#confronting generational prejudice is another thing entirely

[liyazaki]

the day after tomorrow & the following days, I’ll continue to tell you that I love you.

GAP the series | official trailer

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I'm not sure if you've answered a question like this before but do you think Sebek would feel less insecure about his human-fae heritage if he became acquainted (or even friends) with someone similar at NRC? Or would he just end up projecting his own struggles onto them?

It'd be a different story if he grew up with one in Briar Valley, but I'm not caught up on the lore enough to know how common mixed fae-humans are there 😅

I don’t think it would make a significant difference.

Firstly, the impression I get is that mixed fae-humans are rare, since fae are unlikely to mingle outside of their kind (pixies and Briar Valley fae behave similarly and are suspicious of non-fae; only the Dwarves seem to be friendly with humans). The chances of Sebek being even finding someone of his kind are low. Recall too that nocturnal fae (which Sebek is descended from) have beef with diurnal fae, so even if Sebek were to run into a mixed fae like him, he might still clash with them on the basis of that difference in background.

Another point I’d like to make is that one person for like a year or so may not be “enough” to totally change Sebek’s mind. Think about it. The way you’re describing it, Sebek has still grown up in Briar Valley his entire life and comes to NRC still carrying the attitudes he grew up with and the experiences of being looked down on by full fae. One encounter at school won’t be sufficient to counteract what is basically a lifetime’s worth of isolation and self-loathing. That just isn’t how character growth works; it’s a steady thing that you have to actively work toward.

As an example, Epel does not instantly shake off his views on traditional gender roles in book 5 just because he met Vil and lived under his dorm. Exposure alone isn’t “enough”. Epel has to be challenged and shown the error of his ways, as well as actually gain a respect for Vil’s perspective and then learn to overcome his own prejudices. A similar thing happens in book 7 when Sebek is confronted by the bigotry of his grandfather, which reflects his own attitudes towards his human peers. Again, he is being challenged and forced to face these unsavory aspects of himself and sees how that shows in others. It’s a process far more complex than simply meeting and/or befriending someone like you and realizing on your own, “oh hey, maybe I was wrong”. Sebek has to put in the work to change.

Looking at Sebek’s current circle also doesn’t yield any… hopeful results? He looks up to Lilia so much yet also puts up resistance and ignores advice from him to be more kind to non-fae. Note also that Sebek, despite being friends with Silver (a full-blooded human), he still holds a bad opinion of humans in general. It didn’t make him magically not racist or more understanding of humans when so much of his socialization fell outside of that purview. If anything, Sebek just acts like Silver is “one of the good ones” rather than his friendship with Silver making him more accepting of other humans.

Finally, I don’t think just the presence or the befriending of another person like him would change Sebek by itself. It would depends a lot on what type of person that other guy is. Who knows, maybe they’re just as bigoted and agree with his thoughts. It could also result in a scenario where Sebek feels comfortable staying in his own little echo chamber and refuses to venture beyond that. In another case, Sebek could very easily warp his views to confirm the narrative that already exists in his head. He could very easily tell himself “yes, this person is fine because they, too, have fae blood in them”. (Think of how many bigots use the “but I have a [insert marginalized group here] friend so I can’t be [X]ist!” excuse to justify their own terrible stances.) There are many ways this could go wrong or perpetuate what he already believes in. Confirmation bias is a thing!

[bastetwastaken]

Writeblr intro

Hey! I’ve been around on tumblr for a while now, and have been writing for probably the best part of fifteen years but actually only posting publicly for the last three. I’ve only ever posted fanfic, but I never stopped writing original things, I’ve just never felt able to share any of it until now. So here’s a little intro for me and my writing!

General stuff:

Call me Bastet, it’s what most know me as so it’ll just be easier

In my (very) late twenties

Living in the UK.

Other hobbies outside of writing include reading, crocheting, cross stitching, hiking and spending time with my three cats.

Bi-Ace, more sex neutral.

My anxiety can make it hard for me to post consistently, but I will ALWAYS talk about my wips with anyone willing to listen to me ramble, just be prepared for those rambles to get looooooong.

Themes in my writing:

For anyone who knows me, I think it’s safe to say I lean very much toward the cliche romance which aims to leave you wanting to gag on the sweetness whilst embracing the fuzzy warmth in your chest.

I hate sad endings. My characters will always have happy ones… eventually.

I try to keep my writing light since the real world makes us all suffer enough, so any angst will usually be light touch and always necessary to the character and or plot. I do make my OCs suffer sometimes, but not needlessly.

A focus on realistic characters, character growth and character traits.

What am I working on right now?

Untitled (titles are hard) A fantasy romance between a human and the demon who accidentally saved his life.

The general plot will follow both characters as they help each other (unintentionally at first) to heal and learn, to grow together as individuals. The human gets his opportunity to confront a past which has left him feeling empty inside and unable to form meaningful relationships, and the demon gets the chance to learn a little about what it means to be human. Their first meeting turns into a deal which binds them together, then a friendship neither thought they were capable of having, and eventually something more.

The main characters: Aviditas, Avi for short, an Incubus and Silk (placeholder name) a human.

Other fun stuff:

Demonic magic

Incubus antics

Character development and growth

Healing and comfort

A little slow burn but it’s more because these two are just idiots, with Silk thinking he’s so undeserving of any kind of care on account of past events and Avi being conditioned in Hell to believe that demons are incapable of any sort of feeling that it takes them a WHILE to work things out and actually talk.

Fun tropey romance!

I’ve tried to keep this short for the sake of everyones sanity but I will talk endlessly about this story and the characters if anyone would like to know more. (But I’ll also be posting more about them anyway so…)

---------

Fate or Fatuity? (working title) Another fantasy romance! No surprises here. This time, following the sons of two feuding kings who meet entirely by chance and gradually grow closer.

The general plot follows the characters as they navigate their feelings, potential conflict between their kingdoms, and how to keep their relationship a secret until they can figure it all out.

The main characters: Ilua, an elf and prince of Luceras and Akoni, a Deorum and prince of Tuath De.

This story takes place in a world of my own creation called Miotas, which draws on Celtic mythology and folklore. It includes a generous amount of magic to balance out the politics, and as with all of my writing, the romance is light and fun. Spoiler alert: there’s a happy ending.

Other fun stuff:

Elven pride getting in the way of a lot of things

Instant attraction

A little bit of deception since Akoni first meets Ilua whilst he's disguised as someone else to sneak into the Deorum kingdom.

Fun tropey romance!

Magic, who doesn’t love magic?

Overcoming prejudices.

---------

And I’ll stop myself there otherwise this is going to be way too long.

I’ve seen people use taglists, as I’m just starting out I don’t have one existing but if you’d like to be added to one please just let me know and I’ll do so ^.^ Specify a story, or just go all in and get tagged for everything and anything I say about these stories. I’m also looking for other writers to just chat with about original writing, as coming from a fanfic background I’ve been struggling to find that, so please feel free to drop me a DM if you wanna chat

Thanks for reading <3

[ceasarslegion]

On the note of that last reblogs tags i think we need to stop this trend of taking one part of somebodys story as a representation of the whole story. I think, instead of seeing someones problematic art and saying "oh they must have been a raging racist and a terrible person all the way down" we should take a moment to step back and ask "what happened after?" and even "why did he believe these things? What was the sociopolitical environment he was in? And how did that change when he was confronted with reality?"

Like, lets use dr suess as an example. He was a liberal democrat who opposed war and fascism during a time when anti-war wasnt a popular position at all and antifascism was only popular because it was the ideology of america's war enemy. And he supported japanese internment and drew some pretty racist cartoons. I completely understand why the second thing is bad, don't take me for an idiot or a defender of such actions, and im not saying you have to forgive that wholeheartedly and koombaya with him in whatever the afterlife is if you believe in that stuff, but I am saying that it's disingenuous to act like that was where his story ended regarding his racial views.

If you ask yourself why an anti-war, antifascist liberal democrat would be racist, you get a few answers: maybe he was an asshole, or maybe something about his sociopolitical environment was causing him to believe that racism was compatible with his political views. Either way doesnt change the outcome of said racism, but the latter posibility can be reached and changed if it's handled right, which is worth pursuing.

If you dig a little deeper into the why of his particular case, you'll find this quote: "But right now, when the Japs are planting their hatchets in our skulls, it seems like a hell of a time for us to smile and warble: "Brothers!" It is a rather flabby battle cry. If we want to win, we've got to kill Japs, whether it depresses John Haynes Holmes or not. We can get palsy-walsy afterward with those that are left."

Awful thing to say about an entire race of people. Makes you a bit sick to your stomach, doesn't it? But if you step back from your initial emotional response and peel back the layers here, you'll find that underneath the racism and prejudice, of which im not denying there is, he's basically saying "I think there is a direct enemy of freedom and liberty that needs to be squashed in order to protect others." Whether or not he was right or wrong doesn't change that that was what he thought and believed, which is a pretty liberal democrat position (even before the party switch) misdirected to an entire group of people whom their place in the war was not the fault of their race.

Dr suess was the type of racist who can be reached. It actually doesn't take a lot to do the reaching itself, the main work comes from whether or not the person is willing to accept that they were wrong and put in the effort to change their ways. Which, if you just end at that terribly disgusting thing he said about Japanese people, you don't see how he actually felt and acted at the end.

Do more digging and you'll find that when the war ended, he was confronted with the realities of japanese internment and how he once cried support for such a terrible practice. These people arent nazis by birth, they're just people being generalized with the actions of their government. Many were born and raised multi generation american citizens being treated like war criminals in their own home when they had nothing to do with the nazis overseas. (Sound a bit familiar regarding the social treatment of individual russians these days? That's a post for another day though)

Dr suess wasnt stupid, its also disingenuous to act like prejudice is a failure of intellect. He was a real smart guy, and after being yanked out of his bubble he completely overhauled his views and disavowed his previous statements and racism. And you also have to remember that he wasnt a politician, he was a childrens book author who did the occasional political cartoon. His power over these systems one way or another was always pretty minimal, but he did do what he could in his position: he wrote another book basically saying "I was wrong, and I'm deeply sorry. I see why I was wrong now" which was Horton Hears A Who. The one with the famous "A person's a person, no matter how small" line that was about remembering the humanity of those you're too disconnected or different from to see right away.

If you think thats too little too late, that's your opinion and you're entitled to it, but at least hold that opinion after knowing the whole story. And maybe don't end the judgement of people, especially historical figures, conveniently where the most rage bait can come from. Like I said, I'm not saying you have to love him and forgive everything he ever did just because he realized he was wrong and changed his ways, but I am saying that if you're going to judge somebody, you do in fact have to judge their whole character and not just the cherry pick the parts that make for the most outrage. Framing someone like dr suess as a full stop racist just isnt accurate unless you're talking about a very specific timeframe in his life. It's more complicated than that, regardless of how you feel about the racism itself, which isn't my place to tell you how to feel about.

[misscrawfords]

1,4,9,10,18 and 28 for the Austen asks. :)

Favorite Austen Heroine

Elizabeth Bennet. I know I'm basic but hey. I relate to her a lot (see previous post) and I just think she's so charming and clever and funny but also deeply flawed and has to do so much growing up.

4. Favorite quote from the books

I don't even know where to begin here! I love Mr. Collins' list of reasons for marrying ending with "and thirdly - which perhaps I should have mentioned earlier -" before going on to talk about Lady Catherine. I love "Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery". I love all of the catty asides about secondary characters - Miss Bingley saying what only made herself miserable, Dick Musgrove only deserving the abbreviation of his name... I love "we fainted alternately on the sofa" from Love and Freindship. More seriously, I love Henry Tilney's quote about how "no man is offended by another man's admiration of the woman he loves, it is the woman only who can cause pain" because BOOM TRUTH and it works for both genders. Also the sardonic "A lady's admiration is very rapid, it goes from admiraton to love, from love to matrimony in a moment" because, well, also true! Every line is quotable lbr. (Except that all of these are misquotes because I can't be bothered to look them up.)

