#im happy with the queer rep aspect of the show

[marchlione]

ngl the whole shandy plotline makes me feel like :\

[heartslobbf]

i watched heartstopper s2 because i was an avid osemanverse enjoyer in my early teen years (back when alice oseman still had anons on rip) and owe some of my aspec self-discovery to their writing. i knew they had written an aroace storyline into this series and wanted to see it because whilst i knew as an aroallo lesbian i wouldn’t totally resonate and might be a bit cheesed off by aspects of it, i enjoy aromantic crumbs, and i enjoy discussing aspec Stuff even more. it was……. an interesting experience? has certainly given me a lot to think about. gushy rant below the cut :)

i will say, i think that the amatonormativity is still strong, and rigid in this show. it’s like, isaac is the exception to the rule and his true love is books, and he gets to yell at his friends for all being so damn couple-y and romance-obsessed but there’s no resolution to that. is that realistic? yeah, sure, allo friends can fucking suck, but heartstopper is the kind of show aiming to do certain things for queer kids where id expect a dialogue about this. you know, charlie & co coming to understand aspec identities and becoming more conscious of how amatonormativity affects them, interrogating it in such a way that these queer couples can also be liberated from its trappings. juicy shit like that. didnt happen tho. isaac gets a book about asexuality (no mention of aromanticism on its cover!!! the word is used by the artist who vaguely explains both terms to isaac, but there is a much greater focus on asexuality, so much so that this morning i saw pink fucking news celebrating isaac’s asexual storyline without a mention of his aromanticism) and that’s it.

a lot of that criticism is arguably coloured by my experience as an aroallo person, because i just want aromanticism to be engaged with as aromanticism. you know aroaces we are besties in arms solidarity and all that, and im so fucking happy you got some great asexual rep that frequently used the word asexual, as well as your flag and iconography. like fuck yeah!!!!!! let’s go!!!!!! however, aromanticism is not a subset of asexuality, is not an ‘extreme form’ of asexuality, does not necessarily have anything to do with asexuality. im sure the aspec folks know this, but allo fuckers dont and that means that this canonically aromantic character who was emotionally affecting to me is one that im gonna be barred from resonating with again and again.

you know, moments of isaac’s story were so profound and moving for me. i cried at the kiss scene in episode 5, it was probably the single most relatable moment of tv (related to my experiences with sexuality) that ive ever seen. its certainly not my favourite tv moment of all time lol, relatability ≠ quality, but when youre part of a marginalised group and experience a lot of loneliness and alienation surrounding your identity it is great to see it reflected. i honestly loved that shit!!!!! ive been there!!!! that’s me!!!!!! the wanting and the not wanting!!! the jealousy and confusion and alienation, the longing to be able to feel what you can’t just so you don’t have to be so lonely, the knowledge that you’re just not that person…… oh it was great. it was fucking great. so you can maybe appreciate how upsetting it is for other people to neglect the aromantic facets of this canonically aromantic character, when we dont get shit.

having said that, asexuals also dont get shit; my issue is absolutely not with isaac being aroace, but rather with how mainstream understanding of aspec identities is still so piss poor that people neglect the aromantic aspect of that identity. i found isaac to be a relatable character and i enjoyed and appreciated that about him; i wish more people would talk about him being both asexual and aromantic, because aromanticism does not get talked about enough as anything other than an ‘extension’ of asexuality, an idea which only diminishes the complexity and vastness of both (fucking awesome and beautiful) identities. love and light and solidarity forever with all other aspec folk <3

[buttercupbuck]

looowkey starting to get a Little annoyed with some of the takes about michael and david leaving. i understand the frustration and hurt at one of the two canon queer couples being written off the show, but at the same time i do think it’s a Bit unfair to assume bad intentions wrt the decision to do so, especially when it’s pretty clear that it was a result of rockmond’s wish to explore other opportunities, and not of some random urge on the writers’ behalf to suddenly write them off

because the writers literally don’t write off characters, pretty much ever. the only time they’ve really done so (abby) was again, because they knew connie wouldn’t be coming back for the second season.  

but going back to michael and david, they got a happy ending. and not to pat the writers on the back for doing the absolute bare minimum (yk, instead of killing them off or something), but ? at least they got one, and it was still an “ending” that could easily facilitate their return if rockmond ever wanted to come back one day. and they didn’t silently do away with them either, which would’ve been a little insulting imo. instead they had this huge and beautiful episode centering them and their love and how rooted it was in the larger family of the 118, and i couldn’t think of a better way to do justice by their characters and their relationship in their send-off (which, if you have problems with how the writers have handled their relationship/storylines/whatever, that’s a separate conversation, because i’m really only just talking about people’s frustration with them being written off) 

but yeah, im sure if it was up to the writers, they would’ve just kept michael and david around for as long as the show went on. it wasn’t them burying their gays, or some random desire to reduce the queer rep on the show. and im not telling anyone to be happy with the rep they have and shut up, or that the queer rep in 911 is flawless, but ?? i don’t understand the criticism surrounding this particular aspect, or what y’all would’ve had them do differently wrt rockmond wanting to leave

