#this has no narrative value

[inkskinned]

the thing about art is that it was always supposed to be about us, about the human-ness of us, the impossible and beautiful reality that we (for centuries) have stood still, transfixed by music. that we can close our eyes and cry about the same book passage; the events of which aren't real and never happened. theatre in shakespeare's time was as real as it is now; we all laugh at the same cue (pursued by bear), separated hundreds of years apart.

three years ago my housemates were jamming outdoors, just messing around with their instruments, mostly just making noise. our neighbors - shy, cautious, a little sheepish - sat down and started playing. i don't really know how it happened; i was somehow in charge of dancing, barefoot and laughing - but i looked up, and our yard was full of people. kids stacked on the shoulders of parents. old couples holding hands. someone had brought sidewalk chalk; our front walk became a riot of color. someone ran in with a flute and played the most astounding solo i've ever heard in my life, upright and wiggling, skipping as she did so. she only paused because the violin player was kicking his heels up and she was laughing too hard to continue.

two weeks ago my friend and i met in the basement of her apartment complex so she could work out a piece of choreography. we have a language barrier - i'm not as good at ASL as i'd like to be (i'm still learning!) so we communicate mostly through the notes app and this strange secret language of dancers - we have the same movement vocabulary. the two of us cracking jokes at each other, giggling. there were kids in the basement too, who had been playing soccer until we took up the far corner of the room. one by one they made their slow way over like feral cats - they laid down, belly-flat against the floor, just watching. my friend and i were not in tutus - we were in slouchy shirts and leggings and socks. nothing fancy. but when i asked the kids would you like to dance too? they were immediately on their feet and spinning. i love when people dance with abandon, the wild and leggy fervor of childhood. i think it is gorgeous.

their adults showed up eventually, and a few of them said hey, let's not bother the nice ladies. but they weren't bothering us, they were just having fun - so. a few of the adults started dancing awkwardly along, and then most of the adults. someone brought down a better sound system. someone opened a watermelon and started handing out slices. it was 8 PM on a tuesday and nothing about that day was particularly special; we might as well party.

one time i hosted a free "paint along party" and about 20 adults worked quietly while i taught them how to paint nessie. one time i taught community dance classes and so many people showed up we had to move the whole thing outside. we used chairs and coatracks to balance. one time i showed up to a random band playing in a random location, and the whole thing got packed so quickly we had to open every door and window in the place.

i don't think i can tell you how much people want to be making art and engaging with art. they want to, desperately. so many people would be stunning artists, but they are lied to and told from a very young age that art only matters if it is planned, purposeful, beautiful. that if you have an idea, you need to be able to express it perfectly. this is not true. you don't get only 1 chance to communicate. you can spend a lifetime trying to display exactly 1 thing you can never quite language. you can just express the "!!??!!!"-ing-ness of being alive; that is something none of us really have a full grasp on creating. and even when we can't make what we want - god, it feels fucking good to try. and even just enjoying other artists - art inherently rewards the act of participating.

i wasn't raised wealthy. whenever i make a post about art, someone inevitably says something along the lines of well some of us aren't that lucky. i am not lucky; i am dedicated. i have a chronic condition, my hands are constantly in pain. i am not neurotypical, nor was i raised safe. i worked 5-7 jobs while some of these memories happened. i chose art because it mattered to me more than anything on this fucking planet - i would work 80 hours a week just so i could afford to write in 3 of them.

and i am still telling you - if you are called to make art, you are called to the part of you that is human. you do not have to be good at it. you do not have to have enormous amounts of privilege. you can just... give yourself permission. you can just say i'm going to make something now and then - go out and make it. raquel it won't be good though that is okay, i don't make good things every time either. besides. who decides what good even is?

you weren't called to make something because you wanted it to be good, you were called to make something because it is a basic instinct. you were taught to judge its worth and over-value perfection. you are doing something impossible. a god's ability: from nothing springs creation.

a few months ago i found a piece of sidewalk chalk and started drawing. within an hour i had somehow collected a small classroom of young children. their adults often brought their own chalk. i looked up and about fifteen families had joined me from around the block. we drew scrangly unicorns and messed up flowers and one girl asked me to draw charizard. i am not good at drawing. i basically drew an orb with wings. you would have thought i drew her the mona lisa. she dragged her mother over and pointed and said look! look what she drew for me and, in the moment, i admit i flinched (sorry, i don't -). but the mother just grinned at me. he's beautiful. and then she sat down and started drawing.

someone took a picture of it. it was in the local newspaper. the summary underneath said joyful and spontaneous artwork from local artists springs up in public gallery. in the picture, a little girl covered in chalk dust has her head thrown back, delighted. laughing.

