#look i'm not really looking to get into discourse

[fourteentrout]

I've seen so much discourse about who Elain is gonna end up with and elriel shippers being like she's not even attracted to Lucien!!! and elucien shippers being like she's repressing her true feelings for him!!! though I don't have a particularly strong stance on the ship war overall (I do have my opinions but they're not the point of this post), it did get me thinking like...why IS Elain so attracted to Azriel?

Because to me, it looks like Lucien is everything she would've dreamed of as a human. A gentlemanly courtier, very connected with nature, obviously attractive (I mean come on even Cassian thinks he's hot), thoughtful, courageous, loyal, social, a High Lord's son. Not to say that Azriel doesn't share some of these qualities, but like Lucien is practically the blueprint for who Elain would have been interested in. It makes sense that they're mates.

But she's not willing to even acknowledge him, nevermind pursue a romantic relationship with him. But she is willing to do so with Azriel. Rugged, mysterious, quiet, headstrong, dangerous Azriel.

Lucien has tried to bring her comfort just as much as Azriel, but she won't give him the time of day.

My theory is, maybe he reminds her of what she could have had. Of what she lost. A Lord's son, someone she thought would love her unconditionally, someone used to the galas and the politics and the high society life. Graysen may have been different from Lucien personality-wise, but maybe deep down, she's afraid that if she grows close with someone who has similar social and political standing as him, the same thing will happen again. Maybe it's easier to be attracted to someone who's so different from what she'd originally wanted than it is to go through the same thing she went through before, which ended up in heartbreak.

I'm not saying she ONLY cares for Azriel because of these reasons. But I think it could be an explanation as to why she's so adamant about not wanting to even get to know Lucien, when really he's an assemblage of all the qualities she would have previously looked for in a romantic partner.

#elain archeron #elucien #elriel #elain x lucien #elain x azriel #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #elain a court of thorns and roses #acotar series

[laikabu]

I think what fundamentally tips me off abt the shuro discourses is that there's this common sentiment of "marcille should get pissed and chew shuro out for "chasing" falin/being mean to laios, give shuro what he deserves" which is just hilariously transparent on how self-righteous and projecting the ppl saying these things are bc it is so clearly not actually abt what falin and laios want. Yknow, a big theme in dunmeshi! I'd forgive ppl for not knowing abt the extra, but falin outright says she needs to make decisions and take stands for HERSELF and she amicably turns shuro's proposal down, which he accepts. She's not being preyed on or being taken advantage of and so she doesn't need some defense against what is very much an imaginary offense to make shuro look bad. And laios does the same! Laios beats shuro up and they come out with their grievances on the table and all honesty there, and they are explicitly on good terms by the end! The siblings clearly like him and see value in their relationships with him despite any conflict they had. That literally should be the end of it.

(Also, not a fan abt the way white fans want to write off the micro aggressions and "forgive" laios for something they have no room saying anything abt! Acting like it's impossible for him to be racist when there's a bonus comic of him (and falin) outright talking abt "savage" people on his hometown's mountains that were "barbarians" they killed onsight! Given this manga's emphasis on cultural disconnect you'd think we'd be smarter abt this!)

exactly LOL throughout the whole manga the touden siblings treated shuro with kindness and respect even after the big fight, so i'm really confused about the hostility towards him?💀

i noticed that in the anime, kabru doesn't actually give his name out at all, and all instances of laios saying kabru's name correctly were scrubbed, so i'm curious if this has anything to do with changing the "kapru" joke somehow since they did consult kui in changing small scenes. i guess we'll find out tomorrow.

#ask

[rotisseries]

tired of people who want pjo movie references in the disney+ show. "logan lerman should've been-" i don’t care. "poker face in the casino-" actually i hope ms. gaga keeps her entire discography miles away from it. i don't care move on

#peace and love🫶 #this isn't even to say I didn't like those parts of the movies or that I can't see the appeal in having references in the show #I'm just tired of HEARING about it oh my god #the pjo movies are getting all of the loving looking back they could need #just in the fact that people's opinions of them are clearly shifting #like people look back on them more fondly now they were VERY bad adaptations but fun movies overall with some good scenes #I think the shift in public opinion is also due to the d+ show btw I think the fact we have a good adaptation now #means people no longer feel the need to spend energy publicly and viscerally disavowing the movies anymore #but we still don't really need references to it!! especially when it's shit you're so clearly not getting I'm sorry #they're not putting logan lerman anywhere in there you know this look inside yourself #and they're DEFINITELY not putting poker face in the lotus hotel scene COME ON NOW THAT WOULD JUST BE STUPID #the lotus hotel scene is already going to undeniably get compared to the pjo movie version #and they. kind of have a lot to beat. the lotus hotel scene was so much fun #there's already going to be a bunch of “which was better?” discourse about it #using poker face would honestly probably not help. also then it's not gonna be a fun scene in it's own right #it's gonna be a fun and good scene to people just cause it references some bad movies #anyway I hope they pick a different song I saw some people say hotel room- #pjo #pjo tv #pjo disney+

[finexbright]

.

