#for a fandom who makes amazing literary metas

[writing-for-life]

Thank you for an amazing 2023!

About metas, fics and sparkly things…

This won’t be short, but you wouldn’t expect that from me, would you? 🤣

I’ve been on Tumblr for just a bit over a year because I needed to get off my family’s back after my three decades long Sandman brain-rot got worse again due to the Netflix series. I hovered around a handful of followers for months until things exploded (I still don’t know why tbh, I think it was one particular meta that kicked things off a bit), and I somehow ended up with hundreds of followers, which might not be much to some, but it’s a lot for me.

So to all of you I’d like to say: Thank you for being here. I don’t always manage to stay on top of things because my notifs are a mess and I lose track, plus I have a rather busy life and can often only write in batches and then queue, but each of you is appreciated, even if I accidentally forget to get back to you or if we aren’t mutuals.

I’ve made such lovely connections over the last year—my interest in The Sandman definitely does not align with the main focus that shan’t be named, and I’m glad that you folks are out there. You probably know who you are.

Now to the obligatory “your posts wrapped” thing—and I’m only doing it because I need to make a point (of course I do 🤣).

News and art

My by far most successful posts have been casting/shooting news and pretty pictures (two examples are linked). And I’m grateful for all the reblogs and likes of those, but apart from curating them, they’re not really me. They’re someone else’s work.

Meta analysis

Then you have my metas, which make up the bulk of the other posts that are doing quite well (you can find all of them in my pinned post).

Even if it wasn’t my most “successful” one (what does that even mean?), this one meant the most to me:

I love writing metas, whether they cover literary concepts, psychology, music or art because I’m a permanently brain-frazzled multi-hyphenate who has to talk about everything that won’t leave her alone.

I also love when you’re sending me asks btw. For the latter, I hope they pick up again in 2024 because they really nosedived since I switched off anonymous asks (which I won’t change, soz) after some people just thought it’s good sport to be an arse about my not being here to pray at the altar of the ship. I guess we have briefly covered the ugly side of Tumblr, too, then.

Writing

But what I'm most proud of when I think of all the things I've done in 2023 is my fiction and poetry. And that's both a happy and slightly sad thing to address.

My 31 Haikus for Sandtober started as a bit of fun, but they’ve developed a life of their own, and people seemingly liked them. The post also contains a bit of my fan-art:

I still intend to turn them into a hardcover at some point, but I won’t be able to create all the artwork myself, so if you’re a fan-artist and want to know what I’m thinking of, please get in touch (I’ll still talk about this in more detail at some point though).

The other thing I’m incredibly proud of is “The Light of Stars”.

I started it as a NaNoWriMo project in 2022 (I always use NaNo to do something that is less stressful than my professional writing projects), wrote it in a bit more than a month—and then did nothing with near 80,000 words until June 2023.

And then I thought “Fuck it,” and published it on Ao3. It’s a canon x OC fic, and this is where it gets a bit sad. Because for most of us writers, these are never the posts that get most engagement (the ratio is really something like 100 : 1 — 500 for a shitpost, 5 for an average writing post).

On Ao3, it gradually picked up because I published chapter after chapter, and I think I can say that it’s done fairly well over there in terms of engagement for an OC fic, and above all how people engage with it. Because it’s a bit deeper despite being romance, it deals with heavy topics like grief, and I’m so glad to have touched a few people’s hearts with it, and that it was meaningful to them. So much so that you all convinced me to write a sequel.

But here’s the thing: The general engagement with writing, especially non-explicit, non-ship, non-readerY/N on Tumblr is very, very low.

Writers who write canon x OC are still struggling to be heard through the noise (it’s not just me, I’ve had many conversations about this, so I’ll just say: I’ll speak for many of us). There are basically hardly any events for us to participate in (most of us only ever do so if we shift to canon one-shots, poetry or metas. If we don’t: Again, no one cares), and fandom often actively chooses to ignore us because “all OCs are self-inserts, ew.” Which is patently not true, and I could go on a long rant now why many canon x canon fics are very obvious self-inserts, which I won’t.

But even if all OCs were self-inserts, even if all characters were—so what? All writing is to a degree based on self-insertion because it comes from our brains—it’s not a bad thing. But apparently, it becomes a bad thing if the character is an OC, heaven knows why.

So if I had one wish (I’m allowed one, right?) for 2024, it would be that people engage more with OC fics and include them more in community events. That fandom, which prides itself in community, includes writers who don’t write for (the main) ship/s a bit more, especially if they don’t write smut (which I personally even do professionally, but I don’t want to have to do it in fanfic just to get engagement). I’m not holding my breath because I know that’s not where fandom’s oft single-minded focus lies, but a girl can dream, right?

And with that, I want to get to my proudest accomplishments of them all:

Being the curator queen of the sparkle realms:

Being one (arguably the main) instigator of the maddest crack ship that has ever graced (?) the face of the earth, spawned the most unhinged discussion (much truth in it though 🤣) and even NSFW fanart. I promise I’ll write that fic about Murphy and his Cool Hat:

Have a lovely 2024!

#2023 wrapped #the sandman #sandman #sandman meta #sandman fanfiction #sandman fanart #sparkle content #sparklecontent #murphy and his cool hat

[merrysithmas]

I was reading through your metas on Star Wars especially Obikin and they amazing! They’re refreshing because it seems to me the majority of this fandom forgets that Anakin/Vader isn’t the bad guy or the villain of SW. It’s Palpatine. And that’s literally the point according to GL at least as far as I’m aware. I know he’s has literally said flat out that Anakin/Vader isn’t the villain he’s just a pathetic broken man who, yes, does awful things but he’s still not meant to be seen as the “true” villain of Star Wars that most people see him as.

I don’t know why people either don’t understand this or if they just choose to ignore it because they don’t like Anakin and we see more of him/Vader than Palpatine/Sidious. It just baffles me how so many want to hold Anakin accountable for his actions and blame him for things but they will in the same breath ignore Palps. Make it make sense.

thank you so much!

I think a lot of it has to do with a certain subset of the audience's unwillingness to see a piece of fiction as a representation of tropes, dynamics, archetypes and fable-esque fantasy rather than direct correlation to Real Life Morality.

obviously in real life Anakin, no matter WHAT, should be imprisoned for life... murder is not good lol.

but in Star Wars, a story, it is obviously to me at least that Anakin is a representation of the ultimate MacGuffin. he is a CLASSIC tragic hero in the grecian sense - not good or ultimately liked or morally decent but destined by nature of his flaws to do something heroic.

Anakin is NOT a human - he is demi god conceived of the Force and essentially a barometer for the health of the Galaxy. He is enslaved, mistreated, taken away from his mother, not given consideration for his unique circumstance by the Jedi, coveted by an irresponsible Padme, prodded by a confused Obiwan, & groomed and manipulated by Palpatine. Anakin is used by the Senate as a war hero and given praise for killing thousands for the Republic. All of those Institutions and people, despite their intentions and lofty moral goals, failed him as essentially "a test" for the Galaxy - the Force was testing the moral health of the Galaxy by creating Anakin.

Anakin is the ULTIMATE slave - he is PREDESTINED by the Force and has no choice in his ULTIMATE destitn which is to "balance the force" and for this he suffers IMMENSELY. The Force created Anakin to defend the Republic, and when it was corrupt and failed (as Padme herself noted), used him to destroy it because Anakin became corrupted same as the Republic did.

Of course, Anakin CHOOSES how to do this (murder) which makes him flawed and villainous, but he is eventually pitted against Sidious because the Force "knew" he'd be the only Force user strong enough to survive the Dark Side for decades, and the ONLY ONE STRONG ENOUGH (guilty and good enough) TO RETURN TO THE LIGHT AFTER ALL THAT.

Anakin suffers in Vader's sarcophagus as punishment for his murderous destruction of the Order & alignment with Sidious - he could have theoretically achieved its "destruction" in another more peaceful way. He could have walked away from Sidious. But he didn't. He chose to do that. Anakin became flawed & corrupt in an image of the flawed Republic. (Obviously Obiwan represents the imperfect Order and Padme the imperfect Senate).

Anakin is a literary device - he is a demi god - he is and his actions are not supposed to represent real life people (that would be instead the flawed Padme and Obi-wan - who despite being good still fail bc of their hubris or selfishness).

Also Star Wars is not based on Western morality - and Anakin's relationship with the Force is one of dualistic origin. He is an angel and a demon, slave and master, kind and cruel, strong and weak, the physical embodiment of strength and the physical embodiment of pain... but Anakin is NEVER free.

He is the Force (light, good, "god")'s creation to be used to fight Sidious (dark, evil, "devil").

Anakin is the most tragic character in Star Wars and by definition is a tragic hero.

When Luke saves him, he sees this, and it gives real life viewers hope that regardless of our destiny-by-circumstance we can choose better.

#this is a lot of Thoughts #feel free to read my other Anakin metas too #theyre more concise #anakin skywaker #star wars #luke skywalker #obi wan kenobi #padme amidala #im also sure some ppl dont like anakin bc its triggering for them which is a diff topic and obv fine

[strangestcase]

THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEPEOPLE FAQ

What is the League of Extraordinary Gentlepeople?

The League of Extraordinary Gentlepeople, or LXGP for short, is my current writing project: an AU of the 2003 movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which is in turn a loose adaptation of the series of comics of the same name co-created by Alan Moore and Sir Kevin O'Neill.

The basic synopsis of both comics and movie is as follows: a somewhat dysfunctional superhero team composed of nineteenth century literary characters go on politically charged adventures. The comics and movie are very different, and... very much acquired tastes. Albeit I recommend watching the movie! It's extremely cheesy. Fun too!

Ok, but- what is LXGP really about?

Glad you asked!

In the late XIXth century, a mysterious type known as Agent M sets off to recruit various individuals which he calls Extraordinary People and forms the League, claiming it is the key to preventing a world-wide war! But as events unravel, the League comes to realize M is not who he claims to be...

