#as far as the incredible problematic aspects

[hostiae]

resident evil 5 headcanons.

(note: this is all my interpretation. re is such an old franchise with so much retconning, inconsistencies, etc, that i think there's room for everyone's interpretations to be valid. )

i'm going to start by diving into how i feel about uroboros, in general. my wesker's portrayal is heavily based on the earlier games and the archives ( i use a lot of the wesker report for my headcanons).

he is self-serving, narcissistic, and interested in his own success, but not really a master villain. he's not interested in world domination, global destruction total global saturation.

uroboros causes delirium. these viruses want to infect. it's in the virus's best interest to infect the world. so, wesker's interest in erasing humanity in exchange for the select few who are "compatible," has more to do with the virus than him turning into a super villain bent on world destruction and eugenics. wesker loathes oswell spencer, he's partially responsible for umbrella's downfall, this isn't a man who wants to follow in his footsteps. he spent years trying to figure out what spencer's ultimate plan was, but he was also more than willing to get the fuck out as quickly as possible.

there's a major difference between a character willing to create, sell, and deal in bioweapons without any regard for others and wanting to kill billions of people.

i don't think wesker is compatible. the fact that he needed the injections tells me he probably wasn't and the only reason the virus didn't rip him apart was because of progenitor. i don't think he has much in the way of control. but he thinks he does. which is dangerous in and of itself.

as far as my portrayal is concerned, uroboros gave him a god-complex that helped him ignore common sense ( and any greater intelligence ). i'm pretty sure that his plan wouldn't have worked. it's more likely to be killed in the atmosphere than to infect the world.

onto chris. chris doesn't require nearly as much changing as far as headcanons are concerned. his desire for vengeance would be just the same as it always is. his anger and hatred towards wesker would be as strong as ever.

my biggest qualm comes with the volcano. it's great for a video game, okay. great for the memes. but the odds of him surviving in the crater of an active volcano?? no. the fight probably took place on the mountain and most likely utilized rocket launchers in the end, to finally destroy wesker, but no one was in a volcano.

i do have headcanons for wesker's survival, but this is just going to go with the canon ending for the sake of being able to split up headcanons.

when it comes to 5, i'm always a little vague bc there's a lot that i can't change, and that's really hard for me to justify comfortably.

also, as for all my headcanons, i can always alter things for threading and plotting purposes.

[redux-iterum]

You got harassed for writing the redux. What? Why? It, it honestly is upsetting and saddening hearing that you got harrased over writing your own version of Warrior Cats.

Well, Tumblr was an incredibly contentious place when the Redux was in swing. I won't claim I was perfect and the best writer ever - very far from that, in fact, which is why I restarted this story - but as far as I know, my popularity did not sit well with a number of people, and I got folks yelling at me over...frankly, I don't remember what. I think I shoved a lot of that time out of my head so I don't have to deal with it in the present day. But it was enough that I was dreading my inbox towards the end of the Redux's run, because I knew someone was going to be calling me some variation of "problematic" or "-ist/phobe", or scolding me for something I didn't do.

I do recall that people were especially upset over one particular aspect of the worldbuilding, that being that any cat who was biologically male was not allowed in the nursery for the safety of the kits, and that included trans mollies. I explained why this was over and over, but Tumblr at the time did not accept any worldbuilding that wasn't 10000% inclusive and accepting of everyone at all times, and the eventual conclusion was that the Redux was homo-and-transphobic, somehow. Nevermind that I had stated god knows how many times that the Clans didn't care about orientation or gender identity except in one super specific area where actual cat behavior and biology played a massive role. Someone tossed out the notion that I was homo/transphobic, and that's what I became.

I'll state for the record again that I absolutely had issues with my writing, but at some point I also had folks acting like I myself was a monster who couldn't handle criticism. I have no idea where that came from - I've always made a point of staying polite and calm with everyone in every level of hostility on their end, and I stayed out of the Redux's tag to avoid seeing anything that could potentially upset me and stir me to make a comment. I still remember someone telling me to "look at what everyone has been telling you", and I had no idea what they were talking about (because, again, I stayed out of the tag), and they refused to explain themselves to me. Criticism I always welcomed; even if I didn't agree with it, I made sure to always thank the person for their input. Maybe I told someone I didn't agree or I just didn't respond to them, I don't know. Something started that notion of "Dullard can't handle criticism" up.

It was a lot of shit like that, basically. I ended the Redux because I had no more joy in the creation of it thanks to the neverending harshness I was receiving, and even when it stopped and I explained what I'd had in mind, people were STILL giving me a hard time about some of the writing decisions. I was dreading the living hell out of Iterum's reception as a result. Luckily for me, people have almost entirely been giving nothing but praise to this version. It helps that I have someone with me who can tell me when a piece of writing is bad or how I should address this idea or that notion. Editors are invaluable, folks!

[renthony]

Some recs for adult animation I enjoy:

People always seem to think I only watch kids' shows, so here's a list of animated television shows I adore, that were all made with adults in mind:

King of the Hill - Genuinely didn't think I'd like it, but I actually really love it? I expected something that was basically just The Simpsons or Family Guy, but got a surprising amount of emotional depth from the main cast. Bobby Hill is my son boy.

Futurama - I am legally obligated to list Futurama. I have watched the entire series so many fucking times. I'm going to watch the reboot and we all know it.

Disenchantment - It's more than just "Futurama medieval fantasy" but tonally, they are pretty similar. I enjoy it immensely. Bean is a #bicon, and that's fucking canon <3

Samurai Jack - The original show aired as a kids' show, but the revival apparently put it into the adult category. I haven't gotten that far yet, but holy shit, it's so good so far. Even the "kids' show" part is pretty mature, imho.

Bob's Burgers - I fucking love Bob's Burgers. I need to catch up on the more recent seasons. A sitcom that DOESN'T have parents who clearly hate each other? Whaaaat?

Harley Quinn - I'm not caught up, and there are aspects I have critiques of, but overall, it's been fun as fuck. I LOVE this interpretation of Ivy so fucking much.

Metalocalypse - My dad's a metal musician, so this was on in my house all the time when I was a teenager. I haven't watched it in *years* but I still reference the early seasons in conversation constantly. The Duncan Hills will wake you, motherfuckers.

Big Mouth/Human Resources - They are better than you think they are, and the "ugly style" reminds me of classic Klasky-Csupo. Compare it to Rugrats and tell me it doesn't have similar caricature styles. Story-wise, it nails the exact blend of panicked awkwardness I felt as a disaster tween, it has SO MANY queer characters. They dramatically improved on their more problematic aspects after getting called on it in seasons 1 and 2. And Human Resources made me sob like a little baby in the episode with Kieth from Grief.

BoJack Horseman - Starts off as a goofy gross-out humor sitcom but very quickly becomes a serious drama. Incredibly heavy and dark, but holy shit the catharsis. Delves into a lot of musings about morality, celebrity culture and Hollywood, generational trauma, and the perpetuation of cycles.

Tuca & Bertie - Goofy slice-of-life about characters navigating their 30s. Lots of musings about family, trauma, sexual abuse, queer dating in your 30s, friendship, and trying to survive it all. I relate so fucking much to the main cast.

Magical Girl Friendship Squad - It's a magical girl cartoon about milennials. Their magical girl weapons are birth control pills and a bong. It's fucking amazing. I'm really sad nobody else seems to have heard of it. :(

Little Demon - Sitcom about the Devil's daughter. Unsure if it's going to get a season 2, since it's about to get taken completely off of Hulu. Still worth watching if you can, because it's so fucking good. Centers on a teenage girl navigating Being A Teenage Girl while also dealing with her dad being the Devil and her mom being a traumatized mess who's figuring her own shit out.

Q-Force - The advertising did this show so fucking dirty. It was genuinely fucking funny, and it was clearly made with love. This isn't straight people making fun of us, this is queer people making queer comedy. Watch it.

Arcane - Arcane's politics are all over the place and I am in my "Silco Was Right" corner, which is right next to the "Magneto Was Right" clubhouse. But goddamn, the animation is gorgeous and the story is intense.

The Legend of Vox Machina - I haven't watched Critical Role, so I can say with confidence that this show is fucking amazing even if you have zero interest in the original gameplay streams. Fantasy animation for grownups, where they can show blood and titties, my beloved. <3

[ruhua-langblr]

how does duolingo suck?

I'm going to assume this is a genuine question in good faith!

