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saintsenara · 25 days

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As someone who isn't the biggest Hermione fan and keeps it quiet because greater fandom LOVES her, I'm honestly gagging for more of your Hermione takes. Especially your takes on fanon Hermione, who I can't STAND. Have a good one x

thank you very much, anon - there are dozens of us!

hermione is certainly the character i struggle to find common ground with the most - and this has been the case since i first read philosopher's stone as a child.

[which has actually been a really fascinating pop-culture experience - i think we tend to overlook, both because the media landscape and its representation of child and teen girls has changed since the 1990s and because of jkr's increasingly harmful views on gender, just how groundbreaking hermione was as a female protagonist in media which wasn't marketed primarily or exclusively towards girls. there is a reason why so many girls and women identified with her when the books were coming out - and it was very interesting for me growing up to not be one of them.]

the cause of my beef with hermione is for the incredibly petty reason that i find people who possess many of her more... striking traits quite difficult to deal with in real life, particularly if they don't acknowledge [which people in the hermione vein often don't...] that these traits are things it might benefit them to work on in their interpersonal relationships...

but this doesn't prevent me recognising that canon!hermione [and any real person like her] is interesting - and that her more annoying traits work well with her more straightforwardly admirable ones to create a fully-rounded character who, from a fanfiction perspective, is a great vehicle for all sorts of tropes, themes, and storylines.

which brings us - of course - to fanon!hermione...

fanon!hermione is, at her core, another brick in the wall of mary-sues. she's beautiful, and so clever she can solve millennia-old puzzles without batting an eyelid, and she's preternaturally emotionally intelligent, and she's morally spotless, and she's always right, and the story's preferred romantic partner worships the ground she walks on, and anyone who doesn't like her is punished.

i don't think - to be clear - that there is anything wrong, per se, with people wanting to write fanon!hermione [nor, to be frank, with other flawless fanon versions of female characters, oc mary-sues, or self-indulgent self-inserts - i'll defend the right to have fun with characters to the death]. this is a hobby, and people's way of engaging with that hobby doesn't have to appeal to me - it's fun escapism sometimes to write a character who is wonderful and perfect and beloved and has a sexy partner; and when it comes to accusations of writing someone "out-of-character", let she who is without sin cast the first stone...

but i also think - and [sigh] here comes some discourse - that fanon!hermione is part of a slight... girlbossification of female characters in the harry potter fandom [and presumably in others, i just don't follow closely enough to know] which i've always been a little uneasy about.

i understand why this happens - this fandom, like many, has an overwhelming preference for making blorbos of male characters and for imagining these characters in slash relationships. the treatment of female characters in slash subfandoms - i.e. tonks in wolfstar spaces; lily in jegulus spaces - is often straightforwardly misogynistic, and even in cases where it isn't, female characters are often shuffled quietly to the sidelines, except when they pop up - often suddenly in a queer pairing of their own - to benignly cheerlead the male couple.

and i think it's good that this is challenged - as i also think it's good that the heteronormative vibes of a lot of slash are challenged - and that we, as a fandom, are increasingly interested in female-centric works [whether focused on a romantic pairing or otherwise] and discussions. i hope these continue to take up fandom space.

but i have also noticed that the way female characters are written and talked about in these context is - as i've said - quite #girlboss in its approach. the focus is on women as clever and competent and feisty and unruffled and brave.

[including female villains, there are a lot of girlboss bellatrixes knocking around...]

and great! it should be! - but from what i've seen this also comes accompanied by a resistance to the idea that women can also be boring, unintelligent, self-infantilising, vain, arrogant, ignorant, talentless, meek, domestic, rude, dislikable, conservative, incurious, complicit in their own victimisation, plain wrong, and so on, and not only still be worthy of exploration, but be worthy of these characteristics not being automatically considered bad things for someone to possess and it not being seen as letting down the sisterhood to explore a woman who possesses them.

and, sure, hermione cannot be described as many of these things - but she is...

self-righteous; cruel; petty; from a privileged class background in the muggle world which blinkers her understanding of the class structure of the wizarding one; stubborn; terrible under pressure; shown by the text to be intelligent largely due to an ability to rote learn; a people-pleaser with a tendency towards a slightly hagrid-ish blind loyalty; extremely deferential to authority and willing to tolerate cruel treatment from authority figures [i.e. snape]; the most childlike of the trio [she takes her schoolbooks on the run and reads through them for comfort! she's an enormous animal lover!]; interested in one of form of stereotypical femininity [knitting! wearing pretty dresses!] even if she rejects the form of stereotypical femininity liked by e.g. parvati and lavender [and anyone who thinks she's not going to get along with her mother-in-law because molly's a housewife is dead wrong - she's having the time of her life helping put together a sunday lunch at the burrow]; possessed of a filthy sense of humour [i will never understand why emma watson said that the key to playing her was to be prim...]; someone who obviously wants to be liked and to be loved; and so on...

[and also, by the end of the pre-epilogue narrative, eighteen. she's often written in fics in a way which makes her sound like she's seen a lot of life - especially if the fic wants to claim she's "too mature" to bother with men her own age... but she hasn't - she's a teenager, and the reason she's so unpolished and abrasive is because literally all teenagers are unpolished and abrasive. it's just one of the mortifying agonies of growing up.]

we should love this. it makes her thorny and messy and mixed-up and human - and i am perfectly delighted by explorations of her character which delve into unravelling this tangle.

i just like her less as someone who is there to be right and beloved and uncriticised.

unless it's by ron. everyone should be uncomplicatedly adored by their wife guy.

#asks answered #in defence of...#hermione granger #annoying canon version only #we love unlikeable women in this house #reject the girlboss paradigm

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young-royals-confessions · 3 months

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Just pitching in since I see so much discourse about will they or won’t they that I think we kind of lost the essence of the story: I mean yes, Netflix is promoting the whole are they going to be endgame or not, tune in to find out but I think that’s just a generic marketing tactic.I’ve honestly been ignoring it.

Also, Lisa doesn’t strike me as the type of writer that would push only her own personal agenda or politics to a tv show, especially one that has critical acclaim as yr. That’s not what true storytelling is about. Please bear with me (apologies in advance for the long response !) but here’s my v long winded reasoning:

The theme has always been love v. duty & the monarchy is the enemy. Wille is on a Hero’s Journey - he is ultimately the Main Character; the Young Royal. What’s great about The Hero’s Journey is that it’s easy to follow and makes for great storytelling despite its predictability. I think some people here may have touched upon this so I am simply expanding:

As a viewer, we follow Wille and get to know him. He’s a likable character and we easily root for him and feel for him when we learn about the power dynamics in play; specifically how he feels caged as a prince. Then we enter into a Call for Adventure: him falling for Simon and the high stakes he enters when his brother passes and he is now Crown Prince.

This, then, propels the story forward, given the stakes are stacked up and it’s not looking good for Wille, especially after he/we find out August was the offender for sex tape leak.

After that, we enter into The Refuse to Call for Adventure; i.e, the hero (Wille) realizes he must face the challenge. We also step into the Meeting the Mentor, which is Boris, who helps Wille learn how to stand up and ultimately fight for himself (and Simon). While I see others thinking that W might push everyone away, including skipping his appts with Boris, I do not think that’s the case. Boris was set up to be the Mentor that W needs to realize the challenge he’s been facing and we may continue seeing him open up to Boris.

This will then allow W to “Cross the Threshold” and reinforce the central theme and conflict of the story - if W continues to stay with the monarchy and his obligations as Crown Prince, he cannot choose Simon. Love or Duty? Which will prevail?

