#I know some of these characters are really important to ppl

[mwagneto]

people seeing gifs of the 15th doctor having gay little moments and going "ohh what's this show? i gotta watch it" is literally ending me not just coz of the concept that anyone can be unaware of doctor who but also bc like. while i do think it's a show ppl should watch in its entirety. DON'T DO IT FOR GAY REP LMAO. like it literally does have a lot of lgbt rep even all the way back in season 1 of 2005 fame but watching 13 seasons of doctor who coz something gay happens in the new eps is like. idk finding out there's a new pride and prejudice adaptation with a gay character in it and going ohhhh that sounds fun:) guess i'll go watch every adaptation ever made

#IT'S SO FUNNY. BABES THIS SHOW IS PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE #im rly glad 15 is getting ppl interested in it dgmw but it's wild coz like. i grew up with this it #really doesn't feel like a Regular Show to me like. that's a whole world #also like it is sooo god damn difficult to watch the entire show in order coz of all the specials #i know all of the eps in order coz im insane but I've been handholding 2 different ppl through #watching it for months now and it's such a challenge LMFAO especially if you dont have bbc iplayer #like yeah yeah the main character has an incredibly important arc no most ppl haven't seen it coz it #happens in some obscure series of specials that's near impossible to find. sorry #anyway. if u wanna watch dr who u should but if you're waiting for him to have a romance with a man uhm. so is everyone else sorry #it's gonna happen this season but like. it has been a Long battle oh my god . ohhmy god #doctor who #15th doctor #nuwho

[seaweedstarshine]

Hi! Long time no yap but I've been really bothered by this thing and I know you're just the person I can go to with this (even if we don't always end up agreeing at times).

I got into a tiff with someone in a comments section of a post that was about Amy (Which character do you think deserved to become a villain? or something similar). They brought up Amy's abuse of her boyfriend. I may have tried to defend Amy (key word is tried. I am officially rubbish at debating) but then I may have said something? Because they said that I (and apparently a lot of other fans) was excusing Amy's abuse because of her trauma. It got me stumped because isn't young Amy's treatment of Rory rooted in her trauma? Did I miss the memo where we separate trauma and abuse? Am I missing something?

That statement bothered me a lot because if there's one thing I never want to do it's defend an abuser. So here I am, humbly asking and hoping to clear the muddy waters.

Your really confused and disturbed moot, Tia 💌

TIA!!!!! Thanks for the ask 💌 , and I send you all the hugs.

Discussion of abuse, trauma, ableism, infidelity, and unhealthy relationship dynamics beneath the cut.

(First off… while I really appreciate your faith in my explaining skills <3 <3 <3 my passion for traumatized characters and mentally ill+neurodivergent rights doesn't make me especially qualified to fully clear muddy waters especially not knowing the full context, but I feel you, and what follows is my informed perspective!)

Speaking generally first, harm done in media is best examined by the impact on the audience, with a different lens than harm done to real people. While relatable experiences in media can be useful and validating and incredibly important, you can’t be “defending an abuser” when the abuse is fictional. It's actually normal for traumatized/ND/mentally ill people to project onto mentally ill villains, when villains are the only significant representation for those stigmatized symptoms in a media landscape that excludes and demonizes us simply for existing. RTD can't stop people who hallucinate from reclaiming the Master's Drums and projecting onto the Master, for example — 90% of the best Doctor Who psychosis fic by psychotic authors is about the Master, whether RTD likes it or not. It's not true crime.

(This is speaking generally. Amy Pond is very much not the Master.)

Abuse is a behavior, and there can be many reasons for it, but reasons based in trauma don’t make it not abuse (some forms of generational trauma can propagate abusive parenting styles, when the parent thinks abusive parenting is normal, or lives entirely vicariously through their child). This absolutely should not be taken to mean trauma correlates with abusive behavior; rather that abusive behaviors from traumatized people are more likely to present in specific ways.

Abuse is also a targeted behavior, based in control — not consistently displayed C-PTSD symptoms as seen in Season 5 Amy Pond through many aspects of her life. Mental health symptoms don't become abuse just because they hinder one partner from meeting the other partner's needs. Any life event can do that.

Without knowing the context of the arguments, this is the aspect of their relationship I've seen you talk about before (which I also feel strongly about), and what I assume is what you were debating? So, here I will talk specifically in regard to Season 5.

We all know Amy — she's never attached to Leadworth because she never wanted to leave Scotland, no steady therapist because none of them stick up for her, can't stick with one job yet her first choice is a job that simulates intimacy because her avoidant behavior (a known trauma response) isn't sustainable to her wellbeing. Rory knows her fears of commitment stem from her repeated abandonments, it’s why he’ll always wait for her, and it's why he blames the Doctor “You make it so they don't want to let you down.”, who apart from having caused a lot of her trauma, has actively taken advantage of her being the “Scottish girl in the English village” who's “still got that accent,” because he wants to feel important, so yeah, I think interpreting Amy's issues (and how Amy and Rory transverse them) as Amy abusing Rory indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of their relationship, as well as a misunderstanding of the (raggedy) Doctor’s role in Amy’s formative self-image (which of course she works through in Season 6, but I am sticking to Season 5).

