#Of course I am completely open to critique

[thefrogdraws]

i am not trusting the process

No trust in the process. None

#I tried to trace it digitally to make the poses more expressive and shiz #Sooo #not doing that anymore #Of course I am completely open to critique #and I’d love to hear what you think would make my stuff bettee #Ocs #Theyre gae >:D #i think i can call them victoria and elizabeth #I just decided that on the spot #Short one’s arms are different sizes and im not gonna fix it lmao #Might colour digitally #drawing

[eldritch-spouse]

While yall awfully horny, i'm gonna be open with Hudds

Hudds, i really like how you are filled with knowledge. Like, i could ask you anything about the world and you will answer me without hesitation.

You are very well-read, you are not afraid to critique ignorance. You look like someone who isn't afraid to stand up for their opinion.

I love guys who's dedicated to their interests, you are a good conversationalist, we could share our knowledge about the world.

You really seems like a interesting person that could discuss so many things together, and i wanna meet with you more often. So, wanna hang out together someday? We could translate some books if you want

[You saved the other anons' asses, congrats.]

(He sits there, listening in silence for a few moments. Slowly but surely, light taints his cheeks.)

" That's... Quite the flattery. "

(Stunned is putting it lightly.)

" I am... I'm very glad that's the way you feel about me. It's- I certainly aspire to be that way! "

(For once, his discomfort isn't born of something you said that set him off.)

" ... Suppose I wouldn't mind feedback from someone like you in my future translation endeavors. "

(He spaces out for a moment, picturing something.)

" Yes, perhaps... One day. "

(Eventually, he sets a calmer gaze upon you, looking distinctly pleased. It's almost a bit contagious. He nods to you, great horns shining in the light.)

" I admit, things have gone much smoother than last time. You have... Surpassed my expectations. "

" I dare say I enjoyed myself here. Clearly, I was right to have approached you, you're not some witless moron bumbling around. "

(Hudsyn says this like it's a surprise even to himself.)

" And... Of course, I appreciate your availability thus far. "

(The lights in the room start flickering, failing. Your guest looks unbothered by this, continuing to smile and speak softly.)

" It has been pleasant. "

" I will see you soon- "

(As the demonoid's speech fades to murmuring, you just barely manage to catch his last words.)

" My protégé... "

(When darkness engulfs the room, you're left in complete suspense, maybe a bit of fear even.)

(It takes a few seconds before they buzz and crackle back to full power, revealing a vacant seat, the cup you offered Hudd lying there alone.)

#Hudd oc #pinnie's art #demon oc #demon original character #yandere monster #yandere teratophilia

[finniestoncrane]

hello my dearest most darlingest finnie!! 💕💕

first, HUGE congratulations on 2k! you absolutely deserve it and I am so happy to be counted amongst your followers 🥰🥰

second, the concept and visuals for your 2k celebration are soooooo fun and well-thought out!! like yes please I would love to go to the movies! u.u

third, I do have a request to make for your celebration, if I may ☺️ could I snag a couple front row tickets for my date with farrell!penguin? we'll be seeing the romantic comedy! oh and could we also grab a hotdog 🌭, some frozen yogurt 🍧, and a rainbow cookie 🌈?

of course feel free to make any changes/adjustments that you'd like! 💕💕 I trust your genius completely u.u

but anyway, huge congrats again on the milestone! I hope you get a lot of fun requests! 🥰💕☺️💖

also I know I'm usually here as peng-anon, but I decided to show up to the movie theatre sans disguise today lmao

eeeeeee thank you charlotte!! you are such a sweet friend ;-; also i am pretty pleased with the little cinema theme, even if those lights on the marquee are wonky and took what felt like a year of my life to do lmao 💚🩷 cw: fluff fluff fluff, clumsy kisses 🔞minors dni🔞 send a request • masterlist • kofi link • tag: finnie2k (to follow or to block)

Oswald took the time to give the staff at his club personal employee evaluations. Part of his ethics, remaining in touch with the people, keeping the business running smoothly. Anything to not be like Falcone.

Most of your colleagues were nervous, and that was understandable. Oswald Cobblepot was a formidable man, and to have him sitting in front of you in his office as he critiqued your work was enough to have inspired three panic attacks in various staff members already.

You were nervous too, but for slightly different reasons. You actually hoped he would critique you, offer you room for improvement. Because if he was nice to you, it would only serve to make the little crush you'd developed on him even stronger.

Unluckily, sort of, your entire hour had been filled with praise and kindness. Oswald had nothing bad to say about you, and was instead lavishing you with kindness and flattery.

"Trust me, sweetheart. You're doing a great job, I wouldn't keep you on staff if you weren't."

It couldn't hold out any longer. Your body had to give in, and the first thing to go was your face. Your lips curled into a goofy smile, cheeks flushing warm and red. When you felt the heat, you tried to cover them, noticing that Oswald was chuckling.

"I'm so sorry, Mr Cobblepot!"

"What are you sorry for?"

"For blushing like a school girl, just because you were nice to me!"

"Oh, don't apologise, I think it's adorable."

It would have sounded patronising from anyone but him, but you could tell it was genuine, and the way he followed the words with a soft smile made you melt even further.

"It's just... it's so silly to get this flustered over you, like I have a chance. Like you'd ever feel any kind of way about me, it's just so..."

Oswald reached over the table, placing a hand on your cheek and silencing you completely as you gazed at him, wide-eyed. Unsure of what to do, you stood up and thanked him for his time, still blushing, now worried that you were overstepping some boundaries by letting slip how you felt.

He followed you to the door, holding the handle to open it for you, but before that, he leaned in, making an attempt to kiss your cheek. But you shrunk away, unsure of whether he meant to kiss you, and his lips slipped and met your chin instead.

"Mr Cobblepot, I'm... so sorry."

"No, no, I got the wrong idea. Shouldn't have done that... Sorry, sweetheart."

Bravery sparked up. You couldn't miss this opportunity.

"Oh no! It's ok, it was my fault... uh... you could try the other cheek. Second chance?"

He smiled, a grateful grin as he leaned in once more.

"Very classy... A bit European... and I'm not about to turn down the offer."

You turned your face, presenting your cheek to him, feeling the rest of your body fill with warmth as he placed a kiss on your skin.

