#it’s also really anti men like there’s no men they all died and it’s between the two factions of like militant science and fuck it we ball

[genderdog]

every time i listen to ugly death no redemption i go fucking insane about ice the last generation again

[howtofightwrite]

Sorry if you’ve already answered this, I’m having trouble finding different posts in your blog.

I know a lot of your asks are more practical-related, but how do you suggest fully encapsulating the horror and tragedy of war in a (fantasy) battle scene? I really need that emotional and gory impact but it also to seem reasonably realistic.

My favourite references are Battle of the Bastards in GoT and scenes from Lord of the Rings.

Thanks!!

Martin and Tolkien are not two authors I’d ever expect to find together when discussing thematic and abstract concepts like the horrors of war in their writing. One of them is extremely deep, and the other is a puddle. Neither of them are particularly “realistic” but only one of them claims that pretense while drawing from real history. If you’re wanting horrors of war, you’re much better off moving away from Martin and taking a gander at the actual War of the Roses.

Let me explain.

Tolkien served as an officer during World War I. By sheer body count, The Great War was one of the most bloody and brutal wars in human history. As a point of reference, over a million soldiers died during the Battle of Somme. Perhaps as importantly, World War I killed the cultural concept of the Summer War. Before World War I, the British upper class viewed war as a game. War was an adventure, something young men did between reaching manhood and getting married. Watson from Sherlock Holmes is an excellent example of the end result for this particular outlook. They figured they’d go off, have some jolly good fun, get a few scars, and be back in a few weeks in time for tea. What they got was a meat grinder. Two of Tolkien’s close friends died during the war. He also lived through the bombings during World War II while working as a professor at Oxford, he experienced the devastating effects that war had on the civilian population first hand, and, likely, saw a few of his students die. Despite his hatred of allegory, the man was working through some shit in The Lord of the Rings.

If you’re interested in learning more about World War I or even about effectively demonstrating the horrors of war, I do recommend reading All Quiet on the Western Front. I read it once in high school (more years ago than I’d like to admit here) and, much like Elie Wiesel, it has stuck with me. It was also such an effective anti-war novel the Nazis banned it and it was one of the first books they publicly burnt, so you know it’s good.

Back to Tolkien.

What they don’t tell you about fantasy is that it’s real life, just with elves and dwarves and magic. The real world forms the foundation of fantasy and it’s the humanity of the emotional experience in war, the good and the bad, with both ends cranked all the way to eleven that really makes Tolkien’s work so impactful. LOTR is operatic by design, but what keeps the narrative from falling into melodrama is the core thematic message underneath the pageantry. One of the major themes is hope, which gets symbolized in light, and hope’s interplay with despair, symbolized in darkness. Not just a rosy view of it either, but the genuine struggle to keep the light burning against all the overwhelming reasons to give up or give in. Tolkien allows his characters to be corrupted and redeemed, their struggle with temptation before ultimately choosing the better path or failing and falling into darkness. He commits to the idea that hope can be restored in the unlikeliest of places.

Boromir’s death is, perhaps, one of the best examples of Tolkien’s philosophy in action. Boromir is a character we’re not sure of, he wants the one ring from the outset, he’s the only one advocating that it shouldn’t be destroyed. The hearts of men are easily corrupted. When he tries to take the ring from Frodo, he falls into his worst instincts and breaks the Fellowship. But then, against the overwhelming flood of Uruk-hai, Boromir tries to save Merry and Pippin. He fights wounded, shot again, and again, until he’s felled by twenty arrows and he fails. Yet, in his failure he restores Aragorn’s hope in his people, gives him a reason to fight for Gondor, and inspires the audience to believe in Man’s potential for greatness.

Tolkien could have left Boromir in the dark, but he didn’t. He could’ve given into cynicism, but he didn’t. In every adaptation, Boromir’s death never fails to get me bawling. Boromir is both good and bad, both dark and light, his best and worst instincts are driven by the same underlying, sympathetic reason—his desire to save his people and fulfill his duty to his father.

On the whole, I find Tolkien’s presentation of the human condition and war to be more compelling and realistic than Martin’s. Tolkien’s underlying themes have more in common with All Quiet on the Western Front, Saving Private Ryan, and HBO’s Band of Brothers. For all that his characters often feel larger than life (by design, he’s telling an epic) there’s always a grounding quality that allows the audience to connect with them. Whether we agree with Tolkien’s core thematic message or not, Tolkien genuinely has something to say about warfare and its effect, both on personal and world changing levels, and he communicates that message very well.

The irony about the “horrors of war” isn’t about the horrors of war. Thematically, the “horrors of war” is about who we choose to become in the face of them when trapped in the crucible. Do we rise to our best selves? Do we fall to our worst? When every illusion about who we believe we are is stripped away, what’s left? It’s an existential question, not a “realistic” one.

You can’t write about the horrors of war in fiction if you have nothing to say about war, humanity, and its effects. All you’ll end up with is gore for shock value. The world becomes hopelessly depressing, and, in the end, all the blood turns brown before it’s finally shat out.

Hi, Martin.

Don’t get me wrong, Martin is a very skilled writer. His prose is genuinely beautiful and his first book in ASOF, A Game of Thrones is actually a pretty decent deconstruction in the traditional fantasy narrative and a fairly realistic treatment of how events would go for the standard well-meaning fantasy protagonist. And that’s… the deepest we get.

Martin comes out of the 24/Joss Whedon death for shock value school of writing and the land of Iron Age comics that doesn’t have anything to really say beyond, “people suck.” Underneath it all is a level of cynicism in the human condition that would make Garth Ennis blush. The deaths are just shock value. There’s nothing more to it than that. Once you’ve acclimated to the gore, there’s nowhere else to go and nothing else to think about. Ironically, out of his contemporaries, Robert Jordan is better at giving both war and death in his narrative lasting effect, driving character growth, and real meaning.

Martin and Tolkien are opposite ends of the spectrum in their approach to war and their outlooks are utterly incompatible. One of them is a complete cynic and the other is facing himself honestly, openly, fearlessly, and without a smidgen of irony. (The true irony here is that the latter is the Englishman.) Following Martin’s blueprint won’t bring you to a Tolkien outcome. Tolkien’s genuine emotion is the subject of mockery in Martin’s world. Season 8 may’ve been clumsy and infuriating, but it was the natural end of Comic Book Iron Age cynicism. There are no good people, people with power can never be trusted, and all heroes, no matter how noble, reveal their true colors as villains in the end. As Christopher Nolan said, “You either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain.” This philosophical outlook may be sold as realistic but it’s really just Political Both Sidesism, Fantasy Edition.

The irony is that the real history Martin draws from, The War of the Roses, is simultaneously crueler, kinder, more noble, more horrific, more impactful, and ultimately more hopeful than Martin’s own work. And this was post the Hundred Years War and all the wars that preceded it.

I bring you, the Duality of Man.

If you want to write a realistic battle scene, start with real war. If you want to write about the horrors of war, start with real war. Pick a war, any war, and dig in. Reading the experiences of others is a way to gain insight into experiences you yourself don’t share and start to process the different philosophies born out of those experiences. The horror of war is a human one.

The most important lesson is that you won’t get there by focusing on the battle itself. To truly feel the impact, every character needs to be carefully built from the very beginning with a through line to every horrific event that happens to them. If you want to learn how to do that, then you need to go study every single war movie from good to bad (including the jingoistic rah-rah ones) like Apocalypse Now, Saving Private Ryan, Battle for Iwo Jima, etc, to really start internalizing the underlying storytelling structure and character design formula that makes those films tick. There’s no one better at portraying the horror and humanity of war than the war film industry. Part of what makes the best of these films really good is their willingness to allow their characters to be emotional and vulnerable. Which you won’t find in a lot of fantasy novels that run on machismo, but is the secret sauce that gives Tolkien his impact.

