#THE FEELINGS ARE SO NUANCED AND COMPLEX ITS INCREDIBLE

[cowboycharmac]

ok i dont want to be the language police or whatever and bitch is a really good curse in the right context but could we all remember that it is also a gendered insult and calling women "bitches" when theyre angry or when they get assertive in a way you dont like has some bad undertones.

[a-passing-storm]

I started watching the Terminator movies, and I... meh. Terminator 1 was Not That Interesting to me, and Terminator 2 had a better premise (imo), but it just... none of it Sits Well with me. (My issue is I’m comparing it to the Matrix.) (I typed this all in the tags but I think I passed the tag limit so that sucks.)

[calware]

why you should vote for vriska in the 2023 tumblrwoman election

@lutzlig is hosting a series of polls to determine who the ultimate tumblr woman is. love her or hate her, here is why she is objectively the most fitting candidate for this title:

1. she's canonically attracted to women all throughout the homestuck series as well as transfem in pesterquest. SHE HAS A GIRLFRIEND!! she is without a doubt an LGBTQ icon

2. THIS IS THE HOMESTUCK WEBSITE. homestuck ABSOLUTELY dominated tumblr during its peak. homestuck is an integral facet of tumblr's early culture, don't forget your heritage. homestuck was even ranked #6 in the top webseries of tumblr in 2022, surpassing other popular media such as MBMBAM, heartstopper, WTNV, hazbin hotel, HLVRAI, sanders sides, RWBY, and TMA. we were here from the beginning and we're here to STAY. and vriska has proven that she has stood the test of time.

3. she's instantly recognizable. practically everyone who's been online during the 2010s has heard of her one way or another due to just how prevalent she is. you could even argue that she's the most recognizable homestuck character out of the entire cast.

4. she invented an entirely new genre of discourse. we all know that she's infamous for frequently starting arguments on forums so drawn-out and aggressive that they had to be locked. people still argue about her TODAY. after THIRTEEN YEARS!!! she is perfect for tumblr

5. she's an incredibly interesting and unique character. she's somehow both a protagonist and an antagonist simultaneously. you want to hate her and you want to feel bad for her and you want to see her die and you want to see her come back to life. her characterization is so complex and nuanced, she's both a victim of abuse and an abuser. she breaks all rules and expectations. you never know what she'll do next and there is nobody else quite like her

6. her personality embodies tumblr's culture perfectly. she's a nerd. she's a gamer. SHE'S WEIRD. she's an outcast. she roleplays. everyone hates her. everyone loves her. she's bold and she's brash and she'll only go down kicking and screaming and fighting until the bitter end. they've tried to kill her so many times but she always sticks around, just like our near and dear website

[lakesbian]

i have had like 10 friends rec worm to me but nobody’s given me a good like, gist of its vibe and what its abt because ‘its best blind’, could u please give a like brief summary and vibe check of it 😭 it’s so long i dont wanna try and invest that much time without knowing much abt it

so, worm is a 1.7 million word long webserial written in 2010. 1.7 million words seems like a lot, but it was also written over a relatively short period of time, which means the writing style is very easy to parse--the ideas aren't without complexity, but the language itself isn't intimidatingly dense. you can get through it at a very decent pace. i agree with your friends that there are vast portions of worm that hit best when you're unspoiled, but the thing is that worm is long enough that giving you the basic plot pitch is in no way spoilers for any of the things that i wouldn't want to see spoiled for someone. i'm actually kind of baffled they're not telling you Any Thing, because it is in my estimation one of the best books i've ever read, but it also Needs a briefing before you get into it for like five different reasons. which i will now provide. i swear to god this is brief by my standards it's just that i am very thorough

worm is a story about superheroes and supervillains, set in a world where superpowers are traumagenic--rather than appearing randomly or innately, some people gain powers after a traumatizing event happens to them. the protagonist is taylor hebert, a 15yo girl who has the power to control insects and desperately wants to be a superhero. and then accidentally finds herself scouted by a team of teenage villains instead. who's to say how she's going to react to all that!

one of the most compelling things about worm is that the superpowers in it serve as visceral, hyper-literal metaphors for the trauma and traumatized coping mechanisms of the characters with those powers. each power is incredibly specific and thematically relevant to the person who has it, and it's incredibly interesting and evocative. it feels so natural and well-done that it comes off like how superpowers are just meant to be written.

the fact that superpowers stem from trauma also means that worm is fundamentally a narrative about trauma. specifically, about traumatized teenagers and the relationships they form as they cling together while struggling through growing up traumatized & mutually coping with an increasingly intriguing, intense, and far-reaching escalating plot. worm's depictions of trauma + mental illness--including unpalatable trauma responses, including traumatized characters who are allowed to be complicated and nuanced and messy while still receiving narrative respect--are deeply real-feeling and impactful, and they're placed in the context of a well-spun + engaging story.

i really do have to stress how excellent the character writing is. worm is fully deserving of being as long as it is. over the course of 1.7 million words of character development, the average reader's reaction to the main characters goes from "sorta interesting" to "okay, i want to see where this goes" to "augh...really likable" to "i am now on hands and knees crying and these characters are going to stick around in my brain forever." wildbow has incredible talent for efficiently conveying complicated, real-feeling, and viscerally evocative characterization. many of the interlude chapters (chapters written from the perspective of different characters other than taylor) are so interesting, fleshed-out, and emotionally affecting that they make you wish you could read an entire novel about just the side character being featured. with that level of characterization for just the side cast, it's not surprising that taylor (& co) are genuinely just downright iconic. and i do not say that lightly--taylor is truly one of the best-written protagonists i've seen in anything. ever.

