#if I see one more post about people saying they’re lesbians and that the show is homophobic or some shit I’ll literally scream

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

Hey new to the aphmau fandom, like days old, and i was wondering what order to watch her rps as its kinda confusing to me

This is going to be such a long post because there’s so much to say! (There is a TLDR at the end if you don’t care about specifics and just want a watch order)

The inclusion of side-series and stuff just convolutes things a tad. But I promise, you will get an answer.

First;

I suggest a side series to start. Which isn’t to say that they’re all short, they’re just not relevant to the Big Two.

But, yeah, just dip your toe in the pool first.

Dreams of Estorra- never watched it. But it’s popular. It should be on the Aphmau Stories channel instead of her main one, if you can’t find it there. If someone can offer me a summary for it I would love you.

A Royal Tale- a weird mishmash of Disney and the Aphverse. A lighthearted fantasy show with some adult humour, Lo (< an icon), and romance. It will introduce you to some of the characters from the other series without overwhelming you with references you won’t understand. Aarmau, but they’re exes who hate eachother. It’s only a roleplay

Mermaids Tale- similar thing to ART, a mermaid au for Aphverse. Very Aarmau centric, there’s lesbian mermaids. I cant actually remember the plot but it got me into my train (the singer) phase. It’s only a roleplay

Mod Mod world- never watched it, but it did get a sequel that I’ll bring up later. Again, would love a summary from someone.

My Inner Demons- it’s one of the only non-aphmau centric shows and doesn’t include ANY aphverse characters. The main character is Ava, and it’s set up like a Harem Anime with a bunch of male demon love interests for her. It has quite adult humour, but it’s pretty cute aesthetically and deserves a second season. It’s only a roleplay

HeartPoint- a girl sees how much people like her platonically and romantically by little stats that appear above their heads. I believe Aphmau is the only Aphverse character, and whilst the romance is pretty obvious to me, I’ll leave who she ends up with blank as that’s kind of a part of the series… iirc. It’s only a roleplay.

There may be more… I’ll have to look.

Anyways.

So.

Onto the behemoths.

Minecraft Diaries is the first of the Roleplays to really get her popularity. It’s a medieval fantasy, with both roleplay and let’s play elements in it. It ran for three seasons, seasons one and two being 100 episodes each, however season 3 ended short. It was never completed. Season three is regarded as the worst season, and most either don’t consider it canon or haven’t watched it at all, but I consider it canon solely because it introduces us Lo, who I love. The two main ships when it was popular were Laurmau and Garmau, and if it weren’t for MyS, they probably still would be treated as such.

If you want to watch the main series in chronological order, I would watch MCD first. It is my favourite tho so maybe I’m biased. The lore can be contradictory and the quality slowly improves over time. It started to get remade with Rebirth, which you can watch before hand to get a general gist of the show before you dive into it, though it isn’t incredibly accurate to how the original is. Seasons 1-2 are on Aphmau’s main channel (I think), but season 3 is on Aphmau Stories. You don’t need to watch MyStreet but, you will probably end up watching it anyways.

Brief intermission: Void Paradox. The Mod Mod world sequel, is also a side series for MCD s1, and was made years afterwards. Very high quality, probably one of the better side series in general, and deserved a continuation. MMW isn’t required to watch it, but for context on Laurence and what’s up with him, MCD s1 is.

The next is MyStreet. It started as a modern Au for Diaries with the side stories and The Big Move, however began to be made into its own series. It begins as a slice of life, and is very light hearted with an Aarmau emphasis. It faces a genre swap for Season 4, before reverting to a slightly more solemn version of what it once was, before it goes back to a darker vibe for s6. Until s6, it existed in a separate universe to MCD, and you don’t need to watch MCD to understand it (though it does provide some context for s6)

There are prequels and side series (and a three episode sequel, which is fun). PDH is the main one, and because MyS was made first, they can contradict, however you will need to watch PDH S2 for context for MyS S4. Otherwise you won’t know the villain or understand what the fuck he’s doing. After them, there is PDH: Graduation days, and FalconClaw University. Neither are particularly important, but again, FCU offers some context for s4, so… you could watch it. It’s just not mandatory. There’s Aphmau’s year after s4, which is just a recovery mini-season, and there’s Her Wish which was released before s6, but set after it. And I will give them credit, they did preplan when they wrote her wish and watching it after s6 and realising everything they did to retain continuity… oh it’s good. Her wish does require watching MCD S3/late s2 though, it won’t make sense without it.

TLDR;

If a series isn’t Void Paradox, Mystreet, MCD, Phoenix Drop High or FalconClaw Uni, you can just watch it whenever.

MCD / PDH / MYS is my personal favourite watch order, because it’s all chronological. But just go with whatever you vibe with!

MCD is the OG and fantasy Medieval, but is a mix of roleplay and let’s play, and doesn’t have entirely consistent lore. It has a partial remake and it’s final, incomplete season, sucked.

PDH is higher quality and a highschool drama with fantasy undertones but less relevant, and is a prequel for MyS

MYS is the most popular and is a slice of life with more fantasy undertones, as well as very high quality, but suffers through genre swaps, and requires some context from the other two in later seasons.

#aphmau #aphverse #aphblr #minecraft diaries #mcd #mystreet

[fnafs-ex-boyfriend]

Why shipping aroace characters is different

So I made a post a while back about my distaste for Vivziepop, the creator of Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss. One of the things that I mentioned in that post was that I disliked how callously she treated the shipping of Alastor, her aroace character (note: he is indeed canonically aroace, Vivziepop confirmed that he was ace and an artist on the show clarified that he was aro as well, which seems to be the implication for the character from Vivziepop and her team). I had a few people regard with confusion, asking what the difference was between shipping an aroace character and shipping, say, a straight character in a gay ship. There’s a key difference that I want to cover for my well-meaning allo (not ace or aro) friends. (Note: I definitely have different standards for QPR shipping and friends-with-benefits shipping aro and/or ace characters, but if I see ANY allo people using QPRs without knowledge of how they actually work and use them as an excuse to ship an aro character….i will find you)

The difference that I, an aroace man, have in my mind is that Aroace characters should not be shipped in a traditional way because we have so little representation in the first place. How many gay people have you seen in media? How many bisexuals? How many lesbians? There are numerous examples of these more common sexualities all throughout popular media. One reason why this kind of representation is more popular is mostly due to two factors: One of which is, obviously, that the three listed are more commonly known by the populous, thus are guaranteed to get a better reaction from a widespread audience. The other reason to this is that aro-asexuality has to be represented differently than other orientations. With most orientations, if a creator wants to properly represent their identities, they will put the character in question in a relationship with someone of the same gender as them (Amity from The Owl House or Jackie from Star Versus the Forces of Evil), or they will give the character a chaotic realization-to-coming-out storyline, often tied to a romantic relationship (Nick from Heartstopper). However, with aroace people, you can’t really adhere to this traditional standard, as the entire point of the orientation is a lack of interest in sex or romance. Therefore, they tend to be harder to represent other than giving them a full storyline about their sexuality (Isaac from Heartstopper) or their orientation must be made clear by the creator (Lilith from The Owl House). These factors make aromantic and/or asexual characters quite rare in popular media.

What does this have to do with shipping aro-ace characters? Well, I can name countless well-represented gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters in popular media. But for aroaces, there’s really only a handful. It hurts to not see yourself in media. And, from my perspective, when people ship aroace characters, they’re callously disregarding that fact by ignoring their canon sexuality. Shipping Percy Jackson with Grover or whatever isn’t taking away from straight representation because, well, reread the first half of that sentence. Additionally, never, EVER have I seen people defend people who ship lesbians or gay men with a character of the opposite sex the same way they defend shipping aro-ace characters. Amity x Hunter is a famously reviled ship in the Owl House fandom due to this very fact. What’s the difference between shipping a character who, by definition, isn’t attracted to men, and shipping a character who, by definition, isn’t attracted to anyone?

Anyway, as a media enthusiast, I just wanted to share my thoughts, because this drives me insane when I see things like this. Well-meaning allo shippers, nothing against you, but please try to think about what you’re doing to marginalized communities before doing anything.

Sincerely,

The Number One Annoying Asexual Fandom Guy

#aromantic #asexual #aromantism #asexuality #aroace #aroace representation #media representation #lgbtqia #lgbt+ community #lgbtq+ #shipping #ship culture #the number one asexual fandom guy posts #hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor

[starrylayle]

Soman’s failed POC and Queer rep in the SGE saga — And why criticism is essential to the movie (franchise)

[repost]

Before I start though, I’d like to say that if you have any argument about forced representation, dni. I don’t give a shit that ur faves aren’t white anymore — and please stop fucking harassing Soman and the cast about this non-issue.

Now onto the racial criticism of Soman’s work, which I don’t see talked enough about.

Being a person of colour does not mean you are exempt from racial criticism. I’m sure this is known by now, but in the books, literally everyone is white. Like EVERYONE. And not only that, the beauty standards he portrays and tries to critique (but then fails miserably at unfortunately) are so Eurocentric it’s quite disheartening actually - pale skin, small noses, coloured eyes, etc. The themes are also quite Eurocentric as well — if you had told me that the books were written by a white author, I would believe you.

Now, I’ve always given him the benefit of the doubt here, considering he was writing a middle grade series as a marginalised author, which was a lot more difficult at the time, and because he does genuinely try to improve his POC rep in the later books (even if that does include retconning character’s previous descriptions lol). In that same vein, the cast is also noticeably more diverse, and I truly applaud Soman for that. However, he has not said anything in regards to the racism the cast have been getting, which considering his influence on the fandom, would have been much appreciated. (The only casting choice he actually spent some time defending was brunette Tedros 💀💀 — like mate, get your priorities together!). Also, since whiteness is quite intrinsic to the core themes of the story (I’ll make a separate post on that later), I worry that the movie will unintentionally be pushing it. And if that’s the case, people should be allowed to critique this (hypothetical) poor depiction of race, without it being considered racist. (As previously mentioned — this excludes those fucking weirdos who just hate on the cast coz their faves aren’t white anymore 🙄🙄)

Ok so, in regards to the queer-coding/queer-baiting:

Just like being a POC doesn’t mean u can’t have internalised racism, being queer doesn’t mean u can’t have internalised homophobia, especially to other members of the community. I don’t know why exactly Soman struggles with writing queer rep so much (I mean I can understand in 2013 — but now plenty of middle grade books include queer characters), but he barely has any canon gay rep.

Tristan/Yara, who is not even specified whether they are gay or trans, is one of the first characters to die, with absolutely no resolution to their arc whatsoever - and their queerness is never mentioned again. The next confirmed queer couple are two backgrounder guys who barely have any significance to the story. The couple after that are two evil white boys, who are only confirmed to be queer after they both die. They are are the only relevant gay characters at this point — yet ofc they’re dead, white and evil. This wouldn’t be a problem if there were other (good) queer characters, but since that is not the case, it just comes off as rather… icky.

Now notice how all these couples, as poorly written as they are, are all (white) gay men? There are hints that Hester and anadil might be in a relationship, but it’s never explicitly confirmed.