S3 crosses that threshold and produces tests and obstacles that would make the fight for his relationship w S so much more complicated (basically everything we saw in the trailer). This stage in the Hero’s Journey is meant for the audience to doubt the Hero - Wille. It’s already a testament as we are debating if W is going to denounce his title or not just from the 2 mins of what we saw from the trailer. It’s intentional. We need to doubt in order for the central theme to drive home and also portrays the monarchy to be the overarching enemy of this story, without Lisa forfeiting her own political statement.

We enter the next stage of the Journey - which is the Cave - meaning the Hero and protagonists need to regroup and prepare for a counter attack (generally speaking) because the tension is continuing to rise and there are outside forces that wish to disturb the Journey (in this case, public opinion? paparazzi? Hillerska shutting down?).

Next, we enter the Ordeal - which makes the Hero break down bc he enters a mental barrier and is pushed to a corner. However, the Hero, typically comes out stronger after this stage in storytelling.

Ultimately, we reach the end: The Reward. The Hero makes the “attack” or choice and defeats the enemy/antagonist.

Imo, with how everything is set up, I do think it’s set up for W and S to be together in the end at least the end of the show (everything else after is obviously left for the audience member to interpret).

I have no doubt that W & S are going to come up on top and still be together in the end bc like some people mentioned - what would be the point? It was never a question whether they would end up together. The question is if Wille, our Hero in this story, would make the final choice and choose between love or duty. I think Wille would choose love. What better way of making history, especially with everything that’s been happening in real events, then choosing love? That would make for a strong ending.

#young royals #hero's journey #wilhelm #yr s3 spoilers #s3 speculation #wilmon #wilmon endgame #love or duty

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mer-een · 9 months

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Final Fantasy XV - art history meta

a symbol of romanticism: sylleblossom - the blue flower:

final fantasy xv's sylleblossom has a very special design and meaning. Let's talk about what it stands for and how it can be connected to art history.

More below the cut.

Luna and sylleblossoms

In general, blue sylleblossoms can be seen as a symbol for Luna in ffxv. They grow in Tenebrae and are its national flower, she has a garden full of them. Blue sylleblossoms are her favorite flowers. She gifts Noctis a pressed flower in their notebook and it is a strong visual symbol in her death scene. According to the final fantasy wiki: "Different color variants symbolize different things, but the blue version represents "a heart that does not give up" and "sincerity"." But there might be even more to it.

The blue flower and romanticism

The blue flower is considered an important symbol in art history, and especially of romanticism, an art movement of the 19th Century. It represents the romantic longing for the unattainable and unreachable, the infinite and the unconditional, it is also often interpreted as a connection between man and nature. In addition, the Blue Flower developed into a symbol of wandering, which is also characteristic of the Romantic era (and a main theme in ffxv too :) - the word wanderlust got its meaning in the Romantic Period btw). This motif can be traced back to an old German legend that says that one could find the blue miracle flower at night and would be richly rewarded. Consequently, this miracle flower represents a cause that is difficult to achieve, but longed for by many.

Here's a cornflower as an example. I painted a sylleblossom recently and noticed the similar petal shape and color.

The legend

The symbol goes back to a legend and the poet Novalis. The blue flower embodies the longing for an unattainable thing. In the story, a young man dreams about a blue flower that calls to him and he longs to find it. When he finally sees it, he sees a tender face in the flower. This - as is shown in the course of the story - is that of his later fiancé. In addition, the text teems with symbols typical of romanticism. In romantic works, threshold motifs are often used, i.e. motifs that mark a boundary between reality and the dreamlike, such as twilight, moonlight, or the view into the distance, which is usually carried by an enormous longing of the protagonist.

Noctis and Luna

When we look at Noctis and Luna's relationship, we can find a lot of these motifs. The longing, the wandering and looking into the distance. Luna seems always out of reach but they long to be together. We see Noctis looking at the moon in old previews and when Luna says farewell she tells him to "look to the distance, know that I am there". Even their names represent typical romantic symbols (night and moon).

Night and moon are also typical subjects in romanticism. I really like the similarities here between the official artwork of the ffxv piano collection and the painting by C.D. Friedrich.

Luna's death

Here's a screenshot of the dreamlike death sequence and another painting by C.D. Friedrich, who is one of the most recognizable Romantic painters.

One more interesting thing I'd like to point out is the topic of death in romantic paintings and Luna's death scene. I think it's interesting that you can see ruins and a gate behind Luna. It looks like Tenebrae or maybe Altissia but the gate behind her stands out. In romantic artworks, ruins can stand for the past and especially gates represent the transition into the afterlife. We can find several threshold motifs in this scene. In ffxv, it might show that Luna and Noct are inbetween the world of the living and the dead in that moment. Luna then goes into the afterlife (in the direction of the gate) while Noctis is pulled back into life.

The flower turns into the ring, which shows us that her calling has been fulfilled.

I'm not sure if the references about the romantic movement in ffxv were intentional or not, but in any case it was fun to think about it :). I hope you enjoyed this short meta analysis and look into some art history :)

#final fantasy xv #final fantasy xv meta #final fantasy xv meta analysis #sylleblossoms #lunafreya nox fleuret #art analysis #my thoughts #flowers #maybe someday I'll also finish my meta analysis of ffxv and Shakespeare :')#ff #ffxv #edit: It refers monstly to German Romanticism

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dangerous-advantage · 10 months

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throughout usagi yojimbo, there is this running theme of fatherhood, with usagi generally enjoying interactions with kids. if possible, he tends to seek them out (this is just as adorable as it sounds, btw)

as somebody who has long been iffy about the subject of kids/kid fics and media with a big focus on this, i'm surprised to find just how much i like sakai's exploration on the subject.

so, i've decided to delve into (a part of) why i think this works so well for me. for this, i'm focusing on UY issue #54: the return of the lone goat and kid.

(beware spoilers <3)

(caption: a cropped image of the cover of usagi yojimbo issue #54.)

within this issue, we witness the return of the lone goat and kid, betrayed samurai turned legendary assasin mercenary, with his young son, gorogoro.

i immediately liked these characters when first reading, not only because of the general badassery that they tend to exude, but also because they are very autistic-coded (/pos /lh), and gorogoro is depicted as non-verbal.

(note: he could be very young, but i'm fairly certain he just prefers not to talk, and saves his words for very specific occasions. either way, i love him a normal amount totally definitely /j.)

seeing their return was a welcome surprise, and though usagi and yagi are very autistic when interacting (/pos), usagi's soft-spot for kids plays a big part in their relationship, having saved gorogoro from falling to his death the last time they crossed paths.

even more welcome of a surprise was the plot and focus on gorogoro and usagi's relationship. i love to see usagi allowed to just... hang out with kids. you can tell he really enjoys doing it w/out the story putting a huge emphasis on that fact, which is part of why i enjoy it so much.

(the kid in question.)

now, to break this all down nice and simply, sakai's comics are generally so well done that i think you could just read the comic yourself and glean the same idea, probably in a better, more meaningful way than i can explain it.

but i've already committed, so here we go.

when we first meet gorogoro, he's being chased by a bunch of henchmen who intend to use him as bait for the capture of his father (being a very, very, very wanted man. er, goat.)

usagi stumbles upon him being threatened by one of the few other rabbits in this series and proceeds to suplex him after his hat is ruined. after that, we get the first good-parent-role-model-usagi moment:

(usagi participates in 10 out of 10 parenting/responsible adult behavior. to avoid writing this out ten million more times, i will simply be referring to this phenomenon as usagi being 'father material.')

he (re)introduced himself, puts himself in the (well-earned) position of "trustworthy adult" and then tries to figure out where tf yagi is. gorogoro, of course, does not speak, but instead of pushing him for an answer, he comes up with a conclusion and offers a solution.

usagi: "i guess you two have been seperated, huh. well, it's dangerous in these woods. there could be more of those guys around."

usagi: "there's a town not far away. your father will have an easier time finding you there."

he then invites gorogoro to come with him, saying he can escort him to the town. gorogoro seems unconvinced.

this might be the point where a lesser protagonist would try and convince/force the kid to come with them, or even manipulate them in some way (i.e. offering false promises/reassurances or just straight up lying.)

usagi, however, is not a lesser protagonist.