the other main pitch-point for worm is that it's a fascinating deconstruction/reconstruction/examination of the conceits of the superhero genre. it answers the question of--what would the world have to be like, for people with superpowers to act the way they do in classic cape media? and it does this well enough that it's interesting even if you have only a passing familiarity with cape media. i am not a big superhero media fan, but worm addresses virtually every aspect of cape media that was under the sun around 2010 in a way that's so interesting i still find it incredibly engaging. the approach it takes makes the narrative very accessible even to people who aren't usually cape media fans.

and speaking of the narrative: the end of the story is coherent and satisfying and deeply thematically resonant*. the way worm follows through on all of its main mysteries & plot threads is excellent. you don't have to worry about getting thru 1.7 million words and being dissatisfied by the author shitting the bed at the end, or anything like that. he does an amazing job of weaving together plot events in a way that makes each successive one feel rationally, thematically, and emotionally connected to what came before. there's really only one part where i feel the story stumbles a bit, but i think it was the best option he had for the narrative, and it's by no means a dealbreaker. it's in fact really impressive how cohesive and satisfying worm is for such a long webserial released over such a brief period of time.

*this is subjective ive seen some people who didnt love it but ive never seen anyone who downright Hated it who didnt also demonstrate egregious misunderstanding of literally everything worm is about. so thats a good sign

as for the downsides of worm/things that might put you off:

there is a very long list of trigger warnings for it. if you have any trigger warnings you want you should ask your friends to let you know about the relevant parts, because the fact that it's About Trauma (& about typical cape media circumstances presented very seriously) means that traumatic and violent things & their realistic aftermath are constantly happening and/or being discussed. i would not classify worm as needlessly dark or spiteful to the audience by any means, but it is intense and covers a lot of heavy topics. i do assume if your friends are all recommending it to you, they think none of the material would be too much for you, though!

worm was written in 2010 by a white cishet guy from canada. it's typical levels of 2010-era bigoted, it has a deeply lesbophobic stereotype character, it has some atrociously racist stereotype characters, the author really hates addicts, It's Got Blind Spots. i think worm is generally fully worth reading despite these, but very fair warning that it can get bad. i think what exacerbates this is that worm is generally extremely nuanced & sympathetic regarding ideas such as "crime is a result of systematic circumstance vs people just being inherently evil" and "mentally ill people who are traumatized in unpalatable ways are still deserving of fundamental respect as human beings" and so on and so forth, so it's extra noticeable and insufferable when you get to a topic the author has unexamined biases on and all that nuance drops out. the worst part is that a lot of this is most concentrated in the early arcs, so you have to get through them without being super attached to any of the characters yet. it is worth it though.

worm like. Does have a central straight relationship in it. and it's a very well written straight relationship for the most part and i like it quite a lot. but worm also passes the bechdel test with such flying colors that it enters 'unintentionally homoerotic' territory. which means a lot of people were shipping the main character ms taylor hebert with her female friends while the story was being released. which caused the author to get so mad he 1. posted a word of god to a forum loudly insisting that all of the girls are straight and 2. inserted a few deeply awkward and obvious and out of character scenes where he finds an excuse for the girls to more or less turn to the camera and go "i'm not gay, btw. this is platonic." This is fucking insufferable, and will piss you off immensely, but then you will get to any of the number of deeply emotionally affecting scenes between them, and at that point you will be too busy sniffling piteously and perhaps crytyping an analysis post on tumblr to be mad about all that other shit. also they're only a couple tiny portions out of an entire overall fantastic novel

overall: if those points don't sound like dealbreakers (i hope they aren't they're really massively outstripped by the amount of devastatingly good moments in worm, worm still has a thriving fandom over a decade later for a reason), you should absolutely give it a shot and see what you think. my final note is that you have to read up until the end of arc 8 to really see where what makes worm Worm kicks in, so aim for at least there to see how you feel about it if you're just thinking about dipping your toes in vs fully committing. i hope that was helpful and not too long :)

oh and don't go in the comments section on wordpress if you don't want spoilers. or anywhere else in the fandom at all. you will be spoiled. quite possibly for things you could not even have imagined were topics to be spoiled on.

[ladyloveandjustice]

My Favorite Continuing Manga I Read in 2023

I went into the brand new manga I read in this post, but here's an update on some great continuing series!

Shout out to She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat for having phenomenal storyline about find the courage to cut toxic family members off, which is pretty rare to see (in manga especially)! The story explores how your family can impose a relationship with food that harms you in many different ways, and how finding acceptance of your food habits helps you heal. It also continues to be a lovely exploration of queer adults finding themselves that makes the point that your experiences don't have to fit in a box.  And I appreciate that they included a character who doesn't like eating that much for me to relate to! See my first review here, 

Now for a quick word about the other great continuing manga I read:

- I Want to be a Wall really upped it's game and included a nuanced discussion about asexuality that I loved seeing. See first review here.

- Yuri is My Job is still the best lesbian drama manga around and hits hard. See previous discussion here,

- A Man and His Cat is still the sweetest and Yona of the Dawn is as action packed and intriguing as ever...I feel a climax slowly coming!

- A Bride’s Story is still wonderfully done historical fiction with lush art while How Do We Relationship continues to develop its web of queer relationships nicely.

- Witch Hat Atelier is still a wondrous story of magic, creativity, accessibility, and struggling under unfair systems, all told in a fascinating fantasy setting with loveable, complex characters and incredible art.

