#almost like my opinions are based in actual understanding of politics

[betweenheroesandvillains]

talking to your 60yr old neighbours and suddenly realising you are soooooo politically versed (don’t think germany should be a kingdom, can historically trace the reasons for the social laws by Bismarck, know how political parties actually work, didn’t once mention you voted [party considered extremely left by your neighbours that isn’t actually extremely left])

[beanghostprincess]

Sorry I really didn’t mean I’m attacking you or your ship. I also don’t think it’s a red flag, most gay men I saw don’t really like shuggy either. I mean, probably the entire world prefers any other shanks ships? On almost every site, con or store there’s always tons of mishanks and Bennshanks and never shuggy. I get it’s also about dynamic and connection those two pairs have, like with the parallels to other ships the base for them is extremely strong. But the minimal shuggy does speak volumes. I genuinely wonder about this. Shuggy is unpopular and again while I do agree there’s strong connection between “rival ships” I don’t think that’s the only reason… and like…. Buggy is ugly, isn’t he? He doesn’t have cool style, doesn’t look cool, makes ugly faces all the time, also is a coward. I like him as comedy character and shanks brother though!

I understand where you're coming from when you say Shuggy is unpopular amongst some people (actually, before anyone says anything. It IS an extremely popular ship in Japan but I have seen A LOT of hatred towards it in this side of the fandom, so that's what I'm talking about when I say it's unpopular). I have talked about this before. And I have said a lot of times that the reason why is often because people only focus on looks and Buggy is not conventionally attractive for the fangirly twinkified sexualized gaze numerous sides of the fandom and the general audience seek. Like, I am not forcing people to ship them, but I have had people admitting the only reason they don't is because of the looks, and I personally believe that is a very (despite valid, of course) dull way of seeing ships. And respectfully, I don't care that other gay dudes or all the people in the world agree with you. It's not a red flag to not like Shuggy, what it is a red flag, though, is to come into people's inboxes to do what you're doing!

I know you don't mean to attack me or anybody who ships them but your tone does wonders showing otherwise. Your perception of shipping is just based on looks and the fact that you came here, to a blog that explicitly ships these characters and is fond of Buggy, talking shit about one of the characters' looks... Is just straight-up mean and not following the social etiquette this site should follow, which is "let people do whatever the fuck they want".

So with all due respect, what makes you think I won't find your questions offensive in any way? Because you keep talking bad about a character I like in my inbox for literally no reason. Do you expect me to admit that the ship is unpopular because Buggy is ugly and boring? Well, I do admit people view him as ugly and only a comedy relief, but I don't. Expecting others to find beautiful and interesting the same things you do is having a very close-minded vision that One Piece's plot itself is against.

By the way, you're showing that you clearly don't like Buggy in the slightest because you're only talking about the traits that you find negative about him. But of course, you like him as comedy relief. Of course, you like him as a character in Shanks' story and not as a character himself. Despite Buggy having lots of depth. Your perception of these characters seems, in my opinion, extremely empty and, as I said, only based on looks. And you're free of shipping whatever you want however you want! But please, please, don't do this anymore. This is just petty high school mean girl behavior. Even Regina George would word this in a more polite way.

So, as a little advice for you, let people ship whatever they want without questioning their favorite characters! I am sure you will live a more peaceful life!

[hobiebrownismygod]

Let's talk about Desi representation again!!

I don't talk about this stuff often but when I do, I have some strong ass opinions

and yes I'm gonna be talking about none other than Pavitr Prabhakar at the end cuz he's just special to me <3

Hollywood is lagging behind on Desi representation

You'd think one of the biggest film industries in the world would be able to represent us properly, considering the fact that we make up the largest group of South-Asian Americans and the second largest group of Asian-Americans in the US, but instead-

Western Television forces Indians to conform to harmful stereotypes

Some of the most popular Desi characters on screen are Raj Koothrappali from the Big Bang Theory, Devi Vishwakumar from Never Have I Ever and Kelly Kapoor from the Office.

Indian men are almost always portrayed as robotics engineers and computer whizzes, but with terrible social intellect, making them seem like awkward nerds.

Indian women are almost always portrayed as "whitewashed", or wanting to appear more western, with zero understanding of their own culture or language along with an unrelenting need for attention from white friends/colleagues.

These are both based on stereotypes that Indian culture is "toxic" and "too traditional" and that Indians are only interested in studies.

Most Desi characters in western media have stories that are solely based around their ethnicity and/or racial stereotypes.

British television actually showcases a lot more representation than Hollywood does

I was watching Polite Society, a movie starring two Pakistani characters as the main leads, and there was a dance scene where both the leads are wearing traditional desi attire. My mom turned over, looked at me, and asked, "Is this Hollywood? It can't be."

And she was right. It's a British movie with British-Pakistani actors.

The reason she didn't believe that it could've been Hollywood was because the dresses the two leads were wearing were traditional and beautiful and the song playing in the background was authentic Hindi music, not some random westernized DJ version of it.

A Hollywood movie would've never dressed up their Desi actors in actually flattering attire (*cough cough the Patel twins from Harry Potter) or have used real, popular Desi music in the background.

You see my point?

It is so uncommon to see well-thought-out Desi representation in TV nowadays, where to see real diversity we have to watch movies made by the same country that colonized us.

Ironic.

British movies/shows with desi leads have far better South Asian representation than anything I've seen in Hollywood recently.

The Hollywood movies starring Indian leads, like Slumdog Millionaire or Bend it like Beckham were filmed in the UK, and because they were filmed in the UK, they had fantastic South Asian representation.

Not only does Hollywood refuse to create shows and movies about real problems that South Asians face, but they also don't cast South Asian actors in good roles.

When's the last time you saw a South Asian actor playing a character that wasn't a walking stereotype? When's the last time you saw a South Asian actor playing a character that was a genuine part of the story rather than just comedic relief or a random smart kid in the classroom?

Not often, right?

Me, personally, I didn't grow up with a lot of South Asian characters or actors in shows/movies that I watched. In fact, every time someone even close to my skin color showed up on TV, I was on the edge of my seat because it was just so rare to see it.

This is why representation matters.

You've heard about all the young girls with braids being so excited when the new little mermaid with Halle Bailey came out. Well, us desi kids wanted that too.

I wanted to see a Telugu speaking girl with wavy hair and dark skin who would wear traditional clothing to Desi get-togethers and parties, go to the temple with her family, eat vegetarian Indian meals, etc...

I wanted to see a character who was a representation of me and my experiences as an Indian-American. I wanted to see a character that was at least a representation of Indians or just South Asians in general.

Instead, we were given characters that ridiculed their own culture, were extreme stereotypes and furthered the existence of casual racism in western society today. So many Desi kids experience small acts of racism on a daily basis because people have been so desensitized to the existence of these stereotypes.

Telling South Asians that their culture is a joke and feeding non-asian children media which pokes fun at other cultures is harmful, not only to us South Asians but also communities that could end up being targeted next.

Pavitr Prabhakar; Representation Matters

If you've been following me or if we're mutuals, you probably know I have a tiny obsession with Pavitr Prabhakar. But why?

