#also this is not me bashing Luke or his character I think the character is fine

[dairymistress05]

My thoughts on the Luke and gf situation. It’s long so bear with me. Also, I want to preface this by saying that this is my opinion, because I don’t know them personally my opinion and many others that have been posting about it doesn’t actually matter in the end.

With everything that has happened in the last several days, I wanted to reflect and discuss my thoughts. First, 2 things that are baffling to me.

1. Why is it so difficult for people to separate the art from the artist?

2. Why do people think their opinion is important to the discussion?

Believe it or not the only people that are allowed to have an opinion in Luke’s relationship, are those who are directly involved

I honestly can’t believe the amount of people that I am seeing saying things like this ruined the show or makes you not believe anything. They’ve been telling us all along, he and Nicola that they were just friends. Do I have an opinion as to why I may not believe that that’s completely true? Sure. Does my opinion matter matter at all? No. This is the thing, it’s unbelievable that people think they can go on the Internet and bash this person because they decided to live a life different from what they projected in their head. Para social relationships with celebrities are fascinating. Also, the internet is forever.

Tom Holland once said “if you have a problem with me, text me, and if you don’t have my number, you don’t know me well enough to have a problem with me.” And I think that’s a perfect example of why this is getting so out of hand. No one on the Internet posting their icks now knows Luke well enough to have a problem with him.

As a 38-year-old married woman myself, I haven’t been convinced there wasn’t anything going on as they are extremely touchy-feely friends. However, there were rumours about a girlfriend and then when the photos came out well then I guess that confirms it. Do I think that’s the end of it, No, but again my opinion doesn’t matter. But there are also several factors why even if Luke and Nicola were interested in each other why they would hold off. Their work relationship being paramount among those reasons.

As for the photos, as an outside observer who has seen Nicola help him through his anxiety this press tour I don’t feel that was a hard launch. He seems extremely uncomfortable in those photos. His body language is off if it was an intentional launch on his part. He’s walking ahead, even the handholding seems awkward. However, the girlfriend unfortunately looks extremely smug, smiling directly into the cameras. I am personally inclined to believe that it was her or a friend of hers who called it in because he doesn’t seem prepared to be photographed. I’m not sure what to think about their relationship as of yet but these photos don’t portray a lot of confidence. Also, the age difference seems like it could become an issue but the thing I would worry about becoming an issue is the social media presence mismatch that is pretty obvious. Sorry, even if I was a dancer I would not want to be posting some of those videos, as I said, the internet is forever.

Lastly, the only other person whose opinion maybe matters is Nicola herself and she has come out to post several times all in defence of him and his character. She is obviously seeing all of the hate online and saying hey guys stop it. I like him. He’s nice. He’s my friend. Quit being mean. And I’ve seen some people say that it’s all Nicola and he doesn’t reciprocate when she’s posting about him and blah blah blah I disagree and here’s why the other day on his IG stories, and I can’t believe no one is talking about this, he posted a photo of a scene from episode 6 to remind people that it’s now streaming and maybe I’m reading too much into it, but the photo he posted he is exactly when Colin is telling Penelope “I won’t let her ruin our night“. (Photo attached) Who is her? I don’t know. But I also don’t think that things on social media are coincidence, especially if you’re a celebrity posting because they know that everybody over everything. And then I also found it quite interesting that he posted on his stories the speech he gives Portia about proposing out of love nothing less and that’s where the real cut off. So again, I think it’s intentional to show appreciation for his friend.

Some final thoughts, I definitely feel like there is a strong connection there whether it’s just friendship or not. I think a lot of people posting online are putting a lot of the owners on him, but what if Nicola didn’t want to date someone that is so much younger than her? What if she doesn’t wanna date at all right now? What if they agreed that? Although there’s a strong connection work relationship is more important right now because of future seasons of the show? We don’t know them. We don’t know the situation and act like you’re devastated about two people that you don’t know not in a relationship seems rather silly.

The only thing I would worry about in this whole situation, is if this relationship with the girlfriend will sour the friendship. Like if it was her who called the paparazzi will she still be comfortable with her boyfriend being in this type of public friendship with Nicola? I sincerely hope so because they seem to have something special even if it is just platonic best friends. Their close friendship is part of the reason Polin works so well on screen.

Anyway, agree or disagree, just my two cents.

I would love to know your thoughts.

[cryptids-and-muses]

I watched return of the jedi for the first time in 4 years and here are my thoughts:

I know the line between sci-fi and fantasy is already super blurry but Star Wars truly feels like a fantasy movie. It’s in the costumes, the worldbuilding, the vibe, the odd encounters, palpatine’s entire character. And while there is futuristic tech the world of Star Wars doesn’t feel particularly Futuristic™️, if that makes sense.

There’s this one imperial officer Bacar interacts with at the start of the movie who acts his ASS off. Seriously give this man an Oscar. The fear!! The subtly!! The little gulp he does before facing Vadar!!! The palpable terror at the idea of the emperor coming there!!! This dude single handedly sets up palpatine as a threat

PRACTICAL SETS!!! All the practical sets!!! There’s so many sequences, especially in jabba’s palace but they’re throughout, where the characters casually interact with the world around them, and it’s such a small detail but it means so much to me. They really feel like they’re part of the world. My favorites were the Hall of Horrors C-3PO walks through in Jabba’s palace and Luke interacting with his x-wing on dagoba

It’s not all this great though, the green screen to the sarlack pit was awful. I found it endearing.

Also I love how there’s so much this movie doesn’t explain to you. There’s this weird robot spider thing in Jabba’s palace that we see when R2 and C-3PO walk in!!! What does it do!!! There’s a guy who’s super upset when Luke kills that monster!!! Who is he!!! And a bunch of other weird little things that just aren’t elaborated on. On top of that there’s just all these strange aliens just chilling, living their lives, some of which I don’t think we see again. It all comes together to make the world feel so much bigger than what we see.

I’d heard the analysis that Luke wears black in return of the Jedi to allude to a possible fall to the dark side, but that analysis hadn’t really clicked for me until this watch through. Like dude’s introduction was him force choking someone

Honestly like has this kind of subdued confidence this whole movie and I love it. He knows he’s good but doesn’t need to flaunt it.

Like his grin when he says “you should have bargained jabba. It’s the last mistake you’ll ever make” I love it

Luke is actually really subdued this entire movie, which tracks with all the internal conflict he’s dealing with. The biggest displays of emotion we see from him are when he’s reuniting with friends or when he goes OFF on Vadar at the end for threatening leia

Chewbacca and Han’s reunion 😭, they care so much about each other, chewy pets his head

In general everyone is so happy to see each other in this movie, every time someone shows up after being separated everyone is so excited to see them. There’s so many hugs. You can really tell they care about each other.

Due to some of the framing, I don’t think leia slaughtering Jabba was part of the plan. I think she just saw an opportunity and took it. Girlboss.

I noticed Luke’s fighting style with his lightsaber is much tougher around the edges, it’s less elegant, which tracks with him having much less official training with it. I like it

Yoda trying to use dying as a way to avoid Luke’s questions. Iconic.

Yoda’s choked out dying words of “there is another skywalker” become so much funnier when you remember he becomes a force ghost. The man could just peacefully pass then come back 10 minutes later and continue the conversation, he doesn’t need to try this hard to get the words out. Then again that would take some of the drama out of it.

Han is just so great in this movie, he’s got a reputation for being this suave sarcastic outlaw, which to be fair he kind of was in new hope, but here he’s just so sweet. He’s the one telling Luke to be more optimistic! When lando gets his promotion to general he doesn’t tell him about his own, and looks genuinely bashful when it’s brought up in front of the group! He goes to check on leia after she talks with Luke! He gives lando the falcon because he knows it’ll help him even though the ship means so much to him and is scared of it getting destroyed! When he thinks leia has feelings for Luke he offers to step aside and not get in the way! This man cares about his friends!

Speaking of that moment with leia after Luke leaves, that’s the one moment we see him being a dick, he lashes out with “but you could tell Luke? Is that who you could tell?!” But then immediately apologizes and comforts her when she asks for it. He loves leia so much and it’s so obvious the entire time

My man thought he was in this love triangle and was doing his best, and was fully prepared to step aside and let leia be happy with Luke. And the face journey he goes on when leia tells him luke is her brother. It’s gold. It’s that math meme but even better.