In general, I do not think that DL is effective for achieving linguistic fluency. However, fluency is not everything and is not everyone's end goal! It can be a great introduction to many languages and get people fired up about starting to learn a new language—all which are good things. Before I address the recent problematic changes to the app that make it "suck", I want to be clear that even before it really wasn't that great. It had a good UI, constant expansion, and a very enthusiastic marketing team, but none of those are really important to actual language learning. Outside of popular European languages (Spanish/French/German) the quality is incredibly hit or miss. When I started learning Chinese I checked out DL and it was just not good! It's pretty common knowledge that DL is not good for learning non-latin based languages. Not to mention that the levels in those languages do not get you far. I was able to do speed runs of the Chinese course for fun early on in learning Chinese because it tops out at about HSK 3. (If you're unfamiliar with the HSK system, real Chinese "fluency" is HSK 6+ depending on if you're going by HSK 3.0 or not.)

The reason the post I made took off now is a combination of profit-driven decisions made by DL in the past year, culminating with laying off actual translators—a field I happen to be in!

The major decisions I'm referring to above are the following:

The "pausing" of the Welsh course and ending the partnership with the Welsh government. The National Centre for Learning Welsh did wish to continue the partnership, stating "Should Duolingo change its policy the centre would be happy to help with the work of developing the Welsh course,". Languages that offer business partnerships, like High Valyrian, don't get paused.

Removal of Forums and Sentence Discussions. Because DL never truly "teaches" you grammar, you are expected to pick it up from pattern association and repetition. This would work fine if languages weren't complex and notorious for having exceptions. These spaces were places for people to better understand the language, but that's not a profitable thing! It's more profitable to charge people to have an AI "explain" a sentence. Also people liked DL for the community aspects! Native speakers could answer your questions and you could joke about how wacky a sentence was.

Final nail in the coffin:

Pivot to AI and laying off translators. For the record, I don't think AI is innately evil. I think in moderation it can be helpful and if an app's upgraded tier is just AI chat then whatever. However, as a translator, I can tell you that it just doesn't work well. Having done post-editing of AI translations, it just sucks. It makes mistakes humans would never make and trying to unravel them is a pain. When I edit a human's translation, I can figure out what they were thinking and how they got it from the text. AI translations frequently just... skip parts that don't make sense to it. DL had already integrated AI into the app on a premium content basis, but now it's fully hit users that never asked for it. I've seen a lot of people talking about how their language is having mistakes now. People want to use DL to learn a language, and if the app is teaching them the language wrong that is a huge problem. It is unlikely that DL will be satisfied with this, but rather continue to replace as much of its workforce as possible with AI.

In short: Duolingo's first priority is bringing profits and shiny objects like AI to dangle in front of its shareholders. That is what makes Duolingo suck.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Buffalo Bill

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Back in 2019, I started Psycho Analysis with a review of one of cinema’s most overshadowed and underrated villains. Now that I’m better at this, I've decided I'm redoing those old reviews, giving them a fresh coat of paint, fitting them into the modern Psycho Analysis style, and updating the scores. I figured there’s no better place to start than with good ol’ Jame Gumb.

Jame Gumb (yes, Jame, he doesn’t have an “S” in his name) is the enigmatic serial killer from The Silence of the Lambs known as Buffalo Bill. He’s left a trail of flayed women in his wake, his motives unknown, and it’s up to Clarice Starling to stop him with a little help from a smarmy cannibal asshole. He’s the perfect sort of twisted, perverted freak you’d hope to find in a grim, gritty detective story. In fact, he almost seems a bit uncontroversial and unremarkable in terms of villains, doesn’t he?

Oh, if only. Unfortunately, there are aspects of Bill’s character that have made him the second most controversial villain of 90s cinema after Ray Finkle from Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. And we’re going to discuss all of that, because the big question when discussing Bill ultimately isn’t whether he’s good or bad, but is he good despite the unfortunate implications he ends up carrying due to what is and isn’t adapted from the book?

Motivation/Goals: Bill just wants to play dress up. Unfortunately, his idea of dressing up involves skinning women and then sewing said skin into a woman suit he can wear to dance about in his underground dungeon, penis tucked between his legs. To accomplish this Ed Gein-esque goal, he uses the playbooks of other killers like Ted Bundy to lure in unsuspecting women of considerable girth, traps them in a well in his basement, and forces them through a strict skin care regiment until it’s time to kill and skin them.

All of this is just incredibly fucked up, and also isn’t elaborated on to quite the degree the novel does due to Bill not being a character we focus on to gain real insight into. The full reveal of his plan is a shocking twist, but we don’t have the full psychological scope of his actions that was laid bare in the novel; while it doesn’t diminish Gumb in my opinion, it does leave the door open for some… problematic readings of what he’s up to, which we’ll discuss later.

Performance: While I don’t think I could possibly say he is an actor who manages to achieve the lofty heights of Hopkins, Ted Levine is still absolutely fantastic in his role. He’s an actor who always manages to inject his characters with a sort of unsettling air; just look at his brief appearance in Shutter Island if you need proof of this. Those skills are put to good use here, as he manages to make Gumb truly unnerving, and arguably far more realistic in his depiction of a serial killer than Lecter is.

Final Fate: After stalking Clarice Starling through his blackened basement while wearing night vision goggles, the tables are turned on Bill and the hunter becomes the hunted as Clarice unloads her gun into him. It’s a rather fitting death; as he preyed on women at their most vulnerable, it only makes sense that a woman strip him of all his power when he appears to be in control.

Evilness: I really don’t think there is any good argument against Bill getting the full 10/10. I mean, the man skins women so that he can wear their skin as a suit. How much fucking worse can a person even be in a story like this? It says a lot that Lecter comes off as more reasonable and less evil than the guy (even though this is decidedly not the case).

Best Scene: You know what it is:

And it’s even Jay and Silent Bob approved!

Really gotta compliment the song choice here; Q Lazzarus’ ominous dance tune “Goodbye Horses” forever had its image altered by its use here, but it really heightens the mood and feeds in to the unsettling nature of Bill’s dance. You can’t hear the opening notes of the song without this scene immediately coming to mind. And to think, its inclusion was all because she happened to pick up director Johnathan Demme in her taxi during a blizzard and showed him her demo tape.

Best Quote: From the above scene, Bill drops one of the most famous serial killer quotes in cinematic history:

“Would you fuck me? I’d fuck me. I’d fuck me so hard.”

Final Thoughts & Score: Buffalo Bill is horrendously underrated as a villain, though clearly there are some out there who appreciate him (Seth Green for example, who based Chris Griffin’s voice in Family Guy off of Buffalo Bill’s). That being said, the movie unfortunately ends up dipping into problematic territory as by excising most of the elaboration from the novel, Bill can unfortunately be read as an unflattering depiction of a trans woman.

Now you and I know that isn’t true, and anyone else who has read the book knows it isn’t true, but do you really think the average moviegoer in the early 90s cared about that? They see the freaky man dancing around with his schlong tucked away, wearing a woman’s skin, and find it unsettling and grotesque. It is incredibly easy to see how someone could see this as something akin to a villain in a crappy JKR detective novel, and it really didn’t have to be that way because the book really goes out of its way to not demonize trans people; while a bit outdated by modern standards, the book explains that trans people are not inherently violent and that Gumb is merely deluding himself into believing he is trans as some sort of warped justification for his actions. It even pointing out he was rejected for gender reasignment surgery. The movie has a few lines, but that’s kind of disappointing compared to the original novel, isn’t it? Then again, perhaps over-explaining would lead to the same criticisms the ending of Psycho gets, where laying things out for the audience in a way that tries not to demonize marginalized individuals is seen as tacky and unneeded.

Considering that Gumb was inspired by real life killers and their motivations (particularly Ed Gein, who has a higher number of fictional characters inspired by him than he does victims) and because I read the book, I don’t necessarily find his portrayal all that offensive, but I am a cis guy. If you do find his character tasteless, I won’t exactly blame you. It’s a rather unfortunate side effect of the transition from book to film that we lost the details that would ameliorate the problematic image of the character. With all that said, I still think he gets an 8.5/10. He’s certainly not as iconic as Lecter is and he’s too problematic to score any higher, but he is a very effective villain for the film he’s in and Levine’s performance is chilling and entrancing.

If nothing else, his existence led to the greatest open RP of all time. That’s gotta count for something.