Because of all the reasons I just listed.

There are few South Asian characters us Desis can look up to these days, and Pavitr Prabhakar is one of the maybe two or three characters who have great writing, magnificent representation, and overall a fun vibe.

He's likable, funny, smart and best of all, unapologetically Desi.

He's just like all the other side characters, with a little bit of his own culture mixed in. He's not being shoved down our throats to further an agenda about fake diversity, he's not a walking stereotype and best of all, he was designed by Indian creators.

He's refreshing and exciting to follow in a world full of a demand for half-hearted representations and the people who created him were obviously putting their hearts and souls into it.

He's awoken a love for Indian culture amongst, not only Desi children themselves but also among westerners who, prior to this, had thought of India as a "3rd world" country, because that's the agenda that Hollywood pushes onto many South Asian countries today.

WE LOVE PAVITR PRABHAKAR!!

This was kinda all over the place but I just had to get this off my chest <3

Sources:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/10/discrimination-against-indian-americans-happens-more-than-you-might-think/

[thelonelyjew]

I really hope it doesn't sound like I'm trying to start an argument with this, I genuinely want your opinion. Do you think Israel should exist? Do you think it can exist peacefully? I'm a Jewish kid, I support Palestine and think the genocide needs to stop, but I feel like some (obviously not all) of the criticism of Israel feels a little bit antisemitic. Like I've seen people saying that zionists control a bunch of things internationally and in the us government, and that sounds very similar to antisemitic conspiracy theories. I'm sorry for asking you this, I just don't know who to ask. My mom is really sensitive about this because she's been bullied for being Jewish. And my friends aren't quite as politically aware, so they don't understand the history and just keep being like "why did the us ever support Israel to begin with?" and they certainly don't understand where zionism came from so I can't have actual conversations with them

So if you have anything to say, or any resources, anything you think I should read, that would seriously be really helpful

This ask contains several complicated questions so I'll break it down and do my best to present not just my opinion but also what I understand to be the context and the alternatives, and what factors shape my thinking.

Do I believe the state of Israel should exist? On one level, I don't believe any states should exist. All modern nation-states are built on some amount of violence and ethnostates especially all require some amount of erasure of groups outside the national group being enshrined in the national mythology. This is not unique to Israel; Atatürk's "One nation one language one flag" policy continues to be the basis of Turkish aggression against and denial of Kurdish cultural existence for example. The ongoing Tigrayan genocide is part of the legacy of Amharic supremacy in the statecraft that went into the building of the state of Ethiopia. Every nation-state has a dark history casting a long shadow. For more context on this topic, Worshipping Power by Peter Gelderloos is a good read.

As far as alternatives, the proposals of Murray Bookchin, what he calls Social Ecology, and the Democratic Confederalism proposed by Abdullah Öcalan are promising. Other historical examples of alternatives past and present include the Haudeosaunee Confederacy, the Caracol model of the Zapatistas, peasant cooperative experiments seen in Makhnovchina during the Russian revolution and in revolutionary Spain in the 30s, and of course the Democratic Confederalist experiment in northeastern Syria aka Rojava.

The Rojava model is especially relevant because, while westerners tend to make armchair pronouncements about what ought to happen in the Middle East based on extremely flawed and limited knowledge and a deeply ingrained cultural bias (read Orientalism by Edward Said for more on that), there are experiments in pluralistic multicultural democracy that originate from within the region that are much more relevant. It's always so wild to me to hear Zionist apologia in the form of the question, "well what else could we ("we?") possibly support if not a two-state solution or an only-Israel 'the only democracy in the Middle East™️' solution?" When practically right next door there is a thriving 10-year experiment in radical democracy in an area with more ethnic, religious, and language groups than you can count on one hand, in an area where some people from those groups were brutally murdering each other less than a decade ago and now are having to find ways to patch up society and function in peace and with respect and self-determination for all groups there. That seems very relevant as an example but I almost never hear anyone mention it and Palestine together, despite historically the movements supporting each other.

As far as antisemitic conspiracy theories, I think you're right about that. I know a lot of people, even well-meaning people who have not fully examined their internalized antisemitism, will talk about US support for Israel as if Israel is controlling US politics and that is why there is so much military aid being sent, or they will talk about American support for Israel as if it's the result of Jewish influence in politics. On no other topic do Jews hold this amount of sway. Jews tend to support immigration reform and universal healthcare and yet we don't have the power as a tiny voting bloc to get those passed. No, the US supports Israel because it's an investment. Israel is essentially a weapons research and development laboratory for the US. The Israeli economy is overwhelmingly dependent on its military development and exports. A good source for this is the documentary film, "The Lab" directed by Yotam Feldman, an Israeli Jew himself, who goes into great detail on the role that Israel plays in weapons development for not only the US but also dictatorships in South America.

The other big source of American support for Israel is based on religion but not the Jewish religion. Evangelical Christians are by far the most powerful religious group in US politics, and they believe that Jews being returned to the holy land is a necessary component of triggering the war of Armageddon and bringing about end times etc. They are not our friends; our role in their teleology is to die to bring about the salvation of (a relatively small number of) Christians. This group is represented by powerful televangelists like John Hagee, whose organization Christians United For Israel describes itself as America's largest pro-Israel group. Not only are not all Jews Zionists and not all Zionists Jews; there are more Christian Zionists in America (30 million according to Tristan Sturm) than there are Jews in the entire world (less than 17 million according to Sheskin and Dashefsky data for 2023.)

Antisemitism absolutely still exists and is a real problem, and the conflation of critique of Israel with antisemitism makes genuine antisemitism much harder to address. Israeli propaganda deliberately inflames the reasonable and justified fears of Jewish people and directs them at a relatively powerless target rather than at the systems that endanger all of us.

I would argue that the state of Israel itself is antisemitic. Not only does it aggressively promote the old antisemitic narrative that conflates Jewish identity with Zionism, it has been instrumental in the displacement and destruction of so many Jewish communities and traditions that had been existing for centuries. I just finished reading My Father's Paradise, by a Kurdish Jew whose father's family was forced to relocate to Israel shortly after his bar mitzvah, the last ever to happen in the ancient Aramaic-speaking Jewish community of Zaxo in northern Iraq. It captures a poignant glimpse of how it feels to be the last surviving native speaker of your childhood language, and the role Israeli statecraft played in dooming many Jewish communities of the diaspora to that fate.

And here's maybe my hottest take: even if there were no genocide of Palestinians to worry about, I would still be anti-Zionist because I think Zionism is inherently anti-Jewish. Most of Jewish life has happened in the diaspora for the last several millennia, yet Zionism is an anti-diaspora ideology that sees our lives, our homes, our diverse sub-cultures and languages and spiritual practices as inferior, broken, not worth preserving let alone continuing. Modern Zionism is, by Hertzl's own admission, a settler-colonial project intended to shape Jewry into the mold popular among European nations at the time, and thereby win the respect of Christendom by playing their game on their terms and excelling. In short The national project of Israel is manufacturing whiteness for Jews.

