#yes i know writer-ness isn't a word

[mercurial-thrills]

How To Get In Touch With Your **Writer's Side**

NOTE: At the bottom of the post, I will be linking helpful resources. They vary from compilations of writerly memes to ways to fight against writer's block. They may be beneficial.

As writers, we have all had our days where we feel a minimal connection to the side we have in common: our writer side. We wonder to ourselves, "Do I even count as a writer?" and have impostor syndrome sneak up in the form of cognitive distortions.

We have moments where we struggle to acknowledge our strengths. We have times where our head feels disconnected from our hands on the keyboard. We cannot write anything because we feel stuck on our own disbelief. This can manifest as writer's block, feeling like a fraud, or lacking motivation to write.

This is where reconnecting with your writer-ness may help. It's something I have done too, when I struggle to write. From writing positive affirmations about writing to looking through my Pinterest board about writing, I have done many insightful activities to help me feel more connected to my craft.

Look At Writer's Memes

Memes are a strong platform for self expression. They have the ability to make us laugh, and as a tool to help us relate to others. This ties into the second point, as seeing people comment "big mood lol" on memes about tying identity to writing can help you recognize we are a community, and we can relate to each other.

As well, it reminds you about your life as a writer. It reminds you how writers are still writers, regardless of their writer's block, lack of motivation, apparent lack of skill, and through the wrath of impostor syndrome. We are all writers, and we will all relate to each other.

Talking To Writer Friends, Because Others May Not Understand

If you want, you can talk to non-writer friends about the problems you are facing. Whether you need advice, a listening ear, or someone who can relate(i.e. "I've experienced this, so I feel you"), other human beings can be quite a positive resource.

However, discussing feelings with a writer may be beneficial. They are more likely to understand the struggles you face, and they may be likely to understand and validate writing-related feelings.

Make Small, Achievable Writing Goals

When it comes to making goals for yourself, nothing is too small to be considered a valid goal. For someone, "eat healthy" may be a simple goal. For others, "include one specific nutrient in every meal" and "eat on a regular basis" may be what they require. Assigning goals to others neglects their need, so no writer can assign goals to you. It's up to you.

If you feel like "Write 500 words" is unattainable, then write 250. If you feel like writing out one character outline is unattainable, write half of it and revisit it later. If one of these goals is unattainable but you did not know that, it is okay.

My mother, and others around me, have told me, "You did the best you could today. What you can do tomorrow is the best you can do tomorrow." They describe success as flowing rather than a fixed goal, which is a philosophy I have followed since I heard it for the first time. It changed me.

Write. Please, write.

Yes, I can hear you groaning through the computer screen. I can hear it loud and clear, the dreaded statement no writer wants to hear: go and write.

Personally, I find setting timers to be helpful. First, start with writing in five minute intervals. Then, increase it to ten. Then, increase it to fifteen, then twenty, then twenty five. If you find yourself getting in the zone after you have set the timer, you may not want to take a break. You don't have to take a break. It varies depending on the person.

Attending writing sprints can be beneficial. As long as you ignore the live chat during the writing sprints, everyone is writing alongside of you. The only competition is the timer, unless you want to beat all the word counts in the chat.

Overall, reconnecting with writer-ness can be beneficial. It can make us feel connected to what we create, remind ourselves we are worthy, and allows us to be imperfect and prone to mistakes. It allows us to become easily inspired, and write what we desire to write.

Resources

My Pinterest board For writing memes:

Another article I like on writer's block:

A site called Fighter's Block which pressures the writer to write fast so their character does not run out of health:

The Authortube community on Youtube, where you may relate to writers:

[liamlawsonlesbian]

fic writer questions

thank you to the lovely @mecachrome for the tag <333

how many works do you have on AO3?

there are 19 on my profile currently! there is also one anon, and I believe nine orphaned (rip)

what's your total ao3 word count?

statistics page says 92,629! it is somewhere north of that (see above reference to orphaned fics)

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

biting fic, vegas fluff, child actors au, witch charles, remote control vibrator + feelings

do you respond to comments? why or why not?

yes!! I want to show appreciation for people taking the time, and honestly I'm just so excited that I always want to respond asljdf;asaf

what's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

definitely i can feel the sun on you! (that is perhaps a spoiler for the 71 year old movie Roman Holiday lol)

I don't even really think of it as angsty, though, they're each in a better place than when they started, they're just not together (and I don't do that much because I'm a sap)

what's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

maybe the sky might not always be blue, for sure....I have a habit of leaving fics in the moment of getting together, and that one tackles the happily ever after a bit more

do you write crossovers?

not really! my old little women modern au fic has some pop-in characters from other louisa may alcott works but I don't think that really counts (I did also dabble in 1D/LM/HP crossovers as like bday presents for fandom friends back in the day but those never made it out of their inboxes lol)

have you ever received hate on a fic?

no, I'm very lucky! I have received the occasional odd "constructive" comment, but I try to take people on good faith that they're trying to be helpful! (I have also gotten a couple of less-than-stellar numerical bookmarks ratings...I am begging people to learn to use private bookmarks if they want to do that)

do you write smut? if so, what kind?

yes...not sure what "what kind" means, but it ranges from decidedly vanilla to somewhat less so...vibes wise it always involves a Lot of Feelings even if those feelings aren't necessarily romantic (though they often are)

have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that I know of!

have you ever had a fic translated?

nope!

have you ever co-written a fic before?

not yet....ro and I have thrown around a couple of ideas but we haven't managed it yet. I'd be interested in trying though!

what's your all-time favorite ship?

this is an interesting question to me,,, I feel like there are different answers to this depending on if it's like...in media in general, in fic, in rpf, in f1......I will answer with Enjolras/Grantaire, bc baby 11 year old jo who had never heard the term "slash" and barely knew the concept of fanfiction read the brick and then got pissed when she was R in a drama camp production and was blocked to have a girlfriend in Drink With Me, because "obviously he's in love with enjolras"

what's a wip that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

brocedes knight/prince dragonslayers my beloved/beloathed.....I know what it needs to be but it's very different than anything I have ever actually accomplished....

what are your writing strengths?

I think I'm decent at mood and imagery! but honestly I'm not sure....maybe those things only make sense in my head lol. I do know that my fics have made people laugh, which is lovely <3

what are your writing weaknesses?

plot!!! I am bad at writing anything that isn't just vignettes strung together, though I am Working On It....also sometimes I like my dialogue but other times I feel it verges on hokey....also someday I would love to be able to write something longer than 12k....or even just write something 10k again.....

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

it's tricky! I do think it's easy to fall into tropey-ness with it, especially in a fandom where it's common (eg, this one)...I definitely do it some, though! and I did enjoy putting sentences in french/spanish/italian in whole cloth in i can feel the sun on you, bc it was supposed to mimic the feeling of watching roman holiday

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

first fic I ever published was for 1D asldjfa;jf (and was.......far and away the worst case of just really obviously projecting onto some dudes I have ever done.....but I was 18 and my mom had just died so)

first fic I ever wrote, before I even knew it was called that, was definitely either anne of green gables or lord of the rings, in fourth grade

what's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

someday i will write the perfect his dark materials fic and actually know peace.....also in f1 terms I would love to Actually write galex!! i love them so much that it's sort of weird that I haven't written them

what's your favorite fic you've written?

it depends on the day! right now I would say either you don't have to know that it's haunted or would have loved you (in a day or two)

no-pressure tags: @oscarpiastriwdc @blorbocedes @kritischetheologie @wewentcarracing @gayferrari @foggieststars and anyone else who wants to do it! I have no idea who's done this one already

[sirellas]

Left Hand of Destiny (1&2) stream of consciousness review

Overall thoughts: I really liked this book! Or technically 2 books but the second is just the continuation of the first so in my head it was just one long book (~500 pages all in all). This is only the second trek book I've read and also the second written by the actor who played the character in ds9 (shoutout to ASIT, though this one has a non-actor co-writer as well), but even beyond the star trekking of TLHOD, this was a really good read in terms of writing style, pace, emotion. It was very action and character focused which I enjoyed, and especially the characterization of Martok was so great and obviously JG Hertzler had a lot of thoughts about the character he played that translated really well on page.

The memory alpha article on TLHOD says this but I didn't really start to see it until the last half of book 2, but this is very much a King Arthur story (btw don't look at that memory alpha page unless you don't care about major spoilers lol). Down to a lady in the lake handing out mythical swords. That instance was a little heavy handed in my opinion, but I did like all of the prophetic dreams and talk of glorious purpose.

That's something to note though: if you don't like dream sequences, this is not the book for you. There are A LOT of dreams. In fact the opening scene is a dream, but it's now my new favorite opening line in a book because it jumps right in by telling you who this guy is and what his deal is:

I personally am a big fan of overt symbolism like this (even a well done cliché or two), myths and repeating cycles of heroism etc etc. And I think this book melded Arthurian drama with Klingon drama well. The Klingon-ness of this book was great. What better way to get to the heart of Klingon culture in a story but by focusing on the guy chosen to lead his people and getting it ripped out from beneath his feet and having to decide that he actually wants to be chancellor. In a lot of ways this is a story of outcasts finding their way back to where they belong, which isn't always what they expect or want in the beginning. Which leads me to...

The supporting characters really made this book. Without Pharh the Ferengi who got bullied for being as ugly as a Klingon as a child and now runs a landfill on Qo'noS, there would be no book. He's my favorite (little buddy coded to the extreme) but most of the major side characters are really well explored in terms of motivation and actions. Worf, Sirella, Ezri, Darok, Kahless, Alexander, to name a few. Alexander and Kahless were two of my other surprise standouts. And because no one who hasn't read this book knows about my new favorite guy Pharh, I will now include a couple passages I highlighted to spread the word about how great he is:

Wide array of well developed side characters aside, this book is awful for women. Yes the main antagonist is Martok's insane ex, but her character is kind of too outlandish to really have much depth. Ezri shows up at the end of book 1 and plays a big part in book 2 but honestly I'm not sure why she was even there (apart from loyalty etc, but I mean story-wise she didn't add all that much to keep the action moving ((anyone else could have been subbed in for her 9 out of 10 times and it would've made more sense tbh)) except to be another explainer of Klingon things to the reader). Sirella has a few great scenes, but not nearly enough and she wasn't allowed to do much either in terms of agency and impact on plot. Martok's two daughters are barely afterthoughts.

The main plot is that a usurper attacks Qo'noS (and specifically goes after Martok), swaying the Klingon people to their side through a combo of bioengineered charisma and the people's growing resentment toward progressive ideas that Martok (and Worf) represents. That's really only the problem in book 1, while book 2 deals more with Martok accepting the hand fate has dealt and deciding to win so they can save the decaying Klingon heart and so on. But even with the kind of cheesy setup, it rarely felt overwrought or unearned with the emotional beats. The antagonist lady is, yeah, she's a bit over the top. And before 2016 I would've said the quick flip to xenophobia and Make Klingons Great Again (I'm pretty sure they use that phrase almost exactly) in the general public was unrealistic but hey, cycles of destiny and evil constantly shifting and repeating, am I right??

There were... quite a few deaths. I guess I should've expected that, being a Klingon setting and all, but some of them hit me hard. And a few I don't think really needed to happen and kind of weakened the narrative.... maybe I'll put a spoiler section below a cut at the bottom of this to discuss those 🤪

This paragraph will haunt me for a while I think... 😀 sorry for inflicting it on others now but hey that's show business

Even with some hiccups (see spoiler section below), I loved the book pretty much. Shocker: tumblr user girlmartok loves the Martok book, but it was better than I had hoped even. The Martok focus was so good and the side characters just made it even better. Much more of a heroic fantasy than most star trek settings, which fit really well and also was refreshing. It's long! But I would recommend it if you have any interest in Klingons and/or fun little guys who go on adventures and think a lot about death.