9. Most hated foe of a heroine

Lucy Steele. Look, at a time in my life I sort of knew a Lucy Steele and so I really feel personally and viscerally how much her behaviour could hurt Elinor. The circumstances and personalities weren't the same but nevertheless I cannot stand the two-facedness of it and the crowing over getting the man your so-called friend wants. I hate it. I hate this behaviour so much. My own Lucy Steel kind of messed me up quite a bit so... yeah. She's a bit too close to home.

10. Most frustrating family member

Look. There are so many candidates for this. SO MANY. Every novel has a host of absolute winners for this award. I think I'm going to go with General Tilney as my number one, beating notable contenders such as Mr. Woodhouse, Mrs. Bennet, Sir Walter Elliot, Mr. Collins...

General Tilney does all the right things. But he's rotten to the core. You spend time with him and you hate it and you feel uncomfortable but you can't put your finger on why. As his children, you watch as all your friends arrive at your house ready for fun and leave depleted and they don't know why but they're a bit less eager to visit you the next time and it's really odd because they love you so much... General Tilney does nothng wrong socially. But he also does everything wrong. It must have been hell being his child. He's going to be such an exhausting father-in-law and you can't even pick on a particular thing to complain about.

18. Moment that made you smile/happy while reading

So many! But I'll go back to my earliest experiences of reading Pride and Prejudice as an 8 year old. I adored Mr. Collins' proposal and Lady Catherine's confrontation with Elizabeth. They made me laugh so much. I just loved the drama and the silliness.

28. Favorite character backstory or secret

It's got to be Frank and Jane. There's an entire extra novel there about what actually went on in Weymouth. Brilliant stuff and their eventual happiness so uncertain...

But a solid second prize has to go to Eleanor Tilney and Viscount Laundry List. Bless them!

Austen Asks

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

And another list from, @kevaaronday. These are their all time faves! (if you are interested in doing a list please IM me)

Our Kind of Nuts by ericaismeg

(1/1 I 22,553 I General I Sterek)

Stiles doesn't know that reaching out to Erica, a girl from his Psych class, is going to change his entire life. All he wanted was a quiet place to study. Suddenly, he's becoming best friends with Erica, getting a tutor from Boyd, going crazy over this guy who is quite passionate about Pride and Prejudice named Derek, being supportive to Lydia, finding some weird peace treaty with Jackson, and inviting Erica's best friend to live with him, Scott, and Jackson for a bit.

He didn't expect things to turn out like this, but hell, he's not complaining one bit.

Bicycle Flavored Ice Cream by words_reign_here

(1/1 I 29,083 I Teen I Sterek)

Derek finally has everything where it should be. His pack is good, strong, back from college and they are a cohesive team. Other than the occasional witch, hunters and blip in the road, this is what it should have always been like. A pack in the Hale house, watching out for Beacon Hills.

Possessiveness, Miscommunication and Jealousy by Moonbeam (luvsbitca)

(14/14 I 51,789 I Teen I Sterek)

Some people from Derek’s life before the show come to visit and none of the pack are happy about it, especially when one of them starts picking on Stiles.

Those Are The Days That Bind Us by s_a_m

(5/5 I 52,171 I Mature I Sterek)

His father wasn’t stupid. He was an officer of the law, trained to look for patterns. He confronted Stiles about werewolves and they shouted and Stiles tried to explain but his father was so, so, so mad, more mad than Stiles had ever seen him, ever in all his life and then his father looked at him and said,

“It’s like you’re not my son anymore.”

And Stiles broke.

The Quickest Way to a Man’s Heart (is Through His Bottomless Pit) by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)

(1/1 | 54,167 | Explicit | Sterek)

Pulling open his apartment door, he let out an involuntary shout when something was quite literally thrust into his chest hard enough to have him almost tip backwards. He managed to right himself while keeping hold of what had been shoved at him and looked up in time to see his neighbour striding back towards his apartment.

“You’re going to fucking kill yourself.”

His door slammed.

Stiles blinked at the other man’s door, utterly confused, and looked down at what he was holding.

It was a plastic bag, full of what felt like tupperware, which made no sense to Stiles because when had his neighbour broken into his house to steal his tupperware?

stuck in reverse by crazyassmurdererwall (smartalli)

(1/1 I 65,656 I Explicit I Sterek)

Look, Derek is the worst. Everyone knows that. Their fearless leader is a total and complete failwolf.

Which means the rest of them? Are kind of the worst too. They’re a ramshackle, slap dashed, sorry excuse for a pack that’s about a half second away from getting one of them killed. And this is a problem, because Stiles would really like to survive high school. Thanks.

Still, nobody deserves what Derek has gone through. Nobody.

And it’s about time somebody told him that.

Seeing Wolves (Where There Are No Wolves) by MellytheHun

(16/16 I 71,305 I Explicit I Sterek)

Or otherwise known as "Derek Goes to the Doctor," wherein Derek gets the therapy he so desperately needs and gets healthy. The clearer his head gets, the more room it seems to have for Stiles.

The Unkindness of Valravn by TaliskerMortem

(28/28 I 72,899 I Not Rated I Sterek)

They are rare, almost unheard of. Only Lydia seems to recognize the word. Valravn. The Raven People. They descend on Beacon Hills in their hour of need. Obliterating the enemy. At their head? A man dress in black. A man covered in tattoos. A man they all knew.

OR: The one in which Stiles hasn't been back to Beacon Hills in seven years, during which he visited Europe, was attacked by a raven and turned into a shifter, has lots of tattoos and is now the Alpha of his little ragtag group of Valravne.

Divided We Stand by KouriArashi

(29/29 I 156,742 I Mature I Sterek)

Derek is being pressured by his family to pick a mate, and somehow stumbles into a choice that they didn't expect and aren't sure they approve of....

Indelible Marks by billtheradish

(87/87 I 275,695 I Mature I Sterek)

The house never burned. The pack is strong. Derek will never need to be the alpha, and his sister is a troll. (Actually, most of his family is like that.)

Derek is an apprentice tattoo artist, and Stiles isn't old enough to get ink of his own yet. But that doesn't stop him from being interesting...

[dnpanimationstudioclone]

Sweet High Guardian: Sage🌿🔮

      Made another rewrite/redesign of the main four. This time, I did the old-school magic witch girl, Sage! Description: 

     “ Growing up in the small town of Pebble with her best friend Rosemary, she grew up sheltered and longing to explore more in life. At a young age, she was taught by her family the old ways and traditions of magic, becoming a bit of a prodigy, well experienced in the land and it’s magical elements. Enough she even got some special attention and offered a chance into High Guardian Academy! Anxious but ambitious, she along with Rose, set out to finally explore the world! Though even as a prodigy, she has a lot to learn from the Academy and Lyngarth, especially about new magic, something her overprotective family tried to keep away from her. She’ll have to step out of her comfort zone, open her mind and try not to fly into a tree with her terra-sphere. Already failed there but at least she’s still trying. Though how much will new magic and everything else change her? How much will things change between her and Rosemary? Will she still be the same Sage?”.

Character: 

     She’s not too different from her old self either like Rosemary. She’s still kind and caring but shy and anxious, curious to learn about new magic. Using old magic her whole life, something a lot of people don’t practice as much now a days, she along with old magic tend to be looked down by people such as Amaryllis in more favour of new magic and even face prejudice. This tends to make her a bit more insecure than she is already.            Regardless she’s proud if perhaps sometimes insecure of her roots and hopes to show people there’s still value to it. At the same time, she also wants to understand new magic and new ideas in general, even if it can be stressful and overwhelming for her, sometimes…ok a lot. She’s very ambitious and despite her fears, wants to prove something to everyone and the world, that she can handle it which can sometimes make her make her overzealous and lose herself in the heat of things.

        I want to deconstruct her and Rose’s relationships, “two different friends who despite all their quirks, help balance each other out”, Rose has been her biggest support in life, and she’s always put Rose’s and others wants and needs before her own as well as keep Rose so far from getting herself killed. Overtime as they change and Rose makes more friends, Sage struggles with the huge change in their relationship, eventually having to confront how much they depend on each other so much, to the point of it being somewhat co-dependent and needing to be more independent for not just becoming a Guardian but from each other as well.            I also think her having some outdated values could work, like the stuff she said to Snapdrgaon about girls and guys in ep 6. Growing up in a traditional family/enviroment she may believe in things that wouldn’t be up to date, today, perhaps even problematic. Not only will she be learning new things but also re-learning some old views and ideas. At the same time she also doesn’t want to have to change her entire identity just for others to like her more and forget her roots, old magic and self. She has A LOTTTTTTTTTT on her mind.

     She’s also not as worried about her family disapproving her practicing new magic as they understood she’d most likely be learning it but can still act a bit overprotective and advise her to be very careful. This makes her both a bit anxious but also cautious, using new magic, understanding that despite it being easy, doesn’t mean there’s no costs.

Redesign: 

* The biggest criticism for her canon design is that it’s too bland, even if it’s meant to have the traditional witch look🧙‍♀️ So I added different colors and designs to help make it stand out better. I used cool and more mellow colors in contrast to Rose’s brighter and warmer colours.  * They never specified her ethnicity so I decided to make her Latina-coded. I went for a mix with the traditional witch look, with traditional floral designs and fashions of Mexican culture🇲🇽 Encanto, Coco and other designs online were huge inspiration for her outfit. I also wanted to have a bit of a cottage-core look, for her simpler-lifestyle origins. Also changed her face to have more Hispanic features. Gave her braids, got huge inspiration from Encanto. Also bc I think they’re cute on her and fit her witch vibe🧙‍♀️ * Made her a bit more on the overweight side. I wanted to make her body type look different from Rose’s who’s on the more fit side. * Changed her eyes from red to purple💜  * Kept her name as I think Sage is a good witch name, especially since sage has been used for things such as healing and in fantasy stories, magic and witchcraft. I wanted her design to say that more, from the sage on her hat to the designs on her apron. I even made the under brim of her hat look like a leaf🍃 I wanted her to have a more floral/plant motif, close to nature 🌸🌿  * Gave her leggings. As a witch who goes on a broom a lot I’d wanna make sure I have something under so people don’t see too much under my dress👗 * Wanted to give her a type of baking, cooking look for the food theme👩‍🍳Gave her an apron since she does traditional witch stuff like make potions so it’d be good to keep he dress from getting messy. Also gave her a a belt with mini pouches for extra storage for magic ingredients. * Put her terrasphere on her hat instead. Because of her connection with nature, the terrapsher takes form as a giant sage flower, wrapping itself around her hat with sage. Thought it’d add more to her hat too.

* Wanted to give her a circle motif with her terrasphere and in her design, added other round details such as her berry designs on her apron and beauty marks🟣 * Gave her two beauty marks on two of her cheeks. Also for the circle motif and in Hispanic culture, they’re considered a symbol of beauty. And I thought it’d be something interesting to add on her face like giving Rose freckles. Plus I read on different sides, they can mean different things. On the right, it means you’re a caring person who values friends and family and on the other side, it means you’re more introverted and perhaps even arrogant or self absorbed.

Fun Facts: 

      Headcanon VA’s. Cristina Vee, plays Marinette from ML and Marjolaine from Little Witch Academia, Eden Sher who plays Star from Svtfoe or Katherine Lynn Rose who’s behind ATLA musical.

     Skills: knowledgeable in old magic, especially nature-related magic, high in intelligence and resourcefulness, ambitious and also knows baking skills, especially for anything magic related.

     Weaknesses: Struggles using new magic, anxious, doesn’t do great under pressure and low in confidence and strength.

     Staff is relatively the same, but has more plants on it and it’s curled to the sphere more🧙‍♀️      With her name and powers being close to nature, she could be a nature witch🌿 There are other types and Sage would be one that uses nature related magic.       Smells like sage a lot🌿

     Carries around a backpack with her for more storage for spell and potion making. Even has a mini cauldron.