[kevin-the-bruyne]

the tutoryim pair gives me a lot of hope about shipping culture and how the industry is/can manage it. i like that they're so dedicated and hard working and have a great rapport with each other but that they're just not meant for the traditional touchy kissy promotional aspect of things - i was so happy to see them do their weird outerspace alien thing for their concert couples segment.

i really love domundi - i think p'aof is very serious about the success and comfort of the talent they manage and i think he's also very dedicated to putting out nuanced queer rep in his shows - every CP that comes out of DMD has their own unique vibe, dynamic and skinship level and i think they're all very valuable. im glad they're treated as such

[antelabbitsghost]

I've seen a lot of people compare TOH to GF, and the fandoms seem to overlap a lot.

is that true? i need to brace myself if im gonna dive into another all consuming interest.

(thank you and im sorry if this is random but youre the only one on my feed rn talking about toh and also you like lamce so i trust everything you say)

@spiraling-back-to omg no worries i'm so happy to answer anybody's questions about the things that i like

but yeah!! there is definitely a lot of overlap between toh and gf, especially in the sense that a bunch of people who worked on gravity falls (writers, animators, storyboard artists, producers, etc) later worked on the owl house, but there's also a lot of aspects of the shows themselves that are similar.

both are very character driven and have amazing characters i guarantee you will fall in love with. also if you were a fan of gf going from a more fun, lighthearted season 1 to a darker, higher stakes season 2 then you are going to adore toh, and it definitely looks like season 3 is going to build on that more mature tone

idk if this part is going to make sense but they also both have a very cool spooky tone, but in their own unique way. like whereas gravity falls has this woodsy folklore, cryptid-y, there's-something-in-the-woods spooky vibe, the owl house has a more mystical, witchy, otherworldly kind of spooky vibe?? idk if that makes any sense lmao

plus there's a lot of really good queer rep and stunning animation, so i highly recommend you watch it, especially with spooky season coming up

[dr-who-said-lgbtq-rights]

i, a fan of superwholock, dissect and give my opinion on the individual shows

idk i thought this would be fun and i currently have 4-5 hours to kill soooo

let’s start with

doctor who

(only new who. i have not seen the older stuff :( )

k. so. i have been a fan of this since i was pretty young. honestly i think i was a little too young to be watching it when my mom first showed me it but that’s beside the point. basically: i really like dr who

this is probably the best show out of superwholock, both in my opinion and in general. however... i am going to be nitpicky bc why not

1. the canon. 

(yes the example is abt a dr who episode)

in short, the canon is comprised of a) retcons and b) contradictions. im not an avid follower of canon with any media but good god nobody can keep up with dr who canon

(i am blaming moffat bc i hate him and i think a lot of it is his fault anyway)

2. representation

honestly, the representation isn’t bad. however, i would describe it less as “good” and more as “a good starting point.”

for example, there is quite a bit of queer rep, POC rep, and a lot of characters are women. however, while this is nice, the show could still use a lot more rep, and the rep it has currently should probably be improved upon (for example: jack harkness is NOT straight, but he falls under the “multi-spec person wants to screw everyone” stereotype (i have not seen torchwood so this may be amended in that i just needed an example off the top of my head)).

3. story

some people yearn for romance. i yearn for the days when the doc would take their companion to some party, flirt with a tree, the companion almost dies while britney spears is playing in the background, etc. etc.

basically, the story starts out nice. just a bunch of goofing off, maybe a “big deal” thing here and there. life was fun.

then, the story changes. (this happened specifically from eleven onward, so yeah you can bet your ass im blaming moffat ‘cuz it’s his fault) things gradually became less fun. conspiracies ran amok; just when you thought it was over, turns out there’s an even bigger part of this plan that what you just defeated. the doc actually started caring about the timeline (what happened to time being wibbly wobbly?) sure, there are still fun episodes where the doc and the companion(s) go out for funsies but it’s just not the same as it was. 

