#sasha answers

[supercantaloupe]

What is the antisemitism in TUC season 1? Does it have to do with Wally the golem?/gen

[ID: an ask from an anonymous tumblr user that reads "would love to hear more about the antisemitism in unsleeping city! was a while ago that i watched it and can't remember what you might be referencing but definitely want to be aware of it.]

no, it's not about willy the golem -- i actually think willy is a great addition to the season (even if i wish we got to see more of him), and an indication to me that brennan/the showrunners were definitely trying to be sincere and inclusive. i want to make it clear that i don't think anything antisemitic in tuc is there intentionally; i think it's there out of simple ignorance, which is also why i think fans don't frequently see/comment on it either. but i don't think that's an excuse, either.

my grief with tuc1 is largely centered around its portrayal of robert moses as the villain. especially by making him a greedy, power-hungry lich working en league with bloodsucking vampires. (also his mini is literally a green skinned skull man in a suit. yikes.) here's the thing; i know robert moses was a real life horrible person, who actually was racist and powerhungry etc etc. and i know that robert moses, the real actual person, was jewish. my grief with tuc1 is not that they chose to use robert moses over literally any other person (real or fictional) to be their season villain (though i'd be really curious to know what tuc1 would have looked like with a different villain), but that they chose to take a real jewish person, turn them into an antisemitic caricature, and then only barely add other portrayals of judaism to balance that out.

like, tuc isn't completely devoid of other jewish representation. as you mention, there's willy the golem -- and again, i really like willy, and i love that it's a portrayal of a golem that's faithful to jewish folklore (ie as a benevolent, guardian construct rather than a mindless destructive monster. i am not a fan of how 'golem' is so frequently misused as a generic enemy creature in other fantasy and ttrpg spaces, including other seasons of d20). but as i said earlier, i wish we see more of him in the season, because he's not around very much, and feels a little more like worldbuilding than a full character to me. also, he's not human. jews are people.

the only other human jewish character in tuc1 is...stephen sondheim. which, again, yeah, that's a real person who really was jewish. but i really wouldn't blame you if you had no idea of that when watching tuc1. maybe from the name you could guess he might be jewish, but i don't think people ought to make a habit of trying to 'clock' someone being jewish by having a 'jewish-sounding' surname. as he's portrayed in tuc1, you'd never know he's jewish, unless you happen to already be pretty knowledgeable about the man in real life. it's far more likely you'll know him as a theater legend than anything else (may his memory be a blessing).

now i'm not saying that brennan or the showrunners should have played up the jewishness of Real Person Stephen Sondheim to counterbalance the depiction of robert moses; that just feels weird to me, especially considering that sondheim was literally alive when tuc1 was filmed and released. it's a tricky thing to portray real people in fiction alongside made up characters, especially when they are contemporaries, and i don't think 'outright caricature' is the way to go about that. nor do i think that moses' jewishness should have been played up at all, because again i don't think that would have been particularly true to the person/character, and also Fucking Yikes. but, c'mon, if you hear the names 'moses' and 'sondheim' next to each other, which one do you associate more with judaism?

and as it stands, these are the only representations of judaism in tuc1. one admittedly nice but very minor nonhuman character; one human character you'd never be able to tell was jewish; and a third human character who, while never explicitly referenced as jewish, plays into some really hurtful antisemitic stereotyping. and it was a choice to not include anything else. maybe not a deliberate one, probably more likely one made out of simple ignorance than anything else, but a choice nonetheless. in a city with one of the largest and most visibly jewish populations in the country, and a culture that is inextricably influenced by that jewish population. a jewish population which has been and continues the target of rising hate crimes for years. i know that nyc means different things to different people, and everyone's nyc is their own -- but my nyc is jewish, and it sucks that that its jewishness is referenced directly in only one very minor way, which is greatly overshadowed by its, in my view, really insidious indirect references.

i don't know exactly how to go about addressing this. obviously, the show can't be changed by now. even if it could, i think the final product would be very significantly different from what it is now if the villain was something/someone else. i think including more references to jews in new york, more (human) jewish characters, hell, even mentioning hanukkah celebrations and menorahs in windows (it takes place in late december, after all; depending on the year it's not at all out of place for hanukkah to coincide with xmas!) would help. having literally any more positive jewish representation in tuc1 would, i think, help balance the bad stuff that's there. because, yeah, robert moses was real and he was terrible and he was jewish. but he's one jewish guy in a city with over a million jews, the vast majority of whom are just normal people. i don't want him to be the only vision of us that people get, in tuc1 alone or in any media. i'm not saying that jews can't or shouldn't be villains in fiction; but especially if you are a goyische creator, you should be really careful in how you're portraying us, and if there are other contrasting depictions in your work, too, in order to not (even accidentally) demonize jewish people as a whole.

