#like. do you know how many fandoms I've been in where “the murder was hot” is the normal take? imagine if we all acted crazy about that lmao

[rotisseries]

this fandom really need to remember that liking villains is perfectly valid as long as people don't go around excusing morally-wrong behaviors.

i mean I'm hesitant to say things like "make sure you're not excusing morally wrong behaviors!" because. it's just like. an annoying attitude to have, like people don't want to have to post about their favorite blorbo War Crimes Mcgee with a paragraph long "DISCLAIMER: AS A FAN OF WAR CRIMES MCGEE, I DO NOT CONDONE WAR CRIMES NOR EXCUSE HIS ACTIONS" and also that is an annoying fandom culture to have to live in. like sometimes it's fun to just be like "haha yeah it was hot and sexy and cool when that villain killed all those people"

but like. everyone has their line in the sand for what's "too far" for a fictional character right? and everyone's is different, but for me and most people absolute no goes are things that feel, too real? I guess? like. racism, homophobia, domestic abuse, etc. are things that are always too far for me to continue liking a character. it's gross and unsatisfying to watch, these are things you're pretty likely to deal with in real life based on your personal life experience, and there’s really overall no way for it to be an enjoyable thing in the story right? but just generic murder is NOT most people's line in the sand

which is why like. there's a difference to me between b1lly stans and henry creel stans. like I just find henry stans annoying because of their lack of commitment mostly. they're all like "actually I theorize that he DIDN'T murder those people" BORING. say he did and you find it hot and sexy idc. also I don't find henry that interesting so by extension I'm not interested in the fanclub. but there’s nothing that actually grosses me out about him having a fanclub, because the murder is fictional and telekinetic and inseparable from the supernatural plot like I'm never going to run into a man who's actually murdered people with his mind and I'm DEFINITELY never going to run into people who hear about real not fictional telekinetic child murder and decide he's cool and sexy and also didn't do it or whatever

but b1lly. well. b1lly is a very real type of violence. there's lots of racist abusers and there’s lots of people who defend them so I just. can't get behind it at all. you DO have a point though that it would maybe be marginally better if they'd at least ADMIT that he'd done this shit lol

so yeah this isn't to say that like. someone's favorite character and how they talk about them is NEVER a red flag, but "this is my favorite character Child Murderer Jones, he murders children and gleefully boasts about all the child murder on screen, and I love him very much and have edited him with cat ears" is fairly standard fandom behavior and not worth moralizing, imo. and sometimes this fandom gets a little puritan about fairly standard fandom behavior

#like. do you know how many fandoms I've been in where “the murder was hot” is the normal take? imagine if we all acted crazy about that lmao #another thing I think contributing to how weird I find a character fanclub is will be something like #what other parts of the story you have to ignore for it #like b1lly stans kind of have to entirely ignore lucas and max's storylines for that shit lmao #and having no sympathy or interest in the story of a black kid dealing with antagonistic white men #or the girl dealing with horrible abuse is pretty gross #but like. henry stans don't really have the same problem bc again. it's a bunch of fake supernatural child murder #also disclaimer fandom isn't activism and hating b1lly isn't the end all be all of activism #but there ARE certain characters in media where I do actively think worse of you for liking them #and I do think it's a sign you need to examine some internal bias #also I apologize for bringing up b1lly that may come across like I read your ask as also referring to him #I didn't really I just also mentioned him in the tags that this is about. so like #especially bc you say “villain” and I feel like that's too fun of a word for him #like “villain” makes me think of fun larger than life fantastical criminals #b1lly is just a very real asshole dickwad #ask #anon #this got a little rambly I didn't mean for that to happen

[bloobluebloo]

Tbh I think that the big pushback against nuanced villains may have its most potent roots in the idea of woobification? I could be wrong about this, I was a little bit late to the ride, but my earliest days on the internet fell right in the middle of when mischaracterization by making the character very soft was common. I was in the Creepypasta fandom for a while, so I saw a lot of it. A lot. Nontheless, the whole "Oh, you think this character isn't JUST pure evil? Then you're excusing their actions/absolving them of blame/just think they're hot!" feels very reactionary. From what I can observe, it's the same instinct that makes people respond to accusations of a character being a Mary Sue by making that character extremely dark. Is this making any sense?? I only just now woke up fhejbdbd

You're not wrong, and it is actually an issue that has been pervasive in fandoms ever since fandoms have been a thing. I can tell you from personal experience that being a fan of Ganondorf in the early 2000s and trying to justify his actions as anything but vile and evil was not exactly a walk in the park (though Wind Waker came along and gave him some grace in that matter). I personally find it fascinating that often people will accuse others of liking villains or relating to them or even just talking about them in a way that isn’t entirely negative because “they’re hot” or “you want them to be misunderstood when they’re not” or “because you endorse abuse and murder" and so on and so forth. To me, when I read these arguments, it gives me a lens at understanding how so many people will read and interpret a story. The only reason you could like a villain is for their obvious traits that are plain as daylight to see and require nothing more than your plain eyesight and the ability to read the textboxes and take everything being said literally. Liking those traits makes you susceptible to falling for obvious traps of course. In the same way, you should love the hero because it is plainly obvious that their design evokes goodness and everyone around them loves them and all they want to do is protect their land.

I'll bring this back to Ganondorf because I always do, and it is something I've touched upon several times, but my reason for loving him as much as I do goes beyond the contained narrative of the game. I played OoT at the age of 11, and as a person who had already been subjected to so much scrutiny and aggressive comments for my ethnic and religious background, Ganondorf's story read like a propaganda piece to me. I couldn't see him as the vile evil man that the game was trying to tell me he was because I had seen this story hundreds of times already, played out not only in fictional media but in real life as well. The burden was on me to show people that I wasn't the aggressive terrorist that proliferated mainstream news at the time. This really resonated with me when Nabooru had to explicitly tell Link that "she wasn't like Ganondorf" as if the default is to assume that all Gerudo are bad. It seemed disingenuous and like the narrative was leaning too hard on Ganondorf and the Gerudo for all of Hyrule's troubles because they were the easiest targets to scapegoat for numerous reasons. It didn't help at all that, in OoT itself, there was evidence that Hyrule was responsible for several warcrimes of its own. Yet, the game always pivoted to show Hyrule in the right, that they were the bastions of justice and that Ganondorf was being needlessly aggressive and had to be put down for his actions. That's why I relate to Ganondorf; I understand where his anger and hatred come from. Anyways, my point is that people don't seem to want to think beyond what the story is telling you, or think about why someone would write such a story with such themes, or why they would decide that the human form of their pig beast demon who is greedy for power should be a desert-dwelling man that only knows anger and hatred. In the same breath they will accuse you of liking a villain because they think you like them for shallow reasons. It's tiring ahaha

#ganonthots #bloothots #honestly I have no idea how to put all my thoughts exactly into words #my relationship to loz is a complicated one #but I hope I got something across

[utilitycaster]

i was thinking about your post about your frustrations with the way fandom talks about romance and True Loves—do you get the sense that there's been a bit too much romanticizing of the "i broke the world for us" line? because i feel like the reason it works is that it is, among other things, an encapsulation of how selfish the briarwoods were, rather than a depiction of a healthy romantic relationship worth preserving or emulating. and i'm sure the players know this, but with the way people have discussed that quote regarding imodna in particular, i'm not...fully sure the fandom does? it's like people want imogen and laudna to wrap their entire lives around each other to the exclusion of everyone and everything else.

like, the reason that line is interesting to me in relationship to percy/vex is that their relationship wound up serving as a narrative foil to sylas and delilah; while percy and vex very explicitly influenced each other not to go down that path, they also had several other people in their lives who mattered to them and impacted their growth. and idk i just get the sense that rather than examining the idea of unhealthy codependence, fandom just wants to see these two characters perennially attached at the hip, and i can't say i find that idea terribly interesting. (as you said, there's a reason the briarwoods were npcs; a dynamic like that among player characters could get very tiresome.)

You know, it's hard to say, but I think so. The thing is, it's a great line, but the context is actually quite important: Delilah says "I broke the world for us" as Sylas is being killed by Keyleth's Sunbeam, after the aborted attempt to summon Vecna. This is the line of someone who thinks she's failed; it can be seen as "I had to do all this, some of which I didn't particularly wish to do, and then I don't even get what I wanted, which was to spend eternity with my hot vampire husband?

In other words, I think a lot of people interpret this as "I would do anything for my love" and I think that's part of it, but there's also a not inconsiderable undercurrent of "I got in WAY too deep in the hopes of saving his life, and now I don't even get more than five fucking stressful years?" I mean, Delilah is not terribly sympathetic, because of the murders and the necromancy, but it is in many ways indicated that Vecna was rather opportunistic into calling out to a powerful necromancer who happened to be vulnerable and desperate. On some level I have to wonder if, perhaps, prior to her deal, the Briarwoods did have friends; and then with Sylas as a vampire and Delilah going harder on the necromancy work, they had to cut ties to hide the secret, or they lost those friends when they were discovered and kicked out of the assembly. We see them at a point where all they have is each other...but that could be the result of what they've had to do to have each other.

Regardless, I hesitate to attribute this to why people are weird about other ships; I think that comes from a lot of places, and honestly I've seen far worse justifications or characterizations of ships. I think some of this being brought up for Imogen and Laudna when the story has not really backed up that kind of devotion is just because Delilah is in the story and so they're reminded of it. But I do think that saying someone would break the world for someone else isn't necessarily a sign that it's a dedicated and all-consuming romantic relationship; merely that it's one with little foresight or sense of proportion.

#answered #burr-ell #anyway kids here's briarwoods meta like 7 years after it happened. bon appetit or whatever #critical role #delilah briarwood

[musical-chick-13]

Hey, I saw your post about female characters being ignored and not cared about, one thing I know and tha I've seen is that; even if the female characters and side characters were all female—they would still genderbend them, or latch onto two male characters who have done no shit and give them better characterisation, the fandom will also flatten, cut out, and remove important characteristics of the important female characters, while giving important hc canons and what not to the two male characters.

It is plain old fandom misogy and has always been there from the beginning.

"Even when women and girls are at the forefront of the story, men will always be seeked out in whatever ways possible, and centralised—female characters on the other hand, will always be judged or ignored; people do not want to admit it, but they still have internalised misogyny to worked on, 'fandom is not activism' gives them an excuse and cover to not examine, women's stories or inner lives don't and have never mattered to a lot of people in varying degrees."

Overall, I just resonate with your frustrations and thought I was the only one . . .

Oh, you have come to the RIGHT place, my friend, I rant about this every other day at minimum.

FEMALE CHARACTERS!! WILL ALWAYS!!!! BE JUDGED OR IGNORED!!!!!!!!! Like. Chainsaw Man and Game of Thrones/ASoIaF have been praised significantly for letting all of the women in them be extremely flawed and complicated in differing and interesting ways, and I STILL see people not engaging with them and/or reducing most of them to one (1) characteristic. (Cersei is a "crazy bitch," Sansa is "stupid" (??), Catelyn is a terrible mom, Melisandre is...there; Kobeni is obnoxious, Makima is hot, Himeno is the Worst™, etc. etc.) And there should be an overwhelming abundance of increasingly implausible f/f ship content, right? (There isn't.)

(And ohhhhh, people want to erase the importance of women to the overall narrative and its themes (and their canonical importance to other-usually male-characters) so bad, see: Cersei, Himeno, Irene Adler, Mary Morstan, MCU Natasha, Camille O'Connell, Bonnie Bennett, Lizzie Saltzman, Mai from AtLA, Martha Jones, tbh even River gets a fair amount of this. And then some of this is obviously combined with racism when the character is a WOC.)

