#You may be the majority in the fandom but you don't own the fucking fandom

[empty-movement]

Welcome to Something Eternal: A Website Forum in 2023 wtf lmao

It's 2023, and a single belligerent rich guy destroyed one of the primary focal points of uh...global communication. Tumblr is, shockingly, kinda thriving despite the abuse it gets from its owners, but that I will call the iconic refusal of Tumblr users to let Tumblr get in the way of their using Tumblr. Reddit killed its API, removing the functionality of mobile apps that made it remotely readable (rip rif.) Discord, our current primary hangout, has made countless strange choices lately that indicate it has reached the summit of its usability and functionality, and can only decline from here as changes get made to prepare for shareholders. (NOTE: WROTE THIS POST BEFORE THEIR MOBILE "REDESIGN" LMAO)

The enshittification is intense, and it's coming from every direction. Social media platforms that felt like permanent institutions are instead slowly going to let fall fallow incredible amounts of history, works of art, thought, and fandoms. It kinda sucks!

A couple years ago, I posted about a new plan with a new domain, to focus on the archiving of media content, as I saw that to be the fatal weakness of the current ways the internet and fandoms work. Much has happened since to convince me to alter the direction of those efforts, though not abandon them entirely.

Long story short? We are launching a fucking website forum. In 2023.

If you remember In the Rose Garden, much about Something Eternal will be familiar. But this has been a year in the making, and in many ways it's far more ambitious than IRG was. We have put money on this. The forum is running on the same software major IT and technology businesses use, because I don't want the software to age out of usability within five years. It has an attached gallery system for me to post content to, including the Chiho Saito art collection. It has a profile post system that everyone already on the forum has decided is kinda like mini Twitter? But it is, fundamentally, a website forum, owned and run and moderated by us. We are not web devs. But we have run a website on pure spite and headbutting code for over twenty years, and we have over a decade of experience maintaining social spaces online, both on the OG forum, and on our Discord. Better skilled people with far more time than we have can and will build incredible alternatives to what is collapsing around us. But they're not in the room right now. We are. And you know what? Maybe it's time to return to a clunkier, slower moving, more conversation focused platform.

You're not joining a social media platform with the full polish of dozens of devs and automated moderation. Things might break, and I might need time to fix them. The emojis and such are still a work in progress. Because e-mails no longer route in reasonable normal ways, the sign-up process instead happens within the software, and has to be approved by mods. Design and structure elements may change. Etc. The point being, that the forum isn't finished, but it is at a place where I feel like I can present it to people, and it's people I need to help direct what functions and things will be in this space. You all will shape its norms, its traditions, its options...choices I could try to make now, but really...they're for us to create as a group! But the important stuff? That's there. Now let's drive this baby off the damn lot already!

Come! Join us!!

PS. As always, TERFs and Nazis need not apply.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

First, let me apologise for making people worry. I appreciate all those who reached out and I'm sorry that I couldn't get back to you all.

I have been through a very rough spiral. It was building for months, and I am still not fully okay.

For those who want context, it's under the cut.

I bought a house in May. It's expensive. I wasn't ready financially or in many ways for that step, but my partner convinced me. I told him as much but I was not heard. Alas, I have a mortgage, full time work, astudent loan, and an ongoing school program to contend with. It hasn't been easy and it caught up to me.

At the same time, a person who traumatised me and I have no way of fully extricating from my life, has moved closer. To keep the peace, I have to associate with him to a degree and he pretends that nothing ever happened. To him, it was nothing.

In June, I moved. It was hard and fast paced. I did most of the paperwork etc for the whole process and obv helped with the physical transition as well. I was responsible for deadlines and checklists for not just myself but my partner.

I was plugging holes in a sinking boat.

At the same time, I had obligations to my family. Every weekend if I wasn't dealing with the house and all that goes into it, I was running around to babysit or see family or whathave you.

In July, I pinched a nerve behind my tailbone. I missed a week of work bc my injury but it took longer for my to recover. I am still feeling it today. It was more than physical, but emotional.

I also got three periods that month. Hormonal can't begin to explain how fucked up I've been.

On top of all that, there are underlying issues associated with other trauma and discontent. I'm realising that I have been loyal and tolerant to the point of my own detriment.

I don't want to hurt people how I've been hurt, so I don't speak up. When people tell me something about myself, I let all the doubts planted in my mind from years of abuse convince me that they're right. I can admit my faults but often times I will think that proof of one flaw means everything about me is rotten.

People forget about me or just don't care. Both or either. They don't put the same effort in that I do. I find it hard to connect because years of disregard and neglect have told me that the other side just won't care.

But I'm not just hurt, I'm angry. I'm seeking therapy and trying to figure this out.

It all boiled over after my last post. Nothing I do is enough. For anyone. Not even when it's a hobby. I was frustrated bc the place I use for escape just made me feel like less than.

Obviously, I don't mean everyone or even the majority. I appreciate the discourse and fun and everything here! There are so many awesome people to interact with and I have missed you all, however, my headspace was bad. Very bad. I had thoughts I haven't dealt with in years.

I put my nose down and just went to work. I didn't wanna talk to anyone. I didn't wanna be in the world.

I did some reading, eventually some non-fandom writing, and sometimes, I just stayed alive.

I don't know if I'm really okay but I'm trying.

To those who have been so patient and supportive, you deserve everything. To those who are silent supporters, you do too. And even to those people who send me the most vile hate, you deserve to lift yourself out of the dark space you're stuck in. Hopefully, I can, too.

[shera-dnd]

I have decided against my better judgement to be weird about the Dawntrail MSQ

and we can't talk about an expansion set in the fantasy americas without talking about

COLONIALISM

oh yeah, we're going there baby

So disclaimer that I may be brazilian, but my ass is white as hell, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. Also if any native americans have made posts on this please let me know so I can boost their analysis as well

Also also I'm more than happy to delete this post if I mess up. I'm genuinely trying to make a thoughtful analysis, so if I fuck up just say the word and this thing is gone from this website

Oh also also also, Dawntrail MSQ spoilers ahead!

So FFXIV has had a... messy relationship with colonialism over the years

The fact that the major antagonists for the first half of A Realm Reborn a literally called "beast man tribes" is absolutely not a good start to this story

Add to that the fact that The Twelve (Eorzea's gods) are shown to be kind all powerful deities, while the Primals (the tribal gods) are evil spirits summoned to bring destruction to the world

and yeah no ARR is not good with that shit. It's EXTREMELY not good. If I hadn't been told it got better later on I would have dropped this shit before I got to Titan

But they have been taking steps to unfuck things. First we're shown that even the "civilized societies" (in this case the catholic elves) can summon Primals, then that Primal summoning isn't an actual native custom but was introduced by foreigners with malicious intent, and that not all "beast man" practice that

Then they changed the names of the "Beast Man Tribe Quests" to "Tribal Quests" and then finally to "Allied Society Quest"

Which would have been an empty gesture had like half of the post-Shadowbringer patches, as well a lot of Endwalker, not been about forming alliances with those people and working together with them, recognizing that they have as much right to the land and to life as any Eorzean, this all culminating on the Primals being summoned with the express purpose of helping you protect the world you all share

I guess they realized that they couldn't have their big bad for most of the game be the evil expansionist empire, if they didn't like actually reflect in their own imperialist fantasies they were propagating

Then the teaser trailer for Dawntrail drops and everyone in the fandom is like "wait... are we gonna do a colonialism?"

And memes were abound of how all those lessons from before don't apply to the "New World" of Tural

THANKFULLY the actual questline leading to Dawntrail helped to settle some of those worries

We're not going to Tural to explore a new uncharted land, but are actually being invited over by the local royalty in order to aid them with their right of succession. We get introduced to the nation of Tuliyollal and how it's a thriving land with its own culture and not just a "terra nil" waiting to be colonized

Still there are some worries that this is gonna turn out poorly and that we're just gonna end up being white saviors

But I think they managed to avoid that pretty well

For starters neither the Scions nor the Warrior of Light are the protagonists of this story. You're all simply supporting character's in Wuk Lamat's story

A story that centers her people, her culture, and her family

And it's not even one culture. They don't portray Tuliyollal as this monolithic mish mash of every single native american culture

No, the lands of Tural are in fact comprised of multiple different people's and nations, each of them with their own customs and traditions which are informed by their history and the lands they live in

In fact learning about their cultures and partaking in their customs is the whole point of the Rite of Succession. It's all set up so that the next Dawnservant would be someone who understands and respects each of the peoples that comprise Tural

(I could, and probably will, write about what Dawntrail has to say about what makes a good ruler)

And our girl, Wuk Lamat, is shown to be the rightful heir because she really goes out of her way to understand each of the nations and show her appreciation for their customs

Putting her well above her Sharlyaboo brother Koana, The King of Unresolved Daddy Issues Zoral Ja, and whatever the fuck is going on with Bakool Ja Ja

(I joke, I love my two headed traumatized dumbass)

Tho I will admit that this does end up giving the tribes a somewhat "planet of the hats" vibe. Like their named NPCs are diverse and interesting, but you can just assume that most random NPCs of any given people are gonna act according to the stereotype

Which is unfortunate, but I have hopes that with the next few patches and the addition of Dawntrail's own Allied Society Quests, we'll get to see more to them

But that... is only up to lvl95 and the end of the Yok'Tural (southern Tural) segment

because then we get to Xak'Tural (northern Tural) and holy shit does it feel like they drop the ball there

Like they really COULDN'T keep themselves from making Shaaloani a fucking Wild West map

Instead of doing anything with the actual cultures and histories of Native North American people, they just do wild fucking west

Because there's ceruleum in them thar hills! And apparently Koana turned most of the region into Sharlyaboos too

So we get a bunch of Wild West frontier towns mixed with native american tribes and mud brick cities. We have trains and guns and a sheriff and a duel at high noon, but now everyone got native american names

At least there's one group off to the northern side of the map who seems to stick to tradition and live in harmony with nature, and that group is shown respect by the other people of the region

so we at the very least avoid the "cowboys vs indians" crap, but my god does that region just feel bad compared to everything else they had done so far