#writeblr #warm up #this is longer than i wanted i really considered removing that part about myself and what i went thru #but i think it really fucking bothers me that EVERY time i talk about being an artist #ppl assume i just like. had the skill and ability to drop everything and pay for grad school. #like sir i grew up poor. my house wasn't a safe space. i gave up a FREE RIDE TO LAW SCHOOL. for THIS. bc i chose it. #was it fucking hard? was i choosing the hard thing?? yes. #but we need to stop seeing artists as lazy layabouts that can ''afford'' to just ''sit around and create'' #when MANY - if not MOST - of us are NOT like that. we have to work our fucking ASSES off. hard work. long and hard work #part of valuing artists is recognizing the amount we sacrifice to make our art. bc it doesn't just #like HAPPEN to us. also btw it rarely has anything to do with true talent. #speaking as someone with a chronic condition i hate when ppl are like u have it easy. like actively as i'm writing this my hands r #ACTIVELY hurting me. i haven't been posting bc my left hand was curled in a claw for the last week #this isn't fucking luck. after a certain point it's not even TALENT. it's dedication & sacrifice. #''u get to flounce around and do nothing with ur life'' is a narrative that is a direct result of capitalism #imagine if we said that about literally any other profession. #''oh so u give up 10 yrs of ur life to be a doctor? u sacrifice having a social life and u get SUPER in debt? #u need to work countless hours and it will often be thankless? well i wish i was that lucky'' #we should be applying that logic to landlords ONLY #''oh ur mom and dad gave u the money to buy a house? and all u did was paint it white and rent it? huh.''

[rexalogy]

Every Taylor Swift song

#I truly truly cannot empathize with anyone in limerence with her in fact it feels betraying. #all of the interesting beautiful art in the world and the only thing you can blow up is another implicitly conservative value white woman? #having to write narratives about her hypothetical dykeishness to feel comfortable with that dissonance? as if that would even absolve her #it’s not that I hate Taylor I just hate this unwillingness to engage with where her worldview has serious limitations and it seeps #throughout her discography. I think loving art comes with being able to recognize where it fails #what politics are present in it. it’s not deep it’s not subtext it’s all just right there

[bitchthefuck1]

Tom's line about Shiv being selfish and "find[ing] it very hard to think about me" is actually so telling because while it's absolutely true that she rarely takes his position into consideration, Tom never once thinks about what he can do to help Shiv unless it also benefits him.

Every single time he makes a move or sacrifice that might help her, it's always something that he thinks will give him a leg up. He volunteers to take the fall for cruises, not for Shiv, who is in no way implicated, or even for Waystar, but because he thinks it'll ingratiate him to Logan, and the second it seems like he might have to actually follow through on that, he immediately tries to get out of it and even throws Shiv under the bus. Meanwhile, for all that Shiv disregards his interests, there are a number of things she does that only help him, and she's the one who actually sacrifices something and undermines her position with Logan to beg him not to let Tom go to jail.

It just makes it so clear that no matter how much he might love her (and I think he does, in his own compromised way), for him their relationship was always built on the underlying assumption that it's her job to prop him up, but it's not his job to help her.

#i rewatched that ep a few days ago and this was just cooking in my brain for a bit #their relationship is so messy and interesting i want to watch them get a divorce on a loop forever #and like. the wildest thing is that Tom does occasionally do things that don't serve him to help someone else. but its always greg #which you might say is ultimately down to the power dynamics (shiv can do more for tom than he can for her and tom can do more for greg) #but there are still plenty of points where tom actually does have the power to help shiv and chooses not to #and I love how succession never really has a clear 'what this character is telling you is 100% the truth of the story' moments #anytime a character is making a statement like 'this is who you are/who i am' or 'this is what i really want/what you really want' there's #always some kernel of truth to it but the narrative they're spinning is almost never fully honest #you can't take any of it at face value and it's such a good way of showing how they're always on some level 'playing the game' #and like. at a time when so many stories are basically spoon-feeding their audiences it's so nice to have a story that trusts you to #sort through it all and see what's real and what's not and rewards you for putting that work in #succession #4x07 tailgate #succession season 4 #failmarriage #shiv roy #tomshiv #tom wambsgans #siobhan roy

[orchid-n-petals]

So I've already shared parts of this on a discord server, but I have to scream about Ketheric Thorm on here as well. Obviously spoilers about the character under the cut! It's a long one.

The entirety of act 2 is about him, right? Jaheira, Shadowheart and numerous other NPCs shit on him for his fickle faith. First Selune, then Shar, then, as we meet him, Myrkul. You hear about his changes of faith on a whim, you hear that he's the person responsible for the shadow curse, he is painted as a villain, plain and simple.

