#mymeta

[bedknees]

ngl with how heavy-handed Fionna and Cake is presenting the themes of Simon doing dad-coded stuff,

and obviously wanting to be a dad,

I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was all building to something. To what, I don't know yet. But I feel it has to be something.

#simon petrikov #ice king #atimers #adventure time #fionna and cake #mymeta #1k #2k

[pumpkinpaix]

Regarding #EndOTWRacism’s summaries of 2023 OTW Board election candidate positions

Before I begin, let me say now that while I am a volunteer with the OTW, my views are personal and should not be taken as any kind of official statement from the org, its leadership, or other volunteers, especially not the candidates in question. My focus here is on the Asian candidates for obvious reasons, but this post is not meant as endorsement or disavowal of any of the candidates, whose bios and platforms can all be read here.

Do not take this as an excuse harass the mods running EOTWR. I cannot make myself clearer.

--

I am making this post to express my extreme disappointment with End OTW Racism’s post purporting to summarize the platforms of the candidates for the upcoming Board elections. It is no longer rebloggable, but can be read here.

The way that the candidates with Asian names were spoken of is deeply insulting when compared with how candidates with English-language names were discussed. Asian candidates had their platforms misrepresented, their expertise downplayed, and their lived experiences reduced down to “bringing an international presence” to the board, which was then further caveated with, “diversity alone is not going to solve the issue of racist harassment currently allowed in the OTW’s policies and enforcement practice”. While it is true that diversity alone is not a solution, it’s pretty offensive to essentially have “remember! Just because they aren’t white doesn’t mean you should vote for them!” tacked on to one of the Asian candidates’ platforms. 

End OTW Racism seems more concerned with whether or not candidates used the buzzwords they wanted to hear rather than with how racism is discussed holistically within the statements. While I can appreciate that EOTWR has a specific agenda, to say things like, “[s]he does not mention racism, racist harassment, or hiring a DEI consultant in her platform, so outside the outreach and support she mentions, there is not enough for us to conclude that these would be priorities for her” regarding Zixin Z.’s position, directly following the statement, “[s]he also mentions the need for outreach towards non-English-speaking fans and has a desire to provide support to volunteers from minority groups” is fucking laughable, especially after the initial mistake of stating that Zixin Z. only wanted to do more outreach to Chinese-speaking fans. Again, I understand that people make mistakes and that this mistake has since been corrected, but I hope it prompts some reflection on the sort of biases that would lead to such a mistake in the first place. It may have been completely innocuous, but in charged discussions about racism, please understand that it gives an impression that is difficult to shake. I do thank you for not trying to hide that this happened. 

Why is Anh P.’s lack of discussion on TOS/PAC a point against her, while Zixin Z.’s years of experience on PAC, her role as a mod on Weibo, and her background in nonprofits don’t even warrant a mention? For that matter, why did none of the Asian candidates’ skills or experience warrant mention? Qiao C. and Zixin Z. have both been volunteers with the organization for several years now, and Anh P. has years of moderation and volunteer experience elsewhere prior to her work with the OTW.

It is so fucking frustrating that despite each one of these candidates specifically talking about the need for diverse voices, they had their platforms essentially passed over because they didn’t use the right words, and it is particularly fucking aggravating to see that EOTWR will use Chinese issues as props when trying to press OTW leadership on the racism that occurs within the org, but then completely fail to connect the dots on why these candidates are running because the wrong language was used. Zixin Z. is one of the Weibo mods, for fuck’s sake. 

The entire post feels like an exercise in virtue signalling, from every time it was brought up that a candidate did not provide pronouns in their platform statements, despite every one of them having pronouns provided in their bios (why mention this detail at all? You could have simply used the pronouns), to what felt like willful obliviousness to the anti-racism stances in the Asian candidates’ platforms. It feels like the concern starts and ends with racism in Anglophone terms, on Anglophone terms.

I can respect the driving ideas behind EOTWR, even if I disagree with the way that EOTWR pursues their goals. I do believe that we want the same things in the end, and therefore chose not to interact with the many posts I have seen about the protest. However, I saw the summary post and could not let it pass without speaking.

For a protest group supposedly dedicated to ending racism in the OTW, this felt incredibly hypocritical, conscious bias or not. In my most charitable frame of mind, I can see this as misjudging and overcorrecting to ensure that there was no favoritism shown to the obvious non-white candidates lest EOTWR be accused of tokenizing– again, it is true, that diversity in and of itself is not a solution to racism. 

In my least charitable and most bitter frame of mind, I feel inclined to wonder if EOTWR, much like the OTW itself, is uncomfortable with the lack of influence they could exude over an international candidate. It would be much, much easier to push their agenda forward with more culturally familiar candidates, particularly white ones. Guilt and public scrutiny are powerful weapons and easy to wield against those with perceived privilege in our current atmosphere, often to the detriment of the actual discussion at hand in my experience. I know that’s cynical. It’s hard not to be. (For clarity's sake: I do not know the other candidates' races. This is a hypothetical.)

