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madara-fate · 4 months

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Hello!

I recently came across a post that triggered me a bit, and I wanted to talk about it.

In essence, the points raised were that:

Women are more inclined to ship Sasuke and Naruto because they have chemistry and share a lot in common.

Shipping Sasuke with Sakura makes no sense because they are too different, and she doesn't understand him.

If BoruSara were to happen, it would imply that their fathers are a thing because of the parallels.

Sakura is a poorly written character, and people can't relate to her because she's too unrealistic.

Sakura is poorly written because, essentially, she's different from Sasuke and Naruto.

First of all... SNS exists not because of the supposed chemistry between them but because they are two attractive white guys sharing a lot of screen time together and so, the perfect combo for fujoshi shipping. Justifying this expedition is like justifying the fact that the frequent depiction of partially naked women on car racing posters has no relation to the intended audience.

If Sakura shouldn't be with Sasuke because she doesn't understand him, does Naruto understand him? Seriously?

Naruto understands Sasuke's loneliness, that's it.

Nothing more, nothing less.

I'm not bashing their connection, but let's be honest, nobody really understood Sasuke there -yet it didn't stop them from wanting to help him-

Furthermore, what does this imply? That you can only be in a relationship with someone who has a similar background?

Saying Sakura doesn't understand Sasuke at all is superficial on so many levels that I won't even bother dwelling on it.

Next, the idea that people think the parallels they cling to justify their ship is just... bizarre.

If BoruSara were to happen, it wouldn't prove anything about SNS because the biggest difference between these two ships would be the author's intention.

SNS would have happened if Kishimoto wanted their relationship that way, but that wasn't the case. It has been repeatedly emphasized in the manga that their relationship is not romantic.

If some interpret it that way, that's fine, but they shouldn't tell the author how he wrote HIS own manga. And no, it's not heteronormativity. I don't even understand why some fanon ships seek canon validation for their shipping.

Not to mention that every time they talk about these parallels, many seem to deliberately forget that these two children are not mirror images of their fathers but their own individuals.

Yes, they have the foundation of their personalities, but that's just it, the foundation. Apart from that, they differ on so many levels that it's not even funny.

Sarada also shares a lot of her mother's personality, and it's as clear as day. So, if I follow this logic, does BoruSara also imply that NaruSaku could have been a thing despite Sakura's total absence of romantic feelings?

Boruto can indeed be like his father, but he also tries to be like his mentor, so sometimes, he resembles him too. And he can be as calm and focused as his mother, not to mention he has personality traits unique to him. All this makes him someone too different from the "Naruto carbon copy" label stuck on him. Saying that is really downplaying his character.

Moreover, the relationship these two have is also different from that of their fathers: it's normal and not built on a heap of negative feelings and deadly fights that led to a vitriolic friendship.

As for the last two points, Sakura is less unrealistic than Sasuke and Naruto, yet not many bat an eye at that. Maybe because it's a shounen manga about ninjas, and unreality is actually expected...?

In fact, Sakura is the most realistic character in this series.

Her character development is incredible, not just because "she was weak at the beginning and became strong," it's more than that.

Sakura has shown me that no matter how you start, you can reach the destination you want if you work for it. Her transformation is phenomenal: throughout the manga, she radicalizes in ALL aspects. She removes her blinders, starts seeing people for who they really are, becomes more understanding and attentive, learns —and sometimes in the most brutal ways— that everything is not black and white and that you sometimes have to make horrible choices to protect others.

She changes in so many ways, and the best part is that Kishimoto didn't make her some perfect Mary Sue. He made her evolve despite her flaws, for which I will always be grateful.

Sakura is not a poorly written character. Yes, she could have been more explored, and sometimes her author did her wrong, but that doesn't make her a bad character. She could have been better —all the characters in this series could have been— but that doesn't mean she's "worse."

She is fundamentally the reason why I'm in my last year of college today and intend to persevere in my studies (and it's not even a joke).

I never had a family model I could identify with, and all the characters (fictional or not) I love or admire have always seemed out of reach, just an ideal to idolize but unable to imitate.

With Sakura, however, it has always been different; every time I look at her, I think, "if she could do it, then why not me?"

Her importance in my life in terms of motivation and emotional development has been crucial, so it's really frustrating to see people deduce that just because they can't identify with her, no one can, and she's a bad character.

She's not poorly written; she's just different.

Many of us, little girls that we were, saw ourselves in OG Sakura (whether we admit it or not) because the way she was written is how a lot of pre-adolescent girls behave (minus the rapid character development).

It was nice to grow up with her because it showed me that I didn't need to be perfect or have incredible motivations or be "cool" from the start to become someone exceptional. She taught me that my future is not set in stone. And most importantly, she taught me to be myself, to be authentic, to accept and love myself as the imperfect human that I am.

The weirdest thing about this is that these statements came from someone who claims not to care about SNS and doesn't hate Sakura. How can a person claiming to be neutral come to such a conclusion? Honestly, it baffles me; this kind of pseudo-analysis is on the same level of nonsense as what antis spew.

If some can't be bothered to understand a character, then they should simply say nothing about her.

I'm sorry for bothering you with this, but after reading this thing, I just couldn't let it pass.

I don't know how you guys manage to tolerate this fandom, let alone respond to all the strange and stupid takes you receive day after day. In any case, you have my utmost respect.

Thank you for listening, and I wish you a beautiful and happy new year.

I agree apart from two things.

Naruto and Sasuke do have chemistry, but there's just nothing romantic about it.

I wouldn't bring the colour of their skin into it, that opens up a whole other can of worms.

If Sakura shouldn't be with Sasuke because she doesn't understand him, does Naruto understand him? Seriously? Naruto understands Sasuke's loneliness, that's it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Naruto understood Sasuke in some ways (loneliness, being high level shinobi who could read each other's thoughts through fighting etc), and Sakura understood him in other ways (his likes/dislikes, how his mind works and his decision making processes etc).

Furthermore, what does this imply? That you can only be in a relationship with someone who has a similar background?

Yep, that's one of the things that's always irked me the most from their points. It's like they think that just because Sakura couldn't empathise with Sasuke's tough upbringing, that makes her an unsuitable partner for him, which is just all kinds of stupid. It's also one of the reasons the SK fans prefer that ship, since Karin also had a relatively tough upbringing, she'd be able to "understand" Sasuke better than Sakura. As if being able to empathise with a tough childhood is all there is to understand about a person.

If BoruSara were to happen, it wouldn't prove anything about SNS because the biggest difference between these two ships would be the author's intention. SNS would have happened if Kishimoto wanted their relationship that way, but that wasn't the case. It has been repeatedly emphasized in the manga that their relationship is not romantic.

Agreed. This silly idea that BS's canonisation would somehow serve as proof that SNS should have happened, is one of the 4 main reasons why I do not want BS to happen. Although it is the least important to me out of the 4 of them.

Not all interpretations and opinions are valid. I'm sorry but I'm sick of people hiding behind this false idea that just because they say it's their opinion or interpretation, it's just as valid as everyone else's. No, opinions and interpretations can be wrong. Authorial intent dictates how the narrative is supposed to be perceived and understood. Therefore, if Kishi says that something is a certain way, then that's the way it is, end of story, no room for further interpretation. If Kishi says that Naruto and Sasuke are platonic, and that they were never meant to be anything more than that, then that's the way it is. Other interpretations are wrong, because Kishi's word is gospel.

Not to mention that every time they talk about these parallels, many seem to deliberately forget that these two children are not mirror images of their fathers but their own individuals.

That too.

Agreed, I'd say that in terms of personality, Sarada is a closer parallel to Sakura than Sasuke, and NS obviously didn't happen.

💯

As for the last two points, Sakura is less unrealistic than Sasuke and Naruto, yet not many bat an eye at that. Maybe because it's a shounen manga about ninjas, and unreality is actually expected...? In fact, Sakura is the most realistic character in this series.

To be honest, I have no idea what they could be referring to when those people label Sakura as apparently being unrealistic.

Regarding the identification question, just because you can't identify with her doesn't mean everyone can't. I do, and many others do too because, for once, in the whole history of shounen, we have a female character with authentic and not-so-likable flaws, approaching more the human being without the need for a traumatic event or a horrible childhood to justify her behavior. Her character development is incredible, not just because "she was weak at the beginning and became strong," it's more than that. Sakura has shown me that no matter how you start, you can reach the destination you want if you work for it. Her transformation is phenomenal: throughout the manga, she radicalizes in ALL aspects. She removes her blinders, starts seeing people for who they really are, becomes more understanding and attentive, learns —and sometimes in the most brutal ways— that everything is not black and white and that you sometimes have to make horrible choices to protect others.

Unfortunately, many people just don't see any of that. They see an annoying, selfish person who treated Naruto poorly (despite that only being applicable to before the Forest of Death), "obsessed" over Sasuke (when she really didn't, and that criticism is far more applicable to Naruto anyway), broke off her friendship with Ino over a boy (showing how they missed the entire point of that fight), and was essentially useless (despite among other things, saving many important people's lives, multiple times).

"She could have been better —all the characters in this series could have been" - Yes, I'm glad you highlighted this. This is by no means a Sakura exclusive criticism. It's just more of a problem for her since she was a main character.

She is fundamentally the reason why I'm in my last year of college today and intend to persevere in my studies (and it's not even a joke). I never had a family model I could identify with, and all the characters (fictional or not) I love or admire have always seemed out of reach, just an ideal to idolize but unable to imitate. With Sakura, however, it has always been different; every time I look at her, I think, "if she could do it, then why not me?"

Yeah I get that, I said something very similar about her during this post towards the end, where I described the primary two ways in which I found Sakura to be an inspiring character.

Kishimoto once said that his goal with Sakura was to create a realistic female character that little girls could identify with and despite all the controversy surrounding her character, he actually succeeded in this challenge. Many of us, little girls that we were, saw ourselves in OG Sakura (whether we admit it or not) because the way she was written is how a lot of pre-adolescent girls behave (minus the rapid character development).

I'll take your word for it. Personally, towards the beginning I did indeed find Sakura very irritating, for several different reasons, but I grew to appreciate her for what she brings, rather than continuously judging her for how she was at the very beginning. But apparently, "character development" is either a foreign concept to these people, or can only be applied if the character in question moves on from her initial feelings. Because if not, then her entire character automatically "regresses", regardless of the reasons why she retained her feelings.

That reminds me of a video that Swagkage made on YouTube, which I talked about in great depth during this post, regarding how he tried to lie and say that he didn't hate Sakura and that he was impartial to her, yet the vast majority of the video was him hating on Sakura.

I don't know how you guys manage to tolerate this fandom, let alone respond to all the strange and stupid takes you receive day after day. In any case, you have my utmost respect. Thank you for listening, and I wish you a beautiful and happy new year

My general tolerance for people's bullshit is honestly inhuman, lol. But many thanks, and happy (belated) new year to you as well ^_^

#Naruto Uzumaki #Sasuke Uchiha #Sakura Haruno #sasusaku

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kataraslove · 7 months

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let’s talk about live action and kataang because i see a lot of anti kataangs using the age gap between aang and katara’s actors to their leverage.