For the mission to endor, Luke and leia are both in these camo space ponchos and helmets but apparently Han’s outfit was to iconic to change because he just puts on a camo trench coat over his usual outfit

The first speeder chase through the woods of endor struck me as much more low key then it would have been if it was made today. This isn’t a bad thing, but I know if it was made today it would have been much more dramatic, a set piece

When leia goes missing Han, Luke, and chewy immediately peel off from the group to go find her. Good friends but you are LEADING THE MISSION

Leia meeting the ewok is a fun sequence and it’s funny how she just rolls with it. She does not question it, just accepts this little guy is here now and starts following him. It’s funny to contrast this with when Luke, Han, and chewy rescued her in a new hope and she fought every step of the way

In general the Ewoks are such a strange and whimsical inclusion. Like this is part 3 in a space opera and a huge chunk of it has these little furry dudes who live and fight like the lost boys from Peter Pan that we’ve literally never seen before. It’s weird

Luke is so delighted by the Ewoks, from his little smile when the first surround them to trying to hide his laughter at them thinking C-3PO is a god

Also we should not ignore how hilarious his idea to scare the Ewoks into listening was. And the man knew it too, you could tell from his smile. The little shit.

The storytelling sequence!!! I love it!! I love how C-3PO uses the sound effects! I love how everyone is huddled together! I love how we the audience can tell what’s being said from context clues even if we don’t understand all the words!!

Luke peacing out like “it’s time to angst😔”

I do think the bridge scene between luke and leia could have been done a bit better but it wasn’t bad, just a bit flat for the gravity of what was being revealed. Leia and Han are great though

I love luke and vadar’s back and forths even if they can get repetitive

The writers really used “search your feelings” or “your feelings betray you” as shortcuts to avoid hard writing huh

The emperor was such a little gremlin, he did nothing but talk about how luke was going to fall to him, how he knew everything was gonna happen and it’s all according to his plan, he really didn’t do anything but talk shit until the very end with the force lightning

To be fair, Vadar didn’t do anything until the force lightning either

Neither of these points are complaints, palpatine is supposed to be a shadowy scheming villain that others do the dirty work for and the really pull it off. And vadar’s passivity in this movie I think demonstrates the conflict he’s feeling. Despite his words about how he must do his emperor’s will, he’s not really doing that right now, is he? He’s not really defying orders either but something is different

Something I noticed!!! When Han’s team first make it in to the back door, off in the corner as they go inside we see a storm trooper adjusting his armor and taking his position again. One of the rebels stole the storm troopers armor and took their place. This doesn’t lead up to anything but it’s SUCH a cool detail

The true hero’s of this movie are the Ewoks, palpatine had Han’s team captured and the air fleet on the ropes before the Ewoks stepped in and saved Han and co. Palpatine would probably have won if it weren’t for them. It’s great.

I really love luke so much, he’s just so compassionate. For his friends, for his father, for everyone. This is the trait that makes him a hero. It’s literally what palpatine tried to use to turn him, the anger he’d feel at watching his friends die because he loves them so much

“No, you’re wrong. I am a Jedi, like my father before me” not gonna lie, this was kinda hot. It’s that quiet confidence I was talking about earlier. Also the way he nods towards vadar when he mentions his father

“….so be it, Jedi” THIS!!!! THIS!!!! I love this so much!! Because the entire movie palpatine has been talking about how Luke is going to fall to him, how it’s inevitable, how Luke is foolish to think otherwise. But this moment right here, is him acknowledging he’s wrong. He won’t be able to turn Luke, he failed. Luke truly is a Jedi and even palpatine cannot away him. It’s so fucking good

When vadar lifts up palpatine to stop him, we get a reaction shot for Luke who just looks so confused. Appropriate reaction.

As luke is dragging vadar to his ship we see imperial officers and storm troopers running around to try and escape and I just want to know what the fuck was going through their heads when they saw Luke and vadar

I know the falcon surviving doesn’t make sense but it makes me happy

Something important I realized towards the end: AT NO POINT IN THIS MOVIE DID ANYONE TELL HAN VADAR WAS LUKE’S DAD

CHEWY AND LANDO WEREN’T TOLD EITHER FOR THAT MATTER

THEY DON’T KNOW

Presumably they were told later but holy fuck why is no one talking about this.

Again….those reunions, hugs all around, everyone is so happy and relieved and I love it

I know it doesn’t end here, which makes be kinda sad, because this is such a beautiful and hopeful ending

All in all, with all the Star Wars fatigue and what Disney has been doing, this really reminded me what I love about Star Wars. I felt like I could appreciate the movie a lot more on this watch through and had a wonderful time

[littlemisssatanist]

can i ask for a small favor? can you rant about daemon targaryen please? i just re-read your team green 💚 post and i'm reminded of how much ick i feel towards that character, especially in the wake of the team trailers being released.

hiii!!! tysm for this ask i was super happy when i saw it in my inbox i'm flattered people want to hear my opinions lol

my thoughts about daemon are very convoluted. i think he has the potential to be a very interesting character but it's kinda canceled out by the incest and pedophilia thing.

like. i understand it's an incest dragon show but my main issue with team black when it comes to their criticisms. they love to spout endless words about how aegon is a rapist and how alicent is a rape apologist for not... idk slitting his throat i guess.

it's really ironic to me, because these same people will turn around and then yap about how daemyra is the perfect ship. they'll be aghast when you even slightly suggest you enjoy aegon's character in any way but be in an uproar if you dare bash their dashing and roguish prince daemon.

honestly, name one terrible thing aegon did and i'll be able to give you something daemon did that is arguably worse than that.

aegon - raping a servant girl in the show (which honestly i'm treating more as a fanfiction considering how terribly written both the greens and the blacks are).

daemon - uhmmmm probably the whole thing with nettles. you know. the sixteen year old girl he groomed and raped (yes raped because minors aren't able to consent). actually, now that i think of it, he did the exact same thing with rhaenyra too, huh? or does team black find the whole fleabottom episode to be hot and rhaenyra being sexually free? that seems like the sort of thing they'd take from that whole fiasco.

on the topic of blood & cheese: the way some people defend this is honestly sickening.

'but poor luke was killed by his terrible uncle aemond' he was an envoy of war (not to aemond, btw, he owed him no safe haven) and also he kinda. yk. took out his eye. i'm not saying luke deserved to die, but i'm going to be honest this is one of the more mild things that happened during the dance.

whether luke deserved to die (which i'd like to reiterate: i do not think he did. i can understand WHY aemond killed him, but that is not me EXCUSING him. this is for those of you who don't know how to read and will inevitably find a way to start putting words in my mouth) b&c is completely unexcusable.

it's team feminism until its a woman who doesn't fit your little box of badass hottie. it's team feminism until that woman doesn't bow down to rhae-rhae and betray her own family and children in order to join the 'good side.' it's team woman until you point out that rhaenyra was groomed by daemon and continues to make decisions that are decidedly anti-feminist.

this is why i can't stand team black stans who say things like 'i hate the greens except for helaena bc she didn't do anything wrong' because you quite literally cannot do that without admitting that helaena suffered because of the blacks NOT the greens.

helaena suffered bc of DAEMON not because of any actions taken by the greens. DAEMON was the one who orchestrated b&c, the one who sent men to terrorize her and kill her children.

daemon did that.

i have no problem with people who can admit that their faves have flaws. i admit aemond's flaws, daeron's flaws, aegon's flaws. the problem i have with daemon is that his stans are so insufferably annoying and they literally cannot do any of that.

my last thought about daemon (at the moment, at least) is his relationship with strong boys.

lots of tb likes to say that daemon loved those boys like his own and would never do anything to hurt them. and i... honestly find it a little strange, and also a little embarassing, because how am i going to have a better grasp on his character than those that love him most???

i genuinely believe that daemon, had rhaenyra ascended to the throne like viserys planned, he would have caused 'unfortunate accidents' for the strong boys in order to get his blood on the throne. which, btw, was one of the main reasons viserys named rhaenyra heir, to keep daemon from sitting on the throne.

i think it the succession crisis had been between daemon and rhaenyra instead, it would have been a much more interesting storyline.

then again grrm isn't that good at writing interesting storylines when it comes to daemon considering he's a self-insert. honestly i wouldn't be surprised if when he died it was found out that grrm had a fanfiction written somewhere where daemon survived the fight with aemond and got to live out the rest of his boring ass life grooming little girls. who knows.