Having the confidence to allow your characters to struggle, be vulnerable, experience humiliating circumstances, and appear weak is an aspect of writing that a lot of men and women struggle with. Cynicism is a form of self-protection to keep those emotions away, to keep one from being emotionally invested, and is a means by which we protect ourselves from being hurt. We may portray cynicism as the more realistic reality but it’s just a cloak we hide behind. Martin’s approach to warfare is less realistic than Tolkien’s. Tolkien’s characters approach warfare with an eye toward protecting their civilians, safeguarding their future, or, in the case of his villains, focus on genocide. War for Tolkien is the eradication of civilization and the destruction of the future. Characters from experienced combatants to innocent civilians are willing to risk their lives for a world and for the people who matter to them. Martin has the Summer War. It’s there in the title, A Game of Thrones. An entertaining charade of musical chairs. And while all of his characters are chasing power, almost none of them have any sort of vision or goal for the future beyond the accumulation of more. In Martin’s world, the only way to truly win is not to play, but in the real world playing is the only way to create the world you want. Cynicism ends with no seats at the table and no means to change or save anything.

It’s funny because England during the War of the Roses had been in a state of near constant warfare for hundreds of years with their own domestic powers and France prior to the War of the Roses kicking off. The concept of a Summer War didn’t really exist for the medieval nobility. Much as we joke today about war being a game for medieval nobles due to their ransom protections, it really wasn’t. The peasantry was also much, much more dangerous en masse than they are in ASOF. They drove traveling monarchs to hide in monasteries plenty of times and, while that’s funny, it’s not actually a joke.

Now, picture Joffrey dragged off his horse in the middle of a riot and having his skull crushed by a local fishwife right before being trampled into a bloody, unrecognizable pulp by sharp hooves.

Or enjoying the Agincourt bathing route.

You’re welcome.

-Michi

This blog is supported through Patreon. Patrons get early access to new posts, and direct access to us through Discord. If you’d like to support us, please consider becoming a Patron.

[eponastory]

You know what would be so funny? If Zutara wasn't even remotely present(although I do think it will be hinted in s2 of NATLA), and the only relationship that's developed in the season is Toph/Aang? Like if they're going with a teen actress playing Toph, then something must be happening with their relationship in the future, at least. I mean, come on, they ask in the casting call for dancing moves.

Look, all I'm saying is, it would be so funny if the Kataangers would be like...super dumbfounded that Aang would be trying to flirt with another girl that's NOT Katara. They think Aang has to hook up with Katara, but...Aang has other options...like, look at Toph. XD

And like...they're in a real-world setting. They can't go by the cartoon's (stupid) rules and canon. Honestly, the story is more important, and I think it's telling the story just fine. So what if the ships changed? The story stays the same. X)

I just feel like it's so funny that they're so worried about Zutara, when they're not even thinking about the OTHER ship that could potentially happen. XD I mean it, I feel like they're gonna do something with Aang and Toph's relationship. I can just feel it. And it's going to pull the wool over their eyes. XD

(Also, another thing to add, I hope they'll let Aang ask Toph for consent if he can kiss her. That'll be like a big kick to the groin for Bryke. XD I hope s2 is like a subtle bashing fest of them. X) )

I'm not a huge fan of Taang, I can see where everyone is coming from with it, but it's just not my thing.

But yes, the writers are silly men who don't care about their fan base.

I'd like more options for Aang and the entire cast in general because you can fall in love several times but only really LOVE (as in Eros) one person and be able to stay loving them. That is until that love (figurative) dies for whatever reason.

I know there is (allegedly) a thing where there was supposed to be an (alleged) love triangle between Toph, Aang, and Katara as (allegedly) stated by past writers and (or) producers. I don't know how true this is, but I can see it.

I honestly wouldn't get my hopes too far up in the atmosphere for any kind of romantic sub-plot (except for Sukka because that IS a thing) in the LA. It would be nice to get Zutara... but I'm not super convinced... yet.

I'm just here keeping it real while destroying any hopes the Antis have. It's all good.

[napoleonic-sexyman-tournament]

Anti-propaganda for Emma, Lady of Hamilton.

Girly was a horrible, vile person in every sense of the word, she died unloved, poor, unhealthy, alone and in huge debt and I cannot even feel a shread of pity for her considering how she was a massive homewrecker to Nelson's marriage and golddigger.

When she got pregnant for the first time with her daughter Emma, she was told by Greville, her lover (although a lighter term for "pimp" would be more appropriate in this case) to foster her kid because he didn't feel like doing so which she did with little resistance/negotiation and hesitance (I understand girly wanted money at that time but what kind of mother is that?) and frop what I could gather, she never had a real relationship with her daughter, prioritising money instead.

When she got too expensive for Greville, he sent her off to his newly widowed uncle from a happy marriage of 20 years

She stole Nelson from his wife, Fanny, and was the reason why he acted cruely towards her. Once Fanny gave Nelson an ultimatum to choose between her and his mistress, he left her to be with Hamilton, even scandalousely purshasing for her 2 estates, one to decorate in his glory the other one so they could live together with Hamilton's husband, disassociating himself completely from Fanny to the extent of returning her letters unopened.

When the media picked up on Nelson's cazy threesome she went out of her way to portray poor Fanny as a villain and her husband, whom, although she stays she actually loved and cared for, really just stayed with him for finincial security was getting constantly clowned on by the British media when in reality he was just a man torn by the death of his wife which he lived 20 happy years together and thought of replacing the void in his life by marrying Europe's most popular mistress at the time. Her "adventures" were consistently in the media for Fanny to see, homegirl had the moral courage to not astray herself from her husband and stayed devoted to him right up his death.

Hamilton did actually have feelings for Nelson, and grieved him deeply when he died, but I'm ready to argue that she had a stronger penchant for his rising popularity and wallet instead, considering how she turned down multiple marriage proposals from rich men when her husband died and Nelson was at sea, as she believe Nelson would come out as ultimately richer than all of them combined, and convinced Nelson to include her and the 2 kids she bore by him in his will, but then Nelson died at Trafalgar and her huband dies from (illness?) that's when karma finally catches up to her.

It turns out Nelson died before changing his will. For the rest of her life, Hamilton would take this case to court but was never successful, she was also excluded from Nelson's funeral (which I glad she wasn't allowed in. Can you imagine being Fanny sitting at your husband, the man who have stayed devoted to for almost 20 years, grieving, then you turn around only to see the girl who demonized you in the media and destroyed your marriage crying harder?) Now that Hamilton was irrelevant, no one would show up to the parties she hosted, and instead of being wise and choosing to go back to her hometown with the money she had accumulated in her career as a coutesan, she instead decided to continue her project of furnishing the home dedicated to Nelson's glory, (she believed this could make her money, but can't remember the reasoning, though) racking up massive debts, causing her to be even more depressed and resolving herself to binging and drinking while taking she was taking care of her daughter (an alcoholic parent? That's a big nono).

She tried to keep her relevancy and make a quick buck by publishing all the letters she had exchanged with Nelson when he was at sea, but her plan backfired horribly, the media has now turned against her, not only that, but the book destroyed any popularity she had left, and left her in even bigger debt. And even tough the book she had published indicate in all directions that she indeed had 2 kids by Nelson, she denied it until her death, and treated her daughter horribly. Her daughter eventually disassociates from her aswell, and denies ever being Hamilton's daughter (good for her).

Hamilton eventually tries to flee her debtors, which she successfully did, but died shortly after, as I have said, unloved, unloved, poor, unhealthy, alone and in huge debt. I say she got what she deserved.

Sorry for the massive holes in this story and typos/grammatical errors, I didn't have time to write this properly, maybe, if time allows, I'll submit a proper anti-propaganda in the future.

Anyways, in conclusion, don't vote for her, she was a horrible person and rotten to the core.

Thank you.

.

[dustbunnylair]

Killing Stalking and How Media Has Affected The Manhwa (SPOILERS FOR KILLING STALKING!!)

TW: Mentions of r*pe, m*rder, CSA, SA, being m0lested, incest, homophobia, fetishization of gay people, romanticization/glorification of abusive relationships, Stockholm syndrome

If you are going in on this without knowing what Killing Stalking is, then let me explain. Killing Stalking is a psychological horror and thriller manhwa from South Korea written by author Koogi, it ran from March 3rd, 2016 to March 22nd, 2019. The Manhwa is about two men, Yoon Bum, is described as a frail, feminine gay young man with a round or baby face, with dark circles under his eyes, implied to be eyebags, when reading the story, even if it’s simply the first chapter, you will find out that Yoon Bum is the “stalking” in Killing Stalking. Then Oh Sangwoo, is described as a handsome, charismatic, straight young man, he resembles the “killing” in Killing Stalking. The manhwa has been quite popular since it came out, but it became popular on social media, such as TikTok, in 2019-2021. Unfortunately, this manhwa wasn’t getting popular for being a well-written psychological horror but instead was being watered down to a Yaoi. If I were to go over the entire Manhwa, we’d be here all day, so if you do want to look into it, go ahead.

