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sanjerina · 16 days

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The thing I love about fannish creativity is how all of the stories kind of curl up next to the original version and pad it out, but in this variegated way where the padding around the original* story can create so many different answers to things like: what happened next? — what happened in the other character’s point of view? — why are there bees in the trees in the autumn? — what if the bees were surveillance cameras?

(This is, by the way, the collaborative storytelling we have been designed to do for, like, a couple-few hundred thousand years? * Yeah.)

Anyway. The example I have today (though I have others!) is from Victoria Goddard’s Greenwing and Dart series, which focuses on two young men named, as might imagine, Mr. Greenwing and Mr. Dart.

There were so many many stories where the buddy-sleuth (they’re not cops, Jemis Greenwing says ACAB) vibe they have going, their emotional intensity, their various in-jokes… I would have read as homoerotic subtext, like we’ve all been doing since Holmes and Watson.

And fanfic has always been such a reliable place for this. Like. Please and thank God for that. I keep talking about the Good Boys because I want them to experience every possibility of love and support and sarcasm they can possibly attain. And bring their friends. In wild permutation.

But for various reasons, halfway through its run I don’t think the text is “going there” (in terms of a G+D sexual relationship) — there’s plenty of gayness within the text, so it’s not Goddard pretending to ignore something (as if she would).

But it’s also not a sexually charged relationship**, and I’ll be astounded if that is how it actually ends for them. G+D hits beat by beat of a traditional romance in so many ways, but instead of “falling short” of true love like a 70s buddy comedy, it falls otherwise. Mr. Greenwing and Mr. Dart are each the most important person in the others’ lives. That will not change. Their mutual loyalty is so precious to me that I fear to mention it lest I endanger it.

So — though I will read alllllllll of the Greenwing/Dart fanfic y’all want to write! — I would sort of be let down if they did get together sexually “for real” (i.e., in canon). The beauty and vulnerability of their friendship is gorgeous just as it is, and my demi/gray-ace heart finds that so fulfilling. I trust the storyteller here and have no doubt she can get me “there” if that’s where she’s going, but I love their dynamic and the way it shows another model of love. And since that’s often a theme in Goddard’s writing, I think she’s doing it on purpose.

So if she did “go there”, great, nothing I like better of an evening than reading a satisfying romance about two people (who are fictional and nothing at all like me) finding true love and also orgasms. But if she sticks the queerplatonic landing as I am currently expecting, I will be deeply satisfied.

Either way, fanfic will fill in and give us the story that’s not there. And that’s what I love about stories that accumulate other storytellers.*

Anyway, to my POINT, which is that I love fanfic for its profusion of color, AND I also love the original* canon everyone more or less agrees on and either (1) elaborates within that framework or (2) turns it on its head.

And please go read these books. The love, the loyalty, the yearning… the FANFIC just trust me. I want 500K of G+D fic on my desk next Monday and I’m hardly going to do it all myself 😂

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* I think in the end every story is one story, but also that that’s why every retelling of that story is singular and cannot be duplicated. Along with also having a theory about social storytelling and music being the ways we managed our mental health long enough to develop agriculture (and then fuck that cultural system up.)

But anyway. I’m also a tiny bit high right now, so this may not be as deep as I think it is. :)

** Look, in canon, which is from Jemis’s perspective, you know I’m right. And yes, it’s equally well established that Jemis is an otherwise very smart young man who is utterly oblivious about his own sex appeal. So it’s like a Schrödinger’s cat of they will kiss/they will not kiss, and I eat that up with a spoon.

#greenwing and dart #nine worlds #victoria goddard #queerplatonic #mental health #Aunt Sanj: gummy auntie?#maybe a little on alternate Sundays #storytelling and human behavior #this is what we get when Sanj doesn’t edit their sentence structure #gray ace #collaborative storytelling

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dawn-the-rithmatist · 1 year

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Okay spoilers for ssp1 and ssp2 here, so if you haven’t read them both and want to avoid spoilers, keep scrolling (and also blacklist the tags if you want to save yourself spoiler pain in the future!)

It’s fascinating to me how obviously these books were written in a global pandemic. Like, obviously we knew that, but I’m so interested in the way that influence is showing up in the books.

In Tress of the Emerald Sea, we start the story with a girl who Does Not Leave Home, under order of the government. Breathing the air outside of her home is Definitely Fatal, and there are many variations on the Very Fatal Things you could inhale. People wear masks to protect themselves, but it’s hardly exact protection. You’ve even got people with a long-term version of the spores living under their skin until they die, in the form of the aethers. Tress is a pandemic novel, where the spores are covid, and someone is risking exposure for the sake of someone they love.

The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook For Surviving Medieval England is a mouthful of a title. BUT it also has some really interesting influences too! Right at the start of the book, we learn that the main character is a cop- and we learn it in the most copaganda series of sentences I think I’ve ever read. Then later, we learn he is not a cop, but his friend is, and that friend is subsequently portrayed as Absolutely Perfect Person Arbiter Of Justice. Then later, we see that the cop-friend is just a bastard in so many ways. Through Ulric and the whole idea of buying dimensions, we see capitalism ruthlessly profiting off of people who have no say, usually making their lives actively worse for money or entertainment. We see medical tech that can protect you from terrible diseases, and we get hints of people who refuse to use it.

To me, ssp2 (NOT typing that title again) shows so much of what was happening culturally during lockdown. ACAB, with a bastard cop character throwing locals and “losers” in harm’s way, when the other characters want so desperately to believe that there is someone doing actual justice in a fucked up world. Vaccines, and antivaxxers. Killing entire dimensions of people who don’t have a say for the sake of a profit SURE SMELLS LIKE THE WAY ESSENTIAL WORKERS WERE TREATED.

Idk, I just think that it’s very fascinating to see the way that the pandemic is so present in these novels if you scratch even a little bit beneath the surface

#ssp2 #ssp1 #ssp #tress of the emerald sea #the frugal wizard's handbook for surviving medieval england #ssp1 spoilers #ssp2 spoilers #more thoughts to come on ssp2. specifically ryan and the copaganda #Sanderson added some loaded things in this one and I will be dissecting them live on my blog at a later date #book babble #dawn speaks

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everythingendsbutcomicsr4ever · 8 months

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((This originally comes as my response to someone saying that ppl don’t like The Sun and The Star because it’s a middle school book and we were expecting the series to grow along with us.))

Valid point I keep finding BUT I recently read the PJO series again in preparation for TSATS and those books still slap!! They’re so good even tho I’m reading them as an adult even though they're meant for kids. (Also I recently read ToA because of course I’m gonna keep reading Rick’s middle school books until the day I die or they stop coming out lol. And that series while more goofy at points I still really liked) I also read one of Mark Oshiro's other books in prep for this book because I was excited for The Sun and Star to be released and I just COULD NOT get through it 😭 the writing was just giving me the ick and the characters where all kind of samie like that sassy talking wit. Which was a bummer because I liked the premise of the book “Anger is a Gift”, which was about underfunded schools mainly facing ppl of color and immigrants which leads to the school-to-prison pipeline because of the defunct way America funds public schools that keeps the poor poor and the rich getting richer & it was ACAB & had a lot of queer representation & etc. So I thought I’d really like it but I just couldn’t get through it because of the writing and I noticed this same writing style showing up in TSATS. Just because it’s for kids doesn’t excuse it from being bad. Like early Pixar and Studio Ghibli is still so good to watch back again and my 50+ yrs old parents like it. Book examples would be Harry Potter (screw JK Rowling tho fr) & the The Little Prince

Not to bash on ppl who say this is the main reason ppl don’t like the book but it feels like a straw man argument to say that the books not growing with us is the main reason ppl didnt like it. All tho I’m sure ppl have argued this but that is definitely their fault because Rick is staying in middle-grade fiction forever like that’s his thing! Why would ppl expect different 🤣 You think he wants to write a sex scene?! LMAO

(Here’s my review, it’s unhinged and not great because I should be doing productive stuff but am distracted until I can at least write down some of my thoughts on my disappointing experience)

Here are some things I didn’t like about it from a piece of art standpoint:

The pacing was bad

This book was filled with the first thing they teach you about writing which is: SHOW don’t TELL

It made me not ship Solangelo surprisingly like how??! I used to love Solangelo but I think this mainly is because of the collective consciousness of the fandom and because we wanted Nico to find happiness with someone. But if you really look back on their moments canonically from the books Will is a background character (who honestly kind of gaslights Nico by invalidating that ppl treated him differently as a son of Hades and that he didn't feel welcome at camp) and they kind of have a quick meet cute in the last book of The Last Olympian. They get together without us seeing their developing relationship and we now know they’re dating in The Trials of Apollo where we see them briefly in the first book and then more so in the last book. Honestly, this canonically alone doesn’t give me enough information or examples to really know or care about their relationship in comparison to Percy and Annabeth who we get to see develop. So TSATS just kind of felt hollow to me because I’m supposed to believe they’d die for each other but I DONT KNOW THE POWER OF THEIR LOVE?? This could just be a first love fling type thing like I was never shown the depth of their romance just told constantly in the book how much they love each other so it just felt kind of empty and emotionally unsatisfying to me.