[jedi-enthusiast]

My Thoughts on Episode 3

...I'm gonna be honest, I do not have high hopes for this episode from how many of the people I follow have been going on angry rants about it.

Here we go, I guess.

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Well, at least now there's one acknowledgement that Sabine is Mandalorian.

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"Learning to wield the Force takes a deeper commitment."

...I swear to god, I really hope they're taking the "Sabine's just a little Force sensitive" route, because is Felony is actually trying to imply that anyone could be Force-sensitive if they just "tried harder" then I'm going to fucking scream.

If anyone can be Force sensitive, why hasn't everyone tried? What was the point of Order 66 and why were the survivors of it so important? Why the fuck didn't some random person just turn into a Jedi and take out the Emperor, why did they have to wait for Luke?

It just...it ruins literally the entire franchise and makes everything pointless and meaningless, if that's what Felony is actually saying here.

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I've never been more bored in my life than watching this sequence.

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*long sigh at calling Sabine a Jedi*

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Y'know, this would've been a perfect time for Jacen to just say- "I want to be a Jedi, like dad!"

Like, are we just supposed to forget that Kanan existed at all??? Not even a name drop???

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"I can't use the Force, I can't feel it...not like you do."

Great, that's just great.

So Felony's going the- "just try harder and anyone can be a Jedi!" -method, that's...just...

*UNHINGED ANGRY SCREAMING*

"The Force resides in all living things. Even you."

Yes, Ahsoka, because it's the literal life-blood of everything, but that doesn't fucking mean that anyone can use it. That's why there's a section of the population called Force-sensitives, because they're sensitive to the Force and can therefore use it.

If everyone had that capability, then that classification is useless and also---again---this calls the entire fucking Star Wars franchise into question and makes the entire thing meaningless!

"If that's true then why doesn't everyone use it?" "Talent is a factor."

No, sensitivity to it is a factor.

God, I'm not even 15 minutes in and I'm already so fucking pissed.

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"The Jedi Order would not have accepted her, she is not an acceptable candidate." "By their standards."

Yes, Ahsoka, by their very strict standards that are-

YOU HAVE TO BE FUCKING FORCE-SENSITIVE, FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!

"Standards that were proven over a millennium." "And failed."

No, they didn't fail---the Jedi Order was very successful and helped spread good all across the galaxy until your shit asshole master fucking massacred them and then spent the rest of his shitty miserable life desecrating their culture.

I legit fucking hate Ahsoka now.

Like, I really do.

TCW was the only show that actually made me like her, and honestly I can't fucking stand her now.

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So Sabine and Ahsoka are bashing on Huyang for...following protocol so they aren't noticed by their enemies and/or other hostiles?

Seriously?

Do they want to get caught or give Morgan time to escape, if they're found out?

...

Fuck it, I'm rooting for the villains to win for once---I hope they kick Ahsoka and Sabine's asses, kill or capture them, and leave Huyang to go help Luke rebuild the Order.

Huyang deserves to be appreciated and he should be somewhere where he, and his knowledge of the Jedi, is---not with a couple of jackasses who'll harp on him for even the smallest thing, even if it helps them.

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PURRGILS!!! MY BABIES!!!

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Oh, so now they'll follow "standard Jedi protocol" when it's convenient for them? After just bashing Huyang for it? And bashing him for it the whole show?

Wow.

I don't think I've ever wanted to fucking deck a character this bad since Anakin---it's kind of ironic that it's Anakin's padawan that's making me feel this way, though.

Huyang deserves better.

[mitsua]

📖•°| 𝔖𝔞𝔱𝔞𝔫 reading MC's diary.

Warnings: none Genre: fluff

Series: Obey me! SWD? Words' count: 0.66k

MC's . . . GN!

Satan loved that you had a diary.

He knew you had one since you've told him a couple of times you'd had to write some experiences you´ve had said day and so on.

Some other times you've bring it up at some of your room dates and read him some of your stories.

But you've never actually showed him everything on it.

And of course, it was YOUR private diary, and he fully respected that as you respected him whenever he saw a cat at the street and crouch down to pet them.

But there was this one day he thought what other fascinating or simple human experiences you could've written in your diary.

This question started bothering him the next few days until he couldn't help it anymore, he felt so guilty, he swore he would let you go at your own pace at anything you'd like to show him, and this was your private belongings he was thinking about.

" I'll get a little more later since I've just ran accross Luke who said he wanted to show me some baking he did, I'm so sorry, you can make yourself comfortable at my room if you wish .". —he saw this message you've just delivered him on his way to another room date.

" It's fine, ask Luke if you can take some of it for our date as well ." Sending the next sticker to get done your conversation and keep on walking.

When he arrived, he spotted quickly the same difference that by now shouldn't be that surprising in how tidy your room is, comparing his.

And... a notebook at your desk.

He got closer to your bed and went to sit down when he saw his name written in that same notebook.

A detective is known to have a high level of curiosity and he couldn't hold it for a very long time, thinking you'd arrive in at least 10 minutes more, he'd have a little peak at those writings.

So when he started reading and imagining perfectly those sceneries written on it, with your own calligrahy, he instantly regreted it. It was your diary. The one he's been thinking about reading so guiltily for the past weeks.

But he'd be lying if he said he didn't like your words narrating any story. And now getting the chance of reading one by your own hand, your beautiful writing and ink changes to whenever something very important had to be lighted up, imagining your voice changing to any bashful expressiong you'd do in real life... it was amazing and so entertaining.

Those lighted notes were mostly about memories you've created with him, or some others were the memories you wanted to create. Such as dreams you've had with him, or maybe some dates you've planned for the next weeks.

It was all so perfectly there, Satan couldn't help but get startled when you came in, cookies in one hand covered with some cloth for them to not get cold and your hand bag in the other.

You quickly connected your rushed morning of writing in your diary to Satan being at your desk and his vaguely, but still, scared expression.

Before you said anything, standing shocked, Satan made his way infront of you and helped you carrying both things on your hands, explaining his mistake and apologizing deeply of his acts, fully conscious this would have never been the way you thought of showing him your private notes.

Hearing him describing your color codes, memories and some doodles you had there, it all made you forget some of your anger with him. He just did it out of curiosity and you were also at fault by leaving your notebook out with the door unlocked, in a house with 7 demons who could ever so easily enter and wander around.

"I think your writing is very charming and still, I can't help but want to hear those same notes from you whenever you feel like..."

All writings' rights reserved © 2023 Mitsua. (Credit to the respective owners of the pictures and tagged anime character.) ⌇ my navigation!

[amaryllisblackthorn]

spoilers for professor layton and the last specter

one day i'll finally write that ~analysis about how layton treats children esp in pl4 and esp in comparison to emmy that's been in my head for literal y e a r s at this point

i'm going to actually leave some of my scattered thoughts abt it here finally. note that this is all based on the US localization.

for lack of better words, layton treats children with respect and seriously. like of course he's mindful that they're children but he takes what they say and feel with seriousness. vs emmy who's often patronizing, demeaning, or impatient (for lack of better words).

this is prob most apparent with Luke in pl4, though not limited to him.

when first told about the door puzzle, emmy goes 'aw thats so cute let's do it'. like indulging a little kid. which luke is, but i digress. EDIT: briefly checked out the jpn text in the scene and it doesn't seem like Emmy calls it cute, and her tone isn't doing it either. seems like she's just like, 'Professor, let's do it!' which is interestinf

there's a point where Luke is freaking out about the specter and the power it has and how it's corrupted his father. emmy's like 'you cant seriously believe theres actually a specter!' but Layton says to Luke 'I believe the specter has the power you say it has'. Layton doesnt believe there's an actual monster re: the specter, but he believes there is something re: the specter, and that's the important thing. and Layton furthermore immediately goes on to say he's noticed something's up with Clark, himself. Layton is listening to Luke and taking his feelings and fears seriously and is validating him -- and this is so incredibly significant bc of Luke's whole feeling like he's unable to trust anyone during the game which is incredibly related to this but a bit separate so im trying not to digress. THE POINT. is. the difference between Layton and Emmy in this regard.