[yanderes-galore]

ok, i gotta say, i LOVE your writing! especially your FNAF Fluffy AU! understandable if you don't want to do this request (writing is hard, i've been there before) so i hope you don't mind, can you do a romantical prompt that of yandere Fluffy!Funtime Freddy x Fluffy!bear darling? you can either make it long or short, doesn't matter. whatever suits you man :3

(Fluffy!bear darling, if you didn't understand it, it's if Darling was also an experiment that actually succeeded while Funtime Freddy is somewhat a success. still new to your blog)

He's feeling romantical....

Yes! Gorey Fluffy AU time! I'd love to do this! I had to make a time line for when the experiments were created to help me with this so this is what I came up with;

Goldens (Rot to become Golden Freddy and Springtrap) -> Originals (Rot to become Withereds) -> Toys -> Funtimes -> Rockstars -> Glamrocks

Darling was most likely made sometime between Funtimes and Rockstars, maybe? Up to you!

Here's Fluffy AU! Funtime Freddy's Origin Fic (Gore warning)

Description of Fluffy AU! Funtime Freddy (Gore warning)

Yandere! Fluffy AU! Funtime Freddy with Bear! Darling

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, GORE WARNING, Obsession, Manipulation, Biting, Violence, Blood, Forced relationship, Scenting, Possessive behavior, Sadism, Blood drinking, Grotesque descriptions, He kinda wants to eat you.

Funtime Freddy's creation was an attempt to make a new variation of experiments.

There were only two Funtime variants and they both didn't come out quite right.

Freddy was by far the worst of the two, the other being Foxy.

They were copies of previous Freddy and Foxy designs but mutated on purpose, Afton probably got some sort of twisted inspiration by the rotted forms of the previous experiments and mutated them on purpose.

As a result he got a sadistic bear and narcissistic fox, both white and pink.

The most interesting characteristic was the stitched together aspect of their flesh.

In various places on both animatronics it looked like the flesh opened up.

Freddy was even given the ability to open the stomach "flap"... which made his organs visible and seemed to serve as a storage method based on his behavior.

The issue was Freddy was violent, often taking sadistic pleasure in harming employees and seeing hallucinations.

As a result he was given a Bonnie plush named Bon Bon, which pacified the large beast.

You were an experiment that came after.

A successful one who managed not to rot!

You were made to be another bear, your design remaining rather basic.

Your build was similar to the original Freddy, regardless of your gender.

You have your own traits, of course.

Your color is different, your outfit is different, Freddy was simply used as a base.

You were one of the best experiments created, capable of speech and learning like that of a human.

Your fur was incredibly fluffy and you were given near free reign of your surroundings.

Disaster only strikes when you meet the problematic Funtime.

Freddy was surprised when he saw you.

The large bear was not aware they were already prototyping new experiments.

You were such an attractive one....

As the experiments have animal-like characteristics, Freddy probably sees you something akin to a mate?

He loves your scent... it's so sweet!

You smell just like a cupcake...!

This is why Freddy calls you "Cupcake" when he sees you.

Another nickname is "Teddy Bear" based on the fluffiness of your fur.

Let's be honest... Freddy is terrifying to you.

He's a freak of nature, a bloody mistake that should've been culled.

The scientists who made you tell you not to look at him in his "enclosure".

The grotesque bear calls out to you despite you ignoring him, unfortunately.

He may not know your name but he prefers to call you by your nicknames anyways.

It's hard to tell if Freddy was a success or a failure.

He's somewhat in-between.

Freddy stares at you whenever you get closed to his holding area.

He can't get close to you no matter how much he claws at the walls.

Freddy wants to be closer to you...

He wants to touch your fur, to smell your scent...

He wants to taste your blood... and bite your flesh....

The scientists try to make sure you never meet him face to face.

They fear for your safety...

Nothing good can happen if he keeps looking at you with bloody drool dripping down his face.

Freddy often talks to Bon Bon, whom he believes is alive.

It's learned from this that Freddy has unsafe intentions with you.

Which is why they keep you two apart, preferring to keep you with the successful experiments... not the failures.

Your life is pretty good, you like your caretakers.

Then life all goes to hell once Golden Freddy awakens.

When the facility reaches its downfall, the rot spreads.

Failed experiments mingle with successful ones and you try your best to part from it all.

This facility used to be home... now it's chaos.

You fear the idea of leaving it but you can't stay here.

So thoughts of escape course through your mind.

For the most part you can survive well, until you meet Freddy again....

The beast is out of his cage... and ready to play.

The moment he catches the chase is on.

Freddy's excited!

Finally! He's been looking for his Cupcake!

He just wants to squeeze you like a big teddy bear!

Freddy is a large bear.

He's stronger and a bit taller.

Being chased by him is terrifying.

When he catches up he slams his body into you, pushing and pinning you to the ground.

Looking into his eyes makes your stomach fill with dread.

They're bloodshot, deranged.

His claws dig into your skin, blood dripping down your fur.

"There's my Cupcake!" His voice is grating on the ears. "You've been ignoring me! How rude! Can't you see we're meant to be?"

His nose flares at the scent of your blood, quickly making him duck down to lap at the blood.

He's right... it is sweet.

Which would explain why he decides to take a large bite of your flesh, teeth digging into you and eliciting a pained roar from you.

Freddy likes your taste, your smell, your warmth....

He wishes he could just crawl inside and stay there.

There's no use in prying him off, his strength holds you down even when you kick and bite.

In fact, he encourages you to hurt him!

The more blood the better!

Freddy does a weird combination of affection and violence.

He bites and licks your wounds.

He nuzzles into your fur but claws your skin....

It's like his way of claiming you as his own.

He licks your nose playfully, all while nipping at you.

His maw is covered in your blood and your covered in his due to your fighting.

He takes pleasure in this... you fear this.

Once Freddy has you he doesn't plan on letting you go.

Clearly you were meant for him!

You wee made for him.

You're both bears... and he claims you as his.

Your thoughts of escape quickly dwindle...

The smell of blood is overwhelming to you.

The longer he keeps you under him, struggling and bleeding...

The more you realize you may die here... or worse.

[jadelotusflower]

Stargate Rewatch: 1x01 Children of the Gods

After rewatching the original film I'm kicking off with the show's pilot - I actually watched both the original version and the "final cut" because there are aspects I enjoy of both. The final cut removes a few problematic elements and adds in some new material, but also cuts a few lines I really enjoy and the original version is really where my nostalgia lies, so... as always, my feelings, they are mixed.

Cold open with some redshirts - four men and one woman, sadly representative of the gender ratio the show will have going forward.

The unlucky Smurfette is Sgt Carol Weterings, not that I think she's ever mentioned by name in the episode.

"Probably the only thing it ever did was cost money." Heh.

I will say that Teal'c turning against Apophis at the end of the episode is nicely built - starting here where he examines the gun and identifies it as technology far advanced beyond the humans they’re used to dealing with.

When your name is above the title, you get introduced with an extreme close up.

The differences between the film and the show don't really bother me - I view the show as taking place in a very similar but alternate universe to the film rather than trying to squeeze them together - so O'Neil becomes O'Neill, Sha'uri becomes Sha're, Tyler becomes Charlie, Abydos is the closest planet to Earth, not the other side of the known universe, etc etc. But I consider the events of the film to be canon to the show universe unless directly contradicted.

But otherwise the pilot tries very hard to stick as close as possible to the film, to the point that Major Samuels states that General Hammond replaced General West.

Hammond says it’s been “over a year” since the events of the film, unclear exactly how much over.

The final cut has a longer version of the dead Jaffa, revealing one of them was a woman, and with all the changes to eliminate plot holes I don't know why Brad Wright put one back in. While we do see Jaffa women in the series, Goa'uld and Jaffa society is depicted as highly patriarchal and female Jaffa soliders are rare - we never see them in Apophis's ranks. It's an odd inclusion.

"What if the aliens get it?" "Well, they could be blowing their noses right now." hee!

"THANKS SEND MORE" Remember when Daniel had allergies? Give it a few episodes and the show sure won’t!

Amanda Tapping, doing her absolute best with some terrible dialogue. Brad Wright blames the "reproductive organs" speech on Jonathan Glassner, and it is terrible and thankfully removed from the final cut version, along with some other 90's era sexism from the bros. However there is one great moment, where Kawalsky asks "Have you ever pulled out of a simulated bombing run in an F16 at eight plus Gs?" and without missing a beat, Sam deadpans: "Yes." I love Sam.

