#it could have been explored more

[m0dernchr0n1cles]

Ao Jia & Ao Yi being brothers II

Ao Yi: "大哥 dàgē, you're my older brother, and I love you, but don't ever take sides with anyone against the family again. Ever."

[sevastiel]

A Thousand Lifetimes

Drifter appreciation piece :3

[rhaenyras-alicent]

can't stop thinking abt the concept of arthur hearing about this 'emrys' throughout different occasions here and there in the beginning of s4, and at first not thinking much of it, then when the name keeps getting repeated from different villains/sorcerers he interacts with, it finally catches his attention and he becomes genuinely concerned. he makes it a bit of a personal mission to find out who he is, but it's all a very lowkey side plot that's not the main focus (think of the 'traitor' arc also in s4). of course he talks about it with merlin, but to avoid suspicion, merlin shuts him down every time and tries to make him think this mysterious sorcerer is nothing to worry about.

as more time goes on, and the more arthur learns about this powerful sorcerer always protecting him from harm, and as much as he hates to admit this to anyone, most of all himself, as he's only ever been taught to hate magic and anything to do with it- he starts realizing 'emrys' is less of this evil entity that he has to hunt down and kill, and more of a guardian angel that he has genuine interest now in getting to meet. which would also be interesting in terms of contradicting morgana's plot in the same season.

then, in the s4 finale, something that merlin does or says at the end makes him finally connect the dots. he says nothing. the season closes with him just.......... left with the unbearable conflict of it all. the feeling of absolute betrayal from his own friend- the closest person to him that he turned out to not really Know at all, the anger at being lied to and his own obliviousness, all with also the gratitude to this man who has been protecting him without asking for anything in return, the confusion of why he's doing any of it, and the question deep down whether he even deserves it. he is just. left with so many questions and contradicting feelings that he just... says nothing. and we are left with this as the cliffhanger for s4's ending.

[huginsmemory]

Like I get why human-Bill post canon redemption fics for Billford are common because it's fun to put Bill in that situation where he doesn't know whats going on and its a way to 'break' Bill into not being a huge asshole through learning empathy BUT I feel like also a big part of that is also people being COWARDS and not leaning into the monsterfuckery of Ford falling in love and getting it on freaky style with a triangle LIKE HE ALREADY DID.

[macdenlover]

we don’t acknowledge enough how dee used to be a pageant winner when she was a kid and how much damage it did to her. she worked her ass off and got recognition for being pretty and talented at a young age and it was the only source of self esteem she could garner in a family that constantly berated and talked down to her. she sought after that external approval because it was the only way she could prove everyone around her wrong. her dream of being a performer didn’t come from a self-aggrandizing delusion— she genuinely showed a lot of potential when she was younger. but she went through an unflattering puberty and her spinal condition got worse and that natural talent she had as a kid plateaued way too early. the “former gifted kid” dilemma. she slowly lost the thing that promised her that she was good, but she was so desperate to keep holding onto it that she tried anyway. again and again and again no matter how much people made fun of her because it was always about proving them wrong. but after a while she couldn’t jump anymore without anticipating the way it feels when she hits the ground face first. self-sabotage became her way out, choosing to rather live in the fantasy of her own unrealized potential and blaming those around her for her lack of success, than having tried and crashed again. she’d rather buy lottery tickets over and over and never scratch off the numbers than to see that she lost. that self-sabotaging behavior bled into other aspects of her life too, from friendships to relationships to therapy. her own short lived success is what made her grow into embodying the cycle of failure.

[fantasticgothicpeachsludge]

Sometimes I think about Cal being an explorer/archaeologist for the Order if it had never fallen and I cry

[fiona-fififi]

Not to be one of the people dooming, and honestly, I appreciate people's optimism about buddie, but I really do think they're just ship baiting at this point. All the "well, they set up so much and they're just going to take their time with it" doesn't work here. Because if our arguments were that they were introducing the concept for the general audience, then that doesn't matter anymore when we're several months out from s9. The general audience is not going to remember the buddie sideplots that happened at the halfway point of the previous season. Especially when Bobby dying is the big takeaway from this season. Without something concrete in this episode, there's no reason for them to go through with buddie anymore. It's going to be too far separated. And that's not even to mention that Tim is absolute shit at planning anything at all.

