#meta writer discussion

[messiahzzz]

while it’s perfectly fine to have your own headcanons that are non-canon compliant — by all means, go wild. recognizing pieces of yourselves in fictional characters can be a very healing and validating experience. this is nonetheless a casual, well-intentioned reminder that gale, in fact, does not have bpd.

bpd is a pervasive pattern of instability affecting interpersonal relationships, self-image, and mood. the disorder is marked by impulsivity beginning in early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts. a diagnosis requires at least 5 of the following 9 criteria to be met:

Fear of abandonment

Unstable or changing relationships

Unstable self-image; struggles with identity or sense of self

Impulsive or self-damaging behaviors (e.g., excessive spending, unsafe sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating).

Suicidal behavior or self-injury

Varied or random mood swings

Constant feelings of worthlessness or sadness

Problems with anger, including frequent loss of temper or physical fights

Stress-related paranoia or loss of contact with reality

source: [x]

i highlighted the criteria that do apply to gale in one way or another in a pretty purple.

i personally believe that it’s rather harmful to equate his relationship with mystra with her being “his fp”. she is a deity, his goddess, and the source of his powers, who is in in full control of the magic he wields.

gale: mystra commands all magic. salvation, if such a thing exists, is hers to bestow or withhold.

gale has been effectively groomed and conditioned to serve and revere her at every turn since early childhood. imo this comparison really undermines a lot of crucial points in gale’s story that deal with his overall trauma and abuse. after all, you wouldn’t call shar sh*dowhe*rt’s fp either.

gale doesn’t revile mystra, nor does he commit benevolent deeds solely motivated by the secret hope that she will somehow notice and take him back. when you meet gale in the game he has already fully come to terms with the fact that he has been abandoned by mystra with no hope of reconciliation whatsoever. he also had some very fitting lines in ea regarding this topic that i'm sad haven't been repurposed in the full release in some way.

gale: [the tadpoles] don't know that some things are impossible. they don't know that... they don't know. player: what is impossible about what you're being shown? gale: forgiveness. gale: it is mystra i see. and yet it cannot be her. there was a time when i would have believed - but no longer. gale: suffice it to say she would not bestow upon me the favors promised in these dreams. that is how i know they are delusions.

he has already reached the stage of acceptance. moreover, gale only starts to realize that mystra might have been in the wrong for requesting his death once the tadpole squad & tav speak some sense into him. and even then he doesn’t ever show that his emotions regarding mystra are anywhere along those lines. he is instead rightfully angered that she only saw value in his death, after he had been worshipping her loyally for years.

gale: i worshipped mystra loyally for years, and in that time she granted me the barest sliver of the power i was ready to wield. gale: even with the fate of the world at stake, she had little more to offer me than the means of blowing myself up at a more convenient time. she's done nothing to help us.

gale: you abandoned me in my hour of greatest need. i had no obligation to help you in yours. gale: because you had no right to ask that of me. you cast me out, remember?

gale doesn’t display rapid changes in mood either. he is a character who is generally very composed and has been known to remain nonchalant even in the face of utter horror. tim downie himself even commented on this once. source: [x]

the only instance i can think of is his sudden switch from resigned-to-death to utter-eye-sparkling-enthusiasm once he spots the crown of karsus. apart from crucial story reasons that i won’t touch upon in this post, i’d also like to add that it’s a rather common phenomenon for people who have just barely survived a suicide attempt to suddenly be filled with zeal and unbridled energy. he doesn't display impulsivity without thorough consideration when it comes to its acquisition either. he considers this a golden opportunity and is positively enthusiastic and elated that this might prove an alternative to him ending up in a cloud of netherese smoke. nonetheless, he knows what he is doing. evident in him actually succeeding in ascending in one of his endings.

gale: this is no passing whim, trust me. if i can obtain that crown, it will affect us all. it is not a decision i'll take lightly. gale: it's our future that i'm thinking of - we can't rely on anyone else to do it for us. gale: for now - we've learned all we can.

neither are his relationships that we do know of (namely elminster, tara, and morena) frequently changing. they are marked by years of mutual respect, care, and consistency. there is nothing unstable about them. while it's important to note that his relationship with tav is still in its honeymoon stages during the main game, there is no inclination of any push-and-pull dynamic between them whatsoever.

gale isn’t preoccupied with keeping up some sort of benevolent act in order to win (back) affection — he genuinely IS a good person and he proves this at every turn. moreover, to have a tressym become your familiar you must be of Good alignment.

(taken from tumblr user galedekarios's post.)

there is never a moment where his ideals or alignment suddenly change. in fact, i’d argue that he and wyll are most consistent in this regard when compared to the rest of the companions. gale makes his moral standpoint very clear from the beginning on and also explicitly states that he believes that in order to survive this entire ordeal it would be selfish of him if he wouldn’t be willing to compromise on his morals. this isn’t a sudden bout of ✨muahahaha wizard hubris✨ that he barely contained to hold in before, this is yet another act of selflessness — it is what he’s willing to do for the group and subsequently, the welfare of faerun.

player: i love unsavoury things. don't feel guilty on my account. gale: that's good to know. although i should say i do what i do out of a sense of utility and pragmatism, not a love of the unsavoury. gale: we're up against the greatest threat faerun has ever faced. i don't mind getting my hands dirty if it gives us a better chance of surviving. gale: whatever advantage i can gain for us. i will. and i refuse to feel guilty for it, no matter how much mystra's chidings might echo in my skull.

this is him, once again trying to be useful in whatever way he can. to give them an advantage, a slither of hope against seemingly impossible odds, so they might make it out of this in one piece. gale wouldn’t approve of those actions under normal circumstances, but their predicament is as far from any definition of “normal” as it can get.

gale is no fool, he realizes this is essentially about survival. he knows that he has no option left other than to tolerate, which is why he can be convinced to not immediately depart tav’s company even if they choose to commit atrocities. this is no character flaw of his or him displaying a previously dormant openness for cruelty, this is about recognizing the necessity.

player: you don't stand a chance alone. you're free to go. i dare you. gale: gods damn you - you're right. few things are more powerful than the will to live.

gale: i thought the orb to be the greatest of my sins, but i see now that there are darker depths to which i might yet sink. you may be content to sink into that abyss, but i assure you - i am not.

gale doesn’t lead a split existence. he has a very strong sense of identity. he knows what he wants, what he doesn’t want and he isn’t shy in expressing his boundaries either. which he has especially shown when it comes to his relationship with tav. i originally had intended to touch upon this in another post entirely but: i firmly believe his entire Gale of Waterdeep™ persona is more of a performance than him struggling to find a sense of identity and trying them on for size. it is an intentional decision to separate gale dekarios from the great wizard of waterdeep, to create distance and make sure his family name remains untarnished in case things should ever go sideways.

gale: i agree. and on the plus side, if i get myself into any truly cataclysmic straits during the remainder of our journey, my family name will go untarnished.

