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lai-mar · 15 days

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I think. For me L+M is another example of a male+female pairing that seems a little too straightforward to ship in canon and hence some fans view it as “boring” and “low hanging fruit”, and as a result the ship is less popular despite having canon crumbs that you can interpret in a shippy way. So the ship being low hanging fruit turns around? In canon they have a strong friendship and lots of moments, and that’s what I like them as, friends (and they are canonically friends). Shipping these “straightforward straight pairings” can be a bit squicky (because I tend to think they are more interesting nonromantically) but it turns out in the end I will blatantly blaze through my squicks because I am desperate for content. And also because shippers actually care about them and their bond.

However, for these pairings people SOMEHOW usually impose a familial interpretation (siblings, in-laws) even though they are not related in canon either by blood or marriage. It’s more acceptable in DM because F/M certainly gets a lot of crumbs but it also kinda makes me salty to see people reduce L+M to being in laws only, like their only connection is through Falin, and that is just plain wrong. I have seen so many male+female pairings that get stuck in the fanon “sibling-coded” area and it’s like… guys it’s okay to not like them as a ship and not make them siblings. Guys. Not every kind of love has to be romantic or familial. I think sibling coding is fun and all that but sometimes it does feel like a “gotcha! I totally do not ship them because they’re like SIBLINGS to me and if you ship them you’re WEIRD”.

L+M would still be funny if it’s the fanon “lesbian elf teams up with her gf’s autistic brother and they squabble but work together to save the day” but canon L+M just drives me crazy because they obviously develop a bond outside of the other people they love, and they’ve basically known each other for two years only which is short even for a tallman lifespan, let alone Marcille’s. Actually I think what really gets me about L+M is that every time they get a moment that can be interpreted as shippy (eg. succubus, M wearing the dress in the Golden Country, even M knitting in the room with L in the Kensuke extra just like her mom used to do with her dad), there might be a few blushes and nervousness, but they quickly return to the status quo of being comfortable and physically affectionate with each other. Which you can interpret them as not seeing each other romantically, in deep denial, or they’re just so comfortable with each other that they don’t need to define their relationship, they just are.

Tbh the widespread DM fanon did mislead me a bunch, I thought we would get obvious F/M shipping or even confirmation after the bath scene but nope. I thought L+M would kinda stay the way they were pre Ep 11 and have a fun back and forth bit noooo they had to go and save each other and learn about each other’s deepest desires. I was shocked that they weren’t being discussed on such a widespread level considering how much screentime and importance they both get. Saw someone say “the romance between F/M is the catalyst and main plot driver” and I want to bang my head against the wall. DM has ship crumbs for a ton of ships but nothing has ever been confirmed canon and I’m happier because of it and it’s fun to explore.

I would say L+M needs better PR but honestly just read the manga, it does all the PR lmao. I can forgive anime onlies but if you read the manga you surely cannot ignore the elephant in the room.

#mine #lmao when i finished dunmeshi i wrote a post somewhere else abt how i accidentally got into l+m #and a mutual was like. [staring at my fav dynamic from a diff fandom] oh of course you latched into l+m #save me a man and a woman being friends. save me #long post

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girlashfur · 20 days

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Transmisogyny In The Warriors Fandom : The Mothpool Issue

hi, my name is muyang / @girlashfur and i'm a transfeminine being who enjoys the fictional series of warrior cats. i've been into this book series for as long as i can remember, ever since i was a little kid. and growing up with this fandom, i've noticed a reocurring issue among it, which i aim to do a break-down of now.

the issue is transmisogyny. for those who are unaware : transmisogyny is the unique combination and overlap of misogyny and transphobia, specifically targeting transfeminine individuals. it's a widespread issue in just about every corner of the world, even spaces for transgender and otherwise queer individuals seem to have a problem with being transmisogynistic, intentionally or not. the warriors fandom is not exempt from this; and they're not special, either, i'm yet to encounter a popular fictional fanbase that doesn't have several transmisogynists among it's members. but the warriors fandom seems to have a peculiar way of going about it.

to start, i want to clarify that there seems to be...a surprising lack of transfem warriors fans to begin with; i can name about three off the top of my head, not counting myself, compared to hundreds of cisgender, transmasc, or otherwise tme (transmisogyny exempt) fans. perhaps we're just underrepresented, i'm sure there's more of us out there, but nonetheless i'd like to make it clear i'm writing this mainly based off of what i personally have experienced and witnessed in this fandom. my word may not speak for every transfem person, and that's okay.

transmisogyny isn't always violent and obvious; it's not always slurs and misgendering and harrassment, although don't get me wrong, plenty of transmisogynists do engage in such a way. but it can also be a subtle practice, something most tme people would not pick up on. like all systems of oppression, it can also be a learned behavior, one somebody witnesses happen (typically unpunished) and assumes is okay to recreate. one of the ways this can happen is through the objectification and sexualization of transfeminity. stereotypes are a common form of this. oftentimes, transfeminine characters are portrayed as violent and agressive, masculine and gruff, or as suave and predatory womanizers, sometimes a mixture of all three.

the warriors fandom does this often. there are several characters that are commonly headcanoned as transfem by the fandom, and most are victim to being portrayed this way. a few i can think of off the top of my head are cats like russetfur, crowfeather, mapleshade, darktail, tree, and yes...mothwing. mothwing is a bit of a special case, because i believe most people only headcanon her as transfeminine so they can ship her with leafpool (the ship commonly named mothpool) and imagine the two with biological kittens, in some aus, even as the three's parents.

this is a form of objectification already, although one might not catch onto it immediately. mothwing's transness is turned into a token, a special card to be exchanged to fit the fandom's idolized version of the ship. one could argue it could be interpreted as sexualization as well; while the warriors fandom tends to stray away from outright sexual portrayals of the cats (for good and obvious reasons), mothwing being transfem is still only done for the purpose of making her a cat with a penis, so she can have kits.

mothwing isn't canonically a particularly violent or angry cat, nor does she seem to be particularly romantic (she actually doesn't have a canon mate at all, being a medicine cat). however, in fandom based portrayals of her, she's often twisted to fit these stereotypes. sometimes she's designed to be large and masculine with the excuse of it being because she's a tigerkin, or sometimes she's portrayed as being very proud and open about her love of leafpool (who is often portrayed as shy and defenseless, practically hiding behind her). i've seen several aus with transfem mothwing in them "conveniently" include things like her formerly training as a warrior, or killing another cat (such as crowfeather) "for leafpool", or even portraying her as evil, typically falling to the manipulation of her father.

mothpool as a ship isn't really the issue here. it's the fandom's doing. the two have quite a few canon interactions that could be portrayed as romantic, and sure, it's really not my buisness what people ship as long as it's legal and all...but when you get exposed to so much hidden transmisogyny tied to one ship, as a victim of transmisogyny, you grow kinda wary of the ship as a whole. the few transfeminine people i've spoken to about this issue seemed to share my feelings as well. the moment i see a mothpool shipper mention making mothwing trans, i get shivers.

another point i'd like to make clear is that it's not every mothpool shipper doing this either, even out of the ones who do make her trans, i've met a few who portrayed it well and seemed very open and concerned about my views on transfem mothwing as a transfem person. i'm also certainly not saying you should go harrass people for shipping what they want, that's not my point nor is it helpful. as i've mentioned before, there's a good chance some of the people portraying mothpool in harmful ways like this don't fully realize what they're doing, and think it's okay because it's something they've seen before. i don't want those people to think they're bad for falling into those false beliefs, as long as they change them when they realize how they're offensive.

what i'm aiming to do here is give my two cents on why i generally dislike the ship as a transfeminine being myself, and to also spread awareness to why i feel that way. if i can make some people out there rethink some transmisogynist views they had perpetuated before, then my work is done well. as i'm finishing off this little essay of mine, i hope my message was explained clearly and gently, as it should be. see you guys in the next post, muyang out.