Abuse is always based in control. That just doesn’t fit here. While Amy's detachment from her real life includes things like calling Rory her “kind of boyfriend” (which she is upfront about to his face; differing commitment levels isn't abuse, though it can be a relationship red flag for both parties IRL) — her Season 5 disregard of Rory’s feelings occurs only in response to the fairytale embodiment of her trauma. It's never a response to Rory; it's a response to the Doctor, who stole her childhood and led her by the hand to her death. She cheats on Rory with the Doctor in her bedroom full of Doctor toys, drawings, models, she made from childhood to early adulthood.

(And yes, like many repeatedly-traumatized people, Amy is prone to being sensitive and reactive. Take her “Well, shut up then!” line in The Big Bang; but given Rory responds to this by hugging her, clearly he doesn’t take it as her actually dismissing him. He knows her better than that.)

And by no means do I meant to imply this is fair to young Rory, poor Rory, who's left struggling with the feeling that his role in her life is in competition with the role of her trauma (aka the Doctor). But not every unhealthy relationship dynamic is unhealthy because of abuse. Labelling Amy's treatment of Rory in Season 5 more accurately isn't the same as excusing her harmful choices — but making mistakes is part of being human, Amy's mistakes are certainly understandable, and she works through them out of love for Rory.

If there's one thing to say about Moffat women, it's that Moffat allows his female characters the same grace that the male characters *coughTENcough* have always had, to hurt and struggle and make realistic mistakes and overcome those mistakes and to heal without being demonized.

Amy isn't perfect, but she is a fully realized character, and her story gives us a resonant depiction of childhood trauma.

#abuse #rtd critical #anti rtd #im NOT really anti rtd but im tagging it that because some people block that tag and uhhhh this post strays into rtd critique #maybe he does regret how he wrote the master! we'll never know because rtd is very anti-admitting-his-own-mistakes #words by seaweed #anyways tia i am. SO relieved you’re not upset with me about our last disagreement? #i high key jumped to conclusions after the lack of reply to the last DM? so thank you for this ask it's great to hear from you #sorry you were in a debate about this! that sounds extremely awful. #anyway i'm gonna WAIT at least a week to tag Amy and Rory to avoid this showing up in the character tags right away haha #because I am KINDA scared the anti-media-literacy ppl will find this (I had to include the first part tho its important) #(lack of distinction between harm to audience *in fiction* and irl harm *to actual ppl* leads to problematic public apologies where- #-public figures apologize to fans they let down *instead* of the people they actually hurt. no it doesn't work like that) #(parasocial relationships are not more important than real victims agency or privacy) #editing to say..... yanno what? ive come to terms with not all the posts with the following tag been about the doctor #and I am planning to make a post at some point about the nd aspects of Amy+the Doctor's connection which this stuff IS relevant to soooooo #(eleventh) doctor is neurodivergent tag

[capricioussun]

Will probably delete later but genuinely WHY do so many ppl hate uf papyrus. "He’s horrible and a bad brother and abusive >:(((" my guy. YOU made him that way

#always weirds me out when a really bad take becomes popular fanon and ppl treat it like it's an inherent universal take #happens to all characters I feel but it's esp frustrating when it's not just a bad take but just straight making a character a certain way #as a plot device. or to project ur own issues onto. at that point just. make an oc or smth. why mangle a character so severely. what is #the purpose #im not even going to TRY to pretend i have perfect ic flawless interps (I absolutely don't and know this) #but even w/ characters I have minimal interest in (like asgore for ex) it's important to me to at least *try* to keep them in line w/ their #og counterparts. #and you'd think. given how so many ppl infantilized Papyrus. that some of that would've bled thru into au counterparts #but nope. the fanon versions are practically just wholly different characters who just look similar and 'fill the same role' in their au #and it's honestly not like there's a shortage of other characters sans could have a toxic relationship with in uf #(bc let's be honest here that's 90% of the reason uf papyrus got characterized that way. for ppl to project onto and sympathize with sans) #I don't like having strong negative opinions on things and I especially don't like talking abt them publicly but idk if it's just weird #timing or smth I've seen so many bad takes the past couple weeks #to each their own and I'd never like. bash someone for having a diff take than me. I just don't...understand. #idk #I'm really tired and my eyes are sticky so I really shouldn't even be posting rn bc I will see this later and be like #can't BELIEVE that guy posted an opinion on the internet. WHY would he do that