A lot of manga I like concluded this year too, so let's take a slightly longer look at the conclusions!

Dungeon Meshi- The conclusion to one of my favorite fantasy manga ever was fittingly bombastically weird and fully satisfying. It filled you up like good food should. Live well instead of being consumed by fear of death and loss. Eat well instead of working yourself to the bone and neglecting your needs. Follow your own path, but cherish your connections and get together for a good meal. This series and its intricate world and wonderful characters will stay with me for a long time.

Catch These Hands- See my first review here. I enjoyed the cute conclusion to this series, and it was nice to see a little ace rep and a message about not conforming to society's expectations of "adulthood". It's an ode to delinquent girls that a sukeban stan like me can get behind! A lot of the stuff that annoyed me in the second volume was mostly dropped for the third and fourth, so that's also nice.

Run Away With Me Girl- See my first review here. I wish this had been a little longer, but the conclusion worked well and was cathartic.

Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon- See my first review here. A nice conclusion to a cute, slow-paced little romance series, with yet more ace rep!

The Two of Them are Pretty Much Like This- see my first review here. This conclusion felt a bit rushed, with plot lines still dangling, like it was cancelled early or something. But the series is still good overall, and I'll miss it.

My Love Mix Up -This sweet-as-pie series about cute gay misunderstandings leading to romance comes to a fittingly sweet conclusion. It's sad waving goodbye to these silly, good-hearted kids, but I'm satisfied with where they ended up.

[misscryptidart]

No but actually make me a WWDITS (union) writer because the relationship and social aspects of humans VS vampires is so fucking interesting.

Like, I know the meme of the Baron choose drama over violence in his confrontation with Guillermo, but the side conversation between the two, "vampire to vampire", immediately reads as a different level of intimacy and familiarity that the baron had not shown to Guillermo prior. The respect between the two, the frankness the Baron gives Guillermo, they are portrayed as equals. Perhaps not friends, but equals.

The relationship between familiar and vampire is also displayed in a new context. Nadja, as soon as she found out that Guillermo was turned, immediately began to correct Guillermo's behavior and teach him what little she could ("You can't treat your master like that. That connection is sacred. If he gets killed, you get killed. You treat him with respect."). Being a familiar is not only serving your master, but building that connection with your eventual sire. Its the time where the master is supposed to be preparing their familiar for the complex and nuanced life of vampirism, easing the transition for not only the new fledging but also the risk the sire is taking. To have another vampire, one who has not groomed and taken care of the familiar, turn them is a clear violation of the expectations of the master role. Nandor, by the social contracts of vampirism, was the one to "train" and "prepare" Guillermo for his introduction to the un-living. Derik took that connection and ruined it. No wonder he was so fucking pissed.

I think it lends itself well to the reality that vampires and humans are not equals. Humans live short lives and have a limited world experience, but they are dangerous and clever. Vampires have the gift of endless possibilities and power unlike any others, but they are reliant on the humans for food and must navigate a world that actively works against their nature. Of course they see humanity as "the others", ones who can't ever possibly understand what it means to be a vampire. Of course they are going to be incredibly cautious when allowing one into their world. The running gag of familiars never actually being turned makes a lot more sense when you put in the perspective that vampires are incredibly protective of themselves and those of their inner circle. It also explains why they are so willing to disregard or kill their familiars. They can't understand what it means to be a vampire. They will die anyways. Who cares?

The Staten Island Vampires stand out so distinctly because they choose to integrate themselves into human society earnestly, eager to explore and learn about their neighbors. Not in a malicious manner, such as a wolf in sheep's clothing, but as a genuine "Hey, I'm here. I want to experience this. I want to be apart of this."

Very rarely in vampire media, in my opinion, does it show the vampires attempting to live their lives interwoven with humanity like WWDITS does. Even Twilight, the most modern adaptation of a vampiric story, has the Cullen's act alien and disinterested in the world around them. But the Staten Island Vampires are involved! Laszlo hangs out with Sean with no intentions of feeding from him, Nandor goes to the gym and movies and actively seeks new friendships, Nadja connects with her roots and visits Little Antipaxos! They are people living in a world of other people, and the world feels so full because of that.

I love monsters and mythology and folklore and terrible little creatures so goddamn much

[greedandenby]

Jacob & Sam talking about queerness in IWTV.

A compilation of stuff they've said in interviews.

(Long post!)

A.V. Club

Q: The show is being hailed as unabashedly queer as compared to the film adaptation. Why was that important to both of you and the show’s creators?

SR: It’s what’s written in the book. We’re doing the book and it’s the way it’s supposed to be.

JA: It’s true to the story.

SR: It’s true to what Anne wanted and, yeah… it’s time.

JA: It would be rude not to.

SR: Yeah.

Comicbook

Q: How important was it for the two of you to get this aspect of the story (the queerness of the books) not only correct, but to tell the full breadth and aspect of this very unique relationship?

JA: (…) For one, we have to acknowledge that the books are very queer. I think that IWTV Louis is not talking about it, at least in terms of Lestat.

SR: Until you get to the second half of the book. By the second half of the book, Louis does sort of start to acknowledge that it was something more, which I think is such a cool… (…) I think the relationship, the way Louis describes it in the beginning is sort of like, is it subtext or has he acknowledged it or is he just angry with the way it worked out? But I really feel that as we go on, the text is the text. It’s very clear that they’re in love and that they’re in a romantic relationship. I don’t think we would be doing the Anne Rice universe or doing the Vampire Chronicles if that wasn’t the case. I think it would be something else. And it would be a waste of time for us too because the fun stuff comes from the complexities of the relationship and the dynamics and all the detail and nuance that they have. If we’re doing a “will they won’t they” or, like, subtle glances across the room then you spend all the time on that tension rather than the really complicated toxic dynamic that exists between the two of them.