4. morals

morals are good. basically:

you can have a dark past but still have a bright future, and

be kind

bonus 5. cowardice

at least one of the doctors played by one of the male actors should have worn a dress. there were plenty of opportunities but noooooo there’s a gender binary or something (like,,, they’re an alien????? if gender on gallifrey is the same as gender on earth i am going to fly to britain and drop kick some writers)

OVERALL

needs work, but p good and enjoyable.

~~~

now it’s time for 

sherlock

just. um. ohhh boy. basically

but i am going to do my best

1. representation

eugh. representation was baaaad in this. like, i think the only POC in the entire show that had any significance were the Chinese gang members and that is like,,, incredibly poor rep. i think the innkeepers in thob were gay but that’s as far as queer rep goes. there were a few women, i would die for all of them, we need more women. also the “im a high functioning sociopath” line makes me cringe everytime

basically this show had shit representation

2. john

okee he’s a great character right??? the common sense of the operation right??? wrong

he cheated on mary??? and we don’t address it like,,, at all??? it made me so fucking mad. 

(again fuck you moffat and gatiss probably had something to do with it too so im mad at him as well)

3. sherlock

classic “let’s make him a bitch” mistake. needs the stick surgically removed from his ass

4. story

story’s actually not that bad. it’s not like, great or anything but i enjoy it

bonus 5. ending

i just want to address it. i think the ending was p good and yall tjlc-ers are just upset that they didn’t bang or anything. they’re literally living in the same [two-room] flat??? and they’re raising rosie???? TOGETHER???? like what more do you want

anyway sherlock’s ace soooo

OVERALL

eh. needs LOTS of work. i love mrs hudson tho, she’s beautiful

~~~

and finally

supernatural

ohohoh. boooyyyy.

(plz forgive me this is so shitty but i threw it together in like,,, a minute)

1. story

aight so the first five seasons? p good. not much to say there

the other ten? the skill level of the writing went wayyyyyy down but i still enjoyed it

2. representation

this show is notorious for bad rep and for good reason. kevin, our beloved prophet and the only recurring asian-american character? dead. charlie, so nerdy and fun and also a lesbian? dead. castiel, the angel who was totally gay? dead. basically: if you find yourself in spn and you are not a straight white man, etc etc, you are going to a) die or b) die but in a worse way

3. mythology/treatment of religions

okay so. a while back i had a wicca/witchcraft hyperfixation which was closely followed by a general pagan religions hyperfixation, so i know some stuff here and there abt religions.

and good golly does this show make me MAD

why is christianity the central and most powerful religion? (i know why, it’s a rhetorical question) why do you demonize the other religions?? (again it’s rhetorical)

one thing that really annoys me is when they say something is a “pagan god.” like,,, do you know how many gods that contains??? if you didn’t know, a religion is considered pagan if it isn’t under the abrahamic religions umbrella. what are the abrahamic religions, you ask? well, they are christianity, judaism, and islam. literally every other religion ever is a pagan religion. so, when they say “it’s a pagan god,” i cry.

back to demonizing... they literally made a greek muse eat someone. my greek mythology phase ended a long time ago and i didn’t really get into the muses but i am p sure they didn’t eat people. also the fact that it makes hoodoo look dark and stuff when it’s actually more abt peace and healing... i bet ten dollars it’s because hoodoo was created by enslaved african americans

there are so many examples of this show disrespecting religions... i just can’t

4. general notes

(for you himym fans: *saluting* general notes) (sorry i couldn’t resist)

-the filler episodes/episodes where random shit happened were the best

-the finale memes are *chef’s kiss*

-god there’s so much abt this show that i can’t even choose bc my brain is overloading

-am i glad amara wasn’t ganked at the end of s11? yes. am i happy about the dean/amara kiss? gods no

-john winchester 🤝 steven moffat: getting a spot on my “fuck you” list

OVERALL

there is just. so much improvement needed. however if there is an absolute shit show with likeable characters i tend to gravitate to it

~~~

and for funsies let’s talk abt superwholock as a whole

-honestly im a sucker for crossover fandoms. if you scroll far enough on my blog you may find my rotbtd fanart. 

-it’s honestly just a fun idea

-there’s a lot of ways you could make it happen and all of them are fun

-great opportunities for rarepairs so rare no crackshipper has thought of it

~~~

aight that’s it. thank you for reading! if you have any questions abt my opinions abt other aspects of the shows just ask, i like talking abt this

[adrunkgiraffe]

I have been through this journey before, so I get to be actually frustrated about it.

IUnder a read more because im not subjecting y’all to this. Also: I should caveat I haven’t watched the episode cause I’m waiting till its on Netflix but I have watched way too many other episodes of Supernatural so I have a right to say these things. 

TL;DR: I mean you all knew Cas’ confession was fucking bullshit and that SPN is...hm. But I’d like to actually express my genuine frustration, for a moment? I’m going to say things you already know, but I have too much knowledge of this show and too much stupid meta in my brain about a series I haven’t genuinely enjoyed for at least 5 years which makes this not just blandly bad but disgustingly insulting to me not even as a gay just as like. A writer?

Or, even shorter: Cas’ confession is just a Charlie Bradbury Speedrun 

So. As some of you may know if, for some reason, you followed me back in 2013 (and till...okay fine 2015), I used to be, uh. Really into SPN. Really, I was into Destiel. Like, as in, I slogged through seasons 1-3 to get to Cas and am also really vulnerable to the Sunk Cost Fallacy and projecting onto characters. (I was in 8th grade in 2013, okay? Get off my back)

Also, because I monopolised use of the TV, I kind of...also got my parents into it? In a “this is silly but fun” kind of way.

