy Campers was the only pre-special episode to not be in the season 2 trailer (most likely because it was still in the early stages of animation due to massive rewrites to incorporate more Millie) are all evidence to this. It's obvious the crew is not happy about it, but they are listening.

With that in mind, the show has repeatedly been accused of extremely sexist writing in favor of the male cast. As such, it's not surprising to see the pivot more towards "humanizing" the female characters in specific. I remember seeing a lot of comments about how they wouldn't forgive the show if they made another female character irredeemably cruel and brainless following The Circus, and even louder after Western Energy.

What fans had wanted was a complicated or even toxic dynamic where both characters weren't perfect, but still held Blitz accountable for his actions, fairly. What they got was the cheapest, laziest writing I've ever seen. Not only does it not make sense in regards to the established world building of Hell's attitude towards love, it still makes no sense for Blitz to run away just because Verosika said she loved him, only to then adopt a child. He explicitly goes to the pound looking for a pup, pivoting to taking in Loona out of pity. It's like saying marriage is too much of a commitment, but still having kids.

Instead, Medrano overcorrected to pander to critics the same way she panders to her fans. Verosika is not an irredeemably cruel and stupid, spiteful woman. She's a perfect victim actually. Not only is her only crime falling in love, but the relationship ended so fast and sudden that she didn't have any time to do anything.

All these choices feel not only deliberate, but resentful in how little care went into the writing. The most drastic overhaul being to Ghostfuckers where the entire narrative trimmed down and immensely reworked already existing elements into the script. It goes to show the level of improvement possible to an idea when given better direction, but it also shows the limitations of not having actual writers on the team.

Ghostfuckers does an amateur's best and comes out generally okay, but still suffers from over reliance on tropes without narrative substance. It's the genuine best that can be done with this team. And unfortunately that's still not good enough.

[horseshoegirl]

Damn Those Dog Tags: Part 15 - Have You Ever Seen The Rain

📖I need to make two apologies. First, I am so sorry for the long delay. While work was beating my ass, I actually received a rude comment on my Wattpad account for the last chapter that triggered a horrible writer's block. It was taken care of, and it didn't bother me at the time, but I didn't realize how much it affected me until I started to write. Then I decided to use it for inspiration!

Secondly, I'm so sorry for what is about to unfold. This one was planned from the get-go (which is also probably why I struggled because this is the one chapter I dreaded having to write).

(I'll be running from the pitchforks as they come, Woot Woot!)

❗️+18, strong language, godmother reader/original female character, Mentions of an original child, Shitty family dynamics, Angst, verbal fights, sexist implications, one slap across the face, and Jake being Hangman.

#6k words

Part 14 | Masterlist | Part 16

The story behind how you started ego-checking some of the cocksure pilots at Hard Deck is less interesting than one might think.

It all started with a game. 

You weren't kidding when you told Jake you were a library, loving geek who'd rather spend her time deep in the stacks. That was the plot of your entire post-secondary experience. You didn't know how to flirt. You stayed clear of frat parties and cliquey groups. And if a guy tried to flirt with you, you ran for the freaking hills without a backward glance.

You only decided to take that bartending job in building H's damp, dark basement because you were dead-ass broke. But the thing about being a bartender on a University campus, there were moments when you had nothing but time on your hands.

You had to get creative.

Looking back, you would blame the writer-orientated part of your mind that decided to create that little game of making up stories for the people who regularly visited the miserable bar.

The quiet girl, always sitting in the back corner, cramming for a test or writing a paper. Did she like the ambience, or was she avoiding the library? Or was she trying to work up the nerve to ask out one of the bussers, waiting for the perfect meet cute?

Maybe the nerds who gathered every Friday at the arcade-style game consoles playing Pac-Man needed to leave their dorm because Friday nights tended to be the one night everyone liked to party.

Those popular girls sitting around a table with their $5 cocktails, lowcut tanktops, and jean shorts, always on their phones gossiping over the latest social media post from their favourite celebrities. Did they have Regina George in their ranks? Which one was sleeping with the other's boyfriend? How much blackmail did they have on each other?

Which one would murder the other first?

That little game you invented for yourself got you out of your shell. It also made it easier to deal with the persistent football jocks who'd try to flirt with you for a free shot.

Ridley would always get a kick out of it whenever you told her. You'd always imagined her curling up in a ball and kicking her feet back and forth while she squealed in laughter over the phone.

"Be a character in one of your freaking stories. Or better yet, act it out! You're a damn writer, Lizzie."

She was right. So you did. 

You'd never forget the laughter of that football jock when your rejection of his flirting attempts to weasel a free drink out of you resulted in his childish reply of, "Well, nobody's perfect, Sweetheart, least of all you."

"I never said I was," you had said with a smile.

You must have said something right because a few minutes later, Penny was introducing herself and chatting you up, asking if you wanted a better job bartending.

You were all too happy to leave. But nothing could have prepared you for the hotshot, ego-driven, and stupidly horny Top Gun pilots who frequented the Hard Deck. 

Between remembering their drink order or what side of the room they tended to gravitate towards, you needed more than your little guessing game to figure out their tells. You did pick up little things about them, though.

The WSOs were the kindest; ironically, they stood out in the crowds. Always a kind smile, never a bad thing to say about anyone.

The female pilots were always badass. At least, you thought so. Strong. Always commandeering the room the second they walked in. Always nice, no question about it. But mess with them; you got schooled hard.

They were the literal definition behind the saying, 'Do no harm, but take no shit.'

And with each new group that came in, the male pilots, the single flyers you had called them, paled compared to those jocks. They never changed. A pair constantly vied for first place with each new group that came through the Top Gun program.

Always a pair of males. Women always knew there was more at stake than a freaking trophy.

Those guys talked to you. Well... properly flirted at you.

That's where your little game came in handy. Picking out the little things about them, letting your mind do the creative parts next. It's how you turned Jake down so quickly that first time.

But the guy currently approaching the bar? He did not fit the bill of any regular customer you had seen in a while.

Tourists came and went without question. They stood out like a pack of flies, unsure where to go, with friendly faces and always asking what the best places were. They tipped great, and they never returned.

This guy? 

Not a tourist.

He was from out of town. The plaid shirt, jeans and cowboy boots were unusual for a California bar. It was also how he gaped at the walls and ceiling, taking in all the Navy memorabilia Penny had collected over the years. If you hadn't been paying attention, you could have sworn there was a look of distaste on his face with each new item he saw.

But what irked you was the sense of familiarity you couldn't place while looking at him. Blonde hair and a sharp face. Something in how he carried that toothpick between his teeth, not in the way god forbid fucking Tyler had, but as if it was a piece of grass. Also, in the way he walked.

Then he openly leered at a woman's ass as she walked by, and it all made sense.

Ah, a Wham, Bam, Thank You, Mam.

He sat in the empty chair directly in front of you, still watching the women's retreating form. You didn't want to serve him, but a tiny part of you hoped your assumption had been wrong.

It had been a while since you had to rebuff flirty advances; the newer pilots going through the Top Gun Program hardly said anything to you except smile and relay their order.

You suspected Jake was behind it.

"What can I get you?" you smiled at the guy. He slowly pulled his eyes away with a sly grin. The second he caught sight of your face, his mouth stretched even wider as he leaned forward on the bar.