But the truth is that for as long as there has been political Zionism, there have been Jewish anti-Zionists, as evidenced by folk songs like the century-old "Oy Ir Narishe Tsionisten" ("Oh You Foolish Zionists") re-popularized by Daniel Kahn, whose music is also associated with a Yiddish cultural revival among young diaspora Jews.

There's a lot more I could ramble on about and more books I could point towards but this is already very long and I'm no expert on the subject, just a very tired Jew who has been at this for a long time now. I'll leave you with a link to a good article about the recent wave of campus protests and incidents of alleged, and sometimes actual, antisemitism among them:

[sunnist4rs]

Blare White is super misogynistic… he also supports trump. You know the anti abortion, pro rape guy. I think you may be defining who you love/idolize and what you say you think based on who entertains you the most on social media/YouTube and your personal connections rather than really getting into WHY each view is right or wrong factually/ethically, and aiming to be consistent. To be clear I myself am a radfem and (within that) critical of gender ideology I am not trying to convince you to not criticize gender ideology or to not criticize specific trans identified people. Yes: some people Blaire white and that kind of guy opposes are also fucked up people who do harm. But the enemy of an enemy does not alone make a friend and I encourage you to look with a more critical eye at anyone aligned right wing and against women, whether they are novelties or famous on YouTube or whatever else or not

Among other things remember Blaire white is just a man who calls self woman but hates the other men who call themselves women. His critique of them is typically either copied (without him really understanding) from feminist women, or at other times basically rooted in him saying those other trans women are ugly or don’t pass or haven’t done [insert random shit] “Blaire” thinks makes him a real woman and these other trans women into pretenders. It’s just an egotistical man getting attention and money off of this while still claiming he’s a woman and doing so for sexist (“I pass as feminine so that makes me a woman” = sexist) reasons. This issue that is actually impacting women and girls (a category that doesn’t include him)

Thanks for sending me this ask (and being so civil about it). Before I joined the radfem community (and when I wrote my bio) I was pretty conservative but the more evidence of woman’s oppression I’ve seen, the more leftist I’ve become. This has left me feeling kind of lost because the people like Blair White who I used to turn to for comfort on bad days and to hear what I thought were reasonable political opinions no longer click with me. I don’t resonate with her (I’m gonna use she/her even though I’m he’s a dude because I do have that personal attachment right now so it just feels right) beliefs anymore but distancing myself from her feels wrong because she’s been a part of my life for a while, y’know.

I don’t watch YouTube much so I haven’t seen one of her videos since I became a radfem. But, I do remember how my old community used to act so Ik if I did watch another video of hers I’d be disgusted and disappointed by her behaviour (I almost want to avoid watching her at all so that I can keep pretending I align with her side- also I’m aware this is pretty parasocial, I’ll work on that). While I’ve become more aware of this I’ve continued to defend and preach how good her content is as a way of pretending I do still like her to myself. I knew I was doing this but I didn’t really think about it until now.

I’m pretty good at thinking critically about the media I consume, it’s just something I’ve always done when discovering something new to enjoy. But I think Ive developed a blind spot for people I previously loved as while I agreed with them in the past. Now however, me promoting their ideology is hypocritical at best. I’ve been practicing separatism (that’s not the word I want to use Ik it) more and more in my daily life. I now realise the next step I need to take is starting to distance myself from these people as they’re making me into someone I don’t want to be (hypocrites are one of my biggest red flags).

Thanks again for the ask as it’s genuinely helped me uncover a therapeutic break through lol. Whether or not that was your intent it’s definitely gonna help me be a better feminist and improve my life so thanks.

[hwnglx]

enha jay real personality reading, please !

jay's real personality behind the scenes

based on tarot. i do not know these idols personally. energies are always changing. what i say is NOT straight fact. pls take it with a grain of salt!

5c&ju, 7sw, kingc&6sw, pagw, hang&acw, tow

+ behind closed doors, jay is an exceptionally righteous person. someone with clear moral principles, who puts a lot of importance into taking accountability for his actions. he's a guy who strongly believes in always staying just and fair, as well as doing the right thing, and taking responsibility for when he ends up messing up. he isn't the type of person who will try and cover up his mistakes, or twist things in order to shift the blame onto someone else. he believes that a respectable man, should be able to admit his wrongdoings and actively work on himself in order to make sure not to make the same mistake again.

he's a very humble person. he's always willing to improve himself, never feels like he can learn enough lessons from life. he lives his day to day while believing that every single experience of his, even if negative, can later aid him in becoming a better person. he is like a student of life. a lot of curiousity about things the world can offer him, as well as interest in finding out what he can offer this world in return.

jay is also someone immensely respectful and considerate of people's individual boundaries. he isn't a nosy person who oversteps lines or digs his nose too deep into other people's business. he respects their privacy, and always makes sure to remain polite with the people around him. he has great manners. you will rarely catch jay act out of impulse and behave without thinking about his actions beforehand. very tactful guy, on and off camera.

there is also this sense of emotional understanding in him, which makes him very mature beyond his young age. he's someone who's very receptive of people's feelings. the type of friend who, if you're going through something, would notice your sadness, quietly watch you from afar and end up asking you if you're alright once he feels like you'd be comfortable with the question. very comforting energy in him. he has this great ability of consoling you and easing your struggles, without ever making you feel uneasy, like he's getting too close to you.

behind the scenes, the enhypen member is someone who can bring a lot of inspiration and creativity into situations that might be starting to stagnate. he's a bright existence that can light up any room once he enters, someone who's great at encouraging people to be more brave and courageous in life. if the mood is down and the members are feeling kinda lethargic and lack motivation, jay is the guy who will change the mood in an instant. he has excellent ability to absorb energies, and can easily recognize when it's time for him to step up. he's definitely one of the crucial members in enhypen, who keeps the team going whenever they feel like things aren't moving anymore. almost like a second leader. he is a person who can leave tremendous impact on the people he meets. so much that you're likely to rethink your perspective on certain things, once you talk about them to jay.

3p, 4p, 7p, 5p, empr, mo, 9op&tem

- the abundance of pentacles, my god. it does make sense with his chart being so earth prominent.

jay can stick to his own opinion way too much and be overly persistent, to the extent where it can affect his ability to compromise sometimes. especially when it comes to collaborating with people, he can struggle giving in and will usually stand by his point till the very end.

i remember when jay was participating in i-land, and he kept on trying out for the main part, over and over again. he never gave up, till the very end. (i was very impressed actually) it seems like he has the same tenacious attitude off camera as well, does not enjoy the idea of giving up or "losing". although it obviously is an admirable trait in many ways, jay can sometimes take it to the extreme and insist on things that aren't really worth being so stuck on. he can still find himself struggling to understand when it's time to surrender, and take the most trivial things way too seriously sometimes.

he isn't someone who sets himself limits in regards to his own work. he will work and work and work, and seems to never be able to actually end his work in a satisfied manner. he's likely to be one of the members who stays behind after practice has finished, and goes over the same moves over and over again until he tires himself out immensely. he's a person who's very prone to driving himself into a burnout. and even then, he might still obsess over the things he didn't and couldn't do. he can turn into an obsessive and self-demanding person.. this can distort his self-image a lot and have a negative impact on his self-esteem. jay has such ridiculously high standards for himself, he rarely feels like anything he does is truly good enough, deep inside. he can be way too self-deprecating ☹

i say this a lot, and i feel like this is something many people with prominent earth placements deal with, being very work-oriented. (i see jungkook being this way a lot as well) jay has this very specific image he envisions for himself, which can easily drive him into dissatisfaction. he seems to attach a lot of his pride and self esteem to his financial security, and believes that he'll only truly feel at peace with himself, once he reaches a certain level of independence and stability.

jay's cancer 🌙 can also transform him into a person who's very nurturing, to the point where he worries over his loved ones extremely quickly, almost like a protective mother. he can get very smothering and have some control issues, in a manner that can become overbearing to some people. though this is more exclusive to people he holds extra dear (he won't be like this to everyone), jay caring so much about someone can sometimes result in him expressing that concern in this preachy or almost pushy way.