And I don't have a problem with genderbending characters-gender is complicated, and exploring different facets of how a character might interact with the world if their gender identity changed is incredibly interesting!! But it's...very telling that, historically, I have seen this happen a lopsided amount in one direction, where the female characters are reimagined as men and not vice versa. (Remember when a not-insignificant number of people could only stomach BBC Sherlock/Irene if they reimagined Irene as a man? And then got mad at Elementary for CANONICALLY reinterpreting Watson as a woman? Good times. 🙄)

Just...so many of these wildly-hated or ignored women are...not any less complex than a lot of fictional men who get popular. (I'm sorry, you want to tell me that Misa is not at LEAST as interesting and worthy of sympathy as K*lo fucking Ren? When she has the backstory she does and presents an engaging dichotomy of "bubbly/silly yet murderous" and deconstructs the idea of extreme single-minded devotion NO I'M NOT MAD ABOUT THIS WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT)

And the idea of "fandom is not activism" is supposed to be used in the sense of "Liking a pRoBLeMaTiC dynamic/character in a story doesn't mean you think that behavior is okay in real life" (finding a fictional war criminal interesting doesn't equate to supporting genocide, exploring a toxic dynamic in fic doesn't inherently mean you hate victims, etc.), and "Paying lip service to marginalized/mistreated fictional characters is not the same as helping and supporting actual marginalized/mistreated people in real life." It doesn't mean, "We ignore obvious examples of misogyny and racism and ableism and transphobia and all other prejudices just because this is supposed to be fun." Biases are systemically ingrained, and any given person will bring those biases into all facets of their life; that doesn't just magically stop happening because one of those life facets happens to be a hobby or form of entertainment. Breaking down and dismantling prejudice has to happen on every level, including the """small""" ones.

The only time I have ever seen people engage with multiple female characters on a regular basis while admitting to their importance and narrative complexity and actually creating fanworks about them is Noir (2001). And that's because there are a whole 10 people in this fandom and the show has no men. (Okay, not literally, but you know what I mean.) And it's just so incredibly frustrating that that's the point we have to get to just for it to be possible for people to bother with a work's female characters on an enthusiastic, regular basis. (Because, as you said-that doesn't always happen even when those conditions are met.)

ANYWAY, I'm so sorry for making this response so lengthy, but genuinely I have been holding this in for a long time. TLDR, you're right and you should say it. You definitely aren't the only one, and I'm so, so glad that somebody Gets It.

#we can apparently have sympathy & complex analysis™ for [character name redacted b/c I will get murdered] but not LIZZIE??? who ACTUALLY #has a mental illness and an extremely turbulent personal history??????? REALLY???!!!!?!??? #misogyny in fandom #fandom misogyny #female characters #multi t(ASK)ing

[lovecolibri]

Any thoughts about why the 911 fandom has shockingly (at least to me) high levels of multishipping/willingness to drop Buddie as soon as new female love interests enter the picture? It's unlike any other fandom that I've participated in, truly. I'm not like...outrageously pissed because I recognize that this is a fictional show and I have real-life issues that take priority, lol. Buuut I'm about as pissed as I ever let myself get over fictional shows.

The reaction of so many "Buddie shippers" to Buck and Eddie's new love interests has been like cold water thrown on my face. I've seen people quite literally abandoning ship, even though we know practically nothing about these new characters and haven't even seen them interact with the guys, all because they are conventionally attractive??? I thought that people were joking at first, but now I'm seeing very earnest threads on Twitter and posts here on Tumblr about how these women are so hot and funny and sweet, and they'll make peace with no Buddie because of the "happiness" that these women will bring to Buck and Eddie. Whaaaat. Am I living in La La Land for finding this EXTREMELY strange??? We haven't even seen Natalia with Buck, or Eddie with Marisol, and we got, like, 2 minutes of Eddie with the other lady. Was it unpleasant like Eddie and Ana? No. But was it truly compelling, or moving, or anywhere in the vicinity of a Buck scene? FUCK NO.

At the very least, I wonder why these people are still blogging and tweeting Buddie content, why they still consider themselves Buddie shippers, when they've admitted that they'd be perfectly content to sacrifice years of Buddie potential and development for virtually unknown women. The reality is that heterosexual ships nearly always win out - especially on network TV - and seeing these people align with that against a same-sex ship? It gives me an extremely icky feeling. And if you point out that this is odd, you're suddenly accused of misogyny? Again, whaaaat. I'm having flashbacks to BuckTaylor, when a bunch of people jumped ship but quickly realized that there was NOTHING to work with, and tried to come back to Buddie. Maybe it's the same people doing this now! But God, if it's this annoying before we even meet the women, I can't imagine what it'll be like when they ctually enter the picture. I've already unfollowed 20 people and see that list only growing. Cultivate your experience, sure. But it's kind of sad because I tried to do that in the first place. Anyway, I've been pretty shocked by how quickly some people have turned on Buddie.

First of all, I will say some people are perfectly happy multi-shipping and that's fine! It's absolutely not for me personally with a couple I'm invested in (or for you apparently) but some people are happy going with the flow and there's nothing wrong or bad about it. They can still like Buddie and share Buddie content from a fandom perspective and be interested to see where the actual show is going with different couples. I don't get it, it's not how I engage, but I'm not going to tell other people their way of engaging isn't right, or that they can't share Buddie content at all if they are okay with Buck or Eddie ending up with someone else.

With that said, I completely understand how it can be difficult to see especially against a mlm couple that the show doesn't seem to want to commit to, but also refuses to clearly state it WON'T happen while paralleling them to the other couples instead of the other friendships on the show.

For me, I've been leery of following blogs since my season 2 RNM days which was lot of mass unfollowing, and again when I let my guard down and had followed a bunch of people and then s5 and LD happened. So instead of following a lot of blogs, I prefer to go to the search page in tumblr and just do "911". No hashtag so sometimes I get irrelevant things that were just tagged something like "hello 911? I'd like to report a murder" but it gives me things tagged with all variations of 911, 911 on fox, 911 tv etc, as well as LS content AND the search will not pull posts that have a tag you have blocked! So I have blocked tags for characters/ship I do not like, I have blocked anit-tags for characters/ships I love, and then I can see if someone posts content I enjoy but don't see any content they post that I don't like. I don't need to follow everyone or see everything on my dash because some blogs are multi-fandom for something I don't like, or some blogs post about characters I don't like, but not enough for me to want to block them entirely. And sometimes I don't want to block a blog that posts buddie fics I like, but I DON'T want to see other fics about characters I hate.

Filters are EVERYTHING and I think it's important to know you don't HAVE to follow blogs to see their content, you can just go into the search! You could do "buddie" instead of 911 and get similar results, even more so because it won't be pulling as much generic 911 stuff. I already filtered out the "Natalia" tag AND put it in my filtered post content just because FOR ME, I don't want it in the search, AND for people I DO follow, when that filtered post comes up on my dash I want to see which blog is posting about it and what my personal emotional state is in before I choose if I want to see the post or not. I'll probably remove the filter at some point, we literally know nothing about the character, but right now I'm not in a place I want to see it. 🤷🏻‍♀️ And that's okay! There is a lot of relief at knowing it's not going to sneak up on me unprepared. That's how I am currently curating my experience in full, not just my dash and I HIGHLY recommend it. Some people won't tag for things which is why the "filtered post content" is great, and I have also started using the "find in page" option on fics so I don't get jumpscared with an untagged character appearance.

So hopefully these options are helpful! It's what works for me, and while I do still block blogs occasionally, I'm also not going to be going to every blog and researching every opinion they've ever had before deciding on reblogging from them. I do often now do a *little* checking before I decide to follow a blog, but that takes spoons so typically I just stick with reblogging from the search and then checking my dash when my brain isn't in hyperfocus on 911 mode.

(so if you've ever followed me and I reblog from you and never followed back, this is why. I'm a little shy about following back after my bad experiences and don't always remember to check out a blog that follows me in order to decide to follow back AND/OR I see your posts in the search all the time so I forget that I don't actually follow you 🤷🏻‍♀️)

I hope you find some peace on your dash nonnie, but don't feel like you have to give up on seeing some good Buddie content from blogs just because they post other stuff you don't want to see. Filter that shit out and enjoy the Buddie stuff! Whether that means unfollowing and just seeing their posts in other reblogs or the search, or being fine with following and just scrolling past the "this post contains filtered content" notifications, whatever works for you! (I personally end up clicking the "see post" option and always end up as the dead dove meme, so unfollowing and just using the search works best for me since I have no self control.)

#my sweet nonnie friends #911 #911 spoilers #buddie #there is more than one way to curate your experience #find what works for you! #i hope this was helpful nonnie!

[olderthannetfic]

Sorry (and feel free to ignore) if this isn't your purview, but do you have any thoughts on the racism angle of the Anti debate? Not gonna lie, the most convincing (*and* the angriest) anti-AO3 arguments I've seen on this site were from PoC disgusted with how it wouldn't take down stories fictionalizing and sensationalizing stuff like George Floyd's murder, or Atlantic Slave Trade/Holocaust AUs. I haven't yet seen anyone muster a decent counterargument to that.

--

Beware of censorship because you may not be the one deciding what the bad content is.

That is the argument. People just don't understand it or don't agree with it.

Here's the thing: AO3 was explicitly set up to protect art, regardless of horrificness. That is the point. There is no such thing as beyond the pale for AO3, just legal or illegal. This is right there in the ToS. There are specific historical reasons why this is AO3's stance and mission.

It's not a stance and mission everyone is down with, and I can respect that... but if they want a different kind of archive, they need to make or move to a different archive.

Most fic archives have some level of taste or morality-based content rules. FFN does. Wattpad does. Skyehawke did. All the single-fandom or single-topic ones do, if only in the sense that they ban off-topic fic. The big non-English archives like Ficbook and EFP do. Dear god, especially, EFP where you can't write derogatory things about religious figures, among many other rules. Archives that ban tons of shit have always been the norm. Having multiple archives has also always been the norm and continues to be.

If people see AO3 as all of fandom, that's on them.

What AO3 is is one of the few archives that won't delete m/m or f/f dark fic and kink. This fact is directly tied to its extremely hardline anti-censorship stance. A lot of the anti-AO3 crowd fundamentally does not get why this is the case or dislikes how popular m/m is and doesn't care.

AO3 protects reprehensible art for the same reason the ACLU defends Nazis.

If that's not the kind of free speech above all organization you're into, that's fine, but then AO3 is not for you.

On a more specific note, I don't trust people demanding deletion because the vast majority of wanks aren't about things I personally agree are disgusting (hot takes on George Floyd or whatever) and are instead about My NOTP Is Inherently Bad shipwars or top/bottom fights. Or even worse, they descend into "This fan of color is a traitor for liking the wrong kinks". (If you think people don't call each other inflammatory language like "race traitor" over shipping all the time, you're naive.)

People always think they know when an author is white or straight because they write things Wrong or their mind is too fucked up or whatever, but it's bullshit. There is no reliable way to tell why someone wrote something or how much is their intent and how much is poor writing skill. AO3 is a safe space for writers to post without threat of deletion. It is not and never was a safe recs list for readers. That's not its aim.

Anti-AO3 people try to portray this as brave POC striking back against white oppressors, but that isn't how it ends up. Deletion tools are going to be leveraged hardest against other POC who fail to live up to some impossible double standard.

--

Now, as for whether OTW/AO3 should try to be better and help marginalized groups of fans of all types use AO3 more easily, of course they should. The non-bullshit version of that looks like better blocking tools to hide whatever you personally find triggering or gross. Blocking tools, not deletion.

Many anti-AO3 types dislike this approach because their abusive rants about how your kink is bad or you should ship het instead of m/m would get blocked.

But as lierdumoa said in a cogent explanation of how AO3 actually needs to improve, are people looking for solutions that protect POC... or do they just want a chance to punish?

[13tinysocks]

Something about there not being enough "Killer Y/N" in creepypasta fanfictions annoys me. Like it's almost always Y/N being the one to take care of the Creepypasta. And normally, I don't have issues with that, I love those wholesome types of relationships despite it being with murderers. It's a nice contrast. But the problem is that it's usually so unbalanced, like Y/N is doing all of the work meanwhile the Creepypasta treats them like shit. Going through so much angst drama that makes me roll my eyes instead of being invested in the story. Not to mention that Y/N can be written to be so annoying. Like wtf is up with that? I want to read a fanfic where Y/N is a killer that looks intimidating (and can kill you) but is also a softie. And where the Proxy/Creepypasta is the human who looks normal but is absolutely feral and capable of worse.