"Your number and the name of a good hotel."

You should have known better. 

If it looked like a duck, it quacked like a duck too.

Resisting the urge to roll your eyes, you straightened the line of shot glasses under the bar, not once looking up as you answered him. "Well, I can answer one out of two of those questions, but I'm afraid the only hotels around here are resorts. There is a bed and breakfast about ten minutes down the road that will give you a good deal."

"Will they give me a good deal if I mention your name?"

"Only my friends know my name, and you are simply a customer sitting at my bar wanting a drink?" you raised your eyebrow, tapping your finger against the bar.

He made a show of thinking about it, rocking his shoulders back and forth. He finally nodded, leaning forward to answer you.

"Whiskey. Straight."

You recognized his accent as you reached beneath the bar to grab the bottle. It was more pronounced and slightly more profound, but without a doubt, he sounded like Jake.

Good old southern Texas Charm.

Normally you'd engage in small talk, but you wanted nothing more than to leave this asshole alone. Thinking he'd leave it be after you poured him his drink, you slid the glass forward, then made your way over to the other side of the bar.

The words he called out after you made you stop in your tracks.

"You must get attention all the time. Having your pick of the litter each year."

You whipped around, offended. " Are you calling me easy?!"

He shrugged. "I'm just saying a good-looking woman like yourself, in this place... you clearly aren't sticking around because of the pay."

Oh, you wanted this guy gone. That could have been one of the most double-standard comments you had ever received. Old Liz would have sputtered, maybe run into the back fridge and asked one of the other bartenders to handle it.

You now? No chance in hell. If he were going to give it, you would give it right back. You weren't going to play the boyfriend card. You could fight your own battles, and something told you even if you told him you had a boyfriend, he'd think you were lying. He seemed like the type that wouldn't take no for an answer.

"You've got some nerve." You crossed your arms, matching back to him from the other side of the bar. "Let's get one thing straight. I'm not here because I'm looking for attention or have trouble finding a date. You've spent all of two minutes sitting at this bar, talking shit, while I've been fighting the urge to point out your confusion regarding basic anatomy." 

He raised his eyebrows at your reply. "My confusion?" 

You leaned forward, resting your arms upon the bar, eyeing him sourly. "Is your mouth your asshole, or are you just one?" 

It was one of the more cruder remarks you had ever responded with. But this guy was trying to go for gold. Unphased, he leaned back in his chair, throwing his hands up. "Hey, no need to be aggressive. You should take it as a compliment. I never called you anything derogatory." 

You huffed, pushing yourself away from him, rolling your eyes. "Calling me good-looking, then proceeding to say I'm only working here because it's 'easy to access' is still calling a woman a slut. You don't need to say the word to imply the meaning." 

You ripped the dishrag from your shoulder, running it under the tap, muttering more to yourself, "There's no way that shit works on women."

"It does on the women back home," he answered you.

"Oh, so are you staying? Don't tell me you're a new pilot at Top Gun."

They'll beat that attitude right out of you.

"Oh, I'm just passing through. I figured I'd scout out the area. I heard this was a Navy bar. Don't understand what all the fuss is about." 

You didn't answer him. Opening your mouth only led to him replying, and the quicker he finished his drink, the faster he'd leave. He took your silence as a means to continue. 

"Still playing hard to get?" 

"You ask me a question. I might choose not to answer." 

"Wow. Subtle." 

You turned, a hand on your hip. "You can't honestly expect me to speak to you, a complete stranger, after the way you just undermined my job because I'm not giving to your attempts. There is nothing to get." 

He smiled, holding out his hand. "George Seresin. There, not a stranger."

Well, shit.

You wanted to hang your mouth open like a fish. You were staring down Jake's brother.

Now you understood Jake's reaction to Janet's warning. His anxious behaviour in the back of his truck. His lost-in-thought stares or the way he couldn't stop looking at you and Sadie when he came home from work this week.

George Seresin was a very unwelcome, uninvited and long-awaited guest.

Something snapped in your stomach, a twinge of weariness that Jake didn't confide in you. Then again, your slight disappointment was overshadowed by something greater.

Clearly, you were fated to ego-check both Seresin brothers while standing behind this bar. Because the idea came without warning, without doubt, or any sense of hesitancy. 

George Seresin was at the Hard Deck.

He was right in front of you, trying to flirt with you without any idea who you were. 

And he was sitting in the best spot in the entire place.

It was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

You stepped backwards, turning to lean up against the bar. As you did with Jake all those months ago, you took the rag and started to wipe.

"So let me get this straight," you said, dragging the damp cloth around his glass, not once looking up. "I tell you my name in some effort to prove we are not strangers. I'm supposed to forget about your 'comments,' so you can use that good old Texas charm to woo me into your bed with a promise of a good time?"

You finally looked up, George only staring back at you with a heated smoulder.

"Something tells me none of those loose cannons cannot even promise you a good time. A quick roll in the sheets before they let some brass monkey in a fancy suit tell them where to shoot. You look like you could let loose for once in your life."

You froze, losing your grip on the rag and fingers twitching. Scanning Jake’s brother, you leaned against the bar, resting your weight on your elbows, throwing the fabric over your shoulder as you got inside his bubble. You never once broke eye contact as you pinned him down.

George bought it, hook, line and sinker. He was so focused on you and your face that he was oblivious to everything and everyone around him, including how your hand slowly reached up toward the rope hanging from the top of the bar.

The second he looked at your lips, you tugged.

Cheers and music flooded the Hard Deck when everyone heard the distinct ring of the barbell. You guessed the song right away, old habits dying hard.  Slow Ride, its distinct beat letting you know Jake was here and he had seen the whole thing.

George reeled back, shocked as a few people came up and slapped him on the back, thanking him. You laughed softly at his reaction, pushing yourself away to help the few customers you knew who would take advantage of the free drink.

You had never rang the bell for someone like him. George Seresin would be the only exception.

"What the hell just happened?" he called after you. You didn't bother turning around, flinging your hand to gesture over your head, "Read the sign!"

George followed the direction of your hand, landing on the piece of wood dangling by the silver chain.

You disrespect a lady, the navy, or you put your cell phone on the bar, you buy a round.

You had already helped a few customers when he managed to tear his eyes away to glare at you heatedly. You turned to face him with a gleeful grin. Instead of asking him which one he thought you rang him out for, you started teasingly singing along to the chorus.

You hadn't done that in a while. It felt good.

"What did he do to warrant that?" 

You smiled up at Jake as he approached the bar. He never took his eyes off you as he leaned on his elbow against the top of the bar beside George. 

"What do you think?" you laughed at him.

Jake smirked. "I'd say he didn't take no for an answer."

"He did a little more than that. Tell him to put his cell phone on the bar, and he'd get three out of three."

"Ouch," Jake dramatically drawled. He finally turned his head, nodding once in his brother's direction. "Hi, Georgie." 

You stiffed a giggle. 

George huffed, jutting his chin out in your direction. "This one is trouble."

"Don't I know it," Jake said, looking back at you. "Pulled the same trick on me the first time I met her. Only she didn't ring the bell. Guess I did something right, considering she let me come back."

George glanced between you and Jake several times, and you could see the gears grinding in his head. 