#finnie2k #finnie writes #oswald cobblepot #penguin #x reader #the penguin

[acourtofwhatthefuck]

Am I the only one who just wants to enjoy this book series without looking to deeply into every little thing? 😭

Nope, I totally, totally get it! I’ll so often be scrolling on tumblr and see huge essays of text in which someone has come to a certain conclusion about the characters or a certain plot line and have solidified in their mind that they must be correct and thus need to spread the word, and honestly, it’s got to the point where I’m just rolling my eyes at them. Of course we should read the books and share our thoughts and theories and everything, and of course any published book series should be open to critiques, but I do feel this fandom takes it to a ridiculous level sometimes. I guess I’m just sick of reading posts that are like “JUST A REMINDER THAT FROM XYZ LINE ERIS VANSERRA WAS GIVING A HIDDEN XYZ MEANING AND IS THUS A DISGUSTING, VILE CHARACTER” and I’m looking at it thinking ?????? There is no confirmation from the author that what this person is saying is the case, so why are they writing a huge essay about it as if it is? I’m the first person to criticise SJM about many things, but I just find it funny when readers decide that they know better about a character’s intentions than the creator of that character and, thus, their intentions. Once again, I’m probably not making much sense 😅

But I know that would frustrate the hell out of me if I published a book series and knew perfectly well what the character I created meant and intended with certain words and actions, and then a reader was like “ACTUALLY HERE’S A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF WHY THAT CHARACTER WAS ACTUALLY SAYING THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE AND I’M TOTALLY CORRECT AND THE AUTHOR KNOWS NOTHING!!!!”

Oof, sorry, went on a bit of a rant there, but yes, in short, I totally get what you’re saying 😅😅

#ask #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #acotar fandom

[phykios]

Review: "I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher"

It was a long wait for the Black Sails reunion tour–but it was worth it!

Jokes aside, I first started to really get excited for Percy Jackson 2023 once I saw the news that Jonathan Steinberg had been tapped as showrunner. (This is the first weekly plug to go watch Black Sails if you haven’t, btw.) Despite a rough and rocky start, Black Sails surpassed the usual limits of a “boobs, blood and sex” costume drama and pivoted into some seriously excellent character-driven drama, and I’m hopeful that Percy Jackson can do the same. Awkward preamble completed, allow me to jump right into the good, the bad, and the as-yet-unquantifiable: 

(Because I know this fandom has a tendency to get, uh, wacky, let me preface this by saying that these are my opinions, and they are just opinions. Any comments on acting, writing, directing, etc., are not attacks on the people behind them, and should not be treated as such. I firmly believe critique is an act of love, and that the best reviews don’t change minds, but treat readers to another point of view instead.)

Percy Jackson opens in a dream. Slowly, against the backdrop of thunder and french horns, our hero emerges from the storm, walking slowly to the foreground. This dreamlike quality continues as we are treated to a minute and a half of flashback, the diegetic noises of the world muted in favor of Percy’s narration, and further into the beginnings of the adapted book content. Percy is, of course, immediately drawn to the statue of his namesake, but it’s a motivation more deeply underpinned by Sally, played by the frankly phenomenal Virginia Krull, before the warm, golden memory is rudely interrupted by the present, and the first real glimpse of the mythological world.

As Percy force-shoves Nancy Bobofit into a fountain (the CGI is pretty bad, honestly. But CGI has been bad everywhere, so I’ll let it slide), Megan Mullally’s Mrs. Dodds makes her grand, 30-second appearance. This little encounter–it feels like an overstatement to call it a “fight”–is over almost before it begins. I would have liked this scene to have a little more weight to it, given that it is the first encounter with the mythological world… but at the same time, I think the understated nature works in two ways: first, I am so, so glad to see something other than bog standard action flick fight, and second, the way she moves through the crowd without them noticing her adds to the feelings of isolation and “brokenness” that Percy struggles with. No one else even notices the monster making her way towards him. I think it’s a direction that speaks on multiple levels, recalling particularly the underlying theme of useless/abusive adults in the books. 

Which makes it all the sadder when Grover briefly turns on Percy and gets him expelled. I have to commend Aryan here for this scene–he’s clearly struggling with the decision to get Percy out of there, keeping him safe at the expense of their friendship. I really like how Aryan plays Grover’s more anxious side, but also as someone who can step up and push down his fear in order to do his job. It would have really been easy to play him as a one-note, terrified sidekick, and I’m glad Grover has some spine. 

And speaking of one note–Gabe. I understand why they downplay some of his more blatantly abusive aspects, and I think they make up for it with the surrounding shots, especially Percy sighing in the hallway as he hears him yelling, and Eddie the plumber apologizing for putting him in a mood, but I’m not sure I’m sold on it, yet. Right now, he doesn’t come off as someone who deserves death-by-Medusa-head, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they dial him up later on. 

Also, Virginia Krull is incredible. She was, far and away, my favorite performance of the premiere, particularly in the scene at Montauk. Krull’s Sally has the toughness that the books always implied, at least in the early days, but never really demonstrated until much later in the series, layered beneath an easy sweetness that makes it really, really easy to forgive her for keeping secrets. Ironically, Krull’s performance makes Gabe somewhat more palatable, as it seems like she can go toe-to-toe with him, instead of acting like a more stereotypically “docile” battered spouse. 

The Montauk scene is easily an episode highlight. Whether it’s Sally forcing out her unbelievable truth, or visibly crying while Percy pours his heart out to her about being broken, Walker and Krull are fantastic together, even in an exposition-heavy scene like this. 

I’m going to gloss over the drive and the Minotaur fight scene, because otherwise I’d just be repeating stuff I’ve already said, namely that Aryan and Krull are great actors, and the CGI is pretty ugly. Instead, I’ll just briefly touch on the fight–very well directed, and I appreciated that they were able to have both the visual of the sword with all its associated gravitas, and also the more visceral stabbing from the book–and point out that we end where we begin, in a hazy, dreamlike state, with the mysterious, shadowed figures of Chiron and the gang welcoming him to camp. 

This series feels different than a lot of TV. It definitely has a more cinematic feel, and the tone is much, much less jokey than I had feared. The books have a lot of humor to them, but ironically, the show leaning into the more “magical realism” which Riordan almost studiously avoids in the books helps to keep it balanced and un-cartoonish. Visually, I think the lighting is really emotionally effective, but only for the daytime, and suffers from the same “can’t light night”-ism that plagues modern television. Compare in particular Percy before and after Grover, Percy with his mother at the Met, and then the three of them running from the Minotaur at night. 

All in all, a really solid premiere. A little exposition-heavy, which is unfortunately something that carries over into the next one, but when it’s delivered with some excellent performances, it’s easy to overlook. 

Stray thoughts:

I need more Mythomagic. I need more Mythomagic

The marble statues are pretty ugly imo, but that might just be because I am currently spoiled for marble statues in my day-to-day

Percy and Grover swap sandwich fillings 🥺 Percy takes Grover’s lunchmeat

Sally bullfighting with Percy’s red coat… so good

Thalia’s tree with lightning crashing overhead!

Hopefully I can get the next review up tomorrow? And I’ll talk more about Walker in that one, along with some other thoughts on costume, set design, and other more technical stuff

#pjo tv #pjo spoilers #pjo tv spoilers #sasha review #the review no one cares about mwah

[jewish-sideblog]

Hi, Australian Jew here.

Sending this anonymously because I'm not openly Jewish on Tumblr, however I am considering doing so in the short-term.

I'm sorry to bother you but I wanted to ask you a few questions, if you're open to it (feel free to ignore this if so). Just so you know, I'm asking the same questions of the Jewish bloggers I follow who post regularly - both those who blog about the current Israel/Palestine situation, and those who identify as Jewish but post mainly fandom/other content.