     Also 15 in this version like Rose.         What do u think of her? I’d love to know💖 Here’s a link to my redesign of Rosemary 

https://dnpanimationstudioclone.tumblr.com/post/672131315016105984/sweet-high-guardian-rosemary 

And a link to my rewrite she’s based on.

https://dnpanimationstudioclone.tumblr.com/post/670781719289511936/high-guardian-spice-redo

[ginjointsintheworld]

I agree with you that wealth is what the audience seems to have latched onto between Lauren and Leyla but I think the narrative sort of supported that. Or maybe didn’t do enough to make people think otherwise. It seemed like right before episode 10, they changed direction on how they wanted to handle things when all season they’d been making the donation less about money and more about trust and Lauren’s abandonment issues. I was surprised Leyla said what she said but also surprised that she didn’t really speak more on trust or the fact that Lauren lied to her because other than wanting to earn things, that seemed like the most pressing issue. I imagine their first conversation will be quite tense but I don’t know they’ll solve this at all because Lauren apologizing isn’t going to fix everything and Leyla is rightfully hurt. Dropping short conversations in every other episode like they usually do with personal issues won’t really work. Especially if Leyla doesn’t even work there anymore. Which also doesn’t make sense to me because having her switch the general surgery was a perfect out, even if temporary.

i see where you're coming from and i respect that. in my viewing perspective, it still feels relatively in line with what's been set up so far and not so much like there was a major pivot in intentions from the writers yet. they were pretty consistent with focusing on the earned aspect of it even up to 4x09 when floyd was bringing up residency spots himself. the only reason he even mentioned it was because he equated the extra spot with the idea that leyla was so talented and bright that the board, powers that be, what have you, created another spot for her because they couldn't pass her up. the only time it's really been tied to the money aspect is when fuentes used it to blackmail lauren and well. that was something else entirely.

in the second confrontation, leyla opens snapping at lauren for lying at the end of 3x14 about leyla earning her residency spot. and i know leyla was seething but given her silence when lauren was talking about trying to make the dean see that they were unfairly overlooking leyla, that their relationship couldn't survive the long distance, i'm not sure if she was going to bring up the money aspect herself. i think lauren's 'i would write a million dollar check to keep us together' comment (dear god you well intentioned but dumb egg that was hands down the wrong thing to say in that moment) triggered leyla's spiral. plus i don't think characters saying things in the heat of the hurt and moment always means it's right or true. take helen for example in 4x05. she said some truly awful things to iggy that weren't true to his character and intentions but she felt betrayed after witnessing his testimony at the trial and that clouded her.

as for the lack of focus or talk about trust and lauren's abandonment issues, to me, that's more because i don't think lauren herself has confronted that aspect of it so we're getting ahead of the (potential) plot at this point. all leyla's heard so far from lauren's side is that she did it as a response to the residency director's prejudice and doubt that their relationship could survive across a country. i don't expect her as the one who was wronged in this situation to be able to see through to lauren's deeper core reason when even lauren doesn't realize it yet. right now as of 4x10 it's like page 1, chapter 1, first paragraph, of the fallout. i know it's hard to sit with the unknown of what's to come, especially when we were left with that conversation going into a hiatus but that's something i try to keep in mind.

don't get me wrong, i 10000 times out of 10000 would take leyla switching to general surgery for the distance instead of this will she stay, will she go, angle. but given how fraudulent leyla feels her place is at NA right now and how closely tied the place is to lauren, i, though unhappily, can understand why she doesn't want to be near it and that narratively, leyla will have to return on her own terms. but as schulner said in an interview, some unexpected turns that brings them together and pulls them apart so. i have a feeling leyla won't be leaving the place behind that easily.

i'm not expecting one apology or conversation to fix everything but i do think it'll be a very important start. i'd love it if we could have an episode of them sitting down and discussing this whole situation like martin and iggy got in s2 but if the writers can cohesively tie their moments together throughout so that it's continual progress, i'm not gonna lie, i can accept that. but that's me and right now we're all just speaking on hypotheticals. i may be completely wrong here and end s4 with egg and pie on my face looking like a giant fool but. time will tell i guess?

[stevenuniversallyreviews]

I don’t need you to respect me, I respect me

I’m gonna miss writing about Amethyst.

As the most sisterly Crystal Gem, a firebrand in the new role of middle child after spending millennia as the baby of the group, Amethyst’s story is about growing from a wild teen to a responsible adult. Like Steven, she feels the need to prove that she’s a Crystal Gem too, but unlike Steven, she already is a Crystal Gem, so she carries a different kind of resentment as she continues to be treated like a child. It’s made even worse by her warrior instincts clashing with her small frame: she lives with the constant anxiety that she’s a mistake, a Gem who came out wrong and doesn’t belong in her family, so she comforts and distracts herself with hedonism and shapeshifting. Her problem goes beyond not feeling respected: deep down, she fears that she doesn’t deserve respect.

But she changes her mind.

“This isn’t normal.”

The Return and Jailbreak culminated the first act of Steven Universe, giving our characters subtle achievements (Amethyst and Pearl casually fuse into Opal, Greg reveals a deeper understanding of the Gems than we once thought, Beach City comes together as a community when Steven is in danger) and huge changes (Steven summons a massive shield, Garnet’s status as a fusion is confirmed, Lapis goes from prisoner to imprisoner). While not an official finale, Beta and Earthlings culminated the second act, narrowing the focus to five characters as they each reach one milestone or another: Lapis and Amethyst find a level of peace, Peridot defends her new home, Jasper succumbs to corruption, and Steven helps his friends but fails to help his enemy.

In a way, Change Your Mind culminates the third act with an even narrower focus. Sure, it gives big moments to a ton of characters (there’s fanservice galore, and we see the three Diamonds in particular take enormous steps), but we zero in on Steven in the same way the entire act has zeroed in on Steven, because this is a story about identity. It isn’t only about who he is, but who he wants to be moving forward, and fusing all the insights he’s learned from his human family, his Crystal Gem family, and his Diamond family into a song that encapsulates his growth over the course of the series.

We start in the most lifelike of the Diamond dreams, so real that Steven still sees himself as Steven rather than embodying Pink. Once again, this connection emerges from sleeping in a location where Pink once dwelled, but while he wasn’t feeling her impatience and rage in Jungle Moon, nor her hardening resolve in Can’t Go Back, nor her whimsy in Familiar, this time they share the same headspace when they’re both locked in a tower.

Considering how bombastic things get in this episode, I love how low-key this final dream remains until White Diamond interferes. We’re as lost as Steven at first, worrying about Connie and baffled at Blue’s recognizable mood but incongruous accusations, but as the truth becomes clear, he transforms into Pink off-screen without any fanfare, both in body and in mind: Steven isn’t questioning Blue’s warning about Pink Pearl, Pink Diamond is apologizing for her own behavior in Zach Callison’s voice. Still, looking down jolts him out of it, and after seeing the Crystal Gems poofed at the ball for a more definitive Steven memory, we cycle in Rose’s horror at her family launching a final attack on Earth. The rapid-fire identity shifts that follow inspired the most haunting piece of promo art for the episode, drawn by Rebecca Sugar herself, but I didn’t wanna display it without a seizure warning.

It’s excellent exposition, hitting the highlights of the Diamonds’ many wrongs and establishing Steven’s fraying sense of self in a way that’s both artful and brief; it’s important to remind younger viewers about the stakes, but Change Your Mind doesn’t pretend that anyone should be watching this episode without context, so it doesn’t prioritize thorough explanation. And despite how frightening the nightmare becomes, Steven gains a new sense of clarity after seeing the pattern laid out in front of him. The Diamonds are hurting him in the same way they hurt his mother, and if he’s going to help everyone, he needs to help himself.

When Blue Diamond returns to the tower in modern day, Steven isn’t afraid, and he isn’t alone. The first of many puns riddling the finale emerges (“Déjà Blue!”) before Connie proves why she’s the perfect partner for our hero, platonic or otherwise. He’s terrible at confronting the people that hurt him—this would require him to acknowledge he’s hurt in the first place, which he’s also terrible at—but if she was comfortable enough with confrontation to call out her best friend when he wrongs her, Blue Diamond doesn’t stand a chance. Connie comes out swinging, loading the bases with candor and sass despite Blue’s confusion over why a human even gets an opinion about this stuff, which makes Steven’s refusal to apologize hit the Diamond like a grand slam.

I love that Steven’s flat “no” takes Connie by surprise as well as Blue, because yeah, it’s uncharacteristically blunt for someone who’s spent his entire trip to Homeworld bending over backwards like he usually does to accommodate others. When he doubles down by explaining that he isn’t sorry about creating a show that celebrates queer characters whoops sorry I mean fusion, Callison makes it sound like the most obvious thing in the world, and this is what upsets Blue enough to inflict her tears on him. We’ll learn even more about Pink’s temper in Steven Universe Future, but the simple act of not bowing to authority makes Steven “worse than ever” in Blue’s mind: violence is more acceptable than insubordination. (Also, violence in cartoons is more acceptable than queer folks just sorta existing in cartoons, but that’s neither here nor there.)

Change Your Mind is about combating bigotry and cycles of abuse, and Blue is the obvious first test. She’s a bigot who doesn’t think she’s a bigot (compared to Yellow, who doesn’t care that she’s a bigot, and White, who’s quite proud of being a bigot). She passively perpetuates a toxic status quo (compared to Yellow, who actively perpetuates it, and White, who established it in the first place). It makes sense that she’s the first of the remaining Diamonds to change her mind, because all it takes for her to realize that something is wrong is thinking about it a little harder.

This doesn’t let her off the hook, of course: Blue’s sloth—the sin, not the animal—might not look flashy next to Yellow’s wrath or White’s pride or Pink’s envy, but she still chose to do nothing for thousands of years rather than contemplate how her actions and her society might have wronged Pink. If it was this easy for Blue to realize she was hurting Pink, it makes it that much more of an issue that it took her this long to figure it out. Unintentional bigots might be the “best” option by default, but they can be just as harmful as intentional bigots, and there’s a special sort of damage that can come from an oppressor who truly believes themselves an ally.

That said, while it’s important to acknowledge her blame (emphasized here when she only stops attacking Steven when he calls her out rather than the Diamonds in general), Blue is also a victim. She’s one of the most powerful beings on Homeworld, but she’s still trapped by White Diamond, and resorts to putting others down as a means of reclaiming a sense of that power. In the same way oppressed people often turn to sexism and racism and homophobia to make themselves feel bigger, Blue (and Yellow) reinforce White’s sweeping bigotry in the same way they echo her family-specific abuse. It’s not a good coping mechanism, in this show or in the real world, but understanding the problem is key to fixing it.

So it still feels like a victory when Blue turns, even though it should’ve happened ages ago, and even though she’s a tyrant. She isn’t just deciding to help Steven, she’s breaking out of that cycle in a way that allows for growth beyond our hero’s immediate concerns. Lisa Hannigan captures this transformation beautifully, shifting from manipulative whining about Pink’s behavior to a crushing realization that she’s the one who’s wrong. And even as she joins Steven’s side, she remains weighed down by her longstanding prejudice: Hannigan stutters as she refers to the Crystal Gems as his family, and her triumphant defense of Steven’s name to Yellow comes with the caveat that she’s still misgendering him.

But before we get to Yellow, we take a pit stop that grounds us back to Steven and Connie’s hunger. It may seem small, but this is a critical moment in establishing Steven’s humanity in a way the show has quietly done from day one: with food.

The very first scene of Steven Universe establishes our hero’s human half in a donut shop, upset about dessert. From there, the next five episodes drill in that Steven will take a unique approach to his magical Gem heritage, and they all involve food in a major way: Cookie Cats, then his father’s saying about pork chops and hot dogs, then the Cheeseburger Backpack (important enough to be the episode’s name), then the Together Breakfast (ditto), then creating a monster based on fries.

It’s not just Steven, either. The first few Connie episodes involve eating and drinking in ways that show hints of growth (worrying about trans fats, then sneaking food into movie theaters) and mark key moments in her life (sharing a juicebox, taking her parents to dinner). Lars’s development is tied with his love of baking, and on top of him and Sadie working at the Big Donut, the Frymans and the Pizzas are so tied to their food service jobs that it’s in their names. And speaking of names, we’ve got Vidalia calling her sons Sour Cream and Onion. It even extends to the Gems: Amethyst’s connection with Earth means she loves food, and Pearl’s greater distance from humanity means she can’t stomach it.

