#but i am not going deeper into that

[gloriousmonsters]

love when you can ask the Narrator why the Princess is a Princess and he's like 'well i uhhhh YOU did that. maybe it's because uh... something something about her being above you... but still approachable... look i don't want to analyze or anthropomorphize your--' my guy. i am a primal being of Order and Eternity and Shaping. You're the one who convinced me I was some dude and were quite willing to take credit for shaping my view on the world through narration five seconds ago. Are you gonna look me in the eye and tell me the desire to interpret something worthy of adoration and more powerful than me as a dommy princess is written in the very nature of the universe or are you going to show me your browser history like a man

#this is a joke but the 'so where did i get the Idea of a princess from??' still stands #since we remember nothing and don't seem to have many ideas about like. what the world looks like #but when given the conception of 'we're a hero' from the narrator's Quest #we immediately go to 'so the thing you're telling us to kill is a Princess' -> i.e something I'm not SUPPOSED to kill #and in fact am supposed to respect and cherish #and/or pledge eternal loyalty to #(and then on a deeper level we KNOW that we're the dragon #we're the biggest threat to her we're what has the power to trap her and keep her here #we're a monster just like her) #but my point remains. as a god-entity stripped of memory where did we get the idea of a (human/like) Princess. do we still have like... #the threads of common narratives sort of built into our structure b/c we're the god-half concerned with Shaping and Naming and Order? #that would kind of slap #anyway uh. dragging myself offstage now #slay the princess #slay the princess spoilers #stp spoilers

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Master manipulator vs Master manipulator

 [First] Prev <–-> Next

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #xue yang #a-qing #The scenes with XY and A-Qing are so delightfully tense and anxiety inducing #They are both so deep in the mind games with each other. Convinced they have the leg up when in reality they do not know the full scope #Also is is just me or do XY and A-Qing give off the vibe of internet nemeses? #A-Qing coming in hard with 'Oh you think blind people cant do XYZ? Get canceled idiot' #Meanwhile XY is the kind to purposefully use leet speak in descriptive text to antagonize the screen reader population. #a teen girl and a 4-channer who found his way to tumblr would be awful to watch fight irl but the vibes are equivalent. #Meanwhile XXC is going on a nice little walk to pick grass. I love him so much actually. #through writing these notes I have also gone down the rabbit hole of trying to pinpoint Xue Yang's age. Hello? Is it actually not known? #The best resources I could find put him as 1-3 years younger then xxc and song lan #So? early twenties? late teens? Someone who has absorbed more mdzs knowledge...Please help #Oh no I'm even deeper in the rabbit hole now. What do you mean the ages are mostly just relative? #What do you mean cultivators can age differently (usually slower in xianxia) #Oh no oh no wwx doesn't have a golden core. I was too accurate in my homestuck AU re: lifespans. I want to go back. #(I love angst and am now marinating this thought in my little thinking chamber)

[voltaical-art]

they're like if the scorpion and the frog were toxic lovers

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #durge #tav #durgetav #voltaical ocs #judge #bishop #sorry for being transmasc and using super saturated blue as if its my fault #something about durge not knowing their own body and tiefling bodies having impressions of something deeper beneath the skin #their ridges the wings on their shoulder blades the webbing on their torso #also stream st vincent #am going to a listening party for her new record tonight :) so i thought i should post this today

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 176

Danny would like to blame Vlad for this, but it’s actually his own fault. He was the one who insisted on telling his parents about the whole half-ghost thing since everything else was going so well. He was the one who insisted on not waiting, on not using a duplicate and doing it in person. 

Which resulted in the situation they both were in now. Injured, destabilizing, and barely able to retreat through the portal. His parents hadn’t taken things well and he would have probably ended up in one of the cages or worse if Vlad hadn’t been skulking around. 

If they could make it to the Far Frozen they’d be alright, maybe. At least safe enough to not be in as much shock as he was right now and to properly take in what had happened without having to worry so much about blood loss. Ecto loss? Ugh, he was starting to get dizzy. 

Maybe a nap would be fine? Vlad was still able to fly… he thinks. Just a little nap and a moment to figure out what to do. To… something. Why is it so much harder to heal now…? 

