#also I could be missing context for the argument so I may be speaking out of turn | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

i-heart-hxh · 1 year ago

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Hello! I hope AX is fun!

I have a question along the lines of some that you probably have already gotten before. If so, sorry. Mine is basically: do you think people who say there's queer/gay subtext in Gon and Killua's relationship are reading too much into it, or are otherwise biased to an extent that it's effecting objectivity?

The reason I ask is: usually people who say these sorts of things are the borderline homophobic sort that insist kids their age can't be gay or make fun of people who like to engage with anime fandoms, but I have come across someone (in private, friend of a friend, lol) with a couple of arguments which I think leave out all that, and I thought it would be valuable to ask, both just to have a discussion and because I don't quite trust my own skills.

One point was that the famous shinjuu line isn't as romantically charged as the English speaking fandom makes it out to be, and that the word contemporarily refers to multi-death tragedy or dedication resulting in death generally, especially in the context with which Killua said it (being that he was about to follow Gon into a fight with Pitou which he knew they'd lose without any prior mutual agreement). The argument was that a romantic reading of the line comes from bias and unfamiliarity, and as a result isn't as paid attention to in Japanese HxH communities as it is in English ones.

The other was that a lot of the moments showcasing the intensity of Gon and Killua's feelings (such as the dodgeball or "you are light" scenes) are very typical/standard of shounen anime, which often have central themes of friendship that are frequently "overestimated" by fandom to be intentional romantic undertones, and that these two characters are not unique in that respect. They said determining romance-establishing purposes to scenes like the ones Killua shares with Palm is projection that interferes with analysis for all the reasons mentioned above. Part of the argument was that a romantic interpretation ignores a subversion of 'the power of friendship' shounen trope, as Gon and Killua have a comparatively tragic "end" (in quotations because obviously the story isn't done), where Gon pushed Killua away, Killua could not stand up for himself, and Gon ended up defeating a powerful enemy without him; adding romance to it obscures and misses the point of this subversion. They also said it was very unlikely for Togashi, should he want to explore queer themes like this, to be so subtle about it, and to not ascribe intent to the author.

The way I see it is that reading romance between Killua and Gon is just one of many interpretations someone may get from a culmination of moments from the text, and that a lot of meta analysis will inevitably be biased by someone's own experiences. For example, a lot of people can relate to the experience of having a baby gay crush, and so see themselves in Killua and read the character with that background in mind. I think the arguments I see here (on tumblr, but also your blog) are well-substantiated and well-explained, which I think are all that's needed for a "valid" interpretation.

Anyway. I apologize for the long ask. Thank you for reading all that!

Hi! AX was fun, thank you!! I caught a cold so I've been slow to recover this week, but I'm starting to feel better.

So, I've answered similar questions with a lot of different reasons why I think the subtext is intentional, and I think it's worth reading that first because it helps when thinking about Togashi's mindset and interests in his works. While of course I can't put words in Togashi's mouth, there is validity in examining things he has actually said and included in prior works and deducing some of his tendencies and patterns based off of that. I do not think it's a stretch or leap at all to read queer themes into the work of someone who has stated an interest in creating queer works, expressed that he enjoys and is influenced by queer works, is married to someone who created a work known for its queer themes, and has previously included queer themes in his works as well. And I mean, KilluGon isn't even the only queer inclusion in HxH by far either.

The thing is, I can understand where this person is coming from...up to a point. If you take any one or even a small handful of these points in isolation, sure, it's not difficult to say that perhaps the romantic reading of those moments is incidental and not intended to be taken that seriously.

I think the real problem with this attitude is that when you start adding up the number of times something with a romantic implication is included between Gon and Killua and look at the picture as a whole, it does reach a point where it gets increasingly ridiculous to claim it isn't intentional or has no real weight. Why would someone like Togashi, who has such an eye for detail in his stories, bother including these implications over and over and over again if he didn't want it to be read this way? Especially when he is someone who has expressed interest in writing queer stories? I struggle to look at the full picture and accept that there isn't a strong degree of intention to the decisions he makes.

I've seen tons of other anime, including lots of shounen, and while I understand that person's perspective with the fever-pitch friendships that the fandom then takes and interprets as more (something I believe Jump intentionally fosters as a marketing tool), personally I do see HxH as being several notches above other shounen series with regards to both how much subtext exists and also how seriously the bond between the characters is portrayed. To me, it does feel distinct from even many other series where male characters are commonly shipped for these reasons, and I'm actually rather skeptical with regards to the majority of these ships being considered canon or even close to it even when there is some basis the fandom is going off of. But I do think HxH leans into this aspect even more than most other shounen do, both in the series itself and in related offshots like the musicals and marketing and even how both versions of the anime were approached.

Also, I will say that I follow the Japanese side of the fandom pretty closely and read tweets frequently, and I do see people bring up the shinjuu line with regards to Killua's feelings and especially what it says about the gravity of how he feels towards Gon. I would actually agree there is less emphasis on it in the Japanese side of the fandom because the word (including the subtext) is already familiar to Japanese audiences and so they just see it upfront and then either take it that way or not, while it has to be explained to a non-Japanese audience due to the lack of cultural familiarity and also the inadequacy of the English translations to capture the meaning.

Regardless of the fact that it technically can be taken either way, I do strongly feel like the word was used by Togashi with intention and knowledge of how it's normally used in a literary sense. I believe Togashi made a choice to use that word on purpose and let his audience take it as they will. It's also worth noting that Gon and Killua directly parallel another lovers' suicide--that of Meruem and Komugi, who do use romantic language towards one another. Komugi says "I may not be much, but please, let me accompany you," which is an old fashioned way for Japanese women to accept a marriage proposal. This echos Killua's "Gon, you are light. Sometimes you shine so brightly, I must look away. But even so, is it still okay if I stay at your side?”

I also think Gon and Killua's friendship can be and is still a subversion of shounen friendship tropes while at the same time being romantically coded. In fact, that it is so close to romantic is a bit of a subversion itself. I don't think the coding gets in the way of the shounen friendship subversion or takes away from it--both can exist at the same time. I still say that the way the Palm subplot is constructed doesn't fully make sense if you remove the intention of the exact nature of Killua's feelings being explored. Otherwise why bother to have so much emphasis on romance as a theme? Why not construct things differently? Why not have Gon make a platonic friend for Killua to get jealous over instead? Why essentially give Killua a romantic "rival"? Why have Killua "stalk" them on their date and point out that's what he's doing? Why have him freaking out at the thought of Gon going on dates and then saying he wants to be with Gon forever literally the next panel? Why make his jealousy come off as romantic in nature because of the way the whole situation is set up? These decisions matter! Togashi could have approached this entire subplot from any angle, and yet he chose to keep repeatedly referencing romantic love when the focus is on Killua's feelings for Gon.

Obviously as someone who ships Gon and Killua, I do have a certain degree of bias, though I like to think I am able to step away from that and look at the series more objectively as well. I do have moments where I go, "I am I being a little delusional here? Do I need to re-assess?" and think over all of what we've been provided again and...honestly I just come to the same conclusion every time no matter what angle I try to look at it from. I do believe that Togashi writes the KilluGon dynamic in such a way that people who would rather ignore the romantic subtext can do so. It's a perfectly beautiful and complex friendship regardless of whether you acknowledge the romantic subtext or not. I think Togashi enjoys playing with the ambiguity of it. But just because it's ambiguous doesn't mean the romantic subtext doesn't exist or have meaning/intent behind it, and to me, adding up all the different choices made in the series, it does reach a tipping point wherein I seriously believe Togashi includes it with full intention and knowledge of what he's doing. And for what it's worth, I don't think it's actually that subtle. A lot of people notice it and wonder about it and connect with it, even including some people who don't actually want to see it (think about all the dudebros who post online going, "Is it just me or does Killua seem kinda gay???").

I hope this response is helpful to you! I wish I could provide more concrete examples in this post, but I feel like it's getting awfully long as it is. I do sincerely believe that the romantic interpretation is a valid and meaningful one that has legitimate merit when looking at the series. If others would rather ignore that aspect, they're allowed to feel that way, and of course no one is obligated to ship Gon and Killua in a romantic way no matter how much subtext exists. But I don't think that perspective erases the existence of the romantic implications, which are fairly heavy in my opinion when you add them all together.

#hxh #hunter x hunter #killugon #gonkillu #gon #killua #asks #anonymous #my posts #meta #long post #man I've struggled to phrase this all #it's hard to describe without going into all the evidence but if I do that this is going to get wayyyy too long #I hope this is helpful to people struggling with questions around this #and I hope others agree with my perspective here

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madameevil · 8 months ago

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review

I just finished DA:TV at the time of writing this. There is a lot of misinformation being spread about the game from people who can't handle anything different but there are some legit criticisms out there.

TLDR: It's not perfect but I still had a whole lot of fun with it. 8/10.

Story Writing: If we're just focusing on the major beats of the story: the arc that it follows, I think it's incredibly well done BUT it requires you to spend time in the world. A lot of story elements are buried in side quests, faction quests, or companion quests. If you rush the main story then things won't connect, it will be more difficult, and you will be left wanting.

Lore: This game has the potential to tie together a lot of lore fragments from Origins, DA2, and Inquisition. However, it doesn't make it easy. Similar to my first point, you have to spend time with the companions, factions, and side quests to get it. It's also important to remember that DA Lore has never been presented as facts. Every Codex entry we get is written with a bias in it. Every game has had contradictions in it due to biases conflicting. I don't believe this game retcons any lore. It helps connect what we know, identify biases, and contributes different biases than we've seen before.

Dialogue: The dialogue can be hit or miss depending on Rook's responses to the situation. I think some sections could have used another pass or two but it didn't detract from the story. I think similar to Inquisition, I wished that the response text better communicated what Rook was going to say.

Companion Banter: I think the banter between companions can still be highly amusing, argumentative, or insightful. I don't think it's far off from previous games. I think a lot of people aren't remembering all the absurd lines from previous games very well. Perhaps watch some "Dragon Age Out of Context" videos on YouTube to refresh yourself. DA has always had a lot of "Whedonism" lines in it and it always has. I appreciate that if companions get their banter interrupted by combat or you triggering something, most of the time they'll say one line of "where were we?/ What were you saying?" and continue the banter. I really appreciated this. I can't count the amount of times a line of banter I really wanted to hear got screwed up in a past game because combat started or I walked too close to another conversation.

Companions: Companions have detailed quest lines to follow that develop their characters further past the surface read. They also each have numerous codex entries about them. Either them commenting on other entries as footnotes or writing their own entries. Some of their story lines are hard hitting. They venture into dark places. I only romanced one companion, so I can only speak from one experience, but romance to me feels more natural. If you find yourself being uncomfortable how quickly NPCs want in your pants in BG3 or others, then this game is better for you. Relationships take time to build and some are more subtle or purposefully stumbling than others. If you're here just for lust and hot passion then this may not be for you.

Choices: Your choices have impact on the paths your companions take which impacts their skills, passives, outfits, and dialogue/banter. Your choices also have the opportunity to impact area maps, faction assistance/influence, which quests appear, which options/paths you can take, and which NPCs are still around by the end. Just like in Inquisition the game does give you a sentence explanation indicating "this choice is important and this is exactly what you are choosing here." Which I appreciate greatly and I'm glad they kept that piece in from Inquisition.