(several more panels of father material usagi content.)

quick side tangent: you could argue this is somewhat irresponsible, but i disagree.

usagi has met yagi and gorogoro before, and he knows that gorogoro is a smart kid. he doesn't have the full story for why gorogoro is here. for all he knows, gorogoro is on his way to meet up with his father somewhere farther on in the forest.

the point is: he doesn't try and make a decision for gorogoro or try and coax/force him into making one. he instead treats him like an equal and offers him the choice of whether to follow him or not.

when gorogoro doesn't seem to actively seek his help, he walks away, giving gorogoro full reins of his decision while also respecting an unspoken boundary that gorogoro has made.

(though, to be fair, he did assume gorogoro would follow him-- an assumption that paid off.)

("i see you decided to come along after all.")

what's important here isn't that his guess paid off, it's that he allowed gorogoro to make the decision. not to mention, he still hasn't quite figured out how to best work with gorogoro, as is showcased in the following panels:

(usagi participates in ableism /j /lh /not serious)

usagi is shown to be "good at kids." he gets along with them, and they tend to like him in turn. but that's not just an innate talent (though aptitude to kids does play a big part of it.)

he invests in positive relationships by treating children not as we often see/think of in parent-child or adult-child platonic relationships, but by treating them like equals. simply, he offers them the same respect he would offer anyone else.

which is so fucking important.

anyway, they get to the town and go to an inn inside, where usagi buys gorogoro food. once again, he exhibits king and father material attributes.

gorogoro doesn't look interested in eating the food. this is the exchange that follows:

and then:

(the 'king shit' in question)

now. let's break this down.

usagi offers food, but gorogoro is distrustful. he employs a tactic that may have worked on other children to try and convince/reassure gorogoro that eating it is fine. gorogoro is, in fact, unconvinced.

then, instead of getting irritated, or continuing to try and (unsuccessfully) convince gorogoro the food is convinced, he uses what he's observed about gorogoro/what he knows about gogoro's life to understand what he is actually saying.

he does not force him. he doesn't get annoyed. when he calls him 'weird,' it feels less like an insult and more like a neutral observation, one that he then uses to better work with/communicate with gorogoro.

('does [he] know kids or what,' indeed.)

in the space of two pages, usagi was able to figure out how to better work with gorogoro, not by changing gorogoro, but by changing his methods.

his outlook is not the one we see depicted in much of modern media-- "the parent is always right, and the child must do as they are told."

instead, it introduces a sense of respect, and therefore trust, into their dynamic. i thought i could only get something this good from roald dahl's matilda, but of course, i should've known to never doubt stan sakai /lh

this of course, isn't the end (but we are close!). a bunch of plot stuff happens, and in the search to reuinte gorogoro with his father, usagi ends up on a bridge, with enemies after gorogoro's head (and associated reward) flanking either side of it.

gorogoro, while still maintaining his distance/boundaries, shows that he trusts usagi by running behind him when threatened.

not only that, when usagi orders him to stay behind him (for reasons of protection,) he does so and continues to do so. because usagi has earned his trust, he feels comfortable entrusting usagi with his safety, where he was less comfortable doing so at the beginning.

(the bridge show-down, with the addition of usagi's killer clapback of a line. 10/10, i laughed.)

there's only one other moment i want to mention, but despite how small of a detail it is, it's what got me thinking about this whole thing.

after usagi realizes he's been flanked on either side and will need to fight his way out in order to keep gorogoro safe, this exchange happens:

one of the very first things usagi must have noticed is the silent boundary that gorogoro put up, one that he's been maintaining this entire time. he prefers space-- i.e., he would rather not be touched, at least not without permission.

in this scene, a lesser protagonist would have snatched gorogoro up by the arm, let loose some feral battle cry, and then rushed all seven henchmen using only one arm.

usagi is not a lesser protagonist.

he takes a moment, however small, to communicate his intentions to gorogoro. "i need to carry you" doubling as a silent question: can i carry you?

while he probably would have had to either way, usagi already built up trust between himself and gorogoro. so, gorogoro obliges.

and then usagi single-handedly (literally!) fights his way through seven guys.

ok, well, that's not quite true-- yagi, the 'lone goat' of the duo (more like G.O.A.T -- yes, i have been waiting for a time to make that godawful pun, and no, this is not an appropriate time, but i had to make it. you don't understand /j /nsrs) shows up on the other side pushing gorogoro's cart, and also contributes to the slaughter.

which leads to this epic, two-page panel:

(its so good ITS SO GOOD--)

after this, the story is wrapped up, the kid is returned to his goat, and usagi and the lone goat and kid go their separate ways (for now.)

as you can probably guess, this depiction of platonic child/adult relationships is very, very important to me, not only because i feel we need more of this in the general media, but also to me, specifically, as a member of the neurodivergent community.

seeing a character that i genuinely like respecting the unspoken boundaries of a nonverbal child character means a lot to me. whether he meant it to be interpreted this way or not, it really feels like we get to see an autistic character having different needs/wants and not being shamed for that by the narrative.

this is only one aspect of what makes usagi yojimbo so great, but it showcases some of the many details that sakai uses to create a well-paced, interesting, and engaging narrative.

gone are the annoying, one-dimensional kid characters and the terrible tropes that usually follow them. instead, sakai treats the children in his characters the same way that usagi treats them: as people, characters that have motivations and reasons and that deserve time and respect as well.

as i stated before, i have long shied away from kid-related stories, especially those with younger kids. but lemme tell you. UY has won me over.

i would happily pay away my livelihood to read 700 more panels with usagi toting around a 6-month-old while he talks about conspiracies with the town inspector (see: usagi yojimbo issue [blank]: [name]), or usagi letting the kid of the family he's staying with admire his blades [insert comic here.]

sakai just gets kids, and now when i'm faced with the question of: is this an example of positive parenting/guidance?, i just ask myself, "would usagi do that?"

and it answers my question.

bonus: usagi and yagi being absolutely not in any way incredibly autistic at each other during The Exchange.

(note: their smiles in that end panel make it all worth it, i think.)

#(fair warning: this is *long*)#i'm giving in to the hyperfixation #when my uy sideblog is presentable i'll rb there #for now this is fine #usagi yojimbo #uy #miyamoto usagi #usagi yojimbo analysis #usagi miyamoto analysis #uy analysis #as you can tell i am very normal about this character #long post #tw long post #analysis #undescribed #i meant to make those captions accessible but i wanted to just get this out there before i lost motivation #so i'll come back in later and add actual descriptions haha

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owlbearwrites · 7 months

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WIP Introduction: Fate is Just the Half of It

Two hundred years after Earth was engulfed in nuclear fire, Rowan Woods wakes up from cryogenic sleep in the wreckage of his Orbital Ark. As he stumbles through the brave new (and still somewhat irradiated) world, he learns that the man he loved pre-apocalypse may be, impossibly, alive today.

The man in question, genius industrialist Jack Howard, has been given a new life as a self-aware android by the mysterious scientific collective known as the Agency. Earning his keep as the chief engineer of the Agency’s moon base, Jack has no reason to think that Rowan is alive and looking for him. But his obliviousness has never stopped Rowan before.

This is the story of two people who found each other after the end of the world.