#Prompts #Dcxdp #Dpxdc #Semi Redeemed Vlad holding Danny in a panic while also dealing with Core problems: oh fuck oh shit oh no #They can’t return to Amity & Vlad retreats deeper into the Ghost Zone #He doesn’t know about or where the Far Frozen is & Danny is unconscious so can’t tell him #They end up in the Flashpoint timeline #De aged Danny #De aged Vlad #Y’know as kids/preteens they probably look a Lot like Bruce would’ve #Thomas is going to have such a trauma response to finding two black-haired blue-eyed children bleeding out in an alleyway #I’m so sorry I am on a mini Flashpoint hyperfixation but I just think they deserve a murder dad/grandpa/whatever their relationship would b #Also older sister figure Catwoman #Once they recover because their cores are very sick thx to the Betrayal

[fuckalicent]

i know everyone is like no no alicent wasn’t jealous of rhaenyra she always had her best interests at heart etc etc but i want to propose: alicent was jealous of rhaenyra. maddeningly so. like imagine being married to your childhood best friend’s father who has a weird valyrian fetish and can’t seem to let go of his doomed homeland which isn’t even really his homeland and then you’re suddenly being put on a pedestal with all these expectations placed on you while (as far as you are aware) your friend seems to escape all the scrutiny and despite being afforded all these options and freedom that you had a hand in convincing be given to her, she still doesn’t seem to understand nor care. i would be green with envy and i think that is alright!!!! let her be jealous! because what else did u expect from the child bride who’s been fed alternating agendas from everyone around her since the moment of her marriage??!

#hotd #alicent hightower #pro alicent hightower #understand that i am speaking from alicent’s perspective #from her pov rhaenyra’s refusal to entertain suitors even after being granted a choice in husband is unfathomable. i think on a deeper level #she feels deep feelings of betrayal too. like i did this for you why do you not care #we can go on for hours and hours if u think she’s ‘right’ or not but that’s just what i think she feels

[chirpsythismorning]

S5 opener REAL

#byler #will byers #stranger things #every season besides s4-5 opens with non main characters #for el we got a flashback of the lab followed by her perspective in the scene directly after #and I think for Will we will see something similar #with us getting the flashback of him in castle byers in the UD #followed by him in the present in the scene after #but what exactly would warrant that memory being brought up in association with Will in the present? #mayhaps his connection to the mindflayer and the UD run deeper than we realize… #it’s likely not something he could just rid himself of in s2 and now he’s all good #he literally still feels a connection to everything he is feeling #that means he is still technically at risk of being the spy in some capacity #the massacre at Hawkins lab also was a guiding force for El discovering the ‘truth’ in s4 #so it’s likely for Will this instance will operate in a way that re-contextualizes the events in the past up to now #like that time Will suggested they go to the hospital in s3 only for the flayed to be waiting for them #or how flayed Billy knew they were at the cabin… #all while Will was looking cryptic as hell in that scene watching over el #or the fact that he picked Billy in the first place the season after he focused on Will… #you know.. williams #I think the easiest way to introduce the castle Byers flashback is a dream honestly #specifically a dream within a dream #seeing that recent leak and Will looking like either he has a black or hasn’t slept in days #is giving very much ‘I am afraid to sleep bc I’m scared of what will happen’ #I think dude is not exactly possessed in the sense that we already saw in s2 with like the particicles #but he’s still vulnerable #the door is still ajar… #no but fr this idea of opening a door in your mind was so blatant in st2 AND s3b of teen wolf #I think a big part of it will be guilting Will over the fact that Will has helped him before without Will telling the others #hence his weird vibe in s3… like he’s already successfully fucked with Will post s2 potentially with us being none the wiser aka here we go

[luzho]

sokka explains to you the mystery of ms. blanche appleton

[ID: This is a digital drawing of Sokka in contemporary blue clothing, drawn in warm colors in front of cork-board with various screenshots and pictures from the linked post, all connected through red threads and notes in all caps. With his hair getting out of his wolftail, a crazed expression and in the middle of a rant, Sokka gestures like an italian for emphasis with one hand while the other touches the board. End ID]

#my art #sokka #i read that post and it definitely sounded like sokka going on a rabbit hole #very 'oh shit i gotta dig a little deeper' and 'pepe silvia' energy from that iasip clip BUT i didnt reference the pose from there #I ACTUALLY POSED MYSELF FOR THIS that was fun:) #anyway: #sokka fanart #atla #avatar #atla fanart #ms appleton #blanche appleton #huh thats it #i WAS going to make this zukka... maybe later... it was just going to be a chibi blank faced zuko tho #this is SOKKAS moment #hes my fave<3 hes my guy hes my best friend i am he

[uncanny-tranny]

I was always enraged at the way capitalism has devalued some of the most important labour in human history, but now I'm even more angry since I have started getting more into crafts.