“if they go the kataang route, there can at most be an implied endgame.”

do anti kataang/zutara shippers not realize how much that argument works against them?

if they go an implied route, there will be no ember island players non-consensual kiss. they can no longer call aang a rapist/predator/etc because that scene will simply not exist.

same for the day of black sun kiss. they can no longer state that aang had sexually harassed katara because again, that kiss will not exist.

same for “baby, you’re my forever girl.” they can no longer refer to that scene as a male gaze fantasy (even though it’s not) because that scene will not canonically exist.

same with the ending of the fortuneteller. they can no longer make the claim that katara was under some fortunetelling spell (figuratively) to convince herself that aang would be the one that she’ll end up with.

personally i think the live action will keep scenes like the implied kiss in the cave of two lovers or the dance scene in the headband. aang’s internal conflict in the guru may be when he starts to realize that he cares about katara a little bit differently than he cares about the others.

the teaser trailer demonstrates that aang and katara’s relationship (platonic for now) will be central to the series, just as it was in the original. that’s why we get the shot of the two of them sitting side by side with each other and smiling together.

by the time that they get to books 2, 3, and maybe if they do a book 4 - aang’s actor would have already hit a growth spurt. he’ll be 17 around the time of book 3’s filming and will already be taller than katara. have you seen the kid now? he’s grown quite a bit since he’s done the filming of book 1.

if instead of getting scenes like the ember island players, we get more scenes of aang standing up to sexists for disrespecting katara (“if you won’t teach katara, then I won’t learn from you!”) aang and katara learning waterbending together, aang praising katara, katara and aang connecting together as genocide survivors - I fail to see how kataang shippers lose?

aren’t anti kataangs the ones who state that the ship is extremely sexist towards katara? that aang was possessive and territorial over her the entire time? that the romantic moments were either out of character on her end or one-sided on his? that they would at least support the ship if those moments were removed? but now, when there’s the possibility that those moments could be, suddenly it’s “there’s no way live action kataang will be canon and endgame.”

there’s an opportunity for kataang to be written in a way that antis might refer to as “organic,” an established or implied endgame that will take the course of several years to build, with an emphasis on their friendship first. romance will come much, much later, if it even happens. anti kataangs operate on the assumption that if we remove their romantic moments but keep the same writing as is, that no one will ship them. that everyone will interpret it as a platonic relationship (the way they believe it was meant to be).

which does not work in their favour for several reasons:

the moments in which they claim has fundamentally destroyed katara and aang from ever becoming romantic equals, will be removed. that’s right. get your eip metas out right now, because that scene won’t exist in a few years, baby!

in lieu of some of these moments, we could get more of an emphasis on moments that strengthen and enhance katara and aang’s dynamic, that offer the promise that they will be good partners someday.

assuming that aang’s crush and feelings on katara will be a gradual transition, the arguments of one-sidedness lessens.

by the time we get to the third season, aang will be taller than katara, in addition to having grown older. this feeds the fandom’s heteronormative obsession.

again, i fail to see how this is a negative thing for kataang, especially since it’s so early with nothing but a trailer to make predictions off of. so many of you are always complaining about how you want to see a version of aang and katara’s relationship that’s “organic, without the creepy romance, with an endgame that actually feels deserved.” now that we are possibly getting that version you want so dearly, you cry and preach that it’s the end of kataang shipping once and for all? going off of nothing but their noticeable height and age gap in book 1 (where romance doesn’t even happen)?

it becomes apparent more than ever that it’s never been a matter of kataang’s writing in the series or about katara deserving better, but the general existence of kataang that continues to unnerve you.

#kataang #atla netlix

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charmwasjess · 3 months

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25 for Sifo, please 😁

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

Oh Ingata, you've unknowingly asked me to present my thesis on my favorite topic and I love you for it. (Okay, this could have been a two sentence answer, but it's me.) So I wrote you an essay on Sifo-Dyas, but I'm putting it below a cut to save everyone from my rambles on Sifo in the old EU and the greater meaning of his doom-ass storyline.

Apparently, I once casually mused to readalong back in the day (exactly how long ago? No need to worry about that!) that Sifo-Dyas must have been a pretty nice guy, what with him putting up with Dooku all those years. Oh sweet summer child. If only I knew then how long I would spend thinking about this idiot and their dynamic.

Back then, he was on my mind simply because of Dooku. In Luceno’s Labyrinth of Evil, Yoda takes some time to describe in length Dooku and Sifo-Dyas’s close friendship, “bound by the unifying Force,” and speculates what Sifo-Dyas knew about the lead-up to Dooku’s fall. That he was desperately worried about Dooku, that he thought Qui-Gon’s death was a breaking point for him, that Dooku might have been actively hunting down his killer's Master to fuck shit up, and this was about to be A Big Problem for Everyone.

All of this was very interesting, especially back then, when Dooku was not a popular character and depictions of him having meaningful, positive connections in the Jedi Order were few and far between. I want to be careful here, because I’m not calling the EU/Legends bad - Dark Rendezvous has some of the most beautiful Dooku character work I’ve ever read. But compare, say, Jude Watson’s Qui-Gon in Legends Legacy of the Jedi outright calling Dooku “too cold to love,” as a Master, versus examples from new canon, where Dooku repeatedly and effusively praises his Padawans, casts their relationship as mutually loving, and even offers to get drunk and cry it out over Rael’s dead Padawan. Those present really different pictures. So Sifo-Dyas stood out to me right off the bat as unusual for being close with Dooku: a meaningful connection for a character who, at that point, didn't have meaningful connections.

As for my impressions now, I think I have a soft spot in general for characters who seem to exist simply to die in a tragic, unescapable way, sacrificed to the narrative or for other character’s growth. In a way, Sifo-Dyas’s story is still certainly both of those.

But he’s so much more. He walks into Dooku: Jedi Lost as this vivid, funny, weird, fearless, chaotic good goofball of a character. Sith Dooku is breathlessly, affectionately describing him to Asajj Ventress (of all people) within the first few seconds of his own life story. That's crazy?! "I was born, I went to the Temple, oh, I MET THIS INCREDIBLE PERSON." Sifo-Dyas's first scene in the damn book is to make a silly little song about Dooku’s name and then telling him to "tell it to your face"?! And we’re not supposed to love him?!

I could go on. But here’s the heart of it for me with the character. The penultimate scene in Dooku: Jedi Lost, comes when he and Dooku are estranged, having been for years over what seems implied as a breakdown over an escalating series of visions that cast Dooku at the center of a world-shattering conflict. Yet, when Dooku comes to Sifo-Dyas for help, one last desperate get-the-gang-back-together, he won’t deny him. When Dooku suggests what Sifo-Dyas literally describes as “insane, the worst plan I’ve ever heard” (I’m quoting directly here), his answer is, again, directly quoting: “I’m in.” He never stopped saying that to Dooku. For all their ultimate ruin, it's sort of beautiful.

That’s the impression that stands out the most strongly - not tragic doom or narrative foil - but the aspects of bravery and loyalty to the character. Someone who would have spent his whole life having visions about someone ending the world, and still show up for that person, and later, still come to them with their own problems. It seems very, very likely - he outright says it during a vision in the cursed book – that he knows Dooku is the person who will make all the futures converge into the one terrible timeline. But EVEN THEN, Sifo-Dyas would rather bring hundreds of thousands of lives into existence than take out Dooku. And whether you read that as friendship or something more, at the end of the day, it’s love.

#Of course this is all based on my reading of the supplemental canon and others might have different readings #And I’m not arguing that the clones were a great idea either #But it’s like Sifo-Dyas got told you have to go back in time and kill Hilter but guess what Hilter is your best friend #and he’s like no I’ll do some batshit crazy third thing because I’m the embodiment of living chaos #sifo dyas #star wars meta #dooku jedi lost

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h-worksrambles · 1 year

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I have no idea if Kingdom Hearts will ever give us a proper solo Kairi game, but it’s still something I like to think about and I was recently thinking about who would be the party members if that was the case. I see a lot of people say the wanna see all the KH girls in a party together, Kairi, Namine, Xion and perhaps Aqua as well. That could be really fun, but I have a different idea.

Sora and Riku’s party members are classic Disney characters who reflect their roles in the series. Riku, the archetypal JRPG hero is paired up with Disney’s golden boy. Sora’s character is basically what would happen if a goofy, Joey Wheeler-esque best friend character ended up being the protagonist. So he’s paired with the funny sidekicks, Donald and Goofy. So Kairi would make sense to pair with your archetypal princess characters. And there are two ladies-in-court in Disney Castle who haven’t done much in the series yet…

Why not make Kairi’s travelling companions Daisy and Minnie? Not only is it a way to give all three of these characters stuff to do but I think they’d slot into a typical JRPG party structure pretty well. Minnie has already been portrayed as a mage with an aptitude for light magic. She’d be the White Mage to Donald’s Black Mage. Plus, it makes sense for Minnie to help Kairi with her magic since, being a Princess of Heart, Kairi also has an aptitude for light magic (see Re:Mind). As for Daisy? Well Dream Drop Distance implies that all the Disney Castle gang (sans Mickey) are from the Country of the Musketeers world, and that Mickey met them there while world travelling during his training (at least that was my understanding). So why not have Daisy honour that by acting as a Musketeer? Give her a rapier and let her by the team fighter. That way you have the same all rounder/Mage/warrior dynamic as Sora, Donald and Goody but a little different.

You’ve also got a good balance of personalities. Minnie is usually portrayed as a very sweet, sunny, demure character (though the more modern shorts show she absolutely has the potential to be crazy). Daisy’s got Donald’s capacity for temper, but tends to be a bit more sophisticated and worldly. A little drier and sassier. This gives you two more contrasting personalities. One a bright people person, and the other who takes nobody’s crap. And then Kairi’s who’s been shown to be able to be both very sweet but also quite sassy, fits in nicely between them.

It’s also not very hard to think of a premise post Melody of Memory and it’s one I’ve suggested elsewhere already. Kairi gets sent out to look for the other members of the New Seven Hearts. She gets to meet these Disney characters with a role like hers, and reflect on what her status as a Princess of Heart actually means. But, like Sora in KH3, you’ve also got that conflict where all the while she desperately wants to go and help her friends, despite knowing she’s not currently strong enough to do so. It’s a simple premise, but it capitalises on what we have to work with for Kairi, and turns her lack of agency into the basis for a character arc. And now she’s got some fun new companions to bounce off of. Giving her more friendships and relationships outside of Sora and Riku.

I highly doubt this will ever happen. But if Kairi does properly get her due, then I think this would be a fun way to go about it.

#i’d really like to see kairi do more in the story #and this seemed like a neat way to go about it #kairi #minnie mouse #daisy duck #kingdom hearts

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jrhartauthor · 1 year

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When it comes to writing contemporary romance, there are certain expectations that readers may have:

A happily ever after or happy for now ending (HEA or HFN)

Chemistry between the main character and love interest

Intimacy

But when it comes to the last point, it’s high time to recognize that intimacy comes in different forms. For one, not every book needs on-page sexual intimacy. Many writers choose a closed-door sex scene, or to have their characters go as far as kissing and stop short of anything past that. But as LGBTQ+ representation in fiction grows, and we start to see more asexual and aromantic rep in stories, it may not just be about what an author wants to share on the page, but also about what a character feels comfortable with doing with their partner.