Art Direction: Within the game, aspects of characters and the environment look like a painting. We're in the Northern part of Thedas where magic isn't stamped down and I think the colors in the environment reflect that. Arlathan Forest looks more colorful then the Kocari Wilds because it has magic pulsating through it. I think the choice to add more colors to some environments and leave others lacking was an intentional design choice to reflect the wild magic surrounding the world. With all that said, I do think there can be a lot of visual clutter on the screen at once. Especially with all the spell effects, detonation effect, lines signaling ranged attacks, and the signal crown above your head when you're going to get hit. It can be too much at times. I highly recommend adjusting settings if you find yourself getting lost in all the magic sauce.

Combat: Combat has the potential to be mindless action-based or more tactical depending on the difficulty. Even on the normal difficulty, boss fights can be brutal. You are required to dodge. You can not approach this purely from a click and queue perspective. Dragon Age has never been turn-based. You've always had to queue up actions and watch things play out in real time. This is the same in that regard but faster and with more requirements on your end. On higher difficulties you'll want to refine your build, time detonations, time when statuses are applied as well as who's applying them. It's not the same style of tactics as the past games, but it is still there for the more challenging fights. I greatly enjoyed it once I got the hang of it.

#dragon age the veilguard #bioware #dragon age #review

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allycat75 · 1 month ago

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Let's be clear, Boston Dumb Fuck. We got to now, not because of one bad decision but from many smaller, less noticeable decisions, that forced you to make this catastrophic one.

No one else signed the contract. No one else shushed away any possible negative feelings around the negotiations, if you were even at the table, you put your trust and future success in people who seemed to find you expendable if it granted them greater spoils.

I understand timelines were changed and nameless actresses got taken off the roster for various reasons. But, as this is still your life and not a role you are playing, you deserve a right of refusal. And with Fishmouth Floptits all you needed to do was see was a photo of her to know this was not going to work. Unless it was always your dream to date a women 16 years younger who looked an additional 10 years younger, making you look like the typical, middle aged pervert. If you stood your ground, even a little bit, I am sure you could have won the argument and no one would know about the Nazi dumb dumb, at least not because of you. Did you even see her before you signed? Or hearing she liked roller blading and classic rock was good enough, because the details give you cyclical unhappiness.

Once your "romantic stroll" debuted, your fans pointed out, quite accurately, she looked like your bratty niece being dragged to her dance lesson, with a look on your face that could only be described as murderous. But somehow that truth telling was too much for you and your delicate team and turned us into parasocial psychos for being so involved. But sometimes you can't have crazy without a few crazy makers.

Because it was you who gave your (former) fans that permission- when you told everyone when you lost your virginty though no one asked or cared, and called and cried to your mommy after, wondering where the clit was (curious what the girl's experience may have been like- did you just pump and run or did you at least cuddle in the backseat for like 5 minutes?), when you told of the times Scott shit his pants and pissed himself, that you are an ass man (who apparently likes to give it there, too- we heard what you whispered to Hemsworth on Jimmy Kimmel) and that you "Guard the Pussy" (or women should guard their pussies because you are around, not quite sure of the context), which may have been missed as others were distracted by your dick pic, while some may not have seen it at all due to those crazy fucking fans of yours pleading with you to take the post down.

Were you curious why it took these "crazy" fans just a few hours after that NYC love sprint to find out that your charming "bride" is a xenophobic, racist, fatshaming antisemite but the pros you pay top dollar to didn't seem to know anything about it? Or did they and didn't care enough to tell you? Or did they tell you? So much obfuscation, so many lies, manipulation and hypocrisy you almost forget what the original point of that contract was. Do you remember? Or has this just become a sad habit at this point? No matter, you are not to be trusted to speak the truth so whatever explanation you give is suspect. What a sad fucking Catch-22.

Yes, you have brought this destruction to your own doorstep. But the great thing is you can also be the architect of the rebuild, stronger and more protected than before. You just need to find the courage little lion man, and get your balls back from CAA.

#You paved paradise and put up a parking lot.#You (un)happy idiot- chose the legal tender when true love could have been a contender.

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leastinsanesscpilot · 8 months ago

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I will be the first to admit that I am not the most well-equipped to speak on this. Confrontation outside of battle is anathema to me and I often do not put so much thought into subjects of this type. As such, I will be attempting to repeat and soften what APMS-341-A has said on this topic, as it is far more well-spoken and accustomed to conflict of speech than I am. That said, APMS-341-A has been out of commission for quite a while as attempts to repair it have stalled due to extenuating circumstances, so I apologize for any half-remembered inconsistencies in my following argument.

Your desire to help Thirteen-E and your arguments on why it is necessary are well meaning but, ultimately, profoundly selfish. I understand that what happened to Thirteen was distressing, I understand that you find situations like ours to be untenable. I understand that you miss your dead friend. Please note how many of these points you have presented take into account Thirteen-E's wishes, comfort, or autonomy (which you wish to ascribe to them, as autonomy is the principle thing thrust upon clones like us when we are liberated). To be completely blunt, which I apologize for, I cannot understand your refusal to call Thirteen-E by their name. As I said, I understand that you miss Thirteen, but does that give you the right or the justification within your own system of beliefs to disregard the identity and explicit wishes of someone that you claim is a friend? Again, I apologize for my bluntness. This topic specifically is one that affects me greatly and I am in a unique place to understand the implicit disregard for both my comfort and the abilities granted to me by my creation that I wish to own that a refusal to call me by my name denotes.

APMS-341-A and I are also significantly further along in a similar process to the one you are initiating for yourself and Thirteen-E, and I may offer insight on... well, the truth beyond the success stories. Of the 217 clones recovered from the facility I was liberated from, 74 did not survive the first two weeks. They died badly, in pain, rejecting the intensive treatments we needed to conform to ThirdComm's standard of freedom that necessitated that we give up the combat stims that sustained us, feeding through nutrient IVs, and even our APMS units if they could manage to separate us. More relevant to you and Thirteen-E, another 56 simply could not manage what was asked of us in our assimilation. Nearly completely cut off from the extensive support systems we had near-constantly in our heads and forced to exist in an environment and context completely alien to us, few could reconcile the loss. I was very nearly one of them. I understand that you want to help Thirteen-E, that you wish for them to have a life beyond their conditioning. I heavily urge you not to underestimate what the comforts and structures of conditioning can mean to combat-based clones. If they do choose to abandon their purpose, it must be on their own terms with the full knowledge of what they are giving up and what they will become, and they must agree with these realities in mind. I consider you a peer, Helios-8. I do not believe that you have intended any of the dangerous implications of your methods, but I urge you to consider why you are doing this largely behind Thirteen-E's back and what that says about how you see them as someone distinct from Thirteen and the autonomy or personhood you insist they must have. I again apologize for the tenor of this message. It is distressing to write something so critical where I very well should not be interfering. However, I consider Thirteen-E a peer as well, and I shudder to think what would happen to them if they follow in an assimilation process similar to mine.

//DATA COMPILING//

//MESSAGE DECRYPTION COMPLETE//

//COMMUNICATIONS OPENED//

SENDER: Z-341-A

CALLSIGN: ALPHABET SOUP

———

Good morning, Helios-8.

I apologize for the message out of the blue, as well as intruding where I do not belong on this issue, but I feel that I must make my case for Thirteen-E in fairness to all parties involved.

I have seen your exchange with Lockbreaker of MSMC-796, what you and Thirteen went through was distressing, what Lockbreaker had gone through equally so. I cannot say that I had not heard about similar things. Flash clones of my line, if they were particularly effective, would have their memories grafted into a new body upon their disposal and would retain the same designation as functionally the same clone (although monitored more closely for psychological fracture). I understand that this is not comparable, that having a very personal relationship to someone this happens to must be distressing, however…

I am advised not to say that it is for the best. That is insensitive. I, instead, want to stress the idea that Thirteen and Thirteen-E are very different people. It’s hard on a clone, to have their memories grafted into a new body, it’s why the clones of my line it happened to had a 64% higher chance of APMS termination post-psychological break. They need stability, familiarity, and while Thirteen may have wanted to break away from the project it seems that Thirteen-E, being a different person, takes comfort in their situation as I do.

I can say from very personal experience how important being allowed to take comfort in the familiar is, even when it is uncomfortable to those around us. From the few times I have spoken to Thirteen-E, it seems that they have a very similar mindset as I do about our respective creations and purposes. While their original creation and training may have failed them, perhaps this time it has not. I feel that it is important to respect Thirteen-E’s wishes as independent from Thirteen’s, and that their wishes may not be something that you would prefer but they are still their wishes. They deserve to have comfort, to be allowed to find that comfort without judgement or urging away from the stability that they require.

I apologize again, it is not my place to speak so freely on this issue, but I feel I must. I enjoy Thirteen-E’s company, and I feel that we are very similar. My assimilation into Union society has so far been… too much, too fast, to the detriment of my health. I understand that people are pursuing what they think is best, but when they disregard the thing they are trying to improve they only end up harming it. I sincerely believe that you and Lockbreaker want what is best for Thirteen-E, but I implore you to listen to them, to hear them even when it isn’t what you wanted to hear. I implore you to respect their wishes as distinct from Thirteen’s.

Please, feel free to contact me or to put Thirteen-E in contact with me when they return from deployment. I would be more than happy to elaborate or explain if anything I have said here does not make sense. I apologize again for my intrusion.

———

//COMMUNICATIONS CLOSED//

@leastinsanesscpilot

[ECHO.EXE RUNNING]

◂▸ oh hell, hi Z-341-A: you don't need to apologise, I was a litte caught off guard to see you reach out about this but- ... you raise a point You do raise a point. I- okay I do think we need to talk about this.

◂▸ I've noticed how, when Turtie talks to you (I know, I'm sorry I can't call them by the name they want like I do with you; I hope you understand after... after everything I've confessed) that they lose some of the tension that's usually coiled through them. Their shoulders relax, at least. What you say makes a lot of sense to them, with the way they think about themself. Seems like that's comforting to them.

◂▸ I don't... I can't say I understand it. Both of you have been horrifically mistreated, and that commonality doesn't make either of your cases okay. You- in a lot of ways, you are very similar. The way you talk, how you shy away from the things we ascribe to personhood. Do you know why that's scary, to me?

◂▸ I've already watched this place kill them once, so I know with a visceral certainty that it would kill them again without much of a second thought. Maybe they don't know that, but they've still experienced exactly how bad things can get regardless, yet- they want to stay. Turtie wants to stay. So they can keep doing their job, saving people; it's the most important thing in the world to them. I've tried talking about how it isn't fair to them, how they're expected to work nonstop, expected to give everything and more of themself but-

◂▸ Every time, they close up. Repeat that same line, about how it's their purpose, and it's important work, and they don't feel that strain the same way because they're not designed to. You're right, that they don't want to break away from the Project- and that terrifies me.

◂▸ So- maybe you can tell, but I'm not exactly an objective judge here. I want them to get out of here, and... they don't. But fucking hell I don't think the answer can be to just let them stay? I can't stress enough Z-341-A, they are designed to break down eventually; if they keep working like this, it'll tear them apart. They're holding strong for now, but for how long? A few years, maybe? Am I supposed to just watch them come apart?

◂▸ Yet... I can't write off what you're saying, either. Ever since their case was declared, they've been so tense, looking over their shoulder all the time for a sign someone's monitering them. I'm not allowed to attend any of their interview with the Union team but, every time they come out it's like they've withdrawn as deep as they're able, they clamp down so hard on anything that could even kinda be seen as a break from their programming, and- and RA, that's just the interviews, how much worse could things--

◂▸ [ a quiet wince. a slow, deep breath. In and Out ]

◂▸ Sorry. Sorry, I'm just- worried. Stressed. I thought blowing the whistle would be the hardest thing, not... not the consequences. I don't want to make things any worse. I know you don't either. We're- both of us, are just trying to help.