SPOILERS ⬇️

Okay ripping the bandaid off. The way Sirella died was not chill. I mean even having her die was not something I would have included, because the story really didn't dive all that deep into her and Martok's relationship. But ramming an enemy ship so Martok could flee near the beginning of book 2... and she doesn't even kill any major bad guys doing it?? It just served no point narratively (the bad guys still outnumbered them, still caught up to them not long after) and it didn't even really affect Martok all that much beyond like one paragraph where he wants to turn around and go on a murder spree in her name... He doesn't even get to go on a murder spree in her name!!!

Bandaid rip #2: PHARH MY LITTLE BABY BOY DIES???? I was glad I had forewarning about this one because I would've been mad otherwise. I am not exaggerating saying he was my second favorite character in this book after Martok. The humor he added, yes, but also just his role as an outsider who's seen as weak by both Ferengi and Klingon, and he befriends the chancellor of the Klingon Empire, HOLDS ONTO THE CHANCELLOR'S RING FOR MOST OF THE BOOK AND BECOMES HIS SQUIRE BASICALLY 🫠💔 I don't know how anyone wouldn't fall in love with him. At least his death was done well, even though I don't think it should have happened. He at least got a murderous rampage in his name 😤 and Martok basically adopted him so he could get into Sto'vo'kor 🥺

Those were my main two criticisms of the book, and really ties into why this wasn't as great a story as ASIT, for example. A lot of things happen to Martok, but some things don't get the resolution they would need to influence him on this character journey he's going on. One of Martok's defining characteristics in ds9 is that he's a wife guy and his wife doesn't take bullshit. But then his wife dies suddenly and he's upset but he's not Upset upset, if you know what I mean. It didn't feel earned and it didn't feel necessary. Literally the first and only time it did feel like a reasonable plot device was at the very end when Worf tells him that people love a tragic victor even more than a victory. The problem is just that Martok doesn't ever explore what that tragedy really means to him.

Justice for Shen and Lazhna, Martok's daughters, who in addition to dying off screen are only brought up to highlight how shitty of a dad Martok has been. He just thinks of them (and his son Drex too but he gets more characterization solely by virtue of appearing in the narrative) in terms of himself and his love for them is more on the side of pity rather than real emotional attachment. Sirella should've been way meaner to him about that tbh.

Non character death related but a big focus of the first book was Martok losing public opinion pretty much immediately. Old friends turn against him and that really shakes him. But then in the second book... that's not really brought up again? The whole second book takes place away from Qo'noS, and yeah they mention that people will probably become less affected by the dumb bioengineered charisma after time, but I cannot stress enough how much the entire planet hated him. So he won the big battle against his foes etc etc, came back to Qo'noS and... just told everyone all that?? That goes along with the lack of fully exploring the consequences of some of these bad things that happen to Martok. It felt like a little too much piled on him and not enough resolution.

[just-some-random-blogger]

meow meow, hottie-cutie! good morning! some love time for the best tumblr writer! 'i understand British accents' omg you're so big brained big sister!! ig i really am a little (ironic isn't it) meow meow next to you. i'm amazed you seem to be really smart, interesting, intelligent, bright and soso lovely-lovely. (and hot yes) i would've liked to be mutuals or friends with you for real ig? no but who are we to each other... you don't really need to answer it if you don't want to. what about british accent, it's more about the speed at which they speak?? i've sent my bestie a voice message with them speaking, turned it on and heard only 'lawlawlaw'... my brain may be big (not as much as yours) but too slow... and like spoilers... i know these TT girl i've been hyperfixated on this show since idk? november? october? tumblr and wiki almost showed me it TT i know the plot pretty good. tbh, i have really mixed feelings about rhaenyra's kids and jace being her heir? bc yes love is love and he's basically still targaryen, i can understand her being a wild girl in need of personal life and freedom. but thinking about the image of targaryens as the royalties, i don't really approve this? but i'm not on the greens' side bc?? i still haven't watched the show what am i talking about TT srry if i said smth stupid. next time i'll try better. 'IMMA BONK THAT LOSER MATT SO HARD FOR MAKING YOU SAD WHY ARE YOU SAD???' omg you sound SO like an elder sister rn TT thank you TT i'm always the one who people wants to bonk their enemies for them bc of my big stature? lol i'm literally all bark and no bite, i always just stand next to my short friend who beats the shit out of everyone like the meme with a small barking dog and a big one who's afraid of the first one. srry i've got distracted. i'm grateful! your words sound really comforting to me. but it's not like smth happened. this situation (like all things i must do but also the need to watch hotd without subtitles and so on) is so... ridiculous. it's killing me. why do i sound so whiny and complaining TT srry ig this's just how i see my life. (no but hotd already made my cry a couple of times) 'that means you want me to be nervous' IM SORRY TT it's good you understood i hadn't meant it. it was late with my brain even slower. wish you strong nerves!! giving them to you with a big kiss on your big brain!! thank you sm for your support, my most comfort person!! hope you can (or already did) forgive you too. 'i’m sure the same could be said about your kitty' ok i'm gonna make it a little sad rn. that very day, after nearly attacking my mom, my cat came back to me to lay on my lap. so now i'm crying and i'm not hot TT my face is pretty ugly rn but my eyes are shiny and it's pretty ig OH YOU KNOW WHAT?? you've reposted 'I, Unfortunately, Love You Most' and i recalled i was that anon too TT maybe even your work inspired me to request 'it takes two' and ask to make it more cruel sidjdpsp i like miserable and desperate daemon. i literally have fucking huge plot abt it in my notes... *winkwink* i've got a lot of thoughts about fics about daemon and some ideas but i feel like you're too busy. and like i need to go to bed... so have a nice day! take care! love you <з

MEEEEEEEEOW

meow meowmoew meow

some love time for the best tumblr writer!

💅💅💅🥺🥺🥺🥺 purr

'i understand British accents' omg you're so big brained big sister!!

bonk 🤠 understanding chavs that go innit is gauge of big brained-ness for you ?? LOL HAHAH

ig i really am a little (ironic isn't it) meow meow next to you. i'm amazed you seem to be really smart, interesting, intelligent, bright and soso lovely-lovely. (and hot yes)

lol but ur taller that me ??? HAHAHH i am pretty smart interesting intelligent bright and soso lovely-lovely AND hot arent i HAHAHAH <3 🥺😍 idk why ur saying this suddenly but <3 im honored for the high regard lovie

i would've liked to be mutuals or friends with you for real ig? no but who are we to each other... you don't really need to answer it if you don't want to.

WE CAN BE MUTUALS! and friends (aren't we already 💔)

what about british accent, it's more about the speed at which they speak?? i've sent my bestie a voice message with them speaking, turned it on and heard only 'lawlawlaw'...

that happens. sometimes idk what my sister is saying and we speak the same languages HHHHAHAH also we speak to each other in english accents cos its fun innit

my brain may be big (not as much as yours) but too slow... and like spoilers... i know these TT girl i've been hyperfixated on this show since idk? november? october? tumblr and wiki almost showed me it TT i know the plot pretty good.

HAHAHHAH MALAY KO BA (Filipino for how would i know ig lsdfaashf it's hard to translate) yeah same i knew what was gonna happen in the show because i think i started watching the show was already like on its 7th or 8th episode i didnt feel the need to skip through spoilers tbh though sometimes i did like its fine. also big brains arent meant to be compared 😡

tbh, i have really mixed feelings about rhaenyra's kids and jace being her heir? bc yes love is love and he's basically still targaryen, i can understand her being a wild girl in need of personal life and freedom. but thinking about the image of targaryens as the royalties, i don't really approve this? but i'm not on the greens' side bc?? i still haven't watched the show what am i talking about TT srry if i said smth stupid. next time i'll try better.

first of all you didnt say anything stupid. second of all, i agree, i too have mixed feelings towards rhaenyra in general lol. i mean they're all problematic, third of all. fourth of all, they all need extensive therapy and the rod of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. fifth of all, AHAHAHHA 'love is love' goo off queen but also DAMN 3 times HAHAdiaslgfasfasfhlasfhas i get why alicent is so pissed T_T sixth of all, i also dont approve of it, lol but im glad rhaenyra has her papa on her side. seventh of all, viserys problematic af too. eighth of all, im not on black/green side either, though since rhaenyra is mostly the protagonist of the story, people are more inclined to support her because that was how she was presented. again. they all problematic af AHAHAHAH

'IMMA BONK THAT LOSER MATT SO HARD FOR MAKING YOU SAD WHY ARE YOU SAD???' omg you sound SO like an elder sister rn TT thank you TT i'm always the one who people wants to bonk their enemies for them bc of my big stature? lol i'm literally all bark and no bite, i always just stand next to my short friend who beats the shit out of everyone like the meme with a small barking dog and a big one who's afraid of the first one.

lol HAHAH idk if its me being an elder sister or just me being intense. mayhap a bit of both. i will fight anyone for people i love. idc if theyre taller than me. people that are taller than me inspire my rage even more because ??? you think your safe just cause youre head dangling up in the ceiling ??? i think not. buttttt tbh irl im a pacifist AHHAHAH fr im usually the mediator i just talk a lot of smack, but when it comes to it, i usually resolve things peacefully.

im wonho in the end 'i dont smash i want peace

you and i are the same then, all bark no bite (just a nibble i think AHHAHA)

srry i've got distracted. i'm grateful! your words sound really comforting to me. but it's not like smth happened. this situation (like all things i must do but also the need to watch hotd without subtitles and so on) is so... ridiculous. it's killing me. why do i sound so whiny and complaining TT srry ig this's just how i see my life. (no but hotd already made my cry a couple of times)

im glad i can be a comfort to you my love. its ok to feel frustrated over things that frustrate you. its better sometimes to ride it out so that you let go of the feeling more wholly. as someone who watches a bunch of foreign films/shows, i understand the frustration of finding content without subtitles you can read so its ok. idk if i cried over hotd but i did very much feel disturbed many times over

'that means you want me to be nervous' IM SORRY TT it's good you understood i hadn't meant it. it was late with my brain even slower. wish you strong nerves!! giving them to you with a big kiss on your big brain!! thank you sm for your support, my most comfort person!! hope you can (or already did) forgive you too.

'i’m sure the same could be said about your kitty' ok i'm gonna make it a little sad rn. that very day, after nearly attacking my mom, my cat came back to me to lay on my lap. so now i'm crying and i'm not hot TT my face is pretty ugly rn but my eyes are shiny and it's pretty ig

T_T MY LOVE T_T IDK WHAT TO SAY ITS GREAT THAT YOUR CATE CAME BACK BUT ALSO REALLY SAD its ok to cry if ur sad but dont let yourself be sad all the time. i kiss my pretty darling

OH YOU KNOW WHAT?? you've reposted 'I, Unfortunately, Love You Most' and i recalled i was that anon too TT maybe even your work inspired me to request 'it takes two' and ask to make it more cruel sidjdpsp i like miserable and desperate daemon.

DANG THAT WAS YOU TOO you really are my #0 fan AHHAAAHHA tbh i love cruel fics but sometimes i dont think i write it well enough lol

i literally have fucking huge plot abt it in my notes... *winkwink* i've got a lot of thoughts about fics about daemon and some ideas but i feel like you're too busy. and like i need to go to bed... so have a nice day! take care! love you <з

you can always send me your thoughts if you want to. it's really just that i get back to them a little late because of how famous i am 😎 lol but in all seriousness, im so honored so many people like my writing enough to req things from me so yeah im luv u all<3

xxx

[gralunaisland]

Part 2 of "Why Gray is NOT a Tsundere"

(An Anti-gr///via Post)

[Links to Part 1 and Part 3 are linked here.]