This episode was a reset. Nothing important happened. They "wrapped up" loose threads and put everyone back where they started the season. Only difference is no Bobby this time. This episode was just a repeat of 6x18.

That doesn't mean they can't do buddie next season. But they set it up in a way that actually would have worked this season, only to drop any possible threads in the finale. I don't think that bodes well. Because all that's likely to happen is the exact same thing again. They set things up in a way they could sell in the first half, Tim gets distracted, everything gets pushed back, and we end up right back here.

I don't think progress toward any story at all for any character is ever going to actually manifest with Tim at the helm of this show, to be honest.

[sysig]

Divided minds of the same thought (Patreon)

[vigilskept]

Throwing my hat into the elves and culture discussion, I think one of the things that I find most... upsetting is _what_ Bioware took from Judaism to make their elves. Which is to say, not a lot. What they took was Jewish history - ghettos, diaspora, and blood libel. The bad parts. Stuff about our oppression. Not stuff from Judaism as a religion or Jews as a culture. We don't get to see elves celebrate any cognates to Jewish holidays. There's no equivalent of kashrut or Yiddish or Ladino (despite that not making sense with the Dales being around for four centuries). The two most defining features of Dragon Age elves, the vallaslin and the Evanuris, directly contradict Jewish teachings. Jews started writing down our history and laws as soon as we lost our homeland and independence to Babylon, but it's written into the fabric of Dragon Age that the elves didn't, and their story is one of obtaining a lost past, not preserving a remembered one. It's even indicated that the city elves largely worship the Maker.

In thoughtful hands this could be a story about how Jews are seen as a religion when it's convenient to oppress us one way and a race when it's convenient to oppress us another, but it's not. Instead the impression I am left with is that in the mind of Dragon Age, Jews are defined solely by our oppression.

thank you for sharing!!!!

this came up earlier when an anon asked about making an elven oc from a (marginalised) cultural context they themselves aren’t from and i think it always comes down to a question of whether oppression and suffering are the only things you’re interested in or whether you care enough to learn about community, family and joy. and bioware seems to fail to clear this bar every time it comes to the elves.

i truly think some of the most incredible work in this fandom has come from fans putting those things back into the setting.

[quibbs126]

I feel like there’s this untapped potential with the TF One setup of seemingly all the miners being future Autobots outside of D-16, and so him having relationships/close connections with said future Autobots that in other continuities he never would have had

Like just to give an easy example, Jazz could have been a mutual friend of both Orion and D-16, whereas in other continuities the two would be complete strangers

Alright it doesn’t sound as exciting when I say it like that, probably because I’m explaining it in a not so interesting way, but there’s potential to be had here, you get what I’m saying?

[aerithisms]

zuko's redemption arc is very good, it is beloved for a reason, but it's also poisoned discussion on redemptions in fandom in such an annoying and exhausting way. people always talk about the idea of "deserving" when it comes to redemption and at least some of this feels like it stems from atla depicting zuko as having originally been a kindhearted child who got corrupted into bad behaviour by abuse. therefore he "deserved" to get redeemed because he was always a good person deep down.

there is obviously nothing wrong with this being the way zuko's character is written but because it's the most beloved redemption arc in all of fandom now everyone thinks every character with a redemption arc has to have secretly been a good person all along. as though arcs about characters seeking redemption aren't actually about exploring people changing, they're just about confirming their inherently good nature. i think this is a very shallow way to think about human beings and a very boring way to write fictional characters!!!

the question of whether it's a good idea to give a character a redemption arc shouldn't be about whether they "deserve" it. the whole point of redemption is that the character starts out a bad person at the beginning of the arc, and we explore what it takes for them to change. it's bizarre that so many people in fandom have taken the stance that people don't really change, they're either bad or they're not, and redemption arcs are only for exposing the goodness that was already inside people.

the question of whether it's a good idea to give a character a redemption arc should be about whether it's the most compelling direction for that character and whether it aligns with the themes of the story. that's all. it's not a question of morality as if the characters are real people, it's a question of what the story is about and is trying to communicate. sometimes this means it would be mean spirited and ill fitting with the themes not to give a character a redemption arc. sometimes it means a character who has yet to show any modicum of remorse or kindheartedness will receive a redemption arc, because the story is interested in how that person could possibly change. and sometimes it means a character who does show signs of goodness may never get to realise that, and will never change their ways. it depends what the story is trying to say and what makes for the most interesting and fitting character journey for that story. because the character is not real and is first and foremost a tool to communicate that story.