I just like the idea of Y/N being this super scary killer, and then standing behind Toby , shyly asking the waiter for no pickles.

Toby, a human who you can probably snap like a twig: Uhm EXCUSE ME, they asked for no pickles >:(= Y/N, a proxy who is capable of gory murderous actions, but is hiding behind Toby: 🥰

I hope all of this makes sense, this is just a thought that's been annoying me >:/

Personally I can't stand shy characters in any sort of media. When people write cpp x readers, typically younger writers but I've seen ppl older than me do this as well- they tend to shove all the bad stereotypes on shyness onto yn then crank em to 11. Where are the yn's that eat people? Where are the Hannibal kinnie batshit bonkers yn's? WHERE ARE THE JENNIFER CHECK KINNIE YN'S? PLEASE.

I know why this happens. It's people thinking shy = submissive and many ppl in this fandom are into that sorta thing but they tend to get a little carried away. You can be either of those things without being a cardboard character. You can be shy and still cap people. You can be shy and still strong as shit and fully capable of fending off that smelly fuck who keeps climbing in your window.

On the flip side, people who try to write a "badass" yn typically end up writing yn exactly how men write women in b-movies. Like the hot girl who hangs with guys and fixes car and has two brothers but has no visible muscle or actual grit type beat. It tends to be frustratingly shallow. I want yn's who commit acts of senseless violence because it makes them feel better about themselves because they're terrible people❤️ Just love me a yn who goes through evil character development completely. They don't just kill because Slenderman wants them to but because they need to in order to keep themselves propped up psychologically.

Also? We just need more mean grouchy fuck yn's. I want a bitch in stained clothes to call someone dumb cunt then kill em. (Can u tell I fucking love insane women?)

Now I get taking a more "realistic" approach to a yn. It's what we did with thio yn, normal and on the reserved side. But she also fights back, feels and expressed her anger, and comes out of her shell. Serial killers are scary people to be around. I get writing them as scared. Personally I enjoy writing a more fearful dynamic but this is because I like to use that further down the line in my yn's arc- to exemplify their masochism. I think it's an interesting concept to explore- how a normal person would get with someone so evil.

And can we as a fandom stop writing the weird shit where the pasta is abusive in every single way to yn and they're just like cool with it. I could literally list all the fics I see do this it makes me crazy. Where is the nuance bestie? Toxic relationships can be an interesting thing to write but hey guys maybe not uhhhhhh rape? Then yn's like omg 😳 so dominant omg I'll learn 2 love him. Bitch I'm gonna get you.

#me going crazy when anyone talks to me about how yns r portrayed #creepypasta x reader #insane and mean and gross and awful yns ONLY!!!!! #also a more violent yn fits better with an evil murderer jus sayin #spookyravioli #reply #im sorry besties i greatly dislike most fanfic in this fandom and only write so much of my own to satiate myself and my need 4 bloodlusy yn

[ruckystarnes]

Title: Why Didn't You Say Anything?

Author: RuckyStarnes

Characters: Bucky Barnes, Wanda Maximoff

Warnings: pining, minor sexy stuff

Rating: Teen

Words: 807

Written for: @buckybarnesweek2022 | @anyfandomgoesbingo

Event: Bucky Barnes Appreciation Week 2022 | Any Fandom Goes Bingo

Prompt: Day 5 - Seasons or Pining | Free Space

Summary: It drove everyone crazy to see them both pine for the other when neither wanted to say anything.

Type: Moodboard | Drabble

Since meeting Bucky as Clint's vow renewal, he had plagued her dreams. It started off innocent enough: playing games, sharing a dance under the stars, a horseback ride through the countryside. Things that were mundane and easy going until it started to take a turn: scrabble ended with kisses, dancing morphed into a make out session with pressed bodies, horseback riding became seeking shelter during a storm and needing warmth. She would wake up, her body hot and tingling, making her almost embarrassed, and she found it harder to be around Bucky, her face heating each time as her body yearned to find out what his felt like. Clint and Laura tried to convince her to talk to him, even Lila gave her pointers on how to engage with a crush, bless the teenager's heart. Even though Wanda could read his mind to see if he would reject her, she wouldn't, afraid that she was stepping over a line that wasn't there.

Bucky didn't know why Wanda would blush and her heartbeat quickening each time they were in a room together. They shared a dance at Clint's vow renewal, and since, he's been wanting to know more about the little witch from Sokovia. She started to replace the nightmares he often had. No longer were his nights filled with torture and memories of murder and mayhem, but now there was an abundance of light and life: Dancing, horses, and fun game nights. They morphed slowly, like a real life relationship: stolen glances were now met, touches lingered longer, and then there were the kisses. Many mornings Bucky woke up feeling the tingle left on his lips, making the dream feel much more real than it should have been. Steve reassured him that Wanda would not turn him down for a date, but Bucky wasn't so sure. Who would want a damaged man like him?

Months passed of everyone witnessing both of them pining after one another, Natasha and Clint had enough. They each sent a text, Natasha to Bucky, Clint to Wanda.

N: Need to talk. Can't over phone. Meet me at the cabin.

C: Natasha needs some help at the cabin. Meet us there.

When Wanda arrived, she thought she was early, not seeing Clint's truck or Natasha's car. She knew the door was open, like always (no one knew where the cabin was outside of Natasha's inner circle), so she walked in, her hands going to the pockets of her coat.

"They're not here."

The sudden voice of someone speaking had her jumping slightly, turning around to see Bucky sitting at the table, a piece of white paper between his fingers.

"When were you gonna tell me?" he asked, the corner of his mouth pulling up in a smirk.

"T-tell you what?" Wanda replied, her eyes shifting anywhere that wasn't his face as she chewed her bottom lip. She could hear the chair slide against the rough floor as his heavy steps approached her. Her heart hammered against her chest as his scent wafted towards her: woodsy, spicy, and oddly clean. He gripped her chin gently and turned her head so she was looking at him.

"That you liked me? At least that what the note from Natasha and Clint states."

Her eyes shifted to the paper he held up.

"Said that we both need to stop longing for each other and do something about it."

She looked at him with wide eyes, her mouth falling slightly.

"I-I didn't think you would want–"

"If you said something, I would have told you I've been dreaming about you for the last seven months."

"Dreaming about me?" she asked, shocked. "That's crazy, I've been having dreams of you too."

He gave her a smile, his hand moving to cup her cheek. "Did they happen to be about horses?" His chuckle made it seem like a joke, but it died in his throat when he saw her face grow serious.

"Horses? And a storm?"

He nodded, his thumb running along her cheek. "I don't care how or why, Wanda," he started, his other hand moving to her hip to keep her from backing up, "I like you, you like me. Obviously, Nat and Barton wanted us here alone for a reason."

She wanted to back away, wanted to use her magic to put space between them, but her mind went blank the second his lips ghosted against hers. Her hands left her pockets and buried her fingers into his chestnut hair, pulling him closer as she deepened the kiss. Every dream she had of him flashed in her head, and his moan made Wanda pull back slightly.

"I…I can't explain it–"

"Then don't," Bucky replied lowly, his fingers digging into her hip as the other slid to the back of her neck, pulling her into another steamy kiss.

#bbweek22 #buckybarnesweek2022 #any fandom goes bingo #bucky barnes #wanda maximoff #winterwitch #bucky barnes x wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x bucky barnes #bucky x wanda #wanda x bucky

[tomatograter]

Do you think Dirk saying that he doesn't like to label himself as gay means he has internalized homophobia? Or does he really just don't like to put labels on himself? I've seen ppl saying it's homophobia but there's ppl in real life that don't feel comfortable with labels so I'm a bit confused honestly, cus we are talking about Dirk and he's... Dirk after all

Easy answer: Dirk is Gay.

Prolonged answer: I think it's kinda weird how some fandom discussion around "Dirk dodging the label in One pesterlog" has largely spiraled way outside of its original context to be talked about in a vacuum, especially when that context is crucial to understanding what is actually being said, AKA — it belongs to a deeply awkward conversation between Dirk and Roxy. One of Many they are implied to have had about the subject of Roxy's sustained, unwelcome, and oft drunken advances towards Dirk (& his splinters).

I'm going to reproduce it plus another bit of text down below, for the sake of comparison.

(To prevent the trickster text from looking like absolute shit, I have altered the background. Read the original here, if you're nasty: https://www.homestuck.com/story/5754 )

Now that we've been reacquainted with how and where that sentiment is expressed, let's try to break down what Dirk is doing here.

He is not receptive to Roxy's early advances, and spends most of the 'intro' for this conversation (not pictured) ignoring when Roxy flirts with him, until she gets upset at how 'boring' he is being right now.

Dirk is the one compelled to apologize.

He proceeds to shut the scenario down as an unwanted probability, eliciting further guilt-babbling from Roxy over how Dirk never wants to play along with the perfect traditional family fantasy, until she finally blows up and says it's because he's gay.

"I mean, yeah, that's what I thought."

Dirk, rather than saying I Am Not Gay, since he looooooves changing a conversational subject, claims that "Gay" is not entirely historically appropriate for this situation, given the non-negligible passage of time and the wildly dystopic circumstances* they find themselves in.

Dirk reassures Roxy he does still care about her.

Dirk is absolutely terrified of a similarly inclined (and intoxicated) Roxy up close. This is the most exclamations he's ever used.

Now, *These circumstances? The loss of 99% of the human race, including their society, customs, culture, and prejudices. (ALLEGEDLY.) It's important to remember that from Dirk and Roxy's side of the timetable, troll culture has been pushed as "the norm" for actual fucking centuries. HIC tried to recreate the caste system by artificially coloring human blood, leading to the death of billions. Faygo came out of the water tap, not water. Troll slang was incorporated into the English language. Humans ceased to organically reproduce. They were actively Discouraged from reproducing, since that's not something HIC could have total genetic control over; rendering traditional marriage and the concept of the nuclear family pointless.

You could also argue that same-gender relationships are not uncommon in Alternia, making "gay" altogether unnecessary by proxy, and that's true! But my point is this one: any union (or at least our society's holy concept of it) between straightie humans would be by definition undesirable under HIC's rule, too. She is the church, the president and the governing body. The population is only as good as they are assets for her to do whatever she wants with, including mass murder.

But wait! While that tracks… Roxy clearly still holds onto very 'conservative' definitions of romance for most of Homestuck. We see this multiple times. Dirk, as proved in conversations with Jake, uses 'gay' as an ironic pejorative. Suddenly it's not Historically Inaccurate anymore, Jake's interests are just gay.

Does this mean the context above is basically worthless, since they don't seem to have internalized it? No.

What must be kept in mind is this: Dirk and Roxy's only "active" link to de facto humanity is our society as it was in the early 2010's. Those glimpses they get by talking with jane and jake. They have all that dystopic context, yes, but the reality that seems the most "unfucked" to them for a grand majority of their lives are the halcyon years before the Condesce's rise to power: back when weed was illegal, BlogSpot was popular, movies sucked, MTV was still a hip channel, and gay generally meant something real bad. The wave of homophobia as a punchline or fear mongering tactic was at THE HEIGHTS. Marriage equality was a hot debate topic. Those were the dayz.

Dirk is keenly aware of the taboo implication the word "Gay" as a self-denomination carries. He's no dummy. But he's rarely direct with his intentions either. He's slippery as a bar of soap. (He's never "straight about his feelings", if you prefer.) And for a guy that cares so much about his reputation and maintaining a curated sense of utter coolness, he wants to avoid outing himself as any sort of weirdo no matter the cost.