Genre: sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, queer romance

POV: 3rd person limited, alternating between two main characters + snippets of diary in 1st person

Status: writing first draft, planning to start serialized release in 2024

Themes: survival and resilience, love and loss, humanity and identity

Vibes: character-focused, dialogue-heavy, angst with a happy ending, some existential moments, soft sci-fi (bordering on science magic where it's necessary to enable plot)

Also featuring: cyborgs, sentient androids

Warnings: apocalypse, character death, language, violence (non-graphic), sexual situations (non-graphic)

Rep: queer relationship (mlm); trans protagonist; diverse side cast; neurodivergence*

*unlabeled and undiagnosed on page, but a certain character always comes across as neurodivergent in my writing as a function of my own autistic brain

WIP Tag (currently featuring worldbuilding and snippets; will be more organized eventually)

-- tag list: @athenswrites, @ladyazulina, @author-a-holmes, @solarmusick

if you want to be updated about this story, let me know in the comments! if you have a preference for something you want or don't want to see, please note that too! (i.e. 'only worldbuilding talk', 'only snippets', 'no spoilers pls', etc.)

#wip intro #wip introduction #writeblr #writing community #writers on tumblr #queer scifi #post apocalyptic #fate is just the half of it #50% fate: meta

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missgryffin · 7 months

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I'm sorry but I don't like it when James kissed Dahlia's forehead in the hospital wing in ES. He cheated on Lily.

So I wasn't sure what to say to this, mostly because it's about Old ES, and I do feel there's a certain amount of futility in talking about Old ES plot points when New ES is coming and will be very different. BUT, that being said, the sentiment behind this ask is still relevant, so I'll address it by saying this:

A significant theme in ES is still the exploration of dating and all the messiness, growth, feelings, drama, etc. that happens in dating—especially when in the unofficial realm of casually dating, situationships, flings, hookups, etc. (Of course, since James and Lily are our protagonists, this will eventually turn into an exploration of first love + being in a committed relationship.) This story is rated E for a reason: things are meant to be gray and fuzzy and hard and challenging (but also rewarding, fun, hopeful, sexy).

When it comes to unofficial territory, we'll all inevitably have different opinions about what happens, and that's okay! Whether you think a scenario (i.e., a forehead kiss in the hospital wing, given to an ex who is still a good friend after her frightening injury, when Jily are not officially together but have been hooking up) amounts to "cheating" or not is your prerogative, and readers are free to debate. You definitely don't have to apologize for not liking that James did that! Readers are obviously valid (and encouraged!) in being frustrated with these characters sometimes and in disliking their actions. I only ask that readers keep in mind that characters are not perfect, reader opinions on dating scenarios will differ, and that I cannot sustain a fic of this size without injecting some angst and drama amidst all the fluff and smut 😅🫶

#ask #eternal summer #disclaimer of sorts #rehashing this specific scene is a moot point #if you get my drift #but there is obvs still drama ahead #which I expect will cause OPINIONS #👀🍿

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waeirfaahl · 5 months

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Balto 2 Wolf Quest main problem

Balto-2 was… a very controversial topic among fans, especially fans of the original Balto 1995 film. The only defense for the sequel that I can say — the crew of Balto-2 (especially the writer and the director) were really nice people, as well as the sources of inspiration for Wolf Quest were really deep, mature and interesting and gave very promising themes about coming of age, parent-child relationships, finding own place in the world, self-discovering, learning the culture of far relatives and ties with nature. And they had several fresh and cool ideas for another sequel. However, the story has issues, which, unfortunately, ruin really a good story. From the story perspective there are two aspects, which totally contradict to the original film and hence devalue it.

First of all. In the original Balto the main protagonist becomes the hero, who saved sick kids of Nome, so both humans and dogs finally accept him and see his kindness and nobility. In Balto-2 Aleu is the only pup, who resembles Balto the most, hence every family would adopt her first, a daughter of the wolf hero. But for some reason nobody wants to adopt her due to wolf traits despite there's no reasons for distrust toward wolfdogs anymore.

Second. In the original film Balto finds out who he truly is (a wolf) and embraces his wolf nature, overcoming his inner demons and self-doubts in the gorgeous white wolf scene. Simply saying, Balto accepts his wolf heritage and becomes confident, he realizes that it is a strength, not a weakness or disgrace, and exactly this saved his life and lifes of those kids, hence he would teach his pups to be noble and confident, be proud of the wolf ancestory.

However, for some reason Balto-2 ignores this crucial moment and makes Balto to be ashamed of his wolf side again and to hide from his daughter the fact of his wild roots, insisting the idea that she will be a good dog and her heritage is great due to her mother being a purebred dog. Yep, the same character, who said "Since when you need a pedigree to help someone?" in the original movie, in the sequel points out purebred dogs as superior... The main complaint from fans of the original film was the decision of the sequel to turn the White Wolf into Balto's mother, Aniu, ruining mystery of the scene and this character. Fans tried to find explanation to this in the original film, but the answer is simple — the crew of the sequel simply enjoyed the white wolf from the original film, they had no information about the intention of the original film. Yes, they said that Aniu was the white wolf from the original film, but it is not true. If you read interview with the director of the original film, read the script and see all production materials (concept arts and storyboards), you'll find out that the white wolf was a male and symbolised Balto's wolf side and self-acceptance, as well as Balto's wolf side came from his father.

What I can say, the main problem and mistake of Balto-2 is exactly the decision to make Balto's mother to be his wolf side, because other morbid moments exist only because of this decision, erasing the original movie and creating plot holes, logical holes and contradictions. But about everything in order.

In the sequel Balto mentions that he lived only with his wolf mother and knew only her, i.e. there's no pack or whatever. And he had fond memories about her, her white fur and warm voice. Being very young pup, he accidentally got lost, Boris the goose found and took him in, raising him as his own son. Balto never had a father — according to the sequel's crew, Balto's father was never developed, but was intended to be an unknown stray dog, a loner, who begets a pup and then never even knows it. I.e. there was no love between him and Aniu, he abandoned her after mating. Yes, you get it right. If in the original film dogs were afraid of wolves, here we see some crazy dog, who runs hundreds miles away from a village or town to the forest, full of hungry wild animals, mates with legendary and revered she-wolf, leaves her without any consequences and then has no idea about Balto's existence. So, here's my questions. Why the she-wolf mated with this random stray mutt? Why she raised Balto alone, not in a pack? Why did Balto think that his father is a dog, if Balto never had a father and vaguely remembered only his mother? Why Balto considered himself as a half-breed instead of a wolf, if he was only with his wolf mother? Why humans from Nome considered Balto as a wolfdog instead of a regular wolf, if Boris the goose found and raised Balto, not humans? Why he didn't leave Nome and didn't try to find his wolf mother all this time? Why his mother didn't use her nose for finding her son's scent and returning her son?! Balto used his nose to find the lost sled dog team, travelling many miles, and succeeded in this! Why Boris brought young Balto in Nome (and travelled thousands of miles from the forest somehow) instead of help to find his mother? Since Balto knew only his wolf mother and loved her, why on Earth he would be ashamed of his wolf heritage? Why on Earth he would have this inner conflict with "Who am I? Wolf or dog?"? Balto would perfectly know that he is a wolf and would be proud of this, he'd go with a pack! Why on Earth he would desperately want to be a sled dog and to be accepted by humans and dogs, if his mother figure was a wolf and his father figure was a wild goose, who disliked humans, and especially if all townfolks and all dogs of Nome rejected Balto all his life, while wolves were friendly to him and wanted him to become a part of their family? (not to mention stupid fan-theory "Hunters killed Balto's mom" from nowhere — then Balto would hate humans and dogs even more) The idea of Balto's mother being a wolf makes zero sense and impossible. It ruins everything.