[miseries-mistress]

THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT | COMMANDER CODY

This fic is for the @cloneficgiftexchange , my story is too @chicknstripz based of the prompt "Do you think they saw us sneak off?"

Synopsis: Galas have never interested you. Dressing up, smothering makeup on, and entertaining people who attended for appearances alone is pitiful as well as painful, but an unexpected guest turns the dreadful night around. 

Warnings: female reader, fluff, kissing, no spice, happy fucking ending bc he deserves one. W/C: 1225

Notes: i know you said fluff, but i had to add a pinch of sadness. i actually can't help myself! I hope you like it!

star wars masterlist

You'd rather be anywhere but here. No matter how the senators framed this gala, it was nothing but an excuse to garner support for the Republic and funds despite the invite plastering "charity" over the heading. Being an advisor to the Republic, you often attend such events in a dress worth more than most Corosants residents' paychecks. It's a requirement for someone working so in-depth with Jedi and clones alike, no matter how entitled you feel and far from the comfort of your uniform when you step into the building.

Soft classical music floats out the grand doors, and the troopers you pass by nod respectfully after noticing you from your many appearances through different battalions. You could easily be picked out among the rest, whether it was how uncomfortable you looked or the dress that didn't fit quite right, you didn't know. You offer them a smile before turning back to polite chatter barely above the melody. Maybe you would have enjoyed this more and soaked in these rare pleasantries if tomorrow's work hadn't hung over your head so dauntingly. Working with the 501st never bothered you. In fact, you got along well with Rex and his men, but pursuing any diplomacy with Anakin present is nothing short of exasperating, so much so that you find it hard to believe he holds the rank of a Jedi.

"Well, don't you look lonely?" the man behind you asks. An unmistakable husk to the teasing lilt in his voice prompts your head to jerk in surprise. You turn, caught in Cody's gaze, while the confidence slowly drains from his eyes the longer you hold it, finally noticing the front of your dress dripping down your curves. There's something inexplicable in his stare, the way it slowly slides down your body, an emotion you could only compare to ravenous enlarging his pupils. 

"You look…" he trails off, his Adam's apple bobbing as his irises find their way back to yours in an attempt to formulate the words congealed in his throat. "Really nice."

He bites back a wince. That's not what he wanted to say. 

Your chuckle does little to settle him, his mind rushing with possibilities of how you interpreted his complement as your hands run down his suit lapel, and he tries to straighten himself, maybe to seem presentable in front of you. Even after all the battles you've witnessed together, Cody still makes an effort to look like what he feels is a "real man." As if there was such a thing. 

"And you cleaned up nicely." He did. He really did. Cody looked almost...regal in the tailored black suit, rippling with lean muscle accentuated by the hugging fabric. Heat rises to your cheeks the longer you stare, and you clear your throat, forcing yourself to concentrate on what you're saying. "Well, I didn't expect you to show up tonight, not that it's unwelcome." 

You offer him a smile, understanding his flushed expression as thinly veiled embarrassment, removing your hands from his chest. A look of longing flashes across his honeyed irises before he clears his throat, his hand rubbing sheepishly at his nape. 

"Yeah, well, I usually see you before you're sent elsewhere. Besides, certain clone commanders were invited to showcase ourselves to members of the Senate…something about seeing us in person." He huffs, clearly disgruntled. "Not that it matters. It won't change their opinions of us."

You nodded. You've been around your fair share of senators throughout your career. But, being one of many ambassadors in the military and traveling across star systems to quell conflict in the people, senators often discarded them. Tossing their opinions forged from many years of training aside from the preconception that comes with the name. Seeing the hatred clones face is one thing, but witnessing how deeply it affects them is another. 

Cody avoids your regard, searching for anything else to latch onto besides the raw emotions crackling in the air. 

"Hey." A finger taps against his prominent jawbone, drawing him away from his thoughts. "Not right now. Let's just make the most of this time."

You reach for his hand, lacing your fingers and giving the rough skin a squeeze, calluses digging into yours. Loud laughter slices through the air, and your attention shifts to the group of aristocrats loudly talking among themselves, glasses of alcohol swinging loosely in their hands. You wince, the environment you created fleeting from your grasp just as Cody leans in, his mouth a hairsbreadth away from your ear, and a raspy breath accompanied by a hum is enough to have you hanging off every single word. "Let's get out of here, yeah? Make the most of our time?"

You can only nod, the words caught in your throat as the familiar warmth ignites in your stomach, spreading throughout your limbs until you're giddy with the implications of what comes next.

Knowing the layout better than you, he leads you by hand down the hall, passing guards in a hazy blur, your head reeling at the point of contact. The mysteriousness, the longing, the desire to be closer than you could have ever imagined has your breaths coming in shallow pants, desperate for some reprieve from the shared ache between you two. 

Finally, the door slides open, the night air kissing your cheeks with a chilliness you feel under your skin. The soft shut of the door behind you and his face in front of yours allows an unprompted giggle to slide past your lips, stealing a glimpse of the door before peeking back at him. 

"Do you think they saw us sneak off?" His lips twitch into a ghost of a grin, stepping towards you. You feel like teenagers, too wrapped in the moment to consider the consequences and everything that could crush what you've constructed into thousands of pieces, absorbed in the thrill of secrecy to consider your lives outside this instance. Not Republic members fighting for a better tomorrow, just lovers.

"You worry too much for your own good." Cody slides a hand up your cheek, and you can feel the pulse in his fingertips, the quickness of his breath. He seems nervous, debating the action before pressing his lips to yours in a tender cling. It's cliché the way it steals your breath away as you melt into him, and the hands that shift from your cheeks to shoulders and then slide painstakingly down your back are filled with tender warmth. You feel aware of everything at once, the pressure of his mouth, the taste of your kiss, the ardor of his hand cascading down the knobs of your spine, and the texture of his slightly cracked lips.

He holds your mouth captive so he can feel every place where they touch and every place when they pull away. You can't help but savor the air you share in seconds afterwards as you slip your nose across his, the instant too intimate to be painted by words. Even your breaths sync together while you stand there. 

Cody's fingers drift to your hips, pulling you flush to his chest in a swift movement. Gentle hands draw circles along your covered skin, pressing a kiss next to your ear. His voice is husker than usual, mysterious, and inviting. 