The LXGP stories are out of order, focusing on both retellings of scenes from the 2003 movie and original stories set after the events of the movie canon. While it is mostly based off the movie, there are elements from the comics, some dramatic changes, and the character designs and personalities are taken from my literary crossover "world", Candyverse! So they will be, in some ways, very different from what you have seen in the LXG franchise.

Hold on- Candyverse?

Candyverse is the name of my literary crossover setting! Expect most of the cast to consist of public domain literary characters (and some not so public domain ones). Don't mind the silly name- the character designs are mildly inspired by sweets in the sense that they are colorful and spunky! But don't be fooled, Candyverse is a pretty dark world.

In Candyverse, Earth is actually a fantasy world, in which elves and fairies and all sorts of mythical creatures used to live... but as people stopped believeing in magic and replacing it with science, it started becoming a science fiction world instead, with amazing technology that is downright futuristic. During its nineteenth century, it is at its most unstable, with gothic literary characters and events "bridging" the supernatural with straight up mad science. And that is precisely the time I am centered in, so expect some gaslamp fantasy and steampunk tech!

Once we delve more into the lore, expect meta stuff, too!

Which not so public domain characters?

Wait and see!

How much time have you spent on this?

If I'm being honest? The concept of this AU came to me around 2020, in which I realized I had enough classic literature characters designed to cover the LXG roster with it- and I decided to jump to action. It has undergone a few changes since, but so far I'm satisfied with it. Also, don't be scared if a soft reboot comes along in a couple of years- I'm indecisive like that!

Why did you create it?

Do you want a honest answer? Just kidding.

I really like the LXG franchise, particularly the movie, though I'm aware it is an acquired taste. This project is meant to be a reply to all the missed opportunities in either comic and movie, and to common criticisms too. I make it with love and a little bit of anger (because SO MANY MISSED OPPORTUNITIES!), and I ride the inspiration unicorn as far as I can.

A shorter answer would be that the gothic lit fandom loves to spread misinformation about it and that drives me up the wall.

So... What's with the title?

The League's roster is only 2/6 men. It's only fair.

And the roster is...?

Mina Murray Harker (she/they), Captain Nemo (no pronouns), Irene Adler (she/they), Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde (he/they/it), Harlow Griffin (he/him), and Alice Byrd (she/fae). I will make -and post- official character bios as soon as I can!

Wait. Alice? From Wonderland?

Yep! She's in her mid-twenties here!

In which year is this set?

In the year of 18??, more or less.

Where is Jonathan? My good friend Jonathan?

He's at home! Technically he is a member of the League, but he is not in Mina's team, but in a second "backup" team that I still have to fully develop!

(This is mostly an excuse to not have to write him. I think he's a pretty boring person. Sorry!)

Where is Tom Sawyer?

He's also in the backup team!

Where is Dorian Gray?

Wait and see!

Where is Allan Quatermain?

He's dead.

...I'm sorry?

Do you have any biases?

*hiding Hyde behind me* Haha, noooo, not at all, what makes you think that, hahahaha.

Are the League heros?

Collectively, they're heroes. They do good. Well, attempt to do good. After breaking bonds with M, they set off as a rogue team of mercenaries. Individually? They range from heroic to villainous. And, honestly, for old-timey superheroes, they're ratther floppy. Their missions often go wrong or do the opposite of saving the day. Whoops!

Will there be queer stuff in this?

All League members are transgender. Does this answer your question?

...I meant like, romance...

Sheesh! Yes, yes there will be! Just be patient!

Will there be... steamy stuff?

I suck at writing NSFW so yeah, "steamy" is all you're gonna get lol.

Will you post art?

I suppose I will- when I make it.

How often will this update?

WHEN. I. HAVE. FINISHED. A. STORY. THEN. I WILL. POST. IT. THAT'S. WHEN. IT. UPDATES.

Can I make art?

Sure you can!

Can we collab?

SURE!

Can we kiss?

Ew. No.

#the league of extraordinary gentlemen #the league of extraordinary gentlepeople #lxg #lxgp #loeg #lxg au #gothic fiction #gothic literature #gothic lit #dracula #jekyll and hyde #the invisible man #sherlock holmes #20k leagues #alice in wonderland

[dangerously-human]

for the fic year in review: 9, 10, 19, 20, 29 :)

Ah, thanks for inviting me to ramble. <3

What fic meant the most to you to write? I gave another answer for this earlier, but the other - as I've said repeatedly - is Not Even a Doorknob Between You, as my love letter to the themes of a series that reshaped me as a person. It's very hard to explain everything Lockwood & Co means to me, which is why that fic exists - as my best attempt to scratch the surface.

What fic made you feel the happiest to work on? Of what's been posted so far, easily Woke Up in a Safe House Singing. Spent most of the writing of it with a grin on my face. If we include WIPs in the list, the apple pie fic might give that one a run for its money, but that's almost certainly not getting posted before the end of the year.

Share your favorite opening line Ah, I already used the cat one for an earlier answer, now I have to think of another! See, I usually put more thought into how I conclude a story than its beginning, I should probably reconsider that trend a bit. Anyway, I'm quite fond of the opener to Smoke & Shield: It’s his first birthday party, and Anthony is clearly too impatient for cake to be bothered with this business of candles.

Share your favorite ending line Also one I answered, but happy for an excuse to share multiple! Another favorite closer is from I'll Take the Grave: Leaning on each other, he and Lucy descended into the dawn as one.

If this were an awards show, who would you thank? Sneaky, sneaky... You would obviously be top of the list, for all the commingling brainrot at inhuman speeds, seeding the Catholic Lockwood headcanon that is now firmly rooted, and for all the discussions of the overlap of faith and fandom. All the sickos get a shoutout, of course: the encouragement from you, @geekloverlz, @polithicc, and @itripandfallalot has been a gamechanger that adds so much fun to the process, and I love all our "yes and"-ing that spirals one vague notion into so much more. And my beloved @loubuttons has swapped insightful meta and buzzing about themes and characters from the beginning. Of course, this league of strange ladies on my dash deserve a nod as well for being so vocally enthusiastic about this thing - and especially all the literary analysis through a Christian lens - that I couldn't help being intrigued enough to get into Lockwood & Co in the first place. And for all the writers who've poured their time and hearts into the amazing stuff I've read and watched this year that got the gears turning - I know I've mostly talked about Lockwood & Co, because that's where I'm most deeply embedded, but there are a lot of books, shows, movies, fanfiction, etc that's influenced me over this year and contributed to making me the writer I currently am!

#personal #writer probs: fanfic edition

[branwendaughterofllyr]

Re some of these ASOIAF metas. Look, I think GRRM is a clever writer, but not THAT clever TBH. Like, I read or skim some of these super in depth detailed metas and I just think "Yall know GRRM hasn't thought about this minor character or plot point since the Obama administration, right?" "Let's right essays about the lemon trees!" "What about all that stuff in Dani's chapters about her being incompetent, torturing people, burning people alive, and all that negative foreshadowing about her being a daughter of death, mother of monsters, and how she's gonna have all these people betray her on top of having clearly delusional 'advisors' blowing smoke up her ass about everyone in Westeros longing for the Targ dynasty return?" "Umm, so what you're saying is that you're a Dani anti, you hate women, and are pro-slaver." LMFAO. It's like you said, they can't see the forest through the trees. Anyway, the only meta that matters is the lord and savior's Adam Feldman's Mereenesse Blot essays.

ASOIAF is such a richly detailed series, and I understand the urge to analyze every piece of text but also- it's 1,770,000 words long!!!!! You'd have to be some kind of god-emperor with psychic powers to remember everything single thing you've written, and last I checked, George was but a mere mortal. And while there are plenty of subtle clues in ASOIAF, in my opinion, GRRM's writing is not as opaque as some people make out. I mean, I think the key example of this is probably the big shockers like Ned's death and the Red wedding. Like, it is shocking because it goes against genre expectations and the reader desperately doesn't want them to happen, but also the foreshadowing for it is everywhere, especially when you reread. George may not spell it out directly, but the writing is usually on the wall. It's why I roll my eyes at D&D crowing over figuring out R+L=J, because I think the average reader paying attention can flag onto it pretty quick.

George is a great writer who loves hiding little details *but* he's not hiding the endgame in some super elaborate puzzle that only the most dedicated super-fan can tease apart, because what would be the fucking point of that????? What is the added of value of burying so deep the true meaning of the narrative that most people will never see it, rather than subtlety weaving it in, so that the close readers might get it on the first read through, but that everyone will be able to follow once they know the ending, adding richness to subsequent rereading?

That's why I think patterns in ASOIAF (and actually all literature as this is kinda a basic tenet of literary analysis) is key to understanding not just the possible endings but also the overarching messages GRRM is trying to convey. What is emphasized, what is repeated? Why are characters highlighted this way, or why are they're actions mirroring each other?

I feel like the biggest thing lacking in the Meta-industrial complex is the question of "why?" What purpose does this serve for the narrative? Why would this detail be relevant?

And Dany's fandom perception is a low-key amazing phenomenon because it's such a great example of how the reader can become completely caught up in a characters pov, even when the narrative is actually contradictory.

And also the lemon trees thing is dumb, because AGOT has a TON of early installment weirdness, since GRRM hadn't ironed out all the details of ASOIAF's story and world building yet. There's a lot of weird, incongruous details that don't match the rest of canon because the story simply wasn't set yet, and a lot of the fandom ignores this lol.

#I've gotten so many asks after my BNF post lololol #branwen answers

[victorianpining]

Hi Rebs!! sorry this is probably a bit out of the blue but I just feel like there’re so many words and thanks I should’ve said to you but haven’t.