I especially "like", how she reveals herself to Balto and then disappears, showing no love to her son and no answers to audience. Not to mention Balto's clear attempt to blame her in his and Aleu's troubles, since he refers to her as "the wolf" and "she" and is ashamed of her despite the fact that Balto knew only her and lived with only her and loved her (and at the same time he wanted to be a dog and refered as "dad" to unknown dog, who abandoned his mother and has no idea about Balto).

2. If you didn't know, Aniu is the wolf deity, the author described her as The Great Mother of all wolves and a part of The Great Guardian Spirit, she symbolizes the call of the wild and helps to find true self. Plus, the sequel itself hints this — wolves always refer to her as the Great Aniu, she transforms into various other totem spirits, and she is depicted on the totem pole, hinting how ancient she is. This fact makes Balto literally a demigod-wolf, half-spirit basically. And there's a serious problem, because making this wolf goddess as Balto's mother creates a lot more questions, holes and morbid moments.

Why this wolf goddess mated with a random stray mongrel? When young Balto accidentally got lost, why Aniu didn't try to find and return him? If she couldn't be with him due to her divine nature and duties, why she didn't bring him to a wolf family? She is the revered goddess, every wolf would be proud to adopt and raise her son! But nobody among wolves knew that their goddess had a demi-god son all this time! She literally abandoned Balto to suffer among humans and dogs and to deny his wolf nature and she ignored him all his life. Plus, according to the crew, the totem spirits attacked Balto, 'cause he denied his wolf part, while Aleu didn't. Ah... then they should attack him since puppyhood. The same thing with the nightmares Balto had — the reason is that 'cause he denied his wolf side, but he had nothing of this in the original film. And exactly Aniu made these nightmares and visions.

Moreover, this idea literally destroys the original film. The original film was about self-acceptance and inner nobility, how Balto, being nobody with regular parents, becomes hero due to own moral qualities and noble deeds in contrast to the purebred and evil malamute Steele — the choice and deeds matter, not origin. Balto-2 Wolf Quest instead makes the opposite idea that Balto is a noble hero, because he has divine heritage, because his mother is a goddess, and that his daughter became the leader of the wolf pack because she is a granddaughter of this wolf goddess. Plus, as I pointed out here, the totem pole always was here, so Aniu and other spirits saw Balto's pain and suffering, but did nothing to help him, Aniu didn't help to Balto to embrace his wolf heritage, when he was a pup or a teen, so he could go with a pack. She did nothing, when Steele tried to murder Balto several times. Why?

Well, according to the author, because Balto was "only a part of greater plan", and the result of the Aniu's prophecy is Aleu, Balto's daughter, who inherited magical abilities from Aniu and was the chosen one. And Wolf Quest several times hints that Aniu has foreseen everything.

It means that Balto was unloved, unwanted and unneeded pup for Aniu. She mated with a random mutt only for this "greater plan" and "prophecy". She birthed Balto and then abandoned him only for this "greater plan". She ignored him all his life and ignored his pain only for the prophecy. She doomed her son to suffer among humans and dogs only for this and only for birth of Aleu as the chosen one. By this same logic, she, the one who protects wolves, decides to help humans (i.e. enemies of every wolf) by throwing Balto as the one who will save them and mate with another dog. Simply saying, Balto was born as a wolf demi-god and abandoned in suffer and pain simply to birth the female demi-god wolfdog, who is the chosen one. Because some totem deities decided so, and one of these deities was his own mother. And everything in the original movie and the sequel was predetermined then. Great, no comments...

#balto #balto movie #balto 1995 #balto 2 wolf quest #balto's mother #balto's father #aniu balto #white wolf balto #balto the white wolf #aleu #aleu balto #balto aleu

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asscrackcreed · 2 years

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got bored so here’s a gods au

altaïr: was an egotistical god that only did as he pleased and only did the right thing because he had to or no one would worship him, at the same time he believed himself to always be right. stereotypical ares at first but later gains wisdom. The Apple of Eden is his signature symbol, hence like a mix of athena and ares, he becomes a symbol of freedom and wisdom

God of Wisdom - in all areas of life like philosophy and relationships, especially strategic war

ezio: like hermes. he can be funny and strong, silly but dedicated to his work. i chose messages because ezio was given the task to pass on the message to desmond through himself and he wasn’t aware of it and never understood even when he died canonically. he’s also quite fast and goes back to the first beginning missions of ac2 where he delivered messages for his father before they… died… :(

God of Messages

connor: he’s naturally realllllyyyyy connected to his village and culture and stuff so i couldn’t just give him earth powers. i feel like adding community spirit into his title also allows him to be a sort of god of justice too feels self explanatory nonetheless

God of the Home and Earth - regarding hospitality, culture, community things that bring ppl together whilst also connecting to nature (hes like mother nature essentially)

edward: it would’ve been very obvious to make him god of the sea but he’s also a pirate so navigation makes the most sense. i think it also works metaphorically because when edward realised the harm he was causing he went back to fix everything - i.e he ‘navigated’ himself to a better future/legacy

God of Navigation and Direction

shay: i don’t like making one particular line a characters whole personality but i think luck really fits. obviously luck, fortune and success doesn’t necessarily have to just be money it can be anything like the way shay rebelled against the assassins for the harm they’ve done. like you might pray to shay for luck and success against tyranny

God of Fortune

arno: he really reminds me of Dionysus and idk if that’s because of the alcoholism… but his whole story was based on love which makes him the best suited. we see arno when he’s happy, silly and battling depression and he feels like he’s the most expressive assassin to grieve and to love

God of Emotions

bayek: bayek’s story is based on revenge for his dead son but i can’t really make him god of family since that’s basically part of connors title. i do think tho as the first assassins with aya he would have to be a karmic god if that makes sense. since the whole point of the assassins is opposing tyranny and karma is receiving the same energy that you’re giving (i.e you do bad you receive bad) the assassins would be the karma you receive for doing bad things

God of Karma - includes life, death and rebirth

Kassandra: im not putting them together cuz well deimos actually has the same name as the greek god of death (hades’ son) so that’s pretty easy to use considering they’re so similar and they have no personality as protagonists cuz they’re the same person essentially ANYWAYS if any ones the god of war its her, essentially the heroics and bravery, most alike to Ares. ik im not putting them together but kassandra feels like more of a defender and alexios is an attacker? because deimos caused lots of death but kassandra was fighting for sparta and also to reunite her family (if you choose to save them all idk i didn’t play odyssey). i said battle and not war because it can be the metaphorically sense like how kassandra was struggling with family issues like her step dad and fighting her brother

Eagle Bearer - Goddess of Battles

eivor: this one was kinda hard because eivor has the same theme as connor when it comes to home (especially as a viking) i do think that with all these major choices eivor had to make and also finding out they’re the reincarnation of Odin the All-Father the theme of ‘conflict’ is also really apparent in the game. i like how whether it was between relationships or choices there was a clear sense of struggle. i feel like the choices in valhalla weigh heavier much more than odyssey (personally i hate choices but yk) so i chose conflict. conflict can mean anything again it doesn’t have to be literally it can be internal as well, eivor is the deity that helps bring to light what is the best choice

Deity of Conflict

more characters below

Miscellaneous:

malik: god of perception - ability to be aware of all situations and releasing the ego in order to have a bigger depth - like how he had to re evaluate the creed and what al mualim was doing

kadar: god of joy - not sure? he was always so happy though

federico: god of responsibility - as an elder brother he has a different responsibility plus he helped ezio and i imagine if we saw more of him we’d see him take on more responsibilities which he may feel like he failed sind ezio became responsible for claudia and his mum

kaniehtí:io: goddess of motherhood - she had her villages support in raising her son without the father and being a mother didn’t stop her from being badass also she’s just so fucking cool

haytham - god of work - obsessed with work it’s not limited to jobs it also goes in hand with personal work idk this one’s kinda dumb

james/mary: deity of ??? idk actually and i’m upset that i can’t think of anything

adé: god of peace - he’s just really loyal and the only thing we see about him is how he advocates for freedom yk 😭 this should not be that hard

aveline: goddess of charm - i like how she uses her charm to seduce ppl she’s also kinda flirty naturally which she can use to her advantage in conflict

#man i suck at this but it’s fun #assassin's creed #ac #text #gods au

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theboarsbride · 1 year

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Name 5 movies/book/songs/etc that inspired each of your stories!