there is also a deep-rooted feeling of unworthiness and his firm belief that love and praise are conditional resources that he will only be granted through his talents alone, naturally. presenting himself as gale dekarios, the man, would mean highlighting his shortcomings and very human flaws, while distracting from the aspects of himself that are deemed praiseworthy, the ones that actually matter: his magical prowess.

i personally believe that part of the beauty of gale’s story is him realizing just how “little” it takes for him to be truly content. he gets his happy ending, with someone at his side who truly sees him, understands him and unabashedly commits to him. they worship and adore him in return — and it is well deserved. he isn’t reduced to be constantly and restlessly searching for some unattainable ideal to fill the gaping void within himself. he doesn’t secretly thirst for more power still or believes that in being with tav he is settling for something. instead, he is finally happy to just be. be and be accepted. teaching a class of unruly wizards and coming home to his spouse each day already fulfills him.

gale: that's how i feel with you - content. it's a rather unfamiliar feeling, i must say. not something gale of waterdeep ever craved.

even if he doesn’t pursue a romance with tav, he reaches a realization of “oh, it appears i am not irredeemably flawed and only able to reach true redemption through my own death. what i needed was actually with me all along.” throughout their journey and through his friend's support. i think that’s a very powerful and comforting message. he is very well capable of finding peace within himself.

devnotes: his default state is that he returned to waterdeep and became a professor of illusory magic at his former school, blackstaff academy. general vibe here is that this is a gale who's found peace with himself - he's a great teacher, one his students are mostly in awe of.

to repeat myself: sharing your headcanons is all in good fun, nor should you ever be discouraged from doing so. this is your personal tumblr experience, after all. but i personally think we should be mindful of unintentionally perpetuating negative stereotypes, such as narcissism being a general indicator or being deemed a classic depiction of bpd. i think we can all agree that the continuous longing for acceptance, connection, praise, and approval is something we all have in common deep down, regardless of whatever disorder we may have. [insert victoria justice meme here]

gale may be many things to many people, but he is no entitled narcissist.

#with love. a person diagnosed with bpd <3 #this turned much longer than i originally intended it to be (aka less of a reply and more of a character study) #by now you know that i am incapable of cutting myself short. i’m so sorry #i debated if i should put this in the tag at first #but i personally think that this is a very interesting discussion #also to reiterate: this is by NO MEANS a slight at the original poster #i just thought it more respectful to make my own post instead of invading theirs with my ranting #fandom is all about fun and escapism. #if you interpret characters in a certain way that i personally disagree with that is a-okay #BUT i’m also gonna have my own specific brand of fun by pointing out why you’re wrong (affectionately) #also i quickly want to add that if you're interested in a very accurate and respectful portrayal of bpd: watch crazy ex-girlfriend!! #its on netflix and genuinely such a funny and unapologetically weird show. the writers have really done their homework #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #bg3 meta #character analysis #it speaks #long post #suicide mention

[girlbob-boypants]

*rereads the synopsis of Chains of Harrow and Rell's bio*

Oh yeah that's why I didn't like Margulis

#girlbob.txt #warframe #it's also why i personally feel that margulis is the least fitting option for the end of tnw #but i personally dislike that the greyness of margulis and her actions is a bit washed out as time's gone on #esp as she's held up as this noble caretaker who would suffer to save the void children when the quest says she cast out rell #for blinding her #but lotus's surprise/disbelief at a tenno beyond her knowledge because of the actions of the woman she mimicked. #i think that's an interesting thing to consider #this is all subjective btw you're not being told to not like this character just because i'm scrutinizing certain aspects lmfao #at the end of the day the plot of chains of harrow needs to be discussed on a meta level about the ableism of the writers #as the ableism he's subjected to in game is at least partially a symptom of that

[katapotato55]

Dear artists: PROPERLY LABEL YOUR SMUT ART AS NSFW

not everyone wants to see your rendition of your favorite character smashing.

see that black squiggle ? that is a page break. pressing enter on your keyboard after a text allows you to put one of these in your post.

For the love of my sanity please use it when you are making NSFW content.

I don't want to block talented artists just because they don't have enough common sense to properly tag their post. every time I get on I have to play the "Don't make eye-contact" game when I just want to look at villainous fan art. You have just as much right to make smut art as much as you want. You have that right and I have no power to stop you. BUT: please let me fucking consent to this. thank you in advance.

#no kinkshaming I just think this is incredibly annoying #this has nothing to do about pro or antishipping either. that is a completely separate thing #art #art discussion #artist on tumblr #writer #writing #writer on tumblr #psa #important psa #fandom #fandom etiquette #fandom bullshit #fandom problems #fandom meta #fandom culture #fandom things #tumblr #tumblr meta #tumblr culture

[queerofthedagger]

was scrolling through an inactive blog looking for a specific post (that i didn't find ofc) and man. 2020 merlin tumblr really was something else we were all stuck at home with too much time on our hands and not using it to touch grass and it showed, and i mean this both exactly as (affectionate) and (derogatory) as it deserves. lord

#*mine #mona rambles #the meta! the edits!! i miss those days #but also. the arthur discourse ohhhhh my god hahahaha #the ''is magic actually a metaphor for queerness and are you homophobic if you disagree'' discourse #(it isn't and you're not. btw <3) #people got so mad over harmless fucking takes they wrote 20 pages over it and expected a serious reply #it was so funny actually peace and love #but also genuinely some of the meta discussions were SO GOOD. man #the edits. the VIDEOS. analysis beyond ''boohoo the writers boohoo we deserved x y z'' it was a dream (sometimes. lol) #what a time nothing has ever even come close and i have never blocked more people god bless

[ghostfoolish]

xxx

#yeah sorry I’m gonna blacklist the iwtv tag cause I’m tired of people making themselves angry over their own theories and meta #ppl are really having meltdowns over antionette and what the writers MIGHT do with her #I can’t hang I’m sorry ♥️ #I would rather just watch the show and discuss it with my lil friend group cause seeing everyone freak out over nothing day in and day out #is draining

[theomnicode]

A theory about part of Saitama's powers and how they manifest:

It is a humorous scene how Saitama seems to deal with stress; killing monsters. Needing an outlet for all that anger and doing something that could be considered doing his hero work properly and being virtuous? Sounds like a realistic way for a superpowered human to deal with pent up anger and doing useful thing at the same time.

But what if it's not only that?

Saitama doesn't seem to consciously acknowledge that anything weird happened here, when he threw a large scale Serious punch at Elder centipede.

Besides that he feels relaxed all of a sudden. You'd think that if one makes it a habit of clearing out monsters and making it as sort of stress relief when he feels too stressed, he would acknowledge it happening right?

But he does not say that. He just feels some kind of relief that he cannot find the source for.

It's almost like he expelled that feeling of anger out of him with that punch.

Hm.

And right after he's thrown this incredibly powerful Serious Punch in pure anger, filled with that much energy, they land on Jupiter's moon but again, it's almost like all the anger has just completely drained out of him.