i dont remember if it's the same part -- i think it might be later but maybe not -- i think it's when Luke reveals how he can tell where the specter will appear next? -- but basically Emmy's kind of upset for lack of a better word that Luke had been withholding that info and is like 'are you hiding anything else, like what the specter has for breakfast?!' or something iirc. luke mind of apologetically defends himself with 'i didnt know if i could trust you' and Layton is totally understanding

EDIT: (i removed an example bc upon further reflection it wasnt necessarily relevant. i might readd it later)

then there's the part with Jakes' son near the end iirc

also the small part nearer the beginning iirc when Luke goes chasing after the cat and Emmy&Layton are chasing after him and Emmy complains to the professor 'he's acting like a child!' and layton's like 'heh well he is a child c; '

there's also how Layton treats/interacts with the Ravens

also when first meeting Luke and Luke's opening up slightly but then Clark comes in and starts scolding him which has Luke withdraw/angry/turn away and Layton's like, "Clark, please"

there's also the cutscene when they first see the specter, where before it appears. Layton asks Luke, 'well, luke, what do you think? do you see anything?', he says no nothing, and Emmy's like 'I still have a hard time believing this. it sounds like a scary bedtime story. is this even possible?'. Layton says, 'Well, we'll soon find out.' and then Emmy goes on to say 'and a poor boy who predicts where the giant specter will appear' and Luke's unhappy about her comment

ALSO when Layton tries to go after the Specter that scene and Luke grabs onto him and tells him not to go, Layton takes the time to talk to him. same for when Luke's freaking out when the police took Arianna away. Layton puts a hand on his shoulder, gets to his level, and talks to him seriously.

this isn't bashing on Emmy btw I actually enjoy this as part of her character and it makes sense to me the difference between her and Layton in this regard. im also not saying that shes like always like this with kids either. or that it's even kid specific. I genuinely think it's neat. I also think it's a super neat part of Layton's character.

also ive really got to either play through pl4 again myself or watch a playthrough to record all the specific instances again.

also Layton taking Luke's feelings and fears seriously and Luke coming to trust Layton at this time of his life means the world to me

[chaosresturantjandn4eva]

This will be possibly an unpopular opinion.

I don't want to bash A, this is not the reason why I am here. I love to see Nic happy, and if Jake is the person who makes it happen, I am sold. I do not want to discuss L adjacents here, we are here for shipping Nic with nice candidates other then TOG.

But some of you started to comment like there is no issue with her. I disagree, and this can be the last time we shall mention her here.

Imo A and her affiliates are not at all innocent in the suboptimal situation that is happening rn.

She started trolling and purposefully irritate fans from the first moment she was spotted.

If you want to hear the details, go to Tif's timeline, most of it is there.

She is clearly trolling and cloutchasing N. Until a week ago she always posted when N posted.

There is a reason why N does not follow her. We know she is a good judge of character. No one from the cast follows her back, also not a coincidence.

Lastly, pap walk. I do not think for a minute, that she did it without L knowing!

But she wore the turquoise dress from the intimate scene, rolled herself and smiled like she was on red carpet. She was prepared and knew what she was doing. She played the "Greek goddess" she was called in the gossip articles, she was full tanned when she is never that tanned. And that is really a mean girl stunt, even if L was complicit. She is an adult, she should know this is a mean thing to do on another woman's premiere.

While Jake likes the interview his friend Doug made w L. He likes all pics where Nic and Luke are together.

Let's not pretend this is the same, that would mean degrading Jake.

That's it from me, and I promise this is the last time.

#chaos

Off your chest anon of your chest

[limnsaber]

DINLUKE QPR DINLUKE QPR

life partners (not romantic, not platonic, but a secret third thing)

Lukka you’ll have to forgive me for keeping this one in I’ve been waiting & searching for the words. Ty so much for sending it in

THATS LITERALLY HOW I FEEL ABOUT IT!!!!!

Listen. I like dinluke. I think mainstream dinluke is so fun. The jokes are fun and the fics are fun and I love fandom!! I love this sandbox that we all get to play in together! And yet sometimes I look at what people are saying and I go ‘wat are you talking abt…’. This isn’t bashing anyone to be clear!! This is abt how seemingly my interpretation of the ship is shared by no one. That is okay of course :) I do hope that I can convince you…

Cause when I think about it. I can’t picture them in a relationship. Or the traditional one with grand romantic gestures and attractions. In SW love always makes the fate of the universe, and that’s always true and will always be true. But these are two men that have managed to find balance within themselves. Not to say that their characters are finished, but to say that a Romance often comes with a revolution— changes in a character, large and small, but often also changes in situations, changes in goals, changes in their futures. Din and Luke already have that. They know their chosen paths, and exactly where they belong. It’s one of my greatest frustrations that Romance(s) for this pairing often lead to both characters changing their lives and their creeds and their beliefs for The Romance. Two people who shoulder their respective dying cultures? The Din Djarin that’s been hunted his whole life for his culture, the Luke Skywalker that spent three movies becoming what he is and ending completely ready to die for it? I can’t imagine that!! The removal of the helmet, the abandonment of aspects of the Jedi creed? I can’t imagine that!! And I can’t imagine them being attracted to each other like that either!!

It’s taken me this long to get here, but I had to get through how I felt about the ship to be able to talk about what I’ve felt about them. Luke Skywalker has no romantic pairing or displayed attraction to anyone in the ot, and that’s never treated like an issue! It’s wonderful! Din is asexual the vibes are there. To put it into words, he treats everyone with the same amount of devotion that he’d treat anything— that’s just him. That’s how he acts. He has a small moment with Omera, but that’s less about attraction to Omera and what Omera represents — a village and a community that can raise their kids in the sunlight, the peace that Din truly wants. D&L both have something they want greater than a partnership or Romance— a duty, a peaceful existence for their people. Anything that’s resonant with their characters will exist in between that.

So I can’t imagine a romance! The phrase I’ve been using recently has been ‘ghiblimance’. Because they do reflect each other as people. They would change from their interactions with one another. But not because of an attraction, but because of who they are, what they can teach to each other, what they value, and how their lives intertwine one way or another.

LITERALLY. “Not romantic not platonic but a secret third thing” is EXACTLY how I feel about it!! Similarly one of my favorite phrases describing it is ‘not romantic but not not romantic’!!! They don’t need attraction or The Romance to reflect each other as people.

I believe their paths will (“should”) keep intertwining. That’s where you get the life partners part of it from. For the things they can teach other and for themselves.

I’m sorry, I’m just not interested in them kissing. I’m interested in how they complement each other as people, and how they, their creeds, and their lives come together for themselves and for Grogu.

[teecupangel]

I've been dying to read Desmond's adventure in star wars, but all fics i found were not finished ; (

Could you give me some inspiration plzzzzz

You’ve probably already read this but just in case, esama’s Sailing the Stars is complete so if you want a Desmond-centric fic set during the Clone Wars, go check that out.

So I was thinking where I would punt Desmond into the Star Wars ‘verse and a part of me wants to punt him during KOTOR’s storyline just because that is my favorite Star Wars game (also, just imagine Desmond being mistaken as Darth Revan with amnesia???) but then I realized after checking AO3 that most seem to be set during the prequel trilogy + clone wars so… may I suggest…

Desmond getting punted into the Star Wars OG Trilogy timeline? XD

In this setup, Desmond could wake up on some random planet and he’s just trying to get back to Earth but no one seems to know where and what Earth is (unless we count non-canon but sssshhhh, let’s make it a mystery).

So Desmond does what he does best, he starts gathering information and keeping himself afloat by stealing from the rich.

Now, to ensure he gets sucked into the main plot, we can do the following:

Desmond gets in contact with Han Solo who suggests he joins the Millenium Falcon after Han realizes Desmond has a knack for seeing danger before it approaches and he suggests that Desmond would have a better chance of finding this ‘Earth’ planet of his if he joins them since they do travel everywhere.