#sasha answers #anon #unsleeping city #the unsleeping city #long post #sorry for not putting this under a read more but i think people ought to see this. or at least #if two people felt the need to ask me about it then at least they would want to see the full thing uncovered #also fwiw i do think that they tried to address this to some extent when they made tuc2 #with more scenes with willy (and incorporating more golem folklore with the animating word in his mouth -- nice touch!) #the jewish immigrant family in the photo flashback encounter (even if the hanukkiah in the picture isn't exactly kosher lol) #and ESPECIALLY rabbi mike. i ADORE rabbi mike. i think he's a WONDERFUL addition #i do still wish he was a more important/prominent character. cause again he isn't in it all that much. #(and he's still like. the only new jewish human character in the campaign.) #but i recognize what he represents and i am happy about it #i do think brennan & the d20 crew tried to improve after tuc1. i do. i see their efforts and i applaud them for it #but still to my knowledge they haven't ever directly addressed the errors made in season 1 #and it's extremely rare that i even see other fans mention it #and like. sorry but i am tired. i am. we deserve better. we deserve portrayals in media that show us as People #not just as evil monsters #anyway you're welcome to rb this but be cool in the notes esp if you're a goy #other jews are welcome to (respectfully) disagree with me if they want #also if you so much as mention the word israel on this post you're getting blocked end of

[writingway-in-writinghell]

Look, nothing will ever convince me that Baz and West Ham fan are not starcrossed lovers.

Yeah, you’re very much not alone with that opinion based on what I’ve seen in the tags!

Baz and his West Ham buddy/probably-lover were presented as mirrors to Colin’s arc, else the inclusion of that guy wouldn’t make much sense from a narrative point of view. I’d doubt it more if we hadn’t already seen that TL’s writers aren’t fully committed to at least some queer storylines, but there’s no reason for that anymore now after Keeley and the Amsterdam episode.

Those floodgates are wiiiide open.

#ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers #sasha answers

[pikatik]

a humble suggestion: show omens, crowley stretching and purring like a kitty while aziraphale gives him head and/or belly scritches🥹 both looking very content and comfy🥰

PS your art is absolutely amazing, thank you for sharing it with us!!!♥️♥️

And what if Crowley was a cat :D

Forgive me for I do not know how to draw cats

#Good Omens #good omens fanart #ineffable husbands #aziracrow #Aziraphale #Crowley #sasha answers stuff #art requests

[blimbo-buddy]

Which two warrior cats immediately come to mind when you see this

#blimmy art #I feel like somebody has done this before #anyways my answers are hattie+smudge and sasha+darkstripe

[occudo]

buzzfeed unsolved Ghost hunt UK assistants

#If you write a question for them in the tags they can answer it in post-mortem style #Magnus pod au #archivist!Georgie #tim stoker #sasha james #martin blackwood #buzzfeed unsolved refernce #tma fanart #occudo's art

[agent-aquato-and-co]

How are the Superstar Agents (Sasha, Milla, Oleander) doing? Are they retired, or still in the field? - think-fast-psychonaut

It’s well-known fact around the Motherlobe that if Sasha stops wearing a turtleneck, he will die.

#psychonauts #asked and answered! #razputin aquato #lili zanotto #milla vodello #coach oleander #sasha nein #eyestrain cw #agent aquato and co au

[sarcasticscribbles]

(Answer to @sieveyourtea The ask broke again) Watch me make a fankid in our godforsaken year of 2024

Her name is Daniella "Dani" James (named after her late uncle), Tim will take Sasha's last name too, and they are a happy family after somehow surviving the Institute and all of uncle Jon's bs She looks just like Sasha growing up, and Tim is your typical Girl Dad (tm)

#i didn't mean to wait a week to answer this is just needed to add sketches for them #timsasha #mag #the magnus archives #tim stoker #well tim james ig #sasha james #dani

[popfizzles]

i didnt even know you HAD sonic ocs, i'd love to hear about them! i saw splatters in your sonic oc tag, do you have any others?

Splatters was actually sold as an adoptable and they belong to someone else now <:)

BUT I do have a small bit of old art of Sasha and her chao, Calzone:

She was of course, my first ever sonic oc. :) Started her life as a Sonic recolor, went through some awkward redesigning and attempt at finding some other story placement for her, and then wrapped right back around to being a parallel to Sonic. But this time, it's on purpose!

I like to consider her the youngest of her friends, but the most energetic and extroverted! She's extremely caring, with a gentle hand (to a fault at times).