Over time, critiques of the show from viewers, learning what queerbaiting is at all, fatigue with how long it was going, and also fatigue from how characters I enjoyed, like Rufus, or Crowley, or Ellen, or Jo, or Kevin, or Charlie, or Cas a few times, kept getting killed off. As time went on, it didn’t escape my notice that, aside from Cas, all of these characters fit one or more of the following criteria:

They were a woman

They were a person of color

Were Queer or Queer-coded in some way (listen Crowley was bad rep but at least Mark Sheppard actually kissed a man on screen)

I also just...generally got tired of the way the show treats women and sidelines people of color. 

The final straw really came with Charlie’s death. It got us all excited, because she hadn’t been back in a bit! And it was interesting to see how reuniting with her dark side from Oz had changed her! (yeah remember the fucking Wizard of Oz storyline? The writers sure don’t!) And maybe she’d get developed! Because at this point, Charlie and the fairly good writing of her character was a major upside for the series! Charlie was cool, fun, gay, and morally complex in a way...none of the female characters had been before her, in large part because by definition, her relationship with the boys would always be platonic.

And then. Offscreen. She is violently murdered. For no damn good reason. Like, literally, her being brought back in this episode after fucking off to europe after having returned from fucking off to Oz seems to have filled two purposes in total. 

The codex is solved (but Sam doesn’t know till next episode)

Charlie is dead, which means Dean can be angry, specifically at Sam, and kill more people because he’s the big bad this season. 

That’s it. Two things. Twooooo whole reasons to do this episode. Whoopee. 

But you didn’t come here for this, you came here for me to rip this reveal to shreds. Don’t worry, I’ll get there. What I want in your minds is that Supernatural already had a really good anddynamic queer character. And then they killed her off to make Dean angry. No, it doesn’t matter that they brought her back in season 13 or whatever. They made that decision. 

After the rage this incited, I started realizing general flaws in the writing (I had probably already noticed them but now I was angry enough to complain.) Every conflict is born of Sam and Dean not communicating/taking on burdens and Dean being angry at Cas for reasons that ranged from good to ridiculous, but in a way that always went way too fucking long, (which...yes, does make the “you do it for love” gifs fucking hilarious). It didn’t help that seasons 11 and 12 were next, which meant Demon Dean and GOD’S FUCKING SISTER, plus the decision to resurrect Mary, which, while I do like her later scenes, as a season 12 finale it...well I’ll be honest it kinda sucked. It undercut the majority of the Winchester’s’ arcs and their slow and painful journey out of their father’s toxic vengeance quest and knowing Mary as a person when it’s too late to know her was one of the last semi-compelling grounders of the narrative. 

By this point it was a hate-watch for my parents and I.

So then, I’m at college, and I’m not watching anymore cause I don’t have the motivation or access to Hulu to continue, and SPN is bad. I watch the Scooby Doo crossover when it comes out and my friend and I make fun of it, and we also continue making jokes about Dean and Cas and queerbaiting because we’re queer, but I don’t keep up. My Dad does though, so when I return, I watch some with the fam and lads. It’s even more tiring without context. 

So flash forward to Quarantine, my sister, the only one with taste, has left, and we have run out of netflix to watch. So we return to the well, and seasons 13-14 are. I’m gonna say it. Bad. Really fucking bad. The cycle of bad communication continues, season 14 has like seven antagonists and the way it’s structured makes it so I literally cannot remember the timeline of a season I watched 3 months ago. Oh also, they have a queer coded cannibal snake monster for...well I guess Jack’s snake bud was cool but like. Huh wow it’s almost like these writers don’t handle queers well. 

Our one saving grace is Cas, but he’s barely in any episodes, though I did note that his deal with the empty, being happy completely for one moment killing him, that struck me as “this has potential and I know they’re gonna half-ass it somehow.” Also Jack and Mary, but then oh...plot….The most compelling it gets is literally the finale.

But then, 3 days later, the first half of season 15 comes out on Netflix and it’s...actually kind of acceptable. The new character they give Jack’s actor is fun to watch him play until they make him evil. Exploring just how toxic Chuck can be gave the series direction again. The alternate future was genuinely scarring, and Eileen’s return was genuinely moving. Most of all, though, Cas got the opportunity to tell Dean no, that Dean was being unfair to him, had always been unfair to him, and he was sick of it. I had no illusions, I knew Destiel was never gonna happen, and Cas was gonna die, but giving him that bit of agency, letting Cas grow and be self-sufficient, and be angry with Dean not for existential reasons but interpersonal ones, was such a good sign for me, and Dean grew too! Dean fucking apologized for being horrible and Jensen Ackles had a...yknow what, ill give it to him, he had a good acting moment. 