JA: Yeah, and then also playing that off against that tension and the aftermath of some of those fights. It suddenly rebuilds this sexual and emotional tension. Like you said, you get to explore the breadth of a relationship. But yeah, they’re each other’s endgame, aren’t they? In the books, they always come home to each other. I think it’s telling that that seems to be the denouement or the end of a lot of the novels: Louis and Lestat being petty and in love.

Esquire

Q: The 1994 film adaptation of Interview With the Vampire shied away from depicting the romance between Lestat and Louis. Your adaptation is very explicit; at one point, we even see Lestat and Louis have sex while levitating. Rolin Jones described this series as “an excitable, aggressive, toxic, beautiful love story.” What did that mean to you, finally getting to tell the story in its full, explicit sensuality?

SR: I was very happy it was going that way, because it wouldn't be Interview With the Vampire if it didn't. It’s really important that we explored that, because a big part of their relationship is this intense connection. Anne Rice describes drinking each other's blood as incredibly erotic, almost like having sex. So how do you translate that on screen? I guess nude levitation translates quite well. I think it's really important that we don't shy away from it, because if we spend the whole season going, "Will they? Won't they?," we don't get to the really interesting parts of this complex relationship. Getting straight down to it means we can look at the dynamics of this pair—how they hurt each other and how they build each other up.

JA: With the levitating scene, we talked a lot about how you need those moments of joy and excitement and romance so it's not all about tortured Catholic guilt. We've seen vampire stories told that way before, and like Sam said, you then can't get into the messiness of their relationship. You have to really believe. You have to know that these two people are in love. Being in love is complicated and beautiful and messy.

IFC Center

Q: Sam, from the beginnings of the vampire traditions in literature and theatre, there’s often been a gay subtext. But for this adaptation, subtext becomes text.

SR: Yeah, I would say it’s not subtext, cause in Anne Rice it’s pretty damn clear. So it’s not subtext becomes text, it’s just text is now being text. And I think, fuckin’ yeah, it should be. If we’re going to do Anne Rice, we might as well do Anne Rice properly.

SR (about Lestat’s otherness): He’s come from some pretty intense experiences where he’s learned the history of vampires and things like that. And Lestat has come over from Europe to get away from the catechism of humanity and the way that’s kind of slapped on top of the vampires. That it’s all about self-flagellation in Christianity, Catholicism, that we’re all monsters and as a monster you have to serve Christ by being a servant of the Devil. You’re a monster: wake up and serve Christ. Which is what he’s discovered in his past. And Lestat thinks “That is garbage, and I’d much rather have a good time and I’d much rather celebrate myself.” Because he didn’t get a choice, he didn’t get to choose to become a vampire, he was forced into it. And I think we comment on it on the show, that all vampires are born out of trauma and that’s why people identify with them so well. Because they are traumatic, painful beings – often there’s sexual trauma in it as well. So he’s come to New Orleans to get out of that, to start his own new life, really. I think his bisexuality, his pansexuality has always been a part of that character when he was human, before he was a vampire, and I think that’s something he’s always embraced. It’s also something that’s quite heavily embraced in the vampire world as well, so it’s a nice space for that to work. And then once you become a very powerful being, the mess of humanity, all of these rules and things, they don’t matter.

io9

Q: Why are vampires associated with queerness?

SR: It’s being an outsider but also owning it, and owning a space. And they’re sexy and cool. They’re awesome.

JA: There’s definitely as well something about growing up marginalised, and sometimes (…) you feel like you relate to the monsters more when you grow up othered. You feel like “Oh, this is supposed to be scary but this creature’s being treated the same way that I’ve been treated sometimes”. There’s just something very welcoming and comforting about that and I think those ideas exist together.

SR: And they also live life by their own rules, define their own terms. It’s their own space, it’s not within any conformity. And actually, in our show, we do that a lot, like “Why are you so interested in this bullshit human existence?” I mean, there’s so much more than being confined to one thing or being told that you’re one thing by society.

Pride.com

Q: In this version, the queer subtext is out the door, it is fully textual. Why do you think that was important for this version?

SR: I mean, it’s funny when we talk about subtext because, like, I was a fan of the books previous to being a part of it, and I can see why, particularly in the first book, it could be considered subtext. But I feel like, especially from the second book or even the second half of the first book, it’s really text. And so I feel like it wouldn’t be Anne Rice’s IWTV or Anne Rice’s universe or Vampire Chronicles if that wasn’t properly dealt with and addressed. And as soon as you get through the fact that they’re in a romantic relationship and that they love each other very deeply, then you get to really look at what the hell this relationship was about, what are the nuance and the complexities of it, cause it’s not as straightforward.

ScreenRant at SDCC 2022

SR: I’m really excited for Anne Rice fans to actually get to see Louis and Lestat in a romantic relationship, and we’re not shying away from that in any way, shape or form at all, and don’t even bother… It’s straight up from the very beginning.

Q: Can’t say they’re besties?

SR: Never. No, it’s love at first sight.

JA: They actually kind of don’t like each other. They’re just very in love.