"I'll give you exactly 24 hours to either return or send a message through - no Kleenex boxes, please." Hee, Hammond isn't quite the cuddly commander we know and love yet, but he has his moments.

It's very cute that Sam has a very similar reaction to the one Daniel had in the film just before going through the gate, although his was based in the wonder of something incredible and unknown, and hers is based in the physical manifestation of knowledge - says a lot about each of them and their similarities yet different perspectives - the marrying of these two points of view is what makes them such a good duo.

Michael Shanks, doing the James Spader impression that won him the role. He was only 26!

And of course Alexis Cruz, the only holdover from the movie (other than Erick Avari, who won't appear until season 2).

The original team sure did leave a bunch of weapons with the Abydonians, didn't they? I presume they taught them how to fire the guns because there's no way Daniel could/would have. He did however teach them very good English.

"Greetings from Earth, Doctor Jackson" - very cute, it's sad that Ferretti disappears into the ether by season 2.

Not the face of a woman who is shy, but a woman who knows how to make An Entrance. She even smirks a little as she walks over.

There is however a weird little moment where Sha're is reluctant to shake Jack's hand and looks to Daniel first - maybe she wasn't impressed about his little joke brushing by her husband? Both of these beats are removed from the final cut version which is probably for the best.

It's criminal Sha're doesn't actually get to speak in this scene, and in fact how few lines she has in the episode altogether.

It's disappointing, because Sha'uri was such an integral part of the film, and yet the show tries to get rid of her as quickly as possible to get Daniel on SG-1 and give him a core drive for the next three seasons. Her abduction is the precipitating event of Daniel's ten-year character arc and defining moment of transition from film!Daniel to show!Daniel, and yet she doesn't get a character arc of her own.

However I do think Shanks and Vaitiare Hirshon sell the relationship in the few scenes they have - they're very physically connected/protective of one another, perhaps concerned that Jack's there to take Daniel back with him (which is in fact the case). And of course Sha're, annoyed at being left behind while Daniel shows the others his discovery, gives him a very proprietary kiss to show everyone what’s what.

I think show!Sha're gets a bad rap, she's spunky and I love her. I just wish there was more of her.

Sam and Daniel insta-bonding. Daniel making an intuitive leap to solve the puzzle and Sam filling in the gaps with science to make it work, they really are kindred spirits.

The issue with the cartouche though is that the symbols look like hierogyphs, not star constellations/Stargate glyphs.

Back in the pyramid, there's a scene sorely missing here - imagine if rather than ogling Sha're, Ferretti had a conversation with her, giving us more of a chance to know Sha're on her own terms rather than just Daniel's wife and the object of others desire. Especially when Ferretti was on the original mission so knows she's more than a "beautiful woman" - it would also give additional weight to him being the one to remember the gate address where she's taken later on.

Teal'c clocks Skaara's gun as the same tech he saw on Earth in breadcrumb no. 2.

"Nothing good can ever come through this gate!" "You came through it , Daniel" I mean...I realise there are a lot of problematic white savior-y aspects to the show, but idk, this scene and the Abydonians all petting Daniel to say goodbye gets me. Sean Amsing as Tobay also returns in Full Circle which is a nice callback to this scene.

The final cut removes a reaction shot from Jack which I have mixed feelings about - I get that the focus probably needs to be on Daniel at that moment, but I do think it's important for Jack to appreciate how Daniel really found a home with the Abydonians and was appreciated and loved by them, and it's nicely played by RDA.

LOL, watch out for how many times Jack pats Daniel on the shoulder. Apparently that annoyed Shanks so RDA kept doing it, but it's also a nice little setup of their relationship going forward.

There's a second shoulder pat in the hallway.

Just two dudes, drinking beer, (not) talking about their feelings.

“She was the complete opposite of everyone else, she practically fell on the floor laughing every time I tried to do some kind of chore they all took for granted.” Underrated line, because it gives important context to Daniel and Sha’re’s relationship, and perhaps more importantly, how Daniel characterises her - she is the one who keeps him grounded, who teases him, there is balance to their relationship. There’s potentially an interesting parallel there to Vala in the later seasons, although it manifests in a very different way.

“I think she forgave me for what happened to our kid, she just couldn’t forget…I’m the opposite, I can never forgive myself, but sometimes I can forget.” This is a great scene.

The Final Cut removes all the “harem scenes” and while I can see why, we do lose a bit of context to Teal'c's involvement in the process as he is the one who chooses the women from the holding cell to go into the harem, and then from the harem to be presented to Apophis.

There was another missed opportunity to actually see Sha're interact with the other prisoners - she could have had a conversation with Weterings at least, find out she was from Earth, perhaps assure her that the others would be coming to rescue them.

To the surprise of no one I’m sure, this episode does not pass the Bechdel test.

But there is a hint of solidarity among the prisoners - first in the holding cell where the others hold Skaara back, and here in the harem Sha're squeezes the hand of another woman.

Weterings is killed by the hand device which keeps the electrical current aesthetic from the movie the show will later abandon - as Teal'c looks perturbed.

Daniel back on Earth immediately getting stuck into the coffee even though no one else is drinking, lol.

"Ra played a god, the sun god, he borrowed the religion and culture of the ancient Egyptians he brought through the gate and used it to enslave them." A bit of a change from the movie here, where it was the other way around - slightly less problematic!

Everyone is in dress blues except Kawalsky who is in camo, and Daniel, who is wearing Jack's clothes.

"Colonel I'd like to remind you that rescuing Dr Jackson's wife is a secondary objective." This line was removed in the final cut and I don't know why? It adds to Samuels’s bastardry.

Has everyone forgotten about Weterings?

Shoulder pat no. 3!

In the second harem scene, Sha're is now sitting isolated from the other women - did she argue with them? Just trying not to be noticed? What happened offscreen?

Also what's going on in the top left corner - it looks like the healing device! Maybe Sha're did throw down with one of the others and that's why she's on her own. I have to read into things, because the show gives us so very little of Sha're and it's a real shame.

She does get a good moment fighting against the guards though - earlier she was defiant and told them she wasn't afraid of them, here she bites one of them on the arm.

I understand from a narrative perspective why Sha're is the one who gets taken over, but it really is Schrodinger’s fridging - until she’s found Sha’re is both alive and dead for the purpose of the narrative, both Daniel’s primary drive and source of inner conflict.

Christopher Judge does so much with so little. Master of the cheek twitch!

Oof, the nudity. In isolation from everything else, it doesn’t bother me - it’s intended to be horrifying, not titillating, and is effective in conveying objectification and dehumanisation by the Goa'uld.

However, it was a studio request, Wright/Glassner regretted doing it, it doesn’t fit the tone of the show going forward, but most importantly Hirshon was pressured into the full frontal when she only agreed to topless, and for that alone it should be excised.

The puppet symbiotes are so much more effective than the cgi they use later. I don’t think there’s another scene in the show that really captures the menace of the Goa’uld like this one - the symbiote (who we'll later learn is Amaunet) slithering around on Sha're's body is just so visceral and horrifying. The glowing eyes before implantation is an effective touch.

Jack sticking Daniel in it with Sam by saying Sha're was a gift could be amusing, except the conversation gets cut off before Daniel can explain. It annoys me, because Daniel not "accepting" Sha're was actually the point? It's kind of important! I assume he does tell Sam the whole story later.

"Unless we want to get ourselves a really bad reputation, I just think we should avoid shooting the first people we meet on a new planet" is a nice follow up to Daniel's sarcastic "well that would have been an excellent reason to shoot everyone" from the film. At this point, Daniel doesn't appear to be carrying a weapon other than a knife. Oh, how that will change!

The Chulak priests speak "a derivation of Arabic" and something else - the Goa'uld language is meant to be similar to Abydonian, which is based on Ancient Egyptian. Of course modern Egyptian is an Arabic dialect that came much later, but perhaps we are to assume Goa'uld - or at least the Chulak vernacular - evolved along similar lines.

Jack unable to shoot Sha're when she stands in front of Apophis is a nice movie callback.

The final cut has a good extra scene between Sam and Daniel where he is quite delusional thinking Sha're might just be drugged, and Sam tries to talk sense into him. Daniel's blind optimism against Sam's pragmatic realism will be an important aspect of their relationshio going forward.

Shoulder pat no. 4!

Teal'c P.I. sees Skaara talking to Jack and starts putting pieces together - the weapons from the opening scene, the weapons on Abydos + Jack's watch, and Daniel helpfully supplying the Earth glyph.