I also have some old concept art of Taiga Ounce (which I think was made some time in 2019, I might tweak her outfit or design soon);

Taiga is a gentle giant type! Very strong, but a little timid. Wouldn't hurt a fly, even if you asked her to. She depends on Sasha to initiate any sort of adventure or outing. I really enjoyed the large build Boom Knuckles had, which inspired Taiga's design slightly!

You can sorta tell I'm a defender of "sonic characters don't have to wear clothes if they do not want to. sally acorn had it right" sjkfhgjkfd

i also had an idea for a little sugar glider, mean-girl-turned-friend type, but I never got too far into a design I liked. I do have this doodle though :)

They make a trio! Like Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails. :)

I might set aside some time today to try and redraw them and tweak their designs!!

#Sonic #Sonic the Hedgehog #STH #STH oc #Sonic oc #STH Sasha the Hedgehog #STH Calzone #STH Taiga Ounce #fizzles draws #fizzles answers #anon #anonymous

[inexplicifics]

The ask about what bird Aidan would be, we'll, just like flowers, birds have symbolism and I think Sasha would know that. He tells Aidan he would be a Grackle, and when Aidan asks why, Sasha just shakes his head and won't answer. So next time Aidan goes on patrol, he tracks down a bird symbolism book and when he gets back, swoops Sasha in his arms and says, "you are my pure joy too".

...Okay this one wins. Yes. Sasha is exactly that sort of romantic. And grackles are pretty and apparently gregarious and talkative, so they fit Aiden quite well, really!

#questions answered #accidental warlord au #aiden/sasha

[cult-of-the-eye]

have any really specific tma hcs you never shared?

Ooh let me think

I like to think Martin has a big extended family that live in a different country, I headcanon him as mixed polish and something else (maybe desi? Maybe white? Either way I love it)

I'm such a lonely person in a huge extended family x lonely person in tiny family shipper and I think that applies to jmart

Jon was absolutely a gifted kid I think

I think both Jon and Martin were let down by the education system in different ways, Martin because of his family circumstances and Jon because of his undiagnosed autism and gifted kid syndrome

I think Jon forgets to vote sometimes

Martin has worn the same outfit every single day to work before and felt weirdly soothed when Jon picked him up on it

Tim likes to tease Sasha by saying he doesn't believe in the moon

Jon is extremely gullible and will listen to pretty much anything you say if you say it in a certain way

(it's partly the autism and partly the fact that he's too exhausted to look any deeper into what people are saying to him)

(it's led to many shenanigans)

Martin has killed every plant he's ever owned

Sasha's favourite ice cream is double chocolate

Jon has always had imposter syndrome when it comes to his heritage and finds it hard to properly fit in but this cracks after he finds jurgen leitner and he just goes "...this is what happens when you work for an old white man...fucking white people"

Jon had read fanfic before

Martin has written fanfic before

The person Jon takes after most in terms of personality is his grandad

Basira is Bangladeshi and one time she just goes "ooff-o-re" and Jon immediately looks up and nods at her

(it's an exclamation of frustration)

Thanks for the ask!! I love a good excuse to think of headcanons

#i think basira and her relationship with her religion should be explored more #answered asks #tma headcanons #tma #the magnus archives #jonathan sims #martin k blackwood #jmart #tim stoker #sasha james #basira hussain

[supercantaloupe]

here’s a gift for u

🎁

thank you

#i wonder what's inside #bigfuckingfrog #sasha answers

[writingway-in-writinghell]

Honestly, I am more invested in Baz from the pub and his possible West Ham supporting boyfriend than I have ever or will ever be in either Colin or Trent and their existing or potential relationships.

That’s valid! Me, I love Trent and what they’re doing with him; we don’t get to see that many elder queers and I am delighted he’s written and played quite well so far. I am equally delighted though that us queer fans saw the scene with Baz and immediately connected the dots. 😆

I mean. What possible reason could there be for a West Ham fan of all people to enter the wolf’s den, right? I hope we get to see more of him and Baz soon!

#ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers #anti colin hughes #anti trent crimm #tagging to be safe! anon’s opinion is completely valid of course #sasha answers

[pikatik]

Art suggestion of Crowley with a pokemon you think he'd like? :-)

Maybe some cute grass type Pokemon, like Turtwig :D

#I was too tired to colour it properly sorry #good omens #good omens fanart #book omens #pokemon #Crowley #Sasha answers stuff

[blimbo-buddy]

I know the answer is obvious but hey maybe it isn't: What's a warrior cats character that makes you NOT trust the people who hate them

#blimbo rambles #I have lots of answers but the first one that came to mind is Sasha #the reasoning for hating her is so bullshit too

[edgecallskating]

I'm feeling vintage, so I'm going waaaaaaay back to a time when spiral sequences were a required element in the SP. Few skaters mastered the spiral sequence like Sasha Cohen, so let's take a look at the sequence from her 2005-06 Dark Eyes short program.