"Hi," you beamed at him, walking over and holding out your hand. "Elizabeth Beck. Your brother's girlfriend. I guess we aren't strangers after all."

George stared down at your hand, then gritting his teeth, knocking back another gulp of whiskey. He spat out his following words with the glass still to his lips, "So you are real. Jake, there's no way you're dating her."

 You didn't try to hide the snark from your voice as you lowered your hand. "You thought I was imaginary? Sorry to disappoint."

George still chose to ignore you. "What's the matter, little brother? Need your girlfriend to speak for you?"

Jake stiffened, and it took everything in you not to ring the bell once more. Cause you knew if you did, Jake would be the one to help throw George out, and you didn't know what repercussions he could face.

"At least he has a girlfriend," you scoffed. "I can't imagine you've ever had a meaningful relationship with how you treat women."

You spied his empty whiskey glass, grabbing it firmly.

"Wham."

Sliding it across the bar's smooth surface, you caught it in the palm of your other hand.

"Bam."

Reaching into the pocket of your apron with your free hand, you slapped his bill down in front of him, rounds and all, attempting your best version of a Texan accent.

"Thank you, Mam."

Not wanting to waste more time on him, you turned to Jake, slightly worried. Some of you didn't know how to act around Jake when he was like this. When he was so... Hangman.

You gently touched his wrist, murmuring softly, "I'll see you in a half hour?"

He twisted his arm in your grasp, sliding his hand down so he could gently squeeze yours. But his eyes screamed a different, intense, unsettling story. As if he was assessing you for any threat.

"Sure."

You tried not to let it bother you, his non-chalent reply. Trying not to frown, you let go of his wrist to serve another customer, calling out as you walked away, "It was nice meeting you, Georgie!"

Jake watched you go with a slight turn of his head, proud you one-upped his brother but wishing you didn't leave him alone.

He knew why George was here. What he wanted him to do. No amount of smirk, cockiness, or even Hangman, could save Jake from this. George was the grave reminder that no matter where the Navy sent him, whether in California or on the other side of the world, there was no end to the metaphorical leash the 'hell bringer' had on both of his sons. 

George scraped his chair back to stand. "Come on, little brother," he gruffed out, tossing his credit card onto the bar. "We need to have a chat."

—-

With Ridley's Jean jacket in hand and your bag, you placed them on the bar as you greeted Jimmy after finishing your shift. "Can you watch these for a second, Jimmy? I'm just going to the bathroom before I find Jake. We're going to pick Sadie up from Penny's and take her out for dinner."

The older man smiled. "She's feeling better?"

You nodded. "Mild concussion. She was okay after a few days and back at school. Bummed about not being able to play in soccer playoffs, though. Hence the trip."

"That girl loves her soccer. What a shame."

"Jake's is making it easier on her. I don't know what I would do without him."

He tilted his head towards the bathroom hall with a knowing grin. "Go get ready for your date."

You blushed, walking away, calling over your shoulder, "It's not a date!"

After freshening yourself up, you took a few moments to stare at yourself in the bathroom mirror. You saw the famous callsign board hanging on the wall behind you. You scanned the names from the mirror, looking for Jake's, doing a double take when you couldn’t find it. You turned, properly facing the wall.  

Like the sign in the bar, it was a piece of wood with the words engraved into the top, “Ladies Beware: Navigate the Hard Deck with Care!” and underneath that, “Pilots who fly solo.” Several metal slots were glued to the surface, designed so she could easily slide plastic slate with a pilot’s callsign into place. 

You recognized a few, even Rooster's, though his was listed way further down, out of harm’s way. But Jake's was nowhere to be found. 

Then you realized - Penny had taken his name off.

She didn't do that for a lot of people. You could only recall one other instance when she removed a pilot's callsign from that board. She prided herself on it, so much so she never removed Maverick's at the top of the list, even after they got back together.

You needed to tell Jake. 

With a hint of a smile, you eagerly walked out of the bathroom to find him. He was standing with George at the pool table, the elder Seresin brother lining up a shot as he spoke. As you approached them, you honed in on Jake, realizing he looked uncomfortable. Stiff, shoulders square, and his fists were clenched tight.

The closer you got, the more you heard of their conversation, and when you heard Sadie's name fall from George's mouth, you froze. Hearing him utter her name, especially in that hardened tone, was a punch to the gut. The urge to hide behind one of the support pillars in the middle of the room at the last second was too great to ignore, and you made yourself as small as possible. 

You had stumbled upon a conversation you weren’t supposed to hear. George’s voice accompanied the sound of the eight-ball scattering the balls across the table. 

"Come on, man," he said, his tone laced with arrogance. "Think about it. She threw her whole life away for her niece. She's tied down now, and you deserve someone who can give you more than that."

Jake remained silent. George continued, encouraged by his lack of protest. "You're a Navy pilot, for crying out loud. You could have anyone you want. Why settle for a girl with so much baggage?"

You weren’t stupid. You knew enough about George to realize he was the golden child, the favourite used to getting his way. George would only see you as Jake’s attempt to one-up him on something. 

“You know why I'm here,” you heard him say firmly. “Dad doesn’t approve. He wants you to know if you continue on with her, you will never be welcomed back home.”

You swallowed hard, a knot forming in your stomach. There would never be a time when you asked Jake to choose you over his family, even with what you knew. You wanted to go out there, but this was Jake’s battle. Storming out to threaten anything but a kick to the balls was out of the question. 

But when Jake finally spoke, his words were like shards of ice piercing your skin.

"Yeah, you're right."

A strangled noise escaped from you, a sound of raw pain and disbelief. You clapped your hands over your mouth, trying to muffle the sob threatening to escape. George’s reply triggered the blood rushing through your ears, the pain in your forearm from your nails biting hard into the skin. 

“You know I am,” he laughed, another clack of the pool balls sounding out. “

There was only one way you saw this - Jake played you like he played those other bartenders. 

You couldn’t hide any longer. You pushed yourself away from the pillar, swerving around to confront them. 

“So Sadie and I were just a game to you?” 

Jake turned sharply, shock in his eyes. “Liz,” he held his hands out in front of him. “It’s not what…” 

“Not what?” you said heatedly, tears streaming from your eyes. “I heard plenty!” 

He opened his mouth to say something, but the words died in his throat, confronted with your beat red face and tears. You were not supposed to hear all that. 

The shock on his face was not enough to erase the sting of his words.

"Come on, Liz. You don't understand... it's..."

"What's there to understand, Jake?" you interjected, your voice seething with a volatile mix of pain and anger. "That I'm just another one of your bartenders?"

“Liz, don’t.” 

“Enlighten me, Jake.” You crossed your arms. “Tell me all the reasons why. That bringing me flowers wasn’t a game. That getting close to my niece wasn’t a game. Asking me to give you a chance, taking me out on a date.”

 You sobbed. “Taking me up in that damn plane.” 

The thought was erupt, tearing itself from the deepest part of your mind. You couldn’t help it, the words spilling out in blinded anger. “Was my grief an opportunity for you to get into my pants? Telling me it would be alright so you could leave me high and dry? Telling me it was going to be okay?” 

There was a sudden shift in his expression, his gaze hardening. As if a switch had been flipped, the warm, understanding man you knew disappeared, replaced by a stranger draped in defensiveness and sarcasm.