But that's not all. I think the gravity of just how much Dirk believes he *owes* Roxy simply for existing as the last human in the same timeframe as her is a severely underplayed aspect of Dirk's core character, together with how much he tries to avoid her sexual advances only to end up feeling like absolute shit over it, because — if they truly are the last people on god's blighted earth, isn't he being "selfish" and "irrational" about not feeling shit for Roxy, in the grand scale of things? Is Roxy not his only friend in tangible reality, even if he avoids the mere suggestion of visiting her? Even if she gets black-out drunk and tries to push him into indulging her, regardless of how many times he's already said no?

(Spend enough time here and you realize how it directly mirrors the jane/jake experience.)

Dirk cares a lot about each and every one of his friends.

He pointedly adapts his speech based on whichever one of them he's talking to in an effort to express that investment. May it be reassuring Jane, fooling around with Jake, or trying to prevent Roxy from falling into a total catatonic doom-spiral; he avoids telling them anything that would be too crushing to hear. That's not what he's trying to do here. Not to say that he isn't bitchy sometimes, but that’s far from the central thing he does. The Epilogues have retroactively led people to believe that Dirk abhors and despises every single person he's ever been close to before (god forbid) LIKING them, and I think buying too much into that assumption ignores the foundations of his canon text, as well as the central motivation behind 99% of his actions in the story. This is the guy that grew up on Friendship Is Magic, has a picture of rainbow dash shamefully glued to one wall and a rainbow poster of Jake's symbol stapled to another, and everything he does is a little cringe attempt to demonstrate his worth by showing how much he cares about people, even when he's punching his actual feelings down instead of up and saying them.

Which brings us back to the load-bearing part of this question: Admitting to Roxy that there is absolutely no fucking way he will ever agree to having her babbys because he is gay is precisely the opposite of what Dirk wants to say, if his intention isn't pulverizing her. So he doesn't. And his worry on this regard is such that it prevents Dirk from even telling Roxy that he does love her, in the platonic sense, as a friend and hell-earth survivor, because he knows that specificity is what that would disappoint her greatly. (He only ever confesses this to Jane, on the death slabs.)

But also I think this is a really funny visual of Dirk's relationship with the word gay, to put statements into perspective:

#homestuck #meta #dirk strider #roxy lalonde #dirkroxy #long post #janejake

[scandalsavagefanfic]

In your reaction to Nick Robles' Robins #2 pin-up cover you listed Jason having an autopsy scar as a sign that he cares about the character. I'm a relatively new fan of the him, so I wanted to ask why?

I haven't yet seen it in any comics and it doesn't make much sense to me. Both why he would still have the scar after both the Reality-Punch and the Lazarus Pit and why he would have had an autopsy (with a Y-incision no less) in the first place.

It seems to be something Robles consistently includes in his Jay pin-ups (and I'll admit it looks pretty hot in them), but is it actually rooted in canon?

I'm sorry, this is such an old ask though by far not the oldest in my inbox lol.

You're absolutely right that there's no canon precedent for the autopsy scar. 

I feel like Jason almost certainly had an autopsy. He officially died from asphyxiation from smoke inhalation. I know nothing about how and when they do autopsies but I feel like they need one to know that. Not to mention that to anyone who wasn't Batman or Joker, it appeared that Jason died alone, under very mysterious circumstances. His body was entirely broken in many ways that are inconsistent with an explosion, which he was also obviously in... I feel like doing an autopsy would have been a given to discover how this child who was so badly injured really died. Like I feel like it would have been a legal necessity. He didn't die in a hospital where things would have been documented.

The Reality-Punch obviously didn't entirely heal him. Employees of the hospital he ended up in after dragging himself out of his grave noted as much and Talia threw him in the Pit to heal his mind. Not to mention, how the Lazarus Pit works is so inconsistent throughout comics that it's basically a deus ex machina for whatever level of healing you need that sometimes comes with a side effect of madness and sometimes not. Some people headcanon that since scars are already healed wounds, the Pit wouldn't erase them, so if Jason had an autopsy, it would have had time to heal after he returned and before Talia put him in the Pit which wouldn't have necessarily washed it away.

So that's the canon.

The reason I said an autopsy scar indicates that he cares about the character is because its inclusion means that the person has considered how death might affect Jason after his resurrection, something DC does, at best, as an afterthought, if at all. And there are plenty of sections of fandom (and writers at DC) who think that being brutally murdered is something Jason should just shrug off. Partly because they consider death in comics meaningless unless it's their fav and aren't willing to consider the context of Jason's death, both in-universe and in comics history.

Of course, the inclusion of the autopsy scar isn't necessary to prove you care about the character. I personally don't headcanon he has one (I prefer the headcanon that the Pit washed away all of Jason's scars including the ones from being Robin that he was so very proud of and that the thin white line at his throat from Bruce's batarang in UtRH is one of his first new ones). But it can be a good shorthand for "I've thought about how this surreal trauma has affected this character and how meaningful that moment is for his development" which is more than a lot of people do, even at DC.

#Jason Todd #Nick Robles #pretty art #canon vs fanon #great question anon #sorry for the very late response

[ravenkinnie]

TW: Drugs, substance abuse, murder, violence, the Punisher

Another potentially unpopular opinion I've seen on here (and one that I'll actually rant about) is that, Jason is the only good vigilante in the Batfam because he kills people (think the direct quote is "unlike those other feckless bitches" and something like "when you get saved by Red Hood, you know that you'll never have to worry about getting attacked by the same person again". I don't know how to explain to people that killing the type of criminals Jason killed in canon is wrong and harmful (thinking about the 80 Blackgate prisoners he poisoned - hmm you know the American prison system is pretty fucked up i'm sure they all totally belonged there /s). Like. Jason killing the Joker is one thing, but he literally hasn't killed the Joker - Dick did that, Bruce tried to, but Jason hasn't. But like some people make it out like oh, Jason being a killer is fine because he only kills people that deserve it - who, tell me who he's killing? Sex offenders and drug dealers seems to be the most common reply. And I won't touch the sex offenders but drug dealers? Have you heard of the War on Drugs? Have you seen what happens when people in power decide it's okay to openly promote the killing of drug dealers? I don't understand why people think it's fine for Jason Todd to go around killing drug dealers, as if they don't have families, don't have other things that put them in a bad situation. There's a reason why cops in the US (idk if they do this elsewhere) use the Punisher skull as their emblem - and if you advocate for a Jason Todd that punishes criminals, don't be surprised when the right wing weaponizes him against minorities and the red hood helmet starts to get painted on cop cars.

I wrote a paper on the Norwegian prison system which rehabilitates and releases even the "worst" of criminals and just... I live in the US and it seems like we (specifically white people) have such little compassion for anyone who commits crime. Even after the War on Drugs, even after we learned it was a scam, people fall for the crime and punishment rhetoric time after time. Like I live in a suburb where people are so scared of drug dealers my mom literally called our neighbor because someone cut through our yard (and she thought he looked high or something idk). Which I get it, my cousin died from a fentanyl overdose, I understand you don't want that near your kids. But incarcerating or killing drug dealers is not the answer, and I can't stand it when people take that stance on Jason. You can try to explain the 8 drug dealer heads in a duffle bag any way you want, but at the end of the day, I think the batfamily fandom needs to be more careful addressing this issue because demonizing drugs/drug dealers/drug users is literally one of the ways the American government destroys black communities.

And to think, the Jason Todd stan that this opinion came from replied to me because I commented on how Jason likes to run around in Dick's old clothes - something that has absolutely no bearing on his morals, other than he's thrifty which is a good thing actually, something like 85% of clothes ends up in landfills. Sorry for the rant, you asked for it. Sorry if anyone who sees this likes Jason Todd and is offended, you're not bad for liking him, he has an interesting story, just please don't advocate for murdering common criminals, specifically drug dealers.

AAAHHH NOO BUT IVE SEEN SOME OF MY MOOTS DISCUSS THIS BEFORE

sorry it's late and fucking hot I don't have the most comprehensive reply dbdnhd and I do acknowledge that at the end of the day this is fiction but opinions real people hold come from SOMEWHERE - and I think we have a very ingrained belief that crime/bad deed has to be punished and that there are good and evil people and good people only do bad things when influenced by evil people which is exactly the core of jason's belief - and that's interesting for a batfam character, a former robin!! I like when him and bruce are contrasted based on ethics but I don't like when it's meant to show that jason is right and bruce is wrong

batman is an extremely popular and fascinating character because at his core lies the idea that systems that are in place to 'protect' people are corrupt and it's down to individuals who can do something to go against them and look out for others - that's something that will resonate with people even if irl solution can't be to dress up as a bat and beat tf outta people shdhhshs

I have two points to make here:

a) I'm straight up a fucking anarchist who lives in the woods, thinks aliens are listening, and doesn't trust the government but I don't believe systems are corrupt, I believe they operate the way they are meant to operate to punish and control the populations that the system needs to be controlled to keep up the status quo - war on drugs is such a good example for that. drug dealer also exists as this boogeyman, this idea of an evil person waiting to corrupt and destroy the good people but the fact is: people don't get addicted to drugs bc drug dealers exist, people get addicted to drugs because something, not someone, compels them to do drugs, because something (literal us gov) introduced drugs to their communities and drug dealers are just tiny pawns in that game. additionally, many dealers are addicts themselves who got roped into selling to pay for their own use or who got pushed into the margins of society so much that drug trade is the only way to survive they can find

there are like, whole papers and books and thesis done on this so I'm not gonna act like I can analyse it in a tumblr post dhshsjsj but yeah people who think jason is right usually show this weird superiority of 'oh batman doesnt get how to fix gotham like jason does' and like... no, jason gets played like a fiddle by the system the way people he kills do, and whatever he does will always just hit the other pawns and never reach those actually at the top, those who are profitting from finding scapegoats

and like, batman comics don't have to address that bc it's comics, you can write small lmao but don't argue that jason is somehow more enlightened than bruce for killing

b) this brings a question of, if we decide that there has to be punishment for every crime, who gets to decide what punishment is right for what crime? cause there's not a single person who's infallible enough to dictate what the best approach is in every situation

and batman works best as a traumatised man who's loves his city sm he tries to work however he can to protect people from corrupt systems and offer them second chances wherever he can bc that's who batman is at his core - batman is not a punisher he is a protector and he should never be pushed into a role of the punisher bc he's not edgy enough

also bitches are so hard acting like they would kill every villain cause rip to batman but I'm different, y'all are too scared to tell the waitress your order is wrong shut the fuck up lmao the closest any of y'all have been to being batman is getting your ass beat behind the club on a saturday by brenda in her boohoo jumpsuit

#asks #drugs tw #long post

[symptoms-syndrome]

What is your opinion on the movie Split, if you have seen it, with regards to how it depicts DID? Because like I feel like someone with DID would be offended but at the same time don’t KNOW whether they actually would be? Like when I see anti-asexual or anti-Irish sentiment and think “Hmm. Well that is certainly offensive from an objective viewpoint, but am I personally offended?” I do feel like if the twist behind the ‘Beast’ alter being superhuman was that he had been bitten by a werewolf, because there were so many hints towards him being a werewolf and the whole backstory they gave the protagonist about being a hunter, I feel like it would have suited the story better and avoided the ‘all people with DID are evil’ trope. Am I saying this right?

I honestly don't give a shit about it's depiction of DID if I'm being 100% honest. It didn't bring anything new to the table or introduce anything that hasn't been said or in the public consciousnesses. While I definitely don't think depictions like that do anything good for DID, I don't think they have the same level of impact that people act like they do.

I can't imagine any scenario in which someone would watch a movie like Split and think "yeah that's probably how DID works," like if I disclosed my diagnosis to someone and they thought I could climb up walls or whatever that would give me more concerns than "wow that's an offensive idea of DID."

