#this is half meta half personal tbh

[magnus-rhymes-with-swagness]

OKAY who wants to hear about why i think nimona challenges amatonormativity? you do! 🫵

one of the main ways this is accomplished is through ballister and ambrosius’s relationship. it’s arguable that it doesn’t necessarily fit the traditional model of romance - not only are they a queer interracial couple, and not only is their relationship ambiguous in the book, but there are certain instances, especially in the movie, that subvert traditional ideas of romance and friendship.

one instance that really stands out to me is when the director asks ambrosius what’s on his mind and he goes on his imagined rant about how arm-chopping isn’t a love language - you know the one. when he mentions ballister, he refers to him as “the man i love, my best friend.” and not just one or the other, but both! the man i love, and my best friend. he places equal emphasis on both the romantic and platonic aspects of the relationship, valuing ballister in both a romantic context and a platonic context without treating either one as more important than the other.

and even moments such as the first “i love you” and the kiss manage to subvert tradition. both of these things are generally seen as a pretty big deal, especially in fiction - if the characters are kissing or saying “i love you,” it’s usually a moment in which everything changes. a line is drawn, dividing the story into after and now. sometimes it’s dramatic and climactic, with fireworks and a swell of music, but even when it isn’t it’s still seen as a turning point of sorts. now it’s official, now it’s real. but this isn’t the case in nimona. both moments are certainly significant - they do a good job of showcasing the character development and where ballister and ambrosius are on their respective journeys, and are certainly important in terms of representation - but neither one follows the path that most fictional romance does.

another way in which nimona challenges amatonormativity would be the emphasis on friendship! in the tavern scene (in the movie) when ambrosius suggests killing nimona, ballister disagrees and says “she’s my friend.” ambrosius replies with “aren’t i more than that?”, implying he’s more important than a friend - thus upholding amatonormative ideas. ballister becomes angry at that and leaves - challenging this idea and prioritizing his platonic relationship with nimona over his romantic one with ambrosius, as nimona is the one he wants to defend.

additionally, a big part of this scene is the way ballister deliberately rejects institute values while ambrosius unintentionally upholds them. and because the story challenges homophobia and transphobia (and other forms of bigotry) through the lens of the institute, it would make sense for it to challenge amatonormativity too! it’s something that’s become incredibly normalized, to the point that lots of people don’t even know it exists, and this is reminiscent of the institute brainwashing, especially when it comes to ambrosius - he’s been manipulated his whole life and probably genuinely doesn’t understand the level to which he’s internalized institute beliefs.

ballister prioritizes nimona many times, actually. when he tells ambrosius she’s “smart, kind, and quite sophisticated,” when he’s overjoyed to see her again at the end, when he refuses to kill her and saves her instead. over and over, he proves how much he cares about her, even when this involves directly going against what ambrosius wants - which, of course, is really what the institute wants. a core tenant of amatonormativity is the false notion that romantic relationships are more important or valuable than other types of relationships, but ballister actively goes against this!

to conclude, as a story that at its core is about identity and challenging societal beliefs, nimona defies expectations and traditional ideas of what it should or shouldn’t be. it’s possible that amatonormativity wasn’t what the creators had in mind, but the story still manages to challenge it with grace and elegance. just like its main character, nimona refuses to conform to what others want it to be.

#nimona #nimona movie #ballister blackheart #ballister boldheart #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister x ambrosius #ambrosius x ballister #nimona netflix #nd stevenson #nimona spoilers #i could go on tbh but i think this is a digestible amount #often when i’m writing a meta i’ll walk around in circles talking into my phone recording my thoughts out loud #and then i’ll play it back and put the most coherent stuff into a list which eventually becomes paragraphs #and the combined recordings for this one are about half an hour in total lol #i’m just. absolutely in love with the whole story. both the book and the movie mean so incredibly much to me #changed my life shaped me as a person etc etc :’) #OH i almost forgot. this analysis is dedicated to the person who sent me aphobic anon hate about it before it even existed lol #i know i said i wouldn’t post anything if people couldn’t be normal but idc actually. seethe with rage! <3 #my words #meta

[anghraine]

I’ve been thinking about the development of Elizabeth’s feelings for Darcy in P&P, and one of the things I find really intriguing is how incredibly careful Austen is in her handling of their physical attraction to each other.

A lot of takes on Darcy’s initial attraction to Elizabeth focus entirely on the physical element, but Austen’s description of it folds together his attraction to her intelligence, her expression, her body, and the “easy playfulness” of her manner. Of these, the earliest mentioned is his realization that her face is “rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes” and her eyes are the physical feature that he seems to dwell on the most.

At any rate, Darcy’s attraction to Elizabeth is established early on (Ch 6) and continues as a thread from that point on. And—I mean, even in 1813, it’s one thing to show a man in his twenties being attracted to the pretty heroine. Austen is a lot cagier about Elizabeth’s feelings.

The narrative is structured so that we know Darcy is physically attractive from his entrance in Ch 3, when the narrator refers to “his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien” along with his wealth. But we’re not in Elizabeth’s head at that point, and iirc, she isn’t shown as saying or thinking anything about his physical attractiveness until she blushingly agrees that he is very handsome forty chapters later.

Even there, Austen leaves the dialogue to stand on its own and tells us nothing of what Elizabeth actually feels about it. The conversation moves to Darcy’s personal virtues, which reveal the critical fact that Darcy is consistently kind and good-natured in the domestic sphere. So Elizabeth’s concession that Darcy is physically attractive is narratively linked to the suggestion that he would make a safe husband, emotionally speaking (although her concession comes first, which may be significant).

Between the initial, omniscient narrator-type description of him and Elizabeth agreeing in Ch 43, we do get references to his looks a few times, but during the period of Elizabeth’s dislike, it’s always either through implication or through someone around Elizabeth rather than Elizabeth herself. So Bingley, for instance, jokes about how Darcy is so much taller than he is, but the narrator only remarks on Elizabeth’s assumption that Darcy is offended by this.

We know that Elizabeth looks for a resemblance to Darcy when she first sees Lady Catherine, and finds it, but this isn’t explicitly linked to her conclusion that Lady Catherine might have been handsome in her youth.

Then there’s the introduction of Colonel Fitzwilliam, when he arrives with Darcy, as “about thirty, not handsome, but in person and address most truly the gentleman.” Obviously the contrast is with Darcy, who is handsome but has less gentlemanly manners, but this isn’t explicitly spelled out. Austen simply says that Darcy “looked just as he had been used to look in Hertfordshire” and moves to the manner of his compliments to Charlotte.

We do get an explicit contrast later, when Darcy, Georgiana, and Bingley come to Lambton (so, after the critical revelations):

Miss Darcy was tall, and on a larger scale than Elizabeth; and, though little more than sixteen, her figure was formed, and her appearance womanly and graceful. She was less handsome than her brother; but there was sense and good humour in her face

Austen breezes past this to Georgiana’s manners and Bingley’s arrival. There are a couple of discussions of Darcy’s appearance earlier at Pemberley, but entirely held between Mr and Mrs Gardiner, who admire his figure while Elizabeth is consumed by embarrassment. She mentions that it was obvious that he had only just arrived via horse or carriage, but not how she knows this or what she feels about it beyond repeatedly blushing.

Then they meet again, he interacts with the Gardiners for awhile, and Elizabeth and the Gardiners leave. The Gardiners discuss the encounter including Darcy’s appearance, and Mrs Gardiner—who at this point, still thinks Darcy has mistreated Wickham—first concludes that Wickham is handsomer, then immediately re-considers and decides that Darcy has perfect features, but not Wickham’s angelic countenance. She (Mrs Gardiner) goes on, “He[Darcy] has not an ill-natured look. On the contrary, there is something pleasing about his mouth when he speaks.”

Elizabeth does not opine on Darcy’s mouth, lol, and instead defends Darcy’s moral character as far as his financial dealings with Wickham are concerned. We don’t hear much more of it apart from that, and in general, we see Elizabeth’s reactions to Darcy more than we hear about them:

Their eyes instantly met, and the cheeks of both were overspread with the deepest blush.

She blushed again and again over the perverseness of the meeting.

The colour which had been driven from her face, returned for half a minute with an additional glow, and a smile of delight added lustre to her eyes, as she thought for that space of time that his affection and wishes must still be unshaken.

Darcy had walked away to another part of the room. She followed him with her eyes, envied everyone to whom he spoke, had scarcely patience enough to help anybody to coffee; and then was enraged against herself for being so silly!

The colour now rushed into Elizabeth’s cheeks in the instantaneous conviction of its being a letter from the nephew, instead of the aunt

She had only to say in reply, that they had wandered about, till she was beyond her own knowledge. She coloured as she spoke

I do not personally think there can be much reasonable doubt about whether Elizabeth is attracted to Darcy during this phase of the book. But the narrative does dance around it enough (for understandable 1813 reasons, I suspect, given that Elizabeth either dislikes or hates Darcy for a significant portion of the book) that it’s not at all clear when she begins to finds him attractive, especially given that she does not actually see him between receiving the letter and acknowledging his attractiveness at Pemberley. So I think there are multiple valid interpretations or headcanons one could come up with for that.