[toytulini]

i know doctor who has never been Perfect, and i love capaldi, i love twelve, but christ alive its a hard watch sometimes

#toy txt post #they just made him so egregiously and blatantly RACIST? like to the point where im like was this like? an on purpose characterization #choice that i just strongly disagree with? or like? is it a consequence of the writers trying to be less racist by including more #characters of color but failing by not checking their own implicit biases so now not only is the doctor racist but like. egregiously so bc #theres so many more opportunities for him to be racist? like just #and if youre sitting here like hes not!!! how dare you: pay attention to the difference in how he treats characters of color vs white chars #he hates soldiers. okay fine thats been fairly consistent. okay but 12 RLY hates them. he hates them so much he cant stand Claras bf Danny #who should be the doctors like ideal soldier bc he was a soldier who didnt want to be anymore and just wants to chill and do good in the #world and for ppl to be safe so hes just a nice math teacher and the doctor calls him stupid and treats him as if hes fucking rambo? but #the doctor is largely fine with: kate lethbridge stewart? hes fine with ogood who may not be a soldier in her own right but shes actively #participating in UNIT as a scientist in a way thats way more ~soldiery~ than anything Danny is doing? and like they clearly wanted that to #be a point of tension to point out the doctors hypocrisy of how the doctor is like a high ranking officer/general whatever #and like thats fine and fair to point out but it just sucks that they do all that and dont seem ti realize how fuckijg racist they wrote #him? he was fucking besties with winston goddamn churchill but he refuses whatshername. journey blue? as a companion bc #shes a soldier. well bro you could make her not a soldier by removing her from the fucking battlefield maybe instead of getting morally #outraged about it? not to mention noticing how when he goes from '900 yrs of space and time and ive never met anyone who wasnt important' #wandering around being fine with UNIT apparently declaring him dictator of earth in emergencies (HELLO?) but dont worry he'll let us know #he disapproves by picking some random UNIT guy to be a really condescending asshole to. pay no attention to the fact that this UNIT #guy happens to be another character of color. ~the 12th doctor is too faceblind you cant call him racist~ well for a guy who cant tell #humans apart from sontarans his accidentaly racism beam is off the charts. its crazy. god #god i wish he'd gotten written better than this #when they do write him good they write him good. but godddddddd its so #doctor who

[welcometogrouchland]

I think the disconnect between canon Belos and (a certain genre of) fanon Belos is that in canon he is pathetic (in the dramatic sense) not sympathetic.

#ramblings of a lunatic #like that's the thing he's a tragic character in a sense but he's pitiable in the dramatic sense more than anything else #you pity his codependency and his hypocrisy and his refusal to ever change and his borderline stupidity #(like I get it he's good at machines and hes good at manipulating ppl! but his plans are also kinda stupid and that's on purpose) #(he is a conservative he is charismatic not machiavellian) #but you fully understand that his refusal to ever grow or learn (which is the crux of his. Everything) is his fault #i don't know man I'm just kinda over the fandom conversations around Belos after watching and dreaming #even if it wasn't my first choice or instinct I've made the effort to understand why the writers did his ending the way they did #and i see their pov and I've decided actually. yeah i can see how that works #bc fundamentally while a very important character philip has never been the crux of this story #it has always always been Luz King and Eda. and the amount of ppl who are. deeply pissy about that fact #idk man i don't consider myself like. knowledgeable and conscious enough to accurately identify white bias in fandom #and I'm fully aware that fandom is not praxis and it's generally shitty to insist ppl spend more or less time on certain aspects of media #as if fandom is about filling quotas for HR #but also i can't ignore the fuckin. itchy feeling that ppl really took this man at his word when his main character trait is being A Liar #all bc he's a white guy with long hair #he's cool! i like him! especially now that i remembered the vocabulary featured in this post! i have words to describe my feelings on him! #and also none of this matters bc He Is Not Real and the toh writers are not sniffling and sobbing rn bc some ppl think they did belos dirty #i just have ''opinionated on characters'' disease #and my opinion of philip is that he's a great villain #but ppl willfully ignore WHY he's a great villain (He Is An Interesting Depiction of a Religious Conservative) #in order to invent different and more traditionally sympathetic reasons why he's great (he's just afraid and alone and he feels bad and he) #(you get it) #okay. I'm done #Do Not Read The Fucking Tags

[crystallakec]

holy hell i love your art 😭 HOW ARE YOU SO TALENTED omfg

(if not too much to ask: got any art tips IM SORRY I GOTTA KNOW. i gotta know what you do to make your art look like it was made by gods)