When it comes to writing characters under the ace and aro umbrellas, it’s important to know that these identities aren’t a monolith. Some asexual characters are sex-repulsed. Some enjoy sex in the right circumstances. Some enjoy sex under all circumstances. Asexual simply means “does not experience sexual attraction.” It doesn’t necessarily mean the character doesn’t want to have sex. Similarly, asexual characters may have an identity anywhere along the ace spectrum. A character could be asexual, gray asexual, demisexual… the list goes on.

Aromantic characters could want a queerplatonic partnership. Some aromantic characters may be okay with a relationship where their partner is alloromantic, and experiences and shares romantic feelings toward them, even if they don’t share those feelings in return, and that’s okay too.

When writing your character, taking time to research their specific identity and make sure that you’re writing it authentically is a huge help. Spend time learning about the terms used within the ace and aro communities, and what your character might feel, think, and understand of sexuality and romance.

As I wrote The Heartbreak Handshake, I honestly wondered whether or not readers would be okay with an contemporary romance with hugging as the peak of physical intimacy in the story. While the series it is a part of—the Clover Hill Romance series—ranges from no sex on page to open-door fully descriptive sex, and I knew there was a place for it in the series itself, having space in a series and space in readers’ hearts is a very different thing.

It turns out a lot of my fears were unfounded. The reality is, pushing your character outside of their comfort zone will bother a reader far more than writing something they may feel is “tame” by comparison to other stories. And if they’re not a fan of where your character (and you) draw the line? They may not be your target audience!

Regardless of if you’re writing the spiciest of spice allo romance, or an asexual one, using inclusive language is incredibly important. In the same way that you wouldn’t want to say “my friend Taz likes both genders,” (if Taz likes men and women, you can say men and women without dismissing that other genders exist), using inclusive language when it comes to asexuality and aromanticism can be helpful too. Check out the difference between these two ways of phrasing things:

“After spending so much time with her, my hope is that one day, we’ll be more than friends.”

“After spending so much time with my best friend, my hope is that she’ll feel the same spark I do.”

Both of these sentences imply that two people are on the cusp of a potential relationship, and that maybe they’ve been friends in the past with a possibility the relationship may shift in the future. Now take this example into consideration.

“Judging by the way they both acted, I got the impression they were more than friends.”

“Judging by the way they both acted, I got the impression they were definitely into each other.”

Again, both sentences convey the same basic meaning. But once again, one conveys that being friends is “less than” being in a romantic or sexual relationship. This isn’t true! And for many, a friendship is equally (or more) desirable.

All it takes is a little shifting of your language to make it more inclusive, and make sure that you’re putting romantic, sexual, and platonic relationships on equal footing.

If you’re not asexual or aromantic, writing a character that is can be hard. After all, there are tons of misconceptions about asexual and aromantic people. Hiring a sensitivity reader within this community—especially if they share your character’s exact identity—can help you ensure the most accurate portrayal possible. Even if you are ace or aro, the reality is, different ace and aro people have different experiences, and getting a second perspective (or third! Or fourth!) can help you flesh out your character more realistically. Lived experience when writing will almost always be better than writing a character you don’t share an identity with, especially if that identity is a margilized one—like another race, sexuality, or gender identity. Keeping that in mind as you write can help you pick your character and what you’re writing to begin with.

No one will ever argue that beta reading isn’t difficult or time consuming, but unlike beta reading, sensitivity reading places a special burden on the reader, often on a marginalized reader. Sensitivity reads are often reserved for reading a specific racial, sexual, gender, cultural, or disabled identity, and this can put a huge emotional or mental drain on a sensitivity reader. As a result, sensitivity reading should be paid work whenever possible. That said, if a sensitivity reader is up for a work or goods exchange, by all means, that’s an option too. Just remember that a sensitivity read requires a very different skillset and level of effort than beta reading or editing, and should be compensated accordingly.

You don’t have to skirt around your characters’ identity in writing. Often, sharing character identity actually helps a reader find what they’re looking for, both as you write and as you market your work as a writer. Being unapologetic about your characters’ ace or aro identity can help you find the readers your book is after.

Understanding Asexuality-The Trevor Project The Asexuality Visibility and Education Network (AVEN)* Asexuality, Attraction, and Romantic Orientation-UNC Chapel Hill’s LGBTQ Center 5 Asexuals Explain what Asexuality Means to Them-Tinder (Video) 4 Demisexual People Explain what Demisexuality Means to Them-Tinder (Video) r/Asexuality and r/Aromantic on Reddit (Additional identities linked in Reddit Sidebars)** What it Means to be Aromantic-VeryWellMind Aromantic-spectrum Union for Recognition, Education, and Advocacy (AUREA)

*Please note: AVEN’s forums have sometimes been problematic. Your mileage may vary. Viewer discretion is advised.

**Reddit can often be problematic, especially outside of LGBTQ+ subreddits, but also within them. Viewer discretion is advised.

Please note Amazon links are affiliate links

The Heartbreak Handshake (cis m/nonbinary)

Goodreads | Amazon

Clover Hill Romance Series website | Goodreads | Amazon

Sex-repulsed asexual MC, nonbinary MC, autistic MC with sensory aversion to sexual intimacy, MC with ADHD

Content warnings: real-life aviation disasters resulting in death, autistic character faces unkindness for being autistic, referenced ace-phobia

Paxton McKee, Clover Hill’s rideshare driver and handyman, is known by his customers as responsible, dependable, and loyal. On first dates, though, he’s known by another word: boring. His dates never seem to appreciate his in-depth knowledge of famous aviation disasters or his LEGO expertise. His book club buddy, Mrs. Sawyer, keeps trying to set him up. But after so many failed dates, Paxton’s given up on finding someone who can accept him, special interests, stims, and all.

Hand-crafter Remi Sawyer put Clover Hill in their rear-view mirror to sell at craft fairs across the country. But being a traveling artisan is harder than Remi thought. With mounting bills, they’ve ended up back home. Being in their old teenage bedroom is weird. Even weirder, their mother keeps trying to set them up on dates, even after they’ve made it clear the homecoming is temporary.

To get Mrs. Sawyer off their backs, Paxton and Remi agree on a scheme: they’ll go on three dates. When it’s over, Paxton can pretend to be heartbroken, and Remi can get back on the road. They even shake on it. But awkward dates lead to the realization the two have a lot in common. Kissing is gross? Check. Spending quiet time doing projects together is enjoyable? Double check.

But Remi is still hell-bent on leaving Clover Hill again, and Paxton is dead-set on staying. Can they find a new vision that doesn’t involve Remi leaving their kindred spirit behind, or are they both destined to lose the person who might be their perfect companion?

–

Go Truck Yourself (cis f/nonbinary)

Coming Soon

Clover Hill Romance Series website | Goodreads | Amazon

Aromantic MC, nonbinary MC, Asexual MC, bi/panromantic MC, single parent MC, autistic child side character

Content warnings: attempted business sabotage, mentions of absentee parents, brief mention of a parent’s sobriety/rehab, brief mention of a deceased parent, mention of the death of a sperm donor/family member, minors using curse words, family member with dementia, mention of foreign exchange study programs in a positive light, mentions of travel social media and modern colonization

Between being a single parent and running a successful food truck, Myla Horan has no room for drama in her life. She's got her nose to the grindstone to make Tasteful Noods a successful noodle business year-round. But when her friend-turned-rival Zo comes back to town, they start to squeeze into her prime Clover Hill locations… and her profit margins.

After Zo moves back to town to care for their ailing uncle and starts a business of their own, they’re not surprised that Myla’s Tasteful Noods are faring better than their tiny food trailer, You're My Jam. After all, driven Myla can do anything she sets her mind to. Unfortunately, it also means all of the animosity they ended things with has resurfaced.

When Myla and Zo agree there's only room in Clover Hill for one of them, they make a deal: whoever loses the First Annual Clover Hill Food Truck Frenzy shuts down their truck. Forever.

But will serious sabotage leave them both truckless for the competition and threaten both of their chances at victory? Or will they work together as an unexpected dream team and find out they’re better as partners than rivals after all?

–

Getting Off (cis m/cis m)

Goodreads | Amazon | NineStar Press Website

Demisexual MC, biromantic/bisexual MC, gay MC

Content warnings: homophobia, homophobic slurs, bi-erasure, biphobia, sexual assault (on page), forced outing

JJ is certain he’s got everything figured out. He’s straight, right? He’s just not into the hookup culture prevalent on his college soccer team. But he’s trying to hide that to avoid getting on his team captain’s bad side.

Kade is anything but straight. Out and proud, he’s curious about how the “other half” lives… even as his best friends remind him there’s more to the LGBTQ+ community than just the “G.” Curious, Kade texts JJ a simple question: do straight guys ever get off together?

When JJ’s reply leads to a head-spinning sexual spark, he starts questioning everything he knows about his sexuality, both in terms of who he’s attracted to, and also why hookups have never been his thing. But when JJ endures trauma that confuses him more, he starts pushing Kade away. Kade has to learn how to be a supportive friend, and more than that, a supportive partner, or risk losing JJ altogether. And JJ? He has to fight for his team to be team players, even when they suspect he’s “playing for the other team.”

Please note: I haven’t read every book on the above lists, and cannot vouch for them. My inclusion of these lists here is not a recommendation of these books specifically, but instead an indication they exist.

LGBTQReads List of Books by Romantic/Sexual Orientation from @lgbtqreads

EpicREADS list of 23 YA Books with Asexual Representation from @epicreads

QueerBooksforTeens list of books with Aromantic Characters

QueerBooksforTeens list of books with Asexual Characters

Buzzfeed’s list of 17 Books about Asexual and Aromantic Validation from @buzzfeedbooks (cc: @buzzfeedlgbt)

Did you find this post helpful? Consider buying me a Ko-Fi!

#writing advice #asexual characters #aromantic characters #writing lgbtq #national hugging day

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themelodicenigma · 1 year

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In the spirit of positivity, what are some things you appreciate about the portrayal of female characters in KH? I like that the male protagonists are respectful of the female protagonists. They're good boys who don't talk down to them or objectify them. And while that's to be expected from a disney property, we know some other media in similar genres lack those positives. I also like that even though there are romances and potentially implied romances, there are also male-female friendships.

I like that most of them either have a big involvement in the plot and/or have a screen presence that is very memorable.

Aqua, Kairi, Namine, and Xion have the most impact out of all the female characters, where Aqua is the 3rd leading character in the entire series behind Sora and Riku in terms of gameplay, where Kairi is our 3rd lead in terms of plot, of finding her place here and there for the numbered titles (+thematically for CoM) + Melody of Memory, Namine is the broken support character at pivotal moments, and Xion has a compelling story that, some have argued, "steals the show" from Roxas (I don't agree, but that says a lot in terms of the story presence she was given in Days). Despite the intentional parallels between, well, all of them (coughwatercough), all four are VASTLY different from each other, even Kairi and Xion.