Refuting the @f*ckyeahgr*via post:

Again, this is the post I read that tries to prove Gray is a tsundere which I will be analyzing and countering to prove that Gray is in fact not a tsundere.

Anyway, first, I will say I agree with the Anon that suggested this to me all those months ago. This post seems to be quite reasonable at first glance, at least compared to other Pro gr///vian arguments which tend not to be.

However, I gave it careful thought, and I believe I have a response to each of their points.

Also, remember, as I said in Part 1, I refer to the Pro gr///vian writer of this post as "Author", and their quotes are in orange. Lastly, this post is the longest of the 3 parts so be prepared.

Onto the Author's post:

"Yes, there is a difference [between being a tsundere and not returning someone's feelings]. But, it’s a shame when shipping preferences get in the way of people seeing obvious character traits for what they are."

This is what Author basically starts out by saying, and it's really a baffling thing for a Pro gr//vian to say.

I mean... in the nicest way possible... look at the pot calling the kettle black.

Pros are literally the ones whose shipping preferences get in the way of them seeing juvia's glaring, painfully obvious traits (flaws, they're flaws) for what they are (again, flaws).

The hypocrisy is pretty baffling to me, even if it's accidental.

Because Pros just ship Gray and juvia together with no real thought as to the healthiness of the relationship, they usually flat out ignore her toxic traits:

from the stalking ("she only did it a few timessss" or "it's not stalking, she's just watching the guy she likesss even if she's following him across the country without his knowledge"),

to the emotional manipulation ("noo she wasn't making Silver's death all about her and her selfish love of Gray, she was just apologizinggg", ignoring the fact that she never said sorry and ignoring the fact that she said she had no right to love him but she continues to “love” him afterward because she didn’t actually believe that, she just wanted Gray to make her feel better even though he’s heavily grieving right now etc.),

to the ignoring him whenever he is obviously uncomfortable or when he literally rejected her ("nahhh his clear rejection of her and her feelings was just a red herring, he obviously just adores her, no doesn’t mean no, and consent is all subjective anyway" etc.),

to ignoring all his boundaries ("awww isn't it so sweet that they lived together after FT disbanded?? let's just forget the fact that she trespassed, refused to leave, and then tried to sleep with him" etc.),

to creating creepy merchandise all with Gray's face on it and using it to get off ("heyyy, don't kink shame! it's perfectly healthy to do this even if the person she based all the merch off of doesn't know she's doing this and doesn't like her back" etc.)

etc. etc. etc!!!

I'm sorry, Author, but you are describing yourself when you're trying to call out Antis. Your adoration of the ship gr///via blinds you from seeing juvia's obvious traits as what they are, detestable, as well as from seeing that Gray is a victim here, not a willing participant and most certainly not the bad guy here.

But let's continue.

Author moves on by claiming Mashima proclaimed Gray's "tsundere-ness" himself by highlighting it on the manga cover with the words "You've never seen Gray make this face before!", as if that proves the face Gray was making was tsundere. I also found another translation of what I think Author was referring to on the gross title page of juvia for 413 Days, which says "This will be the first time Gray shows this side of himself", which would directly contradict certain things that this Author says that I will get to later on.

To be honest, the face he makes actually does look pretty tsundere, if we're just going to focus on looks. He's frowning with eyebrows furrowed, and he's got a slight blush on his face.

However, Gray was probably only making that expression because of a combination of being ashamed of his "harsh treatment" (aka rightful treatment) of juvia from that particular day (because he's a nice person and actually he wasn't even being harsh now that I went back to read the stupid chapter), being ashamed that he "treated her badly" when she was "just trying to be nice", being grateful for something cheerful on a dreary day, as well as being embarrassed again that it was juvia, the girl who's made it abundantly clear she desires him and pesters him who was cheering him up despite how much he's told her off.

I'm thinking it's mostly that last thing as the reason why he makes that particular expression. He's a big softie, and yet he's been setting hundreds of boundaries for juvia-- rightfully so-- so it definitely pains/embarrasses him to actually enjoy something she gives him.

In that case, it makes perfect sense why he 'hasn't made that face before' because this is the first time he actually appreciates something juvia does for him.

All that makes abundantly more sense than him “trying desperately not to let anyone know that he likes juvia", which is the whole point of the classic tsundere face where they pretend to hate the person they like in the first place by the way, especially when in the next panel, which Author shows, he's smiling, and especially since he's alone and has no one to prove it to, least of all juvia who isn't even there.

Then Author brings up Erza witnessing Gray smiling and wearing the scarf, saying she "passed by with a knowing smile on her face", as if that proves anything? I honestly don't know what they thought they were proving here, really, because yes, Erza saw Gray wearing the scarf, and she smiled with a blush on her face.

Uh... Like we care what she thinks??

I absolutely hate Erza when she's butting into Gray's personal "love life". On a different occasion, she berates Gray for not giving juvia a clear answer, even though he's made it clear to anyone who's not an imbecile that juvia's actions bother him, basically saying it's his fault that juvia keeps pestering him, actually victim blaming him even though he was just being a nice guy to juvia. She literally encourages juvia's insane and just plain inconsiderate behavior towards Gray and supports her through it all. She really shows that her true loyalties lie with helping juvia ruin his life rather than with the man whom she's been friends with since childhood. Erza is the one who tells juvia she has to give him a gift since it's "their anniversary". If Erza was really Gray's friend, then she should know that that day was the anniversary of Ur's death. But noooo she still puts juvia up to bothering Gray even though she knows how Gray reacts to juvia's antics and even though by then he'd already rejected her. And even if she didn't know that it was Ur's deathday, then after learning, she should've been supporting Gray, not juvia. Oh gosh, the words Erza spouted to juvia while she was crying for ruining Gray's day:

"Besides, I don't think Gray was bothered too much by your gesture. It's just one day. If lives were lost today, then today, lives were also born. How important each and every day is... depends on how important you feel it is to you."

This made me want to rip the red hair out of her head. Not only does she spur juvia on to bother Gray even though she knows Gray already rejected her, she tries to make juvia feel better (instead of comforting Gray) by basically saying, "don't feel bad for annoying Gray on the most important and saddest day for him. People die and are born everyday, so Gray should just get over it."

Onto the next point:

The next thing Author looked at was the panels where juvia made bread with Gray's face on them.

"Prior to that, we had people pointing out that Gray was completely contradicting his own rejection, by being obliging towards Juvia, with his very tsundere-ish line of “Well, since you went to all this trouble…” while BLUSHING and taking one of her breads (who blushes when they eat bread?)"

What's absolutely hilarious is that a total of five people had blushes on their face in the two panels Author showed. Blush does NOT equal romantic feelings every time it shows up in manga. If it did, then not only did Gray and juvia have romantic feelings in these panels, but so did Cana, Mira, and Elfman. Uh, "who blushes when they eat bread"?? Maybe ELFMAN who literally has blush on his face when he says, "This tastes really manly!" as he eats juvia's bread???

Need I say more on this point? No? Good.

Anyway, onto Author's point of pointing all this out, remember, Gray isn't a mean person.

He's actually never been mean to juvia; he's not mean to people in general. One example is when he was so apologetic and felt so bad that he'd accidentally hurt Mirajane's feelings when he thought a drawing was childish. The closest thing he's gotten to being mean is his rivalry with Natsu, but it's shown time and time again that that's just surface level rivalry and fooling around and that he actually cares about him. Baking bread takes time and effort, which he recognizes with his words (which accounts for the "very tsundere-ish line"), and it's among the marginally less creepy things she's tried to give him, so why wouldn't he accept them, especially since he's nice?

Accepting something she made is not akin to declaring that he actually likes her. He's probably only blushing because she's embarrassing him like usual in front of the whole guild. He's also sweating hard, which shows that it's probably stress from the public humiliation too. Gray's never liked juvia's over the top antics, especially how she's not subtle in public about it, and her baking him bread with their faces on it is definitely embarrassing.

Onto the next point:

"And then there was the 366 moment that he initiated (gripping her hand and intimately telling her he was with her) which again was completely contradictory towards his previous words of rejection towards Juvia, and obviously had romantic implications behind the moment. I mean, how do you go from this (and mind you, the official translation was even harsher than this, as he said refused/rejected, rather than “No thanks.")"

"To this?:"

I'm confused how Pros have the audacity to show Gray's rejection and then to pretend like it didn't matter at all. Notice how they even mention that the official translation was harsher? Gray was making it completely clear that he didn't reciprocate juvia's feelings, without any hint of the classic tsundere blush and stammering, without any of the unease and uncertainty. He was laying it all out in the open. He wasn't even being cold in the tsundere sense; he's not being cold by firmly setting boundaries and by making it clear he doesn't consent to being treated like this by juvia. Why can't they just understand that no means no?

As for the second scene, Gray has always been there for his friends emotionally and physically. Remember in the Phantom Lord arc where Erza was collapsing against his chest in defeat and he held onto her? Remember when Gray was physically supporting Lucy as she used the Book of End? He expresses concern for his friends through physical means many times over the anime, and this time with juvia would be no exception. Just because he lays his hand on juvia's hand, a girl who's a part of the guild he loves so dearly, a girl whom he still considers a friend even though juvia shows time and time again she's not willing to be friends with him, doesn't mean he loves her; he's merely supporting a worried, stressed comrade of his.

Him being kind to juvia and him loving juvia are not mutually inclusive. In other words, him doing the former doesn't necessitate the latter. He's just a kind person in general, as I've said many times, and if you can't see that he's a kind person in general, are you even a fan of Gray's? Honestly, I wouldn't think many Pros are fans of Gray because of how toxic this ship is for him, but I'd love to hear how they reconcile it in their mind.

Onto the next point:

"And Gray’s tsundereness does not just apply to Juvia. He has a HISTORY of being tsundere with people. The first arc he participated in within the series (the Lullaby arc) flat out established him as tsundere, when he acted as such with Natsu, by not wanting to directly tell him to not die (see the embarrassed blush):"

"And before you say, Natsu was acting similarly, no. Natsu has NO PROBLEM telling Gray in the Galuna Island arc to not die. That’s the difference between Gray and Natsu. Natsu has no problem directly showing how much he cares for people."

Well, honestly good for Author, they show that they realize being tsundere doesn't just apply to romantic interests.

Rather than him being tsundere here, though, I think this is literally just a case of "boys being boys". Guys just don't tend to be very emotionally vulnerable. It's not a secret that most of the time Gray and Natsu butt heads. The times where either of them tells the other that they actually care for each other are not often.

Here, Author, you state that you can't say Natsu was acting similarly here, however, I disagree, because while, yes, Natsu made it clear in a very dire moment when Gray was about to kill himself through Iced Shell that he didn't want him to die, in this moment, Natsu acted the same exact way that Gray did, flushing and then quickly turning away, breaking eye contact. I don't think either of them are being tsunderes, they're just not used to showing how much they care for the other on a regular basis, and for guys, it can be especially embarrassing to show it.

You say that's the difference between these guys, that "Natsu has no problem directly showing how much he cares for people", but I mean, think back to the Phantom Lord arc where Gray fights your precious juvia, where Gray declares loudly and proudly that he'd die to save Lucy from them. I'd say that's plenty direct, especially since juvia (though she's an idiot so I wouldn't put much purport to this) mistook his passion for romantic love for Lucy. Also think to how viscerally and visibly angry Natsu, Erza, AND Gray were when Sabertooth's Minerva was brutalizing Lucy in the GMG, and how both Gray and Natsu ran out onto the field in front of everyone to catch her. These are only a couple of examples, but Gray has no issue showing how much he cares for people, even publicly.

