#ppl asking for a link | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

comradekatara · 16 days

Note

I saw your toph+katara gender post and honestly... thank you for being one of few ppl i've seen who actually do a deeper analysis of toph? Most people tend to just go "i love toph she's cool <3" and while that's fine, its so nice to actually see someone Get Her. Esp wrt her gender expression and relationship to femininity. She's always been v imporant to me, like when i was like 12 i used to watch youtube clips of the toph+katara spa day scene on repeat and have Feelings abt it (still think its a super interesting scene??). Imo, while a lot of her expression is def rebelling (+overcompensating) and doing the oposite of her feminine upbringing, a lot of it is also a genuine JOY at being covered in dirt/burping/being loud and crass and tough? Idk i just feel like a lot of her contemporary "tomboy" characters were more defined as "ugh i hate Skirts and Dresses", but tophs brand of gnc joy and complex relationship w femininity always hit closer For Me? Like. She's loud and crass and rude and badass and cool, she does find it fun to dress girly but as like an Activity with a buddy, she's overjoyed at being portrayed as a big buff dude ("that's exactly how i would cast it!"), she's actually very spiritual and perceptive when not in Loud Mode, she keeps her fancy hairstyle but adds messy bangs, idk she's just. Character of all time. I'd love to hear if you have more thoughts on toph+gender (or just toph in general), and thank you for actually Understanding Her <33

YES!!!!! i have so many thoughts and feelings on toph. she is one of my absolute favorite characters i truly love her so much, and like you said, i hate when people dismiss her even as they claim to love her. "she's so badass" like okay, and?

toph is also just very important to me as her disability informs so much of her arc. and that disability is also inextricable from her gender and her family and all the factors that shape who she is, her strengths and her insecurities. you cannot separate her parents' abuse from her gender, class, or blindness. it's the combination of being an aristocratic blind girl that informs who she is and how she's perceived, especially by her family. she's an only child in a family that would clearly desire at least one son, and you cannot help but wonder whether they stopped at one for eugenicist purposes, whether they couldn't bear the "pain" of risking having another disabled child. and also because they clearly consider having a blind child such a handful that any other child would draw their attention away from her dire, pressing needs. so they completely smother her, but they also dismiss her, trivialize her desires and ignore her feelings and treat her more like a fragile porcelain doll than a person.

it's why, by the time of "the chase," she gets inordinately defensive over katara's suggestion that she pitch in when setting up camp. i see a lot of people claim that toph in this episode is acting like a spoiled brat who refuses to do manual labor because she's too wealthy to understand, but that's not actually the case. toph is fine with doing manual labor (she literally spent who knows how long working in an underground wrestling ring, she's not unaccustomed to work), but she's averse to helping others. as she says, "i carry my own weight." she's establishing, erroneously but understandably, that her idea of affording others respect is assuming that everyone behaves on an individual basis. she's never had friends before, by her own admission, and so in her mind, the only model she's ever seen for "helping others" is smothering them, denying their agency, and deciding everything for them.

toph thinks that katara is a bitch because katara is suggesting that toph meddle in other people's affairs, instead of respecting their own business. and katara thinks that toph is a bitch because she does just straight up assume that toph is a spoiled brat who doesn't understand the value of community. and while toph isn't a spoiled brat, learning the value of community is indeed integral to her arc. and more than simply communal values of helping and sharing with others, she also learns to rely on them in turn. she learns how to embrace her vulnerability, and let others carry her weight for her. her apotheosis in the finale is literally hanging onto sokka, who is holding her entire weight with one hand, for dear life. putting her complete faith in him to carry her and protect her as he always does.