#fun fact: i started writing this bc i was like 'i want to make a post about something trivial i can be concise about' #rip me i guess #but tbh my personal headcanon is that elizabeth /is/ attracted to darcy for a lot of the book but NOT remotely 'secretly in love' or w/e #people will be like 'if the attraction is mutual then what about her dislike are you saying-' #nope! she hates him. in fact she only hates him more bc he's smart and hot and complicated. #in addition to her conviction that he's a terrible person morally #and then she finds out he's actually okay and then that he's actually GOOD and then that he's made himself even better #elizabeth: i tried infatuation at first sight with wickham. now i shall try grown-up feelings like respect and gratitude #three days later: alas... i could have loved him... #some indeterminate amount of time without actually seeing him later: ...oh. fuck. #(i paraphrase. but honestly while elizabeth's realization that half her sleepless nights are darcy's fault is sad it is also very funny) #but yeah i think elizabeth is extremely wary of where attraction to emotionally unsuitable people goes and just buries all that #but once hte brakes go off she falls FAST #also she's genuinely attracted to three different men over the course of one pretty short novel and i love that for her #anghraine babbles #anghraine's meta #austen blogging #elizabeth bennet #fitzwilliam darcy #otp of otps #pride and prejudice #jane austen #long post

[skitskatdacat63]

Tysm for the tags @fernando-jpg and @rubywritten !!!!

F1 Asks:

Who is your favorite driver?

Fernando and Seb! They come as a pair. Do not seperate :)

Do you have any other favorite drivers?

Yep! But mostly retired drivers </3 I love Mark and Jense! And then for current drivers, I like Oscar, and Max a bit as well(I can't help but feel loyal to him bcs he was my first fav)

Who is your least favorite driver?

I dislike being a hater on main but....#3 and #4. Also tbh I feel neutral to dislike about most current drivers, other than my 3 guys, so!

Do you pull for drivers or do you like teams as well?

I'm mostly driver motivated, I think I'd follow Fernando anywhere, and probably Oscar too. I like and support teams as well but mostly just because my guy is there! It's like, I love Aston, right? They support Fernando, they're willing to do so much for him, they love him, the vibe is really good. But if he decided to blow up Aston tomorrow, I'd be like "I'm right there with you!!"

If you like teams, what team do you pull for?

+ HOWEVER! I am an RBR devotee. Like it's not even that much about the drivers, I like Max a lot, but I think I'll always keep my eye on RBR as long as I'm into F1. I just love the history of the team and their vibe. My fav team of all time will always be RBR 2009-2013, just so special to me 🥹 Not that I was actually around for it but, the way they evolved from a team that was mostly there to bring fun to the paddock to one of the most successful teams of all time, as well as being a fucking energy drink company in a sport full of car companies, is just so cool and inspiring to me. And I love the red bull golden boys so much(Seb and Max beloveds!!!) And I also have an addiction to red bull....But I got into them first so I have a special connection, even if I don't root for them all the time. Them and their aesthetic makes me happy :) they are F1 to me :)

How long have you been into F1

Probably over a year and half by now? I wish I could say I've been into it longer but unfortunately I am an American shjfkgkg

What got you into F1?

I've mentioned this several times before but. I read some oneshot in my prev fandom that was an F1 AU. And I was just like, enthralled. The first time I read it, I had to keep looking up stuff, and I kept going back to it. And then I went on the author's blog, and saw they talked about DTS and how to get into F1. So I tried watching DTS and it was alright I guess. But there happened to be an actual race that same weekend, so I tuned in, and was so into it!! Ah man there's nothing like that first race tbh. I knew only one driver, Max, and I rooted so hard for him and he won 🥹 it was just fun back then not knowing enough to be stressed and having pure focus on one guy. I'm happy where I'm at now, but that first race was cool :,)

Do you enjoy fanfic/rpf?

Yes of course >:) I think I probably looked at the ao3 page for F1 before even watching my first race actually, it's very habitual for me when joining a fandom. I draw rpf and write my own AU lore stuff, and meta and all that. And I think I check the ao3 page at least once a day 😭 its an essential part of my fandom experience

How do you view new fans?

Hmmmm sometimes I feel like an old person, even though I haven't even been here that long. I think F1 has such a learning curve and barrier to entry compared to most fandoms. Like you have to learn so much about racing and the drivers as well until you feel like you actually have a good grasp imo. So I guess it's weird for me to see new fans bcs im like, oh god was I like that back then 😭 I'm happy to see new fans ofc!! But it's also like, good luck on your learning journey 🫡

If you could take over as team principal for any team, who would it be and why?

I am not a good leader, I think we'd crash and burn if I took over a team 😭 they'd be like "Catie! What should we do???" and I'd have a nervous breakdown. Go back in time to be TP for McLaren and be like, be careful who you invite to your garage at the Miami gp LMFAO

Are your friends and family into F1 as well?

Yes! My brother was into F1 before me(what a bastard for not getting me into it earlier.) Which is hilarious though because I pay for the F1TV account that he leeches off of. Like, damn who's the real F1 fan 🥱 I got my dad into it last season, and it was a very gradual process. He's a huge Fernando fan though, which is really fun, and sometimes he's much more positive abt the sport than me hahaha. He likes Fernando bcs they're both old men, and getting to see Fernando succeed last year is what pulled him into the sport. Some of my irl friends know of F1 but I don't think they watch all the races.

Are you open to talking to other fans/friends?

Of course!!!!! I am always desperate to talk to new people, feel free to hit me up always :D I will talk about anything F1, Fernando, Seb, Vettonso, etc related whenever :) I remember I got an ask a while ago last yr that's like "are you open to being friends/mutuals w strangers." It's like, um, yeah??? Its a lot of fun to be on here, I love making connections

Hmmmm ive seen a lot of people do this already so don't mind if I tag you and you've done it already aahh. But I will tag @suzuki-ecstar @sansebastinae @boisinnot @astronomical-light @thatdemonbish

#dont ask me who i hate 😭😭 #im constantly on the verge of haterism and vague posting rn LOL #fun game!! #catie.rambling.txt

[jotun-philosopher]

Half meta, half ramble

Not entirely sure where this post is going, tbh... Let's find out, eh?

Sooo... I was browsing the Final Fantasy wiki (as one does) and the article for Tantarian (an optional/missable boss in FF9) caught my attention. Y'see, Tantarian is a demon found in a library, hiding in a possessed book -- and is based on the Great Duke of Hell, Dantalion (or Dantalian, the spelling can be inconsistent). How the ever-loving wossname, I hear you cry, does this relate to Good Omens????

Let's take a closer look! (this got longer than I anticipated, hence the cut)

From the Wikipedia article 'List of demons in the Ars Goetia':

"The Seventy-first Spirit is Dantalion. He is a Duke Great and Mighty, appearing in the Form of a Man with many Countenances, all Men's and Women's Faces; and he hath a Book in his right hand. His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences unto any; and to declare the Secret Counsel of any one; for he knoweth the Thoughts of all Men and Women, and can change them at his Will. He can cause Love, and show the Similitude of any person, and show the same by a Vision, let them be in what part of the World they Will."

Bolded details:

"Duke Great and Mighty" -- evocative of the whole "Thin Dark Duke" thing <3

" [...] he hath a Book in his right hand." -- pretty obvious GO connection there!

(best 'Azzy+book(s)' gif I could find quickly...although on a second look, this might well be from the body swap bit in S1 XD Mr Sheen, you ludicrously talented chaos gremlin, you <3 )

(Ok, this one's definitely Crowley XD)

Mah point is dolphins they both match up to the book thing!

"His Office is to teach all Arts and Sciences [...]" -- leaning slightly more towards a Crowley parallel here, with the apple thing partly symbolising intellectual curiosity (essential part of arts and sciences!), but Aziraphale giving away the flaming sword would've helped humanity figure things out in that area as well (even if indirectly)

(I want to boop the snek!!!)

"[...] knoweth the Thoughts of all Men and Women, and can change them at his Will [...]" -- mind-reading! Seems to be sliiiiiightly more of a demon thing from what we've seen (e.g. "Nina: It's like you've seen into my secret soul. Crowley: Yeah, it's a knack.", Shax picking at insecurities in the bookshop battle), but both the Ineffables have directly influenced human minds on screen (e.g. Sitis, the Shopkeepers' Ball)

"[...] can cause Love [...]" -- well, they certainly tried! Operation: Shop Lesbians :D

"[...] show the Similitude of any person [...]" -- mostly seen with the body swap bit so far (where A+C are concerned), but given that for angels and demons, size and shape are merely options, and Beelzebub canonically changed their face, it's not outwith the bounds of possibility that the Ineffable Husbands could disguise themselves as people other than each other (if that makes sense)(and assuming they'd *want* to, of course)

Plus, if you go with the 'Dantalion' spelling, the last four letters form the word 'lion', which is a motif the show ties pretty strongly to Aziraphale via the signet ring on his right hand. Fierce protector angel! <3

Plus plus, from what I've been able to gather, Dantalion is supposed to be one of the more benevolently-inclined Goetic demons -- both the Ineffables are pretty dang benevolent!

