#different likes and dislikes and all that… as long as we respect each other’s opinions

[artsy-dreamer]

…gonna answer that anon ask in the tags of this post

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

In your opinion what elements make a GOOD Enemies to Lovers ship? Between a Hero and the Antagonist but they’re not the main Villain

i'm so glad you asked! this is going to be a long post so prepare yourselves. i think there are a couple elements that make an enemies to lovers trope good:

Not Previously Acquainted:

this isn't necessary but i feel like what made c//a so extremely difficult to navigate was the fact that they were close friends before. especially since catra was just as hostile to adora when they were friends, as she was when they were enemies. this makes us question how healthy their friendship was in the first place (spoiler: not very). so the best way to go about an enemies to lovers relationship is to make them strangers who are on the opposite sides.

the dragon prince does this twice successfully. with both individuals only disliking each other for their community and not personal reasons, it's much easier to build a healthy foundation where they look past their prejudices and start to respect the other person.

Good Pacing:

enemies to lovers can't be just two people fighting all the time and then suddenly getting together. especially in c//a's case, where catra was supposedly in love with adora all this time, and yet showed no remorse in torturing adora. not only does it spread the wrong message of "they're mean to you because they like you", but it also shows how incompetent the writers are.

there needs to be a bridge where the two characters begin to reconcile with each other. writing enemies to lovers should have at least four stages: the animosity, the interaction, the turning point, and the mutual respect/interest.

we start off with two people hating or disliking each other. then we have them interacting a little more, preferably interactions that aren't fighting. maybe they are force to work together or one of them is given the option to save the other. they get to know each other and see things from the other's perspective. the turning point is where one or both of them decide to abandon whatever prejudices they had in the beginning, and respect the other person for who they are. and finally, the relationship starts where both of them show a mutual interest and cares deeply about each other.

c//a stuck with the first stage for four seasons, then tried to rush the entire development in s5. it doesn't work like that, even though catra and adora knew each other before all of this. especially since they knew each other before all of this. catra needed more time to repend for her actions, face consequences and change for the better.

callum's and rayla's relationship is more like glimmadora in the sense that they were not previously acquainted with each other, and neither of them were antagonists. they just came from two different cultures that were pitted against each other. and this is why glimmadora would have worked a lot better than c//a.

Less Direct Attacks:

catra could be a ruthless villain in all other aspects but if she was more hesitant to hurt adora, i believe this ship would have improved greatly. revelling in being sadistic and smiling while watch adora scream in pain doesn't exactly send the message that catra loved her, no matter how much sexual tension there is. cruelty is cruelty. and catra never once stops being cruel towards adora.

Believable Reason:

the two individuals need a strong reason to dislike each other. in most cases, people go with the prejudice route. the two people come from opposing sides and have very biased perspectives of each other, which they slowly have to overcome. there are also cases where there may be a personal reason such as someone related to one of the characters hurt the other.

in c//a's case, it's a lot more complex and thus, a lot more difficult to navigate. i can understand the feelings of betrayal playing a role, but catra has no right to blame everything on adora after the latter gave her multiple chances to join her. at this point, the conflict seems forced.

it's as if catra is living in a distorted reality, where "come with me" means "i hate you and i'm abandoning you". or, for a more simpler explanation, catra doesn't want to be with adora, she wants adora to stay with her and humor her. which, of course, turns the entire relationship toxic, because adora is her own person and should have the freedom to make her own decision.

again, this brings us to how well the dragon prince does this trope. when confronted with the fact that rayla wants to sacrifice herself guarding zubeia, callum gets angry at first.

Rayla: All of this happened because my parents ran away, so I have to stay and defend the Dragon Queen.

Callum: But you can't face an entire army by yourself, you'll...

Rayla: Die? Probably. But if I die, I'll just be paying the price they should've paid a long time ago. Just... remember me, okay? Goodbye, Callum.

Callum: Really? So, that's it? Just... goodbye. You're going to stay here and die out of pride?

Rayla: It's not pride, Callum! It's more than that. It goes deeper.

Callum: Oh? Do you have a nicer word for it? Honor? Redemption? It's just pride!

but after a bit of reflection and finding out the truth about rayla's parents, he gives her the freedom to choose.

Callum: They didn't run. They fought. To the end. They saved the egg! We're here and Zym is alive all because of them.

Rayla: What does this mean? What should I do?

Callum: I don't know. But it's your choice. No one else's.

Rayla: We should decide together.

callum obviously still doesn't want rayla to die, but he understands that it's her choice to make. and at this point, rayla is calm enough to rethink her choices and make a wise decision. this is how it should have been done. this is how you write a healthy relationship.

the third act conflict in s5 of spop could have been done like this, instead of catra making it all about herself and whining about adora choosing shadow weaver over her. yes, she went back to adora in the end but it was still with selfish intentions. it was less "i don't want adora to die" and more "i don't want adora to leave me".

spop is just one simple misunderstanding stretched out. if catra had taken some time to think about her situation and what would be best for both her and adora, none of this would have happened. but instead, she holds a grudge on adora for something she wasn't responsible for.

A Good Redemption:

any villain/antagonist that are going to be redeemed needs this, but especially if they are to be paired with one of the heroes. you can't just have the villain do one (1) good deed, mutter a short apology, and call it a day. you also can't make all the other characters immediately forgive said villain because you can't be arsed to write a realistic redemption.

in my opinion, there are 4 stages that encompasses a good redemption arc:

realization: the stage where the character is hit with the realization that they have been a horrible person. either someone calls them out on their bs or maybe they befriend someone who inspires them to change. whatever it is, this is the turning point.

reflection: the character reflects on their past and their behaviour. guilt and conscience must be shown here, through words or actions. the character figures out the best way to fix all the damage they've caused.

growth: a sincere apology is necessary. this means that the character apologizes without a. justifying their actions b. shifting the blame to someone else or c. playing the victim. it doesn't have to be a long apology, it just has to be sincere and heartfelt. not to mention, the character must of course put in work to actually follow up on their apology. an apology alone doesn't mean anything.

acceptance: this refers to the reaction of the other characters. acceptance does not necessarily mean forgiveness. it just means that they respect the villain for redeeming themselves or that they even consider the villain as a friend, even if they haven't forgiven them.

i'm sure you're all sick of hearing about how wonderful zuko's redemption arc was, so here are some honorable mentions on how to pull off a good redemption arc:

peridot: probably the only good redemption arc in steven universe. the only person who is at least a little compassionate towards her is steven, the rest of the crystal gems don't forgive her until she unlearns her prejudice and proves herself to be a valuable friend. her redemption arc takes several episodes and doesn't hinge on a romantic relationship.

grace monroe: each season of infinity train only had 10 episodes, yet they successfully redeemed a character within one season. what was that excuse about spop being cut short and not having enough time for development? grace starts off a lot like catra - manipulative, selfish and leading a destructive cult. but over the course of the series, she begins to question her choices and morality, and is on the right path by the finale. she doesn't even get forgiven by the person she hurt, she simply has to accept that and move on.

soren: not the best redemption arc, but it's good enough. soren rarely posed a real threat to the protagonists, since he wasn't a powerful mage like his sister, but he starts off as a lot more apathetic than claudia. over the course of the series, he realizes how horrible his father is and joins the protagonists. he is admittedly forgiven a little sooner than the other characters mentioned here but then again, he was just the villain's sidekick.

alice "daisy" tonner: (art by @starapture ) not a cartoon character but god, TMA did this redemption arc SO WELL. daisy was a horrible person. she is a cop who frequently engaged in police brutality and allegedly murdered many people. after getting disconnected from her entity, she goes through an identity crisis and extreme guilt. she couldn't really undo any of her previous actions, all she could do is stop and try to be a better person. and she does that. by the end of it, she basically sacrifices herself and though the main character had befriended daisy after her redemption, he still admits that he does not forgive her for trying to murder him. this series understood the assignment, forgiveness is not a necessary part of redemption. forgiveness is a choice; regardless of whether people will forgive you, you should be working on yourself.

none of these are EXACTLY like catra and adora. but they are good examples to take inspiration from. if i were to rewrite catra's and adora's relationship, there are a few things i would change:

they would not be adoptive sisters, but simply childhood friends. or preferably, they were just cadets who kind of knew each other, but didn't really have a deeper connection.

catra doesn't join adora because either she is scared to leave the horde, or she still believes that the horde is doing the right thing (instead of knowingly supporting them like she did in canon).

catra doesn't take as much pleasure in torturing adora. she only fights adora when necessary and tries to hold back a little.

after the portal thing, instead of spiralling further into the evil path, catra starts to redeem herself.

adora and the others don't forgive catra immediately. they don't coddle her and accept her as their bestie. like zuko and many other characters who were redeemed well, catra needs to prove herself to them before she could be forgiven or accepted.

[schumiatspa]

Okay I'm gonna elaborate on my "Charlos as Romeo and Juliet" take, I just couldn't shut up, I'm sorry akansksj

Don't expect anything deep from this long rant because it's just going to be a bunch of personal opinions on f1 ships and friendships, family-like dynamics (i'm a sucker for the family found trope ngl) and such, all badly taped together lol

SO the grid is more or less divided into two sides: the Hamilton-Vettel side and the Alonso side (I'm considering the current only, plus Mick, Seb and Danny).