Then we get to the big twist: THE CYBERPUNK PORTION OF THE GAME

because yes, we go full fucking cyberpunk

so turns out that a whole segment of Xak'Tural got colonized by the kingdom of Alexandria, including the lands of the Shetona (Erenville's people)

And I feel like this is the most poignant section of the MSQ when it comes to colonialism

Because here we have Alexandria, an empire that has reached the limit of what it can do sustain itself on its own world, and so has decided to spread out and colonize others in order to gain resources

We see the Shetona and other natives of the region being separated from their families and kept in isolation from the rest of their people

And tho Queen Sphene is shown to be a kind and caring ruler who gives people a choice when it comes to joining the empire, WELL SHE'S STILL THE QUEEN OF A FUCKING EMPIRE

Like her form of kindness and just stagnant peace is put in stark contrast with Wuk Lamat's own love for her people and more proactive pursuit of happiness and harmony

(again with the "what makes a ruler theme")

Also the people that choose to be assimilated into the Alexandrian Empire? Yeah, they're doing so because Alexandria has advanced medical technology and you can only receive their aid if you're a citizen

Not only that, but you have to be a working citizen. We see later on a character being denied medical aid, because he lost his job, thanks to the King's decision and at no fault of his own

yeah this is cyberpunk, not just sci-fi

ALSO can we talk about how the technology used for that medical aid and the little gizmo they give you to signify you're now a citizen, will literally erase the memory of the people you lost

So the Turali who are assimilated into Alexandrian culture not only lose ties to their culture and their loved ones, but are not allowed to grieve their loss, because what they once had is slowly being erased

How their choices add up to survive on their own OR be assimilated

How this all takes place IN NORTH FUCKING AMERICA!

THE CYBERPUNK CITY IS LITERALLY SET IN THIS WORLD'S EQUIVALENT TO THE UNITED STATES

So yeah, I don't think is is accidental. I genuinely thing that they're making a point about the realities of imperialism and colonialism, as well as taking some shots at the US while they're at it

Of course this part is still centered around Wuk Lamat, and instead of having a moment of "the only ones who can stop the evil white europeans are the GOOD white europeans", we have Wuk Lamat be the one to save the day, defeat Sphene, and save her people from the colonizing empire

So I would like to argue that everything that happens from lvl97 onwards is them picking up the ball again and making a real point

buuuut that comes at the cost of us being unable to engage with the native peoples of Xak'Tural outside of the context of colonialism

Which genuinely fucking sucks, and I hope it will be remedied with the post-Dawntrail patches

As well as handling the whole shared land situation they ended up with and how this might end up in a Land Back sort of movement, and oh boy can they mess shit up royally there

So in conclusion FFXIV has had a messy relationship with colonialism and imperialist fantasies and tropes, but the devs seem to be making a concerted effort to undo their mistakes and show respect in their depictions of american natives

They still fuck up

boy do they

but they're at least trying, and I'd say Dawntrail so far has been quite well executed

so yeah, look forward to more insane rambles like this one I guess

[y-rhywbeth2]

In your post about Durge's sudden normality you mentioned implied SA in the tags; would you mind elaborating on that? I don't remember seeing any implications like that, but I know I missed a lot of details in my first run. (Obviously if you would mind feel free to ignore this.)

Naturally this is going under a cut for discussion of rape, sexual exploitation and incest:

Some of it is mostly me reading into things and frowning, but Bhaal being able to violate Durge sexually and the intent of sexual exploitation (regardless of Durge's will) is canon and it does lend credence to the idea.

Durge is obligated to breed, and Bhaal can and will force them to; the original version of the feral ending in the dialogue files involves him forcing them into a state of sexual hyperarousal and forcing them to mate with a gnoll, in the same way he can force the urge to slay on them. Bhaal's intention there is to see if he can breed more monstrous Bhaalspawn. Some of the dialogue options are just Durge screaming in horror.

Durge has no memory of the actual rape; Bhaal forces them to spend the entire time thinking about him: "Your memory of last night's act is absent. In the moment of mounting, your mind emptied itself, and you could think only of Bhaal."

And knowing that, when I saw "I love you father. I'm a good [child], a good, good [child]" in the released version I had to go sit down for a bit.

We know that Durge is expected to have kids - it's a mortal sin that they haven't. It's also vague whether they tried or not pre-amnesia; they're described as "failing" not refusing, it could've gone either way. Durge may already have been exploited. Even if they don't disappoint Bhaal in game, this "duty" remains. It's not just the Tribunal making shit up; Sceleritas is your direct liaison to Bhaal, and he makes this clear to them as Bhaal's Chosen too.

We know that if Durge won't kill then Bhaal will force them to, and we know that he can force them to have sex too. It's entirely possible that Durge's only say in this is to either fuck partners they chose or have them chosen for them (as we all know, Bhaal has zero respect for his kids' bodily autonomy or desires past his use for them, and Bhaal wants more babies.)

At the very least, it doesn't seem to be a major part of Bhaal's plan for Durge yet, so Durge may have dodged this specific form of abuse for now.

Bhaal has also done this to Sarevok, it seems, who would probably have killed himself back in BG1+2 if he could see what would happen to him in his future.

Knowing that Bhaal has no issues inflicting sexual arousal on his own kids, those scriptures you find that explicitly refer to the pleasure he bestows on his followers when they kill as "erotic" unfortunately have little reason not to be applied to Bhaalspawn. It would also explain the necrophilia if Durge has been conditioned to see killing/corpses as sexual.

Not quite the same thing, but the thing where people think Durge fucked the Netherbrain is actually from a remark by Bhaal in the journal update, where he makes a crack that "That slimy thing in the Moonrise called you its fallen star. It was very reverent [...] apparently [you're] good at playing with tentacles."

That's not inherently sexual, but knowing that Bhaal is willing to sexually exploit Durge and that the fandom had already interpreted it as sexual, I did kind of stare at it in horror for a bit.

[silliestnico]

i don't think giorno giovanna's survivors guilt after the end of part five and his trauma as a whole is spoken about enough. i do think he is more emotionally repressed than jotaro at times. as you read through this i want you to keep in mind that anytime there's a scene with young giorno before saving the mafioso's life, he never smiles, which is incredibly unusual for a child aged 1-5.

let's begin at his conception, giorno doesn't know who dio is, where he is, if he's even alive, or what he really looks like. all he has as proof that dio was real is himself and a single polaroid. the reason he doesn't know what dio looks like is because he isn't even fully facing the front of the camera. it's highly likely that when giorno was young, anytime he saw a tall, blond, muscular man, whether it be on the tv, in a magazine, or in real life, he thought 'is that my dad?'

his life in japan wasnt good either. his mother would abandon him as a toddler at night to go out partying. bearing in mind, he was still being bottlefed at this point. in the scene where it pans through the apartment(?) he and his mother lived in, it showed a baby bottle with a little milk left inside. giorno was so afraid at night he couldn't even cry, a baby/toddler not crying is not fucking normal. 

now onto his life in part 5 onwards. throughout part 5, the viewer rarely sees him express the extreme of any emotion, aside from pain after giving himself the antidote to purple haze's attack, and anger during his and cioccolata's fight. even as he's greiving the loss of his allies, he doesn't express much in terms of sorrow, yes, he cries when he can't save narancia, and his voice sounds incredibly hurt when he can't save narancia or abbacchio, but his reaction is still relatively calm compared to the likes of mista and narancia respectively, which brings me back to my point of him being more emotionally repressed than jotaro - the viewer sees jotaro express extreme emotions, whereas they don't with giorno. it almost feels like giorno is a side character in his own part because of how little focus is put on him and his trauma by the fandom.

upon moving to italy, he may have thought the neglect and abuse would stop, and it probably did for a short time, until his stepfather decided to start beating him. as i previously mentioned, during majority of the scenes with young giorno, he never smiles. he doesn't smile at his mothers wedding, which should presumably be a happy occasion, not during the ceremony when his stepfather is kind to him, not in the photographs shown later on. giorno also didn't have a safe space outside of his abusive household either, he was relentlessly bullied by his peers for being half japanese, having anti-immigrant rhetoric spouted at him anytime he was near his bullies. his life only started to look up after he saved the mafioso's life. even then, his stepfather was angry at the fact he couldn't beat his like four year old stepson for merely existing. yes his bullies stopped tormenting him, but, there was likely still underlying resentment on their side.

[rimunagenius]

Best Friends Don’t Kiss

❦ Pairing: Naomi Mcpherson x reader

❦ Word Count: 3.1k words

❦ Warnings: Fluff, a lot of kissin ;) , confessions

❦ a/n: so i’m pretty sure i can speak for everyone when i say that the julien and jo, lucy and katie, kisses, in one concert…broke the internet and the whole munagenius fandom. so obv had to incorporate that into this fic…that’s it. Just those earth shattering kisses and Naomi and Reader breaking the fucking internet.

This was lowk ass i’m ngl LMFAO

Having multiple features on Muna's album, Muna, and as their bestfriend since college, you make a decent amount of guest appearances on their tours. You don't have a music career yourself, and your not even on the featured title, opting to not out yourself out there under the guise of releasing your own music. You stuck to being the bands photographer and part time tour manager when you could, but continuing having your job as a tattoo artist.

But your favorite featured song to perform had to be 'Solid'. You and Naomi may have caused scandals during the performance of that song at any show you have attended. Maybe not scandals but on stage personas. It was speculated among Muna’s fans, and your own friends, that you two had been dating. Ever since college, you and Naomi were not beating the allegations.

Muna’s whole thing was similar to boygenius. Your favorite band besides Muna of course, of course duh, kissing eachother whenever the moment felt right. But the kissing wasn't how you and Naomi happened to attract attention to yourselves.

Recently, for the last 6 shows you accompanied Muna on, either Naomi was caught looking to you when they sang background for the chorus or you were caught being more provocative towards Naomi. That could have easily been misconstrued as you two being inlove and in a secret relationship. But if it wasn't Naomi creating an uproar, it had been you.