*nervous sweating*

#LONG LONG LONG TAGS BELOW BE CAREFUL BECAUSE I GOT EMOTIONAL #OH MY GOD HOW COME I DIDNT SEE THIS EARLIER #dsaudhuisadh tysm anon!!!T_TT waaah this means a lot #for any art tips...well since me myself is totally an amateur so I cant really give out any cool useful advice #but one thing that came to me earlier this year that is kinda important #is to absolutely. draw for yourself. do whatever makes you happy. trust me just try to snatch back that vibe you have in your cringest year #if you like oc x canon do it!!!oh you like this cringy little character ??draw them one million times!!! #I think after I kinda made some progress after I realized this. It's still ok to care about numbers and get sad or jealous or anything. #I understand that. but try whatever makes you happy..!! #just so you know I basically started learning anatomy(or adults etc)from end of last year. I was always a cartoon/chibi artist before that #Ive always wanted to draw adults/muscle/anything other than chibis but i was so afraid that ppl will laugh at me if I did it too terrible #then I realized...who cares..!! I'll do it anyway because that's what ive been!!thinking of for so long!!it will makes me happy idc!! #and here we are ^_^^ yayyyyy!!!still bad at it but you see at least i have the courage to post my works!! #sorry for saying so much I just hope ppl who had the same troubles like I do to be happu T_TT draw for yourself #dont stress yourself out!!

[lucienne-thee-librarian]

thanks for all the sandman recs, i most definitely will check them out! post has replies turned off :') but i still feel like thanking you :D

Im sorry I didn't mean to turn the replies off I don't even know how I did it wtf 🤣 that's sweet of you, I'm happy to help, as someone who read Sandman first I always like it when more people read the comics! I think you'll find the show so far has been an excellent adaptation (Death 10/10, the cast was all incredible...) ...tho fair warning, it is definitely a 90s EdgyTM horror comic as well as fantasy in places and those elements were somewhat toned down for the show. For instance, 24 Hours is most definitely worse in the comics and the Calliope issue (which comes as the first issue in Volume 3, Dream Country, after Doll's House) is a little more explicit/graphic than the show ever was. Also Desire and Unity's child while made to be from an actual relationship in the show was. Hmm. Not that in the comics. It's nothing graphic just alluded to, but the magical no-touch pregnancy was very much not something Unity chose initially or even knew about until later. The show thankfully changed this but it's something to be aware of. Also the serial convention part has an attempted rape. And later in Fables and Reflections Volume 6 there is some brief child abuse and incest.

If that's something you can handle, whatever but I think it's best to go in with fair expectations. I don't know how old you are or what your tastes/triggers/comfort levels are so I figure it's best to be upfront before you start.

#rape mention cw #incest mention cw #the sandman #the sandman comics #look I'm just trying to not have someone walk in totally blindsided the show made some updates that I think #were good like avoiding playing into the #Predatory Trans Character Trope etc while still *mostly* sticking faithfully to the overall plot and characters #but that also might mean that if you haven't read the comics and have no clue what to expect #and are JUST going off the show you might get thrown a bit #I want ppl to know what they're getting #we stan reasonable and specific trigger/content warning culture in this house period #game of you has elements that have aged well and elements that have not (tho there are trans ppl who say it was really important to them) #also they obviously stretched the timeline for the show because the original was set in the 90s but the show in. Now so #I kept having to think of stuff even as I wrote this like. It is a good comic but I just want ppl to be prepared for More Heavy Stuff than #the show has gotten into so far

[erythristicbones]

while i do love that i decided to write the EOTA trilogy w/ different POVs for each book, bc yea it's just the same 6 ppl working together regardless but it's important to see all of their POVs, it does also leave a lot unexplored for the previous POVs each time. like these things still happen and i DO get to explore them, its just different when it's no longer the POV

#this is namely me thinking about kirsens ptsd + depression and recovery #like book one puts her on the path to recovery and you get to see from her POV as she gets to that point #then she's still a hugely integral character in books 2 & 3 you just arent seeing her thoughts/POV #and her recovery is still taking steps forward AND back over those two books #which the reader will see bc obvs she's still a part of the main trio saving the world #its just. it does make me lowkey sad that the reader wont see her thoughts as she makes those steps #like I'LL know and i Could do short stories on some of the scenes in particular i know will be going on in the background #but its not quite the same for the reader #i dont think i'll ever consider changing my POV plans tho #bc each book has 2 POVs of ppl taking different paths to reach the same theme/moral #its as important to see jashe/novas and isaac/demis POVs as it is to see kirs/luces #its just a shame i wont have the time/ability to write each characters ENTIRE journey thru these morals/themes #lowkey tho i might start a kirsen short story tonight if this mood continues to plague me #i have Thoughts about kirsen. and also kind of myself bc boy howdy does she have a lot of me in her #and i want to explore at least two scenes in particular that happen in the few month interim between book 1 and 2 #ones that get mentioned/remembered by jashe but also i just really want to ACTUALLY write kirsens POV of those moments #its one thing to have jashe worrying over her cousin while theyre forced to save the world #its another to see kirsen having those struggles herself and trying to hide them or work thru them w luce