This isn’t a demand for an apology. I think we fetishize the capital-A Apology to the point where I find them sort of meaningless unless they are given freely. I don’t need EOTWR to agree with me, and I don’t really want to keep talking about it. Rather, I would prefer that EOTWR take action to do better as they continue in their campaign. What that action is is their decision. If they truly mean to stand against racism in the OTW, then I’d like them to demonstrate it.

--

DO NOT HARASS EOTWR MODS. I AM FUCKING SERIOUS ABOUT THIS.

#endotwracism #votetoendotwracism #organization for transformative works #otw #ao3 #archive of our own #fandom #otw board #otw elections #discourse #racism #end otw racism #i'm so so sorry everyone #but i'm upset i really am. #mine #mymeta #i guess. #i mean it i don't really want to talk more about it okay. i will probably mute this post #even if i reblog it a few times #long post #statistically average

[kylermalloy]

This has probably already been said, but I have to talk about the courtroom scene and why it was a fantastic introduction to not only Levi, but Erwin too—and their relationship.

So we first meet Levi in the heat of battle. We see very quickly the type of fighter he is—confident, but not overly so. He has a strong command of himself and the people under him. He’s The Guy.

Then Erwin shows up and announces they’re pulling back—Levi immediately argues this. We might assume Levi is being set up as the guy who ~doesn’t do well with authority.~ You know the type. He does his own thing. Doesn’t play well with others. Chafes under orders. He’s too big and too important for all of that!

This impression continues when Eren meets Levi and Erwin in the dungeon. Levi is rude and mouthy, and Erwin’s chastisements do little to curb this. Levi’s confidence and skill give him authority issues…right?

So then we move to the courtroom scene, Eren’s trial. Erwin says beforehand that he has a plan, but we’re told nothing more. We see him propose to the court that Eren be given to the Scouts, and he says nothing more.

Levi is the one to scathingly go after the MPs during the debate, pointing out the flaws in their plan and how likely it is that they’re trying to save their own skin. First time viewers might assume that, again, while Erwin is a charismatic leader, he doesn’t go far enough. Levi is the one to say the quiet part out loud, to go to the places Erwin’s too ~respectable~ to go.

Then things start to go sideways. The court’s favor seems to be turning against Eren and the Scouts, fear and paranoia winning out. Eren is getting desperate.

Enter Levi.

And we get this glorious scene. Levi convinces the court that Eren is harmless to the likes of someone like him. Their best bet is to do what Erwin asked and give Eren to the Scouts. Please.

(Notice how Erwin is not shocked, nor does he try to stop Levi.)

Now again, to a first time viewer, this scene feeds into our preconceived notion of Levi. He’s the guy who isn’t deterred by silly things like rank or authority. He saw that things weren’t going Erwin’s way, so he took matters into his own hands. Maybe Erwin will be mad about this later, but Levi will shrug and roll his eyes and say “but I got results, didn’t I?” and Erwin will have no argument for that.

…Right?

Cut to the next scene, after the court has granted the Scouts custody of Eren—and Erwin’s like, “sooo…sorry about that. We had to make it look good.”

This whole thing was planned by Erwin.

The scene was more or less staged by the Scouts. Erwin wanted to present himself as the calm, collected leader with clean hands. And Levi was the one to do the dirty work, be the brutalizer—even though it was all on Erwin’s orders.

He’ll play that role. He’ll be the rogue, the rough one, the problem child, because his personality fits so well into that niche anyway. But he does it because Erwin wanted him to. If Erwin had wanted him to stand nice and quiet the entire time during the trial, if that’s what needed to be done, Levi would’ve done that instead. He’s not looking to get results; he trusts Erwin’s methods and does what he’s told.

And in this case, he was told to beat up this helpless brat. Gladly.

(How much do you want to bet one of the MPs said to Erwin after, “you need to keep your dog under control.” I would simply implode.)

Like, if this display will land anyone in trouble, it wouldn’t be Erwin—it would be Levi. Levi’s the one who got violent and mouthy during a military trial. He broke rank. He attacked the defendant. Erwin isn’t, ostensibly, responsible for this at all. Levi willingly put himself in that position because he trusted Erwin.

And so everything we thought we knew about Levi is turned on its head! Eren even says so in the next episode—he expresses surprise that Levi’s so diligent about following orders.

Eren, silly boy, assumes that being skilled means you don’t have to take orders from anyone. But Levi does. It’s his whole character. (Notice how, despite him ending up being the oldest member of the Scouts, he’s never in line for Commander? He’s the hands, not the head.)

And this whole thing provides so much insight into Erwin’s character as well! Pyxis says at the beginning of the episode that Erwin is very straight-laced. Well, by the end of the episode, we can see that’s…not quite true.