The fans have caught onto Naomi but you quickly counteracted by slowly sauntering over to them or Jo, mostly Naomi, and grabbing their face while singing the same lines in the chorus. All too much passion for two bestfriends. Atleast that’s what the fans thought.

Needless to say, your onstage personas were definitely two queers in love with one another. The fans ate that shit up.

Tonight, Muna was opening for boygenius. The concert was moving along perfectly. The energy was alive, and the crowd was jumping. You honestly loved watching your best friends have everything they have ever wanted out of their passion for music. Naomi especially.

You had met Naomi before they met Katie and Josette. Photography being the reason you went to school with them, music or Naomi, being the reason you changed your major halfway through your sophomore year of college. Never having the intention of pursuing it, but full intentions of helping your closest friends get to where they wanted.

Naomi was a special person in your life. Watching them grow and the ambition to pursue the dream they have wanted from a young age was something so surreal and exciting. Which brings you back to tonight. Watching them play alongside y’all’s lifelong friends.

Side stage, a few feet away from Naomi, they smiled at you, signaling your entrance, to sing one of the featured songs you are apart of. Solid.

Moving about the stage, dancing with Josette, big smiles on your faces while Katie took the first half of the song. Singing supporting vocals for Katie, you eventually found your similar path that led you to Naomi. She’s so solid. You sang as you moved your hips to the rythm.

Reaching Naomi, you looked to the crowd, seeing eyes on you, you grabbed Naomi’s face, My baby’s so solid, you sang. The crowd screaming.

As you sang the words into the mic, Naomi looked at you, singing the words right back to you. She’s so solid, My baby’s so solid. They sang. You smiled at them, your noses brushing close together, gauging the reaction from the crowd before kissing their cheek and moving to Katie.

You sang your half of the song, soon turning it into a duet with your bestfriend Katie. Josette occasionally jamming out with you two. The rest of the set was short, Muna ending it with Silk Chiffon. You occasionally in awe of Josette as she played guitar on her knees infront of you and Katie. Performing was so fun when you were with them.

You and the band eventually went back and side stage decompressing while the headliner band, your dearest friends, boygenius, set up for their show.

“You think Y/n and Naomi broke the internet yet?” Josette asked, wiggling her eyebrows at both of you.

“If that didn’t break the internet, this for sure will.” Katie said as she put her phone up, taking a picture of you and Naomi. You again, grabbed Naomi’s cheeks with one hand, softly pinching their cheeks, kissing the corner of their lips. A little too close for best friends.

“Oh, wow. Okay, Katie. Let’s not.” Naomi said as they waved one hand in the air to her, their other hand holding your waist, as you had been seated in their lap.

“I really thought you guys were hard launching whatever this was out there, not gonna lie.” Katie said, pointing towards you both, looking to Josette for agreement.

“No seriously. Thought Y/n was going to start fucking you, Naomi. Was about to have Frankie get you guys a room.” Jo laughed as she looked to Kelli.

“Haha, very funny Josette Maskin.” You laughed before turning to Naomi. “What exactly did she think we were hard launching?” You asked.

“I don’t know but that just means we have undeniable and palpable chemistry, baby. We got the whole world thinking we’re in love.” They laughed, kissed your cheek, and continued talking to Katie.

You weren’t going to lie and say that you weren’t inlove with your best friend. It was pretty fucking obvious to anyone in the room. You and Naomi just always shut it down. You didn’t know if it was because they didn’t reciprocate the feelings or if it was so they didn’t discover a truth neither one of you were ready to admit.

Either way, you’d continue to make the harmless jokes and suggestions, until one day they reciprocate it. Or better yet, admit they love you just like you love them.

Soon, a stagehand found you guys backstage, Julien apparently wanting all of you on the stage to perform with them. You had all been a close knit circle considering all of your age differences. You all just bonded over the same passion for music and doing what you love infront of thousands of people.

The set for ‘Salt in the Wound’ just started, Naomi on piano/keyboard, Josette playing background guitar with Julien, Katie, you, Pheobe, and Lucy all singing.

It got to the chorus and all of you were singing, the crowd matching the volume and energy. Suddenly something had been in the air. Everyone had been loving on eachother. Lucy the first one to make rounds with everyone.

You and Pheobe started hugging Julien and Josette. You letting go with a kiss to both their cheeks, Pheobe pushing them together. They shared a kiss on the lips, the crowd losing their minds. You and Pheobe looked at eachother, you grabbed her hips and pulled her in. Your hand now holding her head against your lips as you two kissed eachother passionately.

Pulling apart, Lucy and Katie were rolling on the ground full on making out. Eventually Lucy had pulled away, Katie scrambling from under Lucy to then snatch you into a kiss and a meaningful hug. Lucy had made her way from Naomi, over to you, kissing your cheek. You looked at her face, her red lipstick smudged, hair tousled.

She then winked at you, as you made eye contact with Naomi, your smile already taking over your lips. You were originally going in for a small kiss on the cheek, knowing how Naomi doesn’t really feel comfortable with the lip kissing since everyone is kissing everyone. Germs and stuff.

What you hadn’t known was that Naomi had dodged any pass that anyone had made on them. But as you were about to stand on your tippy toes, tilting your head to reach their cheek, they grabbed the bottom of your jaw, pulling your lips onto theirs.

The impact immediately set fire to your skin. Warm fuzzy feelings alive and around your stomach as you both kissed eachother. Your hands landing on their hips, their hands on either side of your face, holding you to their lips. The contact not breaking until either one of you run out of breath.

The crowd was losing their minds, your kiss projected on the big screen behind the band. There’s no way no one was missing this, and there was absolutely no way you guys were beating the couple allegations now.

You smiled as you both pulled away. The crowd losing their shit. They had suspected it for a while now, just seeing the passion and affection conveyed through the kiss live and well, was a change for them. A significant change for you.

Before you started to walk away, Naomi had grabbed your hips, yet again pulling you into another kiss. Your lips moving in sync. Your tongues meeting each others. Your hands on their cheeks. You couldn’t help the giggle that escaped your lips as you pulled apart.

This concert had to be your favorite of this whole tour. Hands down. Once Muna and boygenius closed the concert, you all had met backstage.

You were all standing in a circle, talking and laughing about what you all had just done and making plans for later after everyone was done. The usual debrief, of course. “Okay, lets talk about Naomi and Y/n. What the actual fuck was that?” Pheobe asked, giggling.

“Yeah, that wasn’t very ‘we’re just friends’ of you.” Lucy looked at you. Her knowing glance towards everyone else and then to you two. The constant deferring you used to do whenever she brought up you and Naomi. Julien laughed as she hid her face in Lucy’s arm as she continued to belly laugh.

“Yeah, explain.” Katie looked quizzically at you both. Her eyes jumping to both of you every second. Josette standing with her arms crossed, waiting for an answer.

“Hey man, I thought we were all just kissing. So I kissed Y/n.” Naomi shrugged their shoulders. Their arm slinging around your shoulders.

“Yeah, totally.” You nodded your head in agreement. “Can’t friends kiss?” You smiled as you looked at your friends knowing they have all kissed eachother. Including the ones who have significant others. You guys do it all the time on stage. Nothing was different about this kiss, right?

“Best friends don’t kiss like that.” Jo pointed between the two of you.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. It was just for the show.” You shrugged her comment off. Really hoping this wasn’t because you two were ‘just friends.’

“Was it just for the show?” Naomi found themself standing infront of the foot of your bed in the hotel room you both wanted to share. You were performing here again tomorrow.

“Was what for the show?” You asked. Putting your phone down, the lock screen of you and Naomi posing in the mirror of your bathroom back home.

“The kiss. Practically the make out on stage.” They sat down near your feet. Awaiting your answer.

“I don’t know you tell me, Nomi. You’re the one that kissed me like you needed me to breathe.” You chuckled awkwardly, sitting up fully, looking at the person across the from you. The person you had been inlove with for soooo long already. It wasn’t normal.

“Because I do. I wouldn’t have kissed you like that unless I knew for sure that I wanted you. I do. I need you. But I just want to know if you need me and wanted me too.” Naomi wasn’t afraid to admit that they had been totally enamored by you to the point of insatiable desire. Granted they weren’t one to publically display their passionate makeouts with a partner infront of thousands of people, but they couldn’t possibly hold back from you in that moment.

“Of course I want you.” You whispered. The confession leaving their lips leaving you shocked and breathless. A weight lifting from your chest as the relief of the years worth of longing, yearning, and desire was matched by the one person you wanted it from. Naomi moved from the foot of the bed, now sitting next to you, forcing your bodies to face eachother again.

“Yeah? No bullshit?” Naomi asked. Suddenly becoming nervous at the thought of you reciprocating their feelings. “I didn’t actually think-“

“Hey, Naomi?” They stopped speaking, eyes growing wide.

“Yeah?” They asked you, their eyes focused on yours. Butterflies becoming an overwhelming sensation in both your bellies. Both your guys’ skin on fire; the cold hotel room blankets and sheets not doing a goddam thing.

“Kiss me.” You said. Immediately there was contact. Your lips found theirs. The feeling a lot more sensual and real. The kiss you had shared on stage was passionate and full of love. But this one; in private with no prying eyes to watch you exchange the love and affection you two had for one another. The feeling was unmatched.

You moved into their lap. Now straddling their hips as they sat under you, in the bed you two were sharing tonight. Your hands enveloping their face. Their arms pulling you in by wrapping completely around your waist.

Another make out ensued but this time, a lot slower. A lot more intimate than before. A moment you knew you’d both cherish forever. No one else, just you two.

Pulling apart, you continued to hold their face in your hands. Suddenly and totally enamored with every small detail about them that you realized you never took the proper amount of time to admire before. The crappy hotel room lamps casting the perfect glow on their face. You started counting all the small freckles across their face, the shiny and polished jewelry of their nose piercings.