Where did all that anger go? You'd think that he'd still be extremely pissed off that his friend was killed by Garou. But he's only feeling complete apathy mere seconds later after Serious Punches collided and released the energy. Like he flipped a switch.

But Saitama's normal emotions don't work that way.

He does not flip a switch.

He rants and festers his emotions, like he did with the meteorite incident and like he did with King after playing games and does not cool off that fast when he's feeling emotionally invested. Despite his aloof and apathetic exterior at times, Saitama is fairly passionate individual when he feels comfortable enough expressing himself.

He says he's going full power, but he's still not exuding as much energy in his punches as when he was extremely angry. Now he's more or less completely methodical in his approach of this fight, not passionate at all. Emotionally detached.

Maybe his punch did just that.

A manifestation of his emotional catharsis. That drains his emotions away as he expells them.

Bit by bit, he noticed he's becoming more and more apathetic and questions why it is so and determines that it must be because he's not finding strong enough opponent to fight against as he's doing his hero work.

But this has always been him chasing for something fleeting, something that won't bring him any satisfaction on the long run. Ergo, not the answer he is looking for.

He questions whether he lost something essential for human being in exchange for power. Genus would say that yes, Saitama paid for it. Unfortunately for Saitama, just not only in sense of alienation.

I would say that losing part of his emotions, in exchange for power, every single time he punches something, is a very large price to pay.

The higher the emotional catharsis, the larger the punch. More than likely, part of his divine powers and how they interact with emotional release (which is part of another post).

This is why humans were being limited in their powers, to preserve their sanity and survivability. Because using too much power would probably destroy their humanity.

#opm #one punch man #opm theory #opm meta discussion #saitama #opm spoilers #opm manga panels #emotional catharsis #almost like the writer also writes mob psycho

[broodygaming]

Them having this conversation Over Laura is such a unique aspect of filmed dnd. Like wtf haha.

#like imagine getting to see a characters writers reaction live while characters discuss their character #the Meta layers!! #cr spoilers #critical role

[mariatesstruther]

I saw something in your tags that I’d never thought of and I think you’re right: Maria probably was trying to rile Joel up, to see what reaction she got so she knows who she’s dealing with.

I’m almost certain Tommy would’ve called Joel out for some of his shit and he wouldn’t have reacted well and there’s a clear chasm between the brothers, and he’s definitely told her. So by provoking him a little, she can see who he is. Joel before meeting Ellie wouldn’t have taken well to it, it’s not like it’s a major jab, but it would’ve tested him, and she would’ve got the measure of him not being the right person, but he doesn’t react aggressively to being questioned and provoked, and it probably does him a favour with her. She doesn’t want someone in the town who’s going to fly off the handle at a few provoking words and he doesn’t, so testing him might genuinely be what she was doing

!!!!!! exactly this anon!!!! look at the way she stares at him after that “not all of us, anyway” line implying that he is a bad person with a bad reputation to match

her eyes are ON HIM, eyebrow RAISED, clearly watching him very carefully and not trying to hide it. this is a clear show of sizing him up

i also think that the “kids around here dont usually look or talk like you line” may have also been intended more as a jab to joel about how hes taking care of her vs a jab to ellie about her behavior, but it’s ill timed and placed (on the writers’ and maria’s parts) so it falls flat

a BIG reason i think this is especially true is because she still hasn’t introduced herself as tommy’s wife at this point. joel and ellie know that she’s a clear authority figure with some familiarity with tommy and sayso over who gets into jackson, and maria very pointedly leaves it at that. i think she was trying to test/observe joel’s overall reaction to a female authority figure sizing him up and treating him less than kindly because, if he had reacted aggressively to provocation, it would’ve been a sign to her that he probably is still the man tommy was afraid of

and he doesn’t necessarily act aggressively but he’s certainly not kind: the first thing he does is try to get tommy away from her so they can talk alone, and that’s when tommy introduces her as his wife—which he clearly reacts pretty poorly to. i think her dislike of him after his reaction is pretty fair tbh 😭 im pretty sure that if tommy hadn’t revealed that info about her, she would’ve just kept on pressing joel’s buttons without even saying she’s his sister in law, because it would be tactful to not reveal to him that she knows a lot about his past from tommy

#loveeeeeee meta maria discussions like #this made my lunch break anon #the writers rlly gave rutina 10 mins to serve a performance that has the nuance of a 2hr+ role #maria defense #maria meta #thats a more fun tag omg maria meta #need to go back through and change some tags #asked and answered

[whoslaurapalmer]

i’ve been rereading my middle school fanfic journals and like. there’s. a lot i could say about them like content-wise and the backstory on them that’s interesting to me but i don’t think anyone else is terribly interested in but the REALLY BIG POINT HERE THAT BLINDSIDES ME WHEN I REREAD THEM IS THIS --

so i wrote down the date/time/location every time i wrote in them, like, even just throughout the same day. i primarily wrote in them during school, and even when i just, changed from one class to the other, i wrote that down. and any single possible CONCEIVABLE spare second of time available in the school day, between math problems, between writing assignments or reading, i was writing in these fanfic journals. any goddamn second of time!!! during breaks in fucking school testing!!!! i wrote in those journals. like, what a fucking dedication to the art

the real kicker here, though, is that those fanfic journals, of which there are, eleven in total, are not the ONLY fanfic journals i wrote in middle school. there were. also. five other fancy notebooks, spread over the three years of middle school, two (maybe three??) sketchbooks, a LOT of spiral notebooks, and let’s not forget that this time period was also the time period of the million words of fanfic i wrote on my laptop. and this is not counting the separate original fic and poetry i did at the time, too!!!!! goddamn

#i'm just. like. god younger!me didn't care about form or narrative (although there's actually. a LOT of narrative jokes #a lot of meta jokes. a lot of jokes about the fanfic being written IN A JOURNAL. COMMENTED ON. BY THE CHARACTERS.) or it being good #although she thought it was GREAT. she was just WRITING FOR WRITING #i mean. i'm glad that i've grown as a writer but i do envy the DEEP WRITING FRENZY middle school me maintained at all times. #(god like i cannot stress enough the CHARACTERS IN THE FIC COMMENTED ON PEN COLOR/PAGE COUNT/DID NARRATION #AND COMMENTED ON THE NARRATION. THE NARRATION OFTEN //APPEARED IN PHYSICAL SPACE// #THE MEDIA CANON WAS DISCUSSED FREQUENTLY AS EXISTING SIMULTANEOUSLY AND SEPARATE FROM FIC CANON. #MY GENUINE REAL LIFE EXPERIENCES AT THE TIME AND //IN THE LOCATION// WERE MADE PART OF PLOTS) #(IT'S THE MOST. BIZARRE JOURNAL SERIES EVER and although my humor style has very much changed i still think they're funny as hell.) #lulu reads her middle school journals