You can figure it out pretty early on that Isobel was resurrected and that she is his daughter; the detail as well that he wants Isobel alive is so on the nose, it gives him away completely but there are still a few questions that remain unanswered, mainly about his faith.

And then you get to the mausoleum and the picture assembles; this entire tragedy, the death of hundreds if not thousands and the complete ruination of a landscape was all, ALL because you had this absolutely wrenched, heartbroken father who had lost everything and nobody answered his grief. He was left woefully alone, the Goddess whose daughter his daughter was involved with did nothing to save Isobel.

Imagine outliving your wife and your daughter. Imagine dedicating your life to fight the Lady of Loss, your Lady of Silver's enemy, and then be left so completely alone and in silence with your grief, with your loss. It's so, so poetic how and why he turned from Selune, and it's so understandable as well; he broke. His spirit completely broke. He couldn't deal with that void of having lost the only two important people in his life, seemingly undeservedly so. He was going mad with this and a lot of his ire was likely targeted at Aylin who, in his eye, represented Selune; she's literally her daughter, after all, and it was implied that even before the deaths of his family, he sort of saw Aylin courting Isobel as Selune taking his daughter from him, despite his service. This relationship was clearly not seen by him as a boon of "giving his daughter to the Moon-maiden".

His ways in the past clearly didn't spare him from tragedy and having to cope with it (which he clearly didn't, he snapped under the weight of his grief). He was clearly angry and unable to do anything, furious and helpless, which is a dangerous combination. A good part of his first change of heart must have been fuelled by a sense of revenge.

But then Shar didn't provide any balm to his aching heart either. If you read his letters in Grymforge and in act 2, he is so focused on enacting the will of Shar because he believes that healing lies in oblivion. Everything would be easier if he could just forget, if the damn world could just forget, if nothing was remembered because without Melodia and Isobel, nothing was worth remembering.

Then came Myrkul. Literally the only god who was not only able, but WILLING to give back his daughter to him. Imagine spending your all, EVERYTHING you have to serve two gods who would not give a single shit about the greatest suffering in your life. You were basically nothing, your loyalty didn't matter for shit, everything that was taken from you amounted to no recognition whatsoever: you should simply cope and seethe. Your grief will not simply go unanswered (which is not inherently antagonising) but ignored.

And then comes this supposedly evil entity who can alleviate your pain just like that, snap of a finger and it's a done deal.

I am so serious when I say that I believe Ketheric's main incentive was to extend Aylin's immortality to Isobel as well. You can read in her diary that she feels a taint after having came back, and there are things not even Selune can cleanse, but at this point, Ketheric doesn't care about Selune, vengeance is secondary if not tertiary, he's done that war during his Shar years and what did it give him? Literally nothing.

He doesn't even care about the fact that Isobel is still her cleric. He cares about the single most important fact: Isobel is back. Life is worth living again, there is something for him, and it was not Selune or Shar who gave it to him but Myrkul, and for this singular gift, he would raze the world for the Lord of Bones. Like people can clown on him for being disloyal but the man has the loyalty of a dog bonded to its owner.

He is powerful and is willing to go to insane lengths for crumbs. What is raising a single life for a god? Nothing. It has happened and it will happen again. But Ketheric will go to the ends of the earth to serve the single god who actually listened to him. The one god who didn't ignore him.

He knows that what he does is not the morally upright thing! He is so insanely self-aware that allying with Orin and Gortash and doing this entire plot with them only to then betray them is morally reprehensible at the best of times, he knows that people hate him, etc-etc. He was a Selunite at one point and he's not stupid. He just doesn't care; it could be literal Asmodeus and he wouldn't care as long as he got what he wanted, no matter the price.

He is probably the only one from the three of the chosen who has complete clarity over his situation, he almost sways (if you pass the check during his confrontation), he is not an inherently evil man blinded by power.

But he is inherently loyal to those deserving, and as of the story's standing, completely broken by his grief. In his eyes, at this point, the only one deserving loyalty is the one who actually listened to him. Isobel lives. It doesn't matter that she hates him, that his entire life has fallen apart, that literally nothing else that is good has come of it, because Isobel lives.

I don't think he regrets a single thing. His consciousness might tear at him at the end, but I believe he would do everything over again, exactly as he did, because in the end, his daughter was brought back. Because what would a grieving, broken parent give to bring back their child? Everything. Absolutely everything. And it's such a simply given answer, no second thoughts, no doubts.

Nobody can tell me that this man is fickle. Nobody. This man was willing to burn the world to the ground, create a Boudica destruction layer all by himself for the one single thing he wanted. For any God that would listen.