In addition, sophie and Agatha are explicitly queer coded — (I made a post about it on my acc for anyone’s interested) — they even kiss!! Of course people are going to be mad that they were baited into a relationship that ended up being incesteous! Especially, ESP, considering that Agatha is now a Black girl in this adaptation. We barely see any white canon wlw couples in media — Black sapphics are almost unheard of in the mainstream, especially as leads. first kill, one show that featured a Lesbian Black girl lead (a Dark-skinned one at that!)— got cancelled. And this happens all the time. Lesbians/sapphics, esp sapphics of colour, ESP Balck sapphics are barely given any time of day in our media in favour of centring gay white men in queer narratives, and thus they have every right to be upset at the queer baiting.

I’m not Black, but as a queer woman of colour, Agatha’s character has always been very special to me. I’ve always thought she should be a POC considering how different her and her mum are from the rest of her cookie-cutter village, and queer because she did not fit into conventional notions of femininity. It would be so awesome to see Agatha, a queer woman of colour, as the lead in a high-budget fantasy series. But alas, that is too many marginalised identities for the general audience.

Not only that, the twin reveal was just plain bad writing. It had absolutely no bearing at the story whatsoever and is never mentioned again. It was just done purely for shock value, and for that, I will absolutely critique Soman.

I know that this discourse is tired and worn out — and understandably so, it’s been years. However, now that this movie is approaching mainstream — At worst, this queer baiting can already add to the whole ‘lesbian relationships aren’t serious’ and other terrible stereotypes. At best, it deprives sapphics of much needed representation in mainstream fantasy films.

Remember, unlike with the books, we as fans have the power to influence the story. If the creators see how unpopular the twist is with the public, they can probably change it. We can make a difference! Btw, this doesn’t mean sophie and Agatha should be endgame — I’d like for them to be in a short term relationship and be confirmed as canonically queer — Tagatha can still be the end couple! (Not hophie tho, coz sophie is a lesbian and I despise Hort lol).

#the school for good and evil #sge #agatha of woods beyond #sge movie #representation #school for good and evil #agaphie #sophie of the woods beyond #the school for good and evil movie #agatha of the woods beyond #tagatha #sophie x agatha #representation matters #lesbian #bisexual #gay #queer #idk why Soman refused to give us queer rep #in the og series #but we have a chance to change that now !! #my stuff #sge movie spoilers

[steddieficfind]

Hi! I was literally just reading a fic on the little pop-up safari window you get when you click on a link on tumblr and then my phone died and I lost the fic and arghhhhhhh

Basically I saw a post on my dash earlier today that was someone reccing an author and it linked several of their works with a brief description and the ao3 summary, with a link to the fic on ao3. It was complete and it had 3 chapters but I don’t remember anything else from the ao3 info box.

The plot is that Robin wants to go to a gay bar so she can kiss a girl (or maybe Eddie suggests it?) and Eddie’s taking her (he’s out to Steve but that doesn’t happen in the fic) but she’s really nervous so she asks Steve to come along and he agrees. Eddie gives him this whole talk about how there are going to be gay people at the gay bar and Steve can’t freak out if they’re being gay or if guys try to flirt with him, which kind of insults Steve, kind of makes him feel really weird about the potential of getting gay flirted with, and kind of makes him super determined to show that he’s a Good Ally. Eddie helps Steve get ready and when they get to the bar Eddie pretends to be Steve’s boyfriend to stop guys from hitting on him. A drag queen tells Steve that Eddie’s in love with him and Steve freaks out about it and talks to Robin, who points out that maybe he should just be gay for Eddie. At first Steve is like No Way I’m Straight but then he thinks about it a bit more and decides to test it (his possible bisexuality) out by taking Eddie back to the bar to see if he (Steve) likes the fake boyfriend thing, which Robin thinks is an awful idea. In the meantime Eddie watches a basketball game with Steve and Steve goes to a hellfire meeting. They go to the bar and Steve is like Yup I’m For Sure Crushing On Eddie and I don’t remember what happens next because that’s about where I lost the fic.

Some details I remember are as follows: the drag queen is named Connie and she has a bet going with Steve about the basketball game and she promises to buy him a round of drinks in after the game airs in three weeks which is Steve’s excuse for bringing Eddie back, Steve bumps into one person on his way to the bar and the guy starts flirting with him/asking him to dance and that one guy is all it takes for Eddie to swoop in like Nope I’m Your Boyfriend Now, the author refers to the tops that Steve and Eddie wear as “singlets” (which was really confusing to me at first as I could only picture the wrestling leotards until I turned to google), Eddie puts makeup on Steve and it’s black and gold, Eddie give Steve a sword necklace and a spiky bracelet, neither of them return each others clothes because they liiiiiiiiiike each other, at one point eddie says that Robin has experienced being part of a “lesbian sandwich” (a term that Steve doesn’t know) and points out that she has red lipstick on her face

Sorry that’s a lot of details but I was reading the fic literally just a few hours ago before my frantic search to find it again

Thank you guys so much you’re truly doing god’s work o7

Request 904! Send us an ask if you recognize this fic!

#904 #steddie #q #mod andrew

[lets-all-calm-down-a-bit]

Style, Kyman, cartters, crat, and Henrietta

Yay!!!! YAYYAYAYAYAYAYAY

Style: I SHIP IT SO HARD AHHHHH. I don’t really know when exactly I started shipping it, but I know some of the main contributors were the episodes “Super Best Friends”“You’re Getting Older/AssBurgers” and “Cupid Ye.” (Not to mention The Post Covid movies hehehe.) One of my favorite things about the ship is definitely their emaculate “yes, and” dynamic, and the way their traits compliment each other. I also looooveeee friends to lovers in teen romance, and adore domestic bliss in older romance. An unpopular opinion I suppose I have is that both Stan and Kyle are dorky loser assholes. Neither of them are “fem” or “masc.” They’re just stan and kyle. Kyle and Stan. OH AND ANOTHER UNPOPULAR OPINION I HAVE!!! They’re BOTH on the asexual spectrum!! Kyle is demigrey-sexual and Stan is sex repulsed asexual!! I will stand by this till I die.

OK NEXT!

Kyman: Urggg this one is iffy for me so I’m going to answer a mixture of both yes and no questions. I appreciate the ship from other people but don’t personally ship it because I like domestic bliss and fluff, and I can’t see them having a non-toxic dynamic. I’m all for a good enemies to lovers, but their situation is more complex than that. I feel like Kyle would never feel romantic love for Eric. He is definitely cursed to forever care about Eric, and have a deepest belief that he could somehow fix him that has the potential to verge into obsessive territory, but that’s all I see. One sided Kyman though? That’s literally just canon. Like fr Cartman is psychosexually obsessed with Kyle and if you don’t see that you did NOT watch the same show as me. I would probably like the ship more if Cartman showed lasting positive character development that wasn’t either shown to be fake or reversed for laughs.

Next…

Buttman: Euahhg. Sorry. I’ve NEVER liked this ship. I envoy their canon dynamic, and I know butters was taken a turn for the worse in more recent seasons, but I still HATE it. Because it’s abusive. At least with Kyman, Kyle and Cartman equal each other out in terms of hard-headedness. Even with his new changes in conviction in the recent seasons, if Cartters was real, it would end up like another damn heidi situation. Cartman would cling to Butters as a source of comfort and stability, while simultaneously belittling him and manipulating him. It would be so unhealthy. And I’m still not over Cartman laughing and watching as Butters was beat by his dad because of something Eric intentionally caused. As someone who grew up in a similar household to that of the Stotch’s, that scene makes me fucking sick. I… don’t really have anything positive to say about this ship tbh. It would probably be palatable to me if Butters was stronger willed, and if Eric showed more compassion to Butters in canon.

NEXT

Crat: Oh lord. Uh, I was indoctrinated into this cult last year so. CRAT FOR THE WIN!!! (I don’t really genuinely ship it though. No hate to objectum truthers, it’s just forever only a crackship to me.)

AND LAST ONE

I assume the last one is supposed to be Kenrietta? If it is then YAY! If not then, oops sorry ): Anyway, I ship it! It’s not my main Kenny ship, (I’m a bunny truther,) but I like it! I’m not sure exactly what my first sight of the ship was, but it may have been either @mysterionrisez or @saprozoicworm. Not sure though. Regardless, I love the idea of Kenny playing around with gender-fuckery, and/or being in a Mysterion kinda mood and Henrietta being all like, “Woah,,, that kinda goth…” Like their dynamic would be that one “doing whatever my hot witch girlfriend wants” meme with the guy in a summoning circle smiling. ALSO, Henrietta would 100% do Kenny’s makeup. EEE i just love it. I can’t see it as a long term thing, but they would DEFINITELY give it a go in highschool. Also, both of them are lesbians who are woman and also men and also neither at the same time. Fight me.

OK ANYWAY THATS ALL I HAVE THANKS FOR LISTENING BYEEEE

#colby rambles #south park #southpark #sp #sp style #sp kyman #sp crat #kenrietta #ask game! #not tagging the negative ones because i’m not gonna be the dick who says mean stuff in a ship tag #cloby's headcannons

[steveharrington]

i'm the opposite of you when it comes to booksmart vs. bottoms (i think booksmart is p much perfect and the only thing i liked about bottoms was ayo's wardrobe) and I was just wondering if you would expand upon how you felt about each movie. i was so excited for bottoms so it was disappointing when i didn't like it.

oh man i have not watched booksmart since it came out in 2019 BUT i personally just found it pretty unfunny and some of the aspects that are meant to be empowering for women and teen girls just came across very. insincere and surface level to me. best example i can give is the two main characters saying “malala” to each other as a code word in their friendship? to me that is very 2012 leslie knope #im with her writing where they think simply namedropping an outstanding feminist public figure in a throwaway joke makes their movie overall More Feminist. like look we mentioned malala! when really they’re invoking her name without any substance, yk? i don’t really know why we’re supposed to applaud beanie feldstein’s character for finally seeing the girls around her as people with their own skills and values at the ripe age of 17 years old and then giving a big speech at graduation where she’s essentially like “hey good news i finally see you all as people :)!” BUT i do think it has some funny jokes and a rlly good cast

bottoms to me is just endlessly funny. i do get that it has a very specific type of humor that probably is not for everyone, the incoherency and surrealism of the world the characters live in might be off putting or frustrating for some viewers. i love bottoms because pj and josie, to me, feel like real teenage girls instead of the personification of feminist bumper stickers with catchy slogans. i love that they are not setting out to change the world, they literally just want to lose their virginity and have lesbian experiences. i think one of the funniest jokes in bottoms is when hazel says like “if we keep this up we might be able to take on huntington you guys” and pj responds “no if we keep it up we can put our fingers inside each other, grow up” like her ONLY goal is to have lesbian sex and to me that is so real and refreshing. plus, the movie doesn’t frame pj and josie at the end as these models and paragons of feminism, but rather as real girls who are figuring out their own wants and desires

i guess i would say i simply identify more with pj and josie’s experience in high school. josie definitely understands the value of a community of girls coming together and learning self defence, buttttt that ultimately comes second to her crush on isabelle. that feels authentic to me. josie and pj do not consistently model textbook feminist practices (pj’s favorite show is entourage, she’s not a feminist!!!), they antagonize and manipulate other girls, and they really only understand the value of their community of other girls at the end of the movie. BUT that all makes them feel more like real people than the characters in booksmart to me, and the narrative doesn’t frame them as heroes that we need to be looking up to. if anything, the end of bottoms acknowledges that they are murderers <3

to me the strongest and most empowering women in fiction are those who feel realistic and true to life, and i literally feel like i’ve met pj and josie as a teenager. the characters in booksmart, as well acted as they are, didn’t feel authentic to me when i was 18 years old watching it just post-graduating high school myself

#answered #anon

[booksandpaperss]

Aight another long post but it’s important that everyone on this tag gets this:

People who say byler isn’t a ground breaking queer ship if its gonna be canon just… don’t get it.