"Oh, excuse me," he declared. "I didn't realize I was your knight in shining armour, rushing to your rescue the second you need all your problems fixed. The girl who never had a relationship, thinking a man would solve all her issues."

The words hit you like a physical blow, your knees nearly buckling beneath you. Jake's harsh gaze didn't match his usual soft and protective demeanour. It was like looking at a stranger, someone you didn't recognize. The man before you was not the Jake you'd fallen for.

This man reminded you of your father. 

Was this his plan all along? You racked your mind, searching for any indication this had been coming. But what only stood out was Rooster's words echoing in your head where you found none. 

Did you really only add your name to the list of women Hangman had pursued?

Because here and now, those months of working through the trauma of losing Ridley didn't matter. 

Was anything about this past year even worth it? The moments you worked through when you would avoid anyone mentioning her because acknowledging her in the past tense was too much. Avoiding the things that reminded you of her. Till helped you through it.  

She would know what to say right now. She would be the one beating his ass with verbiage and scathing remarks. She would nail the moment and get it right. 

It hit you, the hidden weight of how desperately you missed her. 

Suddenly, you were that girl again, starting her first shift in that basement bar, wondering what to say to the students who saw you as a mere bookworm with no character or class - because you couldn't compare to the girl sitting in the corner writing her paper, actually having the courage to ask that busboy out. 

Or the geeks in the corner cheering as hard as they did when they beat their high score on the console, uncaring of strange looks. Or that girl, finally standing up to her 'so-called friends' when one had been spreading rumours and crude remarks about her to the others behind her back. 

He really did leave you out to dry. 

"Stay the fuck away from my niece," you managed to gasp through your tears. "And stay the fuck away from me."

You wanted to believe your assumption that Jake was merely putting on a front. Hangman, his alternate self, was his attempt at protecting himself. 

You had a hard time doing so.

There, plain as day, across his face was the most condensing grin you had ever seen as he dramatically drawled out slowly, "No fucking problem, sweetheart."

You didn't believe in thinking about everything you regretted throughout your life. Ridley was the only exception; if you had done more, moved back home after school, or gone to the police the day you kicked Tyler out, maybe she'd still be here. You couldn't change what had happened in your life, so spending time thinking about it in the present wouldn't do you much good. 

So it was no surprise to you when you followed through with your knee-deep reaction, your hand coming up out of nowhere, open and firm, slapping Jake hard enough across the side of his face, his head turning with the force of it.

You knew you shouldn't have. You weren't a violent person by any means. Next to Tyler, you never had raised a hand to anyone. You were too hurt to care you just slapped him.

That should have scared you shitless.

Rather than voice the obvious, you remained silent, allowing every repressed thought, every buried emotion to resurface.

Ridley - dead. 

Sadie - hurt. 

Tyler - lurking. 

Bradley - damaging.

It was all too much.

George's figure stood out from behind Jake amongst your blurry vision, tears creating a vignette in your line of sight. You tore past Jake, sticking your finger out only to push George square in his chest. He stepped back at the force, hand shooting out to balance himself against the pool table.

Jake wouldn't have done that had George not shown up. Had he not played with Jake's emotions.

"You need a fucking ego check and to grow the fuck up," you seethed at him. "I don't know whose got your balls on a very tight leash, but you have no right to go around and fucking up other people's relationships."

George didn't answer you, taking his hand off the table to stand properly. You pressed him again. "Does it give you some sick fucking pleasure to hurt your brother? Dad loves me best, so I'm going to remind everyone just cause I can?"

George was still avoiding your heated glare, fixating on his football ring, twisting the piece of metal back and forth. It only pissed you off further.

"My eyes are over here, Jackass! Have the decency to look me in the fucking eyes when I'm talking to you."

If nobody had been watching when you slapped Jake, you clearly had their attention now. Even with the music blasting from the speakers, every conversation in the Hard deck had gone quiet. You could feel everyone's eyes on you, but you couldn't care less.

You were too far gone.

George slowly cocked his head to face you. Your breath was harsh, your body jolting with each gasp as you gave in to the anger. "My sister died, and I took in my niece. What's so fucking wrong about that? That I threw my life away, that I have no future?" 

He shifted on his feet, about to transfer the pool stick into his other hand, when you reached out and snatched it out of his grasp, tossing it behind you with a clack. 

"You're damn right I did! That's what you do for people you love. I would sacrifice my entire life so she could have hers. And I would do it again in a fucking heartbeat. I will stay on the other side of that bar for the rest of my so-called miserable life, getting catcalled and dealing with assholes like you if it gives her the best shot with the shitty hand she's dealt. You, George Seresin, have no right to judge the choices I've made in my life." 

Your breathing was harsh, ribs aching with effort. Every vein, every pore, was consumed with pure white rage. And yet, you still found yourself growling out, "You have no right judging your brothers either." 

Even after breaking your heart, you still stood up for Jake. 

"He risks his life every single time he goes up in that jet just so the whole world can fucking survive. So you can go on day in and day out and let your father control what you want to do with your life. So you can gallant around letting someone who has lived their life decide what you do with the rest of yours? So Jake’s here for you to bully and control every time he comes home? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

The burning sensation in your cheeks mirrored the fire in your eyes, unshed tears making them shine brighter. The salty sting of tears blurring your vision did little to diminish the searing gaze you levelled at George.

"My sister believed everyone deserved a chance. That people cared, regardless of what they did or who they were. I had forgotten that until my niece invited Jake to a barbeque, till she invited him on a hike because he was being treated differently. Despite what I heard and everyone telling me otherwise, listing off why I shouldn’t. That he will hurt me and my niece, and I still gave him a chance.”  

Squaring your shoulders and balling your hands to fists at your side, you take a step forward, a dangerous glint in your eyes. You lean towards him, your face close enough to feel his breath, your jaw clenched and muscles tight.  

"You are the first person ever to prove my sister wrong,” your voice is dangerously low, underlying anger accompanying each word. “You sure as hell don't deserve that sentiment." 

As you stepped away, George lifted his head to glance around the room, everyone's eyes pinning him down. The older Top Gun instructors had stood at their tables and chairs, arms crossed. Some of the current students in the program also stood, the others sending him the most scathing glares they could manage. Even some regulars who weren't aviators were casting him a scornful glance.

You spun, ready to leave him in embarrassment and escape this literal fucking mess, when you caught Jake's bewildered gaze, his mouth hanging open in slight shock.

You weren't sure whether it was that look or the dying embers of your outburst that made you spin back around to snarl, "So, leave your brother the fuck alone! Live your own goddamn life without judging others for the choices they make! Cause you sure as hell don't know what it means to sacrifice something for those you love. If you need an example, look around this goddamn room."

Jake reached for your wrist as you charged toward the front door. The second you felt his touch, you shook your hand loose, a wrenching sob tearing through your chest.

"Don't fucking touch me!"

You didn't bother seeing his reaction to your remark, rushing to grab your bag and Ridley's jean jacket off the bar.

The skin around your wrist burned from his touch, the rough callouses once a comfort but now felt like coarse sandpaper. You wanted to get under a shower or jump in the sea, hoping to remove the feeling of every memory, kiss, and word.