The Hamilton-Vettel family: grid dads Lewis and Seb are disgustingly in love and happily married and Charles is obviously their child™, alongside Mick and George (I don't see him as their kid as much as the other two, but he's not that far, so). Other people included in this family are definitely Alex (Georgie's boyfriend and Charles's friend), Pierre (Charles's bff and Lewis's friend) and Lance (Seb's former teammate and pseudo grid kid and one of Mick's bffs). I know that Lance being here and not on the other side of the barricade could disappoint some people because of the 'good relationship' he seems to have built with Fernando (I saw your Strollonso propaganda and porn), BUT c'mon!! He's Mick's friend! He was definitely indoctrinated by Seb! He said his idol growing up was Michael (which might have single-handedly got him adopted by Seb lmao)! No way he's leaning towards Nando.

The Alonso family (single dad power!) is basically him and his kids: Max (he has clearly chosen him as his successor in f1), Lando (he loves him and Max and Carlos love him too, so) and obviously Carlos (we know all Spanish athletes are probably in a sort of cult, spanish solidarity is very strong, they have known each other since Carlos was a child thanks to Sainz Senior blablabla).

That being said, we are all aware of the not-so-simple relationship between Seb and Fernando and Lewis and Fernando and their whole decade-long history. This obviously causes some big trouble when Charlos fall in love and begin dating. Seb and Lewis do approve of their son-in-law (there are a lot of pictures of them interacting and they seem to get along pretty well - an example is the Barcelona gp and the whole chili bucket hat drama lmao), if Fernando wasn't there Carlos could easily slip into their family and be pseudo adopted even without marrying into the family (Carlos as Sewis's kid could make sense) BUT Fernando. is. there. and Sewis don't really approve of him, and viceversa - i'd say that he likes Charles, so the problem is always the same: their respective son's in-laws (I'd add that Carlos Sainz Sr is the one who doesn't like Charles very much, he probably sees him as a threat). Moreover I think that things between Lewis and Max might still be sort of tense, same goes for Georgie and Max, and other similar conflicts, so Christmas dinners with the in-laws won't probably be very pleasant in general (the risk of them easily turning into crime scenes is very high - there are knifes around). SO all of this means that Charles and Carlos are a bit like Romeo and Juliet!! They come from two different families which are more or less in conflict with each other (and the conflict can only increase as the championship goes on, especially with Fernando currently doing well and Ferrari being utterly shit, because the gap is getting increasingly bigger) but their love managed to blossom in the middle ground. Obviously it's not that dramatic, the two sides don't hate each other that much: it's not hate per se, it's more... some dislike? Complicated feelings for sure! I know that some drivers are friends with the enemy family (es. The Twitch Quartet), but it's all for the sake of the narrative lol Anyway the vibes are there!! And they're immaculate!! I haven't imagined how a proper and more elaborate Romeo&Juliet AU could work (yet), but the foundation would be more or less this. Something that would be interesting to reflect on is how the dynamics would change if the championship results were different (es. Ferrari were competitive), between everybody and especially between our Romeo and Juliet, but I'm digressing now

Bonus: what about the rest of the grid? Val obviously prefers the Hamilton-Vettel side, Checo would be on Fernando's side (Spanish speaker solidariety and all that, but his 'allegiance' is not that strong, I suppose he doesn't care that much, he's like a distant uncle), Oscar is actually Mark Webber's kid (and!! that's a story for another day, because!! Mark... and... Seb... and Mark and Fernando!! We all know things happened. But let's not dwell on that rn, it would be too complicated) so he'd better stay out of the conflict and Logan, being useless his friend, would probably follow him, so. I imagine Kmag and Hulk would more or less stay neutral (they've got their personal sUcK mY bAlLs MaTe beef going on so lol) and so would Nyck? Tbh I didn't give them much thought because someone like Yuki is much more interesting in this setting, since he is Pierre's bf but Fernando has taken a liking to him and kinda made him one of his grid kids, so he is in a peculiar position. But let's be real, Yuki doesn't give many fucks, so he is probably going to waltz from on side of the paddock to the other without a care in the world. Estie is interesting too: while he is Mick's other bff, he also has a love-hate relationship with Fernando. I believe that he is on the other side, still I don't trust him and Nando together lmao. I'm actually not sure about Zhou, he would probably be quite neutral, but I know he admires Fernando a lot (I admit I'm fumbling a little bit in the dark here lol but it's okay, I hadn't actually thought about every single driver, some of them I'm making up as I type).

The real wild card is Danny Ric, because he has known Lewis and Seb for years (underrated trio!!) and obviously likes George and Pierre and more or less their whole family BUT. Alonso has Max on his side. And Lando. So Danny's probably like the friendly neighborhood dog: he loves everybody and he gets fed like four times a day because everybody loves him and he doesn't really pick a side.

The end.

[lunar-years]

anyway my thoughts on Barbie snubbery discourse are all over the place because obviously there is indeed an irony to Ken being nominated and not Barbie, mimicking the exact trajectory of the film. And it is kind of sad to think about that and it does suck because I think Margot was amazing as Barbie, and I would have loved to have seen her nominated for that!

But also. If we’re looking at it realistically, it all depends on the pools for each category. Margot and Ryan are in separate categories, so you cannot really compare their nominations because they were never competing against one another, but their respective peers from other movies. I’m not super familiar with the Oscars or with films generally, but from what I’ve heard the best actress category this year is particularly stacked, so the competition for Margot was really hard. At the end of the day, there’s only 5 slots! If Margot was in, another one of the nominated actresses would have to be out. It’s just that Barbie is the bigger movie so it’s getting all the attention.

Also a lot of the extended arguments about it diminish the own original argument’s point. I’ve literally seen people saying Margot was snubbed because of misogyny and then in their next tweet going on a rant about how Margot deserved it way more than America and it’s wild that Barbie got noms in xyz categories but not best actress. Like, if you’re putting down America to hype up Margot in the name of feminism…let’s unpack that for literally half a second, i mean? they aren’t even in the same damn category!!! ~~ “Why was “I’m just Ken” nominated for best song and not Margot!!!” ~~ Well now how it that remotely relevant?? what the heck are you even talking about?? 😭 if you dislike that the song was nominated you should be comparing it to other songs you wish had gotten nominated instead, not randomly bringing it up in a conversation about best actress.

But on the other hand, people saying “well no, Margot didn’t actually deserve a nomination as much as the 5 selected actresses” (which in itself is a totally fine and fair opinion) are by and large just pretentious film twitter commentators who can’t resist but to go on to remind us all that they think Barbie was a shit movie, and generally act like Margot is less talented because she starred in a comedy, and therefore her acting was “less serious” than their artsy indie favs. Which is also deeply annoying and emblematic of how the Oscars and film buffs view certain genre movies like comedies in general.

Which is all to say, I generally think there are far greater threats to feminism than the Barbie movie not getting a best actress and best director nomination, lol. But it’s cool that it’s bringing awareness to the Oscars long-standing problem of bypassing women in favor of men (especially in categories like best director) which is something we should talk about! Greta’s snub is perhaps no different than any other director snub in any other year, but the pattern of female directors continually being snubbed is a problem worth unpacking! I just wish people would stop talking about it only in soundbites and delve into that deeper systematic issue with arguments that actually make sense.

[melodramamatic]

This started as a multiple rambling drafts exploring my likes and dislikes about MDZS/Untamed characters as they are most often characterized in fandom, and I think I cracked the code here. I like the grumpy responsible ones and pretty much nobody else. In this essay, I will explain why. (For clarity, the vast majority of what I'm discussing here relates to how the characters are portrayed in the fandom. There's a lot of context and complexity and variation in canon that I really don't want to try and get into. I'll stick to the tip of the iceberg thanks.)

My favorite tired grumpy ones: Jiang Cheng, Lan Qiren, Nie Mingjue; you could get a coffee with any of them, bitch about work, and they'd get it. They have responsibilities they didn't ask for, but do their absolute best anyway. Because its not just them who goes down if they don't. They are tired, but they can't stop, they have people depending on them. They aren't nice about it, they don't have time for nice, nice doesn't run your sect. They don't like the petty politics and socializing involved with being in charge, they don't seem to like the power or the perks. They consistently give up or don't get things that would make them happy, because they're more committed to their responsibilities. (I could maybe add Wen Qing to this list, but she's more complicated given her complicity in Bad Things - while her family was being threatened, to be fair - and the fact that we see very little of what she wants as an individual. Though it's implied she would have married JC if he could have protected more than just her, but the Jiang weren't strong enough for that and both of them knew it. See later rant about the treatment of women in canon.)

Jiang Yanli and Lan Xichen are supposed to be the nice, likeable ones and I don't think I could handle more than small talk with them. They spend too much time keeping the peace and wanting everyone to get along and trying to pacify everyone as if that's the same as getting people to cooperate with each other. (Wen Ning could maybe be thrown in here, but it's implied the dude was bottling it up so intensely it was literally the reason Wei Wuxian was able to turn him into the most powerful (and conscious) resentful-energy zombie. Full Respect.) I don't like fighting either, but I'm allowed to not like things. I am allowed to have any opinion I want so long as I'm not hurting anyone else with it (I hate that I have to specify here, the difference between having an opinion and being a prejudiced asshole. You know the difference, and I know you know the difference. If someone is claiming homophobia, transphobia, racisim, etc is 'having a different opinion' they're in denial about being a dick and trying to hide it behind polite language). Which means I don't have to get along with every person I meet. It's easier to try and get along with the people I deal with regularly, that's just being professional, but I'm not turning step-ford smiler. I refuse. I can work with someone I personally disagree with and dislike, but anyone who tries to make me like them or spend time with them recreationally is being controlling. Also, I don't remember Jiang Yanli expressing goals or opinions that didn't relate to her being a sister or future-wife, and that's definitely a failure of the narrative and it's tendency to not really value women except in relation to the men around them.