#ashie rambles #warrior cats #warriors #waca #long post #transmisogyny #ok to rb #mothpool #<- i feel scared adding that tag but yall need to see it #anyways!! i'm hesitent to post this but idk i'm feeling impulsive i'll do it...hope yall can behave yourselves #if this gets enough traction i might disable replies just for safety

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lunarsights · 3 months

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𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢'𝐬 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚: 𝐀𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞

since this entire "situation" has occurred i've been curious about nicki's chart and made some observations about pluto aquarius and all the karma she's been building up will be affecting her career and legacy in the long run. i got tired of just having the ideas in my head, so i thought why not make a post?

i could also do a reading on this if people want, but i didn't do one just because the astrological part of this will already be so long. i examine a few planets and objects in nicki's chart and in four people who she has "beef" with, and my observations are as follows...

𝐀𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐔𝐒 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆

being an aquarius rising means nicki is seen as very innovative and original. i wouldn’t be surprised if people from her childhood said things like, “it was always expected she would be famous for something. she always stood out”. she might have even been a trendsetter in the areas she frequented, and that idea of being someone who brings something new to certain areas can also be seen in her career. her ascendant is at a taurus degree, so she could also be seen as someone who has money and material things that no one else can get their hands on. her rising is making positive aspects to her sun and fortuna, so this amplifies her uniqueness in her overall personality and also explains her virality when it comes to her fame.

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𝟏𝟎𝐇 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐏𝐈𝐎

nicki has her saturn, asteroid fan, medium coeli (MC), and jupiter in scorpio in her tenth house. she has other planets and asteroids too, but they aren’t important for what i’m looking at. her saturn is at 0° which means it is the pure embodiment and energy of the sign it is in. saturn is the most important planet in this astrological interpretation because it deals with responsibility, structure, and karma. with that, scorpio saturn is actually a very powerful, intense placement. it gives the energy of forcing its natives to deal with their responsibilities head on or else they can expect extreme, emotionally painful transformations and repercussions. as for karma, it ensures those who cross them can expect swift and mysterious consequences that have long lasting impact, but these types of consequences can also turn around on the native if they don’t learn from their mistakes or do wrong to others. with her saturn in the tenth house, when nicki does wrong to others it directly impacts her public reputation and career.

her asteroid fan is at 19° which is a libra degree. this explains the obsessiveness of her fan base because of the scorpio elements. barbz are overly protective of her and could feel an unexplainable connection to her and her achievements. in a sense, they could see what she succeeds in doing as representative of them; they could have thoughts like “those are our accomplishments too; we helped her get those”. these ideas are not in a “she owes us” way though; barbz could see themselves as extensions of nicki in a way. this asteroid is conjunct nicki’s MC, so it also explains why a large part of her image and public perception is tied to her fandom.

nicki’s MC is at 22° which is the “kill or be killed” degree which is associated with capricorn. i always talk about how this degree can entail great success and attention for someone, but it can also be their greatest downfall if they aren’t careful. i always think of this degree indicating a possible fall from grace which seems to be the energy nicki is in right now. the 22° will always bring about destruction in some way. when nicki was first starting out her reputation involved destroying the older state of the female rap game and creating something new that was more popularized with the general public; now, her reputation is being destroyed because of the reckless ways in which she’s been acting. with her MC conjunct fan, her own fans can also bring about her destruction because of their feverishness.

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𝟏𝟏𝐇 𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐔𝐒

nicki’s uranus is in her eleventh house in sagittarius at 5°. i found this interesting because 5° is usually considered to be a short-term fame indicator in comparison to other leo degrees like the 17° or the 29°. nicki’s career has existed for ten long years - especially when taking into account how fast paced the music industry is alone (let alone if you’re a woman in the industry). her time of fame seems to go against this idea of short term fame, but i’d argue it indicates her legacy not being long term which i feel we can already kind of see. nicki was a majorly respected figure for a very long time before the prospect of a viable new female rapper came into play via cardi b. when that happened, the switch from people being fans of nicki to fans of cardi or even haters of nicki became very clear. not only is there a generation of people who do not know the strength of nicki at the highest point of her career, but she is creating a divisive public image which puts her legacy at stake with even those that grew up with her. overall, i feel this makes her public reach in the long run volatile and unsustainable.

nicki also has asteroid icarus in this house and sign at 11°. asteroid icarus is another indicator of where someone can cause their own downfall if they aren’t careful. with this, nicki could cause her own future to crumble because of the eleventh house influence. she could lose influence over a generation of people and/or over her own friend and work group. the eleventh degree is directly connected to massive wealth, so that could be an indicator her downfall could come with a lot of financial restraint; going from having tons of money to struggling to maintain a lifestyle one has gotten used to.

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𝟐𝟖° 𝟏𝟐𝐇 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐒

i originally wasn’t going to talk about this placement because i didn’t think it was all that important to what i was going to look at, but by the end you’ll be able to see how it is. mars represents one’s drive, desire, and strength. with a capricorn mars, nicki is very headstrong and structured in her drive and strength. she could be the type of person to plan her actions and goals. she could be very hardworking and undeterred by outside noise. she could be driven by the idea of tradition and her work ethic could be heavily reliant on her emotions and her emotional state - this is even more so true with this placement being the twelfth house.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐒

𝑳𝒊𝒍 𝑲𝒊𝒎

𝟗° 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍

lil’ kim’s birth time is unconfirmed, but according to astrotheme, her saturn is at 9° in cancer. this means kim’s cancer works undercover and makes not only kim but also those who cross her end up doing some introspection on themselves and makes them reconcile with how they see themselves as a person. those who cross kim could also end up having a fragile emotional state, and their home life could be tumultuous afterwards. additionally, this saturn can be deceiving; one could think they’ve gotten over the worst of their karma, but saturn will come back and be like “actually, i was just planning more on the down low. I decide when i’m done”.

lil’ kim’s saturn is in nicki’s sixth house, so it would directly impact her work habits, health, and ideas of self-improvement. so, nicki crossing kim could result in nicki eventually thinking long and hard about who she is as a person and what she’s done to people as her life has gone on. i would even venture to say at its worst it could present nicki with inexplicable health issues that take a while to discover. this placement could also result in nicki having unstable emotional health and regulation; it could also indicate making nicki’s home life tumultuous enough that it becomes incompatible with her work habits.

𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒚 𝑴𝒂

𝟐𝟎° 𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐆𝐎 𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍

remy ma’s birth time is also unconfirmed, but astrotheme says she has a 20° virgo saturn. virgo saturn could impact one’s habits, the way they spend and get money, and the help they receive. so, if saturn were to teach remy ma lessons when she needs them, she could want to be more controlling over her work and life situation than she would otherwise usually be. she could end up working or spending too much, and could find that she’s burned a lot of bridges which makes it harder for her to rely on others for necessary help. the 20° also indicates jealousy, so those who are jealous of her could get the upper hand if karma was to come her way.

remy ma’s saturn is in nicki’s eighth house and conjuncts her vertex, so all the karma that a virgo saturn carries could be enacted onto nicki because of her beef with remy ma. the eighth house deals with finances, and merging assets (so like what one could receive as an inheritance or what one could gain from their spouse). this makes me think the karma nicki receives from remy ma’s saturn could be directly tied to her financial status. she could find herself jealous of others’ resources; she might even be spending beyond her means. she could be working very hard for very little return. additionally, this karma would impact how much help nicki gets from other people in the industry. by now, it’s very obvious she does not seem to have the hold on people she used to have, so we can see these consequences manifesting very easily now, but the eighth house does move sneakily, so this could’ve been a long time coming and more could be uncovered on her financial state and on how many bridges exactly she’s burned and how.

𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊 𝑩

𝟏𝟏𝐇 𝟏𝟏° 𝐀𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐔𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍

cardi b appears to have an aquarius saturn at 11° in the eleventh degree. if cardi were to cross someone, she could struggle with her community and those around her. she could lose her status in her friend group, and with the 11° she could lose money as a result of her friend group.

this placement is in nicki’s first house which started my initial observation when i looked into this situation. cardi b is the only person from the four people i’ve chosen to look at whose saturn is in one of nicki’s public houses which explains why nicki’s public image was most affected when she disrespected cardi. nicki did in fact struggle with the community at large when she crossed cardi; the public perception of her faltered, and people felt she was not friendly with new women artists because she was scared they would overtake her unique lane in the industry. i wouldn't be surprised if nicki lost out on a lot of money as a result of the whole fiasco with cardi.