God, you let him touch you. Do things with you.

You were going to throw up.

God forbid you didn't want to walk home. But you needed to go, be anywhere but here, and you didn't have your car. Barely keeping it together as you took off toward the door, you had half a mind to look up to watch where you were going, deaf to Jake's shouts of your name.

There was Bradley, sitting in the first booth by the door. His brow furrowed as you made your way over to him, probably having witnessed the ordeal. You were too upset even to question why he wasn't marching across the bar, ready to knock Jake to next Sunday.

It had been weeks since the fight, with no communication in between. But it was a distant memory compared to this. 

It didn't matter what he implied. It didn't matter what happened in your hallway.

It didn't matter.

It didn't matter.

It didn't matter.

You just needed your friend.

With each step you took toward him, your shame only grew greater. You couldn't even look him in the eye when you stopped, standing next to his side of the booth, hugging yourself tighter.

"Can you take me home, Bradley? I don't want to be here anymore."

Bradley's opportunity to act smug had finally arrived. But he didn't do anything other than frown. Standing up from his booth, he threw a few bills onto the table before blocking everyone's view of you. He placed a comforting hand on your back, gently pressing you forward as he uttered quietly, "Of course I can, Liz."

You kept your head down as you stepped towards the door, but Bradley, so willing to help you without so much of an 'I told you so,' made whatever resolve you had, crumble. Your knees wobbled, and your heart dropped into your stomach. You fell, and Bradley's arm whipped out, gripping your hip and pulling you tight to his side to support your weight.

Burying your head into Bradley's shoulder, you hid your face. You didn't want to see the looks of everyone in the Hard Deck, whether pity, concern, or applause, as another wave of tears wrecked your body.

Closing your eyes seemed better than reliving the truth.

And because you kept them shut, you didn't see George place a hand on Jake's shoulder, preventing him from going after you. Nor did you see the look of devastation wreck his face; the weight of every wrong decision he had ever made coming back to haunt him. 

Whether Jake turned on a dime to punch George square in the jaw, you heard none of it. You hadn't even bothered to turn back to look as Bradley carried you out the front door.

.... So... Who is going to pitchfork me first? 👀

Tag List:

@blue-aconite @tinytotontheoversizedpony @djs8891 @caitsymichelle13 @startrekfangirl2233

@mayhemmanaged @ereardon @dempy @shanimallina87 @teacupsandtopgun @daggerspare-standingby

@phantomxoxo @formulapierre @eli2447 @fulla02 @blckgrl-sunflower @mizzzpink @ohgodnotagainn

@bubblegumbeautyqueen @sarahsmi13s @desert-fern @lynnestra44 @memoriesat30 @penwieldingdreamer @mxlanciia

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@keyrani @craftytrashprincess @hisredheadedgoddess28 @abzidabzy @memeorydotcom @vicsnook

Part 16 - In the Blood coming soon

Wickett ;)

[stvrpst]

I hate how much bummy shippers downplay and minimize Eddie's trauma in comparison to Bucks. They both have distinct traumas and coping mechanisms, but it's clear that many bummies vilify Eddie when he encounters shit that triggers him and past traumas resurface, causing him to react in a specific way.

They will stop at nothing to protect Buck, very few, if any, will criticize him due to his trauma. That's all well and good, but it's irritating that people are so eager to give in and coddle Buck, while simultaneously condemning Eddie for doing the same shit.

I understand that Eddie is a very private and reticent person, and in contrast to Buck, the writers do not really go into great detail about Eddie's trauma compared to Buck. So, while many of us have a better grasp of Buck's past and his trauma, that doesn't change the fact that Eddie too suffers from deeply ingrained trauma from his early years. similar to Buck.

Every time the writers decide to put buck through more shit and he’s back juggling trauma again it’s,

“Why can’t buck be happy!”

“Stop putting buck through shit!”

“Buck deserves to be happy!”

“Buck deserves to be loved!”

“Buck deserves a fun time!”

Which, sure, I agree with completely, but I wouldn't be irritated with it, if the replies to when the authors put Eddie through more shit and he's back juggling trauma weren't,

“Eddies a dick!”

“Eddies needs therapy!”

“Eddie needs to get his shit together!”

“Eddies not a good friend!”

“Buck deserves better!”

There is an obvious bias. Like, why are some of you unable to treat Buck and Eddies traumas equally? Why is it that some of you have to discuss Buck like he has superiority over Eddie with such a blatant undertone?

Why does Eddie have to work hard and figure out his shit, whereas Buck needs everything and needs it handed to him? This season, there were plenty of examples. Many of you exposed your real selves, and I now understand how you feel about Eddie. It's obvious, in my opinion, that none of you genuinely cared about Eddie.

Y’all seize every chance to vilify Eddie, paint him in a negative light, and denounce everything he does, while continually pointing out his shortcomings and faults, but you will place Buck on a pedestal and treat him like a saint, while disregarding what he has done because "He has trauma and deserves to be loved🥺"

And they only do that with buck btw.

In 7x04, they still found a way to make Eddie the asshole💀.

Yes, he was the asshole because he was innocently enjoying himself with his new friend, with whom he shares interests with. However, Buck couldn't handle that and chose to ACTUALLY hurt Eddie before going to make out with the friend Eddie was hanging out with.

But Eddie is an asshole, right? He's the asshole because he didn't invite Buck to trivia, despite the fact that Eddie has asked Buck several times to play basketball with him, but Buck declined. But as soon as Eddie found a friend eager to accompany him, Buck chose to act like a big dick and hurt Eddie, but Eddie is the asshole in this circumstance, correct?

But the bummies are just cool with it because it worked out well for Buck. so we can overlook the fact that Buck harmed Eddie, because at least he got to kiss a man, so it's all good!

Tommy had barely been here for a minute, and despite the fact that his behavior had nothing to do with trauma at all—rather, he was just a big asshole, Sexist, and a racist—bummies were fighting tooth and nail to defend his actions, but were eager to blame Eddie for his triggered response to Kim, despite the fact that it was prompted and stemmed directly from trauma.

The difference is that they feel comfortable defending Tommy because he has a direct relationship with Buck. If he wasn't with Buck, no one would be fighting to keep that man on the show. If Buck had been a direct victim of Tommy's conduct in season 2, and Eddie ended up with Tommy in season 7, their asses would be mad as fuck.

The truth is, they never truly wanted queer Eddie. They just wanted him to be queer so Buck could have the pleasure of kissing a man. It was never about representation for the both of them; it was only ever about Buck. Which is why they stopped pushing and supporting the idea of queer Eddie the moment Tommy kissed Buck.

They don't like him as a standalone figure. They like him as a stepping stone for Bucks' character.

So, moral of the story, they enjoy disregarding and discounting Eddie's pain since he expresses it and deals with it differently than Buck. And since they were too preoccupied with seeing Eddie as a stepping stone for Bucks' character and queerness alone, they never took the time to truly understand and comprehend Eddie's history, past, and trauma. So as a result, its very hard for them to really perceive Eddie as his own character with depth and complexity because for the longest time, they only viewed him as "the guy that could give us buck kissing men."