Erwin is conniving, willing to play dirty, do whatever it takes, to get things to go his way. All while keeping his own hands clean, maintaining the image of the honorable Commander. He simply uses the tools at his disposal (Levi) to do the dirty bits for him.

It’s a fantastic introduction to the Scouts, their leader, and his right hand (or is it the left hand that does the dirty work?)

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #levi ackerman #erwin smith #aot #snk #eruri #i am tagging it that but it doesn’t have to be #mymeta #kylerrambles #this of course is not an indictment of either character i LOVE what this says about them! #it’s good character writing! #there! i made a meta post! #feels good to ramble lol

[angelsdean]

cas who abandoned heaven, cas who knows "paradise" is not all it's cracked up to be, cas who--as part of team free will--understands that what they're fighting for is freedom, freedom to choose! not simply the empty promise of "paradise", suddenly deciding that no, actually, this magic baby NEEDS to be born because it will bring paradise on earth<3 (after being staunchly on team "abomination baby needs to die") IS very much sus and people should have been concerned by this sudden shift and it's Not unreasonable to be skeptical or assume some kind of brainwashing. like dean was acting very reasonable and logical and had every right to be suspicious of jack and his intentions because from where he's standing he just saw his best friend do a complete 180 on everything he stands for and believes in after an immensely supernatural being (with powers to rivial god's) just made contact with him. everything abt dean's attitude and wariness toward jack in s12 and the very beginning of s13 is a totally reasonable response, not even counting in the added grief he experiences in early s13 after losing cas, mary, and crowley. i think any rational person would be a little skeptical and untrusting in his same situation. extremely powerful supernatural being whose intentions are unknown and there is no way to stop said being if they turn out to be malicious? and they just seemingly changed your best friend's mind with just a touch? yeah i'd have my guard up!

but anyways, all of this also reveals some juicy things about cas. because if it wasn't (at the very least some low-level) brainwashing, then that means, cas sees a vision of a hypothetical future where he's with dean (cas shirtless, dean looking up, "thank you" etc etc) and he's ready to abandon his beliefs about heaven and paradise to ensure that future comes to pass.

and, because my adhd brain is weaving threads together, i'm also thinking about the 15x20's fake heaven and "cas helped" and how TO ME, that's another red flag abt that heaven being sus. because what we know about cas is that he stops believing in heaven! heaven is not paradise. heaven is a sham. and i just can't reconcile with knowing that it's always been freedom over paradise for team free will, and then just accept that cas (and even jack) would think a "new and improved reformed heaven" would be a good ending in any way. like you're telling me "cas helped" meaning he's ALIVE and out of the empty and he DIDN'T show up to save dean from bleeding out on that rebar? unimaginable.

and even with cas abandoning his beliefs for jack's visions of "paradise", that paradise was still EARTH. still alive. cas would never choose a heaven "happy ending." he would not have a hand in creating that.

anyways, needed to talk abt these two things so i married them into one post. but yea dean was not wrong to be sus of jack at the start. cas suddenly being pro-paradise is very juicy depending on how one interprets the "brainwashing", and lastly, happily-ever-after-heaven has never been the end goal for team free will. they wanted freedom! they wanted to live! cas would Not have a hand in building them a new prison!

#vic.txt #mymeta #cas studies

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

Jon Snow certainly has a type, but it's based on personality not on physical looks. The two girls we see he has taken an interest at, Ygritte and Val, couldn't look more different. The first is short, skinny girl with a round face and a shaggy mop of red hair. The second is a slender girl with full blossom, high sharp cheekbones and honey colored hair. What do they have in common? Both are brave and fierce.

So the mentality that "Jon Snow only likes redheads" is a misconception that has no canon basis. After all, Jon meets another woman with red hair after Ygritte's death, Melisandre, and he at best tolerates her presence on Castle Black.

As for Ygritte, it's not her red hair the trait Jon likes about her. He does mention that the freefolk consider her a great beauty because of her hair but himself only started to like several aspects of herself- physical traits included- as he got to know her.

(ASOS, JON II)

#Jon snow #canonjonsnow #a post of ice and fire #valyrianscrolls #asoiaf meta #Jon snow meta #mymeta

[lilshitwayne]

The dismissal of Camila Dunne as a 'mary sue' deeply bothers me, when you've been in fandom for as long as I have and seen people grab a white dude with honestly 5% of her depth and run with it. Sidelined male characters are given complex inner lives, but a woman who displays MANY conflicting traits on screen and has motivations of her own cannot be anything but a cookie-cutter "too perfect, not realistic" characters.