Desmond has the habit of being a stowaway whenever he wanted to go off-planet and the Millenium Falcon was simply the next ship he boarded. Old Ben is the one who noticed him when he was just hiding and waiting for Han to finish his business in Tatooine because Desmond didn’t really feel like getting sand all over.

Desmond ends up owning the cantina where Han ends up shooting Greedo and he goes on the run because that incident caused the Imperial soldiers to snoop around the cantina and Desmond, technically, owned the cantina… sorta illegally… So he hitched a ride on the Millenium Falcon since he figured Han owed him… without anyone knowing he was even there until Old Ben saw him.

Unorganized Notes:

Desmond has been assassinating the really bad ones on whichever planet he’s been on. That’s why he mainly hitches rides. On the other hand, if he was the owner of the cantina, he had taken over the cantina to have a ‘base of operation’ while gathering information he can use as part of his plan to assassinate Jabba the Hutt.

Desmond could totally be a Jedi if you want him to be but anyone who trains him will notice the darkness inside him. While he’s mostly chill, he’s an Assassin and that means he would be willing to use anything to finish his mission and survive. He won’t be tempted by the dark side though. It would be more like… he can control the dark side… but that makes him dangerous.

Desmond and Luke would have a more or less brother-like friendship. He could easily influence Luke to be less honorable though, especially if he stays with Luke during the whole ‘Yoda training’ part of his character arc.

On the other hand, Desmond and Han would have a more of ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ kind of business relationship that would thaw to a bash brothers type. He, Han, and Chewie share one brain cell and it bounces off each of them. If Desmond had joined them before the start of the trilogy’s story, Desmond would be their lookout and their ‘bodyguard’. He’s fine with all the smuggling as people do need to eat but… if a really bad person dies during one of their runs, well… Han will definitely say ‘no love lost’.

Desmond and Leia would start with snark-to-snark combat which would later turn to respect and trust. If Desmond stayed with Leia and Han’s side of the storyline instead of Luke’s, he’d be more of the shadow of the rebellion.

Desmond will definitely build a Brotherhood during the rebellion and they would be more into clandestine and guerilla tactics. He and Leia won’t always see eye to eye but Leia knows that Desmond’s plans would benefit the rebellion.

Desmond doesn’t see Leia as a princess. She’s a leader of the Rebellion first and foremost and Desmond definitely hides whenever the topic of making him and the Brotherhood officially part of the Rebellion comes up.

If Desmond learns about Darth Vadar’s true relationship with both Luke and Leia, he would have flashbacks of Haytham and, since he doesn’t know who Anakin Skywalker truly was, he would warn Luke that ‘Some people cannot be reasoned with nor can they be saved.’, hoping that Luke wouldn’t feel the same pain Ratonhnhaké:ton felt after killing Haytham.

He would still be glad to learn he had been wrong after Luke tells him how Anakin Skywalker saved him in the end and tell Luke that at least he had a ‘less shitty dad’ than Desmond.

Ben/Jacen would probably end up as an Assassin with Uncle Desmond instead of a Sith… just saying.

[spell-cleaver]

Earlier today I saw sequel fans bashing Luke and it made me realize again that I’m so attached to him that even years later, despite being interested in the whole SW universe, I can’t really deal with how his plot ends or even that whole era—it’s just so crushing for me. It made me think about how I find your stories really cathartic for exploring the relationships and AUs I love, and how I always come back to them when I get reminded of this, even if I’m in other fandoms

**also clarifying I’m not bashing sequel fans, even these special ones, or people who ship a certain thing bc everyone can what they want ofc

Thank you so much!! I wholeheartedly agree - I personally don't like Luke's fate in the ST just because it saddens me to an extent (as always, no shade to those who do!) Luke is... damn, I don't think "blorbo" even covers it anymore. I love Star Wars for a million different reasons, but without him it's just another fandom I'm mildly interested in. Ashamed to say I'm not even a massive Vader fan (though I think Vader is awesome and a super interesting character, obviously; he's just not my blorbo), but I'm a massive fan of Luke, so Luke & Vader fascinates me. Luke is My Guy. He's why I've been here for six years now, four times longer than any other fandom I've been this obsessed with.

Whenever looking at new content we get from Lucasfilm, especially when I'm thinking about TBOBF and Ahsoka, I always have that wish to see more of him! Of course I do! But because I didn't much like where he gets to in the ST, any art with him in it set after ROTJ in inevitably gonna sadden me, because I know where he ends up. So I end up going - what do I want? I don't want Luke in Lucasfilm's stuff, but also I do... I want more fanfic.

So I write more fanfic. And explore the bits about him I love, as well as the bits of myself that I'm struggling with and that he helps me through. I'm so glad that you love those bits of him too <3

[ioveaffairs]

i’m back with twitter greens again because WHAT

friendly reminder that luke is a child, and no matter how much older aemond is than luke HE IS STILL OLDER THAN LUKE. ‘he’s a coward’ HE IS A CHILD WHAT. this kid is literally like 12 and he’s going up against the biggest dragon there is. 

also i’m pretty sure the context of the situation is he’s supposed to be at storm’s end for diplomatic reasons, not to fight anyone. he didn’t go ready for a battle so the fact that aemond shows up in this major storm is terrifying for him. his dragon is barely even a fraction of vhagars size, he doesn’t seem like he has any help, and HE IS A CHILD.

the pig thing is a child being childish. he isn’t laughing at the fact he took his eye, he’s laughing at the cruel joke they played on aemond when luke was like 5 or 6. i don’t think the joke was funny and it was an insensitive thing for them to do to aemond, but luke wasn’t the only one involved in it either. yeah, he laughed at it 6 years later, he’s a child who still has a lot to learn. 

the eye thing, once again i don’t think he deliberately took his eye. it was an accident. they were all children who were all feeling a lot of extreme emotions, aemond was literally threatening to bash lukes head in with a rock before jace pulled out the knife, and then he was probably about to actually attack jace with the rock if luke had not stepped in.

it was a terrifying situation for all the kids, and luke feared for his brother. i don’t think it was best that all 4 of them confronted him, but they also had no idea who they were confronting, only that someone had taken vhagar. the situation got so out of hand because THEY WERE ALL CHILDREN. 

i get that they’re all fictional characters, but it is insane to me that people are happy and gloating about the terror aemond is putting luke through and what he will eventually do to luke. and like comparing luke, a child, to the rest of the greens (who are all mostly adults) reactions to rhaenys and meleys is just deluded. they are two completely different scenarios and luke is a child.

also, i don’t see why people would think characters like aemond, aegon, and helaena who are all experienced dragon riders would fear meleys as much as all the small folk since they have so much experience around dragons. i get that the situation is uncertain, but rhaenys is also not known for being like bloodthirsty and cruel, and she also has to consider her own position in this war as well as the repercussions of her actions if she had killed all the greens. 

i’ll give full credit to alicent to for facing the dragon and protecting her son instead of hiding. it was brave of her and i respect that. alicent is also a grown woman who knows rhaenys and understands her thinking better than luke does aemond. 

i keep saying luke is a child because it really does feel like people forget that. 

(also if anyone tries to accuse me of supporting blood and cheese, i absolutely do not. i do like daemon, but like i’m not gonna defend him over blood and cheese and i will absolutely join in the slander when it happens because killing kids is a big no for me. also as it should be for everyone in my opinion.)

[tridentqueen]

share your thoughts about ep 1 and pls give us a spoiler

Hello! Thank you for asking ❤️ Putting everything under the cut!

Just in case: I do not mention book spoilers for the Dance itself, but I do bring in like one or two points from Fire & Blood related to scenes in the episode.

This is all going off memory, so it might be a little jumbled. Also, this is not an invitation to start team discourse or character bashing. That’s not what this blog is for. That said, I’m happy to talk more about the episode if anyone wants!

Overall I thought it was a good episode until the end (more on that later). The beginning was a little rough with the number of short scenes/cuts (is that the right word? lol), but I totally understand the necessity of getting all the major players on the screen in the first few minutes.