Each individual curl that fell onto their face. You just couldn’t get enough of Naomi. They consumed you. Everything to you was about them. “What are you looking at?” They chuckled nervously, as their eyes scanned over every inch of your face.

“You, and how amazing you look.” You smiled, your eyes meeting theirs. Naomi’s nose scrunched, a big cheesy smile, their perfect teeth on display.

“Oh my god, baby. That was so cheesy.” You both giggled, Naomi rolling you guys over so you’re laying on your back, with them hovering over you. Kissing again before looking at eachother in the eyes. “Guess we can’t say we’re best friends anymore, huh?”

“No, because best friends don’t kiss.”

“Uh yeah, they do. Me, Katie, and Jo do it all the time.” Naomi said, giving you a ‘are you serious’ look.

“Oh, my bad. They don’t make out in each others arms in the bed that they’re sharing. That’s something couples do.” You replied, pushing loose curls out of their face.

“Oh, so we’re a couple now?” Naomi asked, semi serious look on their face, in a joking tone. Full intent on making you their girlfriend whether you were suggesting it or not.

“I don’t know, are we?” You wanted them to say it. To hear it come from their lips, looking at you, is something you have fantasized about for the longest time. The better part of your friendship. You obviously never saw yourself making it official…why do it now? You wanted to so bad but you wanted them to. Selfish, but you wanted it. You were gonna make them your partner, whether you had to act like you already were or for them to say it.

The little game of back and forth was eating you both up alive. One of you needed to say that you were together. Your eyes daring eachother to.

“You wanna be my girlfriend, gorgeous girl?” Naomi’s eyes grew soft, their long lithe fingers pushing your hair behind your ears. Naomi loved that they could see all of your face like this. They loved you like this. You, lying under them, them asking you to be their girlfriend. There was nowhere else Naomi wanted to be then right here over you. Looking at you like you had hung the moon and the stars.

“I would love to be your girlfriend, baby.” You kissed Naomi, smiling into the kiss. Rolling over again, you ending up back in their lap, straddling their hips. Pulling apart, your foreheads resting on each others, you simultaneously whispered ‘finally.’

Unbeknownst to you both, the sudden synchronous exclaim had you in a fit of giggles before you decided to take a picture of Naomi. To announce that what you two shared was real and not some show for the fans or some way to express your love for eachother while being completely and utterly in denial of the other loving you back.

Your hand pinching their cheeks, because when did you not take pictures of them like this…literally never. You still straddling their lap, Naomi smiled widely. We’re talking the biggest smile you have ever seen grace their handsome face. You put your phone up, making sure to get your legs wrapping around their hips before taking the picture. You changed the filter to black and white, captioning it ‘my baby💍💋’ before posting it.

You set your phone down, and kissed Naomi passionately once more. Turning off the big lights in the room, the small lights creating a nice calm, romantic ambiance. You both layed in eachothers arms. The total bliss you felt to be together—officially. It was amazing.

You two turned on the TV, and about ten minutes after turning it on, fifteen minutes after posting your hard launch, Josette, who happened to be sharing a room with her girlfriend next door, started yelling.

She was so loud you could hear her through the walls. It didn’t take any longer to gather what she had been yelling about. “Fucken finally! They’re finally official!”

You and Naomi both laughed at your bestfriend before interlocking your fingers together and enjoying the rest of your peaceful and romantic time together. As a couple. The allegations definitely got to you and were in no way gonna be beat now.

[estelofrivendell]

Could you please write something about Aragorn, Legolas and Boromir with a short s/o who's a little bit insecure about their height? Bonus points if the reader isn't very curvy so they worry about being unattractive or mistaken for being younger than they actually are. Thanks!! It's so nice to see people writing for lotr still, so thank you for that!!!

A/N: People no longer write for LOTR? That's really unfortunate, this world has a lot of things to write about :( Truth be told, I haven't written for LOTR in three years (three years is a long time and I recognize fandoms change rapidly) and I've been suffering writers' block for two years after I wrote a lengthy series for another fandom. I hope you enjoy this, thank you for your request!

ARAGORN, LEGOLAS AND BOROMIR WITH A SHORT S/O WHO LOOKS YOUNGER THAN THEY REALLY ARE AND IS INSECURE ABOUT THEIR HEIGHT AND FRAME

ARAGORN

It doesn't matter to him one bit that you're short and your body may not resemble what society deems "perfect", he will be the first to tell you you're beautiful the way you are. In fact, he finds your height endearing, since he's tall himself, even more so in the books. It's unique to him as he grew up with tall people but at the same time it's not a new concept to him since there are many short people in all the areas he's wandered in and encountered Hobbits before the timeline of LOTR (Did he? Not sure, don't really feel like fact checking that rn...) Also, he has his own experiences with not looking the age he really is, just the opposite of yours. This man is in his 80s but looks late 30s to early 40s and was raised his elves who never age, so it would not bother him one bit that you look younger than you really are.

LEGOLAS

Legolas is an elf, so it never crossed his mind that you look younger than you really are. I also think elves aren't as worked up about body image the same way us humans are, so he doesn't think about that either. At first, he was confused why you're insecure about those features but he will do his best to make you feel better, even if what he says comes off a bit insensitive. What catches his interest is your short height and at first he teases you the way he teased Gimli, but he quickly noticed how you don't respond well to those kinds of banter, so he stopped. Overall, he has some learning to do but he will become better for you and he's grateful for it and makes him appreciate people not of his kind.

BOROMIR

Not going to lie, I see Boromir as the kind of man that prefers his women taller so it might've amused him a bit when he first learned of his attraction to you. He thinks the height difference between you both is really cute and teases you a bit about it. He does not give a flying fuck that you aren't curvy and WILL call out anyone that has the audacity to give you shit about your body. Some people might give him dirty looks for picking a younger S/O to court instead of a lovely woman within his age range and he simply ignores them unless it somehow escalates into a major scandal. He doesn't realize that being seen younger than you really are affects you immensely, but when he does, he'll get right on reassuring you that there is nothing to worry about. Are you what he expected he would end up with? No, but he loves you more than anyone and anything and he would not have it any other way.

[edwardallenpoe]

Hey. Just wanted to put my two cents in, like everyone else on Tumblr dot com is. (It got pretty long so putting it under a cut)

I don't really care about what you think should happen to the fandom. Like. If you are going to continue to engage in the fandom without giving Neil any sort of gain is fine. I'm personally still on the fence on what the fuck to do now. But let's not make that the whole focus, yeah? What Neil allegedly did was fucking terrible. Like. Objectively worse than what JKR did when things first came out about her. Let's forget good omens and sandman and coraline for a minute (don't care if you still engage with those things or burn your copies and remove your tattoos, let's just put it down for a minute.) and try really hard to think. Because we all hated JKR. We burned her reputation to the ground. For good reason. But we can't even decide if we hate Neil Gaiman yet? Guys. Please. We have to believe all women. Plus he's a rich fucking white dude who has admitted to using his power for gain.

And if it turns out (which this is a 8% chance) that this is all not what it seems to be, or even all of it is fabricated, and Neil is innocent, we still gotta stop worshipping this dude. This has got to be a wakeup call that he's not some Messiah. He's a human dude in power who does the same shitty things human dudes in power do.

And I get it. You want to continue to like your stories that he helped create (key-word 'helped' bc he was a part of a team with a lot of these stories, including Sir Terry Pratchett) but me personally? I would be a massive hypocrite if I metaphorically burned my Harry Potter stories to the ground and put HP fans in my DNI because of JKR but said "separate the art from the artist" with Neil Gaiman.

And this is coming from any other Good Omens fan that became way too attached to the story. Like a lot of people have said that story helped in very. Very fucking trying times. It was my rock, some days the only thing keeping me going. The fandom has been an amazing place of creativity and community and love.

But so was Harry Potter. If you think about it. If any Good Omens fans were previous Harry Potter fans you'll know just how wide spread and open and creative and deep the hp fandom was. And this may just be me misremembering because it was a couple years ago at this point (plus everything with Neil Gaiman is still such news) but because JKR was spouting rhetoric that directly harmed us (us being majority queer and poc people) we drop-kicked hp pretty fast and focused on the artist and her shittiness.

Can we have the same attitude towards Neil? Can we separate the art from the artist long enough to fucking focus on Neil? When I say separate the art from the artist I don't mean "remove artist, continue to enjoy art" I mean "remove the art and focus on the artist, and study that motherfucker". How many video essays are their out about JKR? How many books referencing her terribleness? Without giving so much as a hint to Harry Potter?

Separate the art from the artist and focus on the artist and bringing him to justice. And believe the victims.

And yeah I can see your arguments against the source of the information and who the victims went to tell their stories, I can understand those arguments, but let's look at the data, okay? Let's look at what Scarlett and K actually said with their actual words and their actual messages and separate the source from the material. What Scarlett and K talked about is scary. Terrifying. I couldn't even read more than a little bit before I got triggered. I wasn't caring about how the source podcast was talking about it. What Scarlett and K said with their own words should be enough. Make your own judgements. If you can't look at a story without being influenced by the storyteller's hidden agenda and not have critical thinking skills????? I'm sorry but that's going to be your downfall.

Or better yet, if you can't believe victims because they have political views that differ from your own (which, they probably don't. From what I can tell nobody really fucking knows what Scarlett and K's political views are but it doesn't really matter) you need to really study and look into what you mean when you call yourself a "leftist". Because it's not very progressive or helpful to not believe or help victims because of their political views. Sorry. Is that wild for me to say? Idk

Uh anyways. I don't really care what you do in your free time when it comes to enjoying the fandoms. I don't necessarily think it makes you a terribly shitty person for still engaging in it instead of burning all your Neil Gaiman stories, and also like a lot of people have said (and since I'm on the same boat) treating fans like the scum of the earth when a lot of fans have had good omens as a way to escape and has become super dependent on good omens and are justifiably horrified by everything and trying to ignore it is shitty. But I'm personally going to continue to follow this story because I care about the victims. Not because I want to be guilt-free reading a fanfic about an angel and a demon. Because I care about real life people.