Solangelo's relationship has always been in the background and the fans are what really made it cause we love Nico and want him to be happy. So when Will and Nico are fighting in this book all I can think is that this is just their relationship period.

So the reason it made me not like Solangelo was because Tarturus was supposed to bring out the worst in them and strain their relationship but, like, I haven’t really seen much of their relationship so I don’t have a “control group” to base this off of. So Will just seemed rude when he was so mean about Nico’s underworld home and about Nico's darkness which I also didn’t understand wtf he was talking about because Nico has killed just as many monsters as other campers and what else was his darknes based off of. cause he’s emo/goth?? Cause he can raise the dead?? Like guys we’ve discussed this just because a character wears black doesn't automatically make them the bad guy. I honestly thought Will just thought that was hot and they’d have that normie x alt relationship dynamic (that meme of: My hot witch wife. Me doing whatever she wants) I thought THAT was Solangelo not Will constantly trying to bring this light side to him and trying to change him. I agree that Nico needs help w his trauma and PTSD and things like that but this felt like if someone tried to “cure” a goth person, like actually screw you

I thought Will was supposed to look like a normie but be secretly a freak (in a good way lol) / goth interest. Cause this is meee I thought I was like Will as someone who looks like a normie and has a sunny disposition but I have a lot of alt/goth interests and I would let an alt girlie step all over me tbh lol. So does he like Nico for who he is or not?!

This is more in line w what I thought their relationship was like lol:

The flashbacks and forwards I thought were ok even if they took you out of the story a bit but this device is supposed to be used for an IMPORTANT event not just as a way to quickly give context to their relationship and when we got to the scene this was taking place in I was like that’s it?? He what? fell down and is suffering from sun withdrawals and this is the book's big moment to justify jarring flashback scenes?

Mark Oshiro is not a fantasy adventure or horror writer and it shows. Maybe it’s just me but their depiction of Tarturus and the nightmare and the journey were just not up to snuff with good horror and fantasy books I’ve read. (And if your gonna say something about how it’s for kids then I raise you the book series “Goosbumps”) So as a genre in itself, it was just disappointing. It was mainly a relationship guidebook book but I didn’t really like that or feel like it was done well, It felt lectury and also idk if that's the genre middle schoolers really like?? 😅

It had too many references which really dates a book, A lot of professional writers say not to use too much slang or modernreferences (unless you’re trying to make a book expressly about a time period) because it really dates a book and doesn’t make a story feel timeless for future generations if you use too many references (this doesn’t include political novels tho which are very much based in that time when the events happening) Anyways for future writers keep this in mind, you don't need to keep in touch with the youth through urban dictionary you can just write about the emotions of being young or whatever. If you’ve tried to read a comic book aimed at teens from the 50s like I have you’ll realise how funny that is.

(Also the carebear reference that I didn’t even understand and I watched carebear as a kid & Lil Nas video which if this was written for kids that music video feels a bit inappropriate for them 😂 it had a reference both too old and too young for middle schoolers AND how in the world would 1930s born, dropped out of elementary school, can’t use the internet or phones half blood, NICO DI ANGELO know these references???)

The writings giving:

Bad alt representation. (This is my most out-of-pocket opinionated bullet point rant so if you don't agree that’s a-okay :D ) This could be a whole post in itself but although I know ppl joke about Nico as the Emo kid I would really like to get into how Nico is actually, or it would be cool, as having some goth subculture inclinations. And ppl probably think of Trad Goths with the whole makeup and teased hair look but it’s mainly a music-based subculture and/or it just has a different idealogy around the ideas of death and what is deemed beautiful while most ppl see it as ugly. (Like listen to “Gallows Dance” or the Bauhaus's “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” & “The Passion of Lovers”, to name songs off the top of my head) This bullet point is definitely MY OPINION and doesn’t contribute exactly to the book being bad but aren’t those songs the vibe of an underworld kid like Nico?? Embracing the darkness and dancing in graveyard vibes fr!! Anyways most alt subcultures and especially emo are seen as a phase in life that you grow out of and then become normal. This book just really gives the energy of being written by a normie who would be confused by the choices of alt ppl and just doesn’t get it because it’s not their personal interest, which isn’t exactly bad even tho I want more philosophy from Nico on the chillness and acceptance of death (all tho greek mythologies view on the afterlife sucks fr and THAT is a whole other post haha) So this isn’t exactly a problem BUT what gives me the ick is WILL NOT ACCEPTING THESE THINGS LIKE SIR STOP BASHING YOUR BOYFRIENDS LIFE!! Will asking Persephonee, “How do you love someone from the underworld” SHUT UP!! 😤

Will was useless and I know what they were trying to go for but if I had a girlfriend (oh I’m a lesbian btw just in case ppl think I’m going harder on this book more than the other books because I’m homophobic bruh I swear I’m not I’m only disappointed in the art itself, NOT the representation which I actually liked) and if I was super good at fighting and they weren’t, I’m sorry but I wouldn’t take them BECAUSE of my love for them. If they were going to be useless on a mission of such life-threatening danger and importance I WOULD NOT TAKE THEM OUT OF KINDNESS. Like skills in medicine and art and music are great and there’s of course nothing wrong w not being a badass fighter (lmao this is me and most readers) but then DONT GO TO SUPER HELL!!! Especially if you have something that makes you more pathetic than being a normal human in Tarturus, his suffering from no sunlight is out of pocket and just makes the story draggg and makes him seem boring and the story more boring. I know they were trying to go for a fish out of water storyline and roll reversal but I think it wasn’t done well enough and overall hurt the story

Also, I’ve heard ppl talk about how it would have been nice to have a book focus on their relationship while at Camp Half-Blood. Like maybe it takes place pre Jason's death and we can just see them living at camp. It’d be chill and we can actually see them as a couple & It would give the energy of readers wanting to go to camp half-blood again like how everyone wanted to go to Hogwarts. Cause we haven’t seen the camp as a fun home since the very early PJO books ;-; (this is just a fun idea I like and I think would have been more manageable for an author but this is FR my opinion on a fun book idea i’d like to read) ALSO this would have been so nostalgic for the older readers who have been here since middle school gobbling up this universe 😌

I know ppl get mad at ppl making fun of Will for being pathetic in tarturous. As saying he’s a child and no one can be happy and sunny and doing well 24/7 which is valid but that’s not really my argument. I like watching characters put in situations where we watch them bend against what we thought they were when put in a hard situation (the masochist in me lol jkjjk). But this I think didn’t work for me because as I’ve said before he’s mainly a background character at the end of one book thrown together with Nico and we as a fandom have mainly made him up. Also, Tarturus was just not as scary or adventure-filled as like any of the other missions from previous PJO books, It didn’t feel as trauma-inducing as everyone in the series tried to explain it as. (again show not tell from the book) Also, I would have liked to have seen Will cool at least once or one reason for me to like him with Nico but I saw him as pretty bland as a character

The writing style felt bad to me because of the show don’t tell part for example telling as “it made him sad and traumatized” when showing would be, you know, actually showing the scenes and this book just felt like 80% telling what they were feeling instead of letting the reader feel the emotions of the scene for themselves

I think that’s another thing I really didn’t like related to the Show Don't Tell. And another hallmark of bad writing was this book was really telling the audience how to feel instead of allowing the story to be powerful enough to do that for itself. This book follows a trend I’ve seen a lot in TV shows where everything kind of feels like detached irony from being on Twitter where you hear everyone’s opinions so the story is written as a wink and a nod like we know what we’re doing and we know what your thinking and how twitter will react to it. Like it’s hard to describe this trend I’ve mainly seen in TV shows and movies recently which always gives me the ick cause it doesn’t feel funny it feels like I’m in a response piece that is breaking the fourth wall and reminds me that I’m in reality watching or reading something instead of actually feeling like I’m in the story. It’s like pseudo-wittiness or something. Tell me if you guys feel this way about some modern tv shows or books, I can't be alone please 😭!!

The stupid toast scene at the end lol The book is like: Do you get it? Did you get it?? They’re opposites! And they attract!! We did the trope you guys!! Also, the stupid Darth Vader scene to start off the book 💀

This whole book made me cringe where I had to constantly get up walk around and lie on the floor before I could continue, only to constantly repeat the cycle 😅

Anyway, idk how to end this review/rant I just had such strong emotions I had to get out probably because I was so excited for this book to come out for like over a year and got back into PJO for a bit and read some of Mark Oshiro’s books and greek mythology and stuff, so I think it wasn’t just me reading any random bad book it disappointed me more that it was poor quality because I wanted to love it so much.