#okay look i love louis and i really don't want to cause any discourse but i suppose this is just me gathering my thoughts in one place #i think that this livestream event would've been so much better if a. it had a concert attached to it and b. it was cheaper #like i'm sorry but i already paid £18 to watch it in the cinemas i am not gonna pay £18 more just to get 10 mins of extra footage #and him and charlie talking about the same things again. like we aren't getting any new questions and thoughts #and he would've been way better off by putting it on a streaming platform instead where fans can have access to it anytime #and this coming right after the cancellation of asia leg with zero explanation and one half assed tweet? is just not louis vibes man :/ #i am NOT saying there's something going on bts or whatever i'm just saying that the fans deserve an explanation #for the cancellation of the tour dates #and like. sorry but this livestream is not accessible at all. i am not gonna spend £18 on this #and like. £18 is actually SO much in so many countries that i know at the end of it only usa + eu + uk #fans will be watching it so what even is the point #but yeah. one off livestream bad. online streaming platform good. explanation for cancellation required

[aquaristintern]

going off of what dwreader and ghostfoolish have been saying better than i can:

why do people think louis will still be a believable victim and it won't be racist if the show just has armand mess with louis's memories regarding 1x05 and how claudia died, and also be controlling him throughout the entire interview/relationship? like not only does it paint victims of abuse as unreliable and unstable, therefore not be trusted with anything*, but it also, just, shifts most if not all the blame from a white man to a poc? we've asking this the entire time, but they still don't have an answer for that.

*like statistically speaking victims of abuses' memories might be muddled/repressed from the trauma, so even though they know the abuse happened, people will use the fact that they might not be able to describe an entire fight in specific detail, or got some dates mixed up, or did not speak up sooner, to paint them as mentally ill liars, or even abusers themselves. which is why i think giving louis false memories in 1x05 is still victim blaming in a way, because it encourages the trend of victims not being believed.

#iwtv discourse #fandom racism #yeah like i'm fully confident the creators are smart and can write their show better than i can but #if these little hints and teasing turns out to be a red herring like it did for 1x07 then it regardless might have #encouraged some of the audience to initally just disregard EVERYTHING louis says in season 1 and think he has no agency #which goes against their original statement of not jumping ahead and letting the tale seduce you you know? #i really just want to enjoy the ride and see where the show takes us and love all the stuff we've been given lately it's just #i keep being reminded these fans exist if i'm not careful where i look lol #i do get marketing is a thing and maybe they think they constantly need to tease SOMETHING #a shocking reveal or a revisit promising something more in order to get more seasons seeing as it's so easy for shows to be cancelled now #but like every time new content is released it also brings out the racism

[themthistles]

i think that while micro labels can seem useful and affirming ultimately they're isolating and kind of an obstacle to your understanding of self. that's because you can never find a word specific enough. there will never be a label or two labels or even ten, twenty of them to perfectly capture and describe all of your thoughts, feelings, experiences, preferences, needs, interests, identities, etc. because you learn more and more about yourself every day and then you change and your wants and needs change with you. having to hop between labels, fearing that you don't 'fit' into a label anymore (both in your own and others eyes), worrying how soon your current label will wear out, questioning if you'll ever fully fit a single one. all that causes a lot of uncertainty and anxiety which could be avoided by just picking a more general thing and molding it according to what it means to YOU. because words will always mean different things to different people, you will never be understood immediately and maybe never completely by anyone but yourself and that's fine

#another thing is that micro labels often feel like they fracture the community unnecessarily #idk how many times i've seen fighting over hyperspecific ace labels and what they mean and if people described in them even belong #and honestly i think this discourse wouldn't be so vile and neverending if people accepted the idea of falling under general umbrella #and accepted that you can't describe complicated weird and wonderful act of human existence with a couple of words #you don't need to explain yourself to anyone #i know in our present pronouns/sexuality/gender in bio carrd era it feels like you have to but you really don't #people aren't entitled to a short summary of your inner world and you can't speed run connection #also feel the need to say: i have nothing against people who use micro labels #if you feel like your micro label describes you perfectly? i'm really glad and happy for you #i'm just expressing my own thoughts and feelings that come from personal experience with exploring these things #at some point i started doubting if i could call myself a lesbian #i thought oh i'm not exactly what a lot of people generally think of when they hear that word #oh they'll misunderstand and i'm not being my 'true self' i'll find a word that fits me exactly if i just keep looking #and then i found out being aroace is a thing and boy did that add a lot of anxiety and confusion to the pot #i didn't feel like i fit in with both communities wasn't lesbian enough wasn't aroace enough #but at some point i just got tired of trying to justify myself to others and to myself #identities aren't houses you live in they're more like seas or rivers flowing into one another #and spaces where they intersect are vague and hard to define and they shift and change and this metaphor is getting away from me #basically #words are complicated #but they're the only direct way we humans can communicate #it is what it is #so make art #a lot of it #oh also unrelated but if you ever tell older queer folks that they're using wrong words to describe themselves i am going to jump you

[snail-speed]

Look I hate Nintendo as much as the next guy but the (maybe) oncoming legal action against Palworld kinda has some merit. There's a lot of original designs in the game, but there's also lots that very blatantly use parts of the models that are used in modern Pokemon games, and allegedly there's also some designs that are just fanart taken without permission.

Like from what I've seen the people deep in the discourse trenches are using both the "The designs are NOTHING alike!" and the "It's a parody, it's SUPPOSED to be a rip-off!" arguments interchangeably and it's like- No. No, you can't use both of those at once, they're paradoxical.

Either you believe Palworld is just another mon game, and just like every other mon game, there's some design elements that are inevitably going to repeat, in which case we'll have to wait and see what happens, or you agree that Palworld is plagiarizing and you're okay with it, in which case you can't really complain when a lawsuit hits.