(I get it, none of the women are the main characters and everything mostly revolves around the POV of the main characters. But. If they're there at all, they're there for the benefit of one of the men in the room. Even Mianmian is there to prove Jin Zixuan is not as much of an asshole as he comes off as, because she's willing to spend time with him and we see her later show she wouldn't put up with the rest of the Jin. Wen Qing is there to prove some of the Wen aren't bad and to be guilted by a charismatic young genius into performing experimental surgery to 'fix' his nonconsenting, traumatized, unconscious foster brother. My opinions on that surgery are only partially relevant to this conversation, but I will happily scream about that later.)

Feel free to yell at me for the next bit, but remember everyone can have any opinion they like. Disagreeing makes more interesting conversation than agreeing on everything.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wanji drive me up the wall. I could not deal with them as a couple or as individuals. Neither of them are bad people and I want to say that now, on the record, before I make very general statements about them to avoid being here all night nitpicking. So. On the record. I like the narrative of the villainized man who did what he had to, finally getting his happily ever after with someone who never stopped believing in him, and that belief fully paying off with a reveal of the actual villain. That said, onto why I don't vibe with them.

As a couple, it's like the rest of the world doesn't matter so long as they're happy with each other. Life doesn't work that way. We live in communities, and we have responsibilities to those communities, even if those responsibilities are as simple as putting the cart back at the grocery store. (I am 110% judging you if you don't. Just walk it back to the cart return, and don't be an asshole.) But once these two get together, it's like everyone else can fuck off. It's fine to be a happy couple. It's great. But if someone you claim as family has just had something traumatic happen to them, you should check on them. Not just on your partner, for whom the experience was arguably less traumatic. (Not trying to measure trauma here, but Lan Wanji and Wei Wuxian were not emotionally invested in Jin Guangyao as a person and his entire betrayal reveal wasn't going to be nearly as upsetting for them as it was to his nephew, the person he co-parented said nephew with, and the person arguably responsible for supporting him through his rise to power.) Also, it isn't healthy to have your only close personal relationship be your partner. Friends are good and important. Canon and immediate post canon has them isolated for plot reasons, and then in a honeymoon phase, but I see them as having an uphill battle for any sort of social ties. The Juniors don't count. Cross-generational friendships are great, but the context of this (and I'm missing a lot of the historical/cultural stuff) puts Wei Wuxian and Lan Wanji as too much above them in a social hierarchy to be proper equals. Even if Wei Wuxian tends to disregard social norms, the Juniors are expected to defer to and honor him as their elder and as someone who can teach them.

As an individual, Wei Wuxian is inconsiderate and self-absorbed. To me, as a modern western audience member missing a fuck ton of the historical context and linguistic subtext of the story, he still comes off as someone who casually disregards rules, boundaries, and other people's opinions, and gets away with it all the time. If someone I wasn't very close friends with was that touchy-feely with me without permission, I would avoid them like the plague, and that's in a modern American context. He's got MCU Tony Stark characterization problems. He's a charismatic genius with wealth(y connections) who continually gets away with behavior other people wouldn't even consider (except for Madame Yu, who gives him his Complicated Childhood badge) and creates horrifying weapons of warfare that everyone wants on their side until they want him dead because he won't do what they want. Also he's a poor little meow meow who sacrifices himself for people and is misunderstood by the public.

He gets treated like he never had any agency, and none of it was his fault or choice, which would remove the significance of his sacrifices and all the genius work he put in to create the most terrifying and cultural-taboo-breaking method of fighting anyone ever used. I know I didn't get the cultural taboo of using the dead to fight at first, but I've seen explanations that compared it to the horror of finding out a modern person was mutilating babies. We're talking beyond the horror of cannibalism, which is understandable in a survival situation. This is a guy who was pushed to the edge and chose to do awful things instead of die. Understandable, but horrifying. The rest of the cultivation community had good reasons to be afraid of him after the fact, especially since he was rather publicly downward spiraling with PTSD and alcoholism.

But I could tolerate all that, if he ever once made progress toward considering how he affects anyone except Lan Wanji. Yeah, he and the Wen Remnants die very horribly and unjustifiably because of outside manipulation. But Wei Wuxian gets to swan off into the sunset with his man, an anonymous face, and a restored reputation. He tells Jiang Cheng, who just found out Wei Wuxian orchestrated an extremely violating nonconsensual surgery that affects him more than physically and spiritually and had his co-parent nearly murder his nephew, that it's all water under the bridge and they should start over. Jin Ling just lived through finding out one of his uncles was a murderous powerhungry villain responsible for the death of his parents, murdered his baby cousin (the man's own son!!) as an toddler, and nearly slit his throat like ten minutes ago. Lan Xichen (his lover's brother!) just found out his closest confidant killed his other closest confidant/childhood friend and was a murderous powerhungry villain, and that said murdered confidant's helpless baby brother had actually turned himself into a master manipulator for revenge, and was manipulated into killing said confidant/murderous powerhungry villian. Doesn't even seem to check on Wen Ning, the poor guy who's been used a puppet on both sides and just had his zombified corpse mutilated protecting Wei Wuxian's interests. But no, total focus on his happily ever after with his husband.

Onto Lan Wanji, he's a petty asshole and I could almost respect him for it, if he wasn't also completely incapable of communicating and a hypocrite. If the man had just had an actual conversation with his crush, or even expressed concern for Wei Wuxian in words, the whole downward spiral after the war culminating in a faked defection from Yunmeng and the Wen Remnants situation would have gone very differently. (I know you need conflict for a story, but I hate when the conflict is miscommunication based. Any story that could be completely derailed by two people having a five minute conversation that could have easily happened in canon makes me want to scream.) This man also spends years projecting his anger at himself for not sticking up for Wei Wuxian onto Jiang Cheng (who had a lot of intense political reasons that he couldn't do more), without a hint that he has the self-awareness to recognize why. He also spends years believing all the worst rumors about Jiang Cheng and Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian's relationship despite his whole thing being he loves Wei Wuxian and knows in his heart the man was never as terrible as he was portrayed. Is there not a hint of irony here?? How much faith and value he places on a person directly correlates to his personal relationship with them. And the narrative puts this man in charge of the cultivation community at the end??? As if he's not going to immediately show favoritism to anyone who hasn't been hostile to Wei Wuxian and be intensely petty to everyone he doesn't personally like?

He hides behind being an upstanding person as if he's entirely altruistic. His whole 'being where the chaos is' rep is because he's spent the timeskip trying to atone for not saving Wei Wuxian and desperately hoping to find Wei Wuxian. (As if Jiang Cheng hunting demonic cultivators wasn't the same thing with opposite PR.) He'll follow the Lan rules and enforce them for everyone but Wei Wuxian. As someone who has to work to understand social situations, the Lan rules provide a nice structure when you're with the Lan. A 'when in Rome' with an actual list. That said, their insistence that stripping away any passion, individuality, or general enjoyment from life will bring some sort of moral superiority is incredibly conceited. Especially when they basically admit its only enforceable in Gusu, unless you piss off one of the powerful Lan. Also guaranteed to create a culture where people learn to hide anything not the norm and/or experience internalized guilt for not conforming. What are they, catholic?

I can appreciate Lan Wanji's internal struggle to actually go after what he loves, especially in that social context. But he seems to have decided he's the only one wise enough to understand when the rules should and should not be followed. He still judges everyone (not named Wei Ying) for not living up to his standards without seeming to realize those standards are fundementally impossible (for everyone not name Wei Ying, who can be forgiven all things). He puts Wei Wuxian on a sort of impossible pedestal that does not bode well for a relationship with an actual person, instead of the idea of that person.

Anyway, the fanfic in this fandom that I like, either doesn't involve this couple more than superficially, or has them working and overcoming these issues and rebuilding relationships with other characters.

I'm so tired.

[divinemiracles]

may i ask why lunter shippers often criticize and/or dislike lumity so much ─ as in, the pairing itself, not the fans? it's extremely frustrating because i'm a multishipper (lumity main, but i very much love lunter too) and i don't understand why the shipping war over which one "should be true canon" isn't just one-sided from biphobes/antis/etc., because i was always under the impression that was the case. i've only ever experienced the fandom mainstream and i'm still new to spaces where shipping luz with boys, especially hunter, is acceptable. i'm curious as to why each side has negative shit to say about the other as if their opinion is absolute. hell, i'm still confused by how much people passionately hate huntlow this bad for being boring and unoriginal at worst; if it's problematic for the age gap then surely lunter is too (rhetorical)? anyway, i hope this ask comes across okay and respectful enough. i read your blog's description and pinned post so i hope i can find some answers through you.

~ bi-ship

Thank you for being so respectful!

There’s many reasons as to why Lunter fans dislike Lumity as a ship. It’s mainly due to a difference in shipping taste or out of spite since a handful of Lumity shippers are toxic (I like Lumity, it’s cute, but I fall under the difference in shipping taste category).