Do you or have you receive/d abuse for being Jewish, or for your stance on the war? If so, how often? How do you respond to any hateful messages? Do you post them publicly or answer them privately? How much would you say your mental health is/has been affected by any messages, or by the content you see on your feed? Have you developed any strategies for handling social media during this time?

Thank you for reading. :-)

Shalom, Aussie chaver!

This is a question I've answered privately a couple of times, and I'm kinda surprised I haven't talked about it more publicly before. Thank you for the opportunity!

Before October 7, I mostly received microaggressions for being Jewish-- especially within goyishe queer communities. That sucked, but nothing I couldn't shake off. Since then, as I'm sure you can assume, it's been a completely different beast. This blog alone receives weekly hate mail, and that can increase to multiple daily death threats if a post I make starts to circulate. Some of that abuse is under the guise of anti-Zionism, but a lot of it is pure bare-bones mask-off antisemitism. 95% of the time, I just delete them and move on with my day. It's difficult to read them sometimes, of course. But there has never once been a hateful ask in my inbox that amounted to even a remotely reasonable critique of my character, of my posts, or of my identity. So they get trashed.

My coping skills for mental health on the internet right now boil down to two things. The first is that, for every death threat I get in my inbox, I get more thank-you notes. I hardly have a big following here, but it's clear that the people who follow me appreciate what I do here. Knowing that I bring more hope, strength, and truth to my Jewish community is what gives me the strength to brush off the hate mail.

My one real strategy for handling social media is the Queue. Oh, G-d, I love the Queue. I'm honestly only on tumblr for like an hour twice a week. It keeps me from the despair and the doomscrolling while still letting me post several times daily. I think my Queue is 50 posts long right now so I could stay offline for two weeks and not have to worry. The side effect is that I often reblog posts which are a week or so old, but as long as I remember not to cue breaking news, it's not that big a deal.

[houseofbrat]

Oh, look, a medical doctor in the US questioning the party line regarding KP’s timeline regarding Kate's health updates!

And the Daily Mail oh so conveniently lobbed his comments in with Christopher Bouzy of all people.

Jonathan Reiner, a medical doctor with internal medicine and cardiology certifications, who teaches at George Washington University is no slouch and no dummy. He also has no skin in the game regarding the British royal family and any of their fandoms!

And what was it that Rebecca quoted him as saying?

He was among conspiracy theorists who spread a CNN clip, which has now been viewed millions of times, in which a doctor claimed that Kate's statement did not make 'medical sense'. Asked how cancer could be found after surgery, Jonathan Reiner said: 'With all respect to the Royal Family, that kind of press release doesn't make a lot of medical sense.' The professor of medicine at George Washington University said such operations are preceded by extensive CAT scans and MRIs, adding it was 'very likely' the surgical team knew of the cancer prior to operating.

Ah, yes, only "conspiracy theorists" would listen to a doctor saying that Kensington Palace's timeline makes no sense. Because apparently in the world according to KP, Kate had "planned abdominal surgery" on 16 January 2024, but the doctors would not know about non-cancerous fistulas or bowel obstructions before they cut her open? Kate had "planned abdominal surgery" and all the normal planning such as CT scan or MRIs were never completed in the planning stages??

According to Rebecca's article, we should ALL dismiss the critiques of KP/Kate's timeline because there is no way they would have suspected cancer until weeks later.

That's what Kensington Palace apparently wants everyone to think.

Did you miss CNN's segment with Jonathan Reiner, MD? Do you want to see it yourself? Well you can, courtesy of the TV archive.

Part A

Part B

Part C

Part D ~ this is the part that gets quoted in Rebecca's piece

Part E

Part F

Part G

This is the part of Kate's statement that Dr. Reiner is critiquing:

In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment. “This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.

Doctors would have briefed Kate about the possibility of any cancer prior to any "planned abdominal surgery." Saying it was "a huge shock" to a cardiologist--who says that "doesn't make a lot of medical sense"--as Kate's statement reads to other medical doctors as if proper planning wasn't done. Kate's medical team would have informed her about the possibility of finding cancer not just before anything was sent to the pathology lab but before the surgery even took place. So...is it really that Kate was not informed by her medical team about this possibility or was Kate's surgery not planned?

KP keeps being real cagey about that surgery, and it doesn't make them look good. It's already known amongst the media that Kate has known about this cancer diagnosis since January, even though they didn't tell the public about it. Kate is using the excuse that she could only tell the public now due to the alleged possibility of mean kids at Lambrook, which I sincerely doubt because the world heard about their grandfather having cancer just a few weeks ago and I have yet to see a story with accusations about mean kids at Lambrook bullying George, Charlotte, and Louis over this.

Someone ain't being truthful about this situation, and I don't think it's Jonathan Reiner.

#twitter #fleet street #Daily Mail #Rebecca English #medicine #critique #kensington palace #lies lies lies #pr games #strategery #my gif #kate middleton #Catherine The Princess of Wales #William The Prince of OWN GOALS #William The Weak #William The Terrible #prince william #William The Prince of Wales

[made-this-cause-why-not]

Quick rant about ATYD because, the slander just does not make sense to me. It's not a perfect fic and people are allowed to not like it but some of the reasons for people not liking it are just so weird to me. Like- people don't like it because Sirius is sexist.... Sirius is a teenage boy. Do the people that say that hang out with teenage boys IRL? They are sexist and sometimes racists, pieces of shit- especially around their guy friends or girl they think 'are cool with it'. Also, it was the 70's. Like, do people not realize that a white, rich (like fully out of touch with reality, Billionaire with money dating back to the 15th century Rich), SEVERLY TRAUMATIZED cis guy from the 70's would be a piece of shit as a child. Like, as Sirius got older he would grow to regret all the fucked up stuff he said an take the time to actually apologize and stuff but we never saw that because he was 21 when he was imprisoned. He never even left his frat boy era. And then I have seen others be mad because they made Dorcas white. This is a complaint I have only seen from white people and as a Black mauraders fan, it literally does not matter. Like- Dorcas meadows is a character mentioned less than five times in the entire series, with her race being nothing more than a token black person that J.K shoved in The Order to prove it wasn't all white and that the HP world has diversity. Her being made white changes nothing in the plot. People also say that wolfstar is toxic in it, like this isn't a fic about two deeply traumatized boys with no role models or healthy relationships or base their own off of, other than Effie and Fleamont which they don't meet until they are like 13. Like, of course they are going to be toxic and fucked up- their entire lives have been fucked up. The only valid critique I have seen is the fact that the G word is used to describe the wolf packs. Granted, I didn't know that was a slur until 2021 or so, it's still a fucked up term to use. But yeah, I feel like people often say it's a bad work, which is fine if you just don't vibe with it, but the reasoning for not liking it makes me pause a little because 'what?'.