[menlove]

I don't know if somebody already asked you, but what do you think ACTUALLY happened in India?

in myyyy opinion I honestly don't think anything major happened 😭 I have a Couple Reasons and it's mostly bc I'm a "they were fucking the whole time" truther, but I can see where people that view paul as being repressed & rejecting john would find india as the most likely Catastrophe Spot

i'll just toss some of my thoughts under the cut fdfasf

but basically for me it just comes down to:

the Biggest shifts in their attitudes to each other seemed to have happened when brian died & the subsequent mmt disaster, when john started going all in with yoko, and finally at Some point between the rooftop concert and the abbey road sessions. none of those, to Me, line up w something major happening in india. they were already a little strained after brian/mmt & they seemed to be still at that "strained but still friends" point after india

apparently, paul & ringo leaving india early was pre-planned out. there was like an article that mentioned that they'd be leaving early before the beatles even left for india, mentioning that paul would be coming back early to deal w some business stuff. so this, to me, is a hole in the Big India Shift theory

and IF they were fucking the whole time like i personally believe (i may be crazy it's fine), i think that fits pretty well with the lil reference we get in get back. bc john blows that mic with GUSTO & paul isn't acting nervous or like someone who just got called out for ditching him after fucking him, he's just sort of giggly/flustered like john's just referencing a time they fucked that they can't talk about in front of people lmao

so for MEEE what i Actually think happened was probably just....... things getting More uncomfortable (what with john constantly getting telegrams from yoko & the fact that cyn was there and her and john were Not getting on well) & them possibly fucking but it not really being a big deal bc it was just already a thing that they did.

i Do agree with one take i saw in the general beatles fandom world that part of the reason things started to go sour for everyone after india was just that they were all sober for the first time in fucking AGES & when that happens you kind of look around at yourself, your life, and the people you're around and start questioning things. i think by that point they were all becoming highly individualized people & without the security blanket of drugs it became apparent that they'd drifted apart. not just john and paul, but all 4 of them (& cyn and jane, for john & paul respectively).

i mean i could be wrong! if i'm wrong abt paul just being closeted & them having had an acknowledged sexual relationship going on, i can see where the logic would follow that maybe something happened in india. but honestly, for me, even in that case i just don't see enough evidence of smth happening. i think it's a Good Spot for something to happen, like narratively/for fanfiction, but as far as it being like a solid theory for me i just don't really buy it? it's kind of like how for me personally i think a "good spot" for them to have a tender moment would be after the "bigger than jesus" incident, but it's not something i have evidence for or necessarily Believe, i just think narratively it would be neat. same goes for india, so like i can and do still enjoy fics/headcanons about it, i just personally don't see enough actual concrete evidence to lead me to believe in it seriously.

and this is absolutely not to shit on anyone or judge this theory at all. like i said, i can see why people get here, i just don't see it myself. and that's mostly due to my own core mclennon theories that they were fucking & paul is just a closeted bisexual lol. if people believe otherwise, that's totally fine! keep on theorizing and having a blast yk

[littledesertfox]

intro, I guess?

hii! I figured I should make a post like this even though I have a feeling it will be like super messy xD

I've had an interest in history, specifically World War II basically since I was a kid. It was only recently though that I found out that there's a community for it! I've always had a thing with expressing my interests in ways that may seem slightly odd to other people, so it feels nice to see that there are others who seem to experience this in similar ways :3

I want to make it very clear that I am NOT a nazi or rightwing in any way, and I don't want actual (neo-)nazis to interact with my blog, get the fuck out! Similarly, I don't want racists, lgbtq-phobes, ableists, religious extremists, pedos & zoos or people of similarly disgusting kind to interact! I'm literally queer and neurodivergent (undiagnosed/suspected bc getting a therapy place is hard :/), this is not a place for you!

+++

I've been a fan of the Downfall parodies on youtube when I was younger and recently relapsed into this fixation😭 I don't know if this fandom even really exists at this point since it seems that many creators have left in the meantime, but I'd love to talk about it, maybe I'll even get to write fanfics at some point. Also a short disclaimer that when I talk about historical figures that play a major role in the Downfall parody universe (such as Fegelein, Krebs, Burgdorf etc), it will usually be about their parody selves, not the real people! I'll try to clarify that individually if needed though.

I've also started lurking a little in the reichblr tag with a feeling that I'd describe as "indimidated fascination". Currently I'm mostly interested in some members of the Wehrmacht, but other historical figures that I had or have an interest in might come up as well. Overall any stuff that I post will probably go more into the lighthearted and humorous direction, but I'd love to bring in some more educational stuff as well.

My inbox is always open if you want to gush or ramble about your favourite historical figures or Downfall characters (both from the parodies and the movie itself) and such! Please talk to me about our shared faves😭🫶

+++

I get crushes on fictional characters and sometimes historical figures too, but that doesn't mean I support, condone or defend their worldviews or actions in any way (this applies especially to real people of course)! These "crushes" usually stem from a place of fascination with who they were behind their public appearance, I want to know more about them as a private person, like their hobbies, favourite food and other mundane things like that. Often it's also simply that I feel physically attracted to their appearance because I think they're handsome, either that or they give me massive gender envy (or both lmao). I don't really control on who I fixate like that, it just happens, but I hope that this will be a place for me to express those feelings in some way and find like-minded people. Though I also want to point out that not all my fixations are automatically also crushes! Usually I will mention whether they are or not, or you'll probably notice based on what kind of posts I make about them lol.

Current main historical fixations:

Erwin Rommel (I can't help it I just think he's cute ._.)

Fritz Bayerlein (he's the dude in my pfp lol, there's barely info about him but idk I just think he's kinda interesting😭 also yes he was actually bi)

Current main Downfall fixations:

Hans Krebs & Wilhelm Burgdorf (the otp ever)

Wilhelm Mohnke (ngl Downfall!Mohnke is kinda fine❤️‍🔥 ... idk maybe I'm just finding the actor hot though😭)

+++

If I encounter things that make me uncomfortable I follow common fandom courtesy and block tags or blogs accordingly. This is nothing personal, I'm just curating my own online space. I don't want to see any harassment here, neither towards myself nor to others!

Anyway I guess that's it for now? Idk if this is any good as an intro post but for now it'll have to do I guess😂 I'm generally not really sure yet in which direction to go with this blog (should it be more Downfall or reichblr focused? is there a lot of overlap between the fandoms? do they even get along? help😭). I also don't know how active I'll be in general, I'm also constantly jumping between thoughts like "yee this is gonna be fun" and "dafuq am I doing here I should feel ashamed about myself" but I hope to meet people who share my interests :3

[liesmyth]

Asking because I don’t know how to tag properly/don’t have enough tlt brainrot followers on my own blog: I had this revelation that New Rho Could be short for “New Rhodesia” which would say a LOT about the original colonists of the planet (the trillionaires(?))

ooh this is juicy! For context: "Rhodesia" was the name given to Zimbabwe and Zambia by the British, after Cecil Rhodes (you may know him from the Rhodes scholarship. also the imperialism)

I started replying to this and it went horribly long so I'm gonna put it under a cut. My tldr is that I don't think it's a direct reference, both because of naming patterns in TLT and because I don't think the trillionaires who escaped earth would be referencing Cecil Rhodes on purpose, but I also don't think it's a wild leap to make.

I'm throwing this in the tags and I'm 👀 to know what people think.

On the name

I always assumed that New Rho was a reference to the greek word / letter Rho (ρ). This would fit both the naming patterns of the Houses (which are partly inspired by classical mythology) AND what little we see of the naming patterns of BoE, who apparently like to name places after ancient or mythological locations on Earth — see also: Lemuria, Ctesiphon wing, Troia cell.

Note that we actually don't know for sure whether "New Rho" is the name given to the planet by the locals or by the Houses — the only person who actually uses that name is Ianthe during her speech, so it may very well be the case that the Empire renamed New Rho unilaterally, and the name doesn't reflect what its actual inhabitants call it. I don't believe that's the case (because, again, it fits with other naming patterns BoE seem to have + to a lesser extent, I think there would have been hints in the text if that had been the case, extra jeerings from the crowd or whatever if they felt strongly that their planet had another name) I'm just bringing this up here for completion's sake.

About the trillionaires:

I've given a lot of thought to the demographic of the TLT fleet. Although IDK how widespread of an opinion this is in the fandom but, personally, I feel pretty strongly that the bunch of ultra-rich people who would have fleed Earth leaving everyone to die would NOT have been the kind of demographic keen to reference British colonialism.

Like, I think it's important to note that the "first wave" of ships that launched from Earth didn't seem to include ANY major politician from a Western country that we know of — they managed until the last moment to keep up the pretence that it was "just" the first of many trips, and to me the lack of panic points to the fact that many public figures weren't on board. The world leader John puppeteers is heavily implied to be the US president, and even he wouldn't have been on board. John's flashback arc pits him very strongly against the global north, but more than that — imo, it's telling that the only sympathetic governments he could get to listen to him were the NZ government and parts of Oceania. It wasn't just John vs. the West, or John vs. OECD countries. It was John vs. the uber-wealthy, and those exist all over the world.

What I'm getting at is: that the trillionaires weren't overwhelmingly white. Many of them would have been USamerican or British or European, but so many people on board those ships would have been Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern, Russian, Thai etc. I'm thinking about 2024 data on List of countries by share of income of the richest one percent and List of cities by # of billionaires (keeping in mind also that in the NtN flashback arc, the stock market has crashed and the economy is in shambles. I would also assume that many Silicon Valley / tech fortunes have dramatically shrunk, and most "trillionaires" would be people who materially control access to resources.)

Basically what I'm getting at is that, TO ME, the TFL fleet was an escape pod put together by a group of people who had the means to decide they should save themselves and fuck everyone else, rather than a colonising project, and that most of them wouldn't be in a rush to identify themselves with the British empire. Many of them, maybe even a majority, wouldn't be white. They're the scifi equivalent of French noblemen fleeing the revolution. Uber-privileged people who became refugees.

Anyway. This is a book.

