#I do think this is an important trope

[chirpsythismorning]

Ya'll catch the final rose ceremony at the end of s4?!

#byler #stranger things #'last nights episode ended on a cliffhanger with the audience left wondering who bachelor-mike would choose--' #'will he choose the one who walked around the rose delicately to stand with it framed neatly in the background between the two of them?--' #'or will he choose the one who bulldozed it?' #'all will be answered tonight on the series finale of bachelor apocalypse' #no but seriously is that flower in front of el cgi? #depending on how many takes this shot took... i don't think they'd have something like this occur unless they wanted it to #i know they hand picked flowers for these shots #but it's not like that rules out them using movie magic #especially in this case where it was apparently important enough for them to handpick in the first place... #meaning there is in fact some significance to it #i hope this shot puts the 'it's not a love triangle' allegations to rest #like idk why fans would rather believe the duffers are sorcerers who can do dozens of things coincidentally all fitting a specific narrativ #bc that would honestly be way more impressive to me than them just using basic film techniques and tropes lmao

[luceafarul-de-dimineata]

Expanding on my previous post, I think having to take care of child of the enemy would be such a wonderful deconstruction of Leviathan's character.

Leviathan's main motivation for everything he does is to protect the future of Hell, to protect the children and avange the ones that were lost in the experiments. He eliminates anything that might be dangerous for Hell because if there's even a 1% chance of someone suffering he would blame himself for it. He wants to go find the seed of the fruir of knowledge even though he knows it's a dangerous journey, just because it might save his subjects.

Also, Leviathan (as far as we know) has the most personal reason to hate angels. He's seen them at their cruelest and they've always been a traumatic force in his life. While the other kings got to have more peaceful childhoods (again, we don't know if they were abused, I'm just going off what we know) Leviathan never had that priveledge. Even before the war he was abused by them, and now, in his adulthood, he still can't move on because he sees his subjects being killed and tortured by the same people that abused him.

I think that out of all the characters, Leviathan would be the most... interesting father. Don't get me wrong, he won't be bad, but the sort of abuse that Leviathan had to go through changes you in ways you might never expect. He loves kids, the main reason he fights this war is to make sure the children in Hell get a childhood that isn't characterised primarly by war and death. But if he had to deal with a child 1 on 1 for long stretches of time...

He'll probably be extremely overprotective of them, going by the same rule of 1% change of danger = death. The way most parenting works, especially from people that were abused in their childhoods, is that of trying to protect the child from the trauma they experienced. I doupt Leviathan would even let angels look at his kid, or anyone that he percieves as dangerous for that matter.

We also see in the Orias event that Leviathan can be very nice to the people he likes, and I think that it would be the same for his kid. It would be something like

Leviathan strangling MC: I need to kill you, MC, for your life is bringing certain doom amoungst my people

Levi's kid: Dad, can you help me with my algebra?

Leviathan dropping MC to the ground: Yes, sweetheart, what is it? Do you want us to repeat your multiplications table?

Tl;dr of this post is - stop saying Leviathan would be a shit dad. He'll be overprotective of his kid, but he'll never in a million years hurt a child

#whb #what in hell is bad #whb leviathan #I can't believe that my first character analysis is on one of my least favorite characters #and one of my least favorite tropes #let's just throw a kid into the mix #I just think that childhood is the most important thing to Levi's character #lamenting that he never had a childhood #hating the people that took away his childhood #and doing everything in his power to protect other people's childhoods from being like his #if only mc was an actual character in the game and I could enjoy the main story

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads

The Spider And Her Demons

YA Australian urban fantasy/horror

about a Malaysian-Chinese girl who’s half spider-demon, just trying to keep her head down and survive high school

when she accidentally kills and eats a man in front of the most popular girl at school, they strike up a strange friendship and she starts to learn more about herself and the supernatural world