Edit: Forgot to say this but people also hate the characterization of Mary because she is oversexualized, to which I say: so is Sirius. Like, they are both sooooo fucking slutty and sleep around a bunch, the fact that people only talk about Mary in this light can be attributed to one of two things. Either A: grasping at straws, or B: Putting the weight on Remus's narration. Him being inexperienced for alot of his time as hogwarts would allow for any kiss or hookup seem like the end of the world for in his eyes and by reading with the grain I can understand that- but even then don't slut shame the black women and not the Black. "but mary lost her virginity at 14"- people get their sexual urges right as they hit puberty. Teens are horny. In the 7th grade my middleschool took an all day trip that used to be over night until two students got caught fucking in a cabin. 13 year old 7th graders. I am not saying it is right to loose your virginity at such a young age but it isn't unheard of.

Edit 2: Last edit I swear, but I just saw some one's post saying they didn't like how remus having a learning disability was for shits and gigs or that he did drugs and joined a gang. Firstly, remus having a learning disability is a beautiful metaphor for his lycanthropy and class. He is studying along side his friends, completely confused and just playing along to not give anything away. It doubles onto how isolated Remus must have felt and his whole problem with opening up to others. Also, the fact that Remus had to push himself so hard academically just to get the same grades as his rich friends who coast by on their name and the fact that they have been learning latin and french from tutors since they could walk- I mean, it's just chef's kiss. And, do people not realize that people in the real world do drugs? That a lot of people struggle with addiction and are more prone to said struggle when they grow up in a shitty environment with out learning proper ways to cope with the traumatic events? Remus was in a gang because he was surrounded by people who were in a gang- people who understood him more than James or Sirius did.

Like, I know that I can't really say this because I am a legal adult ranting on tumblr, but all of the slander just makes me want to tell people to go outside. Make friends irl- not mutuals. Touch grass, hand out with people you age. Like yes atyd isn't perfect but it was very much accurate to how real people would have been in the 70's and I personally prefer that to the babygirl-ification of every male character in Harry Potter to the points where they are almost caricatures of themselves

#atyd #mauraders era #had to get this off my chest #wolfstar #rant post #this is very long #sorry #I am just very heated when people have bad media literacy #is it obvious that I'm an english major?

[acti-veg]

Hey, how do you deal with people who counter your arguments whether abt veganism or climate change with "there is scientific evidence for the opposite," as in they argue that for whatever you say there is evidence to prove otherwise... if I try to explain of course there are companies with vested interest who back those scientific initiatives, they argue the same is true for what I am saying

Evidence speaks for itself, and I don’t claim anything I don’t know I can prove. If my claim is demonstrably true and has a broad scientific consensus, nobody will be able to show me reliable evidence that disproves it.

Ask to see their sources, look at the studies, who funds them, what methods they used, search the study and see if there is already analysis and critique out there, as there often is. On tumblr especially, people post ‘sources’ that don’t even back up what they’re trying to claim. More often than not what they post states the complete opposite, it just had a misleading headline, so just reading the source is usually enough. More often than not they’ve just typed ‘why vegan bad’ into google and copied and pasted the first link.

Also, be open to being wrong. If the evidence really does contradict your opinions, you should change those opinions, there is no shame in being wrong. I have discarded claims I used to uphold because I either now have updated information, or can no longer sufficiently back it up. There are also many claims that I suspect are true, such as animal agriculture being the number one single cause of climate change, but I can’t prove it with a good enough degree of certainty so I just don’t say it, instead I say ‘one of the biggest causes’, which is certainly demonstrably true.

My more general advice would be to get practiced at reading scientific literature, assessing sources and crucially, at staying away from definitive claims if you can’t back it up. You’ll notice I say ‘we think’ or ‘research suggests’ more often than not, unless it’s something I know has a scientific consensus and is realistically not open to challenge.

Thats a good habit to get into, and so is just keeping up to date with current research as much as you’re able to. You don’t need to be reading every study, but most big ones get good coverage you can read about them from secondary sources just fine. Just know that no matter how iron-clad your claim, you’ll still have people throwing counter-sources at you, but it’s usually the same dozen or so debunked studies that you can learn to respond to quite easily.

#ask #vegan #anti-vegan arguments

[nolongerapileofashprobably]

So I feel like at this point im becoming kinda known for having a very enthusiastic, positive voice when it comes to Tears of the Kingdom. Because of that, I do want to delve into things I hope the DLC will touch on and points of the story that are indeed weaker and I wanted more of! And… then I’ll go into why I’m not completely upset about it.

First and foremost, the sages of old. While we have seen old sages for mere moments in the past, the reason I feel differently about totk’s sages is that we have a character actively interacting with them, aka Zelda.

The sages of old are faceless (which may be a result of opting to utilize headpieces and reusing avatars due to them focusing on the rest of the game) and all have the same cutscene. It was incredibly repetitive and boring by the fourth time we saw it. Zelda’s scene with them is similar as well, which is fine but having an added variety and flair would have been nice, especially as I’m going through the game again.

Overall, the critique is the lack of details in the past. I wanted more and I understand the direction they took, a balance between botw’s open world and a linear story game. It’s more in depth in Botw but not absolutely required like the rest of the Zelda games. That in general is a commonly shared negative critique.

For me, I actually thoroughly enjoy the open world, not entirely linear storyline. That is of course not the case with everyone, but that was the entire concept of botw and ultimately its sequel; they delivered games with entirely open world concepts and a story that is followed through the player’s choice rather than a requirement. And both are fantastic. Botw was light on the plot, totk was much heavier and does have a more distinctive storyline.

Love or hate, they did it well in ToTK. Not perfect, but pretty damn well. It ultimately comes at the sacrifice of story details, especially with characters like the old sages. It’s disappointing to say the least, but it is simply a product of how the games’ concept affected the story.

Another thing I am not entirely a fan of— Nintendo establishing a whacky timeline and then completely abandoning it. Of course, so many people can theorize and speculate but I feel like a lot of common criticism of the game would be helped with them officially stating where this game appears in the overall timeline. Especially if they say “botw and totk are the skyward sword of a new timeline, one so far into the future the remnants of old legends are rare to find”.

That’s how I’ve taken botw and totk. Rauru and Sonia are the first to establish a new Hyrule. They have no connection to Skyward Sword and the rest of the series, because they are so far along in time that tens of thousands of years have passed. The Zonai, the secret stones, and the Sky Islands are all pieces from a time and era we were JUST introduced to. I’m anticipating more knowledge, lore, and history to come to light in future games. I’m okay not having ALL the answers. Because I recognize that botw and totk are the start of a NEW era of Zelda games.

That angers some people, some dislike it, others are fine with it, and some even love it. I’m okay with it because I have enough faith that this will all be explored more in depth in future games. But it is a flaw in ToTK, one I understand, and it’s completely okay that it’s one I don’t necessarily like! Patience is key my loves.

Something I do not love at all is Nintendo’s firm standing on Link being the ‘link to the player’ rather than his own character. I find some of the best Zelda stories have a strong, expressive Link! In botw, I do get it! But in totk… I wanted more. Because then I remember Wind Waker and Skyward Sword, two of the absolute best stories in the Zelda franchise (in my opinion, twilight Princess is also up there) and I get a tad disappointed.