SR: Yeah, very in love. I mean, it’s love at first sight and Anne was very clear about that, for Lestat at least. Had to do a bit of wooing to get him there, but he gets there. So I’m excited for people to see that, because everyone deserves it.

TV Guide

SR: You can see these two monsters, these two men, kissing under Jesus Christ like they’re supposed to be and like they’re valued and important in the eyes of God, and they’re loved; or like they’re the antichrist and they’re here to burn that church down.

TV Insider

Q: Sam, Louis and Lestat’s romance is made explicitly clear in this version, and other than it being loyal to the book, why do you think that’s important for a modern series?

SR: I mean, it’s what exists in the world. Sometimes you hear people say that we’ve made the subtext text when actually we’ve just gone back to the text. It exists. So it’s important to honour that because that’s what was written and that’s why a lot of people love these stories. This love story exists and it’s a complicated love story and they’re complicated monsters who are in love. It would be a real shame if we didn’t honour that.

[aroanthy]

the symbolism of revolutionary girl utena is key to understanding what it’s even trying to say narratively and thematically. if you remove the symbolism, if you remove the ways in which the narrative obfuscates itself and abstracts what it’s saying, then what it is saying changes dramatically. if rgu was like ‘yeah lol and did you guys know that incest is bad’ or ‘maybe gay people are good’ or ‘hey did you know that csa victims are Real and Alive and Have Interiority’— like those are all paraphrases of things that it says, but the way that it chooses to say them is so powerful and conveys so much nuance and complexity that those simplistic statements don’t. it provides an incredibly meaningful commentary on the way that systemic violence and abuse are covered up, codified, made part of our culture that supposedly resents those things. it’s examination of incest, the incest taboo and how that impacts incest victims— it’s all so incredibly considered and layered because the show chooses to convey what it’s saying through symbolism, through its metatheatrical framing, through allegory. it retains the reality of these issues; it shows them to us only when we’ve already bought into the system’s lies to make a point about how that operates, how that works to make us all complicit in that violence. nanami. nanami.

dont even get me started on how the movie uses its symbolism to demonstrate how the abuse anthy and touga experienced is simultaneously built into the world and culture they exist in, and always obfuscated and abstracted for the sake of their abusers (also specifically the way that it engenders shame and prevents people from seeking help. rgu is so damn good at understanding how and why people don’t ‘do what they should’ in abusive situations: the systems in place don’t fucking work bc they are an extension of the system built upon that abuse). anthy is the model in all the paintings, the symbol of so many undesirable things, the canvas on which they are painted. her likeness is used as an approximation for all of these awful things, many of which are a part of her in a way, but such that her interiority, her feelings, are never regarded, never seen, never understood. she’s the model. akio is never explicitly named as her painter.

[invisibletoothpasteman]

Something that is completely unserious but I just need to get off my chest is how people mistake complicated family dynamics as something inherently bad and therefore gravitate towards something completely stripped of any real complexity.

While I know this applies to lots of fandoms, I'm thinking specifically in regards to Batman comics.

With the rise in popularity of comics over the past little while since their decline in popularity in the 2000s there has naturally become an increase in their fandom as well, especially for Batman and the batfam. Don't get me wrong, this is great news. The comic industry NEEDS all the readers it can get and the renaissance of sorts it's been going through really shows hope for the future of comics. And with a growing fandom comes more people introduced to these characters through the fandom itself rather than the source material, which again, is a good thing.

What grinds my gears is how throughout this fandom theres been this whole idea spread that in the comics Bruce Wayne is always a shitty parent, the batfam is hardly a family, that the fanon version of him is what we deserve and is the "superior" version of him.

This fanon version of bruce (and the batfam as a whole) is perfect. He's not perfect in the sense that he's perfectly characterized. He's not perfect in the sense that he never makes mistakes. No, he's perfect in the sense that when he makes a mistake, he can flawlessly atone for it. There's conflict sure, but whenever there is some amazing therapist-approved communication is put right into play, the batfam talks about their feelings, and boom everyone is happy.

The thing is in reality that's just not how things work. Relationships are messy, especially family. Resolving conflict is messy. This is all especially true when you apply it to a family of messed-up vigilantes that go through incredibly stressful, emotional, and just plain crazy things on the daily.

The lack of always perfectly solved conflict is what makes stuff interesting. It allows for nuance in characters and situations that there isn't normally room for if everything is designed to be wrapped up in a sweet little bow.

I feel like a lot of people see the comics solely as batman being shitty and the rest of the batfam not really being a family and just overall poor story choices. While I can't deny that sometimes there are really poor or ooc choices made (such is the nature when so many different creators get to work on the same group of characters) for the most part batman in the comics is portrayed as he should be: well meaning, but far from perfect. The rest of the batfam is similarly flawed. Their relationships with each other are far from perfect but such is the nature of family. It's messy, it's imperfect but going through all of that makes it more compelling.

While I still definitely enjoy the simplified version of the batfam from time to time and am glad so many others do too, I think it's a disservice to say its the better version of them. as much fun as wfa or the like can be, they're not able to portray the same complexity as the stories that have the batfam with their flaws and all. It's still possible to tell heartwarming and fun stories in comics where everyone is heavily flawed and nuanced.

That being said really i'm glad people are able to enjoy these characters no matter how they're presented. Goodness knows that everyone should absolutely be indulging in little things in life even if that is ooc batfam. Just consider if you're still new to batman and only familiar with the fandom getting out there and reading some comics because they're pretty great.