I don't know, I just have a lot of thoughts about his character.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #ketheric thorm #and I also have a lot of thoughts of how Aylin foils him #I fully believe that he was in the right in the capacity that he switched around his gods when he was literally ignored despite his life's #work. despite all that he has given. I think it's reasonable to expect in the world of gods who actively meddle in mortal affairs on their #whims and make shit worse that in just one single case they would. idk. NOT expect one of their devotees to remain blindly loyal to them #after their prayers go unanswered. like yes; go and try your luck elsewhere because this devotion of yours is clearly being taken for #granted. you get NOTHING out of your worship. you can't even sleep well because your loved ones are dead and you are expected to just what? #deal with it on your own? and remain loyal? why? #some sense of 'honour'? #I really like this depiction of faith actually. I really like when clerics and paladins are given agency and critical thought that hey! #this is actually giving me nothing despite me dedicating my entire life to it! and I have only one of it so why not take it somewhere where #it's actually valued. you know. as a treat. #I *personally* much more prefer this depiction of a crisis of faith than what we got with Shadowheart or Lae'zel; their stories are very #interesting on their own but I think throwing yourself from one end to the other not because you actually have a goal that it could serve #but because you are desperate for a purpose #is a slightly less potent character narrative than having an actual goal yourself. not by much but by a little. #again #PERSONALLY

[astronomodome]

Feeling conflicted about the cyberpunk thingy impulse is going for because like yeah it’s a great theme and I like the aesthetics a lot but what I really like most about cyberpunk is the themes of corporate alienation and/or transhumanism etc etc which I know will not be addressed at all and in fact it’s kind of stupid of me to expect that at all from a minecraft series. Does anyone else get that or just me

#this is an issue I’ve been having with mcyt content in general you know. not ragging on impulse specifically #it’s just… I find it difficult to reconcile the quality of narrative focused mcyt content with its complete lack of commentary #should it have commentary? I believe it could if it wanted to. I don’t think it has to #but then you see these genres being… skinned and worn as cloaks #taking the aesthetics and story without any of the meaning behind it #and when it was just Minecraft builds that was expected. I guess it is still expected and I’m being a huge snob #but like. mcyt narrative is so fucked from a quality standpoint. you can’t even have villains who are other mcyters because people #will get mad at them #is that an unrelated issue? maybe. but I don’t think so #idk. mcyters aren’t expected to be storytellers and they don’t need to be #but I see these things happen over and over again and it’s just uncanny to see something that walks like a story talks like a story #but at the same time has absolutely nothing of value to say #it’s very early on so maybe there will be something done with this concept but I doubbbt it. I would be very pleasantly surprised #astro speaks #hermitcraft #not putting this in the impulse tag cause he would be more likely to see it #and I don’t want him to feel like he has to address this at all #it’s more just me noticing a trend

[ifyougoillfollow]

you know, we talk a lot about characters and/or relationships (of all kinds) being 'doomed by the narrative' around here, and how haunting and gut-wrenching that can be, especially when it so often takes the form of death and destruction and tragedy.

and we should keep doing that, obviously. death and destruction and tragedy kick total ass.

however. can we please spare a thought for the clowns trapped in that same (burning) room?

after all, what is a comic relief character if not doomed by the narrative to always act like a buffoon despite any and all circumstances, all for the sake of relieving narrative tension?

how must it feel, to have everyone around you dropping dead, losing limbs, losing loved ones, and otherwise being on the receiving end of unending torment - and all you can do is stand there and prattle off another zinger at your allotted time?

and what if you lose a loved one yourself, o jester mine? what if - hear me out - you lose multiple loved ones? what if it never ends? what will you do then?

well, if you're lucky, you'll get to mourn for all five of the seconds you're allowed to before the size thirty shoes go back on and the narrative moves on to other, more plot-central characters.

if you're not - well. it's a good thing clown makeup is waterproof, isn't it?

anyway, shout out to all my comedy kings out there doomed to play perpetual funnyman to their more plot-central counterparts despite being in undeniably comparable pain. you may be doomed by the narrative, but you are beloved by me <3

#fiction #writing #tropes #doomed by the narrative #yamada hizashi #present mic #yes this is about mic #as is everything tbfh #i've been wanting to make a similar doomed by the narrative post about nemuri for a while #but lbr in midnight's case it's less 'doomed by the narrative' than 'ignored by the narrative' #'forgotten by the narrative' #'fucked by the narrative' #it's not even 'sacrificed by/for the narrative' either because a sacrifice has to fucking mean something substantial #nem was killed more or less for shock value and to balance the scales after the villains lost twice #that's it #and before anyone comes after me - no i am not opposed to her death just because she's a female character and/or my fave #a look through this blog and my entire ao3 body of work will show that i am distressingly compelled by- #the tragedy of her death and what it means for her character and her loved ones #but hori has done exactly none of the work to pay off on that so i will not give him the credit for it #anyway. #don't mind me just ramblin' #meta