#i'm looking at the palworld tag just kinda laughing at how overly passionate people get about the discourse #nothing against the game it looks fun but this isn't the first time a mon game has been hyped up as a Pokemon Killer #the “ITS A PARODY BRO” defense also really sucks for palworld because i highly doubt that's what PocketPal is going for? #like yeah it's taking the piss a bit with the pal abuse mechanic but pokemon is not the only mon game that makes a big deal #about the relationship between mons and their owners #if it's taking the piss at anything it's at the genre as a whole #treating it as just Pokemon Killer/Pokemon But Edgy is a disservice to it #and it's gonna cause it to age horribly. if the (maybe) oncoming lawsuit won't do that to begin with #that said though the feature to enslave humans is... A Thing for sure #like i get it's a commentary on humans and mons not being too different but #well IRL we didn't exactly have a slave trade consisting of cloud eevees let me put it that way #pokemon #palworld

[ravencromwell]

Finally decided to indulge in the Siuan/Moiraine meta I've been wanting to write for ages now, musing on the differences in psychology ensuing from their significantly different arcs within the book and show and why Siuan's actions at season 2's apex are entirely in psychological sync with her show portrayal, even if they swerve wildly from the books.

Let's start with some Siuan back-story context. In the books, Tear was undeniably an unfriendly city for those with the One Power. But that translated, in practical terms, to Aes Sedai keeping their stays there brief, and girls who could touch The Source being quickly bustled off to the Tower. There were no Aes Sedai advisers, as in other kingdoms etc., but neither was there the virulent hostility of the show.

Siuan left Tear quickly in the books—the first day she was discovered to have the Power, but only because a sister was traveling through and didn't wish to delay returning to The Tower for such pesky things as sentimental goodbyes. Was that harsh? Absolutely. But the world of the books is exceedingly harsh in some respects, giving girls little to no choice about becoming Sisters, should they be discovered harboring abilities. (Much of Nynaeve's back-story involved hiding her powers precisely because she didn't fancy being ripped from The Two Rivers.)

Siuan faces a much different harshness in the show. The show doesn't do a great job explaining this, but The Dragon's Fang, which is etched onto Siuan's door before her house is unceremoniously torched, is a sign of immense contempt for Dark Friends. Within show Tear, a wary mistrust of Aes Sedai has curdled into something much more dangerous. All use of The Power is suspect, because if men's half was tainted, there's nothing to say women won't go suddenly mad, too.

It's worth remembering as well here that book Siuan was roughly fifteen when she went to The Tower. Now, I'm totally blind, and audio description doesn't give me an age for tiny show-Siuan, but if she's anywhere near puberty, I'll eat my metaphorical hat. And instead of being shepherded to The Tower, she had to flee for her life.

In her family's only means of support, I might ad. Book Siuan was by no means well-to-do, but she was firmly in the middling ranks of the working poor. Show Siuan's family are on the fucking destitution brink y'all. And she took her father's livelihood. Dying destitute ain’t fuckin pretty.

Siuan is not a stupid kid, and she clearly adores the shit out of her papa. The first thing that little girl did the millisecond she got any privileges? Wrote to her papa.

And more than likely, Berden never wrote back. It wouldn't take her long to figure out what'd happened. Moiraine is at great pains to tell Alana Jenny was not "her" support dog, and we laugh it off as oh, look at Moiraine being all adorably prim. Which in one sense, it totally is. But I'd almost guarantee you there's a deeper layer there: it wasn't "hers"; it was "theirs" because once Siuan found out her beloved papa was dead, they both needed something to cuddle.

This may seem like somewhat of a digression, but I'm maundering on because in the books yes, Dark Friends are evil. But they're evil because they caused a terrible cataclysm many thousands of years ago that killed lots of people, and they wanna do it again. There's no personal skin in the game for our beloved ladies, except they get thrust into the job through a convergence of some very complicated circumstances—I'd recommend any show-only watchers read "New Spring" because while I love almost all the changes the show has made ferociously, the way Siuan and Moiraine undertake the search is vastly more plausible as presented by Jordan there.

For Siuan in the show, by contrast, Dark Friend has _very personal ramifications. Dark Friends caused the corrosive mistrust that got her papa _killed! And Moiraine, better than _anyone, knows how that broke her.

And she _knows full well she could be deposed simply for having a relationship with Moiraine. The sensible thing to keep all the awful people from committing terrible crimes that will reverberate down the centuries to impact a little girl just as she was impacted would be to keep both their noses clean. And yet, she loves Moiraine so much that she'll take that risk to maintain not only an alliance about Rand, but a romantic relationship which could, realistically, be discovered much more easily.

And now, Moiraine, the woman who parroted back her beloved father's words of farewell about how Siuan was as clever as a pike and strong as the tides seemingly willfully lied; seemingly became a _Dark _Friend. Even her admonition that Lanfear is "too strong" must bring up so many awful questions: just how long have they been working together for her to know that? Because from Siuan's perspective, what it looks like is Lanfear coming in, guns blazing, to save her accomplice, Moiraine.

When Siuan says that there are rules and they have to abide by them, it's reflecting profoundly deep fears—not only about what Rand could do, but the kind of hatred toward those with The Power it could foster. For twenty years, she's put those fears aside. And now it appears that her going against Tower Law has lost her Moiraine to the Forsaken, and made terrible outcomes nigh on inevitable. And people are really confused about why she looks beaten?

