#yall just don't understand them

[resident-problem]

I really wish that they'd made the Qun more obvious in Taash's story. It's never really specified, but I think it's the driving force behind a lot of what's happening/happened.

When Shathan brings up Aqun-Athlok, it feels like there was room for a dialogue about how even that is binary. I really wish that they could’ve engaged in a discussion there, so Taash could say something to Shathann about not fitting into a binary. They could even use Qunari ideas to talk about it! Like Taash loves to fight ("male" role), but they also have an extensive knowledge of dragons and study them ("female" role). But it doesn't seem like Taash was even aware of Aqun-Athlok before Shathann brought it up, so I'm immediately ringing alarm bells there.

(Break because this is really long, but that's the really short version of what I wanted to say, lol)

On that note, it seems like Shathann has either been blissfully unaware of Taash's struggle with their role/gender, or (and I think this is more likely) Shathan has been deliberately ignoring Taash in that regard. She's seen her child struggling with their identity and knows that it's specifically gender/role related because she's brought up the fact that her "daughter" seems to act more like a man. She's so comfortable with her feelings that Taash is somehow "wrong" that she's willing to bring it up to Rook, a complete fucking stranger!! Right in front of Taash, as if Taash is the one in the wrong here! She doesn't even seem to have brought up the concept of Aqun-Athlok before. When she's informed by Taash that they're non-binary, only then does she mention it. It's especially vile considering that Shathann is a scholar (ashkaari?) and would almost definitely know about it. Not that it's a solution, but it's at least an acknowledgement of Taash's feelings, instead of a complete disregard for them.

Which is also why I think that ending chosen for Shathann makes no goddamn sense. The last time we see Shathann is the dinner scene. Where, yet again, she's trying to put Taash in a tidy box. She's not willing to try and understand Taash's perspective outside of her own understanding of the Qun and how that informs her worldview. When she's (sort of, it's not outright) called on that by Taash (who's also having trouble expressing themselves at all because of how Shathann raised them) she just leaves, with no further attempt at dialogue. Time and time again, she refuses to listen to Taash and continually demeans them in front of Rook. You'd think this is ridiculous because Shathann is a scholar, and as a scholar, you're also supposed to have a healthy curiosity to learn? New? Things? Which is when the Qun again comes into play, but subtly. In a society that demands strict roles and absolute obedience, there is no room for anything other than just that. So obviously, Shathann expects that from Taash as well, leaving no room for any understanding of the world other than the Qun.

Knowing that, it also frames Taash and some of their behaviours (which I've seen being misinterpreted as being rude or disrespectful) in a whole new light. Shathann has continually forced her own beliefs onto Taash. Forcing them to see the world through Shathann's interpretation of the Qun, so when Taash leaves and sees a new world that is accepting and understanding, it would be very hard to go back to how things were with their mother. They've found themselves and been accepted for it, so why can't their mother also be like that, too?

Shathann is also a terrible teacher. From the way Taash talks about her, it seems like there wasn't much room for questions, which then led to Taash having some misinterpretations of their own. For example, the concept of Shokra Toh Ebra seems to have been poorly explained if Taash's interpretation was "you must struggle with yourself" rather than "you must struggle to find yourself." The scene where Taash quietly says that they misunderstood the Qun stuff again and makes it sound like it was their fault broke my goddamn heart man. Like that's not your fault!! It just isn't!! That's on your teacher who, again, probably would have known you misunderstood it and should've corrected you! But Shathann didn't because she expected obedience rather than understanding.

I think it would've been more narratively fulfilling to have that conversation between them. Have the SCHOLAR LEARN something from TAASH instead of her telling Taash what is right. Maybe they have that discussion earlier. Just when they've fixed things between them and they're both happy for a while, that's when the Dragon King comes in and destroys everything. That way, when Shathann makes that final statement, it means something. A final "I love you" rather than finishing an unfinished story at the last possible second and moving on.

So why, then, does Shathann just accept everything out of nowhere? We never see any growth from her whatsoever! She's just magically accepting of Taash at the last fucking second and then she dies. You could make an argument that it was a last second thing and that all she cared about was letting Taash know they were loved, but I don't like how that lets Shathann off the hook for all the crap she did. This is usually how this style of sacrifice is used. So she died, and all is forgiven? Using the heroic sacrifice here makes no sense because Taash's is a story of growth and not letting other people define them. So why have Shathann die here? It serves no purpose, it's not a driving force for something, and it's not fulfilling to Shathann's story, which is not only about keeping her child safe, it's also about her being a scholar and how she sees the world through the Qun. It takes away her agency as a character. We never get to see her growth beyond her dying declaration. We never get to see her learn.

It really feels like they had no idea what they were doing with Taash's story and just gave up last second because having Shathann die was easier than doing literally anything else. She has this big declaration that she accepts Taash, and there's nothing for it. It leaves both Taash and the narrative off balance because both they and the player never get to see that growth from Shathann.