𝑴𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏

𝟏𝟏𝐇 𝟏𝟐° 𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍

megan thee stallion has her pisces saturn at 12° in her eleventh house. megan’s karma could have long-lasting effects on her - in general and spiritually. she could feel disconnected from her friend group and focus more on introspection and her own spirituality. her saturn could lead her to be more daydreamy and ignore certain warning signs about others that she might’ve otherwise paid attention to. the karma she encounters could lead to some kind of spiritual rebirth or insight once she’s learned her lessons.

this placement is in nicki’s second house which means with nicki crossing megan, her money will be directly affected. i feel this is another indicator of nicki having money problems as a result of all the people she’s crossed and been disrespectful to. megan’s saturn has double piscean energy because of the degree it’s at - this magnifies the intensity of the karma nicki will receive. like i said earlier, three out of four people’s charts i looked at indicated their saturn working undercover, but i would say megan’s saturn will be most impactful because of the sign and degree. it will also cause a lot of people on the outside to be confused about why all the karma is coming so suddenly and why it sticks as opposed to the way other people’s saturn does. megan’s saturn will be most personally destructive to nicki out of the people i’ve looked at in my opinion.

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𝟏𝟐° 𝟖𝐇 𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐔𝐒 𝐉𝐔𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑

megan’s sagittarius jupiter is in her eighth house at 12°. megan could be someone who is very open when it comes to understanding and bonding with other people. this could also entail her luck being out of this world and working in mysterious ways or as a result of having some sort of strong spiritual team behind her. she could have luck when it comes to whom she marries and decides to merge finances with if she decides to do that. it could also entail her being very lucky spiritually.

this placement is in nicki’s eleventh house, and it conjuncts her icarus and sun. with this conjunction, nicki’s downfall (that’s caused by herself) could benefit megan a lot. this gives, the “bitch, i still win” energy megan talks about a lot. it could also reflect back on nicki in that any time megan is gaining a ton, people’s attention to nicki could fade. this loss of attention and resources/luck could cause nicki to get frustrated since the light of her sun is being overtaken by the expansiveness of megan’s jupiter.

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𝟐𝟗° 𝟗𝐇 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐌𝐂

megan’s capricorn MC is in her ninth house at 29°. capricorn MC at a fame degree makes me think fame was always in the cards for megan. the 29° is also a long-term fame degree in comparison to the 5° nicki has with her uranus. The 29° also indicates clairvoyance which makes sense when looking at megan’s come up. if i remember correctly, megan really spoke her fame into existence and other people could tell she was going to blow up when she was in high school. this could also be an indicator megan always knows where she’ll be going in her career; she’ll always have a plan of success or a way to be sure she’s set for the rest of her life.

this placement is conjunct nicki’s mars in her twelfth house, so megan’s fame and public reputation could impact nicki’s drive and ambition. when both megan and nicki are focused on their craft, they gain success, but nicki seeing megan gain so much success over her could impact her work habits and routine (along with all the karma she’s building up from others over the years). this could create a situation like megan says where “every time i get mentioned, one of y’all bitch-ass niggas get twenty-four hours of attention”; nicki could get so caught up in seeing megan rise that her work falls to the wayside in terms of its structure which can be seen as she’s been yappin’ for like three days now just to release a “response diss” that isn’t very good.

𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

in short, nicki has built up a lot of karma over the years, and the reason why it's worse is because most of the karma built up is hidden or works behind the scenes until it decides it wants to go public. even then, a lot of the saturn energy is powerful and intense which will cause her to go through many transformations.

the karma she's been building up has been and will continue to affect her public image, but it especially affects her finances in ways that won't be understood by the public until late.

if you needed a reminder that what's done to you will always come back to haunt to you can look to nicki's rise and fall to serve as a warning.

#astroblr #celebrity astrology #nicki minaj #nicki minaj astrology #megan thee stallion #megan thee stallion astrology #remy ma #remy ma astrology #cardi b #cardi b astrology #lil kim #lil kim astrology #astrology #lunarsights #SoundCloud #Spotify

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esther-dot · 6 months

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Yeah I think part of the reason why the fandom is so vehemently against Jonsa is because most of the Jonsa shippers (the one who makes predictions, theorizing, analysis, etc) also support other unpopular theories such as Dark D*ny and that T*rion and the Starks will be enemies and other things that goes against the popular theories and reading kf the series.

I don't really have a solid opinion on how the story might go (besides that D*ny will never get the IT) but I think this all really shows that Jonsas in general just have a much different way of reading the series and understanding the themes and lessons GRRM put in the story than the rest of the fandom. They're the ones who GET what GRRM meant when he said he's a 'realistic romantic'. And they take GRRM's writing of punishing violence seriously and understand which characters will be the heroes in the end (hint: its not T*rion or the person who BURNED ALIVE A SLAVE IN THE FIRST BOOK)

This is why, regardless of how the story will end, I'll always support the Jonsa part of the fandom's theories, because they offer such a fresh and interesting look and insight into ASOIAF that you're not gonna get in the mainstream part of the fandom

(about this ask)

hint: its not T*rion or the person who BURNED ALIVE A SLAVE IN THE FIRST BOOK

Dany burning a rape survivor, a woman she took as a slave, alive, in calm, deliberate fashion really is a horrific scene. It says something awful about the fandom that if you conclude that’s saying something bad about Dany, you’re an outcast. I also think Dark Dany is much more obvious than King Bran which has been confirmed to be from Martin? So I truly do not understand the outrage at this point. I definitely think that's why many people hate Jonsas, but like, we didn't write that scene, we didn't make Dany use forced labor or make money from slavery, we didn't write her allowing the slaughter of teens, we didn't make her decide to conquer a continent. We're just saying it means something that Martin did!

From what I’ve seen, Tyrion was a huge favorite for book fans, Dany was far and away the most popular show character, Arya was popular with fans of both, so Sansa was just, kinda screwed by being at odds with them and for as long as I’ve been active, it’s an uphill battle for people to try to present a different reading on her. People wanted to vilify her to defend their fav and that means taking the worst perception of her rather than considering what is actually being said in her story, and Jonsas very much do take a totally different perspective on her. I find most, not all, but much of the hate comes from people who dislike her.

I'm with you though, despite what it means to be open about unpopular interpretations and theories, I prefer the Jonsa way of reading the story, our spec and fandom. I never would have gotten involved in fandom at all if it weren’t for Jonsas and their interpretations!

#dot chat

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chrysopoeias · 11 months

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controversial and way too long rambling about otp and fan interpretations

I cannot stand this pathological need to insist that with the royais, it is actually all along secretly Hawkeye who is the real mommy boss in the relationship, while Mustang is a barely functioning man-child that needs her instructions just to breathe. This insistence that Hawkeye must be the meaner, nastier, cooler, more badass person I see way too often. That she must be the one that is always smarter and better at everything. And above all, she must be tired and rolling her eyes out of her skull constantly for dealing with Mustang's bullshit and the whole relationship in general.

Why can’t Hawkeye just be lame and have her issues too? Why must she be the mean alpha boss bitch? If anyone should be the mean alpha boss it’s more likely Roy ‘I punch children to get my point across’ Mustang, honestly.

And where is the love and romance in this idea, portraying one character as always annoyed and tired by the other? Portraying it as Mustang being the child that Hawkeye needs to mother, or he might end up sticking his tongue in a wall outlet down a public toilet. If I read about it one more time I will commit sudoku in minecraft.

It feels like disrespect for Mustang’s character too. The joke/gag about him being useless in certain situations only works because he has a hero complex. He is obsessed with being useful, on never giving up, especially on others. Not being able to help others highlights that and hurts him fundementally. It is not that he IS actually useless.

Hawkeye is just not the one in charge and leading the relationship and their goals. She is the one that follows, famously. It’s a repeated point that she is the more overtly insane and dependent one. Roy’s end goal is what keeps her going. She will explicitly not move on and take charge of their plan herself if she comes into that situation, she will simply give up and kill herself.