Lumity and Lunter are two completely different ships. One falls under the cutesy, wholesome, loving couple (Lumity) trope and the other falls under the angsty, heartbreak, storyline, and lore-based (Lunter) ship trope.

Many Lunter fans are mainly in the fandom and watch the show for the lore and Wittebane brothers, which is why they ship Lunter (for the Evelyn/Caleb parallels). If Lunter was canon, TOH would be a completely different story and have the Wittebane family as a major key to the story. But with Lumity, the story doesn’t go much into the brothers and just has a cute loving couple.

That’s where most of the criticism comes from. Lumity isn’t a ship that’s there for the lore, it’s just there for sapphic representation and normality. Also, since it was the first Disney sapphic couple involving a protagonist, it would be difficult to add it into lore-based angst since it would probably be passed as “too toxic” or whatever. That’s why they’re so lovey-dovey. Keep in mind this is just a thought. Lumity is not toxic at all, they’re just a normal couple.

With Huntlow, Lunter fans mostly hate it and criticize it for being boring and unoriginal like you said. It was rushed a lot and could have been dropped since it didn’t bring representation or relevance (Willow was never confirmed as Evelyn and they were never in-show confirmed or coded as bi/pan. I headcanon them as such but all they ever had were popular color palettes). It also depends a lot on perspective. It’s toxic to some and not toxic to others. I have a deep hate for it just for the unoriginality (bad boy turns into malewife for the shy girl that turns into a girlboss) and irrelevance but I don’t actually view it as TOXIC toxic since in my viewpoint, it’s just two normal people pushed too hard into a malewife x girlboss ship. I don’t like how Willow does sometimes resemble Belos but she’s far FAR better and healthier than Belos.

To sum this up: Lunter fans often dislike/criticize Lumity and Huntlow for being lovey-dovey, unoriginal, and not relevant to the plot. It all boils down to a difference in shipping interest. None of the ships are actually toxic (it’s mostly just people looking far too deep into them) but some people can view it as such and that’s fine as long as no one gets harassed. We all have different views.

[rise-my-angel]

I appreciate your takes a lot and think you are quite respectful. I am a Dany fan and would enjoy Jon and Dany together in the books if it was healthy and they were interested in each other and blah blah basically it would have to be a very specific scenario for me to enjoy it but anyway I don’t consider myself a stan of any character or ship and I’m a bit perplexed by that type of fan. I enjoy reading posts by people who disagree with me and have different interpretations of characters. I get so disappointed when I find that I’m blocked by someone just because maybe they hate Dany or they ship a ship I don’t like even though we otherwise have similar opinions and even if we don’t, isn’t it nice to see what other people think sometimes? It’s refreshing I think. I’m a big Jon fan and I’m going to enjoy posts by other true Jon fans even if they don’t like Dany. I just have a hard time seeing why everyone is so bothered. Some fans are very rude and toxic when people disagree (I have been accused by other Dany fans of secretly being a Sansa and Jonsa stan just because I said I think Dany COULD be a villain in the books and I’d be okay with it as long as it’s well written which is silly. I’d be okay with so many different outcomes as long as they’re well written because it’s not my story and I trust George to tell a good one if he ever finishes it at all). I just wish we as fans could focus on celebrating the things we do agree on and ignore it when we disagree or have respectful and thought provoking conversations instead of just blocking or being hostile

I genuinely like dissecting what about characters or ships I dislike and why. I love analyzing fiction in ways that explore what works or doesn't work about something for a story in my personal opinion and how framing certain characters can have adverse effects on fan point of views.

People talk about "hating on things" when really, I love discussing why I think Rhaegar is a peice of shit. I love explaining what about Dany I think is a tyrant. But that is very difficult with a very specific subset of this fandom.

Mostly Dany stans and Sansa stans, but this also bleeds into the general discussion of targ stans. The fact of the matter is, they are fine with trashing the other character, but as soon as I make a post that is anti that character they stan, I am hating unjustifiably. I am hating just to hate and I am looking for things to hate.

And unfortunately, that means I am always on the defensive about my Jon opinions. This fandom has an issue with discussing Jon without attaching a ship to that narrative, especially Jonsa and Jonerys stans. I do not ship him with anyone, therefore I want to discuss him as a singular character and that includes exploring what I think are problematic and toxic characters towards him. Which in my analysis, includes Dany and Sansa. But because to a lot of these people, Jon is seen as an extension of Dany or Sansa in a ship, I am clearly one or the other.

I cannot tell you how silly it is to have "Anti Jonsa, Anti Jonerys, Anti Jonrya, Anti Jongritte" in my bio, and every single one of my anti jonerys posts gets passed around as pro jonsa evidence or my anti jonsa posts gets passed around as pro jonerys evidence.

It is a subset of this fandom I hate because it has shown how impossible it is to discuss Jon as a complete individual character outside of romantic ships and it is exhausting.

It is a very persistent problem. I don't care who personally ships these things, but the fandom has made it's mark by declaring that either your with them or your their enemy and any disagreeing opinions are seen as attacks instead of discussion of media I enjoy.

People can like Dany and Jonerys, or Sansa and Jonsa, but it is the persistent screaming that opinions like mine are being unfairly hateful or delusional that piss me off. I'd rather not have such negative opinions about certain shippers, but it is the angry mob mentality they have that make me so against it.

I want to just discuss Jon as a character on his own, they only want to discuss Jon as a side companion romantic interest to their favourite female character. And I get blocked for speaking against their sacred cow, whereas I go looking through their blogs just to see what their side says so I can make a fair argument to their points when engaging in critical discussion on my own personal posts.

Me and them are not the same.

[themisscuy]

Hi,can I ask something because theirs something been bothering me lately

When I was on YouTube watching my favourite animation Vs Minecraft ships I saw a lot of comments "you cannot ship them because they are sticks","Alan didn't make some ship""they're not even love eachother "and some videos said "ships that I hate in animation Vs Minecraft/Animator"even some of them said "you cannot ship Chosen and Dark because they twins and made both made by Alan"

Now I felt like I cannot ship Chosen and Dark anymore not just that but also my other ships

Is it wrong for us to make some ships of our own? Even we make it in our AU?

Mmm...

I remember that a long time ago I thought about this and read other people's opinions.

And first of all, we can't control what other individuals think about an specific topic, in the same way they can't control our minds. So if a person doesn't like shipping, which it's something completely respectable, they can't stop another person from doing it, even more when this late person isn't hurting or affecting in some negative way to other individuals when they do it.

I just wish people could just ignore and go away when they find smth that they dislike, but a lot of people don't do that and we can't stop it, but we can do the right thing and ignore them because their opinion doesn't have to affect us. It's difficult at the beginning to assimilate it, but we shouldn't let them to affect us.

At the end the act of healthy shipping is a way of expressing ourselves, stimulate the creativity or just be happy. What it's wrong about it? What is gross? If you're not hurting others or forcing anyone into it, I don't see any problem.

About Chosen and Dark, I think it mostly depends on each one's interpretation because, as far as I know, Alan didn't confirm that they're officialy related. Some people see them as siblings, others (like me) see them like just two sticks that have the same origin but not kinship-

I could explain like this: I have two OCs, I created both of them, but I also ship them because I want to. The fact that I created them doesn't make them related automatically in my head. And it's the same thing for Dark and Chosen. The only official thing is that Dark was made to be Chosen's enemy and destroy him, nothing more.

From there, people can see them in any way they want- as siblings, as two sticks that suddenly got married but had a dramatic break up, idk. The thing is to have fun.

When we make it in our own AUs is even better- we have more freedom by giving them a different origin, a different relationship, not only with them, but with the rest of characters in AvA/AvM shorts. Like I said before, the thing is to have fun, be creative and sharing with other's our art 👍being respecful all the time.

I hope I got understood -v-"

[mrswinnie04]

"Keep on Ramblin"--A Ballad of Jensen and Jared's Epic Love Story

Hey Everybody :)

Before I jump into my next blog post, I just wanted to start with a little something. I know I don't have a large audience, but I want it to be known that I respect all ships. I respect all points-of-views. I don't have to be a shipper, or an adamant supporter of your ship, but I believe that everyone has a right to their own beliefs, likes, and dislikes.

On my blog page, I always welcome differing POV's, opinions, and beliefs. I will never shun them, shut them down, or turn them away. However, I hope it will be done in a respectful manner, one that also respects my right to my own beliefs and opinions. I understand that my beliefs and opinions on J2's relationship isn't everyone's cup-of-tea, however, it is my hope that we will ALL treat each other with the same amount of respect.

Thank you! :)

I apologize for sidetracking! Back to the main meat of my post:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today's Topic!

Drum Roll please.....

Keep on Ramblin', A Ballad of Jensen and Jared's Epic Love Story!!!

First off, if you haven't listened to Jensen and the Radio Company's song Keep on Ramblin', then walk... no, SPRINT and go do that when you have the chance because dear lord, it is AMAZING! The number of times I have listened to the song is just absurd, but it's so beautiful, and I'm totally being a fangirl right now, but who cares? I think a lot of us on here are fangirls LOL.

Anyway, Storytime, for those of you reading this:

A few days ago, I discovered the song as well as Jensen's band: Radio Company (and I'm so proud of him for chasing his dreams with music! Look at him go!). As I was listening to the song (for the 100th time), I couldn't shake the fact that Keep on Ramblin' is sooooo a Ballad to Jared-freaking-Padalecki.