The two main characters of Killing Stalking have mental illness representation, which plays a key part in the series. Yoon Bum struggles with hypersexuality, Stockholm syndrome, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), and derealization. Sangwoo is a sociopath/has Anti-Social Personality Disorder (ASPD) and a narcissist.

Both Yoon Bum and Sangwoo had very traumatic lives as kids, Yoon Bum’s parents died when he was young so his grandma and uncle took care of him. His uncle would beat him with a belt, starve him and even eventually rape him. 

Sangwoo’s dad was neglectful, and meanwhile, his mother took care of him, what was seemingly an innocent and wholesome mother-son relationship, would take a dark turn for the worst. His mother killed his dad when Sangwoo was a teenager and helped her hide the body, she ended up gaslighting him into believing that Sangwoo killed his own father, not her. He and his mother got closer, she would call him “babe” which she would call her husband, Sangwoo was obviously uncomfortable with it but never directly told her, yet he did confront her, asking “You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?”. His mother tried to kill him just like she did to her husband. He ended up passed out, waking up tied up in a basement. This basement led to his SA by his mother when he woke up. Sangwoo ended up breaking free in which his mother would sob and say she was sorry, it is implied that she killed herself, stabbing a knife into her neck. Sangwoo’s trauma played a huge part not only in the Manhwa but also in the fandom. 

Moving onto the romanticization and glorification of the relationship between Sangwoo and Yoon Bum, and how the reasoning behind their relationship is foreshadowed. Sangwoo says in one of the last chapters that he should’ve killed Yoon Bum from the start and he regrets not doing so. The reason Sangwoo kept Yoon Bum alive is for sexual pleasure and the fact that Yoon Bum resembled Sangwoo’s mother, Eunseo. This is foreshadowed multiple times within the series, as shown below.

If you don’t believe it because of the foreshadowing, then maybe the final Q&A of Killing Stalking will give you an answer, screenshots shown below.

Honestly, I feel like someone will tell me that no one has ever shipped Yoon Bum and Sangwoo, nor has anyone liked Sangwoo or labeled the Manhwa as a Yaoi/Bl, but I do in fact have evidence:

Killing Stalking, in my opinion, is genuinely well-written for a psychological horror. I hate to see it be watered down to a Yaoi, even when the author said it wasn’t. Not to mention that Killing Stalking claims to have a live adaptation someday. To be honest, as a “fan” of Killing Stalking, I really don’t want it to have a drama made about it. It will just make the fandom rise again and I personally feel that any time a K-drama, anime, Donghua, etc. gets popular, especially among Western countries like America, it gets overly popular in a bad way. Take Squid Games, My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, and many more shows as examples of that. Not to mention that in Korea it is extremely hard to get lgbtq+ characters on-screen let alone get r*ped, have intercourse, or touch each other in any sexual or romantic way.

I’d also like to make it clear that I am NOT upset that it’s a gay ship, I am upset that it is an abusive/toxic relationship. Popular ships in shows (specifically in Asian media) are a topic for another time, thank you if you read this far throughout my yapping. Have a good day, and do not live in delusion like Yoon Bum and Sangwoo shippers lol

Where I got my information:

https://killing-stalking.fandom.com/wiki/Oh_Sangwoo

https://killing-stalking.fandom.com/wiki/Yoon_Bum

https://killing-stalking.fandom.com/wiki/Killing_Stalking_Wiki

+ Killing Stalking the Manhwa itself, you can read on Lezhin Comics or Mangago

[redjaybathood]

привіт!!

were you the one that mentioned the solar machine? i know i saw it mentioned on my dash a few days ago and meant to ask this but completely forgot until now. i wanted to ask if you could share what the book is about because it seemed really interesting based on the title! i was trying to find some info on it on my own but had trouble since my ukrainian is still pretty basic and there wasn't much available in english. eventually i would like to try reading it along with more ukrainian literature :)

i hope you have a good day, and слава україні!

Haha I sincerely don't recommend starting with it when you start with Ukrainian literature. Stylistically it's a very heavy-worded book, Vynnychecnko himself wrote that he kinda shoulda worked on editing it for a few years before publishing. But, him being in exile, and I guess there are not a lot of job opportunities for a former head of the Ukrainian government.

I would describe it as a book that would be perfect for an anime adaptation. It also has a Chinese web novel about the revenge of a rich girl turned destitute vibe (not entirely, because there's a whole lot more to it, and Elisa doesn't really take that much screen time! but if I were to adapt it, she would be in the core cast)

Plot in short: Germany lost the WWI, now aristocracy is irrelevant and capitalists - bankers, factory owners etc - are taking over becoming essentially the new aristocracy. Which, people still being people and power being attractive, that doesn't make Germany any better off.

An old aristocrat loses everything on the stock market. Out of honor, he just kills himself and his elder son, masking it as a tragic accident, because god forbid someone finds out he treated the stock market as a casino, and now the only thing that is staying before the public finds out that he's broke, all his property taken away etc etc - is an arranged marriage of the head banker with his daughter. So yeah, at least he didn't sell off his kid and just went away and died.

So now princess Elisa has to take revenge.

That's the Chinese web novel vibe. It also comes through the romance subplot, the love interest of the "perceived as useless and ugly by the people in power but actually really handsome and capable. And also of how the novel consent between MC and ML. The dubcon vibes (as the inciting incident of them getting together).

And the anime vibe starts with the, you know, actual Solar Machine subplot. The sci-fi part of it - except for the social fantasy - doesn't really start up until, I think it was halfway through the text? I didn't care about it as much as the whole Inarak subplot. I don't think he really thought it through enough. Thus the debate, is it utopia or anti-utopia? I would argue the former, or rather, it progresses from anti-utopia to utopia.

(also, you need to be aware that it is written in the early XX century; for example, he rightfully calls out racism via the duke's description of people and MC's reaction to it, all the while not breaking the character of the MC, bc she's coming from the same background. At the same time, in narration, he's constantly giving men "women traits": ass, lips etc. And I'm a shipper of Simon Petlura/Volodymyr Vynnychenko, so I would love to believe it's something other than a bit of period-typical background misogyny; like, he writes women so differently and with much empathy, but he still cannot escape the notion that a man having a woman's trait in his appearance is a symbol of weakness.

At the very same time, he gets it: God is with those who have money. There is no God, and all the misfortune of a woman is that she has no money... )

(in response to the older duke's daughter telling her younger sibling about what amounts to her husband stopping short of pimping her out and then forcing her to have sex with him, with financial abuse on top)

All in all, Vynnychenko is great with characters. You can like or dislike them - and he doesn't make an effort to make you one way or another, except maybe with the main antagonist and people who serve him. But they are engaging and, yes, would be great to see on screen, imo.

And I would expect tumblr leftists to love Solar Machine, actually, for its critique of capitalism, for Inarak (they so would stan Max! and possibly Trudy but for other reasons) - and for the end message. I've seen exactly the same message spread around on tumblr so I would have said I'm shocked he's not popular among them, but then again, he's a Ukrainian.

[ae-neon]

Anti Nessian Ramble (part...4...?)

The way Nessian doesn't work on both ends is kind of impressive.

Like fans of both sides can agree the execution (if not the ship itself) is bad? It's almost everyone Vs sjm even if they have different opinions on why it doesn't work.

Obviously a lot of people still ship Nessian but when a majority of even the shippers don't like the book??

As an IC anti I can guarantee Cassian would easily crack my top 5 characters if you removed his relationship with Nesta from the discussion.

As a Nesta fan, I hope he dies.

Like that's how much damage forcing them together in this way has done.

A lot of anti acosf but pro Nessian frustration is shifted to Mor and I can understand that - I don't like Mor, I think she's a failed character - but erasing Mor wouldn't fix Nessian?

I promise you matching underwear is not what makes Nessian bad or abusive.

The problem is that readers (me included) like when broken characters fit together but SJM writes romances like self-help books with sex as a tool in between eating regularly and getting exercise.

I won't get into Nesta cause all I can say is Nesta herself refused to become a warrior. That's it. Anything else is character assassination.