Hell, from her perspective, forget Lanfear's entrance. The very fact Moiraine seemingly lied to her and is now talking about love must seem such a cruel mockery: laughing at Siuan's weakness; just as, perhaps, she was laughing at her with that parting comment in The Tower: an Amyrlin Seat still so swayed by what her papa told her so many years ago. (Yeah, we know it was as close as she could come to an I love you, but how the hell is Siuan supposed to know that, given everything?) This was not willful emotional abuse on someone she knew to be acting in good faith, but a reaction to the person she loved enough to risk the fucking Amyrlin Seat for becoming a monster!

Do I wish they'd picked _any other direction for their relationship? Yes, yes I damn well do. There was plenty to play with for angst factor by having the coup go down as it does in the books: Moiraine not being there to save her when all Siuan wanted was more time together, for one thing. Moiraine needlessly obfuscating in front of Siuan and  the other Sisters in S1, when Leandrin already knew! about the Two Rivers folk. Thinking she was being canny, when all she did was get herself pointlessly exiled so she couldn't protect Siuan? Quite enough of an angst sandwich, thanks ever so, without this new development. But! if they were going to include this, Siuan reacted precisely as I would expect her to, given the context I've outlined above, not in some madly ooc fashion worthy of the tags descending into emotional abuse discourse.

#Siuan Sanche #Moiraine Damodred #I kept hoping this Siuan is terribly abusive discourse would die down but I keep seeing it crop up and it's driving me utterly batshit #Wheel of Time #siuanraine #Moiraine x Siuan #Siuan x Moiraine #fishwives #(posting all this with the obvious caveat that if Rafe uses this to pull some massive bullshit whereby he brought out the queerness some #of us could see in fucking New Spring. because I am absolutely a fan for that long. even if RJ rest his soul tried to brush it off as #'pillow friends that faded out'only to get fucking cold feet and put them in their heterosexual weirdass nonrelationships with Gareth and #Thom (and look. I am really fond of show Thom; he still has no business getting up close and personal with Moiraine #unless she and Siuan decide on polyamory; Gareth was such an utter nonentity and isn't in the show I really have nothing to say. with legit #apologies to any Gareth fans subjected to my salty tags b/c I'm sure they exist and your tastes are also valid) #well. if Rafe. as an openly queer creator pulls a queer bait and switch I will lose my shit so spectacularly they'll hear my screaming #during shooting. but moral ambiguity. in and of itself. is not a bad thing! portrayals of how her early childhood trauma complicate her #dynamic with Moiraine when Moiraine lied! to her which she should have known better than to do #feel very inevitable after that intro we got in S1 is all I'm saying

[magicinverse]

I don't understand some people's relationship with the eggs, I truly truly don't

They go "that's our kid" no it's not, it's not even the cc's kid IT'S A MINECRAFT CHARACTER KID but some people really take it seriously when they say that

I especially don't get it when they compared irl kids with MINECRAFT KIDS like I've seen so many people compare some people say "if they treat the eggs like that I don't want to know how they treat real kids" how can you compare a life with a pixel?

Also don't get the obsession over the admins, they act like they know the admin and go "awww that's our baby" when the admin of some egg is acting like a federation worker, THE ADMIN COULD BE LIKE 67!!!! AND ALSO!!! THEY ARE JUST PLAYING CHARACTERS!! I get having emotional attachment for some admins but some people take it to a whole other level, it also sometimes ruins the effort an admin puts in playing other character

They treat the eggs like real life people to justify getting mad over any no positive egg opinion or action, one thing is an admin who YOU DON'T KNOW but it's a real life person and another is an egg

Maybe it's harder since we don't see who manages them so we just have the image of a child? They are adorable for sure, and I love how important they are to the story and some characters but again, they are just characters

#qsmp #qsmp eggs #Look I love Bobby to the moon and back #His death still hurts and I actually have a reliquary with a photo of him #But he's just a character #And I know that and respect that #I also have a lot of appreciation for his admin #But I know the admin is NOT the character #Just #I really don't get it #I'm not trying to be a hater right now #I just don't get some people's views #qsmp discourse #(?) #I'm not sure #HELP ME UNDERSTAND #ALSO DON'T TWIST MY WORDS #I DON'T SUPPORT HATE TOWARDS ADMINS!!! #But yeah this is something I've been trying to understand for a while #I also don't get hating on characters that are kids #But that's a whole other thing #And it's not qsmp exclusive

[starlene]

Having a chat about the Barbie movie with @neroushalvaus helped me to put something that bothers me about the movie to words.

At the end of the movie, when Barbie becomes a human, we see her dressed in beige, sensible clothing. Symbolically, she has grown up into a woman – and as a woman, she no longer wears the bright, pink, girly clothing she used to wear earlier.

Meanwhile, in our reality, women come to watch this movie all dolled up in their best pinks and glitters – a movie that ends with Barbie, a world-famous emblem of femininity, leaving neon pink behind her and choosing to wear muted colours instead.

Somehow, in this regard, I feel like the real-life response to the movie is more uplifting than the movie itself. In real life, adult women are celebrating the movie by wearing girly clothing, and they’re feeling happy and confident while doing so. If bright, girlish aesthetic makes you feel good, growing up doesn’t mean you have to leave it behind.