Food is fundamentally something that humans require and Gems don’t, and just like we saw in Lars’s Head, Steven’s physical body forces him to think about his own needs despite his usual focus on others. Both his humanity and his ability to stand up for himself are key to his eventual victory, and what could’ve been a generic transition between Blue and Yellow’s big scenes instead becomes a quiet Steven scene. Steven changing into his usual clothes (including his mom’s star) and Connie changing into her own outfit (including her dad’s jacket) is the perfect finishing touch before we dive back into the drama.

True to their natures, Yellow Diamond gets a starker introduction than Blue’s dream sequence: as the lights burst on, we get two shots focusing on a horrifying number of mutated Gem Shards floating around in the room, then the Crystal Gems’ thankfully intact gems in one big bubble, before panning down to the villain who caused all this pain. The menace is palpable before she even opens her mouth, but Patti LuPone’s low tone keeps the mood from boiling over just long enough that when she loses her cool, it hits like a freight train.

Blue’s passive bigotry endured because she lacked introspection, but Yellow’s active bigotry requires constantly justifying actions she knows are cruel by presenting it as a matter of superior reasoning. We’ve known from her first appearance that Yellow’s seething fury undermines her reputation for cold logic, and now more than ever the connection between her behavior and that of “sophisticated” bigots is clear. You know the type: openly, smugly hateful, but couching their hate as something derived from some deep knowledge about the subject, whether in religious convictions or whatever “science” they can scrape together to confirm their worldview.

Sure enough, even in her rage, Yellow lays down what she sees as a rational explanation for why it was okay to mistreat Pink, and why it’s okay that they themselves are mistreated: if they make exceptions for anyone, even other Diamonds, they must make exceptions for everyone, and chaos reigns. Besides the slippery slope being a fallacy, her argument is punctured by Connie’s second big retort of the night, pointing out that this extreme conclusion of Homeworld Gems living free actually sounds pretty nice. But you can’t force this type of bigot to change their mind through reason; if such a person was actually interested in logical worldviews, they wouldn’t have become a bigot in the first place. You need to change their heart.

Fortunately, emotions are Blue’s domain, so she’s just the person to help. Unfortunately, in the same way she still can’t get Steven’s pronouns right, Blue lacks experience with healthy communication, and strikes a first blow against Yellow on instinct. The ensuing brawl is brutal, switching between the massive scale of two warring titans and the smaller scale of Steven and Connie scrambling to save the Crystal Gems as Blue and Yellow unload millennia of baggage on each other. It’s so important that Blue is the physical instigator here, as it fuels Yellow’s white-hot self-righteous streak like nothing else, and it keeps the fight from being one-sided all the way through: Yellow pretty much needs to be the one dealing the final blow for the scene to stick, so it gets balanced out by Blue’s opening punch.

Blue uses her powers on Yellow, and Yellow uses her powers on Blue, but Steven’s power is talking. So just like with Blue’s conversion, Connie gets the opening words while Steven gets the finisher. When he finally gets her attention after being ignored throughout the scene, he makes Yellow listen to him by using the same food-based expression I mentioned from all the way back in Laser Light Cannon. It’d pack a bigger punch if Greg said “If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn’t have hot dogs” at literally any other point in the show, but it still does the trick.

Blue was emotionally ready to accept that Pink was suffering, but hadn’t considered the Diamonds’ role in that suffering. Yellow knew that Pink suffered thanks to the Diamonds, but suppressed her emotions to the point where she couldn’t empathize with her sister’s plight. Blue needed to be more thoughtful to change, and Yellow needed to be more in touch with her emotions to change, and thus the stage is set for the Battle of Heart and Mind against White Diamond.

Except that this isn’t the lesson of Change Your Mind. Blue and Yellow show that some bigots can be reached, which is great! But despite their differences, Steven uses the same basic strategy in both: he doesn’t let them belittle his identity, he confidently dispels their wrongheaded assumptions, and he gets help from allies instead of shouldering the burden himself. We spend the beginning of the episode seeing that in the right circumstances this approach can work, but from here we’ll see that with some bigots, it’s a non-starter.

So long as you can engage with bigots while maintaining your self-respect, it can be good work to try and help them see the light. It’s not an obligation, but if you want to change hearts and minds, Steven provides a good template for how to do it. Now the rest of the episode can focus on the bigger lesson: if someone refuses to respect your humanity when you’re steadfast and forthright, it isn’t your job to breathe in their poison, or to hold your breath until you asphyxiate waiting for change.

But more on that after the break!

I Can’t Believe We’ve Come So Far

As we reach the end of the original series, it would be criminal not to acknowledge three long-time storyboarders who are on their way out. This isn’t their final contribution to the series, as only one of Change Your Mind’s twelve credited writer/boarders didn’t go on to work on The Movie in some way (Christine Liu, whose tenure was brief but great), and Hilary Florido stayed on as a supervisor for Future. But I wanted to write the big sendoffs here, as this is the last proper “episode” that these three worked on as regular boarders. So it’s time to say goodbye to Katie Mitroff, Hilary Florido, and Jeff Liu.

First up is Katie Mitroff, who clocked two early knockouts with Alone Together and The Test alongside Florido. Mitroff’n’Florido went on to make other classics like Maximum Capacity and Joy Ride before the former teamed up with Lamar Abrams and the latter teamed up with Jesse Zuke for their next batch of episodes.

With Abrams, Mitroff deepened the lore of the show with We Need to Talk, Steven’s Birthday, Bismuth, Buddy’s Book, Three Gems and a Baby, and especially The Answer. She gave us the harrowing revelation of Back to the Moon, and the most ridiculous episode of the series, Restaurant Wars. Her final partner was Paul Villeco, finishing strong with The Trial, Back to the Kindergarten, Your Mother and Mine, Pool Hopping, What’s Your Problem?, Reunited, and Change Your Mind, 100% of which are either in my Love ‘em ranking or my Top Episodes. (Oh, sorry, spoiler alert I love Change Your Mind.)

It’s strange, because she didn’t work on any of the major episodes of Amethyst’s big arc at the end of Season 3, but Mitroff is one of my favorite Amethyst boarders: she’s the consistent thread between Maximum Capacity, Back to the Moon, and What’s Your Problem?, three cornerstones of the character. She excelled at going outside the show’s usual style, as seen in The Answer and Your Mother and Mine, and it’s no coincidence she helped animate Isn’t It Love? to bring Cotton Candy Garnet back for one last ride.

Katie Mitroff is an absolute rock star, I wish her well and you should too.

[terramythos]

TerraMythos 2021 Reading Challenge - Book 21 of 26

Title: The Galaxy, and the Ground Within (Wayfarers #4) (2021)

Author: Becky Chambers

Genre/Tags: Science Fiction, Third-Person, Female Protagonists

Rating: 9/10

Date Began: 8/15/2021

Date Finished: 8/22/2021

Gora is an unremarkable planet. It has no natural life and few resources to speak of. In fact, its only use is its proximity to more interesting places. Over the years, it’s become a waystation, notable only as a temporary stop for travelers as they wait for their spot in the wormhole queue. 

The Five-Hop One-Stop is a small, family-owned rest stop on Gora. Three travelers— a marginalized nomad, a military contractor, and an exiled artist-- lay over at the Five-Hop awaiting the next stage of their journeys. But everything goes horribly wrong when repair work on an orbital satellite causes a cascade event, destroying the planet’s communications. Now stranded on Gora with debris raining down from the sky, the travelers and hosts must live with each other while cut off from the rest of the galaxy. As they learn more about one another, each is forced to confront their personal struggles… and challenge their perspective on life.

Speaker had a word for how she felt right then: errekere. A moment of vulnerable understanding between strangers. It did not translate into Klip, but it was a feeling she knew well from gatherings among her people. There was no need being expressed here, no barter or haggling or problems that required the assistance of a Speaker, but errekere was what she felt all the same. She’d never felt it with an alien before. She embraced the new experience.

Content warnings and spoilers below the cut.  

Content warnings for the book: Non-graphic sexual content, child endangerment, ableism (if you squint; it’s not malicious), references to warfare, discussions of intergenerational trauma re: colonization (not the scifi kind), prejudice and xenophobia, recreational drug use. 

I’ve had a mixed experience with Wayfarers, which is unusual for me. I can’t remember the last series I read that fluctuated so much in terms of personal enjoyment and (in my opinion) quality. People as a whole seem to enjoy this series more than me, hence the multitude of awards and glowing reviews. I liked book two, A Closed and Common Orbit, because of the focused narrative and dedicated development of two lead characters. But the first and third books suffered from an overly large cast and reliance on generic archetypes. When a series is built on character development and plot is a secondary concern at best, those characters have to be outstanding. And to me, they usually weren’t.

But in this fourth and final book, I felt that Chambers finally hit her stride. On a surface level, The Galaxy, and the Ground Within has striking similarity to book three, Record of a Spaceborn Few. Both are virtually plotless novels which do deep dives into a cast of characters. What sets The Galaxy apart is its execution. All three leads have unique and compelling personal conflicts. An underutilized strength of the series is its creative aliens; something Chambers takes advantage of here with a fully alien cast. Finally, this book hinges upon interaction between the three leads, something sorely missing from the previous book. 

In these reviews I often seem critical of ensemble casts. But when done well, I actually prefer them to singular narratives. The main hurdle is having consistently interesting characters across the board. When there’s one or two characters I prefer over the others, I usually struggle with the novel. There’s an inherent sense of disappointment when leaving a favored character’s POV. For me this affects my overall enjoyment of the story. But when I like all of the characters or they all have something interesting going on, ensemble casts are great. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within is successful in this regard because I thoroughly enjoyed all three perspective characters. In no particular order…

Speaker is an Akarak, a birdlike scavenger species introduced as sympathetic antagonists in the first book. Going in, we know their home planet was colonized by the Harmagians, which has caused irreparable harm to their culture. Robbed of their homeworld and forced into the margins of GC society, the Akarak are nomadic, and many of them rely on banditry in order to survive. We have seen very little of them besides that. The Galaxy expands their lore a lot; their short lifespans, their incompatible biology with other sapients, and the resulting generational trauma from centuries of colonial exploitation. Speaker’s arc in particular is about dealing with the prejudice she encounters daily, adjusting to acceptance after being othered for so long, seeing things from a new perspective, and persistent worry for her twin sister Tracker, who she’s been separated from due to the events on Gora. 

The Aeluon Pei is actually a recurring character; she’s Ashby’s love interest from the first book. Here we get a more intimate view of her as a person. In particular, she struggles with living a double life. She works a prestigious yet dangerous job among her people, running cargo into critical warzones. But her affair with Ashby (a Human) is a huge cultural taboo among the Aeluons. If her colleagues discovered her romantic relationship, her life as a cargo runner would be over. The double life is wearing on her, because she loves both aspects of her life, but knows that it can’t go on like this forever. To make matters worse, she goes into “shimmer”, a once-in-a-lifetime fertility period, during the events on Gora. This adds a layer to her struggle; does she do her duty to her species and produce a child, or does she pursue what she really wants? 

Finally, there’s Roveg, a Quelin. Like the Akarak, Quelin haven’t received a whole lot of development in the series. In the first book, they’re portrayed as a xenophobic insectoid race, and their role is unambiguously antagonistic. Roveg is the polar opposite of that. He’s something of a renaissance man; an appreciator of fine art and dining, who designs artistic sims by profession. He delights in meeting aliens, befriending them, and learning everything there is to know about them. His arc centers around his exile from Quelin society and all the hidden pains associated with that. Chief among these is a mysterious meeting he has to make— which the Gora disaster obviously complicates. 

Complementing the three leads are the Five-Hop’s hosts; a Laru mother and child named Ouloo and Tupo. Similar to the Akarak and Quelin, we haven’t seen many of the Laru (who I always picture as fuzzy dog-giraffe hybrids). Ouloo struggles to be a kind and accommodating host in the wake of disaster. She’s also forced to confront her own prejudices, especially regarding Speaker, the first Akarak she’s ever met. The two initially have a lot of tension, but grow to be great friends over the course of the novel. Her child Tupo is a nonbinary character using xe/xyr pronouns throughout the novel. Xe’s basically a Laru teenager, and super endearing. I love xyr natural curiosity and naiveté. Definitely the “heart” of the group. 