But Cassian...

SJM acts like these men are picking up and fixing these women when when she forgets (outside of farming sympathy and abuse excusing) that the men are also traumatized and need therapy

Cassian cannot help Nesta. He cannot be her support or her guide. Brother is lost in his own struggle.

He's clearly not over his upbringing, his family issues, his sense of identity, being used by his high Fae friends (Mor for sex and Rhysand for the suppression and oppression of their people), has he fully confronted how he feels about how his actions might have hurt Azriel (not because of Mor but because Azriel and Cassian are friends) ? He almost died twice in the span of weeks if not months between Hybern and the War

He cannot save Nesta. He is drowning. He is angry. And sad. And who knows what else.

And that's while my frustration around Nessian was present from the beginning, I generally don't count him not going to immediately check on her post war as one of the relationship's flaws.

I think that it was a really human moment. Cassian has a family. He has had them for 500 years and he only just got Rhys back. He's allowed to be happy about that.

The bond is a foreign entity. Something he didn't choose. Nesta is someone he doesn't know, someone who is resistant to knowing him or his family.

They are both broken but they clearly don't fit together.

Sjm should have let them fall apart.

[stirringwinds]

Hi! I saw some of your hws China thoughts lately and they were really fun to read, it's always especially interesting to see takes from other sino related people 😆 Do you think Manchu(ria) would be a separate figure (from Wang Yao) during the Qing dynasty, or do you think the Jurchen tribes would've just been absorbed along the way? People always have such different takes on it so I'm curious to know your thoughts.

hey, thanks for this question! :-) i do enjoy thinking about yao's characterisation, even more so in relation to other nations. this is my view of it:

i'm personally inclined to see manchuria as a separate personification during the qing dynasty (though i admittedly haven't developed a detailed idea of their character/personality). i've previously written scenes in the aftermath of the opium wars where yao was at the signing of the treaty of nanking (for example)—but i see it as a situation where yao is rather being ordered around by manchuria (and the humans think yao is a qing official). my thought process is that while the manchu rulers may have adopted certain aspects of han chinese culture to bolster their legitimacy with the wider population, they still held real power, retained certain customs, influenced chinese dressing (the cheongsam) and even tried imposing some of their cultural norms on the entire population. the queue hairstyle for men, and less successfully, the attempt to ban foot-binding for women (that's one thing where i'm "really? you guys should've already cut that bullshit out centuries ago" @ the ancestors 😔). so, to me this is very far from a situation where a nation dies.

in my view of chinese history, there have been times when yao, as an empire, (like rome or persia) has ended or absorbed other nations. the southwards expansion of the han dynasty, for example: the disappearance of the "baiyue" tribes, through conquest, settlers and sinicisation (the totality of that cultural conquest always struck me—that we don't even know what they called themselves today). the conquest of vietnam is one instance where that didn't happen—and even more so for qing china, where manchuria is the one calling the shots. and i don't see a nation adopting some aspects of another nation's culture = death precisely because all cultures change. there's that joke classicists have made about "did the romans conquer greece, or did the greeks conquer rome?" given how much they adopted greek culture aesthetics but we wouldn't say "the romans were not a distinct cultural entity" either. naturally, there are big differences between the qing and roman empires, but most empires weren't above adopting some customs of those they conquered—it's indeed often how successful incorporation worked.

it's also about characterisation and narrative choices for me too; imo yao saw the opium wars as a doubled humiliation. being subject to the "western barbarians"—while being ruled by other "barbarians"; yao's pride is one thing that is stubborn, and he'll cling to the shreds of it. my immediate thought is that if manchuria isn't a separate character, a lot of this narrative loses the force; when it comes to how i'd translate the history into interactions between all these eldritch beings. this is especially when i'm thinking of the subsequent anti-qing movements; and how folks like sun yat-sen laid the blame for china's downfall at the hands of western empires on the manchu ruling dynasty and even characterised them as a colonial force ultimately hobbling china's progress (even if of course, irl history is more complex and there were manchu officials/figures who supported republicanism and the end of the regime). so in this context, to me it's best represented as a multi-layered power struggle between yao, manchuria and of course all the other western nations.

so overall, while history can always be interpreted and translated into hetalia many ways, and i wouldn't say there's a definitive "right" or "wrong" criteria when translating it into whether a hetalia personification dies or endures— personally, it makes the most sense for me if manchuria is a separate character during this era for all the abovementioned reasons. nations after all, aren't states, with all that strict international legal criteria about what a "legitimate" state is—but imagined communities. hetalia personifications are that idea extended further— given flesh and incarnated by the dreams, beliefs and imagination of humans: they're fluid and ambiguous—but also resilient, because it's not so easy to kill an idea.

[scvcnmore]

Was that [ALBA BAPTISTA]? Oh no no, that was just [RACHEL SUMMERS], a [CANON CHARACTER] from [MARVEL/X-MEN]. They are [TWENTY-THREE] years old, use [SHE/THEY], and [ARE NOT] aware that they are not actually from Washington DC. Too bad they can’t stray from this city for long.

Rachel Anne Summers is the daughter of Scott Summers and Jean Grey from Earth-811. She was conceived while her mother was possessed by the Phoenix Force, and due to this the force itself considers Rachel to be almost like its own child. It's perfect vessel

A lot of things went very not-right in her universe, very fast. The assassination of Senator Kelly actually came to fruition, which led to a lot of anti-mutant sentiment. Her mother died in a nuclear explosion. Her father died at the hands of a Sentinel. The school was attacked and razed by federal troops, leaving her the only survivor. She was found by Professor Xavier's body and taken to the lab of the sadistic Ahab, who then tortured and brainwashed her into becoming a 'Hound' used to track other mutants....and this was just her childhood

She eventually broke the brainwashing, and was deemed useless and sent to one of the mutant encampments. This is where she meets Kitty Pryde and they go through the attempt of changing their past to save the future with time-travel, but Kitty wound up in the 'present' of Earth-616 instead. Later on, Kitty would send Rachel back in time instead to spare her as their camp (and earth) was being destroyed, but she too would end up in present day 616 instead

Many adventures, mostly misadventures really, ensued. The reactions of this earth's Scott and Jean were not initially the best or good at all really but over time they've come to resemble a family, along with her brother Nate (Cable - whom she at one point raised in the future, before being simultaneously sent to the beginning of time and end of time...fun times)

She's worked with many iterations of X-teams, including X-men, eXcalibur, X-factor, the Marauders. She's recently gotten herself sent to Otherworld to help her pal Betsy Braddock, and now she's here. Back to teaching Psychic Defense 101 and constantly having to warn other telepaths they really don't want to try and pry when in her mind. It never ends well for them

Rachel fell victim to the kill-or-be-killed event, having foregone killing her own target. As such, she is currently unaware of her actual life, and currently believes herself to be the daughter of an equally unaware Logan Howlett, and sister to an unaware Rose Winters

She still lives 'at home' with her dad, and is very much a daddy's girl even though she'll never admit it. As far as she's concerned, he's been more than enough of a parent on his own, and there's never really been any reason to question to why her mom's never been in the picture. Rachel figures one exists, of course, if only because that's probably where the ginger genes came from

Rachel is several years older than her sister, but no one would be blamed for assuming it was the other way around. If hard-pressed, she'll just say her brain is far too busy trying to keep her powers in check to also be expected to produce more than a single braincell at a time (though this aspect of her personality is definitely not a result of the lack of memories lol)

She currently has a a full-time job with one of the local security firms (her job as a professor forgotten) and is more than chill with having her time split between it, her family, and her very strange looking dog, Amazing Baby

Once her memories return, Rachel will recall everything up until just before the events of the new X-Force run

Upon her arrival in D.C. she is still learning and acclimating to the powers that come along with having reached her prophesied point as Askani

She does still have the Shi'ar tracking mark on her back and her hound marks on her face, though the latter are usually telepathically hidden

Her wiki: https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Rachel_Summers_(Earth-811)

@ivehurtpeople, @mcrcki

[itsclydebitches]

The Bumbleby scene feels too random at this point. It’s like they literally picked the scene out of a hat to “confirm” it. As you mentioned, the don’t even hold hands. You’re telling me that’s more intimate than the freaking cheek holding head touched in V8? Wait a minute, didn’t everyone think BB started back in V6 after they killed Adam? What the fuck is even going on anymore?!