[pepprs]

ppl are being so fucking mean in the notes of this one wc post abt the new excerpt like. don’t get me wrong i think redacted is a deeply flawed character and i share everyone’s anger and frustration in his storyline being so badly written and lazily thought out and a perfect example of the misogyny in wc like that’s part of why i stopped reading the books bc they kind of fucking suck. but ppl in the notes are saying he’s a loser and should die over… resenting that he is the last person picked for the team? like is that not a universal experience. have we not all been through that. idk. like i know that’s not the most important aspect of this conversation and at the end of the day it’s a fictional character but also it’s like… lol

#purrs #ppl saying he should die over resenting his mom too when like. idk. i get it and i know talking abt these aspects is like unhelpfully #detracting from what the conversation is actually about but like. i think even if his reasons to hate his mom and feel distanced from her #are immature and selfish and he’s needlessly cruel (not to mention the personalities of well established (FEMALE!) characters are literally #being bent into unrecognition narratively to prove him right which i fucking hate) and i think it’s dumb that they didn’t go w his mom for t #this storyline when it was the obvious choice. but also like. the mom stuff is so real. the scene with him and his mom and sister (sorry im #vaguing bc i don’t want this in the search lol) just like wrenched my guts bc that’s what it’s like w me and my mom and my sister. i don’t c #care about the character i don’t even really like him that much and i skim his parts but i think the mom drama storyline is important and #the whole warped view of the world bc of your mom drama storyline is also important and i just don’t like seeing ppl bash him for those #aspects bc… a lot of people out there do that and have that and it doesn’t make them bad people. idk maybe im just defensive and butthurt or #whatever bc it’s making me think abt how maybe how i treat my mom / react to her emotionally neglecting me (and even PERCEIVE it as neglect) #is unfair and flawed and whatever but like. idk. i just think it’s unfair to want him to die for struggling w that and i think that aspect #of it is written in a very real way that i appreciate a lot in a vacuum / detached from the context of the character. and i wish ppl were #focusing their anger towards the erins for choosing him and warping the storyline more than they are taking issue with the actual like. #conflict and emotion in it because yeah i do think that redacted is justified in feeling how he feels in some ways. idk #it’s been pissing me off all night. like ppl are allowed to say die and kys and explode etc i do it all the time but also.. for that #specific thing it doesn’t feel fair. and it’s embarrassing to say that but im saying it. lol #delete later #like the reason he hates his mom isn’t because he hates women it’s because she abandoned him and couldn’t be a mother to him (for extremely #justifiable reasons but still) and even though it’s justifiable that is also like.. real. and it impacts you for life. lol! 🤸🏻‍♀️

[aw-bean-s]

Gotta say as someone whos been out since they were young, I'm really sick of having to defend the existence of queer people in media and explain how it's 'useful' or 'plot important' when straight ppl i know can like whatever trashy het romance they want no questions. Like does it have to be useful? Can it not just be there? It doesn't 'cheapen' anything its just there and suddenly you have to fight for your life to explain why it should get to exist. And it's always the bloody 'pandering' 'it's a trend' argument and I hate it because is it so terrible if they pander to ME for once instead of you?? Is that so terrible?? But you can't say that because then you're a fool who doesn't understand good storytelling. And then if they're real annoying, they'll pull the 'well i don't like when ANY romance is just pushed in' so then why. Is it always queer stuff you're complaining about?? And then I'm forced to be defending a (honestly poorly written) queer romance because all I said was that it couldve been handled better and somehow to straight ppl that translate to 'yeah they shouldn't have done it at all' and they don't even REALISE their bias and that SOMEHOW the ONLY FUCKING TIME we have this arguement it's about a queer character. Can I not enjoy the fact a superhero I like is bisexual while also admitting I don't like how they flattened their character after it? Can I not say 'yeah it's trashy but theyre cute' to some crap TV show? Does it always have to be perfect? Because yeah. I want good shows. I want complex dynamics. But sometimes it just feels nice when the silly comic book character is bisexual. And these motherfuckers will ALWAYS find some way to argue that it wasn't relevant and therefore they shouldn't have come out at all, which is just another way of saying that queerness should be kept away from the things they like and only be included if 'plot relevant' so then they can avoid it. I'm just so tired, so so fucking tired, of having the same argument over. And over. And over again with the same people about the same things when all I wanted to do was talk about a bisexual character WITHOUT some asshole jumping down my throat. I've been doing this shit since I was 12 and I'm just tired. Christ.