Interaction between these characters is the bread and butter of this novel. There’s very little action; instead it focuses on their differing perspectives and life experiences. It’s a gradual build as the characters grow more familiar with one another. The epilogue is brilliant, because we see the long-term effect of these characters meeting. Despite interpersonal conflict in the story, Speaker inspires Pei to make a specific decision. From this decision, Pei realizes she can help Roveg with his meeting. As a result of this, Roveg is inspired to help Speaker based on one of their earlier conversations. His help fundamentally alters Speaker’s perspective on life— and there’s an implication it will reach beyond that, to the Akarak as a whole. It’s a cascade effect, but rather than the disastrous version that happened on Gora, it’s a positive social change for the leads. That’s the kind of literary parallel that really fires me up. 

I do have a few criticisms of this novel, minor and otherwise. The first is, I wish the tension between Speaker and Pei was more strongly built throughout. While I’m glad the novel isn’t all sunshine and rainbows when it comes to the character interactions, their conflict goes from an idea in the back of one’s mind to an explosive event. This is something of a nitpick because it’s otherwise well executed. I especially like that despite their interpersonal problems, they work together in the climactic events of the novel without sacrificing their respective principles. 

My other criticism is a series-wide observation. Wayfarers is optimistic to a fault. As such, it’s pretty rare that we see true evil or even bad behavior in this series. On one hand, it’s nice to read something where the characters are people who want the best for everyone. But there’s a lot of dissonance here, because there are MASSIVE social problems with the GC at large. For example, we see the effects of xenophobia, war, slavery, and colonialism, but the ones who perpetuate these issues are faceless. If Chambers wants to portray good characters, that’s fine, but it strikes me as odd to build complex social issues into your society, yet exclusively portray groups of morally good people. Why would a society full of such nice, helpful groups also marginalize the Akarak, or create an entire caste of slave clones to sort through their junk? This approach comes off as a desire for nuance without committing to it. 

This trend continues through the final book. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within is clearly a COVID-19 response novel (“we’re all in this together”!)— but everyone is blameless, and the government response is reasonable and timely. That’s just not how it worked in real life. So many people were (and still are!) selfish in response to COVID, often outright endangering others. Practically every government botched their response for the sake of money, leading to mass death worldwide. If Wayfarers has similar social issues to the real world, why would the response to a disaster be any different? It’s an ongoing contradiction; the Wayfarers society is simultaneously utopian and flawed, and it’s hard for me to suspend my disbelief. 

As an individual novel, though, I really enjoyed The Galaxy, and the Ground Within. Like all the other books in the Wayfarers series, it’s a standalone and can be read on its own. My experience with this series has been up and down; I recommend the second and fourth books, but I’d skip one and three if I ever do a reread. There are things to like about Wayfarers in terms of worldbuilding and the creative ideas behind all the different aliens. Characterization is hit or miss, but the hits are great, and this book in particular knocked it out of the park. Chambers’ prose improves a lot over the series, and it’s nice to see how she develops as a writer. As I’ve mentioned, Wayfarers has gotten lots of positive feedback, so it’s possible you will enjoy it more than I did. But I’m looking forward to reading something new.

[simplyswooningk]

Fanfiction Teaser!!! Chapter 1 of “The One”

The One

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Ron and Hermione:

Premise: Eight years after the war, two years after a dramatic and mysterious breakup, Ron and Hermione are thrown togethere when he returns home to prepare for his wedding. Confronted with her own feelings, Hermione dares to ask herself the question, “If One Thing Would’ve Been Different, Would Everything Be Different Today?

                          “I’m doing good, I'm on some new shit.”

The invitation burned in her hand in almost the same way the Geminio-cursed gold in Bellatrix Lestrange’s vault did. After it had it read itself, she reread it nearly six times before it had registered in her mind.

To own the truth, Hermione Granger was not used to such a brain fog. But that thin piece of paper seemed to stop her mind in its track. It was now hovering over her desk, almost taunting her.

Her eyes glanced over it again, although by now, she knew it by heart:

Mr. & Mrs. Roger and Catherine Forell along with Mr. Arthur and Mrs. Molly Weasley joyfully invite you to the wedding of their children

                                Alison Katherine Daphne Forell

                                                       &

                                          Ronald Billius Weasley  

                                              25 June 2006  

                                                  2:00 p.m.

                                           Longbottom Castle

                                       Swillington, West Yorkshire  

                               RSVP by owl no later than March 6th.

He was getting married in England.  Why was he not getting married in America with his perfect little American fiancée? No, he had to come back home and do the blessed deed. 

She completely dismissed the notions of his entire family living in England and the row his irrepressible mother would surely throw at the thought of her youngest and most famous son getting married across the pond that deemed his choice of locale all too natural as absolute rubbish.

It was almost as if he wanted to make sure she would not have an excuse to be absent.

Who was she kidding? He probably hadn’t given her a thought in years.

She wasn’t sure she could blame him. But that was all in the past. Their history was all water under the bridge or over the dam or however the expression went. 

It was in the past.

 For a while, she saw the whole thing in her head: the two of them for ever and ever and ever. For a while, so did he. Or so she thought. Or so he thought. They had both believed they were on the same page until they realized that they were not. They absolutely were not.  

They were friends now. Or so they said. Friends spoke to each other. They didn’t, except when they were forced, by some unmissable personal event of some invaluable mutual friend, to be in the same room together. But they were friends.  

There were no hard feelings. They were friends. Or so they said. And she was happy for him. Everything was fine.

She would go. Molly would tan her hide if she didn’t. And they were friends. Friends went to friends’ weddings. Friends were happy for their friends. And she was happy for him.  

Unable to look at it anymore, she snatched the invitation out of the air and placed it into her drawer. Their engagement wasn’t a complete and total surprise. Harry had mentioned months ago that Ron’s relationship had gotten serious.

Good Godric, was there anything worse than having a mutual best friend with your ex? Hermione had endured torture and, in that moment, she honestly would’ve preferred it.

It was hard to believe that eight years had passed since the war. It was hard to believe than it had been six since the Breakup Heard Round the World.  

Oh, no one knew the whole story. Not even Harry. But when two best friends, who had longed harbored secret, yet obvious affection for each other finally got together, the general assumption is that together they would stay.  

Needless to say, when word of their breakup reached their evergreen group of friends, they were shocked.  

But no one was more shocked than the two parties involved. She could never forget how shocked and shaken she felt as she packed. She kept waiting for something to stop her, to wake her up and shake her out of that nightmare.

But nothing did, she’d finished packing.

In all honesty, she should be happy for him. That was what she’d told him the night he had told her he was leaving England: that she was happy for him, although nothing could have been further from the truth.

By then, there was too much said and unsaid for her to protest. An apology had seemed ridiculous on both sides. Now, she wondered if she could’ve stopped him. She wondered if some part of him had wanted her to.

Paris was her home now, or at it least it was where she rested her head.  She was now the Junior English Ambassador to the French Ministry of Magic. It was a position Kinglsey had recommended her for personally.  

Her time there had been lovely, but it was rumored that she was up for a promotion back home. It was the general scuttlebutt that she’d single been singled out to replace the Junior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic for the Regulation of Magical Creatures before the year was out. Kingsley was apparently eager for her to be back in England, working for the greater good.

That had been her life for the past six years: work. She was very proud of all she’d accomplished. While working in France, she’d still managed to be a very loud advocate for magical creatures and the Muggleborn community.

She’d given many speeches, toured all around the world into various magical communities to talk about the treatment of creatures as well as how to better integrate Muggleborns into magical society and help to eliminate the prejudice that reared its ugly head far too many times for her taste.

It had been good, her time in France. She was well on her way to accomplishing everything she’d ever dreamed. Almost.

A knock on her door pulled her from thoughts. “Ms. Granger?” her assistant Elodie Aubin poked her head the through the door. “’Arry Potter for you ma’am.”

Hermione smiled. “Send him in.”

Moments later, in walked Harry Potter with his untamable black hair, glowing green eyes and friendly smile. If they hadn’t been through so much hell together, she honestly believed she could’ve hexed him on the spot.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy to see him. She just didn’t want to have the conversation he was there for. And they both knew it.

“Hello Harry,” she said with a smile and a sigh. “Shall I ring for tea?”

Harry removed his Auror cloak, plopped down in the chair opposite hers and shook his head. “Just had a cuppa, thanks. And how are you, Hermione?”

“Lovely, thanks. Is that why you’re here? To inquire of my health and happiness? We both grew up with Muggles. We have phones for that.”  

Harry laughed dryly. “You know, from your tone, I could infer that you’re not happy to see me.”

Hermione smiled. “I’m always happy to see you, Mr. Potter. But I have a feeling this isn’t your regular meeting of salutations.”

Harry laughed again but then his eyes turned serious. “Get your invite, did you?” 

“Is that why you came all the way here? To discuss Ronald’s nuptials?”

“I wanted to check on you.”

She shrugged. “I’m fine. And yes, I got the invitation. Though I must admit, I didn’t expect one.”  

“He’s not one for grudges, Hermione.”

Hermione’s eyebrows nearly leapt off her forehead.

“Anymore,” Harry quickly clarified. “He’s not one for grudges anymore. Besides everyone would love to see you.”  

“I’m sure. But I don’t think—,”

“Hermione, Molly will murder you if you don’t come. And then she’ll murder me for not convincing you.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Can’t I just make my excuses? Busy with work, blah, blah, blah, the usual?”

“It’s his wedding, Hermione.”

“And I’m his ex. Doesn’t that give me a pass? Must I suffer through this? It was awkward enough at your wedding.”  

“Yes, I remember,” Harry said with a grimace and shake of his head. “But we got through it.”

“Yes, with lots of Firewhiskey and mead.”  

“Well, whatever works.”

“Harry, I just don’t know if it’s a good idea for either of us. It's been a long time, we’ve both moved on. I just don’t think one’s wedding needs a... blast from the past, if you will.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Hermione, stop trying to weasel your way out. No pun intended. Besides, I've one more invitation or rather summons to bring you.”

Hermione started at that. “What?”

“Well, the thing is Ron is on his way to the Burrow as we speak. Molly is having a welcome home dinner in his honor. She told me not to leave without you.”

“What in Merlin’s name is he doing here so soon? The wedding’s not for two months!”

“Apparently there’s a lot to plan, so he’ll be here until the wedding.”

Hemione rolled her eyes. “What could he possibly have to do that Ms. Enchanted Cauldrons USA could not see to herself? And doesn’t he as the Deputy Head of the American Aurors, not to mention President of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes America have better things to do?”  

Hermione noticed that Harry hesitated. “I’m sure he had loads to do. Dinner. At the Burrow. Tonight. You realize you don’t have much choice? Besides, he’s coming by himself. Allie won’t be here till a week before the wedding.”

Hermione’s eyebrows raised at that. There was something Harry wasn’t telling her. There was no one that dressed and carried themselves the way Alison Forell did would leave the majority of the wedding planning up to Ron. But that was conversation for another time.

“What’s Molly up to, anyway? Because if this another reconciliation scheme, I swear Harry—,”

“No, no,” he cut in. “She’s quite over that. She likes Allie. As much as she likes Audrey, I’d say.”  

“Do you like her?”  

Harry shrugged noncommittally. “Haven’t we had this conversation before?”

“Yes. But she was Alison then.”  

Harry rolled his eyes. “She’s nice, Hermione. Anyway, as you said, you’ve both moved on. How's Taron?”  

“He’s good. He's in Sweden at the moment.” Hermione’s boyfriend of nearly nine months was Taron Fruelle. He worked as an undersecretary to the French Minister of Magic. “He’ll be there for the next few weeks.”  

Taron was Muggleborn and highly academic just like her. Their connection had been instant. He had a good sense of humor, was highly proficient in magic and his love of reading almost surpassed her.  

It was the easiest, most comfortable relationship she’d ever been in. They rarely disagreed, they spent most of their free time at rare bookstores or deciphering Ancient Runes. Taron was in Sweden, helping with the renovations of the French Magical Embassy.

Hermione realized after Harry mentioned him that she forgotten to phone him on her lunch break.

“So, is it true Kinglsey will be calling you back to England soon?” Harry said attempting a change of subject after Hermione went quiet for a few moments. “Now that you’ve gathered your diplomatic experience?”