aroacespec/sapphic ish

#The Spider And Her Demons #Sydney Khoo #loveozya #aroaessidhe 2023 reads #you give me a teenage girl with giant hair spider legs who scuttles across her bedroom wall on page 3 #and then eats a man and i am already sold. #also aus books are always so familiar compared to US books :) #and yes sexuality stuff is ambiguous but basically: a bunch of discussion on relationship hierachies (ie friendship equally/more important) #themes of feeling unlovable bc you're different and different forms of love #multiple times the MC says she has no interest in dating or relationships and also is touch (and maybe sex) repulsed #- but of course that Also has to do with the whole Being A Monster thing #and it definitely shows some kind of attraction to dior - ie looking at her lips/bare skin; blushing; etc #and ends on sort of hand kiss / 'is this something??' vibes #I asked the author and they said they see them as QPR / platonic soulmates but are not at the point where they would know what to call it #which makes total sense to me! #the part of me who wants more obvious aroace YA wishes it was a little more specific #but also I DO love ambiguity and I think it wouldn't be true to the characters #who are clearly not even ready to start figuring that stuff out. #and also. aroacespec sapphics is like. also something i want #also like. I think it's reductive to assume just because 'looks at lips' is a common allo attraction trope....doesn't necessarily mean #it has to be that. yknow. #anyway. i loved it a lot. #gross spidergirl (affectionate)...... #also dior is such an interesting and complex character. like another book could have made her nicer or less fucked up

[welcometogrouchland]

I love Steph's origin as told in the Secret Origins 80 page giant- I just overall think it strengthens her character by giving her a lot of pathos and adding to her heroism (which isn't something writers were focused on in her actual intro in detective comics #647 since she was just meant to act as a plot device back then) BUT there is one tiny detail in it i will begrudge, and that is the portrayal of her having a minor love at first sight moment for tim

Secret origins 80 page giant, ID in alt

(or well, technically this was their second meeting in that story (the brick was the first) so...love at second sight?)

Mostly because Stephanie showed no interest in her introduction and only showed romantic feelings towards Tim AFTER this moment here:

Robin (1993) #4, ID in alt

Straight up the progression here goes:

The adventure in 'tec where they first meet -> Tim investigating the same crime scene as Steph -> she beats him up not knowing it's him at first, apologizes but says he shouldn't have scared her -> he remembers her/the moniker she goes by -> they talk about plot for a few pages -> Stephanie starts flirting

Robin (1993) #4, ID in alt

Which...is so fascinating to me and says so much about Stephanie. She highlights the fact that Tim "remembered" her. Like. Steph. Girl. This is our bar? It's sweet but kind of speaks to how much Stephanie is ignored at home/how little and sporadically she's shown interacting with her peers (and rarely ever the same kids twice). Her idea of peak romance is just...being on someone's mind even when you're not there.

Kind of also adds layers to Steph's proclivity towards jealousy later on, a manifestation of her insecurity and loneliness (though don't get it twisted, she's not written this way bc Dixon and co think it's an interesting character flaw, they wrote it bc they think it's an inherent character flaw of (particularly young) women/girls, which is very apparent in how he approaches Ariana's character as well from what I've read)

Also the fact that Steph becomes so smitten for Tim almost immediately after this is (a few issues later she aggressively flirts with him during AN ACTIVE HOSTAGE SITUATION. WHERE SHE'S THE HOSTAGE) again is kind of a mixture of kind of funny and sad. One boy is nice to her once and she's fully ready to wife him. Girl you are deranged (affectionate) (concerned)

#ramblings of a lunatic #dc comics #stephanie brown #tim drake #timsteph #meta #< ??? ig #robin 1993 #made this post and forgot to finish. saved it in drafts. saw posts that annoyed me. proceeded to finish it #the subset of fans who think they're doing a righteous feminism by giving steph more flaws than she has in canon...headaches #yes flawed female characters are important representation no i dont think you projecting chuck dixons conservative values onto her- #-is doing her character a great favour. if so you need to commit to the bit and make tim a stone cold nark /j #sorry okay im done vaguing. there's real things going on in the world that matter. the bad take is the mind killer etc etc #anyway the zero to 100 progression of early timsteph is fascinating. on the one hand i know it's mostly a product of its time #both in terms of portrayals of romance (esp teen romance) and partially of women and girls by dixon (not extremely boy obsessed- #-but there's a. dark shadow of the boy crazy trope. a gentle whiff of it in the air. just a little) #but bc this aspect isn't blatantly/egregiously author bias i choose to analyse it #i could also analyse how steph in general is portrayed as liking guys she can't/shouldn't have a little #(her crush on the much older detective in bg2009 and also tim a little bit w/ the secret identity thing) #(but that's a whole other discussion. also that aspect of the romance in bg2009 is. also a little sexistly motivated- #-and also dropped part way through to an extent so like..not exactly ripe for analysis) #ANYWHO i love you Steph <3 you're unwell and yet so adorable and compelling Steph <3

