#character discourse

[luckycharming]

I don't know who needs to hear this, but if you hate a character solely because of a ship/ships, you're a childish fuck who needs to log off the internet and go touch grass. It's so annoying to see some of my favorite characters either reduced to who they're paired with or demonized because of said pairing. Fans really do take the fun out of shipping, especially on Tumblr and TikTok. And what gets me is that y'all aren't only loud with that bullshit, but you're wrong with it too! Like, damn, so and so, which, let's be real, is usually a girl, being shipped with the main character really lodged a stick up your ass, huh? If you don't like him or her or whoever, that's fine! If you don't like them because of shipping, stop making that everyone else's problem because I'm sick of seeing my faves personalities twisted and diminished just because you take shipping way too seriously.

#izuocha #todomomo #kirimina #miruhawks #naruhina #sasusaku #gojohime #yutamaki #fushikugi #sokai #hinny #romione #eremika #aruani #character discourse #fandom discourse #shipping discourse #this newer generation of shippers in particular are mad fucking annoying #you can hate or like whatever you want but don't be an ignorant ass about it is what i'm saying #we're not all going to like or ship the same things #but don't be an asshole #don't let your personal biases ruin a character or ship

[xerith-42]

Stop blaming characters for bad writers

Seriously, stop fucking doing this. While this is a post that could certainly be applicable to MANY fandoms, I'm mainly directing this whole rant at my target audience which is mentally ill minecraft obsessed freaks.

If a character is written badly, gets badly fumbled by the creator, or has the ball dropped in regards to their arc in some way, a lot of people will blame the character, as if they're a real conscious person making these decisions. When they aren't. They're a block man literally being controlled by two people who just aren't very good writers and one or both of them are incredibly sexist, kind of racist, ableist, and just bad writers in general.

Yeah, Laurance does some pretty shitty things through out Season 2 of MCD, actively crossing lines he wouldn't have previously crossed. We as fans can cope by saying something something calling, or just saying Laurance is a bad abusive person, but the reality is that the writers wanted to force the series to fit a specific vision and as a result were willing to do anything to get the series to that point. In order to make Aaron the most favorable suitor for Aphmau, her previous suitors need to be out of the picture, or clearly inferior options.

Garroth suffered the out of the picture, being mostly absent outside of a few cutscenes here and there until episode 81 of season 2, but episode 81 is the culmination of the writers goals to make Aarmau happen. By the time Garroth has returned to the series, the damage has already been done. He's not getting the life he wants. And Laurance is written out of the picture as well, but only after being shown to be inferior because Jesson were pushing an agenda.

Laurance didn't deteriorate as a person due to neglect of his physical and mental well being after a severely traumatic experience. He deteriorated as a character because the writers stopped giving as much of a shit about him and instead were using the series as self indulgent fanfiction of alternate versions of themselves. That's not Laurance's fault.

And this applies to any character who was completely fumbled in MyStreet due to this similar focus on wish fulfillment from the writers. Jess has stated that the relationship between Aphmau and Aaron in Phoenix Drop High is reflective of her relationship with Jason, we all know this. This means that any characters who come off as total fucking creeps in that series (namely Gene), are not actually acting on the whims of their own autonomy or desires as characters. They are acting in service of telling a predetermined story that they are retroactively being added into for author fulfillment.

In this regard I fully support fandom cope and say that you should rewrite your little guys to your hearts content. But if you're going to criticize these characters for their actions, don't criticize them. They didn't do anything wrong. All characters are just puppets in service of the story or themes a writer is trying to push. If a character acts in an objectively terrible way, especially a way that isn't in line with their previous characterizations, that is a failing of the writers, not the character.

And I feel like largely a lot of us can and frequently do this. We're actively criticizing Jesson for being terrible low-key bigoted writers all the god damn time, it's like half of the content here. But when we get into character discourse I feel like some people cling onto bad actions of the canon too closely and I've seen more than a few posts presume some pretty terrible interpretations of characters based on these actions. Obviously Laurance is a character I and a lot of others are fixated on so a lot of discourse revolves around him, and it was seeing some... interesting takes on him that prompted me to start writing this post.

But this happens to everyone. Quite personally based on the character I was shown in MyStreet, it feels really weird that Garroth would make an insensitive comment about his brother's weight. Yeah siblings poke fun at each other and often cross lines, but if that was something Zane was seriously insecure about (which it seems like he might be) then it does make Garroth come off as a really insensitive brother, which just doesn't gel with how hard he tries to bond with Zane despite their tense relationship. And I don't think Garroth should be criticized for making those comments.