"But I wouldn't have it any other way." 

[mesetacadre]

Genuinely hope this won't come across as weird, but do you have any experience with your religion/upbringing being in conflict with your ML beliefs? Asking since you're from Spain so I assume it's likely that you at least had a Catholic environment growing up. Personally, my faith/upbringing is what brought me to Socialism (I don't have an in-depth theological understanding of it tbh, so it's really more that the values I was taught align the most with ML). I know that communism/materialism doesn't really mesh with religion at all (duh) but I'm still a bit on the fence of leaving my faith behind. So, do you (or an acquaintance!) have any tips on handling this? (for the record, I do form my views according to Marx/Lenin, it's just that most of my actions are motivated by faith)

Hi, this isn't weird at all

My parents did not raise me religious, they wanted for me and my sister to both decide when we were old enough, we both decided to be atheistic, and we both still live by that decision. Still, I live in the context, and the hegemony of the catholic church in Spain is pretty inescapable. What my upbringing did allow me to avoid was developing any explicitly christian beliefs, I don't have any trauma from the concept of hell, or of an omnipresent god, for example.

It's not unheard of for catholics or any other kind of denomination of christian also being communists, in fact, I have 2 or 3 mutuals here who are christian and communists, one of them catholic AFAIK. Offline, I have another comrade who is a protestant too. And from what I've talked with them, christian beliefs do generally line up with communist positions, but, and this is my opinion now, christian beliefs are extremely reliant on moral judgements, while materialism is based on objective economic and political facts. I've talked about this before, but I do think the two are compatible insofar as you don't delve too deep into actual theology.

As for being motivated by faith, what you think inside your head is only your business, no one else's. What matters, especially in political actions, are the actual, material effects of your actions. Your motivations only become a problem when they compromise the result of your actions, but they are neutral by themselves. In my own political activity in the party and union, almost all of the time I am primarily motivated by a genuine belief in what we do as a step towards our goals, but other times I do things for my own personal satisfaction. As long as my actions don't affect others or our project negatively, it does not matter a single bit why I do what I do. A caveat of course, is that, oftentimes, motivation does influence the result of your actions, but that isn't always the case. I'm sure you'll have the judgement to decide when your faith comes into conflict with your actions as a communist, if they ever do, and act accordingly :)

[emblemxeno]

Man I hate the fire emblem fanbase so much it is hurting my enjoyment of the games. They can nitpick every little thing about Engage's and Fate's story, but watch out if you point out that Edelgard blaming the church for her experimentstion and not, y'know, her uncle who she KNOWS is an Arganthan, or how it doesn't make sense that the disappearance of 9 royals was swept snugly under the rug in the empire, or how Jeralt was suspsicious of Rheas doing to Byleth what she did to HIM, and suddenly you're a "hater" and "you have bad taste" and " lack media literacy".

3houses has the same storytelling issues Fates and Engage have, but bc the game has big tiddy lesbians and "I can fix them" traumatized characters = best JRPG since FF7. Fuck right off bruh. I'm so tired.

It does lend a lot of chances to be hypocritical in the fandom yes.

For as much as people can hate about Engage's time travel and magic stuff, or anything regarding Valla in Fates, at least those are purely fantastical. Does it erase the problems? No. But "magic world has magic things that don't need to always be explained in great detail" is-or at least should be-a sufficient explanation.

3H's issues, meanwhile, are almost always logical, informative, and communicative. Edelgard's war is predicated on logic jumps built upon exaggerated issues, an inflated ego, a savior complex, and half truths, and she herself is a canonical liar and manipulator. 3H's worldbuilding is based upon taking NPCs, books, and character biases as fact, despite there being known cover ups in Fodlan's history; to the point where it's not even fully known whether the other Hresvelg siblings actually exist. Jeralt is supposed to be 100% trustworthy as your dad, but being vigilant means you'll probably realize he's kind of shit and did a poor job properly teaching Byleth growing up.

Fates might have the Valla curse and a magic truth throne, but those things have a simple A -> B explanation and impact on that game's plot. It's easy to criticize because it's easy to understand.

3H on the other hand, you have to constantly twist yourself into a pretzel in order justify every angle and every motivation for every character in the game, mostly in service of not overly shitting on Edelgard's character, which usually results in kowtowing to her fans by shitting on Rhea, Dimitri, the church and Faerghus or, in my eyes, giving up and claiming "no one's completely in the right and that's why the story's good in the first place!"

From my perspective, if this happens, where someone can't form a rock solid opinion on even just how they personally feel/think about the writing, then either they need more time to themselves instead of online discourse or (where I lean) the writing they're discussing simply isn't that good enough to warrant engaging with its bad faith fans.

Side tangent that doesn't really fit but I wanted to say it anyway: Other FE games' moral dilemmas worked as well as they did because they were ornamental; a spice to the main emotional and thematic thrust of what their stories were trying to convey. Even the more complex examples like the Tellius and Jugdral games, weren't trying to sell their stories based on "look how complex and morally gray everything is", they were natural elements of war stories that supplemented the more major storytelling beats (Tellius' discrimination aesop, religious and political dogma, class warfare, and Jugdral's geopolitical inheritance feuds and territorial disputes, blood quantums, and passing the torch to the next generation).

3H's main drive... is the moral grayness. War horrors, comparisons between peace time and conflict, and constant conversation over "what the other side's justification is" while trying to "fix Fodlan." And the sloppy, fractured, and overly bleak attempts at nuance exemplified in the story is precisely why moral grayness shouldn't be the main factor. But people ate it up because... well, the prose wasn't too shabby I guess.

[forgeofthenine]

I also wish to simp over the tieflings😁

So I have a question for you. In your opinion, which would be the fittest class for being each tieflings batchelor partner?

My best friend and I were playing bg3 yesterday (both sipping for Dammon so the conversation was more focused on him) and the question came out.

My bf defended that for our fav blacksmith a paladin would be the best option for going on a date. Cause they're usually loyal to their beliefs, tend to have a kind nature and they're always in need of good armor and weapons. It was paladin for her.

But I differ. I firmly believe that a nice ✨Bard✨ would be the correct answer. And here's why:

1. Dammon is a kind, polite and (probably) organised soul. Most bards have chaotic energy. I believe that a bard partner would be a nice influence on him and vice-versa. He calming his partner when they get too overexcited and them trying to get him out of his comfort zone.

2. They're both artists in a way. I think that a bard would admire and see the beauty in Dammon's job. Maybe even getting curious about it, ask him questions and see him work. He would be so happy. And also Dammon would admire and enjoy the Bard's music, singing, drawing, etc. (whatever bardic gift you got people, it doesn't matter to him. He'll love it)

3. We all know Dammon reads smut and I sincerely cannot picture a more smut reading class than a bard. Like I can perfectly see the scene of the bard discovering "A pleasurable deal" (I think that's the name of it, if not I apologise) and being totally chill about it, read a few pages with all the calm in the world and Dammon finding them out, grabbing the book terribly ashamed of it... Just to see them mock him a little bit to finally say "Hey and if when you finished with it you need any recommendations I have a few that might interest you". (Insert all the fantasy young adult with spice novels here)

And finally but not last:

4. (And this is a more personal one) I have the personal belief that if you play a bard you are personifying the need of a traumatised being who always tries to feel better through music and a charismatic behaviour while being in need of a found family even if you're in denial. I might be wrong, it might be me who plays bards this way but it's just a single theory I have.