Now, I know, I know, ya'll must be thinking what I'm getting on about, but fret not, I will explain myself to you because what doesn't scream forbidden love or loving someone through personal troubles like J2?

Let's start with the basic definition of what it means when a person is rambling (the definition that matches the version of rambling within Jensen's song):

Someone who is "...wandering from one place to another" (Merriam-Webster).

Usually, this is used for someone who does not have a final destination. Someone who is searching for something/someone/some purpose. For us tinhatters, we know who that purpose is ;)

Keep this definition in mind.

VERSE ONE:

"Left town again for no reason/Hit the floor and I was away"

-Jensen establishes within the first line that he is a wanderer. He is searching for his purpose. His version of home. Most wanderers aren't satisfied with what they have, often leading them to go out into the world. To wander until they find what they are looking for. For Jensen and us tinhatters, this shows that he's constantly searching for a permeant home. A time/place when he can finally be with Jared. For real. No more hiding. No more faking. No more bearding.

-Within his second line, Jensen shows his eagerness to continue wandering. To continue searching for that time when he and Jared can finally and officially call each other home. Until then, until J2 can shed the pressures of the world, the industry, and PR, they will forever be wandering, lost as they seek out a time when they can finally be together.

"Nothing wrong 'bout how I'm livin'..."

-Jensen states that he knows in his heart, regardless of what the world/PR/the industry says about same-sex relationships, Jensen knows there's nothing wrong with loving Jared. With wanting to be with Jared. Jensen has always been a man who follows his heart, and in his this line, it's always struck me as him saying that he knows it's not wrong to listen/follow his heart when it comes to Jared.

"I know how long here I can lay..."

-However, to contrast the line before, this line seems to show that Jensen (knowing that it's okay to love Jared) also knows that he can't love Jared aloud. Jensen knows that there is a time-limit to how long he can be around Jared and how much exposure the two can have together. Jensen establishes that there is an obvious restraint.

PRE-CHORUS:

"Time is only/ Passing if you think of it that way..."

-This line feels like Jensen is speaking directly to Jared. To me, it felt like Jensen was trying to calm J2's anxieties that their time together is slipping away. I mean, think about it? J2 have spent years potentially "bearding", faking their lives, and yearning for one another. As the years pass, there has been little to no progress in terms of their freedom from this cage that they're in. Jensen's line above is almost like him telling Jared to think of the positive, and not let the idea of a clock ticking away deter the fact that they love one another. I don't know either of the boys personally, and I won't ever claim to, but I feel like between the two, Jared would probably be the one with heightened anxieties. Thus, this line is Jensen calming those anxieties.

"This life of crime is lonely/But only if you let it in to stay"

-Much like the line above, Jensen is speaking directly to Jared again.

-This life of crime? This can be interpreted towards the way many people still view same-sex marriages in a negative light. It can be interpretated as the way some forms of love are viewed as "scandalous" or acts of "crime" by those who are discriminative, conservative, or grew up with "old-fashioned views".

[Take George Michael's song Father Figure, for example. George, a once closeted straight singer, sings the lines "But sometimes love can be mistaken/for a crime" to refer to the fact that his homosexuality would be considered a crime during this time. This reminded me a lot of Jensen's line in his song.]

-In these two lines of Keep on Ramblin', I feel as though Jensen is telling Jared that even though their chosen paths of "bearding" and being away from each other due to the pressures/views on their love, Jensen is telling Jared that he isn't truly lonely. That, at the end of the day, they have one another. That Jared shouldn't let the loneliness of being away from each other/not being together stay within his mind/mindset.

VERSE TWO:

"Headed southbound for the season"

-Um? What's South of Austin? SAN ANTONIO!!!

Guess who grew up there? That's right! Jared Padalecki!

Coincidence? I think notttttttt!

"Cut a trail no one would know"

-Jensen's true life "path" or "trail" is not what is seen by the public eye. As he's stated in many interviews, Jensen is a very private person, thus, his true life path is not what he presents to the public. His love/relationship with Jared is his true life path, and it's something that not many know about.

-Also, this can be interpreted as Jensen secretly going/being with Jared when people think he's with his family or elsewhere.

"to hell I ride before I give in"

-The road to hell isn't a smooth one. It's turbulent, and comes with obstacle after obstacle. And I think in this line, Jensen is talking about the fact that him and Jared will have to go through so much pain, sorrow, and longing before they will ever be able to give up on this whole façade they have put on.

-This line always breaks my heart because I feel like Jensen is pouring his heart out about how painful this road has really been for him and Jared. I mean, can you imagine not being with the love of your life? Being forced to be with another when all you want is the man standing in front of you?

"With the cavalry in tow"

-He's on the rode to hell with the Paparazzi, PR, and the pressures of the industry/the world in tow. This just shows the weight that lays upon his shoulders.

BRIDGE:

"Pushing flat out for my freedom"

-Jensen just wants his freedom. To shed the weight of PR, media, and the pressures of the world. He just wants to be free. He just wants to be with Jared.

"Left 'em all a tale to tell, do tell"

-This one can mean a ton of things, but, for me, it has two meanings:

ONE---Jensen alludes to the idea that he's left the world to tell a tale of his façade life. He's put on a show of his "marriage" and his home life, when the world really doesn't know the full story.

TWO----I also think this line is an easter-egg for us tinhatters as well. Jensen's almost saying that he's dropped hints at J2 for us, and, even though he can't ever admit to his love for Jared, he's left us a tale to tell about J2. My heart....

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, yeah, those were some of my tinhatter thoughts on the song. And, whether or not the song really is about J2, I will ALWAYS be a supporter of Jensen and his passion.

Go him for chasing his dreams!

[yallalreadyknowitsunderale]

FUNNY DELTARUNE [DISCU55IOM THREAD]:

MIKE, SPAMTON, AND TENNA

WARNING: YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENCOUNTER [BASELESS CONJECTURE] AND [HORRIBLE OPINIONS]!!! YOU HAVE BEEN [YELLED AT]!!!!

Also it should be mentioned that anything I write here isn’t going to appear in character on the blog. I make it a point to only cover whats been made explicitly canon (just a personal thing)

But I’ve been mulling over the Spamton sweepstakes stuff and I figured I’d share my personal thoughts

1. MIKE

It was made pretty explicit in the hidden sweepstakes monologue and QnA that, contrary to most common theories, Mike is NOT the TV themed darkner hinted at the end of Chapter 2, nor is he even someone Spamton dislikes.

Mike is, seemingly, actually the only person (other than Kris) that Spamton seems to like or respect at all, given that he’s the only one who Spamton doesn’t feel like deserves justice for wronging him.

Spamton also vehemently defends Mike from a question about who he is, because Spamton believes the question is coming from one of that “[Cathode]’s Crew”

This also re-contextualizes a line that Spamton says ingame about Mike

What Spamton is saying here isn’t,

KRIS!! DON’T BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU HEAR FROM MIKE! THE MAN’S A CRIMINAL, I TELL YOU!! A CRIMINAL!!

What he’s actually saying is:

KRIS!! DON’T BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU HEAR FROM THAT TV!! THE MAN’S A CRIMINAL I TELL YOU!! A CRIMINAL!!

He’s begging Kris not to listen to anything that (presumably Tenna) has to say about Mike.

But we ALSO know that, for some reason, Spamton hasn’t been in contact with Mike for what seems like a very long time.

The shop dialogue is Spamton talking about how he doesn’t “Need” Mike

When everything fell apart, Mike seemingly isn’t somebody Spamton could turn to for help

At the end of a violent NEO fight, Spamton says this about Mike

He’s screaming out loud to Mike, as if he doesn’t know if he’s really there or not.

So, from this we can infer:

1. Mike is somebody Spamton values/respects very highly

2. Spamton has not been able to communicate with Mike for what is presumably a very long time. Mike also cannot or will not help Spamton.

3. Spamton, for some reason, does not view this lack of contact as a betrayal on Mike’s part, which is very interesting, considering that that is basically how he feels about literally everybody else in Cyber World who isn’t talking to him

4. Spamton believes that Mike should be “kept out” of whatever beef is between him and Tenna

5. According to Spamton, Tenna himself might have it out for Mike, to the point where Spamton feels the need to protect him from anybody he thinks is associated with him.

2. TENNA

There’s a lot less to go off of with Tenna

All we really know about him is that Spamton despises him, and blames SPECIFICALLY him as the reason he lost everything.

We do not explicitly KNOW if Tenna IS the TV, but I feel like we can be fairly confident in this assumption

Like earlier, according to Spamton, Tenna might have it out for Mike as well.

That’s about it !

3. BASELESS CONJECTURE

Now is the time for UTTER BULLSHIT!!!

I have a couple of different thoughts on Mike and Tenna, but again, I must stress these are simply personal ideas I have, I’m not asserting these as fact

Mike and Tenna

If we assume that Tenna is the TV, and we assume that Spamton’s repeated defense of Mike from Tenna means that Tenna has it out for him, I have one idea that comes to mind

Tenna is a TV themed darkner (Antenna), while Mike is a RADIO themed darkner (Microphone).

Their relationship is a literal interpretation of the phrase, “TV killed the Radio Star.”

