#I’m trying to judge it purely by fanfiction standards

[lorei-writes]

Fandom Spaces Online & Minors

This is one of those posts that are hard to type due to the complexity of the issue. Some may say it’s been long overdue, some that there isn’t even a reason for me to type it out — and honestly, I am not sure whether either of those approaches is “righter” than the other one.

Regardless, this post is more so addressed to minors who may follow me.

(Summary at the bottom).

So, where to begin? Maybe at the very core, which for today is adult content in fiction, or to be more precise — so-called “smut”. As you might have seen, I did write some pieces which fall into this category, although it’s by far not the dominant type of content on my blog. 

I have never spoken before about this issue, because I considered it pretty self-explanatory. This is not brought forward by anything in particular either. However, today I thought that perhaps a couple words would not hurt.

Adult content is by far not the main focus of my blog, and as with anything which may be potentially triggering or otherwise inappropriate for viewers of a certain age, I do try my best to mark it accordingly. Works which do fall into this category, when listed on my masterlist, are described as either “smut” or NSFW even before you click into them. As for any trigger I mention, I do work under the assumption that you do know whether it is appropriate for you to read something — and whether it isn’t. 

You must be aware that any NSFW fiction you might have read online is only the fantasy of the author. No matter how close to reality they try to stay, it’s just the fantasy. Humans are sets of immense amount of variables and what may be true for one person may not even be a thing for another one. I do know that sexual education isn’t really available in plenty countries. I do know curiosity is spiking during puberty and such — and I would be damned if I stuck to saying “no” without saying “why”.

You see, as I’ve said, NSFW works are fantasies of the authors. They do not have to be correct in details, they don’t have to display “standard situations” (whatever those could be), they do not have to meet any sort of criteria… And honestly, plenty of times, they do include harmful beliefs, stereotypes, misinformation, simplifications, or work under some (unrealistic) assumptions to make something work in a given setting. Now, this isn’t a major issue for adult viewers — more often than not, they do possess some sort of experience which can act as a filter. Adults are usually capable of distinguishing between purely unrealistic elements, plenty can see hurtful messages, they aren’t influenced by those too much.

Minors, on the other hand? You lack this sort of experience. Those are things you may be learning later on in your life. Now, it isn’t to say that what you would read would with 100% certainty become a standard for you — but the chances of that happening aren’t zero either. The thing is, reading NSFW works may not hurt you instantly. It is only that you may learn some hurtful things from them, which you will later have to unlearn. They may set unrealistic standards for you, they may give you a wrong idea about something. Acting based on those later on in life may lead to disappointments or, in worse cases, to being hurt. In other words: you lack tools to navigate through nuances of this sort of fiction. This is fine. It isn’t meant for you. You have time to grow and shouldn’t rush it.

Now, to give a SFW example. Let’s say, character A passionately kissing sleeping character B on the lips. First issue is consent. A sleeping person cannot give consent to anything, much less to a passionate kiss — and I think we all can agree on that. But here start the problems. What we can read is still only the fantasy of the author. What are the standards for the relationship described in the story, what are the standards of the author, why they wrote it this way in the first place — it’s all very individualistic and we do not have access to that information. Then, there is a narration. The words we choose make a world of difference. The action above can be presented in both negative and positive way.

Let’s say person B isn’t consenting to being kissed like so. We will most likely be able to say it’s wrong and shouldn’t be allowed — at least if we were introduced to what consent is and why it matters. Being accustomed to the concept of consent before reading the scene is what provides us with the framework to judge whether it’s okay or not to do something. Imagine if the concept at play was something foreign to you, and even though it made you feel uncomfortable, it was presented as something completely normal and positive. It can be confusing, right?

And with NSFW things? You will most likely lack this sort of framework — maybe (hopefully) not necessarily in terms of consent itself, but factual things, expectations, risks certain actions may carry, preferences. If you are curious, do look for educational content. I know there is plenty of it online — and that was in my native language alone, not to mention English. Give yourself time to grow and never let fanfiction serve as the lone source of information for you on that matter. Check whether the information is cited in other places too. My intention isn’t to shame you, but to remind you that fanfiction isn’t an educational resource. It’s okay to be curious. It’s only that curiosity should be satiated with appropriate measures — the same way most people would pick water over alcohol to quench their thirst, even though technically both are liquid.

Lastly, I would like to state that I will not chase after you. I do believe you are responsible enough not to interact with content which isn’t meant for you. This isn’t an open invitation to read it, no. This also isn’t an invitation to prove to me that you are of appropriate age — I have honestly no way of verifying the truthfulness of such a statement, and I’m glad I don’t. (Not for accountability reasons, but because I think it would step too deep into a person’s privacy). I am aware of the fact that this may be wishful thinking. However, I also know I have only limited control over the situation — after all, I am sure there are people who read my work and otherwise leave nothing behind, either here or on Ao3.

Summary:

You shouldn’t read NSFW fiction not because you are a minor, but because (as a minor) you lack the framework to navigate through it — you are unlikely to be able to spot inaccuracies depicted in it, misinformation, stereotypes, and otherwise hurtful messages. This may affect the expectations and standards you have later on in life — it could lead to disappointment and, in worse cases, being hurt.

This isn’t about intelligence. You will simply lack the necessary experience. This is fine. Give yourself time to grow and learn.

NSFW fiction is just fantasy of the author and may have very little to do with the reality.

NSFW works should never, never, never replace proper age-appropriate sex-education. Even if an author tries to stay true to the reality, it is still just their fantasy and inaccuracies may occur. Authors are not educators. 

Puberty does spike up the curiosity in regard to sex. Especially if you did not have any sort of sexual education — do not replace it with fanfiction. Do look for resources online. Do make sure to check whether the source is credible, or whether the information is cited in other places too. It is okay to be curious, but again, fanfiction isn’t an educational resource. 

It isn’t humanly possible for authors to check every single person interacting with their work and to verify whether they’re a minor with 100% accuracy. Tags and warnings do exist for a reason. You must take responsibility for your experience online and, the same way you wouldn’t interact with triggering content, you shouldn’t interact with things which are potentially harmful to you.

[toaarcan]

Scourge the Hedgehog: The Bad Fanfic Apotheosis

Y’all are gonna hate me for this one.

This is something of a followup to my previous post, Fiona Fox: Depth vs. Prominence, and inspired directly by the discussion I had with a friend in the comments section of the DA upload of it.

Part 1: Fanfic vs. Canon- Genesis of the Recolour Elements of the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comic have long been compared to a bad fanfiction, particularly the parts of the story written by Ken Penders, though other writers like Bollers, Chacon, and Flynn have drawn that label too. I'm one of the people that's done it, and that's largely because I hold fanfic and official material to very different standards. There are certain things you can do in fanfic that you can't do in official material, especially with franchises like Sonic, and especially with more niche parts of said franchise, like a comic series. Of course, there are also certain things you can do in both, but you probably shouldn't. And Scourge is one of them. What exactly the process behind Scourge's creation was is something that's been debated. For a lot of people, he's considered to be a parody of the then-rampant "Sonic Recolour" fad, wherein fans would take screenshots of Sonic X, and other official artwork, and then edit it in Microsoft Paint, or another similar program, to create their own characters and stories. Now, this was long decried by other fans, myself included, as incredibly lacking in creativity and originality. It also had an "Ew, cringe" reaction, due to the often-shoddy editing, text-to-speech voices, and usually some top-tier mid-2000s Nu Metal for the music. These days, it's much easier to look back and say "These were mostly made by kids who were just having fun, and it's completely harmless", and it becomes apparent that a lot of the people that were making fun of them and criticising them were grown men, at which point you kinda realise that this "internet fad" was basically just bullying a bunch of children for not being up to the creative standards of some adults. Everybody was looking for the next Chris-Chan, but Chris-Chan is a near-unique entity, as only one other person alive has ever managed to combine that sheer void of talent with a monumentally repulsive personality, and that person is Ken Penders. But Sonichu is the least interesting thing about Chris, and Chris became the laughingstock that he is because of his inability to avoid posting his entire life on the Internet, which was something of a rarity in those halcyon days before the rise of modern social media. Sonichu was a gateway to the actually interesting content also on his channels, whereas these recolour-creators didn't have anything like that, just endless Windows Movie Maker slideshows. And, like, Chris was in his 20s when he became the Internet's punching bag for the first time, and while he's a horrible person, so were the people that dedicated their time and effort to trolling him- His story is fascinating, but it has no heroes. And into this collective cocktail of grown men shitting on preteens, so Ian Flynn introduced Scourge the Hedgehog. Is Scourge a parody of Sonic recolours? I sincerely hope not. The reason for that is twofold, and I'll discuss how his portrayal generally doesn't seem to be mocking those tropes further down the page, but the second issue with the idea that he is a parody is best explained by Sir Terry.