[beybuniki]

one thing i noticed (form personal experience and by observing other artists) is that the longer you draw and create, the more boring it gets to simply replicate references, especially when it comes to characers' fashion choices.

with bnha, i keep mine pretty simple and basic because teens ARE very trend-loyal, but mainly im just lazy lol, but when i AM motivated, i love to think about characters' personal style, what could influence them, but also more trivial things such as budget into account, which is why i love to draw Deku in basic tees or clothes provided by his school (while bakugo gets to wear ed hardy and shoto wears arcteryx). i also love to limit the items like its just more realistic to me when someone as ordinary as deku wears the same 5 crewnecks all the time

which brings me to my actual point, namely that the more frequently you draw, the more you learn to do research andto combine your findings into sth new rather than staying faithful to one reference, and i think that's what makes good art so good, being able to draw inspiratioin from all kinds of niches and creating something that feels very authentic and suspends the spectator's disbelief. sometimes i see art and i know exactly which fashion editorial or which kpop idol was referenced, and I'm not insinuating these are bad things i do that too (less frequently now but i sure did!), my point is it's kind of nice to see how ALL artist start out with rather derivative art but eventually move on to create more authentic art that is less about drawing beautiful and perfect people and more about trying to individualize them and that ALSO means giving them weird clothes, scars, asymmetric eyes, a receding hairline etc. like drawing the same beautiful character 200 times gets so boring and it's just more fun to try and make them a bit more human

#i do have a lot of fashion headcanons but i rarely actually draw like that im so lazy #and again im also still stikcing to references and sometimes pretty closely #but this is an observation that i like to think about #as i said i just love artists that draw from a big and diverse source of references and inspirations #and the same applies to other forms of art as well ofc #just because you enjoy one genre and want to write in that genre doesnt mean you should limit your knowledge and inspiration to that genre #its pretty detrimental like you have to read ALL kinds of things #otherwise it's hard NOT to create a derivative work #and you see that with a lot of mangas #like you can kinda tell which battle shonen mangkas are only into other battle shonen and which ones are well read overall #SORRY #or when people who only read fics write their first original story and its an apposition of tropes #my point is its important to dabble in all kinds of niches #dont aim for perfect skills in one niche i think its more fun and beneficial to give everything a try

[variousqueerthings]

the nature of being a johnny lawrence fan, is that it is often indistinguishable from being a johnny lawrence hater, and I don't think I have that with any other character. usually I'm very protective of my faves (including in cobra kai, daniel, sam, kreese, and tsilver), but johnny, I very much enjoy reading all the reasons people dislike his character, nodding along like "yeah what an inconsistent mess, you're so right, carmen pls u deserve better narrative to work with, terry silver was telling the truth when he mocked his fatherhood abilities, but alas the writing will never support it"

#johnny lawrence fans 🤝 johnny lawrence haters -- wtf is going on with johnny lawrence's character in s5???????? #johnny lawrence #cobra kai #ck #i can write miles of text about the queercoding of johnny lawrence #and also about how terribly inconsistent the writing for him is due to a sexist notion that he must be a Badass #actually i think johnny lawrence is one of the most interesting case studies of this phenomenon #obvs most famously archetyped by dean winchester -- but i think jlaw is even More That #1. literal 80s character so all these people read him through a particular nostalgia lens #2. in a show that is possibly Thee most trope-filled nostalgia show i have ever seen be that way Accidentally #(riverdale was doing it on purpose -- stranger things... yeah maybe but i think cobra kai is even more on the nose actually) #3. played by quite a sensitive actor actually who deeply cares about the nuance of the character #which appears to be at constant war with the intentions of the narrative he has to appear in #4. and like. the writers Know about the queercoding because they've interacted with fans (nicely actually) #but they have literally no idea what to do with it but ALSO have lampshaded it occasionally #it's... it's fascinating.... #they want so badly for him to win but they're going about it the wrong way -- the narrative continues to be circular/an inward spiral #nothing has changed except for the reactions of other characters #jlaw must remain static because of our nostalgia but also be important to the story somehow #the Tension of it all is personally delicious to me but man is it frustrating as well

[ride-a-dromedary]

I have no base for this, but Halsin seems like the type who would settle in the middle of the group with fruits (that he likely foraged) and little wooden bowl in tow and just start cutting them unprompted and offering them to everyone else.