I’ve moved on a bit from the Sherlock fandom but the other day I saw someone saying how tjlc probably started the “shipping conspiracies” trend, and somehow I got a bit exhilarated remembering those days. Seeing how “outsiders” think of us is ~interesting~ (tho they probably still believe we were just overthinking), but as someone who firmly believed in tjlc back in the days, I knew I really enjoyed every minute of it. Being in this fandom gave me hope, helped me find my identity and changed my life. It was also one of the greatest fun I’ve ever had. If I got relive the pre-s4 era again I’d still choose to believe in tjlc. My life was difficult at that time, and you were one of those who showed me the light. Watching your videos always got me smiling and thinking I have to live to see the johnlock kiss, I need to know how much of it tjlc got right. Even if I didn’t get what I want in the end, I’d still prefer to live in hopes for a better future, still want to be amazed by the theories and your superb analytical skills.

So I want to thank you, for everything you’re doing now and everything you did back then. Your videos are one of the best on media analysis, and if tjlc started anything, imo it was teaching people literary techniques. I for one actually learned a lot more about storytelling from the meta than from school, and I couldn’t imagine how my life would’ve been if I were never part of this. Many have said this already but I also really want to say it again: it was never fair for people to blame you or others in tjlc for what s4 turned out to be. I was 16-17 back then too, and I think we all chose to believe in this ourselves. Not everything would turn out to be good, but there’s nothing wrong with believing in good things, and nothing wrong with wanting to share good things with others. If we were always “rational” about everything we wouldn’t have been this passionate, and if i weren’t passionate about it, it wouldn’t have been one of my mental support for many years. Even when Sherlock isn’t my favorite show anymore I’d always remember those days fondly and be grateful for what you’ve brought us :)

Sorry this got longer than I intended. I’m just really happy to see you back and find closure <3

Hi anon, thank you so much for writing! I've spent probably too much time thinking of the ways tjlc did or didn't end up shaping future fandoms and the way it was looked at by outsiders. But in the end I think I've come to the same conclusion as you, if I could go back, I *would* do things differently but I wouldn't undo being a part of tjlc. Like you said, in the end we were all just hoping for a better world, and I like to think that even the bad times had a positive impact in the end, I know I personally grew and matured a *lot* as a result. And yeah, learning about media analysis and Holmesian history and making friends, I wouldn't undo any of that.

I'm very happy to hear my old videos helped you learn analysis! That is definitely one of the highlights of the whole experience, and honestly hearing from so many people who did learn about literary analysis through my work has pushed me to potentially pursue transitioning to teaching English (or at least picking it up part time). So thank you! (And everyone else who has sent me something similar)

And thank you for looking back on my work so kindly and so generously. I always see that as the gift it is and I never take it for granted. I hope you have a lovely evening or whatever time of day it is for you! <3

#asks

[mmtions]

I love Buck and Eddie, I think there could have been so much potential with them two as a romantic pairing but honestly im losing hope. With the way the show has been going and the way Buck and Eddie have been written, individually and as a pair, do you really think there is still a realistic way to have them actually get together?? And i would love your opinion on this because you are an incredible writer yourself and ive been following your works from your Flash days

Hi anon! Thank you for messaging and for your kind words, and following since the Flash days! Guess we're both suckers for best friends in love, huh?

So if you're looking for more of a proof-based answer, @kitkatpancakestack talked more about some s5 choices that is very interesting and I think there's some amazing meta going around like @matan4il who I think has gone through like every 5b episode analysing.

Unfortunately, my answer is probably not the one you're looking for. Because it just... doesn't bother me if Buddie go canon or not?

So I'm putting the rest of this under read more to save other people's dash. And I should clarify that yes, I will be popping champagne like everyone at any and all 'canon' moments we get. I was screaming with the rest of y'all at Buck being in the room, and fixing the walls, and taking Eddie to the ranch. That's great content! That's fun! I love those goobers so much!! And I am also not saying I don't care about Buddie at all because, uh, my AO3 word count would disagree.

But what I mean by not caring is: what is canon and what is not does not affect my enjoyment, and I think it's a lot more fun to interact in fandom with that viewpoint.

Now, one caveat here is that I am a fandom elder (in my mid-twenties lmao). I've shipped a lot of ships, from canon to rarepairs to both-of-them-literally-died-in-canon (pour one out for the spn homies). I've shipped m/f, f/f, and m/m ships. I didn't get into Buddie because I thought they were a ship guaranteed to go canon. (I got into Buddie because this insanely gorgeous man was all over my dash apparently leaving whatever the 118 was and I needed to know more. Then I read some fic, and then I watched the show, and then I realised I was gone for about 8k into writing the PTA fic.)

I treat fandom like I treat literature. (No, I'm not saying they're the same, go away if you're about to quote classic greek at me.) What I mean by that is: the skill of literary analysis does not hinge on whether the curtains are blue. I don't give a damn what the author meant by choosing blue curtains. What matters is my skill in linking the blue of the curtains to a pattern or motif I've seen in the text, and my skill in explaining it to other people.

It's the same with fandom. I love the show - the found family, the humour, the characters, the drama - but when the episode ends, it's fanfictions and gifsets and fandom analysis I turn to. It's about the transformation. I mean, if I read one fic where it's Buck pining, or another where it's Eddie, or another where they're astronauts or cowboys or strippers or married in vegas or bake-off contestants, or they get together in the early hours of the morning or they get together after a harrowing emergency - one doesn't negate the other, you know? The skill is how the creators have transformed it. The gifmakers who made links between like, 1x04 and 5x17 and made it gorgeous to look at. Video creators, podfic makers, readers who comment and bookmark and make rec lists. Fanartists!! That's the fandom for me, and the show is the source from which we decide if the curtains are blue.

Now, truly I'm not saying this to condescend to you. I get where you're coming from, and I've been there. But I found that I take much more pleasure in my fandom experience by ignoring actors and interviews and twitter nonsense. If this is stressing you out (again, I have been there, I know it can be genuinely stressful when you care about these characters so much) you need to make a decision whether you're going to take a completely insulated approach (join me! who is ryan guzman? I don't know and now neither do you!) or you're going to lean into looking for proof in all the small moments. That's up to you.

Your fandom experience is yours to curate. If naysayers are stressing you out, block them. Read more fic, reblog more gifsets, spread more art! But I can't be the one to reassure you. If you're not enjoying the fandom, then - and I mean this with real love - take a step away.

If you think the curtains are blue, they're blue. If you wan to go out to bat to prove the curtains are blue, that's okay too, if you enjoy that! If you're constantly worrying that an executive producer is going to declare they're green, I would really recommend you come join the blue curtain club where we sew our own.

Canon is the source, and we choose what to take from it. And that's unfortunately all the reassurance I have for you, my love.

#asks #anon #911 meta #sorry if this got stupidly long but also this has been on my mind for a while #this is not a dig at people who think buddie will go canon i want them to go canon too!! i obviously agree they have chemistry and mileage #and everything else #but my point is that if it's stressing you out it's up to you to choose your boundaries #and genuinely i dont mean this as insulting or patronising or minimising your feelings #i have been in fandoms a while and i have cried over fandoms and production choices and all the rest of it #but seriously i dont read any interviews or negativity or even follow what the actual actors are up to #and that's fine if that makes me delusional or insulated or whatever but it's also made me happier #and that's kind of how i'm trying to live my life right now

[nekropsii]

sorry if this is weird but i just wanna say i really enjoy how you use so much italics' and bold and text colours in your text posts.

there's something about it that just makes them that little bit more engaging and fun to read? easier even? i don't know i just really like that about them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

also mad respect for all your alpha troll analysis and appreciation and stuff, mituna is one of my favorite characters so it's really refreshing seeing someone do him justice :))).

(hope you a full recovery after everything dude, it's been a week o-o)

It’s not weird at all, don’t worry!! That is exactly the effect I was going for, so I’m glad it’s worked for you! I know that for a lot of people, giant walls of text are daunting, and unformatted ones especially are very hard to read. Even for me! And I like reading long form text!

Thank you for enjoying my Alpha Troll content! It’s very much so a niche in this fandom- one that I’ve seen quite a lot of people have staunch disdain for, some of which are actively disrespectful towards it and those who enjoy it- but it is a niche I intend to fill and broaden respect for.

Despite the characters’s analytical and literary maltreatment from the fandom, their short-lived relevancy in the story, and their incredibly rocky reception, I am firmly of the belief that the Alpha Trolls deserve attention and analyses too- especially attention that utilizes… At least half of a brain cell.

Mituna, in particular, is a character I get a lot of enjoyment from, and he’s absolutely amazing to analyze from a meta perspective! But I never see that get done, especially not in modern times. He’s usually thrown aside as a thoughtless joke, or rewritten rather poorly. I’m really glad other people who like him are picking up what I’m putting down- his implied lore is one of the most fascinating aspects of the Alpha Troll session for me!

(Thank you for the well wishes! That Chazzerpan Debacle was a fucking doozy. But it was almost fun, in a way. Key word: ALMOST. It was a god damn emotional roller coaster. But hey- At least we got some clear cut answers from it! I’m just glad it was me who had to handle the brunt of it. I cannot imagine the effects that being on the receiving end of that fiasco would have on someone a bit more sensitive than I am.)

#you’re very kind anon! #have a lovely day! #and also: #if you like my alpha troll analyses do not be afraid to send requests my way! #you can also just rant in my inbox about things #I love seeing peoples thoughts- even if they deviate from my own thought processes! #hell- ESPECIALLY if they deviate from my thought processes! it makes me think #broadens my horizons. makes me reconsider some things #new perspectives are always welcome! #homestuck #alpha trolls #dancestors #mituna captor #chazzerpan debacle #<== adjacent #nekro.sms

[you-cant-spell-subtext-without]

Hii, responding to your post, I hope you’re doing well!

————

I tend to interpret most “spn is a terrible show” posts from spn fans as just joking around, unless they’re going into actual analysis of it, but I don’t see everything you see in your corner of the internet, and I also am not all that great at interpreting stuff (insults directed at me go over my head sometimes 😂 )

I agree, I love Mary being brought back! I really loved the fact that they turned her from a generic tragic figure into an actual character with nuance, and made the boys confront seeing their mother as an actual person.

I tend to describe Supernatural as simultaneously awful and freaking amazing, and overall an enjoyable and unparalleled experience.