It's just more awkward for him to tell these things to his dude friend, especially with a dude friend he bickers with jokingly for the most part, especially when the situation isn't exactly dire yet.

Onto the next point:

"Another example of Gray’s tsundereness was when he first met Erza. He acted tsundere with her too, being antagonist towards her, while obviously caring about her feelings, but trying his best to hide it:"

I feel like here, Author is just misreading it, which I don't blame them since they're only looking at these panels, but to get the full picture, they need to look beyond these panels and at the entire chapter/episode. If you do, you'll see that Gray doesn't "care for Erza's feelings" as soon as he meets her. He's actually annoyed by her and fights with her and picks on her from the get-go because of how standoffish she acts.

He's not acting tsundere here; he's genuinely surprised to see her cry for the first time. He's totally thrown off guard since he's used to her just putting 'em up and fighting him back. He definitely wasn't prepared for her to show her vulnerable side. I don't think the trembles and the nervous sweats show him desperately trying to hide any semblance of sympathy, I think he's just seriously surprised by this turn of events and is woefully unprepared and nervous to deal with a pretty girl crying, and then of course he has to deal with expressing his sympathy, but I definitely don't think hiding the sympathy was the first thing on his mind or even the first instinctual thing he did. The first thing he did was ask her why she's always on her own. He immediately dives right into the deep questions, showing his natural kind side.

Author segues from that into:

"In fact, Gray makes a speech during the TOH arc about how Erza has to be in FT so she wont cry. Do you think Gray EVER told Erza any of this? Not likely."

Sigh.

I'm sorry, but a guy not telling a girl that he doesn't want her to cry doesn't mean he's a tsundere. You see, being a tsundere means you normally act cold and harsh to someone. Gray doesn't with Erza, he just jokes around with her and is usually scared of her, but he's showed plenty that he actually cares for her. Just because he doesn't tell her all his heartfelt emotions about how much he (platonically) loves her doesn't mean he's being a tsundere. I think people forget how guys are in general, not that they act as a monolith, of course, but it's a definite theme amongst men to be more closed off with your emotions, which doesn't necessarily mean you're actively hiding them and covering them up by acting mean and cold like tsunderes do.

In addition, I've already said in Part 1 that you can't take "not talking about your feelings" as equaling tsundere because again, that would mean most everyone in the Fairy Tail universe is a tsundere because no one talks about their feelings all the time except in dire straits like what is depicted in the picture above.

Another segue:

"But again, in comparison, Natsu has no problem saying things directly to Erza in the very same arc, and crying in front of her. Natsu can be immature sometimes, but he’s no tsundere. Gray, however, IS."

IIII just don't get it.

Without even trying to attack them, I honestly feel like Author hasn't read or watched most of Fairy Tail. At the very least, they’ve forgotten most of it. Gray cried for Ur right in front of Natsu, Happy, and Lucy in the Galuna Arc before Natsu ever did. He cries again in front of them when he sees Ultear's sacrifice. And of course, Pros would never forget Gray breaking down crying at his father's grave. And he has very plainly shown how much he cares for his friends on a regular basis, literally in every arc. His anger and his passion to protect them is honestly on full display every fight.

I've already addressed this earlier in this post anyway, but anyway one last thing before I move on, I just have to say that Gray is such expressive character that I am quite actually baffled that viewers could see him and immediately think he's a closed off, harsh, cold-acting tsundere. In my next watch through, I'll be sure to pay more attention to those moments where Gray is being super expressive so I can list them all off, but seriously, that's what these Pros need to be doing, to actually take some time to analyze Gray's behavior and his responses to juvia's actions. Maybe then they'll realize how off-putting and toxic she is, and that maybe before Gray was brainwashed by Mashima, he reacted in a way that made sense and was honest considering those facts.

Onto the next point:

"And of course, he acted like a little brat with Ur, and lashed out at her, even though she was like a second mother to him, and took care of him. But, of course he cared for her, even before her sacrifice. He was just hurt. As Ur said, there was darkness in his heart because of what happened with Deliora, and she sealed that away for him, but his tsundere quality remained lol. ^-^"

Oh goodness... This point actually made me sad...

Now Pros are trying to say that “the only reason why Gray would possibly reject juvia's disturbing advances is because of how Deliora traumatically scarred him by taking away everyone he loved, which made him into a tsundere”?...

I am almost at a loss for words...

This is beyond delusional. How could they just completely ignore juvia's glaring, toxic, abusive faults and go right to "Oh, well trauma is the only reason Gray wouldn't wanna shack up with someone as wonderful as juvia-sama despite the fact that she ignores consent, she ignores privacy, she ignores Gray's desires and goals, she hates everything he loves, and she just wants herself to be happy"??? This is legit juvia-level delusion, and it's a bit frightening.

I also hate that Author reduced the immensely and deeply and irrevocably traumatized Gray to just “acting like a brat” as well. It’s awful. It just goes to show you how lots of Pros aren’t Gray fans at all, just juvia fans.

To be honest, though, despite all that, this is the closest we've gotten to Gray acting like a tsundere. Here, he does act harsh and temperamental, and he took out his anger and his anguish and his hurt that he got from losing his family on Ur, despite him clearly caring for her at the end and being heartbroken that she sacrificed herself for him.

However, I still don’t think this is an example of Gray being a tsundere.

If I were to split hairs, one could argue that it was this moment where Gray started to care for her, or at least realized it, after seeing what lengths she was willing to go for him, and therefore, he wasn't just acting cold to hide his familial feelings towards her, though I will admit that's probably a reach.

To go a different route, though, this just isn't a case where, quoting one of the definitions of tsundere, "They will occasionally let slip their warm and loving feelings hidden inside. They hide their feelings due to being shy, nervous, insecure." All 3 definitions say it's a gradual process of showing warmer feelings, but right up until the very end, Gray was completely hostile towards Ur. There was nothing gradual about the abrupt wake-up call that was Gray realizing that his mistake would cost this woman, whom he should've felt gratitude towards, her life.

And clearly, Gray was only acting harsh and cold and temperamental because he was just misdirecting his negative feelings at Deliora towards Ur. As a little kid, he didn’t have great control of his emotions, as little kids don’t, and with the great loss he had, he needed an outlet, a scapegoat, and he settled on making Ur his emotional punching bag. He hated Deliora, he hated life for taking away everything he loved, so he projected that hate onto the only person he could express that hate towards: Ur. Acting harsh and cold and temperamental doesn’t mean you’re a tsundere: it could just mean you’re a traumatized individual who desperately needs an outlet to express your grief and anguish. Gray wasn’t “being a tsundere” because “that’s his character trait where he’s just socially awkward and therefore can’t express his feelings”, he was just lashing out at the world that wronged him so badly.

[[And remember at the very beginning of this post, where I said I'd get back to something? Well, it was the translation of the 413 days quote where it said "This will be the first time Gray shows this side of himself" with the picture of Gray making a "tsundere" face. If we're going to take Mashima's word for it, wouldn't it not make sense that Gray has always been a tsundere since he was a kid, as Author suggests here and in the chapter where kid Gray confronts kid Erza, and yet he only acts apparently like a tsundere for the first time in the 413 days chapter?

Something isn't consistent with the facts, and I believe it's Author's assertions. How could Gray “be acting like a tsundere, being a tsundere,” throughout his life, and yet he only starts to act like it in 413 Days?? Either way, it doesn't matter to me because I don't think Gray is acting like a tsundere in 413 days either, nor here with Ur nor with Erza, but it just goes to show how even the text itself disagrees with Author, and it shows that Author’s conclusions are not actually coming from canon material.]]

I'd definitely have to rewatch it and get more insight on it because it's already been a year since my last rewatch, but these are my thoughts on it for now. Please do give me your thoughts on this, or on anything, dear readers!

Anyway, even if Gray was acting a mite tsundere here, and that's a huge if, that doesn't necessitate that Gray would stay that way his whole life, especially considering the impact Ur had on sealing the darkness for him.

To wrap this portion up, I find it rather nutty that Author decided to take Deliora's trauma as the reason for Gray's supposed tsundere-ness, and that they even acknowledged that Ur was sealing away the darkness, and yet they decided to cherry pick what the trauma affected and what part of the trauma stayed and to claim that Gray's now a tsundere in his romantic and platonic pursuits (despite him showing he's definitely not at the very least in the latter case). I wish I knew a psychologist who could analyze Gray (though I've heard from a friend that they showed juvia's profile to a psychology professor and they came to the conclusion that she's actually insane which is fun.)

Onto the next point:

"He even acts tsundere with Lyon. He insults him and is antagonistic towards him all the time, and sees him as a rival, but he clearly loves him like a brother (and in fact, Lyon is the same way, as we saw how broken up he was when Gray died)."

Again, Author doesn't understand the bond of bros. I'm like this with my own brothers: insults are the norm even though we love each other. I think this is how most young guys are too actually. Maybe Author hasn't been around enough guys to understand that.

I suppose that's focusing too much on "personal experiences", but I don't know how to mention it besides saying that that's just the culture of many young men... I don't know what Author expected, that all the guys who aren't tsunderes would have heart-to-hearts on the daily about their feelings and how much they love each other?

But anyway, about what they said. I think Author's words here even agree with my stance on this subject. "He insults him and is antagonistic towards him all the time, and sees him as a rival, but he clearly loves him like a brother". You see... Isn't a tsundere supposed to be warming up to their person of interest? Immediately after their fight on Galuna Island, they showed they did still care for each other. There wasn't really anything gradual, they just had to settle this "disagreement" and to settle the long-standing resentments.

What's more, you have to stay logically consistent, Author.

You said before "But again, in comparison, Natsu has no problem saying things directly to Erza in the very same arc, and crying in front of her. Natsu can be immature sometimes, but he’s no tsundere" and yet you say here that Lyon is the same way (i.e. is a tsundere) like Gray.

Thing is, Natsu has the same exact dynamic with Gray that Gray and Lyon have; they insult, they bicker, they brawl, and they have each other's backs. And yet you acknowledge that Natsu is definitely NOT a tsundere, so why the heck is this proof that both Gray and Lyon are tsunderes? They both make their own feelings clear when it counts, just like Natsu. It's not like Natsu, whom as you mentioned is totally fine with declaring his feelings for his friends, says all those heartfelt things in regular day-to-day life, just out of the blue, like "Erza, you mean the world to me", or "Lucy, I would die for you a million times over," or "Happy, I'd give my left nut to be your friend forever" etc. etc. Gray, and even Lyon for that matter, will say those heartfelt things when the moment is right, just like Natsu does.

AGAIN, by this faulty definition, everyone is a tsundere. Because Erza knocks Gray's and Natsu's heads together on a regular basis, but she loves them, and generally does it for their own good. Lucy will tell the boys to put a sock in it if they're getting out of hand or will send them flying with a Lucy kick for intruding in her house, but she also loves them dearly. And Happy will say the most out of pocket stuff, especially to Lucy, and yet this is all in good fun. They're not purposefully acting harsh or cold, especially not to hide the fact that they actually love each other, and especially not because of a character trait that makes it particularly hard to express their true feelings, they're just acting as friends do in light-hearted times. For the most part, they just hang and chill and laugh as friends should, and what's more, they really do build each other up, even if it's through insults that get Gray and Natsu fired up to compete with their magic.