Parody can never punch down, and as a then-24 year old man writing official canon for a franchise, mocking a bunch of 10 year olds on the Internet for making bad stories would definitely be punching down. And, as I said, nothing about the way Scourge is written is in any way poking fun at the tropes of these fancharacters and stories. It's pretty much all played completely straight. So not only do I hope Ian wasn't trying to mock these fancharacters, but there's also little reason to believe that he actually was.   He's not a parody, he is a send-up. And on the one hand, it's kinda nice to throw a bone to those kids. But on the other hand... is Scourge really the character you want to represent your part of the fandom in official material? A cruel, violent, abusive, vicious monster that spends his time palling around with a girlfriend that the writer reforged to be the most unlikable character in the entire comic? Yeah, can't say that's what I'd want if I were one of those people, but he seems to be popular enough, so maybe I'm in the minority there. But now we get to the meat of the problem. You see, the way Scourge is written is one of those things that you can do in fanfic, but you shouldn't do in canon. Part 2: What is a Mary-Sue? The term "Mary-Sue" gets thrown around a lot these days. It's gradually lost all meaning, and has slowly become a term for "Female character that I don't like," mainly used by whiny, easily-offended Broflake Youtubers, who get all pissy that Star Wars films aren't specifically catering to them, to the point that you only have to make a girl be good at something in a movie and these pissbabies lose their shit. I liked Episode VII and VIII more than I, II, or VI, get fucked. But what, then, is a Mary-Sue? And why is it relevant to Scourge? The answer to that first question is a lot more complicated than it might seem. Not just because there are now several different varieties of the trope, but also because the trope itself evolved as it began to be applied to non-fanworks, and additionally because the name itself is somewhat non-indicative. A male Mary-Sue can exist, though these are normally referred to as "Marty-Stue" or "Gary-Stue", or more cynically "The Protagonist". Check out the average Batman comic these days and you'll see what I mean. Originally, the term applied only to a self-insert character in a fanfic, that was an overly-idealised version of the author, dramatically overpowered, hugely popular, normally dating whichever member of the cast the author wanted to bone, or sometimes multiple partners at the same time, along with a few other traits. It's actually pre-Internet term, originating in a Star Trek fanzine when "Mary-Sue" was created as a parody of other fans' similar characters. Over time, the trope evolved to the point that, while the "author avatar" feature is still a pretty big indicator, it's not really necessary. So while there are probably plenty of people out there who want to be Batman, not every character that is a Mary-Sue is someone for the author to project themselves onto, and not every author avatar is a Mary-Sue. Generally, the important features of a Mary-Sue are now: 1) Receives a great deal of favouritism from the author 2) More powerful than the rest of the cast, often to the point of absurdity 3) Faces zero consequences for their actions. 4) Liked by characters that have no reason to do so 5) In a relationship with a character that has no reason to date them, previous relationships be damned. 6) Most importantly, the story will bend over backwards to give them easy wins, even in situations where they logically should struggle. You're probably starting to get where I'm going with this, and if you're not... Part 3: Creator's Pet Scourge is a Creator's Pet. He gets shown a fair bit of favouritism from Ian Flynn, primarily the guise of how much focus he gets. Scourge is the most prolific villain in Ian's run, aside from Eggman himself. While other, better villains like Mogul and Naugus were being imprisoned repeatedly until one retired and the other became a dog, and a huge chunk of the comic's remaining antagonists were being subsumed into the Eggman Empire, Scourge was only moving up, not only being the villain of Ian's first two issues on the book, but continuing to make sporadic appearances for the next twenty issues, before appearing as the new leader of the Destructix under Finitevus in the Enerjak Reborn arc, followed swiftly by a stint as the Big Bad in Bold New Moebius. Does he actually deserve this level of importance? You be the judge, but personally, I don't think so. Even within those stories, Scourge gets special treatment, the biggest and most obvious being Metal Scourge. Now, personally, I think Metal Scourge was a better character than Scourge himself, but the fact that, of all people, Scourge got a Metal counterpart before anyone else, including Knuckles, who had such a counterpart in the games for over a decade by that point.  Especially since, well... Metal and Mettle is a fun story, but it doesn't really do anything for Bold New Moebius as a whole, does it? It's basically pure filler, only really serving to add another dead Metal Sonic to Ian's list and stall the plot out for a bit longer. And, of course, the most clear indicator of Scourge's favouritism is that he was he first Archie character to receive his own Sonic Universe arc, and the only one to do so without needing two or three SEGA characters also making up the rest of the lead cast. "Lockdown" isn't a particularly good story, but its existence speaks to not just the insane popularity that such an unworthy character received, but also Archie's willingness to indulge that. Sonic Universe was largely intended to tell stories revolving around the members of the SEGA cast that, for whatever reason, weren't able to regularly appear in the main book. This... frequently got broken, with Sonic, Tails, Sally, Bunnie, Antoine, and Amy all taking centre-stage in the book before obvious candidates like the Chaotix got a look in, some of them twice over, but Scourge was the only time they were willing to try a story based entirely around one of their characters, and they gave it to the already extremely prominent Scourge. It's pretty clear that Ian loved using this character, and did so as much as possible. YMMV on whether that's good or not. Part 4: Scourge OP plz nerf Let's be real, he's overpowered as fuck. Now, overpowered characters aren't necessarily bad, but it's significantly harder to write an OP character than an on-average one, and Scourge didn't work out so well. From the moment he turns green, he's basically unstoppable. The one time he actually seems to remotely struggle is actually in 161, where he looks ever-so-slightly winded after curbstomping Sonic and Shadow at the same time. From then on, while he does start to slowly even out with Sonic, he also continues to utterly demolish basically everyone else, especially his easy conquest of Moebius. It's been suggested that conquering Moebius should be easy, because the big threats are all good, kind people there, but that somewhat ignores that there are anti-versions of the heroes kicking about too. All the (Mostly) benevolent rulers of the Primeverse should be tyrannical despots there, and there are excessively powerful entities like the Anti-versions of Merlin and the Guardians, not to mention whatever horrors Anti-Gerald would've unleashed on the world, and that's without the Suppression Squad themselves. While the comic has generally treated Sonic as being able to stomp the entire rest of the FF, well, who says it has to be a fight? Why the fuck doesn't Patch just poison him? I mean, the obvious answer is "Because then Bold New Moebius won't have a main villain", and sometimes contractual villain immortality has to be a thing, but a good writer should be able to avoid putting the characters in that position. Following on from that, Scourge gets to fight basically the entire FF and Suppression Squad at the same time, (Sonic and Amy are absent and Fiona is on his side), and he's winning until Sonic shows up. Then directly after that is the hedgehog brawl, and despite Sonic managing to get everyone against Scourge, he easily manages to escape and break out his Super form. Even after spending his time in the No-Zone completely powerless, Scourge manages to break out the moment he gets his powers back, despite the prison being full of characters who should be equally or more powerful than him, and the police force that caught them all, basically unchallenged. Scourge never faces an actual challenge in the comic. He never struggles, and the one time he actually loses? Ian makes up some new lore on the spot, which is contradictory to SEGA lore from the same year, and then uses that to have Sonic trick Scourge into depowering himself. Not only does Scourge never struggle with anything, but he also never actually loses a fight. Part 5: When will you learn, that your actions have consequences?! Probably never, because Scourge's actions never have consequences. Throughout his entire run, Scourge gets to go wherever he wants, do what he wants, with or to whomever he wants, and he never has to deal with the fallout of the decisions he makes. Absorbs the energy of a matter world into his antimatter body? He's better than fine, it only made him stronger. Turns up in Knothole with his secret girlfriend's hated arch rival by his side? Never mentioned again. Blows Fiona's connection to him, costing Finitevus' operation a potential spy in Knothole, where Knuckles is? Not even considered a factor. Ditches Finitevus to go and make Moebius into an egopolis? Finitevus isn't bothered, and supports Fiona's efforts to rescue him later down the line after than plan backfired on him. Blinds Patch in one eye out of jealousy/spite? The guy that poisoned Armand and Max, took a torch to Antoine's personal life, took advantage of Sally's frayed mental state, emotionally damaged Bunnie, and tried to assassinate Elias to get what he wanted lets him get away with it. Openly announces that he's going to destroy both worlds? Conveniently does it when he's alone with Sonic so nobody can tell Fiona what she's letting herself in for. He eventually does get sent to jail, but he breaks out with ease the next time he turns up. Because, y'know, that's just what we want to see. Villains never having to deal with karma. Part 6: What does anyone see in him? Scourge doesn't quite get the "everyone loves him" treatment, but he still gets a whole lot more respect than he's ever earned. Both Sonic and Zobotnik are portrayed arbitrarily deciding that maybe there's a shred of good in this monster, and this is the part where I stress that he's abusive again. Maybe if I repeat that enough it'll sink in. Despite knowing full-well the sort of person Scourge is, Sonic's response to Scourge's crappy cribbing of the "One Bad Day" speech is to try and turn it around and claim that Scourge only needs a tiny bit of decency to be a good person, and this is outright untrue, and given what we see of Scourge later, I'm frankly disgusted that Ian tried to pull this with a character he'll pretty much unambiguously portray as an abuser. Zobotnik's case is even more baffling. We're introduced to the guy in the Lockdown arc, and it's implied that he's effectively a tyrannical warden, ruling over the No-Zone with an iron fist, taking an almost sadistic delight in punishing the inmates. But yet, for whatever reason, he decides that it's a good idea to try and rehabilitate Scourge, for no adequately established reason. Even on the other side of the morality line, we have Finitevus, who apparently respects Scourge enough to not just make him leader of the Destructix during the Enerjak Reborn arc, despite him very clearly not being a leader, and not being liked by any of his comrades except Fiona, but then when he promptly ditches the whole plan toward the end, Finitevus apparently decides that he not only wants to get him back, but is willing to go to great lengths and risk losing the only team of mercenaries dumb enough to work for a guy who is quite open about his intentions to "purify the world with Chaos fire" in order to do it. And speaking of, the most egregious case of this comes again in Lockdown, where the Destructix all end up siding with Scourge. Across the second half of the arc, Scourge learns his new team's backstories, and despite them clearly showing traits and beliefs that should make them respect him less, this somehow works in his favour, and he manages to wrest leadership of the team from Fiona. Especially galling is that it appears that Fiona loses their respect early on because of her faith in Scourge, who to them, looks pathetic, but then they end up supporting him anyway, despite doing nothing to earn it. But wait, one's missing... Looks like it's that time again. Part 7: Oh right, he's an abuser. It's time to talk about Fiona. Fiona's heel turn is really, really effective at selling you on the idea that Fiona is a vile, cruel, and selfish person. It's a dramatic, "big bang" moment that, in basically a single panel, got an entire fandom to hate a character. Now for some it was more of a "Love to hate" thing, but there are plenty of people out there who just really hate Fiona for this single moment. And when you're introducing a new major villain, maybe that's what you want to accomplish. What it doesn't do, however, is sell you on her motives for taking that course of action. Fiona, for the rest of her existence, mainly antagonises Sally, whom she has no worthwhile connection to on either side of her turn, other than being the evil  Sally to Scourge's Evil Sonic, and stands around or clings to Scourge's arm, looking smug about her abusive relationship. And yes, it is abusive, verbal abuse is still abuse, and the implications that he's physically abusive are present too. I know this is something that Scourge's fans don't really want to accept, but it's true, and we're going to get into that later. For now, what matters is that this character's run as a villain mainly consists of: Fiona: "Hey Sugar-Queen, look at how much my boyfriend yells at me and insults me, and probably beats me when he's angry. I make smart decisions and you suck." We never come to understand why this character, who is so motivated by her belief that everyone will eventually double-cross her that she has decided to start lashing out at people before they can turn on her, is willing to put her faith 100% in someone so repeatedly deceptive that he first approached her by pretending to be someone else. Like, in terms of bad first impressions, that's up there with arriving at a job interview in full clown regalia. The comic makes no effort to show why these characters like each other. Scourge allegedly likes her because she chooses to turn evil and join him, rather than being born evil, but this clashes with not only the fact that Fiona is a genuinely good person before this, who makes a solid effort to stay loyal to her friends first, and is lured into villainy by him, but also the fact that she blames everyone but herself for her current situation, but especially with the fact that all of the foreshadowing for Fiona turning evil consists of people not trusting her because she has a shady history. Scourge claims to appreciate that Fiona is a good person that chooses to be evil, but the narrative has a clear message of "If you started evil, it doesn't matter if you try to become good, you will always revert to type." Which isn't exactly a good message, Ian. In return, all we get from Fiona's side is that Scourge "has no expectations of her and just wants to have fun", which clashes entirely with how we see them interact in subsequent arcs, where Fiona frequently looks disturbed or apprehensive, or just bored, while Scourge yells at her and threatens her for not meeting his standards. Seriously, why do people ship this? But okay, okay. Scourge is a good liar, and Fiona's established paranoia and history do make her vulnerable to manipulators like him, so maybe she falls for his lies and gets taken for a ride. That could happen, sure. Doesn't really explain why she becomes a horrendous person all of a sudden, but whatever. Maybe he convinced her to do it as a sort of hazing, and a means of ensuring she couldn't go back. That fits with his abusive nature (You might also notice that this the explanation I used in Revival). But why does she stay? And why does she refuse every out she's given? Why, after everything that pulled her to his side has turned out to be bullshit, does she remain devoted to him? Now, you can argue that due to the abuse and the manipulation she's suffered, she believes she has to stay with him, and that's a fair shout, but her appearance in Journey to the East is kind of a stumbling block for that theory, because we're shown a Fiona who is fully capable of functioning without him, and even after making efforts to establish herself... the next time we see her she's gone back for him. And now... well, it's time to talk about that "A" word I've been bringing up a lot in this section. Scourge is abusive. I've frequently referenced that he verbally abuses Fiona every time she displeases him across the book, but the most telling scene is this one from Issue 190.

"You do not want to be sent back with me." Translation: "If I get sent back, and you're sent back too, I'm going to beat the shit out of you." Fiona (With her invisible left arm) isn't excluded from this threat. Fiona isn't surprised by this threat either. Nor does she not take the threat seriously. She looks like she's expecting to be struck. He beats her. And please, nobody say that "he's just angry", that's apologism. Now, I dunno if this was in the script, or if Fiona's face was something Yardley did on his own, but given that this arc ends with Super Scourge announcing his intention to destroy both Mobius and Moebius, simply because he can, regardless of the collateral, I'm willing to bet that this relationship wasn't a happy, stable one. But, unfortunately, this element was never made clear enough. Now, your mileage may vary on whether you think Sonic the Hedgehog comics are the appropriate place to discuss abusive relationships or not, but we've got one now, and Ian dropped the ball. This wasn't a Joker/Harley, where the pairing was clearly abusive but also sold DC/Warner millions of dollars worth of merch, this wasn't a RWBY, where Adam took three years to show up and had already won a huge number of fans from his admittedly cool design and powers, so people already liked him before they even knew what his personality was like. Ian had full control over this, no merch to worry about, and Scourge's prolific appearances gave him plenty of opportunity to make it clear that this was an ugly, repulsive thing that Fiona needed to get out of ASAP. And he didn't. Because panels like this, and all the yelling, clearly weren't enough for the fandom. No, you point this detail out to them and they'll make excuses, try to pretend it didn't happen, or just get offended, or worst of all, outright say they don't care and still ship it. We have fanartists who became real official artists creating stories where this garbage-fire pairing is used for sad feels, not because Fiona got stuck in a relationship with a controlling, violent monster, but because oh no they really loved each other and now Fiona's dead isn't it tragic don't you feel sorry for Scourge? No. No I don't. I feel sorry for the thousands of teenagers who support an abusive relationship because Ian was too cowardly to make it clear that the relationship in question was just that. Now, do I think that Ian is an intentional abuse apologist? No. Do I think he wimped out of taking the necessary steps to make it clear that this was bad because he didn't want people to dislike his shitty pet villain? Oh yeah, I do. Scourge's reputation was more important to Flynn than appropriately and sensitively portraying a destructive, damaging relationship between a woman and her monstrous partner. Well, I say "Woman", let's not forget that Fiona was meant to be sixteen, and realistically if you take her timeline into account she's more likely to be about fourteen. Real fucking classy. Part 8: Effort? What effort? So, now we get to our final criteria. And frankly, it's the easiest one to cover. From the moment, Scourge turns green, his life becomes a cakewalk. Everything he ever wants is handed to him with zero actual struggle on his part. Wants to be stronger than Sonic? He is. Zero side-effects to using a Chaos energy form from a mirror universe, or having a Super transformation interrupted, he just seemingly gets to be half-Super forever. Wants another leg-up on Sonic? Here's Fiona, sans personality. Sonic says he's just a lame ripoff of himself? He conquered a planet in a week, look at how cool he is. Also his team all roll over and make him their leader even though they hate him and they could easily kill him. He gets to walk through the entire FF/Squad teamup, and the Hedgehog teamup, and then when he gets to the No-Zone, Zobotnik, who has kept far smarter and more dangerous characters locked up for decades arbitrarily decides to reform him and gets completely suckered by him. The Destructix fully throw in with him, despite him never actually earning their respect. He never loses a fight where he wasn't depowered first. You know what the irony of this is? Ian has a character whom he is contractually obligated to never have lose for longer than an issue or two. And honestly, he wasn't awful at disguising that. Sonic gets a few wins that feel too easy, but for the most part, the issues with this rule mainly manifest in Sonic's limp responses to the tragedies happening around him, and a sprinkling of minor failures and pyrrhic victories ensure that the rule looks more like shoddy writing in a few places unless you're explicitly told about it. And even then, he still manages to make it look like Sonic struggles to attain those victories, that he has to actually put his back into it every time. He is challenged. Scourge isn't allowed to be challenged. That's the irony. Ian has a protagonist who he is not allowed to have lose, and Sonic still manages to be avoid looking like a boring invincible hero, while Scourge just never faces anything that can actually pose a threat to him. Powerful opponents crumple before him. Characters' personalities and development shift to suit his needs. The plot warps to benefit him. Because heaven forbid Scourge actually have to work for his wins. Who needs stakes when you can have the writer on your side! Part 9: In summation... I think you should've all twigged where this is going by now, so let's wrap up. 1) Does Scourge receive a great deal of favouritism from the author? Yes. 2) Is Scourge more powerful than the rest of the cast, often to the point of absurdity? Yes. 3) Does Scourge face zero consequences for his actions? Yes. 4) Is Scourge liked or respected by characters that have no reason to do so? Yes. 5) Is Scourge in a relationship with a character that has no reason to date him? Yes. 6) Most importantly, does the story will bend over backwards to give Scourge easy wins, even in situations where he logically should struggle? Yes. According to these criteria, Scourge the Hedgehog is almost a textbook example of a Mary-Sue. Which is probably why something as disgusting as him got away with so much. I guess, then, that his role in Revival, and a lot of the stuff before that, is the unfortunate reality of a Mary-Sue who suddenly has to deal with the fact that they're no longer getting that special treatment from the writer. That now their actions have consequences, that now the universe doesn't shape itself to their desires.