#BG3 Musing #Halsin #Halsin Posting #i cannot get over him telling shadowheart he would feed her and carry around her bowl if she were a goldfish #you know what i'm talking about right - like the little paring knife cuts them in his hands #at first it just looks like he's doing it for himself but like halsin just eats things sans cutting them lbh #it's a clever and nonchalant way for him to share because others are more likely to take small pieces than like a whole apple yk? #we should all benefit from the bounty we are provided every day and all that #and eventually near everyone just starts...taking it from him and he smiles and continues #i think my other basis for this is halsin just doesn't like seeing people suffer - whether that be neglecting their basic needs #(because he neglects his own self enough lmao but lemme not neglect my friends though they're important) #or isolating themselves or what and it stems from his desire of just wanting to help #and feels absolutely no offense if they brush him off #like okay but it'll still be here if you want it later ^_^ #that's also why i am a sucker for the 'halsin offers to let astarion drink from him' trope in fics #because it goes along with the 'i don't want you to suffer and if i can help i will' even though as a druid #technically your existence is very dodgy to me (but halsin is just a nice person! that's really the long and short of it) #but like obviously disapproves if you do it without permission lol

[nomazee]

a month ago i said i would yell about misogyny and patriarchal themes in fanfiction and eventually i will but there are so many thoughts and feelings in my head that it will take me forever to type it down. But i will say this

Be critical of the things you read. i’m not saying you CANT read for enjoyment—you CAN and SHOULD read for fun. But i’m saying that sometimes you should take notice of the themes in writing and think “wow, i wonder why that’s written like that. Is this harmful or is this helpful?”

it’s a given that fanfiction is widely heteronormative because society and media blah blah blah We know all of this … but in my opinion i think it’s important to think about why women in hetero fics are portrayed the way they are sometimes. I think reader insert fics have gone a long way in being more inclusive and less harmful than they were years ago BUT. Do not let that stop you from recognizing themes in the works you read right now

like; Why are misogyny-affected people written a certain way?? Why are there often degrading themes in a lot of tropes and fics regarding women?? Why are there certain roles that misogyny affected people are expected to fulfill even in fiction?? why are women often the “default” for fics with male characters?? think about any of these questions for like longer than two minutes, read a bad fic, and you will probably see where i’m coming from

#this might be mindless nonsense #but i hope whoever is reading this can see where im coming from #there are a lot of harmful tropes in fanfiction #even those without a feminine leaning reader #and i think it's importnat to read for enjoyment while also thinking about the underlying meaning in writing #Everything is written the WAY it is written for a reason #whether the author realizes it or not #whether YOU as a reader realize it or not #i think very strongly of this #there’s a video i watched that re-ignited a lot of strong feelings for me about this #'booktok brainrot and why its okay to be a hater' by alisha not alihsha #very good points and that video mainly talks about like actual PUBLISHED books but that still very much applies to fics #all writing is important #i may maybe delete this later sigh #i really hope i do not come off as some elitist writer #the point is. read and write for fun. but sometimes its important to take the time to think about why things are the way they are #and if what youre writing/reading contributes or takes away from the harm #nora speaks

[honestsister]

Huntlow really does have it all, sick as hell color scheme, subversion of heteronormative relationship dynamics, enemies to friends to lovers, short buff gf and tol beanpole bf, bisexuality, trauma, pining, good communication, battle couple, narrative parallels, unconventional beauty standards, girl boss and malewife.

#honest blurbs #i just think theyre neat #toh spoilers #huntlow #willow being fat is so important to me and the fact that shes a girlboss is even better #also green and gold/yellow are cool together ❤️ #also.... the fantasy romace tropes you can do with them #dana said you can have one m/f couple

[gregoryeddiesgoldchain]

i think that if they do a whole “hurt the nice guy on the way to ur real love” thing with manny i’ll be a lil disappointed honestly. don’t get me wrong i still love gregory but i just feel like quinta and the team are more creative than that

#nothing has been exactly what we expect and I hope they continue to subvert those norms in the usually fun ways that they do #like I understand that Janine is finding herself and being selfish with her time and goals #and I’m very much here for that #but I think they can do that and explore whatever might or might not be there with manny and eventually Gregory #without being shitty to manny in the process #I just hate that trope in romance stuff #there’s absolutely something to be said for the importance and beauty of new experiences and yeah sometimes being with someone else #shows you what you really want #but there’s a way to do that without being horrible and gross #and I think if anyone can find it it’s Janine and Quinta #abbott elementary #janine teagues #ae s3