So many people are alienated from the world to such an extent they don't realize how fucking important textiles and construction and art and culinary labour is, because its all ubiquitous under capitalism: it is all profit, and if it isn't profit, then it is worthless. People don't realize just how revolutionary all of the labour was, how important it is, and was, to our survival. And that enrages me.

#politics #anti capitalism #the reason you have people going 'would it be $20 if you knit me a sweater' is because of that alienation... #...because of the fact that they're not used to non-exploitation and the fact that textiles are fundamental to humanity... #...because capitalism has so alienated them from the world around them they don't understand what goes INTO textiles... #...they only know that sweaters cost $20 at walmart and that price is rational for them #and that isn't to say that they are at fault but that they are the result of capitalistic alienation and exploitation #like i'm sorry for posting so much about crafts and shit but it really makes me think more about all of this you know? #and it's just made me think that all of this is so much deeper #DOES THIS ALL MAKE SENSE.... #i feel like no-bark noonan right now the way i am raving and ranting #the hobbyist crafter to even stauncher anticapitalist pipeline has fucking yeeted me through #yes i'm aware of karl marx's theory of alienation and i'm saying he was onto something

[francesderwent]

so I heard you wanna talk religion in ttpd! let’s talk I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can).

“they shake their heads saying ‘God help her’ when I tell ‘em he’s my man.” this isn’t the outright controlling judgment of the saboteurs in But Daddy I Love Him. nobody is trying to tell her what to do or force her to break up. this is a simple admission that the situation she’s in is difficult, that she’s chosen a hard path and needs help. and what is her response? “your good Lord doesn’t need to lift a finger, I can fix him, no really I can.” she admits salvation is needed. but Taylor is casting herself as the savior. she doesn’t need any help, any grace, any divine assistance. in fact, she doubles down: “only I can”. she and she alone has the power to reform this man, because of the love between them. it’s reminiscent of False God, except now the idol isn’t their love, it’s just her. she’s going to save him.

what’s interesting to me is we don’t know how the themes of salvation would have been recapitulated in light of the reversal at the end of the song, “whoa maybe I can’t”, because the song ends there. maybe she can’t fix him because he is ultimately unfixable, irredeemable, worthless. or maybe she can’t fix him because she’s not God. and honestly, I think the song is meant to leave us wondering. she’s waking up to reality, but is the reality his smallness of soul or her power trip?

so what is the blatant Christian language in this song for? is it telling us that Christianity is evil for implanting the idea of redemption into our minds when it doesn’t really exist? or is it a hint that trying to become our own gods, even with the best of intentions, is a pathway that leads only to death?

#I think a lot of women do have resentment toward their Christian upbringing precisely because they absorbed this idea of saving a fallen man #but what we have to recognize is #Christianity does not teach that women are supposed to save men!! #Christianity teaches that we are all saved by Christ!! #and so the answer is actually to go deeper into Christianity not to flee from it #and it’s interesting to me that this song doesn’t outright contradict that!! #the song is not about the psychology of trying to fix someone #it’s about the theology of it #Taylor explicitly paints herself as Savior and not psychiatrist #she would have died for his sins!!!!! #and so we can talk all day long about the foolishness of trying to fix someone #but Taylor paints a picture of an even more hubristic foolishness #and the answer could be either ‘he wasn’t worth fixing in the first place. you shouldn’t have tried.’ #OR it could be ‘you should’ve had some humility. you should’ve relied on the Lord and not your own strength’ #this is me admitting I need a music tag #is it a little dickish of me to post this? yes. I am an imperfect person

[things-stronger-than-fear]

can we talk about the katniss/lucy gray parallels (or lack thereof) for a sec?