◂▸ ... I need to get them out. I need to get them out, and I can't do that while they're still adamant about staying, still clinging to the way they've been conditioned. But, I will- I'm taking this under advisement, Z-341-A. I already knew I'd have to move slowly but- I'll be careful. I know better than to try and rip the bandaid off.

◂▸ ...I hate seeing them so scared all the time. I think it might be my fault. But if it works, then- at least they'll be alive to blame me.

◂▸ I'm sorry.

◂▸ Helios-8

#I attempted to temper many of APMS-341-A's more... inflammatory thoughts on the matter #It has taken on a much more prominent role in keeping me functioning than it is meant for #I fear that its cascade and subsequent hardware damage was in part influenced by this added stress. It has not taken this any better than m #oc rp #oc rp blog #lancer rp #lancer rpg #OOC: LIOOOO LIO MY BABY IM SORRY :(#OOC: Soup baby please youre Wrong and Giving Him Anxiety!!!!!!!

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shellsinadune · 2 years ago

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what a missed PANS/BGE diagnosis can look like

context: i was 12 years old, still being read as a girl. pans was not the only illness i acquired from this infection. i had a reputation for being smart, but 'lazy'; i had an adhd diagnosis but nothing else. i had recently stopped my adhd meds.

a member of the family getting sick, then the child complaining of the same symptoms days - weeks later. (they are likely also sick and are not lying)

more arguments in the household because of the child suddenly needing things done a certain way / anxiety misread as aggression.

the child spends up to an hour repeating the same thing, getting increasingly more frustrated.

the child's 'picky eating' getting worse, to the point where they stop eating meals they've always been fine with or even enjoyed. snacking may continue, this does not mean they don't have a problem with food.

the child may become scared of or develop a phobia of certain foods.

severe mood swings. if someone is too depressed to get out of bed, this is not typical for their age. telling them to 'get over themself' does not tend to work.

the child refuses to go to school and reacts with fear at the sight of the building.

the child may 'give up' at school, and when asked, may reply that they don't know why or that they are actually still trying.

skills such as tying shoes or riding a bike may be forgotten.

the child's memory gets sharply and significantly worse. they seem to miss important dates and deadlines.

episodes where the child stares off into space or rolls their eyes upwards with varying amounts of rhythmic body movements such as mouth moving, arms twitching, head shaking, etc. the child does not respond to their name or anything else and [for some fucking reason don't even ask :/ ] is viewed as insolence or ignoring the adult.

the child, who was previously hyperverbal, doesn't speak for hours or days.

the child becomes dehydrated because, they say, they keep needing the toilet and their teachers don't allow them to leave so they have to drink less.

pre-existing "overreactions" to sensory stimuli get worse; exposure does not help.

the child claims to see and hear things; writes letters to you that someone hid cameras in their bedroom. (may be dismissed as attention seeking)

night terrors come back after having been gone for years.

the child flies into uncontrollable rages over nothing; seems to just be angry at the world and looking for something to direct it at.

the child is picked on in a science class when it is taught that dilated pupils are a sign of attraction; it is assumed the child is attracted to everybody because their pupils are always dilated.

so if you're wondering how anybody could miss something so drastic, here's what it was blamed on:

my age ('all 12 year olds are difficult' etc)

adhd ('if you just stayed on your medication this wouldn't be happening')

character flaws ('they're just rude/dramatic/whiny/not applying themself/immature/lazy')

school refusal, but in a character flaw way, not a 'this kid needs help' way

#if my wording seems unsympathetic or uncharitable it's because that's how people saw me at the time #this isn't about the internal experience it's what it looks like from the outside when you're not looking for it #all of this is my personal experience btw this is just was being 12-14 was like #pans #pandas #pans/pandas #bge #basal ganglia encephalitis #disability tag #good post op

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weirdsht · 3 years ago

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Paperback - Cale x Reader

a/n: this is pretty trash forgive me. i'm just trying to function like a normal human again after elections

Warnings: probably ooc Cale, smudge of angst

English isn’t my first language so there will be grammatical errors

Pls don't repost my work anywhere without my permission

If there's something missing in the warnings let me know so I can add it

Any form of interaction toward the post is appreciated <333

Hardbound (pt. 2)

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Caressing the spine of a book, you slowly take it out, not paying attention to the redhead sitting inside your room right now. Cale knows you hear him, he knows you see him in the corner of your eyes. Yet you choose to ignore him as if a ghost was whispering in the wind.

“You know better than anyone that I’ll be fine, so why did you do that?”

Despite your obvious reluctance to acknowledge him and his words, the commander still insists on talking to you.

Finally, after minutes of trying you spared him a short glance. It may not have lasted a second but it’s enough to let Cale know that you’re now ready to talk things over. You’ll finally say the reasons for your actions that the poor man has been mulling over for a couple of days now.

As you opened the book in your hands, you finally sat on the opposite side of the couch he was sitting on. Your gaze is more focused on the bookmark delicately placed on the page you opened on than the man in front of you.

“I know you’re fine, I know you wouldn’t do anything that would cause you too much harm. I know that best. I drilled it in my head. All the things you’ll say, your thoughts, your plans, your next moves. I can probably cite it word for word.”

Cale can’t see anything on the open book you are holding in front of him. Even though the book was wide open for him all he could see were blank pages and the pretty bookmark made with the dried-up flowers from the first bouquet he gifted you.

It may look like that to him, but he knows what you see is different. From your perspective, the book is filled with words. Words you were so familiar with, words you have been reading over and over again even before you were brought into this world.

“But at the same time, I’ve read it from your point of view. And if there’s one thing I learned from reading this very long book was that you’re the worst self-critic I have ever met.”

The redhead swallowed the arguments bubbling from his throat and waited for you to speak again.

“You don’t get just how worried people are for you because they don’t know the context. You simply don’t get all the love they hold for you. I get it, as your reader I get why you’re like that. I get that you ensure that you’ll be fine with your every action. I know too well how smart and cunning you are.”

You close the book and hand it over to Cale. ‘Lout of the Count’s Family’ were the words written in Korean the transmigrator could read clearly. Even though the rest of the book was just a bunch of blank pages to him and everyone else, he could still read the title cover and the back synopsis.

“Yet you don’t regard yourself as high as you should. You think that as long as you’re breathing everything should be fine. Despite knowing that the world has brought you up that way it doesn’t make it hurt less you know. Knowing things in advance only litters me with more anxiety. Knowing that I can’t do anything to change your mind once it has been set has me looking for alternatives.”

Your most precious book that Cale is currently holding used to be your favourite book back when you were on Earth. It’s also the only belonging you had brought when you were placed in this new world. The book is still your favorite of course, but now a little anxiety always washes over you whenever you see it.

“Don’t get me wrong, I fully appreciate all the efforts you have done for me, for us. I also now understand a bit where you are coming from. Still, I can’t just excuse how you deliberately got hurt by White Star and his army. You sustained a graver injury than what I would have if ever.”

None of you know how to go from here. Both parties have already said the things bothering them.

A deafening silence can be heard. The book in the middle resting on top of the coffee table bears witness to all of this.

“I… I’m sorry”

“I apologize too. I’ll try to make more rational decisions from now on.”

You know to yourself that even though he said that, everything would probably still go according to what you’ve read. That’s just how Cale is, and as much as it hurts you, you can’t do anything about it.

“I’ll be going first, Alberu must be waiting for me.”

Cale stood up and left the room first. You merely watched as he disappeared from the room, not forgetting to close the door behind him.

Opening the book again, you started reading. You must check once more the contents of the future as you plan on how to help everyone. Lessen the casualties, and lessen the pain and burden Cale is carrying on his back. That’s something you promised yourself that you must do.

Even if it costs you your everything.

#trash of the count's family #lout of the count’s family #tcf #cale henituse #lcf #alberu crossman #not just a clown but a whole circus #lotcf #totcf #lcf x reader #tcf x reader #cale x reader #cale henituse x reader #x reader #lotcf x reader #x female reader #female reader

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hamatoclan76 · 4 years ago

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Rise Splinter isn´t a very good parent and that´s okay.

Look, before someone starts throwing tomatoes i want to clarify something: I like Splinter from Rottmnt and i really like Rise of the Tmnt. People who have followed me for a while know i enjoy the series and i´m sad about it how was cancelled. I also want to say that i don´t think other Splinters are 100% perfect and they have their own issues too.

What i don´t like is how the Rise of the tmnt fandom often overlooks Rise Splinter´s character flaws and pretends that he is a perfect father figure because this is not something supported by both by the narrative and his character growth.

So, what i´m going to do in this post is to examine his character flaws, his role as parent and character arc in the series. The point of this is to bring up this flaws to light, this is not a ¨character critical¨ or whatever you want to call it. It´s supposed to be character analysis, okay?

Let´s start with the short Turtle Tots short:

Link to the short:

https://www.facebook.com/teenagemutantninjaturtles/videos/626074331524980/

This short is when the turtle brothers are still very young. We see that Splinter is trying to train them but he keeps watching a show he likes on TV. This short shows Splinter didn´t care about training his sons enough even when they were younger. He also leaves them with very dangerous weapons they don´t know how to use.

Splinter was already quite neglectful and careless since the start. He spend too much time watching TV rather than training his sons. It would more understandable if he was too busy working with something but here he is only watching a TV series. Later in the short he admits he should have paid more attention to the turtles and isn´t a good Sensei.

I have to say i didn´t like this short too much. I didn´t find funny the jokes of how Splinter ignores his sons for the TV series and leaves every 30 seconds. However, it provides some context for the characters and their relationship.

Now let´s talk about his characterization at the start of the series. (Season 1)

Splinter at the start of the series is usually seen watching TV, whatever is his old movies or shows that he likes. He is rarely seen training the turtles or talking to them. Sometimes their interactions are the boys trying to ask him about something while he is watching his series. Splinter either answers them or ignores them.

He is usually so caught up in his own world that he doesn´t seem to be aware of who are the turtles fighting against until it starts biting them back. The boys usually don´t tell him about their adventures on the surface. One could argue that he assumes that they barely get in trouble and they are just playing.

In the episode ¨The Fast and the Furriest¨ Splinter ¨steals¨ Turtle Tank and takes it for a ride without Donatello´s permision. The turtles go through a lot of trouble to get the Turtle Tank back. By the end of the episode its Donatello, his son,is the one who is putting a punishment on Splinter, who is supposed to be their father, for taking the Tank.

While Donnie getting angry at Splinter is quite funny,this episode shows that Yoshi can be very inmature at times, if not childish. He doesn´t ask his son to allow him use the tank, puts them in danger and is scolded like a child at the end instead of him being the ¨responsible adult figure¨.

Parents being cocky or careless isn´t something very new. There are parents that act as inmature or worse than Yoshi and would never admit they did something wrong. So, i take this episode as one of the examples that Splinter does this kind of things. He isn´t this selfish and reckless all the time, just sometimes.

Another aspect is that Splinter struggles with remember his sons´ names. He calls them by their color bandana instead of their real names. This sometimes can be funny but on the long run it becomes quite disturing,Imo. There is difference between ¨calling your son with an affectionate nickname¨ and ¨not remembering your sons´ name¨. There is a point that this it becomes sad.

The tmnt wiki describes Rise Splinter´s personality as a ¨Extremely flawed (albeit loved) father figure¨. This means that he has tons of flaws but he cares about his family: One clear example is when he helps Raphael with fighting his fear in ¨Mrs. Cuddles¨. He protects the big turtle a few times from the giant puppet monster and they defeat the monster together.