OOO!!! So sorry this took too long to get around, but thank you so, so much for sending this ask in!! 🥺💛

The Monster and the Butterfly🥀🦋

Crimson Peak - and Guillermo del Toro's whole filmography, tbh, but Crimson Peak especially. And also other ghost movies/shows, such as The Orphanage, The Others, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Mama, Paranormal Activity, The Conjuring I & II.

Panna a Netvor/Beauty and the Beast (1979), as well as Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bete.

Various dark fantasy movies and books from the 1980s/90s like The Dark Crystal, Legend, The Company of Wolves, etc. and Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber.

Shelley Duvall's Fairytale Theater "Beauty and the Beast" episode (literally why Susan Sarandon - who plays Beauty - is Sophie's fc)... and honestly, on that same note, Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy because the fucking music is so good, and Brad Dourif as Grima Wormtongue is the whole reason why the modern version of Edgar exists (and is his fc) lmao.

A Taste for Monsters by Matthew Kirby - and to add onto this, KIND OF?? Is that a lot of inspiration for TMATB came from the hate I feel towards some modern BATB retellings (i.e.- Sarah J Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses series especially) that feature conventionally attractive 'Beasts' who are only beasts in the sense that they're awful, toxic, cruel people who, to me, don't deserve redemption or romance - or even friendship - as well as female protagonists who are just so, so unlikeable in their bitterness, idiocy, and Mary Sue-ness??? I wanted to write a romance that featured love interests that were unconventional in appearance, flawed but still likeable, and having a relationship that is healthy/consensual!

Cheating and adding a 6th one, but the works of Abigail J. Harding's Parliament of Rooks portfolio! GOTHIC BIRD MONSTER BELOVED!

Those Red Nights🌕🐺

Using Bob Odenkirk as a fc for a werewolf character - literally that's the whole reason why this story exists lmfao. So you bet I was watching the hell out of Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad for inspo (and simp material)!

Silence of the Lambs, the movie especially! But there is also Thomas Harris' Red Dragon novel (and the movie starring Ed Norton and Anthony Hopkins, and the movie Manhunter) that was a source of inspiration!

David Fincher's Se7en - I wanted to write a neo-Noir story for a hot minute, especially ones with psychological horror elements!

Nightmare by Tuesday Knight - this just helped me develop the idea of TRN being a psychological horror, and writing about the themes surrounding nightmares, the haunting effects of guilt, etc.

Werewolf movies like Bad Moon and Silver Bullet

Temperance & Mr. Wyrm 🐍⚕️- I don't talk about this WIP much but I still think about it regularly!

Wanting to do a retelling of the fairytale "The Lindworm Prince" and also wanting to explore writing a weird body horror romance!

The Shape of Water - again, del Toro out here inspiring goofy fucking monster romances!

David Cronenberg's The Fly - tragic body horror romance goodness, my beloved!

General 1980s media and pop culture - a lot of this was kind of inspired by reading My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix! It's a book set in the 80s and utilizes the 80s nostalgia, but it also doesn't shy away from how ugly the 80s were in terms of social stigmas for people who weren't straight white men. In TAMW especially what I'd be alluding to is the stigma surrounding AIDS, and other blood-borne illnesses.

And, lowkey, wanting to have Gwendoline Christie as a fc for a character?? Like, idk, with who Temperance is as a character within the novella, Christie seems to fit her super well! Also the tall gf x short bf is a ship dynamic I ADORE! (also the character of Jack, the titular 'Mr. Wyrm,' is another character where I use Brad Dourif as a fc for but shhhhh i know I'm cringe, don't remind me)

These are the main WIPs I still work on!! There is also The Faeries and the Lark but that's more on the backburner for now, but that story was inspired by wanting to do a genderbent retelling of Sleeping Beauty but has now turned into a Gothic/dark fantasy Sapphic romance that's a funky blend between Sleeping Beauty and East of the Sun, West of the Moon that's inspired by Scandinavian folklore and seeing images of women in armor lmao.

But if there are any WIPs you'd wanna learn about, give me a shout and I'm more than willing to scream about these goofy, silly little stories!!

#jojo rambles #jojo writes #The Monster and the Butterfly #Those Red Nights #Temperance and Mr. Wyrm #The Faeries and the Lark

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theophagie-remade · 2 years

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Spiritually succeeding this other post, I'm here once again to go on and on about some things I see outside my little protective bubble, and while the language barrier prevents me from knowing bnha's actual target audience's (i.e. young japanese men) thoughts on things, as always reading those of its western equivalent is... an experience

I always go back to this BUT the fact that Midoriya can (and will) bring himself to the extreme should he believe it to be necessary has always been a recurring theme, and his "recent" rogue arc is something that encapsulated this very well. And it was incredible [with negative connotations] to see readers rejoice for it, and complain when class 1A intervened to get him back on track again

Whenever Midoriya got like that, Horikoshi made it a point to highlight how irresponsible it was, how unfair to himself he was being, and up until that arc everyone had agreed. So why is it that him destroying his body made him a dumbass who needed to get his shit together, but then suddenly him isolating himself and shutting everyone out made him cool and badass?

And in general what I'd like to do is grab these guys by the shoulders, look them in the eye and just. I promise you that masculinity is not just red meat, muscles, and sweat. Midoriya is a Boy and he's Sensitive and Awkward And That's Okay, any other man who likes bnha and isn't as insecure as you are has no problem with this, you are making up a Flaw to be angry about

Then there's Bakugou, a character whose arc has been incredibly emotion-driven, which isn't as common for male characters in shounen, and what made it stand out even more is what kind of emotions it has involved and towards whom, which again is something that sets him apart from the usual "bad boy who eventually turns good" archetype

Many guys dislike Bakugou because his current relationship with Midoriya betrays any "bullied person never forgives and/or takes revenge on they bully" power fantasy, but I recently read a comment that brought up the similarities between these people's attitude towards him and the one that they have towards female characters from other shounen manga (calling him a bitch, commenting on the way his development has taken place for how unusual it has been, arguing whether he's actually important or useful to the story), which I know may sound absurd at first, but it did get me thinking

God knows I simply refuse to entertain any thoughts™ on what Horikoshi has in mind, but narratively speaking - especially lately so - his role has been one that's stereotypically associated with female characters more so than with male ones* (love interests specifically, but again: you will never have me, Hope) (always worrying for the protagonist more than anyone else, evoking protectiveness and possessiveness from the protagonist, the protagonist acting and reacting to what is said and done to them specifically, being individually targeted for their closeness to the protagonist, etc), and after having read that comment it has been interesting to notice a small but still very real subset of dudebros, not that it has been a good thing

[*: obviously it's very misogynistic that the things I listed are almost exclusively associated with female characters to begin with and that it's surprising for a male character to be put in that spot for once, No One Is Arguing Against This. If anything, this shines some light on the fact that the world of shounen manga (and not only that tbh) would benefit from novelties like this one since people are acting like clowns over it]

While most of them (dudebros) still refuse to acknowledge how close Bakugou is to Midoriya, there's a minority that... has a funny way of indirectly acknowledging this, because of a combination of see: above reasons and see: homophobia. I don't really think that it's a coincidence that whenever something bkdk flavoured becomes popular, among the various kinds of hate comments, a number of people always comment that Midoriya isn't gay. Midoriya, not necessarily Bakugou as well

Horikoshi managed to go beyond quite a few stereotypes with Bakugou's character arc (ironic when you compare it to someone else's but I digress, this conversation specifically isn't about her), so it is sad to see people turn it into a chance to be bigoted towards other fans, because obviously all the comments they make aren't merely in "defense" of the characters themselves, but they're meant to be read by and hurt the often queer fans who share their theories/headcanons/interpretations etc

#studying so many of the cishet men who allegedly read and enjoy bnha as if they were microbes in a lab #bnha #animanga #mytext #char tag #midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #bakudeku #long post #salty

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fearofahumanplanet · 1 year

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What themes and tropes do you like that are in your writing?