People have always shipped it, but yeah, 'canonizing' them started post-Volume 3 and ramped up into 'Oh damn I think they're really gonna do it!' territory in Volume 6. We've got:

Yang grappling with Blake leaving post-Beacon. (She's not, for example, similarly concerned that Weiss 'abandoned' her too. Yang shouldn't have any idea that Weiss was essentially kidnapped by her dad)

Tender and then rejected hand-holding in the shed at the farm

Agreed upon hand-holding while fighting Adam which, yeah, a lot of people read as the moment they 'solved' their relationship troubles, seguing into something new. Hand-holding is often used in RWBY to indicate a romantic relationship, the only problem with using this as a confirmation is that all our other examples also have something more overt: Saphron and Terra are married, Nora kisses Ren/he says "I love you," etc.

Adam's "What do you see in her?" line. Although, this one is severely complicated by a contradiction in the fandom. Many fans claim this implies that Adam recognizes Blake's interest in Yang precisely because she was once interested in him - how can you like her over me? That's compounded by his motivations changing from being politically focused to what feels like stalking and hunting down an ex. However, these fans don't want to admit to the other implications that Blake and Adam were an item due to a lot of anti-men sentiments, biphobia, gold star lesbian nonsense, and the like. Basically, some fans want to use Adam's potential relationship with Blake as proof that she's in a relationship with Yang now, but not actually admit that they ever had that relationship because ew, how could perfect Blake like a male villain? There's also some of that with Sun: fans using Blake's interactions with him to support an interest in Yang ('She has a type!'), but simultaneously denying that blacksun was ever a possibility because that supposedly (not actually) threatens the sanctity of her One True Sapphic Love.

Forehead touch after Adam dies + a promise to never leave

More hand-holding in the airship

Blushing over Yang complimenting her haircut

Having fun pre-outing in Atlas that kinda implies it might be a date, but no one actually establishes it as a date and everyone is going out together, so...

Taking silly pictures together when they get their licenses

Nora's comments to Ren about how they're likely more than friends

Yang being worried about Blake even though she fought with Ruby

Yang tenderly cupping Blake's cheek when they're reunited

Blake loosing it when Yang "dies"

Tackle-hug when everyone else gets...uh, a knee touch?

Blake being flirty, leaning in, finger brush

Weiss' "It's about time" comment

I've probably missed some stuff, but the point is that it's been four years (or even six years depending on how far back you're willing to go) and we're still in this flirty, teasing, ambiguous stage where, as demonstrated above, reading a romantic relationship often requires making a lot of assumptions that rely on having a lot of trust in your writers. I don't know if I'd call all this random, but it is a holding pattern. They blush, hold hands, and others vaguely comment on what they might be. But unlike our straight couples, we're not given anything solid to canonize them with.

I mean, even if you're a fan who believes that these little breadcrumbs are enough to prove the love between them (and here I'm addressing the fandom at large, not you specifically, Happygaynoises2) we get how the queer couples aren't given equal treatment, right? Pyrrha kissed Jaune. Nora kissed Ren. Ren said "I love you." Jaune asked Weiss to the dance. Weiss blatantly chases after Neptune. Ozpin marries and has kids with Salem. Everyone but Adrian has married, straight parents.

Compare that to our queer rep (with May being an exception due to her gender) and it's pretty obvious that this glacial "slow burn" has less to do with the needs of the story and more about RT hesitating to make two of the main girls unambiguously queer. After all, if most of your fans are happy with those breadcrumbs and a canonical relationship would drive away the homophobes... why not just toe the line to keep both groups around, giving you more money?

That's a form of queerbaiting and it's why so many of us remain nervous. I seriously hope given what we've seen so far that this will FINALLY be the Volume when we can set the 'Will they, won't they?' to rest. But who can actually say.

[oneunexpected]

Here's the Code of Claw playlist! This might be my favorite. When I started this project, I made a long list of songs I thought I might want to use just because they reminded me of the series, and I feel like this playlist is the one that has the most of those songs that I knew right off the bat would fit perfectly.

Because the chapters are longest in this book, you may beat each song to the end of the chapter. Sorry about that.

Listen along here. My explanations for each choice are below the cut.

1 - Bad by U2 - Aw, come on, you knew there would be U2! Since Gregor hasn’t really reacted to his impending doom yet, I chose this song to focus more on the reactions of Vikus and Mareth in this chapter, particularly Vikus beginning to break down and say he’d trade places with Gregor if he could. “If I could, through myself, set your spirit free / I’d lead your heart away / See you break, break away / Into the light / And to the day.”

2 - Hello Earth by Kate Bush - Kate Bush, badass she is, wrote a concept album within a bigger album about a woman who gets shipwrecked, has an out of body experience, and is ultimately rescued (or maybe she dies. I personally interpret it as she lives. That’s neither here nor there though). “Hello Earth” is when she’s closest to death and begins reflecting on her life and how she got herself into the situation in the first place. The release point of the song is her wailing, “Why did I go, why did I go?” before the song abruptly cuts to Gregorian chanting. That reminds me a lot of Gregor’s panic attack in this chapter, where he calms himself down with the thought of the stone knight in the Cloisters, where he says Gregorian chants are always playing softly.

3 - Blue Monday by New Order - The second verse in particular reminds me of Gregor and Solovet. “I can and shall obey / But if it wasn’t for your misfortune / I’d be a heavenly person today,” in particular. It also just sounds cool, which I thought would be fun with this chapter where Gregor’s escaping and riding back to battle.

4 - Orange Crush by R.E.M. - This is R.E.M.’s best-known anti-war song, and I chose it particularly for its interlude, which is this sort of rambling from this soldier (or perhaps officer) who enjoys the war. “This here country, hell, any country, it’s just like heaven here … I knew it all, I knew every back road and truck stop,” the narrator says. Gregor and Ares have their weird little moment of euphoria here, so I chose this song for them.

5 - Dirty Paws by Of Monsters and Men - This song tells of a war between the birds and the bees (don’t ask me if that’s supposed to be a euphemism I really don’t know), as the bees decided “the sky wasn’t big enough for them all” and attacked the birds. But then! “The birds, they got help from below / From Dirty Paws and the creatures of snow.” Bees = rats, birds = mice, Dirty Paws = Luxa, creatures of snow = Regalians, case closed. Mostly I just wanted to put this song somewhere in this playlist.

6 - Urn by Childish Gambino - I also just wanted to put this song in this book. It’s only a minute long, so you might have to repeat it a few times. It’s about staring down death and not being afraid, which fits Luxa pretty well, and the lines, “Don’t ever leave me, my love / Keep holding on” could represent Gregor begging Luxa not to die.

7 - Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears - I thought this song would be perfect for the dungeon sequence, and not just for the line, “There’s a room where the light won’t find you,” but that certainly sealed the deal. It’s a good song for living under Solovet’s shadowy gaze.

8 - Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths - One of the first lines in this song is, “You’re scaring us, and some of us love you / Achilles, it’s not much but there’s proof” which reminds me of the way this chapter opens: with Gregor enraged and Mareth, Nerissa and Ripred deeply concerned. Even though Gregor sees their actions as an emotional betrayal, they acted out of care for Gregor. “Today, of all days, see / How the most dangerous thing is to love” works really well for how Luxa’s become such a big vulnerability for Gregor, too.

9 - Agnes by Glass Animals - This song was the toughest for me to choose. The song’s subject matter as a whole and the chapter don’t really fit that well, but it works in the sense it’s a narrator trying to calm down a friend with mental health problems, a little like Gregor and Lizzie. More than anything, I like it for the last line before the chorus and the chorus itself: “I want to hold you like you’re mine / You’re gone but you’re on my mind / I’m lost but I don’t know why.” It reminds me of Ripred, the way he must have felt seeing someone so much like his daughter. One thing I really love about this song is that the first chorus is just hummed, like there’s still some sort of restraint, or perhaps it’s because the narrator still can’t admit how much losing their friend hurt. I don’t know. Ultimately, it just felt right for this chapter to me.

10 - Dummy by Portugal. The Man - This song’s a bop, which is good, because that distracts you a little from lines like “My religion is a piano hanging over my head about to break free” and “The light is going out / The light in my life is going out.” The lyrics reminded me of Gregor’s desperate agreement with Ripred to get his family home, since Gregor would presumably be dead, and the tonal dissonance with the lyrics reminded me of how Gregor’s trying to hide his despair from his sisters.