Alexis Cruz is committed to the film pronunciation of Sha’uri, bless him.

“But you are a great warrior, we defeated Ra together!” Skaara’s faith in Jack is so pure.

Skaara gets a shoulder pat too.

"Another fine day on planet Kawalsky" - This line was removed from the final cut! What a tragedy. I get the sense Brad Wright feels a bit cringe about the campier aspects of the show, but it's part of the charm! To be fair Ferretti was more of the wisecracker in the movie rather than Kawalsky, but I love that show Kawalsky is a little goofy.

I'm sorry, what is this silver monstrosity? I guess a sliver of credit that after the nudity not going for a sexy alien outfit, but this is a hate crime. I also have a very high tolerance, and even affection for, silly Stargate headgear, but there's camp and then there's ugly.

Peter Williams as Apophis though: 10/10, no notes.

"They're going to choose...who will be the children of the gods." I do love it when they say the title of the thing in the thing.

The subtle moment where Teal'c motions that Jack should kneel is a nice setup - Skaara being very reluctant and angry about kneeling, and being the last to do so, is nice movie continuity. Skaara really gets shortchanged by the show after this episode.

"How much would I remember if you chose me?" I wonder if Daniel ever thinks that maybe him drawing the attention of the Goa'uld contributed to Skaara getting chosen. You know, just to really lay on the angst and guilt.

So the premise is that these Apophis underlings are choosing hosts for their children who are symbiotes ready for implantation, which doesn't really fit with what we learn about Goa'uld queens/reproduction later. We also learn later that Skaara is taken as a host for Apophis's son Klorel which doesn't sqaure with these two choosing him.

Headcanon time! This is actually Zipacna who we meet later arguing for Klorel at Triad - different actor, of course, but he wears a similarly silly hat. So Amaunet now has access to all of Sha're's memories of Skaara and she and Apophis decide that he will make a good host - maybe she also likes the idea of a family resemblance between herself and Klorel (I think we can assume he is also Amaunet's son?). But Apophis doesn't want anyone to know he's choosing a host for his offspring, so sends Zipacna out to do it for him.

This makes sense of Klorel later claiming that Apophis chose his host, and also gives backstory to Zipacna showing up in Pretense. And in the scene, the Goa'uld make a very quick decision to take Skaara, while the rest get very grossly examined people before choosing.

Shoulder pat no. 5!

"I have nowhere to go." Teal'c turning on his brother Jaffa to save a roomful of people, not expecting to survive himself, really hits.

"For this, you can stay at my place." hee!

Jack not wanting to hear it when Teal'c tells him Skaara is no longer himself is a turnabout of the earlier scene with Daniel. Not so flip now it's your Emotional Support Abydonian, are you Jack?

Kawalsky getting Goa'ulded doesn't seem to hurt as much as Sha're's - because the symbiote isn't mature, or because Amaunet is particularly sadistic?

Soon to be SG-1 posing for their album cover.

It was the late 90's when tvs were tiny, so everyone had to stand uncomfortably close.

And we end with shoulder pat no. 6!

[yanderomantic]

as someone who used to identify as antiship & took all of that shit too seriously, it is genuinely incredibly rewarding to selfship without fear now. to actually explore the dynamics I want to explore, dynamics that feel therapeutic for me & allow me to process traumas and those victim mindset desires I ignore in my real life, (yknow--those internal "I miss being abused" complexes victims will often feel.) exploring these dynamics without fear, without repression or reworking it to be "less problematic" & guilt free--it's rewarding. it's therapeutic. it's actually helpful in processing aspects of myself. nothing about my f/o dynamics are truly different, they're just more honest--and in that vein, less romanticized. less apologized. less glorified. I know antishippers view shameless "problematic" self shipping as romanticization/normalization/apologization, but it's the reverse. when you're holding an imperfect dynamic but you have to reword the circumstances to yourself and others to make it healthier/less worrisome, that does more for normalizing the unhealthy aspects than anything. being able to go "yeah, this character who is a millenia older than me being manipulative in our relationship IS grooming, actually" does far more for undoing normalization than "rewriting" it to justify the manipulation as unrelated to existing power dynamics; ie. "oh, it's just toxic yaoi, not grooming lol"

no, actually, a portion of my F/Os would be considered groomers in their relationship with me and that's ok, it's fictional, I'm exploring dynamics I've experienced with characters I adore, processing things & having an outlet for the ugly desires a victim will be left with. it's helped me process myself and process how this shit actually works, the dynamics at play, structural violence, I'm much MORE educated on the circumstances of abuse now that im allowing myself to explore these circumstances in fiction. it's no longer something untangible caused solely by the mythical "Bad Person" , which is what these "wholesome us vs problematic them" mindsets get us to internalize

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

John Lennon Tribute Songs – Musings and Impressions

I decided this morning to look into what John Lennon tribute songs (+songs about John's death) are out there and found the results quite mixed but interesting. So here's some of my thoughts on them.

Includes songs by: Bob Dylan, The Cranberries, David Gilmour, Elton John, George Harrison, Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Queen.

All Those Years Ago – George Harrison (1981)

Roll On John – Bob Dylan (2012)

Probably the most classic tribute song on this list, which is why I'm mentioning it first. I think it's somewhat misunderstood, because in my opinion it is far more personal than it's sometimes given credit for, even though it does fall into some clichés with how it references John's songs. It's overall positive, focusing on the good aspects of John and George's relationship as well as of John's legacy as a whole, with a few problematizing nuggets peppered in ("Living with good and bad"; "You had control of our smiles and our tears"). I see how the religious edge might be off-putting to some, but it feels incredibly earnest to me. The rock n' roll guitar riff is a lovely tribute to John's unabashed love for that genre.

(Also, I wrote a bit more in depth about the song and how I think it relates to George's view of John here.)

This is not a song I can justify the existence of. If it had been released shortly after John's murder maybe, but I don't see what it brought to the table 30+ years after the fact. It feels extremely gimmicky, dropping simplistic lyrical references and Wikipedia-page facts, and otherwise doesn't seem like it has anything substantial to say. I don't think these types of songs have to be written by someone who had a deep personal connection with the subject, but none of this feels natural, earned, or remotely insightful and the emotions are rather vapid.

Murder – David Gilmour (1984)

This song is musically interesting and the lyrics are quite compelling, but the centering of MDC's point of view is somewhat uncomfortable, given the actual context of his motivations. I feel this song works better as a reflection on murder as a concept, rather than a specific murder.

I Just Shot John Lennon – The Cranberries (1996)

The title of this one worried me but actually it sounds like it could be on Some Time in New York City if you threw a few saxes onto it; John wrote about tragedies in a very similar way (like the Troubles, which The Cranberries – of course – also wrote about). Despite the directness, this works and feels poignant rather than edgy.

Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny) – Elton John (1982)

I like the way this song opens with the metaphor of a gardener, giving the song a degree of universality, not just in the sense that John "belonged to the world" but also that it could be related to any loss. This is contrasted with the bridge ("And I've been knockin', but no one answers…"), where John is finally name-dropped, which adds such a personal touch to the song. It's masterful and heartbreaking, especially given the fact that Elton was having trouble getting through to John during his lifetime as well. A wonderful, heartfelt tribute.

The Late Great Johnny Ace – Paul Simon (1983)

This feels less like a tribute and more like a reflection on history. John's death in 1980 is contrasted with Johnny Ace's death in 1954, as well as John F. Kennedy's in 1963. The music is harrowing and intriguing, which really underlines the senselessness of all these deaths. I enjoy the observed parallelisms and the way Paul manages to make the song personal despite not having a close rapport with John. In that way it kind of reminds me of A Day In The Life.

I Don't Know Why – Yoko Ono (1981)

Life Is Real (Song for Lennon) – Queen (1982)

Like Here Today mentioned below, this is more of an anti-tribute song in my view. Ultimately it seems that to Yoko, the search for meaning in John's death is fruitless. Musically, the song is a bit long and repetitive, but as she sings: "You left me, you left me, you left me without words."

Also, the story the album cover tells is poignant, possibly more so than any song on it: a glass, which could be half empty or half full; the fog like an uncertain future, clouding the New York skyline; a pair of glasses, the ghost of a lost loved one; and vision itself, forever obstructed by the murder Yoko was forced to witness.