#'forced' my ass #If you can't tell i made the mistake of talking about comics to my dad #He's not like. Homophobic. He's just dumb and has internal biases he does not care to check unless he's drunk #And unfortunately I caught him before he opened the whiskey while he was still on beer :/ my mistake honestly #Also I know that it sounds like I go out of my way to pick fights (according to dad anyway) but I really dont #All I fucking said was 'yeah I like that they're bisexual but i don't like that they flattened their character afterwards' #'it's like they decided being bisexual and in a relationship was enough of a substitute for personality' #Which yeah I should have seen that coming but I wasn't wrong #Unfortunately he took it to mean that being bisexual is what ruined it and had no idea a character could be well written AND bisexual #When its not the bisexuality it's the writing and also! Entirely my own opinion! Other ppl think differently to me! #Just sucks when he's my dad and I have to make a compelling argument for why people like me should get to exist in fiction at all #Fuck that though I'm gonna write some big story and they're all gonna come out as bisexual for no reason just out of spite #Just one by one everyone becomes bisexual and what can he do? Complain about it? #Because mum would tear him a new asshole if he tried that shit in front of her #Anyway. Yeah. Probs was my fault because I shouldn't have mentioned the bi thing #I was just happy about it even if it wasn't up to my standards #It was silly of me. I might not have picked a fight deliberately but it was my fault #It's just frustrating because every 'plot important' bisexual is some seductress who swings both ways for their own benefit #There's no variety but it's the ONLY type of bisexual I haven't heard ppl complain about #Vent #Sorry abt this I'm just tired and angry and bisexual #(said like that isn't my default state)

[wright-phoenix]

sometimes i want to stop reblogging undescribed things but then there'd be no fucking posts on this blog

#exaggerating of course #but sometimes i get a little spark of irritation at how easily some things are described #especially if it's just words. especially if you can just copy them with your device that u just screenshat it with #but also when it's art and you're the most qualified to make an id bc you know whats important #it doesnt have to be long and detailed it's fine to be simple aughhh #“ids are ugly” use alt text. u're excluding a whole group of ppl from ur posts btw #gifset: gifset of (character) in various situations #gif 1: looking left and smiling. gif 2: crying out in pain. gif 3: angry. subtitles say “i'm angry” #etc. idk it really is that easy #fanart of A and B sitting on the couch. theyre wearing their usual outfit. A is relaxed while B sleeps on their legs #like. thats as simple as u can make it... #i know fatigue problems or other disabilities hold certain ppl back from making that and that's fine of course #but everyone who can make ids into their posts.... i'm Looking At You #also ppl who could add ids that someone else wrote to their original post but choose not to. I See You #idk i really dont have any grounds to be this irritated bc i dont need the ids #but as soon as u start being more conscious of this you just see how little ppl care abt this #accessibility advocate but not when it's for blind people apparently #cas.txt #sorry sorry #also i very often dont rb things with gradient text anymore or if i do i tag it because #the horrors of that being read out by a screen reader. i should find the post again #but it basically reads every letter out with its hex code because they're colours not in the tumblr post editor #<- can't confirm if every reader does this etc. bc my knowlegde comes from reading about it #maybe it's outdated info or just happens with one particular reader etc. i dont know

[kidrat]

having feelings about trans Gwen,,, like there's the 'superhero leading a double life' allegory for being closeted, which ppl have noted, but there's plenty I haven't seen anyone mention yet! like, the fact her dad has a trans patch in support of her means she's out.

She's a young trans *girl* (as opposed to a trans woman) living as her authentic gender in a loving home. she went to her school dance in a dress. she did ballet! which of course boys can do too, but often times when people are assigned male they don't get the chance to explore feminine hobbies. It's really lovely that someone, likely Gwen's dad, supported her enough to let her have those girly experiences and memories, whether she was living as a girl when she took dance up or as a gnc boy.

While it's subtle rep, I still think it's awesome to imply a character like Gwen is trans. Trans girls don't always get to have a childhood. Transmisogyny fetishizes transfems and presents them as always victimisers, never victims. They're barred from girlhood and it's connotations of innocence, vulnerability, lovableness.

Not that Gwen isn't a hashtag strong female character! And not that she hasn't had to grow up fast in other ways. She Is Literally Spiderwoman and she plays the drums and has agency and expresses negative emotions. But she's also a teenager, and she gets to be hugged and comforted, and to be set up for a soft friends to lovers relationship with another teenager, a cis boy who respects her and only knows her as a girl and thinks she's amazing and draws her in his sketchbook. That is not a role the media often lets trans girls have!!! It's lovely to think young transfems might be able to see themselves in a character consistently shown as worthy of affection.

Of course, the fact that Gwen is in the closet about being spider-woman is even sadder knowing this is her second rodeo. Lots of us have hesitated to come out a second time because our parents were supportive about the first thing and well, putting something else on them feels like taking the piss or hoping for too much.