[iridescentscarecrow]

do you think fujimoto is going in the direction where we'll see asa and denji in a relationship. it just doesn't sit right with me. i think they might become very good friends but them in a relationship is so off to me despite how much their dynamic works. it just doesnt feel like something fujimoto would do. what do you think

their dynamic feels off because we can't ever imagine fjmt giving denji a healthy endgame relationship /s.

no but for real this time, yep, anon i get you. i think this mostly stems from how their relationship itself is Set Up at least so far and i think it'll be a lot more interesting with time.

umm. to explain: fjmt's style of writing is not only relational but also one of active sides (characters) feeding into passive mains which is why part 2's deuteragonist based plot is so Interesting to me. i mean asa and denji parallel each other rather organically with how they view desires and normality, with their twin connect to intimacy and ambition. it's really quite blatant but i think where asaden hasn't established itself yet is the interaction of these values seen Directly in their interactions.

if you consider something like denreze, you'd find that both their parallels and the recognition of their mirrorship informs their interactions throughout the bomb devil arc. it's wonderfully raw and Very Real because it's the theme of identity (that carries over into part 2), there's that implicit Awareness of the other side from both reze and denji later on.

in part 2, identity is still pivotal but the quality of the asaden interactions so far lies in their relative ignorance of the other. they challenge each other inwardly but not Outwardly; you see them juxtaposed but you don't see them grapple with this juxtaposition. it's still ridiculously cute but i struggle to link this current cuteness to What Will Happen because i don't think fjmt writes conclusions to relationships like that. there's a lot more to come and i think we'd see their dynamic shift quite intensely when they do end up uncovering each other's identities but right now their interactions are rather a channel for their Own Desires rather than an entangling of that Desire in the other.

i can't hope to predict What exactly fjmt would end up doing but i do think all this set up is for a reason and i'm anticipating some sort of catharsis at Some Point which would make me invest in them a bit more :3.

#i would argue that this confrontation/mirrorship is in its beginning stages in yoshiden from yoshidas side and i can see a #a seed of it in asaden but p2 isnt Complete unlike p1 (cough cough. is a denreze shipper) #think whats important here is that i REALLY dont ship characters based on endgames or tropes but rather how interesting the realisation of #their similarities/contrast would manifest itself in their Actual Interactions. even if it's in a flawed manner #but i hope i pinpointed the source of your Issue with them anon? thanks so much for the ask #chainsaw man #csm #crow.asks #denji #asa mitaka #csm spoilers #csm meta #do i see them in an eventual relationship? i dont know. i dont actually know but if yes i doubt its in the manner the fandom is envisioning

[airbenderedacted]

IF I WERE WOY CREW I WOULD ALSO FIGHT FOR THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING THE LESBIAN FLAG SOMEWHERE ON OR NEAR DOMINATOR IN JUST ONE WHOLE SCENE IN THE SHOW  SEND TWEET

#(maybe at the end of her character arc to avoid any unsavoriness / unfortunate implications about her feral ass idkidk hmhjujjnfgs) #Wander Over Yonder #Lord Dominator #granted that's in the scenario where say craig is fine with ascending her lesbianism to official canon status #(currenlty it's abt on the same level of canonicity as wander's logevity/immortality. as in they're written as being but it's not OFFICIAL) #but like i feel kinda strongly about um. it's great to leave characters fully open to interpretation so that all takes can be valid #BUT i think that if the crew sees a character as one thing and goes so far as to write them as being that #then it should 100% be made official official canon bc um HEY ahjaghjsdnmds. like atp the collaboration the silent agreement THE CODING #that's!!! a lot!!!! atp it's important to confirm the rep as being meaningful to the show canon and make it official ygm #and when it's like. when it's as tiny a thing irt the overall plot/character development. you don't have to go crazy with that confirm #SLAP A FLAG DOWN & CALL IT A DAY WHO'S WITH ME haha #TOH DID IT OK K.O. DID IT NIMONA DOES IT!!!!!!! DO YOU SEE THE VISIONN #oh but speaking of making canon rep explicit. if dom were to be confirmed i would also push for a super lesbian coded NON-villain #yk just to avoid. a certain disney trope #same with the aro coding like idk if she's meant to be literally aro or not but regardless #i think woy could really use an unequivocably do-gooding good guy character who is as romance repulsed as dominator is #bc i think the show does a fine job of separating her disinterest from her evil - doing evil is evil. not liking romance is neutral #THAT MESSAGE IS THERE IMHO!! #but it doesn't do a fine ENOUGH job #i think the character who is hella unparalleled in her evilness n all that shouldn't be the only character in the show who's No Romo #anyway im getting way too rambly about.. what is literally just the discussion of TINY THINGS YOU CAN DO TO DO GOOD BY LGBT REP BUT AAAA #as much as i have to say about them in practice these would all be very tiny things and i just love how much you can say with a little #if that all makes sense #❤️