The costume design makes sense for Barbie’s character arc, sure, but on a symbolic level... I don’t really like what it says about the relationship between girlish/hyper-feminine aesthetic and adulthood, and I guess it just makes me a little bit sad how that part of the story and the real-life response to the movie clash.

#actually the whole movie makes sense on a character level but starts to fall apart when you really look at the symbolic level #I really like Barbie the character and Ken the character and enjoyed watching their stories unfold #but the more I think about it the more I feel that on a symbolic level their stories actually take away from each other #also I want to clarify I'm not a girly girl myself and will choose beige over Barbie pink every time #but having lived through all that nonsense ‘‘not like other girls’‘ discourse I really like seeing girliness celebrated and uplifted #anyway! this is not my number one problem with the movie... far from it actually #I'm just trying to get to the bottom of why the ending left me feeling disappointed and I think this is a part of it #just an observation! #Barbie #Barbie spoilers

[childofaura]

Ok... I swore to myself I wasn't gonna make another negative MAWS post, that I was just gonna leave it at the Twink Slade disappointment post.

But apparently there's this trend that's been happening on Twitter, where people are trying to bring up the 2004 "The Batman" designs to try and defend the designs of the MAWS rogue gallery. And that was the territory I CANNOT let go, as someone who is a fan of Jeff Matsuda and his character designs.

SO FIRST, LET ME CLARIFY: I'm simply making ONE post about ONE factor of MAWS that irritates me. I'm not here to just sit and constantly bash on the show. I wouldn't do that, I have a personal close friend of mine who enjoys the show and I'm happy for her and I want her to enjoy the show. I have SO many gripes and reservations but I recognize those are personal.

I'll be putting this under a Read More and tagging it as Anti-MAWS so MAWS fans don't have to read/deal with this post. Probably just don't read my tags as well.

So if there's one thing that has irked me the most about MAWS, it's the redesigns and rewrites of Supes' rogue galleries. Mostly the redesigns though. MAWS took a bunch of colorful, diverse, and fantastical designs and made them monotonous, bland, and simply not fun at all. And yes, while the in-universe explanation (Being that they're all mechanically enhanced rather than freak accidents or born that way) makes sense, it still makes the villains incredibly un-appealing. EVERYONE is in boring black, white, and gray armor (aside from Parasite and while I think his physical design is neat I have issues with his character rewrite too, I'm just not here to discuss that). Everyone who had incredibly fun or creative designs was horribly washed out. Silver Banshee went from being a literal ghostly wraith to a boring motorcycle-looking chick. Livewire went from a vibrant blue lightning motif (that SHE herself created) to boring merc armor. And yes, I have issues with Slade's armor, the head was promising but the overall design has color-balancing issues.

Now let's look at the redesigns of the rogue gallery for the 2004 "The Batman" show. These are mostly drastically different from their original design counterparts, just like MAWS. But the massive difference is that most of these designs are still colorful (where it applies, obviously not to Penguin), recognizable, and push the borders of imagination; They're so ludicrous and exaggerated in their design and their physical features. Even if I was disappointed in some of the character rewrites (Like Mr. Freeze having only a small cameo to Nora in the flashback, but mainly being another selfish thug), the designs are still great. You can look at The Batman villain designs and easily recognize them because they follow the basic structure of their original designs.

Joker:

Is still in his green, purple, and orange color palette, with his trademark freakish grin. The design takes creative liberties with the spiked hair, the more athletic physique, and the actual clothing style of his outfit, but this is clearly meant to be Joker.

Mr. Freeze:

Is now essentially a cryomancer thanks to his mutation, but this is still obviously Mr. Freeze. Some kind of helmet (in this case encased in his own ice) wearing a thermal freeze suit, and his red eyes invoking the red goggles he wore in his original iteration.

Catwoman:

The design exaggerates a lot of features of the OG outfit, like the ears and the goggles (though the OG design really just has eye spaces), and uses shades of crimson and purple, but you look at the black bodysuit and the whip around her waist and she can clearly be identified.

The main argument I'm making with the 2004 Batman designs is that they're A) recognizable to their original counterparts by invoking the same color scheme and basic design points, B) Colorful and pushing the lunacy of a world full of supervillains, and C) Completely stand out from each other, no two villains look as though they're of similar origins (besides obvious pairs like Joker/Harley Quinn and the two Clayfaces, the latter which was a guy who took concentrated serum made from Ethan Bennett's Clayface DNA). The Batman designs are good because while they ARE drastically different from their original counterparts, they honor the original designs.

Whereas in the MAWS redesigns, none of the redesigns are reminiscent of their original counterparts (besides the obvious Brain and Monsieur Mallah, kind of hard to fuck that up), and lack the fantastical element that The Batman redesigns (And the original Superman show, where it applies) had.

Livewire:

Looks nothing like her original counterpart. The armored clothes, the lack of lightning motif, lack of color to her outfit (I'm not here to talk about the race-swapping), none of it is supposed to tip you off to being Livewire, especially when her character is written so drastically different. You should be able to tell who Livewire is BEFORE you see her powers.

When OG Livewire looks like this:

Silver Banshee:

Is just a regular human in drab clothing. There's some kind of attempt to give her the hint of a ghost motif with the bone legs, but then that disappears in her later costume design. Same later costume that tries to half-ass a skull motif on the helmet but it doesn't work with the helmet's angles.

When this is Silver Banshee's original design (going with a still from Batman Unlimited)

And if they wanted to stray from the whole "supernatural" aspect, they could have compromised like they did in Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay:

Which I mean I still don't like that redesign as much as Silver Banshee's OG design, but it's still recognizable and it's still cool.