The ask game in question!

I've been maintaining a long list of these for a while now, so here we go:

Antivillain/antihero protagonists

Sapphic relationships

Deep diving/focusing on specific cultures, often underexplored ones

Always a huge focus on psychological/mental health/sociopolitical topics

No matter what genre I'm writing in, some horror creeps in inevitably, it's unavoidable

Re-occuring cryptic phrases that change meaning throughout the story with further context

Alliteration

Mentally shattered badass independent lesbian protagonists has apparently become my thing according to some people

Either references to mythology or outright uses of mythological gods, but there is always at least something named in a way to reference myth its also inevitable

Stylized, very visceral gore

In general, i write speculative fiction but i mix grounded, gritty combat (i.e. shattering bones, biting through flesh, beating black and blue, in general emphasizing impact is the best way i can put it) & accurate medical injuries (thx nurse history) with fantastical elements like magic, the supernatural and metaphysical concepts

LOTS of philosophy, especially on trauma, the nature of being human, nihilism, and existentialism

The de-emphasis/subversion of "good" and "evil" roles, always morally grey

Small things, like using the word "cycle" instead of "chapter"

Using physical masks to emphasize duality and/or a physical manifestation of the concept of masking your true self, as well as just masks in general

Every one of my books usually starts out bad (in stakes) and steadily manages to get worse and worse and worse with no relief

Exploring the cycle of abuse and seeing how traumatized people are often inevitably bound to traumatize others around them, whether they mean it or not

The nature of forgiveness vs punishment and whether a line should even be drawn

Using persecuted minority groups or "scapegoats" as protagonists to emphasize the idea of evil is a manmade concept

Anti-colonialism and imperialism stuff has become really common as of late

Thanks for the ask, I hope you're doing well!

#asks

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jiangwanyinscatmom · 1 year

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I posted 1,326 times in 2022

726 posts created (55%)

600 posts reblogged (45%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@ladypfenix

@jiangwanyinscatmom

@kingcasanuva

@ponderation

@newhanfu

I tagged 864 of my posts in 2022

Only 35% of my posts had no tags

#mdzs - 424 posts

#mo dao zu shi - 403 posts

#fanart - 95 posts

#svsss - 80 posts

#scum villain - 78 posts

#cql - 61 posts

#wangxian - 61 posts

#the untamed - 60 posts

#fashion - 57 posts

#canon jiang cheng - 51 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#ship what you want just don't make it something it isn't and try to call it a romance of beauty and could ever work in any healthy capacity

My Top Posts in 2022:

( I have the very lovely @kimalysong to thank for encouraging me to post this bit of overthinking which I greatly appreciate!)

Now that we have a full line up of the EN release for the covers of the main story for MDZS, I was curious to discuss the running theme of them which consists of Wei Wuxian metaphorically looking towards his future (meaning Lan Wangji) throughout the art.

For reference, each of the covers:

See the full post

264 notes - Posted October 28, 2022

MXTX fandom needs to stop having an obsession with making the straight dudes seem gayer than the actual protagonists.

Just saying, that washing of them (i.e Jiang Cheng, Feng Xin, Lan Xichen, Shen Jiu), to make them fanon gay and to prop them up over the canonical queer men, is highly disturbing on the English-base side of these takes.

You "making the work more gay" by doing this, is tone-deaf when you sweep away the leads just because you "don't like so and so" dynamic but slap that same thing on the straight men.

320 notes - Posted March 8, 2022

Lan Wangji could probably be chewing on Lan Xichen's forearm as hard as possible and the guy would still be going "He's the greatest and cutest little brother ever right?" All while everyone else stares in horror.

366 notes - Posted October 19, 2022

I will never get how some will read all the way through MDZS, get shown and told that all the lies based around Wei Wuxian were all untrue, and still tell themselves that Jiang Cheng was still wronged and his feelings are still "valid" by the end.

Jiang Cheng's feelings stopped being valid the moment he decided to be like his mother and choosing to hate people because that was easier than fixing the parts of him he disliked. It stopped being just a problem between his parents and him when he decided to use Wei Wuxian as a shield to name all of his wrongs to lash out against. You do not call someone just a support when you only use them as a scapegoat to say they are the reason for what you did not get in life. You do not call someone a friend or sibling and tell them they owe you for protecting them and then hold that protection over them as a price they have to buy into.

His story is tragic, but it stopped being empathetic when he dragged his projection of failings from just Wei Wuxian on to Lan Wangji and Wen Ning. He chose to project that his father and Wei Wuxian were playing favorites and always choosing someone else over him, when he himself did nothing to mature out of the angry sad child he had been. A child's feelings of being able to do nothing in the face of rocky parents fighting over control are valid. A grown man who continued to find a parental figure to rage against without ever bettering himself, is not.

Jiang Cheng got the ending he deserved because that was the effort he put into his bond with Wei Wuxian. You do not do the bare minimum and expect open arms after years of bitterness and hate that you created from your own insecurities and fed to the world. As an adult you do not continue to be hateful and expect unconditional love from the one you hurt constantly and belittle. Nor because you do one "good" action does it erase the pile of hate you put into the world and demand you are owed something from another. Forgiveness does not mean an opening to rekindle a relationship that is broken, it's just a door closing and sometimes it isn't ever going to be opened for you again.

You move on though and be yourself without excuses.

374 notes - Posted August 29, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Wei Wuxian thinks he's the bad boy in the relationship, and turns out it's Lan Wangji.

687 notes - Posted January 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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autopotion · 1 year

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For the meme, 8 and 13 for FFT!

8. The character with the greatest wasted/unexplored potential

There are a lot of characters in FFT who go unexplored, but that doesn't surprise me since the plot is fairly tight and focused in. As for wasted potential... I feel like Alma's a gimme, since she is critical to the plot but we don't see very much of her at all and she's kidnapped for like at least a year. Teta also, I wish we'd gotten more from her outside of "Delita's sister and she's sweet."

But there's one particular character (& relationship) that I feel was really wasted, and it's Malak/Marach. One of FFT's most important themes is family and that, for better or worse, you can't change where you come from. There are so many rich and complicated familial relationships in FFT, and even the ones I wish we'd seen more of, like Meliadoul & Izlude, have these important emotional arcs. Rapha & Marach have that, sort of, but we mostly see it from Rapha's side, and Marach's side issss....

Look, I just really didn't like that our understanding of their relationship opened with him hitting her. That sucks. I'm not saying that he couldn't have picked up the language of violence from Duke Barrington--I think that's maybe exactly what this plot is getting at--but uh. In terms of like... Greater narrative themes. Not a lot of family members hit each other, in this game. I can't remember if Folmarv hits Izlude or not, I might be misremembering, but if he does, that happens shortly before he kills him. Marach and Rapha are our recruitable protagonists who are notably darker skinned than the rest of the main cast, so the fact that their sibling relationship opens with an act of direct, intentional violence does not sit well with me. I don't even think the idea of that plot is terrible on its own, i.e. a family relationship marked by deliberate violence instead of subtle and implied (in contrast to say the Beoulves), but I honestly don't think Marach was the right character to do this with. Rapha's backstory is already SO violent (which I have mixed feelings about for similar reasons) that I don't think Marach needed to add to it outside of the innate conflict of brother hunting down sister. I wish his attitude towards her had been softer, I guess. Something like "don't leave, I need you here"--which tbh I think is what's actually communicated in this plot, but there were other ways to do that with him, I feel.