[robiny]

I need to vent about this - is there such thing as media literacy in lobotomy kaisen ? I see nuclear takes every day and I don’t engage with them because I know these people have their mind’s set and can’t believe anything else or their fragile view point will shatter. But how can you even argue satosugu were just friends 😭😭😭 like do you even have friends? shoko and gojo are friends, megumi and nobara were friends, geto and gojo? Im sorry but how much subtext can you overlook and how much subtext can there be for it to matter. OF COURSE gege is not going to STRAIGHT UP say they are gay lovers this is shonen and you are proving him right by arguing against it. AND ABOVE ALL ELSE the thing that truly pisses me of tremendously makes me genuinely hysteric, is people misinterpreting gojo’s last words to geto. HOW CAN YOU ARGUE WITH A STRAIGHT FACE THAT HE SAID ANYTHING BUT “I love you” HOWEEEWMEMDMSMSDN HOW, WHY WOULD THAT CONFESSION BE MUTED IF HE SAID SOME BULLSHIT LIKE UR MY BESTIE WHY like genuinely, these words weren’t hid from the audience just because, ITS A CONFESSION OF FEELINGS SO DEEP SO PROFOUND BUT SHAMEFUL AND SECRETIVE AND THEIRS FOR ONLY GETOS EARS TO HEAR AND GETOS HEART TO FEEL. WHY “LOVE IS THE MOST TWISTED CURSE” I WONDER WHAT MADE HIM THINK OF LOVE THIS WAY PROBABLY FUCKING UTAHIME NOT THE GUY WHO HIS SOUL KNOWS BETTER THAN HIS ALL FUCKING KNOWING EYES. WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR LOVE FOR A BEST FRIEND WHO HAS HURT YOU TWISTED ??? NO TF YOU WIULDNT YOU DONT PONDER ABOUT YOUR LOVE YOU DONT HIDE IT FOR 10 YEARS YOU DONT WANT IT BACK EVEN IF ITS THE THING THAT RUINS YOU. no but genuinely any other interpretation of the words is stupid, im sorry, it’s not just their relationship but also the scene itself. getos reaction… he was shocked, then happy, blushing because it made him ashamed but at the same time smiling because it made him so happy, wishing after pushing away gojo for years that at the very end gojo would stop loving him but he never did. literally at the brink of death, finding peace in the chaos, but facing this unconditional love, geto wished only for gojo to curse him a little so he wouldn’t suffer losing him…. best of friends everybody

#anyways 😒 #stsg #I’m sorry but this makes me so sick #Can gay people have anything #why are satosugu denied their love why is their love questioned #it’s literally a core part of gojos and getos characters and people want to overlook it so bad #whateva #satosugus know what’s up so it’s doesn’t matter #but it does piss me off so much lol #it’s homophobia there I said it #just shut the fuck up if you have nothing of value to say #words that were never spoken in their youths ah yes gojo never said getos his best friend makes so much sense narratively speaking #be fucking fr #satosugu #my angels darlings I will protect you #I’m a little ashamed to be so angry but I’m doing my part #someone has to fight for the gays #gay rights

[fromtheseventhhell]

When Dany and Arya are the first Targaryen/Stark duo to interact and people start seeing the light on Daenarya >>>>>>

#daenerys targeryan #arya stark #daenarya #deserves to be one of the top asoiaf ships but this fandom is full of small brained misogynists 😒 #justice for my girls they deserve so much better then being misinterpreted by their haters! #just look at the material...the parallels! the foreshadowing! the shared values! the similar story beats! #them being literary mirrors to a doomed couple that haunts the narrative?1?1? literally no one is doing it like them! #two exiled princesses forced on the run after the murder of their families who both find themselves in braavos at one point #and then it all comes to a head when they MEET in Braavos?! #they're gonna bond over hating slavery wanting better for the smallfolk doling out karmic justice and being THE westerosi IT girls🫶🏾 #has so much more flavor for me then jonerys I fear #shoutout to the five Daenarya shooters we're just big-brained and ahead of the curve

[silverwhittlingknife]

i have a special place in my heart for "show don't tell" storytelling, especially in comic books. comics are a visual medium!