The bottom line is basically this: You don't have to justify liking this new Superman show and its take on new characters. But to try and say the character designs on MAWS are like the 2004 "The Batman" cartoon redesigns is such an unequal and imbalanced comparison. The thought process for the character designs in these shows are so drastically different from each other, and the execution of said character designs aren't comparable.

#discourse #Anti MAWS #Anti My Adventures with Superman #Listen I'm not saying any other gripes publicly about the show; Again I have an irl friend who watches it #and I'm absolutely not about to drag her down or just rag on the show; so I get it #But if there is one thing that can really make or break something for me it's character design #And the one thing I'll openly criticize MAWS for is how basic their character design process seems to be #The showrunners FROM THEIR OWN MOUTHS said that they purposely made Lois look like Luz from Owl House #So there is NOT a lot of creative thought process going into these redesigns #And to compare that to Jeff Matsuda who is an industry veteran and who's worked on MANY shows with incredibly kick-ass designs #Well that is a stick in my craw that I can't let slide #'BUT AURA DON'T YOU LIKE THE 3D HE-MAN SHOW AND THEIR DESIGNS?!' #Yes I do but A) I'm not out here claiming that they're faithful designs to the original characters (Because Duncan and Teela clearly aren't #B) Nor are they badly designed characters that I'm trying to compare to a whole different level of character design #The Batman 2004 show was an incredibly fun show that captured the dark and melancholy nature of Batman; and the villain designs were fun #MAWS isn't on the same level as The Batman

[svtskneecaps]

thank you for bearing with my purgatory posting and i'm also glad to see i'm not the only one who still has this fungus eating away at my brain matter. seeing other purgatory posting in the tag makes me feel better lmfao.

i'm not done btw, posting will (probably) continue as i revisit vods. wanted to extend a thanks in the interim, since i know how contentious the event was in the moment. i kinda thought the general consensus was most people hated thinking about it, but there's been a weird amount of engagement and yknow other people talking. makes me happy to know i'm not alone here!

#qsmp #qsmp purgatory #shut up vic #block game brainrot #it also provides me the opportunity to get a new perspective on some moments as well #like watching the jaiden spawnkilling thing the first time i missed some nuance in bbh's tone when he offered to walk her to her body #rewatching i heard them :D #i'll probably rewatch his conversation with slime from the same day at some point to refresh my perspective on that #but i think i'll wait on that; that convo makes me super biased lmfao #i'm aware of my biases at least :D and dw i won't bring old discourse back #tbh i never rly posted discourse much to begin with? just that one list and analysis of time stamps LMFAO #but yea i won't be bringing that back to the tag even if it's back in my brain #i PINKY SWEAR; i'm not one to start fights on posts or blogs that aren't mine #i block and then if i REALLY have something to say i shittalk them into my bathroom mirror #bc i know neither of us are gonna snitch >:D #long tags #it's also nice to look at with the benefit of hindsight and reflection #bc i know everything that happened; i was there watching it live #bolas are unreliable narrators #i'll probably see about going through some of the other team's povs as well just to see #it's interesting is all! and i finally have the time to sink my teeth into it properly #since we aren't having to keep up with like six streams a day #it's been so long sinve this server took a proper breather i'm appreciating it for all it's worth #((yes i wish the circumstances were better but they aren't; we take what we can get lmao)) #ok anyway love u byeeeeeeee purgatory posting will probably continue #i'll tag as appropriately as i can; lmk if there are further tags i should add #i prefer people don't block Me if they hate these; i'll make u a tag to block if u ask i promise <3

[conspiracydawg]

got around to reading nona the ninth and I think I finally have to concede that I'm just not picking up what these books are putting down. there's some cool concepts but it feels like the author is actively avoiding them most of the time. also finding the constant quips and references annoying, and not really sold on the central relationship of the series, which leaves very little for me to be happy about. I'll read alecto because I'd like to know what happens next, but I can't help but feel I'll also be relieved when it's over

#me bitching #idk I'm happy for all the folks who love these books but I'm just not seeing it #world is super cool but again the author seems to be actively avoiding showing us much about it #which like #this is not to say I prefer those books and (especially) games that have to tell you EVERYTHING those are painful #but the world is far and away the primary draw for me and the author just is not willing to immerse me in it #also okay the one genuinely mean thing I'm going to say about this series is that the mysteries suck #maybe I'm just dumb but like #part of a good mystery is looking back and seeing all the points where you totally could have figured it out #tlt just withholds vital information from you and when you get to the end you're like 'ah so that's why nothing made any fucking sense' #it's not satisfying #I'm so cranky I really wanted to like these books #this isn't a case of me not extending a book the goodwill to meet it where it is #I was more than willing to do that #but they just aren't speaking to me #but at the same time I read some reviews on goodreads and while some were negative none of them had the same problems I do #I don't want to get into drama or discourse or even really a friendly argument about the merits of these books #but I'm considering writing up something about them if only for my own benefit

[on-stardust-wings]

Regarding the good omens post I do believe it's weird useless discourse, but also I cant help but get mad when I see someone say shit like "headcanoning Crowley and Aziraphale as anything other than men is homophobic and transphobic" like yes I've only seen it once and it had a bunch of reblogs but FUCK it's so tone deaf and chronically online that it ruined my day.