As far as I'm concerned, Larxene was always considered one of the more notable Org XIII members since CoM, by her personality alone, and despite being the only female until Xion, this ironically made her stand out even more. In CoM, her personality gave her just as much presence in the organization as Axel and Marluxia—way more than the others at Castle Oblivion, and she came across as more antagonistic than either Axel or Marluxia. This counts for KH3 in retrospect to a handful of them as well. And if she wasn't done there, now she's also linked to deeper truths of the Dandelions and being a Keyblader. She has a cemented spot in the story to play a role again.

Speaking of which, all the ones from Chi/Union Cross: Ava, Invi, Skuld, Strelitzia—Ava and Skuld being the leading ones here, they all find their importance and expression too. And all of them have a returning presence on screen pending as the plot moving forward demands it—straightforwardly we see where Strelitzia is placed, but we know Ava, Invi, and Skuld will have to come back too.

And I thought Vor and Urd were interesting as well, as short as Dark Road is, plus the other female classmates. Olette is on-par with the same importance as Hayner and Pence.

For all of them—yeah, there's a lot of different relationship types among them, and they all have vastly different roles and impacts to the story, as opposed to all playing the same thing. The only thing that could be called out for this is basically that out of 4 trios—Destiny, Wayfinder, Sea Salt, Twilight), the schematic of 1 F + 2 M didn't change at all. Could've had at least one be 2 F + 1 M, but it is what it is.

If we're just playing a number game, sure, there are more male characters than female characters. That fact has nothing to do with the quality that can be sought out for ANYONE—never minding the fact that, in comparison to how many original male characters we have, there's a very limited number of original male characters that are as interesting as the female characters imo.

#kingdom hearts #aqua #kairi #xion #namine #larxene

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aero-sense · 1 year

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I'm enamored by how games interpret stories (especially from other titles) and how I interpret those game mechanics, so I decided to start a series of my little observations/speculations on games I like. To start off is first game in the Atla trilogy series.

The first game in the series is a bit unique, taking place after Book 1 finale instead of adapting straight from the show. Its an original story, so I'm excited to play it.

I will be playing the PS2, DS, and PSP versions of the game. The PS2 version will be the main reference for my notes. The other versions will be denoted by brackets. The main posts will be divided by levels.

This is not meant to be a critical review or a detailed walkthrough. All I will do is point out little details I notice or like. I'm doing this for my own fun, not to be accurate.

Now to get into the game!

Waterbender Village:

The game starts off with some pretty backgrounds and snow. The particle system for this game is great. Love the character models and how expressive they are during cutscenes.

The title map says it's the Waterbender Village, but I think Waterbender Temple would have been a more interesting title. The people there refer it to be a peaceful training village.

The Northern Tribe does seem to exist, as the trader downtown references Zhao's invasion. It's suggested or assumed as the biggest city around. It's nice world building, changing the water tribes into several disperse settlements rather than just two large collectives.

Sokka in the cutscene and on lookout acts rather.... quiet and standoffish. It's suggested that he misses his father. If we're following the events of the Book 1 finale as well, you could assume he's mourning Yue too.

The most out of character detail is how player-controlled Aang starts off by fighting wolfs.... let's just assume he's playing with them.

So cute how Momo will cling to Aang while he walks around. If you shake him off or fight, he'll fly off and immediately come back again when you're done.

As Momo, you can shriek at the enemy and catch their attention? Funny if this is how he interacts with most living creatures.

You're given a lot of different items to wear to increase attributes. It would have been fun to see the gang accessorize this much in show.

Increasing certain attributes can increase the damage for certain characters in the following order: Agility for Aang, Strength for Sokka, Life (maximum health) for Katara, and Focus (chi) for Haru. It matches well for their respective traits.

This is the friendliest the Water Tribe has been portrayed. Aang befriended many of them. He sled with a fellow fisherman last week. Likewise, the people around the village know what Aang's up to for the day. Many of them give him space and ask how he's doing or how was his meditation. Overall, they're all comfortable with each other.

This portrayal of the Water Tribe really displays their strong community. A lot of the characters are named or titled, and have friendships with each other. Don't know someone? Form a search party anyway, with just as much concern you'd have for a family member. Half the town overhears a rumor about an old woman without supplies and ask if the avatar could check it out. It's sweet.

One of the reasons I chose the PS2 to focus my notes on is because of the voiced lines from the characters. It's a different atmosphere running around and overhearing small talk. Their voices give so much life to the world, between being happy, exhausted, distressed, and annoyed for implied reasons. The dialogue is great in this version, because it changes throughout quests and major plot progression.

Common dialogue of the village are people often lamenting about the cold, gory jokes about firebenders (hah), day to day life with hunting and friends, and how the war affected them for so long.

A plotline quest is we have to find a missing waterbender named Hiryu. What we know about Hiryu is he's well-liked around the village, one of their best hunters, and a bit of a storyteller. He's friends with quite a lot of people and a lot of them are concerned about him missing.

The marks leading to the tunnel looks like an animal crawling out, or sadly, a man dragged in.

Immediately when the Fire Nation attacks, the snow turns to soot.

It's sad seeing the destroyed village (especially with how much time I spent running around for quests ε=ε=┌(;￣▽￣)┘).

The soldiers, nonbenders with weapons, are stronger than the firebenders. It implies a lot, that having a well-trained nonbender is better than a couple of low-ranked benders and that bending doesn't throw the war in your favor...

The fire comets can hit the fire benders themselves... yeah I'm reiterating my previous comment.

[DS]

Very cute models, but so far the dialogue doesn't stand out much.

There's little animations for cut scenes and the like that are really cute (look at Sokka's face!).

Momo will eat your discarded items.

The icons are just the redrawn icons of the PSP character art.

[PSP]

Cute that both PSP and DS include the otter penguins. You can't attack them.

I really like the music outside of the village. It sounds like echos of the tundra with wind chimes mimicking the ice.

The character art is great by the way, it's very expressive and cute for the main characters.

In this version, Katara looks sad not to go penguin sledding and happily promises to go afterwards. If you talk to her again while doing other quests, she actually starts to get ready. I prefer this version the most. It's very fitting for her character.

Katara's waterbending master is referred as Pakku in this version.

HP is called honor points which is cute. The MP instead is called chi. Makes sense.

The dialogue for the PSP version is a little more pleasant and smooth compared to other versions. I wonder if the writers got more time to polish the writing.

#atla the game (2006)#this post was so long because it's introducing all these game mechanics #i added photos to show the difference between the games but i don't know if i'll keep it up #i might show them only in separate posts #atla #aang #katara #sokka #game sense

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deanismysavior · 2 years

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Can’t everything that suggests Mike loves Will romantically also just mean he is super close to his best friend in seasons 1 and 2? I’m struggling to see how his actions are definitively romantic. I’m not looking to discount the potential of it being romantic, because I think Byler is a cool idea. I just feel like everything has a strong degree of plausible deniability and his actions in season 3 and 4 could just be him becoming a jerk and/or being in his head about different things, not necessarily being gay. It’s only gay if you read it that way, but I feel like the duffers are reading a different book. Some people really are unusually close to their best friend, especially in 80s media like stand by me

Of course there's always room for deniability when a character has yet to be confirmed queer, I mean Noah had to literally release a statement to the press that Will was gay and in love with Mike for some people to catch on and believe it. While I think Mike's queerness, at least as we see it, is less overt to the audience, there are still key contextual clues that you can pick up on to point you towards this conclusion. Of course close friendships do exist, and I don't think that every close friendship, even if it includes a certain amount of physicality on screen, denotes romantic involvement or attraction, but it's rather the way that this story is highlighted in the context of the rest of the show that implies these scenes romantically. I would agree with you in that season 1 and season 2 certainly display a narrative that could have easily just fallen under close friendship, and I think had that been all we'd been shown, I wouldn't have read anything more into it, but when we then begin to see this relationship heavily parallel and contrast other established romantic relationships in the show, it makes you consider the development of Will and Mike's relationship differently, where it starts crossing into a territory that looks like something more than friendship. Some of the best examples of this are how the fight in the rain in season 3 is framed in this dramatic and romantic way, directly paralleling the imagery from the 2016 TV series Eyewitness, which is about a closeted gay kid (who has a girlfriend) developing a romantic relationship with another guy. This scene also narratively parallels the dramatic fight scene from Brokeback Mountain, but even if the audience were not to be aware of these allusions while watching the scene, it stands in stark contrast to Mike and El's breakup that occurs earlier in the same episode. While El's breaking up with Mike is played off as funny and light-hearted, Mike's fight with Will looks like something more out of the Notebook, and the dramatic framing of this scene makes you really set it apart from Mike's other friendships. We also see more internal parallels within the show that code Mike and Will's scenes together as romantic through their association with other relationships, such as the parallel between the season 4 love confession and the season 2 memory recall that break's Will's connection to the Mind Flayer. We've also seen a lot of music and color theory being used to tie together romantic relationships throughout the show, most notably in season 4, we see the use of [tender, emotional music] being played during scenes only between already established couples, and then Mike and Will. These are just a few of the examples from off the top of my head, but I guess the point here is that we can establish how we, the audience, are meant to interpret these scenes based on the rules the show sets up for itself. If there is consistently positioning, music, imagery, or tone that suggests that is used when establishing romantic couples, if the same structure is used here, I think it tells us a lot about how these scenes are supposed to be read. You could argue that they might use these anyway to show Will's feelings, but we generally don't see this sort of cohesion within the pairings where one side is unrequited. I'll link an additional few analyses down below that I think illustrate this really well, but I hope this helps to answer how subtext is important in these cases.

#byler #byler nation #byler endgame #ask #will byers #mike wheeler #st #stranger things #will byers is gay #mike wheeler i know what you are

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cansortofdraw · 1 month

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Bad TV show idea: SHROUD

A supernatural/sci-fi mystery show.

Intro:

It starts off by introducing the viewers to Mr. B. Shroud, a grizzled, middle-aged private detective/monster hunter. As the camera pans around his cluttered office, Shroud monologues about how he is investigating strange events originating in a small city.

He states that he has been on this case his entire life. Collecting mountains of research and evidence he has searched for answers needed to stop cataclysmic event. Unfortunately, some stories cannot be found. They are forgotten, lost, or simply nobody's business.

Main

Afterwards, the story cuts between two different perspectives with Shroud narrating:

Ben S, an orphan child who's parents where killed by monsters. He and his friends run around the city and surrounding suburbs trying to prove that the creatures are real.

Benji, a teenage petty thief who ran away from home to live on the streets after a mysterious accident. He is attempting to infiltrate a lab/government facility that is related to the monsters. All the while his best friend/boyfriend is worriedly trying to help him/convince him to get help/come back to school.

In between these scenes, we cut back to Shroud doing detective things/fighting monsters/being a bad*ss.

The story is filled with twists and turns, danger, conspiracies, friendship, found family, etc.

Possible Drama Points

Ben's friends ends up in critical condition in the hospital.

