#that they do it with fairy tale characters they didn't create is bad enough BUT THIS IS A COUNTRY'S CULTURE WTF

[araminakilla]

Regarding Death Wolf...

Hear me out (NO, it's not the kind you are thinking)

We know Death has a job, right? To collect souls and most likely release them to the afterlife.

And for this job, he has to be there when somebody is about to die, as demostrated with him being there moments before Puss' eight death.

Supposing he is THE Death and he has been doing this since the beginning of time (or at least when there were enough stories of the Grim Reaper to adquire a physical form) that means he has seen a lot, A LOT of awful things.

Murders, suicides, massacres, death of infants, people who didn't deserve to die alone, animal cruelty, some other heavy stuff I won't mention here, etc etc etc.

And we thought "man, how is he able to cope with all of that? That job has to be utter torture for someone."

Probably many of you could think that he is able to do that because he is Death, and he was "born" with that purpose and only him can reap souls perfectly.

But while he is a force of nature, he also WAS a force of nature. Let me explain it well: He adquired a personality enough to be angry, excited, frustrated, amazed, happy, among other emotions.

While he has supernatural power and is most likely the most powerful being in the Shrek Franchise (or in Dreamworks as many say) he is also a PERSON.

Someone with a code of honor, morals, opinions, beliefs, etc.

Returning to the question "How can he bear all of that?" taking into account he is no longer an inevitable force, but a character of his own.

The answer is something you may relate to, and that is: Creativity and escapism.

To be the embodiment of Death, the guy is a very creative fella.

First of all, his design. I heard many people saying here and in Twitter that his design is something they would come up in their edgy, teen years of drawing their first fursona.

Guess what? They are right, the wolf form is someone's fursona. It's DEATH'S fursona. He clearly came up with this badass, piercing canine form to blend with the Fairy Tale Land assuming the form of the "Big Bad Wolf". He most likely had other forms he designed over the centuries and was able to present as them like if he were on a role play game in the living world.

His sickles? The weapon of choice with the little crossed cats on it to have a bigger effect of terror for Puss? Those who can become knuckles and join to create a scythe? Those are his creation, probably after thinking it for a while and writing all of those functions on a paper.

The way he presents himself? In the bar? The coins in his eyes as a "watching you" sign while being a cool reference to the Ferryman of souls? He transforming Perrito's forest into the background of a skull? The chilling reveal at the Cave of Lost Souls? The fire ring? It was all him.

As for the escapism part...

When the world becomes too heavy to deal with as real life issues tend to make us feel bad, depressed, angry... we tend to escape it somewhere. And in our time the common place would be the internet as in webpages or comics, stories, etc.

But what has to do with Death Wolf you may ask?

Well, while he would NEVER be able to escape his job entirely, he can have moments where he can enjoy a good hunt of people who don't appreciate life, like the whole plot of the Puss in Boots sequel could demostrate.

He managed to have a little time outside his eternal routine to chase an arrogant cat who took life for granted. He enjoyed it, it was thrilling, it was exciting.

It was a way to escape a monotonous, grim "life", if just for a short moment.

So, when the chase ended as his prey no longer feared him and now was ready to fight for his last life, the wolf retreats, happy for Puss' character development but resigned because he once again had to return to "The Eternal Duty"

And that's not even counting all the times Jack "I'm dead inside" Horner had to interrupt Lobo's hunt and remind him of his job even in his "spare time"

Death knew the chase had to end eventually, but he didn't want it to end.

He didn't want to return to his own world

And if we look at Death like that, then he is probably one of the most relatable characters Dreamworks has ever make.

In the Shrek Franchise:

Monsters can be loved

Princesses don't have to fit the perfect standards of beauty

Handsome guys can be possesive jerks

Love at first sight doesn't work like one would think

Happily ever afters had to be built and not just obtain them with magic

And Death is the most creative and "full of life" being in the world

Because he would absolutely go crazy with his life/work if he wasn't.

Because in a world of Kings, Poets and Soldiers, he's the Supreme King

And he's also a perky goth but none of you are ready for that conversation.

#100% sure that if Tumblr was a thing in the Shrekverse... #Death would have an account #puss in boots #puss in boots 2 #pib #pib 2 #pibtlw #pib the last wish #puss in boots the last wish #the last wish #death wolf #death the wolf #lobo muerte #pib lobo #puss in boots lobo #puss in boots wolf #pib wolf #pib death #puss in boots death #puss in boots analysis #character analysis #escapism #creativity #shrek #dreamworks shrek #dreamworks #this is probably the discovery of the decade #or the stupidest thing I ever wrote on this website

[ankh-morporkianpostalworker]

The Rise of Dimension 20: The Changing Face of Roleplay

I remember when I first heard about Dimension 20 in 2019. I had subscribed to Dropout to watch Um, Actually and I saw D20 being pushed on the platform. I sat down and watched the first episode, then the second. In two days I had finished the first season.

I had never seen anything like it. I had tried NADDPOD and CR and bounced off both (I'd eventually fall head over heels for the former, and gain a solid respect for the latter), but I fell in love with the Bad Kids, the Intrepid Heroes, the world of Elmville, and the style of Brennan Lee Mulligan.

Later, I would learn that the first season of Fantasy High was seen by most in the community as a sort of novelty, the last death-rattle of a dying company. It was cool and new, sure, but it was also a flash in the pan.

Escape From the Bloodkeep proved the naysayers wrong. It proved that Brennan was as much the source of the fun as the Intrepid Heroes, and it showed us something that set him apart from the pack - Brennan was constantly pushing himself to be better. Out of the starting gate, he proved a technical proficiency on par with Matt Mercer, the reigning king, but for Brennan, that wasn't enough. He wasn't facing off with Matt, he was facing off with himself, and he needed to be better.

The Unsleeping City continued this trend. It was another setting the DND actual play community wasn't used to - the real world. The characters were fresh, new, more nuanced than the children they played in Fantasy High. They were up to the challenge, with the same drive as Brennan. Brennan and Ally redefined how the Wild Magic Sorcerer was played, Lou Wilson brought an abandoned Unearthed Arcana to the forefront, and the pair played, perhaps, their best roles to date.

Tiny Heist showed that Brennan could bend 5e to be something it wasn't meant to be - a heist simulator.

Then came A Crown of Candy. Some hold this season to be Brennan's magnum opus and the best performances the Intrepid Heroes have ever given. The combat was quick, dirty, tactical, the characters textured and nuanced. Our heroes had to get out of impossible situations, both in roleplay and combat. Death was a very real possibility. And this season was what sealed Brennan as a real rival for Matt, and was when "I only have Dropout for D20" stopped being a joke and started being a reality. Brennan had hit his stride.

The sidequests and seasons two from this point don't really prove my point, but they're good. Brennan didn't do a couple of them, though.

Then we get to Starstruck. Set in a world his mother had created, it obviously meant a lot to Brennan, and so he strived to outdo everything he'd done up to this point. It was funnier, more moving, the combat more tactical than anything he'd done before. He included space combat, and the cast once again rose to the occasion, portraying those cast out and cast aside by the corporatocracy that was the Starstruck universe, forming a touching bond. It was as if he had peaked.