that ability to embrace her vulnerability among the people she actually trusts to not only love and support her, but also to recognize her as a human being and care about her as a a peer, is so crucial to her identity as someone who has learned from years of ableist stigma to put walls up and present herself as someone uniquely powerful and invulnerable. and it's not that she isn't uniquely powerful, but her strength is also largely a projection. it's why she's so delighted to be portrayed by a big buff man, because that's the kind of person she wishes she could be, so that she wouldn't have to be underestimated and belittled and oppressed by people who dismiss her and coddle her and disrespect her and, quite literally, put her in a box.

so if toph's experience with disability is informed by her class and her upbringing, then let's now turn to her experience with gender, which is equally informed by her background. katara often balks at toph's less feminine presentation, because despite her incredibly righteous crusade against limiting patriarchal standards, she nonetheless has her own hangups when it comes to gender. but then again, so does toph. just as katara disdains toph's masculinity, toph finds katara's femininity offensive because her only real model for femininity in her experience is that of aristocratic wifehood. poppy beifong, to be exact, who is not exactly a girlboss (let alone a revolutionary, like katara is). and when katara tries to shove toph back into a box, toph resists because of course she does, that's who she is. she's not going take what she experiences as violent repression lying down.

toph is wrong in "the runaway" to exclude katara from their fun, and she is wrong to call compare her to a mother, but it's not out of nowhere. there is an obvious precedent to these actions. katara is a genuinely feminine girl who loves to boss people around and dictate how they should live their lives. to toph, this is the most egregious sin imaginable. katara, through her femininity and authoritative attitude, is positioning herself, in toph's eyes, as her mother. and toph calls her out for being overbearing and claims that katara hates fun and wants to boss everyone around for this reason, even though sokka is obviously the primary fun-hating, overbearing member of the group.

however, sokka never dictates how toph should act or dress, sokka never made fun of toph for being blind (which is a thing that really deserves its own post, if we're being honest). sokka makes them spend their vacation time at the library and enforces his color-coded schedules on them and generally brings down the vibe what with his neuroticism and severity, but he also laughs at toph's jokes and banters with her in a way that treats her as a friend and not as a rival. and unlike katara, whose desires and commands seem completely arbitrary to toph, sokka's commands are grounded in a logic that toph can understand. so even if from an outside perspective, toph's claim that a revolutionary teenage girl who loves to cause trouble and seeks adventure and joy around every corner is trying to be the overbearing mom of the group makes no sense, it makes perfect sense to toph, based on her history with femininity, overbearing mothers, and feminine overbearing mothers.

toph presents masculinely as compensation, as a way to make herself seem strong and tough instead of dainty and submissive as she was always made out to be. she associates masculinity with strength and femininity with weakness because that's the paradigm she grew up in. it's why she's always teasing aang about his supposed femininity and calling him "twinkle toes" (which, as sokka points out, isn't manly). in their first interaction, aang beat her in a fight and humiliated her in front of all her adoring fans, and avatar or not, toph's gonna make him pay for that by undermining him in turn, by using his presentation as a monk to mock him. even if aang isn't gay or even gender non-conforming (within the assumptions of his own culture), toph is still employing the logic of sexism/homophobia to undermine aang when she makes jokes about him being "more in touch with [his] feminine side than most guys." and of course, the nickname "twinkle toes" is also deeply affectionate, and aang (bless his heart) never actually takes offense to it. but toph is trying to establish herself as more powerful than him due to the humiliating knowledge that he could beat her in a fight, easily.

toph's masculinity is inextricably tied to her invulnerability. she wants to be taken seriously and treated as a human being, which is respect that has been denied to her due to her status as a blind girl, save for her blind bandit persona, which superficially empowered her and made her feel strong. it's not coincidence that her rival earthbender is a guy who is essentially a parody of masculinity. toph wants to position herself as equivalent, if not directly superior, to the Most Masculine Man, because that's how she'll be afforded respect, in her mind. but she is a girl. and there's a part of her that likes being a girl, and wishes she could explore her femininity more than she's allowed herself to, beyond the confines of the beifong mansion. she keeps her hair long because she still loves her family and holds out hope that maybe one day they can accept her (she comes from a culture modeled off of tang dynasty china, so her long hair is likely a product of her adherence to confucian values). and once she embraces it, she genuinely does get into being made over at the fancy lady day spa.