[antigonewinchester]

been thinking about Demon!Dean, as one does, and how his demon cure went down. I’d previously assumed the main reason the full demon cure wasn’t shown in 10x03 was writing shortcuts & general continuity laziness: we see Sam consecrate the ground at the start of the ep, we see Sam doing the purified blood injections, and so the audience is meant to assume Sam also does the final ‘putting blood on Dean’s mouth’ step, even if we don’t actually see it happen.

however, the more I thought about it, the more I realized the visual of ‘Dean with blood on his mouth’ is not only an image that goes far back into the show, it’s also one with pretty negative associations & a certain subtext for him. considering that the final step was the only part of the cure that wasn’t shown, I think it’s likely the writers intentionally avoided this visual because it would’ve brought an ambiguity, if not outright negativity, to Sam curing Demon!Dean that would’ve conflicted with the otherwise positive framing of that moment within the story.

if we look reverse-chronologically, we start at 9x23, with Dean succumbing to the Mark and coughing up blood:

there’s 9x01, when Dean is beaten up by the angels looking for Cas. which makes the beginning and end of s9 into bookends: in the first ep, Dean’s being attacked by angels who want to get revenge on Cas, versus in the last, Dean is himself being overtaken by the Mark driving him towards violence / revenge & tried to kill the angel Gadreel. (this one I was a little hesitant to include, since Dean’s kind of generally beaten up in 9x01, but I do feel it ultimately fits & particularly with how it connects to the end of the season):

there’s the infamous 6x05 moment, with Dean having been turned by a vampire and soulless!Sam having looked on / not stopped it. this was actually the shot that first jumped to mind when I thought huh, maybe the writers deliberately shied away from the final step of the cure to avoid evoking any visual similarity:

a minor moment in 5x22 after Lucifer!Sam first punches Dean when Dean tries to talk to him:

another minor moment in 5x18 when Cas beats up Dean in the alleyway:

and then the earliest example I thought of was Dean hurt by Azazel!John in 1x22, both in the cabin & the shot in the car afterward:

I suspect part of these visuals comes from the practical visual storytelling aspect, with blood in the mouth / spitting up blood being an easy way to show that a character is badly hurt without a lot of other injuries or needing more intense makeup sfx. there’s Dean coughing up blood in 9x23 to show the Mark overtaking & hurting him, and the same thing happens in s8 during the Trials to illustrate Sam’s physical deterioration. for the 9x01 moment, we see the angels getting ready to attack Dean, it cuts to a Sam scene, and then we go back to Dean’s beat up face; we don’t see the assault but can tell Dean’s taken quite a few hits. the little moment in 5x22 seems like a brief Oh Shit pause for the audience, where we were hoping Dean would be able to reach Sam but see that Lucifer’s still in control & willing to hurt Dean, which then leads into Lucifer!Sam really wailing on him. 1x22 implies some kind of intense internal bleeding & that Azazel!John could have killed Dean if he’d kept going.

setting aside the practical underpinnings for these scenes, what’s very interesting to me from a story perspective is how many of these moments are not just bad times for Dean, but specifically times when he’s been hurt by family / friends, or at least their bodies, given the possession / soullessness aspect (besides Cas being all Cas in 5x18). all the moments from s1 - s6, 4 out of the 6, fall into this category. the ones that are different are from s9, with Dean being hurt by enemies or the outside force of the Mark.

given that the narrative frames Dean’s demon cure in 10x03 as a definite good thing and as Sam curing / returning Dean back to being himself, it would make sense for the writers to avoid a visual that evokes quite a negative context for Dean and particularly associations with Dean being hurt by family. not what they wanted to imply or the tone of 10x03. and so, the final step of the demon cure is omitted and instead the audience sees Dean losing his demon eyes and returning back to his regular old self like so:

imagining this scene as it would’ve been with the full cure - Dean turning from demon to human with blood on his mouth - does seem more ambiguous to me as compared to the actual scene we got, with the focus on Dean’s normal and un-bloodied, if slightly confused, face. (I do think Jensen’s acting adds some ambiguity to this moment, and implies that Dean isn’t totally happy to be cured, but that’s an acting choice as compared to what’s in the script.)

maybe I am reading too much into this, and it was just laziness or lack of continuity with the worldbuilding and lore. I’m fine to be totally off-base here and the writers weren’t thinking about any of this and just wanted another chance to show off Jensen’s pretty face. it’s just that the sidestepping this imagery & breaking continuity feels revealing, esp with the rest of the cure being included. would there have been a way to include the full cure without  emphasizing the final step? I think so. have it happen but don’t linger on it, or have Dean make a joke about it. but instead the narrative avoids it entirely.

(if they’d really wanted, the writers could’ve followed this visual thread and made the demon cure a much more ambiguous thing, maybe even delved into the recurring theme of Dean being hurt by his family / friends and all that messy, complicated stuff. and it’s not all surprising that they didn’t, they have the story they want to tell & that’s what they did, but it does feel like the writers choosing the... the easy or expected story beat over something a bit more complicated.)

#i started this waffling as to whether i thought this omission was intentional but i'm pretty convinced now tbh #there’s just a little too much here to think it’s only the writers / showrunner being lazy or forgetful with continuity #and if it was just laziness or forgetfulness it's a very nice coincidence for them #also if i missed a moment here i'd def like to know; spn being so long & dense makes analysis hard sometimes lol #anyway. add this to my list of topics i casually daydream abt discussing with jensen. esp because he directed 10x03 #was this step ever in the script? did he notice it wasn't? what were his thoughts? (i mean prob he wasn't thinking abt it but i am curious) #dean #demon dean #meta personal #season multi #cw blood

[spider-xan]

In other Spider-Man adaptations that are either good or at least have decent interpretations of some characters even if the work itself is a mixed bag, yeah, the 'tried to fix my disability' trope will usually still be there for the origin story and rarely has the same trauma and loss linked to identity context that is there in the comics, but Connors is otherwise a well-rounded heroic character who is visibly disabled, but has a personality, interests, and research projects outside of his disability, relationships with his family and Peter, and gets to be involved in other plots and doesn't act like being disabled is a fate comparable to terminal illness and some kind of weakness of humanity that must be forcibly eradicated for 'equality', even before becoming a supervillain.

Meanwhile, in the TASM film, he's a eugenicist making speeches that would not be out of place at a fascist rally about 'degenerates' weakening the gene pool, but this is framed as a sympathetic and noble bc it's couched in language about how it will bring 'equality' for disabled people, and since that kind of condescending ableism is acceptable in society, most people agree and nod along instead of being like, hey, it's fucked up the writers thought this was an appropriate way to write a disabled character, especially when none of this eugenics garbage is in the source material, and even if it was, it would still be wrong to include it and should be changed to be less ableist.