[fiapple]

repeat after me: if you are the descendent of colonizers living on stolen land, you do not get to judge the methods of decolonial resistance movements.

#this isn’t in relation to the last reblog itself it just reminded me of something #thoughts #sarahofmagdelene has some good shorts about this on insta though #like specifically abt how it relates to white feminism + patriarchal notions of (white) womanhood #the skinny of it being that white women tend to impose the standards of white womenhood laid out by white patriarchy onto those who they ar #*womanhood #(​sorry all over the place today) #complicit in the oppression of with the added specifically racialized view of violent resistance through the lens of various savage tropes #have to get a copy of her book after the strike tbh #but yeah i think a lot about this in congruence with how authoritarianism is such a deeply engrained aspect of whiteness & how that itself #contributes to the attitudes being discussed here being so prevalent even among my fellow white people who consider themselves leftist or #progressive (& how that relates to how many white people are liberals/neoliberals posing as being farther left than they are) #but if we were to relate this specifically to the last reblog i would like to point out that another part of that is the whiteness frames #good & bad as an immutable either/or binary & the way super fucked up notions of purity play into whiteness #which (not an excuse absolutely not acting like this is still 100000% white supremacist at its core) is what leads my fellow white people t #be so fearful of having current or past wrong doings pointed out as such & why so many are more concerned with being seen as racist than w #the actual racism they perpetuate/garner privilege from #because that means being horrible with no chance of change (thoug oppressed ppl do 100% hold the right to view their oppressors as such #the white guilt this often leads to when self imposed is what leads to attitudes like the article from the last post describes) #(& so the difference of perspective in the oppressed feeling that way & the oppressor using it to self flagellate is v important here) #& all of this is ultimately rooted in the carcerality inherent to whiteness as a social construct #both in terms of the far worse tangible violence imposed upon poc (particularly black people & fn ppl here in canada) & the carceral view o #morality white “culture” imposes upon those white people who are unwilling to fully do the work to divest from whiteness #hope this is coherent #also if any of this is out of line plz lmk #but basically to cut to the chase power (& as a result empowerment of the oppressed) viewed through the lens whiteness has set for it will #always be fucked up & lead to completely racist conclusions about liberation movements for poc #& the reason i mention this in relation to decolonial movements specifically is due to whiteness being an inherently colonial construct it’ #*itself #racism

[kaweeella]

I have a very important question

#surveys #uhhh #game design #musical instruments #video games #I've been thinking about this for weeks #ever since I had this conversation with my sister #oh wait #band kids #I summon thee. your opinions are important for this I think #this happened because I was talking to my sister about a game with people who can do magic #through music and I was thinking fast travel would be flute music cause I’m biased #but she thought that drums would fit better because she’s biased but also I can kinda see her point #so I was looking into it a bit and found out there’s this trope called warp whistle #which includes any woodwind instrument which is good because I’m not sure if whistles count as an instrument or not? something to think abou #thats how tv tropes describes a warp whistle anyway #anyway that would also include flutes but now that I’ve thought about it more I’ve found some other options that I like which basically puts #me back at square one #so any input at all is greatly valuable to me #I did also consider an ocarina but that felt a little too Zelda-y

[transpidergwen]

Been thinking very hard about Charly's sacrifice and how that relates to Bury Your Gays. I want to preface everything with YMMV and it's completely valid if you're upset. In my opinion, Charly's death worked.