they're superficially the same, because of the things we talk about all the time: they're both female victors from 12. there are things that come with that culture and background -- the mockingjay, the plants, the songs. those similarities aren't so much between them as people, as individuals -- they're born of coming from the same culture. the most significant thing they share is their resilience; their spirit of resistance and rebellion. their defiance.

but really, all those things they share, only serve to demonstrate just how different they are as individuals (because personality is different from upbringing or values).

we parallel their sarcastic bows, but they're so so different. lucy gray is a performer mockingly curtseying and saying "kiss my ass", where katniss is a hunter who doesn't have time for this society bullcrap.

they both sing the hanging tree, but as i've ranted about, their renditions show how different they are: lucy gray, again, a performer with a spirit unbroken, loud and charming and sassing right to the capitol's face, daring them to defy her, daring them to look away. katniss, again, a hunter, quiet but unyielding, sparking rebellion under the capitol's nose.

they both won their games, but in such different ways. lucy gray charmed the snakes (both literal and in the form of one coriolanus snow), while katniss threw down with weaponry.

lucy gray said look at me, care about me. katniss said fight for me, fight with me.

and so what we see is that they are not at all the same person, but that's what's so important. because it's not just one person or one type of person that puts their foot down and rebels. we don't need a specific kind of Chosen One to light the spark -- anyone can.

#seriously. why am i so invested. #I DON'T EVEN GO HERE #the hunger games #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #lucy gray baird #katniss everdeen #thg meta #anyways i do believe somewhere in the multiverse there's a timeline where lucy gray /does/ spark the rebellion #(in a deeper and more immediate way) #like. look at the way the capitol had to erase her. (and not just because snow was a salty scorned ex.) #there's a universe where she's too popular for the records to really be erased. where she becomes a celebrity and #gains a platform and a network and /access/. where she flexes those snake-charming skills on the capitol. #there's a universe where she sways coryo a little more thoroughly. where she's ripped from him by the capitol #and it radicalizes him. doesn't make him a good person or less of a ruthless player in the game. but one with different goals. #there's a universe where she doesn't have coryo there to cheat for her. in that one she can't hold the snakes off forever. #she dies in the arena. there is no victor and no hope. there is nothing but love for a girl who should've survived. #in this universe the people revolt because the capitol has grown to love her and the districts see nothing to lose. #there's a universe where she survives and gains the respect of all the academy students. children are the future. #this is how the capitol loses control. #there's a universe where lucy gray sticks around in 12 past the music ban. in this universe she'll write quiet songs of rebellion. #she'll run. not out of panem but within it. she will be a singing ghost starting fires throughout a country fractured. #ANYWAYS. I WILL STOP.

[levil0vesyou]

I haven't even watched wwdits since partway through season 4 but I've suddenly Ascended and am filled with divine Nandermo comprehension. This is the only read of their relationship, actually

#like i know this is gonna make me sound like a queerbaiting showrunner or something but what they've got going on is simultaneously so much #deeper and so much worse than 'lovers'. like they very much still have very gay emotions for each other and i still want them to make out #but it also runs to their fucking cores and it's so deeply intimate but also fucked up. toxic guy yuri if you will. i may not have watched #in ages but i am SO not over them #nandermo #wwdits #what we do in the shadows #mine #are they lovers? #worse.

[strangerstilinski]

his wardrobe consisting of 5 dirty tshirts, a pair of work boots, and a single filthy snapback cap have bewitched me

#jj maybank #btw just in case you were wondering because i am.. still sinking deeper #he's gotten his hooks into me and he won't let go #txt

[jahiera]

I think there’s a definite problem though with the amount of art and fics being HEAVILY Astarion with cis women. That reeks of his queerness being erased. There should be a healthy balance of Astarion with different partners, but the “default” in the fandom is always him with a woman. As a gay man it’s very frustrating.