(No one better bring up juvia and say "oh well juvia also jokes around and doesn't actually hate other girls" because she's never joking in the slightest and she actively tries to drive other women away through her glares and her muttering and tries to demean them for daring to be in the same vicinity as Gray. Nothing about what she does is uplifting, the only feelings she's feeling in these moments are misplaced and manic jealousy, prejudiced hostility, and severe insecurity, and she literally shows that she legit would wish harm on others just so she could get near Gray, and has actually tried to kill women who get too close to Gray as well as Gray himself, so this is NOT the same thing. That's no friend.)

Almost done:

"Again, he is HARSH and TSUNDERE towards those he cares the most about. He has insulted Natsu, Lyon, Ur, Erza (calls her a monster) and JUVIA. And, he also is embarrassed when his true feelings come to the surface, and tries hard to keep them private. He doesn’t want people to know HOW MUCH he cares, and because of that, he rarely talks about his feelings to anyone, let alone directly to the person he’s having those feelings for. This is classic tsundere behavior. "

This is the same quote that I'd shown in the very beginning (in Part 1).

Something I'm just noticing now is that Author specifically doesn't include Lucy in the list of people he cares most about. This could be one of a few things or even all of them, but a common trend I've seen among Pros is that they're threatened by Lucy's healthy and solid relationship with Gray so they try to pretend they're not the best of friends.

Another reason for not including her might just be that Gray's relationship with Lucy just doesn't support their narrative. He's definitely not mean to her, though he does keep her vanity in check sometimes, but he shows that he cares for her even from the beginning, from being willing to stake his life to rescue her, to making sure she got home safe since there was a stalker following her around, to, again, since I love this scene so much, the GMG scene where he runs out in front of everyone to catch her and save her from more injury, to his and Lucy's heartfelt conversation after the Avatar arc, to how much time they spend together talking and hanging out. Nothing about his actions towards her is tsundere, so Author can't include her in the list of people Gray loves most because it doesn't coincide with their argument, like so many other things.

Anyway, moving past best girl Lucy reluctantly, I'd love to learn the reasons why Author thinks Gray's cared about juvia "the most" since the beginning. Remember, this Author has been trying to prove Gray's had this tsundere-ness since he was kid in order to prove that all of Gray's rejections of juvia are simply him being too uwu shy uwu to admit he actually loves her and that he's actually liked her this whole time. I've been talking about this in some wonderful recent asks I've gotten, how juvia is quite decidedly not Gray's type considering all the women he's cared about in his life, and I'd genuinely want to hear what reasons Pros could think up that would explain what made Gray fall for the crazy, selfish weirdo who doesn't care about friends like he does, and who certainly doesn't care for Gray's emotional and psychological well-being.

As for the rest of this paragraph, I've already talked about how not talking about your innermost feelings with people on a daily basis doesn't make you a tsundere. I've repeated myself enough.

The last pertinent bit and Conclusion:

"That’s why I also think that anyone at this point who sees Gray’s actions as someone who simply does not return Juvia’s feelings, is someone who is letting their bias cloud their judgement. The evidence for Gray’s feelings towards Juvia has been mounting since at least the Tenroujima arc. To not see where things are clearly headed between them, is just to be in denial. By all means, ship what you like, but don’t deny a blatant character trait, because you don’t like what it implies for something you don’t ship."

I hope my readers could tell me if I'm letting my bias control how I look at all these scenarios. At one point, I was struggling to put my thoughts to paper so to speak, so this post could definitely use some polishing and outside critiques.

In all honesty, though, I don't think I'm letting my bias cloud my judgment. I did my best to look at each instance objectively and to try to stay consistent with my reasoning.

I personally think this Pro as well as Pros like them are letting bias cloud their judgment in terms of how Gray is literally being emotionally, psychologically, and physically abused by juvia and by their contrived, unhealthy, toxic relationship.

Their last words are kind of aggravating, to be perfectly transparent. They are definitely entitled to their opinion. I for one can't complain because I have similar feelings about certain Pros myself. However, it's just insane the amount of hypocrisy in this last paragraph. I've already mentioned the hypocrisy once in this post, but man, cast the first stone, will you? So many Pros continue to be in denial of just how damaging this relationship is for both characters, really, and some Pros would just rather point fingers at everyone else who has even the slightest issue or who points out the slightest discrepancy or criticism and claim we're the crazy ones.

We always knew where the ship was going to be headed (cough headed to hell) because of the might of the Pro fandom. Obviously, Pros wouldn't accept anything less than marriage with 55 babies between the two of them. (Yes, hyperbole, you get my point.) I for one am not in denial that they're an item now in 100yq. My argument is simply that Gray hasn't loved juvia all this time, that he hasn't been a consenting and willing participant in juvia's madness that she calls romancing, and that the only reason he's with juvia now is because of the infinite manipulating and peer pressuring and gaslighting that happened up until this point. That, and Mashima's awful writing and similar peer-pressured self when it comes to this forsaken ship.

All I have to say is, in the words of this Pro Author, don’t deny a blatant character trait. Don't deny juvia's toxicity and abuse. Don't deny the harm she's inflicted upon Gray's psyche. And then we can finally really have a talk on why you support her.

Here's the link for Part 3 of this post!

(Feedback on anything in this post is appreciated!)

[munsons-maiden]

But for real why do so many people dislike Eddie with a cheerleader?? In my eyes there is nothing more romantic than loving someone unconditionally despite them being the complete opposite. Like yes obviously if you have similar interest and are alike one another it’s “easier” to bond or smth but then again what’s the fun in that? Personally i love reading Eddie with someone who’s the complete opposite to him because i live by the words “opposites attract”

I don't know whether you're referring to Eddissy or the anon sending hate because I said I loved writing cheerleader!reader but I don't think it makes that much of a difference for my answer.

I think there are two reasons: most people who dislike the trope simply can't relate to the cheerleader because many are/have been like Eddie and that's fine, we all have different tastes in what we want to read.

Secondly, as another possible reason, I think for many people, The Cheerleader is their bully. It's a concept fueled by the media, a stereotype to project your own bully, your own abuser onto. Cheereaders, in the media, are those who have it all, who are pretty and popular and don't have a care in the world except which dress to wear when they're crowned Prom Queen and who to pick on next.

I'm not from the US where the whole High School Cheerleader thing is much, much bigger so I obviously can only speak for my own country and the school I visited, but that's so far from the truth. I was a cheerleader, and it was an extracurricular activity like any other, like idk, playing chess. I was bullied severely by the Regina George of our own school, and she wasn't one of the cheerleaders.

But the concept of "cheerleader" is oftentimes associated with the Prom Queen bully type.

One of the reasons why I specifically love Chrissy so much is that, while she looks like the typical cheerleader is depicted in media (the "skinny white" type the other anon was referring to), she's not that. Chrissy isn't a bully; she's kind and sweet and her skinny-ness is the reason of an ED, and Chrissy is one of the very few people to meet Eddie with genuine kindness. It takes her a minute to correct her own judgement of him being mean and scary and see the person Eddie is. And I think that clashes with the view many people have of characters and people like Chrissy. She challenges the simple black-and-white stereotypical thinking we all adhere to to certain degrees because it's so much easier to see the world through this pattern of automatic thinking.

As Murray says, nobody wants to look behind the curtain.

And to imagine Eddie falling for their bully is hurtful even though it's not the case. Chrissy is not a bully, she's a victim of norms and conformity as much as Eddie is. And by extension this might play into hating the cheerleader!reader as well.

I love the cheerleader x outcast trope because I can relate and I fully agree with the opposites attract aspect; that's the exact same reason why I love the enemies to lovers trope so much as well. It's exactly like you said. And just like shipping, it's perfectly fine not to like a certain trope.

Why people feel the need to insult a writer because one of said writer's favorite tropes is cheerleader x outcast is beyond me - and it's unironically turning them into a bully.

[jyndor]

As much as I like cassian/rue as a concept and I really love the friendly exes idea, looking at the comparisons between the RO and Andor beach hugs like... desperately clinging to each other as close as bodies can possibly get vs that half-handshake pat-on-the-back? And like I know part of that is likely the disney toxic-masculinity-no-homo brand, but it just makes me so sad, like is this really the level of affection Cassian gets from this point on in his life? Obligatory, unthinking gestures? (until he meets Jyn and they survive and have lots of time to cuddle, obviously, but some folks don't know about that part lol)

in all seriousness I don't actually think rue and cass were ever ever ever considered by the writers to be anything more than friends, they can prove me wrong I'd be down with that but I think we should be clear when talking about this sort of thing that there are like shoulds and ares. should the writers queer up cass? fuck yes. are they going to? lol no.

is that just disney censorship? honestly I doubt it. I think society at large has a much harder time dealing with bisexuality/queerness that isn't binary than it does sexuality that is binary. it comes out differently for women and femmes than it does for men and mascs (let alone people who don't subscribe to any of those genders).

for women and femmes bisexuality and frankly same-gender attraction isn't seen as threatening patriarchy tbh. it's why we get literal gal pal shit from people when it's like, these are two wlw who have been together for decades and have gotten married and are literally fucking in their bed that they own together in their home. it's also why I think society finds it somewhat easier to believe in~~ bisexuality/pansexuality/mspec queer wlw than mlm, although lbr it's still about how the white supremacist patriarchal hegemonic ideal man can access bi wlw and therefore devaluing the wlw-ness of our wlwocity.

whereas mlm are seen as a threat to that patriarchal hegemony, the ideal man or some bullshit, because shock of shocks patriarchy impacts men and mascs negatively as fuck too. men are expected to be hyper ~masculine or whatever the fuck, access women without difficulty while also maintaining stoicism and defeating the (i cannot believe i am saying this mostly unironically) feminine urge to feel thing, to seem gay because that's feminine or whatever lol.

and so bi and mlm who are attracted to more than one gender challenge the very ideal that white supremacist patriarchy is all about. it's why so many women think bi men are automatically gay and just lying about it (well that and individual histories people have with being with men who have been closeted and cheated on them, but that's like not bisexuality that's infidelity).

so the idea that you've got a character who has an extremely important romantic relationship at the end of his life in something written years ago, I'd be shocked if the writers even considered giving cassian a boyfriend just because cassian is attracted to jyn in the film. I'm also sure cassian being a man and the lead means disney might be less cool with him being explicitly queer than say with the wlw side characters, but if we take tony gilroy's word for it, there was never any pushback on them.

as far as cassian not having any real connection until jyn, I'm not sure I agree. his connection with rue (lets make the nickname happen, ive been trying so im happy to see you using it anon) might be platonic but it's canonically important as hell - they are able to read each other well, cassian hears rue in ways melshi isn't used to, and frankly rue picks up on cassian's change in mood even if he doesn't push cass to share with him because cassian isn't ready to share.

it isn't unthinking to me. but like melshi says, they have to spread the message. the rebellion comes first.

I wouldn't be so sure that cassian doesn't have connections with characters, fuck lol kaytoo is coming next season and thats his best friend. but undoubtedly he will become more isolated as he builds a network of recruits and informants who don't know him intimately. and I don't mean sex, I mean deep knowledge of who he is.

but his relationship with jyn has always been fundamental to cassian realizing he doesn't want to go with business as usual, that he doesn't want to assassinate galen (a hope that the rebellion needs to strike against the empire) and that he can fight in the daylight instead of just in the shadows.

but it is tragic that he is so known by so few, and that when he finds someone who he understands and who understands him so well, he fucking gets vaporized lol.

lmao the death star is biphobic for killing him and jyn and making me cry every time I watch rogue one

[kaleidoscopic-quiddity]

Okay I probably should've articulated myself better but tbh I was not expecting my original post to get as much attention as it did.

