#also i didn't know how to describe her ''old'' was probably incorrect she was your average karen age

[lenny-rambles]

About nothing in particular, a bit of Zolu in general, and some fics here and there

Holy smokes, I've had a week. In between exams, my cat getting lost, more exams and work I haven't got the time to actually ramble about anything, which is pretty sad (to me).

HOWEVER.

This doesn't mean to suggest I didn't read anything at all. Oh no, you'd be greatly mistaken to assume that's the case. I devoured a lot of fics this week, in an attempt to release stress because my house was also inhospitable for some days. So, I decided to read and re-read some fics, because that's how I deal with my problems (that is to say, I don't).

It's very interesting to see how their relationship's been depicted through the years! Like, one of my favorite tags for them is "Devotion" (because that's SO them), and the tag's got 60 works, barely. And it was first used in 2019, for a romance fic. That's barely any time at all in OP time! I don't know why though, maybe everyone knew it but struggled to put it into words (like them). As in, everyone would assume right out of the bat that that's their dynamic. Or maybe not! You can never know with fandoms, the fact that Agenda Piece exists still surprises me.

Also, I've grown the habit of reading through an author's works rather than just searching with tags. Like, if there's a fic I really liked I'll go into their profile and read more. And almost every time they have more! It's always a thrill when they have like old works, it comes to show how much they've improved, and how their characterization also evolves with them!

One of my favorite examples of this, that I discovered this week, is the series Fantastic Idiots And Where To Find Them.

Title: Fantastic Idiots and Where To Find Them (series)

Author: Mir4le

Relevant Tags: magic school AU, ASL brothers (my beloved), Law, Zoro, first person POV, on going, maybe there are ships maybe not

Now, disclaimer from me. No one here's endorsing the terf's work as in "go read her stories, they are good", because they aren't. And giving her money in anyway is terrible (in my humble opinion), she poses a lot of terrible ideas for both Trans and Feminism Activism. I hate the woman, and her story is not even that good. She holds A LOT of unethical and incorrect social theories (like eugenics, ew) in her books, AND REFUSES to reconsider or anything. She thrives in the attention she gets from that, I'm sure. Sadly, nostalgia is a bitch, and her books where probably the first I read entirely in english, and through piracy, so I still have some sort of appreciation for them, as terrible works of fiction as they are.

The good news is that the setting is so unbelievably generic that you could say "generic witch society" and that would do just fine, so that's what I'm doing. It's a generic witch society boarding school AU. Ah, the thing. The fic's written in first person POV (sighs), so if that's no your cup of tea you should stay away. The narration improves, the POV never stops being first person. I'm not exactly a fan of first person POV, but I was looking for fic with Law in them, so I picked it up.

Now, the first few chapters where... an experience. They were the author's first work, and you could tell. I don't mean anything mean with that, it's just Difficult to pin the POV for me, so I struggled a bit. Nevertheless, the prompt was interesting enough to keep me going, even if I kinda rushed through some stuff (sorry). It was also noticeable how much the author liked the characters, and the story, even early on, so that also kept me going. Rarely a story loved that much doesn't improve on quality, both because the strive to be better for the story and all the practice they get by putting it out in the first place. So congrats and thank you to the author for your work, it paid off.

Now, another thing about the fic, I'm not exactly what you'd describe a Law fan. I like his story, it was OP most angsty backstory for a while in my opinion (before Kuma, oh Kuma), so that just drew me in. Sadly, it didn't get me like I wanted to. Maybe it's because I binged the anime in an unholy amount of time (another day I'll talk about that) but by the time we got the why of Law, I just wanted Dressrosa to be done. So while I appreciate his character, the anime just made me want to get over with it. All of that to say that I usually avoid fics with Law, because I just don't like him that much. But I stayed. For the potential this had.

And my staying paid off!!!! It was awesome to see another take on ASL, and adding Law to the mix, not through Luffy, but Ace and Sabo was Not something I was expecting! It is also one of the key factors as to why the fic is so entertaining, you keep trying to imagine how the relationships in canon will translate to the setting. I got a lot of them wrong, it keeps you guessing, I love it. The way it shows Law involuntarily warming up to Ace and Sabo is so good. It feels a lot like something 11 y/o Law would write in his diary, it's cute.