[bunnyboy-juice]

NO MORE ASSOCIATING THINGS WITH FEMMES ONLY BECAUSE THEY ARE PINK!HYPERFEM FEMMES ARE GREAT AND I LOVE YOU CAMPY FEMMES WHO EMBODY PINK BUT ALSO JESUS CHRIST CAN YOU GUYS NOT GO MORE THAN ONE DAY W/O TRYING TO SHOEHORN FEMMES INTO BEING ONLY PINK UWU BABIES. I AM FEMME AS IN GRASS AS IN DIRT AS IN TREE BARK AS IN WEEDS SPROUTING THROUGH THE SIDEWALK CEMENT. FEMME AS IN GENDER NONCONFORMITY AS IN FUCK YOU MY FEMININITY IS WHAT *I* SAY IT IS. FEMME AS IN DEPTH AND DARKNESS AND WARMTH AND TERROR. FEMME AS IN CAVES. FEMME AS IN LIGHTNING. FEMME AS IN AN AMALGAMATION OF TRAITS THAT I HAVE DECIDED ARE FEMININE REGARDLESS OF WHAT SOCIETY SAYS. FUCK IS IT THAT HARD TO UNDERSTAND?!???

[clowns0cks]

so, I got asked what's the spymaster timeline argument and why do I argue about it so much and keep defending spymaster lol so I wrote a long ass thing that I want to share with you.

SO. there are different arguments for people I argue with

1. having the master back as evil ruins Missy's arc and they hate him

2. having the master back as evil doesn't make sense after missy but would make sense before missy

3. They just fucking hate him god knows why.

4. A mix of these

Now. I have strong opinions, and those strong opinions are that I don't have a problem with dhawan master at all. I think he simply fits in after missy in the most normal way possible. I never saw a problem with it and I find it confusing that people do. Cause?? Imagine dying, then regenerating and realising the doctor has left you alone, but fair, cause he didn't know. So you go on gallifrey, hoping he shows up. While you're there you start hacking into the matrix for fun, cause you're the master and you like having a bit of fun. You discover horrible things. The doctor is not who they think they are, the time lords are not what you thought they were and all of your species including yourself is a product of the doctor's DNA.

This places the doctor as some kind of god. The origin of the time lords. They weren't time lords before the doctor, just gallifreyans, with no real power or anything to make them important. He's simultaneously angry at the time lords for lying about their identity, and at the doctor for being the most important time lord of them all, for being THE time lord, the original. Ultimately, for being more than him.

Now. The master has a certainty during the entirety of the show. The doctor is his equal, they have opposite moralities, but they're equals. Now, the security in this statement he believed in all his life shatters. They're not equals. He is who he is only because of the doctor. Thinking back to missy, she was the regeneration that absolutely wanted the doctor to see her as equal as well. She wanted to be like the doctor cause she missed him, and felt like he was the only one like her. So she tried to be like him, she accepted to be imprisoned in a vault and basically be changed to have the same beliefs of the doctor. But she did it willingly. Cause she wanted them to be the same. Now this entire arc feels wrong to the master (dhawan) , cause now he knows he could never be like the doctor, how could he? The doctor is much more. He thinks missy was his biggest mistake, he humiliated himself to be something he could never be. He gets out of the matrix and throws a tantrum, killing everyone on the planet for having lied to him (and to the doctor). When he sees the doctor again he hates her. He hates her cause she's just there, being her usual self, while in reality she has a bigger role in everything than she could ever think. He hates her cause a part of her is in him, and that means he's less. He's lesser than her. I also remember one scene where he was like "did I ever apologise for that?" (basically killing the doctor making them fall on the ground and regenerate, lmao) And she was like "no" and him "good". I think about it often in relation to missy, cause he was definitely saying it because of her. Why any other master should have apologised for something? Only missy was apologising for stuff she did. It might be a big reach but I like to think it's about her. And he's like "good" cause he regrets being missy and trying to redeem himself, like I said before. Anyway the follow up from here is simple, he hates her and stuff, but he also feels bad not letting her know why. So then he decides to show her her story, all he can. No one should live without knowing their origins. so he shows her, and then he says he would like to show her more, but there's nothing else to show. It's the only moment in which he's doing something kind for her. Cause I believe in some way, he's also mad at the time lords for lying to the doctor. And here's part of why he decides to use their dead bodies in such an unworthy way. They have to pay not only with their life but also with their dignity, so he turns them into cybermasters.