Splinter cares about April O´Neil like she was part of the family too. In episodes like "Always Be Brownies" he is seen hanging out with her and helping her. He also encourages April to believe more in herself since she has tons of doubts in that episode. (Season 2).

Hamato Yoshi / Splinter´s backstory

Lets say that Yoshi didn´t have the best childhood. His biological father was missing and he is not mentioned in the flashbacks. Splinter´s mother, Atsuko, left Yoshi when he was still a kid so she would be able to perform her family duty as protector in the Hamato family.

This terrible loss made Yoshi grow bitter with his Hamato duties and martial arts. He didn´t want anything to do with his family legacy since it was the reason that his mother was forced to left him. He had an argument with his maternal grandfather and sensei, Sho, and decided to use the skills he learned in during his training to become a superstar.

After many shenanigans involving his crush on Big Mama, a very powerful yokai, and Baron Draxum, Hamato Yoshi mutated into a humanoid rat and adopted the turtles, who were about to be used as soldiers by Draxum, like their own sons.

Splinter´s backstory explains a lot of his behaviour in the series: It´s implied his father died/left him, his own mother also left him to perform her duties and he has a very strained relationship with his grandparent. The reason of why he has so many problems when it comes to being a good father it is because he himself lacked good family support. It makes sense that he doesn´t seem to know what he is doing or why he is messy when he is takeing care of the turtles.

Speaking of that, this explains why he isn´t very involved in his sons´ training. Maybe he just doesn´t want them to carry the same burden that he did as a child or just dislikes the idea of training them because it reminds him of bad memories about his grandfather and his mother.

He also watches his old movies since it reminds him of the time he was living his life at his fullest and was doing something he enjoyed. It implies he has his mind stuck in the past, perhaps wishing he could still be human and live like superstar.

Splinter´s Character growth

Like i mentioned, Yoshi wasn´t very interested in training his sons at the start of the series. He was negletful and spent too much time watching his movies... This aspect of his character isn´t ignored.

When the turtles asked him to train him ¨The Evil League of Mutants" he put Lou-Jitsu films for them to watch, this made their sons think he wasn´t taking them seriously and decided to go out on their own. While Splinter´s intention was to show them the basics by them learning the moves from the movies, he came off as he only cared about watching said films to their sons.

After noticing how his sons lack experience and need his help, he begans training them. Splinter gets more involved with his Hamato destiny and starts being more honest to the boys about his past as human and protector.

One episode that´s really worth of mentioning is ¨Turtle-dega Nights: The Ballad of Rat Man¨: Splinter tricks Donatello and Mikey into going to a demolition center since he missed the old days he used to be a champion in the Battle Nexus. Donnie is very hurt when he finds out about this because he really wanted to spend more time with his father. By seeing this Yoshi realizes how his sons would like to do things together with him like hanging out. He apologizes to Donnie and tellshim that he may have lied but it is truth he wanted to spend time with him.

Along with getting more involved in his sons´s lives by teaching them and spending time with them, he lets Mikey hang out with Draxum because Mikey considers him part of the family too. (Draxum created them). He didn´t trust Draxum due to their mutual past but decides to give him a chance for Mikey´s sake.

In conclusion: In Rise of the tmnt, Splinter starts as somewhat a neglectful parent figure, sometimes acting childish and not being the best role model for their sons. Overtime he begins to understand the consequences of not training his family and gets more involved in their lives. He tries to be a responsible father despite he had tons of issues with his own family growing up. While very flawed, he has good intentions and cares deeply about his sons.

#tmnt #teenage muntant ninja turtles #rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #splinter rottmnt #hamato yoshi rottmnt #rise turtles #character analysis #rise fandom #i think i´m going to get flamed for this #anyways if anyones wants to discuss send me ask or DM me

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because-of-a-friend · 4 years ago

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Seventeen Reaction: You Talking to Yourself

MASTERLIST

Hi anon! Thank you for the request! Also your habit isn’t weird at all, it’s very common so there’s no reason to feel badly about it at whatsoever!!!

CHOI SEUNGCHEOL

(He’s so handsome, I’m-)

Cheol finds this habit of yours very endearing. He often finds himself stopping just out of your line of vision to listen to your little ramblings. Whether it’s you working out an issue, or reminding yourself of something, or just having random mock conversations, he loves listening to your voice quietly float through the air. He also pays special attention to what you’re saying, just in case what you’re saying implies that you might be a little stressed or overwhelmed. That way he knows when he needs to step in and help out with whatever you’re dealing with.

YOON JEONGHAN

It honestly becomes like background noise to him. To the point where if you stop, he will notice the silence and it feels too quiet to him. He begins to take comfort in the sound of your voice quietly mumbling away as you work through your day. It’s a signal of your presence so he feels at ease when he hears the sound of you talking to yourself. There are plenty of nights where he falls asleep to the consistent noise of your voice speaking from right next to him. He loves it.

JOSHUA HONG

He honestly doesn’t notice it too much. He has similar habits of sort of humming around the house, so your habit of talking to yourself as you go around is hardly even registered in his mind. Sometimes when he’s bored and he hears you talking to yourself, he’ll ask you what’s on your mind. “Babe, watcha talking about over there? Is it ok if I join the conversation?” You find his way of asking very cute, and it makes you happy that he doesn’t act as if he’s entitled to your thoughts. Joshua really is a gentlemen.

WEN JUNHUI

I think he might have to adjust to this habit. Jun is the type of person who will zone out for a bit, so when he zones back in and hears your voice, he’ll think he accidentally zoned out on you speaking to him. “Sorry, what was that?” he’ll ask. “Huh, what? Oh, no, sorry I was just talking to myself,” you feel worried that maybe you annoyed him, but he assures he’s just relieved he didn’t miss you speaking to him. He’s also the type to want to know everything that’s going on. So usually he ends up asking you what you’re saying. Actually, when you’re around Jun, you don’t talk to yourself as much because you know you’ll probably end up having to talk about it out loud anyways lol.

KWON SOONYOUNG

Definitely a “penny for your thoughts?” type. He does find you talking to yourself very cute, but his curiosity tends to get the best of him. So sometimes he’ll just silently fawn over you as he watches you go about your day quietly mumbling to yourself. He especially loves to see your expression change according to your one person conversation. Like seriously, he could squeal at how cute you look when you do this. But when you get that expressive, he can’t help but ask what it is you’re thinking about that’s making you react that way. He also loves trying to match the expressions he saw you making with the thoughts you relay to him later.

JEON WONWOO

Doesn’t even notice, honestly. Wonwoo also zones out quite a bit, and has so many thoughts going on in his own head that sometimes he’s very oblivious to what’s going on around him. One day he walks in to find you talking to yourself, and you turn to see him frowning at you. “What’s the matter, Wonwoo?” And he just sort of tilts his head at you, “Do you talk to yourself?” You start to get a little worried that he’s going to judge you for it so you just kind of slowly nod. He shrugs, “I never even noticed.” You start laughing, “Wonwoo, I do it all the time. How did you not notice? We see each other almost every day.” Wonwoo sheepishly scratches the back of his head and smiles. Even after his revelation, he hardly ever notices you talking to yourself when it happens.

LEE JIHOON

Might be the only one who actually gets annoyed by this. He doesn’t hate the habit itself, he just has certain times where any and all noise will upset him, usually when he’s working. You’ve learned to avoid him while he’s super into his work so you don’t distract or upset him, which is what everyone has to do anyways lol. Any other time, Jihoon really doesn’t mind at all. In fact, sometimes he finds random bouts of inspiration just listening to your voice carry around the house. He also takes a small comfort in hearing it, since he’s also the type to use it as a way to remember that you’re nearby.

LEE SEOKMIN

Probably actually shares this habit with you. Seokmin is such a social person that when he’s in a situation where there aren’t as many people around, he’ll usually create a mock conversation out loud using his internal thoughts. Sometimes he’ll walk around talking to himself and end up in the same room as you talking to yourself and eventually realize that you two have started responding to each other without even noticing it. He finds this very funny every time it happens. But since that’s the case, he doesn’t really think one way or the other about your habit. If anything, he’s just happy that he can relate to someone this way.

KIM MINGYU

Mingyu adores anything and everything about you, so he finds this habit very cute. He loves sitting quietly in the same room as you, and dozing off to the sound of your voice. Actually his favorite is laying his head in your lap and slipping in and out of sleep while his dreams mix together with random phrases he hears you utter. Or sometimes he’ll walk into a room where you’re talking away to yourself. He thinks it’s so cute that he can’t help but walk over to you and press little kisses all over your face as the words suddenly die on your lips in surprise.

XU MINGHAO

Also doesn’t really notice your habit. If he ever pays attention to it, he’ll use it as a way to try and get to know you better. He’s probably curious about what exactly it is you say to yourself and why you do it. If he finds out you ever do it because you’re stressed or have a lot on your to-do list, he’ll remember to ask you how he can help you to try and ease your worries. If he knows you do it just casually and with no real reason behind it, he’ll just let you go at it, making sure you never feel as if you need to stop or feel bad about doing it.

BOO SEUNGKWAN

Probably also the type to want to know everything that’s going on in your mind when he hears you talking to yourself. Don’t talk to yourself in front of Seungkwan unless it’s something you want to talk to him about lol. Because as soon as he sees you walking around, mumbling to yourself, he’s probably going to whine and beg until you open up to him. He tries to remind himself that he doesn’t always have to know everything, and that whatever you’re saying when you talk to yourself may not even actually mean anything. But he’s so curious and figures that if there’s something that’s so heavily on your mind that it migrates from inside your brain to outside your mouth, it might be something you want assistance with. So when Seungkwan hears you talking to yourself, he’s going to check in just in case.

VERNON CHWE

This dummy is always just trying to hear you say something really random he can make fun of you for. He loves it when he comes in and hears one of your statements completely out of context so he can ask you what’s even going on in your head. Or if you’re creating a mock conversation out loud that has some semblance of being an argument, he’ll chime in with a “You tell ‘em, babe.” He doesn’t ever get annoyed with your habit. He just has fun with it when there’s an opportunity to do so.

LEE CHAN

Also hardly notices. He lets you work through whatever you need to when you’re talking to yourself. He’ll only ever mention it if you say something that piques his interest. If that’s the case, he’ll usually laugh a little before asking you what you just said. But overall, he’ll honestly just try and leave it alone. He doesn’t see any reason to change or stop this habit of yours and doesn’t see any reason for him to be involved in it. It just turns into a conversation starter occasionally but doesn’t go any further than that for him.

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orange-yarn · 4 years ago

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stonegrot week day 7: the future

heyo, friends. breaking my accidental hiatus to actually participate in @stonegrotweek for once!

for the record, this is set in my strange trails “good timeline” sequel? you might be missing some context if you haven’t read the behemoth that is strange trails. you might be missing some context even if you have read it. that’s fine.

I wrote most of this earlier this summer, but spent some time editing & tweaking this weekend. please note: it is still very much a rough draft, but I have miles to go before I can actually post any sequel stuff on ao3 so that’s okay. I just wanted to share something for the event.

WARNINGS: some light sexytimes (there is actually a steamier version that will live in my google docs forever). also, mentions of childbirth (not at all graphic).

anyway, on that note, here you go. a little glimpse into a stonegrot future, in approximately 1500 words.