Anyways: yes the epilogues and hs^2 are dubiously canon and ignored by a vast majority of the fandom, including myself. This is why I don't think that every single depiction ever of Roxy should be transmasc, because that version of Roxy is only 'canon' to the meat timeline and even then, the 'canon-ness' of the epilogues and hs^s vs the original homestuck is negligible at best.

However: as for June, the only degree of 'canon-ness' is the Toblerone arg, regardless of whether June was stated to be canon vs just-epilogues-and-hs^2-canon we all know that that's a fast and lose term in regards to homestuck and the fandom are actively encouraged to not take the comments of Hussie or anyone else who's worked on official homestuck content as word of god. To clarify, I am NOT saying I dislike the June headcanon/au/interpretation, it has a solid basis and even if it didn't it'd still be a fun and interesting take on Egbert's character. I also don't think that depicting Egbert as John is bad, provided the people who do so aren't being transmisogynistic about it. Again, if we're going by 'canon-ness' here as reasons for portraying characters as trans vs just personal enjoyment and headcanons, then June's transfemme-ness is just as equally debatable/non-canon as Roxy's transmasc-ness.

Also: I am aware that there is a complicated history in regards to Roxy and transness in the fandom. Many, many people headcanon(ed) Roxy as transfeminine, including myself, and it was upsetting for many people, especially transfemme people who really saw themselves in Roxy, to have that headcanon/fanon utterly disregarded. Additionally, as a transmasc person, I feel the execution of Roxy's 'gender arc' was stereotypical, distasteful, and poorly executed at best, especially the inclusion of Dirk, who much of the fandom headcanoned as transmasc and who a lot of transmasc homestucks, myself included, really saw themselves in, as horribly transphobic to Roxy (and Calliope) for no good reason.

So ultimately: I don't have an issue if people want to portray Roxy as transfemme or even just as a cis girl, either because they don't feel that the epilogues and hs^2 are canon (I certainly don't feel that they are), or purely because of personal preference. Where I do have an issue is that some people, especially on twitter from what I've noticed, will argue that June is indisputably 100% canon across all of homestuck because of the Toblerone ARG and comments from Hussie + other homestuck writers and that any depiction of Egbert as anything but transfemme is inherently transmisogynistic (which it can be, don't get me wrong! But it isn't always) but then turn around and depict Roxy as transfemme or cis female in their fancontent as well and make the argument of 'the epilogues and hs^2 aren't canon' when you point out this double standard.

Again: I don't think there is inherently an issue with people having both June and female Roxy coexist in their fancontent, my issue is that people will act like June is an indisputable truth of Egbert's character, but then act as if Roxy's transmasc-ness can be ignored when when it is arguably, if not more canon than June, if we're deciding to acknowledge the epilogues, hs^2, and other non-original comic official content.

And the worst thing is I'm still going to get labelled a transmisogynist for pointing all this out even though I'm just as upset as anyone else over both the completely insensitive decision to make Roxy transmasc (which hurt both transfemme and transmasc fans) and the complete lack of progress on including June as June in hs^2 or any other official content. I honestly just wish homestuck had left every character's gender as open to interpretation, which I know isn't great representation wise, but at least would've avoided all this discourse and hurt and anger.

[sparklinpixiedust]

Never

I've recently seen some old posts talking about how Ben and Gwen trusted Kevin too quickly and it was stupid. Apparently it's something they both would've never done. It's the word never that struck me.

So I just want to add my opinion and say it wasn't a stupid move. I agree Gwen and Kevin falling in love seemed rushed but the trust thing isn't as bad as people have made it out to be.

I'm going to talk about Ben and Gwen separately.

Ben

In Forge of Creation Paradox says to child Ben But one day, you'll remember it dimly and trust Kevin when you shouldn't, and he'll respond to that trust and help save the universe.

So Ben trusting Kevin wasn't out of nowhere. Paradox literally mentions that Ben will trust Kevin when he shouldn't. " shouldn't " most likely refers to when they met 5 years later. Ben shouldn't have asked Kevin to join the team but he does because Ben subconsciously knows Kevin's importance.

The show does acknowledge that Ben included Kevin in the team too quickly but also gives us a reason, though it was later on.

But even then , in Kevin's Big Score , Ben also says Still not buying the "nice guy" act, Kevin.

Again, while a part of Ben gives Kevin a chance, he still isn't too sure about his decision.

So we do have the conflict of interest shown from Ben's side so he's clear from his side.

But even if Kevin didnt save the universe Ben still would've given him a chance, maybe not that soon but eventually because thats who he is anyway. He helps Vilgax with his planet and isn't hostile against the Reiny when they were trapped. So why wouldn't he have asked Kevin to join him?

Gwen

Okay with Gwen I'm probably reaching but hear me out.

In What Little Girls Are Made Of she mentions how she feels like and outsider and then says that's what she thinks high-school is anyway to try to make herself better.

[ I couldn't get transcripts for the episode and was too lazy to type out word for word ]

Also Gwen doesn't have many friends. I dont know if the writers have ever mentioned her having friends besides Emily, because I guess Ben having lots of friends before the omnitrix in Alien Force has been mentioned.

Yes I know in OS Gwen [because she had invitations ready for her birthday] had friends but its natural over time that people drift away.

My point is Gwen feels alone. I dont think she was bullied but her being different in a magic-alien sense made her feel out of place.

I guess somewhere she knew where Kevin was coming from , though not completely.

Ben would've told her about Kevin, about how he lived in New York and what he knew of his situation, so I guess in a way she put the pieces together and could relate to being different from others.

Ben has the omnitrix but he's still a human. He's still like other people, but Gwen is inherently different.

She can't just turn off her powers, they are part of her.

So Gwen placing full trust in Kevin? probably not. But she understood enough to give him a chance.

Also I've read a few old posts about how Gwen would never be with Kevin because he tried to kill her.

My thoughts on this? Gwens mature enough to know while Kevin was bad, he was also 11 years old.

He was a child. If he was older, then I would agree that the things he did were maybe unredeemable and Gwen would never.

But they were kids. He was kid with a huge troubled past, any sensible person could see that he wasnt evil, just really angry at the world. Ben just happened to be his punching bag. He mentions people laugh at him and call him a freak. He wanted revenge for that.

Gwen has shown to give people the benefit of doubt throughout the series too e.g. with P'andor.

She even tried to patch things up with Charmcaster , though she shouldn't have right? Charmcaster was just a big a threat to them as Kevin was in the OS. That post also mentioned Charmcaster being redeemed makes more sense than Kevin's. But you're reasoning Kevin shouldn't have a redemption because he tried to kill them , then charmcasters redemption also shouldn't work because she too tried to kill them.

Having a preference for her over Kevin I can get but your reasoning should make sense.

[ chamrcasters arc is a whole other train wreck so won't be going into that ]

So teaming up with Kevin being a never isn't in the picture, atleast not for me.

Also why wouldn't Gwen like him? He's good looking , he's got charm , he's smart, and got that boy thing going.

She's still a teenage girl, crushes happen.

Though I will agree leaning into him and the whole "ill follow you anywhere moment " was too much too soon, but Gwevin being a possibility isn't so far fetched as some people claim.

I read a post on tumblr a while back and someone mentioned that even the rushing made a little sense. Because what they said was that Gwen and Kevin had a crush on each other and the reason they got together so quickly was because of it. They weren't expecting to actually fall in love with each other, however once they got together the casual-ness of the relationship became more serious.

[omegangrins]

A Rant on the End of Tremors 7: Shrieker Island

As the main man said,

Throwing caution to the wind because this blew up elsewhere.

If you can do it with Justice League, fuck it, let's do it for every shitty movie we've got.

While we're at it, can we change the ending of the 7th Tremors movie so *MAJOR FUCKING SPOILERS* Burt Gummer doesn't die or at least bring Jamie Kennedy back, or Marvel style recast Jon Heder, so he dies saving his son instead of a random-ass person who could have easily saved themselves. Or cut the forced montage of Burt clips at the end so his death is at least ambiguous. Seriously beyond pissed about that one. THAT is no way for him to go.

I would also like to point out that the next Tremors *HAS* to be titled Tremors 8: Ouroboros and bring everyone back for Burt's funeral . Otherwise, what's the fucking point?

I have feelings about it, people. *FEELINGS!!!*

One of my favourite childhood memories is picking out Tremors 2 from the local gas station's movie rentals and forcing my parents to watch it. I was probably 5-6 at the time.

Let's say that it's been a lifelong love affair ever since. It took me another 10 years before I even watched the 1st. Probably why I hold good sequels in such high regard.

I didn't even know about the 1st until it played as a trailer in front of 2 and never thought to watch until years later. That's a testament to its filmmaking if I ever knew one.

So seriously, that's how they chose to kill off one of the most well known and prolific characters in a movie/TV series known around the globe? With an unnecessaryily needed death and a montage of clips from all the other movies that are obviously better than this one.

And I'm saying that as someone who defends Chibnall/13th Doctor...

...and I'm fucking fuming because THIS is how you *actually* destroy something people love and hold dear to their hearts. It's like the ending of Game of Thrones. His shitty ass death has made it a loooooot harder to rewatch. And they are one of my favourite series!!! Not flawless but fun. But I will defend every other movie and all the episodes except this. Honestly I'll still defend 7/8ths of this one as well.

Like I said, it's easily fixed too. Fucking vice versa swap out Jon Heder for Jamie Kennedy, who the movies have been building up for the last two, and have Burt save his son in front of his old flame. Boom, you won't even need the montage of clips cause you can just have Travis and his mom reminisce about Burt instead. Show not tell. I don't even care he died by Graboid (although in all honesty, I've allways wanted El Blanco to take him down or Burt kills himself from the PTSD. It would have AT LEAST MADE SENSE. Hell, the best would be a heart attack to callback Val's "Yeah, Burt, the way you worry, you're gonna have a heart attack before you get a chance to survive World War Three.". But none of us ever get the best death.). And it's not even about Burt sacrificing himself to save a nobody. Cause that could work too. BUT YOU NEED TO BUILD THAT SHIT UP. Not just fucking drop it like it's hot.

Like I said too, the first 7/8ths ain't bad but it's an entirely different story than a swansong for a hero.

It's all about some billionaire scientist/cowboy hunter dude who likes to get his jollies off hunting the biggest and the baddest who ends up inviting people to this island so they can hunt down Super-Graboids he designed for shits and giggles. But then some Shrieker-fy....

And the pretentious douches come and die one by beautiful one while Burt tries to save them anyway and it's all spectacularly dumb fun until it comes crashing down in the final 10 minutes. Fuck, they should just cut the last 10 minutes. Then it's a perfect little Tremors ditty.

#RELEASETHE7THTREMORSWITH10MINUTESFROMTHEENDCUT

This isn't even about Jon Heder either. He's just doing his job. Hell, do what /u/VoiceofRonHoward pointed out.

"It is clear that Jon's character was just pasted in over Jamie's, the artifacts of the father-son relationship are all over it. They should have gone full Marvel and just replaced Jamie with Jon and acted like nothing happened."

CAUSE FUCK YES!! The only time a story sucks is when they don't commit. Commitment makes all the difference. Now, I'm pissed double-pissed they didn't do that instead since Heder and Kennedy are similar in terms of white-boy-ness.

Even Michael Gross agrees:

"Yes, yes. Now I can't presume to speak for Jamie [Kennedy]. My understanding was they asked him and he said no. And so that's why they went with somebody else. So I had nothing to do with that decision. I just heard the stories. I missed him for that reason. You begin a relationship with the character, and you want to continue it....

...As you build a relationship with this son, we had two, it would've been nice to have three, but that was the hand I was dealt."