[steampunkhobo]

I’m sure I’m so late to this conversation but I’m so confused/curious about what intersex disorder Cardinal Benitez is supposed to have. Like- it’s implied if not outright stated that he presents externally as a “typical” male and doesn’t have ambiguous genitalia (that in combination with the idea that all that was requested by the papacy was a hysterectomy and not any kind of “sex reassignment” or genital alteration- which I highly doubt would have been accepted anyway- more likely anything more and he would have been defrocked, the church being how it is. Though also possible he has a microphallus or hypospadias which both could easily be overlooked at birth/in the seminary, as well as being common in cis men and therefore “acceptable”) and we know for certain that he has ovaries and a uterus- that much alone makes me think persistent Müllerian duct syndrome. But Benitez also says that his chromosomes would make some classify him as a woman, and individuals with PMDS have XY chromosomes. But it also can’t be de la Chapelle syndrome or Klinefelter syndrome, giving him a mostly “typical” male body (potentially smaller build, less hair, genital variations like a microphallus or Hypospadias) but XX or XXY chromosomes, because a uterus and ovaries aren’t present in those conditions. Ovarian tissue can be present, but not a fully developed set. (Amendment: there are, though rarer, cases of a developed uterus and ovaries in de la Chapelle syndrome. There’s very limited data about this specific variation, and things will vary from person to person, but it’s usually caused by congenital adrenal hyperplasia, which causes significant health issues. If Benítez has de la Chapelle syndrome, it would most likely be due to CAH, and he’d be quite unwell without treatment. Though again, it’s under-researched and reported, especially variations that don’t cause major health issues. Much rarer and more complex, but certainly possible that this is his situation- potentially from exposure to certain hormones in utero. It’s complicated. Thanks to everybody that helped me explore this subject/syndrome further!) Because the uterus and ovaries have been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to exist, I’m assuming the mention of chromosomes was a mistake/misunderstanding and Benitez is supposed to have PMDS, but that condition is pretty damn rare- not that this writes it off, but it’s something to consider. Still, unless I’m overlooking something that seems to be the best fit?

It’s probably just details being muddled by the writers, but I think it’s interesting. And the ambiguity is kind of nice, because people can tailor their headcanons how they see fit. Lots of potential for representation in this one character. (No matter what body your Cardinal Benitez has I love him. Forehead kisses muah muah)

[askgardenerwoods]

hi Emma! Who do you consider your friends do you have a crush on anybody?

" For crushes... "

[burdenless-atlas]

me and @wheatwallet read the corruption of hollis brown and have not stopped talking about it for a month. here’s a selection of our conversations

(they have a common theme)

[imaginealpha]

Just want to say I <3 the headcanons the deltarune fandom is putting out.

- transfem noelle: sweet, shy, bottling up intense feelings/frustrations, struggling with the sidelining and control and lack of understanding from people around her, agreeing to what others decide for her because she has been pushed to have less confidence in herself

- transfem/transmasc berdly (I like both interpretations): struggling with feeling inferior/having to go above and beyond to feel recognized, having accepting friends helps him find or come to terms with a more comfortable/happy version of himself, isolation that leads him to funnel his passion into private hobbies/skills (like gaming & puzzles - regardless of his skill it's easy to do when you're alone at home), standing atop a pedestal that feels too easy to slip off of, craving connection, putting up a front out of fear that people will dislike a more authentic version of him

- transfem ralsei: feeling the pressure of a prescribed societal role she must fulfill ("prince" of the prophecy), unable to conceptualize having wants or needs due to constantly prioritizing others, pushes away any concern or attention, silly & inquisitive, having accepting friends makes her realize she doesn't have to do everything an absolute authority (the prophecy) tells her to do

There are many more I haven't seen or don't have time rn to talk about but generally I think deltarune tumblr is doing GREAT and I love it here

[xx-knife-xx]

AUs where Jason didn't die (but DID stay Robin) are a really interesting concept to me.

Mainly because Jason's death changed Bruce and affected how Bruce treated people a lot. I would love to see people's takes on a Bruce who didn't loose Jason and his relationships with other batfam members. But ALSO because what would Jason's life been like? God...