And then came Neverafter, and with that, Brennan became king. It was horrific, scary, brutal. Combat wasn't fun or interesting, it was intense and nail-biting. The party dropped in their first combat encounter. Children were brutally murdered. They were up against eldritch horrors in perverse retellings of fairy tales. The humor was there, sure, but it was twisted, dark, more about relieving stress than being funny. And again, the cast excelled.

And all because Brennan wasn't trying to outdo Matt or Griffin or Brian, but himself. Each season, he wanted to be better than he had ever been before, pushing his technical abilities, his storytelling abilities, to the max. And the world of actual play shows improved as well. Matt stepped up his game, as did the other big dogs. Brennan redefined the game.

Or I could just be a massive fanboy who's reading way too far into things. Either/or.

#dimension 20 a starstruck odyssey #dimension 20 the unsleeping city #fantasy high #brennan lee mulligan #neverafter #dimension 20 essay

[antisepticcrayon]

Posting here too! Just so I can give a longer explanation a bit for the few pieces I've been able to scramble for Sean.

Now I'm not the best at drawing people so it's very rare that I get to try to draw fanart for Sean and the community but I'll share the few I've been able to do!

Starting with the spring banner I made for Sean's server! Has to be one of my favorites becos I loved how it turned out and the fact that I somehow won the banner contest. It's always such a funny shock to go onto the server and see my art there. I've never been so proud of an accomplishment like that.

Next up is the Chase brody youtooz plush concept. Now I did this for kicks and giggles (/hj. Please Sean. We need sad dad plushies.) But it was pretty funny that that reference sheet got way more attention than I thought. And at the time of iris being fairly new was also so funny to me. He looks so sad. I need 17 of them.

King of the daisies portrait! My one piece of fanart that got the most recognition from the community! I spent a grueling 5-6 hours on this piece. It was during a time of art block so I wanted to try drawing realism for a month (didn't go exactly a month but I tried!) And this was my second attempt of the month and it came out so well. I absolutely adore it. And the inspiration came from when Sean announced that white daisies were his favorite flowers. So of course to honor the flow3r king, I did that for him. (Also another reason the banner, he's wearing a daisy crown!)

And finally the anti portrait. This one I made at work actually right before I was contacted for winning a meet and greet ticket to face time Sean through moment house. And to calm my nerves for the next couple days, I worked on this piece. (I referenced an art piece done by turquoise magpie I believe for this one!) But also another part of my month realism challenge!

The 2 realistic portraits hold a special place in my heart. Becos even through the horrendous wifi (and my uncontrollable anxiety) and cutting out during my meet and greet, I had the chance to show him them. I just didn't get to hear or see his reactions properly but the fact I showed him at all for him to see was more than enough.

Annnd then these last art pieces (I'm frankly TERRIFIED of showing. Unsure if it counts as fanart buttt)

These first 2 photos are reference pieces for my "JJ" inspired OC/Fursona. He is considered my comfort character who I tend to draw and doodle whenever I'm feeling down or having a bad day. Jameson (and chase) are my favorite egos and I find comfort in them. Not sure why, but I do. I feel like they just came at times I was struggling the most and brought joy to me though. Just Sean in general has done as such.

And the last photo is a book cover I created for a short story I'm writing with my self insert OC and chase Brody (along with the other egos).

The short story takes part of a community I'm in that surrounds giant/smalls/humans folklore and certain cultures surrounding a time of creatures big and small, Aka G/T! Think of any fairy tales like jack and beanstalk or even japenese animes like the secret world of ariety or movies and books like "The borrowers". (Another comfort for me. I find writing helpful as well for bad days and to also center and express myself again)

Anyways one of my favorite human pieces I've ever completed on my own through lots of practice and failed sketches (my good friend zora rendered and shaded it for me! Actual drawing, linework and coloring done by me!)

Anyways, I hope I'm not overstaying my welcome so I'll cut it off here!

I thank you both for doing this revival! I was never able to participate truely with "septicart" but I'm glad I can right now through this :)

Thanks for reading!

- Dj💜

(I apologize if my wording is wacky! ADHD and dyslexia isn't a fun combination when trying to write and explain things ack)

@turquoisemagpie @rogue-of-broken-time

#SepticartRevival2023 #septicart #jacksepticeye fanart #jacksepticeye

[headfullofdolls]

I do genuinely think making Frankie intentionally autistic would be a natural evolution in understanding their character. Like a realization that the traits are core to their character beyond just them being new to living, things that would stick around much longer than them just getting used to existence. An understanding from the writers that if their character can so easily "unintentionally come off as autistic," perhaps the core of that character inherently aligns with and strikes a chord with that experience.

Snippets from the leak (and very long analysis) below.

They have the ingredients, if only they take the opportunity to embrace it.

There's potential for a similar evolution with Lagoona.

We've already seen in the show that Lagoona has idealized, fairy tale (scary tale) ideas about love, and specific archetypes in mind. If her arc is about learning real relationships, including romantic ones, aren't like the ones in fairy tales and telenovelas, you could organically take that in the direction of her first major romantic relationship not working out because it was built on these idealized notions. Especially considering our first time seeing Gil in the show is as the dream guy in Lagoona's story, you could create an arc around her idealizing him, falling in love with him, but then realizing the relationship doesn't click as well or easily as she thought it would (not necessarily from anything bad between them). She could start to recognize love in different shapes than she'd expected, in different places than she'd usually look, and surprise herself with what she finds.

There's no reason Lagoona needs to be straight, or otherwise. But within her arc, there's an opportunity to go beyond her learning about real relationships and romance, to explore a character discovering their orientation. It'd also draw a more distinct parallel to her growth from her initial false friendship with Toralei—based on dependency, uneven dynamics, and abstract ideas of what it means to be friends—to finding real friendship with Draculaura and co—based on mutual trust and acceptance.

Again, I don't think they'd need to paint Gil in a bad light for a potential romantic relationship between him and Lagoona to not work. In fact it'd be better and more meaningful if they didn't, both within the context of the arc itself being about Lagoona's self-discovery, and the context of their rocky relationship in g1.

Of note, Gil's only mention in the version of bible that got leaked is in relation to Lagoona.

Given the g3 show's current track record, it's undeniable his character will get expanded on beyond a relationship to Lagoona. And that none of that shows up in the leaked version of the bible is one of the (many!) things that points to it being a document in ongoing development (I could honestly make a whole other post about the characterizations that don't align with the final show).

On that note and as a final point, same as with Gil, Howleen's only mention in the leaked bible is in relation to Clawdeen.

Here, there's an idea of Howleen being a yet-unknown relative to Clawdeen, not very expanded upon. However, Howleen being a yet-unknown younger sister to Clawdeen, in addition to maintaining the relationship they had in g1, also makes a more compelling story than Howleen being a younger cousin of various relation. The main issue is figuring out how that fits with the timeline of their mother getting stuck on Beheme. It's probable making Howleen a younger cousin was an idea considered mainly because it avoids that issue entirely.

That being said, there's enough timeywimey shenanigans surrounding Beheme, and open-endedness around Selena Wolf's disappearance, that they could've still worked something else out.

But there's also potential to explore Howleen being a half-sister, or becoming an adopted sister later on. Both would be interesting dynamics not often too represented or explored in children's media, and could be valuable as relatable or teachable experiences for the show's target audience.