#xan's spidey meta #curt connors #you know what sure i will tag this #it's actually ridiculous that calling out ableism in how a disabled character is written by able bodied writers #can be dismissed as fandom hate that shouldn't be discussed #tasm #the lizard

[sayruq]

Dear Mark Zuckerberg and Leadership, This letter is a follow-up to the letter that was circulated internally on Dec 19, 2023 and deleted and dismissed due to our Community Engagement Expectations (CEE) on what can be discussed internally. Hence, we are sharing our concerns externally. We, Meta employees, wish to express our disappointment and astonishment at the lack of acknowledgement and care the leaders of this company have shown toward the Palestinian community and its allies. In private conversations, we hear from our Palestinian colleagues about family members they have lost in Gaza and family they are working tirelessly to find safety for. However, any open support for our Palestinian colleagues or the millions facing a humanitarian crisis in Palestine is met with internal censorship of employee concerns, biased leadership statements showing one-sided support, and external censorship that is raising public alarm and distrust of our platforms. Internally, we have called out the months of silencing within our workplace forums. While we loudly display “Your voice is valued”, CEE is used as a guise to delete dissenting opinions and silence employees that may simply be seeking solace from their coworkers or raising awareness about building safer products. While in other companies, employees within Employee Resource Groups (ERG) are allowed to connect and speak freely with each other, ERG’s such as Muslims@ and Palestinians@ have faced so much censorship that an employee proposed just deleting the ERG altogether instead of giving the illusion that we can freely build community at Meta. CEE claims to reduce disruptions in our workplace, yet censorship from CEE has caused many of us at Meta to feel disrupted, unheard, and unsafe to the point that several of our Metamates have decided to resign. In the words of our former colleague, any mention of Palestine is taken down - Even when the post was from a colleague expressing their grief. Even when the post was to celebrate the UN International day of support to the Palestinian people. Even when the post is a link to a fundraiser to help the Gazans. Even when asking questions about product bugs that affect Palestinian voices.

One of the original core values of Facebook was to “Be Open” and our current values claim that “We create a culture where we are straightforward and willing to have hard conversations with each other.” Employees have always been first responders to surface issues raised externally to those internally with the power and knowledge to fix them. However when over 450 colleagues came together to sign a letter similar to this one in December, CEE was used to delete the letter and restrict one of the writers from their work devices for over two months while the workplace, product, and policy concerns brought forth were completely ignored. Employees have attempted to raise product concerns related to the conflict only to have their posts and comments censored or dismissed throughout internal channels. Most recently, questions about investigative reports indicating the possibility of governments, ISPs, and coordinated bad actors using Whatsapp data for military targeting have been met with dismissive and insufficient responses or outright deleted throughout internal forums. Meta leaders have posted numerous strong statements of support for our Israeli colleagues along with condemnation of the attack on Israel on October 7th that took the lives of ~1,200 civilians, both on internal and external platforms. Mark stated on his public Facebook - “The terrorist attacks by Hamas are pure evil. There is never any justification for carrying out acts of terrorism against innocent people. The widespread suffering that has resulted is devastating. My focus remains on the safety of our employees and their families in Israel and the region.”

However, bias and inequity is painfully apparent when those same leaders do not similarly share support for our Palestinian colleagues and allies nor condemnation of the attacks on Palestine, which have now taken ~35,000 civilian lives and created a humanitarian crisis of displacement and starvation for ~2 million Palestinians. This has created a hostile and unsafe work environment for hundreds of our Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, anti-Zionist Jew, and anti-genocide colleagues at the company, who have felt consistently alienated and uncomfortable at work. Many have tried to articulate this through posts on Workplace only to be censored, rebuffed, and/or penalized. Feedback shared directly with leadership on Workplace Chat has been met with dismissiveness. Bias and inequity for the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Gaza is also apparent when compared to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, after which there was an outpouring of leadership support on all fronts, including additional resourcing and investment through various social impact initiatives. The lights in the Dublin office were even painted with the colors of the Ukraine flag. Leadership must do better to achieve true equity and inclusion. Externally, when it comes to Palestine, the dismissive tone and lack of investment by Meta is not new and the company has consistently failed to thoroughly take action on years of evidence of suppression of Palestinian voices on our platforms worldwide. In 2024 the company is still slowly addressing the findings of an independent audit influenced by Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) 2021 letter to Meta on the Palestinian conflict 3 years ago. In the wake of October 7th, Meta has ignored reasonable requests for transparency on our content policies from Senator Elizabeth Warren and other lawmakers around the globe. Numerous civil rights organizations, some of whom are Meta partners, have been met with dismissal on the censorship concerns brought forth - leading to external petitions such as one against Meta’s proposed policy of treating “Zionist” as a proxy for "Jewish”, which collected over 52,000 signatures. While Meta denies any Palestinian censorship or bias to the public, internally groups of employee volunteers have found numerous product and policy issues with disparate impacts to Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab communities since October 7th. The few improvements that have been made were achieved only by appealing to isolated product teams, with minimal senior leadership support or resources. Furthermore, in the wake of global criticism of censorship and moderation, leading into the biggest year for democracy in history, Meta has updated its policy to no longer recommend ‘political content’ by default across Instagram and Threads without clear guidelines of how this would impact content originating from global conflict zones. Meta has continued to fail the Palestinian community through its policies and lack of investment.

“Meta.Metamate.Me.” We believe we are all Meta and are committed to respectfully working together to address the issues internally and externally, while holding firmly to the demands we have been echoing for months: We demand an end to censorship - stop deleting employee’s words internally in order to foster an inclusive environment where all communities feel seen, heard, and safe We demand acknowledgment - share internal acknowledgments of support for Palestinian colleagues and acknowledge the lives lost in the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza to recognize our shared humanity We demand transparency and accountability - allocate dedicated resources to investigate issues of censorship and biases on our platforms and openly disclose findings to build trust among employees and the public We implore you to end the silence - issue a public statement urging for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza As tech workers, we have a tremendous privilege to work on products that serve the world, and with that comes tremendous responsibility. We have been proud to work at Meta – and want to continue believing in its mission to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.

If you're a current or former Meta worker please sign the letter here

#yemen #jerusalem #tel aviv #current events #palestine #free palestine #gaza #free gaza #news on gaza #palestine news #news update #war news #war on gaza #media bias #manufactured consent #pro palestine #no tech for apartheid

[santacoppelia]

Putting the Meta in "Metatron"

(couldn't resist the pun, sorry)

Ok, this has been tickling my brain for a while. I've been thinking about how The Metatron designed his role and discourse specifically to manipulate Aziraphale into the end result we saw in the last minutes of S2. I become obsessed with it because… well, I'm a bit obsessive, but also because there were many really smart writing decisions that I loved (even when I despise The Metatron exactly for the same reasons. Hate the character, love the writer). If you haven't watched Good Omens Season 2, this is the moment to stop reading. Come back later!

We already know that in Book Omens, the role of Gabriel in the ending was occupied by The Metatron. Of course, the series introduced us to Gabriel and we won a lot by that, but I feel that the origins of The Metatron should be considered for any of this. He is not a "sweet old man": he was the one in charge of seeing over the operation of Armageddon; not just a stickler of rules, but the main promoter for it.