It did have some actually good parts, the troglodytes were cute … I can’t remember the other stuff but it was there I swear lol! If you enjoyed it I’m happy for you! Don’t let me ruin a book you like, you deserve to feel joy 😘💐

#the sun and the star spoilers #the sun and the star #tsats spoilers #tsats #anti tsats #pjo hoo toa tsats #pjoverse #pjo #tsats rant #nico di angelo #will solace #solangelo #solangelo book #percy jackson

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hope-ur-ok · 2 months

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Alright you got me. As a fellow history nerd (personally more so about western gold rush mineral mines) I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on coal mining history

Okay so the first thing you need to know is that primarily I focus on West Virginia mine disasters which is a good place to focus cause the state has historically always had the most lax laws about mine safety, which has led to them having many of the worst disasters in US history, including the top spot with Monongah in 1907 with the explosion of mines No. 6 and 8 that killed at least 361 people but the ultimate death toll is unknown. In fact the laws were so bad that they didn't even have a mine department that was inspecting mines and keeping track of the death tolls until 1884 which was 20 years after it became a state, and it took another 3 years for any regulations to be passed in the state. The other main thing that's good to know is that until 1961, 5 people employed by the mining company had to die for it to be considered a disaster so in few notable cases, like Pulaski Mine Powder Explosion, despite more than 5 people dying they aren't included on official disaster records. (In 1961 the number was lowered to 3 and changed to be any 3 people not just employees to be considered a disaster)

So the reason I mentioned that first is because it really colors how mine disasters were reported and recorded. The first recorded mine disaster in the state doesn't even have the mine ventilation method listed in the report (though after reading the suggested changes to prevent future explosions and news paper articles about the explosion I think it was largely furnace ventilated with secondary fans that usually weren't in use) and one of the most important things for determining the cause of explosions and the source of black damp is the ventilation so why was that info excluded?? It's cause the mine companies practically owned the state. (they kinda still do honestly but it's better than it was)

When I say they owned the state I'm not just being hyperbolic like the companies essentially hired militant groups in the 1910's & 1920's to evict, fight, and sometimes kill striking miners, their families, and any police officials that sided with the miners. That's why they called the miners strikes in that era the Mine Wars, cause you literally had striking Unionized miners fighting with the company owned militant groups and sheriffs departments (ACAB). It got so big that following the battle of Blair mountain - which was a battle between red necked miners (yes, the term red neck originated as a derogatory term for the incredibly socialist, unionized coal miners), and a coal company owned militia & sheriffs department that the federal government had to step in and end - that the coal companies paid to have the miners arrested and tried for treason. The miners did win their case cause they successfully got the trials moved to Jefferson County, one of the only counties without a mining presence, so the trials were fair and determined that you can't commit treason against a private company, but the fact that it got that far in the first place shows just how much influence the companies had.

I could literally go on and on about how much the mine union changed the entire industry cause companies finally had some accountability outside of the public outcry that followed big disasters. And like, don't get me wrong if it weren't for the backlash the government and mine companies faced following the Monongah 6 & 8, Eccles 5 & 6, Layland 3, and Benwood disasters so many regulations wouldn't have changed at the state or federal level but those major changes had a lot smaller of an impact on the actual quality of life for the miners than the threat to burn down the tipple if the company didn't meet union demands and start paying the miners in real money and not just company script.

I also like have a whole rant about why so many people came to the states to become miners even though in many cases the mines here were less safe than the ones in Europe. Like the people who came from England, Whales, and Scotland were the few who were actually coming over because the mining conditions were better when they were scouted by US mining companies in the early 1800's to come over with their mining experience and get paid a wage that made it so their wives and kids wouldn't have to be miners as well, which is a pretty good deal when it means your kid won't be bald from pushing baskets of coal with the top of their heads. But once you hit the 1900's most immigrant miners were coming to the US because the economy of their home country was in shambles, most of them were from Italy and Slavic countries ( I wish I could be more specific but a lot of the records just say Slav) and they had absolutely no mining experience and the companies didn't train them well enough to keep them from putting themselves and other miners at risk. I want to go back in time and warn them that the small amount of money they send home isn't worth them dying a horrible death deep under ground and leaving their families with no one to provide for them, that they are being sold a lie by awful greedy people who just want to traffic them to replace the workers they already killed with their negligence, but time travel isn't possible and I can't speak their language anyway.

Sorry this didn't really dig deep into any one disaster, and barely touched on the mine wars but I have many thoughts about almost all of them and this is already really long but if you want to know more I can definitely share

#the turtle gets asks

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yellowocaballero · 1 year

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i need seasons 2-4 of kyle rayners reworked adventures i am OBSESSED :o

OH BABY BABY ME TOO ME TOO OKAY. Believe it or not I'm trying to keep all of this as short as possible so the random little HCs are being left out, I might add some extra later.

So again this is a single season haha. Because a) it did not actually end up that short, I got a bit #poetic there, and b) Season 3&4 are a bit vaguer in my head and aren't as entertaining to tell! If/when I wrangle them into something much more interesting I'll share them. I know that there's probably a 1-2 year timeskip to Season 3 and a much, much longer timeskip to Season 4 AKA Green Lantern: Shippuden, which would have a different protagonist. Milagro Reyes, Blue Beetle's sister. Alright, that one I DEFINITELY have to elaborate on later...

TL;DR

Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 combo with Star Trek The Original Series but also the moral of the story is ACAB.

The moral of like this entire children's cartoon is ACAB, by the way, in case I was remotely subtle about that.

GREEN LANTERN SEASON 2: SOMEHOW THIS WAS RENEWED BY CARTOON NETWORK

(By the way, I'm super embarrassed to say this, but I love thinking of stories hyper-specifically styled after kid's cartoons. In case you were wondering: New Wave airs on Kid's WB between Pokemon and Jackie Chan Adventures on Saturday mornings. Green Lantern airs on Cartoon Network, it's ridiculously over promoted because the network doesn't realize how ACAB it is. That one Legion of Superheroes Zoboomafoo show is on PBS. You get the idea. Stories ought to have clarity of purpose.)

Think the first season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, when Aang is searching for any remaining airbenders or a firebending teacher. Same energy.

The episodes are formulaic. Kyle's on a space road trip, searching for signs and survivors of a lost culture. Each episode Kyle lands on a new planet, digs up some rumor or trail to surviving Green Lantern rings, journals, records - anything that could prove what happened to Hal Jordan. Sometimes he finds a trail to an abandoned Green Lantern outpost. Other times he's fortunate enough to actually meet an ex-Green Lantern, usually while fishing them out of some trouble. Other times he's just landing for a pit stop and finds himself wrapped up in alien trouble. Kyle's lost as hell, in over his head, and has no idea where to even begin on this ridiculously ambitious journey. Kyle's always thrown himself into new situations and new places and trusted everything would work out, but space is a little bigger than America. He just has to trust that the answer's out there. He can't go home without it. He can't look Guy, John, and the Justice League in the eyes and lie to them. Even for BTS.

He has one guide in this journey: Kilowog's ring! It serves as his personal trainer on how to use the ring, advisor, teacher, and educator on alien species. It's gruff, pretty silly, but Kyle is depressed to learn that his ring is his closest friend now. It is the sole teacher Kyle has into the actual Green Lantern Corp - it always advises him on their creed, their views, and how a real Lantern would solve a problem. It is remarkably unhelpful on finding a damn Lantern.

Instead, all Kyle finds are problems. Every planet has a problem he needs solving, a person he needs to help, or a disaster to avert. Sure, none of it's Kyle's business - but hey, he's a superhero. Not a cop. You can barely even call him a Green Lantern. Everywhere he goes, citizens of the galaxy tell him about the GLs they met and used to know - how they hurt, how they helped, how they should have done better - and who they wished the GLs would have been. They wished that the GLs actually helped instead of enforced.

They don't have an actual GL. But they do have Kyle. So Kyle says - show me where to help.

He helps wherever he can. He sees everything and learns everything. He meets heroes, villains, and ordinary people just trying to get by. He meets heroes from all walks of life, sees every kind of civilization and culture and found the good and bad in each one. He talks to everybody, from the kings to the peasants, and learns from them all. He learns about the thousand systems of government in the galaxy, and learns about where they succeed and where they fail.

He makes friends. Brave people who fish his fat from the fire. Regretful ex-Lanterns who threw themselves back into being a warrior even without their rings - and embittered ex-Lanterns who resented the loss of their power and authority. He meets a princess who spent her entire life figuring out how to govern well, and the leader of a rebel cell who specializes in freedom. He meets people who are very good at explosives and people who have sworn never to throw a punch. They all have something to teach him.

Not even the ex-Lanterns know what happened on Oa. Kilowog's ring can't show the black box to anybody but its wielder. So Kyle keeps travelling. The ring picked up an unusual energy signal in the next system over - maybe there's an outpost there!