Benji gets hurt/infected by the monsters.

The whole time it is implied that the main characters are all Benjamin Shroud at different points in his life, (They are all played by actors who happen to look a lot a like) and a connected timeline is easily put together.

Terrible things are foreshadowed to happen to younger characters by older ones, and the audience is left waiting for everything to go wrong.

Major Twist

Over the course of the show, each the timeline is contradicted more and more by each protagonist. Initially small details and differences that could be brushed off as plot holes. But towards the end of the series, the protagonists run into each other.

These perspectives are not flashbacks. The twist is that Ben, Benji and Shroud are three completely different people. No relation to each other.

There is no connected timeline. We don't know exactly what happed to Ben's parents, we don't know why Benji ran away, and we know nothing about Shroud. Shroud's name isn't even Ben/Benjamin (the B is short for Bradly or something). Perhaps there are some vague hints to their true stories, but they are never fully confirmed.

Shroud never even talks to Ben specifically, he just chases off the group of kids.

The younger kids help the begrudging Shroud (maybe even saving his life). Ben's friends all survive, Benji completely recovers, the monsters are defeated and everyone gets a happy ending.

(Perhaps Benji even pesters Shroud to take him under his wing).

#title inspired by Jonny RaZeR #bad ideas #writing #writing prompt #scifi #mystery #plot twist #tv show #original concept #(i think) let me know if this is already a thing #Benjamin Shroud #Shroud

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eggheadsguidetorunning · 1 year

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Ayla and Marinette

I don't know how much of a discovery this is but it is fascinating. In a series based around the shipping it creates (series being Miraculous Ladybug) the main character and her best friend are hardly ever shipped. They are even read as gay often enough but Marinette is barely ever shipped with Ayla even then.

This can be seen even in the Archive of our Own search with both Chloe and Kagami having more shipping works appearing on a quick search that Ayla x Marinette, although Chloe barely passes the amount.

What really fascinates me about this is I have no idea why this seems to be the case. Even on tumblr I have seen more people shipping Chloe and Marinette than Ayla and Marinette and Kagami outnumbers them both easily. I have some hypothesis for why this might be the case but no real proof one way or another.

My first hypothesis is the one I bias towards the most that being: "The show writes Ayla in such a way that it is hard to see her as more than a friend to Marinette." I like this hypothesis because it could then form a basis for how to write best friends in such a way that they are not confused by the audience as romantically involved. Not to say these ships will not happen anyway as can be seen above but it could help start more character based friendships instead of character based romances where a friendship would be more useful to the story. Done well enough this could even help give some amount of guidance to different sex friendships that are not also seen as romantic. Both of these are hopes rather than proof though, but their is some proof.

If you change the '/' between Ayla and Marinette to a '&' on AO3 you get far more results. This seems to imply that people are more interested in Ayla and Marinette as friends then as lovers. Further the same thing is also seen between Adrien and Nino.

This only goes to support the first hypothesis as worth investigating though. It does not really test nor prove the hypothesis but it means that this could be interesting and worth looking into. Unfortunately, though Luka ships really well with Adrien.

This seems to support the second hypothesis being: "Shipping culture is not good nor as interested in shipping POC." There is not much to support these hypothesis here but that has more to do with grabbing from one fandom of shipping not being enough to prove this hypothesis then anything else. This hypothesis also ignores Marinette's bi-racial status which depending on what a test of this hypothesis shows could be important.

It is strange that the male character (Adrien Agreste) who spends a lot of time with his best friend (Nino) is instead shipped with a character who he spends basically very little time with on screen at least. There are other factors in this to be considered though. For one both Chloe and Kagami are presented as rivals to Marinette and that could lead to them getting more ships by a lot. The same can also be said for Luka and Adrien.

This does not make it ignorable that the Characters of Color seem less likely to be shipped in general forcing this hypothesis to be considered at the least.

I will also admit my own ignorance should be considered here. I know very little about shipping culture regarding Characters of Color, and some necessary comparisons should be made. I believe Vampire Diaries is at least one place where this phenomenon could be looked compared. It would also be necessary to see how much characters not of color get shipped with each other compared to Brown characters. I would also add that a queer perspective is worth examining here too and that is also a field I do not know much in.

#ml #shipping #ao3 #miraculous chat noir #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #adrien #marinette #mlb #nino #Ayla #Ayla Césaire #ayla ml #fandom #characters of color

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the-lazy-cat-bakes-souffles · 2 years

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Why Robin and Nancy could be one of Stranger Things’ best character dynamics

I’m really hoping that Stranger Things 4 delivers when it comes to Robin and Nancy’s relationship. There are so few prominent relationships between the female characters in this show, and by all appearances this will be the one that gets the most screen time and focus in the upcoming season by far (what with Joyce flying off with Murray to find Hopper and El with the boys in California - Max meanwhile seems very emotionally isolated and going by the promo and bts pictures will be paired mainly with Lucas and/or Dustin). Plus this dynamic has all the makings of one of the most meaningful and interesting in the whole series if done right.

Nancy and Robin are strikingly similar characters in some respects but so very different in others. They’re both highly intelligent, curious, determined and ambitious. They’re both dreamers, desperate to push back against and escape the stifling expectations placed upon them by society - particularly that of Hawkins and the small town suburbia it encapsulates - but feel trapped by their circumstances. While Nancy initially tried to ‘fit in’, playing the part of the strait-laced straight-A’s student turned rebellious popular girl, Robin survived by blending in, camouflaging herself with a carefully cultivated persona, and neither approach brought them happiness or fulfillment.

Nancy is astute and driven but also bullheaded, reckless, and ignorant of her own privilege. She can become so absorbed in her own problems she overlooks the needs and feelings of those around her. Robin is creative and laid back but her sarcasm and cynicism belies a lot of deep insecurities. I think Robin will challenge Nancy and her tendency to steamroll over other people in a way she’s never been before (and sorely needs), and Nancy will prompt Robin to reevaluate a lot of preconceived notions she held about her. Just as Robin found unexpected camaraderie and acceptance in Steve, Nancy is someone who knows what it’s like to feel isolated from your peers, whose experiences have taught her to fight back against conformity and submission, to embrace who she is and what she believes in. There’s a lot they can teach each other about themselves.

There’s also a history there. You wouldn’t know it from Season 3, but Nancy and Robin were already familiar with each other (I hope they lampshade this contradiction in the next season because it makes zero sense that Nancy would have no idea who Robin is). Most interestingly, in the Rebel Robin podcast and novel it’s revealed that Robin used to be best friends with Barb before they drifted apart over time, and ultimately (in Robin’s words) Barb ‘chose’ Nancy. There’s an implied sense of resentment that Robin holds towards Nancy, not for ‘stealing’ Barb as such but because Robin watched from afar as Nancy took Barb’s friendship for granted and left her in the lurch while pursuing her relationship with Steve and all that it represented. But that doesn’t stop Robin from looking out for Nancy on multiple occasions.

Especially given that it came out last year and stars Maya Hawke herself (lending it more canon legitimacy than your average spin-off media), Rebel Robin feels like it’s deliberately foreshadowing Robin’s development in Season 4 and by extension her future friendship with Nancy. There’s a particularly interesting scene where Robin’s English teacher and confidant Mr Hauser tells Robin: “It’s hard, losing a friend (referring to Barb). But that doesn’t mean there aren’t people in Hawkins who dream like you do. Who could surprise you.” And who should interrupt them at that moment but Nancy Wheeler - it’s really not subtle!

Though they’re inevitably going to butt heads and will start off as an awkward dysfunctional duo, once Robin and Nancy get past their assumptions about each other I can see them truly pushing each other to grow as people and develop a genuinely close bond based on mutual understanding. Their personalities are simultaneously conflicting and complimentary, and above all, there’s a sense that the other is just what they’ve been missing in their lives.

Now that’s a compelling dynamic if I ever saw one.

#stranger things #stranger things 4 #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #ronance #rebel robin #meta #now watch them only get one episode where they're paired together and it's just superficial bickering #I really really hope they actually get meaningful interactions and relationship development #but who knows

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ectonurites · 2 years

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Thoughts on Batgirls #1?

Alright. Okay. So.

I think that if I were a new reader picking up this comic- someone who had very little familiarity with the characters, especially if I was a young girl maybe intimidated by the general comic scene (predominantly male, lots of over-sexualization of women when they do appear, etc), then I would have loved it. Like, 15 year old me would have been ALL over this. It's got a fun energy, the art is absolutely captivating and engaging, and I do feel like it gives you three distinctly different girls as the main characters, and right away the friendship between Steph & Cass is compelling.

Buuuuut as a long-time fan of all three of these characters, someone who knows how they have been and is very deeply aware of canon (both current and pre-reboot), I think the first issue was definitely a bit disappointing. I do also think there was a lot to live up to in terms of expectations and wants from fans- and there was no way they could have possibly done everything that these characters deserve off the bat. But even bearing some allowance for that in mind, it just tonally didn't really fit the characters all that well, even as they've more recently been depicted, ya know?

And honestly something... kinda startling but definitely informative about why things felt very Odd in the book was in this one interview the creative team (the co-writers and artist) gave where they uh...

AIPT: How old is Babs? Becky Cloonan: She’s in her early 20s. Michael Conrad: Like marginally older. She’s like, old enough to… BC: …old enough that it’s a little bit older. I think Steph and Cass are meant to be like 13 and 14, and our series. Is that what it is? MC: I think it might be a little bit older than that. We try and keep it vague. BC: When we came in, they’re like, Babs is like, out of college. She’s like, in her 20s. And these girls are definitely like in their mid-teens. Jorge Corona: I just had to check the other day because I was drawing a panel. I was like, “Wait, how old are these girls in this continuity?” I think they are like 17 and 16. Of that spectrum. (source)

Yeah. Babs was last before this book implied in the 28-35 range (during her most recent Batgirl run), and Steph & Cass based on everything that's been presented in this continuity should definitely be more in the later teens even if it's still vague. The fact that one of the co-writers had the idea of them being 13/14ish when that's like around the same/younger than when they were initially introduced in canon (Steph was already older than Tim when they met, him being 14 and thus her ~15, and Cass was introduced at 17) and would make them about Damian's age is just... yikes. That perspective informs a lot of the immaturity a lot of us feared from this book. So that just makes me... fearful that it's not gonna get all that much better on that front.

IDK. Overall I'm just having a lot of mixed feelings. On the one hand I'm just glad they're getting spotlight at all, but on the other I think a lot of us have wanted a book with these three for so long and the book we built up in our minds is just... very different from this thing we're getting, which is difficult to reconcile.

#dc spoilers #tuesday spoilers

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umbran6 · 3 years

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The Argument Against Caleo

Spoilers up to Blood of Olympus and beyond. Beware! (Or not, the book series has been out for a few years, get over it). I wrote this after seeing a user wondering why people didn’t like Caleo, or in some cases, hated it. Here, I want to explain the answer as much as possible while doling out my own points.