“There’s other shows with queer rep not just ST!” yes thank you I am well aware that Mike and Will aren’t the only two gay people in existence. Sure there’s other queer media, but like, most of the good ones are shows that were explicitly confirmed to be abt the queer experience, and I love those, but it’s just different when a show with a plot unrelated to being gay *has* multiple main characters as queer. Like that’s so much better bc it reminds ppl that queer ppl are actually real people and we exist outside of TV shows abt being queer, ya feel me?

-“Just bc stranger things is a bigger show doesn’t make a queer ship on it more groundbreaking”- umm yes it fucking does?? I really don’t think some of you understand: thousands of ppl who are either homophobic or just ignorant and aren’t used to seeing gay ppl on screen are going to SEE with their own eyes two teen boys in the 80s being in love on one of their favorite shows. Tons of queer kids who don’t have access to queer media or simply don’t KNOW that they’re queer are going to get to see two teen boys being in love. Putting that on a show like stranger things puts that representation across a much larger and diverse audience, *that* is what’s groundbreaking.

-“Stop acting like byler is any more of a big deal than Robin and Vickie! There’s already a queer ship onscreen another one isn’t any more groundbreaking.”- Yes. Yes it is. And do you know why? Because Mike and Will are both *crucial main characters*. There’s another longpostTM on my blog where I talk abt this in more detail, but the fact that Will’s romance is with mike, a relationship with another mc that’s been built up since season 1 and is critical to the plot, instead of some side character dude inserted in a later season just for Will to have a love interest, makes a difference! It’s not a side pairing that’s there just for the sake of being lgbtq, it’s a genuine well developed romance between two childhood best friends. How often do queer people get romances like that onscreen? Much less in a major hit TV show??

And before anyone thinks I’m just “not taking wlw ships seriously”: I am literally a lesbian and I nearly cried when I saw Robin and Vickie getting to be gay onscreen. I could go on and on abt how annoying it is that wlw ships are ignored in favor of mlm ships (cough cough steddie) but that’s not why *byler* is a bigger deal, why do you think byler is getting more backlash by cishets than literally any other queer ship that I’ve seen in media?

If you still think I’m being “over dramatic” after reading this, I literally don’t care. There’s bigger lgbtq issues to worry about than online discourse, and I think I’ve made myself quite clear already. I rest my case.

#byler #if I see one more post abt how byler isn’t that groundbreaking and we’re being over dramatic I’m gonna lose it #byler endgame #mike and will #byler better be canon #elli talks byler

[stevesbipanic]

Lavendar Haze

Cross posted on ao3

Part 1 of my Midnights Collection, more to come to subscribe for updates on ao3 or just check here regularly! :))

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meet me at midnight

Robin sees the familiar headlights pass behind her house, parking behind the big oak tree. She’s told Steve a hundred times that he could just come through the front door, but he says it’s more fun this way. She knew he was coming; he had called ahead, as he always does. Another nightmare, a year on from Starcourt and they can’t escape the horrors they witnessed there.

Steve climbs inside with the grace of a dork that’s done this before. He didn’t even change out of his sweatpants before coming over. Wordlessly, she lifts the blankets allowing him to slip in beside her, wrapping their arms around each other, relaxing in the knowledge that they were both safe.

Staring at the ceiling with you

Oh, you don't ever say too much

And you don't really read into

My melancholia

She knew Steve could tell she had had one too, he’s good at reading her these days. Neither of them wants to talk about it though, they’re awake and safe now. They’ve shared plenty of nights going over what happened, bringing it up doesn’t help anymore. Steve runs his fingers through her hair, soothing both of them. Comforting her without words is what he’s best at. He knows and that’s what matters.

I've been under scrutiny (yeah, oh yeah)

You handle it beautifully (yeah, oh yeah)

All this shit is new to me (yeah, oh yeah)

“I wish I could tell my parents what happened to us. I swear they look right through my mask some days, they know something is wrong and I’ll never be able to tell them.”

“I know Robbie, I guess that’s the one good thing about absent parents. Since 1983 all the people that have needed to know what happened to me were right beside me.”

Robin gives a sad smile at that, curling closer into Steve’s chest. She knew the Buckleys would adopt Steve if they could.

“We should talk about happier things, cheer ourselves up. How’s Eddie?” Robin said smirking at the now blushing boy.

“Eddie is fine, him and Wayne are all set up in the new house, we hung up his shiny new diploma this morning.”

“You two are so cute it’s gross, when are you going to tell him?”

“I don’t know if I should Robs, all this liking boys stuff is new to me and I don’t want him to think he’s an experiment or something.”

I feel a lavender haze creeping up on me

So real, I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say

No deal, the 1950s shit they want from me

I just wanna stay in that lavender haze

Helping Steve with his sexuality crisis a few months ago had been an experience. Robin only knew about gays and lesbians, the two of them had had to go to a hole-in-the-wall bookshop in Indianapolis to find a zine that would explain what Steve had been feeling. Robin didn’t know you could like both, since she never had.

Life was different than what her parents had grown up in. The world was changing, and there were new words to help young people like Steve come to terms with their identities. It had taken some explaining to Eddie, showing him the zine and other things, they’d collected. He seemed to understand, but she could also see how it might bring up some old trauma with Eddie who had been an “experiment” before.

All they keep asking me (all they keep asking me)

Is if I'm gonna be your bride

“Mom still thinks you’re my boyfriend. She wants to know if we’re getting married now that I’ve graduated. Her and Dad got hitched right out of high school, so I think they want the same for me, which is gross.”

The only kind of girl they see (the only kind of girl they see)

Is a one night or a wife

“My parents did the same. When I graduated they told me if I wasn’t going to go to college I might as well be useful and marry into a good family. Said I need to stop being childish with all the girls around town and grow up. I hadn’t even been going on many dates, King Steve was the dating kind, not me.”

I find it dizzying (yeah, oh yeah)

They're bringing up my history (yeah, oh yeah)

But you aren't even listening (yeah, oh yeah)

It all felt so overwhelming the expectations of society and parents and the world. For a moment though it did feel good that their biggest problem was parents and not flesh-eating monsters. Steve was still talking but Robin’s mind had started forming a plan to solve both of their problems.

I feel a lavender haze creeping up on me

So real, I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say

No deal, the 1950s shit they want from me

I just wanna stay in that lavender haze (ooh, ooh, whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa)

That lavender haze

“What if we get married?”

“What?”

“I love you, you love me. Let’s get married. No more stupid questions from my parents, you can say a big fuck you to yours since I doubt they see my family as a ‘good family’ and more importantly no more getting separated.”

It’s the one thing they hadn’t brought up since Spring. After carrying Eddie’s bleeding body out of the Upside Down and to the hospital, Steve had collapsed from blood loss. With no legal guardians or spouse around, no one was allowed to see him until he was stable, they weren’t even told what was going on. It had been the worst 24 hours of Robin’s life knowing nothing about what was happening with Steve, her best friend, her platonic soulmate.

“Fuck it, let’s get married.”

Talk your talk and go viral

I just need this love spiral

Get it off your chest

Get it off my desk (get it off my desk)

Talk your talk and go viral

I just need this love spiral

Get it off your chest

Get it off my desk

They started with telling the Buckley’s, Steve had slipped out the next morning to steal a good enough ring from his mother, she wouldn’t miss it anyway. Robin’s parents were thrilled of course. Next was telling Eddie and Nancy, which was interesting.

“You’re getting what?”

“Married Eds.”

“Why?”

“Cause we love each other and society sucks so.”

“Fair point but you’re definitely not together right?”

“No Eds, still platonic with a capital P, I haven’t become a girl over night and Robs is still very much a lesbian.”

“Ok I guess I can get behind this then, need a date to the wedding?”

“Are you asking me to my own wedding?”

“Sure am.”

“Thought you’d never ask.”

Nancy had been similar, wanting to make sure this is what they wanted and weren’t just being stupid.

“Oh no we’re very stupid still, Nance.”

“Yeah, this is just low on our stupid scale. Want to be my maid of honour since dingus can’t be?”

The kids were ecstatic.

“I knew you were together!”

“Dustin, you know Robin is a lesbian.”

“Oh right. Well can I be your best man?”

“Of course, kid, wouldn’t want anyone other than my brother.”

Hopper and Joyce had been happy at the news, claiming it would give everyone something good to celebrate.

I feel (I feel) a lavender haze creeping up on me

So real, I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say

No deal (no deal), the 1950s shit they want from me

I just wanna stay in that lavender haze

(Ooh, ooh, whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa)

The wedding was small and perfect. They held it in the woods behind Hopper’s cabin, just their small group of friends who were more like family. Robin wore a dark brown suit which had used to be Jonathan’s and Steve worse a white button down and let the girls put flowers in his hair. The wedding was very them, dumb vows like “you’ll always be my dingus,” and “I want to be your schmuck forever.” A perfect day.

Get it off your chest

Get it off my desk

That lavender haze

I just wanna stay

Years later when it was legal for them to marry their romantic partners, Steve and Robin stayed married. Their partners understood, Robin and Steve were soulmates and should never be apart. Brought together in trauma and staying together through love; there would be no more days when they didn’t know if the other were ok. As the world kept growing there would be new words for them but they didn’t need more labels, they knew what they were to each other and that’s all that mattered.

I just wanna stay

In that lavender haze

#stobin #platonic stobin #platonic with a capital p #platonic soulmates #steve harrignton #robin buckley #minor steddie #stranger things #stranger things s4 #my fic #ao3 #midnights #taylor swift #song fic #lavendar haze

[piltoversfinest-caitvi]

Christian Linke and Alex Yee Q&A

From here  (will update if there’s more)

With special addition from Amanda’s

Below the cut are the questions and answers they provided

Q: Anything in regards to an art book for this show? Would love nothing more than to secure a copy of one.

Christian: There is one in the works! I remember talking to some folks at Fortiche and Riot about it a few months ago. I'm not sure where they are in the process, but it's coming for sure.

Q: Hi! Do you think Caitlyn and Vi shippers will be happy with the upcoming season?

Alex: There's that part they might like, and that part they're probably gonna hate.

Amanda (A reply to Alex’s post): I take full responsibility for both. And stand by that they make the show better!

Q: How did you all go about capturing such minute and captivating micro-expressions? Also, Caitlyn and Vi have been really fun for my wife and I to watch together as a lesbian couple. We really hope we get to see their relationship grow in new and interesting ways. I'm curious about how their roles as "Piltover's Finest" will differ from how they do in LoL. Will caitlyn still be a sheriff, or more of a private eye working independently from the Enforcers?

Also, what is the likelihood we will see them as official "girlfriends" next season? Will it mainly be implied or outright stated? I realize if you can't share much, but I (and my wife) are dying to know.

Lastly, will we get to see the entire tattoo on Vi's back at any point?

Christian:

I appreciate you speaking to the smaller details of the character moments. Generally speaking, people in animation will advise against those silent beats where subtle expressions mean as much as any word could, but that's the sort of drama we really craved in the animation space. We simply have awesome animators :) And a wildly talented animation director Bart Manoury, who defined that entire look for Arcane.

For Vi's tattoo -- we have the complete design, I'm not quite sure why we haven't shared it with everyone. Let me inquire about that.