[tomfooleryprime]

I love Sarek. But he’s really not that great.

Sarek and Amanda are my favorite couple, not just in Star Trek, but ever. I’ve written more than half a million words of fanfiction about them. I’ve watched episodes featuring them so many times I secretly worry Netflix will put me on blast.

But I am not a Sarek apologist.

I’m pretty sure what draws most people to this couple is the age-old romantic notion that opposites may attract but the power of love can overcome anything. Cue cheesy instrumental music and a torrid kiss in the rain at a train station. I imagine a lot of women see themselves in Amanda, a seemingly regular woman with a regular life. Then they see a successful guy like Sarek, a dude who’s physically fit, well-educated, powerful, and absurdly intelligent, and it’s only natural that a recipe for hotness is born.

Because I’ve devoted literally years to dreaming up various ways this couple might have shacked up and vomiting the results all over AO3, I’ve also been forced to examine the personalities of both characters in great detail, and the only consistent conclusion I come to is fanon (myself included) gets it wrong most of the time.

Their marriage can’t have always been smooth sailing. If you’re not willing to believe me, then believe Amanda. 

Oh sure, there are tons of one-shots where they have little spats, but they almost always end with both of them making heart eyes at each other and jumping into bed. I get that Star Trek originated in the 1960s, but that doesn’t mean Sarek and Amanda had one of those “golly gee” wholesome relationships that could put Ward and June Cleaver to shame. 

Whichever version of Sarek you personally subscribe to, be it Mark Lenard, Ben Cross, or James Frain, it’s entirely possible to find the actors attractive but still think the character of Sarek could use some improvement. It’s also possible to love a character and admire their good qualities while being disappointed in their shortcomings. Maybe it makes me a shitty fangirl. Maybe it makes me realistic.

Literally decades of fanfiction and fan art have polished over Sarek’s unprettier bits, often portraying him as a hopeless romantic, a tender lover, a devoted father, and a man fiercely dedicated to his wife. I’m not going to argue each of those is patently false—hell, as a fanfiction writer, I’ve bought into some of those tropes myself—but I think some are truer than others. Let’s examine the canon.  

When we first meet him in “Journey to Babel,” he’s callous and aloof. He’s Vulcan, I get it, more on that later. But seriously, the guy has a habit of summoning his wife and acts like he doesn’t even know his own damn son. No one should be standing up to enthusiastically applaud and hand the man a husband or father-of-the-year trophy. Even Amanda seems pretty resigned to the arrangement.

I already know what the pushback to this assertion will be. He’s Vulcan! You can’t judge a Vulcan by human standards! Well, his wife is human and one of his sons is half-human, so I would argue that it should at least be an option, but I wrote a whole other essay on Star Trek’s moral relativism problem. 

Long story short, Star Trek glosses over a lot of moral and ethical dilemmas by using the argument, “Who are we to judge a culture we’re not part of?” I can’t answer that, but I will say someone once gave me a great piece of advice that I think applies to this idea of moral relativism: no person’s belief is inherently worthy of respect, but every person is. Maybe to understand Sarek as a person, we should look first at Sarek as a Vulcan.

Obviously Sarek subscribes to Vulcan philosophy, and while Vulcan philosophy seems pure as hell with its pacifism and its belief in embracing Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations (IDIC), I’m going to assert the Vulcan adherence to that philosophy seems to be a little lunch counter in nature. Yes, they take two scoops of resting bitch face and they’ll pass on the extra helping of tolerance. Sarek hails from a culture that is ostensibly exclusionary, sexist, and xenophobic in its practices.

When we encounter Vulcans in Enterprise, they’re people who mock humans for being too volatile, go to war with their Andorian neighbors, and aggressively purge the Syrranites for wanting to get back to the true meaning of Surak. But you might say, but that was before the Federation! They got better when they put T’Pau in charge.

Really? When we meet them next in the chronological timeline in Discovery, they’re telling Sarek they’ll only admit one of his weird social science pet projects (or as Sarek calls them, his kids) to the Vulcan Expeditionary Group.

In the Discovery episode “Light and Shadows,” Amanda reveals that Spock had a learning disability as a young child, which clearly embarrassed Sarek. Sadder still? Amanda explains there didn’t seem to be any educators on Vulcan willing to help a half-Vulcan child with a human learning disability. 

In the alternate timeline, when Spock applies to the Vulcan Science Academy, the admissions folks give him a pat on the back for achieving so much, despite his great disadvantage of having a human mom. Replace the word “human” with any religious, racial, or ethnic group, and see how you still feel about that sentence. 

Yes, Vulcans have racists and nationalists just like the rest of us and it doesn’t seem like they’re a rare breed either. Sarek is clearly attempting to be a better Vulcan, so kudos to him. However, not being an overt racist is not synonymous with sainthood. 

It’s pretty obvious throughout canon that while Sarek loves his wife, he’s uncomfortable with humanity, and he’s doubly perplexed with the humanity she imparted in their son. She even directly accuses him of never truly respecting humanity, to which he replies:

Which, let’s be honest, sounds like the rough equivalent of the “I can’t be racist because I have a black friend” defense. So many things in canon point to Sarek being utterly baffled by humans, not cutely intrigued by them as so often seen in fanon. The only time Spock and Sarek seem chummy with each other is when they’re mocking Amanda’s human emotionalism in “Journey to Babel.” Whether or not he meant to (and he definitely meant to), Sarek raised a son who saw his human half as a thing to be overcome.

Discovery has also hammered a lot of nails into the affectionate father coffin. Up until the final episode in season 1, he never called Michael his daughter and instead referred to her as his ward. It’s nice that he finally got over that technical distinction, but it doesn’t exactly conjure up the image of him tucking her into bed and giving her a kiss on the forehead.

He seems to accept her humanity because, well, she is human, but his own son’s humanity isn’t ok? Not like it matters, because his plan was to mold Michael into a Vulcan-like human anyway, which is pretty weird when you think about it. At one point, Michael tells Sarek she knows he must have considered the effect a Vulcan education and lifestyle might have on a human child, but she wants to know what he wanted Spock to learn from the experience of having a human sibling. His reply?

Which is... nice? He doesn’t say the only reason he took Michael in was for her to be his son’s empathy tutor, but he does essentially admit he was worried Spock was becoming too much of a momma’s boy. So the theory that Sarek was just scooping up orphans all over the galaxy like some kind of Vulcan Angelina Jolie doesn’t seem accurate. It gives the distinct impression that even Sarek thought of his hodge-podge brood as an experiment, at least to a degree.

Now, some may argue that Sarek never told Spock that he had to follow Surak’s teachings, which is true-ish. But that’s like telling a kid, “You don’t have to believe in Jesus” and then sending them to a Christian school in the heart of the Bible belt. What decision did he imagine his son would choose when he decided to raise him on Vulcan and stand by when other kids beat him up for not being Vulcan enough?

Seriously, Spock was almost guaranteed to turn out one of two ways: either he would just try harder to out-Vulcan everyone, which he did, or he would give logic the middle finger, which, well, is the option Sybok chose to run with. 

Despite fanfiction and fanart imagining him as this really hands-on parent who changes diapers and decorates baked goods (yes, I wrote a story like this and I’m calling myself out), he admits he’s the kind of dad who works late in the evenings, not the kind that reads stories at bedtime. 

It’s also no secret that as a parent, Sarek holds grudges. In “Journey to Babel,” Amanda confesses that Sarek and Spock haven’t spoken as father and son for eighteen years. In “Brother,” Michael asks Sarek when the last time he spoke to Spock was and he concedes it’s been years. In “Light and Shadows,” he’s clearly [Vulcan] pissed that Amanda is harboring a fugitive, who also just so happens to be his own son.

Is Sarek just that logical that he believes in justice even at a high personal price, or is he embarrassed that his own estranged son has been accused of murder and appears to be in the clutches of a mental breakdown? As far as I can tell, it might just be a little bit of both. 

Then there’s the idea that Sarek is a caring and devoted husband. Is there actually any evidence for this in canon, other than he was married to Amanda and had a family with her? Lots of people are married and have kids and don’t have a relationship that would rival that annoying couple on This is Us. 

Their relationship doesn’t seem like an equal partnership based on compromise, but rather one where Sarek does what he damn well pleases and Amanda follows along as a dutiful wife. 

Amanda gave up a lot of things to be with him: her home, her culture, and potentially even her own son’s well-being. The woman went to extremes for love not even witnessed on the Bachelor, and why?

In some contexts, that sounds like the powerful kind of love and devotion that epic-poems would be based on. In other contexts, it sounds almost like a pathological self-martyrdom. Did Sarek ever fully appreciate her sacrifices? It’s hard to say, but if he did, I doubt he ever voiced his appreciation. 

In his later years, when Sarek is losing his mind due to an age-related degenerative disease and he mind melds with Captain Picard, he tearfully muses (as Picard), “Amanda. I wanted to give you so much more. I wanted to show you such tenderness. But that is not our way. Spock? Amanda? Did you know?”

He's strongly implying he never told Amanda he loved her out loud. I’m sure he did love her, but it hardly bodes well for the idea that he’s a flowers and handmade cards kind of guy. And as for the notion that behind closed doors, he and Amanda had a super intimate relationship that would make even characters in Harlequin romance novels swoon, please, point me to an episode that makes you think that. I will watch it every day for the rest of my life. 

In summary, between his first chronological appearance in Discovery to his death in The Next Generation, Sarek had a lot of improving to do as a person and we see evidence that he most certainly did. He came to accept Michael as his daughter. He started speaking to Spock again after wrecking his childhood and turning him over to Section 31. Even though it clearly exasperated the hell out of him, he occasionally gave into his wife’s emotional needs. 

But that’s still a pretty far cry away from galaxy’s best father, husband, or lover. I think that’s what draws me to this couple so much. Sarek and Amanda didn’t live happily ever after: they did the best they could and made it work, just like the rest of us non-fictional losers. 

What little we have of canon depicts them as a couple who likely got married before they really knew each other, probably should have spent their first few years of marriage in counseling, eventually figured one another out enough to raise three kids who could all probably benefit from some therapy, and loved each other no matter what, even if it wasn’t out loud.

[thelightningstreak]

In your defense of fanfiction, what is your opinion of fanfiction that breaks copyright law? Like, a word for word copy of the copyrighted stories for example, MST that reproduce the whole movie, books, or show, or just remake (Verbatim fanmake?) of the copyrighted story but name change, substitute char or a gender change, nothing else done. Or what about fanfiction that uses copyrighted song lyrics without permission? I don't think those types help our rep much, nor the bad attitudes towardcrit

Hi, anon. Thanks for your note!I appreciate it. 

“In your defense of fanfiction, what is your opinion offanfiction that breaks copyright law?”

To begin, I’d like to say I’mnot a lawyer and do not claim to understand exactly how the legal system workswith fanfiction. To the best of my knowledge, fanfiction, ever since theadvent of copyright law, has managed to thrive only by the grace of technicalityand IP Owners’ conflicting interests. And that colors my opinion of differentkinds of fanfiction, so I struggle to answer your general question about “fanfiction that breaks copyrightlaw.” 

As I understand it, fanfictionof any currently copyrighted materialbreaks copyright law, unless the Intellectual Property (IP) Owner has publiclystated that it accepts/supports the fanfiction endeavor. There is otherwise a legalcaveat called “fair use,” which is explained by attorney Rich Stim as a “copying of copyrightedmaterial done for a limited and ‘transformative’ purpose, such as to commentupon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work.” (Stim, What is Fair Use?)

But there’s still a huge debateabout whether fanfiction genuinely is safe under “fair use.” Primarily, peopledon’t get sued for it because they’re not making a profit from their derivative/transformativeworks. The lack of a profit, and the resulting negative publicity, would make alawsuit usually pointless for the IP Owner. The moment someone tries to make aprofit from fan-related material, that’s when the copyright laws tend to majorlykick in against them. But even those people are protected sometimes, becausemany IP Owners see minor fan transactions as a way to boost awareness and fanconsumption of the canon. So some IP Owners (definitely not all) will turn a blind eye even when there is a smallprofit being made that breaks copyright law. Sometimes, the fan hype resultingfrom fanfiction/fanart is worth more than the potential gains from a lawsuit. 

Without arguments for fanfictionas “fair use” and other such technicalities, most fanfiction today would unquestionably break copyright law. AndI rather enjoy reading and writing fanfiction for several IPs with activecopyright, so I am very thankful for “fair use” and for places like theOrganization for Transformative Works, which is working to raise acceptance forfanfiction as a fair use/transformative pastime.  

“Like, a word for word copy of the copyrighted stories forexample, MST that reproduce the whole movie, books, or show, or just remake(Verbatim fanmake?) of the copyrighted story but name change, substitute charor a gender change, nothing else done.”

As long as that fanfiction isan unpaid labor, and as long as there is no cease-and-desist order from the IP Owners, then I would assume that such a piece of work flies under theradar, to the larger world, as just another fanfiction…another derivate work inthe sea of many. 

In general, I think word-for-wordis more likely attract unwanted legal attention, because a lot of “fair use” stuffends up being protected per being highly creative and different from the canon.This article by Brad Frazer states you can legally get away with copying 10-15-word phrases,tops? Under fair use? But then after that, an IP owner will have legal grounds to sue, apparently?Sounds like it’s a good idea to not lift someone else’s stuff word-for-word inany massive way. 