But the thing. About. The “I love you.” 

Let’s take it in parts.

What was good: I’m gonna admit it, lads, “Wanting what I can’t have” - AS A LINE - is good, and, structurally, there is something to the Empty Deal that could have been an interesting aspect of Cas’ arc when it comes to self actualization and being on even footing with Dean. The problem is, this is Supernatural, and that arc only comes up when I bring it up because character study, even in bad media, is fun for me. 

What was bad:

I mean. Like. All of it? All of it. 

Okay. Fine. I’ll be specific. 

Cas dies immediately when - possibly because- he is revealed as having feelings for Dean. They kill him as they queer him, that’s a Bury Your Gays Speedrun right there.

Like the least they could have done is have him mention it to someone in another scene or something to establish some romantic feelings on the part of canon a full episode beforehand. That would have been the literal bare minimum. 

When Cas starts praising Dean, for some reason both the writing and Misha’s acting take a bit of a downswing (from...where it already was). Cas, whose most powerful moment this season was acknowledging that Dean’s anger at him is cruel and unfair, flatly praises him for doing everything out of love and it reads with a misunderstanding of both Dean as a character and Cas’ understanding of Dean. Dean is angry! VERY ANGRY! And it’s a problem he needs to work on and rarely does. 

Talking out of my ass, a better speech would have been about how Dean is angry because of his love for Sam, family, and the people around him, how, for better or for worse, he can’t help but be angry on behalf of others, and that his journey of moving that tendency towards the better is what made Cas care so much. Guys this alteration to the metaphor took 2 minutes to write tops I am an Art History student and these are TV WRITERS WITH YEARS OF EXPERIENCE CAN YOU TELL THEYRE NOT TRYING YET? 

A better speech would, of course, have come out of a better series. My point: this part was half-assed. Poorly written. Wow it’s almost like the series is also poorly written. 

 Also, Misha is the better actor of the three(***OF THE THREE), but his choices in that scene are jarringly out of character which. Makes the bad writing worse. It doesn’t help that they cut to the same fucking shot of Dean 3 times. The chemistry in that scene makes it feel so fucking hackneyed. Because it is. 

This combines lead me to the point: (wait there was a point to this?)

As someone who does not have the luxury of watching this capsized ship fall into boiling seas from a distance, it is less insulting to me that they did this so last minute and then sent Cas to the Void than it is how they did it. They had ingredients for something that could have been compelling enough to me as a former fan of the show to think that they had put effort into it, that they had decided months, perhaps even years ago to do this, and had crafted a storyline around it. That this was an intentional decision they cared about. It wasn’t. It was barely even pandering, because it’s almost insultingly blatant. 

SPN kinda proved to me that it didn’t care about queers when Charlie was killed off. It proved it to me again when Cas, not only died in confessing his love for Dean but did it in the weakest result of what could have been a surprisingly strong story.

[langst-wins]

the last thing i'm gonna say about voltron, unintentional queerbaiting, and major s8 plotholes, and then imma shut up and let y'all be free from my long bitch ass s8 posts so we can get back to regularly scheduled klance fanfics & fanarts

yes, they queerbaited us with shiro as rep. not in the sense that he wasn't queer but in the sense that they hyped us up for his relationship with adam, made us think we were gonna see an adashi reunion, and we ended up getting like 90 seconds top of LGBT content over the entire series.

no, I highly doubt they did it intentionally. yes, they did admit they fucked up and apologized several times. yes, I appreciate the apology and I understand that they're human beings and people make mistakes and overlook things sometimes. like they said, they never meant to make anyone feel baited. they really thought they were going to get a good response. lauren called voltron a "learning experience" in the open letter to the fandom after s7. I think she meant learning experience in general ofc but I think she also meant they've learned how to and how not to do LGBT rep in a show.

but I will absolutely be taking any promises of LGBT rep from lm and jds with a grain of salt. i will absolutely be watching their future works from afar and not getting myself too invested until the series ends and I can watch it as a whole while knowing what to expect.

I dont think they MEANT harm but y'all...they fucked up. they know it, and they apologized. it shows maturity that they apologized in that open letter after s7 and at the final nycc panel, and again, I appreciate that.

but I would rather they have not said anything about LGBT rep, ever, and just let gay shiro be a nice surprise. then, the minimal rep we received would have been wonderful and a nice warm surprise instead of a huge disappointment. it was only a disappointment because it didn't live up to the hype they made for it. and I know the hype was partially due to marketing they had no control over, but it was absolutely partially them, too.

they didn't promise LGBT content in LoK and canon korrassami ended up being a nice surprise even though it was minimal. that was how they SHOULD have done shiro's sexuality if they knew it was going to be a small thing. I would rather they have kept their lips zipped about LGBT, not announced gay shiro ahead of time, and just it be what it was when seasons 7 and 8 came out.