I am a Stark girlie first, so it was nice to see the North again and hear the Winterfell theme. With very little direct mention of the White Walkers, I’m curious to see if the show leans into the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy going forward. This is a complete aside, but I’m not really sure how I feel about it. I’m pretty sure Aegon’s dream came straight from Martin, but idk if I buy that the knowledge survived Maegor. Maybe Aegon the Uncrowned told Rhaena, and she told Jaehaerys? I don’t know.

ANYWAY I guess I thought we would have a longer scene with Jace and Cregan showing more of their friendship or bond, but with only 8 episodes this season the writers couldn’t really allow that to breathe. In a world with 9 or even 10 episodes this season, I think (and this is totally off the cuff) a good premiere would have covered Jace’s time in the North, Rhaenyra searching for Luke and deciding that she will go to war, Team Black’s grief, the Greens finding out about Luke’s death and their reactions/realizing war is no doubt inevitable now/etc. and leaving Blood & Cheese for the second episode.

Rhaenyra’s scenes were extremely powerful. Emma is such an amazing actor, and you can really feel Rhaenyra’s grief and anger. Jace’s return, their embrace, and Luke’s funeral were excellent. I wish there had been more time to explore their grief, but I get it.

Rhaenys’s “Would that you were king” was so great lmao. I loved Rhaenys in the book, and I’m looking forward to seeing her role this season. Corlys wasn’t really in the episode a lot, but his scene with Alyn was interesting. It wasn’t clear to me what exactly their relationship with each other is at this point, but we’ll see how the show approaches it.

I don’t have super strong feelings about Daemon telling Blood & Cheese to go after Aemond. I know before the episode aired some people were mad because they thought it was going to be another case of misunderstanding/them going rogue on their own, but I thought the episode made it pretty clear that he told them off-screen to kill Helaena’s son if they couldn’t find Aemond. Jaehaerys and Helaena were the targets from the get-go in the book, and there is lots to be said about the dishonor of targeting a child during a war and the psychological damage his death was intended to inflict, but this is a change I’m personally okay with. I totally understand if people aren’t, though.

Aegon was great! I’d seen TGC being referred to as one of the standouts of the first four episodes, and wow is that completely right. He seems to me the type of dad who likes to play with the kids but then won’t discipline them haha. Tyland beefing with Jaehaerys was hilarious. Aegon is still new at the whole king thing, and I’ll admit I was side-eying him a little with Otto when he was like “yeah, everyone can get everything they’re asking for, it’s whatever” but as my friend (and others) pointed out it completely tracks with him wanting to be liked by everyone. It also is a good continuation of his coronation scene – you can see him transform when the crowd starts to cheer, so it makes sense that he’d want to keep that energy going, especially with a rival claimant.

Also, I think Otto is such a fun character. Him immediately turning to walk up the steps of the throne as soon as Aegon said anything was so funny to me. I know a lot of people hate Otto, but I do think he’s a good Hand of the King.

I’m really interested to see how Alicent’s arc goes this season, how much influence she’ll have as the war goes on and all that and how she’ll feel about everything. Right now her and Otto are both frustrated by Aegon (and Aemond) so I’m excited by the potential there. I’m also curious about her reaction next episode – she’s still wanting peace right now (understandable! Dragons going to war only brings death and destruction, fire & blood) but that might change after Jaehaerys’s murder. We shall see.

I’m fine with Alicole happening because it was clear in season 1 that they were devoted to each other, but I wish we had gotten more build up to it rather than just starting the episode with them together because it just raises a ton of questions. When did they start, being the obvious one. And them being together during Blood & Cheese was ridiculous. I’ve seen some people blaming them for it even happening, which is also silly.

On the topic of Blood & Cheese… wow I hated how they adapted it. The entire reason they sneaked in through the secret passageways in the book was because of the sheer number of guards in the Red Keep. Yet in the show there’s not a single one in the wing in which the royal family reside? Please be serious. And them just walking through the throne room? Stop. I’m assuming they’re trying to go with everyone having a sense of guilt over it but come on.

And Helaena’s reaction was way too muted. I understand that she was disassociating, but to only have her offer her necklace and then just point Jaehaerys out? No. My friend mentioned to me that in Helaena’s first scene she is saying something like “they only want the boy,” which I completely missed, so she apparently already saw it happening. And I think that could have opened the door (and maybe it will in future episodes, I can’t say) to explore how Helaena’s dreams “work” – the show hasn’t really done a lot with it, and I think it would have been really powerful if Helaena did all she could to try to change it. A “I saw this happening, but I’m going to fight tooth and nail to prevent my dream from coming true and prove the future is not set in stone” type of thing and then the tragedy of maybe it cannot be changed, after all.  

Blood & Cheese is one of (if not THE) worst moments of the entire Dance and it’s a moment that was supposed to really make the viewers ask themselves “what is the cost of the Iron Throne?” And the heartbreak of Helaena, after realizing Blood & Cheese will not kill her instead in exchange for her sons’ lives, having to choose between her children and then having to live with that choice. This was supposed to be a Catelyn Stark at the Red Wedding moment, but instead more people are talking about Alicole or the dog being kicked than a child being murdered. Phia’s performance was great though.

All of the actors are phenomenal, and I was super excited to see everyone again. We are so fucking back! (This was way longer than I thought it would be. Anon I’m sorry if you didn’t intend for me to write so much! Haha)

Spoilers for part two (pretty minor imo):

Since Aly and Aegon will be separated for most of the war, there will be more Aegon POV chapters than part one.

I will be including a scene where the Greens find out about Luke’s death because there is so much potential there.

[the-indie-owl]

Highly controversial opinion bcuz oh boi am I gonna get backlash

THIS IS KINDA OF A VENTFUL POST OF A CERTAIN POPULAR THING, SO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ THIS IF YOU'RE A FAN OF THE THING, THEN DON'T BE BOTHER TO LOOK OR READ AT IT.

As someone who has been a die hard SMG4 fan since the early 2020s, I have been seeing some recent tags of a ship that I personally have an upside-down opinion on.

You wanna know why I never bother to re-blog some SMG34 stuff like anyone else does?

Well....Truth be told for what I'm about to say here but in mho on that ship that has been a thing for years.

I'm not rather in partial to SMG34.

Now I know that LOTS of Toxic SMG4 fans will tend to Bash an Opinion for liking something so unpopular it's meant to be a "Sin" to the SMG4 fanbase, but it's honestly true to say the least (since not everything has to be "agreeable").

I know the ship has been a thing for a very long time since the beginning of the series (even before Glitch Productions ever existed) but as someone who only tried "Sunset Paradise", part of Me feels like that I want to try the other Glitch shows (including TADC that everybody's been talking about).

It's just that my indifferent feels towards the Ship that everybody's been obsessing for even on Tumblr, part of Me feels like that I just can't get into it (nor how much I try) mainly because it just has something to do with the appeal of the designs or how I just prefer with one of the characters with someone else that I ship who isn't them.

It is NOT meant to be highly homophobic when you have a different opinion on a Slash Ship. I've been an Ally for a very long time and I have a ton of favorite LGBT Ships that I've really adored for a long time (Ineffable Husbands, GraGoh, Almidot, Narlie, SquidBob, Grumpshine, Goldenheart, ect.) but I just usually wish that both LGBT and Straight Ships would just be treated all the same as Normal (as long as if it's not involving around Pr*shipping because then that would be a big problem).

My feelings towards SMG34 has some 2 Sides that I'd mainly don't know what to chose;

It mainly has to do with their own Character Designs (being that they're currently now redesign of Mario colors), they just happened to look like as if they were Twins/Brothers (even if the two aren't canonically related), their Designs look strikingly similar as if they gave Me some Yaoi Inc*st vibes (again, not to insult, and I know that these two aren't related, but I just don't really like the way on how they look too similar one another).

I mainly want to open it, in which I could at least see some potential for an "Enemies to Lovers" dynamic happening between them but due to how their relationship is more like an "On and Off" frenemy still relationship, I highly doubt the new change between these two.

And for the record of what I said about "Shipping" the Other Character with Someone else, I kinda mainly prefer SMG4/Tari.

I know that the idea of "Shipping" the Plumbers with the Glitch Girls is highly meant to be a "Sin" upon the Fanbase but I think I find the Two Pairs between both the Male and Female Counterpart is kinda interesting to Me.