(sorry this whole thing was written in a sleep deprived rant state, don't take it too seriously)

[blueskittlesart]

Follow up question (to the one regarding your thoughts on the overall narrative). How did you feel regarding the portrayal of Link and Zelda’s relationship in TotK?

i think it was. really good. i think botw took zelda and link's relationship to the next level in terms of complexity and narrative weight--usually they're just like. casual childhood friends with minor romantic undertones but god. botw gave them so much nuance and complex feelings and interactions with each other which was an incredible thing to see as someone who has been obsessed with them forever. totk, as is a pattern with this game, continued that story BEAUTIFULLY.

while zelda was the driving force of the NARRATIVE in botw, the story itself revolved entirely around link. it was about link healing, link remembering, link learning what had happened to him and hyrule and beginning to fix it. though we were shown zelda's struggle, she was never given the opportunity to heal from it. totk gives her that opportunity. where botw was link's story, totk is ZELDA'S. it's about HER growth and HER healing. and it's fascinating to me how much of a role-reversal totk ended up being for them. in botw, link was placed into a hundred-year sleep and zelda pulled him out of it. in totk, ZELDA is the long-dead hero returning triumphantly for the final battle. the difference between their stories is that link was not given the choice to take that chance, he had it thrust upon him and had to do his healing AFTER the fact. zelda, in contrast, did her healing beforehand (partially in pre-totk hyrule and partially with sonia and rauru) and, as a character who struggles with her own lack of agency, was allowed to MAKE that choice herself, trusting that she had someone looking out for her who could pull her back. the fact that she was able to make that choice is a testament to her own healing process AND to the way in which her relationship with link has progressed. can you imagine zelda "theyre assigning HIM as my knight 🙄" hyrule trusting link enough to place her life in his hands like that??? absolutely not. but they've been through hundreds of years worth of growth together at this point and she trusts him that completely. she trusts him to find her THOUSANDS OF YEARS IN THE FUTURE when she doesn't even know HERSELF. totk is at its core about HER and the way in which she and link have grown to love each other. god.

tldr i think they are fucking everything. their love their trust their relationship. the game does not exist if they dont love each other. hyrule falls if they don't love each other. they know each other when they don't know anything else. but noooo we cant have them share a house thats too romantic

[nerdlingmerchling]

So, I've watched Out of Darkness (2022) starring Mr Kit Young himself. 🎬 🎞

Full disclaimer, I hate horror movies, but I watched it anyway cause Kit (yes, it's a good reason). My verdict is that it's more of a thriller than a horror movie, and to my delight, it didn't rely heavily on jump scares.

It's rare to see movies set in the paleolithic era, and I think that's where the true originality of this movie lies. The costumes and props look overall pretty authentic, up to the stitching of the clothes, which I was happy about. It shows that there had been some anthropological research done beforehand.

The made-up Tola language was such an interesting, fascinating aspect to the movie, and all of the actors sounded exactly as if they had spoken it all their lives. They adopted such unique intonation that I even had a hard time recognizing Kit's voice at first. Acting was incredible, from everyone, and from start to finish.

Also, very glad to see an ethnically diverse group of prehistoric humans. Some recent studies tend to show that paleolithic groups were more complex in terms of origins than we might think.  So, props to the casting direction for that.

I also loved how this movie was much more than a slasher and had a true reflexion on what it is, and what it means to be human.  The movie was efficient in presenting the characters and their individual motivations. Each of the six main characters represented different angles of human nature : ego, ruthlessness, innocence, kindness, religious zeal, and determination/weakness. I thought it was such a great way to explore that theme.

It's also a beautifully-shot movie, which shows its Scottish Highlands setting in all its gloomy glory : making it both breathtaking and menacing. No green screen in sight, and you can feel the harshness of the elements piercing through the screen.

Overall, I had a good time, but I'm a sensitive creature, and I was still affected by the movie hours after I was done watching it. Much of it has to do with the character played by Kit.

Character analysis and SPOILERS under the cut :

Kit plays Geirr, a young hunter and the most sympathetic character overall. To no one's surprise, Kit plays him with a lot of nuance.

Geirr is a hunter and a warrior by necessity. He's a gentle, sensitive, artistic soul and the stark opposite to his older brother Adem, the leader of the group, who's proud, selfish, and prone to violent outbursts.

Geirr has a special bond with Beyah, a teenage girl the group picked up "en route". The others still treat her as a stray and an outsider. Geirr, though, accepts her and sees her as being part of their little tribe. He vows to protect and take care of her.

Very few people smile in that movie, but when someone does, it's usually Geirr, and he's smiling at Beyah.

You might think at first that their attachment is a brother-sister or friends type of bond, but something happens that make the viewer understand Geirr's feelings for her extend further than that. While the group is resting after a day of walking the treacherous terrain, Geirr realizes his friend's pants are stained in blood, and he looks alarmed. She's having her first periods ; she's a woman now, and that means leader Adem can get to have a claim on her as he pleases.

Well aware of that fact, Geirr is devastated, and you understand at once that he was hoping to make Beyah his own companion.

You also understand that he's not going to fight for her. He's going to suffer in silence, accept the situation and accept his brother's authority. Because that's the thing with Geirr ; he's not a fighter. And throughout the movie, Beyah is going to prove that she has a lot more fight in her than he does.

Geirr is someone who has principles, and he's going to follow those principles even when it leads him to suffering or even be at risk of dying. He refuses to kill someone, even out of mercy, or to resort to cannibalism, even when it's the sole way to survive.

By the end of the movie, he has given up, and it becomes clear he's not destined to make it. It makes his death even more devastating, because you're still hoping against hope that he's going to live.