These are just my ideas of how Frankie, Lagoona, and Howleen could be expanded upon from the initial concepts in the leaked version of the bible. What I'm getting at is there are ways to get from this point, the specific version of the bible that was leaked, to a final show where Frankie is autistic (and maybe AuDHD), Lagoona is bi/pan/ace even, and Howleen is in some way Clawdeen's sister. Because, like I said in my last post, show bibles change, develop, and get updated as writers work on the show.

And as I mentioned earlier, there are several characterizations in the leaked version of the show bible that also don't line up with what we've seen in the finalized show, already halfway through the first season.

The leak doesn't provide any canon confirmation or deconfirmation. It just provides insight to how the writers were thinking about certain ideas at the time it was last updated.

#monster high #mh leaks #monster high thoughts #i couldn't stop thinking about it so i turned the tags on my prev post into their own post orz #AND THEN IT GOT AWAY FROM ME #i need to go to BED #instead i hyperfixate on animated kids shows at 3 in the moRNING #my sleep schedule is fucked :') #that autism sure be autisming orz #my posts

[chaos-and-ink]

i’m back 🤠 9 for the fic asks for either/both fics 🤠🤠🤠

9. What is your favourite line/interaction in your fic? Omg, this is so fun. I'm so excited, I gotta thinkkkk. As Stable As Water:

The answer felt too short but Bucky was too tired to care. He was honestly upset that Brock kept doing this to him but he was too scared to bring it up. He knew it was irrational and it wasn’t anything Brock was doing wrong. Instead, Bucky was just too sensitive and emotional about this kinda shit. It was his own fault he couldn’t control how he felt about this and he didn’t need to hurt Brock by bringing it up. Bucky huffed out a sigh, he’d just have to deal with it.  That’s what love was, anyway. Making sacrifices and all. Bucky wasn’t dumb enough to believe love was all fairy tales and romance, he understood it was much more serious and logistical than that. But at the same time, he wished he could feel those emotions.  The way other people described being in love sounded so visceral and vivid. It was passionate and sensual and deep. But all Bucky ever felt with Brock was a hollow emptiness and a constant push and pull of tension. He figured the tension was what made love love. And maybe they weren’t doing it as well as others, but they still loved each other. It would work out okay, Bucky figured. 

I really love this internal thought process scene because it really does explain where Bucky's mind is. He's trying to make sense of this concept. This thing called love. Brock, in Bucky's mind, isn't doing anything wrong. Everything that's wrong with their relationship is Bucky's fault and because of Bucky's emotions. These feelings he can't control or can't create that put a huge strain on their relationship. I really like the way Bucky thinks when he's trying to process how love works and why it isn't working for him. And in the future chapters, I can't wait to rewrite this scene when Bucky revises his understanding of love after maturing and healing.

You Watched Me Burn:

“So uh, how’d you get the bruises, if you don’t mind me asking? They look real bad.” “Funny story but I actually walked into a door frame,” bucky lied, trying to smile like it was a joke. “I have this bad thing where I’m super clumsy. Uhm. I’m like, anemic or something and low on like all the vitamins or whatever so I get dizzy. Sometimes I knock into shit. And uh, I bruise super easily. It looks so much worse than it is,” he laughed weakly. Steve chuckled. “Oh man, that really sucks. I get dizzy spells a lot too, actually. One time I fell down two flights of stairs and knocked my wrist hard enough I broke the radius and ulna.” “No joke?” Bucky laughed, giggling a bit at the absurd scene his imagination had created. Steve toppling down stairs like a cartoon character.  “Swear on it. My friend, Nat. She laughed her ass off instead of helping me up,” Steve grinned brightly. His smile was infectious and Bucky couldn’t help but mirror it. Even if it hurt his face.

I really like this scene. It's so calming and easy, the words just flow. Also, some fun little extra fact: Steve's lying! He didn't fall because of a dizzy spell he was actually pushed down two flights of stairs. Natasha was not there to help him so he had to drive himself to the hospital later that night He broke his left arm and was unable to tattoo for months while it healed and he stayed home :( Poor guys, they're both just lying to each other about their injuries.

Thanks so much for the assskkk ah, I seriously love these sm. I love sharing all the extra details about my fanfics ���

#as stable as water #you watched me burn #ask box #writer ask game

[crybabyzine-subtext]

What I Could Have Been

I find myself longing for another life. I have been imagining what would have happened if I had had parents who understood me, a secular childhood, a childhood in which I was encouraged to pursue art instead of being told it was impractical. A life where I stopped caring earlier about what my family thought of me. A life where I never went to BYU-Idaho to please my parents. A life where I could have found others like me instead of consistently being told I was wrong, when I was just alone.

I suppose this is grief. My birthday is coming up. Anniversaries are always meaningful, whether you realize it or not. My body remembers. My body feels the years of loneliness.

I wish I didn't feel alone so often. It's embarrassing, but the people i feel I understand best have been my clients--sensitive souls who have similar energy to my own. Maybe you have to be mentally ill to treat the mentally ill. I definitely think it helps. I watch my dog at the dog park, always searching for other dogs like him. I feel like I do the same, but so rarely find someone who I can be authentic with. Truth is hard, and most people run from it.

My girlfriend loves me too much. It's uncomfortable for me. I can feel myself wanting to pull away, to run, to flee. I can't tell if I'm supposed to learn to accept it or to hold my boundaries. I'm so used to relying on myself. but I've gotten lax. I've let her take care of me and support me, and in turn, I've neglected myself and my responsibilities. I am the only one who can know what I need. But she is noisy and I can't get space to listen to myself in a 19-foot van. No matter what happens, I end up caretaking in some way, shape, or form. But I'm burnt out on a lifetime of caring for others. I cannot fake my emotions any more. I have little patience for people who expect me to. Moreover, I do not want to fake my emotions for anyone else's benefit any longer. I'm clocking out. This labor is not in my job description anymore.

I want to believe in the fairy tale of true love, but I have long since stopped believing in fantasies. Instead, I learn how fantasies are made--the ins and outs of storytelling, the technical work required to create believable illusions. I believe in reality. Maybe a little too much, and more than most. I enjoy smashing people's bubbles, waking people up to a world outside of their delusions. People resist that, though. I get it. I used to live in a bubble. I was a good little Mormon girl who believed a bunch of fairy tales that came with strict rules governing my behavior. I didn't break the rules, because I didn't want to. I believed. I set a good example for my younger siblings. I was too scared to be bad.

Until I couldn't anymore. I've learned firsthand that you can't suppress your truth forever. I had checked out of church, learned to disassociate from a young age, found ways of keeping myself entertained. I brought a journal to church with me--acceptable cover for taking notes on talks, but I was secretly journaling my own thoughts, doodling characters in the margins, creating my own little safe space to live on the page. My brain made a place for me, while my body went through the motions of my obligations. Sometimes my body made its own choices, like taking 30-minute bathroom breaks while I was supposed to be in my religious classes with the other devout young adults. Some days I would oversleep accidentally-on-purpose and then lie to my parents about what lessons I learned in church that week. They wouldn't have wanted to hear that I wasn't going, so I didn't tell them. The key to a good lie is to believe in it, and i believed the lie deeply. I was an imaginative, creative child who could easily imagine a world in which I went to, and enjoyed church. But I couldn't make it real.

I was almost always alone. What would it had been like if someone else had been brave enough to skip Sunday school with me all those years ago? Maybe I'd be better at connecting with others instead of writing my secret thoughts on the internet in the middle of the night. But this is the safest way I've ever found to be honest.