But guess what, we're having a Bard here. And what better option to have a family with than Dammon.

I REST MY CASE! THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.

🤣🤣🤣But really, I would like to hear your opinion on this debate. If you had to choose what would it be and why?

(All classes are equally nice and fitting, no hate here to any of them👌🏻)

I know that this got long ah so thanks for reading it. I love your blog and I hope that everything goes perfectly well on your day-to-day. Byeee!!💛💛💛💛

🎻- Anon

This is actually a very fun question because I've never actually thought about matching people based on classes.

I agree with both of you that either a paladin or a bard would definitely work well with Dammon thematically. However, I raise the option of him being with an artificer. While I love opposites attract tropes, Dammon is a fiercely proud and passionate man, his dedication to his work is enough to scare off almost anyone. So, who would work best with such a wonderful but independent man? Someone who understands his thinking on a fundamental level. An artificer that knows what it is to be an artisan, to dedicate yourself to 'making', to spend late nights working on various blueprints. I just feel like he'd work well with someone that understands him and doesn't fault his dedication to his work.

For Zevlor, I'm a big supporter of the Zevlor x cleric idea. I feel like as a paladin, having him with a cleric just works so well thematically. He's a paladin who believes himself to be disgraced and what's better to help 'bring him back to the light' and support him other than someone else that understands his relationship with his patron god and his intense need to protect everyone. It's easier to accept help from someone that you feel understands your issues, and I feel like being with a cleric just really suits Zevlor.

Rolan with a sorcerer. That's it. Imagine the sass, the cat fights, the endless bickering before they even realise they're attracted to each other. Rolan definitely does the whole 'sorcerors just can't control their magic and tried to make it a thing', specially with a wild magic user. It never quite ends either, even after years of seeing each other Cal and Lia still walk in on their little sarcasm spats. I don't feel like there's a deeper reason to this, other than the fact I feel like Rolan had very little guidance in learning magic (much like a sorcerer might) and is doing a bit of light projection to start with.

So here's my humble opinions, I'd love to hear everyone else's and I hope everyone is having a lovely day <3

[boreal-sea]

feminists used to disagree on what exactly to base their feminism on -> different classes and races of women discuss what feminism needs to include to be considered intersectional -> so feminism needs to include men now?

you are missing massive chunks of history if you think that's how to summarize + dismiss the entirety of radical feminism.

You'll find that a hell of a lot of feminists who aren't radfems include men in their feminism. Not all branches of feminism are anti-male the way radical feminism is.

Like literally, intersectional feminism came about directly because of the white, middle-class narrow mindedness of radical feminism's origins. Did you know that? Don't lecture me on knowing the history if you don't know it. Women of color directly criticized the "all women have a universal experience" and anti-male rhetoric of radical feminists, which often included phrases like "kill all men", to which black women said "Actually, could you stop killing our men? We have more in common with black men than we do with white women".

Plus, all you have to do is look at the people who founded radical feminism to understand how anti-male they are. Almost all of them are transphobic. And look at the derivatives that came from radical feminism: political lesbianism, lesbian separatists, female separatists, trans-exclusionary radical feminists, and the gender critical feminists, all of which are violently anti-male.

If you're a radfem, you're in a branch of feminism that is, at its core, bioessentialist, believes in reinforcing the sex binary, and is inadvertently upholding the patriarchy by painting men and males as inherently violent and irredeemable.

And I'm sorry, but any political or social ideology that demonizes half the population of Earth is a garbage ideology.

That's not to say there were never good moments in radical feminist history - there were - but in my opinion as a trans feminist, the violent harm they have done since their start vastly outweighs any good they may have done.

[trash-can-sam]

OKAY this is a long one but I dont see people talk about Grace and I deeply adore her shes my second favorite (almost tied with first (Qi) tbh) and deserves more love.

Heres the line that I pretty much based this on:

When I fist saw that line I was like oh thats interesting but then I learned about what she was and I was like OH MY GOD SHES TALKING ABOUT HERSELF. Because what are the chances she just happens to have a sister with a very similar job as her, and the wouldnt you get sick of a life like that implies she doesnt like her job even if she does actually have a sister.

(Also this line from her engagement letter)

NOW THINGS THAT I IMPLY THAT ARE NOT CERTAIN BUT ARE TRUE TO ME (you do not have to read this to understand anything I just want to talk about her):

She genuinely is interested in archeology. Her collecting various things for archeolgy could have just been her making herself seem more convincing, but she does genuinely seem very informed on the topic. AGAIN, could be her being more convincing, but I wouldnt doubt if she actually majored in it (or at least took a few classes) because it would make sense to play a character with something youre kind of knowlegable about, and she seems to know quite a bit about specific school practices and genuinely be opinionated on archeology's place in the world. Also, her likes indicate this is something shes genuinely interested in and passionate about. THE DIGGING HOLES IN THE GARDEN THING ALSO IS NOT MADE UP, and she says "Old habits die hard I guess", implying (at least to me) that she did it for similar reasons or maybe that she found something that inspired her to be interested in archeology.

She definetly seems to not really have faith in the system shes in, or at least doubt in it. Im not saying shes radical or anything (IF WE ARE GETTING SPECIFIC (Using current day terms) she seems reasonably moderate, pretty center left yk but I wouldnt be surprised if she believed in more socialist policies and shes clearly informed in whats going on, partially because of her job and also because I think being informed is important to her) and she still does work for the government, but she seems to not really be completely content with it. I dont really have any concrete proof for that besides this line which is really just how she thinks:

NOW she says she wasnt really involved in politics, which I think at the time shes saying this is true. I wouldnt be surprised if she was more involved when she was younger, but I think for the most part she has ideas. She really likes to think (also proved by this line, I think she thinks a lot of thoughts in a similar vein but for the most part doesnt share them because they dont really fit her brand) and I feel like that would translate more into thinking more of ideals than actual politics, especially since she feels like people who are noble and want to make a difference cannot under the current system.

I feel like there were more lines in quests and what not with her being more disillusioned but full disclosure this could entirely be an illlusion of the mind palace.

Since she also mentions specifically making a difference, I also decided to extrapolate that was strongly about her as well. Wanting to make a difference being attatched to her choosing the job is also something not said at all, but something I decided to connect because it makes sm sense to me

I THINK THATS ALL. But a lot of this is largely headcanon since we dont have that much info on her (Character development is still low, therefore I cry and sob and make things up completely BECAUSE ITS FUN.)

please think about her more so i dont have to make another 12 page kind of comic, mostly illustrated writing.

[marashi96art]

Questions for the fanfic writers about Leon S. Kennedy's lack of background story: How do you deal with it?

I've been haunted by this problem for MONTHS and I needed to spit it out. I feel like Tumblr is a better place for long text and reasoned discussion, and most importantly: fanfic writers.