One of the main grievances I have as a fan of Leo Valdez would be the ship Caleo, or Leo x Calypso. It’s a complicated ship, to say the least, with multiple issues that make me question why people like the ship. And I admit it, they initially had some chemistry, but there’s multiple issues that Uncle Rick produced through making such a relationship that makes it extremely open to criticism, criticism which I will explain through this post.

One of my main points against them is that the ship was created on a very limited time scale. Although we aren’t given an exact date to date of when Leo and Calypso met to when they fell in love, we can safely estimate it to be a week at best. Such a limited amount of time from going through the multiple stages of a relationship already stresses the limits of the suspension of disbelief.

A counterexample would be Percabeth, or Percy x Annabeth. Throughout the series, we aren’t introduced to them being romantically involved until the Titan’s Curse, which was two years after they met. Specifically, this is brought up by Aphrodite, the goddess of love herself. Admittedly, Percy and Annabeth were twelve years old when they first met, when romance was definitely out of the picture, especially with a quest to get the Master Bolt.

However, from there we get to see multiple examples of their character depth, ranging from their respective fatal flaws to their ambitions, hopes and dreams, and their friendship. We get to see the slow build up of their chemistry, which was a really good writing move on Uncle Rick’s part. These characters took their sweet time to get to where they wanted to go, and despite the false romantic lead of Rachel, they still got together.

On the other hand, we don’t see enough of this between Leo and Calypso — we only see one book where they interacted with each other in The House of Hades, and that was only for a handful of chapters. While they are definitely older so they can jump straight to romance (some may say too old, but I’ll get to that) its still a pretty huge gap to jump through without making it stick. This makes it hard to root for a ship when it is built on a rather faulty foundation from the ‘they just met’ to ‘they get together’, especially when they don’t have a lot of events to show their chemistry.

Which brings me to Ogygia, which has raised a few red flags for me when looking at it from a retrospective point of view. Now, we know what the main issue of the island is that the hero who landed on said island can’t leave until Calypso falls in love with them. And we’ve seen this with Percy during the Battle of the Labyrinth, where he lands in the island and Calypso falls in love with him while tending to his wounds from, you know, being erupted from freaking Mt. St. Helens. Needless to say, this falling in love with each other montage happened quickly to the point of suspicion, which sets up the complication that Calypso and Leo might have fallen in love due to magical intervention.

And hear me out, because although this might be a pretty big pill to swallow, we have evidence for this through Percy. It only takes one chapter for Calypso and Percy to meet, and the next he’s willing to consider leaving Camp Half-Blood and Annabeth behind to live on the island when Hephaestus gives him the choice to leave Ogygia or stay. We don’t even get an explanation on why Percy considered giving it all up just so he can be with her. All we know is, girl meets boy, now they want to live on an isolated island forever. It’s especially absurd considering Percy’s hamartia (fatal flaw) is freaking loyalty to those he loves. Needless to say, It’s a huge YIKES, especially when we apply it to Leo and Calypso.

It also raises the possibility that the romantic relationship between them is doomed to failure. And if you guys want to fight me on this, let’s look at Jason and Piper, a couple whose relationship started with a similar foundation. Piper had romantic memories implanted into her brain by Hera through the use of the Mist, while Jason was reduced to a Tabula Rasa (a blank slate for those who lack culture) by said goddess. They broke up before the Trials of Apollo because it was clear that when the dust settled, Piper had been aware that their romance was a lie and that their intentions to stay together was a mix of delusion and pressure from freaking Aphrodite. Leo and Calypso get together under what is arguably a very similar set of conditions if Ogygia’s magic had any influence on their relationship, and that this magic could wear off if given enough time.

Third, and here’s a pretty big one for me, would be Calypso’s character, mainly because there are a lot of unfortunate implications attached to it. In The Blood of Olympus, she was turned into the divine equivalent of Princess Peach, with Leo being her Mario (except he saves her with a badass metal dragon). Its extremely unnecessary to make a character, especially as one such as Calypso, get turned into the typical reward of a B-Class action movie. It’s insulting and puts her up as a trophy, a narrative that is definitely not ok by any means necessary.

In another direction, Calypso is also really, really worrying when things don’t go get her way. First, let’s look at The Odyssey, the first myth she pops up. Calypso had imprisoned Odysseus for ten years on her island until Hermes said to let him go, and although it gives them plenty of time to fall in love, it also raises the implications of stockholm syndrome. Then we’ve got the fact that Calypso cursed Annabeth out of spite, implicitly saying that she wished the daughter of Athena would suffer the same isolation that she did, which came to reality when Percy and Annabeth met the Arai in Tartarus. And Annabeth wasn’t even aware that she was still in Ogygia, much less intentionally intervened in the matter. When Percy left Ogygia, rather than be angry at Percy, Calypso cursed Annabeth out of all people to suffer the same loneliness and misery she went through. That’s some Hera at her worst levels of spite.

Through such evidence we can see that Calypso is extremely wrathful towards those who break her heart even though they don’t want to. It certainly implies that Calypso isn’t in a good state of mind, and could easily repeat said actions if provoked. We could almost compare it to Medea and the original Jason, but at least in that case, Medea has every right to be pissed off at Jason and take her revenge. Calypso’s curse and how she handles things certainly implies a level of immaturity that would end in disaster if they broke up.

One issue that, I’ll admit is more from my personal point of view is that the ship took a lot of Leo’s character and threw it in the garbage in Blood of Olympus. Though we see him do a lot of stuff behind the scenes, the fact that its all for the goal of reaching Calypso just reduced him to someone who is more focused on love than, you know, fighting the evil goddess that was responsible for killing his mom and getting sweet sweet revenge. While the revenge plot can be cliched sometimes, it can be played well, while romance and the typical ‘always save the girl’ trope is just overdone. If Leo had been allowed to, you know, be more focused on other things rather than Calypso, we could have seen a lot more variety in his character.

For example as one of the possible character arcs he could’ve gone through, Leo has always been alone among the couples, often being isolated. Heck, Nemesis herself stated that he would always be the seventh wheel, and that he would never find a place among his brethren. Though some fellow tumblr users have taken this in multiple ways, either saying that he should learn to be happy by himself or that he is socially isolated in the Argo II because of these romantic relationships (I prefer a mix of both). Uncle Rick just giving him a girlfriend seems like taking the easy way out of solving such an issue and abandoning what could’ve been a rather interesting character arc. The relationship isn’t a bad thing if we remove some of the unfortunate implications, but it is a bad way to end what is a complex and realistic problem for a character and in some cases maybe possible in real life.

One more minor but still yikes worthy point is that there’s a huge age gap between them. We’re not talking about the ‘Hazel is 15 and Frank is 17 and in one year that’ll be a problem because then Hazel will be jailbait’ age gap. And even then, we can argue that Hazel is older since she is chronologically ninety-one years old. No, Calypso is older by millennia in terms of mindset and body due to the perks of being a goddess, while Leo is sixteen.

God-to-Mortal relationships are already complicated, even with emotionally and socially well-functioning adults. The fact that Leo is underage, inexperienced with romance (despite his flirting, Calypso was his first kiss), and has been through a freaking ton of trauma in his youth, does not make this okay. At best, they’re both mutually interested in each other but may have different expectations when it comes to a relationship. At worst, Calypso is taking advantage of a boy just so she can get out of Ogygia and possibly dumping him later on like the wrapping of a candy bar. Even though Calypso lost her immortality during The Trials of Apollo, that doesn’t even compensate for the immense age gap alongside Leo’s guilt at the possibility that he might’ve been responsible for her losing said immortality.

Oh, and about Leo... I’m a fan of him, but I can admit that he is in a bad spot both mentally and emotionally throughout the series. He’s lost his mom due to a mix of his own powers and Gaea’s trickery, and never had the chance to fully process that event and come to terms with it. The foster home system alongside his own trauma has forced him to hide his emotions through a façade of happiness and jokes when it’s quite clear to me he needs a therapist, stat. He's also run away from several foster homes, implying this means he was and still is being affected by the event. His mask is still on during The Blood of Olympus considering he hid a lot of things from Piper and Jason.

Speaking about them, not helping this matter is the fact that he’s rather isolated in terms of friendships since Jason and Piper, his supposed best friends are more interested in locking lip rather than, you know, actually hanging out with each other. He doesn’t have good friendships with the rest of the Seven, and the closest ones he does have is with Hazel and Frank. And even then they start off in the wrong spot since Frank is very insecure about possibly losing Hazel to him during Mark of Athena while Hazel in the meantime, is also dealing with the fact that he is the descendant of her possible boyfriend Sammy Valdez.

This could indirectly have made him desperate for affection since he has nobody else to confide in during the rest of the series, which is a bad mental state to be in when one lands on Ogygia, the island that we’ve seen could possibly force two people to fall in love with each other. A romantic relationship is not something that he needs or something that will help him in the future. He needs more than that, and having him in one that could end in disaster is the last thing he needs.

And that does not make him a bad person, much less a bad character. While some who are similarly emotionally and socially isolated may turn to violence or creepy behavior on those they want affection from, Leo does not do that to the other characters. It just means that he as a character needs more time to recover and develop before we go giving him romantic relationships, much less one with Calypso.

That’s not to say that they don’t have some things in common. Both are starved for love and affection, with Calypso being constantly rejected by heroes while Leo was rejected by foster homes and his own family. It’s a trait that they have in common, but it shouldn’t be the only thing that they have in common, especially since it is laced with a trauma that is clear they haven’t had help processing. They need to develop more as characters and as friends before they should be paired together.

So… yeah. The Caleo relationship is, in my eyes, doomed to failure, or at least heavily flawed after taking the above points into account. Uncle Rick, as if seemingly aware of these criticisms, has put the relationship in a rocky place by The Tower of Nero, giving them the possibility of overcoming the above criticisms and their own flaws, or giving fanfic writers an out and pairing Leo with another character or have him single, but happy. Either way, in my opinion Caleo is a bad ship when it comes to how it was created, alongside the flaws and unfortunate implications it has.

While I can see some of the chemistry the ship has, you can’t just use a couple of moments where they get along as evidence that they belong together, especially with the above reasons. That’s like using a band-aid to cover a bullet hole without removing the bullet, stopping the bleeding, and preventing infection. If both characters and their relationship had been given more time to develop, I would understand how they would get together.

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somebody-909 · 3 years

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Stalkyoo - Black and White Formal Romantic Subtext Analysis

The beginning of I Love Yoo up until the Black and White Formal shows the development of Shin-Ae and Yeong-gi's relationship from strangers to reluctant acquaintances and eventually to friends.

Their relationship's development up until the present comic, in my opinion, reaches a peak during the formal arc, where we see both the completed development of their friendship (neither are reluctant) but we also see the fast emergence of new possible romantic feelings. The arc is pivotal in defining and developing their relationship and we continue to see its effects afterwards. So, in order to better understand the two characters' relationship, let's take a look at the key moments in the arc that explore their friendship and romantic tension.

Ep. 49 | Makeup - A Friendly Face and Romantic Tension

Shin-Ae is forced to attend the black and white formal to take care of her father. She is in an incredibly difficult position, with college exams the next day, her father ill, and now having to deal with this incredibly unfamiliar situation and this horrible dress.