Maybe I could have been different if they would have just let me be myself. If they could have handled the reality of who I am, instead of trying to mold me into a perfect daughter of God. I could never be that girl. I would die before I became that woman.

I'm too messy, too loud, too small to have such heavy expectations placed on me. I fell short again and again and learned that being perfect was impossible.

#exmormon #mental illness #i want a different life #but this one is mine #confessions #perfection #things we do to survive

[that-spider-witch]

Disney 1994: Tries to copyright the phrase Hakuna Matata. The people to whom Swahili is their native language rightfully calls them out.

Disney 2017: Tries to copyright Dia de los Muertos, a Mexican religious holiday. They get called out on their bullshit pretty damn fast and cease on their attempt.

Disney 2021: They now want to copyright an ancient Norse pagan deity. (READ BELOW)

EDIT: Apparently the Norse deity thing was misinformation: Thankfully it seems they are only trademarking the fictional Marvel versions of them. The other shit they did is still real, though. Don’t ever forget they tried to do that.

#fuck disney #it would be funny if it wasn't so creepy #like... they don't care #they really see something of another culture and think they can copyright it and take it as their own as if it just was some fairy tale #they see no difference between a culture foreign to them AND A PUBLIC DOMAIN FAIRY TALE #that they do it with fairy tale characters they didn't create is bad enough BUT THIS IS A COUNTRY'S CULTURE WTF #FUCK. THEM. #this isn't gonna be the last time they'll try this shit either. mark my words. #disney #marvel #Loki deity #marvel loki #disney loki #norse paganism #disney discourse #anti disney #culture

[chthonic-cassandra]

Some recent books, fiction (a weird selection) -

[warning for some specific discussion of representations of trauma and sexual violence]

- Frances Cha, If I Had Your Face - intertwined narratives of four young women grappling with sexism, poverty, and beauty standards in contemporary South Korea. This was vivid and powerful in parts, but ultimately didn't quite come together for me; I think it might just have been too much for one novel. Each individual woman's story could have taken up more space, and so the whole ended up feeling somewhat scattered and unsatisfying. Two of the protagonists also ended up reading as more fully realized and thought-through as characters than the others, which made the whole feel lopsided. I'm glad I read it, and will look out for what Cha writes next (this was a debut novel), but didn't love it.

- Tessa Gratton, Lady Hotspur - gender-swapped retelling of Henry IV, Part 1, set in the same vague fantasy-version of England that Gratton previously created for her King Lear retelling, Queens of Innis Lear. I really wanted to like this (it ships Hal/Hotspur and they're both women!), but it didn't work. Gratton's Lear worked as well as it did because of Lear's fairy tale elements, the formal architecture of that play which can be lifted and reset so effectively. 1HIV is a very different kind of story and not, I think, one that benefits from the vague mysticism of Gratton's fantasied England. The characterization and plot were messy and confusing; Falstaff makes no sense in this setting; the kingship stuff at the heart of the play made no sense as Gratton framed it. Alas, I can't recommend this.

- Kevin Wilson, Perfect Little World - a teenage single mother joins a somewhat cult-like decade-long psychological study on communal child-rearing. This was a weird little book, and had its problems, but I enjoyed it a lot, and it gave me a lot to think about. Wilson has a gaze on the peculiar dynamics of his characters' world which is at once curious and sharp and largely compassionate; I enjoyed his focus on the emotional and relational dynamics of the study and interest in following them through to their conclusions. There were places in which the plot was a little too contrived, though this fit the whimsical style of the novel; more significantly, the book handwaves issues of race and queerness to a distracting degree. However, I would recommend this to many people. I enjoyed it way more than I should have been able to enjoy a novel with this much focus on meat preparation.

- A. M. Strickland, Beyond the Black Door - a girl with the ability to enter others' souls when sleeping finds herself tangled up in political and mystical intrigue. This was perfectly serviceable YA fantasy with some notably strong imagery and a couple of interesting character dynamics marred by bad pacing and some poorly thought-through world-building. As far as the latter, the element which most bothered me concerned the 'soul-walking,' which our protagonist learns in secret from her mother (who can also do it) because it is criminalized and punishable by death except in highly regulated circumstances when performed by priests and priestesses. The novel treats it as uncomplicated that this law is evil and our protagonist needs to keep her abilities hidden, but doesn't deal meaningfully deal with the fact the entering someone's soul without their consent would be an enormously violating thing to do, and you actually shouldn't be allowed to do it! This is only vaguely gestured towards in one moment when a love interest asks the protagonist whether she went into his soul without his knowledge, and she says that she did but only very briefly which is apparently enough of an assurance? But then she goes on entering people's souls without asking their permission first and often without their knowledge and while I don't think the death penalty would have been an appropriate consequence this was clearly not okay and it very much distracted me.

The protagonist of the novel is asexual, a fact which was incorporated into the story in some places quite well (I particularly like the way Strickland created a villain/heroine romance that was explicitly nonsexual, the way that the villain love interest offered a type of magical connection that was alluring to the heroine because it sidestepped the issue of sex altogether), but in some places more clumsily (the scene where the priestess creates a "soul chart" for our protagonist relying on the split attraction model comes to mind). There were also some elements of the plot where behavior from characters that I read as quite sexually abusive and incestuous was treated as problematic only because it was being directed towards our asexual protagonist, and that made me uncomfortable (I think there was something messy here where the narrative was trying to be nonjudgmental about sex work, but ended up presenting as positive the deeply concerning situation of a mother offering to "tutor" her own daughter in how to practice sex work, and backing off only because the daughter is asexual, which...maybe activated some of my own stuff a little too precisely, but it was an issue).

- C. A. Higgins, Lightless - an interrogator tries to get information out of a notorious intergalactic thief who may or may not be part of a large-scale rebellion movement, while an irritated mechanic tries to fix the computer he and his partner messed up while they tried to commandeer her spaceship. This was fine, but way more bland than it should have been given its premise; the book needed to build on taut tension, and Higgins did not establish or maintain any. I kept having glimmers of attachment to the characters, and then they would slip away. I saw a review that compared this to knock-off Cherryh, and that feels accurate. And reminds me that I should be reading more Cherryh.

- Gayl Jones, Eva's Man - a woman, in prison for murdering her lover, reflects on experiences of sex and violence and sexual violence throughout her life. This was artful as Jones' novels always are, and also deeply, unremittingly unpleasant to read. I'm glad I read it, but I didn't get as much out of it as I did out of Jones' earlier novel, Corregidora, which was doing a thing with historical echoes that somehow made the bleak painfulness of the content easier to sit with. I'm glad I read it, though.

- Kiley Reid, Such a Fun Age - the relationship between Emira, a young Black woman and Alix, the wealthy white woman who employs her to care for her 3-year-old daughter, comes into focus for both of them when Emira is stopped in a supermarket on suspicion of kidnapping Alix's daughter. This was thoughtful and in many places stingingly effective; I appreciated the way Reid shows us Emira and Alix both missing each other, the moments when connection could have happened and the way that Alix's inability to imagine Emira's perspective gets in the way of that. I also especially liked the nuance of how Reid writes Emira's care for Alix's daughter, and how real that is even when Alix's actions are hurtful to her. But there were places where the emotion and the natural pace of the story got sacrificed for snappy, tv show reveals, and the characters got lost in overly specific detail about brands and status symbols. Worth reading, not revelatory.