femininity has been a genuinely harmful and repressive agent in toph's life, and it's understandable that she would internalize some misogynistic notions surrounding girl/womanhood as they were foisted onto her her entire childhood. but femininity isn't ontologically harmful. femininity isn't ontological, period. i think as toph gets older, and her friendship with katara grows deeper as they both come to be more honest with each other, she would grow to embrace her masculinity in a more organic and less compensatory way. less of a "i'm not like other girls" complex (which itself is not something that girls should be mocked and punished for, but rather a product of a patriarchal system that oppresses and alienates women, thus leading many less gender-conforming girls to attempt to assert their agency and individuality in any way they can, even if it means putting down others in the process), and more so genuinely coming to embrace her butchness. (you don't necessarily have to read her as a baby butch, of course, but considering that being a masculine girl is important to her, i think that's a really lovely and beautiful synthesis of her relationship to gender as a character.)

i think toph would learn stop pitting masculinity and femininity against each other, and instead embrace whatever aspects of either (or neither) she desires, while nonetheless respecting everyone else's deal in turn. i think she would also, in a key turning point, realize that even if she loves her parents, she doesn't have any obligation to be the daughter they expect her to be, and cuts her hair. and as she grows more secure in herself (which comes with age, no twelve year old is truly confident in their own skin), she would stop feeling the need to put other people down to feel big, and be comfortable embracing her desires. and, credit to her, she's clearly already on her way. the progress she makes being vulnerable, especially around sokka, even in what is chronologically a matter of months, is huge.

toph isn't just "badass" because she's strong and powerful. but rather, what makes her so powerful, at least to disabled viewers who see their struggles reflected in hers, is her ability to grow with her environment, allowing herself to admit help, and letting herself be loved. if you couldn't already tell, toph is incredibly important to me.

#smultronviol #asks #toph #analysis #katara&toph #sokka&toph #aang&toph #poppy beifong #god she just means so much to me.....#i was trying not to make this too personal but like. baby disabled dyke. god she is so important.#not that i'm butch. but i think she is :)#also some of those links are better than others but i included all of them anyway lol #realizing now that i actually talk about toph a lot...#anyway. thank you for this ask #i really really appreciate it and took a while responding specifically because i wanted to have time to be thorough #not that this is like. The definitive toph essay #but i hope what i wrote here resonated #because like i said. she means a lot to me and i truly do feel like very few ppl understand her fully #she is so important blind bandit numero uno campeon del mundo

117 notes · View notes

thatoneweirdo14 · 6 months

Text

okay, you have a stoic character. That's cool. But does your stoic character have something they learn is worth fighting for? Something that drives them to open up little by little until it consumes them in a way they can't understand but still don't want to let go? Does your stoic have a personality where the world could be crashing and burning around them and they will barely flutter an eyelash but if the people they love are even slightly in danger they will shatter inside and run to them? Completely disregarding their own safety? Because who are they without the people/person they love? Can they shoot a bullet through a man without remorse but will wither seeing their loved one(s) in any pain? Would they rather bear all the world's problem's on their shoulders for the rest of their life than even let a needle prick their beloved? Because they learnt what it meant? To love and be loved? And now they have something worth fighting for? That they would give up all worldly possessions for?