Okay so. in however much any of this matters. 1. Shoving this under a cut for people who are tired of seeing the discourse (I am too, I tend to scroll really really fast past it.) 2. I know the fandom discourse machine looooves super firm and snarky opinion jabs summed up in 169 words or less but I am literally incapable of not elaborating so. sorry YOU asked. since it’s also probably relevant, Im coming at this with the Mega Dyke with the fuck around and find out perspective irt my life experiences and queerness. I don’t generally care about niche queer internet discourse and I don’t generally care about fandom discourse, so you can tell how bored I am at work rn that I’m deep diving into this. tldr yeah you’re not wrong I agree that astarion’s queerness is erased in certain spaces but that has nothing to do with being attracted to women. my funny hot take is once again that astarion is a he/him evil femme to me so. let’s MOVE.

I received the second one within the first few minutes of the first, and I’m goingggg to proceed on good faith and with the idea that I think we’re all in agreement for the most part, because I think we are. But I’m going to address the most obvious thing that. I don’t really…. think is necessarily the point in this. first of all, I empathize that it suuuucks to not see as many works made for your main pairing of choice (there’s generally a deficit for literally everyone BUT astarion to boot too.) however ultimately fanworks are exactly that: fanworks, and they’re made For Free and posted by a Fan Author who has done this As A Hobby, “a problem nobody is addressing” in this context is……. you are one google doc and keyboard away from writing what you want to see in the world. or, I don’t know. encourage + comment + follow up on fic authors that write what you enjoy. fic is not paid content and the fic authors in bg3 are writing for themselves and what they put out, that they wrote for FREE, is up to them. I once again empathize with not seeing as much of a specific thing as you would like, and I definitely empathize with seeing a popularization of specific characterization that makes you want to scream, cry, throw up, etc. which brings me to what I can actually comment on and critique here. (general note: if you proceed to misread me on the basis of “people can do what they want!!” I assure you. you can do whatever you want forever. I do not care. I am not mad. I am minding my business 90% of the time. do I like domstarion? no. but it is NOT my concern nor my judgement.)

“That reeks of his queerness being erased. There should be a healthy balance of Astarion with different partners, but the “default” in the fandom is always him with a woman.” <- so! now that we have “it’s all for free man idk what you want me to say here” out of the way. we CAN critique something real in this that I do agree with. the sort of…. honestly kind of fascinating (derogatory) trends of what I’ll call Straightifying astarion for lack of a better word.

this brings me to the point I kind of offhandedly made in the previous post, about how there IS nuance to be said on astarion’s queerness getting erased. I do actually agree with you that in some spheres of the bg3 fandom, his queerness has been heavily sanitized and he’s become something of a placeholder for Sexy Vampire Boyfriend romance tropes. he’s mostly there to be a stand-in for a sexy dom vampire man; MANY of his complex character traits that have literally Nothing to do with romance have been basically entirely removed to serve a specific idealized idea of him that suit the scene. it’s frustrating! I find it frustrating. I also agree that within this specific Brand of Mischaracterized Astarion, he’s been so……….. reduced down to this that his more overt queerness is basically entirely removed. however, the issue is not that he’s with a woman in this? the issue is that the writer is not incorporating a sort of.. overarching queer lens, for lack of a better term, to the characterization they’ve got going on. you can write whatever you want forever, but it’s not written in a vacuum, I agree.

Since these are all popular straight romance tropes, he falls directly into the pit of Sexy Man (straight) very quickly, and his attraction toward others (let alone, good god, his complex relationship to sex, sexuality, desire? good fucking luck finding something thoughtful in there about that) tends to fall by the wayside as a result. It is what you would expect but it’s not without room for critique in what I think we’re aligned on; which is seeing astarion’s queerness erased is maddeninggg. And it is EXTREMELY frustrating to see if you’re someone like me, or possibly yourself, who’s into 1. really analyzing characterization and 2. really into exploring queer dynamics in writing + lit + media many different formats. THIS—the sanitization, the removal of astarion’s queerness—this is what is irksome as a queer reader.

however. the issue I’m seeing is that ^^^^^ this brand of mischaracterization is 1. being conflated with simply that he’s with women, and 2. the frustration of having less content (understandable) is turning into a very WEIRD dialogue in which the extreme of “well actually he wouldn’t even want to fuck women!!” is the stance to take (very weird) (kind of misogynistic) (kind of also reeks of continuing to talk about women as sex objects that astarion would not or would want to fuck) (astarion himself doesn’t even want to fuck for about 90% of his romance so maybe we should talk about that too) — rather than that it would be nice if his queerness would be addressed more openly and with more nuance and clarity than it currently is in That Particular Sphere Of Astarion Characterization. and, of course, the idea that it would be nice if he was portrayed with other kinds of partners! which I agree with and equally appreciate.