- Evelyn Skye, Crown's Game - YA fantasy; two teenagers in a version of Imperial Russia with magic compete to be the royal sorcerer. This was really bad and really boring, like a prototypical YA fantasy with all the air taken out. Don't bother.

- Jo Baker, The Body Lies - sort of a thriller; a creative writing professor deals with the threat posed by an increasingly obsessive student. This left a bad taste in my mouth in its use of trauma as narrative device, in the vagueness of its gaze on what trauma actually looks like. I don't know. I need to sit with why it bothered me for longer; I'd be interested in hearing from other people who read it.

- Jennifer Saint, Ariadne - incredibly boring Greek myth retelling. Just so boring! At every turn always making the less interesting narrative choice! I did not understand why Saint wanted to write this book, what her angle on Ariadne's story was. Extremely disappointing.

- Carolyn Ferrell, Dear Miss Metropolitan - experimentally told narrative of three teenage girls who are abducted and held captive together for a decade. I had extremely complicated feelings about this book. I have a strong investment in stories about this kind of violence being written and treated as serious literature; I wanted to like this book and to be moved by it. However, as I was reading it two things became clear. The first was that Ferrell's sense of what this kind of captivity might look and feel like felt to me very disconnected from reality; this, I could put aside as my own pickiness and personal biases getting in the way of my reading, though it was making me deeply uncomfortable.

The second was the the book was based, with quite a deal of specificity, on the abductions perpetrated by Ariel Castro in Cleveland. I have read the memoirs of the survivors of those abductions; it was clear that Ferrell was using many very recognizable details of their experiences, but changing a lot of the salient emotional dynamics (as well as resetting the events in a different part of the country and changing the racial identities of both victims and perpetrator). The more I thought about this, the more angry it made me. I don't think it's ethical to use the stories of living people in that way, certainly not with that level of specificity. I felt very troubled after reading the novel, and kept wondering if others had the same unease; the critical response seems to be absent this kind of critique (compare this to the furor that erupted around My Dark Vanessa, a much more thoughtful trauma narrative not based around any single publicly known survivor's experience). I read interviews with Ferrell where she talked about reading about Castro's crimes on the news and being shocked, not understanding how this kind of thing could happen and go unnoticed; this seemed to me a deeply concerning place from which to decide to retell someone else's story. I finished the book several weeks ago now but I still feel upset about it.

#books #long post #trauma narratives

[elia-de-silentio]

Recap on the Book (+ a theory on Atsushi)

The Book is an element that received little attention compared to the character drama in Bungo Stray Dogs, but it's actually the element instigating it, as the thing almost everyone desires. This time, I want to make a recap on it, and take a look on an interesting theory regarding the connection between it and Atsushi.

The first one to mention it is Fitzgerald. He describes it as pretty much Aladdin's lamp from the original fairy tale: something to make all wishes come true, in his case the resurrection of his daughter. Appearently, Atsushi is the 'guidepost' to the Book, and that's why there was such an hefty bounty on him at the start of the series. Whatever that means, we are all still waiting to know.

It also mentions that it is 'impervious to fire and all abilities'.

But Fitzgerald was in cahoots with two other amiable fellows who were after the same thing: Fyodor Dostoevsky and Agatha Christie. While the latter has not appeared since except for Dead Apple, the former has given us new infos on the prized Book.

He too wants to use the Book, but in his case, the goal is a little more lofty: he wants to recreate the world, one without the 'sin' of ability users. So, the Book's powers aren't limited to just bring back the dead, they really have a reality-altering scale.

(translation by @akai-koutei)

At the start of the Decay of Angels arc, Chief Taneda gives Ranpo a few more informations about our object of interest.

It is in the hands of the government, and it has been studied, via a single page extracted from it, that holds the same power as the whole Book (like a Death Note).

Moreover, we find the first limitation to the power: 'the written content must conform to the rules of karma'. In other words - and we're going deliciously meta here - it must have narrative consistency, unlike the 'real world' in which accidents of any kind and without any meaning happen all the time. Of course it does! If a book had inconsistent plot development and characterization, wouldn't we all be complaining about bad writing?

Lastly, it's suggested that it was created by an ability user, which set its rules to prevent excessive and senseless destruction.

This rule begs the question - do Fitzgerald or Fyodor know about it? 'A girl suddenly springs back to life' doesn't have much narrative consistence, and neither 'all Ability users suddenly vanish'. A way to work around this limit would be rewrite history itself: Fitzgerald's daughter never died/Abilities never existed in the first place. It would erase the timeline in which these events would be impossible, and create another in which they have consistency.

This would also be the reason for the initial plan of the Decay of Angels, using the page to depict the ADA as terrorists ... but before that, they had to 'create' their crimes by killing relevant people that had spoken against the Agency, giving them plausible actions and motives.

It also fits with the Sky Casino: a building that was woven back in time with a complete backstory, instead of just popping out from nothingness. Still, this also show us that there's no need for the details to be absolutely accurate: Dazai managed to figure out that the building had been written from the Book because the 'top secret' details of its creation didn't exist in the first place. Still, these details are ones that do not 'disturb' the flow of a story: it's a freaking flying casino, who is going to think about the funds? Just enjoy the story!

But then we find an outstanding exception: Sigma. A whole human being brought into existence by the Book, without any past that he can remember. He appeared three years ago, in a desert, with only the clothes on his back and a train ticket. No backstory from him.

How was this possible? It's not very narratively coherent, a person popping into existence.

Well, we must consider that we know only what Fyodor says about it. He might be withholding information from Dazai and the audience, or even lying to confuse his opponent; or maybe he doesn't know the answer himself. He recruited Sigma, likely after hearing about his Ability, but did not create him personally.

Maybe Sigma's 'parent' actually did have a backstory and purpose planned for his 'character', but for some reason, they weren't received. Or maybe they knew some trick to circumvent the limitations of the Book. Maybe the government was experimenting with it, and for some reason someone was like 'hey, let's see if we can make a person pop out in the desert, without anyone being around to check if it happens or take care of the eventual human being!'.

Yeah ... this part is rather confusing. I look forward to an explaination on Sigma's origins.

The last time that the rules of the Book are mentioned, is to show us a way to circumvent them. Fyodor had written that 'no police officer will believe the Agency's innocence' ... but he didn't factor Tachihara in. As a member of the Hunting Dogs, he is a police officer; but during his infiltration of the Mafia, he acquired this second identity. He is an officer, and at the same time, he is not. As soon as he inquires other mafiosi on the matter, he becomes clear to him the ADA's guiltlessness, in which he couldn't believe when talking with the othe Hunting Dogs.

And Ranpo in later chapters used a similar strategy, bringing his proofs to a group of journalists to make the masses think; and in turn, this divided the police between those who still obeyed the rule and those who adopted a new perspective.

The human ability to put ourselves in other points of view is the uncontrollable variable that can break the Book's powers.

(By the way, I wonder if that was actually Fyodor's plan. He seems too smart and well-informed to not take this possibility into consideration. Considering that the clashes among the police resulted in riots and chaos; and he commented earlier, talking to himself, that he didn't create the 'perfect' plan his colleagues required because that would be boring ... maybe this is his own plan to undermine Fukuchi's power and get him out of his way, to be the one who will actually puts his hands on the Book?)