The point I'm stumbling towards (stone-cold sober, but with about 3,000,000 on the ND Scoville scale) is that Dantalian/Dantalion has some pretty interesting parallels to both the Ineffable Husbands and so, within the GO verse, could be either another alias of Crowley's or a name Aziraphale might take if he Fell (AU fic writers, start your engines!) :D

As a small bonus, I saw the name 'Shax' mentioned in the list of Marquises of Hell!

The characteristics given for the Goetic Shax don't really match up to TV!Shax that I can tell, apart from the stork symbolism and the "hoarse but subtle voice" (and maaaybe 'is thought to be faithful and obedient, but is a great liar"), but given Gneil's wide-ranging mythological knowledge, invincible genre savviness and extreme writing skill, it wouldn't surprise me to see elements of the Goetic description popping up in Shax's S3 arc -- likely in unexpected ways!

Hope you enjoyed reading that ^^ Have fun fic-writing!

#good omens #good omens meta #aziraphale #ars goetia #dantalian #dantalion #goetia #final fantasy 9 #tantarian #shax

[ananke-xiii]

My ranking of SPN seasons (based only on their PLOT) pt. 1

Okay so I've finally watched all 15 seasons of Supernatural and, I must say, what a journey!

The show has releaved itself to be a pleasant surprise, I've learned a lot thanks to it. I must confess that I had strong prejudices against it and had been avoiding it all these years because I thought it was... well, tbh not worthy.

Of course, since now I am here writing about it, it's useless to say that I was wrong. It's not the perfect show, sometimes it's not even a good show, but for sure it's an enjoyable, interesting and exciting show.

The following ranking is based solely on the plot (and subplot) of each seasons and my personal opinion about it.

15. Season 14: Frankly, I don't know what to say about this season, LOL. There is no real plot. We are led to believe that the story will revolve around Dean being possessed by Michael, okay. Basically Michael!Dean from the AU goes to Earth 1 to create an army of monsters (?) but then says bye bye to Dean and leaves (??), but oh wait, no, he re-possesses him (???), and then the army disappears (???) and then he gets trapped in Dean's mind and then he posseses Rowena (???????????). In the mean time, Jack is sick, dies, gets rescued by Castiel who makes a crazy deal with The Empty, then kinda goes crazy and starts killing angels (?????) and then gets killed by God. He also accidentally kills Mary Winchester (???????) in the process. I dont' get it, okay? Maybe it's just me! At any rate, we discover that Michael can possess whoever he wants since he easily changes his vessel without consent multiple times. This fact alone contradicts the whole of season 5 (Dean is the chosen one, the one and only Michael's vessel, hello writers?). Finally, the whole Nick/Lucifer thing. I get it, Mark Pellegrino was GREAT as Lucifer, I loved him, I wanted to see more of him. But his subplot was nonsense and meh. So, yes, the plot was bad. Reeeeeal bad.

14. Season 15: One of the the fun things about Supernatural is, for me, the fact that it doesn't take itself too seriously. Throughout the whole series we have continuous meta incursions and I find that extremely interesting. However, I think that with the final season they went too far. The plot (kiling the manipulative and frankly insufferable God) is stimulating enough until the episode named "The Trap". After that, I felt like the writers didn't know how to fill the remaining episodes until the end and just wasted half of the show on basically nothing really noteworthy. Also, one could totally see that the main worry was not the plot but trying to tie all loose ends off. It was unsuccessful. I would have preferred a well-executed plot rather than a plot that aimed at"filling in" all the gaps of a 15-year-old TV show (read: it's almost impossible, also unnecessary). The final episode was just bad, like really really bad. The plot was resolved by episode 19, so the last episode really felt like something made to end the show forever, kill everyone off and never talk about them anymore. It didn't make any sense at all.

13. Season 7: I didn't hate season 7 per se, but the plot was not great. Like season 15, the season starts off strong with the main event but then it drags itself out until the end. There's no meat in between. The gist is to kill the Leviathans, the subplot is Sam's confronting Lucifer's mental abuse. The most interesting stuff (aka the introduction of the Word of God) happens around the last 3 episodes. This is one of those seasons that are needed to "connect" different points in the myth-arc, however it was not done brilliantly. I felt like Bobby's death was not necessary to the events, it was poorly done for emotional sake. The"Dick jokes" are funny at first, then they are tiresome. After a while I couldn't take the characters seriously, it was all one big dick joke after another, please stop. At the end, we find out that the whole subplot was utterly useless: Castiel shifts the Sam's mental problem from Sam's mind to his, goes crazy in exchange, ultimately to be cured once he's in Purgatory. I'm sorry, what? Also: the Leviathans (the close-to unkillable monsters the heroes have been fighting for the whole series) become just "regular monsters" and that's it. I'm sorry, WHAT?!

12. Season 3: This season contains arguably some of the best episodes of the whole show. The 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America Strike affected the way the plot was planned (I presume) but I think it was for good. As a result, the plot is clean, simple, easy: the heroes need to rescue Deam from the demonic deal he has made. I like when there's a sort of "deadline" in the plot, it keeps things interesing for me. That's it, that's the plot. There's no subplot either. So why this low in the ranking? WELL. The first half of the show made me very uncomfortable. The jokes sounded very, very problematic and I had a very hard time finishing the episodes. Now I know this has nothing to do with the plot, but hey. It made me feel uneasy and the ranking is mine so ranking n. 12 it is!

11. Season 6: I appreciated the writers' attempt with this season. Basically, both the plot and the two main subplots make zero to no sense until the end, when we discover "the truth". As a matter of fact, until episode 19 we don't really understand what's going on. The plot seems to be the hunting of the Alphas and, eventually, of the Mother of them all: Eve. One subplot seems to be a civil war in Heaven, although we are only told about it and never see anything. The other subplots is Sam being soulless + the fact that now he's been hunting with his resurrected grandfather who, in turn, was resurrected by Crowley and now works under him (LOL). For the plot and the first subplot to make sense the missing link is this: Castiel and Crowley have been pulling the strings all along without the heroes' knowing. For the subplot... well, for the subplot (Sam being soulless), too LOL. Cas and Crowley are having an "affair of sorts" and plan to open the door to Purgatory to take souls from there and use them as... energy? Yeaaah. I liked the "whoaa I didn't see it coming" factor. HOWEVER, for it to REALLY make sense one needs to acknowledge Cas and Crowley relationship. Like, seriously, the reason why everything starts to go wrong (and interesting) is because Dean feels "betrayed" by Cas. Which makes zero sense. But I digress. What I want to say is that the turning point of the plot is understated unless you get the "romantic" implications. It's left to the audience to get it but, honestly, I didn't get it at first so I didn't get why the characters were so angry at Cas and why Cas didn't tell Dean about his affair with Crowley. Then when you get it, you get it but anyway the plot is not the best the show has to offer.

#supernatural meta #supernatural #spn #spn meta #spn analysis #dean winchester #destiel #crowley #drowley #bobby singer #sam winchester #castiel #spnfandom #spn season 14 #spn season 6 #spn seaon 7 #spn season 15 #spn season 3

[aspoonofsugar]

Hey Spoon, as someone with highly detailed, well-thought-out metas about RWBY, I would like to ask for your thoughts about two recent trends I have seen about Volume 9. Specifically, about Ruby and her breakdown.

First, there seems to be discussion about Ruby being a huntress as a bad thing? That the hunter system is toxic because it put Ruby in this situation in the first place, with a burden and stress on her shoulders? I don't agree, especially when WBY all triumphantly stated they were Huntress' to their past selves.

Second of all, people seem to have it out for the pep talks that Ruby has been given over the series? That the support and encouragement that Ruby has received over the series has done nothing but make her want to hide her trauma and bottle up her emotions, because people gave her pep talks, instead of directly saying 'Yeah its fine to feel bad'? Like, some of the comments they make is intriguing. Such as Ozpin's statement to Ruby - and from her to Jaune - about how a leader must always be their best self and put their teammates first basically, leading to them eventually breaking down as they are...

But its a bit unfair to say that every attempt to support and encourage Ruby over the show up until this point was worthless and meaningless, isn't it?

Note: I wrote half of this answer before episode 8. I honestly think this still all applies, so I have not changed it. Still, consider I am not discussing that much what happens there. That will have its own meta.

Hi!

Personally, I agree with your thoughts. I understand these takes and tbh I think several people are expressing them in different ways, framings and degrees.

That said, in this answer I am gonna consider them in their most extreme and simplistic form :)

Before I address them, though, here comes a short introduction on character arcs. Skip it if you already know these ideas.

CHARACTER ARCS AND THEME

There are different ways to discuss characters and their arcs. Here I am looking at them specifically from a narrative lens by using theme to classify and analyze them.

Many of these ideas come from @septembercfawkes great posts. Here they are if you wanna read more on the topic:

In short, there are 2 types of character arcs:

The character makes a 180 degree change when it comes to the theme > change arc

The character doesn't change idea about the theme > steadfast arc

If the theme the character believes in by the end of the story is the narrative truth, then the arc is positive, while if it isn't then it's negative.