Whoever wrote those lines (Jess and/or Jason) should be criticized for writing a scene where a character is mocked by their older sibling over a physical insecurity even if said sibling would not normally do that. It's not Travis' fault that Jesson never decided to give him more of a character beyond "funny pervy guy" that's not funny in every anime they've watched until Season 5 of MyStreet. It's unfair to try and say Travis should be scrutinized for his borderline sexual harassment of some characters when it's not his fault that happened, he was written by writers who don't think this sort of behavior isn't all that bad if they make it out for comedy and punch him in the face.

And god dammit it's not Laurance's fault that his jealousy became the most prevalent emotion he felt. Laurance has always been a character to give into his vices and yet fight against them at the same time, it's what makes him compelling. If they were going to pull on those vices in order to make him a less appealing love interest, he never had a chance to really be his own character after a certain point. Because at a certain point in Season 2, Jesson stopped caring about the character they had been writing for over a hundred episodes at that point. They just wanted to canonize their self insert ship and were willing to do anything to get it.

Laurance isn't an abusive angry person who would have killed Aphmau if they got together. He's a flawed character being handled by incredibly flawed writers who are prone to making some of the worst decisions you have ever seen a creator make in regards to their character writing. He was caught in the crossfire of the adoration he received from a very dedicated fanbase, and the creator who would rather pretend he and his previous arc didn't exist for the sake of her fun. It's not Laurance's fault his arc was stilted, jerked around, and ultimately ended with him completely face planting. And yet still reliably dragging his bloodied body up at just the slightest glimmer of hope (Void Paradox).

It's deeply poetic and tragic that I can describe his character in universe and in the meta-textual sense that way, but we should never blame Laurance, or Aaron, or any other characters for things being like this.

They didn't write the show. Jess and Jason did.

#minecraft diaries #text post #aphblr #aphverse #laurance zvahl #garroth ro'meave #minecraft diaries laurance #mystreet #mystreet garroth #mystreet travis #bad writing #fandom discourse #fandom discussion #character discussion #character discourse

[clearancecreedwatersurvival]

If you read any of mxtx’s books, these long deconstructions of gray morality with multiple morally dubious side characters who mirror the struggles of the MCs, both villainous and purely human, ESPECIALLY mdzs where the main character is Literally a murderous war criminal who got almost his entire family killed, and you come away from that experience being like ‘actually people who like this character who did some bad stuff (jiang cheng, meng yao, mu qing, shen jiu, he xuan, take your pick) are wrong’ then my friend you are utterly lacking in reading comprehension and boring to boot.

#someone just reblogged one of my posts and I checked their blog and their bio said ‘JC stans dont interact’ #come the fuck on #you are thirty years old #🔪🔪🔪🔪 #svsss #mdzs #tgcf #mxtx #caitie speaks #i keep editing this post to add more characters being unfairly maligned by purity discourse pilled anti-fans #so I guess I should also put this post in my tag for #moralizing fiction #character discourse

[starflesh-moth]

idgaf that people are frustrated that rick is no longer as much of a salty bitch-ass edge-lord as he used to be.

im obsessed with ricks character development. he’s everything to me. hes changing for the better, even if he denies is, even if he says he hates it

he’s finally seeing how his actions affect himself and the people he loves and is finally fucking doing something about it and i love it so much for him.

rick sanchez character development arc all the way

#rick and morty #rick sanchez #character discourse #tw swearing #rick and morty season 6

[a-map-of-gays]

The thing about all the characters is that they're perfect and can do whatever they want forever. Unless of course I don't like them in which case they should explode into a thousand pieces

#fandom #fandom discourse #character discourse #grishaverse #lost abc #(simply tagging those because they are my main fandoms)

[anothersquarenoodle]

╭──────────.★..─╮

Silver-haired characters

╰─..★.──────────╯

INTRODUCTION

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Everybody knows that if a silver- or white-haired character appears in any piece of media, it's highly likely that they will be somebody important, whether that be as a protagonist, supporting character, or antagonist. Usually, the white hair is symbolic of a character's purity, wisdom and/or divine relations because they are a vessel for higher powers. I'm sure that at least one of your favourite characters has silver or white hair because it's definitely true for me.

These silver-haired characters don't have to be the protagonist, but they definitely have some connection to the protagonist if they aren't it themselves. The hair colour is close enough to real life platinum or white-blonde hair that it's not unrealistic yet still sets them apart from the majority. It usually signifies that these characters are special and will be important for furthering the plot.

