#like all of the twilight characters are. Massively problematic in ways.

[philtatosbuck]

just so we’re clear even if i end up hating every single character in twilight i will still always hate the guy who forced himself on bella (and thought it was funny when she got mad!) and then, on an entirely separate occasion, guilt tripped her by threatening suicide, the most.

(yes, we are acknowledging smeyers is racist, and wrote the wolves disrespectfully. no, that does not excuse all of jacob’s actions.)

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

To Mod: Besides the obvious characters like Mikan,Chisa,Mukuro,Mahiru and Hajime being poorly written. We also have:

-Juzo who knew Junko was guilt but didn't want to say anything because he'd be outed by his best friend. Which was dumb because the world was at stake.

- Teruteru who canonically interacted with Seiko off screen who makes god-like medicine. But the writers have him requesting aphrodisiacs from her instead of a cure for his mother. Just so they can have that gross soup scene.

-Hiyoko spiking everyone's food, you'd figured she wouldn't do that because Mahiru would be affected by the drugged soup but nope. This scene caused people to hate Teruteru even more.

-Doing absolutely nothing with the rest of Chiaki's classmates.

-Hope's Peak expelling three innocent people because of Nagito commiting terrorism with explosives.

//I'll touch on each point individually here.

It's not like what happened with Juzo doesn't make complete sense. It's still dumb, but I understand why Juzo was so reluctant. He wasn't necessarily afraid that the world would judge him for being gay, more so he was afraid Munakata would reject him. Juzo dedicated his life to Munakata in a similar way that Mukuro and Kuripa do to Makoto in Survivor. If Munakata had any reason to ostracise Juzo, Juzo then has nothing to live for. Still though, it was incredibly selfish and didn't do Juzo himself any favors. It ultimately just highlights how incredibly selfish he is, and how he's the pinnacle of how low Ultimate's can sink. Especially given how much shit he gave Hajime and the reserve course earlier in the arc, and then ends up succumbing to his own weakness, just as Hajime did before him. It goes to show that Ultimate's and normal people aren't as different as Juzo and most of the Hope's Peak denizens seem to think. In that regard, it's subtly genius, but the way it's actually carried out is a bit messy.

Yeah, the whole thing with Teruteru is a massive plot hole. You have someone who is capable of curing any disease right next to you, someone who is driven by a strong will to help people, but your dick is somehow more important to you. Not only is it a drastic oversight, but it ultimately degrades Teruteru's character, and removes the one thing that makes him a redeemable and honest man. His love for his family in the main games is so genuine, he is willing to kill a person in order to go home and help them. And whether you like Teruteru or not, if you're close with your family, no doubt you can understand his position. I don't think it's a matter of on purposefully trying to make Teruteru seem worse and more perverted, because it seems to me more like a bit of an oversight; like they sort of forgot about that plot point. The way I cover it in Survivor is with Teruteru saying either he didn't want to bother Seiko, or his mother wasn't too bad at the time, but I'm just reaching; trying to fill a plot hole that the writers made.

I don't understand why people damn Teruteru for that scene, because that CLEARLY wasn't his fault. Besides, I'd like to point out that he was honest about the "doping" with his classmates, and actually ASKED them if they wanted the added flavor. He was disappointed when they said no, but he's NOT the one at fault there. This also brings up another thing that I thought was a bit problematic, but Hiyoko and Mahiru's relationship in DR3 is HORRIFICALLY unexplored. Based on all the info in DR2 and DR3, it's heavily implied that they were just as close in the real world as they were in the Killing Game, but in every scene of DR3 where Mahiru is struggling mentally, Hiyoko is NOWHERE. Hell, the same can be said about Mikan and Ibuki. It's an important plot point in DR2 that they were involved in the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case, but when it happens in DR3, not only do we not see the damn altercation, but they aren't involved in any way, shape or form. I get that it's because they wanted to put more of a focus on Mahiru and Sato, which is the most important thing, but to wayside Mahiru's already established friends is just poor writing. You'd think they'd be by her side throughout all of it, but no. "We couldn't think of what to do for them, so we'll just not include them and fuck off."

Which ties in pretty heavily to this point of yes, the DR2 characters are STUPIDLY underused. Every moment they have in this show is poorly handled in some way, with the exception of a few episodes. They were good in Episode 1 and 2 of Despair Arc, and were great in Hope Side when they come to the Future Foundation's rescue. Aside from that, they get very few moments, and hardly any of them are good. The only members of the DR2 cast who get any sort of attention throughout most of DR3 are Hajime, Chiaki, Nagito and Imposter. And yes, they ARE the trifecta, and Imposter does need more screentime and characterization, but it's not fair on the rest of the group, who I will reiterate, are easily the most enjoyable, in-depth and interesting cast of ALL the games. They deserve better than what they got.

As much as I hate to admit it, and I know how this sounds, what happened with Nagito's attack, unfortunately, made total and complete sense. It is NO SECRET to anyone who knows how deep DR lore runs that Hope's Peak's steering committee was the true evil. Everything that was wrong with Hope's Peak that allowed Junko to take advantage of the system and destroy the world can be traced directly back to them. They cover up crimes, make poor decisions if it means protecting their school's reputation, and if things start looking bleak, they pin all the blame on Jin and Tengan. Seiko, Ruruka and Izayoi's expulsion, unfortunately, makes total sense, and it's one of the few things in Danganronpa 3 that actually DOES. The Steering Committee knew that there was more to the story and that this might have been the result of an accident. They probably knew that none of the three had actually done anything wrong. The reason why they were expelled is that it was the EASIEST possible out for THEM. After all, considering the exams at Hope's Peak were a public ordeal, it wouldn't be too hard to get an investigator in to find out the truth of the matter, but doing that risks exposing the other dark secrets that the Steering Committee tried to cover up. It was all too easy to pin the blame on Ruruka, Seiko, and Izayoi, and remove them permanently, to prevent their secrets from being outed and to preserve their reputation. Their reputation as an esteemed school, and their own personal goals took priority over everything else, and they didn't care who it hurt, especially not the three victims. This is also the reason why Nagito was only suspended as opposed to expelled as well. The reason he got off lightly is purely because of his talent. Hope's Peak were serious about researching luck, and given Nagito's insane bullshit abilities, he wasn't someone they were about to let go easily. The other three were sacrifices they could make. Nagito was not. It's not fair, and it doesn't make sense, but that's the POINT. This scene was one of the few things in DR3 that actually seemed thought through to me.