Some examples:

Ilia starts the story by believing violence is the only way for Faunus to gain freedom, but ends her personal arc by learning this isn't true. "Hate is not the answer". > This is the theme the story supports hence Ilia went through a positive change arc.

Adam starts the story by believing the violence done to him justifies his own violence on others. Blake keeps telling him this is wrong and gives him the chance to change. He refuses and keeps believing the false thematic statement. This is why he is defeated by Blake and Yang, who know trauma and violence do not define who you are (the true thematic statement). > Adam is a steadfast negative character.

Ironwood starts the Atlas Arc by wanting to trust (true thematic statement), but he ends it by giving in to control (false thematic statement). Similarly, he has a good heart and believes in humans, but by the end he refuses his own humanity. > He goes through a negative change arc

Pyrrha starts the story by believing destiny is one's final goal. She thinks hers is to become a hero. She ends her personal arc by dying a hero and choosing her own destiny. > The thematic statement she believes in is the one the story supports hence Pyrrha is a positive steadfast character.

This is the short version >

If you believe something false in the beginning, you have a positive arc only if you change.

If you believe something true in the beginning, you have a positive arc if you hold on to that truth.

This means the narrative is gonna challenge the change characters and steadfast characters in opposite ways:

If you need to change, the story is gonna test you to see if you can change and will punish you, if you don't

If you need to be steadfast, the story is gonna test you to see if you can keep believing into something even when everything goes wrong

Now, guess which kind of character Ruby is?

RUBY IS A STEADFAST CHARACTER

Ruby believes the true thematic statement since the beginning:

"The world can be dark, but there is beauty in it and people should fight to protect it and make it better"

I don't think there is any doubt about this being true in the show. After all, the other MCs grow positively by starting to embrace this viewpoint.

What about Ruby, then?

She is steadfast, so for her the challenge is to keep believing in it even when everything goes wrong. Like at Beacon. Like in Atlas.

But wait! Ruby's viewpoint is flawed and she is breaking because of her unhealthy coping mechanism!

Yes, but this doesn't mean she isn't steadfast. Steadfast characters actually do grow a lot. Sometimes even moreso than change arc characters.

Do you remember Simba from the Liong King? Well, he is a steadfast character.

The Lion King's main theme is the Circle of Life > everyone has a role to play in this cycle

Simba believes this in the beginning and can't wait to be king!

Simba believes Mufasa is dead because of him, so he runs away and gives up the theme. He starts living with Timon and Pumba, 2 outcasts and he even eats insects (aka goes against nature) > he stops believing in the Circle of Life

Nala, Rafiki and Mufasa's ghost remind Simba of his role, so Simba starts believing in the true theme again

Simba defeats Scar and becomes King taking his place in the Circle of Life

As you can see, Simba grows a lot, but he is still steadfast because he knows the true theme since the beginning. It is just that he loses sight of it and needs to re-learn it.

This isn't all, though. What Simba does is more than just remember the theme. By the end he acquires a stronger understanding of it. This is because of 2 reasons:

He adheres to it despite all the obstacles, which makes the theme stronger and deeper.

He has a change arc when it comes to a secondary theme > responsibility.

Simba is initially irresponsible, but by the end he becomes responsible. This secondary theme feeds the main one > Simba's role in the Circle of Life is to be King, but this doesn't mean he will be able to do whatever he wants. Quite the opposite, being King means you have responsibilities. Simba learns this and so he gets to understand the Circle and his role in it better.

Well, something similar is going to happen with our Little Red Riding Hood.

BEING A HUNTRESS

Ruby used to be the embodyment of a Huntress:

Yang: I'm not like Ruby, she's always wanted to be a Huntress. It's like she said, ever since she was a kid, she'd dreamt about being the heroes in the books. Helping people and saving the day, and never asking for anything else in return.

Still, she has right now forgotten what being a Huntress means:

Ruby: Fight… monsters, I guess? I’m sorry, I don’t understand why this matters.

Being a Huntress means to help others, but Ruby answers Herb confusely and mentions "killing monsters" instead. Now, it is not that Ruby doesn't know what being a true Huntress means, but rather it is she has forgotten it.

Why is that so?

It is because the Shadows have slowly been eating at her to the point she can't ignore them anymore. All the stress, the horrors and the grief Ruby has been repressing have engulfed her. She literally can't see anything else anymore. She is so focused on Salem, on how monstruous and scary she is, she can't really see the witch is just a person. Not only that, she is forgetting that the point isn't to destroy Salem, but rather to protect lives:

Blake: Huntresses are heroes. We protect those who can’t protect themselves.

If she stays in the shadows she is gonna turn like Ozpin, like Ironwood and like Salem herself (symbolically). Still, how can she come out?

I think that when it comes to Ruby, she has to learn a secondary theme:

Maria: Interesting… Perhaps there was something that you just weren't seeing?

SILVER EYES - IDEALISM AND EMPATHY

Ruby's main attribute is her Silver Eyes, which are metaphors for themes and inner attributes. So far, I think the Silver Eyes mean 2 things:

Idealism > Ever heard of Wide Eyed Idealists? Yep, those are the Silver Eyed Warriors in a nutshell. The way the eyes work is literally that they reflect the light of the world (like the Moon mirrors the Sun). The SEW can use them only if they believe life is beautiful and worth protecting. This is why the way things are now Ruby is gonna have a hard time using them again.

Empathy > Ever heard of looking at the world through shades of gray? Maybe shades of silver is more accurate here :P But yeah, the Silver Eyes are probably gonna reveal new power and strength once the theme of empathy is gonna be explored more. After all, what does it mean to see the light in the darkness, if not to look at the most monstruous people and realize they are well... people? Isn't it like seeing the person (light) behind the monster (darkness)?

Let's highlight idealism and empathy are 2 secondary themes linked to Atlas (Creation > the Shallow Sea) and Vacuo (Destruction > the Judgement of the Faunus).

Atlas explores trust, which is a declination of faith (Trust Love)

Vacuo is set up to explore empathy - Shade references the shadow, Coco needs to take off her shades to see others properly and Vacuan students throws shades at the Beacon/Haven newcomers

What does it mean for Ruby?

Ruby has been using her eyes by relying on her child-like optimism and hopeful self. Still, this mechanism can't keep on working forever. It is too psychological vexing and simplistic. I honestly think the way forward for her is to develop a new found idealism, which is more rooted into a more mature empathy.

You don't need to ignore the shadows to see the light. Rather, the light found in shadows is brighter than ever.

This is the secondary theme Ruby needs to learn in order to gain a deeper understanding on the main one she already knows, but has forgotten. This is where she needs to go if she wants to re-affirm the main theme.

OTHERS HELPING RUBY

Well, I think the topic is already addressed this last episode:

Weiss: Maybe she didn't feel like she could... Ruby has always been the one to get us through the hard times. We say things like "We believe in you!" "We can count on you!" I know we mean well, but..."

I don't think what Weiss says in the episode means all the encouragement they have offered Ruby was wrong to begin with tbh. It is just that the right words for a specific situation might be wrong for another.

Ruby has been helped and loved by her teammates. Weiss's encouragement helped her becoming a good leader. Yang's love supported her. Blake and Jaune's admiration and loyalty helped her push through in difficult times. It is just that the Ruby right now doesn't need it anymore.

Her own coping mechanism is not functional anymore, which means she needs to develop another one and others need to realize it.

Which leads us to some generic thoughts on coping mechanisms...

COPING MECHANISMS

Coping mechanisms are neither good nor bad really. They are simply mechanisms we come up with in order to survive and push through. They can be functional or dysfunctional. Even better... they can be functional for a while and then they can start not fitting anymore.

RWBY as a story makes full use of this to the point characters' main flaws turn out to be their major strengths and vice versa. This is pretty well conveyed through semblances:

Weiss's semblance initially represents her dependance on her family name. As she grows, though, it becomes symbolic of her own individuality:

And right now, she has discovered a new found strength in her family (team RWBY plus her siblings). The idea that Weiss's strength comes from her bonds with others was never wrong, but initially it is applied in a dysfunctional way. As she grows, she gains a deeper understanding of this part of herself and she gets to shine.

2 Blake's semblance represents her tendency to tun away. Still, as she grows, she realizes that it also represents her ability not to break despite the abuse and the violence:

Not only that, but even her own coping mechanism to run away from an abuser is re-framed. She did the right thing by running away from Adam... it is just she should not let this tendency of hers to control her life completely. Sometimes running is fine, while other times it is better to stand your ground and fight.

3 Yang's semblance represents her tendency to use her losses, her wounds and defeats to grow stronger. It also represents her recklessness and her self-sacrificial tendencies. This is why its use is toned down, as she grows. In exchange, she gains a better understanding of what growing up despite one's losses means:

Yang: No. My losses, my failures. Those more than anything are what have shaped me into who I am, showed me how I need to grow.

It is also probable we will see this new-found wisdom reflected into her semblance eventually:

Ruby is the same... it is just we see her strengths rather than her flaws initially:

She is fast, so fast she even skips grades. She is smart and a quick-thinker.

She is flexible and resourceful and pushes through obstacles.