Many people who use the word "Hate" to describe their thoughts on that Other Ship as a "Creator/Creation" ship in which they only refer to SMG4 as an Actual Creator (or Real Person that being Luke himself). But given on how that SMG3 is also Luke's creation character as well other than Tari, wouldn't somebody else who would call "SMG34" a "Creator/Creation" ship be a total backlash while also hating on the idea of Shipping Luke's Self-Insert with his Other Characters be count as "Hypocrisy" because SMG3 is the only exception?

This kinda the main reason as to why I don't usually interact with much of the SMG4 fanbase anymore (and just interact with other fanbases instead), it's because that I just can't stand the Toxicity Half-Side in the Fandom because I feel like that it's completely unfair when you have an unpopular opinion towards one of the show's choices.

Like...For instance;

I am NOT a fan of the whole "Sibling-Bond" thing between Mario and Meggy. I prefer them still being a "Best Friends" dynamic. Their Current Friendship is rather a Toxic One (which I feel like has completely ruin their own entire Friendship of where it all began). I liked it better when it was Two Best Friends helping, now whenever they're together, they just fight because "sIbLiNgS fIgHt AlL tHe DaMn TiMe".

Not all siblings can have an argument over time, a BFF relationship can show that sometimes Siblings CAN have a Strong Bond of a Platonic Relationship, rather than a *cough* *cough* Childish one that Luke and Kevin decide to take as an Annoying Gag.

If you guys like the SMG34 idea, then that's fine. More Power than You. I can at least see why you're all into it. It's because on how much y'all see the potential in them ever since SMG4 has changed a lot better than Me.

But even if it becomes canon (despite still being a fanon ship), it would make myself feel uncomfortable when I still just can't get over their own character designs that just look like twins and maybe I would've had liked it if their character designs weren't so "Twin-Like". Even if I would have to get USED to their New Designs over time.

Sorry for the ventful post, this is just something that I have to get off my chest.

[daenystheedreamer]

the hotd fandom on twitter (and ao3) is actually making me go insane.

i have no idea why the poor boy who plays Bastard #2 son of rhaenyra was targeted like that by adult fans of the show but it genuinely feels like a fever dream.

the casting announcement for alicent’s brother was announced yesterday i think and immediately you can see people shipping him with luke which is ???

like at this point they have to admit they just have a weird fascination with this 16-year-old actor and are obsessed with shipping him with conventionally attractive adult men but the fact that it’s so spread and normalized in this fandom makes me feel like i’m being gaslighted like is this not wrong? guys?? idk? what gets me is that they specifically use the child actor. they saw a kid hanging out and having no personality and turned him into the Uke Supreme i just don’t get it

i feel like it all boils down to the got fandom generally being so male obsessed because the same people who bash alicent and the actress who plays her then turn around and write fanfic about idfk aegon and daemon being their self-insert’s malewives which i think is fine but when you look at the whole picture it’s soo telling. lmao.

yeah its vile. im mostly live and let live, i cultivate what i see online and avoid what i know will make me upset + when i wanna be a hater im choosing to look at that stuff. but like the line is drawn when youre just being weird to a minor. there's this movie, death in venice, about a man becoming obsessed with this pretty male youth. and ironically, or perhaps darkly fittingly, the 15yo actor for tadzio (the youth, the actor's name is bjorn andresen) was made deeply uncomfortable with the experience due to continued sexual harassment because people could not fucking leave him alone. and it's terrible, it's horrible! there's a documentary (haven't seen it though) about his experiences called The Most Beautiful Boy in the World. also if you're into japanese pop culture, you'll see he's an influence on shoujo/yaoi/bishounen/sh*ta which should tell u everything u need to know.

essentially what I'm getting at is no matter what people say about fiction vs reality, i personally believe the line should be drawn at depictions of real life children. its the tadzio thing again plus i have no doubts if they were doing this to an underage actress it would be frowned upon by the exact same people being gross.

you're into the character/dynamic, you like yaoifying it, okay! it's not my place to judge if its okay to take pleasure in it either. live and let live but i can still think its gross. youre very clearly drawing this minor sensually/sexually and are oddly fixated on him. it's uncomfortable but sometimes you just have to take a look at yourself and recognise you're doing something kinda fucked up. its okay and sometimes necessary to recognise that you are a selfish being with selfish desires that are wrong sometimes, youre not evil but you can engage with it maturely. like idk i just dont think its 'neopuritan' or whatever the fuck to think the cp, even drawn, is gross.

ALSO EDIT: i am not cancelling death in venice the book or the film for being problematic. it is fiction. i hear theyre great actually. bjorn andresen and the kid from hotd however, are real life people. thats the part i think is gross. just before anyone calls me puritan and homophobic or whatever the fuck

[knightpunk]

11 years + PJO Retrospective.

In honor of this year apparently being the revival of PJO, what with two books and the Disney+ series coming out, and my blog’s eleventh birthday, this is a bit of a retrospective of the series and my experience with the fandom. Warning for a lot of rambling and opinions that might not be popular.

When I got into the Percy Jackson books it was 2009, I was looking for books to read because I was going to be out for a bit because I had planned surgery, and I generally preferred young adult literature at the time because I still felt like a kid, even though I was twenty-one going on twenty-two, and that young adult lit was more adventurous, ready to push more boundaries than adult books. I still feel that way, if I’m honest.

Whoever said don’t judge a book by its cover is wrong, because the art of The Lightning Thief got my attention superfast. The original art for the books were simple and gorgeous in my opinion, and while the new covers that interlock are super cool, the original covers are just better. Especially The Lightning Thief’s.

I was at Barns and Noble looking at it, when another shopper saw I was looking at it, and she said her students loved the book. And since I was always into Greek Mythology, I got it.

I read the book, and while parts of it were cringy because of the humor, I couldn’t be mad at the book because I wasn’t the target audience. Still, the foundations and story beats of the novel were good enough I got the second and third book. I didn’t finish the third book because one of the few times I read a spoiler that turned me off a series; Luke’s death. Luke I had decided was my favorite character, and despite being the villain, I had hoped he’d survive. But, alas, he didn’t. And now, years later, I wonder what the hell I was thinking. I did read fanfics, however. And there are some good ones from back then.

Also, I have to admit, I am not a big fan of Grover. At the time I was very annoyed with the ‘humans are bastards’ trope. I felt it was very heavy handed in Grover’s subplot. While I agree that humans need to take better care of the environment, I don’t enjoy being bashed over the head with it. So, Grover annoyed me during the first book series, and I preferred Coach Hedge over Grover when it came to satyrs.

In 2010, The Lost Hero came out, and I gave it a try. I found the writing more mature, I guess. I’m not quite sure how else to explain it. But getting to experience someone else’s point of view other than Percy’s was nice. And it made me think Percy Jackson was kinda immature. Jason, Piper, and Leo were a lot more interesting to me at the time. Son of Neptune was good, though to me, Percy was the least interesting of the POV characters. And Nico di Angelo caught my attention, I reread the PJO books, read the books I skipped, and generally enjoyed myself. It didn’t hurt that Nico fit the ‘angsty dark haired swordsman’ aesthetic that I’ve enjoyed since Zuko. And I had gone through a minor punk/emo phase myself when I was a teenager. Not so much skulls, but fishnet shirts and collars, the chains belts. I guess you’d call it more of scene phase because I liked bright colors and dancing. So, Nico appealed to me in that sense too.

The Mark of Athena, however, was kind of a letdown for me. It was all Greek POV characters, and I was more interested in Hazel, Frank, and Jason as Leo started to annoy me in this book, I thought Percy shouldn’t have had POV chapters as he had just had his own book, so instead of him, it should have been Jason. But, anyway, it didn’t really make me look forward to The House of Hades.

But by that point Nico was a favorite character, so when HoH came out, or rather when I remembered it had come out, I decided to check the wiki and see if he survived the book. My exact thinking was ‘if he died, I’m done with the series.’

Well. Obviously, he didn’t die. He became one of the first LGBT+ characters in middle school literature. In a fantasy series.

In my experience, the fantasy genre has been rather conservative, especially works aimed towards kids, because getting people to see our sexual orientation is just about sex is super difficult. It’s why we drop ‘sexual’ in sexual orientation. My senior of high school was spent searching for fantasy that starred gay men so I could see myself in the genre I loved, and was told by several friends (who at the time didn’t know better, but now do) that it was stupid to read something just for that. But I was starving to see myself in what I read.