-Mod

[frostbite-the-bat]

Okay, my brain is still a little scrampled eg :tm: and foggy and I'll have to go to sleep again soon but I want to ramble about this as I think writing it down may help others but also help to ram it in my own head a little bit - so this may not be worded the way id like it to but hopefully the message will still come across

This is about fanwork/headcanons/aus and such - since I am working on quite a big Deltarune AU myself and I constantly worry about it not being "canon" enough, since it is meant to be canon-esk and develop things that the player doesn't see in the game.

But... That is kind of the magic of aus! You can do so much cool stuff with an existing media, potray things your own way, change things to suit your needs or change problematic things, add cool ocs, add cool headcanons and make them canon in the au and create things to support them even more, and other things!!! literally go ham and have fun!!!!!! i am thinking abt that one post that i rbd a while ago that i rbs bc of the last addition abt aus and how people should make oc worlds at that point (and how that is how twilight was created)

And I suppose, if you change canon characters too much and claim them as your ocs (like the fucking mass amount of spamton ex ocs, and we know how i feel about those /neg) but still!! literally just have fun its not harming anyone, only absolutely butthurt negative assholes!!! ive been worrying about changing stuff in **MY** au because one or two people out there may not like it.

if you were in the early bugsnax fandom you may remember the drama about people giving them tails. yes!! people argued abt giving grumpuses tails!! and like !!who cares!! change the designs however the fuck you want! go ham!! make them fluffy! give them cute ears and tails! give them paw pads! give them cool markings! make them in your design and make your version of them truly yours and make it fun to draw! im sure all those designs are lovely and fun and if you wanna do it nothing should fucking stop you

and same goes for me and other ppls hcs!! currently i was worrying about making everything kinda furry-esk in my dpau and all that, and the MASSIVE changes ive done to plugboys and yesmen especially (literally making yesmen snake people for several reasons)

and like!! who cares its not canon!! its MY interpretation!! its MY au!! my au that changes so much stuff and allows me to create an amazing oc story and world within an pre-existing media AND letting those characters interact with canon characters!! and add new stories with canon characters and expand canon species!! literally dont hold yourself back unless it stresses you out and shit! (i need to learn that lol..i add TOO much stuff) its not even canon and i fully know the difference!!!

but literally! its also an outlet for creativity and i think you should be allowed to go ham if you want. if someone tells you to not do something like give grumpuses tails or make the addisons fluffy theyre an asshole.

literally like as long as ur not making the media harmful like add gross shit like p//dophilia, z//philia and whitewash characters or do any other racist digusting shit then i think u should be allowed to have fun! wanna make smthn a furry? go on ahead have fun literally fuck ppl!! who is it harming????????? like! you can also dislike these things! just scroll look away, maybe block which is all fine and healthy you can and should do that! if a hc doesnt match yours and may make you uncomfy literally just ignore it. dont start shit thats pointless. spend ur time better, draw cute puppies instead or smthn!! or speak about it privately bc i think being a bit bitchy with friends is okay to have an outlet but if you go directly after someone literally fuck off. (i personally can confirm theres some things i bitch about a lot but guess what i also do!! i also block those things and look away!! and im actively tryna get better than be hurt over pointless stuff online bc its not smthn im proud of)

but like srsly.. let ppl have fun n shit!!! srsly theres no harm in it fjgirhgotr yall 2 serious

[rhtakeuchi]

This was a comment I wrote to a friend back when the-game-that-must-not-be-named released. They shared some very openly misinformed outrage about the “antisemitic” stuff in the game. It said goblin nose sizes depend on how evil the goblin is, and all sorts of ridiculousness about the goblins trying to kidnap children. Honestly, the post sounded more like an antisemitic conspiracy theory, especially since I played the game and none of it was remotely true.

However, on Reddit and Twitch, trolls and bullies were getting particularly terrible to the point of spamming random folks who had subbed or chatted about the game. I’m not even sure if they were legit protesting and or if they were just being terrible because they felt it was fine, but it’s not fine to harass folks and call them transphobes (and all sorts of obscenities) just for playing a game. So I was worried to post anything, but I can’t turn off my correction-sense when something so crazy is out there with folks massively sharing it as if it were fact.

***

My comment:

Wow, this person did not actually play the game, and it’s really sad that so many folks sharing these things haven’t played the game to judge it for themselves, and those who have are too scared to say anything or else be bullied by those sharing these things. But hey, if folks want to bully me, have at it. Just remember a lot of folks with PTSD and other conditions used the Wizarding World as their safe mental space for decades before JK became problematic, and all those traumatized folks aren’t about to nuke their safety paracosms because JK has gone all Lovecraft. Some might have been able to find something else to dive into, but nobody should be thought policing how someone else should deal with their trauma. Let’s be real. Most fantasy worlds were initially created by misogynists (and worse). While it feels uncomfortable to go back and reread Xanth or Wheel of Time, a lot of folks loved those worlds — enough to make a series of the latter that is significantly less sexist. But here’s my actual rebuttal.