The need to see her be the one that is just better, stronger and smarter and doing everything in the dynamic all the time (while doing it perfectly ofc) annoys me. I have no idea where this comes from, besides popular bad American cartoons and movies often using the ‘clueless man x fundementally better woman’. Or it is #feminist ideas that the female character must be perfect and in charge otherwise it's too stereotypical and problematic.

I know fandom spaces are mostly made up of women, so it’s extra silly to me that women are the ones complaining about men in straight relationships putting all emotional labour on women and taking advantage of learnt helplessness to get out of tasks. And it is correct to complain about that. But then the same people turn to fiction and go ‘Aw isn’t it cute and sexy and so endearing for a male character to be completely helpless while his better and smarter and stronger mother girlfriend has to do everything for him UwU’. Truly baffling. It’s so unsexy to me.

My sickest fantasy is wanting to see mutual effort and respect in romance. Can they just both be cringe and pathetic sometimes? Strong and clever sometimes? Take care of each other and fill in when the other is lacking? For their codependecy and mess to be mutual?

Stop making Mustang into a helpless child FFS.

#>does not draw anything for over 2 months #>posts rant #>disapears again #verwijder later #at the end of the day it is just fiction kek

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marzipanandminutiae · 9 months

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I watched Crimson Peak for the first time a few weeks ago, & I was unprepared for how much of a femme fatale Thomas Sharpe was. I feel like it’s weirdly sweet that Lucille had so much confidence in his ability to seduce women with his awkward charm. She also seemed to like Edith a little more than she wanted to let on. I felt like she appreciated Edith’s dedication to loving weird stuff. Maybe a small part of her felt that if anyone could understand her, Edith could.

I LOVE The Gothic genre gender role reversal in the movie. And the director seems to have indicated that it was intentional; Tom Hiddleston said in interviews that he really liked it as well. Like the fact that Thomas gets more naked in the sex scene than Edith does. of course Lucille has endless confidence in him – he is perfect wonderful Thomas, who is without flaw and who any woman would fall head over heels for! Duh!

The similarities between Edith and Lucille- There’s a whole essay somewhere in me about that. It’s pretty popular fan interpretation that Lucille see something of herself and Edith – they’re both stubborn women who fit in very poorly with the world they live in, they both love intellectual pursuits, they’re both intelligent and know what they want in life… I strongly suspect that it fosters both her initial desire to protect Edith, and her later resentment. She can help Edith’s story end differently than her own – and then when Edith becomes their target, I canSee how that similarities would make it easier to hate her. After all, Lucille certainly didn’t have a loving parent to nurture and protect her, a community that at least tolerated her, money to cushion the judgment of the world, a best friend by her side (except of course Thomas, but they have baggage), etc.

Edith is what she might have been if she hadn’t been broken.

#ask #anon #crimson peak

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sarcasticgaypotato · 7 months

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thoughts on Caroline?

What to say about Caroline?

She's a massively important character to the franchise, but she barely speaks. She's constantly present in the story, but she's only acknowledged a handful of times. She's everywhere and nowhere, she's everything and nothing at all.

She's GLaDOS, but she isn't, or is she?

Depending on your perspective of Caroline, we either know a lot about her personality or next to nothing.

I think my initial impression of Caroline as a character was much more negative because it was shaped by fanon interpretation.

It's probably not a huge secret that I don't enjoy c/aveline, and that WAS the majority of Caroline content for a long time. I honestly kind of resented that ship, partially because it practically became a given that where there's Old Aperture, there's this ship. These two who barely interacted were EVERYWHERE, and I always got the feeling that the only reason they were popular as a couple was because it's a m/f ship, and the Portal fandom was practically beside itself with excitement to focus on any male character.

I'm not here to ship-bash, if that's your cup of tea, good for you. But personally? Not for me, and it negatively colored my perception of her for a while. It felt a bit like she was a character defined by fanon more than anything else, just there to be in a relationship with Cave (healthy or otherwise) just so it can end in tragedy when he puts her into the robot. I understand why people might enjoy that, but I've always felt like it cheapens GLaDOS's (and by extension, Caroline's) story to make it all amount to just 'being the girlfriend of a mad scientist and tragically paying the price.'

Cave's a creep! He, in my opinion, probably thought his relationship with Caroline was much more friendly than it was. She responds to him like a secretary who knows how to please her boss— "Yes sir Mr. Johnson!"— but nothing personal. She was probably nice and polite because she was a secretary, and look at the era she lived in. If she wasn't all sweet and cheery, Cave probably would've told her to smile more.

So does that mean I think she's the opposite of what we hear? Is she sadistic and cruel like GLaDOS is? No, I'm not saying that either. I'll get into who and what I think Caroline is in a second, but above all else I wanted to point out my frustration with how she's portrayed in connection to Cave. Making her Cave's love interest is boring and bland to me, basing their connection off of the same level of friendliness from her that I've shown to people working in customer service. It's just part of the job.

For Caroline herself? I'm also not a fan of 'evil Caroline' takes. I mean I love a girlboss, but it sort of misses the point here. If Caroline was always evil, sadistic, and scheming, it waters down GLaDOS and her development. If Caroline is too similar to GLaDOS, it takes away from the weight of who and what GLaDOS is. If they’re too dissimilar, it’s difficult to imagine the connection between them.

The fandom was so obsessed with the incorrect— and stupid— idea that Caroline is Chell’s mother that it missed the much more obvious metaphor under their noses. Caroline is GLaDOS’s mother.

Cut from the same cloth, GLaDOS is born of her, but she isn’t her. Without Caroline, GLaDOS would never exist, but it would be absurd to say that GLaDOS is the same person that Caroline is. GLaDOS grew, changed, and became who we saw at the end of Portal 2 much in the same way that anyone grows into being their own person, not a copy of their parents.

Here I go talking about GLaDOS in this ask about Caroline— it’s impossible not to.

If you want my personal take on Caroline?

I think she was a smart woman, keeping up with the actions of a madman and holding her head above the flood of insanity. I think she was able to look the other way when she had to, anyone who worked at Aperture needed that dubious morality. That being said, I think she had a heart. We can all debate until we die whether or not GLaDOS was remotely truthful at the end of Portal 2 about deleting her, but I think there’s a reason she attributed her act of compassion to Caroline— it wasn’t Caroline forcing her hand (claw?) via possession, but rather, she is the only framework GLaDOS has to reference that feeling. That scene is definitely GLaDOS projecting her own emotions onto someone else to avoid confronting them, but I don’t think she would make that comparison for no reason, Caroline might have been how she learned that emotion, even if the feeling is all her own.

Ultimately, Caroline is a character we will only really ever understand through the lens of other characters. We can only try to extrapolate who she is from what we see and hear, but she will likely always be a bit of a mystery. She’s the ghost haunting this franchise, and I kind of love her for it.

#portal #portal 2 #caroline #GLaDOS #I'm not going to call out specific fics or headcanons #but there are definitely takes on caroline that grind my gears #especially when I see them everywhere #I could rant plenty more about all this but I tried to contain myself #tl;dr we can have an interesting character that isn't just 'GLaDOS lite' or 'Cave's girlfriend' you guys #I know shocking concept #but it's true

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nkjemisin · 1 year

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Things in my ask box #2

Got a new one for the “questions that might catch the poster some flak” bin. The poster asks, “What were you thinking when you wrote ‘The Ones Who Stay and Fight?’“ There was more to the question, but that’s what it boils down to (and I did clarify with the ask-er that this is what they wanted to know most).

I don’t generally like to discuss readers’ interpretations of my stories. Art is subjective, and what one person loves another might loathe, sometimes for the exact same reasons. Also, half the time I don’t even know what I’m doing; sometimes I don’t notice a theme in my work until years later when a reviewer mentions it, or I re-read it long after publication. My mind works in mysterious ways, even to me. But since you asked what I was thinking and not to confirm/deny a particular interpretation, I’ll try to explain.