(The unusual energy signal was space vampires. That's how Kyle saved a space Transylvanian town from intergalactic vampire pirates.)

Kyle saves people, but he has to make decisions too. He solves problems. Kilowog's Ring tells him how the GLC would have solved the problem, and he usually takes it into consideration, but usually the episode is about Kyle learning how to solve the problems his own way. He learns how to judge the values of the GLC critically and think for himself, and how to admire not the institution but the good people inside of it like Kilowog. How to fight to promote equity and justice, instead of just fighting to maintain pre-existing systems of power.

Six months later, Kyle has finally defeated whatever (Zuko/Zhao/whatever) villain has been chasing him around (they join his space found family) and makes it to the (North Pole) Green Lantern Outpost At The Edge Of The Universe. This was it. He's spent a month following this trail, and he's risked everything. He's turned over every intergalactic stone, taken every risk. If there's anything, it has to be here.

But all he sees is an empty tower surveying an empty kingdom. And Kyle looks around and he sees nothing. Not the last guru he was promised, or a mythical member of the Guardian species. There's no heroes or warriors. Nobody helpful. Nobody to fix anything. Nothing that will help the people he's met who need help, nobody who will use the GL powers for good. Nobody can restart the Corp as it deserves to be restarted, nobody to turn it around and use their immense power as it was meant to be used. Nobody to avenge Kilowog and expose Hal Jordan for who he really was. The real Green Lantern isn't here.

Kilowog!Ring: "What are ya talking about, kid? The guy's right here." Kyle, dirty with sticks in his hair, has not slept in thirty six hours, going insane: "IS HE FUCKING INVISIBLE" Kilowog!Ring: "That guy is you, kid :)" Kyle:

Well, Kyle feels like a fucking idiot. F to his hopes and dreams. But at least he's not scared anymore.

Kyle goes home.

Earth is different. Or maybe it's just Kyle that's different. Everything feels so much smaller but so much bigger, and when Kyle stands in the middle of L.A. he's captured by the beauty of the universe - the beauty of humanity as part of that universe, how humans are just another mundane strand in the great web of the universe, and how special they are for it. How he's not special, how he will always be a face in a crowd, just one insignificant person in a world of seven billion - but how amazing that is, to be among a proud seven billion! How improbable, to be the only Kyle Rayner! There are trillions of unique people in this universe, people who all have lives and stories and hopes and dreams, and there's no such thing as an insignificant soul. In an city where everybody has to be special, where everybody has to make it big and stand out and yell their names - none of them realize how special they all are just for living. Special just for being their fleshy, insane, amazing selves.

Kyle flies to the Watchtower and walks into the middle of a Justice League meeting. And he looks Superman in the eyes and says, "Hal Jordan killed the Green Lanterns."

….

Aaaand then he posts a video on his YouTube channel titled "coming clean" and the thumbnail is him sitting on a couch in his house.

Surprise bitch, he's pulling a Tati. Kyle spills EVERYTHING. He tells the whole truth and nothing but the truth. What the Earth's hero did, why he killed himself, and why it happened.

Kyle explains that the Corp was not destroyed by Hal Jordan - it was destroyed by its own greed and vanity. Its black-and-white and justice-above-all ethos took a grieving man and warped him into a mass murderer. A power such as the Green Lanterns should be used to help people, not control them. It should protect people, not impose law. So uhhh end video, I'm fucking off to space agan, Kyle out!

A year ago, a funky little blue man told Kyle "Help them." He could have warned Kyle about Rayner, told him what a Lantern was, but that was what he chose to say. Kyle never really understood what he meant. Superheroes helped people, right? That's what Kyle figured at first. Six months later, after learning the truth, Kyle believes that he must have been asking Kyle to help the GLC - find the surviving GLs, save the organization, help Jordan himself. But he never really understood until now. It took life on Earth and life in space to really get it.

The Guardian understood that the Corp failed because it cared more about fighting evil than doing good. Yes, it kept people safe, but it never helped them. The Corp was light and goodness in the galaxy, but it never put helping people first. And Kyle finally realizies that this is what the last Guardian wanted for him, and what he wanted for the Corp. This was the future the Guardian wanted. And that's what he's going to do. That'll be Kyle's ethos.

He'll help people. Nothing more, nothing less.

It doesn't matter if people believe him. It doesn't matter if the League believes him. He doesn't stick around to find out. Kyle returns to Oa and finds the ruined power battery, the same battery Hal Jordan used up in his own selfishness and grief and destroyed.

And, with the implacable will of somebody who's always known what he's wanted, who has seen how to create it and what must be created, who travelled the galaxy and back and helped people at every stop of the way, who knows exactly what he wants the GLC to become, he remakes Oa.

He reaches inside the battery and pulls out a handful of rings. Kyle is instantly convinced he's fucked up the whole thing already, because they're all different colors?! Orange ring, Black ring, what the hell? Why is Kyle so bad at this?! But he releases them, and they go zooming off. Somewhere, Guy and John get their rings back. Not the rings they wanted.

Kyle finally makes some normal-ass rings and gives them to his found family/supporting cast from the season (Gaang…Kyle Krew…we'll workshop it), people who all have different perspectives and methods and ways of problem solving but who are all equally dedicated to helping people. They will be the first vanguard of the new Green Lantern Corp.

If Kyle wants it hard enough, it can happen. And all Kyle wants to do now is become a good man, who leaves the right legacy. Season 3 is him running around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to run a gigantic space organization by himself but you know what he's doing his best.

Kyle, who has been writing space emails to Alex this entire time as a framing device: "Hey, honey, so I've been worldbuilding." Alex: "Cool, for the webtoon? Or for your next DND campaign?" Kyle: "No I mean I've been building a world. Should it have volcanoes? I want a volcano." Alex: "Kyle I cannot put you in charge of dishes much less a world what the FUCK are you doing." Kyle, crying: "I have no idea honey can you come here please I suck at this."

#green lantern #kyle rayner #hal jordan #guy gardner #john stewart #so actually Kyle's intro arc in the comic was KINDA like this #where he started off as a goof not taking the whole thing seriously and then Alex got murdered and he fought Hal Jordan and he sobered up #but uhhhh this doesn't involve any dead girlfriends so it's better :)#did you know that the 'fridged woman' thing was FROM ALEX?#anyway New Wave is actually in the Jackie Chan adventures art style sorry I never shared that #my writing #there IS actually a GL animated series from like 2010 #it's like. it's fine.

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bunnakit · 6 months

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GumpaYok?! Please share your thoughts! I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never even considered this before!

don't be ashamed!! i think most people just see Yok with Dan and go yeah sure, that's end game but UHH i hate Dan. i fucking LOVE Fluke Gawin but i'm a big acab bitch and i just want to run Dan over with my fucking car - i don't dislike danyok shippers and if you like Dan i'm so sorry but you do you babes, that's your right.

HOWEVER. i just think it'd be interesting to see a post canon world where Gumpa lets Yok heal from his surgery at his place because Yok doesn't want to scare his mae, and maybe there's just 1 bed who knows, and maybe Gumpa is a perfect gentleman and takes the couch night after night until Yok catches him wincing while he's fixing a truck and Yok demands he sleep in his own fucking bed just for one night. and maybe they wake up tangled together, Yok first, and he's immediately taken aback by how safe he feels, and how warm and protected he feels, and there's still a little hurt part of him curled up in the corner of his heart, licking his wounds, but this little moment shows him he can move on, he can recover, and maybe things can be better than what he left behind on the floor of that art gallery. so he goes back to sleep, safe and warm, with hope in his heart.

Gumpa wakes up next and at first he does the respectable thing, he immediately moves to extract himself with a silent apology on his lips, but Yok makes the softest little sound - almost distressed - and curls closer to him and Gumpa's heart clenches and all he wants to do is hold Yok closer, to protect him from all the pain he's been through lately. under the guise of being half asleep he holds Yok closer, winds his arms around his ribs and his back and cradles him to his chest like he could keep him there, like he wishes he could be Yok's armor and keep him safe from a world that is much too cruel for such a golden heart like his.

and maybe they continue to sleep like this, there's an unspoken agreement. and having Yok in the garage is fun - he brightens the day even when it's pouring rain outside, and he makes Gumpa laugh, he reminds Gumpa he's barely even 30 and not the shambling old man he pretends he is.

and Gumpa reminds Yok that he's always safe here, with the family they've cobbled together, and he reminds Yok that there's so much beauty to life and so much to appreciate, and each little touch and smile pieces his heart back together bit by bit until maybe one day he's brave -- YOU KNOW??? DO YOU SEE THE VISION??