#link click #buddy daddies #spy x family #probably #ive watched the first ep of sxf and plan on watching it #but based on that ep alone i already got these vibes #what can i say #im a sucker for the mafia guy finding something worth protectibg and gaining found family along the way trope #it just #makes me so happy 🥹#plus the shipping material goes off the charts #i get a sweet story with a happy ending and a plot i like as well as gay ppl #what else could i ask for #shiguang #kazurei

261 notes · View notes

merriclo · 10 months

Note

I want to know your LU headcanons!

ohHO i will absolutely tell you tysm for asking!! i’ve been wanting to talk abt them for ages but just never got around to it ig ahjdkcka

Time’s actually like 32 and is just really committed to the bit of being ancient

Sky is horrific at making new friends. he grew up with the same small group of people, so he never learned how to make friends with complete strangers because there simply wasn’t the need to. so, when he first starts traveling with the chain, he makes little wooden charms for them because he isn’t entirely sure how else to get close with them. Zelda always enjoyed his woodcarvings, so maybe they will too??

as a result, the entire chain has little trinkets made by Sky. on Legend’s bag there’s charms hanging off the straps, and Twilight wears his as necklaces (both because it looks cool as fuck and it helps the shadow crystal stand out less). yes Wind has specifically commissioned him to make something for Aryll

yeah yeah bunny Legend but consider: the mermaid suit (which I like to think is more of a curse bc get fished pink man <3) giving him some marine animal qualities as well. no matter what tho that bitch is an Ariel kinnie, they’re collecting all the shiny shit they can find

Sky is obsessed with doing puzzles the Right and Proper way, meanwhile Wild cheeses absolutely everything he can

Wind believes in all of those classic pirate superstitions

the witches in Legend’s era adore him. Grandma Syrup dotes on him, Maple is like a teasing older sister, and Irene is like a teasing younger sister. this is where he learned most of his magic skills from, and he takes all potentially enchanted or cursed items to them to check out. he’ll never admit it, but Legend finds lots of comfort in all of them, as they’re one of the few people who’ve stayed in his life this long.

Wild’s a pretty good medic!! during his adventure, he very quickly realized how dangerous infection is, so they learned about a lot of home remedies and medicinal herbs, as well as how to tend to a wound from other travelers at stables and inns. he didn’t really get a choice in learning, considering how he probably got stung or bit by painful insects or accidentally brushed up against painful plants a lot during the early days of their adventure, and thus showed up to stables covered in rashes and hives and such, causing every decent person in the area to flock to them and try to help. their Hyrule is very sweet, okay?

they’re not the only one who’s well acquainted with medicinal herbs, though! while I think all of them would have a basic understanding, Time, Hyrule, Warriors, and Wind would know a lot. dw i’m elaborating

Time quite literally grew up in the forest, was raised by a tree, and had actual forest spirits for siblings—he knows his plants. he and Saria would peel willow bark and collect dandelions together

I like to think that Hyrule being half-fae makes him very sensitive to all magic-based auras, including that of plants, so they’re very good at picking out the healing herbs, even if they’re not quite sure what they’re called

listen ok hear me out about Warriors. young Time was appalled that he knew jackshit about nature and forcefully taught him. also, before modern medicine, medicinal plants were used all the fucking time on the battle field. yarrow, an herb that stops bleeding and prevents infection, is called soldiers’ woundwort because of this. i mention this because he was probably concerned about the health and safety of his troops, so he learned what the medics were doing and using.

Wind grew up on a small, tight-knit island, realistically they would’ve had to have learned how to use the things around them to their fullest advantage. that being said, his knowledge is sort of useless outside of his own era, aside from what he was taught in the war. ok i’m done talking about medicinal herbs now i promise sorry it’s a hobby of mine ahhsjdka

Legend’s terrified of dogs. in Link’s Awakening, the dogs are literally balls on chains with huge mouths full of sharp teeth (basically just Chain Chomps). if you want to get angsty with it: it comes from guard dogs being sent after him on his first adventure. he became a lot less scared to more he spent time with BowBow (the ball and chain dog) but, when he woke up, he got the belief that he could only be safe around a dog in his dreams. he’s pretty damn uncomfortable around Wolfie at first, but after lots of time and learning to trust Twilight, he’s able to slowly overcome his fear. sort of. mostly just with Wolfie. he still hates staying at stables in Wild’s Hyrule.