Camila is loving, caring, maternal. She's also the child of immigrants and has the "stick by your man" mentality we see ingrained in latin america sexism, she won't drop the bone even if it hurts her because being the "divorced woman" is simply not a possibility that ever crosses her mind, its seen as a moral failure on her part. Which incidentally happens to line up with Billy's own morality issues and how he doesn't want to be a deadbeat dad and how they stay in this loop, feeding each other's insecurities but also helping each other. She's goal oriented and stubborn, she loves photography and is very talented at it, she resents being reduced to the "mother" and sidelined even as she loves her child more than anything, she wants to be desired and she's willing to cheat for that, even if she regrets it later, she's forgiving, but she's not willing to let Billy's ludicrous fantasies and insecurities get in the way of her happiness.

Like?? HOW is this a Mary Sue. You don't have to like her, but put some respect on her name.

#daisy jones & the six #daisy jones and the six #camila dunne #i love her loads and i AM a billy x daisy shipper #a hardcore one #but Camila's mess with Billy is exactly what makes it so compelling #also Camila and Daisy putting up fronts and these fronts getting bought by the fandom will never not be funny #considering they're the exact opposite of what they want us to see #mymeta #i guess

[satbiym]

Spy x family thoughts that I cannot stop thinking about

- "papa is a liar" (affectionate)

- the expected "spy needs a fake family" trope being flipped on its head and subverting the dynamics of the inherent power imbalance by virtue of a different kind of information asymmetry. It's like everyone is trying to play 5d chess blindfolded in good faith, but what most of them don't yet know is that the youngest and seemingly the most vulnerable member of their game has actually taken off the blindfold and replaced the chess board with uno.

- the family consists of the only people in that universe who can keep up with each other naturally and without compromising their own sense of self. Power family ahhh

- spy x family is to the spy genre what addams family was to the family sitcom genre. Get in losers, it's time for a new normal

- the very epitome of "everyone in this family is an outlier" so every time a normal person interacts with them, by virtue of majority rules, the normie starts to look around and question "... wait, am I the problem??????? This is weird, right????!" But no one validates that sentiment. Bless

- "Anya williams. Anya levski. Anya roche. Anya klein."

- Anya Forger.

- E L E G A N T!!!!!!!!! 🦢 🎩

#spy x family #spy family #loid forger #yor briar #spyxfamily #anya forger #mypost #mymeta

[itsclydebitches]

"Neo throws herself into the tree despite that going against every iota of her characterization. Will we ever see her again? Who knows."

Trying to rack my brain around this since I stopped watching RWBY after Vol. 5. Can you expand on this for me?

Of course!

So to summarize: Neo falls into the Ever After with the rest of RWBYJ, right? She spends the whole Volume going after Ruby using her new, powered-up semblance. Neo finally corners her, traumatizes her, and succeeds in getting Ruby to drink tea made from the tree's leaves, an act that is GLARINGLY coded as a suicide attempt, but then the show backtracks and insists that Ascension (interacting with the tree in this way) is actually just a magical self-reflection and you come out the better for it. However, because Ruby drinking the tea is equated with her dying in that episode, Neo looses all motivation now that she's (presumably) succeeded in killing "Little Red." Does she want to get back home? No. Get revenge on Cinder? No. Stay in the Ever After with her talking Roman clone? No. She's emotionally hollow now, which allows the Curious Cat to possess her.

Fast-forward to our finale. The Cat-as-Neo fights the team until Jaune uses magical tree smoke to make Neo ~feel things~ again. This expels the Cat. She uses the last of her strength to kill the Cat and then collapses, with Ruby looking back at her in concern. As the group prepares to leave the Ever After, Neo says goodbye to her Roman clone - acknowledging that he's not real - and deliberately throws herself into the tree. We see her becoming encased in the bark, meaning she's undergoing Ascension, and since she's not Ruby Rose with protagonist armor, the implication is that she will emerge without any of her old memories, with a new purpose, a new body - basically a completely different person. The group then leaves the Ever After with Neo's story ambiguously concluded.

So there's a lot going on there. This claim that Neo has absolutely no motivation or interest in life outside of killing Ruby. The fact that her supposed attachment to Remnant is, paradoxically, what allows her to expel the Cat (even though the Cat tried to go to Remnant and couldn't leave BECAUSE Neo supposedly has no ties there). Her waking up post-possession to find Ruby A-okay and just... not caring about that. At all. The third implied suicide of the Volume as she throws herself into the tree, choosing to leave "Neo" behind. (Seriously, I cannot emphasize enough how messed up it is. Another character, Little, emerges with no memories of the group, a totally new body, a new name... like the person you were full-on disappears during Ascension. HOW is that not a kind of death?) Finally, we've got Ruby's clear desire to go comfort Neo after everything she's put her through, tying into the series' tendency to "redeem" every cute girl villain while condemning the flawed male heroes. RWBY's message is that after everything Neo will be rewarded with a brand new, better life here in the Ever After, so... make of that what you will.

#rwde #rwby #mymeta #suicide tw

[skloomdumpster]

Yeah, no, as a saundreas shipper I cannot fucking relate to the people who want to strip Andreas of his own agency and pin all his negative characteristics on Rosalind so you can indulge in overglorified yaoi, completely ignoring the repackaged misogyny of it all.