-+-

Jen turns three, and a storm tears the sky in two. Deet watches the sky growing dark, shivers when the lightning flashes and the winds howl. Rian knows she’s weathered storms before, in this life, and in another. She’s lived, and she’s loved, and she’s lost. This time, though, in this storm— she breaks.

“Tell me what to do,” Rian pleads, holding her hands tight, trying to hold her steady, to hold her to this moment, to this life, to him. He’s seen her scared, he’s seen her lost and distant, but he’s never seen her so desperate, and he’s afraid. “I’ll do anything, Deet, I swear it. Just tell me what you need.”

“I need--” Deet breaks off, her breaths gasping, her eyes wild. She’s clinging right back, clinging to him, and he takes comfort from that. “I need to know it’s different this time. I need to know this is real. I need to feel it.”

“This is real,” Rian swears, pressing his forehead to hers, hoping his gestures might match his words, but feeling like both must be meaningless. “We’re real, Deet. You’re real.”

Deet pulls back and looks up at him, close enough that their breaths intermingle. One hand comes up to cup his neck, and she runs her thumb along his jawline-- the other drops down to his belt, and then traces lower. She holds his gaze and says, “Show me.”

Rian denied her once, long trine past, and he vowed then to never do it again. He blows out the candles, and lets Deet lead him to their bed. He helps her out of her dress, and then everything else. She returns the favor and then pulls him down with her, capturing his lips in a kiss that’s as sweet as it is desperate.

They don’t speak. Rian tries to prove with touch what his words cannot say-- that she is precious, that he is devoted. He loses himself in the moment, in her, and lets the rest of it fall away.

-+-

The storms come again, later that summer. If Rian didn’t know better he’d think they were still down in the Sog, battening down the hatches and weathering another monsoon. Winds howl and branches break, rain pounds against the roof of their home, lightning splits the sky as thunder rumbles in the distance.

Deet is silent for three days, jumping at every noise, staring blankly out the windows when she can’t keep busy enough for her mind to be still. On the third day, she puts Jen down for his afternoon nap, and walks straight out into the rain. Rian catches up before she’s made it off the porch, and tangles their fingers together, squeezing her hand tight.

“Hey,” he says, trying to calm the thunder in his own chest, his hammering heart. It isn’t fair, he thinks. It isn’t fair that they unraveled the world where he left her, but she still sees those ghosts. “It’s alright, Deet. I’m here, remember? I’m here.”

Deet opens her mouth, but her words are still trapped, still lost. She squeezes his hand back, and he lets himself relax, if only a fraction. Then she shifts her grip until she’s holding his wrist, and presses his hand to her stomach, holds it there. There’s no sign yet of the new life inside her, just a voice in the back of his mind that whispers three. Rian swallows, and Deet tries to catch his eye.

For a moment, his words are trapped too. He wraps his arms around her instead, pulling her into an embrace, and wishing he never had to let go.

-+-

“Let me get this straight,” Naia says, dropping her voice low-- so the others can’t hear them in the other room, and so Rian will hear her frustration. “Deet suffered a breakdown, the worst you’ve ever seen-- and your solution was to get her pregnant again?”

“That is--” Rian shoots a nervous glance out the door towards the others-- specifically watching for the flick of Grottan ears. So far so good, he thinks, as their friends chatter around Deet and her swollen belly. She’d put off telling them until this trip-- Rian thinks she might have put it off longer, if she wasn’t already halfway through her pregnancy and very visibly showing. He wonders if she was trying to save them both from exactly this sort of conversation.

He clears his throat and tries again. “That’s not exactly how it happened. She wanted another childling.” He thinks of that night, of Deet pulling him back towards her, her voice husky and her eyes on him, and only him, as she asked him to stay. “This was her idea.”

Naia stares at him, hard, for the span of several seconds. She’s clearly still frustrated, but she’s looking for a new target. “You should have come down sooner,” she finally settles on, nodding a little to herself as she sinks into the argument, like a comfortable pair of boots. “I could have been checking up on them both.”

“They’ve been alright, Naia. Everything’s been fine.” Rian pauses, and sees something unfamiliar in Naia’s eyes, a level of concern he hasn’t seen often. “What’s the matter? Why are you taking this so hard?”

“I’m not,” Naia snaps, and just like that her eyes narrow and her brow furrows. “You’re my friends, Rian. I want Deet to be well. I want your childling to be well. And I want the two of you to be happy.” She still looks cross, but there’s an honesty there that he appreciates. “Would you fault me for that?”

“Of course not.” Rian can’t quite help it, he pulls Naia into a brief hug, and graciously she lets him. Once he’s pulled away, he clears his throat and asks, “For what it’s worth, Deet’s going to ask you to help her again, when the baby comes. You’re the only one she trusts.” Naia’s eyes flicker again, with that same sad expression. For a split second Rian almost, almost understands why, and just as quickly, that understanding is gone. “If you’re up for it,” he adds, a little uneasy.

“I’ll be there,” Naia promises, her voice soft, her eyes still sad. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

-+-

“No, she’s right….here!” Deet says, guiding Jen’s chubby handprint to her side, her tired smile growing wide as his face lights up with delight. “Can you feel that?”

“She kicked me!” Jen’s practically vibrating with excitement. With just a few weeks left, Rian can see the ripples of movement in the taut skin of Deet’s round, heavy belly as their childling moves within her, apparently feeling Jen’s presence, and making her own known. Jen gasps, his eyes going even wider. “Again!”

“She’s saying hello,” Deet tells him, glancing over their son’s head to lock eyes with Rian. Her smile is warm, and just for him. She turns back to Jen, and reaches out to ruffle his hair. “She’s excited to meet you.”

“Are you ready to be a big brother?” Rian asks, flashing a grin of his own as Jen scrambles for the fair-haired little doll Deet made. He holds her carefully, just the way they showed him. Deet lets out a soft chuckle, and Rian leans in to press three kisses-- one to the top of Jen’s head, one to Deet’s lips, and one to her belly. His family, right where he wants him-- close enough for him to reach out and hold them tight.

-+-

“Why was that harder?” Deet asks, winded and breathless and a little delirious, even as Naia lays the infant on her chest. “I’d already done it once, shouldn’t it be-- oh. Hello, baby.” Her tone changes in an instant, complaint and confusion falling away as she smooths a hand across wispy hair, blonde streaked with blue. The baby blinks up at them with deep brown eyes. She has Rian’s olive skin and teal streaked across her brow. She’s beautiful, and she’s quiet. “Why isn’t she crying?”

“Just give her a minute.” Naia has a towel in hand, rubbing at the baby’s back vigorously. “She’s had a big day.” She helps Deet sit the baby up, and rubs a little more, until the little one lets out a watery cough, and starts to wail. It’s the best sound Rian has ever heard. Deet lets out a sigh of relief, and Naia grins at all three of them. “See? All is well.”

-+-

They name her Shoni. She doesn’t look much like his mother, but it still feels right, somehow, to pass on that name, to let it live on through his daughter. She’s perfect, from her long, dark lashes to each and every finger and toe, and she and Deet are both perfectly healthy. It feels like a miracle.

“Thank you,” Deet breathes, in the quiet of their room, with their childling nursing at her breast, and snow piling up outside their window. “Thank you, for reminding me.”

Rian doesn’t speak. He doesn’t have to. He just winds an arm around Deet’s shoulder, holding his girls close. Outside, the wind howls as the storm picks up, but for once Deet doesn’t shiver. She just sinks into him, her breathing calm and even. Rian knows that the struggle isn’t over, knows that more storms will come, that the two of them will bend, and may break. But for now, he presses a kiss to her hair, gentle, and grounding, and Deet closes her eyes, and rests.

-+-

#the dark crystal #dark crystal #stonegrot #stonegrot week #day 7 #strange trails

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thoughts-on-bangtan · 4 years ago

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Let’s talk: RUN Episode 131

by Admin 1

I know I’ve probably said this about literally every episode but this one was so fun! Admin 2 and I were honestly laughing almost the entire time while also trying our best to follow along their “debates” and just taking in all the chaos. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Quick recap: in this episode we’re at the pool that belongs to the same hotel at which they had lunch at the end of the previous episode and the objective is twofold--not get wet and win a debate. That’s basically it, it’s like the mint chocolate debate episode but even more hilarious and with the addition of wet Bangtan.

Something I truly love is how it took vmin exactly 57 seconds (which includes the 18 second long intro) to find some kind of ‘reason’ to hold/shake hands behind JKs back. Because of course they did.

After the whole “mess” that ensued after the Titanic preview picture was posted yesterday, I can basically just say one thing--there was literally no need whatsoever to get all anxious and uncertain about the picture, or anything the shippers made out of it. As always the best course of action, which is the one I usually apply, is waiting until we get the full thing so we have context for what we’re shown in the picture/teaser/scene. It’s like that scene at the end of one of the ITS episodes where Jimin goes to JK to tell him about a supposed leak in his room which was taken way out of context and proportions until we got the next episode a week later and the actual events were completely different from anything and everything that was theorized.

So, what’s the lesson? Wait until we get the full thing, dear fellow vminnies, that way we can avoid making each other anxious and unsure.

Anyway, let’s get into it by starting with the ‘warm-up’ which consisted of one-on-one “battles” where the members stood on these floating foamy mats being held by two staff members and having to make each other fall into the water by playing the hand pushing game.

Yoongi VS Jimin -- I like how the two shortest members went against each other, which I’d assume might’ve had something to do with Yoongi’s shoulder and how chances of Jimin hurting him due to his height/size/weight were the smallest as opposed to Namjoon or even Hoseok. Maybe I’m imagining/overthinking things but it seemed like Jimin was a little hesitant/careful in how he approached the game and in the way he touched Yoongi, which honestly is very thoughtful and cute of him if that’s true, considering his shoulder and all. In the end Yoongi, after they basically goofed around more than actually tried to push each other, offers a deal of just doing it once properly, ending in both of them falling in the water since Yoongi leans forward, hugs Jimin and drags him down with him.

Tae VS Hobi -- These two might’ve been the quickest, given how Hobi said he’s scared at least three times and Tae basically use a moment to ‘attack’ where Hobi was distracted by the fact that a moment prior he thought Tae almost would’ve hit him in the face with his forehead on accident. That lucky did not happen, but Hobi did end up in the water and Tae remained on the float and completely dry.

Namjoon VS Seokjin -- Now these two, how can I put my thoughts/feelings into cohesive words and sentences instead of just a long key smash? They were hilarious, and their round definitely took the longest out of all of them, both trying to make the other fall yet simultaneously seeming like they weren’t trying all that hard since neither wanted to land in the water? After all before the game started Seokjin did complain how the RUN crew told him they wouldn’t have to get into the water. And yet, in the end, after a visible moment of contemplation, Namjoon hugs Seokjin (who hugs him back) and they fall into the water together (when I tell you how much I love them, wow).

JK VS Jimin --Here’s where we get the Titanic moment while JK and Jimin stand on the float and are being pulled to the middle of the pool, the members immediately jumping in with Hobi going “Jack, come back” in a breathy voice while Yoongi (?) sings the melody of My Heart Will Go On and everyone is laughing. It was an absolutely hilarious and cute moment. What made me laugh the most during the whole thing were the Jimin heads used to hide whatever, which I as a joke called the “Victoria’s Secret Fantasy Bra (Head Edition)” while talking to Admin 2. During the game itself Jimin and JK are hilarious, slapping each other’s chests and trying different tricks to make the other fall, showing how amazing their core strength and balance is, but eventually Jimin shoves JKs chest and JK falls into the water, winning the game since Jimin “cheated” and thus lost.