She is a leader able to carry everyone else...

And yet, she is also running away from her feelings...

And she is also spreading herself too thin for others...

Until she can't anymore...

Ruby, like everybody, is a mix of positive and negative traits. Not only that, but her most positive traits are her flaws and her weakness is her strengths.

She needs to do what the others have done with her help. She needs to gain a deeper understanding of herself and of who she wants to become. Only in this way she can re-affirm herself with a deeper awareness, so not to break down again.

#rwby #ruby rose #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 9 #asksfullofsugar #stormmodblog

[acapelladitty]

oh i don’t mind if you answer publicly!

ok so, i like the batfam and the Gotham rogues and go back and forth between those sides of the batman fandom but tbh i get really fed up that it’s so hard to find Gotham rogues posts (there’s great fic! but there’s less fun “meme” posts or meta posts like what the batfam has). and the half the time the posts that are popular only include a handful of the rogues and my faves are almost always left out.

anyway i was scouring blogs for Gotham rogues content and one had reblogged this post that was like “when people act like joker, black mask, and victor zsasz are honory rogues…” followed by that “sweetie I’m so sorry meme”

and I was so annoyed at that post because like bitch those ARE rogues. those aren’t even honorary rogues, those are all actual members of batman’s rogues gallery! the joker is the freaking joker, black mask is one of the top crime lords in Gotham, and zsasz is a regularly recurring villain. but it’s not like I can say anything because the OP is deactivated, the post is from 2017 anyway, and my annoyance is my own personal problem.

it’s just grating that there’s a minimal amount of rogues content in the first place, and on top of that you have these people that want to sanitize them to the point where they barely even villains anymore, and remove the characters that can’t be sanitized. i’m not even opposed to fluffy and silly interpretations of the rogues, sometimes those are really fun! but there’s a way to do that without the sanitization and smoothing over of everything that makes the rogues gallery interesting.

(u swear u’m not as insane as I sound, and I will be going outside to touch grass now but i wanted to vent and knowing some of your opinions on the rogues, i feel like you might understand. also sorry because this became longer than i intended)

The Gotham Rogues fandom is the same as any other which means it does have its cunts and heroes alike. The trick is to find the people who share similar thoughts to your own and to casually skirt around the people who have entirely different schools of thought.

The sheer amount of takes on here that I see that make me feel like I'm insane and seeing COMPLETELY different characters to others is wild but I also keep to my own lane cause folk are entitled to their feelings even if they're utterly opposed to what I see!

I also highly recommend creating your own Rogues stuff if you feel certain rogues are being missed out or misrepresented 😉 xx

#i just stick to my own wee corner and chat to my pals lmao #and new people are welcome to come and take a seat if they like what im sayig #saying*

[shinakazami1]

whats TSP / TBG? (im polish but dont live in poland)

Yooo hello another Polish fella :] I tbh thought the poll would only go around fandom so let me quickly introduce you to the games!!

TSP stands for The Stanley Parable. It's a first-person view game where you play as a silent protagonist, Stanley (but also, you are not him) in quite unusual office that bends time and space hehe.

You are told by the Narrator what to do but you are constantly given a chance to explore another choice, making the Narrator react. It's a comedy+psychological horror title and I do recommend checking it out, especially the Ultra Deluxe edition since it added an additional half to the game :]

TBG is The Beginner's Guide. Made by one of the original creators of TSP, Davey Wreden, it's another first-person with a narrator but the setting is totally different. It starts with Davey the narrator telling you he is showing you Coda, his bud's games.

It's a title that is worth exploring with little to no spoilers, especially since it's around an hour long!

Both games are available on Steam. I recommend them for people who like meta games talking about games, good writing and voice acting and just ideas that will keep you wondering for days.

Toodle-pip!

#the stanley parable #the beginner's guide #tsp #tbg #ask #tspud #this post is my 888th #v silly

[peachdoxie]

The death in Glass Onion just happened and here are my thoughts:

As soon as Duke told off Andy, I suspected he would be the one who actually died, so cheers to that.

I'm guessing there was pineapple in the drink and Duke died of anaphylaxis.

Right before Duke died, Miles made a drink and handed it to him, then took the drink on the table that was right in front of Duke. I am uncertain how subtle the handoff is supposed to be, cinematographically, and at what point it will be brought up. However, I suspect that it's intended as a misdirection to point initial fingers at Miles but is in fact a red herring.

Miles and Whiskey are probably the prime suspects that will be blamed, though I doubt it's either of them. It feels too easy.

Granted, EVERY person on the island feels "too easy" to be the actual murderer, which is 100% deliberate by the writers. It makes playing the meta-game hard, which makes this movie fun because I have a murder harder time guessing the ending.

Though tbh, I'm of half a mind that Duke isn't actually dead and that this whole thing is a publicity stunt by him and someone else, although I'm not convinced this is the case because Benoit was the one to call his death and I have a hard time seeing him being in on the murder/fake murder. But again, I'm not convinced this is the correct guess at all. Just a thought.

Anyway, back to the movie!

EDIT:

If it's true that Duke isn't dead, then either Whiskey or Lionel is in on it, because they are the two besides Benoit who initially touched his body when he first fell to the floor, so they would be the ones who could lie about him being dead, if he is indeed not.

If Duke is actually dead, I think it's possible that the murder was not from his drink, but in fact from that weird spray gun the random guy used in the beginning, and it was either on a delay or was activated by the drink Miles gave him, in which case Miles or Whiskey are still the most likely suspects. Or maybe I'm overthinking things and should just shut up and watch the movie.

I have no idea who sent the box to Benoit or why. That mystery will likely elude me until the end of the movie.

#anecdotes by peachdoxie #glass onion

[stupidsexpotflanders]

Luke being a bad person/doing bad things makes him more tragic as a character,not less

This is(mostly) a copy-paste from a meta I wrote on Reddit. Besides,I'm only talking about the books,the tv show is 100% ignored in this analysis.

Disclaimer:this isn't to excuse Luke's actions or to diminish their severity,it's just that his terrible deeds are a fundamental part of his character as a sympathetic villiain when it comes to both words,not just the latter one.

Luke's life was extremely turbulent. First,he was raised by a mother who not only couldn't properly raise her kid,but she also yelled about his terrible fate while her eyes had a supernatural glow. To top it all,Hermes didn't give any sign,no matter how much Luke prayed. An unpleasant way to get introduced to the divine,I'd say;

Because of May's "crises",Luke ran away from home. There,he had to deal with all of the crazy stuff homeless kids/teens have to,besides the monsters wanting him as breakfast. Perhaps it was during this time he learned about how dangerous the demigod life was,plus desensitization to violence - at least,the beginning of it. Another amount of time Luke prayed for help,but none came until he was 14. To top it all,Hermes said growing up in the streets "builds character";

Camp Half-Blood itself. It surely beats living in the streets(being protected from monsters,training,regular meals),but it's far from flawless. The place has a blasé attitude towards violence and death. Besides many demigods(especially unclaimed ones) going on suicidal missions just to get claimed and/or a smidge of the godly parent's affection,people get slaps on the wrists as punishments for maiming and killing other demigod campers during Capture The Flag(no desserts). If Luke wasn't indifferent towards murder before CHB,he surely became. Now that I think of it,Sally is the only one who deserves credit for Percy's moral code when it comes to authority figures;

After all that happened,Kronos appeared and decided to manipulate Luke. TBH,I think the failed quest was just the last drop. Luke had way too many reasons to get angry at the system,two decades of trauma(he was 19 in TLT,but I'll round it up). Kronos was a bad influence to Luke,using his ressentment to make Luke undego several kinds of decay - including moral;

Using seduction as a weapon on young teens isn't such a dealbreaker for me,as a Luke fan,and even that is part of the tragedy of Luke Castellan. Not only he had to grow up early and his ideas of youth are warped,but there's also the infamously small demigod lifespam. Besides,Luke's exposure to the good parts of the mortal USA moral code might very well be limited(not to mention he himself was unprotected by society). On a tangent,him falling for Annabeth is stupid - whether it's canon or not (I don't want to debate it). Rick wrote them as having a sibling relationship,makes a big deal about a "family promise",then decides to make a love triangle? Way to trash an emotional arc. Now,back to the main topic. Luke being a manipulator and victim of manipulation at the same time is a great way to show how "hurt people hurt people";

Negative emotions. Rick Riordan said Luke's fatal flaw was wrath,and it surely fits. However,another thing that repeatedly doomed Luke was some sort of emotional fragility. First,Luke said Kronos paid him compliments and gave him important stuff to do as a sign of appreciation. Then,the Titan Lord himself said Luke hated and envied Percy. Envy is very hurtful and often stems from a feeling of lack. Luke also was shown as someone who needed validation. From TLT(namely the praises),to TLO(Luke,hosting Kronos,mentioned something about how Chiron "said the gods cared about me"). Even to save Olympus,Annabeth had to offer Luke support.