From my own perspective as areader of fanfiction, I find word-for-word works unengaging. I engage withfanfiction to see a canon concept taken to a different level—that it exploressomething in a different way, or challenges or further reveals something about thecharacters somehow. Word-for-word doesn’t allow for that. It’s not adding tothe overarching “transformative” conversation, in my opinion. And it also masksthe possible style/voice of the fanfic writer themselves.  

“Or what about fanfiction that uses copyrighted song lyricswithout permission?”

I’m not a lawyer, so I would take what I say here with agrain of salt. As I understand it, since fanfiction is not yet consistentlyruled as “fair use,” then using song lyrics word-for-word is just another way toinvoke a potential legal problem. Going back to that 10-word grace limitmentioned above in Brad Frazer’s article, if fanfiction is ruled as “fair use,” then you might be ableto get away with a few lines. But since songs themselves are so short and soidentifiable even within a phrase, I think there’s a lot more risk. I wouldn’tchance it. 

From my personal perspective, a story with only a few lines,especially when a character is actively engaging with those lyrics, is far moreentertaining than a story that directly copy/pastes in a whole song. A wholesong suddenly appearing forces me as the reader to consider two separate mediums atonce. Human brains are not geared for that kind of multitasked focus. I eitherhave to skip through the song to stay focused on the overarching story, or elseI break away from the story to read through the lyrics. The narrative momentgets broken either way, and I detach from that fictional world. I believe stories should keep their readers fully immersed in the narrative. 

“I don’t think those types help our rep much, nor the badattitudes toward crit”

I agree that the more word-for-word fanfiction is, generallythe more critical the outside world is going to be. An IP Owner can turn ablind eye to only so many things. And claiming fanfiction as “fair use” per its“transformative” presence seems like a poor defense when one is just switchingout a character name or gender and nothing else in otherwise a copy of word-for-wordsource material. It definitely cheapens the legal argument for fanfiction astransformative work. 

As far as criticism/constructive feedback goes, that’s a toughone. I’ve always invited constructive feedback on my work because I usefanfiction as both a place to have fun and to learn. If I’m not trying toimprove my writing/creative skills, then I feel I’m just unnecessarily spinningmy wheels. Many others, however, engage with fanfiction purely for validation/positivereinforcement and don’t want any constructive criticism at all. A lot of peopledo not see “criticism/learning” and “fun” as things that can coexist. 

I’m not sure what the right answer is there. Inmy own opinion, the very act of publishing a work assumes the desire for externalvalidation of some kind. Or else, one would be perfectly content saving thework on their computer for no one else to see. People naturally want to receivesomething positive in return for their work, and fanfiction tends to attract alot of vulnerable populations trying to find validation for their interests. But should one demand positive feedback only? 

I think demanding “positivefeedback only” is a cultural construct that keeps fanfiction as a second-classliterary pastime. Published books, movies, shows, etc. are all open tocriticism. If fanfiction wants to be treated with the same respect as sourcematerials, then it should be held to the same standards. 

At the same time, unlike most professionalsbehind published source materials, the people creating fanfiction are notalways professionally educated or trained in the medium of writing. Many arenot trained to mentally separate themselves from their created works. And coarsecriticism is one way to kill the very spirit of joy that fandom itself needs tothrive, because people in fandom certainly aren’t being paid to write their fanfiction,haha. 

In an ideal world, I think fanfic writerswould be open to helpful, constructive feedback to assist them with betterexpressing their ideas—to be validated for their thoughts while also empoweredto reach an even higher potential. And in an ideal world, I think reviewerswould provide that constructive feedback in a way that is geared for theencouragement and betterment of the writer. But I don’t see fanfiction functioningin this way. At least, not yet. 

Maybe if fanfiction were takenmore seriously as a legitimate outlet, and if there were more benefits thansimply an anonymous kudo or review, then people would be more inclined inimprove and accept criticism? 

Fanfiction has no quality regulation,and I think the current legal environment, where fanfiction exists in a grayarea that is neither officially acknowledged nor stamped out, is part of whatperpetuates quality issues/inconsistencies. Great gems, even better than published booksand shows, exist in the midst of, admittedly, painful works. And questionablethings are usually judged by their lowest common denominator, unfortunately. It’ssuch a cycle. 

Anyway, thanks for letting meramble. I hope this helped to answer your questions!

[bi-bladesmith]

Forging, Fantasy and Fumbles

So, I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy and or medieval AU fanfiction this past month and honestly? Taking a cursory glance at a Wikipedia page on blacksmithing is not nearly enough for some of the things I’ve read in fics so here’s a bit of a guide on how to incorporate blacksmithing into a universe from an apprentice (with a footnote on a common debate about swords because I’m nitpicky);

Blacksmiths and bladesmiths are not the same thing despite the overlap - Bladesmiths solely specialise in making bladed weapons which doesn’t just include daggers and swords, but can also extend to axe-heads and spear tips. If your character is a blacksmith then unless contracted, they’ll mostly make horseshoes, nails, latches, gates, hooks, stirrups, plough teeth, basically anything you’d find in a medieval world that’s made out of metal.

Don’t have other characters stand directly beside them while they hammer metal, they will get forgescale on areas of exposed skin and it’ll hurt, especially if it’s a large piece and they don’t know to brush it off.

Speaking of hammering, blacksmiths don’t hammer in a traditional way. You really wouldn’t see someone just lifting a hammer and using the force of their arm to slam it down on the metal. Metal is moved by pivoting the hammer back and forth between the thumb and fingers and letting the momentum and weight of the hammer determine how hard it’s hitting the metal.

So basically don’t gimme that “[they] slammed the hammer down into the white-hot metal before bringing their arm up high again to prepare for another swing” bullshit.

Also, hammers are not all just huge, heavy things. As a baseline, a blacksmith will have at least 3 hammers, one light, one medium (or a swedish hammer, as they’re known nowadays) and one heavy. There is no wrong hammer and no right hammer, it all depends on the character’s style of forging and how long they can work with that much weight in their hands.

Which leads me to my next point, blacksmiths are not super stacked, hella ripped, or anything like that all the time - they amass muscle by working the forge, not so they can, the only time a blacksmith would need tons of upper body strength is if they were physically building a forge or carrying materials to the shop.

Your bladesmith isn’t gonna be able to just pick up a weapon and immediately use it, knowing how to make something doesn’t automatically give them the extensive training required to use the weapon - they might know the principles of how the weapon should work but don’t have them just take down like 7 dudes with a sword if they haven’t had previous weapons training

Not everything quenches at the same temperature (see next point for fantasy materials) - quenches are judged based on a colour scale that ranges from cold steel (when it’s grey or dark brown) to the commonly described “white hot” which is the hottest point before the metal overcooks and breaks which you really don’t want. The colour also depends on what your character is forging in, coal or wood will burn differently and produce different heat thresholds. Coal is the hardest fucker to forge with because you have to essentially bury the metal in the coal which makes it so hard to tell when it’s hot enough so if your character is using a coal bed forge, expect some crumbling metal and a lot of frustration, even if they’re a master smith.

As for metals and ores that can’t be found in the real world, try use real world materials to form a guideline. For example, orichalcum in the elder scrolls universe is usually melded with fresh iron to keep it from cracking, so I’d put it at the same carbon content and forging process as wrought iron which is known to become very brittle very easily.

So obviously if there’s some substance in your fantasy world that is used to make weapons or anything, think about its properties - can it be hardened fully, does it only need an edge quench, how easy is it to shape, does it need to be heated slowly to prevent deformations, can it be part of a damascus billet?

Now if you’ve read this far and have no idea what quenching or cooking the metal is, I’ll cut you a break.

Quenching is the process of cooling the metal either in oil or water to harden the metal although if your smith is smart, they might go for thermocycling before they quench the metal. Thermocycling is the process of heating the metal to just below quench or at quench temperature and letting the air cool it down. This normalises the metal and will reduce instances of cracking or snapping when the metal is finally quenched.

Very important to note - when steel is hot enough to quench, it loses it’s magnetism and as soon as it’s quenched, it’ll gravitate towards magnetic north which results in warps and bends in the metal, so a compass wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for your blacksmith to keep around the shop.

Once the metal is quenched, it can be cooked in the flames emanating from a forge to change its colour. For a reference point, on 8mm steel stock, it’ll turn yellow, then gold, blue and finally purple the longer it’s kept in the flames (not the forge itself, that much heat would remove any temper). If it gets too hot, it’ll turn a really ugly green colour then revert right back to yellow.

Not all damascus is the same - some are made from low carbon and high carbon metal in alternating layers, but most of the time damascus is reserved for very high-quality materials when considering a medieval time period.

Also, they have different pattern names! There’s ladder, raindrop, vines and roses, sharktooth, herringbone, etc.

Nowadays, damascus is used for so many things but a lot of the time, modern smiths won’t say what metals they used, which can make or break a blade’s functionality so think about it, is your main character’s hand-forged weapon made from a combination of high carbon steel and low carbon steel? Does it have any materials in it from your fantasy world and if so, what does that metal add to the characteristics of the blade?

Also for the love of God, a fuller is not a “blood groove” they’re put in to reduce the weight of a weapon, allowing it to swing faster, it has nothing to do with allowing blood to run from a wound.

Fullers are extremely finicky, as if a smith grinds too far into the metal, they could just punch through to the other side and then they’ve just got a big hole in their metal

As far as any smiths are concerned, think about their protective gear - smiths with a bit of experience under their belt typically only wear gloves on one hand (the one holding the tongs or tail end of the metal) and keep their hammer hand free to make it easier to work metal.

Similarly is there a material in your fantasy world that’s fire resistant? If your first thought was dragonhide then you’re on the right track but also think about if you have different breeds of dragon in your universe - are the ones with resistant hides rare? Are they common but their hide is so strong it’s difficult to harvest and tan properly? 

Does your blacksmith make their own gear? Do they have to save up a year’s wages just for a new apron? Are they contracted by the monarchy or army and they supply materials and equipment?

And finally, the footnote I promised:

a rapier and a smallsword are not the same thing!

Rapier hilts tend to be more complex, interlocking strands of metal with rings maybe surrounding the top of the hilt, making them harder and more laborious to forge whereas smallswords are given a shell or cup hilt, and would only incorporate traditional rapier features if it was purely a decorative piece

Speaking of decorative - a smallsword wouldn’t necessarily have a cutting edge, despite tapering to a sharp point so theoretically, during a fight scene, someone could grab the blade or push it with their hand without having to worry about their hand being sliced open.

Of course, if it was a military officer’s smallsword or a guard’s, it would likely have a sharpened edge to it.

Rapiers are heavy, and fairly large, used mainly for thrusting, slashing and stabbing and could be used with a buckler (small, rounded shield that was lighter than usual so could be brought up to defend with quicker), another sword or a dagger. Your warrior character is more likely to carry this around than a mage or thief.

Smallswords or “dress swords” are the more commonly attributed “nobleman’s duelling sword” though it was mostly worn for decoration and as a sign of status for anyone considered a gentleman, and would be used as a standard sidearm for any military presence in your AU, provided it was based off the Renaissance era.

[slashtakemylife]

Well, honestly since all this fandom wank is still going, I think it doesn’t hurt to show this back again, my favorite part

If you take nothing else from this article, please take this: all this outrage isn’t about protecting children, or about morality, or about critiquing media. It’s about people wanting their favorite characters to kiss.

This next part is my personal opinions but are all mostly based on this article, all I wish to add is how stupid this whole anti is because yes, it’s just about character’s kissing and their rules change to their convenience, so I’m just expanding to it with my own experience.

I’ll talk Fandom, why I think Antis have it wrong, some anti foolery and what to do, all of course in my opinion.

I’d like to start out with that “Fiction affects reality” and I can say, YES, but whose fiction? It’s the mass media produced fiction or the one I do from the comfort of my home?

Remember that all pieces of entretainment (books/movies/songs) as small as they may be, are all made by a group of people with the intention to reach to the biggest amount of people, it is their literal job, they know they are throwing ideas and notions to others in hopes to get feedback and be able to keep going, in other words it’s deliberate and so far we get tropes that affect and stereotype minorities. We must criticize those works because, again, a group of people allowed this to be produced with the intention to reach and capture the biggest auduence they can.

What about fandom? Fandom is exactly the opposite for me, we are not a team, we are just ourselves that get invested in one fandom and wish to explore more on the universe these creators gave us, and all for free! None of us are paid for it, yet with the anti movement, we are suddenly treated the way real paid content creators are made.

Fandom is a safe place because we can be whatever we want and explore whatever we wish because Fandom is self-contained, we broadcast to people with the same interests and hope to get feedback, create a healthy community were we just dicuss our fandom.

The anti movement uses the criticism we use on mass media and “moral ground” to justify their actions (harassment) but when you point at a fan, it is just that, you are pointing at a person, suddenly we must justify why we do what we do, what we write, what we think, give our life story, show credentials, all for what? Just to be “Valid”? Valid for who? A bunch of random people on the internet? We already have to struggle to be “Valid” in the real world and in this place were we can just be, we suddenly aren’t, we have to justify everyting we think, just to be allowed to not be harrased and have some freedom.

What is worse is that our prize if we pass this “Test” is just to not be harrased online, that’s it, I don’t know about you but in the Real World they supposedly live in, this is called Blackmail. We are threatened to be excluded, harrassed, recieve threats sometimes even death threats unless we stick to THEIR Values.

This is already bad enough and I haven’t even started with the antis themselves, becuase, who is the judge? Who is going to tell us if we are “Valid” enough to warrant not be harrased? What are THEIR Values?

This changes from anti to anti and oddly enough, it can be flexible to each one because again, every single one of us in fandom is just a team of one, there is no Anti Team, just a bunch of anti individuals that will bite each other because their foundation, like the article said, it’s not about morality but who can kiss and who isn’t allowed to.

What is the Anti handbook? Can anyone give it to me?