When she sees Yeong-gi however, it’s great to see a comforting and familiar presence. We get a chance to see their friendship in this uncomfortable setting when Yeong-gi shows concern for Shin-Ae.

That is not all, however. The makeup panel (which was removed by Quimchee later on, but is included in the mid-season recap), introduces us to the first instance of genuine romantic tension between the two in the arc (and the whole comic up until here, really).

The two are very close together and look at each other softly. Shin-Ae seems to be blushing, as well. This moment is intimate and romantically tense.

This first scene does a great job at introducing the two major dynamics in their relationship that are explored in this arc: their established friendship and new romantic tension. These dynamics lead up to what occurs on the hospital balcony.

Ep. 49-51 | Hands - Distance and Desires

When Yeong-gi gets up to get Shin-Ae food, she reaches for him and grabs onto his sleeve. This panel introduces Shin-Ae's desire to stick with Yeong-gi throughout the night. We understand how comforting she finds it to be near him.

She extends her hand — showing how she is now also "reaching" for him and his companionship.

In Ep. 50, when Yeong-gi is scolded by his father and leaves to wait outside for Alyssa, Shin-Ae notices he seems down from across the floor. And for the first time, she tries to reach him. Up until now, she has been wary of Yeong-gi and his intentions, but now we see that their relationship has truly progressed to real friends. Shin-ae genuinely cares for Yeong-gi. But before she can reach him, she is interrupted by Sang-chul.

In the next episode, we see Yeong-gi respond to her call, reflecting what Shin-Ae did in Ep. 49, and extending his hand back towards her. Both characters' reciprocal desire to connect with each other is shown through their hands.

This scene, where they reach for each other but don't connect, introduces the arc's recurrent motif/theme of DISTANCE. Shin-ae and Yeong-gi want to connect, as they care for each other and find comfort in one another, but because of the circumstances at the party they are torn apart repeatedly.

And despite (literally and figuratively) reaching for each other, neither their hands nor their good intentions (like Shin-ae’s desire to be there for Yeong-gi) actually do reach each other. This repeats a few times in the arc, causing significant tension; due to the obstacles of the events around them, they can’t reach each other despite how much they may want to. As such, readers also feel relief whenever the two characters do manage to get together.

Ep. 55 | The Dance - A Kousuke and Yeong-gi Parallel

Kousuke, while having good intentions, struggles to understand what Shin-Ae wants, and instead goes for what makes sense to him. Yeong-gi, on the other hand, consistently shows an understanding of what would truly help Shin-Ae.

It is certainly true that Kousuke’s method was pragmatic. If the problem is that Shin-Ae feels humiliated and that he is embarrassed by her, what better way to show that he isn’t than by dancing with her in front of everyone? It’s a well-meant gesture that would show that he cares more for her than what others think and regardless of what they think. However, although his intentions were sweet, the outcomes were less so.

Shin-Ae DOES NOT want to dance. A scene that may have been beautiful, is tainted by Shin-Ae's true feelings of discomfort.

The truth is, Shin-Ae doesn’t want to go back in front of them. She doesn’t want to prove something to them. She doesn’t want to dance. But she feels like she has to. She can’t say no. The dance is actually… sad to see. She doesn’t want to be there.

But as she dances and feels terrible, Yeong-gi shows up. She is immediately excited and put at ease but is also worried about him since she hasn't seen him since he left to go outside.

But then Yeong-gi acts a goof. He understands that Shin-Ae doesn’t want to be there, but she has to. Because he understands the feeling of putting on a performance, despite being miserable… he immediately recognizes Shin-Ae's going through that too. So being the lovely friend he is, Yeong-gi goofs around. What better way to make Shin-Ae feel less tense in this too formal environment by reminding her of a friendly presence and doing something hilariously inappropriate? And of course, he knows how to help alleviate some of her discomfort, because they’re friends, after all, right? Yeong-gi shows a deep level of empathy for Shin-Ae.

The scene also develops a contrast between Kousuke and Yeong-gi — and the differences in how they affect Shin-Ae — that is paralleled many times later in the series.

Yeong-gi is the one who gets Shin-Ae to smile. He's the one who turns this scene from something uncomfortable to wholesome. And yet, he's not the one dancing with her. He stays to the side, in the shadows of the crowd, with distance between him and Shin-Ae, and with his head down. It fits his overarching character arc — staying hidden and away, and unable to chase for what he wants because of a quiet sense of shame and low self-worth.

The significance of him not interrupting and staying off to the side is purposefully emphasized in Ep. 57, when Kousuke says:

"I'm surprised you didn't interrupt my dance with Ms. Yoo."

Yeong-gi doesn't respond and simply looks away and slightly frowns. This emphasizes that there is a reason Yeong-gi stays away, and it's likely because his low self-esteem issues cause him to think, "Who am I to interfere?"

Overall, this dance panel achieves a similar effect to the earlier scene when their hands reach for each other, adding to the tension caused by distance — it feels like Shin-Ae and Yeong-gi should be together, but because of the circumstances, they can’t. They are reaching for each other, emotionally, but just can’t close the gap.

Ep. 55 | “We’re (just) friends... right?” - More Romantic Build-up

Although Yeong-gi knew exactly how to cheer up Shin-Ae, what he didn’t expect was her laugh… or rather the way he feels when she does.

Look at Yeong-gi’s expression — his eyes are widened. He has a look of awe and he seems shocked. He felt something unexpected. Maybe his heart skipped a beat... Could it be possible…?

He also has a resigned smile after, choosing to look at their dance from afar.

After the dance, Yeong-gi asks Shin-Ae to confirm their friendship.

But the panel and his tense smile seems… eerie. Faked. Like Yeong-gi might not be asking this question for obvious reasons. Even Shin-Ae notes that he seems uneasy, with a confused look and a nervous sweat drop.

We’ve already seen their completely established friendship. But as soon the two explicitly acknowledge this out-loud, we seem to have something new to deal with. Why does Yeong-gi suddenly want confirmation of their friendship, and in a manner that seems quite… sad? Why does his smile seem faked? We can look just a few panels prior to have a better understanding of what’s occurring internally for Yeong-gi.

Yeong-gi's shocked expression and widened eyes are similar to other moments of romantic tension, namely the hospital balcony scene and the earphones scene (albeit in a more muted manner). This is the second moment in this arc after the makeup scene that adds to the romantic tension leading up to the hospital balcony scene.

I believe Yeong-gi seems sad when he asks, “We’re friends right?” because when Shin-Ae laughs, he subconsciously feels the pangs of possible budding romantic feelings (it isn’t quite there yet, it is slight, but he is feeling something new) and he immediately subconsciously tries to deny those feelings by having Shin-Ae assert their friendship.

He feels dissonance between two facts:

“Shin-Ae is my friend”

“I felt something when she laughed”

This dissonance is uncomfortable, so he seeks to deny what is implied by the second part (that he may feel more for her). Additionally, we understand Yeong-gi struggles with self-worth. With the added pressure of those around him, as well as Shin-ae who has consistently accused him of being too pushy and a player, it is no struggle to understand why he immediately tries to avoid this feeling at even the first slightest hint of it.

But by looking for an affirmation of friendship to refute what he felt when she laughed, he unwittingly makes a link between what he felt to something beyond friendship.

Ep. 57-8 | The Bar - Brief Respite and a Kousuke/Yeong-gi Parallel

Due to the aforementioned tension, moments like the bar where Yeong-gi and Shin-ae are able to interact and joke around (about boobs in this case) feel incredibly refreshing — everything else is uncomfortable, but being with each other is comforting.

Once the others join them, we also get another slight Kousuke and Yeong-gi parallel. When Alyssa mentions Yeong-gi could dance with Shin-Ae, Yeong-gi refuses, likely due to pressure from Kousuke to be faithful to Alyssa. (We don’t quite know what he would’ve said otherwise). Shin-Ae responds to him refusing the dance, thinking:

“It would’ve been awkward anyways like my dance with Kousuke.”

The phrase "it would've been [negative adjective] anyways" usually implies a sense of settling for an outcome and sometimes slight displeasure.

I will admit that is hard to firmly state she’s disappointed that he said no. But the phase most certainly implies that she would’ve gone along with it if he said yes. (If this is hard to understand, Shin-Ae doesn’t think something like, “Good. I didn’t want to dance anyways.”) Her thought is relatively indifferent, especially in contrast to Kousuke whom she explicitly didn’t want to dance with.

Ep. 61 | Yeong-gi Takes a Stand - Relationship-driven Growth

When Yeong-gi learns that Shin-Ae is in trouble, but is yelled at by his father for his behaviour and not being with Alyssa, he is absolutely terrified at first (poor boy).

Randulph: "What are you doing? Fooling around again? It hasn't even been that long since I last reprimanded you!"

*Yeong-gi flinches*

Randulph: "How many times am I going to have to scold you tonight??? How hard is that head of of yours that nothing I say gets through to you! And Alyssa isn't even with you!"

Yeong-gi: *meekly* "Well — my friend was —"

Randulph: "I'm not through talking!

*Yeong-gi flinches*

Randulph continues scolding him, then says, "Forget about your friends."

To which Yeong-gi replies, "No... Castigate me, humiliate me. Do that all you want after I've ensured her safety!"

Upon thinking about the possible danger Shin-Ae is in, we see him, for the first time, advocate for himself and stand up to his father. Yeong-gi's concern for Shin-Ae allows him to stand up to the man who terrifies him. Shin-Ae takes easy precedent over the politics of his family and it shows how far their relationship has come and how it drives Yeong-gi's growth.

Ep. 62-3 | Sang-chul — Anger on behalf of Shin-Ae & a Shin-Ae and Alyssa Comparison

When Yeong-gi sees Sang-chul with Shin-Ae's jacket, he confronts him.

Sang-chul: "Back off bro. I don't want to start any trouble here."

Yeong-gi: "Too late for it now, innit? You asked for trouble as soon as you tried to take advantage of Shin-Ae."

Yeong-gi gets personally angry on behalf of Shin-Ae. It's another example that emphasizes their friendship.

We also see a contrast developed between Shin-Ae and Alyssa by Sang-chul:

"What is this Shin-Ae person to you anyway? You didn't react this way when I mentioned kissing your girlfriend... Where is she anyway? I still need my selfie and my kiss since you're fine with it."

Sang-chul assumes Yeong-gi must be romantically and sexually involved with Shin-Ae partly because he's a disgusting, sexist dirtbag, but also because, frankly, Yeong-gi seems to just generally like Shin-Ae more than his actual girlfriend.

I also want to draw attention to the fact that Sang-chul has mentioned kissing Alyssa three times: once before when they first met, and twice now. All three times, Yeong-gi didn't react.

In Ep. 63, Yeong-gi begins to move away from Sang-chul to get to Shin-Ae.

Sang-chul: "Heh. That's right. Wuss. Go run to your b*tch."

*Yeong-gi stops*

Sang-chul: "I'll go keep Alyssa company while you're at it! I still haven't gotten my kiss! Should be easy. She must be dumb as hell if she's dating you."