if Wild doesn’t want to explain/source something he’ll just say it came to him via divine intervention. Sky believes it every single time

I was thinking about Legend’s story a while ago and realized it was kind of similar to Joan of Arc’s so take that as you will. idk if this even counts as a headcanon but i’m putting it here

Warriors and Twilight are really close friends because they both understand the struggles of wrangling dirt worshipping nature freaks. anytime Twilight (lovingly) complains about Wild, Wars will counter with whatever asinine feral child antics young Time got up to and suddenly Twi will feel very blessed and lucky

whenever Four sees someone with their hair in a high ponytail he subconsciously thinks they’re very smart and respectable because Dot always wears her hair in a high ponytail

Hyrule is completely fine with not sleeping on a bedroll. they like the dirt, actually. let them sleep in the dirt.

Legend uses apples in his red potions, both to increase their potency and to make them taste better. he also learned how to enchant apples to be healing on their own so sometimes when someone’s hurt he’ll just shove an apple in their face

uhh so ik this is a lot but this isn’t even close to of all my headcanons so yeah there’s that lmao

#i saved y’all from my angstier headcanons btw. and also my magic system headcanons. be grateful /lh #i also restricted myself from telling y’all the queer headcanons bc there’s so many ppl posting theirs rn that i don’t rlly feel the need to #i have so many thoughts abt these guys it’s almost humiliating #linked universe #lu #linkeduniverse #lu headcanons #linked universe headcanons #sorry for any typos or if things are worded weirdly i ran out of my adhd meds and also lost my glasses so #i’m trying my best ok #ALSO AGAIN TY STORMY FOR ASKING <333 #i do rlly appreciate it tyyy <3

369 notes · View notes

the-heart-of-a-monster · 18 days

Note

Hi! Fan of yr comic here. I just wanted to know, Is this comic Sonadow? Cause it kinda feels like it going there. I don't know if it's just me being suspicious or...

depends on what you define as "being sonadow"

does thoam feature sonic and shadow getting closer as people and getting to know eachother better, learning to trust eachother and unlearn wrong assumptions about one another, which raises their deep respect for eachother while simultaneously fueling their rivalry? yeah. but is thoam a boring flat romance drama or is it an action adventure with cool monsters and character development and deep themes that make you lie awake at night

the comic speaks for itself, i hope.

I get asked this a lot and at this point i just want to point this out, bc i forgot if i already had done so (again bc i get this a lot):

I'm not denying the queerness of the characters. my comic is inherently queer, and the characters being queer does influence the way they interact with the world, BUT. that is not what the story is about. this story is about coping with insecurity, about growing from your mistakes, about finding and accepting your true self (just identity as a whole) and accepting help. especially accepting help.

and also about monsters and cool fight scenes and fun character dynamics and the beauty of the world and friendship and about how things aren't as black and white as we'd like them to be sometimes.

i put a lot of work weaving those themes into the story, the character moments and world building and so on and so forth, so it's always a little disappointing when people see sonic and shadow growing closer as characters and reduce ALL OF THAT to "shadow smile for 1 second so gay cute wow"

like yes, they're gay (in an aromantic way), but that's not what this is about im begging you to read the panels that don't have these two in frame as well

#fan lore #Anonymous #if i had a cent every time someone comes to me asking #is this sonadow #id be rich #gonna link this ask as a faq on sonadow bc augh #i admit i 'baited' way more in early issues bc i thoguht i had to in order to get ppl to care #but i def grew out of it #also i swear if ppl go around yelling 'ITS CONFIRMED' U MISSED MY POINT #i always say. this is NOT a 'sonadow comic'#its a comic that HAPPENS to have sonadow IN IT #big difference