Something else I wanted to talk about is how Gwen being trans effects a reading of her Peter's death, especially taking into account the new information this film gave us about this. There's this gendered switch happening, where Peter passes on his usual role to a woman. What's more, he has to die for her story to happen. She loves him, and never wanted him to die, but she's blamed for it anyway. Her father talks affectionately about the dead Peter, calling him his daughter's best friend. He talks about him like a son. He vows revenge on Gwen for killing him. It's a fantastic allegory for how some transphobic parents hate their out trans children for 'killing' the kid they had before.

I think with the above in mind, maybe we can see the subtext of Gwen's arc with her dad in this film as that of a supportive parent who's nevertheless got some biases left that hurt his trans daughter, who doesn't speak up for fear his acceptance is conditional.

I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that protecting a trans daughter is this Captain Stacy's motivation while he's working as a cop. Obviously there's the text that he wants to be a 'good cop' to work against the institution's bigotry, and he displays the trans flag on his work jacket. His quitting the police is a fantastic story beat because it makes a point about the real world while also serving a lot of the analogies going on.

Good cops quit. They realise you can't be a well intentioned cog in a bigoted machine. It doesn't matter if you're a bigot or just taking actions a bigot might because you're working within parameters set by bigots. It's an important message. Within a trans reading of the film, I'd also see this plot moment as Stacy realising he can't protect his trans daughter if he's still playing by the rules of a society that see her as threatening and duplicitous. He's then able to stop seeing her on some level as having killed his son.

They're able to be close again because he has completely rejected the cis culture he was a part of, rather than just decrying the worst parts and slotting Gwen in. She no longer has to worry that he'll rescind his acceptance if she's too trans, and so he gets to know all of her because she can let him into her world without self-editing.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on Gwen after watching Across The Spiderverse two hours ago lmao.

#atsv #atsv spoilers #across the spiderverse spoilers #spiderverse spoilers #spiderverse #spiderverse gwen

[pantoranqira]

Thinking about L3 again and just UGH I am so angry about what happened to her

I understand that they had to do that to her to save all their lives but like !!!!! Why frame her becoming one with the ship as something that preserves her memory and legacy and lets her live on when instead it's basically the physical manifestation of hell to her!!!

Like L3, who is all about FREEDOM and bringing that to others (especially droids, obviously) would see being chained to the falcon, essentially becoming a literal OBJECT to be used against her will as something so invasive and fully against everything she stood for and spent her whole life fighting for is honestly horrifying

And it becomes even worse when you see the falcon passed along like nothing in sabaac telephone, going from Lando, to Han, to who knows where in the gap between the OT and the Sequels

TL;DR the conversation around droids in Star Wars needs to be reopened, both in-universe, as well as with fans and writers. Droids have been repeatedly shown to be just as intelligent, versatile, and honorable as people; to be people, ones who can feel just as much as anyone else if given the chance. Exploring these themes, as well as how good intentioned characters can do harm through them would add so much nuance and depth to the Star Wars universe, while also giving a larger role to the backbone of the gffa

#i really need to see a conversation between L3 and Lando post rotj #as well as with Lobot! #because like what happened to him really screwed up lando and was a HUGE factor in his development as well as sincerely joining the rebels #but also in a way lando did the exact thing the empire did to lobot to l3! who he also cares for! #like ok thinking abt L3/Lando (bc the movie brought it up and its an important part of her character) but like okay she says that hes in #love with her. which he is in a way. he cares about her and he cares for her and he does care for her! like peak selfishness lando runs out #into a battlefield and takes a bullet to get what he can of her injured body back on the ship. like he obviously has SOME kind of emotions #towards her (romantic or not) which like is the point. BUT back on the topic of l3 she is totally in love with him. like she is. but she #KNOWS that he cannot be who she would need him to be because he on a very base level does not respect her personhood #like lando can care for l3 nd love her as much as he wants (which again i believe could never realize itself as true romantic love) BECAUSE #he does not believe she is a person and he does not RESPECT her as a person #its just so complicated and so interesting and also SO tragic for her and just- this is something that so desperately needs to be explored #and i have so many opinions about it and droids in general i really just- #someday i really need to make a whole au out of this because like NOTHING splits sw characters alike more than the issue of droids like its #a COMPLETE change of perspective that turns so many tried and true heroes (even the ones known for being friends with droids!) into such #nuanced and even messy people #the sequels breaking characters to fit their ''heroes are just ppl'' bs when i did it it one stroke w everybody fully in character #blah #sw #star wars #solo: a star wars story #solo #l3 37 #lando calrissian #droid rights #anyways i have so many thoughts about this always #also im literally in the middle of two other sw runs but this is making me want to read Soule's lando comics SO bad #ive done the lando and l3 ones already but this one just got bumped to priority on my reading list

[mysterycitrus]