Everything I've written above explains why, TO ME, whoever on those ships made it out alive + successfully colonised a plane wouldn't be thinking about the British Empire in an especially positive light. However! TLT as a story doesn't exist in a vacuum, and Taz Muir (who exists in the world, and lives in Oxford) would 100% know who Cecil Rhodes is. I can absolutely believe that she settled on a Greek-mythology-inspired naming pattern and then, out of all the available options, decided to reference the colonialist whose statue got removed while she was writing the book.

[souredfigs]

So I have some thoughts about Eärien and the Númenor plotline in general I want to yap away about so forgive me :

I feel like there is this dilemma with every complex female character in fantasy where the fandom enthusiastically chants "I will support her wrongs !" And when she does something egregious as expected everyone just hates her for the rest of eternity instead of actually TRYING to look into the characters motives and their point of view .

We know that the Kings men and their right wing like reactionary nationalism, superiority complex, and greed is gonna drive Númenor to utter ruin (welcome back SPQR) , its also the major reason why Sauron was able to manipulate Pharazôn so easily , we know that Eru and the Valar and their presence is heavy in not just Númenor but in middle earth and whole of Arda , and we know that the faithful are correct in this situation .

(Lots of people claim that the faithful are right wing religious extremists and paint them as Tolkien projecting his own Catholic beliefs but that's not how I see it . Sure Tolkien held his beliefs very close to his heart but I don't see it as him "projecting" them , from all that I have read so far about the man ,he was never one for imposing his views on others. I mean he was quoting Simone De Beauvior, a feminist of the second wave and an openly bisexual woman whose works were banned in the catholic church , and called her views on death as the "key springs" of lotr trilogy . Yes there are references to his faith in his works , but I for one never see them as being written in there out of malice or a prejudice of a sort , but out of pure love and inspiration. So in my opinion you cannot take the context out when talking about the faithful because in many ways the faithful are the more open minded and progressive bunch in this story.) Again I may be wrong about this but this is just my opinion and what I understand so far :)

But from Eäriens' pov , her absent father (Elendil ily but dammit dude) has returned from a hastly planned and failed voyage without her eldest brother , the only person she could confide in , while the other one (aND WHERE THE FUCK IS ANÁRION?) got fed up with said dad and pissed off to (WHERE IS HE?) .... somewhere out of the capital . Her mother is long gone , their father shut himself off because of it , and now Isildur is also dead and it's all because of (in HER mind do not come for me pls) Míriels support of Galadriel and the old ways . And when she tries to do something about it with her newfound position, her father once again cuts her off and compares her fate to that of her deceased mother, who died in a horrifying way ... so yeah she has the right to be pissed .

Maybe , judging from the teasers in ep 6 Eärien has a Sansa Stark moment where she tries to get Ned I mean , Elendil out of prison but Pharazôn and Kemen shut her off and she realises that she's messed up big time and is now trapped with these clowns basically until you know....... what happens . Or maybe that doesn't happen and maybe she is after all the one who's gonna make Melkor's temple but regardless I am so excited to see her character arc evolve. I am eating up this complex juicy storyline.

[unabashedly-so]

💙💜🩷 SDV Bachelor HC 🩷💜💙

How much has each bachelor explored their bisexuality?

Content warning: compulsive heteronormativity, loss of family, grief, risky sexual behavior mention, drinking mention. SFW.

✨The Bachelors✨

Elliott

look me in the eye and just try to tell me this man doesn't already know. i dare you i fuckin' dare you i WANT YOU TO

that line on the 10 heart boat scene about not knowing he could feel that way about another man is bullshit and that is a piece of canon I toss into the sea.

now please understand the majority of this is colored by my very vivid hc of Elliott's upbringing and young adult life, but you're literally reading a hc post that is labeled hc so you bought the ticket now board the train. choo choo mfs.

the low hanging fruit is that this is a man that canonically spends hours on hair care, dresses like that, talks like that, etc. etc.. Yes, you can be cishet etc. and do that, sure.

and don't get me wrong, it's valid that Elliott could just Be Like That. (I love and respect the hell out of that incorrect opinion)

but this man is penny-romance novel cover coded. just. think about that. think about this active CHOICE he is making.

ffs he lives on a BEACH and dresses in a THREE-PIECE SUIT with his PERFECTLY COIFFED hair that he has to spend HOURS on because that's what happens when you LIVE. ON. A. BEACH.

i am going to have an aneurysm about this man's life choices rn

he's arguably pretty self-secure*, which tracks because you don't get to be his age and not have some better understanding of yourself. As others have pointed out, there's no real ""growth"" in Elliott's arc because boy came whole because HE BEEN KNEW HE BEEN THROUGH THIS ALREADY. He's secure in his identity because he's worked it out already! He's moved on! focusing on his career and legacy now that he knows who is he and who he's not!!

*dont make me drag out the receipts his part is already long enough just trust me ok

now meet Elliott in his early 20's and wow, buddy, you are trying way too hard I promise you things are gonna be okay sweetheart

speaking of his early 20's, it's hc to me that he did, uhhhh, so much exploring. of everything. and everyone in the English and Theater department during university.

King Slut, long may he reign. 🙏

just. someone who's not as self-secure and self-aware would not be able to own the aesthetic PLUS the temperament we see with Elliott, who really only gets flustered with the intimate interpersonal stuff because he's a romantic and it's meaningful. He's confident in who he is and the kind of person he wants to be, and you don't get to that point in life without having done a lot of experimenting and soul-searching.

I could write a whole fucking meta on this boy, but for today: 9/10 he knows it, owns it, enjoys it, but he's got more interesting things going on in his opinion than to make one of his core personality traits just Gay/Queer/Bi/Pan, etc. He has an AESTHETIC and BI BY YOBA he's sticking to it.

also he can walk in heels better than you.

Harvey

Hmm, he's actually hard to get a read on for me. There's a few others in the fandom who might have a better take than me, but here's what I can offer.

first let's grant him that he's older. With age comes wisdom, experience, etc. the older bachelor/ettes are just going to be at an advantage vs the younger ones.

also... like 8 years in college. I cannot be swayed away from this as a crucial part of his journey.

twinkle TWINK-le little snack.

it just feels like one of those things he felt happening in high school and might have gotten bullied for it because everyone Knew but he couldn't/wouldn't just own it.

but then in college he finally realized that owning it would give him the power, so he did. kind of. very quietly.

he probably had a boyfriend or two in undergrad. They were definitely the kind to hold hands from the coffee shop to the library. you know the ones, we've all seen 'em. <3

and isn't he just so lucky that he can get butterflies from girls too?

a blessing and a burden for this man with anxiety because, oh no, now everyone's cute.

by the time he gets to Pelican town, his last relationship kind of ended on a sour note, so he's a little discouraged from pursuing romantic relationships, hence why he's a bit guarded and shy and nervous.

he gets a 8/10, he's just quiet about it because who's business is it but his own? also, like, he's literally the doctor for everyone. He's gotta keep some confidentiality in this small town.

Sebastian

while he doesn't show it, I'd say Sebastian is actually quite comfortable with being bi.

I mean like as comfortable as he can be around people in general.

He doesn't bring it up, and doesn't really let anyone know either, but again that's just kind of his MO, regardless of gender.

now when he's Together with someone, well that's a different story. we stan possessive Sebastian in this house 🫡

he probably wouldn't bring it up with the gang unless someone else brought it up first. 🤷‍♀️

would probably give some semi-defensive response of "yeah, what of it??" to his friends, but a low hearts farmer might get a coldly aggro "why are you asking? That's none of your business."

he and Maru Know about each other but keep those conversations private. hashtag just sibling things ig

has definitely kissed guys at concerts before. Lots of people can also provide a feeling of anonymity, letting him get lost in the crowd and not have to worry so much. 10/10

Shane

closeted sportsballer. As a former Closeted Sportsballer, I can see this going two ways.

First option: you DO NOT explore that unless you want things to get real weird REAL FAST.

Like, I'm not even talking locker room nonsense, let's be mature here. Even if you do not like your teammates, you WILL still share a Sports Bond with them built on a shared passion, a common goal, and lots of comiseration.

So if you're already on iffy social standing, which I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say Shane might have had... you're gonna have a bad time.

Then after his gridball career ended, it may have already been baked in that that was Dangerous. OR he could have just been so far down the path of self-loathing that he stopped looking at people romantically.

OR OR--part of his self-loathing actually opened him up to exploring his sexuality......

......which is a very nice way of saying he took part in a lot of risky sexual encounters. 😮‍💨 (with all genders! One night stands do not discriminate!)

so if there were any feelings involved, it was... not good or conducive to self-understanding. Probably made things worse.

cue the drinking! the depression! all the risky behaviors!

ALTERNATIVELY... Option two: he does explore Feelings For Dudes and it could have played into his sportsball exit. 🤔

Hi. Let me just reiterate personal experience here: LEAVING A TEAM CAN REALLY FUCK YOU UP depending on your life outside the sport. Sports teams are a social support group, like, I really hate the phrase "like family"... but literally structurally so similar. If you already don't have a strong family life outside of the sport (like Shane has admitted to, let's fuckin goooooo), AND being on a team is an overall positive thing in your life??

Leaving your team (willingly or unwillingly) takes away that social support. And not just the social/emotional support, but the structure to your life, the routine, the feeling of belonging, the PURPOSE!!!

gee, wonder what kind of feelings those can bring about in a person. like a sad chicken man.

are we seeing a trend here???????

Ok this definitely got more into a sportsball psychological study, but what I'm saying is my money's on gridball heavily influencing his trajectory but since he DIDN'T have the family or social supports outside of it, he crashed and burned afterwards. Contrast with Alex below who DID have social supports and--

focus, bisexuality.

Personally, I like the idea that Shane's been with dudes, but it's never been anything emotionally healthy (except maybe one pre-gridball-exodus which could have prompted the leave......🤔👀) or fulfilling.

5/10, would be 6 but he got -1 because it was driven by self-loathing. >:(

somebody come show him some mlm love!!!