Spoilers:

*** *** *** ***

Noses have nothing to do with anything. In fact, the goblins are mostly based on the exact same asset with minor facial variation, much like the generic extra students. Honestly, the facial mapping is rough in general. The bankers aren’t at all involved in Ranrok’s extremism — in fact one banker is killed by Ranrok in the prologue trying to stop him from stealing from the bank. Ranrok gets quite a bit of story, which is sadly more substantial than most characters in the game. If you want to criticize the game for a very weak storyline in general, that’s totally legit. The dark magic side story about a boy trying to heal his sister (and going dark in the process) is actually more compelling than the entire main quest. There are equal factions enemy goblins and wizards with an alliance, but they actually have a motivation. Both factions are led by descendants or followers of the original folks who helped lock away the Ancient Magic™️ (several wizards and a goblin were involved) and now the factions want the magical nuke-power for themselves for their various (and somewhat understandable) reasons and the main character is the only one in the last few centuries who can actually see the Ancient Magic™️. However, the game insists the correct way to deal with the situation is to seal the Ancient Magic™️ away so nobody has the nukes. So be prepared for an almost Twilight-level lack of anything substantial happening. But there is a boss fight rather than a strange psyche-out and there’s no creepy imprinting or whatever, so marginally better than Twilight. I’m not seeing the raging antisemitism this post is talking about. There is bigotry toward non-wizards, yes. That was still a problem in the books 100 years after the game takes place, so one wouldn’t expect to make a substantial change in the late 1800s when house elf rights didn’t get a big boost until Hermione’s efforts in the late 1900s. Honestly, most of the fights are with spiders (which is why there’s an arachnophobia mod that is particularly popular).

[therealvinelle]

I know this is like taking a bat to the beehive but... I really wanna hear your opinions on the whole... Imprinting thing

(Note before we go any further: this meta is written purely about the shapeshifting aspect of the Quileute characters, I don’t at all get into the racism in Twilight or any kind of social commentary. This is a purely watsonian meta. Others in this fandom have already addressed the racial dynamics at play, far more eloquently and knowledgeably than me. If I say something in here that’s in any way offensive, that’s not my intention and I’m open to criticism.)

Ooh imprinting.

I touch upon it here, basically I hate it.

The imprinting is part of this theme where the shapeshifters lose their free will and autonomy, and I find it tragic, cruel, and unnecessary.

First of, the fact that they have to phase at all.

They’re made warriors to protect their tribe. There’s no choice involved, only genetics and magic irrevocably changing their lives, and at a ridiculously young age, too. Sam is the oldest of them, and he is 19.

Violence is an inherent part of what they become. Their purpose is to protect the tribe, by fighting vampires. Not only is this insanely dangerous (we see Jake get so injured by a single vampire that he’s bedridden for weeks), but if they succeed, they will have killed. In the singularly brutal manner of tearing apart and burning someone who looks a lot like a human, who talks and might beg for their life, at that. And I remind you, most of these shapeshifters are literal children. They might not see vampires as people, but all the same, killing one can’t be good for their mental wellbeing. (Thought: Perhaps an argument can be made for Laurent’s death having a part in the turn Jake’s personality took? Some, though not many, of the symptoms for PTSD do fit. I don’t know enough about PTSD to pursue this train of thought, but it occurred to me just now, in particular he becomes quite aggressive and prone to outbursts after that incident, so into a parenthesis it goes)

Not to mention how inhumane that responsibility is. Vampires in the Twilight-verse are terrifying, and the shapeshifters might have the power to fight them. But (and this is where I plug one of my all-time favorite animes, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, as it asks the question “Is it okay to sacrifice yourself for others?” because that’s... well there’s a parallel to be made to the shapeshifters. It’s on Netflix!) does that mean they should? Is it really their responsibility? Again- they’re kids!

Then there’s the time Sam lost control, and accidentally mauled the girl he loved. And it’s so cruel to both him and Emily. Sam never chose to have to control himself in the first place, he never chose shapeshifting. He didn’t choose to imprint on Emily either, and he didn’t choose to lose control that day. At no point in the series of events that led to Emily being mauled did Sam have any real choice, and yet he will shoulder the guilt for what happened for the rest of his life.

These kids get superpowers, and several of them seem to enjoy being shapeshifters, but the fact remains that they now carry this huge responsibility to protect their families and homes, doing so is incredibly dangerous, they lose out on their regular lives, and they can’t opt out of it.

This all sucks, but then we get to the fact that they are deprived of their free will, as their alpha can issue an order they physically can’t break. The alpha becomes alpha because of bloodlines, not because of a democratic election. Jake got a mockery of a choice in that he could choose to become alpha himself, or let Sam continue, which was really just choosing between a rock and a hard place. There is no limitation to what this order can be, from “don’t say X to person Y” to “let’s kill someone you love”. Jake has to struggle to break that last one, and he’s only successful because of the bloodline thing letting him become his own alpha.

Oh, and there’s the massive invasion of privacy when they have a hive mind. Cool concept, less cool to have it be reality. Leah is the poster child for how a hive mind can backfire, and they can’t opt out of this.

I’m not good at gifs, but the shapeshifters just make me think of that gif of someone flicking a lightswitch on and off, “WELCOME TO HELL!”. Of course, Twilight in general is a pit of despair for everybody, so I suppose that gif really is... well it sums up all of canon.

So, we have these kids aged 19 or younger, as of Breaking Dawn they skew as young as thirteen, their lives are turned upside down by something they can’t opt out of, they must shoulder this huge responsibility to protect their homes and families from the terrifying threat of vampires, and on top of all of that, they must obey orders that are so irresistible, they can compel them to harm someone they care for.

With all of that in mind, you’d think that the shapeshifters had enough on their plate. That through all of this they would at least retain their selves, and be able to look forward to a future where they could stop phasing, and go on to live normal, human, lives.

Yeah, NOT IF THEY IMPRINT.

I’ll just quote Jake’s description:

Everything inside me came undone as I stared at the tiny porcelain face of the halfvampire, half-human baby. All the lines that held me to my life were sliced apart in swift cuts, like clipping the strings to a bunch of balloons. Everything that made me who I was—my love for the dead girl upstairs, my love for my father, my loyalty to my new pack, the love for my other brothers, my hatred for my enemies, my home, my name, my self—disconnected from me in that second—snip, snip, snip—and floated up into space. 

I was not left drifting. A new string held me where I was. 

Not one string, but a million. Not strings, but steel cables. A million steel cables all tying me to one thing—to the very center of the universe. 