Unfortunately though, modern uses of the silver-haired character fall flat or cause the character to become boring because the feature isn't applied creatively enough to set these characters apart from literally everyone else. This is most evident in YA fantasy novels as the authors use this trait as a "coolness factor" or a way to show the audience that they are "not like other girls".

I want to discuss my opinions about this since the trope on its own isn't particularly bad, but it can feel overused or make characters appear to be copies of other characters. Please note that all of this is based on my own observations and is no way intended to come across as some kind of fictional ruling system.

VISUAL MEDIA

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Silver-haired characters from visual media are able to use the concept of visual storytelling to aid the audience's understanding of them as powerful or important people in the story.

For example, Gojo Satoru in the anime/manga Jujutsu Kaisen (JJK) is a special grade sorcerer believed to be the strongest one of this generation. He acts as a mentor figure for the protagonist Itadori Yuji, but has a large enough fanbase that he might as well be his own main character. His "snow-white" hair and blindfolded light blue eyes make it clear to the audience that he is so powerful that lack of sight won't affect his skill. Being visually animated allows the audience to also see Gojo's own feats and understand why he is the most powerful sorcerer of this age as there is clear evidence to support his greatness.

Similarly, Princess Yue from Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA) has silver hair because the moon spirit shared its life force with her when she was a child. This silver hair is symbolic of her divine connection with the moon spirit, which she eventually becomes after the death of Tui and her sacrifice to save the moon spirit. Through visual storytelling and the events of the plot, we know that she was also the princess of the northern water tribe and had a great sense of duty for her people, hence being a special character.

As with both examples, the silver/white hair is used as a plot device to tell their own story while also simultaneously furthering the stories of the protagonists. They share the spotlight without taking it away from the message being delivered.

LITERATURE

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Due to literature requiring the audience to imagine the appearances of the characters based on descriptions, visual storytelling is much harder to achieve since everything that is explicitly mentioned must have a purpose. However, visual storytelling can still occur, but requires a specific choice of words to convey the same thing a picture would. For example, silver and white are not the same in literature, but can be used interchangeably in art or animation.

Geralt of Rivia, from the series The Witcher, is a legendary monster hunter known as a witcher (hence the series name) and also has white hair. This white hair is a result of mutations witchers experience as they are subjected to intense alchemical processes and intense training. This sets them, and Geralt by extension, apart from normal humans as they are physically and magically enhanced to be more suited to monster hunting. In this case, the white hair is a side-effect instead of a biological trait, and it allows the audience to easily recognise other witchers in that world.

Unfortunately, due to the rising popularity of modern YA fantasy, some characters simply have silver/white hair because it's just a cool trait that sets them apart. The characters Mare Barrow (from Red Queen) and Violet Sorrengail (from Fourth Wing) both have brown hair at the root that becomes silver towards the tips. This colour doesn't signify anything for Mare except that she is a Red who masquerades as a Silver for plot reasons, and for Violet it's supposed to be the symptom of greying hair caused by her (implied) Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Other than this we are just told, usually by other characters, that these protagonists are smart or cunning and simply better than others, but we don't exactly see this in real time, we are either just told it happens offscreen or the plot bends to make it happen. The only thing that could be considered unique and linked to their white hair is that both Mare and Violet are able to wield lighting powers, where the lighting itself is white.

Yes, the silver/white hair usually signifies the great power of the character and how it makes them unique to the world, but that also needs to be supported by the character's own personality and actions, otherwise they are at risk of simply having that trait for the sake of ticking a box.

PERSONAL OPINIONS

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As an artist I truly love giving characters silver or white hair, especially if it comes with magical powers like controlling water/ice or lightning or some other power that has colour symbolism of any kind because it's fun to design around visual storytelling as well as how many things you can tell about a character based on how they look and the things they wear.

As a reader and (sort of) writer I also love the worldbuilding and lore behind these things because it puts things into perspective and I like to imagine that if I were to be a person in that world it would make sense to me. It is also fun to imagine a kind of world that is different yet similar to our own.

That being said, I do find that to execute such intricacies well, the creator (whether that be the author or animator or otherwise) must take small details into consideration and link different parts of the story together in a way that is organic and would make sense if that world truly existed. Most YA fantasy novels I think fall short of this because as long as they tick the boxes of specific tropes and character appearances, their books would sell regardless of their quality. Don't get me wrong though, it's definitely ok to like and enjoy those books while still finding them poorly written.