Musically, I find this one to be quite wonderful and I think I can see how it was influenced by John's sound to an extent. But it also appears to be so personal to Freddie Mercury as well as rather cryptic that it feels odd as a tribute, per se. That's not really a problem in my opinion, but it's notable that without the name-drop it wouldn't even be obvious this song was about someone – let alone John Lennon – having died. This makes the "(Song For Lennon)" part of the title feel a tad performative.

Here Today – Paul McCartney (1982)

It was thinking about this song this morning that prompted me to go listen to the other entries. While "All Those Years Ago" is a song in which George seems to proclaim that he understands John better than most people, on "Here Today", Paul discredits himself as a source on John basically immediately; within the first few lines of the song, he asserts that John would laugh in response to Paul claiming he really knew John. He's in a sense shooting down the idea of writing a straightforward tribute like George's because he does not appear to trust himself to make absolute statements on who John was. Instead, he shifts the focus to his own experience of their relationship, declaring that he loves John and is thankful, despite their possible lack of mutual understanding.

The song is fiercely personal and does not leave space for someone to relate to it as an uninvolved fan of John's, or even as one of John's loved ones who is not Paul, like Empty Garden and All Those Years Ago do. And yet Paul plays this song every night in concert as a tribute. It fascinates me deeply, not to mention it is lyrically one of his standout pieces as well as immensely moving musically.

[call-sign-shark]

Shark, it's the 10th anniversary of Peaky today (12 Sept) and I was hoping you'd share the top 10 things you (or Heaven 😇) adore about Arthur!

Oh Lee!! Thank you for the question and Happy 10th year anniversary to Peaky Blinders! 🤭🖤 I’ll go with my own ten favorite things — and Heaven will probably agree with me anyway! 🙃

1. I particularly love Arthur’s eyes. They have such a beautiful color, adorable shape and… The fuck he has does lashes? They got me WEAK. Like, I don’t know if I’m the only one who has noticed it but he has the prettiest lashes. Moreover, his eyes are overall super soft and expressive.

2. The freckles. I nearly died at the bathroom scene because of how many freckles he has and how stunning they make him look. They are like… Hundreds of constellations on his skin.

3. This one is weird ‘cause that’s not the body type I look for in a man but… God I love that lanky, super slim silhouette of his. He’s all legs and arms I swear. Aesthetically speaking, it enhances the character’s “weird”/ “threatening” vibes. And it makes him look adorably funny when he is in a car. ( @dearshelby will agree with me on this one 😬)

4. His voice. The gravel, loud voice does things to me each time I watch Peaky. Especially when he’s talking lower or when he whispers. Related to this, his low growls, grunts and “hmm” are hot as fuck. Pretty sure they have the power to disintegrate my clothes 🤣

5. The unhinged, ultra violent and slightly psychotic aspect of the character is the first thing that drew me. Like my fav characters of all times are Vaas from Far Cry, and Jinx from Riot Games. It has always been my favorite types, so I quite naturally fell for him because of this first. Put a crazy, unpredictable and traumatized character and you’ll summon a Shark.

6. The love he has for his family. Despite everything, Arthur is the only one in the family who said “I love you” several times to his bro/sis and the one who’s not afraid of showing affection. Even completely high in S6 he still quickly plays with the kids and say “I love you Ada”. He is also the one who never got over John's death.

7. The moment I truly fell for Arthur was after his suicide attempt though. Which leads us to this sixth feature: His vulnerability. The stark contrast between the rabid dog and the broken, sad, humiliated and fragile man made me melt. Not only it made me melt but I think it’s one of the strength of the character on top of being quite original: No one can hate Arthur despite the awful things he does. It’s even a bit frightening when we think about it.

7. Overall he’s fun and the “annoying and problematic oldest brother” vibes are strong with him. The banter with his brothers never fails to warm my heart.

8. He is into boxing? Please the skipping rope scene almost killed me, I had to dive into a pool of holy water to cleanse my soul from the obscene thoughts I had.

9. Addictions and that stupid cheating scene in the Russian orgy aside, he’s the gentlest Shelby husband. It’s undeniable: he’s the most enamored of all the brothers. When he falls in love, he falls hard and loves you until death. He has so many sweet moments with Linda. Even in S5, just before the meeting with the Shelby women, he takes a quick bite at the biscuits his wife made, turned to her and say “oh that’s good”. He is just incredibly caring.

10. How could I finish this list without mentioning his AWESOME mustache? Yes, I said it, the mustache looks super hot on him and I don’t want to hear otherwise. I just want to kiss it and also feel it against my skin. 🥺

[nonsenuser]

love exposure (2008)

i think the only capacity in which this movie gets discussed is through mass aesthetic-postings (yk what i mean) but the juggling of multiple themes and how they come together in this movie is extremely impressive... i wish people talked about it more

i think the movie does get thematically messy later on (apparently the movie was supposed to be 6 hours long so several themes dont get carried out all the way to their conclusion) and there are certain 'problematic' aspects that i will discuss later. either way this is such a unique movie and i can understand why people have such polarizing opinions on it.

the first 30-45 minutes of this were so incredible, i think the whole arc where yu consistently asks for forgiveness and commits sins (to the point where he kinda gets off to it...) is such an interesting exploration of the relationship between adolescence, sexuality and religion. when he joins that 'group' (errr cult?) that endorses taking upskirt panty shots.. and he doesnt even get off to it, he is purely trying to get the best possible shot for the love of the game (this whole thing is quite bizarre and perverted but in the context of this movie i think its worth thinking about)

the other thing that is soooo interesting is the fact that for the first part of the movie, yu only interacts with yoko while he is in the miss scorpion attire. it totally acts as a trans allegory and whats even more interesting is he is aroused while in the disguise. whats more is yu talks about getting aroused as "disgusting" (referring to his genitals) and you could interpret this as some form of dysphoria. do i think this is what sion sono intended? not really because in the movie being a pervert is equated to being a lesbian and yoko states her lesbianism was a phase... which is ugh... probably my least favourite aspect of this movie. but whether or not the trans allegory was intended it is def worth mentioning and analyzing.

the other interesting factor that gets explored is the fine line between faith and cultism... this is a whole plot point in the movie where a branch of christianity goes quite a bit far and the intentions of the cult leader are #notgood... but its super fun to see this play out esp bc sakura ando is like. awesome and her sinisterness in this role is really fun to watch.

the girls in this movie also have a hatred towards men, and faith, and other things, that's a result of their upbringing and experiences. it's an important part of their characters and influences their decisions but again i dont think it was fleshed out all the way or with the best intentions (bc of sion sono lol) but again! worth talking about... like for example aya wanting to rid yu of his perversion because of her sexual trauma.

i think the ending is very sweet, craziness and messiness aside you cannot deny there isn't anything quite like love exposure....

[wishing-stones]

Nightmare! What is your favorite thing about your guys and your least favorite thing?

(this one is a doozy, so I'm not writing it up to take a screenshot. You get quotation marks)

"Well, there certainly is much to consider, isn't there? Everyone has their strengths and their weaknesses, both in character and in combat. It is only natural for a leader to notice the drawbacks and perks of the people he leads.

With all of that in mind... Perhaps I ought to start with the traits and behaviors that I am not as fond of.

I will start with Killer, since he thinks himself so important. He lets his pride get the better of him more often than I would like. He is easy to rile if his sizable ego is injured in any way, and takes far too much far too personally. Pride cometh before the fall, and when he falls, he falls far, hard, and fast.

Dust is unpredictable and has difficulties with his own emotions. He tries to keep himself in a state of neutrality, but it does not take very much for it to boil over in a fit of very dangerous rage. He tries to emulate Killer in that he pretends that nothing he's done bothers him, but he lets that guilt and self-loathing gnaw at him until he breaks down, and all but refuses help up until the point that he does. Stubborn to a fault, if I were to sum it up.

I am very mindful of Axe's condition when considering his shortcomings. That being said, when he is provoked, he gets unnervingly aggressive. He occasionally still has issues with being territorial and resource guarding, although it is more around those he cares about now, and less about food. I suppose that could be seen as a good thing, but it makes it very difficult for negotiations sometimes.

Cross, like Killer, is far too proud. Beyond that, he keeps his issues to himself, even if it is permissible to share them. He torments himself, allows his own past mistakes to haunt him and hurt him, and refuses to let anyone near for fear of being hurt again. It was understandable at first, but as time has worn on, it has become... problematic.

From the time I've spent around doctor Baggs, His own pursuit of science blinds him to his own needs, and the needs of others around him. If someone is looking out for him, it is slightly better. If he is on his own... It becomes a greater issue. He is also an incredibly proud creature, slow to trust and difficult to read, even for me. I hope this aspect will get better with time. It seems to be.