#gumpayok #not me fic #several people have been encouraging me to write this fic #and every day my will breaks a little more #maybe i will be the gumpayok fic i want to see in the world #bunn asks

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space-blue · 2 years

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Hello, I happened to come across today the post you made about Jinx and Silco's relationship and you mentioned that you dislike Cait. It's not a really common opinion in the fandom, and because I more than dislike her a little I would love for you to elaborate on it.

Thanks for the ask, Anon. I'll try to elaborate without painting too big a target on my back for Cait lovers, who, as I understand it, are a majority in the Arcane fandom.

This answer is 2.8k words, so have fun, and I'm hiding the rest because nobody needs that much on their dash.

First off I'd like to stress I don't hate Cait as a character, and that I'm capable of making the difference between what I'd like to see and what the show runners wanted us to see. A lot of my distaste for her lies in that in-between space. None of this applies to fanfic Cait, as of course people can take her any direction they want.

Cait, as a concept, is an interesting character. There are ways for her to develop in season 2 that can make her more loveable for me... But I admit I'm sort of pre-disposed to dislike her.

I think there are some ways the script could have been doctored to make her inherently more likeable, and for her to not ruin Vi's character so much. That's right, I'm showing my soft belly for Caitvi lovers to bite into: I actually don't like Caitvi as a season 1 ship, and think Cait contributes to making Vi's act II-III character worse.

Ok, let's take it slowly.

Cait is the top 0.01% of the uber rich in universe, in a show asking us to sympathise with the people who are being controlled, exploited and killed by that ruling class. (And polluted!)

Cait is a cop. Cait went out of her way to become a cop, it's clearly not what Cassandra wanted for her. I'm rather on the ACAB side of the fence, so again she doesn't quite recommend herself.

She is shown to be more of an investigator at the start, so I was actually curious at first. Would she be some sort of Sherlock type? But no. Turns out Cait is the entitled kind of vigilante.

So, like, of course the show frames this as good. It's good that Cait goes to investigate, because Marcus is corrupt. The truth would never air, and she'd never figure out who is behind the bombings if it weren't for her private investigation. Private detectives who go rogue are typically the heroes of their stories, and we usually root for them.

But the issues pile up with Cait: She refuses to take her firing as having any meaning. She keeps wearing her uniform after she knows she isn't on the force, and forges documents (and Jayce's seal) to get what she wants.

Although she acts "for good", that's not her actual stated motivations. Cait's only stated motivations are to catch the perp. Funnily enough, she's a lot like Jinx. She wants to prove herself. She thinks she's right, she's close to wrapping her case and she doesn't trust her colleagues to do it, so she goes and usurps power and impersonates an officer to do it herself.

My issue here is she does all that NOT KNOWING Marcus is corrupt. This would be a totally different vibe if she knew he was a pawn for a powerful undercity "industrialist".

There is also the aspect that she studies Zaun and its criminal underground extensively... And yet never went?

I've been told "her parents must not allow her!"

And I reply: So what? The moment she has a good reason to go, she just straight up goes, and suffers zero repercussions for doing so! She never voices any complaints or anything about the Undercity being off limits to her.

She doesn't know about the suffering in Zaun. She says she had no idea it was this bad... How sheltered can you get, that you study a place and its rampant crime, fill up a map, get called "obsessed" over it, but you somehow never had the motivation or curiosity to go there?

This ties into another aspect of Cait which I dislike, which is again completely involuntary and an artefact of the show's strict timetable.

She doesn't share anything about herself. Not even to Vi. We virtually know nothing about her except that she likes to shoot guns and looks up to chief-ACAB Grayson (my beloved). Even on the bed scene with Vi, it's only ever Vi opening up and sharing. And you may say, "yeah but we only see a glimpse, I'm sure Cait shared stuff too". And yes, sure... But Vi is making a comment about the place when they break in... That reveals she has NO idea it's Cait's home!

That's one of the thing I'd suggest editing out to give the impression that Cait has explained things and that Vi doesn't learn she's a Councillor's daughter until after breaking her into her own home.

Cait learns about Vi's past, again and again, and shares nothing about herself. Even when faced with the Firelights, she "knows a friend on the Council" but fails to mention her mom is there too. In front of Ekko, I get, but... What does Vi know about Cait? Canonically???

Back on track.

Cait being surprised that a city riddled with violent crime is actually a miserable place to live in left me feeling like she needs to see the misery to feel it, and somehow failed to extrapolate and empathise from all her "obsessive" research.

There's lots and lots of good reasons for her to not have gone there yet... But it's half her city and again, she's a cop!! I've once been told "Maybe her parents don't allow for her to be sent to Zaun" and I'm like, all right, so her colleagues were totally right for making fun of her, she's an over-privileged and sheltered kid.

And HEY, that's a fine character trait. My issue with it is that it doesn't come across as intentional. It comes across as the writers showing their hand through her. Cait needs to show shock at the poor Zaunites... A real world Cait would probably not be shocked, because she could hardly discover such stuff at her age and station. The show also doesn't expect us to criticise Cait for being the way she is. Show Cait is "naive" and at the start of her character arc, but I really didn't get the feeling she was meant to be seen the way I perceive her. She's very much "uwu good girl protagonist, also she's hot and smart, please don't think about her actions too hard haha".

On to the meeting with Vi.

I feel like there Cait shows us that she also doesn't have a very strong sense of Justice or Fairness. Again, that might be intentional, but I doubt it. She knows that Vi is in the worst prison around because "No reason actually, there wasn't even a trial".

This is as unfair as it gets. She asks, Vi gives her a flippant answer, and bam, Cait doesn't show enough interest to get to the bottom of this. Vi wouldn't help, so fine, Cait just leaves.

She won't free Vi out of her good heart, but only once her fear makes her act, when Vi threatens that the Undercity will eat her alive.

My fix, to start Caitvi on a better footing, would be this:

Vi is flippant and refuses to answer. Cait shrugs and leaves, and when Vi says the undercity will eat her alive, she leaves ANYWAY. Cut to Vi hearing the Warden come and tensing... And she's actually being released. She walks out of the prison, and down to the dock, perplexed. Cait is waiting there next to the boatman she hired. She waves Vi over and says she may as well share the ride.

Vi is surly and silent for a while, before asking Cait why she had her released. Cait would shrug, say it was the fair thing to do, considering she was never even tried.

THEN Vi would accept to guide her in Zaun, knowing that it might lead her to her sister. Mutually beneficial thing, but on a better footing. This would establish that Cait has a moral compass, and give a basis for Vi to trust that maybe this enforcer is not entirely rotten.

Because in the show, so far, we only know that Cait is a cop because SHE LIKES SHOOTING GUNS and the one woman who could out-shoot her showed her the way. It's never established that Cait has some great inner sense of Justice, or a drive to save the people or anything. Grayson, in that one speech about why she needs to know how to shoot, inherits a greater sense of her dedication to peace and being a Good Cop TM than Cait ever gets. Cait is show to want to solve mysteries, and does the right thing in the fire... but so do all the asshole cops, rushing into a burning tent to rescue a little girl.

Cait becomes a vigilante to prove she "can do it". She's not a Good Cop TM.

Right, on to caitvi specific grief.

For me, I see absolutely zero reasons for Vi to be anything but hyper-wary of Cait. She's an enforcer, literally the type of person she has all the reasons in the world to hate most, and we're shown and told all of those reasons. She's spent her entire late teens being beaten in prison thanks to an enforcer. She's seen enforcers shoot people point blank. She considers her mother killed by enforcers.

Do you think anyone IRL would have this level of hate for authority/oppression tools such as enforcers, come out of a multi years stint in the worst prison possible, and fall in love with one such enforcer overnight?

"But Cait is hot and Vi is horny, and Cait is a good cop and—"

And canonically it's never shown that Cait is good actually, just that she abuses her power, is entitled, and has terminal main character syndrome (meaning she does all that while it being cast as a "good thing" by the show. We're meant to consider this all Good-and-Fun).

And I'm sorry, but I can't. Cait finds Vi in prison, being chronically abused, and that budding relationship starts within hours of her freeing her. I can't associate that with "healthy".

I don't think it's Good or Fun that Vi immediately starts having feelings for an enforcer (and the 1% to top it off), no matter who that enforcer is, or how cute they are, and that this enforcer would allow it/go for it without having the wherewithal to see how potentially unhealthy this is, and that this person (Vi) needs time to find themselves outside of prison first.

I just don't buy their relationship on that spectrum. Begrudging, hard earned respect, I can get into. But the show doesn't give us time or opportunity to get there.

I think the show chickens out of taking the time to make Vi scary and broken. To make her hate and distrust Caitlyn, who is the pretty face of oppression, who didn't even think to release her on her own after finding she was wrongfully imprisoned, and instead needed to be threatened.

They unrealistically sped up their relationship, most likely because they wanted to give the fandom an (implied, F/F) relationship to keep everyone buzzing until season 2.