Because of this "fast fashion" style of fantasy writing, even cool and timeless designs such as the silver-haired character can feel boring or some copy of another more famous story. Sometimes the debuting silver-haired character feels exactly like another recently debuted one because they are written for the same trope or are made to be blank slates so the reader can imagine that character to be themselves. Having silver hair and immense power will mean absolutely nothing if the character isn't even a character.

Personally, I would love to read stories where the author has used the white hair to subvert the archetypes and tropes that saturate the fantasy market without stereotyping or romanticising facets of the real world. I definitely feel that creativity in writing is a rare find these days and it should be valued especially for storytelling.

FINAL NOTES

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If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading and to be honest, I didn't think that voicing my thoughts would take this long lol.

I hope that this ramble/essay was as thought provoking and entertaining for you as it was for me. If it wasn't, thats ok too and I hope that it at least you learned something from me regarding this topic <3

#this is really long im so sorry #i just have many opinions about this #not beta read mb #this is definitely edited though #ramble essay #ya fantasy #fantasy #book tropes #book review #booktok #bookstagram #character discussion #character discourse #character design

[ssaseaprince]

Writers and actors and directors will make up any excuse they can for why a character just couldn't possibly be queer, and then hurriedly say something about how they don't hate gay people, the character just isn't gay, as a way to cover up the thinely veiled homophobia of the sentament. The majority of these characters not once talked about their sexuality, it's just assumed they're straight based on who they dated. Yet queer people can be in straight relationships, so that truly isn't even a factor in the grand scheme of things. When people bring up that they view that character as queer, those writers/actors/directors just act so shocked and repulsed because their precious fictional character just couldn't possibly be queer. And they say things like "Yeah, ___ is completely straight. Sexuality just isn't something they think about, theyre just that way. Not that anything is wrong with being gay, but this character isn't." Just think about that for a minute. Being gay is such a big deal to these people that they couldn't fathom their character being queer. This characters sexuality was never brought up or confirmed, so why is people saying they think they're queer so shocking and wrong, but them saying that character is completely straight is just the natural accepted truth. Why is a character being queer an "other" or "special" thing? Why can't that character be casually queer? Why are they all so resistant to it? If it's not a big deal like they claim, why do they get so defensive when it's brought up? Why do they get so upset when a character with an unconfirmed sexuality is perceived as queer by fans? When their character is shipped with the opposite sex, they don't care, they laugh and joke about it. When they're shipped with a same sex character, it's "Oh that's definitely not true." They see straight as the default, and the idea that a character they feel connected to could be queer, is literally mind blowing to them and they immediately reject it. It's widely accepted homophobia that's almost never talked about. The immediate shock when being queer is mentioned is because society has drilled into these people's heads that being queer is big deal that makes someone wildly different and unrecognizable. To them, if their character was queer, it wouldn't be their character anymore. They hold onto their straight identity so tightly, that they see anything else as a personal attack. And they get away with it because they quickly try to cover it up with " Oh there's nothing wrong with being queer my character just definitely isn’t." Or "Oh it's actually an insult to real gay people to suggest my character is gay when they aren't." They'll find any excuse. So their character couldn't possible be gay, and neither could the next, and neither could the next, and neither could the next, etc. Because none of these straight people can cope with the possibility that someone they feel connected to could be queer. And I don't believe they're even aware of it, it's a knee-jerk reaction society has drilled into them and they don't even recognize they're doing it. And that's why we need to call these things out. Ask them, "Why is it so upsetting to you to imagine this character as queer, when they have no confirmed sexuality? Why do you automatically assume they're straight and find anything else inconceivable?" Straight is not the default, and the idea that a character might be queer does not change their entire identity, it is not the huge deal they are making it out to be. Queer people can exist casually. The truth of the matter is that they still view us as "other", and as different. The fact that we're queer is so unrelatable that the idea of their character being queer automatically ruins it them. Homophobia is alive and well in the intertanment industry, and we see it casually every single day from our favourite writers/actors/directors.

#queer #gay #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtq representation #lgbtq community #lgbtq discourse #lgbt discourse #bisexual #pansexual #character discourse #acting #actors #directors #hollywood #gay ships #wlw ship #lgbt ships #hilson #hannigram #hannibal #nbc hannibal #house md #destial #supernatural #johnlock #dr who #bbc sherlock #sherlock #sherlock holmes

[banthaboyboba]

Satine is who the fandom thinks Padme is and Padme is who the fandom thinks Satine is

#Star Wars #star wars discourse #fandom discourse #character discourse #the clone wars #Star Wars the clone wars #star wars prequels #padme #satine #queen amidala #satine kryze #duchess satine kryze #padme amidalia #Mandalorians #Ron the death eater

[baobhanlore-art]

My interpretation of Lucifer's design

I know there's a lot of discourse about Lucifer's design, but I think the idea behind it is to make him look like a fallen angel.