Seokjin VS Tae -- Interesting to note is how Jimin remained in the water and close by while these two were playing. Seokjin and Tae though somehow seemed the most chaotic out of all of them, despite Seokjin offering that they should just do it in one go...which didn’t work out. They leaned into each other twice while laughing before starting to “wrestle” until Tae put his arms around Seokjin’s waist and basically threw him into the water while subsequently being pulled after him and falling in as well. Sometimes I think we forget how strong Tae is (though after his BE_log earlier today I doubt we’ll forget that again any time soon).

Once “warm-up” was done, the members were split into two groups of three while one person, the MC, sat in the middle in a glass box (though missing the front glass panel). The rules were established and we basically figured out that there are water canons in front of the seated members and a bigger one releasing water onto the member sitting in the middle. They got words and things they were not allowed to do/say since otherwise they would get splashed.

Safe to say they all fairly quickly looked even more like very wet puppies. I mean look at Yoongi and his cute curly poodle hair, adorable!

The debate portion itself was about “crunchy or soft cereal”, “eggs of peas on jjajangmyeon” and “firm or soft peaches” and truly more chaotic shouting than actually debating. The team members and the “MC” changed for each round, which lasted 11 minutes each. Who debated what was chosen by the crew (or the MC). My highlights for the cereal debate (besides Seokjin cutely complaining how he prefers his cereal soggy and Namjoon equally cutely telling him to just pretend he likes it crunchy) were Yoongi (who was team soggy cereal) and his argument that since Kendrick Lamar eats soggy cereal, that’s basically the winning argument, Namjoon arguing that since “cereal” and “crunchy” both start with a c that’s the only right answer, and Tae arguing that if you eat chocolate cereal it’ll melt and you’ll additionally get chocolate milk so obviously soggy cereal is better. The jjajangmyeon portion had discussions about prices, as well as Hobi (team peas) arguing he doesn’t like seeing animals in pain (which was quickly countered by JK saying he’d just eaten pork before the episode) and Tae generally being appalled by having to argue in favor of peas since he doesn’t like them yet used the argument that his dad likes them so if you argue against them...well.

And finally the peaches debate had Tae and his galaxy brain using their Chilsung Cider ads as argument and how the peaches in it were firm since they bounced and thus they are better, which JK tried to counter by pointing out that those were just CGI to which Tae basically said he’s insulting their beautiful ads, how dare. I also love how Jimin, who was on Tae’s team, went along with whatever nonsense argument Tae came up with as though it was the most logical one in the world. Just lovely soulmate things, we love to see it. Speaking of nonsensical arguments, you have to give points to Namjoon for his ability to sound like he’s making perfectly sensible and logical arguments while doing, well, the exact opposite. Or Yoongi who just bs-ed his way through the entire thing while acting totally serious about it.

Can we please have a quick look at the following screenshot:

And now, can we please talk about how everyone is nicely sitting in their designated place with space between them...and then there’s vmin who are like magnets because “Space who? We don’t know her”.

Admin 2 asked me to add their comment/thought about how it looks juuuuust a little as though vmin may or may not have been holding hands below the table, which, I mean, we’ll never know but, at this point (especially after the BE unit unboxing video) I wouldn’t even be surprised if it were true.

At one point when Seokjin became the MC the water kept on coming and coming and the members were desperate to figure out what was the thing they were doing that caused it. Jimin thought it could be the caps that some of them wore, so without hesitation or question, he took off Tae’s cap (bless Jimin for giving us another view at wet hair Tae, truly) and then, I swear, it looks like he wanted to ruffle Tae’s hair yet just a second before making contact he stops himself and instead turns his hand in like a “I’m presenting some kind of argument” way. Adorable.

A final note goes out to the fact that they are wearing white button downs which, I mean, makes perfect sense I guess? And also how the crew gave them bathrobes so they’d stay warm, I’d assume, yet very quickly those were drenched as well thanks to the water canons so it basically defeated the purpose completely. And yet, despite all the water etc they all look fantastic.

Overall it’s a hilarious episode that’ll give your stomach muscles and lungs an amazing workout. Bangtan were their chaotic, loud, and mischievous selves and honestly, I can’t wait to see what else they’ll debate in the next episode.

#vmin #RUN BTS #RUN BTS episode 131 #BTS #Taehyung #Jimin #Namjoon #Seokjin #Yoongi #Hoseok #Jungkook #namjin

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lucemferto · 4 years ago

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WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT TECHNOBLADE (or A Narrative Analysis of the Dream SMP Doomsday Event) - Script

Heyo! Per request I am posting the script to my video of the same name here on tumblr. I must warn you that just reading the script will probably not give you the full experience, so I would encourage you to watch the video (linked above).

There might also still be a lot of grammatical errors in the text, because I don’t proofread.

Okay, so! I don’t want this to turn into a reaction channel OR a Dream SMP channel for that matter! I am planning on doing a big dumb, way too long analysis video on the Dream SMP which will – at my current pace – come out in five years. I am already way too late on this one.

Spoiler Alert for the Doomsday Event that took place on the 6th of January in the Dream SMP. Surely the worst thing to take place on the 6th of January 2021 … I’m sorry, what’s this about the Capitol?

In case you don’t watch the SMP and need context: The Dream SMP is a Minecraft Multiplayer Server, that, throughout the last year, has transformed from a normal Let’s Play to an ongoing new-media series streamed by multiple high-profile streamers such as Dream, TommyInnit or Technoblade. It comes complete with script – by which I mean loose bullet points – and story events. It has attracted a large fanbase specifically invested in the story and less so in the actual gameplay content. Like I said before, I will probably do a big video on the Dream SMP at some point in the future.

The storyline is long and complicated and trying to explain it all would take up the majority of the video and there are other channels who have already done a much better job than I could ever hope to do, so give them a watch. I’ll try to summarize all that is pertinent to what I will talk about in this video.

Okay, let’s speedrun this summary. Cue the music!

Major Players here are TommyInnit, a founder of the independent nation of L’Manburg, Technoblade, an anarchist who was deep in conflict with L’Manburg, Tubbo, Tommy’s best friend and current president of L’Manburg, and Dream, the ruler of the Kingdom of the Dream SMP (even though he is not the king, but we’re not going to get into that right now). Tommy had in the past been exiled by Tubbo for endangering L’Manburg’s shaky peace with the Dream SMP. Tommy had then teamed up with Technoblade, who was hellbent on destroying L’Manberg after some prior altercations – more on that later.

Tommy and Tubbo came into conflict during a festival set-up to celebrate the friendship between L’Manburg and the Dream SMP. After punching out their feelings, Tommy came to the realization that his friendship with Tubbo was more important than his vendetta against Dream and those who exiled him. Techno took that change of heart badly and teamed up with Dream to destroy L’Manburg … and that’s exactly what happened.

Techno and Dream, with little to no opposition, obliterated L’Manburg with no hope for recovery leaving its inhabitants stranded hopeless and alone.

… And that’s what you missed on Dream SMP!

Okay. So, usually I just put whatever thought slime drips out of my mouth hole into your subscription box. But then I asked myself: “Am I not taking this a largely improvised nonsense story from a bunch of 16–24-year-olds a little too seriously?”. And then I remembered. I’m a pretentious bitch. I made an 18-minute video explaining why the popular commentary YouTuber memeulous is secretly the time travelling Anti-Christ, REASON HAS NO SWAY OVER ME!

So, like the English Major drop-out that I am, I will present you with two theses, which I will then combine into one … supratheses! That word doesn’t exist, I just coined it, it’s mine! I am very smart!

[I know words, I have the best words!]

Thesis #1: The Fandom focuses too much on Character Analysis in Favour of Narrative Analysis

The Dream SMP is truly something special. It is uniquely singular in how it tells a story of this scope through its chosen medium. While there is an overarching script that lays out the plot points of the future, each of the 30+ streamers on the SMP are their own cameraman, director, writer and actor. You cannot watch “the Dream SMP” – if you attempted that, you would be 80 by the time you caught up to the Doomsday Event. You have to choose whom to watch. You have to choose your focal point character.

Because by the way the story is told and consumed – aka in such a compartmentalized fashion; you watch one streamer and get one character’s perspective – it has sort-of unintentionally conditioned fans to look at the SMP and its characters less as one coherent story with messages and themes and more as sports teams they can root for. You’re Team Techno or Team Tubbo or Team Tommy or Team JackManifoldTV (formerly known as Thunder1408) and every other side is in the wrong! It’s like Twilight for a decade old children’s game about virtual Lego!

Okay, I’m exaggerating, but the amount of discourse perpetuated by and revolving around so-called “apologists” – a terrible term that unfortunately has caught on – is really not something that I think is good for how we interact with the story of the Dream SMP.

The Dream SMP is discussed a lot on character-based level, which is, like I said before, hugely advantaged by the way the story is consumed by its audience. With traditional, visual media such as film for example, the audience can be made more aware of what messages the narrative might try to communicate on a narrative level without the need for an explicit narrator to tell you the moral.

As an example, in a movie you could have a smash-cut from the Butcher Army’s discussions about neutralizing the danger Technoblade poses to Techno being nice around villagers or taking care of animals. This would communicate on an extradiegetic level, that the Butcher Army is in the wrong with their assumptions. Alternatively, you could contrast Techno’s declarations that power corrupts and that Tubbo’s administration is cruel with Tubbo choosing not to punish Ranboo for his association with Techno – thus the narrative would communicate that Techno’s view of Tubbo and by extension the government is one-sided and not true to reality.

Stuff like that helps the viewer understanding a story holistically and manages to communicate stuff like themes and morals without having to solely rely on in-character logic and argumentation, which, as Ghostbur put it so eloquently, is comprised of a bunch of unreliable narrators.

Character analysis is great if we want dive deep, if we really want to give a character flavour and understand their motivations. It helps make the universe feel like it is alive, like it’s real. But – and this might be a shocker for you – it’s not real. It’s written. It is construction – and as such, in its construction, it has messages and themes and morals, intentionally or unintentionally.

By being so focused on specific characters and their individual journeys, viewpoints and motivation we really run the risk of not looking at the bigger picture and fail to see what the overarching narrative is actually communicating. And we may also fail to understand how characters might or might not fit into the overarching narrative.

Speaking of which …

Thesis #2: Technoblade experiences very little Meaningfultm Thematic Conflict

Okay, let’s talk about Technoblade. I’m sure I’m not going to get any hate for this one.

I want to preface by saying that I don’t watch Technoblade’s streams; I catch up though clip channels and summaries. I’m mainly watching Tommy, Tubbo and Quackity – which is honestly already more than I can handle – but I want to be clear that while I’ll try to be as even-handed as possible – like I explained previously – the way I consumed the storylines will undoubtedly leave me with some bias.

Also, needless to say, I’m talking about the character Technoblade, not the actual content creator, unless I specifically say so. That should be obvious.

Now, I’m not doing a Technoblade character analysis, because that would be hypocritical of me – seeing how I just bitched about the overwhelming amounts of character analyses in the fandom – but I’ll try my best to summarize what is necessary.

Technoblade’s interesting in that he is a very static character – at least inwardly – he doesn’t change much. He is very steadfast in his beliefs and ideals and has very little introspection. He doesn’t question himself; he doesn’t waver, he is never in a bind about whether what he’s doing is right or wrong. He is very much a parallel to early TommyInnit – who, of course, famously said “I’m always in the right”.

And I want to emphasize that I mean this in no way as a critique of Techno’s character. A static character provides a nice contrast to more dynamic characters and can balance them out. It can also be utilised by the writing as a character flaw – which is what I hope content creator Techno is going for.