Plot-wise it isn't that strong in the first installment (even the author said so), so you are really looking out for character interactions rather than worldbuilding. So it delivers on that, a bit chopped here and there, but by the time you get to the final chapters (there are like, 5) it's way more dynamic.

Ah, I've run out of juice, all right speedrun.

The whole thing, plot and narration improves a lot. Getting to a point in the most recent chapters where I can say that the author nailed down at least Zoro's and Ace's POV to the t, I can't say for Law though, not my area of expertise.

Surprising to no one, I like the Zoro POV chapters best, because we get Strawhat crew, and Luffy and Zoro, and I really like them.

I like the professors and classes they teach they teach. Who is which head of house and all that, nice, very in character.

Whitebeard's kids are a thing here, and I love it, they are fantastic.

Oh, Robin in particular has a lot going for her in the fic, you should also stay for her, if you are a fellow Robin fan.

The shenanigans are AU typical, that's not bad at all, I like how much emphasis they give to pranks and all.

CORAZON IS ALIVE AND WELL, more beautiful things.

Idk, I wish I could tell you more but I kinda read the whole thing for the experience and enjoyed it a lot. Even if it's unfinished.

Oh well, I guess that's it.

Also, "When All the Embers Die" also updated, as well as the other Zoro fic from the same author. And "Treasures for your Treasure (The Pearls Pale in Your Eyes)" ALSO updated, a Zoro update (thanks author) to say the least. I might say some things, I might not, probably I will, once I'm out of this hell hole called midterms.

Anyways, if you read this far thank you very much. Please read the fics mentioned above, even if it's for the experience, they are wonderful stories.

[authoreeknight]

Bechdel Fail

Happened upon this intellectual landmine about sexist depictions in Andor. This is the sort of analysis that the word "pettifogging" seems like it was invented for.

The Bechdel Test is useful, especially for newer writers, double especially for men, to make sure you're not using your female characters as set dressing. I like Bechdel. I support it. It passes the Ben Franklin test of being succinct, pithy, and cogent. It's super-easy to use. Just like a blood pressure monitor. A blood pressure monitor is a quick, easy way of monitoring cardiovascular health, but if you look only at BP without backing out and getting the big picture it can mislead. Usain Bolt no doubt has world-class cardiovascular health, but if you just look at his BP in the middle of a 200 meter race, you'll get a misleading picture.

Now, I've not delved much into the subject, but I don't imagine Bechdel was ever intended to be used as a be-all-end-all last word on whether a work is sexist. The author of the linked article is correct on facts (well, mostly) but incorrect on the meaning of those facts, like a lawyer making the best of a bad case. To illustrate, I'll apply an old test of mine, the Nancy Test.

Yeah, you've never heard of it. I'm not surprised. The Nancy Test goes back to my earliest days as a writer. Nancy is my mom (an English major back in the day and keen student of Shakespeare). When I told her I was worried about writing women, she gave me this advice: "as long as what your women *do* effects the story in an important way, you're fine." My mom was educated long before "agency" meant anything but "a government department", but I believe that's what she described.

For brevity, I'll only discuss the episodes (most of them) where the article points out that Andor failed, applying my own Nancy Test.

Ep 1 - Kassa PASS

If the young woman leading the Kenari wreck expedition didn't decide Kassa should come along, nothing else in the whole series would have happened as it did. No Rogue One, no Battle of Scarif.

Beyond that, Bix deciding to use the resistance transmitter to contact Luthen (or maybe Kleya) probably saves Cassian's life, or at least prevents him from being arrested by Syril's corpos. Though unstated, it's my assumption that she's breaking protocol doing this.

Ep 2 - That Would Be Me PASS

Once again, Bix plays a key role, though it's something of a double-edged sword. She has to tell Cassian that the buyer is coming for his Starpath, but their intense conversation and Cassian touching her as he thanks her for getting him out of the jam is misinterpreted by Timm.