His skin and clothes are white and his hair is a golden yellow. In colour theory, white represents purity and innocence, whilst yellow represents joy. These colours are often associated with heaven, and angels are often depicted with blond hair and white clothining in Eurocentric art. This makes me think the other archangels might look similar to Lucifer in this way (though I'm not sure if they'd have the red cheeks, or if that's just a reference to Lucifer's themepark), and we've already seen in Helluva Boss that white and gold are common colours among Heaven-based characters and environments.

But these positive-feeling traits are constrasted by negative ones. Lucifer's white clothing is sewn into an aristocratic outfit, which people associate with the rich and wicked. It has black and red accents too. Red is associated with danger and anger, and black gives a feeling of darkness and death. Hence why they're often depicted on demons and imps, and why so many characters are flooded with red. These aspects distort his heavenly attributes.

Now are the more specific details. His whole snake of Eden and apple motif are pretty simple. There are apples on his hat and cane, he has a snake on his hat, his pupils are pointed like a snakes, and his tail coat resembles fangs.

A more subtle detail though, which I only saw through this image with a deleted background.

Lucifer has what looks like fur on the end of his lower legs. This could mean that his hidden feet are actually goat hoofs, oding to the goat symbolism in so much art and literature featuring him.

I know a lot of discourse is surrounding him at the moment, but I really like this design. It feels like a great representation of Lucifer's ties to both Heaven and Helll, and I love him.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel lucifer #lucifer #character design #character discussion #character discourse #lucifer morningstar #vivzieverse #vivziepop #vivienne medrano

[superbeeny]

Fans who complain about how Bakugou keeps winning popularity polls despite how most of the biggest complaints about the series tend to involve him don’t consider that the types of people who have huge grievances with such a major aspect of the story are way less likely to be enthusiastic enough supporters of the franchise to actually vote in these things in the first place, especially if voting costs money.

(And frankly, Deku still calling him “kaCHAAAAAN’ even after years of bullshit in itself probably set the series up for the people who can at least stomach that part of his character to be the most engaged/profitable segment of the fanbase. Basically, Bakugou is to Deku what the red stapler is to Milton from Office Space. )

#just because character/ship hate makes big numbers on social media doesn't mean it represents the people who actually buy stuff #hell if I were a businessperson managing an IP I’d go out of my way to NOT appeal to the types of people who make character/ship hate trend #bnha #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #bakugou katsuki #izuku midoriya #deku #kacchan #dekubaku #bakudeku #anti discourse #shipping discourse #character discourse #fandom stuff #popularity poll #bnha popularity poll #mha popularity poll #fandoms from a business standpoint #weekly shonen jump #wsj #kohei horikoshi

[sugar-frosty-fairy]

HOT TAKE

Spongebob is most definitely not an “idiot”. He’s really ditzy in certain episodes but he’s not a stupid character. He almost always catches things when given enough time, gets put through hell by his friends on a near-daily basis, carries the Krusty Krab on his back (it’s been shown multiple times that the restaurant would be no better than the Chum Bucket without him) is pretty knowledgeable in general (he was completely on the ball in Skill Crane and Nautical Novice-a season six episode!), is artistically and musically gifted, literally disassembled a boat and rebuilt it as a rocket, often displays more common sense than Mr. Krabs and even Squidward at times, and has so many plots where he has a mission and thinks of clever ideas to complete that mission.

Sometimes he switches between being stupid and gullible and smart and determined in the same episode, SpongeBob is like a “wild card” character. I would call him eccentric and spontaneous rather than “stupid”. I think the unpredictable rollercoaster that is his mind going up and down in inconsistent ways makes him more applicable to different plotlines and gives the writers more ideas for storylines.