I'm still mourning that sweet prehistoric cinnamon bun, and I blame Kit's acting (and his face) for my emotional turmoil.

[eruditeempress]

Listen up motherforkers, you're going to do yourself the greatest favor ever and March your ass onto whatever streaming platform and watch

Blue-Eyed Samurai

Episode 1 is out for free on Youtube

Linked it for your convenience:

Reasons Why

The Art: It's phenomenal! It's beautiful and vibrant and crisp (not an artist, cannot words over arts stuff but it is incredible to see) Highly recommend downloading it in 1080p to watch how amazing it is in high def

The Characters The Characters are complex, well-written. The character development arc fits in so well with the plot you barely notice it because everything makes sense!

The Protagonist I love them your honor! Strong drive, tragic backstory, lone wolf turned human. The Whole Package! This is who sasuke should have been 😭 but my god I love them ❤️ as they are! Mainly because of the mistakes and the learning and the growth, the grit, the BAMF-ness

The Plot: well paced, weaves multiple personal arcs into the storyline. Nuanced

Setting Its seated when westerners decide to travel to other continents for trade, acknowledges their atrocities and ties into the plot too

The Action

The Gore

The Bad Bitches Supporting Characters

The Enemies to Lovers potential (auxiliary antagonist not main villain)

V NSFW 🤯 😉

I'm having so many feelings and I need season 2 and I need y'all to watch it on Netflix so I can be blessed with more Protagonist

[cryptotheism]

hi! whats your stance on cultural appropriation? on the usage of palo santo / white sage if youre not from the culture / practice that its traditionally used in? on closed practices and people not from that practice using their rituals/beliefs/systems?

i got into a bit of a debate with an atheist friend of mine (he is my bff and actually respectable and curious about theism and witchcraft) and he thinks that the idea of cultural appropriation is cultural separation and by default a form of racism

i am white and have been raised in a white household, so i dont feel like i have the right experiences to truly speak on the matter, and my perspective is definitely lacking

i dont know your ethnicity obviously but you seem more knowledgable than me so its better than nothing, right?

and if you have any poc witches (loose term here) or people from closed practices that youd like to direct me (and my friend) to, then i will happily accept :]

thank you!

Personally, I think "cultural appropriation" as a term has become almost entirely desaturated to the point of uselessness, and often to the point of flattening the complex nature of exchange between cultures.

That said, in the specific instance of white sage, it's an incredibly endangered plant that's been integral to several cultures religious practices. Nothing wrong with burning sage, but in my opinion if you're gonna buy sage for incense, you should buy native! Everyone wins.

There's some additional nuance around the idea of "smudging" which is a fairly specific indigenous practice. If you want more information on that, you'll have to ask someone who is actually native.

Basically every culture on earth burns plants for religious reasons, but the cultural and spiritual reasons why are pretty different. From my understanding, saying I'm "smudging with sage" is like saying I'm "going on The Hajj to San Francisco." It's misapplication of a term, a description of a fundamentally different activity. Does this make sense?

(If I'm mischaracterizing this, please feel free to comment)

[inkyblotposts]

Let's talk about Louis

Oh boy is Jacob Anderson phenomenal! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 He elevated Louis from a background character to a blazing fire at the heart of the show, filled with complex intensity and depth.

As a lover of Anne's ouvre since 2004, I was skeptical when I first heard that they were diverging from the book Louis, but I actually really really like the undercurrent of race and the complexities that this fantastic casting adds to the story. It makes it feel so relevant and gives Louis a riveting agency.

This Louis has a ferocity to him, a combattiveness born from years of having to fight harder, stay cooler, achieve higher despite his vircumstances. Its an electrifying new twist on the character, and it's easy to see why Lestat is besotted with him. It will make it all the more gut wrenching when Louis falls into depression later in the story. It's also a nice contrast to see the difference between that raw, scrappy, defiant young man, and the cool collected vampire in the interview room. Evidences how much he's been though, how much he's lived.

And of course this takes me to Jacob Anderson. He brings Louis to life in a way which is so real, so relatable and nuanced. His range is incredible and the subtlties of emotion he manages to convey with his face and posture... just riveting. A truly incredible actor, who has breathed new life into Anne's character with a sincerity that astounds. 🔥👌🏼 He inspires our imaginations and breaks our hearts.

[mamawasatesttube]

okay, i'm going to spam today. mmm damian, jon (as he is in OUR minds), aaaaaaaand. lois.

hell YEAH lets go!! damian first:

Headcanon A:  realistic

he goes to veterinary school. something something not either of his parent's legacies but something of his own that still feels like it's honoring them in its own way (medicine-adjacent. hands to help heal rather than harm. you get it)

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

he pretends not to know english that well in order to make jon explain the "deez nuts" joke he just made. jon is mad about it because he KNOWS damian knows english perfectly well enough to get deez nutted, but damian refuses to drop the pretense until jon glares at him and explains the joke. damian thinks he's hilarious. and he is.