Counter to that, I personally find some depictions of DID made by people with DID (or supposedly with DID) more offensive than Split. Things like TikTok or YouTube videos where alters are all super defined, switches are clear, all the parts are fun and cute and it's just presented as "LOL fun people in my head! Watch different alters react to flaming hot Cheetos!" Or "informational" posts about "how to react to someone with DID" that say things like "ask who's fronting! Don't act entitled to niceness from all alters! Give stuffies to littles!" are for me, far more offensive mostly due to them being more, IDK, realistic? Or grounded or believable. Like someone is more likely to believe I want to be greeted by part name all the time than they are to believe I have an alter that can bend steel bars. Maybe that's that person's experience, but they're often framed more as a "universal" experience with DID, which is worse than smth like Split, or even smth like that documentary about that murderer with DID, because both of those are sort of like. About one specific person more than they are about DID on a whole I guess? Or present themself as such.

I did think it was a shitty movie just from a movie standpoint LMAO. It was just kinda boring.

But also when it comes to media in general I think people do put a lot of undue weight on it, sorta putting the cart before the horse and focusing on the wrong things. Like I honestly rly enjoy United States of Tara even tho it's like, in my experience not really accurate at all to my experience with DID or a lot of people I know. It's entertaining, and IMO that's the main like, priority with media. And like, re:cart before the horse, it's almost like acting like Sixteen Candles' depiction of an Asian man is why those stereotypes exist, as opposed to that depiction being a reflection of already-existing racist ideas.

I also really love Fight Club, even though it (if you look at it through the Tumblr-typical very narrow lens and strip all nuance from it) could be said to fit some offensive stereotypes I guess. It's to date one of the best depictions of dissociation and confusion about time loss stuff I've found describing my experience. I related to it really hard NGL.

I guess the TLDR here is that I think there's a diff between "offensive" and "inaccurate" as well as a difference between smth being offensive in a hypothetical way as opposed to offensive in a way that like. Actually matters. I think people get really caught up in media stuff bc they have Tumblr fandom discourse disease and it's an easy thing to be like "that bad" as opposed to things more nuanced.

#tempted fo put this in ghe tags LMAO #i am also a little tipsy disclaimer #and also I know this would make 15 year olds argue w me and i hate that and dontt wanna deal w that today #asks #TLDR tiktok DID has effected me more and worse than Split DID #i do love talking sbt this shit tho bc im Salty™ #in a way specifically working in IRL SJ spaces makes u i think

[wickedpact]

A ranking of all the TTT stories in order of how much I liked them.

(Oh god this is so long)

1 My Mother's Axe

BABY ANDYYYYYYYYYYYY. Honestly this one had the trifecta of developing a character's motivations, developing a character's backstory, & developing their personality. The story starting out with Andy teaching Nile to use the axe was so charming and fun, and you could feel that chemistry they had in Opening Fire, the way they teased and bickered with each other so naturally. I loved the wedge between them on the subject of the axe, how Nile was perhaps a little too young to understand Andy's feelings about whether or not its the 'same' axe. I also love how the axe is obviously the symbol of the franchise and hugely important, but you never get a sense of exactly how important it is to Andy until you read the story.

I love the entire Ship of Theseus theme, and how it feels so natural that for Andy she has to get attached to the idea of things rather than the things themselves because she'll always outlive the things themselves-- the axe is symbolically her mom's axe, even if physically it isn't. And I love how she clearly clings to that concept so tightly. "This is the labrys she held in her hands...." IT GETS ME.

And the fact that this sense of BELONGING, of FAMILY, of CULTURE is so important to Andy that she clings to it (figuratively and literally) with both hands. And of course it's important to her, she spent so long alone that the woman doesn't even remember her birth name. That axe (or the idea of that axe) is all she has left of her mother and that family/culture she was born into.

PLUS on that note I love how Andy doesn't remember if her mom was her actual biological mother, but it doesn't matter to her. This woman was her mother in all the ways that counted. And how her mom BETRAYED AND KILLED Andy but Andy loved her so much that she avenged her and carried her axe for thousands of years. THOUSANDS OF YEARS!!!!!!

I also loved how the story transcends the timeline of the whole franchise and seeing Andy through the years. Loved seeing her with the varying squads and with varying axes. Also baby Andy was so cute. It was cool seeing her so young. like holy fuck. Andromache The Scythian, Immortal Warrior (but smol). Love that.

Also I think this one is one of the few ttt stories that doesn't suffer from length problems.

tldr: goddammit greg you've done it again.

2 Zanzibar and Other Harbors

Zanzibar my beloved. I've said before, but it's downright comedic how little regard there was for Joe and Nicky's character designs in this story. The same person who does the colors for the regular comic did the colors for this one too, and you can tell, every panel of this story was Beautiful.

Ik there was A Lot of criticism of this one (lmao @ how the fandom had no idea what was to come) but I thought a lot of The Discourse was a bit dramatic. I did think Nicky came off as a little oblivious to Joe's feelings in this story, but I've said before, I honestly think that was a 'tone not translating' thing. It felt like Nicky was nagging Joe for [checks notes] saving innocent people, but Joe was so amused by Nicky's complaints I really do think it was supposed to come off as teasing.

Plus I know the 'Joe running off into danger and Nicky reluctantly following' dynamic wasn't popular (I'm a pretty meh on it meself) but I did love how Joe's impulsiveness (if you want to call it that) was interpreted as heroism and not hot-hotheadedness. All of the examples Nicky and Joe talked about included Joe explicitly saving people. (and it also took A Lot for the nazi to actually provoke Joe).

I also feel like their characterization here was closest to the movie canon-- the bit where they hear the woman scream and Joe goes running in to save her while Nicky swoops in on Joe's heels to comfort her while Joe and the nazi were fighting reminds me of the train car scene. Joe had suggested First that they go find Nile because she needed to be protected, and Nicky later added that Nile probably also needed emotional support. Similar reactions.

But it was So Good, the themes of queer community and the enduring nature of queer culture are Not themes you see in media that often and it was such a delight how it was done. Also it's one of the few more modern TTT stories that has a completely valid excuse for taking place when it did. Chef's kiss.

3 Passchendaele

I love the Duality between seeing baby Andy and then seeing Mama Andy in the very next issue. This story doesn't have a ton of meat to it, but the entire concept of Andy adopting a war orphan straight off the battlefield PLUCKS MY TENDER LITTLE HEARTSTRINGS, and I think it's especially poignant for comic!Andy. I think most people wouldn't think twice about movie!Andy doing something like that but comic Andy is so hardened and almost cruel sometimes, and seeing that even for her the world hasn't beaten all of the compassion from her yet is SO!!!!!!! this woman contains MULTITUDES okay, she's violent and angry and tired and Done but she's also so kind and compassionate and THE STRENGTH OF HER!!!!! Also the idea of her and Yitzhak co-raising a kid together is so damn cute. It was #mysterious pre-Yitzhak-story but now it's cute. holy fuck. It's cute.

& the headbonk panel of her and Zeus lives in my heart. anyways.

4 Many Happy Returns

I Know people weren't thrilled about Booker being in this one, but I've developed a pet-peeve about that: this story was *not* booker-centric. Booker only exists in this story to the extent required to explain the importance of the gesture Nile makes towards him. If there was a story about Booker making some grand gesture of kindness to Nile no one would be saying it was Nile-centric. bc it wouldn't be! Booker exists in this story to explore Nile's kindness, its not about him. I saw that a couple times and it bothered me. anyways.

AAAAAAAAAA I loved this one, the art was beautiful, I loved how Andy Nile and Booker were drawn (like their comic selves but.. more looking like actual people). I loved Andy and Nile's Bants, how Andy wanted to jump right in and Do Violence but Nile was basically telling her to hold her horses.

I feel like I'm just repeating the post I made on this story a few days ago, but I LOVED how Nile's plan revolves not around violence or Cool Mercenary Skills but on Nile's own life skills (as she canonly did a lot of minimum wage job-hopping before the marines in comics canon). Her plan used her skills, not the skills of an immortal warrior, and HER SKILLS were in fact more useful for the situation! lov to see Nile's resourcefulness and planning skills.

AND HOW NILE WAS PROBABLY WATCHING BOOKER??? it's so Much bc 1.) nile knew booker A SINGLE DAY and yet he made such an impression on her emotionally that she had to keep an eye on him and 2.) she said in the movie she wanted Booker to get off free with an apology. Yes she's a member of the team but that doesn't mean she's necessarily going to follow orders like a good little soldier. I also love how she convinced Andy to go along with it. her HEART, her KINDNESS, her THOUGHTFULNESS, UGH.

5 The Bear

Honestly I have like no negative things to say about this one other than a.) character design issues which is less about the story itself and is more of a 'tog comic in general' criticism and b.) too short, but it was supposed to be a tease, so.

But I loved Yitzhak, I wasn't expecting to really like him at all but like I said in my other post, he tickled me. I love characters who are Kind™, especially if they have little reason to be so given their backgrounds. Chef's kiss. Lov him.

6 Bonsai Shokunin

I know this one was a little controversial bc of the outsider POV but whenever I see people upset about that they never point out that the Outsider Guy (the samurai) existed as a reflection on Noriko. His ideas are explained in the text to develop hers. The whole story follows how she gave mercy to a scared young man and in response he murdered Noriko, repeatedly! Who gave him the right to inflict such pain and suffering on the world? In his opinion, the lack of response from the gods was his permission. And for Noriko-- over and over again she dies and suffers because she gave mercy, which lines up with her ideas in FM about how it's their fate to rule mortals and if they don't align with that plan/fate/whatever then they suffer. It shows some background to those ideas and how they developed in her mind outside of Ocean Madness™. Additionally, his idea of 'the Gods have done nothing to strike me down so it's fine if I do these things' kind of explains how Noriko may justify her own morally corrupt actions-- she's died so many times and it's never stuck. Maybe if she did die any of those times, or while she was in the water, maybe that would've been a sign she was doing something right, or at least doing something normal. But she hasn't died. Fate isn't done with Noriko yet. And maybe there's a reason for that. In her mind, it's just not a very pleasant reason, is all.

There were things I was kind of meh about tho. I did kind of wish we saw something of Noriko and the team, or smth explaining the way she was before her dip in the pool-- personality, likes dislikes, etc. but it wasn't bad or anything. It was super vague tho, I had to read it a few times before I got what it was going for. Liked the art. Liked the bonsai metaphor. And of course I Respect the decision to use the 1300s (1200s? I don't remember off the top of my head) rather than using the last 200 years.

7 Strong Medicine

Honestly looking back, this one made me kind of sad because both this one and Bonsai Shokunin explored character's ideas on Fate and The Divine and how that intersects with immortality and I totally thought that theme would be continued, especially with Love Letters. But Then It Wasn't™.

Admittedly.... I had to re-read this one to remember most of it. I liked Booker's ideas on God, 'The conductor of the symphony just may not be very good at his trade' but the plot itself was kind of forgettable. Some fuckin cowboys try to kill a doctor (their second) because he couldn't save their sickly brother. Book tries to stop them, gets killed, and then comes back and kills them all before they get the doctor. Alright. I liked the artstyle because the characters were ugly in a similar way that leandro's are, but way more bearable.

I love the Irony of Booker concluding that there is no such thing as fate or destiny and nothing has meaning, AS HE UNKNOWINGLY SAVES MERRICK'S GRANDFATHER FROM BEING KILLED. Booker getting fucked over by life/god/destiny yet again. It also kind of explains about where the fuck hell Merrick's interest in immortal mercenaries even came from.

I originally had this one a lot higher and then I thought about it and moved it down like two spots.

8 Never Gets Old

I liked seeing Booker interact with his kid. And we got a name for the kid! Philippe was a little bitch though, he was a little obnoxious. I liked how Booker was so thrilled to experience a restaurant with his kid (and since we know he was there before, it can be assumed he went with all of his kids and yet he was so charmed each time). It fits with his line to Nicky in the moon landing story about how you don't appreciate beautiful things 'unless you have someone to share them with'. It was charming to see Booker interact with his kid, and to see him so happy. Also lmao @ Booker's big fat Ye Olde Crush on Andy.