I hate the general headcanon that Andreas was under mind control and that's why he couldn't reach out for Sky. You're telling me Andreas, who says "I don't know whose unbalanced piece of shit this is", meaning Sky, was longing to be a dad all these years? You think it was Rosalind's boot on his neck that had him happily gloating to Saul about "only one of us is in chains"? You think Ros asked him to burn down Saul's house?

Andreas. Was. A. Bad. Person.

Make your peace with it babe, he was a bad father, he lied to Beatrix for sixteen years about what happened in Aster Dell. He turned his back on Sky when he was a baby, before Aster Dell. Then he turned his back again when he didn't come to collect his son after "dying". And then he turned his back on Sky for sixteen fucking years and happily raised a daughter. He came to school and promptly ostracized Sky, made sure to demean Sky's mentor at every possible opportunity.

And then he went and risked it all for his adopted daughter. Was ready to kill and die for her. He died to save his estranged best friend, he died because Beatrix was already dead and there was nothing for him, he died so his son wouldn't have to kill his real father, he died because he was living on borrowed time and he had been dead already for sixteen years.

This is range, it's a complex character, with multiple motivations and flaws and good qualities. He's reckless and incompetent and cruel, and he's loving and loyal to the point of being self sacrificial. He was a bully and he was a victim. But no, let's make him a poor baby angel and put this all in Rosalind.

#BIZARRE moment where the writers!!! give you a well written characters and you're like no we don't do that here #we want the CW flavor of men #fate the winx saga #mymeta #i had a second too long to think about andreas and his relationship with fatherhood and then i got angry that no one ever talks about it

[junmeraki]

carrying my thoughts about jjk326 on here because I'm going insane

#jjk #jjk326 #mymeta #gojo satoru #jujutsu kaisen

[letthestorieslive]

Okay but Kira's face at the end of Galvanize (3x15).

Instead of being killed by it like Barrow has planned it, Kira absorbs “one-point-twenty-one jigawatts of electricity” (as Stiles put it in Illuminated, 3x16). And the face she makes after that always got me.

Because she doesn't look confused by what just happened, unlike Scott who looks at eyes with wide eyes. Kira already knows she is different as we learn it later in Illuminated when she talks with Scott at school :

KIRA : Take a picture of me. And use the flash. SCOTT : Whoa... KIRA : Yeah. SCOTT : What is it ? KIRA : I don't know. It started showing up a couple months ago.

Kira has already noticed her aura and she knows about the flash thing. So she doesn't look confused, surprised to see what she can do, yes, but confused, no.

If anything she looks more scared. And that's fair. She knows there is something going on with her but she doesn't know anything about the supernatural, she doesn't know yet what she is (she uses the word kitsune for the first time in Silverfinger, 3x17), and she doesn't know what is happening to her.

Kira looks mostly resigned I think. Because now Scott knows she is different and not normal. And it's terrible for her because when she finally manages to be friend with him (her first friend !), he has to discover that she is a weirdo. Kira doesn't know yet about Scott being a werewolf (that's for Illuminated) and she really doesn't want Scott to think any different of her – and lose her first friend.

Which is also why she is so understanding when Scott shows her in Silverfinger his werewolfness. She is not scared because she is also different so if Scott is different it's okay too. She is not scared also because it's Scott, her friend, the guy who tried to save her from being electrocuted, who protected her from the Oni when they showed up at Derek's loft after the party, who doesn't seem weird out by her being different.

#kira yukimura #scott mccall #scira #they are just so soft for and with each other #i'm dying #so much acceptance between the two of them #like #i'm not normal but i reall want to be your friend #and #i know you're not normal but i'm not normal either so let's be friend #(and more) #mymeta #teen wolf meta #teen wolf #mine

[bedknees]

can you imagine you're finding your footing in academia, are engaged to be married to the love of your life, have your entire life ahead of you... and it gets flushed away in an instant because you wanted to put on this silly thing you bought to make your future wife laugh a little? can you imagine experiencing the slow grueling process of ego death, knowing you are losing yourself and your entire identity bit by bit but you can't not put the damn crown on because how else are you going to protect this helpless little girl you've grown attached to? you have no one else to speak of - they all died in the apocalypse after all.

can you imagine fleeting sensations of lucidity on and off for centuries, thinking maybe this is finally the time you can get a grip long enough to try to figure out a way out of this hell?

can you even fathom snapping back to your full conscious identity in an instant in this fantastical, alien world you are far too old to hope to adapt to in a meaningful way in a long-term sense? what about spending the next decade+ suffering with unprocessed trauma that pathetically few could even begin to relate to? or having your entire existence become an attraction for others' entertainment and amusement? hell, even if you die, you won't see the love of your life in whatever afterlife your soul inhabits.

if I were Simon, I don't see myself doing much better.