Totk is still open enough that there are people that DESPISE Zelda for ‘stealing’ Link’s house and are vehemently against the idea of Zelda and Link being together, when it is all but stated in the story and the details we got. I feel like half of the emotional appeal of totk’s story truly comes from Link’s wish to bring her back home to him, safe and smiling. It was his entire motivation in Botw, to see her smile again, so taking that perspective and really appreciating Zelda brings that strong emotional reaction totk’s story targeted.

So yeah. If I go on more, I’ll just be talking about how people have the right to dislike Zelda but if they do, then they won’t get the emotional connection to totk and its story the way players are intended to. And that is their right, but it’s not how Link canonically feels about Zelda so yeah. If we just got small expressions from Link, maybe some of that could be avoided.

Alas.

The depths— insanely cool the first time I dived down! But they’re repetitive in their own way, to the point that I have not gone back down once since completing the side quests (bargainer statues, Kohga, Mineru) and lightroots. Though whoever said “let’s make the lightroots connect to the shrines on the surface” I want to give you a forehead smooch bc you are a beautiful genius and I love you.

I think that getting to fight the final bosses for the temples and the Gleeoks are super fun, which makes up for the repetitive landscape. I’m not insanely bothered by this, but I do dislike that a third of my maps are completely ignored now that I’m done with it story wise.

A commonly shared opinion is the stupidity of having to run up to one of the Sage avatars to activate their power. I replayed botw and the sheer joy in getting to take out a Modulga by using Urbosa’s Fury only to remember that it takes much longer now made me very thankful. But yeah.

Tulin is Perfect. The rest? Nah. Give me a Sage button rather than a map in the wheel. Like geez, it shouldn’t be so difficult to call your avatars over. Even when I whistle, I’m chasing Sidon down and he’s useless so I banish him.

Overall, I wanted more DETAILS. But I understand the concept; I got enough to make me excited for when we get more. I can live with the flaws because I can celebrate all they did right! I love Zelda, I love the new sages, and I love the side quests that brings Link closer to characters like Hudson and Penn.

I adore the little communities, Link’s side adventures, and the new landscape changes. I love the sky islands, because they’re just really fun to create whacky Zonai flying contraptions to try and reach the ridiculously far ones. Yeah, they could of had more of an impact in the game but as someone who can and would travel the surface level of Hyrule 1000x and not get bored, I didn’t mind how little I spent in the sky once i did the lightroots and side quests pertaining to the sky.

Overall? The game is pretty damn amazing. The new lore, the characters, and the quests are all so fun. It’s a brilliant game with a phenomenal emotional storyline that had me actually distressed for DAYS. No other game has done that to me for as long as this game did.

So yeah it’s precious to me and I am a Totk enthusiast and a Zelda enthusiast and a Zelink enthusiast. I am a ✨supporter✨

#thank you all for coming to my Ted talk #lol seriously tho this game did it all for me #I truly truly loved how amazing the gameplay and story was in this game #it’s so so phenomenal to go to the ground for the first time and see how much Zelda and Link have impacted Hyrule #godddddd I love them so much 😭 #loz totk #loz totk sages #loz totk spoilers #loz tears of the kingdom spoilers #loz link #loz breath of the wild #loz totk link #totk zelink #zelink #botw zelink #loz totk zelda

[variousqueerthings]

hi, do you have any plans of doing a review system similar to the measurement when you get to the chibnall era of doctor who? I think you said that you didn’t watch it, but i could be wrong

SoooOOOOOoooo first of all hi friend!

second of all: back in the day of uh... whenever the first season of jodie came out, I did watch that season and enjoy it, it was a fun first season. I then promptly forgot everything that happens in it, because my brain works that way, and then (because my brain also does this) was like "well legally I can't watch the second season of jodie unless I rewatch the first season of jodie because I can't remember what happened in it, and I can't watch the first season of jodie, because I don't remember what happened in capaldi's seasons, and I can't watch capaldi's seasons because then I'd have to rewatch matt smith's seasons and if I watch those from beginning to end again I will lose all joy in my soul"

third of all: I no longer feel that way, I have grown as a person who deals with my brain being a silly-billy, so not only could I legally watch whatever I wanted to without the brain police nee-nawing, I also um... well I have a system of how to watch matt smith's seasons so that I find them enjoyable, so actually maybe on second thoughts I didn't quite outrun the whatever-the-heck-my-brain-does laws, so much as... rewrite them a little to work for me (crucially I did in fact... watch all of matt smith's seasons and capaldi's seasons to get back here, so hopefully I can implement a more holistic watch in future, where I just engage with the episodes I noted down with commentary and rankings that I enjoyed!)

fourth of all: I'm not sure if this rating system works for chibnall's era (I mean, maybe it does, I genuinely don't know, but my gut says no). the reason I wrote it in exactly the way that I did was mainly because of very specific noticeable recurring things I dislike in m*ffat's writing across several shows -- misogyny, making all of his main guys cruel because they're "intelligent" (which absolves them of the need to be not-cruel), those men being the most important thing in the universe of the story, "sexy" dialogue, amatonormativity, and overly complex plotlines that often spring up out of nowhere and go nowhere

fifth of all: so maybe what I'll do is just note down more simply what I'm getting out of (or potentially not getting out of) jodie's run. I obviously know the reputation of that era, I've seen a couple of oof moments, but there are definitely oof moments in rtd's and m*ffat's runs, so those alone aren't dealbreakers so much as "I see you"s

sixth of all: actually my main question with regards to chibnall's era is whether he understands that diversity is about more than casting. this in particular with regards to yas being a police officer, and how that may or may not create a difficulty in discussing the limitations and cruelties of systems, such as those propped up by... police officers. (this, by the way, speaking of rtd, so many people of colour and of course shirley anne who's a wheelchair user represented in UNIT, but that is a whole other tangent -- shirley I am manifesting a liz shaw type arc for you where you get to go "hold on, this whole thing is sus")

seventh of all: I think it's much harder, probably, to discuss chibnall's era with such a simplistic system, because from the outset it's a much more complex thing than what m*ffat was doing -- that is m*ffat's was still essentially casting a couple of white guys who were travelling with white women until s10 (which noticeably is... just a better season, in my opinion). this not to say I'm not critiquing it, but I wouldn't want to make a ranking system out of "how well does chibnall do diversity," I feel like that would be crass of me, because these stories opening up like this is already such a fascinating space to play in, vs me in m*ffat's era actually being able to track the almost complete absence of diversity in s5 (vampires in venice and hungry earth have my back) just... as a whole... to where we got to in s9 and s10, and using this measurement system to go "yeah this era got noticeably better on several fronts later on" -- I note btw on this point, that bill is waaay more proactive in her first three episodes that amy or clara usually got to be. her questions also aren't just essentially "and now what are you going to do doctor," they're more her trying to figure out how she's navigating her environments and then working with the tools she's getting

eighth of all (conclusion): probably not a review "system" but yeah, I'll still review for sure and maybe find a way to structure that, I want to be consciously interacting with the story, it's the best way for me to engage and actually remember it afterwards. I won't have the benefit of foresight with these seasons either -- that is, I won't know where certain things are going and how I feel about those trajectories (for example, although I don't remember s10 I do remember liking it!) + what I do know, I'll be filtering somewhat (with the flux for example) through the three specials we just got, so I'll know there's some form of through-line of emotional arc that perhaps wasn't felt as much when it was first being aired? all suppositions

ninth of all (epilogue): I am eager I tell you, eeaaager to see sacha dhawan in action!

