#discuss please

[fiendfifofum]

Would they be friends? Please discuss

[ahsokalegend]

One of my favorite choices the Apothecary Diaries made was making the Emperor a “normal guy” (as far as I know as an anime-only). He’s not evil. He’s not hindering Mao Mao’s journey. He respects the concubines.

If anything his lack of autonomy and presence as the most powerful person in the country further enhances the show’s themes of working within the confines of class and gender inequality.

The previous emperor was a horrible, horrible pervert. Okay, then this emperor only weds women of age… Until he’s forced to take his father’s precious wife due to politics. The current emperor reasonably avoids her.

Eunuchs exist? Bam! now the surgery is outlawed, but this will create a reduction in male labor around the palace.

The emperor clearly favors few women. Well, now he must recognize a concubine with a powerful politician father playing the system.

He supports Mao Mao toeing the line of social expectations for women, but hasn’t removed the law against women preparing medicine. It makes one think, if he wanted to, could he make the change at all? For every two steps forward, he’s forced to take one step back.

In this universe even the Emperor is limited by social pressure and the expectations of his station. His life and that of his children is out of his control, and if that isn’t such a compelling piece of world building I don’t know what is.

If that’s how the author twists the narrative of the Emperor you better believe her female characters dealing with women’s issues in this society are even better written.

[pinkcarabiner]

sometimes i think we need a reminder that butch and femme are identities used to describe individual people. they are not a monolith of traits that can be applied to every butch and every femme in the same way. each butch will have their own interpretation of masculinity, and every femme will put their own spin on femininity. someone being masculine or feminine in a way that you doesn't conform to your personal acceptable standard of presentation doesn't make them any less butch or femme!!!!

[crowleysgirl56]

Wait! WAIT! Wait a god damn fucking second!

Was “Oh Crowley, nothing lasts forever” actually about being in Heaven?!

Crowley says to him “You can’t leave this bookshop” and then Aziraphale responds “Oh Crowley, nothing lasts forever.”

Was what he saying actually “If you think we’re leaving here forever for Heaven, then please know it’s only temporary, we’re only going to Heaven to fix things, then we can come back here.”

Is that why he gives that confused look with that sad little smile when Crowley covers his eyes. Because he doesn’t understand why Crowley hasn’t understood his meaning?!

DID I FIGURE IT OUT?!

[ladystoic]

Karsus = Solas?

[bromantically]

u seriously have to let go of the idea that "man" and "woman" are totally separate. u have to be comfortable w the idea that identities are way more complex than a binary. if u wanna break the binary u HAVE to accept that there are identities thatll blur and coexist in ways that are only truly contradictory if ur still adhering to the gender binary u claim to reject. sometimes women are gay men. sometimes men are lesbians. these are not impossible and theyre not contradictory, theyre just experiences that exist because man and woman are just 2 genders out of countless others, not opposites

[punkitt-is-here]

One of the developers of Omori recently shared their experiences in this thread about the treatment they had to go through during the development of the game. They're going through a rough patch at the moment. If you liked Omori, I think you should help Melon Kid out if you can!!

It's disheartening to hear that someone on a team was mistreated. Games are a beautiful medium, but the people who make those games come first. We've all got to work hard to ensure better environments for devs, and that starts with making sure they can get back on their feet!

[scriblesandbits]

me when I meet up with my rival after a solid perigee of not hearing from her and she’s missing half her face and her eyes (eye?) lacks the same mischievous gleam

(wwhats been happenin in your wworld

heard that you fell in lovve or near enough)

(Bonus doodle and like. Pinterest quote dump under the cut sorreyyyyy)

Goofy textposts

and the more serious ones that live in my pinboard

[beware-the-jabberwock]

If an old church is converted into apartments, is it still considered holy ground? And can vampires not set foot there?

[teratomatica]

you always land on all fours

[teaboot]

Social anxiety level: Chatting with someone experiencing a schizophrenic episode and becoming increasingly self-concious of how I'm just saying "That sounds really stressful", "I've never heard of that but it sounds scary", and "You must be pretty worried about that" over and over again

[comatosebunny09]

Before AO3 goes down for maintenance, and before you flock to Tumblr to complain about how much it pains you to be deprived of your blessed, mood-enhancing, pillow-gnawing fics, make sure the writers of said fics know how much you enjoy them. It’s as easy as saying, “I like this. ☺️”

[doctorsiren]

Evil Ford!! This is specifically if he were to take Bill’s offer to join him during Weirdmageddon :)

His design is based around themes of cryptids (mothman specifically), eldritch horror, cults, and evil science and I’m very happy with the result! Under the cut will have the WIPS + the designs with my notes and choices (thank you to dadskall for being my brainstorming buddies on this hehe)

[teyrnacousland]

With a new Dragon Age game out I am once again begging people to stop citing "Project Elvhen" when you're trying to figure out what in game elven phrases and words mean. That's just some thing some guy made up. It's not correct, it's not trying to be, it's fanmade.

Good Alternatives:

Bitter Gossamer's Elvhen Cipher (it is literally amazing! I highly recommend this one) Katiebour's Best Guess at Elvhen (very outdated, but still a good resource!) Dragon Age Wiki's Elven Language Page

[idiotsonlyevent]

it is completely understandable to be uncomfortable with the sexual assault in dandadan. it's important to discuss how it's framed, whether it's handled poorly, or if it could be been portrayed better. but the number of people - even fans - stating that it is only fanservice, irrelevant, or could be removed is frankly bizarre to for SO many reasons, starting with the fact that this parallel exists.

the anime made it even more obvious by interpolating cuts from the first scene into the second one.

i thought this scene showed that momo gaining her powers by believing in her relationship with her grandmother gives her the strength to fight back against what is basically a horrific, much more aggressive and abstract (maybe even absurd?) representation of her shitty gross ex - who was demanding she 'put out' and pay for the love hotel in very first scene.

while the escalation from one scene to the next is surprising, it's not something that comes out of nowhere. this first scene is meant to be a set-up to what will happen later. it sets the tone, though significantly more lighthearted at this point. it tells you that sex, sexuality, etc. is something dandadan will touch on - though you don't know what the scope and depth will be until later in the chapter.

i cannot recommend this video enough, as it discusses some interesting interpretations of what the serpoians and turbo granny represent in their respective assault scenes, as well as how right now the treatment of both scenes is unfortunately uneven.

more notes about plot and thematic relevance below the cut. spoilers for anime-onlies (up to chapter 8, will probably be covered in episodes 4/5).

momo was assaulted, and almost cut up by the serpoians, much like the other victims turbo granny appeared around. this is an intentional parallel. turbo granny goes to momo because that is what she does. again, SUPER unclear how that factors into turbo granny's assault of ken, but if we keep the video's interpretation of cynicism in mind, it could be related to that; maybe turbo granny has a cynicism toward men - similar to momo in chapter/episode 1 - and this is why she chose to attack ken. unfortunately, it's still too early to really understand and explain a lot of her motivations.

again, completely understandable to not like how the sexual assault was handled or portrayed, and it's important to keep discussing it. but this is what dandadan does for many different types of trauma and difficult life experiences. this is a huge part of dandadan's identity. if you don't like it, that is fine, but calling the sexual assault 'just fan service' is blatantly untrue.