Let’s live in the Anti world *shivers*, I went into the fandom pretty young, I was 15, (I’m 25 now) and my first fanfiction was just pure crack, a character was turned into a cat and that’s it, the characters were comlpetely ooc but I was having fun.

What would it be like if 15 y/o me started fandom now?

Remember that now each of us are holded on the same standard grown, working paid adults are, so if I wanted to make a fanficiton I must begin wondering, do I have moraly sound topics? Is this my age appropiate? Are the character “Valid”? The actions I’ll put the characters in can pass the Moral Anti Compass Test? What is this Compass? As a 15 y/o how am I expected to know all this? We can’t be but we Will be harrassed.

If someone doesn’t like my ooc they can and WILL call me problematic, a 15 y/o that just wants some fun, they will invaldiate me, tell me I’m problematic, be asked to tell some stranger who I am and what are my credentials to do that content and no it doesn’t have to be nsfw, it can just be anything, they are currently creating a cloud of fear in all new and sometimes old users.

He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone

Let’s take a look at some Anti foolery since they are full of contradictions and will use Morality for their gain but ultimately they will fall under their own rules because they are not really for Morality but as an excuse to justify their harrasment.

The Minor Excuse.

Oddly enough, many anti’s I’ve seen are minor and they use it to a fault, “I’m a minor, you can’t do nsfw for those characters I like or that pairing I dislike”, Our response and most nsfw artist response is, “Well just block me, don’t come into my space, I’ll tag it 18+ so you’ll know not to come here”

That is a good enough response but for antis it’s not enough because it was never really about their integrity, the real point always was so that the content creator stops creating that content of that pairing they don’t like so the new argument is:

“The characters are MINORS, so you as a DIRTY adult mustn’t do any content about them”

This is good enough becuase now they are called pedophilic and with that argument now the antis carrying torches and pitchforks have a, very bad, place were they can comfortly harrass nsfw content creators (or just creators)

One thing about minors and our example minor anti used is that, as minors, nsfw content must be away from them, that is the point right? Protect them from topics they are not mature enough and it’s totally ok, but do they follow? I began watching nsfw at 15, do Minor antis really keep away? Do they keep their mental celibacy until 18? Oddly enough, if the pairing that they favor is underage as them and is written by someone underage then it is ok for them to see them in more 18+ setting, like not full blown really kinky situations but do be able to include sexual encounters in their content, odd right? I thought they were all in on the minor train so that should wipe all nsfw and in fact the anti in our example had previously stated their absolute distaste in nsfw content, funnily enough just not content on the pairing they didn’t like, content THEY like is good enough.

What these antis don’t want to realize is that Minor it’s a very very temporal state of being, they tops have like 5 to 3 years until THEY are no longer a minor so by THEIR standars they have to leave all shipping involving minors when THEY reach 18, I have yet to see an anti say good bye to a pairing because they are now 18 and wouldn’t be moraly sound to carry one shipping them.

BTW friendly reminder that all underage pairing shown in media are made by a team of adults but I have yet to see a boicott were minor fans argue mass media shouldn’t include romance of any kind involving minors because adults are writting underage relationships, kinda odd right?

The incest/age gap

I won’t go too much into this because I’m just looking for anti foolery, the paring Sheith is considered incest because the character of Shiro mentored Keith and met him at a younger age, this ship and all ships involving Shiro a 25 y/o with his minors peers (shaladins) are a big gigantic no no in the dumpster that is voltron fandom, sheith in particual had Keith say to Shiro, “I love you, you are my brother” in one of the episodes.

However those same anti that satanized Sheith are now happily shipping Catradora, and in this show it’s literally said and shows many many times, by the character themselves how they were raised, basically since birth together as sisters, how it doesn’t fit Incest? Well, because the anti liked that one so I guess the anti manual kinda went into the wind right? Nope, they still hold Sheith as a pedophilic, grooming, incest pairing, but Catradora is ok, should I add that Catra is always trying to kill Adora? Some Villian/Hero pairing? No? Is OK? I thought antis would lift the pitchforks but apparently no...Reylo is bad tho, becuase omg VILLAINS!!!!

Someone really needs to give me the anti handbook because Anti’s themselves don’t follow their own rules, it’s almost as if...

They use Morality to justify their harassment to things they don’t personally like

Hmmm, something to think about right?

Antis that have a little brain do point out how in Real Life pairing would be sketchy and some, yes they are right, they are just bad and sometimes we should consider the real life implications, sometimes we do keep using in fandom harmful tropes but many times we don’t realize because we all arrive here with the mass media influence on us.

It’s not about harrassing, I feel it should be about teaching and letting each other be free because in the end, fandom is separate from life and it’s a SAFE SPACE, I rather have young people explore and understand what they like and don’t in fandom rather than feel excluded and ashamed both in and out of the internet and with no way of letting their feeling out they might just give it a go in real life, we must educate to separate fiction from reality but at the very end, let them be free.

What if one day a minor gets a crush on a 25 y/o in real life? I rather that person acknowlege their crush, know it’s fine and don’t feel ashamed of liking that person but to please not be in a relationship and know exactly why, specially if said person approaches them.

I rather they write and create art imagining what it would be like in a perfect setting, let their feelings out in a shape of unreal characters and situations instead of bottling it up and feeling ashamed.

BTS is one of the biggets boy bands and many fans are minors, I rather they explore and dream what would it be like to be romantic with one of the band members (26-22 I think?) in their own innocent romantic way via fanfics and art, it’s okay to dream of that story were they pick you out of the mass and dance with you on stage than pursuing a real relationship with an older person.

Fandom is SAFE because it’s UNREAL, we can explore things we would never do in real life, we can have some leasure but know how it affects real life, we still have to be careful, we must know that Fandom in the end is just a bunch of people putting out their feelings, they must know to distrust a little because all of Fandom is just our own individual uncurated minds, I read once someone said they got pregnant (or their gf pregnant, can’t remember) because they didn’t know about sex ed and only educated themselves via nsfw fics

I mean again, we are not professionals, we are just people, we are imperfect and many times in fandom we are just chaotic, incoherent and just crack minds, we can and will be completely absurd with reality or try to stick as close to Real Life, it’s up to us to know both exist in the same place.

Each one of us has to understand that and allow others to have their place to be free, Fandom has existed for many years before Antis and oddly enough has become worse because of them, despite their puritian stance they only achieve the same as real conservative people, make us feel ashamed of ourselves, to shut out voices for THEIR gain, it’s never about us, it’s always about THEM

[convenientalias]

ALL TWELVE OF THE INTIMATE FANFIC ASKS

HOLY SHIT OKAY.

1. what’s your all-time favorite fic? why? could we get a line or twofrom it? 

This question is like asking someone their favorite book. Except worse,because at least you usually have a couple books prepared for that question, acouple standard books. No one ever asks you about fics so you only have likethis really sloppy conglomeration of faves that you have never criticallycompared to each other. Yikes.

So tbh I can’t name a single fic as my favorite, but two of myfavorites are The Finer Shades of Why by Yesac, and The World on His Wrist bybendingsignpost. I will give you a maybe kind of long excerpt of each.

TheFiner Shades of Why (Chapter 30) Fandom: Star Wars

"What are you hoping to gain?”

Again, Dooku stops, this time just at the perimeter of Obi-Wan’s lineof sight. Any further and he’ll be off down the hallway, striding past otherempty cells where Obi-Wan won’t be able to see him.

In the back of his mind, Obi-Wan finds himself wondering just what partof the detention area of the temple he’s in.

"Gain?” he asks slowly, and although Dooku’s back is turned, Obi-Wan canalmost imagine that he sees his lips slowly forming the syllables, like he’sphysically chewing them as he mulls the concept over in his mind. “It is notwhat I stand to gain, Master Kenobi. It is what I stand to lose. You cannot, willnot, give me anything. You have made that clear. But you will find that you canno longer take either.”

The WorldOn His Wrist (Prologue)Fandom: Sherlock

The early days are hard. He has but one watch then and uses it only totell the time. When it begins, it begins like this: First, he is shot in Afghanistan. Second, he wakes to a phone call in Chelmsford, Essex. The call is urgent, a summons to Broomfield Hospital. Car accident on themotorway, massive. He responds in the affirmative, rising out of habit,dressing automatically. He knows the hospital, can’t place this house, andaccepts it as a dream. He has yet to realize he will never dream again. Twenty hours later, focused past any danger of confusion, he settles down.Limbs were lost, lives were saved. Most lives. He drinks his coffee and optsfor a nap before he drives home. Third, he wakes to Bill’s voice and face and more pain than he has ever known.He passes out.

2. what’s your go-to lazy sunday morning fic, the story you like to readunder fluffy covers with 11 AM sunshine slanting through the windows?

I’m hoping this is supposed to be a type of fic and not a specific ficbecause I have never read fanfic under such circumstances, but extrapolatingthat it’s supposed to be a low-key feel-good fic I would say I would probablyread some Teen Wolf fic focused mainly on romance. Possibly a stupidly tropeyAU.

A good example would be the fic Fireman Derek’s Crazy Pie [CheeseburgerBaby] .

3. which trope makes your heart go absolutely weak at the knees? 

This seems to indicate epic romance which is not really my thing. So it’shard for me to come up with anything. Ummm….identity reveals in fics where themain conflict has been secret identities. Are nice. Idk if that qualifies.

4. what trope are you most embarrassed to like? 

Probably definitely non-con.

5. what’s your favorite gross guilty-pleasure pairing? 

Prooooobably Hannigram. You can never quite escape the fact that one ofthem is a cannibal and the other is a mentally unstable FBI profiler. And thatthey try to kill each other and are genuinely obsessed with each other. I mean,I’ve seen it played out in less gross ways and more gross ways but even if youcover your ears and hum really loudly it is still pretty bad.

I enjoy a lot of other guilty pleasure ships but none of them are aspurely, as consistently gross and terrible as Hannigram, so I give Hannigramthe award.

6. is there a setting or time in your life that you strongly associatewith reading a certain fic? (ex: reading star wars slash on a specificvacation)

Not really. Strongly associate it with my desk. Other than that since I am currently at that time in my life I can’t get the nostalgia out of it, I guess.

7. what image or place do you remember from a fic most vividly? whathas left a lasting impression on you?

Ummmm...There’s an NCIS fic called The Window that is really, really effective as a) a kidnapping fic, b) a fic about isolation and mental instability and c) a hurt/comfort fic. The first chapter is terribly long and it takes place over a couple months in a single, mostly empty room, and it’s brutal.

8. have you ever had a shameful experience involving fic? whathappened?

At the end of last summer I was in a restaurant with two friends, a guy and a girl. The guy asked me what I hadd written over the summer because he knew I wrote fanfic. I said I’d actually tried writing some slash and femslash, warning him not to judge.

He said he didn’t judge but he thought “he at least had the right to an explanation.”

It was completely humiliating.

So I told him I had been questioning my sexuality and writing was part of how I thought through things. But now I kind of regret giving him an excuse. Because frankly it was none of his business. It’s not like I was doing anything wrong.

9. if you could meet your favorite author irl, would you? what wouldyou say to them? 

Megan Whalen Turner? I would kind of like to. Probably I would just saysomething typical like, “Your books are amazing.” Actually I sent her fanmailonce so I would probably just reiterate something like that.

10. name a fic that you’ve read more than once. or maybe five times. orten. 

Keep Throwing Things and Slamming the Door by Traincat the basic starter Spideytorch fic, probably the first or second Spideytorch fic I ever read. SECRET IDENTITIES.

Also A Stalking Surprise by Lucifer Rosemaunt, the best of her three Erik/Raoul oneshots with werewolves, just imo. (Yes, she wrote three Erik/Raoul fics with werewolves. I agree, she’s amazing.)

11. what fic do you wish you had written?

 Can’t think of anything off the top of my head. Usually, if a fic is that good, either I take it as inspiration and I write something similar, or I just enjoy its existence because now I don’t have to write it because it already exists.

12. tell me a short story about how fanfiction has intersected withyour life.

Once one of my irl friends dared me to write a fic where Eugene from the movie Gattaca took up throwing knives as a hobby.

I wrote it.

He never actually read it, though. To be fair it’s about 7000 words long. Which is pretty long for a crack prompt. BUT HE WAS ALSO THE GUY FROM QUESTION 8 SO I GIVE HIM ZERO LEEWAY ON THIS.

Anyways this has been a very long answering session, I hope you’re satisfied.

[obsessivedilettante]

Somehow love has been so idealized as positive and healthy form of bond, that the reality which is that lot of romantic relationships are dysfunctional on one level or another is denied. In the case of Kwon Joo and Tae Gu, the romance is impossible: she will never accept him but the attraction is real on his side (the writer pushed it since ep11) and it humanizes him a little bit. So playing with this fantasy makes sense, is not harmful and wouldn't be a first in fiction...

The issue I have is that people assume because there is attraction, it must mean romantic (or sexual). Tae-gu is definitely fascinated by Kwon-joo, but it’s because he views her as an elusive prey. For someone who seems to have had a fairly easy life when it comes to killing people (I mean, when you come right down to it, his father literally buys “unwanted” people for him hunt and kill, just as though they were toys), here is one that is intelligent and fights back. In fact, I think a large part of his giddy glee when he saw her wall of evidence and red string is the discovery that she has also been hunting him. She is no normal prey.

[More after the jump! My apologies to mobile users, and if you’re coming to this on my tumblr page and not your dash, Anon, you’ll probably need to click the post to get the rest of the answer since this theme doesn’t always put a “more” link when I use it on an ask.]

But she is still just that to him – prey. I can’t agree that his attraction to her “humanizes” him because the show has taken great pains to convince us that he’s not really human. He’s been repeatedly called a monster and the devil (and, to be honest, it’s easy to believe he is just that when he has taken such joy in killing anyone that has possibly hurt him or stood in his way).