tenth of all (nothing in particular): I remember s11 starts in sheffield, which is wonderful to me. since the time it aired I've just been in sheffield so many times, it feels so very familiar to me. wonderful to get out of london for a bit

#im watching nu!who #im watching whittaker who #well i will be! #doctor who #dw #asks #trustmy-rage #the measurement #i dunno if i'll call it the measurement either because it'll be something else wont it #honestly i really appreciate you chatting with me about this #not that i mind the void but it's always very very nice when someone else is in there with you youknow? #on that note appreciated all the little interactions ive had with people throughout this process/experiment #it's been very good for my particular brain-type

[madhogthymaster]

Down The Cabbit Hole: The Weird World of Klonoa Literature - An Archive (Part 1)

It was the Summer of 2022: the HD collection of Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil was released unto this world, and into my life. My reaction in seeing these videogames briefly in the forefront of (semi)popular culture was one of insurmountable elation. To bask into the vicarious feelings of people discovering The Fluffy Boy and his bittersweet adventures for the first time was an indescribable experience, almost as much as it was to re-immerse myself into it all. For a short time in human history, there was a proper, tangible Zeitgeist, a palpable excitement, surrounding one of my favourite things of all time, ever. Naturally, as a long time fan, an educated Klonoa scholar, I have provided several important contributions to the fandom... and I have bothered many Twitch streamers, in the process.

Exhibit A:

At this time, one of my biggest endeavours was the creation of a fan-page on the old deceased bird website, celebrating the existence of these games as well as the weird history of the series. That account's activity has all but gone the way of said avian critter but there is still a rich archive worth of material that I *needed* to conserve for posterity. I wouldn't want anyone on the Internet to be deprived of my immaculately composed memes, after all!

Here's a small selection, presented without context:

By far, the biggest body of work on that fan-page was my deep dive into the extremely lopsided plain of Klonoa comics, the mere presence of which left me scared and confused for reasons that shall become all too clear in a few moments. With the premise out of the way, I am going to share with you my various posts on the subject of Fluffy Boy Literature, mostly raw and unaltered, for your eye-balling pleasure. These salvaged tweets contain my thoughts, musings, honest reactions and critiques over the (surprisingly) multi-faceted girth of comics available to us, in one form or the other, as well as several panels to contextualize said reactions. Join me down the Cabbit hole, won't you?

We begin this journey with the Bandai Namco officially licensed webcomic, Klonoa: Dream Traveller of Noctis Sol.

---

18 July 2022

-

Perhaps against my better judgment, I have made the decision to read the ill-fated Klonoa webcomic series written between 2012 and 2014. It is an odd curio of officially published media that was released in an unconventional manner. Stay tuned as I report on my findings.

-

The publisher was a website called ShiftyLook which seemingly hosted a whole plethora of comics based off several Namco's franchises: titles such as Wonder Momo and, of course, this non-canonical Klonoa adventure.

-

It was drawn by Hitoshi Ariga, whose claim to fame comes from illustrating a respectable amount of Megaman manga and Pokémon trading cards, as well as volumes of The Big O adaptation. Jim Zub is credited as the writer which is a big deal - according to Wikipedia.

-

I am cautiously excited about reading this story even as I am fully aware of its untimely demise. More over, the fact it's been forcibly removed from whatever passes as The Canon means I won't have to be too pedantic about its interpretation of the *grander* Klonoa narrative.

-

Which is good because I inherently disagree with any and all attempts to expand on the inner-mechanics of "Dream Travelling" when the lack of an explanation leaves the door opened for much more interesting discourse and analysis. Not knowing is what makes Klonoa interesting.

-

I HATE THIS IMMEDIATELY!!!

-

Oh no, you didn't!

-

I can just picture the conversation in my head. "You have OTHER friends, Klonoa?" "No. I have BETTER friends, Huepow." Hey, if you have to completely ruin the endings of two of the best games ever made, you might as well GO THERE!

-

On the other hand, this is a primo villain design.

-

There was a rather jarring change in art style for this page. The new illustrator is Jeffrey "Chamba" Cruz, another prolific comic maker.

-

Ah, of course! Guntzland! Guntz's place! The place of Guntz! The place made specifically for Guntz! ... That Guntzland? I feel like I'm going insane.

-

Ariga has thankfully returned to illustrate this comic. His quality work is in the only highlight in this otherwise abysmal experience.

-

A black and white dream world is a rather cheeky way to justify saving money on colouring.

-

"I FOUND YOU, FAKER!"

-

You know, I had hoped, perhaps naively, that Klonoa could have spared me the evil doppelganger routine. This comic is a constant cavalcade of nonsense advancing at the speed of thought whilst ironically bereft of any.

-

The gang is all here. Waaaaaahoooooooo....

-

This is the last page. This is the note in which the comic ends. It's probably for the best, really.

-

Overall, this was a toothless, dull approximation of a *Big Crossover Event* the likes of which could not possibly appeal to anyone. It was too entrenched in the games' (unneeded) continuity to attract new fans and it was too much of a travesty to please old fans. It was just bad.

-

The choice to undercut the emotional, narrative and thematic impact from both Door to Phantomile and Lunatea's Veil for the sake of cheap fan-service makes this *OFFICIALLY LICENSED* material exceptionally vapid even by corporate standards. Read fanfiction, instead.

---

Appropriately enough, the next piece of literature under the proverbial lens would be an unofficial continuation to the cancelled webcomic. So, yes, I followed my own suggestion there.

However, as I find myself encumbered by arbitrary image limits on this blog, I will continue my archival sharing in the next instalment of this now multi-part series. Stay tuned, fellow Phantomilians, for the story is about to get much more interesting.

[PART 2]

#Youtube #klonoa #fluffy boy literature #klonoa: door to phantomile #fanfiction #klonoa: lunatea's Veil #namco bandai #dream crusaders #archive #Part 1 #twitter #nightmare klonoa #faker #betrayal #shenanigans

[howdoyousleep3]

I’m trying to get better at dealing with critiques and such on my writing. (I will admit, I’m a sensitive person and it can be difficult for me, so I try not to take it personally 😅). Anyways, I was wondering how you (or if you) gradually accepted criticism on your writing? Lol, I really hope it’s not just me who has trouble with that. And with that, how do you deal with people who genuinely don’t like your writing? Is there a process you go through to calm yourself down or do you just easily accept it and move on? You’re one of my favorite writers, so I just wanted to ask you this and see how you deal with it. Much love 💞

Hiiiiiiii, such a good question! Thank you for coming to me for advice and for your sweet sweet compliments. 🥺💖

The first thing I'll ask you is if you welcomed these criticisms or critiques. I only ask a select trusted few what they think about my work. I have a small group I let into my docs to help me edit and who I trust to read my unedited work. It's scary to be that vulnerable! If you didn't ask for open critiques or criticisms, then fuck them.