First, I-spiral (which Sasha popularized!) into a fan. No struggle for the I position and superb balance into the fan position.

The sign of a great fan spiral position isn't just the height of the free leg but minimal bend in the working leg. Bending the working knee can help cheat the position by offsetting a lack of strength or flexibility. Note the minimal knee bend here! Then the spirals dreams are made of: a nearly 180 degree arabesque held over a change of edge. I love how she tugs it just a little bit higher to get the full extension and the point in the toes is *chef kiss*.

And finally, just because she can, a Beillmann position to round out the ice-spanning set:

Spiral sequences are a hallmark of early IJS programs. When I watch them now they feel like an attempt to reconcile some of the showiness of 6.0 skating with the bullet points of IJS. Not every skater survived the transition. For every sublime Sasha Cohen moment there were a dozen skaters with limp Kerrigan spirals and dodgy catch-foots.

The spiral sequence was replaced with the choreographic sequence as of the 2012-13 season, a nod to changing tastes and shifting technical priorities. Few skaters now could hit a 180 arabesque, which is why I get so excited when I see a classic, well-supported spiral in the competitive wild.

#sasha cohen #figure skating #spirals #gifset #yes I AM a figure skating elder #hit me with your pre-IJS questions and I will answer with the voice of the ancients #wizened from the blowback of seeing cringe early-00s ice dance in real time

[fox-guardian]

I am asking about the stoker swap au

In short, it's an AU in which Danny survives his encounter with The Stranger and goes to work at the institute instead of Tim! Tim is still alive, Danny has NO formal qualifications to be working at the institute, and Tim is So Stressed because he lied on his applications. Danny takes on Tim's role in the institute, while Tim gets increasingly worried for his safety <3 That part does not get easier when he actually moves down to the archives <3

and now because i was thinkin real hard about it and got bored of just typing roughly the same synopsis over and over again, HAVE SOME DOODLES TOO <3 three things i've already written and one i Really Want To Write So Badly But It's So Far Away <3

[ID: Four drawings on a soft lavender background featuring Magnus Archives characters. The first is a drawing of Danny Stoker after falling down a ladder leading up to an attic. He is dressed in academic clothing and is on his back, with his lower body still partially on the ladder. One foot is on a rung and the other is sticking out in the air. He looks to be in pain and he has swirls for eyes and little bees are flying around his head. Next to him are Jon, also dressed academically and holding Danny's coat, and an old woman wearing a black dress and a shawl. She looks at Danny with concern and Jon is startled by Danny's fall, visibly jolted.

The second drawing shows Danny and Sasha, both dressed academically, sitting at her desk looking at a computer screen. Danny is slouching with a horrified expression, while Sasha smiles, looking chipper. The computer is labelled "the horrors".

The third drawing shows Danny and Elias sitting across from each other at Elias' desk. They are both wearing black suits with ties and both have slicked back hair. Elias is smiling politely at Danny with his hands folded on the table, and Danny is smiling confidently back at him with his hands folded in his lap. Over the drawing is multiple faded drawings of Danny in different forms of panic. One has him sweating and screaming "I'm Doomed" with his hands in his hair, another has him looking oddly calm and posed like a corpse with a bouquet of flowers over his chest saying "This is the day I die", and the last one has him bent in half, laying face down in a puddle of tears, clawing at the floor, with his feet out in front on either side of him. "Crying noises" is written above him.

The last drawing is of Tim and Elias. Tim is gripping Elias by the lapels, yelling in his face with a furious and challenging expression, while Elias is sweating nervously and holding his hands up defensively, looking confused and afraid. His glasses are broken and bent and one of his eyes is swollen half-shut. end ID]

~~~~

the first two drawings are from danny's first field work outings with jon and sasha respectively, the third is from his first interview with elias, and the last is a scene i haven't written yet that takes place directly after the prentiss incident, in which tim confronts elias for putting his employees (read: danny) in danger and then punching him in the face <3

i really wanted to draw tim super mad because i never draw those kinds of expressions and i think he deserves to punch elias in the face <3 i don't think he'd be Quite like that in the written scene itself but it was v fun to draw

#fg's art #the magnus archives #tma #danny stoker #jonathan sims #sasha james #tim stoker #elias bouchard #stoker swap au #fg's answers #asks #danny Looks incompetent in that first image but i promise he's not <3 he's just mildly carbon monoxide poisoned and got a head rush <3 #also im REALLY happy with the danny in the third image LOOK AT HIM