My main criticism of the show is how it starts building a theme, an idea, having some foreshadowing, and then not following through with it, and possibly even contradicting the theme later.

However, Supernatural is such a freaking cool show with so much to analyze and oh dear lords LAYERS of subtext!

And Dean Winchester is probably one of the most complex and nuanced characters I have ever seen—

But the thing is, the show doesn’t dive into the subtext all that much. It doesn’t follow through on stuff that should probably have been explored deeper.

On the other hand, that fact, plus the existence of Chuck and the Ghostfacers Effect, makes Supernatural the PERFECT sandbox for creators and literary analysists!

Hmm… I’m wondering- maybe that’s why we have such a vocal and active fandom that actually makes things happen; the construction of the show means that the majority of people who enjoy it are the ones that can think on more than just the surface level, and enjoy putting the effort into understanding the subtext. That means that the show attracts passionate people who think critically about things. And that passion, that is what makes us able to achieve things on such a big scale.

I guess what I’m saying is, on the surface, Supernatural is a mediocre show. Dive down a level and it becomes amazing. Another level, and you spot all the stuff that makes it awful. Dive down even further and you can suddenly see how utterly brilliant Supernatural is. Then, dive further still into the meta, and notice how- heck I don’t even know what to call it, outside forces influencing the plot in ways that mirror real life (like how the writers strike, something out of authorial control, caused a domino effect that led to Destiel coming into being despite efforts to suppress it, mirroring how Cas was outside of Chuck’s control, aka outside of the control of the writers’ self-insert)… yeah there’s a reason we all have brainworms 😂 and it’s so amazing and profound, and honestly it’s a perfect example of the phenomenon of characters coming to life and the story going where it wants regardless of the author’s plans. Happens with me all the time on little levels, but Supernatural… yeah. It’s awesome.

Heck, my reply was a lot longer than I meant it to be, I apologize for that! This is supposed to be a “cheering you up by reminding that you’re not alone” post, and it did end up a bit of a ramble. Anyways, in short, Supernatural is overall a good show in my opinion, you’re not the only one that thinks that.

Hope you have a wonderful day/night, and whenever you next sleep, sleep very well 😊💜🌸

all of this is very accurate :)

honestly I've been having a bad week so my salty little post was probs a result of that too, but I like all of your points and you are very right :) and I agree without its flaws the show wouldn't have spawned such a flux of creativity and passion and drive here, and that is truly the best part of it!

#you-cant-spell-subtext-without-asks #ender-baggins

[captlok]

Pacifism Isn’t A Character Trait

Or: MLK Day is Upon Us so Let Me Do You a Learn

Or: As An Aang Stan I Got a Bit Over-Zealous But Lemme Explain Why For A Hot Minute

Plus some History and Tumblr commentary that even non-ATLA fans can chew on

And by ‘hot minute’ I do mean this is going to be a long meta, so strap in.  For those of you who just might be tuning into this debacle, I, a person who has not used Tumblr, much at all, except for the last half year, ran into some trouble. 

If you wanna skip the whole TLDNR interpersonal stuffs and get straight to Why Aang is the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread, I will embolden the relevant parts, and italicize the crit of Korra, if you want that alongside.

I was excited that ATLA was seeing a resurgence due to the Netflix remake. I wasn’t even trying to apply any steep expectations for it. (learned not to do that the hard way with the last live action adaption, and to a much lesser extent, ATLOK, since it had good . . . elements, *ba dum tsshh*) 

So, these are a couple aspects of the issue: (1) Even on the internet, I am extremely introverted and until recently mostly came for content, not socializing. My main online interactions thus far have been in forums and artist-to-artist on DA. Tumblr is still very strange to me because it splits up its ‘threads’ so you can’t see all the replies if a certain pattern of users responds in their own space. I’m not even 100% sure it’s in chronological order, and replies are not nested next to each other so you can look in the comments and someone will be replying to something you can’t see in that window. And also since it is a bizarre hybrid of a blogging system, posts are somehow considered ‘owned by’ or an ‘extension of’ OP in a way forum threads are not. (2) ATLOK was good in a cinematic and musical way, to be sure. It also had some good concepts. I can go into it just appreciating it for the worldbuilding and be somewhat satisfied. But the execution was terrible. I was on AvatarSpirit.Net for years, and If I had maintained my presence on ASN to current day and had gotten around to downloading their archive now that the forum is dead, I would include some links to other peoples’ detailed analyses on just how flawed both the plotting and Korra’s frustratingly flat learning curve was especially in the first two seasons. But, that is a task for another day, and only if people are interested. 

No, what I’m addressing today, on the issue of Korra as a writing exercise, is how Mike and Bryan said specifically they wanted to make her ‘as opposite to Aang as possible’ and in so doing, muddied the central theme of the original ATLA series.

Now, again, I was mainly an art consumer for my first major round of ATLA fandom. Tumblr is an alien beast to me. But, after I write my first major Aang meta, talking about how amazing it is that he has the attitude he does, and how being content in the face of this overwhelming pain and suffering is an ONGOING PROCESS and an INTENTIONAL DECISION and not a simple PERSONALITY TRAIT, I start hearing that Aang gets a lot of hate from the fandom. Now this would be bad enough if it were merely people not liking his crowning moment of pacifism because they don’t understand the potential utility (I’ll elaborate on that in another post) or the ethics involved.

Aang is easily the most adult member of the Gaang. But he apparently gets hate for his few moments where he actually acts his age, a preteen, and maybe kisses a girl in a historical timeframe in which ‘consent’ discussions were probably nonexistent. Even in the present day, we are still practically drowned in movies that reinforce this kissing without asking trope. And even some female bodied people complain that asking kills the mood! But somehow he is responsible and reprehensible for this, even though the first time she kissed him back. I’m only going to get into the pacifism discussion today, but that was just another layer of annoyance bouncing around in the back of my head.  Other peoples’ crit of Korra that was stewing in my subconscious, plus this Aang bashing, which thankfully I had not directly read much of, made up the backdrop of gasoline for the match that set it off.  Even that seems a pretty melodramatic way to phrase what I actually said, which was: Aang, on the other hand, lost dozens of father figures and was being steamrolled by Ozai who was gloating about genocide TO HIS FACE, yet he still reigned in all that quote, ‘unbelievable rage and pain’ (The Southern Raiders). We Stan Aang, the Superior Avatar. No I did not f**king stutter. #AangSupremacy In another meta, someone complained that I was too defensive of Aang as a character and didn’t apply literary analysis enough, which I quickly rectified.

What set this off? Someone was kind of indirectly praising the line from Korra,  “When I get out of here, none of you will survive” To them it was emotionally resonant or whatever, and I have to point out that no, it was a martial artist not having control of their state of mind, as is the bedrock of the practice. It was never addressed by the narrative, which is a severe oversight.  I had a conversation with someone in the chats, making this distinction between Korra’s character traits and life philosophy. If she were to kill people while enraged and she was fine with that, that’s one thing. But if she regretted it, that’s a whole other kettle of fish. People argue that she comes from a warrior culture, unlike Aang.

Never mind that warrior monks are a thing. That’s what Shaolin monks are. You can be a pacifist and skilled at fighting. Those things are not mutually exclusive, which is the whole point of Bagua, Aang’s style.  And also, Katara’s style. 

That’s one reason I like Kataang so much- their congruent styles. Both of their real world martial arts are dedicated to pacifism, even though ATLA specifically doesn’t spell that out for Katara and her learning arc. 

There was a meta where someone briefly tried to argue that knowing “martial arts” is against pacifism. No. Quite the opposite. I’d argue that you are not a true pacifist unless you know exactly how to handle yourself if someone attacks you.  If you are not in a position to make conscious decisions about how much force to use, rather than merely operating on survival instincts, that is not pacifism. Or at least, not any energy or effort towards pacifism as a practical everyday tool.  I’ve made a few attempts to learn some tai chi and aikido, and it’s improved my physical and mental health, but some other things have gotten in the way. #lifegoals

I’m not going to tag the unfortunate soul whom I was replying to, because they’re probably tired of all this, but I’ll be sending them a PM to say that I’ve made this into a different post, because as I mentioned before, threads are somehow considered “owned” by OP, so it’s been pointed out to me that I should separate it.  I also said, I have basically ZERO respect for Korra uttering violent threats when the writers already minted a far more emotionally devastated and yet still resilient and centered character earlier in their franchise. People always try to excuse away people who genuinely like Aang more.  As if it’s just nostalgia or whatever. For me, no, it’s absolutely not. It is respect for a character who stands toe to toe with real people who are kind in the face of overwhelming injustice. (I have another meta on that). 

Both OP and people in the chats try to make excuses that she wasn’t raised as a pacifist, and that would be fine if they had addressed it with Tenzin and she had stated outright that she was rejecting pacifism and mind training. As it is, we are left with this nebulous affair where the lines between ideology and personality traits are blurred. 

We are told she “has trouble with spirituality” but what does that even mean? Does she have trouble with focus? Does she have trouble relating to the canonically real spirits? And pacifism specifically nor inner peace that it flows from is never even talked about as an extension of spirituality, which is canonically tied to airbending.

“Aang didn't have to deal once with the loss of his autonomy in atla” OP claims.

This was after I had noted that Aang was getting kicked around by Ozai and was most likely going to die.  Similarly, someone in the chat rejected the idea that a 12 year old trapped in a stone sphere that is heating up under a cyclone-sized blowtorch feels powerless. 

Sorry but that’s flat out ridiculous.

No one wants to admit that both of these people were faced with similar situations, and when push came to shove, one showed his LIFE PHILOSOPHY through conscious effort, and the other was abandoning the basis of martial arts, which is, no matter what the situation, keep thinking. Hold the panic at bay. Non-attachment would have served her well in this situation. Tenzin should have told her this. Before, or afterwards. It should have been addressed in the writing.  

People see this as “bashing” Korra, and oh well, can’t help that. If I think the writers didn’t follow through on their themes, that is my concern.  OP said I was “offended.” No, not really. 