[lesbian-cowpoke]

I need like. A 50 issue elseworld comic series that is "what if Stephanie Brown was Robin for more than like 5 issues and the writers weren't sexist and making Batman sexist so she was taken seriously"

[mageofthelibrary]

Be warned Fire Emblem: Awakening has some very homophobic, transphobic, sexist and racist writing, especially with its villains whom are often racial, homophobic, or transphobic stereotypes.

I appreciate the concern...? But I genuinely don't think it's that big a deal that I need a warning.

Video games don't need to be paragons in terms of representation, though people do have a tendency to flip out if the writers decide to cater to their own experiences and (maybe darker) tastes too much. (I'm mostly talking about games with a queer/lgbt cast, especially if they're dating sims. But that's a different rant.)

Especially considering that it's a 10~ year old game that was written by, and mostly for, a Japanese audience. One of my favorite games, Persona 4, has an absolutely amazing story but it does fumble hard with characters like Kanji, Naoto, and Yosuke.

Kanji, who's pretty much canonically bisexual, gets heavily stereotyped in his arc and outside of it. And that's mostly treated as a joke by the game!

With Naoto, I admittedly don't remember as much about what was going on with them to explain it right, but they certainly weren't handled the best at times either.

And Yosuke! I love him so much but he's very much the one doing most of the stereotyping when it comes to Kanji. I wish that they had addressed that with him, especially since he had a cut romance route with his social link, but the game does nothing but ignore it.

It's important to think about the time when something was created and the culture/audience it was originally made for. Because societal opinions change with time and things might not age well.

I believe I'm mature and well-read enough to recognize a story's faults and not be morally outraged when an older piece of media has negative stereotypes written into the villains.

So thanks for the concern and I'm sorry that this became a bit of a rant. I'm going to go have fun playing a video game now.

[elfdragon12]

I think there were plans to at some point to have TFA Blackarachnia form the Predacons and make them another faction, which would have at least been something, but clearly that wound up not coming to pass. And… if I’m honest she kind of came across as an amalgamation of every terrible female villain cliché the writers could think of. There were things I really loved about that show but it felt more sexist than the 80’s show at times somehow :\

Waspinator was the only competently written Beast Wars character, so I'm pretty glad it fell through, to be honest.

I mean, Arcee was a "sexy lamppost" with a post-it note, pretty much every adult female character that wasn't crowd-filler was romantically attached to some dude (the speed guy was definitely crushing hard on Slo-Mo) and Elita-1/Blackarachnia was an impotent femme fatale that constantly had to be saved from her own failures and her story ended with her two love interests becoming closer (for the moment, at least).

Meanwhile, while there were very few episodes with female Transformers until Arcee was introduced, all were implied to be competent fighters and lived on the Shockwave-controlled planet in secrecy for millions of years. The show even tries to show it with how the ladies came to save the guys! Alpha Trion was only in a support role for them while Elita-1 led the group. Most of the human/organic female characters are either competent in STEM fields or are rebellion leaders. Talaria had close conversations with Jazz and there was no romantic build-up between the two. Carly is an MIT student who throws herself into the action and provides a lot of help! Even though Astoria was more of a damsel in distress, she was still able to give Megatron and Soundwave the runaround.

Beast Wars, while only having three female characters total (to be fair, by necessity, this was a small cast anyway and Forward and DiTillio actively wanted a female character for each side). Both do have romance subplots but the romance between Airazor and Tigatron was a quiet one and didn't interfere with their scenes and Blackarachnia's love interest plays second fiddle to her after they get together. Blackarachnia being the reluctant big sister to Una was quite cute and I think it passes the Bechdel Test, even if you can't pretend they're lesbians together.

So yeah! While the G1 cartoon and Beast Wars weren't the pinnacles of feminist character writing, they were better at it than Transformers Animated.

[wolf-tail]

The fact that I loved the movie Pixels so much as a kid, and the fact that it ever got produced at all, is that wishfulfilling, self gratifying, power fantasy bullshit can be enjoyed by other people than you, you just have to find the right audience.

Pixels sucks in the way that most movies in that vein suck, It's an Adam Sandler movie after all, but there are things to like about it. There's a sort of charm to the fact that it feels so clearly like it was written by twelve year old boys.

"My best friend is the president and we use our video game powers to save the world, hot girls like us, and the asshole who cheated at donkey kong and bullies me acknowledges that im better" could actually be a fairly solid movie, if the characters were more funny and charismatic, and the hot babe love interests are treated more like complete characters than prizes to be won that trip over themselves at the sight of the first complete loser they see.

The movie also somehow manages to have the most boomer ass take on video games and still be thoroughly pro video game. It essentially has the vibe that all video games made after 1990 are kiddy trash, the only real gamers are the people who poured a thousand quarters into an arcade cabinet in the years before the Soviet Union collapsed. This is worse than boomer bullshit, it's Gen X bullshit.

There's a good movie hidden somewhere underneath all the sexist and unfunny Adam Sandler stank of Pixels. The movie is pure nostalgia bait to a very specific audience, so perhaps better writers would zero in on that feeling of childhood whimsy, and the benefits of maintaining it into adulthood.

You all know me as a person who is generally pro self indugent power fantasy, but I also know that power fantasy can be bad in more ways than just being pure self gratification. Mary Sue media that is made to appeal to pretty much men and men alone, or whatever malformed caricature of the average man imagined by a depraved filmmaker that assumes all men must just be mindless, masculinity obsessed sex pests with dicks for brains like he is (looking at you Michael Bay), tends to reek of misogyny, the kinds that imagine that women don't have inner lives that don't revolve entirely around men and reproduction. This is what people talk about when they talk about the male gaze in media.

This is the kind of media like isekai anime where half naked teenage girls have the camera angle focused on their chests every three seconds and only exist to be the harem for the most boring man to ever exist.

This doesn't mean that all power fantasy made by and for primarily men is just going to be like that by default, this kind of media is just a symptom of societal misogyny in general, and typically made by men who have done little to no work in unlearning it. If a man has done the work to check his own sexism, the power fantasies that he dreams of and writes into movies, books, games and shows probably aren't going to be sexist.

To make a long story short, Pixels could've been good If the people who made it weren't sexist old crustbags with no comedy skill.

[my-pjo-stuff]

Hi, so I saw your post asking about whether or not one could identify with the female characters written by Rick Riordan, and I wanted to share my thoughts, but for personal reasons I would rather do so anonymously. I hope you don´t mind. (I will say that I don´t currently identify as female, but I was raised under the expectations of someone who does/is and am continuously pressured into said gender role. I do partly identify as genderfluid but that is very complex and not important here. I hope even if I don’t currently identify as female, you will still read and consider this opinion as valid.)

I personally can very much identify with the female characters Rick writes. Both when I was younger and now. Having started re-reading the HoO series recently I very much for example feel a connection to how Piper is and grows as a character. I can also very much relate to the more prominent female characters in PJO (Annabeth, Rachel, Thalia) in one way or another and am quite fond of them. I do have to say that I also relate and connect with the male characters as well. I don´t personally think the female characters were written in a way that makes them any less relatable than the male characters. Issues with underlying sexist societal expectations that might be visible in RR writing are very much not exclusive to the female characters he writes (it can be found in the way he writes his male characters as well) or exclusive to RRs writing. These issues are found in a huge number of different books, by a multitude of writers and are problems that are hard to avoid if you haven´t done deep unpacking of gender roles and societal expectations, which sadly most perisex, cis people and some trans and intersex people just haven´t done.