Ren... Is eager. They are perhaps too eager, and while it is understandable, they must also recognize that progress is not achieved overnight. Certainly, they have become an invaluable asset and talented with a sword and shield, but this alone will not be enough to protect them from unfortunate circumstance. They learned that the hard way. From what I can sense, they feel beholden to be as good as any one of my other subordinates insofar as combat and magic is concerned, else they become a burden. It would be beneficial to them if they spoke these concerns aloud rather than trying to tamp them down.

With all of that being said...

Killer is clever and quick, and is my right-hand man for a reason. He's excellent at strategizing, a magnificent team leader, brilliant in the field, and knows when it is time to play and when it is time to be serious. He is also loyal, and once that loyalty is earned, it is earned for good. Aside from that... he is alarmingly intuitive.

So is Dust, for that matter-- he appears to have a sixth sense for if someone else is not perhaps in the best of moods, or too deep in thoughts they ought not to be in. He's an attentive listener, offers fairly sound advice if it is wanted or needed, and offers no judgement if things are told to him in confidence or in moments of weakness. He cares more than perhaps he would like others to think, but that is a good thing. It means that everyone has at least one other person looking out for their well being.

Axe is surprisingly gentle and kind. He is a good listener, good at comfort, and will do all he can to try and remedy whatever might ail an ally. One might think that these are traits that I would frown upon-- on the contrary, it makes for a stronger team dynamic. It means that he can be trusted, and without trust, we are nothing. Despite his condition, he is eerily skilled at remembering the finer details of those around him, doubly so if it involves food.

Cross is loyal and unmoving. His resolve is iron-clad, and he works every day to better himself. He might not trust everyone as much as I think he ought to, but that does not mean he will not go to every length possible to protect them. He is also a very strong team leader, and an incredibly skilled warrior in his own right. He is masterful at making decisions in the thick of a battle.

Baggs is unwilling to tolerate anyone's pettiness or feed into their attempts to get a rise out of him. He shuts down any malicious tomfoolery with an almost enviable amount of skill. He is not, however, unkind. Despite some of the disagreements he has stepped in to stop, or any hostility shown towards him, he is a patient doctor who leaves all of that at the door to his lab. He treats all with the professional air and carefulness I hand-selected him for. He is good for the team. It is refreshing to have stern backup.

Ren is astonishingly skilled, and surprises me more every day. They have learned quickly and trained quickly. Their dedication is inspiring, and it makes me immeasurably proud that they have shown such loyalty and willingness to become more than they were for the sake of the team and I. They will be very dangerous indeed once they have a finer grasp on their skill and strategy.

I imagine that the rest of my team has their own opinions on what they like and dislike about one another, but so long as we recognize these faults and exalt these strengths, we may continue to grow better as a collective. Unity is necessary when so much is at stake. Even when the pressing conflict is over, we must continue to work tirelessly at becoming the best that we can be."

[thecleverqueer]

I’m getting on the bus way late, but I feel compelled to defend the Wolfwren ship.

To preface, if it was made to be canon, it would be hugely impactful for the LGBTQ community as a whole for so many reason. In the same breath, however, I don’t see it ever becoming canon. Maybe I’m just jaded by the sheer number of queer-coded people in media with literally zero payoff. Never mind the fact that Lucasfilm is owned by Disney, who despite ring-wing criticisms, are by far the most vanilla, lukewarm media creator who shows literally zero inclination or willingness to “rock the boat” in any capacity. Truly, I would be shocked and nothing they have ever done has shocked me. And, honestly, it doesn’t truly matter either way. People should be allowed to enjoy what they enjoy without people judging or constantly attacking people over it. It’s all fiction regardless. The Wolf and the Wren don’t even exist in reality, so…

Still, the actors involved have obviously embraced it, fed into it, appreciate it, and I think that’s adorable and commendable. I find it incredibly interesting, yet not shocking that Natasha Liu Bordizzo picked up on Sabine’s clear queer-coding (whether purposefully done or not) and ran with it. This isn’t wholly relevant in and of itself, but I’m building to my point.

My point is that I have seen some arguments against Wolfwren that come from very homophobic, comphet places. Gayness still makes many people uncomfortable, and I’ll be honest, that’s on the person that’s being made uncomfortable by it and not the gay in question. Particularly, and since it is now sort of socially unacceptable to outright bash the LGBTQ community, I see A LOT of red herring arguments being made to try and divert attention to the real reasons that they hate it. And, I’m going to discuss one of those arguments that feels like is being made in bad faith.

The argument in question is the comparison to Wolfwren and Reylo. Many anti-wolfwrenners argue that they hate the ship because it reminds them of Reylo, a problematic ship between two people with a borderline abusive power dynamic that weirdly fall in love after a series of very questionable interactions.

And first, let’s be honest, some of these people probably do, at some levels, like and appreciate Reylo and that’s fine. To each their own. But, Wolfwren isn’t anything like Reylo at all. And comparisons truly cannot be made like that here.

Is Wolfwren problematic on the surface based on the happenings of Ahsoka season one alone? Yes. Absolutely. It’s not a washed and folded LGBTQ pairing. It’s not supposed to be. Their relationship has started out in kind of an ugly place. They’ve been gritty and violent. They’ve attempted to kill each other multiple times. That’s madness.

Still, there is no lop-sided power dynamic here though. Kylo Ren was obviously more powerful than Rey, both in the force and by societal position. He was a right hand man to the leader of the First Order. Rey was just a scavenger, rummaging for parts on a backwater planet. He’d studied the force since he was a tot. Rey didn’t even realize she had it. They were not equals. Sabine and Shin are, in every aspect of the word, equals in the story. Shin ultimately gay panics and stabs Sabine in the torso, but Sabine struck first in that skirmish. In fact, Sabine struck first in every battle that she and Shin had. And while Shin did have force powers where Sabine had yet to unlock her own potential, Sabine’s a bad ass. She’s not tradwife material (despite a lot of preconceived notions). She’s a warrior, someone that likely had blasters in her hands before she could write. That is something in and of itself. Sabine is equally capable, if not more so than Shin. Sabine is not a helpless victim just because she got stabbed, she has been an equal participant in every interaction that she and Shin have had.

Another difference is that Shin and Sabine have not lobbed words of hate, disdain or abuse at one another. Shin tells Sabine, “you have no power” then Sabine straight up shoots her with an arm cannon as if to say, “bet”. Other than that, there has been no hateful banter between them. At no point have either of them uttered the words “you’re nothing” while the other stood by in tears. It’s basically been well-matched sword duels where neither has truly gotten the upper hand outside of one lucky strike at the beginning. Sabine was unbalanced.

What truly makes this a decent ship is the “enemies to lovers” dynamic, a plot device that has been used time and time again in media (albeit mostly in cishet connotation where it doesn’t seem to bother other cishets). Shin is not beyond redemption. She isn’t inherently evil. She hasn’t truly abused Sabine outside of fighting back after Sabine went after her. Shin has done nothing other than sword fight with an equal, and follow around a master with questionable values. She is still perfectly capable of a redemptive arc, something that I feel was teased in episode 7 when Ahsoka reached out calmly to Shin saying, “I can help you.” It will not shock me when Shin does turn to the Jedi in the story, where she could and likely will find belonging. With that, she and Sabine could find happiness in a more homo-friendly, less heteronormative society. And if either of them were male and the other female, it would totally be embraced by the larger viewing audience as totally normal and okay.

So yeah… there it is.

[mylackofgrammaristerrifying]

OC prompts!!! for both personality traits and whole ocs!!! trying not to stray too far into any specific genre bc i am a fantasy bitch, so adapt the prompts however you want (or don't use them at all! see how they sit with you):

An OC who hasn't ever been outside in their whole life for whatever reason, is completely out-of-touch with the world, and sees it as beautiful or horrifying.

An OC who knows how and when every person they meet will die. They're so used to death and being aware of when their loved ones will die that they've grown numb to it. But, they never know when or how they die - or if - and that and the guilt of being so detached haunts them.

Two OCs who absolutely hate each other but are forced to live together/share a body/work closely together. There's no tragic background or enemies to lovers stuff (unless you want that) - they just have personalities that clash horribly and both are incredibly petty. But they're stuck together for however long and are fed up, so cue pranks and mild inconveniencing. Maybe there's another OC sat on the sidelines who's on neutral ground and given up, or takes photos.