One of my favourite bits of Tremors lore comes from the 5th too so it's not like I hate sequel changes out of hand:

"This is a warrior dance. Our ancestors hunting the lnkanyamba and the Impundulu.

"What's that?

"Impundulu. It's what you call the Ass Blaster.

"Ass Blaster.

"Yes.

"Yes.

"Hey, you know, you make Ass Blaster sound good.

Primitive cultures fighting Graboids, Shriekers and Assblasters. I just love that thought.

Hilariously, my meta opening to the 8th movie would be a flashback to 10,000 years ago and a Neanderthal-like Burt Gummer teaching others how to drive Graboids off cliffs like they did with mammoths.

Thank you for giving me the space to rant. Cause fuuuuuuhhhhhhhhuuccck!!!

Here's Michael Gross' own words from his AMA that prove the people making Shrieker Island didn't know their shit.

"The Tremors series is one very close to my heart and I want you to know how appreciated your continued effort is for your core fan base.

My only question would be were there ever any studio decisions made for Burt that you refused to comply with? Or was everybody pretty much always on the same page on what to do with the character?

Thanks again for your dedication.

- Josh"

"Thanks for the kind words, Josh. As regards the first four films, with Wilson and Maddock as the writers, we were very much on the same page. 5,6, and 7 were a bit different, because there was a 13-year hiatus between 4 and 5, and we had to refresh our memories while "reinventing" the franchise for a new audience. I will give you one example: in an early draft of Shrieker Island, a new writer wrote a draft where Burt threatened to shoot one of the bad dudes, and I had to tell him—this is true—"Burt never intentionally points his gun at another human being."

And his own thoughts on Burt's "death" and how to bring it all back together again.

Universal and the director [came] to me with this idea, and they said, 'This could be emotionally very powerful, if we have to say goodbye to this man after 30 years. And I hemmed and hawed, and I thought about it a little bit. And I said, 'You're absolutely right about the emotional gut punch this can be.' And I said, 'You're going to hurt a lot of people's feelings.' And I said, 'But I thought this franchise was over after four. So I could certainly live with it being over after seven.'

"What we negotiated -- well, it wasn't really a negotiation, we all agreed on this -- is that we kind of left the door open. >!Because although Burt is gone, we never see a corpse. We never see his remains. Everybody assumes he's gone. Is he buried somewhere? Is he unconscious somewhere? We never see Burt dead. We see Burt gone. We see Burt not returning. What does that mean? Has he been knocked out? Does he have amnesia somewhere? Does he wander off? Is he in a kind of coma? So yes, the way it ends is pretty profound."

"As regards to the end of Tremors 7, let me just say that while people ASSUME Burt is gone, we never see his remains, do we? Just sayin.'

"The only reason he has become the main character is that everyone else in the original cast moved on to other things. I NEVER thought of him as the central figure, but it just worked out that Michael Gross, like Burt Gummer, was a "survivor." :0) "

"No one would like to see it more than I!!! One of my greatest regrets is that so many other cast members fell away over time. Reba was on to other things, Kevin said no to a second, Fred said no to a third. I would LOVE one last go with all of them, but it is not up to me. :0( "

"There are no guarantees, but for those who wonder aloud if this is the final film, I will say what I have said before: SALES drive sequels, Show biz is 5% show and 95% business, so if this latest addition to the Tremors franchise, sells well, [Universal] will follow the money, and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment may will be back for more."

/u/ActorMichaelGross, the bell has been rung and the song sung. Get the producers on this ASAP!!

I was also the first person to discover the symbolic foreshadowing of Stumpy's end with Earl's sleeping bag in the original movie.

Let's just say, I really *really* love these movies. So if anyone knows anyone, hook me up to the producers of this series and I'll Justin Lin in the Fast and Furious out of this shit.

Since I don't think it's good to critique without proposing either, I say we can make up for this fuck up with the next movie. We'll call it Tremors 8: Ouroboros. After the snake which eats its own tail.

We find out Burt faked his death to get the Proudfoot Corporation to let down their guard and when everyone from the previous series comes back for Burt's fake funeral they give him ever loving shit for being such a paranoid whack-job that he would fake his death to fool a government agency. Why would he do this? He found an old photo of Hiram Gummer with a Graboid warning on the back and asks himself why this valley, why these things, why allways me? And we find out, it's not Burt. It's that lifestyles of extremes will end up in places of extremes. Burt and the Graboids are survivors of different species. Sure the Proudfoot Corporation IS using Mixmaster to combine Graboids, Shriekers, and Ass-Blasters into one super creature for the military but it pales in comparison to Burt looking at his life and wondering in shame how many ancient giants like himself he has killed. And with that, he actually dies, and we keep the ball rolling with the rest of the characters trying to stop what they allways thought was just another one of Burt's crazy conspiracies.

That's why it's Ouroboros. Everything comes back around. We could end/start the movie with Grady, Earl, and Jodi opening a Monster World in Perfection Valley a la Desert Jack's Graboid Adventure. I don't know. I'm fucking trying harder than the people they paid to do this already.

It ain't perfect but I'm building on sand here so changes are gonna get made.

Like if the makers of Tremors notice this,

Then DM me because fucking A you guys need some help.

[cllynchauthor]

That post you made was a mess, just fyi. 1) I went through the thread you linked, and I found the authors reasonable and respectable. The playwriter's worked with people with disabilities for 10 years, and it's clear he cares about the issue. 2) The fact Lawrence is a puppy isn't automatically pejorative. That's how art works. I haven't seen the play, but it's probably a metaphor for the teen's lack of agency or something like that. Also writing something a certain way doesn't mean you -

“- approve of it. Have you even seen the play? 3) Please stop pretending anyone represents the autistic community and that you guys speak with one voice. It’s seriously dehumanizing to think a large and diverse group of people shares the same views. In that view there is an autistic man who loved the play - I guess his voice doesn’t count because he disagrees with you?”

--

I love this anon message because it contains pretty much every argument that people are using against the autistic folk protesting this play. 

Like, I’ve been watching #puppetgate unfold since day one, read the reviews, read the responses from @allinarowplay. You think I haven’t heard these points before?

I’ve read them so many times now in tweets and reviews that your message just looks like one of those ransom notes that are made from cut and pasted words out of the newspaper.

But since Tumblr is new to #puppetgate, SURE, let’s address them! 

First of all, my #puppetgate summary was a truthful, if flippant, tl;dr of the past two weeks’ worth of Twitter drama. 

I apologize if my brief humorous take on a complex and nuanced debate didn’t meet the standards of a random stranger on the internet. 

Let’s discuss it in more serious detail.

1) You can care about an issue and still handle it really poorly. No one doubts this playwright’s intentions. But, as you say, he was a CARER for 10 years. That doesn’t mean he understands how it feels to be autistic and in fact, ableism is built right into ABA and other therapies used by carers. 

So yeah, he cares. And he still made an ableist play.

Also, the thread you mention was BELOW the video I linked to wherein the puppet designer says, and I quote:

“Laurence is non-verbal, and the power that puppets have is that they explore movement and with a turn of their head or a small movement they give life and character that you wouldn’t achieve with a human actor.”

Which is why I snidely summarized their position as 

“ This puppet is going to be SO MUCH more like an autistic child than a human could ever be!”

https://twitter.com/allinarowplay/status/1092410318960148481

Also, there is a brief shot of their script in that video at 2:19 and if you pause it and look at it you can see that the parents are joking about how their kid is like a puppy.

“Shits wherever he wants” is clearly visible.

This is the stuff the positive reviews consider funny, honest, and brave.

According to reviews, the child is present in the background throughout most of the play. Which means they talk like this IN FRONT OF HIM and this is never brought up as an issue/problem. 

In fact, non-autistic reviewers don’t even seem bothered by it, probably because they share the common misperception that non-verbal high needs autistic people don’t understand what is going on around them. So…. yeah. I don’t care how well meaning the playwright was. 

The playwright consulted the National Autistic Society and they told him they couldn’t support the play “due to its portrayal of autism, particularly the use of a puppet to depict the autistic character alone.”

But he didn’t change his mind about the puppet.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/critics-say-new-play-that-uses-a-puppet-to-portray-an-autistic-boy-dehumanises-those-with-the-condition/ar-BBTk5kC

So again - sure, maybe he cares. But he also wasn’t willing to change his vision despite the warnings of the Autism organization that he was hoping would endorse his play. 

2) Of course a puppet isn’t inherently pejorative. For one thing, the autistic community is very positive about Julia, the autistic muppet on Sesame Street.

The outrage involves a lot more nuance than that. First of all, it’s the choice to make the puppet grey and ugly. This was obviously an artistic decision. The first version of the puppet has black hair too and no eyes, just dark sockets like a skull. 

Not exactly Julia.  

And even with that, I was on the fence and willing to wait for the reviews to come out before I made a judgement. 

Like you, I thought perhaps it would be made clear in the play that his puppet-ness and greyness represented lack of agency. And maybe the designer was thinking that way. 

But if that is the case, it does not come across. 

In fact, the reviewers who enjoyed the play repeatedly dismiss the controversy by saying that the play “isn’t really about Laurence.” 

https://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/all-in-a-row-review

“The production is also about the situation, rather than about Laurence himself.“

https://www.thereviewshub.com/all-in-a-row-southwark-playhouse-london/

“sadly the grey-faced puppet adds nothing to the production that a living actor – adult or child – could not have provided.”

I’ve read a LOT of reviews of this play by now. 

Reviews from mothers of autistic children who feel a kinship with the stressed, unhappy, dysfunctional parents. 

Reviews from people without a connection to autism who feel like they learned something. 

Reviews from autistic people and disabled allies who cringe at the ableism. 

None of them - NONE of them - allude to any kind of symbolism or thematic point running through the play which justifies or explains the puppet or its weird appearance.

And the reasons for the puppet given by the playwright, director, and playhouse make very little sense. 

In that promotional video I linked to they say that the puppet can communicate better than an actor could. I disagree. So does a non-verbal autistic mime who commented in the thread below. 

They also say that it allows them to avoid being offensive or stereotypical, which makes little sense because they still had a grown man grunting and flapping on stage, just with a puppet sprouting from his waist. 

They repeatedly argued that they couldn’t use an autistic child, as if acting wasn’t even a thing. They repeatedly argued that a human actor couldn’t do the sounds and movements, even though a human puppeteer was doing just that.

My favourite one was the review (linked above) that argued that “Laurence isn’t a character a person could play (neurotypical or not) as his autism is so particular and at times violent.”

...Has this guy never seen Titus Andronicus? 

A person can play ANYTHING.

On Broadway I have seen human actors play cats, lions, baboons, and witches. 

On multiple occasions a fine-boned actress has been used to play Peter Pan. I’m pretty sure you could cast a small actor to play a pre-teen boy. Then the play wouldn’t have attracted so much negative attention.

As for “writing something a certain way doesn’t mean you approve of it.”

True. 

My fans can tell you that my main character spouts a fair amount of ableism. They’ll also tell you that this flaw is addressed openly and resolved as part of her character arc. 

They’ll ALSO also tell you that the “villains” of my story embrace ableist ideals. So yes, I wrote ableist stuff. But you can tell by the waythese things are framed how the writer wants you to feel about them.

No, I haven’t seen the play because I don’t live in the same country as it and it would take 12 hours to fly there. But I read what people write about it and I draw my own conclusions.

And the fact that ableist jokes are punchlines does not endear me to the playwright or the puppet. 

You say you haven’t read the play, and from the sounds of it you haven’t read many reviews either. 