#mymeta #simon petrikov #fionna and cake spoilers #adventure time #atimers #long post #meta #ice king

[pumpkinpaix]

on the 7seas mxtx english editions

I have been struggling to write this since December. I still don’t really know where or how to begin, but the recent announcement of 2ha’s English licensing by Seven Seas seems as good a motivator as any at this point.

I guess before I begin, I want to make clear that I am not writing this with the intent or desire to harm—it’s certainly a criticism, but I want it to be a practical one. Please don’t use my words as an excuse to take up arms or make personal attacks. I don’t want to be used as a prop in anyone else’s fights, I don’t wan to talk about it, I just want to say my piece and be done.

So. Without mincing words: I am beyond disappointed in the MXTX English-language editions. The idea that this might be what sets the precedent for future danmei releases is incredibly disheartening. There are several reasons, and I’ll try to explain my main issues as best I can without being unnecessarily harsh. I will be talking about specifics with regards to MDZS, as it’s the one I’m most familiar with.

Quality & Production Timeline:

The overall quality of the work is lackluster and rushed. Several reviews have already discussed issues with the MDZS translation that was published—they are easy to find on Goodreads and elsewhere, but I am not going to link them here because I feel that relitigating details and pinning blame on the translator(s) is very misguided. The licensed translation is full of mistakes (both major and minor), inconsistencies, and confusing wording. To me, this betrays a very serious lack of editorial oversight and quality checking rather than a problem with the raw translation itself. No translator on earth can produce a first draft without mistakes, yes, even very basic ones. Everyone slips up, even in their native tongue, all the time. Having mistakes in an early draft is not at all an indication that a translator lacks skill, and this persistent focus on the faults of the translator(s) feels more like scapegoating than anything. I may not agree with all of the translation choices, but I do not think that mistakes make the translator(s) unqualified.

What I find unacceptable is that these mistakes were allowed through into the final printing, which tells me there was insufficient, if any, review of the content, either by the translators, or by another party familiar with the original work. The production timeline feels very, very short for such a project (I cannot even begin to imagine trying to translate 32 chapters of MDZS in under four months), which maybe explains, but doesn’t excuse. I am not intimately familiar with the publishing industry, so I will refrain from speculating further, except to point in the direction of both Suika and Pengie’s threads on the matter:

If the books needed more time to be done well, then they should have allotted more time. The translators should not be bearing the brunt of the criticism. It isn’t fair to them—and it isn’t fair that the publication schedule and process set them up for failure in this way.

Pronunciation Guide:

This is perhaps my most serious grievance, and the one that’s kept me from writing this for four and a half months. I know that my reaction is personal and extreme, but I also think that it has roots in something that is both real and actionable. Forgive me, this will be harsh.

When I saw the pronunciation guides in the back of all the books, I felt physically ill.

It reads like an echo of all the times I’ve had my “difficult” language used against me, but this time packaged up as a pseudo-helpful, sightseeing brochure to make English speakers feel good about themselves when confronted with supposedly “difficult” content. They are condescending, touristy, and teach a bastardized, hyper-Americanized anglicization of my first language. The pronunciations, as they are written, sound exactly the way a classmate used to harass me by following me around, mocking my name, and pulling at the corners of his eyes. They are worse than useless.

These guides are not only disrespectful to people like me, but also disrespectful to the English speakers who put their trust in this production based on the marketing that implied there would be careful consideration of the cross-cultural challenges involved. When there was so much reassuring from the publisher that these books would be done right, that the production would be handled with respect and understanding, the inclusion of these guides was particularly insulting. Much has been made about how they are inaccurate—which they are. But what’s more egregious is their tone, their technique, their application.

Mandarin pronunciation can be challenging for English speakers. I am not contesting this. But I ask—what was the purpose of these guides? “[Mandarin] is a tonal language,” they read, “so correct pronunciation is vital to being understood!” But there is not a single further allusion to tone within the guide, and the pronunciations that follow are not, in any way, going to help a reader new to the language pronounce anything well.

Obviously, two-page pronunciation guides cannot be a substitute for language instruction—but then they should not make any pretension to be. I cannot see these guides as anything other than a way to pander to the egos of English speakers, to simplify and make palatable this language that might make them uncomfortable with its difference. These guides promise knowledge on culture that they don’t deliver, and instead mislead readers with racist caricatures of the language.

Lest this is met with responses along the lines of “but it’s hard to create a pronunciation guide” and “it makes the book more accessible”—1) of course it’s hard. So what? Doing it badly was worse than not doing it at all. 2) No, it doesn’t. Misinformation does not increase accessibility.