Absolutely weird useless discourse, yeah. It helps nobody. It achieves nothing. It just makes people mad at each other over... fictional characters.

The beauty of Good Omens is that especially Aziraphale and Crowley, both as individuals and concerning their relationship, are so easy to read into whatever suits you best. It's one thing that really spoke to me about its fandom, too, when I first came here, the way fans were happy to interpret them as gay men, as genderqueer, as trans, as ace, as so many things, and there was art and fic with it and it all happily coexisted. Like, last year it was normal and celebrated that you'd read one fic, be it canon or AU, where they're gay married and then another where they ace and in a QPR and then one where one of them is intersex and all of them were right and wow look at all our cool rep and the community and the love and acceptance we have for each other here. I loved that. It was such a welcoming place.

And, thing is, I think it still is. The majority of those people are still here. Gatekeepers are a small, loud minority in any community, and looking at the notes on my rant post... yeah, a large number of fans want to have this open to interpretation, this accepting culture around the show and the ship (and are still in fact living it, enjoying a variety of different queer readings of the show and book).

I agree with you, it's very tone deaf.

Also, a thing people forget about Good Omens is that it isn't a queer rep show. It's the adaption of a book, it's a story about averting Armageddon, about finding out who your friends are and where you belong and who you are and learning to do what is right by you own moral compass. It does Good Omens a great disservice to reduce it to "oh, it's queer". It includes queer coded characters. It includes queer themes. But they're not meant to be the core message. They're one element of the story among many. Good Omens is a very rich and nuanced narrative, and some of those nuances include genderless characters and characters in relationships that aren't straight.

But a number of people don't see themselves represented exactly the way they want to, either by Good Omens on its own or by Good Omens when comparing it to other things like Our Flag Means Death, and now they're unhappy about it (because they're hurting), and lashing out at everyone who likes the thing they don't like, not seeing that all it does is hurt other queer people. (I'm starting to be a little bit Internet Old, and this is such a common, sad pattern in online spaces for minorities, especially spaces that tend towards minority activism. It's true for queer spaces, for disability rights, for the fight against racism... A lot of us have been hurt in our lives, and continue to be hurt, and the hurt makes us defensive, and we lash out at each other instead of standing together against the actual problems. Fighting amongst ourselves weakens and distracts us, and leaves us with less energy to deal with the actual problems. ... Sorry for ranting.)

#look I'm not even really interested in discourse #I don't want discourse #but I have opinions #even if the main opinion is 'I want to go back to not knowing about the discourse' #why can't we all just enjoy a good thing #or walk away from a piece of media is it doesn't give us what we need out of it #good omens keeps making me very happy #I'm just getting very tired of people's negativity #you know? #good omens #queer stuff #ask #p+a

[lottiematthewsceo]

might be a hot take but i think ofmd should’ve pulled an iwtv and made stede biracial

#would save y'all a lot of discourse but definitely unlock some new ones (read: racist ones) #also would probably be cancelled after the first season but after watching s2 i'm fine with that #HIS FATHER'S RESENTMENT COMES FROM NOT JUST HIM BEING THE NOT SO MASCULINE MINI HIM BUT ALSO FROM LOOKING LIKE HIS MOTHER #(​except for in the winter when it's really cold then he gets really pale but they live in barbados so not often) #I'M THINKING THOUGHTS #DO YOU SEE THE VISION #STEDE AND ED CONNECTING ON NEVER FINDING SOMEONE THAT GETS THEM TAKES ON A NEW MEANING #ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd stede

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

If Edelgard starts a war on cats it would be a CATastrophe. Bad pun aside, it really speaks volumes when people are so enamored and defensive about their fave that they're willing to say "racism, genocide and terrorism is good actually". Fiction may not affect reality most of the time, but it exposes views that some people share that makes you go "yikes.".

I can't believe I didn't even think of that when I wrote it LOL.

For people missing the context, this ask is in response to a reply I wrote on another post.

When it comes to media, it's one thing if there's nuance to the situation and it's not as direct (is she being brainwashed? Controlled? Forced? Somehow unaware? Shown to be conflicted about her actions/what she says? etc). In her case though that's not present and she means what she says. Even still, liking her as a character is fine.

It's different when people start using real life situations or making outright harmful rhetoric, which is something they do both to lift their favorite up and to vilify her enemies (which is why they have to reach so hard, and farther than their arms actually can reach to make up reasons to hate Dimitri. It's not him, it's the fact that they hate anyone who opposes Edelgard, and if Edegard wants them dead they also want them dead. Unfortunately that also turned into demonizing those with mental illness).

Fiction in and of itself doesn't affect reality or indicate what a person is like irl, but their behavior toward others is no longer fiction. Story wise you could argue it makes an interesting character to have these flaws and villainous traits, but it's another story entirely when people double down to insist their characters' actions are just and they go into detail to force it down people's throats - 99.99% of the time unprompted, when that character actively associates with people who have willingly and intentionally committed genocide and aims to do the same herself by finishing the job.

Which you'd think she wouldn't because... those same people wiped out all her siblings, but okay. Somehow the CoS is worse than them. I guess bc Agarthans are human at the end of the day, so no matter how inhumane and atrocious their actions are, they get a pass as long as there's a non-human in the vicinity. Racism typically goes hand in hand with genocide, so. Yeah.