I wasn’t offended by the post itself, or its commentary. Thought I made that pretty clear.

This is not dramatics. Let me be blunt.

As a ideological pacifist, and an actual practitioner of meditation, based on Buddhism, NOT just the fan of some show, I am for calling out writers who write one way from the survivor of genocide, and then stray from that ‘thoughtless aggression is immoral no matter HOW hurt I am’ to ‘let’s not address this character’s aggression in the narrative whatsoever.’ OP attempted to derail by accusing me of being racist or sexist against Korra. Also ridiculous. It honestly should have set me off more, but it didn’t. 

Meditation is about reigning in your emotions. Managing your anger when it gets out of hand, and digging down to the roots of it. Being responsible for your own behavoir. Acknowledging ownership of your own actions. Not blaming anything YOU DO on anyone else or any circumstances in your life. Like an adult, or should I say, an enlightened adult.

Or at the very least, that is the ideal ypu strive towards while being imperfect in the present.

. . .

Now.

I’m going to quote a passage in a Google Doc of mine, even though I’d really prefer if you asked to read the whole thing, with context.

“What do humans do when it is necessary to, or greed makes a nation want to recruit?

They go to the army to get trained, right?

Granted, having someone scream and get spittle on your face is, in the grand scheme of things, poor preparation for having bullets whiz past your chest and grenades shatter your ears. And, what do you do to prepare you for the pain of getting your leg blown off? Hopefully, nothing. Like taking a test where you only got half the study guide. But, it’s about the most ethical way to go about it, right?

Not everyone even sees action. So any more more extensive mental preparation for physical pain than that, and you’d have people definitely protesting.

Well, as it turns out, pacifistic protestors themselves, if they were in the right time and place, also very intentionally do this type of mind training. Except, when they did it, they actually did sit still and took turns roughly grabbing each other and throwing each other down and in some cases, even kicking and bruising each other.

Turns out, those pacifists are, in some ways, more hardcore than the army.

Why is this?

Because a pacifist’s aim, unlike a unit, who wants to gain the upper hand in a situation, is to grit their teeth and grind their way through all those survival instincts, and totally submit.

In this, they aim to get the sympathy of the public, who clearly sees they are not aggressive, or a danger, no matter how much the footage is manipulated or suppressed.

In this, they hope to appeal to their attacker’s better nature.

Make them stop and think, wait a second, are these people a threat like we’re told they are? I’m attacking someone who’s letting me beat them up. Or a bunch of people. All forming a line, and letting us peel them off. Or sitting, and bowing their heads. If I’m on the ‘right’ side of things, the law, why am I doing this?

It’s not like a bully, who’s just a kid.” They’re more self-aware.

And might I add the situation influences a pacifist’s actions too. There’s no reason to let a single or a few random attackers beat you up if you can evade or disable without permanent damage.

Pacifism is a dynamic set of responsive actions informed by values. Not a proscribed set or a checklist.

But in terms of organizing against state power, and recording wrongdoing, which unlike during the Civil Rights can happen from all angles from smart phones nowadays, these are the motivations.

“So, the pacifist knows this, and that’s why they go through all that trouble of training themselves to, not only submit, but not turn tail and run, either.”

See, a character trait is something like being a morning person, or ways of handing information, or a given set of emotions a character feels. Once you cross over into actions, you must make the distinction of whether an impulsive character agrees with their own uncontrolled actions, or is embarrassed or remorseful. Those are life philosophy. Now sure, one type of person or character may be more likely to subscribe to pacifism, but there is no gatekeeping on what you have to feel or how you look at things. You can be easygoing, or feel all the rage in the world, but as long as you at least attempt to have a handle on those desires and feelings to where they do not cross into actions, you are still doing the work of metacognition, which is what martial arts and its accompanying mind training are for.

It’s what we see Aang do.

He’s informed us, during the Southern Raiders, on how much rage and pain he feels.

Pain points, TRIGGERS, that were directly struck at when Ozai gloated over him.

He joins with all the past Avatars for several moments, and just like every other time he is in the Avatar State, he is enraged. He wants to exact revenge on the unrepentant grandson of a baby murderer.

We see it when he turns his head away, face still screwed up in anger.

For another example, I could cite my difficulties in being aware and reining in my tongue sometimes. I know the roots of these issues and I seek to let them go.

It’s just that process takes way longer than Guru Pathik would have us assume.

In fact, I would even say that Aang’s portrayal throughout the three seasons is not strictly a realistic representation of at least the sad side of grief. I addressed that a little when I talked about real life figures. But what it IS, is a metaphor that cuts very deep to the heart of pacifism. As I showed in that Doc . . . There is no limit of suffering a pacifist is willing to go through, internal or external, for the preservation of peace.

This was demonstrated during the Civil Rights, and with Gandhi and all his followers beforehand, inspiring them. The pacifists’ method of swaying hearts is probably the reason BLM exists in such numbers as it does today. Will the types of narratives that correspond with their full stories of the way they collectively planned and trained for and approached conflict make it into fantasy media? I’d say, probably not. For a host of reasons.

It could be hoped for, I guess.

But we DO have Aang.

As for myself, whether speaking sharply is an “action,” per se is up for debate- certainly it doesn’t seem to violate the non-aggression principle put forth by the vision of a “stateless society.”

For another example, let’s take my explanation at the beginning. I am examining how circumstances affected my actions, and now am attempting to fix it, if indeed it needs to be fixed. 

At least one person said that it not so much what I said, but how and when I said it. I don’t actually think I’ve said anything “wrong” per se. So I have to figure it out. 

[I’m considering splitting up this next part into a second post, as it only slightly relates to pacifism itself and is just kinda some more commentary on Tumblr itself- Tumblr discourse, as it were]

[I’ll put more brackets when I’m done in case you want to skip this part as well]

An interesting social difference between Tumblr and other places is this command you often get, “don’t chat/reblog/message me back.”

This is interesting for several reasons. For chats and reblogs, other people may be following the “conversation,” so it’s actually pretty rude and presumptuous to tell a person not to respond to whatever you said, because other people watching still may be interested in your take.

In a forum setting, if someone involved in a conversation doesn’t have anything left to say, usually they just don’t respond.

This method would work perfectly fine for Tumblr, but for some reason, maybe its super odd format, probably due to the “ownership”/“extension of self” I mentioned at the beginning of the essay, people don’t tend to do this.

Now, in comment sections, sometimes you’ll run across an amusing sort of “mutually assured destruction” where two people both say this to each other. You’d better stop responding. Omg just give up. Why are you still arguing. Etc.

But see, no matter where this behavoir pops up, and no matter who starts in on it, those who do this usually want to have the last say on the matter.

Instead of merely not replying, they want to assert verbal control over the conversation.

Tumblr, in its weirdness, is also sort of like a mutant comments section. You can post comment section threads as your own post.

Which is one reason why I’m puzzled when people say ‘don’t read the comment sections’ when Tumblr is so popular.

I’m an oddball in that I browse comment sections for fun.

Probably due to alexithymia, I didn’t really comprehend the emotional toll it takes on many people, so the warnings to “stay out of comment sections” read to me like “hey don’t eat that dessert.” After I’m done with the ‘meal’ of an article or art, I like to see what lots of different people have to say about it. The fluff. Anything vitriolic I either blip over, or extract anything useful, or if I judge the person is reasonable enough, I might engage.

Sometimes I mis-judge on how reasonable someone is, and I shrug and move on after being cussed out or whatever.

In this, I suppose I succeed much of the time in being a verbal pacifist.

[But let’s get back to the more serious stuff.]

We’re talking about what is done in life or death situations, here.

For myself, I may in the near future be working more with dangerously mentally ill people. I’ve had a little exposure to it through various means. Nurses are obligated not to retaliate against patients, and those who have, have been fired in some situations. Again oddly, this is not primarily what triggers my anxiety. Unfortunately enough, this requirement has also resulted in nurses getting seriously injured and violated. I hope to influence whether “no harm” techniques such as tai chi and aikido and arm locks may be allowed. The voluntary philosophy I was luckily already on board with is enforced by bureauacracy, directly relevant to my potential profession.

Were someone to get involved in a dangerous profession, such as a police officer, their moral duty would also be to own up to any spur of the moment anger or fear they acted on. 

It’s just that their bureaucracy acts differently, in excusing their actions.

Ideally, they would be taking steps far in advance, to avoid this often-cited fear of death reaction. As training pacifists like Aang do. 

And yes, army people are trained differently than police officers because the army, often, even when threatened, is supposed to avoid engagement or deploy deterrents that are non-lethal almost all costs, unless ordered otherwise. Whereas American police are given pretty much complete discretion and often not taught de-escalation techniques. Even police from other nations are better trained in that regard.

Enter the ironically named @avatarfandompolice whose account description should really speak for itself. Combative, dismissive, and their attention-hungry bread and butter is to find people they think it’s acceptable to ridicule.  They basically tried to say trauma was a valid excuse to take out your anger on other people, and in this situation, potentially kill. 

Now, does this hold up in the real world? Yeah, sometimes. Especially if some law breaker or law keeper has not been given the anger management tools, they perhaps could be excused, or better yet, rehabilitated.

But especially if anyone finds themselves in dangerous situations, or intends to put themselves in such, it falls to them to do this preparation.

As an aphant, I am at a bit of a disadvantage, compared to an average martial artist, being unable to visualize an attacker. But I still attempt it.

As the main “police officer” of the world- the coincidentally blue clad figurehead that is supposed to keep order, it is apparently fine for Korra to not do the work Aang did to keep level. To blow it off as too much trouble: clearing the First Chakra of fear. For herself or others. And its resultant anger. Had she had access to the Avatar State, the authority figure pretty much would have killed people.  This is what the “fandom police” and a certain chat goer ultimately support. Maybe they didn’t understand it that way, and since the second had blocked me, they will also never see this explanation. Unless I were to share it in Google Doc form I suppose.