Like Techno doesn’t have a lot of empathy in the sense that he is particularly skilled at or interested in trying to see the viewpoints of others. There is never an attempt to reconcile, for example, the goal of the Pogtopians to reclaim L’Manberg and install another administration with his desire for an anarchist society. This is also compounded with his overreliance on violence as the only tactic for conflict resolution – Techno has a whole thesis statement about violence being the only universal language. I’m sure you’ve heard the quote.

And lastly, what really drives this all over the edge, is his all-or-nothing approach when dealing with the enemy – he is not so much eye for an eye as he is – to use another biblical example – you make fun of me for being bald and I’ll sic two bears on you that maul and kill you and 41 other children.

There’s also the open and completely unacknowledged hypocrisy of a self-described anarchist working together with a man that installs and dethrones Kings with his every whim – someone who – and I cannot stress this enough – hits about every box when it comes to the definition of tyrant.

So, what I’m saying is that Technoblade is the Dream SMP equivalent of Dick Chenney. C’mon you know it’s true! He will bomb that freedom into your country whether you want him to or not. That’s some cogent political commentary in the year 2021.

Okay, so now that I’ve outlined his character, what kind of conflicts does Technoblade face. Well, it’s mostly physical or external. He fights a lot whether it’s against Quackity or Sapnap or bodying Karl Jacobs five times in a row. And – with the exception of maybe Sapnap – none of it is challenging. Technoblade is the best PvP-Player on the server – there really isn’t much tension to be had from a purely physical fight.

So, how are these fights supplemented emotionally. Well, internally there is not a lot going on. As I said before, Technoblade isn’t really an introspective character. Even during his shouting match with Tommy there’s not a sense that Technoblade is wavering or unsure of himself in the way that Tommy is. He exposits that one of the reasons, he acts like he does is that he feels dehumanized; that people only use him like a weapon and then discard or even try to neutralize him once he’s no longer useful.

But that is not something that Technoblade has to grapple with – it’s not conflict for him, it’s more conflict for Tommy. Technoblade is self-assured in that he’s a person and not a weapon – it’s almost like there was a character arc there, where Technoblade self-actualizes and breaks away from the people that want to use him. But we didn’t see any of it. Technoblade unleashes the withers; then he goes into retirement because he wants to be, I suppose, and then he returns to violence as a reaction to the Butcher Army. There is a story of vengeance here, but not any conflict about being used. There is never a point where we see Technoblade come to this realization or comes to assert himself.

In season 1 there’s never a push from Pogtopia where the narrative frames them as exploiting Technoblade. He fights with them of his own volition, he gives them weapons and armour of his own volition. Nobody pressured Techno into procuring their inventory for the fight. And in Season 2, he’s the one to approach Tommy about their potential partnership – he is in the position of power here, explicitly not Tommy.

Like, I’m sorry, if this ruffles some feathers, but I really don’t see this arc where Technoblade is being used. There’s a story of misunderstanding and maybe co-dependency – but not of dehumanization. This entire line of thought seems to solely reference that moment, where Tommy says to Sapnap “I have the blade” during one of their wars – which, to base an entire emotional arc around that without any further set-up, is, and I’m sorry to say that, incredibly flimsy.

Okay, so we covered physical and emotional conflict? But what about conflict on the narrative level? Well, that leads me to my suprathesis …

Suprathesis: The Narrative is Unclear on how it treats Technoblade … and that’s Not Good.

Here’s a Hot Take: The narrative of Season 1 treats Technoblade way less sympathetically than that of season 2.

Let me explain. The narrative of Season 1 revolves mostly around Wilbur and Tommy. The emotional fulcrum of the overall narrative is Wilbur’s rise and fall from Grace – and Tommy succeeding him as symbol of L’Manberg’s “special”-ness. Now I will talk about all that more in detail, when I talk about Season 1 of the Dream SMP. So, you’ll just have to go with me on this one for now.

Technoblade, by contrast, doesn’t really have much going on thematically in Season 1. He mostly exists as a sort-of utilitarian character – he is an accessory to make story beats happen. Like him executing Tubbo doesn’t open up any sort of thematic conflict involving him – on a character level it sets up antipathy between him and Tommy and it grants us some insight into how he operates with his violence speech – but on a larger-scale narrative level it really just shows how far Wilbur and Tommy have drifted apart in how they react to the event.

His biggest contribution is during the Season 1 finale, but even there he plays second fiddle to Wilbur. Not just because Wilbur does way more destruction with his explosion than Techno does with his Withers, but also because Wilbur had an emotional and thematic climax to his arc and by extension the entire storyline. Like Techno’s is a cool moment and very epic visual but in terms of thematic relevance, his Theseus-speech is really more set-up for Season 2.

And Season 1 is very unambiguous about L’Manberg being good and Tommy’s ideals ultimately being morally justified – I mean, they have a whole speech about it in the end and it was built-up throughout the entire Season – Techno is cast in a … less than sympathetic light. He is, if not a villain, then definitely an antagonist.

But with Season 2 the narrative is either uninterested in or not very clear on exploring Technoblade’s flaws.

Like ask yourselves: is Technoblade’s character ever consciously challenged by the narrative? Are his actions ultimately shown to not be in the right? Are his beliefs about government and power ever called into question? Are the negative consequences that his actions cause ever shown to be larger than the “good” he does?

I think what exemplifies this the most is how the Butcher Army event played out on December 16th. Now, during that event, the Butcher Army, which was comprised of Tubbo, Quackity, Fundy and Ranboo, managed to apprehend Technoblade, who at that point was living the quiet retirement life, and tried to have him publicly executed – without trial.

Now, smarter people than me have pointed out that the Butcher Army had a bevy of in-character reasons that can justify or explain their actions. And that’s definitely interesting, but as I said before, I want to get away from that and look into how the Butcher Army is treated on a narrative level. Because this is one of the few instances where the otherwise grey-loving Season 2 has some very clear narrative intent when it comes to morality.

The Butcher Army is very deliberately framed as almost cartoonishly corrupt and violent. They very forcefully investigate Philza, mock him and then put him under house arrest – and there’s just no remorse in the script even from normally sympathetic characters like Tubbo.

Compare and contrast with the Tommy-exile scene, which is also an act of moral ambiguity and is treated as such. And things get even worse once the Army arrives at Technoblade’s abode and attack him after he softly tells them that he has left that live behind him. They then proceed to take his horse hostage, mock him and execute him without fair trial – and I haven’t seen it but from live commentary I gathered that Techno really played up the whole softie-schtick before the Butcher Army arrived. I mean, before the big Technoblade vs Quackity fight, Quackity had whole villain monologue for Christ’s sake.

And even afterwards, the Butcher Army really plays up the corrupt angle with Tubbo proposing a festival as a guise to publicly execute someone. And again, I know that on an intradiegetic there’s nuances and it’s not really comparable to the Red Festival, but in combination with what the audience has seen up until that point and with how much it feeds into the already established themes of history repeating itself and becoming like your predecessors, it really does not paint a pretty picture of the Tubbo administration.

You can feel the heavy hand of the script on your shoulder, which is a feat seeing how – as discussed before – that’s not something that can be easily accomplished in this medium.

And that is what I mean when I say that Technoblade is not really challenged by the script and is in this case even emboldened by it. Because after this whole ordeal the thought of Technoblade taking revenge by destroying L’Manberg doesn’t seem like such an extreme response to the viewer – even though in my opinion, it is.

As of right now it is too early to say how the narrative will judge Technoblade’s actions in the future. Will they be framed as extreme but ultimately justified or perpetuating a cycle of ever-escalating vengeance? Will we ever see a government that’s not just at best misguided and at worst completely awful?

Ultimately, I believe and hope that Technoblade will be challenged by the narrative, mostly because a character that cannot, believably, be physically challenged, who doesn’t have any meaningful internal conflict about what he’s doing; and who does come out on the other side having everything he always believed in be proven completely in the right by the narrative, would be incredibly boring. Not just to watch but also to play as.

As it stands now, if the destruction Techno, Phil and Dream inflicted upon L’Manburg is framed as ultimately in the right, I would find it personally a distasteful message to send. I would ultimately say that the “correct” way to counter corruption in government is to completely obliterate the entire country. Like we’re not talking simply disbanding the government – that’s not what Doomsday was – we’re talking complete and utter annihilation. And that would be cynical and depressing. Like, call me a big softie, but even bothsidesing this argument would be bad.

Like, I’m not calling for Technoblade to be transformed into or treated a monster like Dream. But I personally feel like the narrative needs to acknowledge that the Doomsday was something that was taken way too far and that it ultimately brought more harm than good. And Technoblade needs to held accountable by someone who is not a cartoonishly corrupt government-official or who is in conflict with him anyway, like Tommy.

I thought Philza or Ranboo could do that but seeing how their storylines are progressing I don’t believe that will be the case. But who knows, maybe Captain Puffy will come through for us. We stan a Queen.

Conclusion

So, yeah, I made this entire video just to air out my grievances with how one-sided the mode of analysis is in the fandom, because no person actually involved with the production of Dream SMP will ever see this.

But after everything I am cautiously optimistic, that content creator Technoblade knows what he’s doing. He has talked in the past about how his character is a bad guy and he loves his Greek myths. After all what’s more Greek myth than hybris being rewarded with punishment? [Technoblade never dies] That bodes well for him.

Also, this isn’t the video I promised at the end of the last one!

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zutarawasrobbed · 5 years ago

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I’m So F*cking Tired

How is it that ATLA has two toxic canon relationships, yet all anyone seems to be ragging on is Zutara?

Aang forced himself on Katara twice, and the second time she explicitly said no in the gentle way women are taught from birth.

“Now’s not a good time” = “I’m not interested.”

“I’m confused” = “I’m not confused. I just don’t want to hurt your feelings.”

Mai blatantly disregards Zuko’s needs, and this is not necessarily her fault to bear alone. It just means she and Zuko were not right for each other and could not be there for each other in the way the other needed.

Look these are just two examples, but all these Puritan people saying “Zutara is toxic or would never work because Zuko’s her oppressor/ Katara wouldn’t want to live/rule over a nation responsible for the death of her mother/ the people would never accept her./ Katara hates politics,/ Zuko is gay.

I’d like to break these down a bit—first, the “oppressor” argument. I already made a post about this. But seriously, it’s insane. He. Was. Ten. When Katara’s mom was killed. What do you want a ten-year-old to do? Serisouly. Think about it. And frankly, as a woman of color and Native American it’s insulting to have people speak about shit they know nothing about. Get off your high horse.

Katara wouldn’t want to live/rule over a nation responsible for the death of her mother: ... Ummm, did we watch the same show? She literally spends the first half of book three helping every village she comes across in the fire nation without question. Because she knows the difference between civilians and soldiers, she also spends an entire episode going out of her way to save a dying fire nation village as a vigilante. Her most famous line is literally, “I will never ever turn my back on people who need me!” She doesn’t say, “I will never ever turn back on people who need me... minus the fire nation.” This is even in the context of saving a fire nation village.

The people would never accept her: The people already do accept her and love her. If they hear the painted lady is going to be their queen, the girl who risked her life to save their village, the girl who learned bloodbending to save a town from a psychopathic bloodbender wouldn’t be singing in the streets at the news? Wouldn’t be hoping for the girl who saved their Fire Lord's life to be their future queen? The fire nation already shipped it based on the ember island players and the scene with the, in the crystal caves.