We also get the woman who runs the brothel doing a positive ID on Cassian as the man she spoke to, giving Syril the confirmation he needs to go to Ferrix.

And finally, we have the Kenari leader going alone to check out the wreckage. If she sends a scout while she stays back with her team, I don't think we get the response from Kassa to go into the wreck seeking revenge, which we know leads to Maarva, Clem, and B2.

Just as an aside, it's lovely how BBY 5 Maarva is introduced as a little old lady who keeps her house cold and worries about Cassian. Just your basic aging mum, right? Bit cantankerous, but within our usual experience. Silly us.

Ep 3 - Reckoning PASS

For some reason the author decides to rant about Deedra Meero here, and as she isn't even in the episode draw your own conclusions about the quality of the article.

But back to the Nancy Test, we have Kenari Maarva overruling Clem and deciding to take Kassa with them, and without this decision once again we never get to the Battle of Scarif. We also have Ferrix Maarva executing some cool psywar on the corpos from the comfort of her chair.

Ep 4 - Aldhani PASS

Vel decides to take "Clem" onto the team. You can argue that Luthen gave her a choice that wasn't a choice, but Vel's decision to swallow the Diego-shaped frog to keep the mission alive mattered. She also manages to keep the team together and on task even though she takes a lot of flak for bringing someone in so late, especially from Lt. Gorn (aside: if I could change one thing about Andor season 1, I'd have Gorn live and decide to stay with the people of Aldhani in the face of the inevitable Imperial reprisals. I *really* liked Gorn, he was great).

Episode 7 Announcement PASS

First, we have Syril's mom, who has managed to get Uncle Harlo to use his connections about a position for her son.

Deedra Meero is all over this episode like Godzilla on Tokyo, as she gets her teeth into the equipment thefts, building her case that there's a rebellion building military forces. She then expertly defends her actions, leading to her being put in charge of Morlana system and Ferrix. We have Kleya issuing a kill order on Cassian to Vel. We have Mon Mothma bringing Tay Kolma into her network with the skill of a heart surgeon implanting a pacemaker. And probably most importantly of all (as it turns out), we have Maarva, inspired by events on Aldhani, deciding to become a rebel.

Yet our writer, unable to see the forest for the trees or the global purpose of the Bechdel Test, sees this episode as yet another example of base female representation fail in Andor. Astonishing.

Episode 10 One Way Out N/A

This episode is so much about the prisoners on Narkina 5, everything else is little updates except for the scene about Jung being a secret rebel. It's a bit like trying to rate how women are depicted in Das Boot. They mostly aren't present for obvious reasons.

Still, we're introduced to Jezzi and the Daughters of Ferrix (even if they don't have a name yet) and though we don't actually see Maarva (as the scene is from Cinta's point of view, who's watching the house from outside) by refusing her meds Maarva has advanced the story more than we can guess, what she's up to is just invisible to us right now. There's also Mon Mothma refusing Davo's offer and the access to funds she so desperately needs.

Episode 12 Rix Road PASS

The only thing I'm going to say about this is that if you can sit through Rix Road and say "Andor does not meet the baseline standard for depicting women" you need to check your diagnostics.

[peachships]

All the flowers for Eda >:3

Yeah! I'm gonna skip the playlist ask bc I can't make playlists to save my life kashaksh

rose - how many brain cells would you estimate there are between you and your f/o?

At least 7, but two are fully dedicated to annoying songs that just play on repeat and one is fart jokes

anemone - in ten words or less, describe the dynamic between you and your f/o.

Two cursed dumbasses who are found family but chaotic [lovingly]

dahlia - what song and/or song lyric do you most associate with your f/o?

10,000 Stones by Adrianne, especially the verse "Who knows what you think of me now / Knowing sooner or later / The truth would come out / But I don't want to look back / Don't want to look back to" because she hid the curse as much as she could but also didn't want to look back and just focus on taking care of herself

tulip - go to your f/o's wiki page and quote your favorite part of it.