#tim drake #jack drake #comic ref in description #this is the last panel of the comic #and something i really like about it is that i feel like... it has a certain amount of respect for the reader? #you might not notice/get the irony of the batsignal showing up behind them #and the way the batsignal foreshadows that actually this /isn't/ a resolved happy ending #because the conflict between bruce and jack - and more directly between tim's values/priorities vs. his dad's - #hasn't actually been resolved even though they're both sorry and hugging #which means the conflict will inevitably occur again and again and again #which is a very clever grace note here #but if you don't notice that's okay! the comic isn't panicking trying to spell it out for you #if you catch it it's fine and if you don't catch it that's also fine #it has something that i really like about a lot of older comics and sometimes find missing in new ones (at least the ones abt the blorbos) #which is that it assumes that the /readers/ can realize things abt the situation that the /characters/ don't #i read both tim and his dad as both perfectly sincere in this reconciliation - they're caught up in the moment #and physically neither of them can see the batsignal #but we-the-readers can see both the batsignal and the looming future conflicts it implies even though they don't #the narrative isn't telling you what to think! no character emerged to announce 'But In Fact Tim You Still Have A Problem!' #instead the artist has just left the batsignal there and let you make the obvious inferences ON YOUR OWN #similarly in nightwing 110 (another one of my favorites) there's a conversation between dick and tim where they're both lying #if you're only a nightwing reader you know dick is lying but you probably won't figure out that tim is lying (or at least not the extent) #but if you /do/ read tim's comics then you understand what's going on in a way that neither of the characters do #there's just a general understanding that the characters are not fully self-aware nor do they perfectly understand each other #plus the gradual / slow-build / layered conflict #tim's mixed loyalties between bruce and his dad are a constant background slow burn tension #dick's complicated feelings about loving tim but also feeling a little threatened by him are also a low-key thread in the nightwing comics #the writers don't need to have a surprise! sudden! fight! nor do they need all-fluff-all-the-time #instead these tensions are mostly dormant except when they get exacerbated by extreme situations #there are plenty of things that 90s comics do *not* handle well but the character voices and longform style always draw me back <3

[sunsetzer]

On one hand, I want a final fantasy 6 remake, because the game is criminally underrated and the amount of fan content (which is all absolutely fantastic btw) is Not Enough for my neurodivergent, hyperfixating brain.

On the other hand, that would inevitably encourage more people to join the fandom, which would be great, except it seems these days the bigger a fandom gets the more toxic it becomes, and I really like what we have going on over here in our little corner. We all just love the game and its characters and nobody fights about who should and shouldn't date who or who you shouldn't like because they're ~problematique~. Nobody's trying to make one ship morally better than another, nobody's calling anyone names or threatening to doxx people who don't agree with their opinions. It's so peaceful and I love that for us. We're just vibing. Moisturized. Unbothered. In our lane. Flourishing.

#as someone who was in an extremely toxic and chaotic fandom and lowkey still traumatized #to the point where I'm afraid to mention which fandom it was/what my ship was #i have to say #i genuinely love it here #i was nervous at first sharing my ships and headcanons but everyone is so chill i was worried for nothing #thank you to everyone I've interacted with who has made this fandom a healing experience for me #i shudder to think about what some of the people i interacted with in a previous fandom would do with ff6 #probably would take edgar's flirting at face value and call him problematic for objectifying women #instead of considering the narrative and what we know about him and the way he actually treats women #my man drinks loving and respecting women juice he's not a creep #or that weird moment with relm that admittedly made me double take before i realized what he meant #theyd have a whole campaign against him lmfao #bc those people boil characters alive until they're just a formless pile of tropes and stereotypes #and seem to disregard all positive aspects of a character they don't like which is fine #but then they go and try to force other people to think like they do and ugh #theres a lot of silly moments in the game and aspects of these characters that make them well rounded and realistically flawed at times #and i fear that would get lost in the chaos if the floodgates opened after a remake #maybe im just jaded lmao #im jaded and i have anxiety so im always thinking about The Worst Case Scenario #the collective positive spirit of the dwellers in this fandom might actually foster a positive space if more people were to come in #ff6 #my post #i was gonna say maybe this is bc we're mostly adults #but that falls flat when i remember how some of the most toxic and immature people in some fandoms are grown ass adults #who bully each other and younger fans #and some of the most mature and cool people were actually younger #maybe ff6 fans are just built different lmao #also idk how old anyone else actually is there might be teenagers here i just don't think about it a lot

[mamawasatesttube]

you guys i have so many thoughts about tdr. i have so much to say. like i don't want to be super mean but dude that comic fucking sucks and i can't lie i think it made me kind of homophobic actually