(First, for those who haven’t read it, Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” is her most famous short story, and probably one of the most famous short stories in the world. There’s a whole subgenre of responses to it, because it provokes such powerful reactions in readers, and I’m no exception. [I’m a huge fan of Le Guin, if you didn’t know from me screaming about her to anyone who would listen for like 10 years now.] If you haven’t read the story, you should; it’s probably available somewhere online. There are a million ways to interpret the story, and if you poke around for reviews or lit crit analyses you’ll find feminist readings, anti-capitalist readings, mythopoeic/folklorist readings, and more. My story does not make sense if you haven’t read her story; it functions solely in conversation with Le Guin’s. Think of it as fanfic, if that helps.)

I’m not a literary scholar and I don’t pretend to be, but I’ve always leaned into the anti-capitalist reading of “Omelas.” Anybody who’s reading this in the developed world is already living in Omelas. Every time we buy a pair of Nikes, we’re contributing to sweatshops, child labor, migration crises, pollution... our own version of the abused child locked in a cellar. No ethical consumption under capitalism. Also, I lean anti-capitalist with “Omelas” because I think often of this quote by Le Guin:

“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.”

Bad. Ass. I want to be her when I grow up.

That said, when I decided to respond to this as a writer -- by writing back to it -- I was more interested in anti-racist readings of Omelas. Those interpretations don’t seem to be as popular, but at the time I wrote my story, I was trying to process the absolute bombardment of open racism and every other kind of bigotry that seemed to be metastasizing in the wake of Trump’s election. I pondered the world that these people seemed to want: a world of war and endless suffering, doomed to end in extinction for us all (tho some believe Jesus or Jeff Bezos will whisk them away before things get too bad). I wondered what it would take to come back from that world, if we went down that path but managed to survive as a species. So to my mind, Omelas works well as a metaphor for conservatives’ (and fascists’) endless fantasies of the world that was, in which everything was wonderful before the “corruptions” of liberalism destroyed it -- corruptions like equality, diversity, intellectualism, religious freedom, and democracy. This is the “again” that the “make America great...” people embrace -- a “better” world that never existed. We all know that in the 1950s, there were plenty of kids in cellars, worse than today: BIPOC kids, queer kids, disabled kids, poor kids. If America’s wealthy and powerful get what they want, they will get to live in a utopian fantasy; the rest of us go in the cellar.

The society these people want is one that further-codifies the idea that some people are lesser. Some people aren’t as fully people, basically, and therefore don’t deserve rights, basic necessities, compassion, or life. Therefore I decided to make my “utopia” (scare quotes because, like Omelas, Um-Helat really isn’t) an anti-bigoted society, which has instead chosen to codify the idea that no one is lesser. Instead of its happiness depending on limited oppression, I wanted my “utopia” to depend on limited suppression of that insidious idea.

Suppression is no better than oppression, by the way. We’re used to oppression, so maybe it doesn’t seem so bad... to some. But both ways of maintaining these not-quite-utopias require harm to be done to some for the benefit of others. Omelas chose to limit the harm to a random child, and to a lesser degree to all its citizens, who must morally compromise themselves in order to enjoy their lives. Um-Helat chooses to limit the harm to those who’ve internalized some people are lesser -- the intolerant, per Karl Popper’s paradox of tolerance -- and to the “social workers,” who must morally compromise themselves in order for the other citizens of Um-Helat to thrive. I was also playing with the idea that there’s nowhere to walk away to. Imperialism and capitalism have made pretty much the whole world Omelas, in real life. So how does any society grapple with its own complicity with evil? Omelas is better off than our own world, and Um-Helat, because people can walk away, there.

It’s entirely possible that I failed to do what I tried to do with this story -- first because I tried to do so much. “Omelas” is a deceptively simple argument with deep, complex points being made; my attempt to answer had to cover a lot of territory. Second because Le Guin was a master of the short form, while I’m pretty much a dabbler, and third because this was also my first time trying pastiche, and it probably shows. But I believe in shooting my literary shot, hit or miss, and I’m glad that I did. It turned out better than I expected.

So that’s what I was thinking. ☺️

#damn it these always get so long #clearly I've missed longform blogging #answered asks #short fiction #the ones who stay and fight #the ones who walk away from omelas #Ursula K. Le Guin

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olderthannetfic · 4 months

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The “noncanonical pairings are usually wish fulfillment” thing is so bonkers because there’s so much variety in terms of what is “non canon.” By the strictest definitions of canon, something like Anthy/Utena isn’t “canon” in the original anime series because they never explicitly say they’re romantic lesbian lovers or kiss (except in the ending theme, which people often don’t count), even though the entire fucking show is about that relationship and it makes significantly less sense if you interpret them in a platonic way. Same with something like Yuuri and Victor in Yuri on Ice. Most people would call those “canon” (I would with both) but I’ve seen people fight over it because it’s not “explicit enough.” A lot of people who are used to really didactic storytelling — which, lbh, is clearly a lot of people in fandom spaces based on the discourse that gets started here — don’t really know what to make of works like Revolutionary Girl Utena that rely a lot on symbolism and allusion, and in expecting their audience to do the work to meet them where they are rather than getting down to where the dumbest possible viewer is.

Then, on the next level, you get relationships that were built up to in some way, but then the writers later decided to take it another direction. You get ones that got a lot of subtext, but they were a same-sex relationship or an interracial relationship or something else taboo in a time before that was permissible in mainstream media of that kind. You get ones where it was the actors interpreting it that way, but not the writers; or the writers, but not the directors; or the directors and script, but the actor didn’t play it that way. (A good example of both of the last two examples: Garak/Bashir from Star Trek Deep Space Nine, whose actors have both admitted to playing them that way and supporting the ship, and where the creators have basically said they saw that there was something there but knew they wouldn’t be able to get away with that on a Star Trek show then.)

On the next level down, you might get something where it fits into a well-established romantic trope but the creator somehow has no idea of but the fans pick up on it — for instance, maybe they would only see it as romantic if it were between a man and a woman, but this is two women, and they don’t recognize how it’s going to look different to someone who is less heteronormative in their thinking. Maybe the creator just has such a strong bias against some particular combo of characters that they don’t want to acknowledge what they wrote by accident. (Like how J.K. Rowling was so mad that so many of her readers liked Draco Malfoy even though it’s pretty obvious to anyone else what’s so appealing about how she wrote that character, but for relationships rather than individual characters.)

And then of course, you do get some ships that are just completely out of left field, someone projecting a particular dynamic really hard that they wish was there on some characters that don’t have that kind of chemistry at all to anyone else watching/reading/etc. One of my fandoms had a really vocal group get really into a ship like that recently (because the person who started it framed it as “progressive” and herself as a bit of a BNF so a lot of younger discourse-addled people went along with it who also thought the more popular main ship was “problematic”) and it was annoying because they were so self-aggrandizing about how there was all this hidden subtext that no one but them was seeing because we were all less social justice enlightened than them or something. When it was really just that those characters didn’t have that dynamic at all, but they THOUGHT they should. There was a lot of hilarious misinterpretation of scenes that were in context, not remotely shippy, but one character was touching the other one very slightly or something.

But IME, those kinds of ships getting any kind of substantial following is rare. Most fairly popular ships that are non-canon, including pretty much every non-canon juggernaut ship I’ve ever seen (going back to DS9, Garashir is like 45% of the DS9 fanfic on AO3 last time I checked, so it’s definitely a juggernaut ship), there is at least SOMETHING there that comes from the original work. Even if it’s just “these two guys have the kind of buddy-cop dynamic that slash shippers often like to envision in romantic ways,” “this guy and this girl are the kind of lifelong childhood friends that we’re used to being romantic in anime like this so a lot of people started shipping them immediately,” “these two girls have the kind of Fuffy/Catradora/etc. friends-to-enemies-to-friends-again-to-lovers dynamic that makes a lot of femslashers lose their minds,” etc. Even with those three examples, while it may not be *intentional* on the part of the creator, it’s bizarre to say those people are “projecting” when they’re responding to those couples fitting into longstanding media trends that a lot of people identify. “Projection” to me is something like the earlier example I gave of the obnoxious people in my one fandom, where they are just determined to make some square peg fit a round hole because they’re desperate to have everything be round. And again, I don’t think that’s nearly as common as a lot of people, and especially salty het shippers who want to demonize the popularity of M/M or F/F in their fandoms, seem to think it is. (Also, like het-only shippers aren’t the ultimate in seeing romantic dynamics with every time a man and a woman are close at all, and throwing a fit when it doesn’t happen in canon, lol)

(I also think some of these people confuse the “projection” for people who are more dedicated rarepair shippers, where the motivation is often more “okay this might not be here but WHAT IF” than sincerely thinking the work is actually doing something that it isn’t really doing. Again, I’ve met people who are into rarepairs who just seem to have a really bad lack of understanding for what “subtext” is and confusing anything they wish was there with “subtext,” but I think those people are a rarity. For a lot of people who like rarepairs, the fact that it’s not at all what canon is suggesting is something they are aware of and that is The Point. It’s “I know the work doesn’t actually suggest this, but how can I change it so that it does”)

In my experience, that particular flavor of oldschool homophobe invariably ships tons of het that is not actually canon.