Regarding Vi and Caitlyn, I wish I could say more at this point, but a lot of the answers I'd give you would spoil the experience on screen. I'm confident in the direction we're taking it, and I very much wanna hear from you once Season 2 is out.

Q:  what we should expect for Viktor in season 2?

Christian: Everything

Q: Will there be anymore merch drops for Arcane? O: I would love to have posters or even figures/statues/nendoroids of any of the characters!

Christian: Yes. I myself am the sort of person that likes to have dozens of statues, trinkets and figurines on his shelf. The underwhelming amount of merch during Season 1's release is very high on my list of gripes. We're actively working on making sure that we do much better next time around.

Alex: I certainly hope so!

Q: Are there plans to release the scripts for Arcane? I would love to study these.I know you guys don't come from a typical Hollywood background and that's what I love about Arcane, it's so fresh and new. How did you learn how to create a show? How did you write the finale to encapsulate so much emotion and meaning?

Christian: Yes! Quite frankly, we just haven't gotten to consolidating all the different versions yet. Some of it also touches on Season 2 spoiler risks, so I'm afraid we still need to find the time to go through the mountain that is our Season 1 scripts. ;o

In the beginning, we certainly had no idea how to craft a TV series. Personally, I tried to read a lot of books about story crafting and screenwriting. I can't say that I found many of them useful, but at least they all confirmed the general framework of act structures and character drive.

We spent a good amount of time in meetings with other folks who worked in the industry, always looking for that secret sauce that unlocks a TV story structure, and... turns out it doesn't exist. So once you come to that conclusion, it becomes a bit easier to roll up your sleeves and go "alright, let's find our own". At this point, we have our own "metrics" and processes to track plot and character. It's always somewhat messy when you intend to craft a complex story, but that's just part of the work.

Good story (in my mind) is all about hard choices. Many writers talk about being "character driven" without actually writing character driven stories. If you ask your hero whether or not they will help save the world from an alien invasion, the answer always is "yes, duh". Thus, the character doesn't REALLY have a decision to make. The sole question that remains is "HOW are they gonna overcome their obstacle?" -- which is entertaining, but it really doesn't drive the story forward with full autonomy.

I think Alex and I gravitate toward stories that leave characters with costly or even impossible choices.

Amanda (Add onto Christian’s post): I think of this in terms of what a character hopes and fears. You have to know what these are (and make sure the audience knows too) and use them to tug a character towards impossible decisions. I also think you have to be able to relate to these hopes and fears. As Christian mentioned, the fear of dying in an alien invasion isn’t relatable. Neither is the hope of winning a civil war (for most people), but what made Silco’s quest for Zaun’s freedom relatable is that it was rooted in his hope that he could win back his brother Vander’s respect. And without his respect, Silco feared he was the “dirty little thing” his station in life always ascribed to him. Fearing you aren’t good enough, and craving respect from family are deeply relatable emotions. This is what a “character driven story” means to me!!

Q: I've watched this show many many times, introducing it to new people, and always finding another detail or two I didn't during previous watches! While writing the story, what was the most complex story-telling issue you guys ran into?

Christian: We wanted all of our characters to be "real", and thus, make imperfect decisions. The finale of the 3rd episode was scary, because both Vi and Powder really mess up and make terrible decisions. At the same time, we didn't want these choices to alienate them entirely.Characters like Jinx and Silco constantly murder and manipulate. Can an audience still root for them? It's a bit of a dance between their many risky actions and choices.

Amanda (Add onto Christian’s): Again, I think this comes from relatable motivations. Jinx, (and Powder before her), was always desperate to prove herself worthy — worthy of her sister’s faith in her, worthy of Silco’s faith in her. We shouldn’t have to prove ourselves worthy of love, but that is a struggle we all face in so many different ways. A character making terrible decisions is much more forgivable if you too have felt what they’re feeling. I always say I love characters that do the right thing for the wrong reasons, or the wrong thing for the right reasons, everything else is boring!

Q: If you could have made arcane about any other part of runeterra which one has most interest to you?

Christian: Sheesh... there's a lot. ;) We've been working on Arcane for over 7 years now, so naturally, you have ideas for other stories over time.I think the "grimsical" tone that Arcane features works well for Alex and I. That said, I'm really interested in exploring some more quirky stuff as well. The League IP has a lot to offer, it's very diverse in cultural and tonal aspects.

Alex: There are stories I'd love to tell all over Runeterra. One of the joys of working on Arcane was having the opportunity to dive deep into the style, look, and culture of Piltover/Zaun. At Riot we of course have our ideas, but there is still a magic of discovery whenever you invest time conceptualizing one of Runeterra's regions.I've always been a fan of the intrigue/machinations of Noxus, the aesthetics and history of Ionia, the mythos of the Freljord.

Q: In an episode of “Into the Rift”, it’s said that the early drafts of Arcane weren’t good. How much of that draft and the final show are similar or different? Just character arcs and interactions? Major plot points? Or was the entire idea of the show changed?

Christian: A lot (if not all) of the story structure and character arcs were the same.

Crafting the episodes and scenes in a fashion that builds the right tension over time and tracks all the parallel stories wasn't really clicking yet at that time, so Alex and I getting help from the outside and learning more about how to "break an episode" really unlocked the episodes to be stronger.

Alex: The broad strokes of the show never really changed. I'd say the biggest evolutions concerned pacing and development of emotional storytelling. We were more plot-focused before that. We always wanted big emotional beats between characters, we just strengthened their integration to the overall story.

Often, a slight shift in our approach significantly changed the spirit of a scene or beat. We were fortunate to have brainstormed so many moments before we rebooted the story though, it gave us a wealth to draw from when we went into the proper writer's room.

Q: What were some of the small touches in the art and writing of Arcane that didn't mean that much in the big picture, but that you really enjoyed personally?

Christian: Man... also too many to count. ;) The wonderful thing about our collaboration with Fortiche is that artists at the studio are really empowered. An example that Alex likes to bring up and that we all really love is the ash tray in Silco's office. We didn't instruct them to make it look like Jinx painted it in her trademark whimsical style, they did that themselves. They were tasked with designing a simple ash tray and thought, "how can I do more with this than the minimum?" -- and so they did. Now, an ash tray tells a story.

Q: Will season 2 be the final season in the Piltover and Zaun region? Will there be more interactions between Ekko and Jinx in season 2?

Christian: I don't think answering this first question would actually benefit you, so I'm not gonna do it. Oh yes (to the q of Ekko and Jinx).

Q: Will there be another season of bridging the rift or any more behind the scenes content?

Christian: I don't know if it's gonna be another full Bridging The Rift, but I know that we're filming BTS material all around. So in some shape or form, there are gonna be more glimpses behind the curtain for you. :)

Q: If you could choose a single word to describe season 2, what would you pick?

Christian: War

Alex: Rubicon

Amanda: Well I’m more of a sap than these guys, but I say “forgiveness.”

Q: What were some of the biggest influences on Arcane in terms of writing or animation?

Christian: Alex and I were talking a lot about Peaky Blinders while we were working on Season 1.For animation, there really isn't that much I would reference to be frank. When we started Arcane, there wasn't really anything out there that had the look and style we had in mind.

Amanda: Let’s not forget our “Lord of the Rings” dollar jar. Bunch of bills in there from you, Christian!!

Christian: True. Though Arcane development started long before Spiderverse.

Q: When is season 2 coming?

Christian: B-)

Q: How long do you see yourself doing Arcane? Can you see the series becoming a revolving door of stories told from different regions of Runeterra at some point?Have you ever had a great idea for something in the show, that came too late? eg: animation is too far along to change

Christian: We definitely want to explore other regions. At the same time, we've all seen shows and movies that try to cram in too many different perspectives too quickly. I think we gotta earn our way into a larger world view first. So definitely coming in the future, but we have to find the right pace for the story we wanna tell.

Regarding having an idea for something that came too late -- yes, constantly. ;) As someone much wiser than us once said: "Art is never finished, only abandoned".

Q: Does "Our Love" image on the record in the show refer to personifications of Piltover and Zaun? Since the girls are colour coded as respective cities over big red-dot in the sky.

Christian: Indeed!

Q: When making the soundtrack for the show, what did you and/or others have in mind for selecting artists and sounds for what would end up making the cut? Were there any you were considering that didn’t make it?

Christian: It starts with the editors at Fortiche looking for the right moment(s) in every episode that could feature a "music video moment". Usually, the vibe and mood of the story boards paints a target that we then try to cast appropriately.

You tend to have a shortlist of 5-10 artists that you then try to hunt.

During Season 1, it was really hard to find artists, because we were an unproven studio, and a lot of artists weren't interested in animated series. Luckily, the ones who joined us did so because they really believed in the vision, more so than it being an easy win.

Amanda: The storyboard artists make the intention of the scene work. Without them our writing would be boring, flat words. Coming from a live action background, the collaboration in the boards feels like working with a director and the actors all at once — they decide camera angles and blocking which is everything to the emotion and feeling of a scene.

Q: Did you guys overall have a favorite scene or episode from the final product? What was it like/how did it feel to take in all of the positive reactions, to witness the major impact that Arcane left? 

Christian: The finale of Episode 6 is always very powerful to me. Probably that. It was a powerful feeling, because you poured your entire existence into this project for over half a decade, well knowing that the League audience is unmerciful. It was super-scary to imagine that they may not like it. That's a chunk of your life you'd never get back. Thankfully, it worked out. :)

Alex: Definitely one of the hardest questions to answer. Kind of a copout to say the dinner scene (109), but I always marvel at the emotion Fortiche was able to evoke in animation there. Similar feeling for the bridge fight (107), even though I do really love the intergration with music and how much story is told.

I'll throw a nod to the Chuck/Thieram scene with Jinx (106). It is/was a moment of general silliness, both in the writing act and the show that doesn't always feel like it fits with the rest of the tone, but it makes me smile that it survived all the way to the finish.

Q: What's your favorite episode of the show? Did Silco braid Jinx's hair? How long did Jinx's tattoos take? Who's your favorite character?

Christian: Probably 106. Yes, though he most definitely sucked at it, no matter how much he tried. Eventually, he paid someone to invent a machine that can braid Jinx's hair, but Jinx would always tinker with it, to a point where it once nearly strangled her in the process. He once asked Sevika to do it, but Sevika threatened to quit. So Silco had to keep doing it, until Jinx was old enough to learn it. Not sure I understand the question. Heimerdinger.

Q: You mentioned passionate tweets on social media. Does that mean the creators of Arcane see a large part of the fans tweets, fanart, disccusion?

Christian: Yeah, we see a good amount. Though Arcane's fan art on twitter tends to be a bit of a minefield. :X

Alex: We see quite a bit, but I have the feeling it's only the tip of the iceberg. I wish I had the fluency to dip into more of the fan reactions from all the non-English regions where Arcane was released.

Q: Are there people in the production crew you'd like to give a shout out to and why? Who are the unsung heroes of Arcane? What's a small detail or easter egg in the show that no one has discovered yet? What is your favorite plugin/audio effect that you used to produce any song in the Arcane soundtrack? Any teases for S2?

Christian:

I'd say that the story board artists are truly the creative unsung heroes. Our story boarders are FANTASTIC, and the amount of things they have to juggle is insane. And yet, none of their work ends up in the final picture, which always makes me sad.

There's loads. I think someday -- maybe in a few years -- I'll wanna check in on that and see which have just not gotten discovered. :)

Gulfoss. It's pure magic.