However, when he appears in the series finale, we first are primed to almost pass him by. He is in the line for buying coffee, using clothes that are:

obviously not tailored (almost ill fitted)

in dark tones

looking worn and wrinkled

This seems so important to me! All the angels we have seen are so proud of their aspect, wear clear (white or off white) clothes, pressed, impeccable (even Muriel), even when they visit the Earth (which we have already seen on S1 with all the visits to the bookshop). The Metatron chose a worn, comfortable attire, instead. This is a humanized look, something that fools all the angels but which would warm up someone very specific, can you guess?

After making quite a complicated coffee order (with sort of an affable and nervous energy), he makes a question that Crowley had already primed for us when asking Nina about the name of the coffee: having a "predictable" alternative and an unpredictable one.

This creates an interesting parallel with the next scene: Michael is discussing the possibility of erasing Aziraphale from The Book of Life (a punishment even worse than Holy Water on demons, because not having existed at all, EVER is definitely worse than having existed and ceased to exist at some point) when The Metatron arrives, interrupts the moment and signals having brought coffee. Yup, an amicable gesture, but also a "not death" offering that he shows clearly to everyone (even when Michael or Uriel do not understand or care for it. It wasn't meant for them). He even dismisses what Michael was saying as "utter balderdash" and a "complete piffle", which are the kind of outdated terms we have heard Aziraphale use commonly. So, The Metatron has put up this show for a specific audience of one.

The next moment on the script has Metatron asking Crowley for the clarification of his identity. Up to this moment, every angel has been ignoring the sprawled demon in the corner while discussing how to punish Aziraphale… But The Metatron defers to the most unlikely person in the room, and the only one who will push any buttons on Aziraphale: Crowley. After that, Aziraphale can recognize him, and Metatron dismisses the "bad angels" (using Aziraphale's S1 epithet) with another "catchy old phrase", "spit spot", while keeping Muriel at the back and implying that there is a possibility to "check after" if those "bad angels" have done anything wrong.

Up to this moment, he has played it perfectly. The only moment when he loses it is when he calls Muriel "the dim one", which she ignores… probably because that's the usual way they get talked to in Heaven. I'm not sure if Aziraphale or Crowley cared for that small interaction, but it is there for us (the audience) to notice it: the sympathy the character might elicit is built and sought, but he is not that nice.

After that, comes "the chinwag" and the offer of the coffee: the unnecessarily complicated order. It is not Aziraphale's cup of tea (literally), but it is so specific that it creates some semblance of being thought with care, and has a "hefty jigger" of syrup (again with the funny old words). And, as Aziraphale recognizes, it is "very nice!" (as The Metatron "jolly hoped so"), and The Metatron approves of him drinking it by admitting he has "ingested things in my time, you know?". This interaction is absolutely designed to build a bridge of understanding. The Metatron probably knew that the first response he would get was a "no", so he tailored his connection specifically to "mirror" Aziraphale: love of tasty human treats he has also consumed, funny old words like the ones he loves, a very human, worn, well-loved look. That was the bait for "the stroll": the moment when Aziraphale and Crowley get separated, because The Metatron knew that being close to Crowley, Aziraphale would have an hypervigilant soundboard to check the sense of what he was going to get offered. That's what the nasty look The Metatron gives to Crowley while leaving the bookshop builds (and it gets pinpointed by the music, if you were about to miss it).

The next thing we listen from The Metatron is "You don't have to answer immediately, take all the time you need" in such a friendly manner… we can see Aziraphale doubting a little, and then comes the suggestion: "go and tell your friend the good news!". This sounds like encouragement, but is "the reel". He already knows how Crowley would react, and is expecting it (we can infer it by his final reaction after going back for Aziraphale after the break up, but let's not get ahead of ourselves shall we?). He even can work up Muriel to take care of the bookshop while waiting for the catch.

What did he planted in Aziraphale's mind? Well, let's listen to the story he has to tell:

"I don't think he's as bad a fellow… I might have misjudged him!" — not strange in Aziraphale to have such a generous spirit while judging people. He's in a… partnership? relationship? somethingship? with a demon! So maybe first impressions aren't that reliable anyway. The Metatron made an excellent job with this, too.

"Michael was not the obvious candidate, it was me!" — This idea is interesting. Michael has been the stickler, the rule follower, even the snitch. They have been rewarded and recognized by that. Putting Aziraphale before Michael in the line of succession is a way of recognizing not only him, but his system of values, which has always been at odds with the main archangels (even when it was never an open fight).

"Leader, honest, don't tell people what they want to hear" — All these are generic compliments. The Metatron hasn't been that aware of Aziraphale, but are in line with what would have been said of any "rebel leader". They come into context with the next phrase.

"That's why Gabriel came to you, I imagine…" — I'm pretty sure The Metatron didn't imagine this, ha. He is probably imagining that the "institutional problem" is coalescing behind his back, and trying to keep friends close, but enemies closer… while dividing and conquering. If Gabriel rebelled, and then went searching for Aziraphale (and Crowley, they are and item and he knows it), that might mean a true risk for his status quo and future plans.

Heaven has great plans and important projects for you — this is to sweeten the pot: the hefty jigger of almond syrup. You will be able to make changes! You can make a difference from the inside! Working for an old man who feels strangely familiar! And who recognizes your point of view! That sounds like the best job offer of the world, really.

Those, however, are not the main messages (they are still building good will with Aziraphale); they are thought out to build the last, and more important one:

Heaven is well aware of your "de facto partnership" with Crowley…

It would be considered irregular if you wanted to work with him again…

You, and you alone, can bring him to Heaven and restore his full angelic status, so you could keep working together (in very important projects).

Here is the catch. He brought the coffee so he could "offer him coffee", but the implications are quite clear: if you want to continue having a partnership with Crowley, you two must come to Heaven. Anything else would be considered irregular, put them in a worst risk, and maybe, just maybe, make them "institutional enemies". Heaven is more efficient chasing enemies, and they have The Book of Life as a menace.

We already know how scared Aziraphale has always been about upsetting Heaven, but he has learned to "disconnect" from it through the usual "they don't notice". The Metatron came to tell him "I did notice, and it has come back to bite you". The implied counterpart to the offer is "you can always get death". Or even worse, nonexistence (we have already imagined the angst of having one of them condemned to that fate, haven't we?)

When The Metatron arrives, just after seeing Crowley leave the bookshop, distraught, he casually asks "How did he take it?", but he already knows. That was his plan all along: making them break up with an offer Aziraphale could not refuse, but Crowley could not accept. That's why he even takes the license to slightly badmouth Crowley: "Always did want to go his own way, always asking damn fool questions, too". He also arrive with the solution to the only objection Aziraphale would have: Muriel, the happy innocent angel that he received with so much warmth and kindness, is given the opportunity to stay on Earth, taking care of the bookshop. The only thing he would have liked to take with him is not a thing, and has become impossible.