So, I responded. “Remember kids, you are not responsible for your own behavior if you have the excuse that someone else did something bad to you.” A frighteningly common sentiment on this site.

When it’s low stakes like CAPSLOCKING or internet fights, that’s not such a big deal. But what happens if this attitude leaks into the real world? This isn’t even about Korra or Aang anymore, it’s about toxic mindsets. I didn’t know fans taking pro-Korra posts as anti-Aang was a common in the fandom. I’ll say again I’ve only just gotten really active on Tumblr like the past few months. This is about pacifism itself. MLK and his hardworking, training followers (yes some of them sixteen and POC and not super-powered like Korra) facing down firehoses and staging sit-ins long trained for would shake their heads at this defense of reactionism. 

Pacifism is not a Personality Trait.

It is deliberate actions and preparation taken over a period of time.

Then the “fandom police” tried more of this, and these two conversations ensued, the comments with another user resulting in the title and main thesis of this essay:

https://captlok.tumblr.com/post/638777472806273024/avatarfandompolice-response-to-my-independent

https://captlok.tumblr.com/post/638806142933467136/the-plight-was-not-what-i-was-getting-at-it-was

#atla #lok #atlok #atla meta #pacifism #martin luther king #civil rights era #history #blm #mlk #mlkday2021

[livingbythewords]

End of Year Reflection

I have been tagged by amazing @scribeoffate and @attempted--eloquence - thank you so much for having thought about me, guys! ❤️

What fandoms did you create for?

Teen Wolf.

How many works did you make this year? Fics (posted on ao3 or tumblr or wherever), edits, gifsets, moodboards, playlists, fanart, vids, meta?

13 fics on AO3, 7 fanvids, at least three significant metas. About edits or moodboards I have no idea, but definitely a lot!

What are you most proud of?

That I started writing in English at all. To me it’s a lot, as English is not my native language and I was scared as hell, although @charming-or-tedious encouraged me a lot. She was right, as always. It turned out much better than I thought and some pieces I am really proud of.

Any stats you wanna tell us about?

I am still new to this AO3 game, so I have no idea what I should be looking for when it comes to stats. What has any significant meaning? Let’s just say that I am amazed and touched that there are people out there who want to read my works at all. I wish I could hug each and every one of you and give you a million dollars.

What inspired you this year? Any specific works or creators?

I am mostly inspired by my own thoughts and experiences and I don’t read a lot of fanfiction, for personal reasons. I also get inspired by music a lot.

From the fandom, @attempted--eloquence showed me a completely new way to treat language - her writing is absolutely out of this world, she is one of the best writers I’ve ever encountered, not only in the realm of fanfiction, but in general. I don’t even dream of reaching that level of literary awareness some day, but it does inspire me a lot and I’m forever grateful for that.

What’s a piece you didn’t expect to make? Why?

I didn’t expect any of them! I joined the fandom basically yesterday and I have never written fanfiction before, let alone thought of posting anything. It’s still an uncharted territory to me.

What are you excited to work on next year?

I really would like to finish Unsainted, which turned out to be much more difficult than I thought. I also have a lot of original projects outside of the fandom, but I like to keep these separate from my fanfic side ;)

Tag some people!

Oh dear... I am horrible at tagging as usual, and most of the people I would like to tag have been tagged anyway. I encourage anyone who wants to take part in this game to do it, it’s fun :)

#tag game #asks

[dotthings]

Work with me here.

When what happens, destiel shippers? Proof that it’s canon? What are you waiting for? That post I made yesterday was about it being canon (textual) that it’s written as a love story. I’m not talking about them having sex or holding hands or open declarations of romance. My post questioned the assumptions of fans who keep saying “it’s obviously a love story, too bad TPTB are just baiting us because look how obviously it’s a love story, I wish they would make it canon” and don’t see the inherent contradiction in what they are saying or how they’re throwing away their own reading. If you’re waiting around for a sex scene or kissing or even a hand-hold to validate your reading I’m not sure that’s in the cards, I could be wrong about that. Maybe it will go farther than I think in its explicitness. But by this point the whole concept of people making those the only way they’ll believe this is really, actually, textually a love story is practically giving me hives. Some of us have explained this until we’re exhausted and people don’t listen. If that’s the only thing that would convince you of something you yourselves already see as a love story, with things you say are textual, actually counts as a love story, that’s not just a bunch of erasure and double standards and lack of comprehension of what is means for something to be a love story, you’re throwing away your own reading.

Textual=canon. Canon=textual. These things making it obvious are not subtext. It’s not about song lyrics or wallpaper. Let Destiel fandom get excited over song lyrics or wallpaper. If you think song lyrics and wallpaper is the reason people see it as textual you aren’t paying one shred of attention to the actual text. To Dean and Cas and their story, in canon. It’s about the story. Dialogue, plot points, on-screen character reactions, implications, parallels (newsflash! parallels are canon literary devices used by writers to underscore a point!) major, major points of symbolism that are heavily mytharc linked. (News flash: not everything must be stated flatly in dialogue to be textual!)

Why don’t you even trust your own eyes, how is it the writers are tricking you when it’s the writers writing the things that just keep driving Destiel shippers more and more round the bend because it’s just so obvious but people still claim the writers think it’s just a joke or they’re baiting. Who is it tricking you?

Oh no, look at all this ~irresponsible meta I’ve written urging Destiel shippers to stop denigrating their own reading on things we can obviously see in the canon. It’s all the fault of the meta writers that people believe in it!!! How could we!!!!!!! Such irresponsibility to discuss what is actually on the screen, in the story! No, it’s not the amazing story of Dean and Cas that made people believe, it was just a bunch of tumblr meta writers. But you say you take the ship seriously and keep saying it’s valid and real in canon. 

Please, Destiel fandom, stop discarding the validity of a ship you yourselves keep hollering is real. You can’t keep hollering that it’s all just bait and crumbs and there’s nothing to it and the writers don’t take it seriously and mock the meta writers who are taking your ship seriously and then keep using TEXTUAL CONTENT yourselves to debunk the idea that Destiel shippers are “delusional” or that it’s not a love story. 

#Destiel #destiel meta

[hawkeyedflame]

16, 33, 21! <3

16. 3 drinks you consume the most

Water!!

Coffee!

And I'd guess that tea and kombucha are pretty much tied :)

21. 3 things you are most passionate about

Gut microbiology and psychology aka the gut-brain axis!!! Omg I could talk for days about it if nobody stopped me. Neurobiology and immunology are tie-in fields that I enjoy a great deal as well.

Literary analysis, especially of deep archetypal stories. I love things that make me think, especially abstractly but in the opposite abstraction of science. I think it's probably pretty obvious by the fact that the vast majority of my contributions to fandom are meta discussions rather than fanfiction.

My friends and family. I would not be half the functional person I am without the support of the people around me who push me to recognize my potential and set my sights higher and who help me articulate myself in the world.

Honorable mention to royai and to my fiancée's art :)

33. 3 scented candles that you love the most

Ohhhh gosh that is tough. In no particular order:

These amazing Moroccan spice candles that I've only ever found at a specialty store in Calgary

Lavender

Anything autumn themed! I LOVE things like apple pie, spiced pumpkin, cinnamon, etc. :)

I hope you had a restful weekend full of writing, and that your week is off to a wonderful start ❤️

#lantur #ask tag #i struggled formatting this haha

[sublimateradiate]

For Bughead appreciation week

This is several days late, because everything I've been doing lately has been unconscionably slow, but here it goes anyway.

I want to thank and spread love for:

  Everyone that reaches out to others or makes an effort to connect the community: Everyone I've ever messaged or sent an ask to, everyone who's done the same for me. Some of us are good at social interaction, some of us are terribly awkward, but either way you are very brave to reach out to strangers. This fandom is filled with many lovely people but overcoming that hurdle of communication takes guts, and I am impressed by your bravery.

All of you amazing content creators, whether you write fic, make art, fanvids, graphics, icons, zines, do cosplay, or something else: The talent in this fandom is insane. Yes, I'm impressed by the incredibly high quality of your work. However, the quality is secondary to all the other impressive things that go into creating. I admire your dedication and willingness to spend what must be hours of your time to make things, how you somehow have the motivation to even start (and sometimes finish!) doing what you do and how you have the bravery to throw your work out into the world where people might judge it. You make fandom bigger and better by generously sharing your stuff with the rest of us without demanding anything back. You take what some might say is pretty shoddy canon material and use it to make beautiful, interesting, complex things that often exceed what they're drawing inspiration from. You are not just (hopefully) doing something you enjoy, but you're bringing a bit of brightness to everyone that sees what you do. Sometimes you're the highlight of their day, week, month. I've been in and out of many fandoms but I still have a folder for each where I've saved my favorite fics and fanart. The internet feels ephemeral sometimes, but I promise you are remembered.

People that leave feedback for writers and other content creators: Even if it's just a smiley face or an "I liked this!". You're the inspiration that keeps creators going, lets them know how much they're appreciated, and you spark interesting discussions in the comments section that the rest of us read. I've seen that post about how much writers love getting an AO3 email in their inbox many times, and I'm sure you've seen it too. By leaving feedback you're making a choice to give back instead of just taking, and that's magnificent.

Writers/artists that respond to comments and interact with their readers/viewers: You are rock stars. We love hearing your thoughts, about your process, your inspiration, that we liked the same thing you did in your work, or just that you see us and are happy we're here. I'm glad I can wave at you and you wave back.

Writers /artists that don't respond to comments or interact with their readers/viewers: You are also rock stars, just quieter ones, acoustic folk maybe. You've already gifted us with your work and don't need to do anything else. We totally and completely understand if you don't have time or energy to respond to comments, and we're grateful that you share with us.

Meta junkies who share their detailed thoughts on everything from costumes and cinematography to ethics and literary allusions: I know it's sometimes not that deep. I'm sure you do too. But the fun is in looking, and I appreciate how you prompt great discussions and connect all us people that love to analyze and find shapes where they may or may not be, whether those shapes are a blurry watercolor or a neon stop sign. Do I want to read your ten-page essay on the symbolism of the pins on Jughead's hat or the increasingly disgruntled faces Betty makes at her mother's attempts at parenting? Yes. The answer is always yes.