They just don't like it when 1. anything that's not their favorite gets popular and 2. people think a character could be queer without it being literally stated in the first episode/page.

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anitalenia · 2 months

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𝙊𝘽𝙇𝙄𝙑𝙄𝙊𝙐𝙎 𝙏𝙊 𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀 ⋆⭒˚｡⋆‎♡‧₊˚

꒰ঌ definition ໒꒱ ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝑤𝘩𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑐𝘩𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝘩𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑠𝑒.

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ below you will find sub genres under this category, as well as some useful pairings for this trope. for educational writing purposes <3

note: several of these can also be used in other tropes as well, just depends on how you write it and interpret it.

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A sees person B as a friend or brother/sister

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A believes they are unworthy of love for whatever reason

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A believes they are too old for love and has given up on trying

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A takes person B’s flirtatiousness / heartfelt actions as them just being a good friend instead of what it actually is

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A can’t believe person B loves them / believes themselves not to be person B’s type

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is deeply involved in their career and has no time for love

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A has a bad history with romance and is overly suspicious of person B and their actions

₊˚⊹.* ♡ culture clash: person A and person B grew up very differently and have very different ideas of what love is and what construes as a romantic gesture

₊˚⊹.* ♡ there is a language barrier so person A literally has no idea what person B feels

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A and person B have been friends forever — only thing is person A is gay/lesbian with a massive crush on person B — they’re besties (can also be used for heterosexual friendships as well)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A ignores blatant love from person B because person A has their eyes set on someone else

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is a gold digger and chases the wrong men instead of the right one (person B)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is from a different world / universe and has no idea what love even is / consists of

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is aromantic

₊˚⊹.* ♡ bride is unaware of best man’s/bridesmaids feelings for her until the wedding day or wedding week

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A loved person B their whole life, they grew up and separated until they find each other again and person B realizes they love them while person A has moved on

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is a matchmaker and has introduced person B and person C together — it wasn’t until later person A realizes they love person B but it might be too late to get them back

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A doesn’t know they love person B until their friends say something — bonus if A is always blushy and giggly when person B is around

₊˚⊹.* ♡ LOVE DODECAHEDRON — person A loves person F, person B loves person A, person E loves person C, however person A and person C are married, person E is engaged to Person D, etc. etc. Multiple couples / single persons in one group who all have a crush on somebody else within the group (look it up, online gives a better, more in depth explanation than I can give here)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A was considered mean, rude, heartless, but is hopelessly in love with person B. person B doesn’t believe A can change

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is overly naive / innocent and doesn’t understand romance / romantic gestures (they can literally be an alien, or someone who was sheltered their whole life, etc.)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ there’s a niche trope of a Clueless Chick Magnet — a guy who is so oblivious to romance and love but always gets attention no matter where he goes

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A will do anything if it meant person B was happy, even if it meant sacrificing their own happiness

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is married and person B has always loved them

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is a celebrity and person B is their fan / loyal follower

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is a celebrity and person B is someone on their team who sees how amazing they are beyond their looks

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is popular and person B is someone “in the shadows” / a loner — in other words person A doesn’t know person B exists

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is the ambitious, terrifying boss of person B, the cowardly assistant who gets person A’s coffee

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is the queen and person B is the Knight who’d do anything for their queen

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is the step parent of person B (obviously person B is not a minor and they are both adults, typically person A is just dating person B’s parent)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is afraid to commit to anything, much less love

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is a different species from person B and their kind doesn’t do love or has a different idea of what love is (obviously not BEASTILITY YOU NASTY SHITS, JUST AS IN ALIEN, ELF, WEREWOLF, ANY OTHER FANTASY CREATURE)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is overly flirtatious with everyone, so person B is blind to how special they are and just takes person A’s love as any other Tuesday

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is a womanizer and meets person B, who is completely the opposite of their type yet person A loves them anyway. person B believes person A is just trying to sleep with them and doesn’t believe person A truly “loves” them (maybe not oblivious to love completely but a writers job is to tweak things and make them their own 😭)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is a much lower status than person B and doesn’t believe a person like person B can love them (can be history AU, there’s a lot of ways to spin this one)

#❀⋆ ─ 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 ⊹❀ ֙⋆#writing tropes #writinghelp #writing themes #writing fanfiction #writing tips and tricks #writing help #writing things #oblivious to love #pink themes #aesthetic #pink #pinkcore #pink dividers #cute #sparkles #stars #writing prompt

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balanceoflightanddark · 1 year

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I feel one of the big issues with Azula's writing in the series is...well, it feels like they left a lot up to interpretation. Like we mostly see her from Zuko and Iroh's POV and neither of them are charitable in the slightest. Same with the heroes, with their views of her being warped by Zuko and Iroh and their hostile interactions with her during the war. So ultimately, a lot is left up in the air.

The problem with being that vague though is that...well, it lets the mind fill in the blanks. And when what you have to begin with is a scarily competent villain with a threatening aura that killed the main hero...what fills in the blanks isn't going to be particularly pleasant. At all.

This might be part of the reason why Azula gets demonized so much is that Bryke left a lot up for interpretation with her, and the fans just went wild with what was left unsaid. Often to the detriment of what IS said about Azula, mainly the view times she does get to share her viewpoint and almost all the time those tantalizing tidbits often contradict what is assumed. After all, if she was so sociopathic, why did Mai and Ty Lee's betrayal shake her up so bad? Why did she hallucinate Ursa if she truly hated her? How come she got really shaken up when Ozai left her behind? Stuff like that.

Especially when you consider how the writing can't seem to pin down just how sympathetic she's supposed to be. Sometimes she's viewed as being just another monster, but other times she's viewed as being in the same boat as the Gaang but on the opposite side of the war. Compare to some of her earlier appearances in Book 2 where she's portrayed as Zhao but worse to some of the later appearances when she's given more nuance and sympathy. It's a constant seesaw where you can't figure out where the writers are going.

And reportedly, not even the writing staff knew how to portray Azula. Reportedly there was a lot (presumably including Bryke) that wanted her to be a soulless villain, but there was also another faction that wanted her to be more tragic and sympathetic. Which is what we get in the series with how the narrative portrays Azula varies wildly from writer to writer. There's no real consensus to it and can leave the viewer a bit left in the dark. While the subtle hints that Azula has a soul are there, they aren't really elaborated on and the viewer naturally goes for the easiest interpretation given: that she's just a bad egg that needs to be taken down just like Ozai.

I think that's why she's so popular in fanfics where fans do get the opportunity to explore her character and elaborate on those hints. And normally we usually get a more interesting and sympathetic character out of that. Hell, that's how I got hooked onto her. As for the series proper though...I feel they had someone special on their hands, but ultimately squandered it for just another villain. I'd almost compare her to the story of the Ant-agonizer from Fallout 3: a really neat idea for a character that sadly got reduced to being a stock villain.

#azula #princess azula #azula deserved better #azula meta #bryke critical #atla critical #azula fanfic

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bodhranwriting · 5 months

Text

The Chosen Many

Destiny is a woman.