Q: Are all the scripts complete for Season 2?

Christian: Yes. Though there's always some amount of tweaks that happen in the process. Seeing story boards & hearing voices for the first time makes you realize that something doesn't quite click, or there's new opportunities you didn't recognize before.

Q: What were some events and actions that you really liked and wanted in the show, but had to rewrite or cut because they didn’t properly push story arc of some characters, or went against how that character should act at that point in their arc? Or what was your proudest achievement with this show that was cut, rewritten, or something that you knew the viewing audience would never know about?

Christian: There was another scene in Episode 107, a flashback between Ekko and Powder that takes place a few months after the end of Episode 103. It was a very touching moment during which Ekko tries to save Powder from Silco, but Powder refuses to go with him. "Powder is dead" .Alas... sometimes, it is your darlings that end up on the chopping block. Animation is expensive, and time is very much so money.

Q: How did y’all decide to include Get Jinxed by Djerv in the show, even though it was created for the LoL version of Jinx back in 2013? Does that song actually exist in the Arcane universe, or was it just part of soundtrack/Jinx’s imagination?

Christian: The song has a lot of meaning for us, because it was the first time Fortiche and I worked together on something. The beginning of the whole relationship.I don't think the song exists in the Arcane universe, no. That was more a selfish little moment for us. :)

Q: One of the things I really liked about Arcane was how there was no fat. There was not a single scene that felt tacked on or unnecessary, but you still managed to flesh out the world. Noxus was a great example. Their inclusion made the world feel bigger but it didn’t slow down the plot for a second.I know it’s a group effort deciding which scenes to cut but I was wondering what you’re criteria is when making those decisions.

Christian: I know that some people said Arcane moves at a pace that's too brisk, but both Alex and I like it when episodes really move the story forward. We all have our favorite TV shows that often enough present us filler episodes. We just didn't want that.

We followed act structures per episode. Every character story line would get their 3 acts, plus "twist" to set up the future conflict.

We did also have a piece of paper in our writer's room that spelled out our criteria for a successful scene:

- How does this scene develop the character?

- How does this scene further the plot?

- How does this scene teach the audience something new about the world?

​You don't always get all 3, but it needs to have at least 2.

Q: Is it possible for Mel Medarda to return in Season 2? :c

Alex: Solidly possible.

Q: Are there gonna be any sex scenes in S2?

Christian: Ew, no! Gross. Maybe.

Alex: Hmm... any characters springing to mind?

Christian: I dunno Alex. Haven't seen anything on social media that makes me believe people even thought about this.

Amanda: They hired me back for season two, which means there will be sex. I’m the reason it’s in season one.

Q: Why did you name the show Arcane?  When you were first developing the show who would you say was the character that changed the most from how you originally developed/ thought of them? Did Jinx and Vander have a close relationship? Does Jinx actually see Vander as someone who betrayed Silco?

Christian: Magic ties a lot of our world together. Every region, every champion has a different relationship with it.

Viktor for sure. I kinda just wanna leave it there. ;P

They weren't as close as Vander and Vi were. Vander was the person that Vi looked up, whereas she was the person Powder looked up to. I don't think that Jinx necessarily blamed Vander for what happened, though she does think (now) that Vander chose wrong.

Q: I want to ask if there's anything you can share about the Firelights! I'd definitely love to know more about them and how they were conceptualised, some more information about the members if possible, perhaps even word on their involvement on next season? 

I think the idea of "Hope for a better Zaun" is one of the core tenets of Ekko, and I'm certainly proud to see that he has a group that is actively working towards that goal. I'm satisfied with where you've taken his storyline and I can definitely say you guys completely understand him!

Christian: Appreciate that! The firelights were inspired by and named after the green insects that you see flying around especially in episode 107. They come out of nowhere, swooping in, zipping through the air, and they look cool. :)

It happens easily that a place like Zaun gets written off because dangerous experiments and shady streets scare people off. In many ways, however, it is the kind of place where a truly revolutionary technology or idea can find purchase. So if you ask me, Zaun really is the place where the true magic can happen, and Ekko totally gets that and wants to enable and amplify that.

Q: Who was the easiest character to write and who was the hardest?

Christian: Hardest I'd say Silco and Jinx. They're both stylized in very different ways. Alex is the specialist for their dialogue on our team.

Alex: They all give you trouble here and there, but I would say on average Heimerdinger and Jayce were easier to write than Silco and Jinx.

Q: Will we ever get to see a younger silco and vander pre betrayal? Also any flashbacks to silco being a dad to powder when he first took her in? 

Christian: You will, in fact.

Amanda (Reply to Christian): Spoiler! In the episode that always makes me cry.

Q: Will we ever learn about why Vander betrayed Silco? What was Silco planning on doing after he gained the Nation of Zaun? Would he have attempted to improve Zaun? Even though Silco is dead, can we expect to see more of him in s2? (ex. Flashbacks and mentions of him from other characters?) What are your opinions on Silco overall? Did you expect to see him as such a fan favorite?

Christian: Silco was a very special character. During the early phase of development, we talked about everyone's chip on their shoulder. Silco's was being "the dirty little thing". Never being enough. Always having topside look down on him. He could never quite past it, and if it would take his life to escape that existence, so be it. He had nothing to lose.

At the end of the season, he realizes far too late what it's like to have something to lose. Just like Vander, radical notions begin to stumble when your loved ones are threatened by your ideology. "It all makes sense now, brother."

I don't think he had a plan after the Nation of Zaun. It was an impossible pipe dream from the beginning, and if you ask me, achieving it would probably have ruined him.

We did not expect Silco to become such a fan favorite. Jason Spisak did such a wonderful job, it's hard to put in words just how transformative his performances have been.

Alex: We've always liked the relationship between Silco and Vander. It's the original rift that informs the generational split between the sisters. I'll just say, it's a story we'd like to tell.

I think Silco always wanted to improve Zaun, though there are always trade-offs to progress. To me, the real question is who would have helped him realize this vision, and what would have mattered to him at that point in time.

Silco is one of those characters you can get addicted to writing, but I don't think we ever expected him to be such a fan favorite. It really blew my mind when some people engaged with him more as a father figure than Vander.

Amanda (Add onto Alex’s post): To me, the story of Arcane at its core is whether or not the sisters will repeat the sins of their fathers. As Vi and Jinx’s story unfolds we hope you’ll recognize the parallels between Vander and Silco’s story and be desperate for them to take a different path, impossible as that path seems to be.

Q: Did you begin writing the story with the idea of having an antagonistic corrupting/nurturing force to serve as the catalyst for who Jinx would become, or was he developed gradually over time as the right piece to fill what the script needed?

Alex: We knew fairly early that we wanted to have, as Christian put it, a non-champion "svengali" to oppose Vander in the first three episodes. The world felt small when every character happened to be a champion, and we liked the idea of the principle villain being someone who needed others to fight for him. It felt so oppositional to League.

However, we didn't initially plan for Silco to have such a presence throughout the latter half of the season, that developed over time. In fact, we were nervous about giving him too much screen time once the story with Vi and Jinx was rolling. I do remember us asking ourselves right up to the end whether or not Silco would have traded Jinx for his vision of Zaun.

Q: What's a piece of advice you'd give to people trying to create interesting/dynamic characters and stories?

Alex: For me, the best moments come from characters when they surprise you. It's easy to feel omnipotent/omniscient when you are a storyteller. You're usually one step ahead. But sometimes, as you brainstorm all the ways a character might handle a situation or argue a point, they say or do something you hadn't considered. In the best instances, it knocks you off-kilter as much as their opponent in the scene/story. I guess this is all to say, strive to make your characters cleverer than you.

Q: Which scene in the show holds a special meaning to you and why? Possibly because you relate to it personally or there's a funny story behind it from during production.

Alex: There are many, but I'll call out Silco's monologue at the beginning of 103 "Ever wonder what it's like to drown?"This used to be the opening to the show. It sort of encapsulates the core of the story. I think after writing this with Christian, and hearing Jason's performance, it was the first time he looked at me and thought "you might actually be able to write." Of course, I quickly disabused him of this fantasy.

Amanda (Add onto Alex’s post): And it’s my fault that this beautiful sequence is no longer the opening of the show. But I love what it adds to the gut punch of episode 103 and I’ll defend that choice until the day I die. (Even if Alex doesn’t exactly agree with me…)

Q: How did you decide the tone for Arcane? It has adult themes and topics but presents them with such maturity despite being seemingly high fantasy. Was the tone decided from the beginning?

Alex: Tone was the original looming question. We decided we needed to see Vi and Jinx in their younger years as sisters in order to feel the loss and yearning as they struggled to reconnect, but this also made the show feel more "kiddy." I remember calling Christian after having an epiphany that our tone could be like that of the edgier anime I appreciated growing up - no idea why this didn't occur sooner, it just hadn't felt as much like League at the time. For me, anime straddled a tonal line unlike anything else at the time - the bridge from childhood to adulthood.

Once that locked into place, it got a lot easier for me to find the story, although you're always wondering if this or that moment pushes too far. The scene where Singed injects Jinx with Shimmer gave us pause for a little while.

Some anime refs: Hellsing, Berserk, Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Gungrave

Q: One question: Who came up with the idea, for Jinx Vs Ekko fight scene, it was a work of art, absolutely surreal experience, so many emotions and exposition in such small amount of time.And also on the topic : how in the world did You managed to fit so, so, so many of such scenes in only nine episodes? I mean, on top of my head, flare scene, Victors run and the climax! So much emotions on screen, i couldn't handle it.

Alex: The credit goes almost entirely to Fortiche and the music team on the bridge fight. 107 felt like a fulcrum-point in their authorship of the series - weaving their music video superpowers with the storytelling.

How we crammed so many scenes in? We wrote scripts that were too long and then battled in editing to save as many darlings as possible. (Slightly joking, but slightly not.)

Thanks for watching!

Q: Now that it's been a year, and you've been able to properly see the praise and criticism of the series, is there anything you wish you did differently? Did you expect it to blow up as much as it did?

Alex: My strategy is more to try to learn and adapt as opposed to rue the missed opportunities. Luckily, I'd say a lot of what we saw in reactions to season 1 aligned well with what we were focused on in season 2, though we did adjust emphasis here and there when we felt like fans had a strong connection with certain beats.

I don't think we ever expected it to have quite the reception it had, though we were always very confident in the quality of our voice actors' performances and the artistic brilliance of Fortiche.

Q: Will we get to know more about the mysterious wizard, who saved Jayce and his mom, in upcoming seasons?

Alex: There will be magic.

Q:  I wanted to ask if you could share a list of the champs you worked on during your time on a League, since not many people may know what you worked on prior to Arcane but I loved the creative AMAs you used to host on the forums lime for Zyra and Varus.

Alex: When I was on League, champions would always have an assigned writer/creative focused principally on their story and thematics, but it takes a village to develop a champion, so it would be disingenuous to take credit for many aspects of what they became. Some of my favorite contributions were on champions to whom I wasn't assigned. Sometimes the heart of a champion was present before they came across our desks. And then players could also imbue champions with characteristics/meaning that superseded our intentions (Blitzcrank springs to mind).

That caveat aside, some of the champs I worked on who are close to my heart despite murdering me on Summoner's Rift: Lee Sin, Graves, Leona, Caitlyn, Varus, Lulu, Thresh, Ahri, Riven, Draven, Viktor, Irelia, Nocturne, Jarvan, Karma, Maokai, Nautilus, Sejuani, Sona, Wukong, Vladimir...