11 - Violet Hill by Coldplay - This song has a good battle-y beat to it, and I also chose it for the line “I don’t wanna be a solider / Who the captain of some sinking ship / Would stow / Far below,” because that reminds me of how Gregor feels when Solovet sidelines him.

12 - As the World Caves In by Matt Maltese - This is one of the more peaceful chapters of this book. Gregor hangs out very briefly with his mom and then admits his feelings to Luxa. I thought it would be fitting to pair those interactions with a song about waiting for the world to end with a loved one.

13 - I Gave You All by Mumford and Sons - An angry song for an angry Gregor. This chapter is long, but he’s kinda mad throughout, so I hope it works well enough. “I gave you all / And you rip it from my hands and swear it’s all gone” represents how he feels towards Solovet — almost everything he’s done in the Underland has been for her ends, and still she takes more from him, in this by moving his mother somewhere he can’t reach.

14 - Losing My Religion by R.E.M. - In the South, to lose one’s religion means to lose one’s temper, basically, but I’m using it a little more literally here — this is where Gregor loses faith in Regalia, loses faith in Sandwich. Learning about the genocide against the diggers is the tipping point.

15 - Hurt by Johnny Cash - Sorry to people who prefer the Nine Inch Nails version, this is just my preference. Gregor’s literally hurt in the aftermath against the diggers, and this song has the sort of desolate tone that matches his state of mind at the time, and I could see Gregor feeling the sentiment of the chorus towards his sisters and Luxa, but but I also chose it for the ending of this chapter, that pivotal scene where we learn about Ripred’s pup and mates. The outro of the song goes, “If I could start again / A million miles away / I would keep myself / I would find a way,” which reminds me so much of him telling Lizzie he decided “it all had to change.”

16 - Heroes by David Bowie - A great song about doomed lovers, perfect for Gregor and Luxa’s first kiss. “Though nothing could keep us together / We could steal time / Just for one day / We could be heroes / Forever and ever” are great lyrics for this pairing, but what I love most is the emotional release point of the song: “I, I can remember / Standing by the wall / And the guns shot above our heads / And we kissed as though nothing could fall.” While I chose it for Gregor and Luxa mostly, I hope it carries you through the battle with the Bane appropriately, too.

17 - You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen - With this song’s addition, I have included my whole trifecta of Songs Written By Dying Men in these playlists. The first was I Can’t Give Everything Away, which I used for Book 3, and the second was Hurt. This song is the darkest of the three, and not just for the title, and if you give the lyrics a listen you’ll see why. It’s a message from Cohen to God, essentially accusing Him of allowing so much suffering on earth, but at the same time the narrator is acknowledging he’s ready to die. Gregor’s accepting he’s dying and that Sandwich, evil as he was, must have been right. This song is lyrical genius and Cohen is one of my favorite writers of all time, so I encourage you to read it, but I’ll point out a few that led me to choose this song for this playlist. “It’s written in the scriptures / And it’s not some idle claim: / You want it darker / We kill the flame” reminds me of Sandwich’s prophecies, all of the death they call for, suggesting that Sandwich “wants it darker” — and the Underlanders fulfill them, essentially killing the flame at his request. Further, I really like the line “I didn’t know I had permission to murder and to maim,” just from a standpoint from comparing the Gregor who couldn’t own a pocket knife to the Gregor who’s a proficient killer. Also, isn’t it nice that this is the chapter where all the lights go out? Thanks, Suzanne, you made this one easy!

18 - Watching You Without Me by Kate Bush - Remember how I said Kate Bush wrote a concept album about a woman who gets shipwrecked and has an out of body experience? This is the part where she visits her loved ones before they know she’s dead (or in grave danger). It reminded me of the “rehearsal” Gregor walks in on when Lizzie and Boots think he’s dead. I can’t tie it much to the code cracking bit, sorry.

19 - Pyramid Song by Radiohead - In the midst of the code breaking celebration, Luxa gives Gregor a sad look, and he knows it’s because she’s thinking about his death. Then, he finds out Twitchtip’s dead. Well, this is a good death song. I knew this song would go somewhere in this playlist, but it ended up here because of Luxa saying Twitchtip was finally “safe.” That reminded me of “And we all went to heaven in a little rowboat / There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt.” That’s how it works in the Underland. There’s only nothing to fear when you’re dead.

20 - After the Storm by Mumford and Sons - The verses of this song are pretty sad. There’s debate about whether a line goes “Well, I will die alone and be left there” or “Well, I won’t die alone and be left there,” but I’m choosing to hear the former for Gregor at this time. “Now I cling to what I knew / I saw exactly what was true / But oh, no more” goes well with Gregor sitting surrounded by all these prophecies by a man he no longer wants to believe. Despite the gloomy verses, the chorus is quite hopeful, promising there will be a time when things are better, mirroring the Peacemaker, which has its introduction in this chapter.

21 - Ladder Song by Bright Eyes - You know that gif of Goofy floating around a pool facedown? This song makes me feel like that. Starts out with quite a doozy of a verse: “Nobody knows where the ladder goes / You’re gonna lose what you love the most / You’re not alone in anything / You’re not unique in dying.” Well, Gregor is certainly reminded he’s not unique in dying while he’s watching the funeral services. This song in general is a great fit with this whole book. If I had to choose just one song to represent it, that song just might be this one. “Don’t hang around once the promise breaks / Or you’ll be there when the next one’s made / Kiss the feet of a charlatan” reminds me of the Underland’s whole cycle of making useless treaties to end wars only to violate them and go right back to war and then make new useless treaties. The charlatan is Sandwich. Anyways, the lyrics here are great if you love to be sad, give ‘em a read. I thought it fit well with this chapter and all the goodbyes Gregor faces in it.

22 - Motion Picture Soundtrack by Radiohead - The second half of this song fits with Gregor writing his note to Luxa. “Stop sending letters / Letters always get burnt / It’s not like the movies / They sell us on little white lies / I think you’re crazy, maybe / I think you’re crazy, maybe / I will see you in the next life.” Well, Luxa probably wouldn’t burn it, but Gregor’s not totally sure she’d ever want to listen to anything he had to say again. It’s not like the movies because in a classic adventure story, the two lovers would both live and they’d live happily ever after. They both think they’re crazy. And, well, there’s not much left for Gregor to say but “I will see you in the next life” — or the phrase he settles on, “One of us has to live.”

23 - 33 “GOD” by Bon Iver - “I would have walked across any thousand lands / I didn’t need you that night / Not gonna need you any time,” Justin Vernon sings, “Was gonna take it as it goes / I could go forward in the light / Well, I better fold my clothes.” This is the first hopeful chapter in a long, long time. Even though Gregor “would have walked across any thousand lands” for Sandwich, Gregor realizes he doesn’t need him and never has. The only thing remarkable about anything, Gregor says, is that Ares chose to save him. Sorry that the tone of this song doesn’t work with the last couple pages of the chapter. I’ll get back to sad songs soon.

24 - White as Snow by U2 - This is perhaps my most questionable choice, because this is a sad, slow song, not fit for the thick of combat. If you want something more battle-y for the first half, check out Exit by U2 because I briefly considered using it here. But I chose this song because it’s written from the perspective of a soldier dying. The last few verses are about how war makes everyone hostile to one another, leading to the last few lines: “Now the wolves are every passing stranger / Every face, we cannot know / If only a heart could be as white as snow.” I liked the line about a heart being as white as snow for the Bane. If only his life experiences were pure as his pretty fur. But this song, and its reflection on the narrator’s life, reminded me more than anything of dear Ares. I chose it for him.

25 - Mars by Sleeping At Last - A song about young people off at war, and then how hard it is to piece their lives back together in the aftermath. Everything is so terrible for all these poor people involved in this mess. I miss Ares. Temporary RIP to Ripred. (The outro about trying to build a better life goes well with the negotiations beginning, too.)

26 - Death and All His Friends by Coldplay - “No I don’t wanna battle from beginning to end / I don’t want a cycle of recycled revenge / I don’t wanna follow Death and all of his friends” for Gregor, Luxa and Ripred helping each other establish peace. “All summer we just hurried / So come over, just be patient, and don’t worry” for Gregor and Luxa quietly spending their last bit of time together.