I could see that now—how the universe swirled around this one point. I’d never seen the symmetry of the universe before, but now it was plain. 

The gravity of the earth no longer tied me to the place where I stood. (Breaking Dawn, page 237)

Everything that made me who I was disconnected from me.

Jake’s love for his father, his home, his very own self, it’s all gone now. And while I have thoughts on the authenticity of this imprint, whether it was organic, the description above is apparently how imprinting feels. It’s along the lines of what Sam, Jared, and Paul all describe.

I don’t think I can put into words just how devastating I find imprinting, I think the above quotation speaks for itself. And as with all other shapeshifter things, there is no choice involved.

We see its devastating effects in the Emily, Sam, and Leah debacle. Sam and Leah were serious together, so much so that they were engaged. Sam had fallen for and chosen to be with Leah. Perhaps they would have broken up eventually, but Leah was still the choice he made. Then he imprints on Emily, and all that is for naught. He had to break up with Leah, who if she hadn’t phased never would have learned why, Emily and Leah’s relationship is ruined, and Emily must forever live with the knowledge that if Sam had his free will intact he would be with another woman.

Then there’s Jared and Kim. Kim crushed on Jared, but Jared never noticed her. The fact that they were in the same class is damning: if a boy is attracted to a girl, he's gonna notice her. Jared never did.

Quil imprints on Claire, who is a toddler. That’s just a recipe for misery and disaster all around.

And I’ve only touched the shapeshifter side of things. They lose their autonomy and freedom, but the imprintées draw the short straw too. They’re now responsible for this other person’s happiness. Sure, having someone who’ll be whatever you need them to be sounds nice (well, it sounds horrifying, but I’m playing ball) on paper, but you can’t opt out of them being like that. The imprintée can’t say “Sorry, not interested,” and she certainly can’t shut the imprinter out of her life, not without irrevocably ruining the imprinter’s life. The imprinter needs her. She’s the center of his earth now, but she didn’t choose to be.

Imprinting is a liferuiner for everyone involved.

Then we have the question of what imprinting is even for. I’m afraid I agree with Billy, that it’s for procreation. We see Sam, who was dating a woman about to phase (even if Leah isn’t infertile, she’s a warrior now. She can’t run in the woods and fight vampires, and gestate and nurse a child at the same time) conveniently imprint on her cousin, who as cousin to Leah is from a shifter bloodline. Claire, as Emily’s cousin, has those same genetics. Paul imprints on a woman from the Black family line. Jake is the outlier, but either Renesmée’s gift helped that imprinting along, or he imprinted because of the offspring they could potentially have (I firmly believe it’s the former because the latter... NOPE. Also, I can’t imagine whatever magic drives imprinting would want vampiric progeny for the future generations. Regardless of Renesmée’s person, her biology is wired to desire human blood. That’s exactly what Jake is supposed to protect people from. Bad match.).

I just.... ughhh. God, I hate imprinting so much, and on every level.

To me, everything about the shapeshifters is about free will, autonomy, and the loss thereof. And it would have been beautiful if their story was about reclaiming that, but it isn’t. None of this, with the exception of the alpha orders, is even acknowledged.

So, in summation, yes I hate imprinting, but it’s only the horror cherry on top of a very sad and problematic cake.

[edwardsmate4ever]

out of pure curioisity, how long have you been in this fandom and how would you describe the early fandom, especially the jakeward side? how popular was it? my only awareness of the whole thing is info round Masters Of The Universe and that is not exactly the best outlook lmao

Hi! Nice to see you in my inbox again.

Ah, the glory days of this fandom. It was a hell of a lot different than it is now. Now it’s a lot more focus on canon pairings, character histories, and funny memes/ pointing out flaws. Which I’ve enjoyed immensely, don’t get me wrong. But back then, nobody was very woke. Times were different. The inherent problems with Twilight (grooming, gaslighting, the treatment of indigenous people) weren't really on people's radar, and it was acceptable to write underage sex because they were all underage after all. Not so these days. Characters are aged up and problematic behavior is addressed and fixed, and I LOVE that for the Twilight fandom. I love reading fixit stories (like those by @edwardskhakipants) and fics showing the harsh realities and horrors of the Twilight world (like those by @therealvinelle and @thecarnivorousmuffinmeta).

I started reading Twilight in 2008. I saw Twilight in the theater, I was in my late twenties. I was an Edward stan, and I loved the rich backstories of all the vampires. I wanted more content - I didn’t want to just wait for more books to come out, so I found fanfiction. I read a few Edward POVs of the series, and Edward/Rosalie fics believe it or not. I stumbled upon slash with this fic and boy did that SHOCK me. But I sought out more and soon read almost exclusively slash fics. The first fic I wrote was Teach Me in 2011 for the Slash Backslash Contest 3.0 and then I started Hidden Within. The rest came tumbling out after.

Back to fandom. Way back then, things were a lot wilder. There was a massive focus on smut and slash pairings. There were fic contests. There was a censorship campaign on fanfiction.net where a lot of homosexual slash content was deleted, making a lot of authors move to AO3 and FictionPad. We had to change our summaries and titles to avoid deletion, which I did, although one of mine was deleted (I’ve since restored it, and funnily enough, it was definitely one of my tamer fics - Adrift).