I know people say it's "just a tv show" in a disparaging way. We all know that it's just a tv show. But all of you use the same start point of that show to make a vibrant creative community where we can bond over a common interest, make new things and connect with each other, even if that interest is "just" seeing Betty and Jughead smooch. This fandom is greater than the sum of its parts!

#bughead appreciation week #fandom #riverdale #i didn't want to call out anyone individually because I knew I'd forget someone and feel bad #but i think you get the point

[xhorass]

A list of the all the strangely specific things I love about this fandom:

Multiple spellings for every NPC name but we all know who we’re talking about anyways (avantika/avantica/evantika, vandren/vandran/vandrin, essick/essik/essix, ikithon/ikithan/ikithot etc)

Any word that starts with f gets Fjord-ified

Clips (usually from talks) of the cast getting edited with zoom ins and meme music

Gifs of the episode??? Being posted during the episode?? Idk how y’all do it but you’re my heroes

In the same vein, the amount of amazing art that comes out so soon after the episode...y’all are wild

And the post episode fics that never cease to make me cry

The (tumblr-based anyways) fandom’s agreement that Marisha Ray is a badass and we don’t deserve her

Constant jokes about Caleb and burning either his house or his parents whenever the opportunity arises

Quotes from the episodes being posted in fancy colors and fonts

Making fun of Sam Riegel’s DnDBeyond ads

Those occasional interactions from Brian W Foster that remind us He’s Watching

Meta. Meta. META. The sheer amount of meta in this fandom is amazing? Y’all are really out here just...doing literary analysis on a bunch of people’s d&d characters and it’s amazing, keep up the good work

The fact that we’re all just...unapologetic nerds

idk feel free to add more on

#critical role #fandom positivity

[rainhalydia]

I wasn't in fandom at the time, so I'm curious about how you felt, as a Throbb shipper, about GRRM confirming Robb didn't love Theon as much as he loved Jon? And how did Throbb shippers in general feel about it?

Well, I can’t say how Throbb shippers in general felt. Not that happy, I’d guess? I can tell how I felt and still feel about it, though I didn’t see that interview until long after the fact so I didn’t catch any drama anyway. To sum it up: I don’t care.

A much longer, rambling word-vomit under the cut:

I think I summed up my feelings very exactly, but I kept thinking a lot about this ask and having lots of opinions, so here we go. I’ll preface this long-ass rant by saying I have no professional training in literary analysis. I just read a lot, overthink everything and had two classes in college about literature.

First of all, this tendency to give great weight - i.e., to care at all - about what writers have to say about their own work is completely foreign to me. I mean it literally - the main framework of literary analysis I’ve encountered throughtout my education was basically centered around the text, and I very much adopt it without even giving it conscious thought. I don’t seek out interviews, addendums, essays, anything at all. Sometimes I read it if they fall on my lap. Such was the case with this interview.

It’s not that writers don’t have things to say, or that those things are not interesting or valuable or sometimes shed a new light on their work. It’s that at the end of the day they’re not important! Only canon is canon. I don’t mean to sound snob or pedantic, like the books are law or something. And any canon has a number of valid interpretations (within limits), they’re not absolute, they allow some wiggle room. But any text needs by definition to stand on its own without writers poking their heads inside the room to say how we should interpret it. If we need imput from the writers to do it, then the text is already bad, it failed, sorry. Interpretation is the reader’s job. In fact, it’s the reader’s prerrogative.

Much of this hipe around authors, I believe, has to do with the rise of social media and how close to the public writers suddenly were. And I feel that applies especially for authors like Martin, who are very talented and have created a very rich world that has become really popular. And ASOIAF is still ongoing. It’s natural that everyone wants to pick at his brain and know where the story is going!

And here I make my second very unpopular point: authors are not specialists in their own work.

He knows more than anyone about it, certainly, and currently Martin is probably the only person who knows how things will end (though we have plenty of bare bones the show left), but he is, as he has admited himself, a gardener. The story was bound to get away from him, given his own writting style. The group of people who will be specialists on his work don’t include him, and they don’t even exist yet. They will only emerge when he’s stopped writing (so probably after his death) and his work has ended (if it was finished or not). Then people can read every single thing he has ever written, which is much more than ASOIAF, and analyse it to death, pick it apart from every single angle, the ones Martin intended to be there and the ones he didn’t.

Again, I don’t mean to come across as snobbish and say Martin does not know his own work, characters, creation, etc. He does! But no writer can leave all their biases behind when they start writing, so these books are not neutral to begin with. Add to it the lots and lots of variables readers will bring when they interpret the text, and any book is always going to be more than the author intends by default.

If my argument seems absurd, let me point out that it has already happened to a certain degree: my own interpretation from reading ASOIAF is that it is full of anti-war, anti-violence messages, and yet from it has sprung an adaptation that, in my own interpretation, glorifies war and violence to a ridiculous degree. I’m not alone in these opinions, btw. They’re pretty common in fandom spaces, so I’m sure I didn’t pull them out of thin air. We can argue until we’re blue in the face that the Ds can’t read anything for shit, they certainly don’t do themselves any favors, but you know, they interpreted the books well enough to correctly guess who was Jon’s mother and get permission to adapt it in the first place. I’ve since seen people (I’m not naming names, anyone still reading will just have to take my word for it, but I swear they do exist) defend that the show is a faithful adaptation of the books and that the glorification of war was there too, and others say that the show didn’t actually glorify war, it had an anti-war message! Who is wrong? Well, I don’t know. As I said, the GRRM’s specialists are yet to come, and I’m certainly not one of them. What I believe, however, is that all of us brought our own biases to the same text, interpreted it according to them, and came to different, often conflicting conclusions.

See also what GRRM said about the partnership between Jaehaerys and Alysanne and what most people made of their relationship from Fire and Blood. See the sept sex/rape scene controversy. See the Dany/Drogo controversy.

Do you get why I put little weight in Martin’s interviews to form my opinion? So given that and my own background, I’ll chose my own interpretation of the text rather than Martin’s apocrypha.

What does the book canon, and the book canon alone, say about Robb’s feelings for Theon? Well, unless new material is released, we’ll just never know for sure, because Robb isn’t a pov character. We do have Theon’s side of things - he has a certain affection for Robb, he’s more of a brother than his own brothers, he wishes he had died with him or at least that he had been there at the moment of Robb’s death, depending on how sincere he feels like being. We also know a little bit of what other characters thought of their relationship. Bran says Robb admired Theon and enjoyed his company, and it’s implied that he finds this baffling. He’s also jealous that Robb spends more time with Theon and other adults doing adult things than with his brothers. And though I’ve talked at lenght about interpretation and wiggle room to understand things, it’s also pretty evident that Robb is down to hear Theon talk about his sexual conquests in some detail as long as his brothers aren’t around.

Of course, Bran is a child and much as he loves Robb, their time together is cut short and Robb is not his main concern anyway. We get most material about Robb and Theon’s relationship from Cat’s pov. There’s a lot we can analyse and Damien had already done a great not-meta about it, but sadly he’s since deleted, thank you to the demons who got on his case, but for me the most damning piece of evidence that Robb feels very strongly for Theon is this:

“Robb will avenge his brothers. Ice can kill as dead as fire. Ice was Ned’s greatsword. Valyrian steel, marked with the ripples of a thousand foldings, so sharp I feared to touch it. Robb’s blade is dull as a cudgel compared to Ice. It will not be easy for him to get Theon’s head off, I fear. The Starks do not use headsmen. Ned always said that the man who passes the sentence should swing the blade, though he never took any joy in the duty.”

So to unpack what is going on: nearly drowing in grief, Cat rambles to Brienne about lots of things, including Theon’s impending death sentence. By Northern dumb tradition, Robb must be the one to behead Theon, his former best friend turned enemy, turned betrayer, turned brother-killer. And she says that it won’t be easy for him to do it.

Now, it can be argued that this is partly because of the sword. They’ve lost their sharp valyrian steel and Robb uses an inferior blade, not as sharp. I reject this interpretation as the only explanation (and here comes my own biases) because she mentions the headsman right after. A headsman might be more experienced, but it’s not like he’d have valyrian steel to do it either. Rather, I think she’s talking about how being able to pass Theon off to be killed by a headsman would be easier on Robb psychologically, but it’s not really an option, so Robb will have to suffer.

At this point, to Robb’s knowledge, Theon has: 1) betrayed his trust and used the ruse of negociations with Balon to escape; 2) attacked the northern shore and enslaved his people; 3) attacked and took control of his home; 4) made his brothers hostages; 5) killed his brothers; 6) denied his brothers the right to be buried in a decent way; and finally, 7) burned their bodies and exposed them for all of the North to see.

And after all this, having to be the one to kill Theon will make him suffer.

We know one of the moments Robb gets the angriest in the books is when Bran is threatened by the wildlings. He is the acting Lord and keeping his little brothers safe is his responsability. He nearly bites Theon’s head off when Theon saves Bran in a risky way and we know that was uncharacteristic because Theon is still sulking about that a whole year later. So his siblings are dear to him, but even after Theon does everything from steps 1 to 4, he’s still sure they’re not in danger and that Theon won’t do anything to them. That’s how much he trusts Theon. It takes literal murder to make him change his mind.

But then he does change his mind. He believes Theon did those awful, awful things to his brothers. After that knowledge has had time to settle in, after he believes the worst of Theon, he has this amazing convo with Cat that I’ll quote whole because it’s amazing:

“Enough.” For just an instant Robb sounded more like Brandon than his father. “No man calls my lady of Winterfell a traitor in my hearing, Lord Rickard.” When he turned to Catelyn, his voice softened. “If I could wish the Kingslayer back in chains I would. You freed him without my knowledge or consent … but what you did, I know you did for love. For Arya and Sansa, and out of grief for Bran and Rickon. Love’s not always wise, I’ve learned. It can lead us to great folly, but we follow our hearts … wherever they take us. Don’t we, Mother?”