27 - Sweetness Follows by R.E.M. - I heard this song for the first time when I was packing for college and the first lines hit me like a bowling ball to the chest. I had to sit down. Anyways, I chose this because it offers a very bittersweet sense of hope. Life is hard, there’s a ton of death, there’s a ton of strife and disconnect. But I love the last verse so dearly: “It’s these little things that can pull you under / Live your life filled with joy and thunder / Yeah, yeah, we were all together / Lost in our little lives / But oh / Sweetness follows.” Sweetness follows. We don’t really know what that means, but that’s what we’re promised. Life’s tough, but at least we get to be together. Sweetness follows.

Wow, thank you for reading this far! These playlists were a ton of fun to make and I really hope you have picked up at least one new song you like. If not, oopsies! Oh well.

[demonic-shadowlucifer]

Being Queer and my relationship with Religion.

(Content Warning: Anti-queer rhetoric and discussion of religion). (Additional disclaimer: This post mostly talks about Christianity, however there will be mentions of other religions as well).

In light of some *recent* events going on, I think I should make a discussion about how being Queer has an affect on my relationship with Christianity.

For starters, I am not a religious person. And I don't go to Church very often. However, I'm lucky to have gone to a Church that welcomes everyone (In fact some members of my Church are actually queer themselves!). I was also raised by parents that have different religious beliefs (My mom leans towards paganism, and my dad is a straight up atheist). So being queer hasn't really strained my relationship with Christianity. However, the Christian community has a huge problem with being anti-queer. Many so-called "Christians" believe that being gay is a sin, and use the bible to prove that there's "only two genders". However, something doesn't add up with that. And no it's not because of the bible being misinterpreted or mistranslated. And no it's not because most of the other so-called "Christians" ignoring the other "sins" (No working on sundays, no tattoos, etc etc). What I don't get is this: Why does committing a sin make you a bad human being? Why is it believed that if you commit even one minor sin you'll go to hell? We all sin at some point of our lives. Hell, Jesus himself died for our sins. If we didn't sin, Jesus would've died for nothing. And what then? Also, the Bible seemingly only mentions male homosexuality. There isn't much on lesbianism or any other sexuality. And honestly, I don't think everyone in the bible was straight. In the Hebrew Bible (which is used in both Judaism and Christianity), there is the relationship of David and Jonathan. While the relationship has been interpreted in several ways (it is especially heavily debated among Christians), many people interpret it as the closest to a homosexual relationship between two men in the Bible. And honestly, it's not hard to see why. Judaism from my understanding acknowledges the potential love between David and Jonathan. And it makes sense on why some Christians interpret it the same way. But wait. Whatever happened to the Bible condemning Homosexuality? Well, here's how I look at it. I and a few others tend to interpret most of the Bible's objection to Homosexuality as, well, not actually objecting Homosexuality, but rather objection of abusive relationships. Plus, the objections of Homosexuality are usually in reference to sexual relationships (and even then they're usually based on misinterpretations or mistranslations). However, the Bible doesn't say anything about healthy non-sexual homosexual pairings being bad. Then again, the interpretations are all over the place. So I can't say for certain that's what it really means, however that remains my personal interpretation. In terms of gender, there is the mention of the Eunuchs in Matthews 19:12, where Jesus says the following: "For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can." (NRSV) While the above text likely indicates castration, I and a few others tend to interpret the first line ("For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth") as a nod to intersex people or even a third gender. And it genuinely would not surprise me if some eunuchs avoided using "male" or "female" altogether. And while people tend to reference Deuteronomy 22:5 as an argument against crossdressing and Trans people in general. But that only gives me more unanswered questions. What falls under male and female clothing? Does this apply to trans people or intersex people? And I wonder if Jesus himself thought the same way, as he seemingly abolishes the law in three different verses. Those verses being Matthew 6:25, Matthew 6:28 and Luke 12:22.

Lastly, people interpret Genesis 1:27 as there being only two genders. However, let's look at this quote even further: “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them”. While people interpret it as there being only two genders, I tend to see it as much more broad. This is where Religion and Biology overlap in a way. God created a variety of animals. And some animals have unique features in regards to gender; For example, male seahorses can get pregnant and male calicos and torties exist due to Klinefelter Syndrome (which is an Intersex condition that occurs in humans and animals!) and many other animals have intersex traits. And humans are technically animals in a way. So why would God not create them in a spectrum either? Lastly, let's focus on this verse from Galatians. “There is no longer Jew or Greek*, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, NRSV). (*in some translations, "Gentile", a word that describes non-Jewish folks, is used instead of "Greek".) While this isn't inherently queer-related, it has been hugely referenced in queer theology. Outside of queer context, it has also been used in Christian Abolitionist movements and is also seen as a stance against the patriarchy. The first line is sometimes considered an antiracist message, however I also like to see it as a stance against antisemitism. Then again, it can be interpreted in 10000000 different ways. But I think the clear message of that verse is that, regardless of whatever differences there are, we're the same one and one. TL;DR: Being Queer isn't inherently against the Bible. And being "sinful" isn't entirely bad either. The Bible itself is complicated and has many interpretations. Furthermore, being queer and Christian (Or queer and religious in general) isn't as contradictory as many people think it is.

[cursedvibes]

Yuki for character bingo 💫

Thanks! You really know what to ask to get a lot of opinions out of me... :'D

Initially, I was more interested in her for her world view and how it clashes with Kenjaku's. There was also the intrigue of her being a special grade and her beef with Tengen. Lots to think about, although I wouldn't say she was one of my faves. Her being revealed to have been a Star Plasma Vessel, her CT, her study of the soul, we got so many interesting titbits in the fight against Kenjaku, but they were just all barely elaborated. I'm sure we will at least find out more about her research, but hearing it second-hand isn't quite as impactful. I like her fight against Kenjaku, but it was also so disappointing in so many ways because we only got little hints at character relations and nothing more. No exploration of the real difference between her goals and Kenjaku's or even a more thorough explanation of how she even wants to achieve a world without CE. There was also only a little bit of her feelings about Tengen and how fighting for her might affect them. Even her relationship with Choso, which ended up taking quite a lot of space felt very rushed. She just talks about how hot he is and how she likes sweaty, muddy men and he cries in front of her once, somehow motivating her to sacrifice her life for him. If that bar flashback was placed a little earlier or later I wouldn't mind it that much, but seeing it right before her death leaves a bad taste behind. Still remember that I was very convinces she couldn't die there because there were still so many open questions and she would be far more useful in the future than Choso. Even if Choso somehow didn't die, I thought they would be forced to evacuate or Tengen would give herself up before that, but nope.

The fact that she died isn't really a problem, it was a battle with ideals against Kenjaku and Kenjaku won, not to mention that Gravity/Anti-Gravity System matches her CT very well (I also don't think it was an asspull, Kenjaku has been using that CT for a while and we knew CT reversal exist) in a thematic sense as well. It's just how it was executed and how rushed it was that's bothering me.

[pinkgrapefloyd]

1 for tdims; 4, 5, 10, 17, 18!

thank you for the ask! <3

1 share a song that makes you think of 'there's daggers in men's smiles'

I don't necessarily think the themes match 100%, but I listened to "moon song" by phoebe bridgers a lot while writing! also "coma" by taylor acorn because it has major johnny-unlearning-bullshit vibes.

4 How many WIPs do you have right now?

oh god. if we're talking unfinished works that I haven't abandoned... thirteen. jesus fucking christ. one for good omens, four for frey & mcgrey, eight for cobra kai. but I'm only actively working on about three or four of those right now!

5 What's a fic idea you've had that you'll never write?

hm idk. i usually write something down for every distinct idea that i have. the only one that i currently haven't written anything for is a frey & mcgray idea that plays off the TPLOSH scene where holmes implies he's with watson to get out of being propositioned by a russian ballerina. because i think that'd be juicy as hell with the mcfrey dynamic. but i can't guarantee that i'll never write for it! maybe one day! it's just currently a very basic idea.

10 Is there a fic that got a different response than what you were expecting?

honestly, i was surprised by the sheer amount of readers anti-hero had because I personally don't read WIPs that often. (I know, shame on me, I'm probably missing out on many great works and the fun of reading and commenting as someone uploads!)

and i thought tdims would get a lot of 'cute fic but would have been better with karate' type comments and was really happy people liked the fencing content independently of how much previous fencing knowledge they had!