There’s nothing much important about that particular aspect of Her. It wouldn’t make much difference to the world if the sparks that make up the goddess of human fate had decided that Her avatar should be male or genderless. After all, personality is more important than genitalia when you can shape them yourself and She would have been just as a much as an arsehole if She’d been a He.

The important part is that She made Herself a humanoid body and, with humanoid bodies, come humanoid thoughts.

Thoughts like, ‘I’m bored’ and ‘You know what might be fun?’

Gods aren’t worshipped here. They turn up too often and overstay their welcome: rather like that one friend at a party who didn’t bring any alcohol and is suddenly very insistent on trying out a watery interpretation of socialism. At best, the more conscientious ones get thank-you gifts. At worst, it’s a toxic relationship for whomever has caught their attention.

Priests tend to get friendly with the bottom of a glass by their third year in service.

Destiny doesn’t have priests. Contrary to popular belief, She doesn’t have much interest in everyday people either. If you were to be honest – preferably in the temple of another god She’d recently annoyed – Destiny’s plans are faint pencil sketches for most. Often, She gets bored and, apart from one or two big events, most people have blameless, simple lives.

But sometimes, She likes to leave a massive metaphorical rake across the lifespans of a significant number of people.

This is one of these times.

And here we meet Sandford Candles – Sand – riding towards the village of Westbank, blissfully unaware that it is going to be obliterated by the hand of fate before he has time to finish his residency.

He was a skinny, suntanned youth, old enough to grow a beard but so far completely unable to. His hair was the colour of wet straw and cut in the style of Not Able to Afford a Proper Barber. Stray tufts stuck up at irregular intervals and occasionally he attempted to flatten them with his hand, but since he had three out of five fingers, it was less successful than he obviously intended. He was clad in the junior uniform of the Royal College of Medicine – maroon breeches, cream tunic, sky-blue jerkin – which had never looked good on anyone who wasn’t colourblind and therefore did not look good on him.

It certainly didn’t look good after a few hours of being rained on, but it was telling that that hadn’t upset him. Sand moved through the world with the good humour of someone who has never yet had anything bad happen to him.

Besides, the last rays of the setting sun were shining down on him through the autumnal leaves, the birds were singing, and he could see signs of civilisation that suggested his destination wasn’t too much further. He was taking his first steps – or rather, Arta, his horse was carrying him – into the next chapter of his life and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to make the best of it.

His enthusiasm wasn’t even dampened as he rode into what certain, snootier classmates would term a ‘bend in the road’. A cluster of cottages huddled around a square of green, gradually fanning out into lonely farmhouses and huts ranged along the lakeside. Shepherds were herding their sheep and chickens back into their barns, fishers tying up their boats at the slick-wood docks, and small shopkeepers shutting up. Flies buzzed over the water, black swarms coiling unpleasantly.

Most of them stopped as Sand rode in, watching him in polite silence, their stares raking him from head-to-toe.

He coughed nervously. “Um, hello?”

One of the fishers – a tall, dark woman– sighed heavily and jerked her thumb back the way he came. “If you’re looking for Mother Nylund, back to the red oak, take a left, and don’t get eaten.”

Sand blinked, wetting his suddenly dry lips. “I – “

“She’s a scary one, our Nylund. Last apprentice ran away crying.” The fisher grinned unpleasantly. “You look like one for crying.”

“Uh…” Sand scanned the faces of the crowd. To his slight relief, several of them were shaking their heads at the speaker, a few turning back to work. One of them – a stout, ragged old man in a multicoloured shirt – caught his eye and gave him a wink and a sly thumbs-up. The effect was slightly spoiled by him immediately taking a long drag from a bottle in his hand and spilling it on his collar.

“Are you deaf?”

Dragging his attention away from the ensuing scuffle as a shopkeeper stepped in to disarm the man of his alcohol, Sand said, “No. Thank you for the directions.”

As he urged Arta to turn, he heard the woman called, “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to the flies!”

The laughter, hopefully, wasn’t all aimed at him.

A few minutes and a stomach-churning second of believing he was lost later, Sand urged Arta towards a squat stone cottage overrun with ivy. A half-circle of a fence enclosed it in a front plot of tamped-down dirt with a chicken run and pen lurking by the edge, but by the smell wafting in the breeze, there had to be a massive herb garden around the back.

Dust boiled up over his feet as he slid lightly off her back and he steeled himself as he strode towards the front door. He raised his fist to knock –

And nearly fell into the hallway as someone yanked it open with considerable force. That same someone grabbed him by the collar and snapped, “Have you ever had a baby?”

“I – no – I’ve been sent from the College –“

“I know you’re from the College, man! Have you delivered a baby?”

Sand gaped. “Not yet, I’m –“

“Well, there’s a first time for everything and lucky you, it’s breech. Take this and get on your horse!”

#writeblr #writing #fantasy

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dairy-farmer · 5 months

Note

Sorry if you've already touched on this, but what are your thoughts about the discourse/discussion about Tim in the comics and Tim from the lens of A03/fan fiction?

For example, I hear a lot from old comic fans about how the series with Tim dating Bernard was doomed to fail bc 'the writer wrote him like her fanfiction version of Tim and not the real character'. There was a lot of discourse with canonical announcing Tim as queer, and that's kinda all these older comic book fans seem to keep coming back to. Idk, there just kinda seems to be an underlying feeling of misogyny towards the female writers and anti lgtbq vibes that it's hard to hear like a real arguement against the series.

I guess as a long time a03/Fandom person, I'm so used to just creating another little reality for the things I disagree or want to explore with a character, that it's strange to see people so upset that Canon doesn't flow the way the want.

it's no problem!! and i haven't really touched on the newer comics all that much mostly because i also don't particularly like them, not for any specific reason-they're decent enough but i don't really think they're 'tim'-but i do know what you're talking about. on twitter and tumblr i see a lot of different takes regarding tim and how he's written in this newer robin series.

for starters: i get what you're talking about where criticism of the comics might partly because of anti-lgbt attitude. especially since tim getting confirmed to be bisexual made A LOT of people mad (including ppl who arent homophobic but are mad that it wasn't THEIR favorite robin who got confirmed queer like dick, jason, or damian etc). comic bros and even casual comic fans who had never even heard of tim or even gave a shit about him were now furious. and while there might be ppl with genuine critiques- some of hatred of the way tim is written in the newer comics you really have to take it with a grain of salt because it very well could be comic bros hating because "robin isn't gay".

same with the writer, meghan fitzmartin. in general, women DO have an uphill battle when it comes to working in comics because it is very male dominated. and it's no secret that a lot of comic fans are opposed to women writing in comics. so misogyny, and even jealousy also plays a role with how much criticism is ACTUALLY warranted. but that doesn't mean a woman in comics isn't allowed to be criticized if they do a bad job or do a botched execution when their job is supposed to be making good, enjoyable, stories that do justice to the characters. i do think meghan may have some decentish ideas but whether she genuinely has the writing chops to deliver on those big ideas is well...iffy. but then again i genuinely don't keep tabs on comic writers or they're projects so maybe that will change.

when it comes to the critique of tim being written like a "fanfiction" version and not a "real" version of him i do see what they mean.

when I think of fanon tim I think of all the mischaracterizations that have been popularized. a coffee obsessed gremlin that doesn't sleep who is deeply insecure and agonizes over his place in the family, thinking he doesn't belong. people LIKE that tim is portrayed like that (in fanfiction) otherwise that characterization wouldn't be so pervasive in fics (there's also the possibility that a lot of ff writers DON'T know any better because many don't read comics but they do read fics and so they base their portrayals solely off what they read in fics resulting in this racoon eyed, coffee loving character who they believe to be an actual portrayal when it's really just someone's idea/exaggerated interpretation of tim).

i really don't see a lot of that in meghan's writing, the issues with tim's writing with her are different. if anything WFA is the one that really have the 'written as a ff character' vibe. but that series is also SUPPOSED to be deeply unserious as a fun slice of life universe where nothing goes wrong for anyone ever as a soothing balm for the oftentimes depressing stories in batman comics.

but in meghan's writing I also don't see a lot of what i consider to be core tim values. is she the best writer for tim? no i don't really think so. but there is a certain degree of understanding for his character. I see the comics and I can recognize that it's tim. so it's not offensively OC.