That being said, the moment where Rapha revives him with the stone is still one of the most moving scenes in the game.

13. The non-canon pairing I find the most intriguing

Lmao well ever since I suggested it to Zoe I've been thinking about Valmafra/Meliadoul an awful lot. There isn't a lot of FFT femslash that really works for me (I'm one of the few FFT lesbians who is not a fan of Ovelia/Agrias outside of "Ovelia has a baby gay crush on lesbian Agrias," I'm more of a childhood Ovelia/Alma person) but the more I think about Valmafra/Meliadoul the more I feel like there's something really interesting there. I had a thing I wanted to write that was like, how they're introduced at Mullonde, and then a series of letters between them over the events of the game, and then some epilogue stuff... I still really like the idea of it a lot but I struggle to write complete stories on my own so I'm not sure I'll ever get to it. BUT STILL. Meliadoul is a deeply repressed Catholic and Valmafra is a sexy witch. I'm just saying. It could be a lot of fun.

#thanks!!#corpsebrigadier #quiznaibus

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amoremoccidere · 2 years

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About the Project

This blog is dedicated to a queer reading of Kingdom Hearts.

A queer reading is an example of a critical lens, which is a way to analyze or interpret a piece of text through a particular framework, taking into account themes, style, plot devices, etc. Other examples of critical lenses include Marxist, feminist, and Freudian.

This is not necessarily a claim that certain ships are “canon” or will become so, but merely an analysis and appreciation for what is there. This will include counterarguments. Those uninterested in reading counterarguments (i.e. “those of you who don’t want to see their ‘ship’ ‘bashed’”) are welcome to blacklist the tag “amoremoccidere”. (”Sokai” fans, please take note.) An effort will be made to label all posts with this tag. Efforts will also be made to avoid the use of fanbase-accepted ship names, outside of “soriku”, so as to avoid invading spaces with arguments that may come across as “aggressive” or “negative”. While addressing counterarguments is a necessary part of any persuasive writing, which all critical theory falls under, it is not my intention nor the objective of this project to convince any fan of Kingdom Hearts to stop enjoying the series in the way they enjoy it most. The goal of any counterargument will not be to invalidate fellow Kingdom Hearts players or to make them uncomfortable, but rather to “address the elephant in the room”, so to speak. In other words, to answer questions readers may have, and to address assumptions inconsistent with this reading.

Posts will likely be written in no particular order. Some may be more text-heavy while others are more image-heavy. There is no schedule for updates. Years may pass between new posts. There will be no reblogs, though unaffiliated analyses may be linked to, should an argument I choose to discuss here be derivative of any observation made by another analyst.

This project will focus on the relationship between Sora and Riku as the protagonists of the Kingdom Hearts series as a whole. Any number of characters in the story and their relationships may be focused on in other queer readings, but this project will not address any potential coupling that is not directly relevant to the relationship between Sora and Riku.

As no romantic relationships between any two original characters to the Kingdom Hearts series are currently stated to be in the original text (in layman’s terms, “no couple is canon in Kingdom Hearts”), no romantic relationship will be taken as predetermined fact before making an argument. If another relationship is addressed to make an argument (for instance, as a parallel), then that first relationship must be independently proven before it can be used as evidence. This does not apply to couples originally from Disney films whose romances are confirmed in their respective source material.

This project acknowledges the difference between “Word of God”, information provided by an official source (e.g. Tetsuya Nomura, director) outside of the text itself, and “canon”, information divulged within the text. Information received via Word of God may be used, however, to support an argument otherwise supplied by the text. Novels, graphic novels, and other adaptations are seen as self-contained canon (e.g. “The events of the novels pertain only to the novels”) and will be avoided in most circumstances. Should circumstances arise wherein an adaptation is referred to, any text from auxiliary content will be accepted as Word of God, not as canon, and will be used only to support an argument, not to make one.

The goal of this project is to make an academic analysis. Be advised that invitations to debate or argue will not be addressed as they do not serve the purpose of this project.

#amoremoccidere

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afilins · 6 days

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Ultimate Ongoing Rofan Favorites in No Particular Order

((ongoing as in unfinished. some of these are on hiatus etc))

These are titles I've enjoyed from start to finish with no inhibitions and the ones I without fail always find myself looking forward to. People who are into rofan manhwa probably already know all of these, but I still wanted to put them in one place (:

1. A Stepmother's Märchen

What is there even to say anymore. Absolutely incredible story that does so much justice to all its themes and characters and that is drawn PHENOMENALLY. If you somehow still haven't read it PLEASE do. You won't regret it. Personally I think it doesn't get better than Stepmother's Märchen in this genre.

2. I Stan the Prince

This story brings me the most joy. I would say out of all of these I Stan the Prince has the best romance, i.e. dynamic between the two leads. I can't get enough of them and watching their relationship grow so tenderly is wonderful. Catch me giggling and kicking my feet alongside Angela, the protagonist, who by the way is incredibly lovable, it's impossible not to be fond of her. The art is another thing entirely - it's so obvious how loved this story is by how alive and full of endearing little details every single panel is. It just makes me feel warm inside.

3. A Wicked Tale of Cinderella's Stepmom

Best mom award goes to Mildred, my favorite rofan protagonist. She's in her forties, she's a dignified and wise noble lady, she was fully and seriously prepared to kill a man for hurting one of her daughters. I like the male lead but I'm also bitterly jealous of him because that should've been me. This is a story about women being awesome, and not in a superficial way!

4. Catherine’s Key to a Happy Life

I can't fully articulate why, but this series makes me think about Howl's Moving Castle. None of the characters are particularly similar, but something about the atmosphere makes me enchanted in the same way. I think Catherine could be a Ghibli protagonist.

Mysterious and lovely with an intriguing storyline. Chezare is one of the most charming male leads I've seen.

5. I Raised My Fiancé with Money

This one is new, but I can already tell it's most likely going to continue being very good. I don't have too much to say. The art is lovely and so is the very endearing male lead whose journey of overcoming his insecurity and low self-esteem is the center of the story right now. This manhwa's fashion game is on another level - Ilya never fails to look immaculate, and her throwing her seemingly neverending money around never gets old.

6. The Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine

Rofan with action! It can be silly and funny at one moment and thrilling at the other. The next season is looking to be amazing, taking everything that the series' been building up and realising it, and the story is already very fun and engaging. The "tower-regressor-S-class hunter" genre of manhwa has been little by little meshing with rofan lately and I think this is the peak of how well that can be done.

7. Loveless Heroine

Thai manga!!! Now THIS is what I call a historical romance. Loveless Heroine interacts with its setting constantly and is very thoughtful about the way it represents the time period it's set in. There are also some queer themes which I absolutely love! This story feels mature and grounded, and I can't get enough of it.

8. Surviving as a Maid

This series has such a soft, melancholic feeling to it. At times it's empty, a little sordid, but it's also full of beautiful moments that you remember for a long time after reading. There's a lot of longing for many different things and I would say quite a bit of grief. Ash is a very unique and relatable protagonist with her own fears, flaws and dreams, and I like how both big and small her life is. Surviving as a Maid also feels very grounded, but in a different way from Loveless Heroine.

#rofan manhwa #romance manhwa #manhwa #historical romance manhwa #romance comics #rofan manhwa recommendations #manhwa recs #romance manhwa recs #romance manhwa recommendations

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