BYG is a set of tropes: when a characters's death is for shock value with little to no long term impact. Usually their death isn't about them and they have no agency in it, it's purpose is to inflict pain on their love interest (a main character) or to motivate another character, often for only a few episodes, often a straight man. There is also the element of creator bias, when they are aware how much that character/that relationship means to the audience and either ignorantly or maliciously choose to inflict the pain of killing them anyway. Arrow, The 100, Person of Interest, ST: Discovery, Supernatural and Killing Eve are the ones I'm most familiar with, but there are hundreds of others. Charly's death fits none of those criteria.

Charly had agency in her sacrifice. It wasn't a stray bullet, it wasn't pointless; she saved the galaxy and prevented genocide. Her decision was a reflection of her devotion to the ideals of the Union, even if she felt conflicted. The belief that all life has value, that even if it's your enemy and you have every reason to hate them, *genocide is always wrong*. That's what Charly decided. That was her story and her choice, no one else's. Consequently her actions have changed the course of the entire central storyline for the show. Her sacrifice *mattered*.

Contrast that with the Orville's Thursday counterpart, Strange New Worlds, which also killed a minority character in episode 9. It was pointless and he had no agency in it. A shock value death after the stakes of the episode had already resolved. It added nothing to the episode or the overall narrative. He wasn't even mentioned in the subsequent finale; he was disposable. In a lackluster and rushed funeral scene he got a short by the numbers speech about how he helped Uhura find herself, because his death wasn't about him.

Or go back a few years to another Trek when Discovery killed Hugh at the height of BYGs. Another pointless, shock value death that accomplished nothing except making Paul miserable.

The Orville has built up to this moment for three seasons. The episode was a culmination of every major storyline for the show, and the paradigm of the story has permanently changed because of Charly's actions. It's a tricky business killing any character in your story. It has to feel both too soon and inevitable, and making sure it matters to the narrative is something the majority of shows fail to do. This counts ten fold for queer characters. The Orville is a rare example that has met that threshold for me. To write off Charly's sacrifice as BYG is to imply that it didn't matter, and it did.

#BYG is still a very big issue in media right now #but it's rectangles and squares #not every queer death falls into those tropes and if we say they do then it loses all meaning #overall I don't think we're at a point where queer characters should be killed #but I think it's important to recognize the difference between when it's done well and when it's not #anyway that's my two cents #the orville #the orville new horizons #the orville: new horizons #the orville spoilers #star trek: strange new worlds spoilers #the orville 3x09 #charly burke #my angry lesbian saved the world

[chromotps]

hi hello i had another acelu supernatural AU thought while I was working... I know Original Anon said it wouldn't get into the angels/demons storyline, BUT

what if there was still the doomed-brother plotline? Like, if it's Luffy who's like Sam, destined to be the vessel of a Lucifer-figure... maybe Nika (who I haven't gotten to in my OP read, so I'm just going on vibes) has chosen Luffy as its host. And it's mostly a creature of chaos/not purely evil, but it's so powerful that the longer it inhabits Luffy, the more likely it is that he'll be lost/"taken over"

meanwhile Ace is still the son of Roger, famed demon hunter and has taken on all his skills and tricks... but it's the way Ace is different from Roger—that he still sees Luffy as his brother, someone he knows and loves and has learned to trust—that allows him to save him

#ehh? eh? #i'm picturing like... at some point nika!luffy goes off on some kind of chaos rampage #but it's still kind of seeing things through Luffy's eyes so #the path of destruction across the country follows important places in Luffy's life #and as Ace is trying to track them down he learns about how luffy spent the time that they grew up apart #and meets luffy's friends (the strawhats!!) to ask them for help #but also learns that in little ways luffy was always thinking of him #anyway #big scene where they finally corner nika but he's like overloading with power #and it's that trope you know #where ace's choices are 1. strike nika down #or 2. let him live but it'll cause the destruction of like a whole state or whatever #and it's not that ace can't hurt luffy but he believes in luffy's strength to overcome this #look i LOVE the trope!! where he makes a speech and it gets through to luffy through all the chaos #and ace is like 'it may have looked like i was the one taking care of you all these years... but you were the one that saved me' #'and i need you to do it one more time. i know you can' #ahhhhhhh #acelu #headcanons #there's also the alternative where ace is the doomed one/maybe roger was a literal demon so now ace is on the angels' hitlist #it would be very similar to canon.... except if i have anything to say about it #he'd fucking live lmao 😂