There was every opportunity to create something respectful and sincere. Many people have pointed out that the Pinyin system is very serviceable and consistent. If it wasn’t feasible to include a basic guide to Pinyin in the books, perhaps there could have been a space for “Additional Resources” instead, providing links or references to places where a reader could seek out that information if they wanted it. We live in a multimedia world. Several fans, including myself, have made audio pronunciation guides—something like that, more professionally produced, might have been an option. There was room to allow readers to explore and learn and put in effort to engage instead of spoon-feeding them this slapdash, half-assed bullshit.

I can believe that it was done with the best of intentions. But that doesn’t make it good.

Marketing:

This leads into my final point, which is a bit more nebulous and hard to explain, but I’ll try.

The inclusion of guides beyond a pronunciation guide and glossary was also insulting, in a different way. Why is there a need for a character guide? Can readers not be trusted to read? I might understand an inclusion in later volumes as a refresher, but it’s baffling to me that these guides are considered necessary at the outset, and it’s also frustrating to see that they contain interpretations of characterization and motivation. “The identity of certain characters may be a spoiler; use this guide with caution on your first read of the novel.” Why include it at all?

As a reader, I do not want to be told how to understand the text. The text can speak for itself without an external party setting the tone. These stories are not more complicated just because they are Chinese. Harry Potter didn’t come with an extensive list of characters and the meanings of their names. And those were books written for children.

MXTX’s works are adult books. They are adult books, but everything about their marketing in English feels like they are aimed at teens that the publishers don’t think are very smart. Yes, the stories may be culturally unfamiliar, but that doesn’t mean readers need to be hand-held with cutesy lectures. To do so feels like it says something less than flattering about the publisher’s perception of MXTX’s work and audience.

-

When the English licensing of MXTX’s works was first announced, I admit my first reaction was despair because I was so afraid of the consequences, of what unintended collateral damage the final product might generate if it fell short of a very high standard—for the translators, for MXTX, for the greater danmei genre. It’s difficult to be the first, and it’s difficult to be the first with such high stakes. And unfortunately, here we are, and it played out nearly exactly how I had predicted and hoped it would not.

I am not unbiased, and my views certainly reflect that. It is possible that some of my criticisms are excessive or unsympathetic. However, I have spent a long time thinking this over and attempting to put it all into words, and I would appreciate having my criticisms considered seriously, even if you eventually decide that you disagree with them. But I am tired and I am terribly sad that something I loved so much was handled in a way that felt so disrespectful. How can I be excited about the English releases of these books if I can hardly bear to look at the copies on my shelf? Unless a lot changes about the future installments, I cannot view any English licensing announcements with anything but bitter disappointment. I have no trust left to give, and no heart to spare.

It’s fine if you love the English editions of these novels. I don’t want to take away your joy because it’s a wonderful thing to have. As always, all I’m asking for is serious consideration. If I’ve made you see things in a different light, that’s as much as I can hope for.

#mxtx #seven seas #7seas #mdzs #tgcf #svsss #mine #mymeta #statistically average #cyan vs heritage

[kylermalloy]

Was Maes Hughes a good man? Was he a bad man?

Consider the evidence we have.........

Loaded question! I feel like the obvious answer is “yes!” because who doesn’t like Hughes? Who isn’t gutted by his death? Who doesn’t get sad thinking about his daughter growing up without the father who loved her so much?

But we also have to consider that Hughes canonically took part in the Ishval extermination—in other words, war crimes. The man’s a war criminal and a murderer. Even in the 03 version, where he states he took a desk job rather than participate in the massacre, he knew about the killings and did nothing to stop them. Complicity.

So then our answer should be “no,” because he Does Bad Things in canon. And—so does Roy Mustang. So does Riza Hawkeye, and every state alchemist and almost every enlisted soldier at the time of the war. They’re all part of a machine that steps on people. Slaughters then mercilessly when it’s deemed necessary. And anyone who follows those orders without question is, by definition, a bad person.

I’m not breaking new ground by saying this, and I’m far from the first to talk about the Amestrian military being almost entirely comprised of war criminals. But honestly? Whether or not someone is a “good” person is…such a boring question to me. The far more intriguing question is “Is Maes Hughes a good character?” And the answer to that is yes.

He’s a good character because he haunts the narrative. Because his death causes more ripples than his life. Because his friendship to one man helped cause the downfall of the regime he served, the regime that made him culpable in a genocide.

He’s a good character because, in the Conqueror of Shamballa movie, he makes us as viewers uncomfortable because he’s a Nazi. He’s complicit in that system of oppression as well, one that we’re far more familiar with. It might make viewers angry, make them decry the movie as bad because “ugh not my boy Hughes he would never!” Uh…he did. In his world, he did. In fact, in CoS, he is better than his Amestrian counterpart, because he denounces and leaves the party before they do anything more than shoot up a beer hall. Not a completely bad person, after all, so it seems.