“He hasn’t said either way. I mean, I'd love to be back home. Everyone seems to think so, but he’s been very vague. Typical politician.”

Harry didn’t say anything for a bit and Hermione could tell he was thinking of something, something he was more than likely not going to tell her.

“Are you just going to camp out here until I'm done working and then transport me to the Burrow?”

Harry nodded. “Molly’s orders, my lady. Nothing I can do.”  

Hermione sighed. “Well, who am I to argue with Molly Weasley? Does he know I'm coming?”

Harry nodded. “Ginny’s gonna tell him.”  

Hermione sighed. “Can we stop at the shops and get a bottle of wine before we go?”

Harry smiled. “And a bottle of rum too. Hermione, really, you’re okay with this, aren’t you?” His bright green eyes searched hers.

She smiled, although suddenly she was mentally transported back to Grimmauld Place, crying hysterically, Harry’s arms clasped around her and telling her it would be all right.  

“Harry, I’m fine. It’s all right now. He's moved on, so have I. We’re friends now. We were always friends.”

Harry smiled and she knew that he did not quite believe her. She also knew he would not quite say so.  

“Listen, I’m going go into the city, pick up some French pastry for Ginny. I’ll be back to collect you in a bit?”  

Hermione nodded. “I’ll be off at 5:30.”  

Harry smiled again, that same knowing sympathetic smile he had when he walked in. He wished her a brief adieu before he was off.

He didn’t believe she was fine. He thought she was torn up inside, that deep down, she was still in love with Ron. But she wasn’t. It was over. They had moved on.

Five thirty rolled around and true to his word, Harry arrived to collect her.  

“Should we Floo?” He asked nodding to the fireplace. “I’ve got the wine and rum.”  

Hermione nodded. She took his arm. “It’ll be great to see everyone,” she said with a smile.

“The Burrow,” Harry said scooping up a handful of Floo Powder.

A flash of green and a healthy covering of soot later, Hermione and Harry found themselves in all too familiar parlor. But in a betrayal of familiarity, it was quiet.  

“Gin?” Harry called as they dusted themselves off.  

“Are we early?” Hermione asked looking around.

Harry shook his head. “No, they should’ve all been here by now.”  

The words were barely out of his mouth when a large, incoherent cacophony of voices reached their ears. That sound could only be one thing: a group of Weasleys returning from a Quidditch match.

“Oi! Ginny, next time maybe catch the Snitch,” called George Weasley.  

“Shut your trap, George. Angelina blindsided me and you know it!”

“I did not! You were too busy trying to show off one of those Harpy tricks!”  

Hermione laughed. There was truly no place like the Burrow.

“Hurry and wash up all of you!” came Molly’s nurturing, but demanding voice as the door was thrown open “Ginny, I'll need your help with the treacle tart.”

“Coming Mom,” replied Ginny with a good-natured sigh. “Oh, blimey! Ron, I forgot to tell you—”

“Tell me what?” called a voice that Hermione would know anywhere. And it sounded closer than all the others.  

Familiar footsteps froze her in place. She turned wide-eyed and horrified to Harry who looked equally dazed.  

Ginny was too slow. Before another word could be spoken, Ron Weasley had entered into the parlor. His blue eyes, those ocean blue eyes that she could never stop herself from loving widened instantly. Time was at a standstill.  

Hermione came to two startling realizations simultaneously. One, he had no idea she was coming to dinner. And two, she was still hopeless, helplessly, irretrievably in love with him.  

[hafanforever]

Panic Attack

As we know, King Runeard had the dam constructed in the Enchanted Forest as part of his conspiracy to bring down the Northuldra people, since it would weaken the forest and limit their resources, forcing them to turn to him in their desperation.

But then, how exactly does the dam’s purpose work into his premeditated plan to eliminate them? What were all of his steps in carrying out his plan the day he started the war between his people and the Northuldra, and died during it?

First of all, let me make this clear: Runeard did not want to incorporate the tribe into his kingdom and rule them; he wanted to DESTROY them! I mean, he saw them as a threat to his monarchal rank and power all because of their relations with the magical spirits, so he wanted to wipe them out to extinction in order to remove this "threat"!

Second of all, I don’t think Runeard brought Agnarr, his whole army, and the citizens of his kingdom to the celebration in the forest just to start a war with the Northuldra...at least, not on that very day. Remember his memory figure in Ahtohallan tells the second-in-command, “We bring Arendelle’s full guard” and then "They will come in celebration, and then, we will know their size, and strength.” These quotes make it sound to me as if Runeard planned this gathering with both groups of people just so that he could determine the exact number of Northuldrans that resided in the forest, and just how much they outnumbered the Arendellians, or vice versa. Perhaps he planned to instigate a war between them at a later time, but only after he counted the Northuldra’s numbers so that he could know exactly what he and his kingdom were up against and make future preparations.

So for a while now, I had been trying grasp the whole picture on how Runeard plotted to eliminate the Northuldra using the dam...and then I remembered the kind of person he was. Runeard was a selfish, arrogant, ruthless tyrant, yet he hid this true nature of his extraordinarily well by presenting a false, artificial image of a generous, peaceful, noble king to his subjects and the Northuldra. He used this facade to gain everyone’s trust and respect, and it worked. Since he fooled everyone into believing that this was real nature, it was an image he had to keep up, one he had to protect, and ESPECIALLY because he projected it with his building of the dam.

On a motivation to protect his false image and keep his real nature under wraps from everyone, and especially to make the Northuldra completely unaware of his true intentions, I have a headcanon that Runeard decided that the best approach to bringing them down was to do it subtly rather than with direct force. As the dam was put to work in weakening the forest, perhaps Runeard thought the limitation of their resources would slowly kill off the Northuldra, significantly reducing their population size. Perhaps in his arrogance, supremacy, and superiority, he thought the people wouldn’t be smart enough to realize the dam's true purpose right away. When they finally would and come to him for help, maybe he thought it would be when their population size was greatly declined with few members remaining, leaving them in a very susceptible state.

Considering how much damage the dam could do to the forest and affect the Northuldra population over a certain period of time, perhaps there was a more direct part of Runeard’s plan to eliminate them. Perhaps when any of them would finally turn to him in their desperation, it would be in their greatest moment of vulnerability (as I described above), when their size has greatly declined and very few of them are remaining. Perhaps when they would come to him for help, they would do so as a whole group. And when they did, Runeard would lure the unsuspecting remaining Northuldrans into some kind of trap, and kill them all in one place at one time. In doing so, he would catch them completely off guard, making it so much easier for him to have them killed.

However, I believe that Runeard’s entire plan began to fall apart once the leader confronted him about the dam on the gathering day, then more so after he murdered him and started the war, and that is what led to him to his death.

Observe Runeard very closely in the gifs below from the scene when the Northuldra leader confronts him about the dam: after he is told “The dam isn’t strengthening our waters” and then while being told that “It’s cutting off the north...”, he glances behind the leader, over his shoulder, where there are people nearby, close enough to be within earshot.

Despite looking calm and composed (as well as we can make out from a blue/purple snowy figure of him), It’s all too obvious that Runeard twice looks past the man because he is terrified that the Northuldrans and Arendellians nearby will overhear the latter’s complaints. So he gently interrupts him, acting as if he’s really listening while claiming that they can discuss the matter in private...when all he’s really doing is shutting him up so that NO ONE will hear the dam is doing the exact opposite of what everyone else believes it is doing.

We know what comes after this, but I want to add something before I dive into that: any beliefs Runeard may have had about using the dam to bring down the Northuldra subtly, with it taking a long time for them to realize it was weakening their lands, reducing their numbers, and turning to him for help as a whole group at once, are instantly put to rest during this scene. The Northuldra leader clearly caught on to what the dam was doing very quickly, a lot faster than Runeard anticipated. He was obviously not expecting to be confronted about the dam too soon, and this might explain why he subtly frowns when he is told that the dam isn’t strengthening the forest’s waters.

Like I said before, Runeard had to keep up appearances by protecting his false image as a generous ruler from everyone, especially since he projected it with the construction and presentation of the dam. He had everyone fooled into believing that he was a good man, and a good king, who did an utmost good deed for the Northuldra. But once the leader voiced his suspicions about the dam harming the forest instead of helping it out loud, Runeard secretly panicked, and especially so because of how many people were close by in the forest. If someone else heard the leader talking about the dam, or if the leader had the chance to tell his tribe and the Arendellians about the dam, not only would Runeard’s long-term plan to destroy the Northuldra have been ruined, but his ENTIRE cover would have been blown. He would have been exposed as a liar and traitor to the tribe, as well as his people, staff, and Agnarr. This would have made him immediately lose the trust and respect of everyone in his kingdom, and he would have faced utter humiliation, wrath, and disdain; essentially, the revelation of the dam’s real purpose to everyone present would have destroyed Runeard’s reputation and legacy.

And Runeard wasn’t going to take a chance on having his reputation, image, and legacy being ruined. So the instant the leader tells him the harm the dam is causing, Runeard quickly concluded what his next move was: murder, and he had to do it NOW!

Again, on the day the forest fell, I honestly don’t think Runeard had a plan to start a war against the Northuldra and start by killing the leader in secret. Yes, he planned to eradicate the Northuldra tribe for sure, but on said day, he carried out his acts because things weren't happening according to his exact plan. Runeard’s act of killing the leader was premeditated, but also a simultaneous act of impulsion. He did it to prevent him from telling everyone else about how the dam was actually harming the forest. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision Runeard made in order to keep the truth a secret from rest of the tribe, and from his soldiers, people, and son.

After his deed, though, Runeard instantly realized that the Northuldra would discover their leader’s absence, much sooner than later, and be searching for him. Without a doubt, this realization drove him into another state of panic, so he had to act fast again and make another attempt to cover his tracks, to divert any possible suspicion away from himself...and that attempt was made when he instigated the battle between his people and the Northuldra. But this step was entirely carried out on impulse; it was not premeditated. It was a feeble and poorly executed attempt to wipe out the whole tribe, which Runeard was only trying to do now just because he had to cover up his deed of killing their leader before any of them found out.

In summary, Runeard panicked that his plan to eliminate the Northuldra started to fall to pieces when the leader voiced his suspicions about the dam, so it led to him committing murder on the spot...and since that act caused him to go into further panic, he instigated an attack on the rest of the tribe to try and eliminate them.

Runeard’s improvised, spontaneous attempts to cover up his crimes and keep his original plan intact were poorly done...and that, combined with his prejudice and arrogance, is what drove him to his death.

[beastars-takes]

Zootopia Takes: Darker’s Not Better

The Shock Collar Draft

So, it sounds like people are largely positive on me doing some Zootopia posts on this blog, and I wanted to talk about this tweet I saw the other day:

I’ll punt on explaining why Beastars isn’t “Dark Zootopia”--that’s a great topic for another post. But I would like to talk about why this popular yet stridently uninformed tweet is so, so wrong. Why the shock collar draft was not better, actually.

And obviously, I’m not writing several pages in reply to a single tweet--this is a take that’s been around since the movie came out, that the “original version was better.” It’s been wrong the whole time.

Let’s talk about why!

Part 1: “Because Disney”

Let’s start with this--the assumption that the film’s creators wanted to make this shock collar story and “Disney” told them to change it.

That’s not how it works.

I try to keep stuff about me out of these posts as much as possible, but just for a bit of background, I’ve worked in the animation industry for about half a decade. I know people at Disney. I have a reasonable idea of how things are there.

There is this misconception about creative industries that they’re constantly this pitched battle of wills between creative auteurs trying to make incredible art and ignorant corporate suits trying to repress them.

That can happen, especially in dysfunctional studios (and boy could I tell some stories) but Walt Disney Animation Studios is not dysfunctional. It’s one of the most autonomous and well-treated parts of the Disney Company.

The director of Zootopia, Byron Howard, isn’t an edgelord. He made Bolt and Tangled. He knows what his audience is, and he’s responsible enough not to spend a year (and millions of dollars in budget) developing a grimdark Don Bluth story that leadership would never approve. It wouldn’t just be a waste of time--he would be endangering the livelihoods of the hundreds of people working under him. Meanwhile, Disney Animation’s corporate leadership trusts their talent. They don’t generally interfere with story development because they don’t need to. Because they employ people like Byron Howard.