After that, an interesting comment was made: the Decay of Angels planned to use the Book 'the next full moon'. It's uncertain if it's because it can only be used in this time frame, or if it can be just be found (in both cases, the Book has another rule that limits its use)

The last time any piece of the Book made an appearence, it was with Fukuchi dangling the famous page, and the possibility of rewriting it, in front of Atsushi and Akutagawa; but that was also the first sound defeat for the Shin Soukoku. Fukuchi still has the page, and now our hopes reside in Tachihara, currently about to face him.

Then, there is supplementary material: the BEAST AU. I haven't read the light novel or manga, so any information I can provide is from the wiki and @looking-for-stray-dogs 's summary.

In this AU, Dazai has managed to obtain the Book, but thanks to his Ability, he retains his memories even in different universes. But didn't Fitzgerald say that the Book is immune to all Abilities? Or only those which try to destroy it?

Still, Dazai used the Book to create his own pet universe - kind of like Fyodor wants to do, but with a much more personal goal: creating a universe in which Odasaku lives. This appearently can happen only if he never becomes Dazai's friend.

However, the definition of 'make what is written in it into reality' is not exact: it is more like a 'container' for every possible universe in existence, and what is written in the pages will not 'rewrite reality', but 'call forth the universe in which it happens'.

Think of it like Michelangelo's ideas about sculpting: the statue is already in the block of stone, the artist merely brings it out.

Beast!Dazai then mentions another clause: if three or more people know the truth about a world created by the Book, the stability of said world gets compromised, and it gets higher possibilities of ceasing to exist. Which is pretty much what is happening in the canon manga.

And this is all we know insofar. Is it enough to make theories? Of course! Anything is enough to make theories!

One I've seen circulating, and that I really like, is 'Atsushi is a creation of the Book'.

Supporting it:

• Atsushi is considered so valuable because he is a 'guidepost' to the Book; it would actually make sense that someone created by the Book mantained some connection to it.

Contradicting it:

• There already is someone who was for sure created by the Book: Sigma. And he is already in the Decay of Angels: if all sentient beings created by the Book mantained a connection to it, wouldn't that mean that they don't need Atsushi? Instead, not only they are still looking for tiger boy, but Sigma needed to threaten and use his Ability on Taneda to find out just where one page was.

Solution: maybe Atsushi was specifically written to be a 'tracker' for the Book, while Sigma wasn't?

Supporting it:

• Atsushi doesn't have any certified past, someone threw him on the streets without giving him anything that could lead back to a birth family. And appearently, nobody noticed someone had a suddenly missing child, or tried to investigate on the abandonment of a toddler.

Contradicting it:

• Who the hell creates a supernatural being that can lead to an even more supernatural book and then throws him in the trash?!

Solution: who the hell creates a supernatural being who can exchange informations and throws him in the desert?! Whatever the keeper of the Book is on, it can't be legal, or even well-cut for the matter.

More seriously, we are told that Atsushi's parents abandoned him, but it was the Headmaster that said it, and he's not the most reliable guy around. Atsushi not only does not have any proof for that, but he also has a faulty memory due to trauma: if he forgot Shibusawa, what else could he have forgotten?

Supporting it:

• The Book can appearently be used - or maybe retrieved, the phrasing is a bit ambiguous on that - under the full moon. Atsushi's Ability is called 'Beast Beneath the Moonlight', and he himself is called a 'weretiger', derivated from 'werewolf', a creature that has a traditional connection to the full moon.

Contradicting it:

• It might be a coincidence?

Supporting it:

• Shibusawa took a very specific interest in him, even going to the point of torturing him to make the 'Beast under the Moonlight' manifest

Contradicting it:

• Shibusawa was obsessed in finding the 'ultimate ability'. The fact that appearently Atsushi has it does not mean that it is related to the Book, or even that it is an objective statement.

Supporting it:

• Fyodor took a very specific interest in him. He was the one who directed Shibusawa to him, as far as six years ago, when Atsushi likely hadn't manifested his Ability. So, how did this rat, who is very interested in the Book and probably spent a lot of time finding ways to get it, know about him?

Contradicting it:

• Dazai appearently knows nothing about it. Considering how smart and careful he is, it would be expected that he did his research on why everyone was so fixated on the Agency's newest recruit. Instead, he looked genuinely shocked when he's told about Sigma's birth. So, whatever Atsushi's connection to the Book is, it's not of that kind. Moreover, Fyodor hasn't had a single interaction with Atsushi insofar. Wouldn't be more logical trying to somehow secure his willing cooperation if he needs it? From his side, Atsushi doesn't seem to know how he looks like (when he thinks about him, the face is always obscured), nor he acts like he vaguely recognize the name before - something that instead happened with Shibusawa

Possible solution: maybe Dazai isn't God the All-Knowing for once in this manga?! Or maybe he was lying to keep a margin of advantage. And Fyodor rarely acts in a very direct way, usually putting other people and convoluted plans between himself and anyone who could be involved. Sending Shibusawa to Atsushi might have been such a case.

Contradicting it:

• Fukuchi has no problem attacking Atsushi. The whole Decay of Angels's plan put the life of Tiger Boy in danger multiple times. An odd thing to do, if they goal is something that can be reached only through him.

Possible solution: they know he has regenerative abilities on a nearly Koro-sensei level? I admit, I'm not very sure on this point.

All in all, I think it's a very plausible theory. And do we want to talk about the drama character development it would bring about? Atsushi already questions his right to live, how would knowing that he had been created for some purpose decided by someone else impact his worldview?

In conclusion, I think that the Book is a very interesting, mysterious element, and I really look forward to see if it will be used, by whom, and why Atsushi seems so connected to it.

Thanks to anyone who bothered to read my ramblings!

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd the book #bsd atsushi #bsd sigma #bsd tachihara #bsd fyodor #bsd fitzgerald #bsd shibusawa #bsd meta #bsd theories #bsd spoilers #elia's recaps

[itsclydebitches]

In case you didn't know the relics of choice and creation have been revealed. Just go to the RWBY wiki to see them. Any thoughts on them?

Why is this information in a wiki before the main series? 😭

Yes, apparently the Crown info comes from the Fairy Tale book, but why is a tie-in collection revealing incredibly significant information before the main series? 

Beyond the “RWBY what are you doing?” response, my initial reaction is that I would pull an Ozpin, lock these relics up tight, and never, ever touch them. Not just because it’s apparently super easy for villains to get ahold of them once they’re outside a vault, but simply because I don’t trust them. Just like Jinn has numerous ways of misleading the group in how she chooses to answer questions - making it sound like Salem can’t be defeated at all with “You can’t,” providing far more information than the group actually asked for, potentially having the ability to answer “What is Ozpin hiding from us?” with any insignificant secret he might have - the Crown absolutely has the potential to backfire on them. Spectacularly. “The Relic of Choice has the ability to show its wearer visions of a future choice they will have to make.” Who’s to say that choice will be meaningful? If the Crown has a limitation like Jinn’s 3 questions every 100 years (which I assume it must) and you put it on only to see that someday you’ll have to decide what’s for dinner... that’s not exactly useful. Sure, as the audience watching an action fantasy show we expect any character who uses the Crown to see a significant vision, but the potential waste is still there. More importantly, what happens if you do see something important? The Fairy Tales story seems to acknowledge just that: “As he puts it on, the Crown shows the King an unknown vision, which paralyzes his decision-making skills due to how difficult the choice he'd have to make is.” That’s pretty bad, folks. 