However at the same time it was like.. of all the things to write about,,, I guess? Booker's Night Out...... alright. Especially since Book had so many stories.

I don't know, it was alright. The old man killing him really came out of nowhere, (but the 'Salut, asshole!' panel was funny tho).

9 How To Make a Ghost Town

I've hit a point where talking about these stories has gotten less fun. I liked this one but I felt like Achilles getting lynched was not really necessary for a story that was already tragic (a story that already involved Achilles doing a lot of suffering at the hand of bigots). When we first got the blurb for this story I thought it would be about Andy returning to the squad and making friends with Booker after losing Achilles and them butting heads on the idea of family and when to cut off ties. So a little bit of my underwhelmedness about this one might be just my expectations being different.

Honestly I was pretty interested in Andy and Achilles' relationship and I would've liked to see more of them-- like, what was their dynamic like? What did they love about each other?

But anyways Andy leaving and Achilles getting killed anyways feels so pointlessly tragic (which I suppose is the point..... I don't like tragedies) she left to save him and yet people killed him anyway. Meh.

I did love the bits about Andy wanting to have a domestic life (Andy and her multitudes again) and the little detail about how she buried her axe near the road but he buried his guns under his bed-- he was an escaped slave, he never had the luxury of assuredness like Andy did. It was a sad story.

10 Lacus Solitudinis

'You put this one above love letters crim??? how could you???' easy, lmao.

There was stuff in this one I liked. But to talk about stuff I didn't like: (I'll keep it brief, I know ragging on this story has been done time and time again)

UH, setting aside the 6 year cold shoulder between Joe and Nicky, I thought their chosen method of conflict resolution was... bad at best. Nicky's inability to talk about his feelings was also annoying, especially since the entire point of this story is a fight Joe and Nicky had, and yet we don't get both sides to the story, which is...... important? That fact is especially annoying bc in the absence of Nicky explaining his side of the story, it's absolutely a possible (and admittedly probably unintentional) interpretation of the text that we do get that Joe routinely resolves conflict between him and Nicky by simply cutting Nicky out of his life entirely until Nicky just. caves? Even if it takes years?

WHICH i could get into that interpretation and how fucked up i find it. but im not going to. out of restraint.

I don't know, I think there are a lot of interesting ways to go about this conflict but 'Nicky wants to kill a guy and Joe refuses to acknowledge his existence until he stops because he thinks Nicky is too much of a Good Boy to get his hands dirty like that' ('I wont watch as the world turns his (...) compassion into something ugly'. ) wasn't.. how I would've done it. (I mean you know Joe doesn't give a shit about what Nicky is doing in a moral way, because Joe doesn't even care or mention that Booker is killing those cops too. Joe only cares because he doesn't like the idea of Nicky changing in a way he finds undesirable.)

admittedly I've said before, I do like the emphasis Joe's reaction puts on Nicky's kindness. Joe has a complete inability to cope with Nicky simply Not Being Kind. It speaks to the steadiness of Nicky's compassion all those years. but still that fact doesn't make it the conflict feel worth it

hm. I said I would be brief and I wasn't.

oh well. basically I thought there was interesting conflict potential there but it wasn't done the way I would've liked, and the way it was done leaves a lot of disturbing (and again probably unintended) interpretations to lie.

What I did like? Andy and Joe having that pessimist/optimist dynamic. Joe nerding out about science. Andy not being impressed by The Achievements Of Man. I loved Booker needling at Nicky about his outdated slang and also trying to give him Older Brother advice practically in the same breath. I loved Booker giving The Worst relationship advice ever and Nicky being like 'I Will Not Do That, Ever, Thanks.' the family vibes were so good. The Joenicky vibes left a lot to be desired tho.

11 Love Letters

I talked about my problems with Nicky in this story (and Lacus Solitudinis). I don't know, the story isn't bad but I do hold a little bit of a grudge towards it because its very existence begs the existence of a solo Joe story and we didn't get one. If we never got this story, then we could happily count Lacus Solitudinis and Zanzibar as The Joenicky Stories™ and move on with our lives. sigh.

I remember when we first got the blurb for this story I was really curious about why Nicky specifically + the setting, and the answer kind of feels like 'the author had an idea for a story like this and saw ttt as a good enough place to utilize that idea'. Plus I was really underwhelmed by the Romantic Sentiment in the letter. If you look at it line-by-line, the majority of the letter is actually Nicky talking about how lonely and disturbed he is, rather than actual,, yknow,,, Romantic Sentiment. I mean, compare the van speech and this letter and this letter is just kind of meh in comparison. I liked nicky calling joe wise! and I liked the brief sun/moon metaphor! and otherwise it was eh. It didn't even have cute squad banter, which is why Lacus Solitudinis is above this one.

12 An Old Soul

Nun orgy. Nun orgy?????? Nun orgy.......

The whole story felt like a setup to have a nun orgy. Why did Booker have abs? Why did they do that to Andy's nose? ?????? the art was good at least.

nun orgy.

#tales through time spoilers #obviously #long post #seriously dont open that read more unless youre committed to scrolling past all these Words

[madara-fate]

"I'm not gonna say one side is better than the other. All I can comment on are my experiences on the matter, and for me, the Sasuke mischaracterisation in the SS fandom has been far more prevalent, and was the primary reason I stopped reading fan fics years ago (at least not from people I don't know and trust). Now obviously, I'm not about to use my personal experiences to indicate what the general trend is, but it was enough for me to have a rather firm perspective. "

I can understand your side. I've never liked the mischaracterization of both characters within the fandom and it is the main reason why I usually don't read ss fanfictions, neither get excited about them overall. But I find absolutely gross how these kind of Sasuke stans villanize the whole fandom or make stupid claims like "SS fandom don't care about Sasuke", "All they care is Sakura being shipped with hot guys" or attacking Sakura and her fans because in x ss fanfiction Sasuke is treated badly. I never seen this type of energy when Sakura is portrayed being cheated on, abused and despised by Sasuke in popular ss stories, neither I or another Sakura fans who dislike this mistreatment and also support the couple started to shit on Sasuke because of it. But it's exactly what these specific Sasuke stans do with Sakura, this is why I talked about the "weird sense of entitlement" in my first ask. I also dislike how some of them started this conspiracy against the whole ss fans "not caring about Sasuke" using for example, how he's treated badly in a lot of ss stories or how part of the fandom defend her more. The first case also apply to Sakura. There are many stories where she's portrayed really badly, some of these stories aren't even written by genuine SS fans(yes, some writers just use their popularity to get a better audience), there are fans that know more about the common tropes about their writing in fanfictions than their canon selfs, there are some fans who do not understand both characters, etc.

Second topic, it's true that nowadays Sakura receives more attention of the fandom... But instead of these Sasuke stans treat it as a conspiracy, why don't they put 1+1 together and talk about the far more hate she and her fans get? I don't see (at least, not often) Sasuke fans being harassed because they create stuff about him (fanarts, cosplays, a simple post in a Twitter, etc) but it happen to Sakura and her fans in a daily basis. It's absurd considering the fact that she isn't real, but we can't make a post without these haters pop-up from nowhere with very nasty comments, some of which are death/r*pe threats. I was part of the Naruto Fandom years ago and these people even dedicated fanarts of Sakura being brutally murdered by different characters or being r*ped. They call the fanbase toxic now because most of the fans stopped endure the years of harassment in silence and started to give them the same energy (even though I won't deny the fact that Sakura fanbase has a lot of shit people, like any other fandom has their bad apples) but still, they don't care when her fans have been attacked with racist/sexist slurs over a decade.

Another observation toward this topic: Sasuke, despite being unfairly hated and misunderstood by big portion of the Western fandom, also has one of the biggest fanbase and is loved in Western. It's impossible compare the kind of hate they both get and we can't forget that even some of the bash he gets is just another way of bashing Sakura (the same goes to Sarada).

To finish this long ass ask (sorry for this), I was really bothered by these kind of attitude from these said stans, considering how these same people act exactly the way - or worse - they are complaining about. I wish you a nice day. 😊

Well, I've made my perspective on the matter clear, and I'm going to stick with it. I can understand the frustration you feel towards these extremists Sasuke fans whose behaviour leaves a lot to be desired, but I still very much believe that the Sasuke mischaracteristion within the SS fandom is on a much greater scale. That's not to say that I think those Sasuke fans are in any way better, but it's just a trend that I've noticed regarding the mischaracterisation specifically.

#Sasuke Uchiha #Sakura Haruno #sasusaku

[gascon-en-exil]

Who Can Say if I've Been Changed For the Better?: Ferdibert Does Wicked

This concept has been a bit in building. It started from a much-loved cover by Hubert and Ferdinand’s VAs inspired by their support line and the broad observation that these two are a musicals couple who absolutely would sing their feelings in all manner of theatrical AUs. It continued through my later observation that there’s ample material to carry that idea even further, albeit with a shift outside of Crimson Flower for a better tonal match. Still, I’m not quite sure what to call this project; it’s not really a headcanon nor is it fanfic by any means. I’ve written a handful of longform character/narrative explorations before, although when it comes to FE I’ve previously been inspired to do so only for Jugdral characters. That setting is somehow both underdeveloped and deceptively dense - and I suppose in a way you could say the same of Three Houses as well, insofar as it’s been incredibly popular for fan content of all sorts.

Regardless of what this post is in terms of my fandom output, the following isn’t exactly a Wicked AU as such. Rather, it’s how I would envision a hypothetical blend of the non-CF routes of FE16 centering around the Eagles trio and set to the structure and songs of the musical as organically as possible. There are no 1:1 analogues with characters and plotlines from Wicked, because few if any would exist without a lot of tweaking; to use the VA cover example, Ferdinand might be a decent proxy for G(a)linda, but the mere presence of Edelgard substantially complicates Hubert’s claim to the Elphaba role. The similarities only unravel further from there, but I did my best.

Writing this out gave me the opportunity to play around with Edelgard’s character as a way of addressing what I and many others in my circle have long considered to be some of the major problems with her canon presentation. For Ferdibert meanwhile I got to make use of my headcanons for how their relationship would develop outside of their support line, in a way that mostly preserves Hubert’s delightful evil wickedness. Add some ruminations on how one would splice together the non-CF routes in a dramatically satisfying fashion, some snark directed at the non-character of Byleth, and a bit of background Dimidue/Lions OT5 for spice and that just about sums it up. Enjoy this…whatever this is.

Act I

“No One Mourns the Wicked”

The show opens on the citizens of Adrestia celebrating the death of their emperor and the end of her bloody war. Ferdinand rides in, resplendent on his steed, and is hailed as the new Duke Aegir as he relates to the crowd the news of Edelgard’s death at the hands of the combined army of liberators. The “Are people born wicked?” flashback sequence is replaced with a summary mostly in pantomime of Edelgard’s backstory: the Insurrection, her being taken to Faerghus and then returning, and then being experimented on by the Agarthans before agreeing to work with them. Notably Hubert is not named or referenced anywhere in this song, appearing only as a boy at Edelgard’s side at appropriate times during the flashback.

“Dear Old Shiz”

Someone in the crowd finally brings up Hubert, the emperor’s vile and murderous minister, and accuses Ferdinand of having been his friend. With Ferdinand even more flustered than Glinda since his “It depends on what you mean by friend” definitely carries sexual undertones, so begins the flashback to Part 1. There’s an equivalent intro of Garreg Mach, so one may feel free to insert any headcanons for school songs here. The following dialogue scene establishes the student body in general and the dynamic of the Eagles trio in particular: Ferdinand pompous and eager to one-up Edelgard at any opportunity, and Edelgard and Hubert cold and dismissive toward his antics and just about everyone else for that matter. Edelgard is instantly enamored of the quiet new professor, of course. Because the room assignment conflict doesn’t make a lot of sense with the monastery’s setup, instead Ferdinand is incensed that Edelgard is chosen as the Eagles’ house leader over him even though it’s been ages since a Hresvelg has attended. Neither Nessarose nor Morrible has an exact equivalent (although Seteth can act in Morrible’s role as the academy’s main authority figure), so the segue into the next song ends there.