There was also a lot of side content and legendary skins (I recently recalled Christian and I working together on the first PROJECT video.) It's important to note a lot of these characters were significantly deepened in updates and later content. Working at Riot is more about doing your best to carry and pass a baton than being an auteur.

Q: will we ever see vi's abs

Alex: I'll put in a request.

Q: When you where writing it, did you have any moments where everything just connected and you thought “wow! I can’t believe we’re this clever!”? If so, when? 

Alex: I think what would happen more often is that I would see the end result of something I wrote and think "Wow! Thank heavens Fortiche, the voice actors, and all the other teams managed to make me look like something other than a blathering idiot!"

Of course... no one can stop me all the time.

Q: I believe Riot executives have realized the importance of Arcane to the company, does their support make production easier than before? Will season 2 come out quicker because of that?

Alex: Their support is a huge part of why Arcane has the time, trust, and resources to hit the quality we aim for. People who've worked in the industry always tell us how rare and special our situation is. However, I'd say that extra trust is more likely to mean the season would incubate for more time, rather than less.We know you're all waiting though. 

We always try to find the sweet spot between bringing you content and trying to improve/polish it.

Q: In the scene where Finn tries persuading Sevika into betraying Silco, Finn mentioned something about "bigger fish than silco". I feel like this was potential foreshadowing to who will fill the power vacuum Silco left, but I'm not sure. Was Finn referencing someone within the scope of Season 1, or was he talking about someone/something we'll see in the future? (cause it makes me wanna think he was referencing Urgot potentionally)

At the end of the Bridging the Rift, y'all mentioned wanting to expand to other Runeterra regions in animation. Will these new series be anthology to Arcane, or will it be directly/partially carrying on some of Arcane's plotlines?

When and if there are more animated shows outside of Piltover and Zaun, is Fortiche willing to make these projects or can we see different animation studios throwing their hat in the ring? (ie Japanese studio animates Ionia series)

Alex:

Heh, I wondered if this stood out to anyone. There is someone he's referencing, who does capitalize on Silco's death, though I don't know if this will be apparent in season 2. It's one of the things we wanted to connect, but didn't feel was important enough to sacrifice some of the other scenes we wanted.

No specifics to report yet, but we do hope we'll be able to feel a connection between different stories we might tell, even if the camera moves to a very different place.

We love working with Fortiche and (hopefully) vice versa. We also want to explore a range of styles for League content. The question is how to best have the capacity to deliver stories regularly without diluting the quality.

Q: Will there be information about Orianna somewhere in Arcane?

Will there be hints in Arcane Season 2 about Warwick's creation?

Will Janna have any mention in Arcane?

Amanda: Yes! (not sure if a yes to all three or a specific one)

#arcane #piltover's finest #jinx #silco #caitvi #caitlyn kiramman #vi #viktor #jayce talis #mel #artbook #christian linke #alex yee #ama #reddit #timebomb #merchandise #merch #vander #mel medara #season 2 #amanda #amanda overton #text post #misc

[little-alien-duck]

the worlds most nichest post: my thoughts about what different doctor who characters rock climbing styles would be 

okay the point of this is to discuss dr who characters climbing vibes. Climbing is a sport with an INSANE amount of jargon so i’m gonna try to define all of it/explain my thought process but we’ll see how that goes. Also this is written in the order of vibes which is to say that there is no order at all. Also this is not exhaustive as there are characters i don’t have any specific climbing thoughts about (yet)

first category: characters who would primarily be top-ropers

top-roping is what people often think of when they think of climbing. you’re wearing a harness which is attached to the top of the wall via long rope. there is another person on the other end of the rope belaying you (catching you if you fall). this kind of climbing is more technical and endurance based.

-liz shaw would be an EXCELLENT top-roper. super analytical and extremely determined. she would absolutely CRUSH long, technical problems. Specifically i think she’d be really good at problems with crimps (little tiny holds where you’re only using your fingertips, you have to have really good technique for these holds) and slab problems (where the top of the wall is titled back from the bottom, really balanced based and again, super technique driven)

-ian and barbara would top rope together i think. They work together on the problems and it’s very cute. They’re both SO proud when susan sends something

-tbh i think five would really enjoy belaying people. You have to be mentally engaged bc you’re watching the person you’re belaying but it’s also an easy repetitive motion which can be kinda soothing? It’s also just the ultimate Parent activity. He would be so proud of his kids (though tegan would definitely prefer bouldering over top roping. Nyssa would be really into top roping i think. Adric would focus way too much on the grade (how difficult the climb is rated) and would get really frustrated if he could do one 5.10 but then fell on a 5.9 and for this reason would have a lot of trouble actually finishing anything. He knows all the terminology and is extremely pretentious about it but spends all his time commenting on other people’s attempts instead of doing any himself)

-jo: she’s also just like a great climbing buddy. super positive and cares more about having fun than sending anything (more ppl in the gym should have this attitude)  

category two: boulderers

Bouldering (my fav type in full transparency but i’ll try not to be TOO biased) is climbing on lower walls without a harness. The max wall height is generally about 15ft and if you fall, you land on a mat. If you do this outside you bring multiple (!!!) crash pads which are a little smaller than a mattress each and position them under you so if you fall that’s where you land. Outside you ALWAYS have a spotter but inside you rarely do if ever. In bouldering the individual moves are generally harder than in top-roping in that they require more power and are riskier but they’re generally less techy and far less endurance based  

-charley “i’m a champion faller” pollard. self-explanatory.

-ace mcshane bc the lesbian vibes here are off the charts. seven would absolutely try to coach her on like proper technique which she completely ignores. She has the worst footwork in the world which has torn holes in the toes of her shoes bc she’s brute forcing her way through every move. LOVES dynos (short for “dynamic move” essentially it’s just a jump. in a true dyno there is a moment where no part of your body is touching the wall) and is incapable of static climbing (the opposite of dynamic climbing, slow/deliberate movements)

-bill: she isn’t actually bouldering really, she is mostly hanging out in the bouldering area bc there are cute girls here (bouldering is the favorite climbing style of douchey gym bros and women who want to show them up. There are girls doing pull-up competitions here)

-twelve was there at the beginning of bouldering in hueco tanks texas he told me himself :) this was the prime era of climbing being hippie shit so obvs he was there smoking pot with them

-eight: likes the physicality of bouldering. Also he would be doing show-offy moves like campusing (climbing without using your feet so essentially doing pull-ups through the whole climb) and knee-bars (literally jamming your knees into a good hold and using the tension between you knees and feet to keep yourself at rest, in a good knee-bar you can fully let go with your hands and just hang there). would also be really into buddy climbs (boulder problems done by two people working together. you literally have to step on/hang off of your partner and vice versa. They’re risky for obvious reasons and you only ever do them with someone you really trust. eight would love them)  

Category three: lead climbing

Lead climbing is like top-roping in that you have a harness and someone belaying you except that instead of the rope being attached to the top of the wall, there are clips attached to the wall at intervals throughout the climb. As you ascend, you clip yourself in. that means that if you fall while 3ft above your last clip you fall six feet (length of rope above the clip doubled bc you are now dangling below it). Your belayer has to be paying more attention than in top-roping and it is possible to “deck” (hit the ground) if you fall from low enough

-nine and rose would be an ICONIC lead duo (she has to have an anchor when belaying him so she doesn’t go flying if he falls but still can you imagine)

-martha jones would CRUSH lead problems like they’re NOTHING. Super techy problem with little pinches and edges and insane footwork? She eats that for BREAKFAST. Essentially my reasoning here is the same reasoning i gave for liz with top-roping but martha is more of an adrenaline junkie than liz so lead over top-roping

-sarah jane would also be super into lead but would hate climbing with harry bc he’s way over protective (he’s a terrible belayer bc in an effort to make sure he is on top of the job he takes in way too much slack on the rope, accidentally making it harder for sarah to clip in)

-three and delgado!master make a really good lead duo which comes in handy during some contrived circumstance after one of the master’s plans goes awry and they’ve gotta lead climb to save the earth or whatever

cat five: free soloing  

This is like bouldering only stupider (i’m biased). Free soloing is the kind of climbing that other rock climbers refer to as reckless. essentially it’s bouldering except that you climb way higher than that 15 foot ceiling i mentioned earlier. You climb like things that really should be top-rope or lead routes without a harness or any other kind of equipment (sidenote: soloing refers to a lack of safety equipment not whether or not you’re climbing with other people)

-tbh like academy era one would be into this shit. It’s risky as hell and you can be extremely pretentious about it, perfect combo for him

-jack bc he literally can’t die so might as well am i right

Deep water free soloing

This is free soloing but slightly less dangerous bc if you fall, you land in water (any kind of soloing can only be done outside for obvious reasons)

-clara: it’s all of the risk and thrills of free soloing but sexier. self-explanatory.

Speed climbing:

Literally exactly what it sounds like. This kind of climbing only exists for competition and its objective is speed and speed only. It is the only type of climbing where speed is an objective at all and if you saw climbing in the olympics, it was probably this

-ten: noodle man. look at him. he’s perfect for this. long limbs, no body weight, and the hyperactivity of a child with a caffeine addiction.

Other misc. Thoughts:

-Leela would obviously be good at climbing as an activity though i’m not sure about climbing as a sport. She would rainbow (use any holds instead of the ones for the route she was specifically climbing) literally every problem bc “the holds are there, why should I not use them?” just generally would have a difficult time with the rules of climbing as a sport not bc she doesn’t understand them, she just thinks they’re stupid

-missy would never climb as this is obviously beneath her BUT she gives really good climbing advice. She will insult you while doing it tho

-mel rotates between bouldering and top-roping to be more well-rounded (and therefore healthier) and would use the hangboard a lot (like a pull-up bar but designed to mimic small edges on climbing holds)  

#I will probably continue adding to this #bc I'm insanely invested in it #can u tell I'm a rock climber with a dr who hyper fixation? #doctor who #dw

[kittyit]

Hello I see that you appear to be an active member and/or contribute to women’s land communities and I’d appreciate some advice on how to share information about these communities to other women online without endangering them.