I wanted to say something specifically to this part of your post here:

“Like the inherent feeling of living in a world stacked against you? Being forced to pick up the slack of others and do huge amounts of normal aswell as emotional labor? Not being listened to? Feeling abandoned by those around you???? Those are all feelings and issues that women tend to relate to. And Luke honestly does that great IMO. Yet I can't help but notice that this sort of reliability is completely missing from everyone else.”

I just wanted to let you know that this experience is very much not an exclusive experience to women and more maybe comparable to a general experience of marginalised people. I hope I am not bothering you with mentioning that. And I do not mean any negativity by it. Just a little info to keep in mind. (If that was unnecessary as you were already aware of it, I apologise for bringing it up)

To end this in my personal opinion Rick has definitely improved in regard to this in his newer writing and considering these issues are more of a broader societal issue than an individual issue I don´t see it as problematic as someone else might. I will also say that whether or not someone can relate to a character isn´t and very much should not be an indicator of how well the character is written in regard to their gender. The great thing about gender is that there is no “one correct way” for it. This also means that not being able to relate to female/male character even though you are the gender, does not mean it´s badly written in regard to that.

Just in case it is not clear. I do not intend to argue. I just wanted to share my thoughts anonymously.

I mean I'm certainly not really bothered by it, though I do think this is a case of agree to disagree. I mean relatability is always subjective at the end of the day, and I was really just wondering if others felt the same more than wanting to make any statement. I think that Rick's work genuinely doesn't hold up much after PJO and maybe a few smaller side stories. I do think your opinion is valid, though I think you interpreted a few things into my post that weren't there, and I'd like to clarify that.

“Like the inherent feeling of living in a world stacked against you? Being forced to pick up the slack of others and do huge amounts of normal aswell as emotional labor? Not being listened to? Feeling abandoned by those around you???? Those are all feelings and issues that women tend to relate to. And Luke honestly does that great IMO. Yet I can't help but notice that this sort of reliability is completely missing from everyone else.” "I just wanted to let you know that this experience is very much not an exclusive experience to women and more maybe comparable to a general experience of marginalised people. I hope I am not bothering you with mentioning that. And I do not mean any negativity by it. Just a little info to keep in mind"

I do not mean this bad...but I don't really get why you mentioned that? I'm not disagreeing or anything! I do genuinely agree, but I genuinely don't really know why that was brought up? I didn't really say that is was JUST women who relate to that, just that they tend to relate to it. Which was said based on my own experiences and those shared by other girls. The post is about female reliability, and me saying why I personally relate to Luke. I'm not really sure what other minorities also having to deal with that has to do with anything I said.... This is by no means an attack on you! You are completely valid in your opinion, identity and in your statement. But I'd love if you could clarify the correlation between those two topics 😅

I will also say that whether or not someone can relate to a character isn´t and very much should not be an indicator of how well the character is written in regard to their gender. The great thing about gender is that there is no “one correct way” for it. This also means that not being able to relate to female/male character even though you are the gender, does not mean it´s badly written in regard to that.

Again idk I never really wanted to imply that??? Like if it came off as me saying relatability of the characters decides whether the writing is good or not is not what I meant. I was merely expressing my own subjective opinion and asking if others felt the same. Overall I think that this doesn't have that much to do with the OG post???? And like I said I do disagree with a good chunk of it, as I do think that the female characters have much more sexism in their writing as the men. And that it doesn't really matter how society is built, as other authors like Rick who grew up and live in the same society consistently do much better. All I can offer you is for you to keep your opinion, me to keep mine and us to respect each other. I should warn you that you might not like my blog, as our opinions do seem to vary wildly. Thank you for sharing your opinion though! It's always interesting to see other POVs and counterpoints ^^ I'm happy you felt safe enough to do that with me.

[jyndor]

atla fans can be pretty orientalist ngl like TEXTBOOK orientalist.

like okay I know I know the original show is so good but it isn't perfect and there is PLENTY of room for improvement. plenty. we all knew this at the time, back when it was airing and then there was that long break between books 2 and 3. like we all knew it was great but also had its problems. idk why fans from the original run act like this show is perfect.

one of the biggest problems has always been how white the writers room was. how the creators, especially bryke, were profiting by selling the aesthetics of various asian and indigenous peoples to a us american audience.

this is how you get the borderline weird anti-indigenous focus on sexism and misogyny in the water tribes without much exploration of how sexism and misogyny impacted other groups. like actually I'm GLAD that it's toned down but still present in the live action show because sokka was mostly around women and girls for a lot of his teen years. why would HE be so over the top sexist? like in comparison with anyone else, it makes no sense. unless of course you think about it through the lens of how white colonizers tend to think of indigenous peoples - backwards.

I think it's interesting that this show is mostly being worked on by Asian and indigenous people and so many fans never even wanted to give it a chance. I know, I know- I remember the film too. but from the jump, fans have been so quick to dismiss EVERY little detail* or leak without even seeing it first.

bryke are a big part of the story, I know. but they are not all of the people who were behind it. it seems to me that a lot of the fans of this show are weirdly protective of these two white guys who decided to part from the show. they weren't forced out, they left. and yes I'm biased because I saw just how shitty they treated fans of zutara (largely girls and VERY, VERY diverse) at literal conventions, how they egged on some toxic bullying from other parts of the fanbase to the point that frankly it's never really worth engaging in non-zutara fan spaces because people are so reactive and weird about even the mention of zutara. and then these same assholes will make comparisons to reylos as if zutara fans EVER harassed poc fans and especially actors. but whatever, that's my bias. but I can respect that they also created this amazing show that I've loved for half of my life.

I still see it as a good thing that the people working on this show come from the cultures bryke and nickelodeon profited off of without giving anything back.

so I guess my question to white fans is this: if you haven't watched yet because you are mad about bryke or some of the changes you've heard about or whatever, why do you not trust people from the cultures atla draws upon to adapt this story? are you just here to consume exotic aesthetics? why are bryke the only people who can sell those aesthetics to you?

*btw I'm not talking about the sokka casting shit, that's different and should be criticized. Also Albert Kim was the showrunner of Sleepy Hollow and was complicit in racist treatment of Nicole Beharie so he is not someone I trust very much. also there are definitely critiques I have of the show but it's not bad, not even remotely. it's worth watching.

[oliveroctavius]

Ultimately most of my disappointments about The Rocketeer comics boil down to (1) disjointed empty plots running on vibes and (2) relentless sexist writing. It would be bizarre if the characters weren't at least a little sexist because of era, but that's not the same.

Even weirder is occasional smug jokey moments of look, this Modern (wink!) Woman hit someone over the head with a wrench, that'll sure show the menfolk. Which, okay. In actual real 1940 writers gave Lois Lane a tommy gun when they were feeling Feminist, so you're going to have to try a little harder than that. Does Betty have friends? Emotions outside of jealousy towards her man? Shhhh you're going to ruin the illusion that it's 1940. So, then, why am I reading this instead of an actual golden age comic? Those at least wouldn't chicken out from letting the really campy bits shine.

[horizon-verizon]

Spoilers!!!