Mike, as a radio themed darkner, represents a form of entertainment that has been broadly forgotten by lightners, which is a direct result of the rise of Television. In this case, it would put Mike and Tenna directly at odds with each other, as Tenna seeks to establish himself as the true ruler of Lightner Entertainment, and getting rid of Mike permanently in order to achieve that end.

This would explain why Spamton is so keen on protecting Mike from him, Tenna quite genuinely has it out for his life.

There isn’t any kind of radio in Kris’ house though, from what we can tell, so again, this is just an idea

ANOTHER BULLSHIT IDEA

This isn’t really something I believe but it’s something that I thought of and I figured I’d share it.

If we assume that the person who had been helping Spamton on the phone was Mike, there IS a story we can weave there (if we make a bunch of shit up)

Hear me out

Spamton was simply calling his phone for help, and eventually he made the right phone call.

If this person was Mike, then perhaps he had called into a Radio Broadcast by coincidence

Mike, somehow, began helping Spamton advertise his products, and brought him a lot of success

The man on the phone is described as having “disappeared”

The Blue Addison comments that they could “still hear someone on the other end,” of the phone when they went to check on Spamton, but when they put the receiver to their ear, it was nothing but garbage noise.

Spamton believes it’s Tenna’s fault that he lost everything, so here’s an idea:

Mike was helping Spamton become a Big Shot, but suddenly disappeared. What if this disappearance wasn’t Mike abandoning Spamton, it was TENNA forcing Mike off the air and into hiding. Mike could no longer help Spamton, and Spamton lost it all.

What if that final conversation Spamton was having was cut off because the signal was disconnected. The garbage noise from Spamton’s phone wasn’t the same as the garbage noise from Kris’ phone, it was Radio Static.

That’s why the Blue Addison could “hear someone” before actually picking up the phone. The voice was “running out,” being consumed by the Radio Static until the connection was totally lost. Whether Spamton was talking to Mike or Tenna here is up to interpretation.

This is why Spamton doesn’t blame Mike for anything. Mike was the only one who ever truly helped him, it was Tenna who took everything from him, forcing Mike off the air and making him unable to help Spamton anymore.

Like i said, I don’t particularly believe this and there’s a lot of holes but it’s just an idea

Thassa bout it! Don’t forget to [like an suscribe] for more [NOTHING!! NOTHING!! NOTHING!!]!!!!

[away-ward]

In my understanding this tiktok video (https ://vt.tiktok.com/ZSLt7AAgE/) literally is how will grayson treat other women that's not emory scott, including his initial stages of escort-fuck buddy-friendship thing with alex, and his character as a man and his relationship turns me off so bad, that i rooted less for him each time he appeared on page as i lose my respect towards how he treats women in general. Like we knew Michael and Damon were shit, but they both ADMITTED to it, but Will was always labelled as "amazing" and all good things, but his character was like THAT? Nah. The same goes with alex when she used others to hurt aydin, idk i find men, women, MCs & FMCs like them so icky, so i especially hate reading about fictional characters with these traits. What i hate about alex was that she could've been like emmy where she would've beenjust jealous n her head, and not humiliate or touch her physically to put her down, but alex literally just proves the stereotype of fighting over a dumb guy with an innocent woman. I disliked that banks and rika fight in hideaway for the same reason too. I can understand where they came from, but i fucking hated it. I hate it even more when other female reader cheered them on for it. I hated the will/damon/aydin jealousy scenes with a passion too. In fact, I would usually avoid these scenes in romance books if i can, because authors spent so much time wasting their talents on scenes of characters being jealous for other LIs, than building ACTUAL happiness & chemistry between them. I couldn't avoid this trope for this book especially, because i was never warned that the trope "other men/women drama" with a touch of "treating non-Love Interest like shit" trope were so fucking bad in Nightfall, it just ruins everything about Will for me.

Personally though, i'm not a big fan of both alex and will, and even though i know you're not very fond of alex too, i think based on one of your older asks about willalex's relationship, you described your understanding of alex's place in will's life differently than i would have. I don't have any problems with differing opinions though. I feel like you saw and put a lot more importance of alex's presence in will's life more than i did, or even will did. It's interesting how we interpret characters, because while i can agree with some of your interpretations of them, i have a very opposite opinion with the others. I also always thought it was kinda sad that for someone who was "close" to will, alex was the one who always "seems" to care more about will, than the other way around. But it's not like her care matters so much, because it still doesn't change will for the better, he only just got less lonely, but was still very self-destructive. For me, even though i knew that alex was a friend and family to will, and is automatically important to him for that, i never saw any hint that she was THAT important to Will personally, even off-page, like how you described in that willalex friendship post. Idk, maybe it's just me.

Because just like damon who had an exception towards winter, will too had an exception towards emmy, where he used everything he can as long as they're not emmy. So his relationship with alex too wasnt always sincere or deep, they only bonded through shallow things which then after one or two years of casual friendship, made them mirrors of each other's pain (or so they thought, they're shallow people, i can't always take their observations seriously), so i cant see why people fawn or get mad over their relationship too much. The fact that will couldn't get any friends outside of the horsemen if they're not their friends' girls, escorts, people he can pay with money, or people of similar status with him, even with all his status and privilege, already tells a lot about his classist and shallow personility. I kinda understand though being friends with people of the same class, since it's easier to get along with people who gets you immidiately without feeling like you're being judge for it, but still. The more that i think about this side of him too, the lesser i like him.

Idk, and that's the thing, when i read nightfall, i couldn't enjoy willemmy's story, because willemmy was busy destroying themselves and each other, then continue to go back to being jealous of the other, while always letting others intervene their relationship. Even when they had time alone, they always had to involve some third parties in their relationship, which pisses me off so much. It's one thing when people kept on meddling in their relationship, but it's another thing for them to drag others in it, just because they were immature, couldnt handle their feelings like mature adults. Their problems had existed way before alex and aydin got between them. We get the gist already if emory was a stronger woman, so i'm not gonna talk about her, but will. Ah, will, that useless fuck of a character, a character who no one calls him out for his shit. Now, If Will Grayson was a stronger man, Alex Palmer will never be able to slap Emory Scott. The only reason why his friends can treat emmy like shit was because Will lead them by example, just like how the horsemen initially didnt respect rik because michael humiliate him by example. Weak men are truly a fucking disease. Will humiliated and set a standard to how emmy deserves to be treated first, in front of stranger, classmates, and friends, i can't always blame others to not intervene or when emmy had to fight alone, because will grayson, when it matters, never really stood up for emmy. Even in high school he only did when it was for petty shit. The same thing happened when he humiliated her in front of everyone in the train, and letting emmy being insulted again by alex before that orgy. Idk, it's such a cruel thing, he was just as mean as emmy, but it was always overlooked by others. Will grayson is such a turn off for me fr, i can never see myself being attracted to a man or a book boyfriend like him tbh. Damon would never let anyone treats Winter like that, not even her own sister, even though HE was worse for her at first, and this comes from a damon hater alright. Nightfall made me so disappointed of will, i almost skipped nightfall's epilogue and his pov in firenight, if not for emmy's crumbs. All of that drama and pain because he was a pussy.

I hink i really agree with one of your older damon slander asks that said something about hating to read about whiny incompetent male characters, and it's probably not just because of my moral or personality, but also because we had enough of these men in reality! I dont want to escape reality only to find men like the horsemen in stories i read. Will grayson could've been like christian from the made series, but no, he was the walmart version of him.

Idk idc, will grayson didnt do it for me. Anyway, if you want a morally better and ACTUAL loyal pining of ACTUAL mean girl x sunshine amazing characters, i recommend you and your followers The Losers series by Harley Laroux. It's devil's night, but fucking amazing. It's reverse harem though, so if you're not into it then maybe you can just skip it. The main character jessica, was everything that pd wished rika or alex were and would be. Literally. Jessica was THE it girl, and she embraced it. This series was about going over the edge too, and be true to yourself, and just exploring topics of kinks, shame, vulnerability, love, friendships, identity, career, desire, etc. and everything amazing i could think of. Thats all.

I tried to find the tiktok but the link didn’t go anywhere/said the video was unavailable. If you manage to find it again, or one similar, feel free to send it through.

I mean, it’s easy to sit here and say I wish the series had been done differently. There’s plenty I would change in the development of the characters, but there’s only so much I can do before I overhaul everything and start with something new. In that case, wouldn’t I just be using PDs framework/bones to build my own story? But then, aren’t a lot of the series/books in this genre (especially on KU) just made from the same bones? Built on the same or very similar idea? It’s true that there’s nothing new under the sun, but where does inspiration end and stealing begin?

This is all just to say I understand where you’re coming from.

Taking Will out of the super special box I’ve placed him in, examining him without rose-colored glasses, Will’s nothing. Less than nothing, really. He’s not good, he’s not kind, he’s not all that funny. Adding to that, all of these characters, with a few exceptions, are underdeveloped and inconsistent. I wanted more from the mysteries that PD posed, and I wanted more from the “bad guys for a good reason” vibe. What we got was a bunch of immature and messy characters acting like they knew what they were doing, but in reality really proved that privilege can give you a lot of blind spots. DN could have been done better. I’ve never denied that.