Howard and the other creative leads of Zootopia have said a dozen times, in interviews and documentaries, that they gave up on the shock collar idea because it wasn’t working. They’ve explained their reasoning in detail. Maybe they’re leaving out some of the story, but in general? I believe them.

But Beastars Takes, you say, maybe even if Disney didn’t force them to back away from this darker version, it still would have been better?

Part 2: Why Shock Collars Seem Good

I will say this--I completely sympathize with people who see these storyboards and scenes from earlier versions of the movie and think “this seems amazing.” It does! A lot of these drawings and shots are heartbreakingly good, in isolation.

I love these boards. They make me want to cry. I literally have this drawing framed on my wall. Believe me, I get it.

But the only reason we care this much about this alternative draft of Zootopia is that the Zootopia we got made us love this world and these characters. You know what actually made me cry?

Oh, yeah.

So let’s set aside the astonishing hubris of insisting Zootopia’s story team abandoned the “good” version of the story, when the “bad version” is the most critically-acclaimed Disney animated feature in the past SIXTY YEARS.

“But Beastars Takes!” I hear you say. “Critics are idiots and just because something’s popular doesn’t make it good!”

Fair enough. Let’s talk about why the real movie is better.

Part 3: The Message (it is, in fact, like a jungle sometimes)

This type of thing is always hard to discuss, in the main--a lot of people don’t want to feel criticized or “called out” by the entertainment they consume, and they don’t want to be asked to think about their moral responsibilities. But it’s hard to deny that Zootopia is a movie with a strong point of view. Everything else--the characters, the worldbuilding, the plot, grows out from the movie’s central statement about bias.

And the movie we got, with no shock collars, makes that statement far more effectively.

To dive into the full scope of Zootopia’s worldview and politics (warts and all) would be a whole post on its own, so I’ll just summarize the key point of relevance here:

Zootopia's moral message is that you, the viewer, need to confront your own biases. Not yell at someone else. No matter how much of a good or progressive person you consider yourself to be--if you want to stand against prejudice you have to start with yourself.

That’s a tough sell! For that message to land, we need to see ourselves in the protagonist.

Judy’s a good person! She argues with her dad about foxes. She knows predators aren’t all dangerous. She’s not speciesist. Right?

Ah fuck.

Let’s fast-forward to the pivotal scene of this movie. In an unfortunate but inevitable confluence of circumstances, Judy’s own biases and prejudiced assumptions come out, and she shits the bad.

Nick, who’s already bared his soul to her (against his better instincts), is heartbroken. But not as heartbroken as he is a minute later when he tries to confront her about what she’s said, and she makes this face:

Whaaaat? Come on, Nick. I’m a good person. Why are you giving me a hard time?

People like to complain about this scene. That it’s a hackneyed “misunderstanding” trope that could be easily resolved with a discussion. They’re wrong. Nick tries to have a discussion. She blows him off.

This isn’t Judy acting out of character, this is her character. Someone who identifies as Not A Racist, and hasn’t given the issue any more thought. This is not only completely believable characterization (who hasn’t seen someone react this way when you told them they hurt you?) it’s the film’s central thesis!

Yes, Nick somewhat provokes her into reaching for her “fox spray,” and her own trauma factors in there, but she’s already made her fatal mistake before that happens.

(As an aside, people also make the criticism that the movie unrealistically deflects responsibility for racism onto Bellwether and her plot. It doesn’t. All the key expressions of prejudice in the film--Judy’s encounter with Gideon, her parents’ warnings, the elephant in the ice cream shop, Judy’s early encounters with Bogo, Judy's views on race science--exist largely outside of Bellwether’s influence. She is a demagogue who inflames existing tensions, she didn’t invent them. Bogo literally says “the world has always been broken.”)

So, anyway. But we love Judy. She’s an angel. She also kinda sucks! She’s proudly unprejudiced, and when her own prejudice is pointed out to her she argues and doesn’t take it seriously. This is bad, but it’s also a very human reaction. It’s one most of us have probably been guilty of at one point or another.

Look at Zootopia’s society, too--it’s shiny and cosmopolitan, seemingly idyllic. Anyone can be anything, on paper. But scratch too deep beneath the surface and there’s a lot of pain and resentment here, things nobody respectable would say in public but come out behind closed doors, or among family, when nobody’s watching. It’s entirely recognizable--at least to me, someone who lives in a large liberal city in the United States. Like Byron Howard.

Wow, this place is a paradise!

Wait, what’s a “NIMBY”?

Part 4: Why Shock Collars Are Bad

So, with the film’s conceit established, let’s circle back to the shock collar idea. Like I said, it’s heartbreaking. It’s dramatic. It’s affective.

It also teaches us nothing.

If I see a movie where predator animals are subjected to 24/7 electroshock therapy, I don’t think “wow, this makes me want to think about how I could do better by the people around me.” I think “damn that shit’s crazy lmao. that’d be fucked up if that happened.” At a stretch, it reminds me of something like the Jim Crow era, or the Shoah. You know, stuff in the Past. Stuff we’ve all decided couldn’t ever happen again, so why worry about it?

The directors have said this exact thing, just politely. “It didn’t feel contemporary,” they say in pressers. That’s what it means.

If anything, the shock collar draft reifies the mindset that Zootopia is trying to reject--it shows us that discrimination is blatant, and dramatic, and flagrantly cruel, and impossible to miss.

And...that’s not true. If you only look for bias at its most malicious and evil, you’re going to miss the other 95 percent.

The messaging of this “darker version” is--ironically--less mature, less insightful, less intelligent. Less useful. Darker’s not better.

Part 5: Why Shock Collars Are Still Bad

So what if you don’t care about the message? What if you have no interest in self-reflection, or critical analysis (why are you reading this blog then lmao)? What if you just really want to hear a fun story about talking animals?

Well, this is trickier, because the remaining reasons are pretty subjective and emotional.

The creators have said that the shock collar version didn’t work because the viewers hated the cruel world they’d created. They agreed with Nick--the city was beyond saving. They didn’t want to save it.

The creators have said that Judy was hard to sympathize with, not being able to recognize the shock collars for the obvious cruelty they were.

Fuck you, Judy!

But we haven’t seen the draft copies. We haven’t watched the animatics. We have to take their word for it. Anyone who’s sufficiently invested in this story is going to say “well, I disagree with them.” It doesn’t matter to them that they haven’t seen the draft and the filmmakers have. The movie they’ve imagined is great and nobody is going to convince them otherwise.

But the fact remains that the shock collar movie, as written, did not work. And, if behind the scenes material is to be believed, it continued to not work after months and months of story doctoring.

There’s even been a webcomic made out of the dystopian version of Zootopia. It’s clever and creative and well-written and entertaining and...it kind of falls apart. The creator, after more than a little shit-talk directed at Disney, abandoned the story before reaching the conclusion, but even before then the seams were beginning to show. How do you take a society that’s okay with electrocuting cute animals and bring it to a point of cathartic redemption? You can’t, really. The story doesn’t work.

Does that mean people shouldn’t make fanworks out of the cut material? That they shouldn’t be inspired and excited by it? Hell no. This drawing is cute as hell. The ideas are compelling.

But I suppose what I’d ask of you all is--if you’re weighing the hot takes of art students on Twitter against the explanations of veteran filmmakers, consider that the latter group might actually know what they’re talking about.

See you next time!

[richincolor]

Voting and YA Lit

The November election is getting closer and closer. If you're eligible to vote and need more information, Vote.org is an excellent place to start. The League of Women Voters also has a First Time Voter Checklist that may be helpful. This year there may be additional challenges to voting, but if you are able, please let your voice be heard through your vote.

In the final two months before the election, you may enjoy some related reading. First, a few YA novels featuring elections or voting:

Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed Balzer + Bray [Group Discussion]

YES Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for his local state senate candidate—as long as he’s behind the scenes. When it comes to speaking to strangers (or, let’s face it, speaking at all to almost anyone), Jamie’s a choke artist. There’s no way he’d ever knock on doors to ask people for their votes…until he meets Maya.

NO Maya Rehman’s having the worst Ramadan ever. Her best friend is too busy to hang out, her summer trip is canceled, and now her parents are separating. Why her mother thinks the solution to her problems is political canvassing—with some awkward dude she hardly knows—is beyond her.

MAYBE SO Going door to door isn’t exactly glamorous, but maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world. After all, the polls are getting closer—and so are Maya and Jamie. Mastering local activism is one thing. Navigating the cross-cultural romance of the century is another thing entirely.

The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert Disney-Hyperion [Crystal's Review]

Marva Sheridan was born ready for this day. She’s always been driven to make a difference in the world, and what better way than to vote in her first election?

Duke Crenshaw is so done with this election. He just wants to get voting over with so he can prepare for his band’s first paying gig tonight.

Only problem? Duke can’t vote.

When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she takes it upon herself to make sure his vote is counted. She hasn’t spent months doorbelling and registering voters just to see someone denied their right. And that’s how their whirlwind day begins, rushing from precinct to precinct, cutting school, waiting in endless lines, turned away time and again, trying to do one simple thing: vote. They may have started out as strangers, but as Duke and Marva team up to beat a rigged system (and find Marva’s missing cat), it’s clear that there’s more to their connection than a shared mission for democracy.

Romantic and triumphant, The Voting Booth is proof that you can’t sit around waiting for the world to change, but some things are just meant to be.

Running by Natalia Sylvester Clarion Books

When fifteen-year-old Cuban American Mariana Ruiz’s father runs for president, Mari starts to see him with new eyes. A novel about waking up and standing up, and what happens when you stop seeing your dad as your hero—while the whole country is watching.

In this thoughtful, authentic, humorous, and gorgeously written novel about privacy, waking up, and speaking up, Senator Anthony Ruiz is running for president. Throughout his successful political career he has always had his daughter’s vote, but a presidential campaign brings a whole new level of scrutiny to sheltered fifteen-year-old Mariana and the rest of her Cuban American family, from a 60 Minutes–style tour of their house to tabloids doctoring photos and inventing scandals. As tensions rise within the Ruiz family, Mari begins to learn about the details of her father’s political positions, and she realizes that her father is not the man she thought he was.

But how do you find your voice when everyone’s watching? When it means disagreeing with your father—publicly? What do you do when your dad stops being your hero? Will Mari get a chance to confront her father? If she does, will she have the courage to seize it?

There are also a few YA nonfiction books that deal with activism and voting rights:

How I Resist edited by Maureen Johnson Wednesday Books

Now, more than ever, young people are motivated to make a difference in a world they're bound to inherit. They're ready to stand up and be heard - but with much to shout about, where they do they begin? What can I do? How can I help?

How I Resist is the response, and a way to start the conversation. To show readers that they are not helpless, and that anyone can be the change. A collection of essays, songs, illustrations, and interviews about activism and hope, How I Resist features an all-star group of contributors, including John Paul Brammer, Libba Bray, Lauren Duca, Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson and his husband Justin Mikita, Alex Gino, Hebh Jamal, Malinda Lo, Dylan Marron, Hamilton star Javier Muñoz, Rosie O'Donnell, Junauda Petrus, Jodi Picoult, Jason Reynolds, Karuna Riazi, Maya Rupert, Dana Schwartz, Dan Sinker, Ali Stroker, Jonny Sun (aka @jonnysun), Sabaa Tahir, Shaina Taub, Daniel Watts, Jennifer Weiner, Jacqueline Woodson, and more, all edited and compiled by New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson.

In How I Resist, readers will find hope and support through voices that are at turns personal, funny, irreverent, and instructive. Not just for a young adult audience, this incredibly impactful collection will appeal to readers of all ages who are feeling adrift and looking for guidance.

How I Resist is the kind of book people will be discussing for years to come and a staple on bookshelves for generations.

The March Trilogy by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell Top Shelf Productions

A graphic novel memoir in three parts. It tells of the Civil Rights movement through the eyes of John Lewis. Readers see Lewis and other activists launching campaigns such as the Freedom Vote and Mississippi Freedom Summer. The books lead all the way through to the Selma March.