#pjo #luke castellan #pjo meta #character analysis #pjo character analysis

[sapphire-weapon]

I never understood that "Capcom didn't want fans to see Ashley and Leon as romantic and ship them", like where does it come from? Is it from an actual source ? or like a mistranslation?? or maybe like the same misunderstanding with them not wanting eagleone to hold hands thing?

bc if capcom didn't want people to ship them then they wouldn't have made the remake they made, like even people who don't ship it like some YouTubers I've seen think Leon and Ashley are flirting back and forth and now it's not even just a one-sided kinda thing with Ashley crushing on Leon like he is receptive to her feelings

Even some of the innocuous things Leon says and the way he says them sound flirty, dude the way he praises her is not just being polite not to mention all the touching and body language

Like I'm not even the best at getting these kind of things being a neurodivergent person that sometime has to be told exactly what someone's intentions are and yet even I see it. Took me a while tbh probably in late game but still lol

it's literally the holding hands thing -- which, again, without seeing the original Japanese as to what was really said (which I don't think actually exists anywhere) there's no way to know what was meant by "too close."

and even if it was meant in a romantic way, it's still disingenuous to say that Capcom didn't want Leon and Ashley to be seen as romantic -- as though there was a concerted effort on the part of the entire team to make sure there was no romantic aspect between them. the animation for them holding hands had already been rendered up, and one of the directors actively wanted it in. it was just the one guy who didn't like it -- and it's very likely that the main reason he won that fight despite being outnumbered was because Leon and Ashley holding hands probably would've impacted gameplay in a negative way.

and I say that because there's so much meta evidence that Resident Evil 4 Remake was purposefully and intentionally written as a romance between Leon and Ashley.

I have been shipping eagleone for eighteen goddamn years, and I have been very vocal about my stance that it is an objectively good thing that Leon and Ashley holding hands was removed from the game. it would have caused an extra half-second delay in Leon being able to ready his weapon (switching from knife to gun is sometimes annoying in this way), and having the two of them be that physically close to each other on-screen for an extended period of time would've fucked up visibility and made it difficult and frustrating to traverse/explore environments.

though I know I'm a weird anomaly in the sense that I'm a fandom person who actually gives a shit about gameplay, but.

it also seems a little patronizing to think that Ashley needs to be led around by the hand. she's not a child, for one. and for two, it actually undercuts her character arc of learning to be independent and finding her courage.

so, yeah -- any time you see someone go "Capcom said that Leon and Ashley's relationship isn't romantic!" know that they're being purposefully disingenuous because they feel threatened by the ship in some way.

#resident evil #resident evil 4 #leon kennedy #ashley graham #eagleone

[cellsshapedlikestars]

Don’t worry about answering this is you don’t want to. I know you don’t like fandom wank. But, if you feel like it, do you think someone could make those endpoints work? Bran as king and Jon at the Wall even though there’s a big old hole in it and Dany deliberately burning King’s Landing before Jon or Arya kills her, is that an ending any writer, no matter their skill, could sell to the hardcore fans? I don’t think the fandom would accept it even if GRRM wrote it.

lololol I deleted my post already anon, so for those of you who didn't read it - I was once again whining about how d&d fucked up the last bunch of seasons and every character. it's not a new take, just something I was high thinking in the shower, so I deleted it bc it wasn't productive.

But I'll answer this, because I think it's interesting.

In short - no.

(Beneath the cut for a longer explanation and just a whole bunch of my ranty thoughts. pls remember I am no asoiaf scholar and I haven't studied every aspect of the books or read every meta. These are just my opinions.)

Longer - at this point, too much time has gone by, there is literally no way George can please... probably even half of his fanbase, no matter what he does. From what I can tell, the fandom too divided and there's so much hatred between stan groups (which I do find ridiculous, but it is what it is). People have cemented their own ending in their heads after decades of the fandom existing without an official ending, and I can see a lot of them not liking that they're wrong. Some people have spent 30 years with their theories, it's sunk cost fallacy. Case in point, the show ending being written off as fanfiction by a lot of fans.

which, tangent, I get. I GET why d stans don't believe the ending, because it was so poorly executed. I truly do understand their denial, because the show gaslit the audience for soooooo long that she was the girlboss hero and then seemed to do a 180 at the end. What was that post I just reblogged the other day? I don't hate villains, I hate when the narrative tries to convince you the bad person is actually good.

now, you asked if anyone could make those endpoints work, but I don't actually think most of them are the real endpoints? I think they were D&D giving up and not trying, or going for Shock Value™. But for fun, I'm gonna go by endpoints I think are most to least likely, and my thoughts on how they could happen and how D&D fucked them up.

Bran as king: Confirmed by grrm. How he'll make this work, I have no idea. I genuinely didn't see it coming tbh. I thought the "bittersweet" ending would be Jon being forced to take the crown in KL. like it's a good ending for everyone else, but for him it's misery. I'm sure grrm has his plans, and I'd be interested to see how he pulls it off. This end point does not disappoint me and I'm not mad at being wrong, but I can see a HUGE swath of people HATING it. specifically D stans.

D&D blew this hard. They cut Bran out of an entire season, making him seem to the audience like a lesser character and not important. They made him a robot. Why am I rooting for show!Bran? Also, I will never, ever get over that line - who has a better story than Bran the Broken? I don't know Tyrion, literally everyone else?? JON DIED AND CAME BACK TO LIFE. ahem.

(as far as I'm aware, Bran as king is the only ending grrm has confirmed?? correct me if I'm wrong.)

D as the big bad: I guess grrm hasn't officially confirmed this, but... he's sort of confirmed it, riiiiight? He compared dragons to nuclear weapons. The show has her as the villain (poorly executed or not). When I gave hotd a shot, literally the opening lines were about the Targs bringing themselves down immediately after name dropping her. Seems pretty solid to me. D&D just refused to commit to her villain arc because they didn't want to alienate their audience that they'd gaslit into thinking she was the hero, and they were seemingly obsessed with Shock Value™ twists.

Dany burning KL: I think the burning of KL is going to happen, and it seems like Dany is the only one to really do it? Unclear how it will happen, I'm sure people have theories. What the show didn't have was Aegon, so who knows how he'll factor in.

Arya sailing west: I think there's a lot of foreshadowing for it. It fits her nature. I think this is very likely to happen and I guess D&D handled it ok. They did ruin her character, though, by making her a literal mass murderer. But yayyyyyy feminism I guess.

Theon sacrificing himself for Bran: Theon's was the only arc I think the show did well. They ruined it at the end by having Theon literally throw himself onto the Night King's sword, which was so fucking stupid, but the arc itself is poignant and fits his character. While he can't ever redeem himself to Robb, he can redeem himself to Robb's siblings, and considering he once pretended to kill Bran, I think this is solid.

Cersei and Jaime dying together: this was my theory even before the show ending, and I think it fits their characters. They cannot live without each other, no matter if they hate each other. They're too deeply entwined in each other. Now, I personally wanted Cersei to be taken captive and put in the black cells to be publicly burned later, and then Jaime shows up and mercy kills her and then himself bc he can't live without her.

But I guess getting bonked on the head by some avoidable rocks is also a way to do it

Sansa as QitN: I'll be honest and say I hated this ending because she ended up alone. Sansa, who has wanted nothing more than family and safety since book 1, ends up completely alone. Even Brienne, her sworn shield, leaves her. but she's a queen, so yayyyy feminism I guess.

I can see her as queen, but I can also see her ending up as queen regent for Rickon, because I'm not totally convinced Rickon dies? like in the show he just randomly shows up and gets captured by Ramsay and it just feels like that isn't his arc in the books. Maybe I'm wrong. But I could see D&D having the endpoint of Sansa as regent, but they killed Rickon off already for Shock Value™, and so they went oops! and made her queen.

Now, there is a part of me that thinks she will not be queen or queen regent, because how does one break off and declare independence from their own brother? Feels like that would destabilize his rule and not give people much faith in him. It just seems really strange to me, but I guess it could happen, since Northern Independence is such a huge theme and it would be weird if it didn't happen?? Does Bran just let her secede? And it doesn't make Dorne or the Iron Islands try.... That's the part in the show that literally did not make sense to me. Sansa was like bye, I'm taking the north, and no one else spoke up about that.

I'd be totally fine with her as queen (if she has someone!!) but I can see a gooooood chunk of the fandom absolutely hating this. surprise.

Brienne as Kingsguard: while I like it for narrative purposes, because she deserves it, I just can't see her leaving Sansa, if she becomes as close to Sansa as she does on the show? If Sansa is queen, I could see her as Sansa's Queensguard. But what does she have in KL? The south didn't ever respect her, why would she want to go back. I think D&D put this in so they could have the ending shot of her writing in the book about Jaime for the shippers

Jon at the Wall: the only reason he went to the Wall in the show was because Grey Worm demanded it? And then left. So. You know, real enforceable. So stupid. Genuinely the worst writing of all the endings, I think, the logic made zero sense there. Now, that could be because they'd written themselves into a corner, but knew Jon ended up at the Wall, and had to force it?

But to me, it's like - what was the point of his resurrection, then? In the show, he doesn't even kill the Night King (we'll get to that). He kills D, sure, but... He's also the reason she succeeds in Westeros to begin with. So what, he gets resurrected, causes havoc, fixes the havoc he caused, and then is sent away to a Wall that serves no purpose anymore? WHAT PURPOSE DOES THE WALL SERVE. The Others are defeated, there's a big ol' hole in it, and they've allied with the Free Folk to an extent. How does the Watch continue on?