#asks #anon #mymeta #i hope i articulated my thoughts well enough #like make no mistake i LIKE hughes #and i’m not gonna denounce him because he does bad things #but the bad things are connected to the narrative themes! #i have to talk about them! #fullmetal alchemist #maes hughes

[angelsdean]

thinking abt dean's hell trauma specifically around the continuous violation and torture of his body (or the manifestation of his body, because is it his body or really his soul? canon shows them physically able to enter hell but to me that's just what we the audience are seeing to make our brains comprehend it but like. it's a metaphysical place. ANYWAYS. whether it's really his body or his soul, dean perceives the torture as a bodily thing) so thinking abt all that coupled with what i perceive as dean's mentality that "it's different when it's me. different rules apply when it's me" in the sense that if someone else were talking about being tortured for decades he would think it horrific and extend empathy and sorrow for them. but when it's him it's like, well, i literally signed up for this, i gave my "consent" i knew what i was getting into (DID he, tho?) so i don't get to whine abt this or feel bad or complain that it sucked. and all of THAT just links back to me to dean's childhood and adolescence, and him feeling like he was never the victim, never abused or taken advantage of, because he was a mini adult! he was totally in control! he was fine. and that thread of convincing himself he's fine carries on over to his hell trauma, and even his michael possession trauma. he tells himself signed up for those things! he knew what he was getting into! (except no he didn't. michael turned on him. he had no idea what going to hell really entailed when he sold his soul) and he just tells himself over and over that he's fine and okay and he's not a victim because it's different for him, he's not allowed to be a victim, he's not allowed to suffer, he has to bury it and soldier on because there's work to do.

#vic.txt #mymeta #dean studies

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

Weirwood bows (Arya's future weapon?)

First, I want to clarify that the theory I'm going to write about isn't one I consider very possible to happen. Still, since I'm tired talking over the same subjects on asoiaf, I decided to have some harmless fun by letting my imagination run wild with speculating about it.

On one of Bran chapters in AGOT, we find out that the children of the forest used bows made of weirwood in order to hunt. Back then, the children of the forest were part of the long past, only existing in Maester Luwin's history lessons.

Later on, we find that they still exist as Bran encounters them on his travel beyond the Wall. Also, on Jon's chapters we learn that free folk also uses weirwood bows (alongside with weirwood spears).

Here comes the wild speculation part.Arya has expressed more than one her desire to learn how to shoot arrows.

There were a dozen steps between the archer and the point of her sword. We have no chance, Arya realized, wishing she had a bow like his, and the skill to use it.

ASOS, ARYA II

Anguy smiled over his ale. "When I don't fancy a man's eyes, I put an arrow through one." Arya remembered the shaft that had brushed by her ear. She wished she knew how to shoot arrows.

ASOS, ARYA II

Anguy had arrows tipped with bodkins as well as broadheads. A bodkin could pierce even heavy plate. I'm going to learn to shoot a bow, Arya thought. She loved swordfighting, but she could see how arrows were good too.

ASOS, ARYA VII

So, what if one day - after she learned the essential arrow skills- she obtained a bow made of weirwood; the tree which plays a crucial role to Northern religion and it's linked with various magic elements.

During her time with the Brotherhood without Banners, Anguy tried to teach her how to shoot arrows but it wasn't successful. Still, instead of altogether dismissing the possibility she could learn that skill, he simply said she needed a different type of bow:

Anguy let Arya try his longbow, but no matter how hard she bit her lip she could not draw it. "You need a lighter bow, milady," the freckled bowman said. "If there's seasoned wood at Riverrun, might be I'll make you one."

ASOS, ARYA IV

When Arya returns to Westeros, I do believe that she will meet the BwB again so perhaps this time Anguy can properly teach her, and she could obtain a weirwood bow one day.

I'm not saying this is going to happen within the asoiaf series. Martin already gave her character a weapon (Needle) in case she needs to defend herself so he might not feel the need to show her obtaining another fighting skills & weapon. But since I believe that Arya will live a long life post the end of the series, she could find time to learn to shoot arrows later on. Maybe, she can ask her oldest brother, Jon, to teach her. He has the skill and I doubt he would deny Arya a skill that would increase her changes of survival.

Speaking of him, it's interesting that he compares Arya to Ygritte right after he mention that the latter uses a bow made out of weirwood:

Stonesnake had called her a "spearwife" when they'd captured her in the Skirling Pass. She wasn't wed and her weapon of choice was a short curved bow of horn and weirwood, but "spearwife" fit her all the same. She reminded him a little of his sister Arya, though Arya was younger and probably skinnier.

ASOS, JON II

Finally, I wanted to say that on one of Bran's visions we see one of the Stark ancestors using weirwood arrows:

A dark-eyed youth, pale and fierce, sliced three branches off the weirwood and shaped them into arrows

ADWD, BRAN III

I'd love to see Arya using a weapon her ancestors also used, one that it's connected to the magic of the North.

#arya stark #house stark #a post of ice and fire #valyrian scrolls #asoiaf meta #arya meta #asoiaf speculation #mymeta