86 notes · View notes

honnelander · 7 months

Note

You glance up as he towers over you, worry written clear on his beautiful features. The guilt making your stomach drop farther into your stomach. His hands engulf your shoulders as he tilts his head to get a better look at your face. "Hey," the soft whisper makes it's way to your ears. What do you do now? What can you possibly say to get out of this situation. You feel bad enough as it is and it only seems to grow with every passing second. Every breath burning your lungs as the tears begin to sting your eyes again. Run. It's the only thought in your head, your fight or flight instincts taking over. You take one step to your right to dodge any chance he had to stop you but as soon as you move, he moves just as quick. Having his long days of training to thank for that, his arms wrap tightly over your shoulders keeping you in place. His head dropping into the crook of your neck, his warm exhales tickling your skin. "No, not this time. I'm not letting you go this time," You stiffen in his arms, the tears now falling steady. Your hands dance in the air unsure whether to hold onto his arms or not. You need him, you need him to hold you and tell you it will be okay, but the continuing guilt just keeps building. You can feel his lips resting against your neck, sending the most pleasant tingles down your spine, conflicting with the emotions rolling through your mind. He remains there not moving, not saying anything, just holding you like if he lets go you'll vanish. He loves with such passion, it's exciting and scary. You both knew what you were getting into but you never knew you could feel such admiration for someone before. It's a first for you, you don't know how to handle such feelings that you always feel like such a burden to him. Every time the negative thoughts took over he was always there to clear them away. It only took one smile, one touch, one kiss to make it all clear again. But recently they've been coming more frequent and stronger then ever, you don't quite know what to do. Just tell him, it isn't that hard yet you stand here tears streaming steady, legs quivering, just complete fear taking over. What are you so afraid of? He'd reject you? You'd disappoint him? You'll stop loving him? That's silly isn't it. He says it all the time to you like it's nothing. His love a light in the darkest nights, his passion the flame that ignites your whole being. What if your love wont do the same for him? What if it isn't enough? Is that it? Is that what you're so afraid of? He would never dismiss you're feelings, right? His arms tightening around you, reminding you to breathe, your thoughts just taking complete control. Maybe you shouldn't tell him right now, it doesn't feel like the right time. But will the time ever feel right...

😳😧🥺😭

you’re a beautiful writer….I’m literally in awe. i’m in love with this…as long as there’s “…” at the end, i won’t think it’s finished 🥹 please continue sending me these, you make me tear up 😭

telling someone how you feel, that you love them, is such a scary feeling no matter who you’re telling it too (even if they clearly love you back) and you capture those emotions beautifully. please never stop writing…

2/3

part 1 part 3

#I’m going to link all these parts together so ppl can read them and enjoy 🥺#ughhhh I love Taz #and you’re AMAZING writing #Taz x reader #Taz Skylar x reader #asks #I’ll also link this on my master list

133 notes · View notes

bonus-links · 10 months

Note

"I'm Not Your Hero" by Tegan and Sara has been a botw Link song for me for a while now but I feel like it fits the way you write Slate especially well. Do you have any songs that make you think of any of the boys or music you listen to while you draw them?

oooo it definitely fits him!! thank you for the rec!

AND YOU’RE IN LUCK, I’ve got playlists I’ve been meaning to share!

Loft

Slate

SkSwd Zelda

BOTW Zelda

#I’ve thought way too hard abt these playlists #also there’s more but they’re for links we haven’t met here yet #let me know if ppl are interested lol #ask #bonus content

163 notes · View notes

essskel · 1 year

Text

I’ve said it before, but Triss Merigold and Dandelion are inversions of each other, not mirrors.

Triss is polite and genial but succumbs to her cowardice and selfishness, while Dandelion is abrasive, rude, self-obsessed, yet proves to be valiantly heroic and the strongest individual pillar of support that Geralt has.

Triss overlooks and devalues her love for Yennefer (and Ciri, and Geralt, and ect.) in a way that Dandelion is literally incapable of when it comes to his love and friendship with Geralt. This really matters narratively too, because once Triss commits to the lodge, Yennefer is left dangerously alone while Geralt gets his hansa.