There were LOADS of jakeward fics, carlward fics, edward/jasper was really big too (lots of people even shipped Seth/Jasper). I’m sure a lot of them are still out there. I got lots of hits and reviews back then. Not so much anymore, but there are some people who are still reading and appreciating that I’m still providing niche content. I’m happy to do it. It’s been fun, and it still is. I’ll write until it isn’t fun anymore. I hope you’re enjoying the content I’m putting out there :)

[persepholline]

I've read that article about the romanticization of the Darkling and while I absolutely understand people who are pissed off/sad and I agree that it's shitty, I find LB's attitude towards Darkles stans very funny in a "girl what are you doing" sort of way because it's so petty like I've never heard of a bestselling author writing a portion of their fans into their books as a crazy cult before, it clearly hit a nerve

I'm new to the fandom but the feeling I get is she wrote something problematic ten years ago and became very embarrassed about it afterwards so she turned on the fans that liked it as a way to absolve herself. Especially since fandoms in general have become a lot more focused on discussion of what constitutes healthy/acceptable relationships to write about. And in a way I get it I had a huge Twilight phase in high school and afterwards I was super embarassed about it because of how problematic and cringe it was. But now with distance and more maturity I'm able to both still see why it was problematic and also why I was drawn to it (mostly the very unhinged representation of female desire) and like...it's really not the end of the world and no it never made me believe that breaking into somebody's room at night to watch them sleep was actually ok in real life lmao. This feels so obvious to me but apparently it needs to be said.

(More under the break this is turning into an essay, I've been thinking of this a lot recently)

And of course it's good to have these discussions about how historically romance tropes have echoed social dynamics of men's shitty behavior being romanticized and excused. But these days they often are so simplistic and focused on chasing clout that they become this weird new puritanism and moral panic about oh now women are reading novels it's going to make them hysterical or something

So you have these weird assumptions that you can't like a character and also be critical of their actions, or enjoy certain parts of a character and not others, or wish they were written differently and like them more for their potential (which I'm sure stings a bit for an author lol) - it assumes that if you like a character it means you would approve of their actions in real life, or that people just stupidly reproduce whatever they see on TV. That tendency to treat fictional characters like real people is the thing that actually worries me, to be honest, because it indicates a lack of distance and critical capacities regarding how stories are used and received. But people - fans and authors - are so scared of being called out as problematic and harassed for it that they're going to shy away from any nuance.

And yeah I think that it's good that standards of what constitutes an ideal relationship are evolving and becoming more feminist and communicative and all that and we definitely need more of that. But not all fiction has to be aspirational! Sometimes you just want to read about fucked up shit, because it's cathartic or fascinating, even healing at times because with fiction you are absolutely in control and can choose when to close the book. Toxic relationships in fiction can have an appeal specifically because they go to extremes of feeling that we don't want to go to in reality, in exactly the same way as horror movies or very violent action movies - which I don't see a lot of people besides fundamentalist Christians argue that they turn you into violent psychopaths (and that feels very obviously sexist). And for women, who are often taught growing up that love is the purpose of life, the "saving someone with your ability to love" can be a power fantasy in the same way that being a buff superhero who saves the day with their capacity for incredible violence can be a power fantasy for men. Still doesn't mean those women are going to fall in love with actual murderers or that those men are going to start beating up people at night. And love is scary, and weird, and weirdly close to horror at times, with all the potential for loss of self and being vulnerable and overwhelming feelings and potential for being horribly hurt and it should be possible for stories to explore that without anybody screaming about how this is going to Corrupt the Youth or something

And I mean I get it LB wanted to write a cautionary tale for teenagers, but it just did not work for reasons a lot of people have already written about - the fact that the Darkling is the leader of an oppressed minority and is the only one with a real political agenda to end that oppression in the first trilogy, the fact that he helps Alina come into her own power while her endgame LI is someone she keeps herself small for, that she's shamed for wanting power after growing up without any, a generally very wonky conception of privilege, and a lot of other stuff with yucky regressive implications to the point where stanning the villain actually feels liberating and empowering which is a surefire sign that the narrative is broken (unless it's a villain focused story lmao). But of course that Fanside article makes almost no mention of the political dynamics, it's all about interpersonal stuff which is an annoying trend in YA, there are those massive events happening in the background but it's made all about the feelings of the hero(ine) ; war as a self-development quest (which is kind of gross). Helnik is kind of an example of this too - I like them, I think they're fun ! But Matthias spends a big part of the story wanting to brutally murder Nina and her kind, and he mostly changes his mind because he finds her hot. Like you don't feel there is some sort of big revelation that his entire moral system and political framework is completely rotten ; it's all better because of feelings now.

As a teenager that kind of sanctimonious bullshit would have annoyed the hell out of me ; I read those books in my early twenties and I found the ending so stupid I wouldn't have trusted any message or life lessons coming from them. And I liked reading/watching dark stuff as a teenager, as a way to deal with the very intense inner turmoil I was dealing with - and I turned out fine ! Meanwhile I've seen several times women in very shitty relationships being obsessed with positive energies and stories ; they were so terrified of their life not being perfectly wholesome they ended up being delusional about their own situations.

Like personally I think the Darkling is a compelling, interesting, alluring character and also a manipulative, murderous piece of shit and that Alina should get to punish him (like in a sexy way) - but he's also the end result of centuries of war, oppression and trauma and reducing that to "toxic wounded boy" feels kind of offensive ngl ESPECIALLY since the books don't offer any kind of systemic analysis or response to oppression beyond "the bad guy should die" and "now the king/queen is a good guy our problems are solved!!!!"

In Lives of the Saints, we see how Yuri is abused extremely badly and almost killed by his father, and so when his father dies when the Fold swallows Novokribirsk, he thinks the Starless Saint has saved him. Later in KoS/RoW he's turned into this fanatic who explains away all the Darkling's crimes. The other followers talk about how the Starless Saint will bring equality for all men. Then the Darkling comes back and actually thinks his followers are pathetic, which feels again like a very pointed message to his IRL stans. Which is absolutely hilarious to me. Like oh no, if he was real he would not like you and think you're pathetic ! Yeah ...but he's not. Real. Damn right he would not like the fics where Alina puts him on a leash. I'm still going to read them. What is he going to do about it, jump out of the page ? Jfjfjjdhfgfjfj

Anyway I think the intended message is "assholes will use noble political causes for their own gain and to manipulate people" and "being abused/oppressed is not an excuse to behave badly." Which. Sure. But that's kind of like...a tired take, honestly ? A big number of villains nowadays are like this ; either they've been bullied as kids, or they're part of an oppressed group, or they have "good ideals but too extreme". This is not surprising because a lot of mainstream heroic narratives present clinging to the status quo as Good and change as chaotic and dangerous. And like sure in real life people often do bad shit because they're wounded and in danger. But if you want to do a story like that, you have to do it with nuance, talk about cycles of violence, about how society creates vulnerable people to be exploited, about how privilege gives you more choices and the luxury of morals, etc. The Grishaverse does not have this level of nuance (maybe in SoC a little bit but definitely not in TGT). So it kind of comes off as "trauma makes you evil" and "egalitarianism is dangerous" and "if you're abused/oppressed you're not allowed to fight back". And ignores the fact that historically, evil generally comes from unchecked privilege.