#my stance up to now has been that i don't really care about tim/ber but now that i have read this. dude... #it sucks that they gave a canon queer tim narrative to someone who uses homophobia as shock value and virtue signaling points #and who actively tears down characters who don't like her special little uwu flawless oc (kate im so fucking sorry) #there's no substance to this relationship i don't see why they even like each other #bc she keeps just stating oh they're perfect they make each other so happy but she doesn't like. show that at all #and i HATE the shock value homophobia like i cannot overstate how much i hate it #oh these random cops are homophobic (that's how you know they're BAD!) #oh bernard's parents are homophobic (that's how you know THEY'RE bad too!) #it's so hamfisted and it reads like such. cheap storytelling #especially bc tim as narrator doesn't even get to have ANY thoughts on his own queerness or seeing this homophobia in the world around him #and then she can't go more than two pages without being like BTW BERNARD IS THE BEST EVER AND TIM CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT HIM #while against this ugly backdrop of shock value homophobia #there's no substance to this relationship. why do they even like each other. it just falls apart if you examine it at all #because she just is fundamentally incapable of writing either of them as people with character flaws #for fucks sake she can't even be consistent with tim's BASIC character tenets. ''i always dreamed of being batman'' false lmao #but then to follow it up with ''i never wanted to be batman i always wanted to be my dad'' #and then on TOP OF THAT to make the Only mention of Jack drake and his impact on tim's life ABOUT BERNARD AGAIN. #yeah sorry im a hater now. this was shit tier #rimi talks

[transphilza]

i have decided that my interpretation of c!wilbur’s ominous foreshadowing after the “Bust” stream is that he was suicidal and increasingly planning on committing suicide as his character heavily alludes to (because i believe that negating the suicidal overtones of cwilbur during this portion of his story by saying that he was always only ever planning on going back to utah: # 1 just lessens the impact of everything that happens in this arc, because he wouldve already decided to live thus making all those conversations and apologies forcing him to confront the realities of his own life and death wayyy less meaningful, but most importantly # 2 makes it impossible to provide adequate closure for his character’s deepest struggles because they wouldve never been re-addressed) — BUT that when he finally decided to go through with sending friend to ghostbur thus making the evident conclusion that ghostbur did not deserve to suffer eternally (and by extension and implication, himself, too) he changes his mind and chooses Life :) aka Utah <3

#(from drafts — posting this now cause theres a lore ask i wanna answer that requires establishing some precedent of my interpretation here) #this is how i rationalize and interpret the final stream to fit my needs as a viewer and analyst #because taking it at face value of aha he was never suicidal he just was going to utah! always felt SOOOOOO BAD to me #that was like my main issue with the entire concept #so this interpretation allows me to enjoy the utah ending a lot more /gen /pos #tw suicide #myanalysis #like the entire point of revivebur was him learning how to live and enjoy living again like i cannot stress enough how important it is that- #-these moments that really explicitly address his suicidality are NOT overwritten #the entire fucking Doomed By The Narrative thing he has going on is self inflicted like we KNOW this. he literally kills himself #so by extension. Obviously. him Freeing himself from the narrative by fleeing to utah Also needs to be accompanied- #-by him addressing and choosing to not give in to that suicidality a second time. like thats the entire point #it just makes the most sense to me

[licorishh]

*FONTAINE SPOILERS*

Y'all laugh at the fact that Tartaglia randomly falling into the Abyss one day as a kid ended up being the catalyst for Fontaine's eventual predicted destruction but all this means is that from the start Tartaglia was intended to fall into the Abyss and become a Harbinger and thus has always been doomed by the narrative

#genshin impact #childe #tartaglia #kind of helps line up his story i think #gives it more purpose than just “he fell in a hole by accident and that hole happened to be the frickin pits of the underworld” #doomed to fall into the abyss and wake up the whale. doomed to be trained by skirk and become a harbinger and eventually meet the traveler #DO YOU SEE WHERE I'M GOING WITH THIS #i'm honestly so so curious if they're gonna have him start to doubt his values eventually #i am desperately hoping he has a moment where he has to choose when we inevitably fight the tsaritsa #AND HECK I HOPE HE STICKS WITH US #i really don't want my boy to be SO doomed by the narrative that he frickin DIES >:( #people say he has a lot of death flags and that's kind of true but i think he's safe since he's a playable character #i know playability is totally different from the canon versions of the characters but still #it'd be quite strange to play as a dead guy who doesn't exist anymore and has no further value to the story #can't believe i'm gonna have to wait two frickin years for snezhnaya. unfair #anyway who's excited for the interlude chapter and the inevitable dainsleif comebaaaack