Streets are saying that Rhaenys will help Rhaenyra make her decision to meet Alicent in episode 3. Wtf🤣

I haven't watched the episode, and I really don't mind anyone spoiling any episode now or in the future. I welcome the spoilers, actually.

Makes sense for Rhaenys, though. Again, this is HotD, the male gaze and accident-is-God version of the Dance story. Of course she'd do that. I wrote two recent posts abt Rhaenys HERE and HERE before the season premiered.

Someone once said that Show!rhaenys was the stand in for some readers who hold Rhaenyra entirely responsible for the war because she held on to her claim instead of giving up the throne and quietly backing out so Aegon gets it the throne. The show's narrative tries to constantly validate that by making Rhaenys "righteous" and the only voice of reason...this is the same woman, btw who chose to blast up from the floor of the Dragonpit to escape, told Rhaenyra point blank that the greens were coming after her (word for word, btw), castigated her for ever even hoping to become some sort of new "order" in response to the idea of people not accepting her rule bc she Rhaenys couldn't get there (pettiness), etc. Recently @rhaenin-time puther on blast by saying that she was more sexist than Daemon, implying that she is such sub-textually and from the writers' own gender biases.

But most importantly, this is ANOTHER huge inconsistency from Rhaenys bc she herself has said to Alicent back in S1 E9 that she is not trying to make her own way but do as the men around her tell them...why the fuck would she risk Rhaenyra's being captured and killed by Alicent, when Rhaenys doesn't even know Alicent like that?!!!

If Rhaenyra is still necessary for the peace Rhaenys supposedly wants, SEMI-LOGICALLY, Rhaenys is trying/hoping to get Rhaenyra killed/kept as a hostage so they'd all be forced to stop and prevent war (bc she might not want to risk Rhaenyra finally becoming angry abt the greens' continuous long distanced-attacks on her image, etc.).

And that would be diabolical as well as highly hypocritical, since she herself was already captured once before and she decided she'd rather escape, with alicent having had the same idea when she intended on using Rhaenys...so why would Rhaenys, who heard Alicent say this very thing, have left KL if she is supposedly so smart?! It's also the same women who seems to have little to no love for her grandsons bc they aren't Laenor's...when she herself has pressed for 12 yr old Laena (her blood daughter) to marry a mid-30s man for "security" and power, going along with OR partnering w/her husband. Neither are good scenarios for specifically the claim of her supposed compassion or altruism.

i wouldn't be as pressed if it weren't for people claiming this was a well written character, that she was smart, or say that she was "reasonable" and compassionate. Or that she is a better character than bk!Rhaenys. It's so funny that no one ever doubts the male characters' characterizations as written by Gyldayn but they do for female characters who were more active/assertive/tried to develop their own power base or use it! As of women are totally incapable of doing such even under the worst of patriarchies...like people don't get how innately sexist this idea is and the following implication that SHE, the assertive woman, is the "problem" if she does assert her rights or got for shows of what they think of or IS "strength".

I mean, real women of history have been both oppressed and abused while also finding ways to gather power whether in ambition or self defense.

[gachagon]

Im watching Black Widow now, and how does this movie have such a low rating it's so cool. I feel like this movie is just the director getting back at the writers room full of men who had basically watered down Natasha's backstory and personality to just "sexy spy lady in a catsuit". The part where she's trying to kill Dreykov but literally can't do it because he's controlling her makes me think of all the times this one woman character in the past 16 movies has just been moved about by the whims of the different male writers, and how she's just been used as this doll for various superhero men.

I had serious gripes with the way they treated her character throughout this entire marathon, mostly because it was just obvious to me that they weren't treating her with the same respect the rest of the cast got. Natasha was always just used as a sexy prop or something, and it wasn't until literally Civil War that they decided to do anything else with her character besides make her a human lamp who fights and uses guns a lot.

And I couldn't even enjoy Civil War because they made her say "I'm a monster because I can't have kids" onscreen and expected the audience to be awestruck by that kind of revelation. She was always either used to further the story of a man, or just there as a centerpiece for all the action, something pretty to look at while explosions happened all around her.

But this movie really just does her justice, it removes all of that, it gives her a chance to be away from men and even relentlessly satirizes the way male writers will use these female super heros. Literally making it so that she CAN'T kill the big bad guy in the end because A MAN is forcing something as ridiculous as his "pheremones" onto her is just T_T it's funny but also I understand what the writer was going for there lol

The way her own "dad" is a fake soviet era Captain America who only cares about his glory days, is out of shape, and is mostly a dummy. The horror at the reveal of Antonia and how Dreykov cared so little for his own daughter that he turned her into another tool to use for his own gain. Even the conversation about "Did you ever think you wanted to have kids" is a lot better in this film because the two women don't see themselves as monstrous creatures for not procreating, but rather see it as another injustice done to them against their will as children.

The movie is great I love this, I'm gonna be so sad when it's over with and I go to another Avenger's film and the same dumb writers room full of men will have forgotten any and all development for Natasha in favor of reverting her back to a lampshade with guns and boobs T_T

I don't wanna go back to when Natasha was just tossed around from guy to guy to see which one she would look best with because the writers room full of idiot sexist men thought that was the only way to utilize her character. I don't wanna go back to when the only times she's on screen and speaking is when some man asks her a question. I don't wanna go back to when the only times she's allowed to be seen as cool is if she's fighting a bunch of dudes and has to pose in a sexy way for all the men watching her.

I will miss this version of Natasha </3

[episodeoftv]

Round 1 of 6, Group 1 of 4

propaganda is under the cut (231 words) - may contain spoilers

summaries (pulled from imdb or wikis)

propaganda

Mr. Robot - 4.13 Hello, Elliot

cw: light mentions of sexual assault and pedophilia (was covered in another episode), dissociation

Elliot gets to Coney Island, and the delusion begins to slip. Mr. Robot reveals the truth.

The writers had a poor understanding of DID and ended up saying a lot of things that were wrong and reiterating information and mindsets that are harmful to those who struggle with DID.

Star Trek: The Original Series - 3.26 Turnabout Intruder

Captain Kirk's insane ex-lover Dr. Janice Lester forcibly switches bodies with him in order to take command of the Enterprise.

1) Kirk switches bodies with a vengeful ex. It's implied that women can't be captains, which adds a layer of misogyny into the franchise. Nichelle Nichols isn't there.

2) Calling "Turnabout Intruder" a finale might be a bit of a fallacy, since TOS was a very episodic show with no real ongoing storylines or major character arcs, but it was certainly a sour note to end an iconic TV show on. The episode is sexist, stupid, and all-around bad as an episode, but as a finale it's even worse. The plot is that a woman is mad that "women can't be captains" in Star Fleet (a fact that was later retconned, so the problem boils down to *she* couldn't be a captain) because they're too silly and emotional, so she switches bodies with Kirk and proceeds to suck at being captain due to being...silly and emotional. It's a real letdown for a show that was trying to be progressive (even by 60s standards).

3) "How should we end our famously progressive sci-fi touchstone? With an aggressively misogynistic episode that establishes women are forbidden from being starship captains because Gene Roddenberry was angry about being divorced? Sure, why not."

+ The show was abruptly canceled rather than allowed to come to a natural conclusion, but finales weren't generally a big deal back then anyway.