It's long and I sincerely look forward to your opinions. Even though I only draw Cleon, I didn't mention any ship in this post so I won't add ship-related tags here; if you're gonna list examples based on your ship, please respect each other.

So hear me out:

The best part and the worst part about Leon S. Kennedy is that HE DOESN'T HAVE A BACKGROUND STORY and a CONSISTENT characteristic development...and it's driving me insane.

The benefit of it is that I can shape his past into whoever I want to fit my stories. But it brings out a bigger problem: the development is solely depending on my understanding & knowledge of character design. He's pretty much a blank sheet of paper, except he's extremely famous, and I don't want to stray too far away from the canon info that we've got on him(and get "canceled" for OOC).

(I don't actually write stories into fics, but I DO write short scripts for my art when they are intended to be a series. I guess the prep work to start anything is the same: write it down in words, then expand the idea.)

I love AUs and I'm more interested in sci-fi/fantasy than modern/zombie-apocalypse kinda thing. But when I wanted to dig deep into their backgrounds, to start world-building, there's NOTHING for me. It's so frustrating.

For example, I'm currently working on a Monster Hunter AU based on the RE4R DLC Hero Outfit, which basically is the whole RE gang running around in the woods hunting supernatural creatures. (Not just CAPCOM's MH series but with the general mythical creatures, werewolves .etc)

And they have a Hunter's Guild, different tribes and clans, you know the drill. Since the setting was in a fantasy world, their surnames have caused me great pain from the start.

The easiest one is Redfield. It can be interpreted as "fertile land" or "battleground", and from these I immediately have quite a few visual ideas of how they'd look like, and what they'd do for a living. Chambers, Valentine, and Oliveira are "OK", but the surname Kennedy doesn't fit in ANYWHERE.

(Yes, I googled. It's Irish; but let's be honest, our first impression was a certain American political family.)

Then I read this article that shares a similar concern: Is Resident Evil 4’s Leon S. Kennedy Italian? An investigation

It pretty much sums up the most common FANDOM theories of Leon's background info. But all of them are still just, headcanons.

The more I try to dig in, the lack of this crucial element--a character's canon background story--is really blocking me to create things I enjoy. Even though I've been drawing him for almost 50 pieces of fan art, I still don't know what he's actually like. I can only imagine his personality by referencing other fictional characters/actors whom I think share a resemblance. (I have a soft spot for Keanu Reeves, Faramir from TLOR, and Sanji from One Piece. But that's another story for another time.)

Of course, I'm aware of the fact that, instead of spending this huge amount of time to rewrite a fictional character I don't own, I can create my own OCs and build everything from scratch. But that's not the point. I only started playing video games in 2019 when I bought a Nintendo Switch; and my first-ever, modern game experience was Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The whole game-wise fandom and RE series are pretty new to me. But I've been in fandoms of books/movies/TV shows for over a decade. It shocked me that Resident Evil, this world-popular series has almost 30 years of history but non of the main characters have a consistent background that follows through the in-game timeline. There're huge gaps between the games even if we add all of the movies in it. How did that work? How do you get to know them? How do you get attached enough to write your own fan story?

In conclusion, I don't think I like Leon S. Kennedy, cuz he remains a mystery. Instead, I just combine all of the good qualities of other characters I like, create my version of Leon Kennedy, and hopefully pray that when he reappears in a new RE work, I didn't do him wrong.

[ladyantiheroine]

Hi...It's me...again. Sorry for bothering you. But I was looking through the Fables comics and noticed the similarities and differences between Snow White in The Wolf Among Us game vs the comics. So I was wondering, what is your personal opinion about the character and she is handled the different media's?

Hello! You’re not a bother at all! I love having an excuse to ramble about this franchise.

I confess, I haven’t finished reading all of the comics so this is an imperfect opinion based on incomplete information.

Short answer: Similarly to Bigby, I like Snow in the game better than in the comics. She feels like a more fleshed-out and well-rounded character in the game.

Long answer:

All the characters in the game, including Snow, feel like they have more depth than in the comics. Despite the comics being longer, the characters feel static and don’t change much. In the game, the characters feel like they’ve been impacted and changed by the story’s events.

I definitely think Snow’s personality was softened in the game compared to the comics. Bother versions are assertive, both call Bigby out on his shit, and both genuinely want to help Fabletown but are privileged in a way that limits that goal because they don’t entirely understand how to help underprivileged Fables. But Snow doesn’t have the same Ice Queen energy as she does the comics.

I don’t dislike Snow in the comics the way other fans do. I have a soft spot for unlikable female characters and I don’t think all female characters are obligated to be warm balls of sunshine (especially considering the traumatic shit Snow has gone through). But in the game we see glimpses past that strictness that give her more layers and dimensionality than she does in the comics.

Like I said in my post on Bigby, the characters in TWAU just feel like they have more depth than in the comics because the scale is smaller and the struggles more internal. Snow is not just a one-note ice queen but instead a woman whose business-like demeanor hides someone who is desperately trying to maintain order in a very chaotic situation. 

Part of this is because Bill Willingham just doesn’t seem interested in the internal lives of the characters like Telltale is. I know Fables is an ensemble story and is more interested in the bigger scope politics of the world rather than individual character journeys. But the result is that characters go through horrible things and the story weirdly just keeps going. It glosses over how these events would actually affect them and it feels so weird.

(Potential spoilers in this paragraph)

Snow goes through SO MUCH traumatic shit in the first few volumes alone. She thinks her sister is murdered, she’s ruthlessly pursued in volume two by Fables who want her blood, she’s drugged and almost assassinated by Bluebeard and Goldilocks, she has sex with a man she’s only just now warming up to while under the drugs and gets pregnant, survives the battle of Fabletown while pregnant, goes through an extremely painful birthing process delivering six werewolf children, and then had to quit her job as mayor and move away from Fabletown to raise them away from their father who has fucked off to somewhere unknown. ALL WITHIN THE FIRST FEW VOLUMES.

Like, kudos to Snow for having the strength to survive all that but I’m reading all this thinking, “Damn, girl, ARE YOU OKAY???”

But the story never pauses to really sit with Snow and consider how all this is affecting her. Which is weird given how much time we spend with her and how she’s one the closest characters that Fables has to a protagonist. She just experiences horrible things and then just carries on with business as usual. Because Willingham just doesn’t seem to care.

Compare this to the TellTale game, where we see how things affect Snow. She’s shaken when she sees Lily’s dead body glamoured to look like her and even worries Lily’s death was her fault somehow. She’s unnerved when she finds out her boss has been creeping on her and glamouring sex workers to look like her. She gives Bigby a lot of shit because she’s worried he’ll get hurt. We see moments where her professional front slips and we see someone who is rightfully terrified of this whole situation. 

The comics rarely stop to do the same. How does she feel about having to quit her job to raise her kids far away without Bigby? How does she feel after being drugged and impregnated without her consent? How does she feel about GETTING HER FUCKING HEAD BLOWN OFF by Goldilocks? All this has to be taking a psychological toll on her, right??

TellTale Snow reacts to things, comics Snow doesn’t because Willingham doesn’t seem to care all that much.