You are doing this for free, you are doing this because you want to. You aren't doing this for anyone else. Yes, it's lovely to have people involved in your work, giving you love and attention, but no one should willingly and openly give you critiques without your express permission.

Fuck anything that you didn't give permission to.

It's taken me literal years to build up my own self-confidence enough to completely disassociate with any hate I get. If they don't like my writing or me, they can block me (I am hella pro-block button lol) or just choose not to read. I'm not here to impress people; I'm here because I love writing and I want to get better at writing, always.

Because it's taken me years to get used to hate, I'm at the point where I roll my eyes and delete block delete delete block. I don't have time for it. Protect your peace at all costs. You have no one to impress, no one to think of, but yourself. You are Number One, baby.

Of course it used to bother me, hell yeah. How can it not? Remembering the things I mentioned above and learning that I don't have anything to prove to anyone, (deleting asks I get that are hateful or criticize my writing when I haven't asked for it), has helped me immensely.

It helps that I have those few I trust and respect to criticize my work. I tend to not feel upset when they do because of that. If I feel myself getting upset, I quickly tell them I'm not feeling it or that my mood has shifted and that, while they are free to edit and comment, I need to wait to talk about it. And usually I just need time. Time always helps me calm down. Nothing is of an immediate concern usually, so I just step away and come back.

These people are coming from a place of love and respect and I know that and that helps.

I hope this has helped! It's a process, dealing with critiques. But I encourage you to protect your peace and put yourself first. Fuck anyone who hates on you and your writing. ❤️

#askK #writing advice #remain unbothered as much as possible

[theartfulmegalodon]

Well dang it, I've had a nibble of engagement, and I'm finally letting it tempt me. Wanna read my comic scripts? I'm really hoping you do!

It is planned as a 30-issue comic series. I have chosen to write the entire thing and make it as good as I can before I attempt to draw any of the actual pages. Partly this is perfectionism, and partly it is because I know how long it would take me to attempt to draw it, and how unlikely I'd be to ever complete it. I wanted to focus on completing something, and I've chosen the writing.

I have written 15 (half!) of the 30 issues, and they have already seen many, many revisions. (Much thanks to the three people who have read them and given me feedback!) I am quite confident that these first 15 issues are very close to their final forms, and they are definitely good enough for me to share with you all.

I have also done a few sketches and bits of standalone art for the characters*, so while I have no comic pages drawn yet, I will occasionally include some of these sketches in with the script, just to give your optic nerves more of a workout. It's the least I can do! I'm thinking I can post one issue script per week? That's 15 weeks of new content for ya, with more to eventually follow!

*All designs subject to small changes down the line.

I post these issues mainly to share them. My experience has been that people almost never want to read a comic script, but sadly, the writing is as much as I can do right now, and I am in fact proud of what I've done so far, and very much looking forward to tackling the second half. However, I am always looking for feedback, and I will be WIDE OPEN for questions, critique and suggestions. Not saying I'll necessarily change things based on your feedback, but I do welcome it! Also, of course, I'd love it if you shared these around, talked them up to your friends, if you like them!

Read on for more about the story itself!

River & Ash is a slow-burn supernatural gay romance, set in an alternate version of our real world. The material is treated maturely (I like to think) but with only about a PG-13 rating. (No smut, no super-strong language.) There is angst in parts of it, but there is also a lot of wholesome shmoop. And while the focus is mostly on the evolution of the relationship between the two main characters, there is also plot, and mini-arcs, with minor superheroics, alternate history pop culture, and an original mythology and history that is teased and then slowly revealed over the course of the story. It also happens to have a very proactive, driven individual for a main character (River). I say this just in case, like me, you don't love when magic/the supernatural just sort of happens to the protagonist to kick off a story.

Ripped from the introductory page that begins every issue…

"Once, the world was full of magic… because humanity once shared the world with demons. History tells that for thousands of years they coexisted, sometimes happily, sometimes not, but one truth never changed: any human who made a deal with a demon would be granted incredible power of their own… for a price.

But in the Middle Ages, during the rise of the Catholic church, a small pocket of humanity attempted to purge these magical beings from existence. The details were lost to time, but what is known is that the demons who survived collectively renounced mankind and disappeared, removing themselves and their influence. 1101 became known as the year magic vanished from the world.

Centuries later, on the same day he suffers a horrifying loss, River McAllister is given what appears to be a real demon book. These rare, indestructible relics have been mostly hoarded away, and there hasn't been a confirmed demon sighting in over a thousand years. It seems impossible. He knows it probably won't work. But if he can find a way to translate it, he might just be able to summon the demon that belongs to it… and maybe make a deal of his own."

The first will be posted forthwith. Thank you in advance so very much!

#River&Ash #comic writing #comic scripts #really hoping to find even a smidgen of an audience here #Godlings? never heard of it

[vanillacorpse]

I would Love to hear your detailed boiling critique of that shitty werewolf book >.> if you would be so kind as to share

My god where do I begin. "Bored Gay Werewolf", I thought picking this thing out of the shelf and giving the first page a skim. "interesting!". It didn't have the world's most impressive prose but something about the first page got me interested. Not every good book starts off strong. A lousy gay guy who is also a werewolf, that lives in his own filth. He's a mess. It's honestly not a bad premise!! Much has been made of less!

But then the rest of the book... it honestly felt like the entirety of it was written to undermine and enshitten the characters in it. FINE not every character has to be likable. But when NO character whatsoever manages to inspire any sympathy in me I have to wonder why the author would even write a book. I can make a guess what the purpose of this book was, and it wasn't to tell a story-- it was to entertain the UNBEARABLE social critique that the author very bravely, very embarrassingly, tries to present to the reader. It fails. It sucks. It's complete total ass on every front. It's like reading the diary of a twitter gay who isn't even That terminally online. It's the lowest hanging fruit, every page, every joke, every God forsaken Take.

The prose is ass too. It gave up immediately, second page. Just pages of pages of telling. There's nothing interesting that actually happens, you see; the author doesn't have the skills necessary to describe them. There is a VERY COOL, VERY MOVING performance from one of the characters, but of course he can't actually depict it! That would require skill! An understanding of poetry! Instead we have to trust everything the author tells us happens. "There's a heartwarming performance"-- are you a teenage journalist? Why on earth am I reading this? Is this the first fucking draft? Holy fuck.