17 What's something you've learned while doing research for a fic?

My top 3 facts that I've learned during fic research:

in my research about typhoid fever i learned about the worst potato salad of all time, which was prepared in 1898 by a cook in Saarbrücken who didn't wash his hands after cleaning a toilet and subsequently killed forty people with his cooking. yikes.

if you remember the 1982 fencing championship casualty - it was actually a german fencer who fatally injured a ukrainian one (USSR at the time). when russia invaded ukraine forty years later, he took in his opponent's son-in-law and grandchildren.

I bet everyone's sick of me talking about this, but the US Supreme Court case that decided sodomy laws were unconstitutional is called Lawrence v Texas. I just think it's cool that the plaintiff shares a name with Johnny, whose fic I researched that for.

18 What's one of your favorite lines you've written in a fic?

published: it's split between these two (both from tdims. lmao. no i don't have favorite children.)

"Grief makes you into an odd animal that flinches at all sorts of normal things. But of all animals out there, none are as adaptable as humans. You can get used to the unacceptable if you just give it enough time."

and

"The heartbreak burns so brightly inside of Johnny that it called across the ocean like a lighthouse, and now the other monsters are crawling up from the depths of the sea to extinguish him before Johnny's softness can give them a bad name."

unpublished: this line from "worse by the hour" of a character in 1880s scotland coming out to his butler (pretty much the only family he has left). I wrote it and immediately said "bro!" out loud. lmfao. i feel like that means something.

“What if the McGray name dies with me?” “Then it should feel honoured to share yer grave.” 

[kylermalloy]

im so curious of ur attack of titan presentation. 👁️

In reference to this post

Omg Yuki—the way I genuinely considered sitting down and making a PowerPoint presentation 😂

I won’t. I could—but I won’t.

There’s a ton of cute presentations on this website about “why you should watch this show uwu it’s so good and the characters are adorable and it’s got a great message you’re gonna love it!” and, well…that’s not Attack on Titan for me.

Aot is…a curiosity to me. I do really like a lot of the characters, the animation and music are gorgeous, and the story is sufficiently intriguing. And yes, ultimately, it does have a message I can get behind (War Is Bad. Stick to the classics.) but it wasn’t a show that grabbed me instantly. I had to simmer in it for a while—and I do mean a while.

I suppose mostly what I want to talk about is the Disk Horse, which I kind of hate to do because tumblr is allergic to nuance—but. I also like to talk. So here I go.

(This is going under a cut because I CANNOT shut up. Also, I’m going to get into some dumb fandom drama nonsense and I would like to hide that in order to maintain my dignity.)

I actually first became aware of aot BECAUSE of the discourse. I had more posts on my dash claiming that it was a Bad Show and Don’t Watch It than posts that…actually told me anything about it.

Eventually as I started easing into exploring anime, I decided to check it out. Out of morbid curiosity, mostly. I wanted to know what was so bad about it.

For the first three seasons, I was a little clueless. An annoying protagonist with questionable morals? Main characters attached to some sort of military organization? The protagonist being the Exceptional One, the savior because of his unique abilities? …guys, these are all standard shonen tropes, and I’d only watched like…five animes at that point (I’ve now watched, like, ten. My immersion rate is s l o w.)

Then I reached the end of season 3, and I wen “ohhh.” Not because everyone who’d been insisting it was Bad were right, but because I could actually, finally see what they were talking about.

I hear the word “allegory” get thrown around a lot when it comes to aot, and…honestly, I don’t think that’s the right word. An allegory is a direct, deliberate parallel with either a real life event, or another story. Aot is not an allegory of anything. Now, does it use some real life elements as worldbuilding and narrative devices in its own story? Yes, and sometimes to a “yikes” effect.

But this is a fantasy story that takes place in a fantasy world about races of people that don’t exist. The parallels can be drawn, but it’s not an intentional allegory.

Think of the difference between Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia. C.S. Lewis was very clear both in his writing and when talking about his work that it was a Christianity allegory. Aslan represents Jesus—created the world, died for its sins, all knowing, all powerful, does not always intervene, eventually edged out by a false god at the end of the world, etc. etc.

Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings took a lot of inspiration from his experiences in World War I. Read anything about LOTR, or watch any of the movies’ supplemental material, and that’s one of the first things you’ll hear. BUT—did old John Roald Roald intend it to be a one-to-one allegory? No.

The orcs are not the Germans. Humans and elves aren’t the English and French. This is not a fantasy retelling of real-world events—it uses elements of real-world warfare to enhance its own narrative. The faces in the Dead Marshes. Frodo’s life-altering trauma. The hobbits’ return to an unchanged safe haven, only to find they have changed irrevocably. Sam’s/Faramir’s introspection on the “evil” of the men they fight.

Aot does the latter, not the former. And while using imagery we associate with Jewish persecution and the holocaust…isn’t a choice I would have made when writing a story, it wasn’t a deliberately anti-Semitic choice.

We can talk all day long about how it’s not a wise choice, and how the implications can have ramifications—but this wasn’t something the mangaka did out of long-held prejudice, whether conscious or unconscious. I mean, do you really walk away thinking we’re supposed to HATE the Eldians? (If so, get better reading comprehension.)

I guess that’s what my Attack on Titan presentation should really be—teaching people how to read and therefore understand the themes and story correctly. Either that, or I could just make a ship chart and explain why Armin deserves to bang every single character, and in what order he should do so.

[selamat-linting]

so anyway, back to bitching again (i always bitch) yall know the women's group? the one i talked about? yeah so a little backstory first for the newcomers: this girl, she was a former member of a branch of my org. she was from another town. when she moved here, she's supposed to be helping my branch right? but no, she broke off with no warning, and started a women's group with her friends. thats the group im talking about. they focus on producing art / writing as a form of their resistance. with the occasional charity event in-between. its a very laid-back almost apolitical group. my girl plans to push her friends' left by meeting them on their own terms. doing resistance the way theyre comfortable with and hoping it would influence them to be radical.

suffice to say, it failed. my girl is kicked out of the group she founded, and when i offer her to go back here, she doesnt want to. claiming this town is too far gone for any meaningful resistance. my feelings on that loaded response is well documented on this blog but anyway. lets go to the present

this group is now doing another event, a talk show about mental health. now this would be good except the topic is this, "self diagnosis: valid or not" featuring a fucking psychiatrist.

i dont know, maybe because im a victim of (mild) medical neglect from a psychiatrist, and im firmly anti-psychiatry after seeing how lucky i got compared to my comrades with a more stigmatized disorder, but this is just wack to me. idc.

like, first of all, in what world that a discussion of whether self-dx is a special topic of discourse to be treated this way? girl look at the state of our healthcare system. look at how we lack a social safety net. look at how there's practically no help for abuse and bullying victims. we dont even have a homeless shelter in this town! look at how many mental health workers that still treats homosexuality as a disease or asks child abuse victims to forgive their parents. look at how the criminal system treats addicts!!! look at the prisons! by god look at the prisons!!! prison inmates are prime examples of men and women who is failed by the state over and over again and end up hurting and abusing everyone around them, fueling the cycle anew.

youre putting the cart between the horse, by discoursing about self diagnosis when you havent even talked about how bad society is falling apart and how inefficient and inaccessible the healthcare system is. and im not just talking about the money, i know treatment's free, but is it really treatment when you have to wait four hours every two weeks just to meet an out of touch doctor for five minutes who'd just tell you to forgive your abuser then dose you up with potentially addictive medications without telling you the side-effects or even listening to your concerns?

also wow, inviting a shrink for a self dx discussion. i would bet money their stance is that theyre against it because heyyy therapy is free and covered by national insurance uwu and its your personal responsibility xoxo. very neoliberal. i always suspect their politics is as progressive as a gay conservative since they decided not to make a post acknowledging pride month when they personally call themselves a feminist collective. how come a group of college-educated women could be this unserious? unprincipled? eugh. i expected better of them than the empty headed dumbfuck boys who made a metalcore concert for a day where at least a million people died by the hands of the state but turns out theyre just a different flavor of annoying and ignorant.

but i guess i have to act professional and nice around them since they did agree to help for the pro palestine campaign. i hate this fr fr!!!!!