I guess my point is that there are many things I like about LB's writing, she knows how to create these really exciting character dynamics, and the world she has created is fascinating. But these stories are not a great starting point for imparting moral lessons. And her best characters tend to be, at least in canon, the morally grey ones. I hope one day she'll be at peace with the fact that she wrote the Darkling the way she did and leave his fans alone but in the meantime I'm just not going to take this whole thing seriously I'm sorry

[bibliofiles-in-a-greenhouse]

Mad, Bad, & Dangerous to Know: A Review

Today I will be reviewing Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed. As always, there will be spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk.

~~SPOILERS AHEAD~~

Khayyam Maquet should love her holiday with her studious parents in Paris. But instead she finds herself at a crossroads - her sometimes kind-of boyfriend is ghosting, she may have blown her chance of getting into her dream college, and all she wants is to go back home to Chicago to figure out her life. 

But things change when she meets Alexandre Dumas, a descendant of her favorite writer. On top of that she finds letters to a mysterious woman, who just might give Khayyam another chance. 

Meanwhile, centuries before, Leila is trying to hide her love from the pasha, and survive as she is ‘gifted’ a position of favor in said pasha’s harem. As Khayyam begins to trace the threads of Leila’s life, the lives of these two women will intertwine as both lives are changed forever. 

~~TIME FOR MY THOUGHTS~~

I’m rather sad to say that I didn’t like this book. It felt like a chore to read, and my issues with the characters and the plot only made it worse. 

For starters, this book was presented as a feminist and poc narrative, but both protagonists spend the majority of the book bending to the will of men, and not even nice, respectful men. Being a feminist and hating all men do not go hand in hand, but these characters, and Khayyam especially,  are at the beck and call of the men in this story, above their own autonomy. Leila is not much better, making strong, well-grounded decisions and suddenly throwing them all away for a man despite the fact that it might very well get her killed. 

Another thing that wrankles with me is that, from what I can tell, this book has some good poc representation, especially in that of the two leading ladies. But Khayyam makes me feel like she’s ‘not racist towards the french’ in the way that Emily in Paris is a love letter to France instead of a bunch of Americans taking a shit on French culture. Khayyam is such a cool intersection of cultures, race, and religion (she’s French, Indian, American, and Muslim), and I think it would have been really cool and interesting to take a look at how all of these intersecting identities affect Khayyam, regardless of where she is*. 

Instead she spends so much time confused over which boy she should pick (she calls them ‘problematic faves’ - more on that later), that the story (these two women centuries apart coming together) that I came here for comes second. 

Back to Khayyam’s ‘problematic faves’, or more accurately, her use of that term. It makes sense that a seventeen-year-old would speak like most of gen z, however, sometimes the volume of gen-z buzzwords in what Khayyam is saying reminds me of Riverdale, and not in a good way (side note: is anything involving Riverdale good? I mean seriously, would anyone ever say ‘I beg your misogynistic pardon?’ unironically?). 

For a complete change of subject, where were Khayyam’s parents? Their few appearances are only to further the plot progression (and by plot I mean what should be the subplot of which boy Khayyam is going to pick), despite the fact that their daughter breaks and enters on multiple occasions. They let said daughter run around Paris with a guy that they met once (and the only thing they know about him is that he’s related to Alexandre Dumas), and though I appreciate that they are giving their daughter more independence, I’m a little concerned that they didn’t seem to fear for Khayyam’s safety at all. 

The story has such a cool premise, but I feel like so much of it is spent mooning over different men (almost entirely on Khayyam’s part by this point, since Leila’s major paramour died) that it takes a back seat, and could be lost entirely without really affecting Khayyam’s journey at all. I don’t see a lot of character development in Khayyam, and she sort of comes across like ‘i’m not like other girls’ in the way that Bella from Twilight isn’t like other girls. 

Later in the story, in an effort to prove that she really is feminist, and she doesn’t need men at all, her two love interests are demonized (which is fair, both of them are flawed, but given the fairly positive view that the reader has gathered of them from the previous 200-ish pages, it’s kind of out of nowhere), but that doesn’t erase the fact that Khayyam has been pining for the both of them throughout the book. I also think that Khayyam could have been a lot less damaging with how she handled the situation. She didn’t try to communicate sensibly and instead hurls insults at them until they both leave (In the case of Zaid, it kind of makes sense, he was not good to Khayyam, but Alexandre’s feels a bit less justified). I understand that given that she is 17, she may not be the most mature person in the world, but I think her outburst is kind of sudden and poorly handled. 

She chooses herself, yes, but at the cost of some, if not glowing relationships, then half-decent ones. I feel like the book fell into the common pitfall of ‘romantic relationships are the be all and end all of teen life’ which is simply not true. 

Khayyam is so focused on being feminist and defying the patriarchy in the present that she forgets that the whole point of this was to discover Leila’s story, and take down the patriarchy by telling it. The whole point of Alexandre appearing at all (his connections to the Dumas family helping discover Leila) is thrown out of the window when Zaid shows up, just like it has been for the last few hundred pages. Khayyam, and by extension Leila, are jerked around by men, the patriarchy, despite Khayyam’s whole deal supposedly being defying said patriarchy. 