If Yennefer had a Dandelion, maybe she wouldn’t have ended up in Stygga, maybe she could have spent the winter in Toussaint (or whatever Toussaint means to her), maybe, maybe, maybe. But she didn’t, she had a Triss.

It’s why the shared final shot in Lady of the Lake is so wild to me. Triss and Dandelion have completed their character arcs and are standing right there next to each other on the exact same beach. But only Triss is doomed and burdened by the guilt of this violence (Guilt that she can climb out of and grow from, sure, but it’s a grave she earned and dug herself, eyes wide open).

Meanwhile, Dandelion is free to move forward into the peace and comfort of mourning his friend. There is no blood on his hands.

It’s like this to me:

#triss merigold #bard dandelion #dandelion the witcher #jaskier #the witcher #the witcher books #the witcher meta #i’ve made this post before landhsus this is just a wordier version #I call these two my favorites all the time and I needed a clearer post to link when ppl ask me why #so here it is . it prob needs revision #double shot

497 notes · View notes

magicbats · 7 months

Text

for anyone interested, i just made a signal hill directory page 🌲📡

#ts2 #signal hill: extras #it's not super extensive or anything but it'll do for now #it's got links to the households and what not #this is also an open invitation for anyone to ask questions about the hood in general i'm always down to explain stuff if ppl are curious :#ik not everything can be explained thru the narration in my posts #especially since im going for a more narrative style rather than like.. functional gameplay explanations

96 notes · View notes

fuumiku · 5 days

Note

i love how you draw chilchuck with gray hairs<3

Ty <3 We have to take up Kui’s torch and carry on her legacy even as she and Trigger couldn’t keep it going for workload reasons…

#I do forget to color the gray hairs on occasion lol but also they’re vry important to me… I don’t want ppl to think it’s just a hc/#Something I came up with tho. Kui was the first gray hairs Chil truther!!#Ok now imagine him having some sideburns n facial hair and body hair with gray hairs parsed through them. U’re welcome #Chilchuck tims #Let’s take a sec to appreciate the Chil fits as well. Middle bottom be giving howl’s moving castle au…#Also Link from Zelda. Which funnily enough is another marchil au we’ve brainstormed before lol but that’s for another day #What if u had a lil green guy…… And he was just a guy but also a hero……. Toon Link has an attitude and it’s so funny to me anyways-#Ask #not art/not my art

27 notes · View notes

sea-buns · 15 days

Note

not really, but I suppose that’s just a difference of opinion. I do think that gorgug’s nightmare sequence was one of the weakest, especially with how it shifted topics (being dead, small spaces, not being able to escape a stereotype, because if any of these had been expanded on that would’ve been great), but I do think a lot of gorgug’s character revolves around feeling in-between, or too much one thing and not another and trying to close that gap. The best one for me was deffo the sphinx tho, I interpreted it as not *just* about him being dumb, but rather like. You’re big and dumb and strong and your main job is getting angry and hitting shit with an axe. You went to a community of gnomes and they gave you a better axe, and you loved it. You are uniquely dumb, unlike those who have come before you, because you cannot solve a specific kind of puzzle while a sphinx talks at you. You are the reason your parents cut contact, and from the beginning you were unsuited for their home. Your extended family predicted that you would grow to know only rage, and here you are, a barbarian. You, from this perspective, are not proving them wrong.

I do think that that whole sequence does reveal that he’s afraid of like. Being that stereotype? And then going yeah sure I’m stupid eat me, then moving forward and clawing your way into understanding anyways

Ahhh I see. Yeah I think I did misunderstand your first ask a bit lol

I did really love a lot of the topics his sequence brought up. Like I've read some incredibly well-written fanfics that covered the ways that claustrophobia, and imposter syndrome, and being dead have affected him. But like you said, if they had just honed in on at least one, rather than hopping back and forth, it could have done so much for that section. Cuz, personally, I don't feel like we saw Gorgug be significantly affected by any of those. At least not in a way that felt complete and satisfying.