This is also a way to cope and create his own race, to feel a little more on the doctor's level. She created the time lords, he destroyed them and created another species with their bodies. Then it's not enough and he decides that the only way to be equals is to become her. At this point he's gone completely insane, like, we see that. But it's totally understandable for him to act that way. His whole worldview changes. Everything he believed in is not true anymore. He doesn't know who he is anymore (I also just thought about this identity crisis he was having and how he stole Rasputin's identity, but this is an analysis for another day).

Anyway this got off topic cause I had to explain only the missy/dhawan thing but then started talking about dhawan in general so forgive me lol.

Other than this, if we take big finish in consideration there's the lumiat, that comes between missy and dhawan and her story really helps some people accepting the change (for some people it's still not enough though) and in the 2021 annual is confirmed that dhawan comes after missy, as we have the doctor and the master talking about the master's story from delegado to dhawan and thirteen says "I quite liked you as missy" and he replies that she spent too much time with him and it's something that should never happen again.

anyway. I've made my point on why the missy -> spymaster regeneration simply makes sense. It's just a normal timeline, I don't know why people think it doesn't work.

update to this post; in the audio "self-help", the master mentions stabbing himself in the back just when he thought he finally knew who he was. Referring to simm master stabbing missy, of course. giving us another confirmation of his position after missy in the timeline.

[two-entire-bits]

I fear some of the outsiders fandom would not survive the les mis fandom. we have 133 adaptions not counting book adaptions and sequels: 42 movies, 1 movie musical, 29 tv shows, 10 various different types of animated medias, 12 radio shows, 2 stage musicals, 30 plays, 6 video games, and a ballet. and no one here is getting their panties in a twist because someone posted about the 1978 les mis movie, or the english stage musical, or shōjo cosette in the main tag.

[the-life-of-a-herm]

A lot of the conversations around systems of understanding experiences (typically trans) excluding intersex experiences always feels like people think we are 'exceptions to the rule' so it doesn't count. We are 'too rare' of cases to deserve language that includes us.

I'd argue that if how you enforce experiences should be talked about (eg people who enforce the sex binary by using AGAB) and it excludes even one person in the group you claim to be speaking for it's a bad framework to use and you need a new one.

i don't think how we understand being transgender should be focused on binary perisex experiences. i think we are all smart enough to include other trans people in our view of who is trans.

[sulky-cabbage]

The sukugo fight can't get animated any sooner I'm craving sukugo tiktok edits

[shorlinesorrows]

qpr jean and neil. that's all i'm gonna say.

do you see my vision?

[byanyan]

i've changed my mind again!! i am, in fact, going to delete a fuckload of my drafts bc i am!!! not vibing with having all this old stuff & having it stopping me from starting new stuff!!!! this is the year where i finally say fuck it!!! i'm gonna run this blog the way i wanna and i'm gonna do what's the most fun for me!!!! ...not that i didn't enjoy any of the threads i have in my drafts bc i did, i just. i have to do something to get myself energized again and clean slate (mostly) is all i got rn askjfhds

i'm not deleting everything — i've got some specific verse stuff, some plotted and/or specific character moment things, and some starters that i'm holding on to, but. yeah. everything else has to go, i'm so sorry

[lovely-rants-alot]

I'd love it if I could just open up to my therapist fully and tell her about how I truly feel but I only ever get the I'm really depressed feeling at liek 2am or when I'm PMSing

[fisheito]

I just want to say your Yakumo art genuinely makes me smile. Thank you. Your obsession for him is very endearing.

?!?!?!!?!?!?!? oohhhhhh....... th...thank u..............;;;;;;;.... uhmm S . i. embarrassment wiggle. hmm.stares at ceiling this ask conjures the image of someone smiling at me while i endure something that doesn't affect them..... anon, i may be reading this ask wrong (and u actually DO main yaku) but.. lemme take this chance to show u how i view my audience:

[a-rat-with-internet-accesses]

If i had a robot that looks like a human with visibal robot fearures you don't wanna know how long i'd stare at the joints just to draw them

[potential-fate]

well, good news men! I still remember how to add poses to poseboxes.

[slamrink]

lmao this game was so fuckin scripted bro (by me) (for rpf purposes)

[borealing]

told my writers retreat guys about writing 90k in 14 days while working my job at the same time and they were all like 😱😱 and what i failed to mention was.... its the most popular thing ive ever written KFJJDHDHD

[lesbiancarat]

we finally get acknowledgement of boojunchan roommates again after all these years...

[m0rbidways]

so....i'm noticing people who are saying "Don't vote for Harris or Trump" aren't American and don't have to live day to day under the administration

like

yes, the US does impact the rest of the world but also i don't want to live in fascism more than i have to

i would like trans people to be alive

i would like homeless people to have a chance

i would like medical care to be accessible to everyone

and even more things

there's a LOT at stake here

i will probably not exist if Trump wins and has his way? so i'm going to vote for Harris......and if you want to guilt me or anyone else for that

go fuck yourself bc we don't have a whole lot to work with