Anyways, Nico coming out huge to me, a young gay man. My favorite character was like me. Sure, he was fourteen and I was twenty-five at the time, but still. It was nice, to see some of myself in this character I enjoyed. No subtext, just text. Someone who was like me when I was a teenager.

I went from almost giving up on the series to loving it all the more. Obviously, I bought the book and devoured it as fast as I could. It was more enjoyable than Mark of Athena, though there were things I didn’t like; Piper didn’t get a lot of action, I felt there was too much focus on Percy and Annabeth and that a few of their chapters could have been subbed out and the pages given to Piper. The change in narrators wasn’t good. Joshua Swanson was a better narrator than Nick Chamian. I always wondered why the change. My gut says Swanson didn’t want to do anything gay, but I have nothing to back that up. And it’s a moot point, as it looks like they’re going back and making it so each POV character has a different narrator. A practice that used to annoy me, but now I enjoy. I’m not a Jesse Bernstein fan, the narrator for PJO, fan. His narration is fine, but it’s not groundbreaking. The Apollo series had the best narrator. More on that later.

Funny thing though, outside of the PJO books, Nico’s always given a voice that’s a bit deeper than the main character, despite being younger, I just think it’s funny.

I eagerly awaited Blood of Olympus. I was shipping Jasico because Jason was so nice to Nico when he needed it.

Blood of Olympus came out, and it was fine. I remember so many people disliking the book for whatever reasons, but to me, it was fine. I was hoping for something more between Jason and Nico than what we got, but I was okay with it. Nico didn’t need a boyfriend, Nico needed healing, and the ship tease with Will Solace was okay with me.

I remember a lot of people saying Will was nineteen because of fan driven wiki, and I was like ‘guys, they’re a) not dating yet, and b) Will’s barely a character whose age hasn’t been stated at all. He could have been younger than Nico for all we knew. When The Hidden Oracle came out, I had a chuckle at Will stating his age to be fifteen, because people were up in arms about the theoretical age difference.

Honestly, so much drama happened when Will was promoted from ‘guy representing Apollo Cabin’ to ‘potential love interest for Nico’ that looking back, it makes me cringe. So many people were up in arms about someone who at that point was barely a character.

“He’s too controlling with his ‘Doctor’s Orders’ ‘he touches people without being asked’” and so on. People were mad because he was dismissive of Nico’s view of the camp, you know, without remembering Jason more or less said the exact same thing to him in House of Hades. And none of it actually had to do with Will’s behavior and it all had to do with shipping. My opinion of shipping is mostly neutral, but some of the crap that gets pulled out in order to justify an opinion on not liking a ship really annoys me. Not just for this fandom, but for others.

There are no real stakes in shipwars, it’s all masturbatory performance people do to make themselves feel better about themselves and convince others they’re better. I have very little respect for people who claim their ship is ‘the moral’ ship. And in the case of Will and Nico at the time of Blood of Olympus, it was extremely annoying for people to care so much about something that could have very easily ignored because Will had so little canon material.

As someone back when The Hidden Oracle came out said, “we were all joking that Will was going to Nico on a leash with ‘Doctor’s Orders’ but instead he gave Nico a doctor’s note basically letting him do what he wants.” Which at the time got a laugh out of me, but now I’m like ‘well, fandom made a much bigger deal out of it than it needed to’

Will was fleshed out as character in both The Hidden Oracle and The Tower of Nero, and while I respect people who don’t like Nico and Will over Nico and Jason, I do raise eyebrows at people who will cling to perceptions of Will that were formed before we got to know him better. Are there things that could have been better handled? Of course, but why spend your time hating something when it’s easier and healthier to ignore it and focus on doing things you enjoy?

I’m going to be honest, Will and Nico are fine as teenagers in their first relationship, but I don’t really see it lasting into adulthood. I didn’t see Jason and Piper (…), or Percy and Annabeth lasting into adulthood either. Though with Percabeth I was like ‘well, if they do, it’s going to be super co-dependent and unhealthy.’ So that’s in a lot of my unpublished and uncompleted fanfics. I’m just not a fan of the high school sweethearts trope unless they’re getting back together. So, if you’re wondering what my stance is on Nico’s canon relationship, that’s it. It’s cute, it’s a first relationship, it doesn’t have to be perfect.

(And the fact fandom in general has bought into the idea that all gay relationships must be perfect and unproblematic is both boring and problematic in and of itself. I have little patience for that kind of thinking.)

Anyway, moving on.

Apollo’s books were everything I could have wanted for a series of books about Apollo. Well, I wanted more Nico, but I really enjoyed Apollo’s books. Robbie Daymond was the narrator for the audiobooks, and I highly recommend them. Daymond is a fantastic actor in general, and these books were my first introduction to him really. I knew he voiced Prompto in Final Fantasy XV, but I couldn’t into the game for a variety of reasons. He voices Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask in the Viz dub of Sailor Moon, and he has a whole portfolio of amazing characters to his name. Hubert from Fire Emblem Three Houses, Kayn from League of Legends. All around great actor. Daymond being a massive nerd has only endeared me more to him. He was on Critical Role and his character Dorian Storm is a lot like how he voiced Apollo. I’ve only become more of a fan of his since. And if I ever get my book published, I want him to be the narrator for it.

The Kane Chronicles were fun, though not as neatly integrated into the universe as Magnus’ books, and I adore Magnus and his friends. It’s super cool to see the world just grow so much more diverse with LGBT+ characters like Nico and Alex. Having an entire series starring Apollo being unashamedly bisexual was just, so much. I could just gush about the Apollo books, along with Magnus discovering he’s not straight. It’s just a lot, and I wish that I was a kid again, growing up reading these.

So going from the Apollo books, back to Percy’s books. It’s hard. And when people say they prefer the PJO series and wish it had ended after that I find myself confused as to why. The first five books are incredibly white and cis, and looking back, I have to think Riordan made that choice to get published back in the early part of this century. Once he had more clout, he made the world more diverse in skin color and culture with Piper, Leo, Frank, and Hazel, and then Nico came out in House of Hades, and his world just hasn’t stopped being so much better for it.

Riordan might miss the mark sometimes, but he tries, he tries his best, and that’s more than what a lot of people do. I would rather someone try and fail in good faith than no one try at all. And it annoys me that so many people are dismissive of that. By all means, call him out when he gets something wrong but at the same time, remember you’re enjoying his labor and he does get things right as well. Anger is one thing, being mean is another. 

Anyway, that’s my retrospective on the series. In April, I plan on rereading the entire series, Kane Chronicles and Magnus books included, to get ready for Nico’s book. I’ll probably have more thoughts then.

[damn-daemon]

Regardless of how good or bad the finale was, I have to say the scene Lucerys died had a huge impact on me. I felt awful for poor Luke. He was just a scared child. And, incredibly, I felt bad for Aemond too. I’m not saying if that was in character or not, he did not want to kill him, but at that very moment, I think he deeply regretted going after Luke. The writing may have issues, but the actors were outstanding. And that scene also cemented to me that humans are never really in control of dragons.

The actors have all been incredible and I give credit to each and every one of them. They are holding it all together and deserve all the praise.

Now, I am personally not a fan of what they did with Aemond, purely because I feel like I would have respected him more if he straight up killed Luke. They have him flying around, threatening to take Luke's eye, harassing him, but suddenly killing him was a mistake? The same guy who was cool with bashing his skull in when he was a kid? It's just very erratic to me, and gives me whiplash. If he killed him on purpose, but regretted it after, I wouldn't have minded it.

And I get that the show talks about how dragons can't be controlled, but I don't think they're doing a good job of showing that, honestly. It feels more like a throwaway line to make an excuse for odd decisions, rather than something that pays off. The only way I could really make the scene work in my head is if the dragons are acting on the emotions of their riders. Luke wants to attack and show Aemond he can't be bullied, Aemond wants to be rid of Luke. Impulses that they can control as people, but not in their dragons. But that is hardly explained well and is mostly me coping.

But I will say Aemond's outfit was great.