Anyway, a better caitvi dynamic, imo, is a dark Vi who hates and distrusts Cait, and a naive, entitled Cait but with a strong sense of justice, who earns Vi's respect by not falling into the typical cop or one-percenter grooves, or trying her best when called out on it.

Leaving Vi's warming up to Cait for season 2, and for them to actual common grounds besides "you're hot" and "we spent 48h together" would have been ideal.

Cait going on to not become Sheriff (maybe more of a PI?) and Vi not becoming an enforcer, would also be ideal, but I guess I'm demanding too much. Especially when it comes to Vi, who was all over the place in that last act.

Poor Anon, you'd also be shocked to know how much I dislike act II-III Vi, considering how much I write her myself. But Vi is an interesting character who gets shafted by the narrative and its time constraints, and is a pleasure to write in fix-its, while Cait is a 1% cop gone vigilante as the core of her narrative, so, yeah...

The firelights come in as a final point of dislike... They muddy the waters in the show, casting Silco as a moral-free villain while offering no solution for the whole of Zaun in their rebellion against him and Piltover both. They also give Cait a safe soundboard to tell a Zaunite to please "not do violence because violence is not the solution uwu". Try saying that to Silco's face lol

I just... really disliked that from the show, not only from Cait, because it felt like this was the middle ground message I was meant to accept. Both Silco and Piltover get vilified, and the Firelights and Cait are these half baked middle grounds of true goodies, who offer nothing tangible.

At the very least she has no ground to stand on to tell Ekko, or any Zaunite, that violence isn't the solution. The show went out of its way to establish that piltover and the Council will stop at nothing to keep Zaunites oppressed and working for them. It's in every arc.

IMO that justifies Silco's revolt. I mean his violent revolution plans, not whatever undefined stuff he has going on in act II-III. But then I'm French and I grew up being taught that decapitating kings was a Good Thing. And I strongly believe that violence CAN be a necessary part of revolution. The show proves that protests, violent or not, were not even cutting it.

Cait comes down to Zaun, sees the misery, hears from Vi about losing her parents to enforcers... and tells another Zaunite to chill and not attack her people.

Yeah, to me, that looked like no arc at all. She's justified in her actions by the reveal that Marcus was a mole/owned by Silco... So everything she did to uncover Jinx was justified.

Then there's this one good thing, in the final bit, where her story for a brief moment mirrors Vi's.

Remember how Vi makes her first grown up decision, to take responsibility for her actions and stand up to protect her family... And Vander takes it away from her, throwing her down into the basement?

Then Vi and Cait face the Council, and Cait steps up and looks like she's about to LIE to the Council to protect Vi. She's about to ruin the entire point of her going on a vigilante trip in the first place by hiding the truth she's learnt about Jinx...

But Vi stops her, pushes her hand (and her help) away, and throws her own sister under the bus by naming her to the Council. (Yeah, for the LIFE OF ME I cannot comprehend what Vi is meant to think she's doing there. She's basically condemning her sister to death or the rest of her life in Stillwater. What other things does she think she's achieving? A question for another time).

Finale Cait is very much used to just play with Jinx's projections and doesn't do much as a character that would make me feel either way.

As a result I'm left with a Cait who has no great personality. She likes shooting. She liked science a bit, maybe, as a kid? She doesn't mind forgery or abuse of power if it's done by her. She's got a good analytical mind (reconstructs crime scene) but very low empathy (literally can't fathom people would be miserable in Zaun despite years of obsessive research). And that's it. Jayce has more character than her. Heck, we know more about Heimerdinger than Cait, and he's at least fun to hate lol.

She comes off as an entitled brat who doesn't do a whole lot of growth, doesn't learn any valuable lessons, and doesn't see any issues with falling in love with someone like Vi, despite the insane power imbalance between them and Vi's crazy baggage.

And most of this is not "her fault" but the way the writers characterised her, in a show with a shit ton of characters with very complex plot intermingling.

But it's also a show from a game that has her as a sheriff, has hot police skins, and used to have a bunch of police brutality jokes as Vi's voice lines. So yeah, I don't think her creators consider people like me Cait's target audience.

I have, however, read some excellent fics that made a great use of Cait, though not often because I simply don't browse the Caitvi tag. But plenty of fans like her without liking her sheriff/cop side and have done fabulous work to characterise her away from that and give her... Depth, personality, all of that.

So yeah, not holding my breath for season 2, but who knows.

#arcane #arcane meta #anon ask #thanks anon #vi #cait #arcane ask

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yeetlegay · 2 years

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hi yeetle! i trust your taste cause you watched kinnporsche, can you please recommend some other thai bls which are good?

Haha well I can try! Just going off of the fact you've presumably watched and liked Kinnporsche:

If you liked the mafia/crime/action:

Manner of Death—coroner and extremely suss hottie adopt a succulent and solve a murder mystery. Think Agatha Christie but with more domestic gays and ACAB.

Beyond Evil (Korean)—the only reason this isn't a BL is because they deleted the footage of Juwon kissing Dongsik in that basement. But this show is so fucking fruity you don't even need the footage to know they're boyfriends by the end of it.

3 Will Be Free—okay so this also isn't technically a BL but it's super mega gay with the three mains (a gay guy, a bi guy, and a girl so hot I was sweating every time I saw her) in a polyamorous love story while on the run from a gang. SO underrated and you can watch the whole thing on YouTube.

Not Me—activist college students committing arson, fucking with rich men, and being gay as their extracurricular activities of choice. Also features the only cop character ever who deserves rights.

Long Time No See (Korean)—Spidermen pointing at each other meme, the mafia version. A hitman who writes Wattpad fic on the side meets up with one of his readers and they proceed to lie their asses off to each other in a comedy of errors while also falling in love.

If you liked the leads' chemistry:

Manner of Death—again, I know, but MaxTul are the kings of BL for a fucking REASON. They've been working together for what, six years now? And it shows. They're really close friends irl and have a great natural chemistry and level of comfort with each other physically that's hard to find.

We Best Love (Taiwanese, both seasons)—say what you will about the couch scene, my man Shi De had his tongue fully down Shu Yi's throat and did NOT hesitate to keep it there. They're not as physically all out as MileApo and MaxTul but they know how to make the tension so thick you hold your breath like you're underwater.

Why R U?—OKAY HEAR ME OUT 😂 sure the show itself is a hot mess, but Saint and Zee ate and even the haters agree. If you were one of the people championing bottom Kinn (hi fellow intellectual) then may I introduce Fighter, the literal poster child of the service top to pillow princess pipeline, and Tutor, his personal Obi-Wan of gay sex.

If you want something like VegasPete:

Utsukushii Kare/My Beautiful Man (Japanese)—the kink isn't as physical as VegasPete but it's BRILLIANT and the chemistry is crazy. If you want something that makes you go "this probably isn't the healthiest thing, but it's definitely the sexiest" (much like VegasPete) then this is it.

I hope this helps anon!

#I was gonna put in a t*ddies category but it would just be maxtul again lol #yeetle asks #bl recs #kinnporsche #why don’t queue stay

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prongsmydeer · 2 years

Text

Ayesha Liveblogs She-Ra S1

“Is that a mouse?!” Why is it just an accepted fact of this universe that some people are furries and scalies

“This is what I raised you for,” is a messed up thing to say to anyone but particularly in the context of a military draft

I know “Horde” is an actual word but that it’s called the Horde and their leader “Hordak”... imagine if the Empire in SW was “the Darthettes”

Based on only these two scenes Catra seems like a difficult friend to have with the sulking and not waiting her turn at the helm

“Dear Mom, I feel like you don't respect me.” A teenage mood

Bow picking up and folding Glimmer’s clothes, what a sweetheart

“Will you fight for the honour of Grayskull?” Seems like an unfair question without defining Grayskull

“Not much for talking, huh?” “I prefer not to swap pleasantries with my captors.” Adora makes a very reasonable point, Bow

Speaking of captors, I assume that Adora did once have parents:

“Where’s a blinding flash of light when you need one?” We call that foreshadowing

Glimmer’s core personality trait so far is stubbornness to a fault

“I never knew where I came from or who my family was. Shadow Weaver said it didn’t matter who I was before, that I was nothing before Hordak took me in. There’s always been a part of me that I just don’t know anything about.” Which came first Finn from Star Wars or Adora from She-Ra lmao

Adora discovering birthdays and horses and all she missed of the outside world is really very endearing

“She’s been messing with our heads since we were kids.” “How could you possibly be okay with that?” “Because it doesn’t matter what they do. The two of us look out for each other. And soon, we’ll be the ones calling the shots.” It’s actually really sad that Catra is so resigned to being manipulated and that she views Adora as her entire support system, someone put these girls in therapy

“But I was stupid. And a jerk, and I almost got us killed.” That was a quick turnaround time on the stubbornness, good on Gimmer

“It’s been an honour serving beside you, Horsey.” I delight in every minute of screentime that Bow has