To him, Kwon-joo is not a person. She is something to be toyed with, to be teased and tormented until he finally sees fit to give the final blow.

I actually think it’s pretty interesting that the show hasn’t placed him in any romantic or sexual light*. Even though he’s a young and handsome chaebol (at least, to those who don’t know about his murderous tendencies), he’s not been shown partying around with a gaggle of women, or even just one woman. When Jin-hyuk looked into his past, there was no record of a scandal, and I presume that includes scandals with women (or men – hey, I’m not gonna judge, but I know Dramaland and its heteronormative default). I very much doubt he often brings dates home, since he seems more interested in bringing dead bodies home instead. 

That’s not to say Tae-gu has no sexual desire, but it’s notable that his idea of power and dominance is through straight-up brutality and not through sex. He’s killed women before, but from what we’ve seen, hasn’t tried to rape them. Instead, he gets his jollies from the hunt and the sensation of crushing their skulls.

Which, again, is why I give a serious, serious side-eye to those who want to ship him with Kwon-joo. She is an amazing woman who’s worked hard to get where she is, even when no one else believed her. She’s careful and smart as she figures out not only how to save those under the Golden Time (okay, maybe not that careful and smart because c’mon stop going to creepy empty hallways without back-up!), but also in accumulating information that gradually lead her to discover that Tae-gu is the killer she’s been searching for all these years. To her, Tae-gu is the monster that we all know he is. He killed her father, he’s killed so many others – he’s ruthless and shameless. He’s evil and he must be brought to justice.

So for someone to go “eeeee, I ship it!” just because both characters have an obsessive determination to hunt the other feels like it trivializes just how much Tae-gu has hurt and damaged her life. Not just that he killed her father, but thanks to the cover-up by his father and Sang-tae, he made her lose her job and respect within the community. She was treated as a laughingstock and something to be scorned. Yes, she is strong and resilient, but he ruined her life. And he plans to ruin it even more, just for kicks. He knew that his visit to her apartment would scare her, and yet he couldn’t hide his laughter. That is what makes him happy – making her fear for her life.

While I don’t know how the final two episodes will play out, at this point in the show, there’s really no way that Tae-gu can be redeemed. There’s no “oh my mother abandoned me when I was a baby boo-hoo” story that can possibly excuse his murderous behavior. At this point, the only truly “honorable” thing he could do is either confess to his crimes and spend a lifetime in prison, or fall on his sword (kettlebell?) and kill himself.

Perhaps if this writer spent more time developing the characters, there could be some hope. But as it stands right now, he has shown himself to be nothing but pure evil. There is no goodness in him. There is no saving him.

It is true, though, that relationships are inherently messy and so many of them are filled with bad decisions. Maybe I would actually like rom-coms more if they didn’t try to convince me that two diametrically opposed people would suddenly fall in love and live happily ever after, just because the writers said so. Maybe I would suffer less from second-lead syndrome if the male leads weren’t persistently written in such a way that I would instinctively label them as abusive (either emotionally or psychologically, and even sometimes physically), and wish the woman would run the hell away and never look back.

Then again, I think “love conquers all” is utter bullshit, especially with romance. I will, however, happily accept more stories of love that is familial and platonic, because, to me, those are the most endearing and sustaining. That’s why I give only a vague side-eye to those who want to ship Kwon-joo with Jin-hyuk. Part of me understands it – they’re the leads, they’re thrown together, they have to learn to trust and rely on each other. It makes sense, since most dramas would probably go there anyway. But I love that there’s been no hint of romance between them, simply because there aren’t enough platonic male-female friendships represented in media, especially in mutual work environments (where platonic friendship actually makes the most sense, since dating in the workplace is incredibly messy and often ends in disaster, although you wouldn’t know it by most of Dramaland’s offerings).

So I’m not saying “kill it with fire” to a Kwon-joo/Jin-hyuk ship because I can see how these two co-workers, thrown together in a multitude of intense situations as they pursue the same goal, could be appealing to someone. Jin-hyuk has learned to respect Kwon-joo, and is not out to sabotage her. He actually supports her and listens to her.

I am saying “kill it with fire” to a Kwon-joo/Tae-gu ship because it pits her with someone who doesn’t see her as human and only sees her as a thing to amuse him until he decides she’s no longer worth his time. It diminishes who she is as a woman or even simply as a person. He is a monster, and I’m repulsed by the unspoken implication that she could “save” him because of the attraction (or supposed “love”) he has for her. Not that’s what everyone thinks when they consider this so-called ship, but it is the standard representation when we see this kind of dynamic in fiction – the “bad boy” that the woman will save through the power of her sparkly “I’m not like the other girls” vagina. (Again, Tae-gu is not some moody, broody chaebol/cursed vampire/hurt momma’s boy. He is an unrepentant psychopath who gets joy out of tormenting the most challenging prey he’s yet encountered.)

I get it, though. I know that it’s somehow so easy to default to crackling chemistry and want to ship all the things, no matter what, no matter how terrible they are. Some of the best (worst?) ships come from this.** The attraction is there, even if it is only sadistically one-sided. And even though I don’t read fanfiction, I know there are enough of the “oh hell no” ships out there that people are gonna ship what they’re gonna ship, no matter the logistics or actual characterizations. Maybe someone’s cooking up a theory that says Tae-gu will eventually realize the error of his ways and spend the rest of his life in prison pining for the one woman who got away. Or maybe someone’s embracing the insanity and is like “this shit is fucked up but damn the sex is hawt.”

In the end, I guess I’m just too fond of Kwon-joo as a character and a woman, and everything she represents in terms of her intelligence and desire to help people even as she longs for justice in her own life, to see her linked romantically to a murdering psychopath – no matter how gorgeous his cheekbones are.

*of course, as we all well know, Kim Jae Wook is hella sexy and I’m not gonna deny I’d probably do some terrible things for a few minutes in heaven with him, but that’s the actor, not the character.

**for example, even though I know, instinctively, that these two are terrible for each other and will forever end in tears, you can tear the LoVe*** from my cold dead hands. They are Epic and will always be Epic.

***Logan/Veronica from Veronica Mars, who I immediately started shipping**** from the first “Annoy, tiny blonde one, annoy like the wind” and still get a little tingly from that first kiss as the camera cranes outward and “Momentary Thing” plays.

****and I suppose someone could argue that “well you ship [problematic thing] so stop being a cry-baby about other people shipping [problematic thing], and besides, it’s just fiction*****, so who cares what other people do with fictional characters?” To which I say “dude this is tumblr I will overthink whatever the hell I want and also women should not be shipped with brutal psychopaths who only see them as a means for their sadistic pleasure, especially when those psychopaths have totally and unrepentantly ruined those women’s lives and will kill them after they’ve had their fun.”******

*****yeah, it’s just fiction, but stories matter and if I can smash one patriarchal belief that a woman can save a broken and screwed up guy just because he lurves her then I think I will have fulfilled a purpose that I didn’t know I had but I will gladly accept.

******is2fg no one tell me there’s a fanfic out there where Tae-gu is revealed to be a necrophiliac bc there’s not enough brain bleach out there to unsee that image even though it would probably make total sense, dammit.

[xadoheandterra]

So I’m laying in bed awake and thinking to myself how Level Of ViolEnce might work feasibly in my headcanon’s / backstories of my fanfiction. I’ve known the way I understand it mentally to myself but I’ve never written out a comprehensive explanation before and I figure why not now So for those interested this is something that would crop up in Memory, grief thereupon calamity in the presence of children, Revive Essentia, and even R E S E T when I get around to continuing that one.

Monsters as a whole are beings that are made of love, compassion, hope...basically what we’d consider “positive” emotions. By and large they are not a “violent” species as we’d understand it. In fact we don’t ever see any Monsters with rage, anger, or hatred. Yes Undyne could arguably be considered furious at you, possibly even hate you, but primarily the emotions Undyne showcases is extreme love for her people. Undyne is performing a duty and is fighting you, trying to kill you not because she necessarily hates you but because you are killing the people around you. She shoulders the “hopes and dreams” of all the Monsters, and desires to avenge the Monster’s you’ve killed.

Even when you are in a pacifist run Undyne doesn’t desire to fight you because she hates you, but more because fighting is something that appears to be natural to Monster’s. She even slows down her attacks if you can’t seem to dodge any of her spears. In doing this she explains that she gave you that shield to defend yourself with. Undyne doesn’t desire to hurt anyone. She doesn’t desire to kill anyone. For Undyne she is performing a duty and nothing more.

Sans arguably would be the only Monster we see that might have any amount of hate in their body (aside from Flowey but I’ll get there in a moment) but then Sans also is pretty much the embodiment of depression. At most Sans is apathetic--even when you kill his brother he doesn’t hunt you down, he waits. If you stop murdering everyone he doesn’t even fight you, he let’s you go on your way. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t hate you, or want to kill you--the trick with Mercy is a prime example of the fact that maybe out of all Monsters Sans probably feels hatred for the player. Then there’s the fact that he seems to take some sort of pleasure in killing you. He counts the number of times you died against him, which hints at the idea that he has some actual recollection of past, reset events. Out of all Monster’s Sans is something else entirely. He displays abilities (Karmic Retribution, recollection of how many times he’s killed you) that other Monster’s don’t. His stats are even anomalous. 1 HP, 1 ATK, 1 DEF. His attacks do only 1 point of actual damage, and the magical act of Karmic Retribution does the rest.

Flowey we’ve seen has no compunctions about violence, no care about killing everyone, but we also know Flowey doesn’t feel things like emotions really at all. He’s listed as having absolutely no SOUL. Essentially Flowey is a consciousness with perhaps memories of emotion and emotional responses, but no actually capability of understanding that anymore. Therefore Flowey falls outside the normal understanding of what makes up a Monster’s soul.

Then there’s the human player. The amount of LV they amass means that Asgore doesn’t at first realize what they are. He doesn’t recognize them as human in a pure genocide run, because the player has gone even beyond human standards of violence. They have no care about fighting, about even killing so perhaps they are a Monster then? But why would Asgore assume that the player is a Monster at first if Monster’s SOULs don’t tend to have LV in these amounts, don’t tend to be capable of intent to harm, intent to kill? If Monster’s generally don’t feel hatred?

This is where my idea comes in. LV fundamentally changes things. The more LV you amass the more likely you are to perform such acts. Even probably there are other engative effects on Monsters considering the idea to do harm is essentially their antithesis. Monster’s who fought in the War, of which few probably remain, probably have plenty of LV whether accidental, on purpose, or just because it was war. Meaning that some Monsters have the capability and the functionality to hate, to harm. These Monsters probably don’t get into combat anymore, they don’t fight with the regular populace (because fighting seems to be a staple among Monsters, like a greeting, but they stop at the point of Mercy as evidence in their interactions with you) These Monsters who have this capability are probably monitored carefully, probably have some sort of checks and balances to allow them to be able and capable of functioning despite that they most likely have more of an inclination to do harm.

Sans is a Judge. He only fights in the Judgement Hall. He only fights when you are on a genocide run. Out of all the Monster’s Sans is one I would peg for actually having high amounts of LV, which is why he doesn’t fight unless certain parameters are met. Perhaps that’s why his stats are capped at 1, why he has the ability of Karmic Retribution. Perhaps these are some of the checks and balances that are employed to stop these Monsters from harming others, or even the detrimental effects of Monsters who gain high amounts of LV--something that seems to be the antithesis of a Monsters being. This could explain his apathy, which we mostly see as an aspect of depression. The fact that Sans just doesn’t care anymore, that there’s no point in trying anymore, because maybe on some level Sans can’t quite care in the way other Monsters can anymore. This is why I run with the idea that Sans is essentially a Boss Monster who fought in the War.

Conversely Asgore might have some level of LV, but nowhere near to the point that he’s been changed on such a fundamental level. Asgore obviously has no desire to hurt, no desire to harm. Yes he declared war on the humans and declared that if any should fall they need to be killed for their SOUL, but Asgore made these decrees out of grief and not hatred. In grief people can lash out, can perform acts that might seem like acts of hate, but they tend to regret later down the road when their grief has been processed and spent, like Asgore does. Asgore obviously sees his actions as a chance to save his people--he has no true intent to harm you, especially during a pacifist run. Conversely Asgore probably has some amount of LV just given the fact that he’s King, most likely was around during the Monster War, and any other number of factors.

Toriel might “hate” Asgore but I feel for her its more anger, frustration--no intent to harm, no real hatred. DIsappointment, anger, frustration...but not outright hate.

Which brings me to my fanction and some headcanons. Sans, Gerson, Grillby, Gaster, and Riverperson I write as all having been a part of the War. They have high levels of LV which has fundamentally changed them. Gerson, Grillby, and Riverperson are bound to jobs that enforce a lack of violence. We don’t even get to see their stats, so maybe they’re capped like Sans, or maybe there are other checks in place for them that are different. Sans is the only Monster with a job that has anything to do with violence and even then that’s under specific circumstances. So the checks and balances are thus in my headcanons.

Gaster, Grillby, Gerson, and Riverperson are literally bound to the will of Toriel. They gave their SOULs willingly into her service because they would be in combat, they would be killing, and they knew they would gain enough LV to fundamentally change them. Toriel essentially holds their leash, so they have very strict and stringent rules. They’re sentinels, guardians to watch and guard over things, but unless certain conditions are met they don’t actively fight or are allowed to do harm. They can combat, spar, attack each other sure, especially if they need to work out any level of violence or desire to harm another being. They can take the punishment, and they’re essentially bound to stop before they actually kill one another. They’re forced to share each others burdens, a basically thing like a sharing of memories, emotions, functions...to have such actions crossed over multiple Monsters lessens the effects of the high LV although not by much. Any Monster’s left over from the War are similarly bound to another Monster with either no LV, or a very minimal amount of it. They have rules, regulations, conditions on their abilities to combat. They are limited in what they can or cannot do for the protection of others and for the protection in some respects for themselves. They tend to obsess over things, display one emotion or action more prominantly over others.