but there is no default. literally, there’s no default. what you’re seeing is what people are making of their own tavs, and maybe you would like to see more of another kind, but it doesn’t hold up as an actual fandom critique. what holds up is when we dive into how people write him; how do they write his personality, what traits are being exaggerated and what traits are being ignored; IS his queerness remembered within the text at all? and beyond that, how is that queerness treated when it is written? because I’ve seen the other extreme in which it’s The Homophobic Gay Stereotypes That Maybe We All Agreed At One Point Were Equally Offensive To Exaggerate To The Point Of Horror. half the discussion I see AROUND his queerness amounts to “omg he’s such a slutty flamboyant little fag” but in a quirky haha internet way. very “fruity is a nice alternative to saying queer!” “calling a gay guy fruity in the real world will get you punched out.” vibes in here sometimes and it is EQUALLY weird.

anyways. Astarion’s a multifaceted character which means the first thing everyone did was pick one or two traits to exaggerate and cling to and these color the entire reading of his character rather than taking in the whole. i agree that means his queerness got put to the wayside in some formats of him, and that’s deeply unfortunate + very frustrating. but fanfic is free, so I’m not with you that there’s a Problem That Needs Addressing so much as that’s what people are creating, and you should add to what you want to see in the world.

I’m not going to go on a tangent about how “oh let m/f be a thing!!” because I ALSO agree literally no one needs to be told “m/f is okay to do ❤️” we live in the real world here. and it’s really mindboggling how in some iterations he’s been turned into Straightstarion rather than his CANON QUEERNESS being applicable in every format of every relationship dynamic he could ever possibly be in. However. However. the answer to that is not? acting like the baseline attraction to women is the problem. if the way you’re talking about attraction to women feels rooted in upset about not relating to it and feeling like you’re forced to either relate to it or simply not engage, I do Get It, but at the risk of opening up an entirely different can of worms that needs an entirely different essay to address, gay men are not immune to misogyny and if the language used while talking about women is also objectifying or belittling women to some extent or acting as though attraction to women makes his queerness lesser. newsflash. that is still misogyny (and biphobia). it is not about defending straightness here, it’s entirely that reducing women down to sex objects even in the conversations about not seeing women sexually is alive and well (and repulsive), and that’s what I mean when I say I can hear the “lol I don’t fuck WOMEN that’s DISGUSTING” behind some of the other side of the conversation here. also this is an entirely separate essay but queerness will almost never exist in an easily consumable binary and trying to type him by his character traits is also. kind of weird. just as a thing.

#critical / #this feels like such a I will die on any hill. I am going to forget about this now #like again I’m not even disagreeing with some of you but other things in here. it’s a little bit deeper than that #or as deep as fandom discourse is anyways. #now that the high of soap boxing has worn off as I write these tags I’m like good lord. #I will NOT let inanities ruin this game for me. #sorry that’s once again not really directed at you anon but in general #good faith! we keep good faith!

[koko2unite]

IS THIS FUCKING REAL?? PLUSHIE MORDECAI!???????

#AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA #help girl i've fallen deeper to lackadaisy now im going to have mordecai plushie on my bed #he would be good friends with mr wolf and puss :) #no he wont :( #he tolerate them tho :) #mordecai heller #lackadaisy #i am no longer normal

[batrachised]

inspired by the rubio quote on emily - I understand believing the LMM heroines leaving their ambitions behind is somewhat necessitated by the historical context, and I sympathize with those who would have preferred a different ending for Anne or Emily...but also (esp w Anne), I find it the line of thinking frustrating because (1) it's a false dichotomy that's (2) belied by the text imo and (3) somewhat dismissive of marriage as less than. Anne keeps writing after her marriage. She reads her poems aloud to her family and (iirc) inspires her children to do the same. Just because Emily is marrying Teddy doesn't mean she'll stop writing. The text gives us literally no reason to think that, and in fact explicitly states the opposite when Emily says that she has to write. No matter what, she has to write. If Anne, who doesn't demonstrate Emily's level of ambition, keeps writing, it's nearly laughable to think that Emily wouldn't.