I feel like a lot of these Horde soldier concerns can be partly addressed by making sure Adora has a different outfit when she meets the queen

I love the immediate friendship with the horse and how they just call them “Horsey”

“She attacked our troops with a sword and then fled with the help of a winged beast.” I mean... Adora defended herself with a sword, which is not the same thing as attacking. These guards are lying. She-Ra said, even in pastel space: ACAB

“I know her secret.” “And what’s that?” “Hm. Like I’d tell you.” Everything about Catra just screams I am gay and in 10th grade at all times. I’m sorry I compare everything to Naruto but she is Space Lesbian Furry Sasuke. I will not elaborate

I’m guessing Mara is a previous host(?) of She-Ra

“I don’t have my glasses, you’ll have to speak up.” I relate to this sentiment, Madame Razz

Very genuine question: Is She-Ra’s pacing/dialogue slower than the average animated series because I keep having to switch it to 1.25 speed in order to move through the show hfkjhfkjhf what is up with it

Although I understand that this is a struggle between a corrupt military empire and a rebellion of united forces/nations a la Star Wars, whenever they bring up that this is a monarchical system, I can’t help but be like, “Dissolve the monarchy!!” I blame Magi the anime. Or the British empire. Probably both

“Catra has been nothing but a disappointment to me.” “If you have failed to condition her properly, you have no one but yourself to blame.” Hordak and Shadow Weaver are like a divorced couple who can’t agree on how to teach their kids responsibility

This is the second time I’m mentioning it, but how much of the outward hostility towards Adora would be solved if they got her a different outfit???? A lot of it, probably

I am assuming that Shadow Weaver is fixated on Adora mostly bc she is a lost princess and not bc she has any emotional attachment to her

“You want She-Ra to fix everything, but you won’t even try to save yourselves?” They are so close to the idea of democracy and yet so far

Lmao @ these three teens turning a diplomatic supply mission into encouraging a pacifist nation to throw away their ideology and smack people down with plants

How the heck was Adora hiding that GIANT sword in her Horde uniform and somehow no one took note. No one ever managed to look at her back as she walked in?????

“Would I get to hit more people with flowers?” Perfuma said: Actually it turns out, I love violence

Bow and Glimmer giving Adora a firmer bed and sleeping in her room bc they understand she’s used to military barracks... I love the Best Friend Squad

It’s funny how often Queen Angella makes war decisions based on ‘Glimmer asked very nicely’

“Everyone here looks like a real pirate.” I’m gonna be real with you, Bow, it looks like you’ve entered a lesbian bar rather than a pirate’s tavern, but I guess there is a Venn diagram crossover of interests

“Tragically, they went down in flames.” “How did that happen?” “I set them on fire.” I think I like Captain Sea Hawk

The men on this show are fun. Bow is so easily excited and impressed and Captain Sea Hawk is no thoughts just vibes

Gkhgkgjhg Shadow Weaver not giving Catra the Force Captain orientation while simultaneously using her to hunt Adora is kind of like cutting off her nose to spite her face

There is something about the concept of Mermista and Sea Hawk dating that I find very endearing:

Does some voice innately speak to Adora or does she point the sword and hope

“Try being the daughter of an immortal queen when your powers are ‘sparkles.’” 1) Salt in the wound to be named Glimmer kghkgjhgk imagine if Superman/Clark Kent was called Laser Eyes also 2) Way to casually drop that Queen Angella is immortal??? What???

Makes a lot of sense that Bow would have the advantage in a battle since he seems to have been an active part of the rebellion for some time vs these Horde cadets who are on their first mission

She-Ra’s height is a little perplexing bc Adora seems to essentially maintain her proportions so rather than being a tall person she just looks like a person x1.15. Adora + HST (Hardy Size Two)

Update from 3 minutes later: Mermista just described her as an ‘eight foot tall lady’ which doesn’t make any sense at all. She is one (1) head taller than Catra, and I don’t think Catra is 7 feet tall. She-Ra’s gotta be like. 6′5″ at best

Confused by Bow’s gesture with Mermista, is he participating in the magic or just posing???

“The Horde almost destroyed my home. I wanna help fight them.” This feels like a strong description for what happened. They knocked at your door and you kicked their sixteen-year-old asses. But I see your point, Mermista

The sixth episode intro is giving very much Jumpstart 3rd Grade

“I designed the castle as a labyrinth. I’m the only one who can navigate it.” What a horrible thing to do to your staff. Even cartoon rich people have no perspective LOL

[Glimmer Tiktok audio voice] 🎶 Adora wake up, I don’t like this, Adora wake up 🎶

I understand that Entrapta’s thing is tech but characters who like to experiment on beings with sentience give me the heebie jeebies like would she normally dissect a person like Adora??

Also I feel like it would’ve been more humanizing if she felt any emotion at all towards fighting the First Ones tech robots. But she seems to be indifferent to both people AND robots???

I appreciate that they’re starting to show the need for and strength of individuals like Bow and the kitchen staff in this world where princesses seem to be the be-all end-all of strength against the Horde

“You each have a skill that only you can do, even if it doesn’t come from some magical jewel.” Bow on theme as always. Love him to pieces:

Also LMAO @ Bow convincing the staff to join in on the robot fight in less than 10 seconds

“I don’t have enough energy to teleport us all right now. Not without leaving someone’s legs behind.” Is the implication here that Glimmer has left someone’s legs behind before jkhgkjhg

Loving how much this ep relies on teamwork <3 Go Bow’s Kitchen Robot Mercenary Squad hahaha

Entrapta immediately putting back together the disc that nearly just killed them. Hoo boy. Always trust your heebie jeebies

“My Aunt Castaspella is head sorceress there.” JKGHKJGHKJGH I guess I understand why Angella named her daughter Glimmer. They do literal names only in this family LMAO

They’re reinforcing that She-Ra is eight feet tall, which again, HOW?

“How nice that Glimmer has finally started making some friends.” We all have an aunt like Aunt Casta jghkjghgj

“Adora, do you know what ‘aunt’ means?” “No, I was just hoping someone would eventually explain.” KJHGKJGHKJGH Adora, what do they teach you in evil military space school

“Some say she never really left. That’s she only biding her time, waiting to exact her revenge.” Wgkjhkgjhg the connect between Light Spinner and Shadow Weaver is as subtle as a ton of bricks

Awww Glimmer and Bow immediately understand that Shadow Weaver is Adora’s Terrible Mum

Wasn’t sure til now if Shadow Weaver knew that Adora was She-Ra

“You never loved me. You just played twisted mind games.” Everything about Shadow Weaver and Adora is like. Hallmark abuse

It’s cute how the beach has clouds as waves. I love world-building

“If you want to take down Adora, you have to go for the heart.” 1) Don’t like that 2) Why the lingering shot on Bow rather than Bow and Glimmer

“Unfortunately, you’re the only I can trust around here.” “Because we’re best friends.” Scorpia is kind of delightful lmao

“I never really fit in with the other princesses.” It’s tough being a half Scorpion in this economy

Princess Prom is SO cute I love their outfits and the ball concept

“But don’t you see? That’s how it starts. Then suddenly everyone has new friends and nobody needs me anymore.” Glimmer needs to talk to a therapist about her anxious attachment

Bow is VERY good at communicating his feelings and boundaries with Glimmer re: having other friends. We love an emotionally aware man

“She stole my food and asked me to spy on people with her. Is this what love feels like?” Being gay and in 10th grade: Jealousy Edition

I guess Scorpia and Catra chose Bow first because he was the more accesible target, given Glimmer’s teleporting abilities

Catra continues to ruin Adora’s life and then question why she doesn’t want to hang around with her lol

“We’re the Princess Alliance. And the Horde took one of our own.” YEAHHH MERMISTA, I LOVE A TEAMWORK <3333333

Fjgkhkgjhg I would say that Mermista got the short end of this mission task for the sewer thing, but Perfuma and Adora have to wrangle Sea Hawk and Entrapta lol

GKJHKJGHKJGH a very honest take from Bow:

Bow: Why are you telling me all this?

Kyle: I don’t know... I guess because you’re the first person who’s listened to me.

Bow: I mean, I’m being held prisoner, so I don’t know that I have a choice... but sure!