“The Wizard and I”

Now alone together, Edelgard and Hubert have a brief dialogue outlining their villainous plans for the school year. This establishes Hubert’s hypercompetency but also how detached and professional Edelgard is around him. Then comes the song, now “My Lady and I,” which serves as Hubert’s character introduction. In tones more sinister than Elphaba ever reaches - you know he’d have fun with “When people see me they will scream” - he outlines his history with his lady, that he delights in serving her because she validates his work ethic and gives him an outlet for his ruthlessness and cruelty. Where Elphaba fantasizes about the Wizard removing her green skin, Hubert instead goes full Nice Guy, believing that once he’s given Edelgard her continental empire and crushed all her enemies she’ll be so grateful that of course she’ll put out for him.

“What Is This Feeling?”

You could rip the tone of this one directly from the Ferdibert C support and change nothing - homoerotic subtext included. I like the thought of Hubert replacing Elphaba’s deadpan one-word summation of Galinda with a mocking imitation of Ferdinand's most memetic line: "He is Ferdinand von Aegir!". The chorus can be made up of any number of other students excluding Edelgard, who’d happily agree that Hubert is ugly, creepy, and downright unpleasant.

“Something Bad”

The content of this song and surrounding scenes would have to be completely altered, but they work as a necessary reminder that the plot of Part 1 is still going on in the background of all the school drama. Seteth runs through the major events up to Chapter 9 of the game, including the bandit threat, Flayn’s kidnapping, and the experiments on the Remire villagers. The audience/accompaniment for this exposition dump ought to be Dimitri and Claude with Byleth as a silent observer (more on them later), with Edelgard brushing off the news and eventually being the one to shut down the song as Morrible does. There could be some small side character moments in here as well particularly involving the Lions and Deer since they get so little focus in this story.

“Dancing Through Life”

Speaking of which, this was an awkward sequence to place. It matches up chronologically with the ball in Chapter 9 and the main part, Fiyero’s, is a dead ringer for Sylvain and his flirty, hedonistic nihilism (“Nothing matters / but knowing nothing matters!”), but it’s hard to tie into what’s going on with the Eagles trio particularly with the Ferdibert timeframe preserved, i.e. unlike Elphaba and Galinda they don’t become closer until after the timeskip.

As such I see this song as an opportunity for little vignettes with the other students: Dimitri angry over how Dedue’s talked about and hoping they can share a dance (fitting contrast with the coldness of Edelbert), Felix prickly between Dimitri’s recent outbursts and Sylvain’s showboating, Claude hinting toward the bigger picture with Hilda flitting between her excitement over the dance and knowing more than she's letting on, Dorothea casually taking note of Edelgard’s fascination with Byleth (see just below), Bernadetta as a wallflower who doesn’t want to be disturbed (a setup for Act II), etc. Thanks to one of the Forging Bonds events in Heroes I had the thought that the "You/we deserve each other" through line that later gets attached to Nessarose can become one for Dimitri's relationships, with Felix initially throwing it out at him and Dedue and the two of them then turning "We deserve each other" into a romantic line...and then an ironic one and finally a triumphant one come Act II, by that point with Felix et al included as well.

I’m not sure that the following scene of Galinda and Elphaba bonding on the dance floor really needs an equivalent, although it could be altered to something Edeleth-related. In any case Ferdinand ought to get a dance scene of some nature, so he can try to show up Edelgard as he brags about in canon.

“Popular”

It would be a travesty to have a musical starring FE16’s cast and not give Dorothea and/or Manuela a solo. This song works quite well for the former, and it doesn’t intrude on the Ferdibert development with the aforementioned timeframe and how the lightly sapphic vibe doesn’t translate well to two guys. Dorothea has taken note of her good friend Edie’s crush on their mysteriously wooden professor, and she senses the opportunity for a makeover. Not as exaggerated as Dorothea trying to make over Hubert, naturally, but I still think this works out well. Also, Galinda’s observation on leaders, “Did they have brains or knowledge? / Don’t make me laugh! They were popular!”, is darkly comedic when said to Edelgard.

“I’m Not That Girl”

This song comes with preceding dialogue scenes for setup, so those first. Edelgard emerges fresh from her makeover (given her general hot for teacher fixation, I’m thinking she’d lean pretty hard on the naughty schoolgirl look) to Byleth silently grieving Jeralt’s death - bad timing there. She’s as callous about it as she is in canon, only now with more clumsy flirting, and while it’s impossible as always to tell if Byleth notices or cares Hubert most certainly does. The scene segues into the Eagles trio together, with Edelgard alluding to the upcoming events in the Sealed Forest and indicating that Hubert should meet up with her later for some more villainous scheming after he’s ditched Ferdinand. Ferdinand, indignant about being left out of the loop as he is in canon, grumpily points out that he was a much more splendid dancer at the ball than Edelgard, makeover or not. To his utter surprise, Hubert acknowledges that this is true before leaving. This leads into the actual song, altered from homoerotic via triangulation of desire to an outright sexual awakening for Ferdinand. He realizes that part of his jealousy toward Edelgard is that he wishes Hubert were devoted to him instead, and tells himself not to get his hopes up because he’s, well, not that girl or even a girl. We shall of course leave aside how anyone could be attracted to someone as repulsive as Hubert; that’s part of the inherent comedy of this pairing.

“One Short Day”

This was the hardest song to place in this whole project. The touristy trip to the Emerald City just doesn’t have an analogue in the story of Three Houses, especially not late in Part 1 when tension is mounting toward the upcoming reveal and war. It took me a while to realize that it works wonderfully as an Edeleth piece: Edelgard invites Byleth to Enbarr for her coronation, but that scene is left offscreen in favor of a light romp through the city that further highlights Edelgard’s crush as well as her emotional immaturity in spite of everything she’s about to do. She just wants to have a fun day out and take in the sights and eat sweets with her beloved teacher, and it’s all very “Edge of Dawn”-esque where Edelgard knows she’s about to do terrible things that will change everything forever and hopes to prolong the time until she has to take that step. Adjustments to the lyrics could even work in reference to that song to make the similarities more apparent. An awkward/funny issue here is that I envision Byleth to be totally silent throughout this musical with no sung or spoken parts, which would naturally make them having a duet impossible and make Edelgard’s fascination with them even weirder. Even their gender should be left ambiguous throughout, somehow never confirmed if it’s m!Byleth or f!Byleth. It would take a lot of reworking, but I can see the value in it.

“A Sentimental Man”

The core of the Wizard’s character is not all that different from Rhea’s. Both were thrust unexpectedly into positions of authority that required them to enact a large-scale deception to maintain their power/safety, and both are driven somewhat by parental feelings. The tone of the Wizard’s songs doesn’t align well with Rhea, but once you cut out the vaudeville and do some rewording I could see this one working as Rhea addressing her child (among other things) Byleth at the Holy Tomb just before the Flame Emperor reveal. Of course the dramatic irony hits differently; Rhea knows who and what Byleth is whereas the Wizard doesn’t learn about Elphaba until the end of the show. Nonetheless this would still establish Rhea’s character and motivations as well as set the stage for the impending betrayal.

“Defying Gravity”

Said betrayal being Byleth’s, who decides to stand by Rhea and condemn Edelgard as the Flame Emperor when she arrives with her army. This is another song in parts that would need to be broken up. Edelgard gets the bulk of it, but the middle sections between Elphaba and Glinda could work as a kind of separated duet with Edelgard and Hubert attempting to convince Byleth and Ferdinand respectively to join them. Because of Byleth’s silence only Ferdinand can reply in song; only he and Edelgard add the “my friend” bit to the end of this segment, to illustrate the unevenness of Edeleth and Ferdibert at this point in the story. Then things turn to full bombast, albeit darker than in Wicked proper. Edelgard does the belting, Hubert’s sinister laughter reverberates below her (would it be too tasteless for him to be leering up her skirt the whole time?), Ferdinand has Glinda’s mournful “I hope you’re happy!” toward Hubert, and through this and the reprise of “No One Mourns the Wicked” the major events of the timeskip are enacted in pantomime or silhouette. Byleth tumbles off a cliff, Rhea is taken captive as is Dimitri but Dedue rushes after him, and Claude makes a tactical retreat. Side note: “And if I’m flying solo, / at least I’m flying free” is classic Edelgard fixating on Byleth and forgetting that Hubert exists.

Act II

“Thank Goodness”

A surprisingly tough one here. The core of the song, pivoting around the double meaning of “I couldn’t be happier,” suits early Part 2 Ferdinand perfectly, second-guessing his choice and, outside of CF, melancholy about fighting his homeland. In terms of plot it’s an easy translation too, with the crowd announcing the terrible things the Empire has been doing to win its war - persecuting believers, abducting civilians and turning them into Demonic beasts, consorting with inhuman shadowy figures who can disguise themselves as ordinary people - and the assembly working as a way to bring together the leads of the three routes: Byleth, Dimitri (who had Dedue always at his side and thus never had a full psychotic break), Claude, and Seteth, with Ferdinand representing the Adrestian resistance. It’s only the wedding announcement that’s hard to pin down, and I toyed with a number of ideas including Dimidue making yet another public declaration of devotion to one another or Ferdinand planning to follow through with his arranged marriage to Bernadetta they have in their supports (which makes more sense in light of the following sequence). In the end though I don’t think the marriage element is strictly necessary, leaving the song as a means of catching up with the cast five years later and seeing them united against Edelgard - with Ferdinand’s private regrets the only sour note.

“Wicked Witch of the East”

More a dialogue than a song, but still important. Bernadetta is arguably the Eagle other than Hubert most comfortable supporting Edelgard, because all Edelgard has to do is put Count Varley under house arrest for Bernadetta to sing the emperor’s praises. I can also see her as the same sort of self-centered, negligent ruler that Nessarose becomes in Wicked, not because of an unrequited attraction but because of her reclusive desire to be left alone. I see this scene playing out as Hubert surprising Bernadetta at her estate, angry about rumors that she may be helping the rebels and/or engaged to Ferdinand if going with that plot point after Edelgard has done her the favor of locking up her father. He’s fully prepared to, ahem, “persuade” Bernadetta, but before he can break out the torture implements Ferdinand arrives asking for her to support the rebels’ cause.

Farcical, sure, but it gets the two of them together again after five years and underscores how strong their UST has become in their time apart, with Hubert too flabbergasted to attack a known enemy and Ferdinand expressing how happy he is to see Hubert again despite everything. Each learns that the other isn’t as happy about his chosen path as he’d hoped, in Hubert’s case because his lady has grown ever more distant from him as the war has dragged on. Bernadetta cuts through the tension by bringing things back to the song (sort of) and blurting out that she knows both sides are marshalling their forces near Gronder Field. Ferdinand is too caught up in the fraught romance angle to do more than leave with this new information, but Hubert recovers enough to condemn Bernadetta for her flagrant misrule (venting by inference his frustrations toward Edelgard in the process) and resolve to set her on fire for her treachery.

“I’m Not That Girl (Reprise)”

The Gronder rematch happened offscreen - and Bernadetta was indeed set on fire - and on the Imperial side Edelgard is left increasingly frustrated over her losses and hurt that Byleth still refuses to listen to her and continues to fight her regime. You may notice that I’ve shuffled around the middle of Act II, necessary at this point in order to better line up with FE16’s story and Hubert and Edelgard’s separate narrative climaxes while also ensuring that those climaxes don’t overlap too much. This song is only a brief reprise, but it’s a significant one; Hubert finally realizes that Edelgard will never love him. It’s also kept gender-neutral, because Byleth.