And finally, picture books aren't just for children. Here are two picture books young adults would likely appreciate:

The Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Ekua Holmes Candlewick Press

A stirring collection of poems and spirituals, accompanied by stunning collage illustrations, recollects the life of Fannie Lou Hamer, a champion of equal voting rights.

"I am sick and tired of being sick and tired."

Despite fierce prejudice and abuse, even being beaten to within an inch of her life, Fannie Lou Hamer was a champion of civil rights from the 1950s until her death in 1977. Integral to the Freedom Summer of 1964, Ms. Hamer gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention that, despite President Johnson’s interference, aired on national TV news and spurred the nation to support the Freedom Democrats. Featuring luminous mixed-media art both vibrant and full of intricate detail, Singing for Freedom celebrates Fannie Lou Hamer’s life and legacy with an inspiring message of hope, determination, and strength.

Granddaddy's Turn: A Journey to the Ballot Box by Michael S. Bandy & Eric Stein, illustrated by James Ransome Candlewick Press

Based on the true story of one family’s struggle for voting rights in the Civil Rights–era South, this moving tale shines an emotional spotlight on a dark facet of U.S. history.

Life on the farm with Granddaddy is full of hard work, but despite all the chores, Granddaddy always makes time for play, especially fishing trips. Even when there isn’t a bite to catch, he reminds young Michael that it takes patience to get what’s coming to you. One morning, when Granddaddy heads into town in his fancy suit, Michael knows that something very special must be happening—and sure enough, everyone is lined up at the town hall! For the very first time, Granddaddy is allowed to vote, and he couldn’t be more proud. But can Michael be patient when it seems that justice just can’t come soon enough? This powerful and touching true-life story shares one boy’s perspective of growing up in the segregated South, while beautiful illustrations depict the rural setting in tender detail.

[tarhalindur]

Higurashi Gou final thoughts pt. 1

(Spoilers go under a cut:)

Taking this by arc:

Onidamashi-hen: The best executed first cour arc by a significant margin.  Probably not coincidentally, it stays the closest to the structure of the OG arc and thus keeps more of OG’s tension ratchet than the other Gou arcs.  I have two main issues, and I’m pretty sure both of them can be firmly pinned on the anime staff rather than Ryukishi07 himself.  First, it pulls its punch on the stealth sequel aspect.  I’m not entirely sure that going for a stealth sequel was the correct decision (it’s a cost/benefit tradeoff), but if you do you’re going for the wham of the sequel reveal, and the anime undercut this by putting the Rika/Hanyuu scene at the start of episode 2 rather than the end of the arc.  Second, it overdoes the final Rena fight, making it so over-the-top that it’s difficult to take seriously.  Neither of these issues exist in the manga (which has a believable amount of stabbing and has the Hanyuu scene at the end of the arc where it should be), and in the former case we also have a Ryukishi07 interview indicating that this was a change requested by the anime staff, so this goes on them.  (Interestingly, by way of contrast I think this approach might actually work well for the Mieruko-chan adaptation that Passione has coming out later this year.)

Watadamashi-hen: The core issue here (above and beyond fridge logic after Satokowaski-hen) is the finale, which landed like a wet fart.  It both escalates from zero to 100 *way* too fast and has the worst case of “tell don’t show” in the neo-question arcs - we learn about every single dead body in the arc from Ooishi’s end-of-arc narration.  That’s relatively defensible for three of those bodies, which we only learn about secondhand even in OG Watanagashi-hen (though IIRC in OG two of those bodies have foreshadowing from rumors earlier in the arc, and unless I’m forgetting something that’s absent here), but all five?  Yes, keeping Keiichi locked away from the final showdown removes fridge logic issues, but you have prominent security cameras - you can at least have him see the aftermath of the showdown on the screens (and freak out because of it).  Adding insult to injury, the Keiichi vs. door scenes are also so over-the-top as to damage willing suspension of disbelief.  The 0-to-100 issue is harder to fix, because the one thing Watadamashi did right was put the Rika-loses-it scene as an end-of-episode cliffhanger, and “Keiichi et. al. are about to enter the Saiguden” probably wanted an end-of-episode cliffhanger as well for discussion purposes (it might have been able to get away with using the commercial break).  The simplest fix is the same one @tsuisou-no-despair​ floated: cannibalize an episode off of another first cour arc.

Tataridamashi-hen: Amusingly, I think Gou has retained OG’s tradition of having the Tatari- question arc being the weakest question arc.  As I see it there are two interlocking core issues here which boil down to the same issue.  Tataridamashi-hen goes for a very unconventional method of building tension: it doesn’t, instead relying on the viewer’s realization that something bad has to be coming to do so for it (the old “that can’t be right, we’ve still got twenty minutes left in the episode” reaction I more commonly associate with things like police procedurals).  The problem is that this runs into the Endless Eight lesson: even flawless metatext should not be used at the expense of enjoyability of the actual text.  And while the arc got some leverage out of “when exactly is this going to diverge?”, there’s a point much like Endless Eight itself when you realize where it’s going to diverge (i.e, not until the end) and that until then you’re sitting through the same events you remember from OG.  It works about as well as it did for Haruhi.  (Unless you’re a new viewer, but in that case staying too close to Minagoroshi-hen has other issues.)  Worse, unlike Minagoroshi-hen itself (which did something similar to build tension but a) non-source readers hadn’t seen it before so it wasn’t foregone the same way and b) you had several more episodes after the subarc for the main event) the arc ends almost immediately after this.  (The simplest fix here might have been cutting down on the arc time by speedrunning Minagoroshi events, reducing the amount of time you’d have to wait.  You could even have a couple of obstacles collapse faster than expected; this late in the first cour it would serve as foreshadowing for Satokowashi-hen, and would also deal with unfortunate implications concerning the village’s prejudice considering that the staff knew Satoko was going to be the culprit.  Trimming an episode would also neatly solve the issue of where to get an additional episode for Watadamashi-hen from!)  The good news is that the final confrontation is the best of the first cour arcs (it’s somewhat more realistic than the other two, actually not that far behind some of the more memetastic OG moments except for Teppei’s eyes, and not showing Ooishi’s rampage is forgivable given that they knew they would be actually showing it in Nekodamashi-hen), but that’s damning with faint praise.

Nekodamashi-hen: The best Gou arc.  The episode 15 jump cut is the stuff of legends and the best scene in the show by a sizable margin (the one thing the director does well is black humor, it seems), while the rest of the arc isn’t as good, it’s far shorter on demerits than the rest of the show.  The one really, really obvious demerit is that they really didn’t need to spend half an episode on the intestines-ripping scene (if Ryukishi07′s comments are to be believed, once again we’re pinning this on Passione), but effects on my stomach aside there are worse issues to have.

Satokowashi-hen: And here we have the other side of the coin; this is the worst Gou arc, and it’s the one spot where I’m pretty sure Ryukishi07 himself gets some of the blame.  There’s a few issues here.  First, the single most obvious dangling plot thread from Matsuribayashi-hen (Satoshi’s fate) is effectively dropped despite being directly relevant to the other dangling thread that was picked up (how Rika treats Satoko and vice versa); this includes missing an opportunity to show Satoko’s character arc through different responses to learning about Satoshi’s condition.  Secondly and compounding, Shion is also dropped along with the Satoshi thread; AIUI this is kind of understandable given final Satoko/Shion interaction in the Matsuribayashi-hen VN (which IIRC never made it into the anime), but dropping her without explanation still leaves something that looks awfully like a plot hole since a single conversation with Shion is potentially enough to stop the events of this arc from ever happening.  (”Character X had information that would have stopped the tragedy but never had an opportunity to tell anyone” is a classic tragedy trope, but you should really have a *reason* for that character never having the opportunity as opposed to just having them vanish without explanation.)  Finally, there’s just the general issue that while the ending points for both Rika and Satoko are reasonable the path they take to get there just doesn’t quite add up.  I can kind of get there via a combination of “blame the director” (the loops montage could and should have easily shown Satoko’s deteriorating mental condition as she watched - using interlaced cuts to her face with changes in facial expression is a classic method) and mind caulk (Rika was exaggerating for effect when she described her desire to go to St. Lucia’s as a long-time thing and it only really kicked in after Matsuribayashi-hen, Satoko originally only planned to suicide in Matsuribayashi-2 and only took Rika out with her as a crime of passion after feeling betrayed, hence the next few loops lacking her murdering Rika) but being mind-caulkable is not the same as actual good execution.

I mean, I’ve banged on this drum before, but... the basic concept works.  Really well.  Satoko’s abandonment issues and Rika’s treatment of Satoko are two of the major dangling plot threads from OG Higurashi (*eyes both Minagoroshi-hen and anime-only Yakusamashi-hen*).  It makes perfectly good sense that the latter comes back to bite Rika, especially in a sequel literally titled “karma”.  I already suspected Satoko was on the autism spectrum based on OG, her being ADHD in addition to or instead of that makes perfectly good sense given those conditions often overlap.  Rika’s desire to escape the well morphing into a desire to escape Hinamizawa entirely?  Sure, just present it as that.  Satoko steadily losing her support network as her friends are torn away from her by changing life circumstances, then going to a boarding school that she hates, that strips the rest of her support structure for her and starts to take even her one remaining friend (her childhood friend, no less - and one that Satoko is at this point attracted to romantically in true osananajimi fashion) away from her, and then starting to snap with some prodding from a certain witch?  That’s a compelling story idea!  But as present it just doesn’t quite work, and that’s on the execution.

(Side note: I wonder if some of what went wrong with Gou was just the kind of production issues endemic to modern anime, amplified by the pandemic.  I remember at least one comment/blog post somewhere in the wake of WEP’s issues noting some of the effects that production issues can have on an anime, and one of the things they noted was excessive slavishness to the source material as a time-saving measure; that sounds awfully similar to some of Ryukishi07′s comments about how he didn’t expect Passione to take his script quite so literally, and to my admittedly untrained eye it sure looked like there were a bunch more other animation studios than usual mentioned in Gou’s credits...)

Final score: depends on your exact rating system, but given the range I’m looking at I can’t see how I can give it any score other than 3.4/5 for obvious reasons.  (Pending Sotsu, anyways.  It’s possible that Sotsu will resolve some of these issues - in particular, Ryukishi07 always has struck me as the kind of author who would get a kick into baiting us into falling for the same twist twice; it’s not impossible that the apparent lack of unreliable narrators so far is a double bluff, and that could affect the “question arc” scores in particular.  More on this in a forthcoming solution space post.)

[onebluebookworm]

May 2021 Book Club Picks

The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman: The girl had nothing - no home, no family, not even a name of her own. Taken in by Jane, the hot-tempered midwife, as an apprentice, the girl - Brat, Beetle, and eventually Alyce - learns gains confidence, courage, and knowledge that will lead her to the true path towards happiness.

Enlightening Delilah by Marion Chesney: Amy and Effie Tribble return to help another unruly young lady find a husband by Season’s end. This time, the sisters must contend with heartbreaker Delilah Wraxall, who has declined a strong of proposals after having her own heart broken years ago by the dashing Sir Charles Digby. Now, Sir Charles has come back into Delilah’s life, and the Tribble sisters have to work harder than ever before to make sure Delilah’s plans to make Sir Charles jealous don’t bring about ruination for all parties involved.

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin: An American expatriate living in Paris, struggling with his sexuality and desperate to lead the conventional life expected of him, falls into a passionate love affair with an Italian bartender. 

Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark: It’s 1922 in Macon, Georgia, and the Klan’s reign of terror runs deep. But as Maryse Boudreaux and her band of hunters and markswomen know, the white hoods and burning crosses aren’t the scariest thing about the Klan. It’s the literal monsters in its ranks - Ku Kluxes, hate-fueled beasts that feed off human prejudice, brought into our world during the first screening of D.W. Griffiths’ Birth of a Nation. Now, a mysterious Ku Klux general, Butcher Clyde, is planning something big, something that may bring about the end of the world, drawing Maryse back to Stone Mountain, and forcing her not only to confront and entire army of Ku Kluxes, but other things she would rather stay buried.

Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Oumo: Oumo discusses the history of America’s obsession with white manhood, and how everyone who doesn’t fall under that category has suffered because of it.