*Yeong-gi turns around, glares at him, kisses him, then punches him* "There's your damn kiss, you gobshite!"

Yeong-gi: "Don't you dare call Shin-Ae a b*tch ever again. And stay away from Alyssa."

Why is it, that now, he suddenly becomes agitated after already ignoring three taunts by Sang-chul to kiss Alyssa? Especially when he was in the middle of getting to Shin-Ae? I'm going to argue that Yeong-gi actually decides to punch him as soon as he first stops after Sang-chul insults Shin-Ae. Additionally, after the punch, Yeong-gi's first demand is to never insult Shin-Ae again, placing emphasis on this. It is also said more forcefully then the second: "Don't you dare... ever again" vs "And stay away". Alyssa is added almost like an afterthought.

There is a purposeful comparison here between the way Yeong-gi treats the disrespect towards the two women. Yeong-gi immediately gets angry enough to get violent when Sang-chul insults Shin-Ae, but barely responds at first when he calls Alyssa dumb and threatens to kiss her. He cares more for Shin-Ae than he does for his romantic partner, Alyssa.

Naturally, since the comparison is between his girlfriend and Shin-Ae, it also paints his feelings for Shin-Ae in a romantic light.

Ep. 63 | Yeong-gi Saves Shin-Ae

When Shin-Ae falls in the pool, it is Yeong-gi who saves her. Kousuke does not. This is another narrative parallel meant to contrast the two's relation to Shin-Ae. They both fall into the pool (parallel) but Yeong-gi, not Kousuke, saves Shin-Ae (contrast).

The episode also focuses almost solely on Yeong-gi's response to Shin-Ae's injury. He is absolutely terrified and feels terrible guilt, thinking he did this to her. But he is the one who saved her. He is the one shown to panic, yell for her, and scream for help. (We can also get into the authorial choice to focus on Yeong-gi's reaction and not Kousuke's... At the very least, it emphasizes that this moment is especially significant for Shin-Ae and Yeong-gi.)

Conclusions

The black and white formal arc serves as a climax for development between Shin-Ae and Yeong-gi — we see how in the face of adversity, the two value each other deeply as friends, and are given romantically tense moments.

There are also multiple narrative parallels, where Kousuke and Yeong-gi are put in similar situations, but the way they impact Shin-Ae are contrasted. Despite having multiple moments with Kousuke, Yeong-gi is who impacts her positively and who she wants to spend time with. This is continued in the hospital finale, when despite literally “reaching” Kousuke (he is with her and holds her hands), it is only after chasing Yeong-gi and being with him that she finds cathartic emotional support and finally cries. (Although these parallels jab at YooTip, I want to focus more on how it emphasizes that Shin-Ae and Yeong-gi's bond is beyond that she has with another person she has known for the same amount of time. It shows the difference between the more basic-level bond she has with Kousuke, vs. her bond with Yeong-gi that is surprisingly strong for people who have only known each other for a few weeks.)

Overall, this arc builds a base for when Yeong-gi first feels true romantic feelings for Shin-Ae: when she holds onto him and cries on the hospital balcony (you can see that analysis here). In this scene at the end of this arc, the two who so desperately tried to connect during the gala, finally do (although their hands still do not touch).

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oh-hush-its-perfect · 3 years

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Alex Fierro's Introduction Full Breakdown

Okokok so. This is going to go full English-professor mode, where I'm drawing conclusions that are gonna seem a little far-fetched. That's what's fun about media analysis! I can say something is a symbol, and even if I don't have enough faith in RR's competency to know if he meant for it to be a symbol, it's still true! That being said, a lot of these choices I'm sure are intentional, either at a literal or subliminal level. Page numbers are going to be used not to assert a kind of authority or whatever— this is a Tumblr post, not an essay— but to help readers find the pages I'm referencing in case they'd like to do some digging of their own. Also, this is going to be really long. Really sorry to anyone with ADHD; I might make an audiofile of this so you can get the information without having to read the whole thing. With all that, let's get into it!

To kick off, let's talk about Alex being in the form of a cheetah when she first meets Magnus. Of course, there's the obvious impact of him seeing her but only so breifly, as well as introducing the conflict between her and the rest of Hall 19. But that could have easily been accomplished by almost any animal. The choice of a cheetah being implicated implies two qualities of Alex that will be recurrent throughout the two books she's in: 1. She has a tendency to run away, as we'll later learn when she describes how she became homeless, and 2. To Magnus, she's elusive. She can't be caught or held down. The event that shows this so transparently is how Alex refuses to define their relationship at the end of the series, despite it clearly surpassing the normal bounds of friendship.

But the cheetah isn't the animal Alex is in the form of when Magnus first gets a good look at her; she's a weasel. Weasel's bring up all kinds of connotations: ferocity, slickness, a lack of charm. When we want to describe someone as an untrustworthy person, we call them a weasel. RR had Alex take this form to play up her comrades' feeling of distrust towards her. She could be a double-crosser. But paradoxically, the up-front and vicious mannerisms of a weasel also have a transperency. She does not try appealing to her Hallmate's sense of goodwill because she doesn't have anything to gain from it. So even though there is the implication that she might be an antagonist, there's also evidence from her actions and mannerisms that she isn't. The weasel's long and skinny frame also allow for a smooth transition into Alex's actual body, which is convenient.

As Alex transforms into her usual human form, Magnus describes her as "a regular human teen, long and lanky, with a swirl of dyed green hair, black at the roots, like a plug of weeds pulled out of a lawn" (pg. 50). That simile at the end is of particular interest. Let's compare it to another time Magnus describes Alex's hair, in Ship of the Dead: "Her hair had started to grow out, the black roots making her look even more imposing, like a lion with a healthy mane" (pg. 136). By contrasting these two different examples, we can see the development of Magnus and Alex's relationship. The first time he sees her, he thinks of her hair as something nasty— note the word choice "weeds." Later on, though, he becomes more affectionate towards her, more complentary. The immedient negative reaction is less his actual impression, though, and more the reaction he expected to have based on everyone else's reaction to Alex.

Her clothes are equally as interesting; as Magnus describes it, Alex wears "battered rose high-tops, skinny lime green corduroy pants, a pink-and-green argyle sweater-vest over a white tee, and another pink cashmere sweather wrapped around the waist like a kilt" (pg. 50). Aside from the obvious fact that this outfit is a) bizzare, b) fire, and c) Alex's signature colors, which add a layer of style to what can otherwise be a somewhat boring series fashion-wise (excuse me, Blitz), the outfit reveals a crucial facet of Alex's backstory in a kind of subtle way. These are expensive clothes, like the Stella McCartney dress in Alex's room. Note the mention of fabrics (corduroy, cashmere) and patterns (argyle). These indicate wealth and status. Even the high-tops; shoes like that don't come cheap. But I'd like to return to the very first word of the section: "battered." Alex's wardrobe show-cases a proximity to wealth, but also shows that that proximity has been strained and lengthened, maybe for an extended period of time. Alex dresses like a rich person, but she isn't one. Least, not anymore.

The last word of that outfit-introduction is also of interest: "kilt." At the current moment, Magnus thinks that Alex is male. No one has indicated otherwise to him. Everyone has been referring to Alex with he/him pronouns. Samirah called Alex her "brother" (pg. 29). His first thought in seeing what he at first perceives as a guy with a jacket wrapped around the waist is That looks like a kilt. This thought tells us about Magnus: despite being open and accepting, he still has some lingering notions of gender conformity from his years in wider American society.

Magnus also indicates that the outfit "reminded me of a jester's motley, or the coloration of a venomous animal warning the whole world" (pg. 50). This is rather self-explanatory, but it's still worth noting that Magnus sees the outfit as something bizzare, strange, and even perhaps comical. This places Alex at odds with the other people Magnus has met. It also reveals that Magnus has zero fashion sense. But we already knew that.

After finishing up staring at the ensemble, Magnus finally gets around to actually looking Alex in the face. First Magnus says that he "forgot how to breathe" (pg. 50), which, yeah, relatable. This is justifed by saying that Alex has the same face as Loki, but the very same sentence that asserts that that's the case also suggests an alternative reason: Alex has "the same unearthly beauty" as her father. Here we can see the beginnings of Magnus's attraction to Alex, though at this point, he still has a lot of internalized homophobia. Though there's certainly some truth in that Magnus was unnerved by Alex's resemblance to Loki, the idea that Magnus pointed out that Alex was pretty without elaborating on that thought until about a chapter later— after he was informed that Alex was presently a girl— can tell us a lot about how Magnus perceives sex and beauty.

Of course, Alex's eyes are given special attention. She has cool eyes; what can I say? But I'd like to focus in on how Magnus here depicts Alex's heterochromia as "completely unnerving" (pg. 50). Again, let's contrast this with how he describes them after getting to know Alex a little better in Ship of the Dead. In Chapter 3, Magnus describes "[Alex's] dark brown eye and his amber eye like mismatched moons cresting the horizon" (pg. 25). Once again, this shows the development of their relationship— but this time, it's in a much more personal way. Eyes are the windows to the soul; they are culturally important and biologically important in inter-personal connections. In you look into someone's eyes, you're giving them your full attention, and you're implying a kind of closeness. The way that Magnus describes Alex's eyes in the second passage is downright intimate. At this point, he is in love with Alex, and it is clear when contrasting the two descriptions.

As my last point, I'd like to discuss Alex's first words on page: "'Point that rifle somewhere else, or I will wrap it around your neck like a bow tie'" (pg. 51). First of all, Alex saying this with a "perfect white smile" (pg. 51) on his face implies that she is used to being threatened. She is not afraid of being shot; she counters the promise of an attack with a promise of her own. This pleads the question: why is Alex accustomed to violence? What events of her past or qualities of her life have brought her to this point? The threat itself reveals Alex's trauma from being genderfluid in a society with rigid gender norms, as well as her antagonistic relationship with her father. Magnus makes a comment that Alex "might actually know how to tie a bow tie, which was kind scary arcane knowledge" (pg. 51). Like Alex's wardrobe, the idea that she may have experience in high-class fashion also implies her former status as a rich kid.

I could go on. I could break apart Alex saying "'Pleased to meet you all, I guess'" (pg. 51). There is a wealth of information in this short page span that tells us things about Alex Fierro in the present moment, quietly demonstrates things about her past, and characterizes the narrator Magnus Chase. This passage is also effective in hindsight in marking the progress of Magnus and Alex's relationship.

But I'd like to take a step back and look at not the pieces, but the whole picture. Alex Fierro gets a full page of pure description— her outfit, her face— and about a chapter of introduction. This comes after several chapters of build-up. Alex Fierro is an important character you need to keep your eyes on. Alex Fierro is emotionally significant to the main character, Magnus Chase. Alex Fierro is one of the most developed and well-rounded characters that Rick Riordan has ever written— heck, she's one of the best characters in middle-grade books period. The extended emphasis on her and her alone tells us exactly what role she's going to play in this story: she's the star.

#she IS the moment #I'm sure I missed a few things too #alex fierro #mcga #magnus chase #magnus chase and the gods of asgard #fierrochase #magnus chase/alex fierro #mcatgoa

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