It's not even just that though - it's how the arguments go that indicates if a person is just trying to defend their favorite. If they start brainlessly spewing harmful rhetoric at real people, and if what they say would actively defend real life issues, it's concerning. It's the manner in which they defend their favorite. If the way they argue is exactly how American-hard-rights defend themselves, it starts becoming uncomfortable for people and no longer applies to just fiction.

If what you argue sounds exactly what irl politics sounds like, that's a pretty powerful indicator of who you're dealing with. It doesn't matter if they are or claim to be American-left (specifying because Random said it's different in Europe!). If their arguing points shit on all the values American-lefts stand for, they are not, whether they like it or not, arguing for the left (which all stans claim to do, and then they start regurgitating American-right political stances, extremely often at the expense and discomfort of actual American-lefts. Might I remind you that one of them, a straight man, used abortion and gay marriage both being legally in jeoprady as a gotcha to argue for Edelgard).

It doesn't matter what you claim you're doing. If your arguments actually start reflecting things that can be real, you need to be careful about how you word it. Houses deals with a political atmosphere very heavily, which shouldn't have really been a problem... but it got too close to real life politics within the fandom and people's true colors started to show.

It should have been "I love Edelgard but damn some of what she does is fucked up" and not trying to vehemently defend every singular word she's ever said. As I've mentioned in my very lengthy "why the writing failed Edelgard", the writing is partly to blame for people being divided on her, but it's the fans' own faults if they can't draw a line between liking her character and supporting things in a way that makes it sound like you'd support them irl.

It's even worse that all that nonsense picked up really badly right around the time Ukraine got invaded and Putin was out there spewing nonsense. It became a sensitive issue to have people defending Edelgard invading other countries proudly with false claims/propaganda, because the arguments fell perfectly to a T in line with what Putin was doing.

Evidently that didn't matter to the people who never touch grass and waste their time and energy only thinking of defending Edelgard instead of just enjoying her character, but then, they don't really even enjoy her character; they just enjoy their made up version of her who fights for what they want her to fight for instead of realizing what she's actually doing. These people would be damn easy bait for irl politics and it shows. Dangerously.

So for anyone arguing about your fictional favorites, remember that context is important and how you treat the topic(s) at hand are just as important. I absolutely adore a villain just like Edelgard because of good writing, and there are points I can actually defend him (if you've been on this blog for more than like a week you prooOOOObably know who I'm referring to AT THIS POINT lmao). That doesn't mean I'm going to call invasion, racism, etc good and just for his better talking points to be achieved.

In my opinion Edelgard ended up poorly written because the writers wanted to be bias in the context of the story but couldn't properly justify the atrocities. I'll be honest, if this is how they handle (main) female villains, I'd rather just not have them. I'd rather go back to the days of Petrine and Hilda who were side villains and allowed to be as disgusting and horrendous as they wanted.

If writing a lead villain who is female won't work because they can't stop pushing their bias into the writing (don't even look at poor Petra, she got SKEWERED in CF and especially in SB) and it reflects poorly, I just don't want it. I know men at the writing table for some wild reason throughout the years have been unable to properly write females (which like, why. Just write human beings. But no, they seem to act like females are a different entity entirely), but if that's going to remain the case, I don't want them to write them in situations like these because they clearly can't handle it. They treat Edelgard as a trophy wife who has to be perfect for them and not as a complex, legitimate person.

Mind you, I also made a post before about how Edelgard is separated from other female villains by being drawn as "attractive". Ishtar gets treated much better than other female villains as well, with Heroes going as far as to outright shit on canon and give her an alt where she "joins the Liberation Army", which... the whole point of her character and her fighting in that war was that she was on the opposite side but wasn't a bad person. I could argue similar things for Burian, but that's more headcanon/literally based on just his death quote lmfao.

Point being, Ishtar is drawn to be attractive. Petrine and Hilda are not, and are outright villainous, terrible, not complex people at all (Hilda is a hypocrite, but she's not complex). Edelgard was drawn to be attractive, and was thus not treated like a villain proper. Unfortunately this got warped into the fandom we know now, but... like we both said, the way they argue for her is pretty telling and honestly pretty scary. Let's not forget that they've spewed death threats at people simply for not liking Edelgard.

No, that last sentence was not a joke nor an exaggeration. In a way it makes sense though, considering they defend genocide, racism, etc.

#DCB Ask #this is why I like to just discuss things with JUST people I know. we have differing opinions in our own circle! #in this fandom tho I have to already know I can debate this game safely and not have to deal with bullshit #I do like talking abt this game (Hopes too) and I do like being able to vent safely when I'm unhappy with certain story beats #talking about/venting about things isn't always looking for discussion but the stans do NOT understand that #and will come after you unwarranted simply for liking Dimtiri. I noticed some of them have been #recently basically going down the line of who follows who. they find other fans through who follows who #so even people like me who just stay in their corner and talk with their mutuals end up with #a stan coming at me bc they couldn't resist going onto my blog and looking at my posts #when my blog content is CLEARLY not aimed at them and they are NOT the target audience for it #and it also sucks that like... I don't rly engage in discourse but it finds some of my mutuals bc of who they follow #so I'm not totally away from seeing it but I'm on the sidelines/not rly involved #if a stan comes at me for no goddamn reason I reply and block and continue on with my day #but sadly having a discussion with mutuals or posting on your blog without tags still gets stans a-knockin' #anyway I have midnight Taco Bell and it's really fucking great #I am a night owl and tonight I am a happy night owl. I have consumed and am continuing to consume Taco Bell I am invincible right now