“Go to the force captain barracks and pack your things. Now that Adora is back, there’s no need for you there.” I feel like the flaw in Shadow Weaver’s thinking is how she possibly believes Adora could fight for their cause again

Adora sacrificing herself to get the rest of the Princess Alliance out is giving Season 1 VLD Allura, Dreamworks got one mission move

“You shall stay willingly, because I am going to wipe your mind.” Ah, there it is

GO GLIMMER GIVING SHADOW WEAVER THE PUNCH SHE DESERVES:

“This is not because I like you,” said Catra as she handed over the sword, even though it definitely was, proving that being gay and in tenth grade can in fact lead to the downfall of imperialism

[Princess Alliance as ATLA voice] ‘Did Entrapta just die?’ ‘You know, it was really unclear’

Gjkghkjgh the fact the flames were the same moody green light for the door shut/burst of flames as it was for Jet in the underground. If the people who wrote this ep did not watch ATLA, I would be SHOCKED

As a sidenote, I don’t think Entrapta’s dead lol. It wouldn’t have even crossed my mind to consider she was dead until Bow suggested it LOL, I really just thought it was the door closing

“If I had known, I never would’ve agreed to your foolish plan.” All this Horde team meeting suggests is that Hordak is not a particularly effective leader LOL

I think honestly they should’ve kept him obscured for longer to up his villainous aura. Like on a scale of cartoon villainy from like, Dr. Doofenschmirtz to Him in that one really fucked up episode of Powerpuff Girls, this guy seems like a solid Hawk Moth. He’s certainly not as scary as the comparable media of VLD’s Zarkon

“What do you do when you have a cold?” “Remain out of sight.” [Concerned glances] “What? Displays of physical weakness are strongly discouraged in the Horde.” Once an episode Adora reminds everyone of what a horrific childhood she had

Not sure what Glimmer plans to achieve by hiding her Dark Magic Flu, surely deceiving her mother will only result in more restrictions later on

In answer to an earlier question, Adora’s strategy for figuring out her She-Ra powers really is just ‘point the sword and hope’

“Hey, you can’t just touch another woman’s tail without asking,” said Scorpia, like they weren’t holding Entrapta captive without asking

In fairness to Glimmer and Adora, they really just had to take the others word for it. They didn’t see what happened to Entrapta!

“Am I the only one who cares about sword safety around here?” Poor, rational Bow has been cursed to be besties with two people whose only two braincells constantly scream, ‘Magic’ and ‘Fight’

Again, I get that Entrapta is representing a specific type of person but it doesn’t sit right with me how ambivalent she is about the Horde. What is ur moral code Entrapta? What matters to u, aside from making technological discoveries? Who matters?

“I was hard on you. I won’t deny it, and I won’t apologize. I just wanted to prepare you for the world. I wanted you to be strong.” “Well, congratulations, I’m plenty strong now.” Yaddah yaddah generational trauma

“I shouldn’t have been so weird about you hanging out with someone else. I’m sorry Bow.” Glimmer’s hand on Bow’s chin as she reassures him: <3 Best Friend Squad

“I don’t know how you feel? I got your father killed!” WHAT IN THE ABBY GRIFFIN

Ah, it was more of a battle decision than a betrayal lol

“Don’t make the same mistake I did. I should have kept fighting, and you should too.” Wow, this episode wasn’t kidding about yaddah yaddah generational trauma

“You must let go.” Does this mean that She-Ra also has to go on a spiritual journey towards asceticism and not prioritizing her loved ones with a mystical racially-coded guru a la Aang

Update from 18 min later: Yeah.

I like that Catra and Adora are finally getting to hang out again, even if it is while they are being attacked by giant spiders during the Alien Mega-Computer Hang-out Cyber-Security Lockdown

“I knew you’d be weird about me letting you escape. I told you it’s not because I like you,” Adora said the furry doth protest too much

These Fright Zone simulations are very sweet <3 Childhood!!

I love the subtle contact like Adora smiling when Catra’s tail brushes her hands

“Adora, you must do a better job of keeping her under control.” Again. This favourite and scapegoat.... sickeningly realistic abuse tactic hoo boy

“I didn’t want you to come back.” We have circled back to Space Lesbian Furry Sasuke. Sever your bonds so u can get stronger Catra (derogatory/affectionate):

“I wonder what I could’ve been if I’d gotten rid of you sooner.” You would’ve unlocked your mangekyo sharingan, Catra

“You ever meet someone and just instantly click?” Awww Scorpia’s adoration of Catra is quite sweet

NJFKKJFHFKJ what I imagine to Catra’s inner monologue

Scorpia: She is the best friend ever.

Catra, biting her fist to keep from crying: Adora used to call me that.

“I watched you grow up from afar.” That’s a weird thing to say

KHGKJHGKJGHK lmao @ Adora pointing it out as well. “Creepy? Yes, I have, I been called this before.” I’ve only known Light Hope for like 10 seconds but already I enjoy her

“Our horse!” “I... am my own horse.” WHAT THE HELL SWIFT WIND CAN TALK?

“As part of Adora’s herd, I need your help.” That’s so cute and weird that Swift Wind measures friendship by herd. I am so thrown by this horse thing, I had no clue this was coming

“I will not consign you to the same regrets.” Angella said the generational trauma ends with me!!!

“Etheria’s not just a planet. Whatever the First Ones did to it, it went deep.” Oh good, I have been perplexed about what the hell Etheria was in the first place. A solar system? A galaxy? A country? So they are all living on the same planet, yeah?

I didn’t know the ‘You’re asking me about my theories’ audio came from She-Ra

“The First Ones were explorers who journeyed from beyond the stars to settle Etheria.” So were they like the actual first ones or is this a North America type of situation

“You are the first She-ra in a thousand years.” Ah, exposition

“Which means, [the runestones are] our best access point to hack the planet.” ENTRAPTA. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU

Is this little guy Hordak’s son or like. The Wicked Witch’s flying monkeys

Oh. He’s like that iDog Robot that plays music from ur mp3 player

“You are distracted by your attachments. There was one before you who could not let go.” Oh no, Adora’ll never reach the Avatar state now

Wait Madame Razz knows Mara the She-Ra from ONE THOUSAND YEARS AGO? How old is she????

“Mara stranded us in the empty dimension of Despandos.” Stranded whomst?? Etheria?? Did she plop u down like a pin on Google Maps??

I assume it will become apparent to us that Mara had a reason for what she did

“You’re really going to let this... this Princess tinker with my runestone?” “Her tinkering has boosted the firepower of every weapon she’s touched. So yes, she gets to tinker with whatever she wants.” This what happens with u mix feminism with imperialism LMAO

On that note, is power passed on matrilineally in this universe? Since it’s all princesses using the runestones, I guess gender must be a relevant factor in magic usage, huh? Unless weirdly for two generations everyone just happened to have exclusively daughters?

“Freedom, equality and hay for all.” Fascinated by the horse politics

“What good is all of your power if you don’t use it to help the people you love?” This is why I don’t see the point of these spiritual or emotional journeys to let go of the people around u. Ultimately, isn’t their reason for continuing to pursue balance, or the mission, or whatever the hell, the love of their people? I can’t believe I’m taking narrative reflections from a horse

“I didn’t do this fulfill some destiny. I became She-Ra to help others. My attachments, my friends, they’re part of who I am.” THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING, ADORA

“It’s in the name. Net-ossa. I toss nets!” “Yes darling, you have beautiful nets.” Are Spinerella and Netossa girlfriends? <3 <3 <3 Love that for them

“All I did was push [Catra] further to the side of evil.” I don’t think you can take responsibility for that Adora, Catra chose this all on her own

Kinda worried they might kill or incapacitate Angella. Glimmer only has one living parent!

Catra is being so mean and for what? Cause Adora’s more athletic and she’s the Avatar-Jinchuriki-Jedi-Chosen Magical Girl? Please

Wouldn’t covering Etheria in darkness make it unsuable for the Horde? What do you gain from destroying the planet? Isn’t that where you want to take over? Very, ‘I’m one of the idiots who live there’

Oh my god. Has Glimmer been glitching because she’s connected to the Black Garnet now. Oh my god. IS GLIMMER GONNA BLOW UP THE HORDE

Adora apologizing for not being able to save the world on her own and Bow immediately comforting her, paying no heed to the weapons aimed at them... I LOVE THEIR FRIENDSHIP A LOT 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Also really enjoy how apparent they’ve made it that Spinerella and Netossa are 1) very nice and 2) very talented and battle-equipped

MERMISTA AND SEAHAWK AND PERFUMA WOOOOOOOOOOO

Even the little ice princess whose name I cannot recall!!! Whole gang’s here

Entrapta could be here too if she gave her friends the benefit of the damn doubt and didn’t terrorize the world for the sake of science!!

Absolutely LOVE that Sea Hawk and Bow are part of the princess magic rainbow blast:

“You will have other chances to prove your worth to me as my second in command.” Hate this for Catra. Like the Non-Space Lesbian Furry Sasuke, I just want her to get some therapy for her childhood trauma and then understand that experiencing love is not a weakness

What a colourful and happy ending to a violent battle. This show is really trying to balance two wildly different aesthetics and tones, huh? It’s grown on me, though! I like it

#ayesha says things #liveblogging #ayesha liveblogs she-ra #attention span hack: liveblogging shows forces u to concentrate while watching #low focus was def a challenge for this one LOL #it took literal years to finish season 1 #she-ra #television #long post

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