[un-pearable]

the most important zane character trait to me isn’t that he’s a robot, but that he, fundamentally, is new to it. he’s bad at being a robot. he’s constantly finding out new things about himself and what he can do and excitedly showing them off to his friends like a kid with a new toy. he spent the most important part of his life (in his opinion, bc it’s when he met his friends and started pursuing being a protector) not understanding anything about himself and now he’s constantly discovering something new and it’s so important to me that he’s not reduced to just “the robot guy”. pixal is the one who being a robot comes naturally to, zane is the one who is permanently stuck between human and artificial and at this point is thriving there

#ninjago #zane julien #99% of non-zane oriented fic cheaps out on it and just makes zane pixal #they serve different purposes in the narrative!!!! they’re equally interesting and fun and i love them soooo much #he places SO much value on his ability to relate to his friends and others and reducing him to The Robotic One. while understandable. #is disappointing. #text✨ #loadbearing nindroid #pixal and zane even each other out in regards to common robot tropes and it’s just lovely #they’re so important to me now i disliked pix as a kid but after rewatching n stuff now… love them so so much #they both don’t deserve the disservice they get by their characterization #he’s The Smart OneTM everyone turns to for answers but he is still very much learning about himself figuring out Who He Is #which is a constant process in anyone including you and me but i love it. yes i am overextending simplistic kids media characters shut up. #edit: this has been in my drafts for like a week bc i keep rephrasing it so fuck it im just posting it. this is my zane thesis

[kleine-snowdrop]

Area man experiences five minutes of happiness, love, and acceptance from his peers and now must die.

Apparently this is a satisfying narrative conclusion.

Because where else could you take such a character.

#Izzy hands #At least according to tumblr and twitter #There is nothing more you can do once he has reached the narrative pinnacle #And therefore he must die #That sounds like a creativity problem to me #Don't get me wrong I like a satisfying death in media #I regularly consume media that leaves me heart broken in the best ways #I like crying for fun apparently #My favorite character in most things is background character voted most likely to die #But like for a major character death I want it to impact the narrative or character growth #I just don't want to to be for shock value or because they outlived their narrative use #Be more creative #Either let them live or kill them when it's more tragic

[wibble-wobbegong]

i’m always gonna be one of the first to talk about how mike and el’s relationship is genuinely horrific but god will have to strike me down before i ever believe that mike doesn’t see el as a person and that he doesn’t love her. he doesn’t know much about her but he still sees her as a human being. he was the first person to see her as a human being. benny was her first experience with the real world, but he didn’t even know her name. he fed and sheltered her, but there was no real connection that solidified el’s humanity

viewing her as a superhero isn’t meant to deny her status as a human being but to show that mike’s natural tendency to put the people he cares about on pedestals is something that is completely counterintuitive to what el needs in order to progress as a person. that doesn’t mean mike doesn’t see her as a person. he sees her as special and due to the circumstance of their relationship he doesn’t have anything else to view her as, but that doesn’t disregard that he was the first person to ever acknowledge her as a person with traits of strength and loyalty. he was the first person to recognize her as special because he was the first person to recognize her as human, as more than a kid who can be trained to fight and search. he saw the rare traits of kindness and determination in el and her abilities, how she used them to protect people, and realized she was special. a superhero. their potential as friends was evident in s1 before mike felt like viewing el as special had to mean he liked her because everyone told him to, even if he didn’t really understand why.

there is a lot of nuance in their relationship but mike viewing el as a human being and caring about her is undeniable. they are fundamentally different people who love in different ways and need different types of support that the other person cannot give. they’re both faced with immense societal pressures to conform (el’s through media like the romance movies and mike’s through his friends/family) and it’s led to a fear of communicating and some underlying resentment, which is an inevitable part of being forced to do something you don’t want to, but at the very core of their relationship is familial and protective love. they are bonded by their trauma and they also cared about each other, so even if they can’t function well together right now because they haven’t built a genuine relationship, they’re never gonna be able to stop caring and wanting to keep each other safe

#this is very rambly but it’s 3 am and i need to try and sleep lmao #sorry im seeing a rise of takes that are saying mike can’t/never has viewed el as a person and im #LITERALLY THEIR FIRST PROPER INTERACTION IS MIKE GIVING HER THE NICKNAME EL BECAUSE ELEVEN ISNT A NAME FOR A PERSON #BRO IM FBE IMTHD BC JFNDBD MG CHAKXHEXKSKDNDJAKCNJD #mike is a good kid who cares about all his friends why are we returning to the idea that he only truly values and cares for will #mike’s relationships with everyone else may not be the same as his relationship with will but there’s a level of narrative focus on mike and #will that isn’t given to mike’s other relationships for a reason. he’s still best friends with dustin and lucas and cares about el #byler #anti mileven #elmike #mike analysis