An OC who is a ball of stress and is terrified of their own voice, but the instant something scary does happen, they are the most calm and 'wow this is happening. oh well' type of people.

An OC who is used to having control (eg. is rich/bossy/influential, a hypnotist/boss/god, etc.) and if their authority is taken away, they don't know what to do to the extent of freezing up. Potential for angst if they like the control they have due to past trauma or fear of something going wrong.

An OC physically incapable of doing something essential to survival from a curse or a species trait, but still lives without (eg. can't sleep, drink, eat, etc.) and is constantly grouchy, foggy, or in pain but tries to cover it up (or doesn't).

An OC who keeps accidentally befriending or adopting people who are very very very traumatised and has become the Group Therapist (TM). They are also very very very traumatised, and are sometimes treated to their own therapy by their group - but they're so used to helping the group that they don't feel they really need it because they should be above it.

An OC who has the most niche, unheard-of, possibly problematic special interest you'll ever find and is obsessed with it, but tries to hold back infodumps. And an OC who loves indulging them and listening to them about it.

An OC who owns a cat café. That's it. That's the prompt. :3

A shapeshifter OC who either feels fully at home in their bodies or never does.

An OC who's stuck in a timeloop of however long and is desperate to get out, or has just got out of one and is processing stuff while trying to act clueless about the future. Angst potential for timeloop trauma and knowing about horrific events and when they take place - and knowing they can't stop some of the things because no one would believe them.

An OC who has trauma or self-hatred for some reason or aspect of them, who meets another OC who went through nearly the same bad stuff and came out the other end (for better or worse.)

Kinda leading on from the previous prompt but could be separate, an OC who meets the future version of themself and doesn't know who they are. Future them is resentful or overly happy for reasons they don't explain, so they either avoid them or become friends with them, to the future self's hatred or confusion.

An OC who is terrified of lightning, but loves stormy weather. Enjoying the torrential rain and wind until lightning flashes and then they're screaming.

Morally questionable OC. You know you want to :)

Uni's childhood friends (or lack thereof). Was it a good relationship and dynamic they had? Was Uni the leader of the group/two of them or were they a follower? Did they feel left out or did they accidentally/purposefully leave others out?

Uni's closest family member(s)!

The fighting OCs you drew - what are their fears? Weaknesses? Strengths? Why do they fight - out of honour, fear, bloodlust? Secret pining for the other? (/jk)

could do more but gotta do stuff........... will def send more in another time, but these are probably enough for now haha. stars i got carried away (and used caps??? what is this dark sorcery /silly)

may use one or two of these ideas myself tbh lol but if we both use the same ones then yay!! twinsies!!

hope these help! :D

OH MY GOSH I LLVE THEM ALL!! I’ll tag you in the drawings I’ll likely only use a few but I appreciate this so much! That’s artsy! And please do use these as your own because they are :))

[randomlonelymusician]

Giving "problematic" BL a chance - Love Stage!!

I've been watching (or rewatching) some BL anime that have been deemed problematic to see really how bad they are... or if there's anything good in them!

Warning for the unfortunately usual BL tropes! And some spoilers!

Synopsis

To those not familiar with the anime, Love Stage!! follows Izumi, a guy who was a stand-in for a female actress in a commercial while younger, and Ryouma, his counterpart in said commercial. The thing is, Ryouma believes Izumi is a girl and holds feelings for him for ten years after the shoot. And during a ten year anniversary for the commercial, Izumi and Ryouma are reunited... only for Ryouma to learn Izumi is a guy. Chaos ensues, and the problematic romance begins.

The Good

Overall, I actually enjoyed the series. It's very hard to take seriously and somewhat cringeworthy at times, but it's ridiculous enough to keep me coming back. I genuinely enjoyed watching Izumi and Ryouma bounce off each other in all their ridiculousness. While their romance didn't feel especially natural to me (especially due to some events I will mention later), they definitely had chemistry in other ways. I also found Izumi to be a likeable lead who had a story besides just the romance. He's an otaku and has a dream of being a mangaka, despite his parents wanting him to get into show business like them. He's also pretty clearly bisexual, which is always nice to see. There's also a real discussion about s*x that wasn't too weird or awkward, which was really nice to see in a genre this ridiculous. Also, they're adults? Low bar, I know, but this is BL from 2014.

The Bad

Like an unfortunate amount of BLs, there are multiple cases of SA and harassment. There's an earlier scene where Ryouma tries to force himself on Izumi, playing into the "I just can't help myself" trope. There's another scene in the latter half of the series that involves Izumi and a group of men. Both scenes are incredibly uncomfortable to watch, especially with how casually they're played off. To give credit where credit's due, Izumi is traumatized by both occurrences, but they fact that they're both played off as no big deal by everyone around him and he later gets into a relationship with his abuser is just not okay. On a far, far lesser note, it does play into the "tall masculine" and "meek feminine" tropes. And there are definitely some intimate scenes that do feel more like fanservice than natural relationship buildup.

Final Thoughts

Besides those seriously horrible aspects... I did have fun watching it. While the episodes with the assaults were very uncomfortable, most of the other episodes were just funny or enjoyable. I do really understand why people would avoid this. Also, side note, like a lot of BL, I really did not like the art style, but at least it's not a big offender of the Yaoi Chin™. And while I can't really comment on the overall f*tishy-ness of the whole thing, it just felt... really mild? I thought it would be a lot worse with the amount of hate it gets. Honestly, there's a lot of series that are worse offenders of these tropes that get a lot more love.

TLDR: Love Stage is problematic and has some really gross moments, but besides that is genuinely entertaining and quite funny. Overall, it's a lot more mild than it's often made out to be.

Do I recommend? Not really. Unless you really want some trashy shoujo to cringe and laugh at. Is it good representation? No, but it's no where near the worst I've seen.

You can find it on Crunchyroll or Hidive, btw.

[balanceoflightanddark]

With my hands I fight for Lord Zuko and our forefathers before him

One of the most popular routes for an Azula redemption arc is for her to be an ally of Zuko. Whether to be an advisor or some kind of high-ranking official that handles the dirty business of running the Fire Nation while Zuko handles the more public stuff like handling reformations and rebuilding the Earth Kingdom that was devastated during the war. I can certainly understand how this can work since Azula is given a say in the future of the Fire Nation and is allowed to serve its best interests in a post-war setting.

There's just one problem: often Azula is made to be subservient to Zuko. That now that she's serving him, she's a good guy now that Zuko acts as a sort of morality leash that keeps her from going too far.

This...doesn't actually solve her problems.

Part of her issues in canon stems from her blind loyalty and faith to the only person who ever showed her some form of kindness: Ozai. Something that meant she didn't dare question any of his actions and poisoned her relationship with Zuko. And inevitably (and tragically), that something that led to her downfall since her loyalty meant she couldn't be swayed by series end.

Having her swear fealty to Zuko, the new Fire Lord, is not solving the problem. She's just exchanging one master for another. None of the issues which caused her breakdown are not addressed. It's that blind loyalty aspect except for another leader. Considering that part of the reason for the Fire Nation's indoctrination is swearing absolute loyalty to the Fire Lord as seen in their anthem:

"My life I give to my country. With my hands I fight for Lord Ozai and our forefathers before him. With my mind I seek ways to better my country. And with my feet may our March of Civilization continue."

...could you imagine how it would look when one of the Fire Nation's old guard falls into this mindset with Zuko? That's not reformation. That's just placing a new and better ruler in charge without fixing anything.

Not to mention how...pretty damn sexist this whole thing is that Azula being good equals submitting to the authority of her brother on the basis that she should've known better than to defy him being the eldest song. Forgive for asking, but doesn't that seem problematic to the umpteenth degree. Especially since in canon Zuko was a pretty crappy brother? I'm sorry, but Azula redeeming herself by putting her brother's needs before hers is incredibly offensive for those that actually do sympathize and see her plight.

Can Azula being an ally of Zuko work? Absolutely. But these potholes are something that a lot of writers (including Bryke and Yang) keep falling into without realizing the implications behind them. If Azula is to be properly redeemed and for this storyline to work, she needs to come to this position of her own volition. No strings attached. No conditions. It needs to be her decision and her decision alone.

Azula's ultimate tragedy is that she never had much free will. Taking that away from her to serve someone else's will is not the way. Give her choice though, the choice to forge her own path, and now she's in a position to truly heal herself.