“As Long as You’re Mine”

That segues naturally into this moment. Ferdinand sneaks into Enbarr using his unexpected stealth powers (I usually talk about Dedue having them, but Ferdinand shows he’s no slouch in his Mercedes supports) and encounters Hubert. Their UST boils over in a furor of awkward, impassioned sex and also this song. I like the idea of rewording some of Fiyero's lines to incorporate Hubert's acidic snark: “Maybe you’re brainless, / maybe you’re wise.” It’s all very desperate and sensual, ending with Ferdinand taking Elphaba’s line about feeling wicked for the first time - which will have a dark reverberation two songs from now.

“Wonderful”

Again, axe the vaudeville and it’s a solid Rhea song. There’s just the small problem of Rhea being captured at this point in the plot; I thought about moving this number toward the very end at first before reconsidering. While Hubert and Ferdinand are rolling in the sheets, a distraught Edelgard confronts Rhea in prison. Rhea responds to Edelgard’s frustrations with Byleth with her backstory in song, much more somber than the Wizard but, like him, still willing to rehabilitate her estranged listener. The bits of this song about the nature of history are especially relevant to what Edelgard falsely believes about the church and what she views as her own legacy, so I could see this as an interesting character study on what Edelgard actually wanted with her war apart from dragon genocide. There’s a lot that could be done here in the dialogue surrounding those revelations.

“No Good Deed”

However the interrogation of Rhea turns out, Edelgard takes a leaf out of SS Dimitri’s book and visits Byleth alone at the monastery, only to be as harshly rebuffed as is possible to be without the rebuffer speaking. Then comes this song, which was incidentally the one where I realized that Edelgard would need a major role in FE16-does-Wicked even with the Ferdibert focus. Hubert fully embraced his evil wickedness long ago and wouldn’t think twice about being wicked or being perceived as such, but Edelgard is a different matter. Here she breaks down, admitting that her good intentions were largely selfish and that she regrets that her war has cost her any relationship she could have had with Byleth (continuing the joke at his expense, Hubert goes unmentioned when Edelgard names the people she’s lost/failed). It ends with a foreshadowing of her Hegemon form, the sign that she’s abandoned all pretense of goodness and become truly wicked.

“March of the Witch Hunters”

Another ensemble/vignette piece, checking in with the various members of Byleth’s army as they prepare to storm Enbarr. Dimitri hopes for the chance to forgive his stepsister, Claude has big plans for the continent and wants to remove the threat Edelgard poses, Seteth is desperate to find Rhea, and Byleth…is there. As in many of the songs, the self-righteousness of the crowd here rings more sincere and less hypocritical than in Wicked given Three Houses has actual villains, but it still works.

“For Good”

The song that inspired this whole thing, now with many paragraphs of context to set it up instead of only some fluff based on the Ferdibert A+ support. Ferdinand sneaks into Enbarr (again) ahead of the battle, and their second love ballad is more somber as they resign themselves to their fates. As in the VA cover, Hubert refuses to ask forgiveness for anything and Ferdinand is fine with that.

“Finale”

Wicked reduces the final battle from The Wizard of Oz to silhouettes backed by sections of “No One Mourns the Wicked,” and that’s what comes here: Ferdinand and Hubert facing each other in battle, Edelgard becoming the Hegemon before being defeated and then dying as in AM’s final cutscene, and Dimitri taking the throne with Dedue at his side and proclaiming his intention to do all he can to restore both the Kingdom and Duscur - and that his first act as king is to announce that he and Dedue have decided to open their marriage up. This is met with much manly cheering and stripping and someone (Ashe?) saying incredulously that he didn’t even know they were married. End silhouettes.

The final scene with the Wizard and Morrible becomes Claude, Seteth, and Byleth rescuing Rhea. Rhea names Byleth her successor as leader of the church and says that she will go into quiet seclusion and do what she can to correct her mistakes. This all suits Claude just fine, who tells everyone that he’s off to take care of some other business and that Byleth will make a great archbishop - and also they can have the Alliance, no big deal. As with the King of Faerghus’s gay orgies, the King of Almyra’s grand ambitions are too large for this story to do more than allude to.

Next, Ferdibert does a version of the Elphaba/Fiyero scene, with Ferdinand revealing that he had Hubert spared on the condition that he help root out any remaining Agarthans and that he remain under house arrest at the Aegir estate. Ferdinand was also required to assume governance of the Empire, because Dimitri wasn’t getting that dumped on him as well. They can be together, but the general population can’t know that Hubert survived lest Ferdinand’s reputation and basic ethics be compromised…which in a darkly funny hypocritical twist then segues to Ferdinand pontificating before the crowd at the beginning of the show, reprising “For Good” with Hubert until they’re drowned out by “No One Mourns the Wicked.” Thus the story concludes on one of my favorite things about Ferdibert: perhaps even in this non-CF continuity Ferdinand wasn’t changed for the better by falling in love with the Most Wicked Man in Fódlan, but they’ve both been changed….

#Fire Emblem #FE16 #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Ferdibert #Hubert von Vestra #Ferdinand von Aegir

[fangirl-erdariel]

So I got like all of three people interested but that's abt all the prompting I need anyway 😂

So. Yeah. Chosen Ones. The Call of Destiny, the Call to Adventure.

Pretty much every Chosen One gets it, that's how you know they're Chosen Ones (ok granted there are chosen ones who first sorta accidentally end up involved in an adventure and only later on discover it was their Destiny all along. But that's not what I'm talking about here). Usually it comes either in the form of someone really just handing them a sword and telling them they gotta do stuff. Sometimes it's a bit more complicated. In Heralds of Valdemar books it typically involves a white magic horse walking up to the main character, introdicing themself, and saying they Choose the main character. Or possibly tricking their Chosen into getting on their back and then getting them into a situation where they can't really just say no. But yeah, in general, it's very hard to say no to an intelligent magic horse that really, really wants you to do something, when an unbreakable bond of love and trust is born almost from the moment you first look into the horse's eyes.

Either way, the Chosen Ones fairly often refuse their Destiny at first. Not always, and with some heroes it might work better with them accepting it right away, but fairly often, probably more often than not but I can't say for sure, they try to refuse it at first.

Why, in-universe, do they refuse? The common reasons are all more or less selfless; fear, feeling that they're not good enough and someone else would do it better, or some conflicting obligation they wish to fulfill first. The conflicting obligation is somewhat rarer than the other two, but not unheard of; for example Luke Skywalker in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope refuses at first to go with Obi-Wan to Alderaan not because he doesn't want to, but because he feels Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru need his help around the farm and he should not leave them, no matter how much he wants to become a pilot or something instead.

Now, I admit, you could call fear or feeling of not being good enough selfish reasons, but for this I feel they're at least somewhat selfless. Because when the Thing they gotta do requires a Chosen One, it's automatically very important. The fate of the entire world may be at stake. So fear and feeling they're not good enough are reasons based on acknowledging the importance of the task they're given and how bad things would go should they fail, and not wanting to fail. On the other hand, what I mean here when I say "selfish", is indifference to the task they're given, refusal either because they don't feel like it or because it would require giving up something they don't want to give up.

But what about refusing for a completely selfish reason? That's a lot more rare. Of course the reason probably is that it may be more difficult to make the hero change their mind, and it also portrays them in a far less pretty and perfect light than the aforementioned reasons.

In fact, there's only one work of fiction I can recall right now that has the hero refuse for a reason that can only be called selfish. There are certainly more out there, no work of fiction is that unique, but that's the only one that comes to mind right now.

That work is a show called Robin of Sherwood. Now, the show doesn't have much of a fandom, so I'll give a brief summary of it here. Robin of Sherwood was a British fantasy tv show that ran for three seasons in 1984-1986. The show was based on Robin Hood, but there were fantasy elements added into it that do not exist in traditional versions of Robin Hood.

One of those fantasy elements was that Robin was Herne's Son, a Chosen One of the pagan god/forest spirit Herne the Hunter. This decision turned out to work for the show makers' favor when the original actor of Robin left the show, as it allowed them to kill of the previous Robin and have Herne choose a new Son. As a result, the show has two rather different characters both doing the part of Robin Hood, stealing from the rich, inconveniencing Prince/King John, annoying the hell out of the Sheriff of Nottingham, and fighting for the poor and oppressed people.

Now the first Robin, Robin of Loxley, being Chosen goes fairly traditionally; he's slightly hesistant about accepting the call but does so fairly quickly anyway. By the time his home is destroyed and his adoptive parents murdered, he's already accepted his Destiny and ready and willing to do Herne's bidding. I'll return to him later, but first I want to get to the point and bring up the second Robin.

The second Robin is actually called Robert of Huntingdon, and he is a nobleman of a powerful and high-ranking family; he's the son and heir of the Earl of Huntingdon, and nephew of the King of Scotland. Herne chooses him immediately after the first Robin dies, perhaps even a little sooner given how quickly he's able to go to the outlaws' rescue. When Herne chooses him, he does agree to help a little; he saves the captured outlaws who would otherwise have been executed. But that is something he can do quickly, with little risk to himself. When it comes down to it, he still refuses to truly become Herne's Son.

And there's no fear or humility or claims of not being good enough behind him not refusing. One might argue that being the heir of the Earl of Huntingdon means conflicting loyalties/obligations, but the show does not frame his choice in a way that seems to make it about that. What he says to Herne when refusing is more or less "The outlaws are safe, I've done enough, I'm not doing anything more for you." He refuses simply because he's not interested in the job, and though it's not stated aloud, possibly also because accepting that destiny would be giving up all the comfort and priviledges he has and exchanging them for a very hard and dangerous life as an outlaw.

His eventual acceptance of the Call is because of equally selfish reasons; he meets Marion at a party and decides she's hot. When she's abducted soon afterwards, he decides to go to the rescue, and as his father would not accept the attempt, he goes to get help from Herne and gathers up those Outlaws he can find to aid him in her rescue. Granted, his reasons for rescuing Marion are not solely "she hot". There's arguably also general outrage at her being abducted and forced into marrying like that, as well as guilt over having endangered her by defending her earlier in the party from the person who eventually abducted her, and I think he would feel those things even had the abducted person been someone he didn't find attractive. But I feel like him liking her and wanting to be together with her also played a major part, and it may be that without that he would not have had strong enough feelings about the matter to go to her rescue (or at least he would not have gone so quickly and rashly, but instead taken his time considering whether it was worth it or not, and planning and preparing). I think that only after accepting his destiny, Robert starts truly caring about the things he as Herne's Son fights for strongly enough to actually fight for them.

And it works. It works, I dare say, better than any othrr reason for refusal. Robert has lived a very priviledged life, and the reasons Robin Hood fights are... not really matters that would ever have affected his life. He has little to fear from the nobility, as he is one of them. He hasn't faced oppression. He hasn't experienced poverty. He hasn't had to choose between stealing or poaching and starving. He may well have at some point noticed it happens, maybe felt somewhat bad about it, but they are not matters that would intimately concern him.

So why would he even give up all his priviledges, all the ease and comfort of his life, to fight for things that would never concern him if he stays a nobleman? A hero who cares that deeply would of course be admirable, but let's be real. Damn few people in real life would be willing to give up that much. Good people living priviledged lives might sacrifice a bit, do things that slightly inconvenience them or take a little away from what they have, but giving up absolutely everything? I don't think many people would. And honestly, taking that into account, having Robert refuse simply because he does not want that kind of life adds more depth to the character than a more traditional refusal would have had. It makes him seem less of an impossibly perfect hero, but all things considered, it does not make him seem too terribly selfish to ever be a hero, either.

In comparison, for Robin of Loxely in RoS the quick unquestioning acceptance of his new position works perfectly. He's already an outlaw when he first meets Herne; he has nothing to lose by agreeing. He's lived his entire life witnessing the immediate effects of oppression all around him, so the fight is instantly personal to him even before he starts fighting it for Herne.

So, yeah. I guess my point here, if I have any, is that different characters should respond differently to becoming the Chosen One, and if you write that kind of stories, it will be worth it to consider whether one of the stock responses works well (because it definitely might!) or whether you should think outside the most common ones for a bit.

#fantasy #fiction #writing #chosen one #chosen ones #tropes #fantasy tropes #robin of sherwood