If you hate when authors use jealousy as motivation this much, then I can see why you were frustrated reading the series. For a group of people who were about freely experiencing the world with no limitations, and openly shared their S.O.s with their friends occasionally, they sure were jealous a lot. But you know… people get jealous. People also react out of anger and do stupid stuff for reasons that I can’t understand. So I won’t say that Alex should have been like Emmy because Emmy’s reaction was one that I could understand and relate to. Because there are real people who have reacted like Alex. What I didn’t like is that PD framed it as though Emmy was wrong and Alex was right. The reality is that neither of them should have been framed as the superior one. Emmy wasn’t perfect, I just understood her better.

I can see why Will was ruined for you. Like I’ve said before, by the end of NF I was ready to scrap the whole series, save for the past scenes where I agree with the portrayal of his character, and wipe my hands clean.

I feel like you saw and put a lot more importance of alex's presence in will's life more than i did, or even will did.

Honestly, I never saw Alex as important until Nightfall tried to convince us she was. But since that’s the narrative it served us, I tried to examine from that perspective. Why is Alex here? Why is she even relevant? The easy answer is that PD pushed that narrative. But removing that, just analyzing what the story is, and what are we left with? Making it make sense is what I'm trying to do.

I also always thought it was kinda sad that for someone who was "close" to will, alex was the one who always "seems" to care more about will, than the other way around. But it's not like her care matters so much, because it still doesn't change will for the better, he only just got less lonely, but was still very self-destructive.

What I thought was fascinating about this point is that you’re right, but also…

As noted at the end of KS, Will only started improving when Damon returned and his friends started helping him get off drugs. They got him clean, but not sober. I think that’s what finally motivated him to go to BC, because he started realizing he had nothing to offer his friends anymore. On top of that, was he going to rely on them to keep him clean? He couldn’t. He needed to learn to do that on his own. First real grown-up decision he made. Of course, he then became the worst version of himself, too scared to return to a place that offered all his vices so freely because he couldn't trust himself, and too stunted to try. He did the physical work, but none of the emotional or mental work. Alex never helped him with any of that.

She comforted him. She made him think everything he was doing was okay. Maybe she tried to encourage him, but I don’t think she ever pushed him to be better like Emmy would have. Emmy would have demanded better (at least the Emmy that lives in my head, but I think the book version is at least closer to that then Alex ever was). I truly think if Emmy had returned to Thunder Bay by the time Will was released from prison, he would either have never gotten that bad or she would and forced him to get better earlier.

But Emmy wasn’t there. Alex was, and who know why Alex did anything. Was it her character? Was it her flaws? Did she not know what to do for him because she’s literally 19 and life suddenly hands her a client who’s been to prison and has trauma surrounding that, and is angry, and is numbing his pain with vices, but that she can occasionally see a glimmer of something more in? I don’t know. Maybe it was just excellent sex, and even she says that’s what she’s usually thinking about. She says he puts in the work. Either way, because of the way this story was told, it’s up to the reader to make up their own mind. No one is more correct than anyone else, least of all me. I read way too much into this anyway. It’s really not that deep.

The fact that will couldn't get any friends outside of the horsemen if they're not their friends' girls, escorts, people he can pay with money, or people of similar status with him, even with all his status and privilege, already tells a lot about his classist and shallow personility. I kinda understand though being friends with people of the same class

I mean… I’m not sure about this opinion. We see these guys host parties in nearly every book. It’s safe to say they have friends outside each other. And if you want to say all those friendships are shallow because they’re built on who has money and what people can offer each other, that’s fine. I won’t argue that point, though I’d disagree with it. But it’s obvious that these relationships are the most important to them, and since we only see a very narrow time frame of the series, we don’t get a lot of development of outside plot.

Even when they had time alone, they always had to involve some third parties in their relationship, which pisses me off so much.

This is partly why I say I would have preferred if NF had taken place in Thunder Bay like the others or was not the end of the series. The force proximity and limited cast really make it difficult to determine what is Will and Emmy, and what is the situation forcing them to act this way. Not giving either an escape route to see what decisions they’d make without the pressure is frustrating. There is a way to keep this plot and make the series work.

Now, If Will Grayson was a stronger man, Alex Palmer will never be able to slap Emory Scott. The only reason why his friends can treat emmy like shit was because Will lead them by example, just like how the horsemen initially didnt respect rik because michael humiliate him by example.

This is a fair point. I’ve been thinking a lot about friend group dynamics, especially in fours (gee, wonder why), and I realized something that frustrates me about the way the horsemen are set up. I’m gonna segue into something else, so if you want to skip the next few paragraphs, that’s fine.

Michael is set up as the leader, Kai the brains, Damon the passion, and Will the heart. In recent posts, I’ve called Michael the brain, and Kai the heart. Because that’s what makes sense to me in terms of the roles they feel. A leader needs to lead with something, right. It can be courage, it can be heart, it can be logic, but it needs to be something. Just calling Michael a leader because he makes the call doesn’t mean anything. What is he leading with.

But Michael is framed as logical and decisive, so I place him as the brain. Kai is supposed to be compassionate and wise, the voice of reason in the group, which PD calls the brains, but I call the heart. Damon can remain the passion. But that leaves Will with nothing.

Will, in my head, is supposed to be the glue that holds them together. He’s supposed to be the one they go to when they need encouragement, to see things from a better perspective. The one that fixes them, not the other way around.

If that’s the case, he totally fails in his role. He’s so weakened by his various traumas and heartbreak, he can’t fulfill that role. And that’s irritating because it takes the entire series for him to come out of that and then it ends. We never actually get to see Will as he was supposed to be. That’s what pisses me off. So, you’re right. He’s useless.

Back to your point, I think also would have preferred to see a stronger Will. A character who is so happy all the time, the glue that holds the team together, the one they go to when they need to be built back up, and all of a sudden the only thing that makes him so angry he goes over the edge appears in front of him again? To the point he becomes unhinged and starts wilding out? That could have been interesting.

And it’s interesting because we do see a bit of what you were talking about with Will setting the standard when Damon was trashing her at the cove, before they went to beat martin. He straight forwardly, in all seriousness, tells Damon to stop. Will can feel that way about her, but no one else. Somewhere along the way, Will lost that thought. Where’d it go? I don’t know.

Anyway. What can you do?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I hope I understood what you were saying and responded fairly. I know I come off as totally pro-Will Grayson, Will Grayson can do no wrong, but that's not the case. I do see the characters clearly (for the most part). Not only that, but I want them to be better. So I make it so.

[egg-emperor]

I have the epic ability to be friendly towards and accepting of people without them needing to share each and every single one of my opinions and beliefs, and without them needing to like and dislike all the exact things (when it comes to fiction let me be clear, not when it comes to real life stuff like human rights, discrimination, bigotry, crime etc so don't take this out of context) and be fine and unbothered with them voicing them, without accusing them of doing it just to be hateful towards me personally lol

I'm friendly with people who say or believe stuff that I heavily disagree with all the time. I'm friendly with people who absolutely despise the things I love, and adore the things I hate. as long as they do the same to me, I respect them and their freedom in that and embrace differences. I like to see them being honest and open about their own regardless of whether I relate or agree or not and don't discourage it, and I appreciate when people allow me to do the same freely.

But I'm also always open to being proven wrong by them if it's a case where I can be factually incorrect and they can show me the proof, or debate me if it is up to interpretation and preference but they have a chance at changing my perspective on it. I also like when I get to do the same to help people out with misconceptions or offer new perspectives in interpretation- which I like to do where I can but I tend to be misinterpreted and accused of bad intentions for it.

I don't need a hivemind and to be approved by others to feel secure and validated in my beliefs and preferences. I'm happiest when I can express myself freely and say what I think and feel and share what I create without restriction, without people trying to sabotage because they don't like it. I don't agree 100% with anyone and it should be obvious lol. Repressing myself to please those around me or cutting off anyone who doesn't agree with everything I say would be miserable

Despite rumors, I'm not in a hivemind with anyone because everything is much more complex and nuanced and not black and white like that. I don't agree with many things people around me believe or like but I don't insult them or cut them off, I just let them be or we have a fair discussion or debate where we can, where we might end up agreeing which would be nice but not required. I also only stick around those who can accept my own differences too.

I embrace differences, I enjoy sharing my opinions and beliefs and seeing others show theirs, I enjoy being proven wrong or helping correct someone else in ways I like to be when it applies, and I like to debate and discuss sensibly. As long as they aren't actual harmful beliefs about real life things, I can accept and respect anyone's differences in beliefs and opinions, likes and dislikes, etc to me as long as they can do the same to me. Life is much more fun and interesting that way!

[cuervolyx]

27. for Siwoo. :D

Question 27. Back before they got the job they are currently doing, what was their opinion about that job?

(Note: Sorry this response took so long! I knew what I wanted to say, but drawing it was hard. I cannot draw children and I wanted to draw Siwoo as a child. This is actually my first time drawing a very young child. I’m surprised on how well it turned out. It’s not perfect, but I like it and that is what matters.)

——————————————————————————

As a child of two soldiers, Siwoo was raised around the military. He learned a lot about the different careers in the military, particulary the army. He was even enrolled in a school that was on his parents' base.

"In school, we were taught to respect the military. Therefore, I respected all the jobs even if I didn't know what they exactly did. It took me a while to figure out what ordnance officer was. Which was a bit embarrassing considering that was the job my mother had..." Siwoo said as he sighed. He still remembers getting shouted by the teacher about not knowing the title of his mother's job. His peers definitely did not let him live that down at all.