What's especially frustrating is that repeatedly, LM Montgomery's stories focus on the importance of community and family in shaping, sourcing, and strengthening creativity. In Emily, it's explicitly stated that she couldn't have written her breakthrough novel if she had moved to New York and followed her ambitions as such. That's doesn't necessarily translate to romantic support, but romantic support is one form of that! Certainly, these heroines all have domestic endings; it's almost as if LM Montgomery's defining characteristic is finding beauty and power in domesticity, all while acknowledging domesticity doesn't exclude talent and ambition. Her thesis is that women can, and do, contain both. Anne can dream of handsome princes one day and publication the next because you know what--quite a lot of girls do! Emily can fiercely chase publication and long for companionship because you know what - that's the most human thing imaginable!

Acting as if marriage is an imprisonment or hindrance of some sort while LM Montgomery's heroes are marked by being supportive of their wives' talents and ambition (Gilbert is unthreatened by Anne's intelligence; Teddy understands Emily's ambition) ignores the major themes of the novels. It also fails to grapple with the historical barriers faced in a substantive or satisfying manner; it simply poo-poos the semi-requirement of marriage as the happy ending all while ignoring how radical the statements that first, women have ambitions and, second, their ideal partner would support those ambitions, were for the time.

The position also assumes that publication is the only legitimate form of success for writers, and similarly, "real" success requires recognition. It ignores the inherent value of creativity, inserts its own standards for success, all while ignoring what the heroines themselves state they want. Anne wanted marriage and babies; Emily is deeply lonely at the end of Emily's Quest and desires a companion who understands her. LM Montgomery actually directly addresses the idea that Gilbert stole Anne from her ambitions in TBAQ, and Anne laughs at the idea. For Emily, it's more understandable because she does value publication and is very ambitious, but that's where point number one comes in. Would the critics of her (admittedly rushed and slapdash) ending prefer that she stay alone surrounded by people who don't fully understand her? If anything, it's implied that Teddy will enhance Emily's creativity by providing the support she needs, and has in the past when he literally gives her the idea for her first novel, A Seller of Dreams.

I understand the cut and paste ending of "love husband marriage babies" can get to be tiring, especially when presented as the "right" path for women. I admit that the historical context - and pressure - here is impossible to ignore. After all, the examples I gave above are only legitimate to the extent LM Montgomery legitimized them; there could have easily have been a version of the story where Emily only succeeded because she moved to New York. Even LM Montgomery, as mentioned above, writes Gilbert explicitly saying that he regrets that he stole Anne's talent from the world. Sexism is definitely present in these novels. Still, the condescending tone when talking about these ending irks me. In the end, I guess I find the sainting of ambition as ridiculous as I find the sainting of marriage and babies as paths for women. One's as gross a simplification as the other.

At the end of the day as well, LM Montgomery writes slice of life novels based on the charm of rural PEI and local community. She focuses on the everyday purposefully. Complaining that she doesn't have heroines who move beyond domesticity (although really, she does with Sara Stanley) is like going to a pizza parlor and complaining when you get served pizza. Again, this only works to the extent that you agree with LM Montgomery's presentation - but there's something silly in complaining that her slice of life semi-romance novels from the late 1800s-early 1900s all end in marriage for the heroine.

#like sure some women love to stay single and chase their dreams and you know what that's awesome #i am literally one of them #not these women #there ya go #this has been my pounded out rant post i made on too little sleep so forgive any ridiculous logical holes #also women *can* have both #tho that of course opens a deeper can of worms about failure of support networks and unfair societal expectations #there's a whole watsonian and doylist discussion to be had here i know #as in on the watsonian level it's fine on the doylist you can question it more #but the implication is that a woman's character arc ending in marriage is inherently sexist with which i do not agree #emily of new moon #aogg #lm montgomery

[lorelune]

i’m supposed to go on a date in a few hrs and i am!! terrified!!

#i keep telling myself it’s a silly little date it doesn’t need deeper meaning or to Go Anywhere but even then i am like #petrified #i want to bail but i am trying to at least like #try!! #i am terrified something terrible and traumatic will happen!! #delete later