again, I dont think the bait was intentional, but it was bait all the same.

you are not crazy or too sensitive if your feelings are hurt/you feel baited by this show. you are not a shitty person if you just dont trust them right now. dont let people tell you otherwise. it's okay to take a step back from their work and wait to see how their next show plays out before you get involved.

i really do love voltron, even though s8 was confusing af, seasons 1-7 were LIT. I enjoy bits and pieces of s8 but mostly it was a let down. not only because of rep, just because a lot of things didn't make sense to me and a lot of the problem solving just felt way too convenient.

like I feel like every conflict in the plot was resolved way too easily and/or in ways that didnt make sense. and I feel like most of the characters' futures in the credits didnt really match up to those characters personalities. specifically lance, hunk, and keith.

lance staying on earth with his family, spreading allura's message to carry on her legacy? makes perfect sense, valid af. lance becoming a farmer? not so much. I feel like he would have been better suited as teaching classes as a pilot instructor at the garrison or smth similar. altean lance still gave me whiplash and left me confused af but he looks so damn 👌👌👀👀🙌🙌😭 with his cute ass altean marks that I'm just gonna let that one go for the sake of aesthetic.

hunk becoming a chef? not ooc necessarily but I feel like he would have been better suited as a diplomat. y'know. ambassador to earth sort of thing.

keith aiding in recovery efforts and being a humanitarian (...alien-itarian...? idk). okay let's be real we all knew this edgy boi has a soft ass heart. I think hes just mature enough now to let his walls come down and not be afraid of caring ig. which is sweet and nice and all. but I feel like he wouldnt...JUST be doing that. like he would still want the battle and the adrenaline and the badass mf fight sequences. that's kinda his Thing.

shiro marrying a rando? I would have preferred adam to not die and them end up getting back together once shiro returned to earth. i just feel like there was no reason to kill off adam? shiro has already suffered so much, what was the point? but i'm not gonna hate on curtis bc we dont know jackshit about him and for all we know he could be a bombass dude. shiro looked happy tho and it's better than him being forever alone so I can hesitantly accept that ig. but on one condition and one condition only: their ship name must be shirts. if their ship name is not shirts then I dont want it

allura's death was pointless. i havent seen anyone disagree with this one so far. her life was full of suffering and then she died. like can we all just agree she was done dirty and it was entirely unnecessary.

dont come @ me with "you just dont like s8 bc your ship wasnt canon"

that's not it at all.

they could have made this season so amazing and still not have made klance canon. they could have left me disappointed in no klance but still happy because the finale made my heart go dynamite BOOM. I could have ended the last episode with no canon klance and still been smiling because the plot was bitchin' and the characters were all alive and happy.

but they didnt, so I wasnt. it just...wasnt a good season. it had good aspects, yes, but as a whole? meh.

season 8 was poorly handled. it really was. it had so much potential to end with EVERY character having a positive ending and still have an actual satisfying conclusion to the war. I know they wanted to show how heavy and serious and heartbreaking the war actually was, but you can make an emotional, heavy finale without killing off a main character and leaving her main character love interest lonely and grieving. like im sorry killing allura and leaving lance sad and lonely was not necessary at all to the plot it just flat out wasnt. they did those characters dirty and they did allurance shippers even dirtier.

allurancers cheered seeing their ship canon then had it ripped out from under them and my heart honestly grieves worse for my allurance and allura stan fam than my klance fam. they did y'all so wrong and i'm sorry it had to go down like that.

sheith shippers got fucked over when all that development and relationship and growth culminated into basically nothing in the final season. like as a broganes stan even i was taken aback by the sudden radio silence between them so I cant imagine how let down actual sheith shippers feel.

us adashi shippers? obvious. adam's death was not necessary. and dont tell me it was to show the heaviness and realness of death in war because vld does NOT have a track record of dead characters staying dead. they could have at least gave us some mild development with shirts (lmfao im so sorry but shirts) and let us see more of curtis as a character. like...literally just two 60 second scenes would have been nice. they could have easily fit that in.

us klancers got fucked over by unnecessary parallels to canon ships. they could have made it a cute platonic friendship in s8 and let us enjoy it and proceed to enjoy fanon klance without all those blatant parallels to shay/hunk that just left us confused. and the parallels in earlier seasons. like why did you have to make so many parallels to romantic moments and romantic tropes if it was platonic. why did you have to go and do that. what was the point.

s8 could have ended in such a way that shippers of every ship in the fandom were satisfied with the finale because their faves were treated right and the plot was fire. it had so much potential in the first half and could have been so damn good.

it wasnt though. the entire thing was so confusing and nothing about it felt like vld. It feels like a spin off or a reboot. I dont like s8 as a whole and I doubt I ever will. it might grow on me in time but I'll never fully like it, y'know. everything about it felt so tilted and off and just wrong.

but it really just be like that sometimes ig.