“But, Clyde, our protagonists are different. They’d never falter in such a manner!” Let’s assume for a moment you’re right, random person I just made up, but how useful is this information in the face of someone’s inevitable fear, whether it “paralyzes” them or not? Let’s imagine a situation where Ren got to use the Crown in Volume 7 and it revealed to him that he’d someday have to choose between saving Oscar from a grimm, or saving Yang and Jaune from plummeting off a cliff. What does he do with that? He wouldn’t have had any context for that moment. Since when are grimm smart enough to kidnap people? Why is the group separated? Why are we out in the tundra, surrounded by hundreds more grimm, with strange purple clouds taking over the sky? Seeing all those things wouldn’t have helped him prepare for the actual conflicts heading his way (like dividing with Ironwood), but it certainly would have freaked him out even more than he was already freaked out. Maybe Atlas could have gotten up some extra defenses if they knew a big grimm attack was coming (if Ren can even assume this vision will happen in the next few days or even weeks), and Ren could personally think about this choice (that frankly was already decided based on his personality. He was never going to let two teammates fall to their death. That’s an “easy” decision for him), but on the whole I’m not sure knowing non-contextual information like that outweighs the very likely downsides: that the person will become paralyzed with fear, that they’ll keep going but in a horrible state of mind as they wait for this day to come, that they’ll entirely misinterpret what’s going on in the vision, that they’ll try desperately to avoid this future and make it worse. 

Just don’t touch any future-showing devices. It never ends well. Which, if we take the flashbacks at fact value and work under the assumption that Ozpin once used the Crown himself, I wonder what he saw? Something bad enough to hide the Relic away somewhere even Salem can’t find it? After her conversation with Oscar, I’m again interested in why the Crown, of all the Relics, had an additional layer of protection. 

As for the Staff... I suppose we got exactly what it says on the tin? The Relic of Creation “is capable of creating anything, though it is limited to performing only one action at a time.” As always though, what does that mean? What’s “anything” in this context? Is Ruby capable of opening the vault and telling the Staff, “I want you to create a means of destroying Salem?” Escaping Salem, driving back hundreds of grimm, a portal directly to Oscar, additional aura so both Penny and Pietro can survive, an anti-grimm river device? Does something have to already exist for the Staff to create it? Do you have to know it exists? Is there a cooldown period between creations? As always, RWBY’s lack of information raises ten questions for every one it answers (and here RWBY didn’t actually answer anything considering this info is coming from a wiki). But this confirmation of “anything” feels like it will be a very convenient Get Out of Jail Free card. Here we have the worst setup possible: an immortal villain, endless grimm, an evil river, no one capable of coming to help, no more outside communication, no way to run, no possibility of winning this fight... except for the Relic sitting in the vault that can, theoretically, give Ruby anything she wants. And provided Penny survived, Ruby already has the key. 

RWBY may well use the Relic as one hell of a deus ex machina.

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #Anonymous

[eisforeidolon]

A Destieler just posted in the SPN meta tags about how Dean has been written as a fairy tale princess (in this case, Sleeping Beauty rescued by her prince, Castiel.) I'm sorry but Kripke didn't create Dean as some passive doe eyed chick waiting for her big, strong savior. No wonder hellers see Destiel in beer labels. With enough confirmation bias, anything can be skewed to fit an agenda.

The question to me is:

Is this what happens when you skip the first three seasons (and are also a moron)?  That would certain explain the weirdness of assuming the important start and essential core of Dean’s story is being “rescued”*. 

Or

Can OOC fanfic and bad meta alone rot your brain so badly you actually start to think this too-lazy-to-actually-write-the-generic-nameswap-AU-fanfic “meta” bears any relation to the show or its characters?

It’s actually pretty funny that from the outside of the lunatic fringe’s echo chamber, their own meta is more often than not a fairly compelling argument as to why D/C is not an actual thing in the show.  Even when they’re not desperately interpreting meaning into random props to magically override the actual text because reasons?  They’re still so often hellbent on proving they have no idea who canon Dean and canon Cas actually are - and that they have real interest in thinking of them as unique three dimensional characters, generally.  It’s pretty blatant in “meta” like this they see the  characters as trope placeholders and nothing more.  So canon ... if you ignore basically everything about the actual canon.  Convincing!

*Which, LOL, some fairly tale rescue!  Here’s your ride out of hell - now do what I and my bosses (who ordered me to find you for our own purposes) dictate or I’ll throw you right back in.  

#destiew #destihellers #askboxery #shipping goggles of hilarity #Anonymous

[cbroemmer]

Beauty in Me

When I was younger, Belle was my favorite Disney princess. Not only did she look like me (brown hair, hazel eyes), but she also was the first encounter I had with any sort of feminism. After reading the actual fairy tales, I'm starting to realize that this really isn't the case, but Disney successfully created this demure character that also knew how to stand her ground. Additionally, she loved to read, just like me. It was this moment where a women was attempting to gain knowledge, was made fun of for it, and essentially said I do not give a single flying fuck.

Throughout my childhood, Belle never left my mind. Although I fell in love with movies like The Lion King and The Little Mermaid, I never found a princess that I related to like Belle. Now I will add a side note here noting the fact that I understand I was privileged as a young white girl to have princesses that looked like me. However, up until this point, there were no princesses that acted like me. I was raised in rural Missouri, where there wasn't really anything glamorous about how I grew up. I played in a lot of mud and I enjoyed catching frogs and worms and I absolutely loved to read. Of course I had a girly side (my favorite color was always pink and I would grow up to adore my femininity), but being raised in rural Missouri meant that being girly wasn't really an option. I helped my dad out around our farm and I got my hands (and the rest of me) dirty a lot and at the end of the day, one of the most frequent arguments my sister and I would have was which one of us was more of a girly girl and which was more of a country girl. Just to clarify, being the country girl was the preferable choice (cringe). It took a long time for me to understand that embracing my femininity wasn't a bad thing, and I had to learn to tune out the people around me who were insisting on who I should be.

I found solace in seeing Belle, this girl who loved to read and who became a social pariah in her community, as a sort of role model. If Belle could gain everything just by being true to herself, then I could to. I learned to hold my head high and embrace the things that made me unique. Even some feminist scholars, such as Alison Lurie, have stated that fairy tales can show young women that they can be intelligent and strong. "The presence of these competent, resourceful, and powerful female characters...ought to make fairy tales 'one of the few sorts of classic children's literature of which a radical feminist would approve" (Hasse, 1). Sometimes female the female characters may be negatively portrayed, but the stories of Belle, especially Disney's, give her some autonomy, and she is portrayed as intelligent enough to pave her way. After all, Belle was the only one at the end of the story with a castle. Take that Gaston.