Khayyam reminds me of how white cishet male authors write feminists - spewing all the relevant rhetoric until a man comes along and ‘fixes’ it. I guess the only reason that i’m so bothered by it is because this is presented as a masterful feminist story, but all Khayyam really does is say feminist things while she is a doormat for the male characters. It doesn’t even feel like quality observations, because she spews all of this hate towards famous men - not entirely without reason - but she doesn’t acknowledge the cultural influence that these men had. She does not separate art from artist from gender. 

Nevermind that these men are helping the plot move forward, and without them there would likely be no plot at all. Khayyam’s main personality trait is supposedly being feminist and not needing men, yet she consistently bends to the will of men for the sake of the plot or drama, both of which are in such contrast with how the reader has expected Khayyam to be that they feel almost physically painfully out of place. 

In short, I think that this book had a really amazing plot idea and a lot of things going for it, but the way is was executed in contrast with my expectations based on the synopsis and the author’s note make me feel massively let down. The book has pitfalls that while not always massive, are commonplace enough and reoccurring enough that I couldn’t ignore them, and subsequently couldn’t find myself enjoying the book, no matter how hard I wanted to. 

- Marigold

*note: I know that the race, religion, and/or cultural identity of a character, especially a poc character, should not be their only personality trait. However with Khayyam, I feel like it is not addressed in any way at all, despite the fact that within the first few sentences of the book it is put in a position to be a focal point. I just feel as though her saying vague things like ‘that lady was kind of rude to me’ leaving the insinuation that she (the woman) is racist, or ‘it’s paris so i probably won’t get shot by a cop’ (which is a fair thing to say, I just think that if you’re going to mention that you might as well add something to make me invested in that idea with regards to the character personally. That didn’t happen, therefore it feels very abstract; since she’s not in America, where such a comment would be most relevant it falls flat) really leaves out the audience and makes it hard for them to relate or sympathize with Khayyam’s struggles against racism. It feels performative, obligatory and perfunctory when it would have been such an effective device to get readers invested in Khayyam’s life, regardless of whether she was in the US or not. There are no flashbacks to help ground the things that Khayyam references, so it’s far too easy to forget that she said them at all, and that in her hometown she has a very good reason to be concerned for her safety (in special regards to the cop thing).

[nobodyfamousposts]

You know I was watching a video by overly sarcastic productions and I’m pretty sure that from that definition Adrien is a Mary Sue. The episode was Trope Talks: Mary Sues.

Pretty much Adrien is this to a T.

I hear people throwing the term around a lot and complaining about the term being thrown around a lot but I think what ends up being missed is what actually constitutes a Mary Sue in the first place.

A Mary Sue is not a character who is overpowered or “too strong” like the complaints about Captain Marvel. If that was true, then literally every anime protagonist or super hero that exists is a Mary Sue by default. Every one. Ever.

Nor is it someone with a tragic backstory like Batman or any other long line of superheroes or anime protagonists. Whether it’s dead parents, a past trauma, abuse, bullying, or just a conga line of horrible circumstances, plenty of characters have had bad things happen to them. That’s kind of part of life and what makes them relatable and sympathetic.

It’s not even someone who is loved by many people. Or is a good judge of character. Or whom manages to talk someone into a heel-face turn. Regardless of what claims may come, these are not what make a character a Mary Sue.

What makes a Mary Sue—the central core aspect of what makes a character problematic all boils down to how the narrative itself treats the character.

The narrative is generally indicative of the author’s own preferences or leanings. We see it all the time with stories that create straw characters to symbolize people the author doesn’t like or things the author doesn’t agree with in order to belittle it. The opposite can just as easily occur where a character or position is hyped up to look better or promote what the author wants promoted.

Those previously mentioned tropes are a sign of that. For a Mary Sue, everything from powers to past traumas to relationships are all just “things“ for the character to have. Whether to emphasize their importance or to highlight their greatness. While they’re not necessarily what automatically makes a character a Mary Sue, they are often utilized as tools by the narrative for the sake of propping the character that is a Sue. That’s why they’re easy to pick out and attribute to a Mary Sue as well as used to claim characters are Sues. Because they are tools used to try to make people support a character instead of actually making a character people can like and WANT to support.

A Mary Sue is given powers for the sake of making the character awesome without the character actually doing anything to be awesome. A Mary Sue is is given a tragic backstory for the sake of making the character sympathetic without the character actually doing anything to warrant sympathy. A Mary Sue is given relationships for the sake of being the center of attention and adoration by other characters to shell how awesome they are without having to do anything to show how or why anyone would or should actually like them. Any relationships a Mary Sue has are NOT legitimate connections between two or more people, they’re just labels to slap on the Mary Sue to make the character seem more relevant and important.

Ultimately, a Mary Sue supplants the story for the sake of having this character BE the story, and it’s a major reason why they are despised in most fandoms. A reason that, sad to say, was actually deserved in the early days of fan works.

That said…

Adrien IS a prime example of a Mary Sue because of the way the narrative is going out of its way to portray him. Even the creator has come out and said he is “perfect” and that any flaw he could have isn’t actually on him so much as an indication of something being wrong with the world around him. Anything bad that happens, even as a direct result of that character’s own actions, is portrayed as being the fault of anyone and everyone else but that character, in this case Adrien. That, RIGHT THERE is pretty much the epitome of what a Mary Sue IS.

Some call it an ego trip. Some call it a power fantasy. Many consider it as a sort of reality warper. It’s ultimately the case when the story is being turned in on itself to make this character look good without the character actually DOING anything to BE good and even when the character is specifically doing things that AREN’T good.

This is why Bella Swan from Twilight is a certifiable Mary Sue.

This is why it can be argued that Rey from Star Wars is a Mary Sue.

This is why Anita Blake is definitely a Mary Sue.

And this is what separates Adrien from Marinette. And Adrien from pretty much everyone else in the series.

It’s not that he has superpowers—if anything, I think he got cheated in the powers department, all things considered. No, it’s the way he doesn’t seem to take those powers or the responsibilities that come with them seriously. Given that he has had THREE instances already in which he threw a major fit in the middle of an akuma battle because he wasn’t happy about something only for him to be shown as being RIGHT to do so even to the detriment of his partner, his Miraculous, and ultimately all of Paris.