Katara hates politics: ... what?!?! Did you forget how she was more than happy to take over the talks with the earth king? You’re telling me Katara... miss “I’m gonna start a riot in an earth kingdom prison.” Miss “I’m so excited to meet with King Kuei about battle plans.” The girl almost skipping with excitement to hand over the battle plans for the day of black sun, hates politics? It sounds like fake news, but okay.

Zuko is gay: Seriously? I personally HC Zuko as bi. But gay? Seriously? I’m all for respecting headcanons. But this one irks me when it’s used to discredit one ship in favor of another.

Lastly, I want to talk about Zukka. I personally never shipped Zukka as I always found them to have a Bromantic relationship rather than romantic. However, I still respect the ship and know some beautiful and talented people in the fandom have contributed gorgeous art and brilliant fics. But lately, with the resurgence of Atla, people have been actively disrespecting Zutara as a way to justify their ship. It’s gotten to the point that I’ve had to blacklist Zukka because of all the negativity that now surrounds it with Zutara. Which I frankly fail to understand, because Zutara isn’t even canon! If you want to rag on ships for being toxic, how about the actual canon toxic ships that already exist? I’m all for ship and let ship. But I’d like to be afforded the same sentiment.

P.S.: all these people making posts “Zutara and kataang stop fighting.” Or “Zutara and kataang both have problems...” What are you doing? Seriously, who is this helping? It’s just making both sides angry, and you look like a preachy wanna be savior. That’s not helping anyone. I’m a Zutarian, and this is probably the most inflammatory post I’ve made in a long time. But it’s only because I’m fed up with this discourse and seeing the same sh*t on my dash over and over again.

#zutara #zuko #katara #atla #avatar the last airbender #sokka #avatar: the last airbender #anti kataang #anti maiko

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onesheeptwosheepandachicken · 4 years ago

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14 Reasons Why Taiyang is Ruby’s father, and Qrow is not.

There are many arguments in favor of Qrow being Ruby's father, but let's look at evidence supporting Taiyang being Ruby's father. 1. Most obviously. Monty Oum. He said in this tweet that ruby and yang are half-sisters...half-sisters, which means they share the same mom or dad...in this case Taiyang.... https://twitter.com/montyoum/status/492070189731565568 2. Miles Luna debunked this theory on Reddit... He pointed out that Ruby sees Qrow as a Role model, so she adapts her colors to be similar to his. And you don't need somebody to be blood to be your role model. https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBY/comments/7x3w4s/crwby_ama_w_miles_luna_kerry_shawcross_and_paula/du5d67g/?context=3https://twitter.com/montyoum/status/492070189731565568https://rwby.fandom.com/wiki/Qrow_Branwen/Quotes#So_That.27s_How_It_Is 3. The main accusation for demanding Rooster Teeth / CRWBY change the backstory for Qrow would accomplish nothing. Raven already pushed Yang onto Taiyang to raise on his own. Qrow forcing Tai to Raise Ruby alongside Yang while Qrow could regularly visit, and while Summer lived with Taiyang, Yang, and Ruby? It would cheapen Qrow's character....blood isn't everything. Neither are cliches. 4. Volume Chapter 6, Burning the Candle. Yang tells Blake that she (yang) and Ruby were raised together by Summer and Taiyang...not by Taiyang on his own, but by Summer and Taiyang. Yang clearly had memories of being raised by Summer and Tai both, which meant that Summer and Taiyang lived together raising Ruby and Yang for Several Years. 5. Taiyang was noted to have shut down when Summer didn't come back.... Yang noted this in Volume 2 Chapter 6, and Ruby mentioned in the first episode of Volume 3 that Taiyang missed Summer. Qrow also said that Ruby is Taiyang’s “Special Angel”....Ruby has also pointed out numerous times that Taiyang is Overprotective of Ruby. 6. Qrow has referred to Taiyang as Ruby's father during volume 3 and 7. Taiyang referred to Ruby as his daughter in volume 3. 7. Taiyang is a martial arts fighter. Ruby has neither the build nor the personality for ruthless hand to hand combat like her sister...Taiyang would trust Qrow, despite his semblance. 8. Speaking of Qrow's semblance? He was playing video games with his nieces, taught at Signal Academy, and could train Ruby...clearly, his semblance is not what theorists make it out to be. 9. Yang is the daughter of Qrow's sister,who abandoned the team. During a one on one interaction between Qrow and Yang after yang vs mercury, Qrow called his own niece crazy, after she had been framed. Qrow was not empathetic to Yang. Qrow may not like Yang's resemblance to Raven. Ruby is the daughter of his two closest friends, so of course he'd prefer Ruby over Yang. 10. Examples of Taiyang caring for Ruby. Ruby was excited when Taiyang sent a package in the mail, not even knowing it was Zwei. Taiyang was at Ruby's bedside in v3, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He also tried to bring her breakfast in bed. During the V8 broadcast, Taiyang was upset when the broadcast was cut. 11. Black hair is the subtype of the pigment for blonde hair... Also, Ruby's got the same hair strand that Yang and Taiyang have. Finally, black hair is more dominant. So Ruby doesn't need blonde hair to be Taiyang's kid. 12. Roosterteeth on Twitter has this tweet calling Qrow the uncle to both ruby and yang. https://twitter.com/RoosterTeeth/status/1067205612331782144 13, Harry Potter as a book showed that a boy and a girl can interact and still be friends... Why can't Qrow be Summer's friend? Why does he have to be her lover? We've seen Qrow talk about Innkeeper's skirt lengths and leer at Barmaids who flirted with him. Also, he's shown to be bonding with both Clover and Robyn. 14. Qrow has spent his whole life with his semblance, named after a Crow. Raised by the Branwen bandit tribe. "You and I are not the same, you don't want the burden of my name" ....Both Branwen and Qrow are names that Qrow hates due to his semblance and past... People may think of him as cool, but Qrow suffers from self-loathing. So NO, the Bad Luck Charm song does NOT in fact allude to Qrow being Ruby's father, but that Qrow hates himself, hence a major part of why he's alcoholic. Proof of which is his volume 6 exchange with Ozpin about being useful, which Qrow disagrees with, leading him to drink further. And Ruby encourages his self-worth leading him to try giving up alcohol.... His alcoholism is tied to low-self-esteem, not relationships. I get how people desire qrow to be Ruby's father for ships or fanfics. But the attacking of RWBY, claiming that "this needs to be fixed", or getting angry at RT for not giving you the non-canon ship you want? That reflects poorly on the fandom and critics.

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adler-obsessed · 4 years ago

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Hi! I'm new in the fandom and wanted to ask why everyone seems to be hating Derek Landy? Yes the books are pretty brutal and he's low-key sadistic with the characters, but aren't most book authors? I just finished book 6 and I'm really enjoying them so far. I'm just curious and don't wanna offend anyone.

oh boy buckle up - I just want to first of all say welcome to the fandom!!! Although it may seem a bit negative sometimes, it’s mainly because we love the series and characters so much!

There’s a lot of people who know more about + have details on Landy’s problematic statements/actions so guys/fandom if you could add that onto this post, I’d appreciate it.

A short summary:

problematic representation in books

the disaster of Phase 2

attacking fans (bonus: his gf attacking fans)

problematic relationships with young fans

But I’ve been meaning to do an analysis of why Landy’s representation of queer people and the LGBTQ+ Community has been problematic for a while and I have examples so buckle up everyone:

So, as a brief introduction, there’s several reasons why people aren’t the biggest fan of Landy - one you won’t be aware of for awhile is Phase 2, which starts after Book 9

Phase 2, I think I can say confidently, has not been as well received as Phase 1. Lots of the characters we liked in Phase 1 don’t appear or have lost all their character development from Phase 1. There are so many side plots that are very confusing and most people aren’t particularly interested in them so large parts of each book are quite boring for most of the fandom.

But onto my main argument (edit: in a reblog below, Faceless has linked many of the examples I discuss if you are interested)

Landy has had quite a bumpy ride when it comes to representation: in the Demon Road series (outside of SP) there was a very problematic portrayal of a wlw relationship. He claimed that everyone is eventually bisexual, and then there is a wider issue of representation in the actual Skulduggery books.

Firstly, those characters that are in the LGBTQ+ community tend to have that aspect of their life continuously pointed out/or mentioned (like Landy is trying to show how ‘diverse’ he is) but then have very little character development/or mention of anything other than that.

There is a supposedly major wlw ship in Phase 2, but it is so underdeveloped it feels more like a main character and her cheerleader. In the last book we finally got some development only for them to then break up (although I somewhat liked the realistic reasons behind it, it did disappoint me)

Linking from this, there is a general difference in how Landy treats non-canon queer ships versus straight ones

When asked about the possibility of a non-canon straight ship, he said he didn’t like to dismiss the fan’s ships. In comparison when a fan asked about mlm ship, he immediately said no to it (keep in mind there was no dubious relationship between these two in the books, they are super close so it made no sense for him to completely refuse it)

Landy also likes to point out his queer characters like China and Tanith, who are both canonly bisexual/pansexual (he confirmed to a fan that China and Eliza were a thing) and yet, whenever the two are romantically involved with someone, it’s a man.

Now, before I get people attacking me saying they are still bisexual even though they’re in straight passing relationships, I AM bisexual, I hate it when people invalidate my sexuality just because I am in a relationship w a guy or girl.

But eVERYTIME, these two end up with a guy, and the only time Landy has confirmed they aren’t straight are either in blink and you’ll miss it moments or outside of the books (sort of like Rowling claiming characters were gay on Twitter, and yet these characters were never seen expressing these identities in the books or in later media)

So why is this representation problematic? Because writers like Landy seem to think they’ve actually done a good job - stating once that a character identifies/or has a certain sexual orientation, and then never elaborating on it again, as if that somehow wins him brownie points.

I’m not going to talk to much about Never - for context this is a gender fluid character in Phase Two - because I myself am not gender fluid, so I would not want to speak for that side of the community incorrectly. In my personal opinion, having several genderfluid friends, Never’s characterisation is bloody weird.

For context, in the books, Landy changes the pronouns that Never uses and others use to address him/her practically every sentence. At times it feels less like a portrayal of a genderfluid character, and more like a mockery (one of my aforementioned genderfluid friends stopped reading the series at this point because they found it too close to the mocking insults their grandparents would use e.g. changing pronouns every sentence as if making out that their gender identity was some absurd thing)

Again, rest of the fandom feel free to interject in here, there are definitely people more qualified to speak on this than me.

I also want to talk a little bit about the problematic way Derek handles female members of the LGBTQ+ community in comparison to the male ones. I’ve mentioned above a bit of the problems with China/Tanith but I want to go a bit further into the issue with the male ones: namely, there are barely any.

While the three main female characters are all canonly bisexual, none of the major male ones are (if I’m wrong, please correct me!) and the only one who could possibly be considered major is Anton Shudder and his boyfriend who are confirmed to have been in a relationship, oh wait, when they are both dead. Apart from that, there is not one major male member of the LGBTQ+ community in these books that Landy claims are so diverse.

I think it is also slightly worrying that so many of Landy’s female characters are bisexual, characters who Landy also constantly describes as pretty/gorgeous/attractive etc. because it just feels like that typical thing of men fetishising wlw women (particularly bisexual women) hence why I also think the fact that two of these women never have a relationship with another wlw in the actual books is very problematic, as these sexual orientations feel more for show than actual canon most of the time.

There is a very big problem with the way Landy goes about queer representation in his books, and the worse part? He thinks he’s doing great.

#skulduggery pleasant #Derek Landy critical #apologies for the mammoth essay but I had feelings

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