Sam

baby boy. sweet baby boy.

the younger bachelor/ettes are at a bit of a disadvantage because they're in the time of their life where they would be exploring their sexualities in a conducive environment. Not to say the valley isn't but there's, uh, only 11 other singletons there and they all know each other sooooo...

that said, due to Kent's military career, it's likely Sam has had time living outside of Pelican Town, so may be a bit farther ahead than, say, Sebastian who's lived there his whole life.

speaking of Kent, it's canon that Daddy has been in and out of his life and tbf I don't remember exactly how Sam feels about that but

I'm JUST SAYIN'. baby boy gets a whiff of attention from some buff dude who wants to make him his baby girl?? melting.

you know the trope of how girls with absent fathers sometimes overcorrect for that and seek out male attention like crazy? well, who says boys are any different??

what I'm getting at is this: you're trying to tell me Sam has NEVER had a raging crush on Alex?????

I mean fr it was probably like. Alex told him "good choice" on his ice cream flavor once and it was all downhill from there.

plus I'm hoping he's got a solid enough friendship with Sebastian (and Abigail) that they could talk about these things without it getting weird.

also, singer/lead guitarist in a band?? come on, too easy.

anyway 5/10, once again a bit oblivious until he gets smacked in the face. Definitely a flavor of "haha no homo bro! :):) ...... unless...?? 👀"

Alex

closeted sportsballer, round 2 EXCEPT

he canonically admits he crushes real easy. so just statistically speaking, there's an equal likelihood that he's crushed on the male singletons of the valley, too. Which totally doesn't even take into consideration his gridballer time, which I'll get to in a second.

he also admits his crushes don't usually last very long. part of that probably has to do with a lot with attachment issues (seriously he should be more messed up than he is), but if gridball is just SDV American Football, there's probably a good deal of internalized homophobia Alex has had to either work through or not work through. hence why his not het crushes might not last long.

but confusing and conflicting as they may be, THEY'RE STILL THERE. just. probably presenting more like a "wow I'm really noticing this person a lot lately huh. I mean I guess they look pretty good and seem kind of cool..." he's completely and utterly oblivious to so much, his own feelings included.

so what I'm saying is there was a brief window of time where Alex unknowingly had a crush on Sam and, listen, under the right circumstances Sam/Alex (Smalex?) could have been canonized--don'T BOO ME, I'm RIGHT

as for gridball, compulsive heteronormativity is absolutely rampant so there's no way he could have felt comfortable exploring his interest in other gender(s). ESPECIALLY in his case where he's still kind of on the outside, trying to model himself to fit a certain kind of mold. Just, no chance, absolutely none.

and really, Idk, between him and Haley I'm starting to get real compulsive heteronormativity vibes now... not that they're mad about it, but they were kinda forced into those roles and, well, the shoes KIND OF fit I GUESS...

you might say it was ... they're kind of sh... shoeho--shoehorn--*shot*

Anyway, boy's represso. 2/10, if you called him bi he'd say wait why are you leaving , what did you want to tell me???

[imwall-e]

Until we meet again : Chapter 1

Pairing : TB!Arthur Morgan x Reader

Warning : MAJOR SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAY THE GAME, major character dea•th, tuberculosis, angst, (tell me if I forgot some), reader but external POV

A/N : I wrote this a few months ago and finally decided to post it. I'm really proud of this chapter, my best work so far (imo). I first wrote it in French and mostly used Deepl to translate the text, and even if I re-read it, they may be some mistake so don't hesitate to tell me! This is not beta read. This is my first work for the Red Dead fandom and I hope it's good. Consider liking, rebloging or commenting if you like my work (and feel comfortable with that of course).

The atmosphere of Beaver Hollow was already being felt long before we arrived at the new camp. The area was dark, damp, stinking. It was as if it were haunted. Cursed. As for the cave, it was a concentration of all that, only worse. Once home to a local gang nicknamed The Rejects of Murfree, it bore indelible traces of the horrors it had harbored. The smell outside was unbearable, but inside was a vision of dread. Blood was visible from floor to ceiling, pieces of decomposing corpses smeared all the way down to its entrails. Impossible to settle inside.

Where just a few weeks earlier the gang had been celebrating their exit from the snowy mountains, and everyone was ready to give their all to make a new place a comfortable place to live, now there was no laughter to be heard. Not a smile was to be seen on any of the faces. Only whispers, distrust, fear and death reigned.

And Arthur… his coughing fits were becoming more violent, and more frequent. His skin was pale, contrasting with the blue of his eyes, which betrayed his illness and fatigue.

Outlawed, hunted by the Pinkertons or opposing gangs like the O'Driscolls, he'd been shot at many times. And yet, he was dying of tuberculosis. A fucking disease. After all, he'd probably earned it with the life he was leading… had led. His punishment for beating up Mr Downes. A good man, always ready to help others even though he didn't have much.

Arthur, who'd never done anything right. Or so he thought, but she was always there to remind him otherwise. After Mary, after Eliza, he never thought he'd fall in love again. Then she'd come along, and offered him more than he thought he deserved.

Arthur had met her while hunting. She was wearing a long white dress. At first, he thought he saw an angel. Then their eyes met. He saw the fear in her eyes and decided to put down his bow. He introduced himself and she gradually seemed to calm down. After a few minutes' silence, she finally told him her name. Her voice trembled, but she'd asked for his help: she was supposed to be getting married that very day to a man she'd never met. But what she was looking for was freedom.

She wanted to travel. To discover. To live. And Arthur had offered her all that. For five years, they'd been happy together. Arthur had even proposed to her while they were still in Blackwater. But they'd kept it a secret until things got better.

Unfortunately, the moment never arrived.

Micah was a traitor. And Dutch had blindly followed him, going so far as to question the words of John and Arthur. He'd rather believe a dangerous madman than those he considered his own sons.

Arthur should have left after the Blackwater massacre. Hosea had tried to warn him when they'd all fled to Colter. Or he should have let Micah hang at Strawberry. If only he'd been willing to open his eyes to what Dutch had become. To his true nature. If only.

But it was too late now, and there was no point in dwelling on the past. Now he had t o protect those who remained. Tilly had already taken Jack to safety. Abigail was safe thanks to him and Sadie, and the two women had left to join Tilly. Mary-Beth and Karen had probably escaped too. She was the only one left. And he knew exactly where she'd be safe.

He helped his young fiancée onto her mare, then settled down behind her. He wanted to smell her hair while he still could. He wanted to hold her close. However, time was running out and lingering was a luxury they couldn't afford. The person he was looking for was passing through the Annesburg area, but they'd better get moving fast. He nudged the horse's flank to move it forward, and whistled for the stallion carrying the young woman's belongings to follow.

The journey wasn't long, but it went by faster than he would have liked. A dilapidated house appeared in the distance. Arthur had exchanged a few letters with the man who had taken an interest in his bleak landscape, a man he had helped not long ago. He was standing outside, setting up his camera. His gaze wandered to them, and he soon recognized Arthur.

"Mr. Morgan! I'm so happy to see you again! As you may have noticed, I've given up taking pictures of wildlife. I'm now content with the magnificent landscapes" exclaimed Albert, warmly greeting the man who had helped and saved him on numerous occasions. But his familiar enthusiasm soon disappeared when he saw the young woman's tears and Arthur's sickly pallor. "What's the matter?" he asked worriedly, abandoning his camera.

"Mr. Mason, I need you to…" but Arthur was interrupted by a coughing fit causing him to cough up blood as he stepped to the ground. "I'm dying and I'd like you to take care of my fiancée."

The young woman tried to smile at Albert, but knowing that the man she loved would soon be leaving her was too much to bear. It dashed all memories, all hopes of a better life with her cowboy.

"I'm sorry I haven't written to inform you, but recent events haven't given me the opportunity," Arthur resumed after helping his beloved off his horse.

The tears continued to roll silently down the cheeks of the woman who was to become Mrs Morgan. She was silent now, staring into space.

"Mr Morgan…", Albert didn't know what to say. This kind man, who had come to his aid so many times, was going to die. He could see the sadness in the lovers' eyes. And Albert saw only one way he could do something for them: "Don't worry, I'll take care of mademoiselle."

Arthur was relieved: she would be safe. She would live. He turned to her: she seemed no more than a ghost. But she had to fight. For him. For her. For them.

"I love you, Princess," he began, taking her in his arms. "More than you can imagine. I wish I'd said it more often. I regret so many things. But I promise we'll meet again. Not in this life, unfortunately, but in another. I'll find you again."

"We… we… we didn't even have time to get married," she managed to articulate between sobs, the crying resuming in earnest following Arthur's words.

"It wasn't our time. Now you must stay with Albert. Live, princess. Do it for me. I'll always watch over you, but promise me you won't let yourself die."

"I… I promise, Arthur."

That was all he needed to hear. He had to go now. He had unfinished business with Micah, but also with Dutch.

The sun was setting as he rested his forehead against hers. His way of kissing her for the last time, wanting to avoid her contracting tuberculosis too. He squeezed her hands and heard her whisper "I love you, Arthur".

He gently let go of her hands and she kept her eyes closed, not wishing to watch him go. To tell the truth, she was so focused on remembering his scent, his laugh, his voice, that she didn't even hear him mount his mare and gallop away.

When she opened her eyes again, the sky had darkened. A storm was approaching. Arthur was gone. Only Albert remained, looking after the stallion carrying the young woman's belongings. He knew she wouldn't move immediately, but it was time to go. He'd better get back to the cabin he'd rented before nightfall.

"Mademoiselle, I'm sorry but we must leave now. Tomorrow we'll go to Rhodes, my house is close to the city."

"Of course," was all she could reply, her gaze fixed on the mountains.

The journey to the cabin Albert had reserved was silent. The storm was roaring in the distance. She held back from joining Arthur. But she had to keep her promise.

Without Arthur, life would be difficult. Her heart would be broken forever, but she had to try. And one day, they would be reunited. She had to believe that.