I guess he could self-banish. I know the show sort of makes the implication that he goes off with the Free Folk, but in the books, he doesn't really like FF culture? He's appalled by a lot of the violence in it. I can't see him wanting to live that way.

Brai.me: don't get me wrong, I like Brai.me. I think it's cute, in fanon. In canon, I think Brienne is too good for him. I don't see their relationship going romantic or sexual. I think Brienne is who Jaime desperately wants to be (but Cersei is who he keeps being pulled back to). Them having sex was 100% for the shippers

Jo/ner.ys: I'm putting all the punctuation in that. don't need them finding me somehow. Anyway. I don't think this happens, at least not as a true romance. They're on opposite continents and there's not a ton of time left, but more than that - and I know I've said this before - I can't see Jon "hates seeing people burned alive" Snow falling in love with D "loves to burn people alive" T. Could it be a political thing? Maybe, but I also could see her having an alliance with Aegon.

I think there's 2 possible reasons for this being in the show and presented as an actual romance. 1) it was supposed to be that pol!Jon theory, but they chickened out (same with jonsa & a love triangle, I think they chickened out bc of the incest. I think now with hotd being incest central and fans loving it, they wouldn't balk anymore). 2) just the spectacle of it? people have been theorizing this for years, why not give it to them? see above, brai.me

Tyrion as Hand: bleh. I know the fandom loves him and he was clearly D&D's fave, but grrm has said Tyrion is the most morally gray character, and I can't see him letting Tyrion get everything he's always wanted, you know? People think asoiaf is grimdark, but I can't imagine grrm punishing Jon with banishment while giving Tyrion a cushy position with lots of power.

I've read the theory that Tyrion ends up at the Wall, which I like thematically, but again, WHAT PURPOSE DOES THE WALL SERVE. Is it just a penal colony at that point?? someone smarter than me, tell me.

Grey Worm & Missandei condoning/encouraging D: hated it. Take the only characters of color to have speaking lines (i'm 99% sure) in the last season and turn them vengeful and murderous (especially grey worm). Throw their characters under the bus to absolve D of blame

Arya killing the Night King: no. he doesn't exist in the books, first, and even in the show it made zero narrative sense. It was just a Shock Value™ twist. You thought it was gonna be hero Jon, hmmmmmm? WRONG. I've said it on here before, but my hope is that it's Sam that brings down the Others in the book somehow.

.

Did I forget anything, anon? This probably veered wildly from the point of the ask, but oh well, it was fun. (I had a jonsa section in here at first, but then I remembered this is show canon ending stuff and that was not canon sorry fellow jonsas. I obvioulsy want it to be the ending bc the shipper brainrot is real, buuuuuut...)

#cellsshapedlikeasks #my thoughts are probably very disorganized #and this is rambling #oh well

[enbymoomin]

Shows I Watched in 2022: Ranked!

This is very late, but I wanted to do this anyway. Surprisingly, it turns out I actually watched 22 shows in 2022!

Because I’m me, I decided to systematically rank them all by scoring each show out of 5 in three categories: Blorboness (how blorbable the characters are, how much they rotate through my mind), Quality (execution, narrative elements), and Enjoyability (including and especially rewatchability). Then, I totaled the categories for a final score out of 15. Here we go! >:)

1. Kinnporsche the Series - 15 pts

Blorboness: 5

Quality: 5

Enjoyability: 5

Comment: On my list of favorite shows of all time, KP is second only to Black Sails. Black fucking Sails. Let that sink in. But the attention to detail in the cinematography, symbolism, meta, relationships, queerness, EVERYTHING absolutely merits its place next to The King <33

2. Word of Honor - 15 pts

Blorboness: 5

Quality: 5

Enjoyability: 5

3. The Untamed - 15 pts

Blorboness: 5

Quality: 5

Enjoyability: 5

Comment: This show was actually revolutionary for me because it was the first time I saw that I could be both queer and Chinese. WOH only ranks higher bc the WOMEN 😳🏳️‍🌈

4. Young Royals S2 - 15 pts

Blorboness: 5

Quality: 5

Enjoyability: 5

5. The Owl House - 15 pts

Blorboness: 5

Quality: 5

Enjoyability: 5

The rest below the cut for your dashes:

6. First Kill - 14 pts

Blorboness: 5

Quality: 4

Enjoyability: 5

7. The Sandman - 14 pts

Blorboness: 4

Quality: 5

Enjoyability: 5

Comment: Sure, none of them in the gif are Dream nor Hob Gadling but I think this trio deserves more love and attention <33

8. Our Flag Means Death - 14 pts

Blorboness: 3

Quality: 5

Enjoyability: 5

Comment: extra point +1 for pirates <333

9. What We Do In The Shadows - 14 pts

Blorboness: 4

Quality: 5

Enjoyability: 5

10. We Best Love - 12 pts

Blorboness: 4

Quality: 4

Enjoyability: 4

Comment: shout out to one of The Best Kisses Of All Time in media

11. Heartstopper - 11 pts

Blorboness: 2

Quality: 5

Enjoyability: 4

Comment: I was surprised how much I liked it! Generally I feel like I don’t really need these kind of stories anymore for me personally, but it really took me by surprise :))

12. Gap the Series - 10 pts

Blorboness: 4

Quality: 3

Enjoyability: 3

13. Love Victor S3 - 10 pts

Blorboness: 3

Quality: 4

Enjoyability: 3

Comment: SHOCKED that Love, Victor is this high up tbh but I gotta say I can’t really dunk it. It did good :))

14. Love in the Air - 9.5 pts

Blorboness: 3

Quality: 3

Enjoyability: 3.5

Comment: PrapaiSky my beloveds ilysm but I cannot fucking stand Rain, so. It ranks here :(( (If I divided LITA into first half & second half, the rankings would be drastically different)

15. Big Dragon - 9.25 pts

Blorboness: 3

Quality: 2 (honorable) (affectionate) (derogatory)

Enjoyability: 3.25

Comment: I had fun watching this show but. It’s so fucking bad!!! (affectionate) Extra point +1 for how fucking bad it is!!!!

16. Never Have I Ever S3 - 9 pts

Blorboness: 2

Quality: 4

Enjoyability: 3

17. The Gilded Age - 9 pts

Blorboness: 1.5

Quality: 4

Enjoyability: 3.5

Comment: It was so good, it caught me by surprise! No real blorbos tho :((

18. The Umbrella Academy S3 - 9 pts

Blorboness: 3

Quality: 3

Enjoyability: 3

19. Brooklyn Nine-Nine - 7 pts

Blorboness: 1

Quality: 3

Enjoyability: 3

20. Lovely Writer - 6 pts

Blorboness: 1 (Tiffy 👀😍)

Quality: 3

Enjoyability: 2

Comment: I love the message they were going for but then they also. Still played into the same thing they were criticizing. So it was a bit confusing 🤨 Ended up dropping quality a bit and enjoyability too

21. Cherry Magic - 2 pts

Blorboness: 0

Quality: 2

Enjoyability: 0

Comment: Okay. I know this is controversial and maybe I was just in a bad place when I watched it. I have also learned more historical/cultural context for the show since then that gives me a greater appreciation for it now. I think I’m still going to rate this based on my reaction to watching it in the moment, but perhaps Cherry Magic deserves a second chance from me in the future. 👀

HONORABLE DEROGATORY LAST PLACE: 22. Advance Bravely - -1 (yes negative <3)

Blorboness: 1

Quality: -5

Enjoyability: 3

Comment: This was so confusing it was incredible i would never recommend it i think it’s mandatory viewing in the gjcu (gong jun cinematic universe). I thank and largely blame @sugarbabywenkexing for inspiring me to watch this.

I had fun making this! Thank you to all the Tumblr gif makers who a) made this post possible and b) convinced me to watch these shows in the first place. Feel free to yell about shows with me in my ask box or messages. 😎

#kinnporsche #kinnporsche the series #word of honor #the untamed #cql #young royals #the owl house #first kill #the sandman #our flag means death #ofmd #what we do in the shadows #wwdits #we best love #heartstopper #gap the series #love victor #love in the air #big dragon #never have i ever #the gilded age #the umbrella academy #brooklyn nine nine #lovely writer #cherry magic #advance bravely

[casual-eumetazoa]

another personal crisis here we go again woo

So long story short, the last eight or so months of my life have sucked ass and now I want to quit my PhD program.

The longer version is that in October of last year I got a kidney infection that landed me in the emergency room, then the worst autism burnout of my life hit (I couldn't even communicate verbally and was absolutely dysfunctional for weeks), then I got a toxic thyroid nodule that was overproducing hormones and made my whole body go to hell. For context, at baseline I already have ehlers danlos syndrome and dysautonomia so the thyroid thing was just too much. Then I got a horribly inflamed wisdom tooth (that still needs to be removed as of me writing this), and my OCD got so bad that I couldn't eat anything for days, lost weight until my BMI was around 15 and a half, and almost ended up in a psychiatric hospital with a feeding tube.