"However, some jobs were looked down upon. I definitely remember the Military Police being a job that was somewhat respected, but also hated. Though, a lot of the kids were were mischevious, so I can see why they disliked them. My father also didn't like them, so as a kid I wasn't too fond of them. However, as I grew up, my opinions changed."

"When I was in basic training at a different base, I noticed the soldiers with power began to abuse us. It took everything in all of us to not quit. Well, we weren't allowed to quit as the country was preparing for war and the government pass a conscription law." Siwoo remembers hearing a lot of the female soldiers crying. He remembers have many male soldiers began to fight. It was a crazy moment that he never expected to see. After all, his peers were taught to behave or else. It didn't stop them from acting out, just to not act out in front of the adults.

"It wasn't until Military Police were sent to our bootcamp that the power abuse was stopped. They investigated everything and listen to everyone's story about the abuse. The Military Police took everything serious and punished the leaders for their abuse towards us. It was that day when I realized that my opinion was wrong. I took a strong interest with their job and my respect for them skyrocketed. It was probably what led me to even become a military police officer in the first place. After all, their job is important as they maintained order on base and in civilian population," Siwoo explained what happened. He still remember being at awe and watching the other soldiers quietly cheer for their victory. Even those who hated the military police could be heard talking good about them. He won't ever forget the feelings he felt as they left the base.

"For the intelligence side of things, I wasn't aware they existed until I was pulled into it. So, I didn't have an opinion about them before I got my job there."

——————————————————————————

A short response, but I hope it was still a good response and insightful for my character. Siwoo, Chunhee, and another character (that I have yet to introduce) are the hardest for me to describe. Each are very different though.

I'll get one ask out soon since I did finish one of two drawings. Just got to draw that and write out the response then I can post it.

[hoghtastic]

Hello everyone! 😊

First of all, I hope everyone is having a great day! If you've been around this blog for enough time, then you'll know that I prefer to avoid off-topic drama as much as possible, as well as personal back-and-forths, and prefer to stick to the blog's topics of discussion — that's what we're here for, anyway! However, some things need to be addressed.

So today I had to block an anon, whose message simply accused everyone here of having a mental illness I will not name (out of respect for those who actually suffer from this condition) and "advised" us to get help. Just this — completely off-topic and against the blog's only "rule" of keeping civil discussion. Curiously enough, when I did so, two other asks immediately disappeared — one of them criticizing a "stan blog", and another one which was the polar opposite, as it started by saying positive things about Johanne and ended by criticizing other's opinions (and just for the record, the first part of this ask would have been totally fine — positive opinions have always been encouraged, but not the policing of differing opinions and personal attacks).

Therefore, it leads to the conclusion that all 3 asks were sent by the same anon. Now, I'm not sure if this person was just bored and trying to stir some waters here or if they find it funny to "troll" the blog, but I must say that, to me as the admin, it doesn't affect me in the slightest. I would have answered/posted both asks that got deleted in the same as-neutral-as-possible manner. As previously stated, there is absolutely no ask limit, so I don't really care if you're submitting 1 or 10 asks, or if you're pretending to be both a stan and a hater at the same time, as long as you're able to be respectful of others here. If anything, if someone who claims to dislike the blog is doing such a thing for fun, then it only ends up fueling the discussion and making the blog even more active, so it leads me to believe that these people might actually find the blog more entertaining than they would like to admit. 🤷‍♀️🤭

And the reason I'm addressing this incident is both out of transparency and respect towards everyone who actually enjoys the blog and takes a little of their time to share their thoughts and opinions. Just so when this person goes out there complaining that I blocked them and I'm not posting all asks and whatnot, people will know exactly what happened. Because I truly value each and every anon who participates daily — we may not always agree with each other on everything, but you make this blog what it is and a fun place to be! 💖

I'm sorry if this post turned out really long, but I felt like you guys deserved to know. And if anything, may this become an opportunity for reflection and learning.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week! 😘✨

[galaxies-and-gore]

What would your ocs think of Finn? If you don't mind me asking

Of course I don't mind! I love character questions (I'm just to shy to ask people about theirs or talk about mine normally)! Also so sorry that this took so long to get to, I spent most of the afternoon trying to get all the paw badges.

I'm not completely caught up on your writing for Finn, so my apologies if anything is clearly out of character! Here we go! :

Xenio:

I'm not sure if Xenio would have many opportunities to truly spend time with Finn, but he loves meeting new people so he automatically has a good opinion. I remember you saying that he goes to Pomefiore to paint, so they've probably seen each other around. Xenio's heard about how people feel off in Finn's wake and isn't bothered in the slightest. In fact, it makes her want to know him better! Xenio is drawn towards people who are quite eccentric or strange, because so are they. It's the reason they transferred from Ignihyde to Pomefiore. I also remember that Finn is sensitive to noise, so I don't know how he'd feel about Xenio's frequent trilling (it's like a vocal stim for her).

Lumi:

Lumi would be quite fond of Finn. Lumi can drop their act and just exist normally around him. Lumi quickly learned to stop with the bullshit because they realized they'd get nothing out of him, which ironically lead to begrudging respect and then what could be called a friendship (though I doubt either would admit this). They use different strategies to get dirt on people, so sometimes they swap information on certain students for other beneficial info. I feel like these two would love to trash talk.

Desmond:

Hmm . . . Desmond doesn't exactly dislike Finn, it's just that he knows trouble when he sees it. Finn may keep to himself, but there's still a reason he's in Octavinelle. Desmond is very loud and brash, so I feel like their personalities would just clash a lot. If there's anything these two could find neutral ground about, I think it would be flying. Desmond definitely respects Finn's flying skills and would love to have some kind of competition against him. I feel like if they got to know each other better, they might get along somewhat. That being said, I wouldn't bet too much on that.

Corvus:

I kinda feel like Finn would have a worse opinion on Corvus than he would have about Finn. And honestly, that's fair. Desmond is more of an unintentional troublemaker, while Corvus intentionally causes trouble. He goes out of his way to do things that make people think less of him because it also means that no one expects anything out of him. He's also very loud as well as clearly only cares about one thing and leaves everything else to be swept aside. Corvus has a neutral view about Finn. While he can't let his guard down around him because of his close connection to the tweels and Azul, Finn has also never done anything to really give him a bad opinion. As long as it stays that way, Corvus isn't going to think negatively about him.

That's it! I hope that I did Finn some justice in this. I've never gotten to write about my characters while keeping someone else's in mind, so this was good writing practice. Ty for the ask!

[allmyshipsarequeer]

Campaign 3 (Bell's Hells)

(This is going to be a bit of a long rant. It's not an angry rant though, so please bear with me. Also this is not me bashing people for having their own opinions but more or less me explaining in my own opinions why C3 isn't nearly as bad or "boring" as some people say it is.)

I have some opinions about the Critical Role campaigns, but especially Bell's Hells, that I need to share. This came up between a talk with me and friend who said she hated Campaign 3 and that it wasn't even worth watching compared to Vox Machina and Mighty Nein. Even going far as to say they shouldn't have even done this campaign. And I've noticed a lot of people saying that they don't like C3 as much as the others or that it's not as good, even though we are only 28 episodes in. So I have some things to say.

I personally love C3. I never really got into Vox Machina, and I didn't start watching C2 until it was almost over. And when I went back to watch C2, I couldn't even really get into it until we found out Nott's backstory and then I was invested and that wasn't even until episode 48 of C2.

To begin with, I didn't even feel that big of an attachment to the C2 characters until later on in the campaign as opposed to Bells Hell's where I was enjoying the characters from the first episode. (I also realize that had I watched C2 from the beginning of its run I might have a different opinion, but I can't turn back time to form those first attachments).

(I also personally enjoy Bell's Hells dynamics way more this early in the campaign than I did with VM and M9, minus Veth/Nott and Caleb's dynamic, which is *chef's kiss*).

Going from watching the beginning of C2 to watching C3 I really feel like the crew was able to fully get into a character that they truly enjoy playing in this campaign (Especially Ashley) as you can tell they feel more comfortable interacting with each other this time around. They're more friendly, funny, and flirty with each other (which might be possibly b/c it's not streamed live anymore) as that's just how their characters are to each other from the get go.

Bell's Hells are already way closer to each other only 28 episodes in than M9 was. They really feel like a group of friends that care about each other and just want to know more about each other's backstories and families as opposed to M9 early on. Yes, M9 cared about each other to an extent in the early campaign but it was mostly their distrust of other people and their respective trauma that kept most of them from truly trusting each other until later on in show once they'd traveled together long enough to see the good and bad parts of each other.

Also I don't really think the pacing is as slow as people think, it's just that they have more story important dialogue with each other, as opposed to M9 who didn't really tell each other anything heavy, lore wise, until later on in the campaign and only after having traveled together for most of the campaign. Plus I enjoy having more than one character's backstory being focused on as opposed to 1 at a time as C2 seemed to do. Not to mention, In C3 they all play off each other so well that, to me, just seeing and hearing these characters interacting with each other is almost more enjoyable than following the possible plotlines.

Besides, from what I can tell when C2 started some people also weren't super fond of it b/c they were used to VM and didn't really want to see the characters they'd grown to care about not be part of the story. People dislike change. It's as simple as that.

(If you've read this far this is basically a long-winded way of saying that C3 only seems slower b/c is a lot more character and lore focused than the other campaigns and that's not a bad thing, it's just different.)