Our main character, Brian, is a gay werewolf who hangs out with other cool queer people. They're kind of his friends (they're also his coworkers, and one of them is his boss!) but he doesn't really want to open up to them. He's lonely, and, for reasons which aren't interesting at all, he just isn't that comfortable with being intimate. That's his main "issue", the only semblance of friction in his otherwise boring boring boring gay werewolf life. Also he kills people at night but we never see that? and he doesn't feel guilty? and there's no consequences for it ever? Whatever. He has these work friends and together they sometimes make bad jokes together. That's their tear-jerkingly fond dynamic.

Then he meets another werewolf called Tyler who is a trust fund baby that wants to start some alpha-male style multiple-marketing crypto scheme or something of that sort (not actually ever defined). Our boring guy Brian thinks: fuck it. This sounds lame and like a scam and kind of hypermasculine in the toxic way (he's aware of all of these concepts, all of these "progressive" ideas, the entire book) BUT Tyler promises to show him how to control his werewolf form so he doesn't kill people every full moon so WHY NOT.

That's what happens in the first.... I don't know. 3 chapters? Of this book. The rest of the book can be summarized as such:

Brian continues to hang out with his toxic new cryptobro Tyler, and Tyler's other cis-het-normie friends. He HATES it the entire time but, somehow, some fucking how, it's not enough (despite constant internal dialogue calling it all lame and offensive!) to simply walk away from these people. They have no redeeming qualities. The author doesn't even try to give them redeeeming qualities. They are stock photo characters. Brian's internal dialogue refers to them as such. Tyler is a cartoon villain. There is never a single suspicion in the reader that he's anything but.

In refusing to walk away from these people, also, he estranges his cool queer work buddies who thinks he's insane for hanging with them. YOU WOULD THINK THAT, as a reader, you would feel sympathetic to his work buddies simply on the grounds that yeah, Brian is insane. At least another character recognizes it. But the author writes all of them in such a way that even THIS becomes unbearable to read: they're SO RIGHT that there is simply no argument. Brian is being stupid! He's acting weird! He needs to apologize for acting weird! It felt like going down another dumbass thread: "how to properly apologize" and the author just copy pasted that right in the book. Bam.

And that's also how the book ends. He apologizes to his friends for... almost becoming a hypermasculine cryptobro. He just says he's not going to hang out with those weirdos anymore. He "comes out" as a werewolf but apparently his work buddies already knew (????????) (because taking days off every full moon was suspicious enough to confirm it???????) (AT NO POINT IS IT IMPLIED THAT WEREWOLVES ARE A COMMON THING) and whatever. WHATEVER. Oh my god. Anyway. They accept him. It's perfect now.

His cryptobro doesn't like this, basically tries to have Brian killed. Of course it doesn't work, we knew this supervillain had to be disposed off somehow, but the reason Brian is able to kill him is because............................ because............................ secretly, one of Brian's work buddies' new weirdo boyfriends has been a werewolf hunter this entire time. His last name. is Van Helsing. He is a descendant. Of Van Helsing. And he helps kill Tyler. His cryptoscheme empire comes to a definite silver-bullet end. The fucking End.

PLEASE CLAP.

TL;DR:

#this is so long. and yet. not long enough. #i actually have more to say than this but i'll be gentle to myself. i need to go to bed. LMFAO. #but also there's so many points in this book where no character acts human at all. genuinely terrifying characterization. nobody cares abou #murder. people die and it's like whatever. if you have an allergic reaction to flowers you should go to hell #it's crazy. it's crazy. i genuinely feel like i was being pranked in the second half of the book i couldn't believe my fucking eyes. #like where did this book go. why did it do this. i swear to god it was fine in the beginning. HOW did it get so shit. and SO FAST? #WHATEVER

[queerprayers]

hi! just wondering if you had any thoughts about complementarianism/egalitarianism/etc?

This is such a interesting topic, beloved! First of all, I firmly support trans people, both binary and non-binary, and am on a bit of a gender journey myself. This obviously adds a dynamic to the topic, because generally these beliefs only discuss straight cis people. Some of my critiques here assume a gender binary not because that's how humans really are, but because that is what these beliefs assume and how many communities function, so when I refer to men and women here, just know that!

Some definitions:

Complementarianism: The belief that men and women are of equal value, but have different roles in life/the family/the church. Example: men have leadership roles, and women have just as important, although separate, nurturing/support roles.

Egalitarianism: Men and women are equal and have equal capacity for any role in life/the family/the church.

If you couldn't guess, I'm obviously gonna have to side with the latter here— it's almost impossible to be queer and believe the former, although I have heard people say that the concept of having a leader and a follower in a relationship should translate to all relationships. [Deleted BDSM joke here.]

It's worth noting that while on paper/when asked, proponents of complementarianism will reiterate that men and women have equal value and their roles are both important, many (if not most) of them don't really believe that, consciously or unconsciously. And even if they do, there's a certain amount of control you have to exercise over people when you're dictating community roles, which obviously results in people (usually women) being groomed or forced into certain positions. No matter what you say you believe, an ideology that depends on force does not believe people are of equal value—it's either just plain misogynist, and/or only values people who happily and quietly perform their dictated roles.

I can completely empathize with people who are happy in more complementarian relationships/communities—the problem is that many people do not find happiness/fulfillment in those lives. There are many women, for instance, who adore having and caring for children, taking care of their homes, and letting their husbands make the big decisions. If they are choosing that life for themselves and find happiness in it, I am overjoyed for them! But obviously, many women do not wish this for themselves and being forced into any community role can have devastating consequences. It's also worth bringing up that being groomed from childhood into believing you have only one life option and choosing anything else will bring exclusion/suffering/Hell/etc. is definitively not the same as choosing it, and any happiness/relief that may come from thinking you're saved and being welcomed in your community is not the same as being able to freely choose a fulfilling life.

Discussions about this often (rightly) focus on women's experiences and oppression, but I think it is worth mentioning that forcing men to be sole decision-makers, discouraging them from being open emotionally and on equal standing with their spouse, and preventing them from having full participation in their children's lives is genuinely harmful. It's a completely different form of harm of course, but it is important that while a system that harms even a few people is worth questioning/deconstructing, these systems harm everyone in them, and prevent everyone from fully living in love and fulfillment. We should not stand with the oppressed because the oppressors are also harmed under a system they created, but we should know that that is often true, and that liberation for minorities liberates all.

In terms of gender: There is a huge difference between valuing the gender God has given you and believing that it gives you a unique role to play vs. believing you have a specific duty depending on your gender and failure to fill that role becomes a failure as a person.

Example: Thanking God for your ability to bear children and believing They gave you that ability for a reason vs. believing because you have the capacity, you have the duty to become pregnant. Just because if you worked hard, risked a lot, and pushed your body, you could become a champion swimmer, does not mean God created you to be a champion swimmer. Same with having children.

I absolutely think that God gave us diverse bodies and identities as a gift, and I believe using our bodies and identities to find our role in our community is normal and beautiful. What our bodies can do and how we identify frame our life! The problem becomes when we dictate others' lives based on what we believe they should be doing with their bodies and identities, and when we raise people to believe they only have one option.

<3 Johanna

#asks