I have only started recovering from all this in May and had to immediately jump back into uni work cause I missed so much and sick leave is not really a thing in the program. I was supposed to be on break until October but I need to scrape together some semblance of work to pass the so called mid term evaluation cause I'm a second year student and we're supposed to already have a bunch of stuff done at this point.

Well, after all I've been through, I kind of lost the ability to care about work. I've been losing interest in science for a while now but I think getting so ill was the nail in the coffin of that special interest somehow. I used to be extremely passionate about what I did, during my Master's I was working/studying 70 hours a week and I was the happiest I've ever been. Now I can barely make myself work on a meta-analysis for an hour or two a day. I'm currently doing some work for a class and it's almost physically painful. I just do not care so much and having to drag myself kicking and screaming into it feels like chewing through a wall of granite.

I want to quit this program so bad but the issue is that my stipend is almost the only source of income for me and my partner (the 15% or so being his student stipend). If I were to quit, I would need to find a job, and I just do not feel able to jump into anything any time soon. We have a decent amount in savings but I don't know how long that would last us.

So I don't know what to do. On one hand, I feel like I'm wasting my life on something I do not care about while I could be working on video essays and books that I am immensely passionate about. On the other, quitting now seems like a childish tantrum and I don't know what I would do without this money. I guess I could go to my parents for help but they aren't doing that well financially and I doubt they would be able to support me. Which means I am stuck.

Idk why I'm even typing all this, I guess I just needed to vent. I am so tired of my body and brain being like this. My supervisor and research team also suck but that's a whole another story. Basically, I feel trapped by this stupid PhD and I don't know what to do. I wish I never had entered this program tbh and I'm constantly wishing I would get kicked out of it for other reasons. But I've no idea how I would get money without it. So yeah. Sucks to suck.

#rant #delete later #any words of advice appreciated btw #if anyone will read this till the end

[shallowseeker]

SHAL YOU NO LIKE ROBBIE?!

TBH, I don't care as much about the writers. (I know--eternal shame. I'm not even a real fan--kill me now etc.) I just...don't remember things. I always have to remind myself who's doing what. I don't know how half of you keep it all straight AND remember episode titles??? And no, nooooo I like Robbie just fine. Love him, even. He’s in my top choices!!!!

I just consider him something of a specialist, maybe? I'm going off vibes, remember. I feel like Robbie is a long-winded, loveable teddy bear. His writing reminds me of comic books, which could be why it feels so fraught and verbose at times, like it's crammed into a speech bubble...? Idk.

I think a lot of his characters are also a bit...it's hard to put my finger on it, exactly. Wholesome? They're so Loveable (TM) and Dorky (TM). I find it stifling sometimes to stomach all the "pluckiness" at once. It even took me awhile to warm up to his characters in The Winchesters. (Don't hit me! Maybe I just have a bad personality.)

I think you'd want him on your team for sure. He did Goodbye Stranger and other wonderful things like Metatron's speech in Don't Call Me Shurley (which was also belabored at times but greatly helped by Curtis Armstrong)! It's a type of energy I find leaning "too meta," and "too mechanistic" at times. The best example I can think of is There's No Place Like Home. I like it in pieces, but as a whole, it seems a little too self-aware sometimes. But not in a fun Ghostfacers way? It's hard to describe.

I...can't imagine Robbie creating an Alastair or a Uriel, or even a Meg...but maybe I'm forgetting something.

////

Maybe it's Ben Edlund's intellectual(TM) vibe that makes his Sam and Cas more to my liking? Idk. I feel like, since Sam's the only one still alive, getting Sam right would be key to the whole thing hanging together in a sequel. Anyway, I feel like his work in Reading is Fundamental is legitimately Ecclesiastical because he can be more wry/philosophical/satirical. I'm biased--I like philosophy!

He can do entire standalone narrations which are just as “long” but it doesn’t feel so…templated, somehow? It usually just hits better for me, personally. Sometimes he lurches into being too poetic for my liking, too, especially in season 8. But overall, I dig. Meredith can infuse his stuff with some much-needed warmth. It all makes sense in my head!

I think he's at his best when he's being sarcastic and when the action is so fast-paced he doesn't have much time to get stuck doing word-acrobatics. His good guys are conflicted, and his bad guys are really oily. He lets the characters be mean and surly. He can be as deeply fucked up as Sera Gamble when he wants to be (Repo Man????)

////

I can find something I like in most of the writers, even Bucklemming. They have some great devil's advocate lines and political stuff in their scripts, once you comb past the racism, fetishism, and weird pacing.

////

I'm not above keeping Sera Gamble in a cage and letting her out to contribute random, unhinged things. Something is deeply, deeply wrong with her, and that translates well to a good dose of fucky-uppy-ness and incredible pain, which I think Robbie can tend to sleep on a little bit. (Dream a Little Dream of Me, Houses of the Holy?? SO GOOD.)

////

Others? Bobo does some great stuff, but sometimes I find his back-and-forth dialogue to be a little off? I even think something felt off with Cas's speech in Despair as much as I applaud the effort. Steve Yockey does an excellent Rowena.

Also, I'd let Amanda Tapping direct everything. Just because.

////

Mostly, I think they should just hire @angelsdean 🤷  and @jewishtrentcrimm -- I followed them during their live tweeting reactions of The Winchesters and mostly longed for their ideas over what was happening on screen.

////

Most importantly, it’d need a shortform writer in the wings whose job it is to take all the long-winded ppl's excellent monstrosities and chop it to bits and couch it in the right voice with the right amount of prickly subterfuge and defensiveness. A vicious, short-form editor who values brevity and would kill me inside...

Also, we’d need an official meta wrangler, because the meta can start to eat itself and really devolve if you're not careful (I think this is Robbie's Achilles' Heel in some of his stuff; it walks the line reeeeeally close for me in "There's No Place Like Home," for example, but I've come around to "Fan Fiction.")

////

I am...quite happy to be corrected. Knowing who does what well is NOT my specialty.

#i know i have the same problem #i'm long winded #related to a previous ask #i have IDEAS about sequels man #i might change my mind about all this tomorrow i'm moody like that #i'm verbose the point of puppet therapy talk when i try to write too and it makes me want to stab myself in the brain actually #agggh #oh well #i can be self-indulgent let it be said

[galactic-knightmare]

Im still confused

Right now I'm drawing my OC's as Kirby characters 💀

Topaz is bandana dee

Tranquillity is meta knight

And Jayden is going to be king dedede

oohhhh Noice!

also sorry it took me a bit- I have... quite a few projects I'm shoving myself into...

aaannyyyway lemme try and go into more detail (sorry about the last explanation not helping) using this WiP of phosphor

once the color and lineart is in, I usually go immediately into shading (Phosphor is the exception to this rule, as her wings and horns require a lot more work than just colors)

with the shading, I usually go with a somewhat dull purple, doing cell shading to start with.

and then I change the layer with the purple to 'multiply' and mess with the opacity until I get it how I like

thats only half the shading though! afterwards, I copy the shading layer and paste it in above, making sure its aligned with the original layer, and then I throw it through a gaussian blur

the difference is subtle, but I like how it gives just a tiiinny bit more depth to the shading :3

but after that, I move into one of my favorite parts- the shiny bits! the highlights aren't done that much differently from the shading, honestly.

I start off with just some white on another layer, but unlike the shading, I only do it on the shiny kinds of materials, in Phosphor's case, her armor. I'll also sometimes do it with fur, and definitely hair, but in the case of astrals I usually leave their fur and feathers alone unless I'm doing some REALLY dramatic lighting.

but once the highlights are drawn, I just do the same as I did with the shading- except instead of a multiply layer, I change it to overlay

ta daaa!

tbh though, unlike most of my shading methods, I like to boost the shiny on phosphor even more (since she's, ya know, a goddess of starlight lmao)

So in that case, I do the same as I do with the shading layers- I copy past a second shiny layer in! it takes a little more editing to get just right though than the shading.

First, I lower the opacity of the new layer- don't want it toooo shiny!

for this specific pic, I think 51% opacity is the sweet spot.

and then I go into the layer settings, and slap an inner glow in! usually set to white and overlay (or in this case, Linear dodge) again

and then, on the same layer, I slap on an outer glow! this time white (again) with overlay (again)

usually the opacity kinda depends, along with the spread and size. it all depends on how large of a picture you're working with- same with the gaussian blur for the second shading layer!

aaand now we have this! admittedly, I think the highlights are missing something, but this is pretty much it! mind you, how this all works/looks also depends on what art program your using! I'm personally using photoshop, so the layers and interface is going to look pretty different from someone using, say, Krita, or Sai. buut that pretty much covers it! admittedly, I'm probably also going to be playing around with the highlights for a little bit, as I'm not too sure about how the gem bits look, but that's pretty normal lmao.

hope this helps answer your question! :3

#god this took a while to type out and shit lmao #anyway good luck! :3 #ask response #ask inbox #kirby #kirby oc #kirby oc tournament #lady phosphor #sketch #wip #work in progress #knight oc #how to