a lot of complaints seem to stem from his relationship with bernard being too much of a focus. people say how tim does too much thinking about him when...he was a lot worse in the 90s with steph. I remember getting so irritated when entire comics of robin would be narrated by steph or about her, i'd be like 'I want to read about ROBIN and his adventures, not steph, why is she even relevant?'. but tim's relationships to other people are a core part about him so you just have to take it.

the part that i think is justified in critique is in talking about whether her writing of bernard dowd is good. that is a much easier thing to answer. and its that its not good writing. in fact it's a pretty bad, inaccurate portrayal of him given how he was written when we first knew him. he's sort of been...sanded down? kind of remade into some new, almost unrecognizable character that fits into what she believes would be a nice, wholesome, gay partner for tim. which is an issue for me because we have seen and know what tim is like in relationships. tim had tension with, disagreed with, got annoyed with, fought and argued with his other partners like stephanie and ariana. but he also enjoyed himself and was happy with them. there was a balance there of good and bad because tim's unique situation of being robin made it so there had to be good and bad. with bernard it's all very passive and easy. they don't argue, they don't really fight, or have any struggles in their relationship when trying determine compatibility. avoiding tension in the relationship when tim has a track record of it makes it almost seem like she's afraid of the risk of portraying a gay relationship in anything less than a golden light. which is not good writing. BUT it is also very NEW. so maybe that will change (but there's a similar problem with jon kent and his bf so idk)? i personally believe kon would've been a more ideal partner with their shared history, chemistry, tension, the fact that fans have wanted it for decades, and the fact that it would've been such a good addition to the arc of self acceptance for kon's character. and many of the issues that tim being with bernard wouldn't be a thing because tim and kon famously don't see eye to eye 100 percent of the time and so their relationship would struggle and grow as they go from friends to romantic partners.

ultimately in my opinion to write a truly good tim drake you need to be able to accurately portray the thing that made him such a great robin: his heart of gold. tim cares about doing the right thing SO much. he cares about helping people. he's not some cold, unfeeling calculated computer who uses people as pawns and abandons his morals at the slightest inconvenience or seduction to the 'dark side'. and he's not some coffee drinking hacker man that is 20 steps ahead and smug about it.

tim worries about people, he's upset at injustice, feels guilt at not being able to save people, is judgy, sometimes a brat, sarcastic, gets angry at people for throwing their lives away, gets very invested in things that catch his interest, is too curious for his own good, nosy. he lies through his teeth and then bats his eyes in sweet as pie innocence. will think VERY rude thoughts about people but will bite his tongue because he's a nice boy👼 but sometimes things slip out. he is somehow simultaneously able to be the 🥺 and 😈 emoji at the same time. his odds of making bad decisions increase by 100 fold if in the company of other stupid teenagers.

now i write tim as a very exaggerated version of that core self. that's what a lot of ff authors do. they choose a handful of traits they like best about him and spin entire fics about it. i don't think writing tim as a fanfiction version of himself is a bad thing because some fanfic is genuinely better than the source material and that comes from being very good at understanding the character. the tim of today can't be written the same way he was in his golden age, the 90s, because a lot of his struggles and hurdles that he dealt with in those comics are over. they're done. tim can't be 30 years old and still wondering if he's doing a shit job as robin. tim IS a good robin and he should be able to acknowledge that (funnily enough one of his clear acknowledgements of that is often wiped away by fics- that being the titans tower scene where jason asks if tim thinks he's the better robin and tim, without hesitation, says yes) a lot of older fans are clinging to problems that tim has already resolved. he's not thirteen and insecure about his abilities. he's not on his first relationship with someone (but he is in his first relationship with a boy). he's not still learning how to navigate his relationship with batman and the rest of the family or struggling to come to terms with his civilian and caped life. do some of those things still trouble him on occasion? yes but they're not the main focus anymore.

tim has to have new problems, new challenges, new growth.

i had some hope for new tim comics.

would i like to have seen more tim centric material or at least good stories. and often times in the new tim comics tim was exactly the same at the end of the issue as he was at the beginning. tim struggling with his identity is something that made an appearance in 90s comics a lot but I think for the newer ones that it would've been better received/more interesting if it were...written better?

idk. i don't know a single comic fan that loved every detail of their fav's comics. was it the best run? no. but it was okay enough i guess. it was lukewarm, not standing ovation worthy but also nobody should be throwing tomatoes at the performers either, it just earned a polite clap of acknowledgement which i don't think is a very bad thing but still i hope we get something better!

#answered asks #asks #anonymous

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blatterpussbunnyfromhell · 6 months

Text

Did Silver kill Flint?

I keep seeing cold ass takes in the Black Sails side of tumblr that make my blood boil.

Look, I got into Black Sails in 2017, three weeks after the finale aired. Back then, there seemed to be an understanding that the "Silver killed Flint" interpretation was just a fringe theory from straight people made uncomfortable by the queer lead getting a happy ending. Personally, it was my first encounter with the phrase "unbury your gays" (having learnt "bury your gays" a year earlier with The 100). It seemed to be generally accepted that Flint lived, and that this was the whole point.

Now, it would appear that a shift has happened in the fandom, where the idea of Silver killing Flint is no longer treated as a theory by straight weirdos but as a canon, onscreen event, and these posts come from queer fans. It seems to come from younger fans who were about 12 or 13 in 2017. It's so mindboggling to me.

The arguments for this Silver-Killed-Flint thing is usually the same two: birds flying away and Silver's men turning around in the forest, as in reaction to a noise, which is interpreted as a gunshot.

Like, I'm just elaborating on a rant I sent to my friends earlier today here but, if Silver killed Flint, then :

Why would we be shown an entire sequence with one of Silver's henchmen looking for Thomas where he is?

If Thomas and Flint are dead, why aren't we shown their deaths? It's an actual rule in cinema that a character whose death isn't shown on screen isn't dead, a rule that the show does follow (we see Billy's funeral but not his corpse). Besides, Black Sails doesn't shy away from showing death on screen, even for main characters. Then, why not show how Thomas died instead of telling us? Why not show us Silver shooting Flint? The writers trust their viewers to understand the pattern, and understand that the reason we do not see their deaths is because they aren't dead.

Why would Silver bring up Thomas to Flint if he'd planned on killing him? Or if, as I've also seen it said, it was just a lie he made on the spot for Madi ?

And talking about Madi, I've seen A LOT of people saying she would never forgive Silver. And to that I genuinely have to ask, have you seen their last appearence in the show? I dont mean their argument in the cabin, I mean the scene where Silver sits on top of a hill and turns around to find Madi waiting for him on the path. I mean the scene where he walks towards her and she waits for him. So, my question here, if she wasn't gonna forgive Silver, why is she waiting for him on that hill? Nevermind the fact that Treasure Island's Long John Silver is in a relationship with a Black woman (I've seen posts saying that could be Max, and really wtf??), what is the point of showing us this scene if she's not gonna forgive him? Why not stop their arc at the cabin where she sends him away?

At the time when Black Sails' finale aired, Supernatural was still queerbaiting its audience, and Sherlock ended in a fucking shitshow. People were throwing fits over Bill Potts, Doctor Who's first ever onscreen lesbian companion because she was a lesbian with a masculine name. A year before that, The 100, a very popular tv show at the time, had just killed it's only lesbian character and faced so much uproar and backlash for it. (That was my entry into the LGBT+ community, by the way : the first character to make me think I might actually like women getting killed on screen two scenes after having had sex with the female lead). Sense8's two-hour long finale and Love, Simon wouldn't air for another year.

So yeah, if you weren't into queer media back in 2017 (and omg I sound like such an old twat), I don't think you can understand just how important that ending, with Flint being reunited with the love of his life after so much pain and loss, was.

If your interpretation of Black Sails is that the events of Treasure Island happened the way the book tells you, then I'm sorry to tell you this but you completely missed the point of the show.

#black sails #black sails meta #long post #silverflint #long john silver #james flint #thomas hamilton #james mcgraw #captain flint #ok to rb

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