If God is playing poker in a dark room and always smiling, The Metatron is playing chess, and he is quite good at it (that's why he loves everything to be predictable). He is menacing our pieces, and broke our hearts in the process… But I'm pretty sure he is underestimating his opponents. His awful remark of Muriel being "dim"; saying that Crowley "asks damn fool questions", and even believing that Aziraphale is just a softie that can be played like a pipe… That's why telling him the project is "The Second Coming" was an absolute gift for us as an audience, and it prefigures the downfall that is coming — the one Aziraphale, now with nothing to lose, started cooking in his head during that elevator ride (those couple of minutes that Michael Sheen gifted to all of us: the shock, the pain, the fury, and that grin in the end, with the eyes in a completely different emotion). Remember that Aziraphale is intelligent, but also fierce. Guildernstern commited a similar mistake in Hamlet, and it didn't go well:

"Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me! You would play upon me, you would seem to know my stops, you would pluck out the heart of my mystery, you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass, and there is much music, excellent voice, in this little organ, yet cannot you make it speak. 'Sblood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me."

I'm so excited to learn how this is going to unfold!! Because our heroes have always been very enthusiastic at creating plans together, failed miserably at executing them, and even then succeeding… But now they are apart, more frustrated and the stakes are even higher. Excellent scenario for a third act!

*exits, pursued by a bear*

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens meta #good omens spoilers #aziraphale #ineffable spouses #ineffable divorce #narrative analysis #character analysis #the metatron #and a casual Hamlet quote #just because I love Hamlet

[ungrateful-cyborg]

FFXIV Forum

Fuck it, let's try again.

Some time ago I created a forum that didn't stay lively for very long, unfortunately, but I don't want to give up on it as I think forums offer something that no other tool for online community can offer: an actual community that doesn't rely on everyone acting like their own PR/marketing team.

So here it is, in case anyone's interested:

What does it have to offer?

A place to meet artists and roleplayers from the FFXIV fandom, where you won't be assailed by notifications like a Discord server, that's LGBTQ-friendly and won't ask you to post all the time to remain visible (contrary to social media).

What you'll find:

RP sections for your RP threads, easier to manage than on Tumblr, and without the pressure of being seen online on Discord because you wanted to talk to your friends but aren't in the mood for RP

A place to get help to create your character or write an NPC, if you're feeling insecure and want to try your hand at writing/roleplaying

Galleries for your writing, fanarts, screenshots, irl craft, etc. where you don't have to worry about peak hours to be seen

Forums where you can gush about your own characters and get asked questions: no need to have a big following anymore!

A place where you can discuss the lore and share your meta analysis to your heart content

A place to organize your own in-game event and promote it, once again without needing to build a big enough following for it to be noticed!

Yes, there's a NSFW section (that you have to ask to get access to). Forumactif—the host—is not in favor of this, however, so if Etheirys has enough success I might consider hosting it myself (but I'm not rich so we'll start with the free alternative for now and just keep it on the low XD)

And more!

I am taking suggestions to improve it and I'll gladly help you and answer your questions if you're not familiar with forums (or this sort of forums, anyways).

For those who don't know me or find me intimidating to talk to (I know it has happened) I've been leading communities big and small for about 18 years now, and I've always put a big emphasis on fairness, communication and patience.

(Please reblog so more people can see this!)

#FFXIV #FFXIV Forum #Etheirys #FFXIV rp #final fantasy 14 #final fantasy xiv #ffxiv oc #ffxiv wol #ffxiv screenshots #ffxiv gpose

[lurkingteapot]

Every now and then I think about how subtitles (or dubs), and thus translation choices, shape our perception of the media we consume. It's so interesting. I'd wager anyone who speaks two (or more) languages knows the feeling of "yeah, that's what it literally translates to, but that's not what it means" or has answered a question like "how do you say _____ in (language)?" with "you don't, it's just … not a thing, we don't say that."

I've had my fair share of "[SHIP] are [married/soulmates/fated/FANCY TERM], it's text!" "[CHARACTER A] calls [CHARACTER B] [ENDEARMENT/NICKNAME], it's text!" and every time. Every time I'm just like. Do they though. Is it though. And a lot of the time, this means seeking out alternative translations, or translation meta from fluent or native speakers, or sometimes from language learners of the language the piece of media is originally in.

Why does it matter? Maybe it doesn't. To lots of people, it doesn't. People have different interests and priorities in fiction and the way they interact with it. It's great. It matters to me because back in the early 2000s, I had dial-up internet. Video or audio media that wasn't available through my local library very much wasn't available, but fanfiction was. So I started to read English language Gundam Wing fanfic before I ever had a chance to watch the show. When I did get around to watching Gundam Wing, it was the original Japanese dub. Some of the characters were almost unrecognisable to me, and first I doubted my Japanese language ability, then, after checking some bits with friends, I wondered why even my favourite writers, writers I knew to be consistent in other things, had made these characters seem so different … until I had the chance to watch the US-English dub a few years later. Going by that adaptation, the characterisation from all those stories suddenly made a lot more sense. And the thing is, that interpretation is also valid! They just took it a direction that was a larger leap for me to make.

Loose adaptations and very free translations have become less frequent since, or maybe my taste just hasn't led me their way, but the issue at the core is still a thing: Supernatural fandom got different nuances of endings for their show depending on the language they watched it in. CQL and MDZS fandom and the never-ending discussions about 知己 vs soulmate vs Other Options. A subset of VLD fans looking at a specific clip in all the different languages to see what was being said/implied in which dub, and how different translators interpreted the same English original line. The list is pretty much endless.

And that's … idk if it's fine, but it's what happens! A lot of the time, concepts -- expressed in language -- don't translate 1:1. The larger the cultural gap, the larger the gaps between the way concepts are expressed or understood also tend to be. Other times, there is a literal translation that works but isn't very idiomatic because there's a register mismatch or worse. And that's even before cultural assumptions come in. It's normal to have those. It's also important to remember that things like "thanks I hate it" as a sentiment of praise/affection, while the words translate literally quite easily, emphatically isn't easy to translate in the sense anglophone internet users the phrase.

Every translation is, at some level, a transformative work. Sometimes expressions or concepts or even single words simply don't have an exact equivalent in the target language and need to be interpreted at the translator's discretion, especially when going from a high-context/listener-responsible source language to a low-context/speaker-responsible target language (where high-context/listener responsible roughly means a large amount of contextual information can be omitted by the speaker because it's the listener's responsibility to infer it and ask for clarification if needed, and low-context/speaker-responsible roughly means a lot of information needs to be codified in speech, i.e. the speaker is responsible for providing sufficiently explicit context and will be blamed if it's lacking).

Is this a mouse or a rat? Guess based on context clues! High-context languages can and frequently do omit entire parts of speech that lower-context/speaker-responsible languages like English regard as essential, such as the grammatical subject of a sentence: the equivalent of "Go?" - "Go." does largely the same amount of heavy lifting as "is he/she/it/are you/they/we going?" - "yes, I am/he/she/it is/we/you/they are" in several listener-responsible languages, but tends to seem clumsy or incomplete in more speaker-responsible ones. This does NOT mean the listener-responsible language is clumsy. It's arguably more efficient! And reversely, saying "Are you going?" - "I am (going)" might seem unnecessarily convoluted and clumsy in a listener-responsible language. All depending on context.