"E.da is described as the sort of teacher that would not only throw someone into the deep end, but also set the entire body of water on fire."

buttercup - give an incorrect quote of you and your f/o.

Probably this post by @incorrectselfshipquotes, but I'm gonna type it here too since I'm tweaking it *just* a tiny bit (just wanted to link credit!)

------

Me: You really put everything aside and came all this way for me? How did you even get here so fast?

E.da: Several traffic violations.

E.da: Three counts of resisting arrest.

E.da: And roughly thirteen cans of apple blood.

E.da: Also, that's not my staff.

marigold - what is your favorite picture, video, and/or moment of your f/o?

Probably those moments when she saw any image of herself and was impressed, like when the twins made a giant illusion of her and her first reaction was "Dang I look great", or when she saw the photo of her owl beast form and went "That look is fierce", or her reaction to seeing her harpy form. Confidence icon

orchid - is your f/o also your favorite character from their respective media, or is it someone else?

I actually love them all equally! I can't choose a favourite because I adore all of them and every one is so unique

sunflower - do you make fun of or tease your f/o a lot, or can you not bring yourself to be lovingly mean to them?

Oh we're lovingly mean to each other all the time. "How's it going old lady" "Wouldn't you like to know" and other fun stuff like that :3 it's never with mean intent and never about sensitive topics. We do poke fun at each other's cursed beast forms and she calls me "pup" and I call her "bird"

zinnia - how often do you think about your f/o? do they live in your head rent free or do you not think about them for months on end before suddenly hyperfixating on them nonstop for a week?

She's been on my mind more recently for some reason? (Mainly my familials have been and idk why) but she lives rent free with all of my f/os but it's a big house and they all just vibe. Sometimes I do hyperfixate on O.wl H.ouse and rewatch it a lot

lily - what would you say is the color scheme of you and your f/o?

Crimson, gold, silver, and sapphire! Complimentary colours with just enough of a difference

iris - does your self insert for your f/os source material have a detailed and complex story and character arc, or are they just kinda vibing?

Kinda detailed! I'm in the process of working on it right now and I'll post it when I'm done :D I love having detailed character arcs and background stories

peony - how many images, gifs, and videos of your f/o do you have saved to your gallery?

Honestly maybe two memes and a wallpaper? If you find any awesome art of her send it my way!

[ladyhindsight]

OMG I don't even know how that anon think I was defending Nigeria's law! I even added that in my ask:

(I'm sorry this is like this in some countries, but that's the sad truth. Some countries doesn't seem to have proper laws for protecting children, and it's sad. But fortunately there aren't many countries in which age of consent is under 16)

Dear anon, since you knew I was talking about Nigeria's law (which I didn't mention in my own ask, it was an answer to a previous ask someone from Nigeria had sent) you MUST have read that previous ask I was answering (or probably you were the one who sent it, since both asks are so obviously written in the same way, anyways) so you know why I mentioned it. I was correcting some wrong beliefs. The previous ask had said that:

Age of consent exists so that teenagers can have sex with other, older teenagers, without it being considered statutory rape. there are countries where the age of consent is TWELVE. Does that mean that adults can date children? NO

I was simply correcting this wrong assumption, and saying yes, they CAN. I didn't say it was ok, I was saying they CAN, because some rules in some countries are so fucked up. I wasn't defending Nigeria's law, of course having sex with a 11 year old child is pedophilic. I was just correcting the last ask who was saying "age of consent isn't for a minor and an adult". Because it is. You can hate it or you can accept it, it's up to you, honestly, but I'm really tired of you all saying sth WRONG in literally ALL of your asks and use it to attack people. You just seem to be reading my asks, and their answers so that you can pick up a part that can be misunderstood and attack us with that. I literally mentioned how sorry I feel about the fact that in some countries age of consent is under 16, but of course you ignore it and just focus on the part that I'm "explaining" a law to you, which, you explained pretty wrong in your ask. I didn't say I support it, I just said "you saying malec is illegal (which you said, in your ask) is bullshit and a lie", but you pick it up and use it to say I "support those fucked up laws. And then I explained how I like malec because I think Alec was mature enough to know what he's doing. And in response @ladyhindsight explained that although malec IS legal, she still thinks they have major problems and she doesn't like it. See the difference? She didn't agree with my view too, but she doesn't say incorrect facts just to prove her point. You were first saying age of consent is for teenagers not for adults (incorrect) and therefore malec was illegal (again, incorrect) And then you pick up lines from my ask and pretend like I'm saying it's ok to have sex with 11 year old children (another thing you made up), then you accuse @ladyhindsight of supporting pedophilic views (also sth you made up, if you bothered to just look, you'd just see they were thanking for the law information I represented), and the last thing you're (intentionally or unintentionally) wrong about is this:

You say: legally, in many countries any adult who commits sexual offences against minors is labeled a pedophilic sex offender no matter if the minor is 11 or 17 - in some countries even 18!

That's the thing you don't seem to understand, there are different kinds of "minor" in law, You are confusing all of them for this specific age of majority, which is in most of the world, as you say, 18 and is described like this:

All states define an "age of majority", usually 18. Persons younger than this age are considered minors, and must be under the care of a parent or guardian unless they are emancipated.

While, in fact, when discussing law, it is important that WHAT EXACTLY we are talking about. THAT shows which kind of minor is being discussed.

The terms underage or minor often refers to those under the age of majority, but it may also refer to a person under other legal age limits, such as the drinking age, smoking age, age of consent, marriageable age, driving age, voting age, etc. Such age limits are often different from the age of majority. The concept of minor is not sharply defined in most jurisdictions. The age of criminal responsibility and consent, the age at which school attendance is no longer compulsory, the age at which legally binding contracts can be entered into, and so on may be different from one another.

So please, understand, regarding Pedophilia, which is connected to sexual activities, when laws use the form of "minor" it mean a person who is under the "age of consent". Not the age of majority. When regarding sexual activities, people UNDER the AGE OF CONSENT are considered minors not people under the age of majority. It's important to understand the difference and know what they mean in different subjects.

So yes, when malec started dating, Alec was a minor in the age of majority, but HE WAS NOT A MINOR IN THE AGE OF CONSENT, WHICH IS THE IMPORTANT AGE THAT IS CONSIDERED WHILE REGARDING SEXUAL ACTIVITIES. So he wasn't a minor that you can connect Pedophilia to. So if you like to go around and call adult people dating each other pedophilic, then by all means do it. No body cares anyways, since you apparently like to use obviously incorrect facts so that maybe someone believes you, but YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO ATTACK PEOPLE WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING TO SUPPORT YOUR OBVIOUS LIES. I wrote this long ass messages, not to justify any law, just to show you that YOU'RE GETTING THE FUCKING LAW WRONG AND INFORMING OTHER PEOPLE WRONG TOO. So now you don't have pedophilia or illegality card to use (which you did use in both your asks, and now they're proven wrong). Just say you don't like Malec or any of CC characters, and get done with it!! I don't know why you think you should attack people or make up sth (some law apparently!!!) when you can just say you don't like them, it isn't that hard, don't make it hard. We don't need reasons to not like a ship. But apparently you do need it so badly, so you can force people to listen to you. I said it in the last ask too, different people find different things problematic or toxic. You don't need to make up laws so than you can fool people sth is pedophilic or illegal, just say you find it problematic or toxic. Just like we, @ladyhindsight and I were doing without presenting half lies and attacking other people. Although we had completely different opinions regarding some ships. I think it's time for some of you to grow up and stop forcing your opinion through half truths to other people.

I'm posting these messages because they correct inaccurate information from the previous conversation and primarily discuss the law and facts as to it. This isn’t about Clare, this isn’t about morality or condoning anything—this is about how the law works, how the conversation has been had, and matters pertaining to that. Additionally, anon was accused of something they didn’t do, so here’s their clarification for it. I’m posting this also to avoid further misconstruction of the messages in question.

Anyone continuing the conversation from now on is welcome to do it on their own account.