Sans is apathetic, Gerson is cruel in his words sometimes, sarcastic, cynical. Riverperson is cryptic, lyrical, often sings. Grillby is silent, stoic, primarily solitary. Gaster is obsessed with science, with removing the barrier, with the Void and all the things that essentially led to his erasure from existence.

This isn’t to say they don’t feel positive things, because they do, just that these singular points tend to overtake their focus more often than not. These singular emotional responses tend to be more prominent.

So yeah, there’s the whole shebang.

[badcharacterization]

A Court of Mist and Fury

This book has appeared on so many “Best of 2016″ lists, and after reading it I wonder how many 2016 releases these people actually read... Strap yourselves in, kiddos, this is like 8 pages of rage in the original Word document. Unpopular opinions under the cut.

Note: I originally took these down as notes on my phone, I’ve edited for clarity and punctuation and stuff, but not everything is properly capitalized because this book has taken enough of my precious time already. I did something similar with ACOTAR, and will probably post that one later (it is on goodreads though). I should have cited page numbers but that would have taken forever so you’re just going to have to guess from context clues.

-time skip time skip

-the mating bond sounds super yucky

-is this foreshadowing, is Ianthe going to steal Feyre’s shitty man?

-look at them sweet gender roles

-“inherent female magic.” no thank you bro

-Feyre is straight up depressed…and it’s actually depicted well…whoa

-I’m already tired of male this and female that though. We gotta make sure that everyone knows that the Fae are “primal” and “animalistic”

-and everyone is super duper straight apparently?

-so basically Amarantha was faerie Hitler? Just in case you didn’t already think she was super evil. There’s still no explanation of why she was so twisted, and I don’t expect the author will ever give one.

-I smell some vaguely Middle Eastern cultural appropriation

-also Feyre hasn’t learned to read after months in the spring court?

-Amarantha banned holidays, like the White Witch. How original.

-Rhysand suddenly has Feyre’s best interests at heart. He must have an identical, nicer twin.

-I’m still not over him drugging her and forcing her into skimpy outfits. That will never be okay to me, no matter how nice to her he is

-let’s have some more foreshadowing about Ianthe. It’s a little not subtle and barely qualifies as foreshadowing

-I know Feyre is depressed but she is passive in an out-of-character way. She used to disobey Tamlin pretty much reflexively.

-what did Feyre think Tamlin did for income? Of course it’s egregious taxes on all his subjects

-it’s almost like the author realized that ACOTAR had problems at some point and is trying to correct them all. She apparently doesn’t really plan or outline any of her books

-it feels like Tamlin has even less self control in this book than the last one, though it was always pretty bad. The author/narrator acts like this is a significant change and a sign of how what happened has traumatized him but it…isn’t? He was always physically intimidating her and manipulating her.

-I appreciate the author acknowledging that Tamlin is an abusive overprotective jerk, but Rhysand has issues too and he hasn’t really apologized or made amends at this point

-I didn’t expect Tamlin to want a domestic wifey but I guess this is a fae thing or an “omg look how evil he is now” thing

-have some awkward writing

-it is kind of a relief when she leaves the Spring Court, mostly because nothing interesting seems to happen there and it’s all a lot of foreshadowing about Ianthe, and Feyre being surrounded by courtiers with no bearing on what happens

-the introduction of Azriel, Cassian, and Amren is kind of…fanfiction-y. There’s something about the dialogue and how you can tell them all apart in an instant that feels like it was once part of a fanfiction.

-if Velaris is so famous for art and has so many artists and its location is supposedly secret…then who’s buying the shit?

-also where are the farms

-if a girl notices a guy’s scent, it’s done.

-have some more pretty fae dudes, as if there weren’t enough already

-I don’t think the Illyrians were supposed to be POC but their portrayal as warlike, women-abusing brutes is still kinda not nuanced. The name also refers to a historical region and people in the real world so…that’s not great

-Also the mating bond seems to be purely sexual, judging by the case of Rhysand’s parents. It’s actually kind of horrifying, the idea of becoming magically bound to someone you’ve just met and may come to hate in time. Why is it so desirable? Does it usually work out fine? What happens when one partner is already married or spoken for?

-Also it’s creepy as per the usual

-Also obvious foreshadowing lol

-Also a great excuse not to properly develop a relationship

-Time to bash Feyre’s disabled father again

-Ellipses everywhere

-“You needed not to be alone.” How about you quit telling her what she needs mmmkay?

-This sentence made me gag a bit, so I’m sharing it: “the voice was at once the night and the dawn and the stars and the earth, and every inch of my body calmed at the primal dominance in it.”

-And she’s using her pet word, primal, again

-There are flushing toilets in what seemed to be a medieval shit-land…okay

-At least this relationship is being built up better, but I still can’t get over the forced drugged striptease shit

-Amren’s back story is cool

-“Deadly bit of flirtation” Feyre needs to stop being so melodramatic, he was just flirting

-The Weaver is exactly the kind of weird, creepy faerie I’ve wanted to see in this series.

-Barbecue is an odd choice of words

-Rhysand feels more like her tough life coach than a potential love interest right now.

-Why is Feyre acting like Ianthe approaching Rhysand for sex was some unforgivable assault, when he had the power to make it stop immediately? It’s not even comparable to Amarantha.

-And how could Ianthe theoretically force herself on Lucien when males seem to hold more power than females in the Spring Court? Are priestesses an exception? Are there rules about turning them down? Does she enjoy some kind of special status?

-Foreshadowing about Ianthe and Tamlin again

-It’s almost like…Ianthe was behaving like literally every male character in this goddamn series. “The ownership and arrogance in that gesture” hmmmmmm…that sounds familiar

-Double standard time: Sexually aggressive men are just alpha males, sexually aggressive women are eeeeeevil

-Feyre complains that being rich and a woman in the human world is restricting but it seemed like she had a lot of freedoms when she went back and her father had his fortune back. Also, when she was poor. Someone had to know she was sleeping with that Isaac guy. Nesta certainly did.

-Almost forgot about the female mercenary, too

-Also apparently there are queens who are in charge in the human lands, though it was only mentioned in this book?

-The whole  humans not having holidays thing is still dumb. They would have created new ones after disavowing fae ones. Whenever people abandon an ideology en masse, something usually crops up to fill the psychological void.

-time to reminisce about how shitty Feyre’s human life was

-It’s not like Feyre’s sisters were also kids when they lost their mother and their fortunes fell or anything

-Cassian and Nesta’s hate thing is a little exaggerated; the ship is almost too obvious. “Look, they’re acting like they hate each other” is a sloppy shortcut to “they have sexual tension and they’re going to end up in a relationship.” Because the author doesn’t want to spend too much time fleshing out any of the other relationships in this damn book

-If Amren ends up being a villain, too, I’m gonna lose my shit.

-Feyre’s human life sucked guys, remember? REMEMBER??? ISN’T SHE SO MUCH BETTER OFF IN DOUCHEY MISOGYNIST FAERIELAND???

-There’s an unnamed brown faerie…such diversity. Much wow

-The food is so good and spicy and shit it’s somehow curing her depression a bit…okay

-Feyre pays a lot of attention to Azriel. Begins to feel weird after the first couple of times

-“Yeah, Rhys, thanks for making me dance like a stripper, but the magical disembodied music was great”

-I almost like Cassian now. Almost

-Unless Ianthe is secretly super powerful I think Lucien doesn’t have to worry about her “preying” on him. Chill.

-So Rhysand and Feyre are basically texting…okay

-Rhysand is petty as shit about Tarquin: “I know we’re not in an actual relationship or anything…but I’m mad because you smiled at him.” All the men in this series need to chill

-Varian and Amren makes no sense. It just crops up out of the blue…and is…a thing

-The language around attraction is interesting and gendered. Men are “predatory” when they’re interested in a woman. He gets “lethal focus” on her. Which leaves me wondering…does he want to fuck her or eat her? I honestly can’t tell.

-What does “tattooed panes of his chest” even mean? His chest is a window?

-Have a very vague description of Rhysand’s room

-SJM always writes romances where the characters instantly click or feel attraction, and the only thing keeping them apart is stubbornness

-This part feels like a draft, it’s a summary of Feyre’s training and interactions with Mor, and I actually want to see what that’s like. Mor was supposed to be a less manipulative replacement for Ianthe, but we hardly get to see her interactions with Feyre

-The way Feyre is dressed, she’s basically being presented as Rhys’s partner and she doesn’t seem to mind? Unless Mor gets a crown, too, and the author just neglected to mention it

-So two of the queens are married to each other? Yay! Background token LGBT characters

-How do the mortal lands even work, politically? Two of the queens can be married to one another and not have to worry about producing heirs? Why so many queens? Do they rule together or each govern different kingdoms?

-Most of the queens get a sentence or two of description, but then SJM goes on and on about the beautiful one and treats her as the most important woman in the group

-Also all beautiful women hate each other at first sight y’all

-I thought she only picked Mor’s name because she thought it sounded cool but she’s actually (clumsily) referencing Irish mythology

-So humans and fae can interbreed, like in the Throne of Glass series

-“The Black Land” seems like the author gave up on names. It also resembles the name for Ancient Egypt, and the description of its history confirms that

-Also what is with all the evil faerie queens running around? How can someone be much worse than Ms. Tortures-Everyone, Amarantha?

-If the queens know of the Veritas but have never actually laid eyes on it, how would they know it shows the truth?

-Okay, let’s have entire pages all about the sex lives of Illyrians. Thanks, Sarah, I really needed to know that

-Of course sex stuff is more thought out than anything with the politics, magic system…or like anything else

-Okay, obviously Rhysand is someone she likes now, why is flirting with him still “lethal” and “dangerous”? Is she afraid of Tamlin’s reaction?

-…how would wings make for interesting sex positions? Maybe my imagination is just lacking but…why

-the description of the court of nightmares is super vague

-It feels like YA female protagonists always have to have a female friend or servant who’s more into clothes and makeup to dress them. It’s almost like a main character can’t actually be invested in girly things

-I think this scene is meant to show how much things have changed since Rhysand forced Feyre to dance like a stripper and drink drugged wine Under the Mountain, because now he asked her permission before including her in his schemes…but it rings hollow for me. This romance doesn’t work unless you ignore everything from book 1

-“That primal, male rage” you just gotta gender everything

-also really convenient that the author gets to attribute everything awful Rhysand has ever done to his “mask” or persona as a high lord

-Yeah let’s keep woobifying him and brining up how awful Amarantha was. It makes him look better…if you don’t think about it too hard

-The Starfall scene is kinda vague and doesn’t do much narratively, just like the solstice scene in book 1.

-LOOK LADIES RHYSAD IS A FEMINIST!!! DOESN’T THAT CANCEL OUT EVERYTHING BAD HE’S EVER DONE?!??!?!?

-So the Illyrian blood rite is basically faerie Hunger Games.

-So Rhysand is not only the most powerful high lord alive, but he’s also the most powerful of all time?

-Feyre’s description of him fingering her is ridiculous. “Every point in my body, my mind, my soul, narrowed to the feeling of his fingers…”

-Why does it seem like SJM has a thing for whipping? Also why are they whipping him? Torture for information? Just to show that they’re a bunch of irredeemably evil dicks?

-This isn’t a YA novel. It just isn’t.

-I sense some drama over the whole “you knew we were mates all along” thing

-Yep

-How is this the most important thing in a fae’s life though?

-Feyre has every right to be mad at him, and confused and shit. Jeesh.

-So the mating bond involves the female offering food to the male…gender roles galore

-If he felt the mating bond when she was human, does that mean that high fae can bond with humans, or that she was meant to change?

-So the faeries who tried to assault Feyre on Calanmai are called “Picts”…that’s an actual historical people, just like Illyrians. Kinda icky, even if no one really identifies with those names anymore

-Her descriptions of orgasms are always ridiculous

-“A slow, satisfied male smile” WE GET IT SARAH HE’S MALE JESUS CHRIST

-They sexed so hard they caused an avalanche? The fuck?

-What’s with all the roaring

-Another “male” smile. This is my least favorite phrase

-Post mating bond behavior is not cute. He wants to fight any “male” who looks at or comments on Feyre, including Cassian, who’s just a little shit

-“Feral” returns

-The mating bond makes them act like animals in heat and FEYRE CAN’T SO MUCH AS GLANCE AT ANOTHER MALE WITHOUT RHYS REACTING? HOW IS THIS DESIRABLE?

-And, sure, he’s fighting it, but this is still being presented as a model relationship?

-“Purr” has returned

-oh no the human queens are such awful bitches for not trusting the people who historically screwed humans over a bunch.

-The description of what happens and what Mor looks like when she holds the Veritas is kind of vague

-It’s understandable and logical for the queens to suspect manipulation, the only really bad thing about them is that they’re willing to abandon the humans on Prythian

-Lemme guess, Nesta and Cassian are mates, too? Isn’t it supposed to be super rare?

-So the beautiful young queen is nice after all. Beauty=goodness, kiddos

-How does Feyre know that the other queens betrayed them? The info could have been tortured out of them and they could be dumping the other bodies all over the city for all she knows? It seems like she’s leaping to conclusions [note: she ends up being right, of course]

-How can Feyre see Amren? Are they that close to each other? Cassian and Azriel are airborne but it sounds like city streets are between Feyre and Amren and buildings should be obstructing the view

-Sometimes SJM tries too hard to be a serious writer

-The fight is pretty cool, it just feels a little too effortless and efficient. It’s also frustrating that Feyre has had this vast power and hasn’t really used it much in combat until now

-her skill is made a little more believable by the fact that she doesn’t have a lot of precision, just raw power.