In conclusion, Belle gave me someone to look up to that I felt represented me too. I got to see this story line where women could be intelligent and make their own decisions, which is not properly address in a lot of the fairy tales we've been delving into. Andrea Dworkin states that "fairy tales shape our cultural values and understanding of gender roles by invariably depicting women as beautiful, wicked, and passive" (Hasse, 3). Of course, I didn't recognise this as a child, but all of the other stories were about a princess's life being decided for her. While Belle is still trapped in the life she ends up in, she is intelligent enough to make her own decisions. I also got to see that being emotional and trusting those emotions wasn't a bad thing like I had always been told it was (again, she got a whole ass castle, not to mention a handsome prince too). Is it realistic that things like this will happen in my life if I read all the time and basically declare myself a public outcast? No, probably not. However, Belle has taught me that being true to myself will yield the best and most honest results in my future.

[revchainsaw]

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

Wow! I can't believe I'm about to review a mainstream Disney release of all things on this blog. Eh! I make the rules and this thing is close enough to a high fantasy/martial arts film and who knows I may give a crack at Disney's Cruella later if the film strikes me the right way.

The Message

Set in the fictional land of Kumandra, Raya exists in a world where dragon lore is at the center of everything. Kumandra is a prosperous land that exists around a dragon shaped sea, and the different Kumandran tribes that live there are named after the part of the dragon they inhabit. Fang, Tail, etc, etc. It's no wonder that the Dragons are so revered in these cultures, as the prosperity that the world is now experiencing is due to the great sacrifice where the dragons gave their lives to create a magic jewel that keeps a horrible race of sprits called the Druun at bay.

The jewel is protected by the Heart tribe, particularly the lineage of the Heart chieftain. Raya is the heir to this immense responsibility. Her father the current guardian of the jewel is an idealistic sort and believes that the Kumandran people can be united, however the other tribes have their own interests and biases, even about the Heart people who they believe are using the power of the jewel to unfairly benefit themselves. Raya is an apt disciple of her fathers ideals but unfortunately this leads to her falling for a ploy by the people of Fang to steal the Jewel, when she 'befreinds' the Fang Princess Namaari.

A battle ensues over the jewel that ends up shattering the macguffin of power, and releasing the Druun back into Kumandra. The Druun now unleashed upon the world begin to create a ruin. Transfroming anyone they come into contact with into stone. Raya's father saves her before being petrified himself.

As we fast forward Raya has become a cynical adult bent on finding the last dragon of legend in hopes that she can defeat the Druun, and return the world to the way it was, abandoning her hopes that the Kumandran tribes can ever be united. It should come as no suprise then that Raya does in fact discover the Last Dragon, Sisu. Sisu is a fun loving, comedic, and hyper energetic creatuer with a love for humanity and trusting nature that is at odds with Raya's trauma and cynicism, it also doesn't help that her special power is "swimming".

As they journey across the Dragon shaped land of Kumandra, they gain friends and face foes. Raya holding onto her hurt and refusing to trust the other peoples they meet enough to think that maybe Sisu is a Sacred being who is important to their cultures as well. It is this lack of trust that eventually leads to tragedy for Raya.

At this point I'm going to uncharacteristically avoid spoilers. Raya is left with the fall out of her distrust and must either turn to her survivor nature and endure this world the way it is, or put her trust in those that have wronged her and bravely and boldly take a leap of faithful expectation that a better world is possible. It's a Disney movie, so I'm sure you know where this goes, but I'm not going to give you the specifics. It's pretty sweet and powerful.

The Benediction

Best Creature Design: Tuk Tuk: Available at Target

I can't lie. I work on the road and I have to use the bathroom all over town if I need to. My secret for finding the cleanest place to go is to generally avoid gas stations and rest areas when I can help it and to hit up grocery stores and book stores etc. as often as possible. My favorite is a local target, the bathrooms are generally less in demand than a gas station, much cleaner, AND at target they usually have a starbucks so I can also grab some joe. All that said, I have seen these absolutely massive Tuk Tuk toys in the toy section and I'm going to buy them for all the kids that I know. I just think he's a fun creature. Im not a big enough fan of Raya to justify having this basketball sized toy in my collection, but I think that kids will love having a giant armadillo bear monster to pal around with.

Best Character: Dragon's Heart

Sisu is an endearing figure and her offbeat but kind nature reminds me exactly of my favorite kind of people to meet in the wild. It's hard to be a lover and not a fighter. It's hard to be so understanding. It is an archetype that we see all over any media with a semi-spiritual message and I don't think we've seen it with quite the comedic edge as Sisu. Aang from Avatar comes close, but his light hearted attitude is certainly on par with Sisu, his comedic sensibilities are decidedly less "on". It also kind of says something that I forget that I'm talking about a dragon here.

Worst Aspect: Rayatar the Last Water Dragon

Alright, this might be a hot take but. Avatar: The Last Air Bender did it better. I can't call it parallel thinking as Raya came out almost a decade after Avatar. The two are playing off of very basic heroes journey style narratives that have existed in human story telling for longer than either show so it's completely unfair to claim that Raya was "ripping off" Avatar, BUT it's also a bit naïve to think that Disney wasn't banking on familiarity to move some product. Disney usually goes after public domain properties and fairy tales we are all vaguely familiar with and that's no accident. There's a clear pattern that people gravitate toward the familiar, it's why franchises won't just die. It's why they can repackage all their animated films into mediocre live action form and sell you the exact same movie over and over again. Even if the plot of Raya didn't have similarities to Avatar, which it does, the marketing certainly was attempting to banking on the beloved animated series.

When Raya was first coming out i saw a lot of people claiming that the fashions and character designs were copying Avatar and guys, that's kind of racist. Both shows are creating fantasy worlds with heavy influences from East and South Asian cultures. There's going to be some things that to a white American eye look pretty homogenous, although I'm sure with a little education are in fact very distinct. So as far as the "look", my only gripe is with the Logo.

Now, all that said. If you do want a show where an American animation company created a lore heavy fantasy world that draws heavy inspiration from Asian history and folklore, where a group of special spiritual individuals were wiped out but one remains and is the only hope of uniting a world populated by nations of people with very basic easy to remember names like "fire, and fang, and heart, and earth", where the chosen one is a goofy pacifist who uses the power of love and spiritual values to pull an impossible victory out of their butt at the last minute, but it still makes you cry and want to be a better person, then I have good news for you. You're spoiled for choice, I'm not gonna say Raya "copied" Avatar, BUT ... Avatar did do that particular story better. It may be a bit unfair, as Avatar had three seasons to do so and Raya had like an hour and a half.

Best Weapon: Shifty Sword

I just like Ranma's sword. I'm gonna use this category when I see an extra cool weapon. Oh man! When I review Flying Guillotine am I really going to have to talk about how bad ass the flying gullotine is?

Rayas weapons is actually not a sword at all but is called the Jade Dragon Keris. A Keris is an asymetrical indonesian dagger, and no it doesn't turn into a whip like in the movie, but it is cool that hers does that. The animators really do some creative things with that.

Summary

Raya is unfortunately shaping up to be one of Disney's forgettable features. I think that's a shame as it's stronger in my opinion than many of the recent films that have come out. But as is the case when Disney does a lot of it's more 'action/adventure' films, audiences seem to largely ignore them. Here's to you Treasure Planet. The good news is those movies do have the most passionate and interesting fans. The appeal is more focused than it is broad, and that's okay. As pointed out above, don't expect Raya to give you anything new, but if this is your kind of story then I'm sure you'll be happy to add it to your collection. There's room enough for lots of these.

Overall Grade: C

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