#spongebob #spongebob squarepants #character discourse #calling him an idiot is still convinient #mainly because that's what squidward calls him #he's my favorite in season 1 #he reminded me so much of Eek the Cat in that season

[four-loose-screws]

Hello there, so I saw your Louis and Hector post and it really got me thinking if Louis is really that different between Japanese and English. From everything I’ve been able to gather, whether it be support/bond conversations or his Ally Notebook, it seems to suggest that he’s still in general a people watcher just with a general preference towards women. The way I see it, the only really major difference between the two versions is that his preference is more clear in Japanese while in English it’s more subtle, but still present through a couple of his supports (particularly his C support with Chloé and B with Ivy), as well his personal skill. But even with that preference, he still very much has interest in watching men as well, what with his supports with Clanne and Zelkov, and of course his bond with Hector. There seems to be a consensus that Louis was meant to be a reverse Nina from Fates, and while there’s some sort of truth to that, i don’t think it’s an entirely accurate description. I say that because if Louis really was meant to be a reverse of Nina, then things like the aforementioned examples would come across as really odd and seemingly random. Plus I went through a admittedly rough translation of his Ally Notebook pages where it states that he always keeps an eye on his friends and enjoys seeing them get along, not necessarily specifying a particular gender. With this in mind, I take it that Louis’ particular preference was toned down or made more subtle in English as they didn’t want to give anyone the wrong idea about him, as his pretty strange hobby aside, he’s a very caring and thoughtful guy who just loves helping out his friends and wants nothing more than ensuring that they’re in good states of mind, which is a heavily recurring theme in his support conversations. But that’s just how I see Louis, I’m interested if you share any similar thoughts on this matter.

Once again thank you for all your hard work you do for this community, it’s all very much appreciated.

For me, Louis is in that category of Fire Emblem character that has existed mostly post-Awakening, where the writers wanted both a “joke character” and a “nuanced character” all rolled up in one package, and the two sides don’t always mesh so well, for better and for worse. In general, I’ve come to be neutral on it, because it’s simply one of Fire Emblem’s tropes at this point. He’s both “Ha ha creepy dude stares at women” and “sweet man who picks up on everything about everyone, men and women, because he’s wholesome and just wants his allies to be happy” all at once. I can both love him as a sweet caring friend to his allies, and think “wow, creeper” all at once. It’s Fire Emblem doing a Fire Emblem. The writers just write like that. I can wish FE’s sense of humor didn’t have to be like this, but I also know what to expect at this point.

So fun story, the first Louis support I happened to unlock was his one with Alear, and it took me nearly the entire C conversation to get why Alear was weirded out. And I was reading the Japanese version of the convo!

I assumed Louis was like this, vibing in social situations, until finally at the end of the C convo I said to myself, "Oh, that's what the game is getting at! He's kind of a creeper!" ...And that's my humorous story, that I didn't even get the joke that probably should have been obvious.

Like... people watching is super normal to a certain degree. Multiple people have explained to me that they like to sit in a crowd and not listen in on conversations or anything... especially when I was in college! The main dining hall was built into a slope, so there were three 'tiers' of seating, each one elevated slightly lower than the last. It was a common hobby to sit at the edge of the top tier, and just hang out and look at everyone in the 2 lower tiers for a while. They weren't snooping, eavesdropping, or staring on purpose... just enjoying the vibe. Because humans are social creatures and often just like the vibe of being in a social situation, without having to be social themselves at the moment.

I'm honestly a little surprised Treehouse didn't do more to tone down the “staring at women” side of Louis’ people-watching. Anon, you mentioned the Louis/Chloé supports, and they are worth bringing up again, because the localization really did nothing to change the weirdness of them, in my opinion.

 Let's look at a direct snippet from Louis/Chloé C:

Japanese w/ my quick translation:

[クロエ]そうして堂々と言われると、 まっとうな趣味のように勘違いしてしまいそうよ。▼ Chloé: When you describe it so magnificently like that, you almost make me mistake it for a respectable hobby. [ルイ]仲良く話す女性たちを眺めるのが好き。 それが趣味なのはおかしなことでしょうか。▼ 触れたいわけでもなければ、 会話に加わりたいわけでもないのに。▼ Louis: I like gazing upon women chatting amicably. Is that really such a strange hobby to have? Considering I do not want to bother them, nor join in the conversation? [クロエ]本当に見ているだけがいいのね。▼ Chloé: And you are truly happy just watching them? [ルイ]美しい風景を楽しむのと同じですよ。 心を穏やかにし、静かに眺めるんです。▼ 無害で健全な趣味だと思っていますし、 クロエさんなら理解してくれるはずでは？▼ Louis: It is the same as enjoying beautiful scenery. It calms my heart, and I watch quietly. I think both are a harmless, healthy hobby. You of all people should understand.