I know a lot of ppl ask u abt jason or dick but im wondering now, what do u think about bruce? I find him a very interesting character whose characterization is incredibly feeble, both bc of his 80 years of history and the tendency writers have to project their own male fantasies on him. So i'd definitely love to hear ur own thoughts about him. I personally enjoy depicting him as someone morally grey, although my sympatization for him changes day to day. Wether you think he is a good or a bad person, i believe u need to make him dedicated to gotham and the bat as a symbol, and that comes with all its advantages and drawbacks

bruce wayne is sooooo interesting (derogatory) because like u said, he carries the baggage of every masochismo author that decided batman was too woke and should hurt his kids and that supporting gotham’s infrastructure is for pussies. there’s also the flipside of that, where he’s the perfect father who’s waaaay too emotionally regulated for my taste. both of these interpretations are bad imo, and both functionally miss the point.

i think part of this (in fandom) is an obsession with moral angst — u can either be a good person doing good things, or a bad person doing bad things. think about how some characters are crucified while others are babied. someone always has to be absolutely right, and the other has to be absolutely wrong.

in reality, there are a lot of people who are fundamentally kind and fundamentally want to do good that are really terrible to the people in their lives. bruce wayne being someone who relies on having so much control that it implodes his connections to the people around him is an important part of his character. his profound love for his children, for gotham and her people, for humanity in general and his belief in peoples ability to change, doesn’t circumvent the fact that he’s often an emotionally abusive man who hurts others to achieve his own ends. he contains multitudes.

writing him as a functionally irredeemable, violently abusive person is the anti-thesis to the symbol that he himself created. no, i personally don’t believe he actively beats his kids (even though it’s supported in the text). no, i don’t think he’s an irredeemable sadist (as much as frank miller wants u to believe otherwise). to have people like dick grayson and diana and clark and dinah love and believe in u means that there has to be something there worth caring about, otherwise the whole universe is gonna fall apart.

that’s what makes his relationship to cass so interesting — he sees his neuroticism, his dedication to the cause above all else, and does not find it admirable. he finds it confronting and upsetting. and to be clear, cass (like dick) is very much the moral ideal of what batman should be, but still bruce finds it hard to deal with!!

his abject failures — his treatment of the robins, his crippling guilt about jason, his fears of becoming a killer, the impossible load he gives himself to carry — means that when he’s shown as someone who genuinely cares, it makes him more complex. like yeah, bruce isn’t actually a cold hearted person. he really really gives a shit. too many shits, to be totally honest. he’s a morally grey person that wants to do good, but is so terrified of losing control that he keeps others away and hurts them in the process. there’s a reason why his emotional crutch was a traumatised eight year old fr. nothing is more important than the mission, including bruce wayne himself

#brucie baby (derogatory) #bruce Wayne #cassandra cain #dick grayson #batman #batfam #dc comics #the ask and the answer

[sphyrne]

ok so one thing i LOVE about discworld (among many things) is that the change in protagonists between books lets us see some protagonists from other ppls pov - disclaimer that ive not read some of these books in a few months

also this post is about sam vimes btw

vimes is a character we get to know VERY well - hes the pov for most of 8 books after all. we know what he thinks - he makes the decision to do the right thing, he has rigid standards bc he cant break the rules Once bc once is too much etc, he has a good sense of humour... we know him! in some books though (the truth, moist books and monstrous regiment specifically), we see him from other protagonists pov which is either biased by what those characters know about him from reputation (william de worde and moist von lipwig) and as a complete stronger (polly perks). we also occassionally get glimpses of other characters view of vimes, via things vimes himself hears (the exaggeration of what happened w bandits in the fifth elephant for example)

and i really really really REALLY enjoy this! vimes as a character is a man who is angry and can be really angry but does good. sometimes, he wants to do bad things and he believes he is bad for thinking that, but his actions are (overall) good. this leaks into the perspective of other people in ankh such as moist and william, who see vimes as incorruptible (and he is!), but also as stiff, immovable.... theres a line in raising steam (i think) where moist comments on that he thinks vimes has never laughed or something. but we (the reader) know taht is FAR from true, it just shows really really well what other people see vimes as

and then theres polly. i love vimes' cameo in monstrous regiment when polly sees a "scruffy" looking guy in the back of the room, laughing silently while the Important People are becoming disgruntled. you INSTANTLY know its vimes (who else!) but for polly this doesnt align with her image/idea of the famous commander vimes.

this is just a dump of thoughts, but its something i really enjoy in the books

#if i planned a proper write up id look up specific instances but. u get the vibes instead #discworld

[erythristicbones]

im fine. im alright. im totally not getting emotional over the visual novel game im making with my gf

#os: sideshow #in more ways than one #bc on one hand...do you know how fun and touching it is to have a project with your SO that involves both your passions #fuck actually getting ppl to buy the game all i care about is that we're having fun #and also #its 100% about mental health and characters dealing with their respective mental illnesses #so some of it is hitting really close to home and also my hyperempathy is making me Feel Things about the characters #its just!!!! a very important project to me!!!!