[yjfanvids]

1/I really hate how Violet’s overall character was handled. Her (show still uses she/her) arc is that she isn’t Gabrielle and Brion has accepted that, but she is entirely focused on the assassin incident. Yes, it’s fine to focus on her being upset, but she doesn’t tell anyone about her trauma. The Doctor shouldn’t be allowing her to hide this from the adults, and definitely shouldn’t let her hide the dying thing. Moving past those two trauma inducing things, every bit of rep Violet gives is bad.

I’m just going to respond to your 4 asks in parts, but all in one post to keep it together.

Under a readmore because it’s long.

First, yeah, their character had a lot of potential to be great, both as representation and for their story…and then it wasn’t. I mean, i get the obsession. Violet is worried about how Brion, the guy whose life was recently completely uprooted, is in this position because of them.

Plus I think of Violet in some aspects is terrified of being alone. Could be one of those ‘left alone with their thoughts for too long and it might get messy’ type of situations.

As for Jace, I think she has ulterior motives and is just lying through her teeth. I mean, even the words she said were suggestive, as one person pointed out “We shouldn’t worry your friends.” Might have paraphrased a bit but the main line stands: worry.

Not inform, not ask for help or advice. Worry. That automatically would make Violet think to keep it from their friends because, as Jace suggested, it would worry them.

2/ Violet being NB is so poorly placed. “I’m not a boy or a girl” “Ok, we accept that but we will still treat you like a girl”. The kiss scene is just… As a pan demigirl who’s mom has asked the question of “How would you be in a committed relationship?” it pissed me off so much. Im not a POC or muslim, so I don’t have full authority to speak about the “I’m not a Muslim” bit or all of the POC mistreatments but I will say that I hate how they treat all of this. This is not ok.

Exactly. I really do wish they had explored the fact that Violet being nb means that we should use they/them pronouns and get to see more about what this entails for Violet as they tell that to others.

No of course, I’ve seen opinions from scores of people of differing backgrounds and sexualities say the same thing. If you identified with Violet on some level, whether it’s as a POC, as Muslim, or as queer, the entire scene upset you in some way. Even people who are none of those things also didn’t like it. Just from a storytelling perspective it wasn’t well-done.

And yes, it’s really not okay.

3/ To have something be an important element of a character design be disrespected like that appalls me. And thats all it was. Character design. That’s the rep. As i said before, I’m not part of the audience Violet represented, but when I saw her, I was so happy that the people who were represented by her, both as a hijabi and a poc, were getting represented. I was immediately upset with how they were just playing a game of “How brutally could we murder her?”

No yeah, to have what could have been a groundbreaking character has turned into something that no one wants to touch with a ten foot pole. Like, it can’t be a thing where one character seems to be a checklist for all the representation that the fandom’s been asking for. It needs to be something that represents what today’s world looks like: diverse and complex.

And the show should display that with good examples, not caricaturist and cliche bad tropes.

4/ Then the alcohol scene (and discussing with a friend) made me understand that Violet is just the dedicated representation character (POC, hijab, lgbtq) She has no prominent character beyond “I have trauma!” and “I’m in this minority!”, but none of the minorities are impactful to her character or story and the trauma could be dealt with it she would just talk to others. It tells the audience to hide issues to not hurt your relationship with others. In conclusion, Violet’s character sucks.

Yeaah, I mean, they could have totally set up Violet to have depth because of those traits, but they ended up making it one-dimensional and I wish they would’ve gone deeper into their character.

Well, I disagree. I think Violet’s character could have been incredible and innovative, it’s just grandon’s handling of them is what sucks.

[dent-de-leon]

Hi Leo! I'm curious, can you tell me about Dragon Age?

AJSKSDJSKFSG THIS IS PROBABLY LIKE A 3 HOUR CONVERSATION IF YOU GET ME STARTED, BUT REAL QUICK:

Dialogue heavy, story driven RPG where you are a Chosen Hero (or Unfortunate Bastard of Circumstance) and gather allies 

You can build up friendship with party members and even romance some of them. Shoutout to all my love interests that left me…I cry about a new elf or mage ex every time a new game comes out…

The combat’s fun!!! I’m especially partial to playing a mage in DA2 and Inquisition–this will also heavily impact the story cause mages and mage rights and lots of other plot based stuff,,, 

You can be a snarky smartass and in DA2 that’s my whole personality 

Real quick basic plot summaries for each of the main three games:

Dragon Age Origins: Nightmarish creatures called Darkspawn exist. And rarely, they manifest in one huge plague known as the Blight that consumes everything in its path. Like in Inquisition, you can choose your race and background. But here, you actually get to play out your origin story, hence the title. You eventually end up whisked away from your home to become a Grey Warden, honored–and cursed–heroes that are specially trained to end Blights. As it happens, you and another junior Grey Warden end up being the only Wardens left in the country, so you’ve gotta figure out everything you never got to learn in your (x1) day on the job, gather allies, lead a war-torn country, and maybe pet your dog. 