Localized English:

Chloé: The way you talk, it sounds like you were taking in fine art at a gallery. Louis: To me, there is no greater art. The finest galleries fall far short by comparison. There are so many subtleties and nuances to be seen that I could do so all day. Chloé: That's really the whole reason you do it? Louis: It's no different than appreciating a beautiful landscape. I sit quietly and let it soothe me. I see no harm in people-watching, and I'm sure you of all people must agree.

Of course everyone will have their own reaction, but calling it a work of art to stare at the subtleties and nuances of women who might not know he's there... feels even more weird to me than the Japanese, where he directly says he likes watching women talk. The exact words of the conversation are different, sure, but I get the same feeling. 

As I’ve said before, I feel like certain groups of conversations get assigned to different staff, and the two (or more) translators/localizers don’t always meet up to make sure they are on the same page with the same character. Some chunks of the localized text feel like the localizers tried to make Louis’ people-watching more gender-neutral, and others feel like it's still very much a thing he mostly does to women. Just an observation, nothing to quote me on.

And so, I think that’s all I have to say on Louis for the moment! Thanks for the question anon, he is a character that makes for interesting discussion.

#fire emblem #engage #fire emblem engage #fe17 #louis #character discussion #character discourse #switch #nintendo switch

[fight-back-party-pack]

The purpose of this blog

Howdy there, don't even have an icon yet because I haven't done much of the art for these games, but this blog will serve two purposes:

Update about and promote the Fight Back Party Pack (working title), including answering asks

Make polls for a planned game (which has people guessing the answers of polls), and ask people for their consent to include (with attribution) polls they've created on Tumblr. No real polls will be included without the poster's permission.

Reason 2 is why I've made the blog so early in the development process. I can't do much marketing yet, but I can start on data collection (again, with consent, opt in).

If you're seeing this, you can:

a) Request that I never ask to use your polls (in a post, the replies here, or DM), or block this account if that feels more comfortable than an honor system.

b) Give me permission to use any of your polls (in a post, the replies here, or DM)

c) Tag this account in future posts if you consent to that specific poll being included in the game without me having to ask.

d) Send in anonymous asks if you want me to conduct a poll based on a situation, and give me consent to include the situation anonymously in the game (e.g. AmITheAsshole posts or just any sort of question where we can use several poll options). Asks about common sensitive discourses probably will not be posted. Asks about very serious subjects, such as abuse, likely will not be posted and almost definitely won't be included in the game.

Note that I'm primarily interested in polls that have to do with fandoms or pop culture and have either specific characters or some sort of character trope as the answer (E.g. the Joker or "angsty protagonist"), but some polls are funny enough to be an exception to the theme.

#first post #character discourse

[pseudo-hero]

Unpopular Superboy/Kon-El Opinion

*(Saw a popular-ish image post about the Superfamily that made me want to start a conversation on this. I don’t think the main point in the post was wrong but the tired, old, kinda-sorta illogical opinion(s) that came from it just...rubbed me the wrong way.)

It doesn’t actually matter whether or not the reader or writer want Superboy/Kon-El to be called Superman’s “son” or his “brother” because the nature of their relationship (in terms of blood or behavior) is what’s important. Nothing about said current relationship would automatically change unless a writer changed it. 

In other words, if someone is treated by you like they’re your child and it’s hinted that others see them that way too, you best believe that they’re your child. Seriously. (Remember, for example, Batman and Robin/Nightwing’s non-biological, adoption-based father-son relationship?)

Therefore Kon-El’s origin doesn’t actually matter as much as some people think it does, nor even his biological connection to either or both Superman and Lex Luthor. Neither of these traits on their own have to change anything significantly about any version of Kon/Conner. That means he can be a basically-full-kryptonian with perhaps added abilities, or a limited-powers, possibly flightless character or a power-mimicking and TTK-or-similar-power having character. He can also be genetically related to both Clark and Lex, Clark and some other gene donor(s), Clark alone, or not have any DNA from Clark at all. He can be “pure good” or “pure evil” regardless of where and who his genes come from too!

And this goes for any Superfamily character btw. Yes, I agree that it should be okay for people to be ‘adopted’ into the fam. We’ve already seen it happen before, more or less. But there’s nothing wrong with many or most members being there by blood either. Both can happen at the same time.

Furthering my point on Kon’s genes: The problem with them expecting fans to accept his connection to Kal-El as that of “cousins” or even “brothers” isn’t that (as far as I’m aware) we Superman-is-Superboy’s-father truthers are against the idea of adopted family or Kon having genetic ‘quirks’ with his powers that lead to him only having some kryptonian abilities, or none at all. The problem is the blatant, mind-boggling dishonesty that the writers and certain fans are engaging in by promoting and accepting this idea, respectively. It literally makes no sense. Not on a genetic basis, age-basis or treatment-basis.