The rain finally came, falling on her cheeks and mingling with her tears. She couldn't stop thinking about all those mornings she'd wake up alone. She couldn't accept that he wasn't coming back. Ever.

"Mademoiselle?" Albert's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "We've arrived. You should try to eat something and get some sleep." He didn't know what to do or say.

She followed him silently. Inside, she sat by the window, where she could see the mountains near Beaver Hollow. Soon, she closed her eyes, tears still flowing.

Her mind took her to a river in the middle of the woods. The light wind gently moved the leaves on the trees. She was wearing a long white dress. A branch cracked, startling her. But it was only Arthur, wearing the hat he always wore and the blue shirt she loved so much.

"You're beautiful," he said, and she threw her arms around his neck. "Dance with me?" Was there an answer other than "yes"?

And, each immersed in the other's gaze, they danced. Without stopping, they talked about their future: having a ranch, raising horses, starting a family. A quiet life away from traitors and the Pinkertons. Just them.

"I love you, Arthur."

"I love you too, princesses," he replied, kissing her tenderly. A deer passed by them. Then nothing.

When she opened her eyes again, she knew Arthur was gone.

It was nearly nine o'clock when Albert and the young woman began their journey to Rhodes.

"I think you'll like Rhodes very much, mademoiselle. It's much quieter and warmer since the Gray and Braithwaite families, two rival families, entered… well, since they left."

The young woman smiled at the mention. It brought back memories that were certainly recent, but seemed so long ago. But her smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared as she recalled Sean's death.

Then came Kieran's turn. Hosea. Lenny. Eagle Flies. John. And Arthur.

Sensing that she wouldn't talk any more than she had the day before, Albert decided to talk to her about anything and everything, in the hope of distracting her from the sadness that overwhelmed her, even if only for a few minutes.

"The landscape is also much brighter. Annesburg offers beautiful scenery, but it's a very dark, eerie area. Rhodes is nicer, warmer."

Albert was right: the further they got from Annesburg, the fresher the air seemed, the more colorful and welcoming the surroundings.

She glanced back one last time, to where Arthur had remained. Her heart sank. She felt she was abandoning him. But she had to stay strong.

Finally, Rhodes appeared before them as the sun tinted the sky orange, ready to give way to the moon.

"Miss, look!"

A majestic deer had stopped in the middle of the road, staring at them with its big dark eyes.

"It's the first time I've seen one approach like that. They're usually very frightened," Albert continued.

The deer approached the young woman and rested its muzzle against her leg. She gently touched its large antlers, then the animal moved away, disappearing among the trees.

"Goodbye, Arthur."

I hope you liked this first chapter!

[gffa]

The thing I really miss about Star Wars novels is exemplified by being two-thirds of the way through Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade and how I think I'm legitimately enjoying it, but in a very specific way, and I think there's actually a ton you could dig into the structure and bias of the narrator that I think is done on purpose and that I can find sympathy for a character actively falling to the dark side and what she's going through without validating the people she's demonizing in her head because I've been there, I have had my brain lying to me all my life, telling me things I know aren't true, making me believe them despite all evidence otherwise, and do you guys KNOW how much I love hot messes of a disaster lady? I fucking love a woman who is just an awful mess and doesn't have to actually be perfect or nice and maybe just once or twice says a kind of catty thing, NO, SHE IS A WHOLE ASS MESS and I LOVE HER!! But also I'm kind of in the position of how I'm tired of getting stories of characters falling to the dark side being the vast majority of what stories explore with the Jedi, I enjoy them, but not when that's all there is, and I have spent YEARS AND YEARS going back and forth with the discussions about the Jedi and I am so tired of it, I DON'T WANT TO ANYMORE. I just want to write my commentary and thoughts down in the vein that I have them and have that be it. I want to say, "This is a really glorious unreliable narrator here, because everything she says is contradicted by what the Jedi actually say/do, and she is explicitly a character designed with neurodivergent/mental health issues aspects in mind and you can't divorce that from her character." and like I don't even want to discuss with other Jedi fans about what the author may or may not have said (I read one interview from her at the beginning, enjoyed it fine, and AM NOT INTERESTED in knowing or hearing anything further) or how annoying it is to have a book like this, I JUST WANT TO DIG INTO A STORY and not have to worry about bracing myself for combat. (And also the thorny issue of how this isn't precisely a recommendation because I'm not sure others would enjoy it, like even if you agreed with me, I'm not sure it'd be something in your wheelhouse, but I don't want to even get into that, it feels exhausting, like, just I want to talk about how I'm enjoying it, but not have to articulate why I think others possibly wouldn't, just leave it at "nah, I don't think you'd enjoy it".) I know this is some IRL stuff spilling over onto my reading of this book and I'm aware of the state of a lot of creators in SW right now hold opinions that have made me stop reading their works because I am no longer interested in anything they have to contribute, but also like. Sometimes I just want to enjoy a book on my own terms and not have to feel like I'm arguing a case, but instead reveling in the glorious hot mess of a central female character that maybe I relate to and have sympathy for even while recognizing that she is painting a very unreliable portrait within the book, because I Have Been There. Idk, I'm not saying this very well, and a lot of it is outside factors, but I have this giant tangled ball of "I just want to enjoy something for once, not examine why it might actually be doing my Blorbos all wrong", like aren't we supposed to be in fandom for the enjoyment of things, not to constantly argue with people? /tired and hasn't been sleeping well and has been thinking about this instead of wrenching irl stuff

[babacontainsmultitudes]

As some of you already know, I am disheartened- though certainly not surprised- by the recent backlash against one Sparrow Oak Garcia for his recent transgression of *checks notes* having a mixed-to-negative opinion on zoos.

Part of me honestly feels a bit silly responding to any of this, but what are any of us here to do if not have opinions on fictional podcast characters. Anyways, I will get to the more important stuff, as obviously (if you've seen any of the criticisms I'm talking about) this ties back to Hero at the end of the day, but seeing as the first wave of hate I saw after the episode was largely to the effect of: "what the fuck does Sparrow have against zoos?", I would like to start by addressing that point briefly (and only briefly, as it's really not the sort of topic I care to discuss online), by saying that zoos and animal captivity more generally have a long history of being contested and criticized by animal rights activists, and that instances of animal abuse and neglect within zoos and other animal-based theme parks are anything but obscure. Furthermore, it feels worth noting that as of present less than 10% of zoos in the US are AZA-accredited. I say absolutely none of this with the intention of making any definitive statements on the nature of zoos, nor to judge people who do enjoy zoos, nor even to provide my own feelings on the matter. Rather, I offer this information only to explain that someone like Sparrow taking issue with something like zoos really isn't strange at all? And whether you agree with such a stance or not, it undoubtedly comes from a place of empathy. Moreover, I don't think we can honestly divorce Sparrow's take and compulsion to voice it from the metacontext that Sparrow is a character being played by Anthony Burch, you know, a vegan, who probably has his own views on the matter that may or may not differ from yours and mine.

Okay, on to more important matters. At the forefront of things I suppose is the assertion that Sparrow's behavior regarding Normal and the zoo and all that is hypocritical and perhaps even nonsensical in light of what Hero was going through at the time with her training. "He wouldn't take Normal to the zoo but he forced Hero to kill a deer with her bare hands?" Certainly the sort of statement that will elicit a strong emotive reaction from the fandom, but one that ultimately relies on a pretty major assumption, namely, that Sparrow acted as the primary organizer and perpetrator of Hero's training, one who supposedly felt no internal conflict towards the situation whatsoever, rather than instead serving as an enabler of it, who ultimately intervened but only after far too much damage was already done. Neither is a great thing to be, but there is absolutely a difference between both of these roles, and I think that Lark and Sparrow's respective behaviors over the course of the season point almost unanimously towards Sparrow being the latter and Lark the former.

(The above being a non-exhaustive list, of course)

The funny part about the whole zoo thing is that it only further corroborates the notion that Sparrow is someone who is sensitive to the suffering of others, and by extension only serves as more evidence that he most likely was not the one actively making Hero undergo the worst of what she had to do. Does this make him guiltless in the matter? Absolutely not, but it does point to Sparrow having issues that are fundamentally different from Lark's, and means that the instance with the zoo is not only consistent with Sparrow's characterization, but frankly not actually all that hypocritical if you look at it for more than a second. That is, there is a very important but simple difference between the situation with Normal and the zoo and that of Hero and the deer that accounts for the variances in Sparrow's behavior between both cases: Lark. Sparrow isn't okay with either situation, based on all the evidence we have so far of who he is as a person there is absolutely no reason to think that Hero's training is not something that deeply upset him- I mean for fuck's sake everything about how Sparrow raised Normal down to his name stems from not wanting his kids to have to live that kind of life. So why doesn't he put a stop to things sooner? Why does he let any of Hero's training happen at all? Again, very simply, because Sparrow cannot say no to his brother. I mean, he does eventually, given Hero's current status, and that change is an important and still ongoing facet of Sparrow's growth and his arc, but at the start of things it is something he struggles with even more than he does now, to his own suffering and detriment and of course even more so to Hero's. But did Sparrow himself "force Hero to kill a deer with her bare hands"? Almost certainly not, and I have to admit that I find it quite frustrating how quickly Lark vanishes from the collective conscious of the fandom when the time comes to assign accountability for matters concerning Hero. But then, who is Sparrow if not someone who takes the fall for his brother, apparently even in the fandom-space.

[Not that there isn't any nuance to Lark's utilitarianism, either. In general I feel as though discussion of the twins' biggest mistakes too often omits the acknowledgement of the fact that all of it has been to stop an eldritch horror responsible for the death and torture of millions of people, but anyways. Not what this post is about.]

I think that's mostly it lol. Got some thoughts on the family's policy on pets (and how it relates to the Hero thing but also to Beanie actually), as well as some remarks on Rebecca and how we really shouldn't be leaving her out of this discussion (I say, leaving her out of this discussion) but eeehhhhhhh y'all I'm especially low energy as of late eheh and mostly just wanted to speak my peace on a couple major things so let's cut it here for now I think :b