Is that what I did? “If my heart led me into folly, I would gladly make whatever amends I can to Lord Karstark and yourself.”

Lord Rickard’s face was implacable. “Will your amends warm Torrhen and Eddard in the cold graves where the Kingslayer laid them?” He shouldered between the Greatjon and Maege Mormont and left the hall.

Robb made no move to detain him. “Forgive him, Mother.”

“If you will forgive me.”

“I have. I know what it is to love so greatly you can think of nothing else.”

Catelyn bowed her head. “Thank you.” I have not lost this child, at least.

So we know that what is going on here is that Robb is buttering Cat up before breaking the news of his marriage to Jeyne to her. One of the possible interpretations supported by the text is that Jeyne is in love with Robb and Robb is not in love with her. It’s a common reading that he married her out of honor and to avoid a possible Jon Snow situation. During their marriage, he seems to grow fond of her - Cat notices he likes her company better, and her brother’s, and that he laughs when he is with the Westerlings - but he also keeps some distance. She’s afraid of Grey Wind, which pretty much means being afraid of a part of him. In turn, he’s attentive, courteous, and a bit touched and annoyed at her public displays of affection.

Then there is this gem:

“His heir failed him.” Robb ran a hand over the rough weathered stone. “I had hoped to leave Jeyne with child … we tried often enough, but I’m not certain…”

And this is more Damien’s not-meta than my own, but once you see it, you can’t ever unsee it. Compare the bolded parts in that quote in the first Cat-Robb convo to the part bolded in the second one, put them side to side and tell me you can’t see the difference. In the first one, Robb basically spells it out that he’s made a mistake out of love, that love turned him into a fool, but it was stronger than him. At that point of the narrative, Robb’s biggest mistake (and notably it was HIS mistale, it was not a case of the narrative screwing him over) was to free Theon. A mistake that caused him to lose his brothers, castle and a significant chunk of political standing. The consequences of marrying Jeyne, which is pretty much only to lose the Freys, don’t even compare - especially because the Stark faction believes they can win their support back.

And this love that made him act like a fool is further described in the second bolded part of that quote. He loved so greatly that he could think of nothing else. That is some passion there, folks. Even considering that he’s trying to get Cat on his side, it strikes me as so sincere and heartfelt. And again, maybe it’s my own biases showing, but that sounds like an all-consuming love, the kind of love that doesn’t go away easily. I don’t see that same depth of emotion on the second bolded quote… they tried often enough. Does it add up with the first part? I don’t think so.

My conclusion, and forgive me if the shipper gogles come in, is that the love that hurt him, that consumed him, is the love he had for Theon. Not for his wife. But it was in the past, one might say. His marriage was just beginning, he and Jeyne grow closer, etc. I’ll quote two more bits:

“I cannot speak to that. There is much confusion in any war. Many false reports. All I can tell you is that my nephews claim it was this bastard son of Bolton’s who saved the women of Winterfell, and the little ones. They are safe at the Dreadfort now, all those who remain.”

“Theon,” Robb said suddenly. “What happened to Theon Greyjoy? Was he slain?”

Here we are nearing the Red Wedding. Some Freys come to pretend to make peace and pressure for a wedding to Edmure and they bring news of the battle of Winterfell. Professional writers don’t often abuse the “suddenly” like us poor fic writers, so when he says it was sudden, i believe it was sudden. I believe it came out of nowhere, in fact, and that Robb was the only one in that room considering Theon’s fate.

Roose Bolton removed a ragged strip of leather from the pouch at his belt. “My son sent this with his letter.”

Ser Wendel turned his fat face away. Robin Flint and Smalljon Umber exchanged a look, and the Greatjon snorted like a bull. “Is that … skin?” said Robb.

“The skin from the little finger of Theon Greyjoy’s left hand. My son is cruel, I confess it. And yet … what is a little skin, against the lives of two young princes? You were their mother, my lady. May I offer you this … small token of revenge?“ 

Part of Catelyn wanted to clutch the grisly trophy to her heart, but she made herself resist. “Put it away. Please.”

“Flaying Theon will not bring my brothers back,” Robb said. “I want his head, not his skin.”

Aside from Catelyn, who is torn, and maybe the Greatjon (I don’t know what snorting like a bull is supposed to convey), no one in that room approves of torturing Theon, they’re all rightly creeped out. But no one would blink an eye if Robb had ordered Theon flayed alive. Instead, he commands the torture to stop. Of course it’s the only decent thing to do, but let’s all appreciate how the character who is always arguing for peace, end of conflict and letting things go for the sake of the living and what can still be saved instead of more violence, is tempted by it. Robb is the only one who shares the full extent of Cat’s grief here, but he’s also the only one to try and stop the senseless punishment.

I joke all the time about how Throbb is canon, and it’s mostly jokes. They are not canon in the sense that Cat and Ned are canon, and I don’t think we’ll have any more facts added to their story together, there probably won’t be any flashbacks that hint at a romantic relationship between them. But looking at the text alone, what we have of it as of now, it’s possible to support a canonical reading for this ship. This interpretation is there in the text if you want to see it. In fact, some things make more sense if Robb was in love with Theon.

And you know, having a ship be supported by canon is not actually a condition that needs to be met to ship anything. It’s just something I particularly need to get into it. But even if you read Theon and Robb as just friends, it’s a reach to say that Robb didn’t love Theon.

Of course, we have Robb demonstrating affection towards Jon in the books too. He is Robb’s chosen heir, to Cat’s despair. Despite all the negative propaganda bastards get and the fact that the mother he so respected and loved disliked and distrusted Jon, Robb considers him a full brother, to compare to Sansa’s constant “half-brother” from the beginning of her journey. They’re seen having a good time together (they have a horse race in their very first appearance in the books, and Mance recalls them getting into trouble together as children), so they enjoy each other’s company.

Yet there’s also an undercurrent of sibling rivalry between them, seen from Jon’s pov. We have this bit with Benjen:

Benjen gave Jon a careful, measuring look. “You don’t miss much, do you, Jon? We could use a man like you on the Wall.”

Jon swelled with pride. “Robb is a stronger lance than I am, but I’m the better sword, and Hullen says I sit a horse as well as anyone in the castle.”

This is hilarious to me. My uncle paid me a compliment for being perceptive, a skill not at all related to martial skills! Time to compare my martial skills to my brother’s, even though we’re both 14 and there’s lots of more tried warriors in the world and we haven’t even had our last growh spurt! This is sure to impress a seasoned ranger!

Of course we know Jon’s rivalry towards Robb comes from his bastard status, but it’s interesting to me that it’s something that centers around Robb alone; he doesn’t compare himself to Bran or Rickon as far as I remember. That can be explained by their very similar ages and growing up together, I think. Jon has the advantage of being older than his other true born brothers.

Jon also says this:

Bastard children were born from lust and lies, men said; their nature was wanton and treacherous. Once Jon had meant to prove them wrong, to show his lord father that he could be as good and true a son as Robb. I made a botch of that. Robb had become a hero king; if Jon was remembered at all, it would be as a turncloak, an oathbreaker, and a murderer. He was glad that Lord Eddard was not alive to see his shame.

To Jon - and to the other Stark children - Robb is often the model to be emmulated. I won’t dig up all the times they hold him up as the ideal of bravery. Jon’s feelings are not unique in this sense, though they are when it comes to the rivalry. They all admire Robb. From Robb’s side, I don’t remember hints of him admiring Jon or any of his siblings. He certainly loves them, likes them, and enjoys spending time with Jon at the very least.

But Theon is the one Robb admires in text. Bran says it, and Theon too:

“There is nothing small about the letter I bear,” Theon said, “and the offer he makes is one I suggested to him.”

“This wolf king heeds your counsel, does he?” The notion seemed to amuse Lord Balon.

“He heeds me, yes. I’ve hunted with him, trained with him, shared meat and mead with him, warred at his side. I have earned his trust. He looks on me as an older brother, he—”

Readers often dismiss this as Theon’s garden variety empty bragging. To be fair, Theon very much distorts reality in his head to fit his own idea of how things should be, but this is one of the few times when he’s not doing that. He’s genuinely proud that Robb thinks so well of him. And since he’s so sensitive about what people think of him and people not giving him the credit he thinks he deserves, I’m ready to believe his account of facts this one time.

What I get from canon, regarding who Robb loves the most out of Jon and Theon, is that he loves them differently. He might even love Jon more by ASOS; it’s a wonder that we have hints that he still cares about Theon at all by the end, after the murders of who we know are the miller boys, but who Robb thinks are Bran and Rickon.

He had different relationships with them. Even if you reject the reading of Throbb as romantic, friends and siblings are not interchangable, even if you’re out there calling close friends brothers or if your brother is your best friend. It’s different sorts of affection. At the beginning of the series, Robb and Theon seemed closer to me than Robb and Jon - let’s not forget that Jon’s favorite is Arya, and the biggest family drama at that time has to do with Jon and Cat. They grow even closer as they go to war together, and then they’re pushed apart by circumstances and by Theon’s actions.

But okay, this is not long enough yet, so let’s say that this is an invalid framework of analysis and Martin’s word of god has as much weight as canon, and that in fact, we’re 100% certain that Robb loved Jon more than Theon.

Why does it even need to be a competition? No one holds it against Ygritte that Jon loves Arya more. Asha has a steady boyfriend that she’d gladly marry, and still she takes risk after risk for Theon. Ned was probably the greatest love of Cat’s life, but her interactions with her brother and uncle are still emotional and moving in great part because of the depth of her love for them.

Robb loving Jon more doesn’t take anything away from Theon. He doesn’t love Theon less because he loves Jon more, love is not a finite resource. And Robb loved Theon plenty, be it in a familial, friends or romantic way. If it diminished, that was a result of Theon’s choices alone.

#Anonymous #throbb #long post #and i mean long