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

man this isn't even hc really but do you ever think about the way he is just a little guy who never wants to hurt anyone or anything but he was born into a cycle of violence he never asked for. before he was ever old enough to understand it, there was blood on his hands. it's a guilt he'll always carry. i think he and cass should bond over this btw

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

i dont know what the fuck canon is doing over there at this point but its important to me that he and talia love each other. there can be complexity and nuance to it but he loves his mom. dc shut up and listen okay they love each other!!!!

and now jon (as he SHOULD be):

Headcanon A:  realistic

he grows up with two central struggles: a) the classic mixed kid agonies, and b) the fact that he lives with immense pressure between both of his parents legacies that he can't escape. as a hero, he's superman's son. as a civilian, he's lois lane's son. everyone compares him to his parents, and so does he.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

his puppy eyes are so strong he's literally charmed the shirt off kon's back before. ("hey, kon, i'm packing for that camping trip with my friends this weekend, can i borrow your red--oh... you're wearing it. okay... never mind... 🥺👉👈 unless? 🥺🥺🥺") (kon, actively pulling off his shirt: "YOU ARE A HORRIBLE LITTLE MANIPULATIVE GREMLIN AND I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT.")

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

well now im just thinking of that time you were like haha what if i write a fic where lex luthor kills jon in front of kon. i don't think i can top that. you motherfucker.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

no age-up bullshit. instead he exists in our beautiful postcrisis mishmash sandbox. he's like 4 when kon hatches (unless he isn't because timelines? what are those <3) and he is simply kon's beautiful little baby brother who has him wrapped around his little finger from day one.

AND NOW LOIS!!!

Headcanon A:  realistic

she's the breadwinner for the family. clark works from home/is a stay-at-home dad while jon is little. they have to figure it out a bit whenever superman is needed, but they make it work.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious

the first time she visited the kent farm, she stepped in a cow patty and clark laughed his ass off at her, so lois took off the shit-covered shoe and threw it at him.

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends

having to take care of baby jon during the month clark was dead/"dead" while watching everything go down in reign of the supermen is probably what she would say is the hardest thing she's ever had to do.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.

i need her to take tim under her wing for a little while. she sees in him a kindred spirit: a do-gooder, incredibly nosy little fuck. she can enable all of his snooping and sneaky tendencies. she'll ruffle his hair and generally regard him like a weird kitten kon found in the gutter one day and brought home. they go on at least one (mis)adventure.

[earlgodwin]

omg i read blood and beauty and its sequel last week bc it had been on my reading list for months!!!! and is this a safe space where i can just say that it hit the nail on the head for all of the borgias without unnecessarily vilifying one or the other (i mean basically considering how most writers hold some vendetta against juan) and i loved how u could really see lucrezia's growth from her childhood innocence to being forced to mature and grow up AND obsessed w any media that portrays cesare as ferocious and sharp and ruthless and juan finally got his flowers bc they obv showed his flaws but without making him the big bad evil when instead he also started off a kid but ended up being dragged to the bottom of the river by his father's ambitions 😔

i wish the 2nd book had progressed a little further to lucrezia's childbirth bed death so the story could come full circle and sometimes the pov switching was confusing for me but aside from that, the borgias will always be famous to meeeeeeeee and i love a good book that portrays them well!

ive been on the hunt for more borgia-centric books so if u have any recs......... <3

zaynab omg hello!!!!! i was kinda waiting for someone to talk to me about this book because it's my absolute #1 favorite historical fiction book <3

i'm so happy you enjoyed reading it! the way miss dunant brilliantly humanized the borgia family by creating striking and compelling narratives for them was truly *chef's kiss*. it's safe to say that her portrayal of them has even made her my favorite author as well (and made me want to check out her other work, lol). the way she made them so sympathetic is truly admirable to me, which is also a standout aspect of the book as we manage to develop a deep understanding of their motivations and complexities through her nuanced portrayal, you know? i say it could've been done more when it came to lucrezia, as she is truly one of the most compelling figures in history (and my all-time favorite). i'm not criticizing dunant for lucrezia's portrayal!! but it's more like i wished she added more of lucrezia's lore...but alas! other books did her more justice, i must say!

my favorite theme of the book is the immense love the pope has for his children. the way [spoiler] juan was taken too soon from him is profoundly melancholic and it added emotional depth to the story and it highlighted the power of a father's love and the devastating impact of losing a beloved child. also, YEAH, the book felt like a breath of fresh air when it came to juan borgia! he was unfairly demonized with no reliable narrative and mostly used as a prop to hype up cesare at his expense *yawns*… but dunant made him an individual, likable character in the book, countering the unjust treatment he always receives. her portrayal of him allowed us to discover the vulnerability and sensitivity that lie beneath his outwardly arrogant and handsome demeanor. we really can't help but feel deep empathy and pity for him as we read about his inner struggles and emotional depth. he became a truly compelling and sympathetic figure within the borgia family, especially when his death is met with cruelty and brutality. the tragic nature of his demise evokes an even stronger sense of empathy and sorrow in the narrative of juan losing himself and being overwhelmed by the heavy task he was entrusted with…

and cesare, of course, was portrayed as that sulking, bitter, cruel but incredibly intelligent, cunning, and charming guy! lowkey a recurring theme for him, but the flavor in making him extra dark in the slayest way possible made me insane in a very positive way! you should watch "los borgia (2006)" for a delicious portrayal of cesare (and personally, i think it's the most historically accurate).

more books? i'd recommended emma lucas's 'lucrezia borgia' and maria bellonci's 'life and times of lucrezia borgia' - both are biographies btw! their work is a solid read, very unbiased without any manipulation of the letters about/between the siblings to push certain narratives (hello sarah bradford!!), well-researched, sheds light on the family's complex relationships and their rise to power, and is highly sympathetic to all of them. you won't be disappointed!!

for historical fiction, i'd recommend mario puzo's 'the family' ...you will never be disappointed after all it's by the dude who wrote the godfather!

i hope you enjoy them <333 i'll be waiting for your feedback :)