I’m a member of the female separatists subreddit and more and more members have been showing interest in learning about women’s land, however there are some users that think this information shouldn’t be posted so publicly. If there is a consensus on how to share this information form women in the communities I’d love to hear and heed what they’re saying.

there is no consensus! different lands have different policies and ideas but even those are usually loose intentions. it's hard to pin down exactly what my approach is on sharing info publicly about women's lands and events. it's an intuitive practice. i like to share just enough information that someone on anon would not be able to get the information she'd need to actually show up. i feel like the way things are (society artificially mollified by social media interaction while still starving for interaction and connection) is almost a shield between people who want to do harm to land and the land itself. the people who hate us are often lazy. going to land takes effort, how much effort that is depends on your specific situation and the specific land, but it requires a level of vulnerability, being yourself, and being willing to personally connect with other women, especially older women who don't want to just email, who want to talk on the phone or meet you. i think the details of contacting a land liaison are best shared in private groups or between two women who have some sort of personal connection, even if it's just a brief or intuitive one. i also don't believe in holding women's hands or begging them to go to land - the women who want to go to land and get connected will. encouragement is one thing, but i wasted a few years not understanding that there's a difference between women who are active and do what they want to do and women who are not in that place. it would be nice if i could make an ovarit post or a tumblr post or a facebook post and interested women would spring out of the woodwork ready for action. but unfortunately we are living in a society that drains our will, drive, and energy we need to act and do unusual and adventurous things, and our subculture of radical & lesbian feminism is not protected from or immune to that. every day i eagerly await more curious and bold women emerging from the digital shadows and treasure all the ones i already know :)

#separatism

[suavis]

Never interacting with ST tumblr ever again. Went to the tag after Vol 2 expecting to see posts about the episodes/s5 set up, instead I got

Death threats to Duffer Bros for not making by//er canon

People who don’t support by//er are homophobic

Horrible hate to Mileven fans

Duffer Bros are homophobic for killing Eddie bc “Eddie is gay & they killed him bc they didn’t like Stedd¡e”

We’re sick & tired of El, she shouldn’t be focused on in s5, instead Will & Mike

Mike’s speech to El is out of character, he doesn’t love her

El is boring & her abuse for her entire life isn’t comparable to Will, his unrequited love for Mike is worse than her torture

Mike should’ve died instead of Eddie & he’s homophobic to Will, Mike is the worst person in the show

I’m also not interacting with ST tumblr again bc of the white mlm fetishizers. Billy was clearly racist to Lucas & abusive to Max (I understand he was abused but that doesn’t excuse his racism and horrid treatment of Max) but yet Steve & Billy is a popular ship. If Lucas was white, we’d see more Lucas/Dustin. But we don’t. Women are also always pushed to the side for mlm ships, so many posts diminish El for by//er

LITERALLY you’ve encompassed everything i hate abt the fandom 💀 it’s never really surprising when fandoms only care abt bland white men they can hc as gay/bi and then fetishize but truly the attempted character assassination of multiple whole ass children bc they don’t play into their specific narratives they want is extra foul.

i thought st*ddie was cute in passing at first but then the fans and esp eddie fans started acting Like That and i was outta there 💀 ain’t no way they thought it was going to end any other way have the ever watched this show before??? like he was fun but ultimately he was just some guy that some ppl in this fandom care more abt than MAX who’s been around for three seasons now like make it make sense???? and same with billy stans they just choose to ignore full on racism like i saw one say they did believe he was racist but still liked him 💔 truly no saving them the way y’all will cape for random white men even if they’re racist and abusive…… ur not seeing heaven

and YES the way this fandom passes over the black characters (the very few that exist 🥴) is sooooo…. obvious truly. billy apologists are obviously the worst of em but. if will had been in love with lucas and he’d been acting like mike first of all there wouldn’t even be a quarter as many shipper and second lucas would have been eviscerated 💔 people’s priorities in this fandom could not be clearer tbh

and people’s hatred of eleven is so transparent 💀 if she wasn’t in the way of that certain ship nobody would give a fuck but instead they’ll say she’s just his beard, she’s aroace/lesbian (which obvi i support hcs like this wholeheartedly but when the ONLY purpose is to try to make it so she couldn’t possibly be attracted to mike and so now will can have him???? gtfo), she looks like a man (which is mentioned MULTIPLE times in the b*ler slideshow LMAO make it make sense….. i’m a woman with short hair does that make my gf straight???), etc.

also yeah their fixation specifically earlier on the fact that mike couldn’t say i love you to her and then when he finally did it was out of character/him projecting his feelings for will on her??? it’s disrespectful to the characters tbh like the way they characterize mike idek how they like him anymore considering how they seem to believe he’s manipulating eleven AND being an asshole to will while still being in love with him??? i have truly never seen a fandom so deluded over next to zero actual evidence but i wasn’t around in the days of tjlc so 💀 but i’m definitely seeing some similarities LMAO it’s bad like. i think EVERYONE can agree that will is into mike but b*lers seem to think that means mike is going to have to be into will too like. ik they’re still hung up on their middle school/high school straight best friends (or are still IN middle/high school with that straight best friend 💀) and want to think that he’ll get the happy ending they didn’t but. truly i do think will deserves better than this even if mike DOES return his feelings like. they would not be a good couple 💔 here’s to hoping will gets a bf in s5 and all the characters get to be happy for once and b*let fans finally shut up <3

#this is gonna be a long one #anti steddie #anti byler #anti billy hargrove #anti eddie munson #kinda but i’m mostly putting it to avoid his fans SHDJD #stranger things #asks #anonymous #thank u for this ask btw anon it’s nice to know other ppl also see this bs JDDHDH

[hoolay-boobs]

ah then, i must’ve accidentally recalled some misinformation from that infamous lesbophobe on twitter who constantly “headcanons” vi as bi to spite people 😭😭😭 although i do have to say, there’s an unfortunate history of official art/promos using lesbian flags and not knowing about the sapphic flag or what the difference is 🙄 i still believe they’re actual lesbians and take their word for it so don’t worry but these days it’s (generally speaking) hard to tell what’s truly meant to be conveyed; hell i’ve even seen sapphics on twitter do the same thing and it’s really frustrating 💔

you indirectly make a good point though, despite talking about something else! there’s a similarity in how confirmed bisexual characters may or may not actually be pan/poly/omni instead despite being said to be bi. or maybe they’re just bi and what was said was meant. i don’t have any specific examples but the idea probably exists, or will. erasure is common in all forms of queer, unfortunately.

btw also — believe me, i HAVE seen a radfem blog call bow a GNC female before 🫣 it… happens. so. yeah. it’s bad.

+ thanks for the sources!!

The ONLY thing I could get from that is that it rhymes. And as a bi woman who loves Vi, I’m a visexual lolololol

Yeahhhh ppl who “headcannon” Vi and Caitlyn and Catra and Adora as bi or pan stink. I don’t see it as often as ppl “headcannoning” Ivy and Harley and Korra and Asami (and somehow even Bowlover Boykisser Glimmer- I have no idea how ppl see her as a lesbian) as lesbians but like. Headcannoning any characters other than cisallohet characters as any other identity is so invalidating and callous istg.

FR. Ppl LOVE to throw the lesbian flag up in group sapphic edits that include Luz and Bubbline and Harlivy and Korrasami. It sucks. And like, the sapphic flag is so pretty! Why not use it <\3

Haha that’s not the point I was going for but thank you anyways chase! Within the context of a piece of media or said by a writer, if a character is bisexual, they’re bisexual. Not pan, not omni, not poly. Bc if they’re using specific terminology, they did that for a reason. Even if bi is an umbrella term, it’s also a specific identity as it’s own (you already know that tho lmao, I’m just restating it.)

Now, if a character shows interest in more than one gender, they’re most likely bisexual, but there’s a chance they could be pan, omni, poly, etc. like Charlie Morningstar from Hazbin Hotel. I’m like sure she’s bi, and the writers have never said anything otherwise or said that she’s pan or whatnot. So it’s clear to say that Charlie is canonically bisexual. Now, if within the show, or if the writer were to state she’s pan or omni or poly, then her already canon bisexual just got a lot more specific, and we’d say she’s canon this or that instead.

That’s SILLY (derogatory), I literally don’t see how someone can see Bow get glitter eyes looking at Sea Hawk and go “yeah that’s a lesbian.” 💀

Here, have a meme while you’re here :)

I had posted this months ago and got 1k likes and then my clumsy fingers accidentally deleted it 😅

Have a nice day Chase, thx for the ask 💝🫡

#mutuals 💕 #thank you for the ask! #answered asks #queer erasure #piltover's finest #lesbian erasure #glimbow #bisexual erasure #answered #tumblr asks #asks

[maybeimamuppet]

I LOST THE ASK IM SORRY ANON BUT HERE

REGINA

favorite thing about them

heheeeeeehoooo i’m a lesbian but honestly she has so much like depth to her in a way that’s not immediately obvious and it’s really interesting as a writer getting to explore that beyond canon

least favorite thing about them

i don’t like that i relate to her!!!! i don’t like the idea of being mean and she is and i’m entirely convinced she and i have the same personality disorder and i am terrified that i’m like her. some people have said it and i just hate that it might be true

but like as a character in and of herself it’s how she uses people for her own gain. that’s not cool boo

favorite line

“boo, you whore” from the movie

“that’s what i keep trying to explain to the president on twitter but he blocked me” from the show

i can’t remember enough of what she says in the new movie rn but i’ll find smth later i’m sure lol

brOTP

damian. she and damian both love taylor swift and they listen to every song together and fangirl together and also damian gets her into musicals. regina likes the dark gritty ones with good music like les mis and little shop and damian likes the classics (obvs)

OTP

post redemption arc i ship her with like every woman in this. like any combo of gretchen and karen, i’m an absolute SUCKER for cadina (like i’m literally on my knees begging for cadina fic prompts please), rejanis is. it has potential not my fav but i do partake from time to time.

but like aaron would just turn out bad nobody really likes shane or kevin and damian. is gay. so none of the men lol

nOTP

this woman is GAY so again any of the guys lol. also if it’s done wrong rejanis can be real icky and i don’t like that

random headcanon

she can juggle. cady is the only one who knows and regina will absolutely kill her if she lets it slip

unpopular opinion

she is a victim who made the wrong choices and not the monster a lot of people make her out to be. she is not the villain of the story she is the villain of her own life by fault of her own mind which is the fault of her upbringing and she is making the only choices she knows how which just so happen to hurt a lot of people. she absolutely can be redeemed and she deserves it. which is why the bus doesn’t just straight up kill her.

song i associate with them

i think i said this for janis but monster from frozen has very much internal regina vibes to me that she like is terrified of letting anyone else see. also i know it’s about something VERY DIFFERENT but all grown up from bare seems like it would really speak to her. and also just all of renee’s songs bc duh

favorite picture of them

it’s a gif and this is how i lost the post last time but uh

like. holy shit.

DAMIAN

favorite thing about them

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again but that boy drinks his loving janis sarkisian juice every morning as part of a balanced breakfast. he knows they’re each others person and i think he navigates their admittedly strange relationship really well. 

and also i love that this ~17 year old fat openly gay kid has SO MUCH confidence in himself. could he be overcompensating and actually have a lot internally that he doesn’t like about himself? yes absolutely . but the way he chooses to handle himself with such grace and confidence as he navigates such a complex web of social issues is really admirable to me and i don’t think he gets enough credit :))

least favorite thing about them

some of the stereotypes aren’t like super cool but like they had to come from somewhere so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

favorite line

damian is what got me into this show tbh i have so many

but i thiiiiiink it’s gotta be either “and they are more addictive than opioids and girl scout thin mints combined” (also hot take but i’ve been a girl scout for 18 years and thin mints SUCK)

OR

“did she just leave while i was actively caring about her? no. / she’s leaving! just like my DAD.”

honestly just like all of stop all of cautionary tale just him i love him yes

brOTP

besides the obvious answer of janis again i would say regina. but also he and gretchen get coffee at least once a week and bond over dances and choreography and whatnot and he and karen are joined at the hip whenever they’re together and you cannot tell me otherwise. and cady is basically his little sister

OTP

THEATRE BOY FROM THE NEW MOVIE OMGGGGG but also like. i don’t really know lol

i usually write him as being with aaron but that’s bc when i was writing like three months in i asked and all my (four) readers at the time said they wanted damiaaron it was not my first pick. but it has grown on me a lot and i think they’re super cute together

nOTP

i am terrified of the amount of romantic fic out there for him and janis?? like y’all ran face first into the point and hit ur heads so hard u still couldn’t see it huh

random headcanon

he kicked janis’ front teeth out in tap class when they were five and janis still has a small scar on her lip

unpopular opinion

i know i write about it a lot and stuff but making him trans feels really reductive of his personality sometimes. we need more trans rep obviously and i love people being able to take characters like him and feel seen but i question it with him in particular a lot. similar vibes to people who make matilda trans i just dk. lots of complicated feelings about it

also that he is the best goddamn character in the whole thing

song i associate with them

uhhhhhh for whatever reason 9 to 5 by dolly parton?? and jolene are the first two to pop into my head lol idk why

oh and also better work bitch by britney spears (i think??)

favorite picture of them

#thank you anon i’m sorryyyy!! #i’ve been here for nearly three years and still can’t figure out how to remove gifs from posts lol #entropy with ezzy #mean girls #damian hubbard #regina george #caps tw #swear tw #cw food mention #ezzy gets an ask

[magxit]

I am going to ruffle some feathers here but it needs to be said.