Dragon Age 2: You can only be a human. However, class does still play a huge role. And in this case, whether or not you’re a mage will determine so much of how your journey plays out, as this game is entirely about mage vs templar politics (mages aren’t trusted to control their power, so they’re guarded in towers by templars, it’s a whole thing). As a way to balance team mechanics, whether or not you’re a mage will also determine which younger sibling your Hawke gets to keep (iM REALLY SORRY BETHANY,,). You are Hawke, and your day just keeps getting worse. You’re one of the refugees fleeing the country that got devoured by the Blight in DAO. You’re just trying to get by in this hellhole of a city. Reluctant hero gets plunged into the heart of all their city’s problems until the whole place is torn to pieces. Try and protect your family–or whatever’s left of it–and hope you trust your friends enough to forgive them. I always saw DA2 as being as much about your companions as your PC, so really pay attention to them. I also think a lot of this game is about redemption and whether or not someone deserves it, ect. Also, Fenris did nothing wrong and I’d die for him. 

Dragon Age Inquisition: Rifts into this thing called the “Veil” that lead to a magic world known as the “Fade” are torn open. And by unfortunate happenstance, you end up receiving a mark on your hand that is slowly eating away at you–but is also the only thing that can seal the rifts. People from across the lands look to you for help as their supposedly chosen savior because of this, and you are heralded by the dominant religion as such–though opinions of this will vary if you’re not their ideal candidate, as in,, not human, a mage, ect. You can choose to bask in your newfound glory or publicly denounce that some god has fuck all anything to do with it. Either way, you become the leader of an Inquisition and have entire armies at your disposal. Also Cole is so good and I’m still crying over him. 

DAO AND DA2 ARE!!! HARSH!! WITH CONSEQUENCES!! You can absolutely get party members accidentally killed. You can also commit absolute atrocities against them. DA2 is especially unforgiving with this because you can end up automatically losing people if you don’t have their approval high enough based on their personal allegiances. But like, Inquisition is really forgiving. None of the party members can die, but they can ditch you. Which is Fair 

Inquisition is probably the easiest game to get right into. Aspects of DAO just haven’t aged well and the combat’s so much more tedious for me. DA2 and DAI have much better combat systems, but I think DAI feels a lot more like a traditional “DA” type high fantasy game. There’s also lots of different places to explore as opposed to being confined to one city and such and you get into lots of really different lore with throwbacks to the older games. DA2 is also, uhhhh….depressing,, like, I love it and replayed the hell out of it, but the ending isn’t that big triumphant hurrah or happy comfort you get in DAI (and in endings for DAO). So yeah, I think if you just want a glance at DA, you can try out Inquisition. 

DA2 is treated as the ugly black sheep of the franchise but it’s the Best story so that’s that on that. Also, Hawke is by far my character I’m most attached to. Warden is badass and legendary and Inquisitor was fun but,, I dunno,, Hawke was just very different and personal. They weren’t leading an army or anything, they were just trying to get by and I kinda liked that 

If you’re playing Inquisition I hope you like elves (i love them lmao) but yeah it’s huge on ancient elf lore!! If you’re playing an elf you might be more into that 

COLE IS MY BOY IF YOU PLAY INQUISITION PLS TAKE GOOD CARE OF HIM HE’S A GOOD GHOST BOY AND I WOULD DIE FOR HIM

There’s also a fair bit of lgbt rep, though there is some discussion as to whether or not it’s as progressive or representative as people would like, but, real quick on potential relationships for your PC: There are 2 bi romance options in the first game. Every romance option but an added DLC character is bi in the second game. The third game’s romance options include a gay man, a lesbian, two bi characters, and a pan character. And of course there are characters that are queer beyond just the romanceable NPC’s. Krem, for instance, is one of the only trans characters in a video game I’ve ever seen that isn’t treated like a joke and is a fully dimensional character where that part of their identity isn’t shoved under the rug.

There’s lots of Fantasy Politics so like,, hope you’re into that. Also, fuck the templars and the Chantry. 

NOT NEARLY AS MANY DRAGONS AS ADVERTISED,, CERTAINLY NOT ENOUGH TO BE CALLED “DRAGON AGE,” SHOW ME THE DRAGONS BIOWARE,, PLS,,–Inquisition has absolutely the most dragons, so there’s that 

Morgan and Leliana are fucking amazing and seeing so much of them again in Inquisition was the best  

Fenris is Best Romance and that’s that on that

I’m so sorry this was so long, but its not as long as all the hours I’ve logged in every one of these fuckin games