-Rhys is respecting her autonomy! Let’s just forget about book 1 completely

-So…the ring retrieval was a test to determine if she was strong enough to be his mate, too…not a douche move at all

-So convenient that all of the Hybern soldiers/underlings are sadistic creeps, it means the mains don’t have to regret killing them

-Jurian is described as tan, like many of the other characters in the book. But it just makes me think they’re meant to be white people with tans.

-The King of Hybern has no name and is also described as “blandly handsome” like a man in his 40s…wait I thought all fae are super beautiful and look young?

-So…literally all the faeries in Hybern’s court are dead-eyed and evil and there’s no art or furniture. That sounds fake…but okay.

-Just in case you didn’t understand that Tamlin isn’t just a bad person, now he’s super evil and possessive…oh wait he always was

-He actually has a point about Rhysand, how can you ever fully trust someone who could possibly mess with your mind?

-Also kind of messed up how two of the evil humans queens are like the only queer characters in the goddamn books so far

-why would the queens buy the idea that the king of Hybern is on their side? He wants to bring down the wall, unless he somehow hid that part from them

-it’s baaaaad for women to want power and eternal life. They can only have it if men give it to them

-Speaking of which, IANTHE IS EVIL GUYS! WHO SAW THIS COMING???

-So Hybern and Ianthe’s plan is to overthrow the high lords and let the priestesses rule. I know they’re supposed to be corrupt or whatever, even though there’s not any concrete evidence of this, but how is overthrowing the high lords a bad thing?

-While the twist with Nesta and Elain has interesting potential, Nesta and Cassian being mates is boring

-And super obvious

-Weird that Feyre suddenly thinks of her father, out of the blue, after weeks of not giving a fuck about him, when Elain is changed. Also prioritizing men’s feelings…again

-King of Hybern made a creepy comment about Mor and then forgot her, very cartoonish

-THIS SCENE IS DRAMATIC ENOUGH!!! Why add the Elain/Lucien mates reveal? Jeesh

-Gotta demonize that young ambitious queen for looking at fae men

-Sudden convenient powers

-And now a sudden chapter from Rhysand’s POV

-So Amren says mating bonds can’t be broken, but I’d be more interested in the story if it was in fact breakable and if Feyre and Rhysand would have to decide to live and love without it. This book treats it like the end-all-be-all though

-Awww Amren cares about Feyre after all

-Rhysand’s narrative voice sounds like Feyre’s, where I would expect him to sound very different

-GUYS RHYSAND MADE FEYRE HIS HIGH LADY DOESN’T THAT MAKE HIM THE BEST FEMSINIST EVER?!?!? WOMEN CAN STILL ONLY DERIVE POWER FROM MEN IN THIS UNIVERSE…BUT RHYSAND IS A SEXY FEMININST

-this is treated like a plot twist and I wish the scene had actually been shown…although that would only make this godforsaken book even longer.

-Aaaaand it’s totally confirmed after like two pages that the mating bond isn’t broken…just kill the drama and tension…just murder it

-Lucien is obviously suspicious of Feyre

Final thoughts

-Tamlin allying with Hybern comes off as stupid, not evil. Granted, he did not seem all that intelligent in ACOTAR, but you would expect someone who’s lived for centuries to be a bit savvier. He had to have heard of what Hybern was all about

-Women are constantly defined by their relationships with men. Like apparently the mating bond existed when Feyre was still human and Rhysand sent her visions of the night sky to comfort her and she painted it on her dresser drawer. It’s a minor thing but it just keeps coming up

-Feyre just kinda lacks agency in general. It’s supposed to be this cool, “she’s learning how to fight and defend herself” plot in the middle of the book, but Rhysand determines her goals, and his wants and needs drive the plot more than hers. It gets worse after the mating bond sets in.

-Also Ianthe is the only female character who does not have a devoted relationship with one man and she is demonized for keeping herself independent and sleeping around. Mor also isn’t in an established relationship, but it’s obvious that the author is hinting at her and Azriel being a potential couple.

-I would like to see Cassian cope with a disability, one that makes him worthless in the eyes of his culture…but I know that shit is getting cured ASAP, of course after milking it for a bit of melodrama and man feels. Like, there is no way he’ll actually have to go without his wings

-Ianthe’s betrayal of Feyre’s sisters lacks a real punch. Even when Feyre implicitly trusted her, she obviously didn’t like Ianthe much and her sinister intentions were heavily foreshadowed. If that relationship had actually been established as a strong friendship, the betrayal would seem like much more of a betrayal. Instead, it’s kind of like “Oh no, I knew there was a reason I didn’t like her all along.”

-This book seems to call into question the idea that the high fae are superior to and different from lesser faeries, especially if Illyrians can interbreed with high fae. This still doesn’t indicate where things like the Suriel and the Weaver fit in the hierarchy. It’s implied that both are more powerful than individual high fae, though it seems that the Suriel is pretty easily deceived and captured. The world building doesn’t make any sense if you question it too much

-The whole “lesser faeries deserve better” message that crops up once or twice, in between all the feels and sex, also rings hollow because pretty much all lesser fae so far have been demonized or portrayed in a negative light. The Picts, the Naga, the Attor and his dudes, etc.

-If Rhys is so awesome, why let the Court of Nightmares keep existing in its current state? Especially if he supposedly cares about Mor so much?

-In that scene where Feyre is watching her sisters get dunked into the cauldron, it all feels very detached. She’s watching Cassian and Lucien’s reactions, when I feel like she should be very narrowly focused on her sisters and what’s happening to them. The author doesn’t fully commit to the first person POV, because she wants to make it very, very super obvious to the audience that Cassian is Nesta’s mate and Lucien is Elain’s, but it makes the scene lack something emotionally. First person gives you the ability to make the narration emotional and immediate, but that comes at certain costs. One character can’t see or notice everything you want them to.

-Also she’s just always got to prioritize male feels over female suffering. OH LOOK SOMETHING HORRIBLE IS HAPPENING TO A WOMAN AND OH NO A MAN IS REALLY REALLY SAD AND ANGSTY ABOUT IT LET’S FOCUS ON HIM INSTEAD

-The author just seems to care more about men than women, in all honesty, and this is part of the reason I can’t just escape into this world or consider this book even a guilty pleasure. The Throne of Glass books were starting to get this way, too, especially because she keeps killing off the girls of color in that series.

-And basically any woman who’s greedy or doesn’t derive her power from a man is demonized. Especially if they’re sexually active or aggressive in their pursuit of the men they want. Rhysand’s behavior in ACOTAR was even worse than Ianthe’s, it’s such a double standard and it’s laughable that anyone would call these books feminist. There is nothing in Ianthe’s actions to imply that she is violating any of the men she’s pursued. She’s pushy, shady, and needs to learn when to back off, sure, but it’s not like she’s assaulting anyone. Especially when the men she’s gone after are obviously way more powerful than her (Lucien, too, is obviously the heir of the Autumn Court, even if he enjoys lower status in the Spring Court).

-I’m still not over the idea that getting rid of the High Lords would not be bad. Like, Rhysand and Feyre both agreed that the current social system is stultified and deeply unfair to “females” and “lesser faeries”? How is the idea itself so bad and repulsive to them? They react with disgust and shock when Hybern brings it up

-I feel like pretty much every character is more interesting than Rhysand, with the possible exception of Tamlin. This may be mostly because I feel that they have potential and that the author hasn’t written enough about any of them and hasn’t had the chance to ruin them or waste their potential (like Manon in Throne of Glass). She just tries way too hard to make Rhysand seem sympathetic and loveable after all of the questionable things he did in book 1. And it shows.

-Come to think of it, it’s super strange that the Night Court lands are so neatly divided into “sadistic shitty assholes” in the Court of Nightmares and “peaceful artsy people” in Velaris. Like, what nation has ever been like that? People aren’t either irredeemable dicks or good people, every place has a mix of people.

-Amren feels like the kind of character I would love with a different author, but is barely developed. Same with the rest of the inner circle: Azriel is too much of a cipher to really make me care, Cassian is kinda all over the place, and Mor is built up as this amazing female role model who’s been through so much and has great inner strength…but then the author barely pays attention to her. Basically, the author cares about her self insert and her perfect love interest, and everyone else is just set dressing.

-The King of Hybern is so boring, and is just like the King of Adarlan in Throne of Glass. The comparison is even more obvious because neither of them ever receives an actual name.

-There were some moments where ACOTAR was well written/compelling, however fleeting. There were also spots that showed some potential. There are more of those in this book, but as more of the world is revealed, it becomes clear that it’s all built on heteronormativity and a rigid view of gender and gender roles. The magic system is poorly developed, the politics and geography is poorly established, and the plot limps. Instead of tightening these things up, the author chooses to focus on romance and sex, pausing frequently to allow the main characters to have sexual tension, going on for pages about the sex lives of her winged fetish-boys, and demonizing anyone who stands in the protagonists’ way. This story isn’t really about the looming war, it’s about two people falling in love and having a bunch of sex. All of the other stuff is just stuff she needs to put down on the page so she can get back to describing male abs and sex scenes. That’s not to say that this is a bad thing, but I expect more plot, world building, and character development out of something that’s labeled as “fantasy” and about 600 pages long. And the romance just doesn’t work for me. Too much brooding and woobifying, the bond is just boring and too convenient.

-There were a few times I almost quit this book, but about midway through I started hearing about what a shitfest ACOWAR is and that motivated me to finish, because I love a good shitfest, if I’m in the right mood.

[mild-lunacy]

So I was thinking about what people want in fairy-tales and love stories, as well as queer characters in modern YA fantasy. Relatedly, I was thinking about what appeals to me about stories that include all these elements... and I think I understand the underlying reason why I disagree with or just can't relate to the common Tumblr rhetoric against the representation in The Raven Cycle. Basically... I think I just like casual, implicit queerness, because I always value the broader story first. By contrast, Tumblr fandom aesthetic is basically the opposite.

Like, my main interests in potential stories or adaptations are not about what they'd look like or whether I could identify with them on a Driver's ID level. No matter what, I know I could identify with a well-written character-- no matter their color, gender, or even whether they're human. I tend to *want* characters to be different from me, so I get a bigger rush in growing to love and understand them, which is why you could probably say I ultimately care about John more than Sherlock, or Adam Parrish more than say, Blue or Gansey (I'm like a mix of Blue and Gansey... or maybe just the introverted parts of Gansey). I'm really nothing like John (or Adam), and I'm a lot like Molly Hooper, but Molly's a character I'm not very interested in, in part 'cause we just don't *know* her very well. For me, stories are about exploring rather than seeing myself, if only because I *always* eventually see myself. That's the magic of fiction. The more you see any character, the more you're seeing yourself. So I simply want to get to know them as deeply and honestly as possible. Before I start a story, I'm always interested in asking, what are that character's interests and passions? What are their strengths and what are they afraid of? What's the magic that's most central to their story? What is their goal in life, and how does it intersect with their love interest? Who does that character want to protect the most? What is the adaptation saying about certain aspects of its source or inspiration? That's what interests me. That's what seems most important, most vivid. These things always come first.

The story comes first, unless the story is about the characters' sexuality or social life as modern people-- and like I said, I prefer stories about magic (and secrets, fears, even teenage drama in mild doses). That's why Maggie Stiefvater was on my wavelength when she said she wouldn't break up Adam and Ronan in the sequel 'cause she's interested in other things, or even Mark Gatiss and his now-infamous comments about not wanting to do a love story. Of course, I actually love stories about love, and I'm obsessed with romance (seeing as how I keep reading shippy fanfic), but I still relate. I don't like even my *fanfic* to be about projection or pure fantasizing, although neither do I enjoy overt social realism in fics (unless it's sci-fi/fantasy stuff, like Omegaverse). I'm definitely also interested in other things: to me, that's where the interesting plot and deeper characterization stuff is. I definitely think having more queer characters in fantasy and YA lit is so important and necessary, and I think the old fairy-tales-- like fanfiction-- are made to be remade in our image. Even so, I've never felt the urge to treat YA books like The Raven Cycle (or to even imagine such books) as if they're equivalent in their needs and focus to shippy fanfiction.

This familiarity and focus on shippy fics and headcanons or pure projection fantasies might mess with fandom's expectations or interests a bit, and help explain why there's often a clash. I do realize that The Raven Cycle is not the standard, though it's a somewhat bigger fandom than other YA or fantasy novels with canonically queer characters, which seem to have a much more laid-back fandom. I've admitted that there's a valid complaint that people in fandom have, even if I still disagree in terms of the canon analysis involved. Ironically, in that post I said that BBC Sherlock could and *should* be judged differently 'cause I thought it's 'by and for' queer people. It's just so frustrating and disappointing to realize how little is out there that is authentically 'ours', in our voices. That's a real social issue I do care about rather than an interest I have in reading (as in, I don't seek out stuff to watch or read based *purely* on representation issues 'cause I'm just... a geek with other special interests, essentially). Still, you can't really divorce the social impact and personal meaning from fiction. That's what makes people care, generally (even though... like I said, what makes me care is fun magic stuff, passionate feelings and good characterization). Anyway, this focus on social justice and broad familiarity with fic that's made by shippers, for shippy purposes, really makes it inevitable that many fanon-centric fans and professional authors (or more canon-whorish fans) will talk past each other.

Actually, I also think this might help explain my super-picky taste in fanfic, a bit. A lot of people seem to read based on general ships, kinks or tropes they want to see, and it's not like that's not a nice bonus, 'cause that's how I narrow things *down*. I don't bother if it's not my ship, and I'll certainly always give my favorite fantasy tropes the best chance to further beguile me, but I read almost entirely for characterization. Whenever I read fic *purely* for a ship or trope (and sometimes I try, with guilty pleasures like Omegaverse for example), I'm so easily irritated it's maddening, 'cause narrative logic and plausibility-- as well as good writing-- are priceless. Anyway, definitely different priorities. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