I am a proud POC. I’m 28 years old lesbian who grew up in a rough neighbourhood.

I will admit that when I first heard about things that this Matty Healy had said and done.. I was irate.

I reacted on my emotions first and I was there on TikTok arguing with anyone who defended Taylor and Matty. I supported the speakupNow fan movement. I used my voice to spread my anger across whatever platform I could get my hands on and with each new bit of information… I got angrier. I boxed up every last bit of Taylor Swift merchandise. I sold my tickets to the Detroit show.

Then I stumbled upon the first POC who wasn’t angry with Taylor or Matty. He was angry with the fans and the toxic fan culture. Then I found another. Then I found a handful of POC TikTokers, those who were part of the LGBTIQA community and those who follow the Jewish faith and they weren’t angry with Taylor and Matty. They were angry at the fans. This, at first, made me even angrier. I felt betrayed by them far more then I ever did Taylor - and yes, I had felt betrayed by her as well.

I believe our voices have a right to be heard and I was fighting for people to listen to our communities so I listened. Just to try and understand their perspective.

The first was an older man. He broke down the entire situation with each claim and explained how things weren’t what they seemed and I found myself wanting to put my emotions aside for just a bit and do my own research away from the media or social media influence. Everything floored me. So much of what happened was taken so far out of context that I couldn’t believe it. I’ve experienced injustice of our words not being believed or twisted or misunderstood for decades. I’ve watched my family go through unthinkable things. I know and understand just how far the media can take something and twist it to fit a narrative they want and that is exactly what was happening.

Then I saw the death threats to Matty and his family. I saw people saying that they hope he ODs or that he would make Taylor a drug addict etc etc and I watched as this hate spread like wildfire and be worse day in and day out… and if you dare spoke out against the herd mentality - then you were called racist, a bigot and more. I had a blonde, white Taylor fan call me things that she was accusing Matty of being simply because I didn’t agree with her and completely trashed me for not listening to the POC voices.

I kept doing more and more research and I was certain that what was happening to Taylor was… horrible. Her own fans went for her throat. When she made the speech that she was happier now then she ever had been before… And then watch the fans blow up on her… it was beyond heart breaking. It’s no wonder she went into hiding.

This was 100% the fans. I expect hate for that and I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t post this but that’s fine. The fans are toxic and are doing to Taylor the very thing she said she hated. Her fans are tossing her in the basement unless she does what they want. The fact that millions of, generally white woman, want to control what Taylor did with her life was just… there’s no words for it.

Then to see the celebrations over the break up? Unreal.

They didn’t even want to consider there may be more than what they think.

There’s proof that this was an unnecessary witch hunt.

Joe - the ones these same fans are begging to come home and calling him “dad”… has played a lot of horrible kinds of characters including a rapist and a Nazi. His opinion on people of that sort?

They’re not that bad. That people like Nazi’s aren’t bad people.

Let that sink in. Fans are going to destroy Taylor’s wants and tear a man apart for something that was not what it seemed in terms of the salute and other things but Joe was literally defending people who were Nazi’s and more.

But Joe has never gotten an ounce of hate about it. In fact, that same toxic fandom will blast Taylor for Joe leaving her. It’s her fault. He deserves better.

These fans don’t care about Taylor’s happiness. They want a puppet to control. They want to spend all this time and energy into bringing her and Matty down instead of being out on the streets trying to make change happen for issues around the world.

Like the abortion bans, women losing rights to their own body or mind. Or the fact that the corn industry is mostly trafficking victims and what goes on behind the scenes on websites like corn hub is a million times worse then what Matty is being accused of enjoying.

They forget that he was there for his ex FKA Twigs when she went through the whole ordeal with with Shia. Him and Ice Spice follow each other and ice spice is a massive fan of the band. They forget that he has seemingly done more advocacy then Taylor has and Taylor does more for communities then most celebrities.

Joe says Nazi’s aren’t horrible people. Silence.

Matty sneezes and is attacked.

They see Joe as Prince Charming. Not the snake he really is. Because he’s a hot blonde white man.

No. I am not a 1975 fan. Never in my life would that happen. I just think Taylor and him deserve a lot better then what HER fans did.

.

[starry-eyed-psychopomp]

The Huntlow Question

With the following post, I want to have a nuanced discussion about the possibility of Huntlow as a canon couple in The Owl House and what that could mean for the show. There’s been a lot of toxicity surrounding this ship as of late, but I want to analyze it from a neutral perspective outside of “are they cute or not,” and I really hope some of y’all do too. This is not an “anti” post, nor is it a shipping post. It’s just my thoughts.

So, let’s do this!

With the past couple of episodes, I feel like a lot of us are picking up on the possibility of Hunter and Willow becoming a couple in the show. They’ve gotten very close recently, have shared a few shy glances and blushes, and they have been very consistently rescuing each other in the battle sequences. Given how all of those tactics were used by the show to establish Lumity as a canon ship, it comes as no surprise that many of us are wondering if Huntlow is next.

And, if you’re like me, you were probably very confused about this.

Like, where did this come from? I thought they were just friends! I headcannoned both as queer in a mutually exclusive way! How did this happen????? 

Well, let me try to explain.

First, let’s address those first impulses. I, personally, have been a part of many fandoms for shows that are very similar to TOH, specifically Steven Universe, She-Ra, and Star vs the Forces of Evil, and I think a lot of you have too. Those shows have very complicated histories where shipping is concerned, and they have all been accused of canonizing ships for the purpose of fanservice (or just because a few writers liked the ships), even though they weren’t planned from the start. This created extremely toxic environments surrounding shipping in the fandoms. I won’t go into the credibility of those accusations, but that is VERY important context for the situation with TOH.

Because a lot of us came from those fandoms, and that likely includes both the shippers and people accusing the shows of fanservice. I think we’re all scenting blood in the water with the whole Huntlow situation, and I personally would really like to avoid devolving into toxic cesspools by way of the old fandoms. However, in order to nip this whole thing in the bud, we need to ask ourselves: Is Huntlow fanservice?

And my answer is: I really don’t think so.

Supposing it is meant to be canon, I’d like to give the crew the benefit of the doubt and say that they actually have been planning this for some time. Then, the question becomes, why does it seem so rushed?

Well, why is anything in TOH rushed?

Yup.

It all comes back to the cancellation.

You see, if I had to guess, I’d say the crew had been considering setting up Hunter and Willow for some time, perhaps since the beginning, but they were planning on giving them more focus in season 3. And that would make sense! Seeing as Willow has gained a newfound confidence and Hunter is finally coming into his own, it stands to reason that they’d get more focus next season, and now that we know that they’re trapped in the Human Realm, they’re going to be getting an awful lot more screen time together. This would be the perfect time to set up a romantic relationship if one had been planned.

Unfortunately, they’re not going to get a full season 3. We probably won’t be getting much in the way of one-on-one interactions between Hunter and Willow, which it probably why the crew has included more references to them being a potential couple recently. By the time these episodes were in development, they knew they weren’t getting a full season 3, so they had to do the work to stick the hints in sooner, which has led to the rushed feeling. 

However, this raises the question of why exactly they would have kept Huntlow at all. Given the mixed reaction, it doesn’t seem like a lot of people were really expecting Huntlow to be canon, and I know for a fact that several popular headcanons placed both of them as queer (gay for Hunter, and lesbian or aroace for Willow were both common). So if they couldn’t do it properly, and it wasn’t particularly popular, why do it at all?

I puzzled over this for a while. I will admit that I was kind of disappointed at first to see such an abundantly queer show that prized itself on its friendships and found families go down the path of what I perceived as a pretty generic hetero couple, especially since I was so glad to see them as a healthy example of a platonic relationship between a male and female character. Obviously, they can still be bi/pan/etc. but we haven’t actually seen any in-canon evidence to put them as anything other than straight, assuming their feelings for each other are romantic. And, granted, even I can admit that my personal headcanons don’t have to be true, but that still doesn’t explain why they would forego an adorable friendship for a romance.

And then it hit me:

Thematic Relevance.

What is Hunter’s story arc about? 

Well, at its core, it’s about him breaking a cycle of abuse and coming into his own outside of his toxic upbringing. And that whole storyline is intricately woven with the backstory of the Wittebane brothers. Philip and Caleb were as close as siblings could be, but Caleb stepped outside of his brother’s little bubble of morality and fell in love with a witch, and so Philip killed him. He then harvested his bones and made dozens of copies of Caleb for hundreds of years, desperately hoping that the next one would be the brother he wanted, then relishing in killing them each time they “betrayed” him. 

Hunter is the first grimwalker to break out of that cycle, and how he has done that is by forming the relationships that his predecessors were never able to successfully develop before Philip got to them. The first and most obvious of these relationships is with Luz, who is filling the role of a younger sibling that Philip would have been for Caleb, though in a more healthy and supportive way than before. He is then also able to find a parental figure in Darius in order to replace Belos, something the other Golden Guards were likely unable to do. The only remaining unfulfilled relationship, thematically speaking, would be that of the witch Caleb fell for.

Enter, Willow.

Hunter is broken and distressed; he has been exposed to the world of “wild magic,” one he has been told is wicked all his life, and he’s finding that he enjoys it. I imagine he’s in a very similar position to Caleb and the other grimwalkers were when they had their own doubts. Then, here comes this bright, confident, powerful, and kind young witch, who is revolutionizing her field. She’s everything a “wild witch” isn’t supposed to be, and above it all, she believes in Hunter. Of course he’s going to fall for her; it’s kind of a pattern!

Now, this analysis is a bit Hunter-centric, but I think that has more to do with the fact that we don’t know anything about Caleb’s witch girlfriend yet. It is possible that she will be very similar personality-wise to Willow. There’s a reason Eda respects her! And even beyond that, it’s very clear that she relates to Hunter an awful lot, and she truly cares about him. Whether we’ll see that blossom into romance remains to be seen, but it does seem like they are intentionally building many of the main characters of the show into parallels to characters in the show’s history, so including a romance of this sort would make sense. And if this is the case, that would explain why it couldn’t be cut for time from season 3.

I don’t know if Huntlow is going to be canon. I don’t know what it would look like if it was. I don’t know the specifics of the Wittebanes’ backstory. But I do love this show, and I trust its crew. I may not know what’s coming, but I am wholly invested in this show, and I know that all of you are too.

So, thanks for reading! It couldn’t have been easy, I know. Please offer your own analyses if you have them!

And please, I am begging you, stop treating each other like crap over two cartoon teenagers. 

#the owl house #toh spoilers #huntlow #toh hunter #willow park #caleb wittebane