I really like what you said about his character being "in-between". I totally agree. Kinda circles back to how his parents trying to help him calm his rage was actually stifling him.

Your family needs you to calm down; you've broken another bedchairdoorappliance. Your teacher wants you to rage; he says anger is good but you don't understand. You sing to try and calm yourself, you're always trying to be kind to others; they only use it to hurt you more and all you can do is get angry back. Your friends need you to rage. You don't have the power to protect them socially, but this you can do. You try not to rage outside of a fight, but.... they don't seem to be that bothered when you do. In fact, you watch them provoke physical confrontation when they're mad on many occasions.

(Oops dipped a biiiit into the pot of how important friendship is to his character. Did not mean to lol it's just one of my fav things about him so it's kinda subconscious I guess)

But yeah! He's also in such a limbo this season as well! You can't do this you're too angry, you're not smart enough for that, you don't rage right.

Also realllyy like your interpretation of his trial. The angle you described it at was really interesting.

I don't think stereotype is the right word, though. I would say... he's afraid of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy? I'm assuming based on your own "stereotype?" that you weren't sure about the word either.

I don't think Gorgug is, or would ever be, afraid of being a "stereotype". Like I don't think he gives a shit about the stereotype that orcs/half-orcs/barbarians only know anger and destruction. I think he's afraid of being a self-fulfilling prophecy of all the things people say that he is. Stupid, mindless, destructive, etc. To pull from what you said here (which it wont let me copy paste on mobile god fucking damnit)

"Your extended family predicted that you would grow to know only rage, and here you are, a barbarian. You, from this perspective, are not proving them wrong."

"Stereotype" for sure applies to his racist extended family. They fucking breathe stereotypes like oxygen. But the bit where his afraid of becoming what everyone says he is, I think "self-fulfilling prophecy" suits that much better. He believes he can be more than that, he knows he can, but it doesn't change the fact that they are technically right.

Okay and the giving in but then "clawing your way into understanding anyways" actually goes so hard lol. Anon, you are so right. From that pov, it's not so much a give up as it is an acknowledgment before he essentially puts the subject on ice.

Rings back a bit to the start of fhjy to me. That dread of seeing the email of school starting back up again, and the terrible sinking pit in your stomach of avoidance, because the time has come to really unpack all that. There was something specific Zac said in his little Gorgug recap before the season started that was about, like, the dread of having to figure out who the fuck you're gonna be when everyone around you seems to have their shit together. That. That hit hard lmao but the experience that he's covered is very true to Gorgug, I think.

I totally misunderstood your first ask! Though I'm happy you sent another cuz I understand a lot better, I think. And tbh I've never had the opportunity to discuss that section of fantasy high with anyone? I wasn't on tumblr or watching d20 when it first aired so I missed these specific topics. Always been v interested in what others thought of his part. Maybe I should put the vods on in the bg next time I'm play sdv. Give em a relisten. And man. The fact that I'm out here quoting your message brings me back to english class so hard. Shocked I don't hate it. Actually having a topic you give half a shit about does wonders huh lmao

Thanks for the ask! You have altered my perspective and I appreciate it. It's like how sometimes you gotta read something out loud to understand it. If all I have is the walls of my own skull, I can only get so far.

#i want ppl to send me more discussions this is fun #making me question my fucking future career choices lol #dimension 20 #d20 #fantasy high junior year #fhjy #fantasy high #fh #fantasy high sophomore year #fhsy #gorgug thistlespring #character analysis #asks #anon ask #btw yall can also dm me if you would like #i do like the public discussion but if you wanted more in depth back and forth dms are open #i did not proofread at all i have food to get so apologies lol #edited to add a read more link cuz long post

25 notes · View notes