If you think it’s wrong for me to criticize it after watching all of this unfold over days and days, and reading a dozen reviews by people who loved it and people who hated it, then how is it right for you to defend it?

3) Aw, look at that straw man lying on its side! You did a good job there.

Nowhere in my puppetgate summary do I claim that 100% of autistic people feel the same way.

I was summarizing what has been going down on Twitter over the past two weeks. I know because I was there. Don’t believe me? Actually spendsome time on the puppetgate hashtag and the actuallyautistic hashtag and see what people are saying.

And of course less than 100% of #actuallyautistic people feel the same, but I want to point out that at the time of this writing, my #puppetgate summary post has nearly 11K notes, all of them expressing disgust at the idea of this play.

Autistic people are disgusted. Autism allies are disgusted. Even people with no connection to autism can often see why this is effed up.

Yours was the only message I have received trying to defend the idea of a play featuring a messed up family arguing, discussing bukkake, calling their child a “puppy” using language which results in the play being rated as 16 plus... all in front of their eleven year old…

But what really bothers me is that somehow people come out of there identifying with the parents and thinking that it is “brave” and “honest.” 

They blame autism for what it has done to this family.

THE DAD SHAT ON HIS WIFE’S PILLOW AND BLAMED IT ON HIS OWN SON.

And the really sad thing is that your lonely messages in my inbox didn’t contain a single unique thought. I’ve been seeing those tired excuses and straw man arguments all over twitter for weeks.

They don’t stand up.

I’ve performed in theatre. I was willing to withhold judgement until more details about the play emerged. 

I was hoping they would say something brilliant and profound about what life is like for an eleven year old child with autism who is being sent away because his messed up family can’t stand it any more.

But facts are facts… they didn’t.

All they are doing is telling audience after audience that it is funny to insult your autistic child in his very presence and that autism wrecks marriages.

You can understand why a LOT of autistic people would be a bit sensitive about that kind of message.

It doesn’t have to be everyone. 

[roominthecastle]

I can't help but think you're being a bit too hard on Eleanor because of ship bias. I mean, why would you called her 'her worst self' and 'selfish' when she's always been one to throw stuff to get in heaven (even with the character development)? But suddenly she's being sappy and depending on someone who isn't Michael and the whole M/E fandom is at her throat. I'm as unconfortable as the next shipper with all the C/E scenes but is it really Eleanor and her characterization that's at fault?

Yes, of course I am biased (to a certain degree). When the show caters to my preferences, I’m more docile and much less likely to nitpick and complain, when it doesn’t and it drops the ball to boot, I get grumpy. So I’m your garden variety fan, basically. But I don’t believe I’m “at Eleanor’s throat”. Her and Chidi being together doesn’t make me uncomfortable bc it’s her and Chidi and not her and Michael (+ I often see things popping up in the C/E dynamic that can have potentially interesting implications for Michael’s development and for M/E, too. Generally speaking, the three of them make up a curious whole for me).

I know the chances of (2-sided) M/E happening are somewhere btw zero and never, so I’m not exactly eyeballing C/E as some kind of obstacle to my personal shipper nirvana, jumping at any chance to “punish” Eleanor for choosing the “wrong” partner. But I do feel uncomfortable with the way the C/E romance is written this season. “They are sidelining my no. 1 dynamic”, while frustrating, is not the reason for this, it’s not why I’m not crazy about Eleanor’s behavior and Chidi’s OOC-ness.

Eleanor + character development always resulted in stuff like her being emotional and vulnerable w/o getting aggressive and demanding, her accepting it when Chidi turned her down w/ dignity despite feeling heartbroken, and her being considerate of others to the point of volunteering to go to the Bad Place to save them. This is where she was a year ago and the year before that at the end of each season. This is not where she is now. I’m not saying being selfish and throwing stuff is not in her character make up or her problem-solving toolbox. Her overcoming these impulses, however, is the very point of her character development (made blindingly obvious last season when she lied about passing the Judge’s test and refused to go through the portal to TGP). What we have (currently! so it can change any time) in S3 is the opposite (see the in-your-face door to TGP that won’t open for her), it’s her completely giving in to these impulses to the point of seriously endangering everyone, meaning that she has, in fact, regressed. I suspect it is a point the show is trying to make but we’ll have to wait and see.

In “Janets”, all Janet asks is that they stay put until she and Michael deal w/ accounting. Eleanor works herself into a state over Chidi not opening up to her on command, putting Janet through hell and almost erasing her friends from existence while her own self is also disintegrating. Despite the serious consequences, this harmful behavior carries right over into the next ep where all Michael asks is that they lay low bc folks in TGP are so rule obsessed, they can send all of them right back to TBP. Eleanor immediately smashes stuff at the door to TGP bc it doesn’t open up for her when she demands it. It’s her bullying of Chidi from the previous ep all over again, only in a vase-meets-door form. Even Chidi has to be all about her now as he magically turns into a grossly idealized version of himself (see in S2 how she rejected a similar “fake Chidi”), spending the entire ep trying to prevent her from blowing up again while the rest of the team is cleaning up the mess in the mail room and Michael is away trying to fix the calculation issue. Despite the crazy-intense circumstances, everybody is trying to do something for somebody else except her - she is still hyper-focused on herself and it stands out to me bc this is a version of her I’ve never seen before and it’s def not the best one.

Again, it’s not because she is w/ Chidi but the issues become especially apparent within that dynamic since the second Michael showed her those memories, she just latched onto Chidi, expecting him to fill the void left by her screwed up upbringing that’s been freshly dredged up thanks to her not-dead mother. They made her lurch from “I’m incapable of love” to “I’m madly in love and nothing else matters”, hand-waving determinism while failing to provide any other reason why these 2 are suddenly together again. They are trying to play it as romantic/funny but it’s not romantic when someone’s whole identity has to be propped up by another person and it’s not funny how that other person has to repress his own identity/issues to be able to do this. It’s a suffocating, unsustainable interplay. Or if it’s meant to be interpreted as “love cures mental illness and erases every character flaw in 5 minutes, so you can finally be the proper romantic partner”, then it’s even worse. You don’t have to be a shipper of another ship or look too deep into this story to see these (imo) legitimate problems (but it helps, yes, since it’s natural to be more critical of sth you’re not emotionally invested in and gloss over stuff to preserve the fun potential when it’s your OTP or sth, I do give you that).

Eleanor having to coerce love and attention out of Chidi will never be cute, either, or proof that those feelings were there all along. People pushed some quotes from WJH into my face about how Chidi calms down bc he finally has what he always wanted - interesting choice of words, btw, given the pin Michael gave Eleanor - but 1) an actor’s opinion will not automatically replace my own (no, not even if it’s Ted’s or some other big fave’s) and 2) how exactly were we supposed to glean that Chidi wanted to be with her so much in this reboot? Was it when he went steady w/ another woman despite Eleanor being an option all along? was it when he refused to give private lessons to her bc he was just too busy? or was it when he - despite witnessing her meltdown - sent her packing bc they already had enough material for his study? For some reason the writers missed every opportunity to build this up properly and make this extremely syrupy display stick, but I’ve already said everything about that in another post.

This whole idea of “he felt this way all along, he just didn’t actually show it, so we can skip actual development” is a lazy, corner-cutting approach which reminds me of the worst kind of fanservice attempts I’ve had the misfortune of experiencing with several of my favorite shows recently. I have very low tolerance for that stuff now bc it never ends well. I did not expect to see this particular brand on this particular show, but here we are, I guess. Or if it’s a case of creative exhaustion/boredom where this billion times rebooted couple is concerned, then maybe it’s time to park them and give a not yet over-explored dynamic some attention instead to keep things fresh and fluid as opposed to stale and forced - again, not an unreasonable request, even if it comes from someone who is invested in another dynamic, given the lack of care that was apparently put into developing C/E this season.

I don’t like not liking things on this show (and it’s not Eleanor I don’t like, it’s the way they deconstructed her in order to write her back into a relationship as if she couldn’t exist w/o it), and I am sorry if I disappointed or offended bc it was not my intention. I hope they flip things or introduce a new angle that will make me re-evaluate. I am always open to that whenever new material arrives and I honestly hope they will make me eat my words soon. I will merrily absorb the suckerpuches. But for now, this is my opinion and “you just don’t like that she is not with your fave” - while a natural factor - is not the main reason why I made my comments.

[retrolizard]

(Sorry, I'll try to word it better) I know that you think it's stupid that people keep treating fiction like reality (aka the ks situation) and was wondering what your opinion of the media should do when confronted with situations like it. If I'm not mistaken, you want representation like poc, lgbt, etc, however it put the media in an odd spot if it's simultaneously fiction isn't reality and should be treated as such, and also show more etc, because if that representation matters doesn't it all?

Okay now I see what you’re getting at.

I have totally different expectations of responsibility for a piece of media based on how mainstream that thing is. And the level of mainstream-ness is only one factor. For an example, let’s look at Stranger Things. Netflix is a H U G E company and they aren’t just a streaming service anymore, they’re in the business of producing some of the most-consumed media in the USA. So from them, I expect excellence. Stranger Things had so much problematic shit going on, I’m not even gonna get into all of it - I still liked it, and I’m gonna hope for better in season 2, but I don’t let them off the hook for all the problematic elements in that show.

Then on the other side of the spectrum is stuff like fanfiction. For fanfiction authors, the level of responsibility I anticipate is basically zero. I expect them to tag everything correctly and beyond that, I don’t care what fucked up stuff they wanna write. What is the average hits per fic on AO3? A few hundred, maybe? That’s not a huge audience. Fanfiction is such a niche culture with even smaller niches inside it, and fanfiction writers are usually really good about tagging everything correctly. For me to click on something labeled “snuff” and then loudly complain “I find this distasteful!” is like that comic of the guy who says he hates sharks and then jumps in the shark infested waters. I have no right to complain because I knew exactly what I signed on for. A mother who buys GTA for her ten year old kid has no right to complain, since the package warned her that it was not appropriate for her child and why. But something like Stranger Things, that didn’t come with a warning label of “oh by the way there’s an unnecessary, long sex scene with teenage characters and it also reeks of ‘no means yes’ rape culture elements that are in no way portrayed as negative”.

How different types of media are produced, packaged, sold and consumed makes a huge difference. There’s video games, visual novels, webcomics, books, movies, TV, they all have different standards for content warnings and different sizes and demographics of the audiences they’re made for, and they all have to jump through different hoops to get produced. Like, a bunch of people in hollywood had to decide to greenlight that fucking horror movie about the suicide forest in Japan. nobody in that entire creative process stopped and thought, hey maybe we shouldn’t take another country’s actual real ongoing crisis and turn it into a cheap horror flick? but they don’t care, because they can make money off of it. something like that I absolutely support boycotting. don’t reward them with your money for exploiting an actual tragedy.

but then if somebody wants to write a messed up fanfic with content i find distasteful, or post some fanart on their blog, they’re doing it for free and mostly for themselves. I have no right to tell them they can’t, as long as they label it all correctly and take measures to keep it away from people who don’t want to see it. moreover, my harassing them and getting angry won’t make the content I don’t like go away. they’re a random person on the internet, and they probably don’t need me to educate them about their shit being problematic, they probably know full well that it is. i have no power to make them stop and even if I did, I wouldn’t be helping anyone or accomplishing anything. i’d just be bullying someone i don’t know because i don’t understand the concept of blacklist, block and ignore.

So there’s some grey areas and complexities. It’s never a simple “this is ALWAYS okay” or “this is NEVER okay”.

as far as asking for more representation, mainstream media falls way behind in that area, consistently. it’s important to keep demanding better representation in media for people that aren’t white and straight. we’re getting there, slowly but surely.