This gets tricky both when the ambiguity of the missing subject of the sentence is clearly important (is speaker A asking "are you going" or "is she going"? wait until next chapter and find out!) AND when it's important that the translator assign an explicit subject in order for the sentence to make sense in the target language. For our example, depending on context, something like "are we all going?" - "yes" or "they going, too?" might work. Context!

As a consequence of this, sometimes, translation adds things – we gain things in translation, so to speak. Sometimes, it's because the target language needs the extra information (like the subject in the examples above), sometimes it's because the target language actually differentiates between mouse and rat even though the source language doesn't. However, because in most cases translators don't have access to the original authors, or even the original authors' agencies to ask for clarification (and in most cases wouldn't get paid for the time to put in this extra work even if they did), this kind of addition is almost always an interpretation. Sometimes made with a lot of certainty, sometimes it's more of a "fuck it, I've got to put something and hope it doesn't get proven wrong next episode/chapter/ten seasons down" (especially fun when you're working on a series that's in progress).

For the vast majority of cases, several translations are valid. Some may be more far-fetched than others, and there'll always be subjectivity to whether something was translated effectively, what "effectively" even means …

ANYWAY. I think my point is … how interesting, how cool is it that engaging with media in multiple languages will always yield multiple, often equally valid but just sliiiiightly different versions of that piece of media? And that I'd love more conversations about how, the second we (as folks who don't speak the material's original language) start picking the subtitle or dub wording apart for meta, we're basically working from a secondary source, and if we're doing due diligence, to which extent do we need to check there's nothing substantial being (literally) lost -- or added! -- in translation?

#translation #linguistics (sorta) #I love language so much #long post #subtitling #dubbing #transformative work #if you read all the way to the end - THANK YOU I am so impressed #localisation #this is not an academic essay but I still feel bad for not citing sources #low vs high context cultures and languages are concepts from intercultural communication studies #but idk how up to date that is or whether folks even still actually use them #I know they oversimplify things #but it helped me say what I was trying to here so shrug #languages #language soup #meta #language meta #fandom meta of sorts #thanks for the help sorting this out kayla <3 #my nonsense

[suffersinfandom]

Controversial opinion (?): the Kraken Era wasn’t all that dark.

There’s a whole lot of meta and fic out there that portray early season two Ed as a bloodthirsty, hyperviolent monster, and when that portrayal is challenged, the rebuttal is usually along the lines of, “I’m just doing what canon did. Did you even watch the show?”

I did watch the show, and honestly? I expected Ed to be so much worse than he was! When I see people say they didn’t think Ed did enough to redeem himself or that he went past the point of no return, I just… don’t understand.

I already went into this in my way-too-long meta about Ed and abuse, but I do think it bears repeating (in a shorter post) because it seems like Ed’s actions -- more than the actions of any other character -- are scrutinized and discussed outside of the context of, y’know… a comedy about pirates. There’s tons of casual violence in Our Flag Means Death. Sometimes the violence is even funny! 

So what does Ed actually do?

As far as I can remember (I’ve only seen season two a few of times, so correct me if I’ve missed something!), we see Ed directly harm someone twice in the first two episodes: first on the wedding boat, and then when he shoots Izzy in the leg. Kind of unimpressive numbers, yeah? Tbh, I'd expect more out of a heartbroken Blackbeard.

The first instance involves Ed shooting a man during a raid. That man has a sword through his chest before Ed fires, leading me to believe that Ed’s still following his season one pattern of keeping himself a step removed from murder (technically, the sword killed that guy). We also don’t see the murder happen; the man tumbles offscreen before Ed shoots. This makes the action less brutal. If the writers wanted us to be appalled by Ed’s violence, we would’ve gotten a graphic kill (or several).

And the second instance is Izzy. Ed shoots Izzy in the leg after he suggests that the shitty atmosphere is because of Ed’s feelings for Stede. Hot take, maybe, but I don’t think that was entirely out of line -- definitely not for a pirate captain whose first mate is acting out! Ed’s feelings for Stede are not the only problem; a significant chunk of the problem is Izzy. Izzy called in the navy and led to their capture and, more importantly, Izzy bullied Ed back into the Blackbeard persona. This is what Izzy said he wanted.

We’re also told that Ed has taken more of Izzy’s toes between seasons. This isn’t cool -- bosses definitely shouldn’t be asking for their employees’ toes -- but there is a precedent for it: in season one, Ed told Stede that he used to feed people their toes for a laugh (yuck). For a laugh. This, to me, implies that it’s not a huge deal. It’s certainly not completely unexpected pirate behavior, and it seems more lenient than, like, a keelhauling or a whipping. I think both of those things would've felt way more gruesome and dark.

As far as violent actions go, that’s not a lot. Like, numerically.

Things get darker in S2E2 when Ed becomes increasingly desperate for someone, anyone, to send him to doggy heaven. He’s unhinged and working his way up to a murder-suicide before he’s stopped, but he doesn’t lay a hand on anyone. He orders Archie and Jim to fight to the death. He ignores anonymous crewmembers as they’re swept overboard in the storm. This is bad! It’s self-destructive and selfish! But violent? Monstrous? I don’t really think so.

In my opinion, the worst thing Ed does is force his crew to do violence for him -- not because it’s violence (again, they’re pirates), but because the violence hurts them. THIS is what traumatizes them! Their trauma flashbacks are scenes of them hurting others, not of Ed hurting them directly. Ed didn’t physically torture his crew (with the exception of Izzy, and that’s complicated). His crime was driving them to do one violent raid after another, killing and plundering without any joy or theatrics. Ed feels trapped in the role of Blackbeard -- the role that he’s been desperate to escape -- and, in his heartbreak, he opts to trap his crew with him. 

Yeah, Ed is messed up in the first two episodes of season two. I don’t blame the crew for almost killing him; it’s what needed to be done. I think that Jim, Archie, Frenchie, and Fang had every right to want Ed gone after Stede’s return. 

But I don’t think that Ed was a super violent monster who tortured his crew and murdered his way through his breakup. He engages in very little onscreen violence, and the person that most of his violence is focused on -- Izzy -- is the same person who told him to be violent. I think that anyone who says that Ed’s actions in the first part of season two are extremely dark is either looking at them out of context, misremembering what actually happened and just recalling the dark tone, or working with some kind of motive.

In conclusion: Ed is a man who, at his very darkest, was still operating pretty firmly within the bounds of "stuff pirates do" (but not stuff Ed has historically done, presumably).

Also look at him. Thank you.

GIF by unearthlydust

#ofmd #ofmd meta #edward teach #me typing things #idk i just keep seeing this thing? #this 'ed is irredeemable to me personally' thing #and that's fine? #hate characters if you want to? #but i don't think the kraken is all that evil #i mean i guess ed disagrees #hence the guilt and agreeing to humiliation and apologies #my poor mentally ill blorbo