I know ideas are sometimes brought up and then not utilized to their full potential and that this happened when Kon/Conner’s origin was retconned (again?). However, there’s nothing stopping said ideas from finally being used—besides writers themselves. Superboy, in reality, is ‘like’ a son to Superman in more ways than one. If they didn’t want many swathes of the fandom to view him as Superman’s super-progeny, than they shouldn’t have written him to be one or ‘like’ one!

Nuance matters people, as does simple scientific and real world logic. Let’s please not lose these in our quest to have entire worlds and the characters of them written to our exact liking. It could, in some cases, literally destroy a character’s lore, reputation and the character him/herself! The ideal that you want is often much closer to that of others than you think, and easier to achieve, without needing to erase years and years worth of history.

#Superboy #Kon-El #Conner Kent #Superman #Lex Luthor #character traits #character origins #character discourse #Kon Luthor #Conner Luthor #Kon Kent #Conner-El #Konner #Kon-El-Luthor #Kon-El-Kent #Kon-El-Luthor-Kent #Kon-El-Kent-Luthor #Konner-El-Luthor-Kent #Wow kryptonians get to have a lot of names! #So many options! #If they were raised on Earth that is.

[fanfic-lover-girl]

Character Discourse

So character discourse on Tumblr can get heated. We all have favourite characters for many reasons whether it be for nostalgia, some kind of relatability etc. But what I find most annoying is when people try to invalidate someone's opinion of a character because that person likes an antagonist of that character or your interpretation of a canon event does not match theirs or something like that.

For example, I love Draco. He is the reason why I got into Harry Potter in the first place. However, I don't like the golden trio. Not because of their bad relationship with Draco but other factors such as how their bad acts are downplayed in the story. My feelings for Draco and the golden trio are ALMOST mutually exclusive. It's annoying how my feelings about the trio may be minimized or ridiculed because I am a 'Draco stan' so of course I don't like the trio because they are meanies to poor baby Draco (sarcasm). If I want to criticize Hermione, I have to criticize Draco too even though my post has nothing to do with Draco. I have had Hermione fans/stans use my love for Draco against me when they have no good argument against aspects of Hermione's horrid character. As much as I like Draco, I am ok seeing people make valid critiques of him. Like calling Hermione mudblood or mocking Ron for his socioeconomic status. If I say anything in defence of Draco, it is mainly to point out double standards. For example, if Draco should be criticized for calling Hermione mudblood, we should hold Hermione to the same standard when she calls Firenze a horse. Or when Minerva, Hagrid and the Weasleys use 'muggle' as a slur.

I have made a few posts about Goku and Vegeta as dads. Just because you hold an opinion about something, you get accused of not watching the show or being a brain-dead stan. I have realized that people have different filters when they watch something. But it's frustrating when those filters that are outlined for why you may see things a certain way are totally ignored. For example, someone may love Hercule Satan for his heroic acts and believe it outweighs whatever wrongs he did. But as much as I find his character entertaining, I will never fully like him because of his lies and the implications of his fraud for the next generation of martial artists like Videl. Two different opinions because someone may focus on what's on screen vs someone who may like to think about worldbuilding and cause & effect. I have stated multiple times why Goku rubs me the wrong way as a dad post Cell games based on what I see in canon DBZ. And until something else clicks for me when rewatching clips for nostalgia, I doubt I will ever feel differently. And fans of Goku don't exactly lessen the sour feelings either. Making accusations that I get all my opinions from Youtubers like I can't examine things for myself like a grown woman. I love Goku as a MC and I like his journey to be the best in the universe. My only tiny gripe is SOME of his interactions with his family.

In summary, character discourse can be annoying and sometimes it is just a waste of time. If someone does not agree with me, I just move on. Greet 2024 with a new lease on life and hope I can be more Christian-like in my interactions online.

#draco malfoy #character discourse #tumblr discourse #hercule satan #son goku #harry potter series #dbz #dragon ball z #anti golden trio #new year 2024 #hermione granger

[troythecatfish]

#dandadan #character analysis #anime #anime and manga #manga #animeblr #mangablr #bamora #character discussion #character discourse #video essay #tumblr recommendations #recommend #recommendation #youtube #youtube content #youtube recommendations #youtube video #video recommendation #youtube link #video link