Plus, sometimes Snow’s characterization in the comics feels like a conservative man’s uncharitable idea of a “strong female character.” Like he thinks if a woman is strong and assertive, that means she’s just a mean old bitch. He can’t imagine an assertive woman would actually give a shit about anyone or be properly affected by anything. And later she becomes this weepier version of herself around Bigby, but it feels out of nowhere and contrasts with what we’ve seen of her so far. It doesn’t feel like a gradual character arc.

It feels a little Taming of the Shrew, like Willingham created this assertive female character and wanted to “take her down a peg” and domesticate her. This change feels out of nowhere because, again, because Willingham isn’t interested in looking inward at his characters enough to connect any dots.

And I won’t get into Snow’s romance with Bigby because…Willingham just can’t write romance like TellTale can. The few glimpses of romantic potential we see between them in the game is way more convincing and makes me way more invested than any of the explicitly romantic moments in Fables. I just wish the TellTale games would cut off from the comics entirely and give Bigby and Snow the better love story they deserve.

So yeah, in short: I appreciate both versions but TellTale Snow is given more depth and more time to respond to things than her comic book counterpart. TellTale simply cares more about Snow’s internal life than Willingham does.

Sorry for another long response, but I hope this makes sense. I love Snow White as a character.  When I went to read the comics after I finished the game, I was excited to see her as mayor and get a proper love story with Bigby. Unfortunately, I just don’t think Willingham is as good at character-driven storytelling as TellTale is.

Thank you for the question!

[hypermania]

Omg Court you have to watch The Newsreader. It's like The Newsroom but with disaster bisexuals.

so i actually just blew through both seasons based on a rec by @pynkhues and i had a lot of fun watching but i was also really frustrated the entire time and i couldn't quite put my finger on why. i kept restructuring and rewriting the episodes in my head as i was watching them. at first i thought the problem was that the news station itself wasn't really a character in the show and that made it feel like something was missing, but after watching season two i think i've figured out the real issue: there are no stakes. well, that's not entirely true. there are stakes. i just don't know what they are. i have a vague idea of what some of the characters' goals are but i have no idea why.

i know dale watched the news every night when he was a kid and now wants to be a newsreader but i have literally no idea why. does he want to be famous? does he want to make his family proud in a public way after what happened in high school? does he just want to be rich? does he actually care about the news? did watching the news as a child give him a sense of comfort he wants to give other people? no idea.

i know helen wants to do more hard-hitting news but, again, i have literally no idea why. was journalism always important to her? doesn't really seem like it based on the comments about her being a game show host prior to this. is it not actually about the news itself but her wanting to be taken seriously because she's a woman and believing that's the only way it can happen? is it about her actual politics?

and on that same note, is she actually a nightmare to work with? has she actually had trouble doing her job in the past? is it just garden variety misogyny? i have literally no idea. lindsay makes comments constantly but nothing is actually substantiated. there's never a moment where someone is like "remember that time in '85 when she broke down and we had to cut to dead air?" nobody ever says anything that clarifies whether or not she is actually a problem outside of what we see (and what we see, in my opinion, is her being 10x more professional than almost everybody else, just with a side of tears because she's a mess in her personal life lol).

what about noelene? has it always been her dream to be a big shot producer or is this just a job to her? does she actually care about her career? she says she does but i don't really get that feeling. and how does she feel about rob's casual racism? she makes a comment about him not staying in contact with any of his aboriginal teammates but there is zero follow through on it. is being with him more important to her than her job? if he hadn't apologized and supported her, would she have gone to america? i don't know! and i have no idea why her father doesn't like rob. is it because he's white? because he's older? because he's not good enough for her? is it because he wants more for his daughter? would he feel that way about any guy? or is it rob specifically? no idea!

and those are just the character stakes. there's also a lack of situational stakes that's a problem. i think the best example of this is the episode where they do the election coverage. towards the end, there's a moment that's supposed to be tense while they're waiting to hear about the ratings, but it doesn't feel tense because until that moment, i had no idea that was a concern for them. i mean, i know ratings are a concern because i understand how television programming works, but it wasn't a stake that was set up at all in the episode. the characters should've all been making little comments about the ratings and how important it was to them that they beat geoff throughout the entire episode so that when lindsay finally got that call and everyone was quietly holding their breath, the audience would also be holding their breath along with them to see if they pulled it off. but instead it was just like "oh yeah i guess ratings are probably important? are they trying to be number one? are they trying to get a certain number? oh they just wanted to beat geoff. well that makes sense." it all just fell flat.

anyway, you didn't ask for this critique or my complaints but i needed to get it off my chest. i still greatly enjoyed the show. i love having unapologetic disaster women on my screen. i love seeing what the big news stories were in australia in the eighties. i love how atrocious the fashion is. etc. i had a lot of fun. i'm excited for more episodes.

[until-another-one-comes]

I can't draw them at the moment but I want to share my two doorman OCs I've used so far for my fics. In my stories I have 3 doormans switching shifts, Henry, the other human doorman and one doppelganger.

(Herman = Cis Male. He/Him

Dory = Gender-neutral. They/Them)

The first one is Herman, the human doorman. I based him off what I think an actual person would behave like in this job. Since we're just players having fun with the game, we ask questions to get extra lines and play around and don't take things too seriously because none of this is real. But to Herman, its all obviously real so he doesn't do any of that. He fact checks every document three times and calls the apartments to make extra sure he's not letting in a doppelganger. He doesn't ask too much questions when he sees an obvious sign of a doppel because thats a waste of time and can put him in danger. His and the residents lives are in near constant danger and he does his job very well and diligently but is constantly on edge and in the verge of a breakdown. He cares about the residents but his job makes it hard for him to be too friendly with them, but he does try his best to be polite. Most of the residents like him but can sometimes get irritated with his work, but their overall opinion on him is positive. He IS keeping them all alive after all. Poor Herman, this job is stressful but he is one of the best doorman they've got in this town.

The other doorman is Dory, the doppelganger doorman. As a doppel, Dory obviously doesn't care much about the dangers of their own species and they're not in any risk of being killed even if they let in a doppel. The reason why Dory was chosen to be a doorman is because they're one of the rare doppels who are near indistinguishable from humans in terms of intelligence level. They're smart, they understand human behavior and can fit in almost seamlesslt with the residents. Unfortunately, they have a certain weakness which is that they're unable to shapeshift the way most doppels do. They cover their face with shades and scarf and no one knows what they look like. Personality-wise, I base off their behavior with how most people play the game, at least after they get used to it. Since they're not in danger the way Herman is, they treat this much less seriously. They ask snarky questions and point out the obvious mistakes in the doppelgangers' disguise. They're not afraid to provoke the doppels and is careless about the residents' worries. Despite this, they actually do still do their job well and able to memorize IDs, faces and information flawlessly. Most of the residents don't really like them because of their flippant attitude and think they're being careless because they zip through the checking unusually fast. Dory doesn't care. They're there for a different purpose and that was not to look after the humans.

(And yes, the name Dory is literally just taken from the word 'doorman'. The Head DDD agent pointed out how they need an actual name and they just nabbed the first word that came to mind)