It’s not that he has a missing mom and a neglectful dad, it’s how the narrative keeps emphasizing how sad Adrien is without actually DOING anything with it so they can milk the “Sadrien” angle. Because let’s face it, seeing Adrien looking sad sells.

It’s not that he has multiple girls who like him. I mean, he’s a model, and is rich and famous. I’d be surprised if he didn’t have multiple girls who were into him.

No, it’s in the over the top emphasis of his supposed greatness. It’s in this consistent impression the narrative is giving that the female lead we are supposed to be rooting for—whom we all KNOW has gone well out of her way to do things for him, try to make him happy even to her own detriment, and has struggled more than any rational person should be willing to just to try confessing to the guy is somehow the one side of the love square that “isn’t trying hard enough”.

It’s in the way he is always portrayed as being the “moral voice” and the one in the right in any situation regardless of how little he’s involved or even understands what’s going on. Whether it was lecturing people on how to deal with a bully or for being happy when their bully was leaving (when he was never actually a target of that bully). Or lecturing people on how to deal with a liar (when again, he wasn’t the one being played or threatened). Or threatening to quit when Paris was flooded by an akuma all because he wasn’t being told secrets that he wasn’t showing he was ready to know and that his tantrum CERTAINLY didn’t show he was ready or mature enough for.

It’s in the back and forth on whether he is supposed to be the epitome of “perfection” and the wise person everyone should listen to only to suddenly be made out as the innocent victim of everyone else when his less than noble or heroic behaviors are pointed out in order to excuse or justify his behaviors. (I call it the Standard Adrien Defense and it follows this trend each time.)

It’s in the clear and blatant double standard between what Adrien/Chat is allowed to do and get away with vs what is allowed from anyone else. It’s in the way that Adrien can do things that anyone can agree is wrong without getting so much as a lecture but anyone else in his place will—and have been raked over the coals by the same narrative that gives him the equivalent of a pat on the head and a cookie.

It’s in the way he’s just…there. He has the plot connections. He has the relevance. He has the position of being at the center of quite literally everything from the villain’s plans and motivations to the adoration of the female lead…and he does NOTHING with any of it.

And it’s in the way that no matter what he does or what side he takes, the narrative always ALWAYS frames him as being the one in the right when there’s a conflict, the one to sympathize with when he and another character are hurt, and the one we as the audience are supposed to agree with and support more in any situation.

And the truly sad thing is that Adrien as a character has potential. From a humorous character to a serious one, from the wise and introspective person to the wide-eyed innocent being thrown into the hero job, there was SO MUCH that could have been done with his character. Instead, Adrien is reactionary. Anything involving him is less a matter of what he personally is doing and more about what is being done to or for him. He has no dreams or aspirations other than being with the main female character, has no interests to speak of, and his other relationships actually seem pretty lacking—again, based less on what HE’S doing and more on what other people are doing to and/or for HIM. He somehow has a wide-ranging impact without actually taking action.

As it stands, Canon Adrien is about as real as the cardboard cutout or wax statue of him. To the point he might as well be either for all that he actually seems to accomplish. Because nothing annoys fans or creates salt quite like wasted potential, and that’s all canon Adrien is at this point.

That’s why Fandom Adrien is awesome, whether he’s portrayed as being dense as a brick, showing a polite exterior while internally screaming, acting like a massive dork, or just acting passive aggressive in how he deals with his father and people like Chloe or Lila. Because however way he’s being made to deal with the crazy situations the fans put him in, he’s at least doing SOMETHING besides standing there and looking pretty for people to fawn/fight over.

Strangely enough, this may be the first case I’ve seen where fans have taken a Mary Sue and made him a real character rather than the other way around.

[themildestofwriters-ocs]

gremlin rant for Babette please?

Oof, Babette. Now this woman. Oh, G-d, don’t get me started on this woman.

First, there’s her whole relationship with Josephine. It’s a toxic mess that just gets worse the more you think about it and is absolutely terrible representation for the wlw community. Like, Babette’s a 6,000-plus-year-old goddess and her girlfriend, a young mortal without any powers. Can’t anyone see the problem here? Babette’s obviously a pedophile and could force Josephine to do whatever she wanted to do with magic. And just because she could means the threat is always there. It’s sick and twisted and Babette’s an evil monster for wanting to date Josephine.

Like, I don’t care that the relationship has a balanced dynamic, that the relationship started on Josephine’s terms and continues because Josephine wants it to. Josephine holds more experience than Babette both in relevant life and relationship experience? Don’t care. Babette’s disgusting.

Then there’s the fact that Babette’s a polyamorous bisexual dating a lesbian. Like, canonically, Babette has sex with and dates men (and women) co-currently with Josephine, therefore infecting her girlfriends with leftover man residue. Like, I can’t imagine what fresh Hell poor Josephine must live through every day with such an abusive and carless adulterer.

And its even worse than that! We all know bisexually totally doesn’t exist, right? So, like, Babette is 100% just a straight girl who wants to feel special all the while stringing Josephine along as if it’s some kind of sick game. If Babette really loved Josephine, she would’ve stopped inviting men over into her bed like some kind of dick-worshipping whore and stay loyal to her girlfriend alone.

It’s a wonder why Josephine stays with her, but it’s probably because Babette’s got her wrapped around her little finger by guilting and manipulating her with trauma. making herself out to be some innocent victim when we all know the real victim is Josephine herself.

And, like, if that wasn’t enough, she’s a bottom. Seriously. Like, what kind of heteronormative, misogynistic bullshit is that? And, like, of course she’s the femme to Josephine’s butch, which just adds to the whole heteronormativity of this bullshit story (Hurr-durr, guess we don’t have to ask who’s the man in the relationship, am I right?). Like, I know, I know, Josephine doesn’t identify as butch and is actually quite fluid in her presentation, but, like, we know the truth.

And, like, she’s so chock-a-block filled with internalized misogyny (and dick, the whore) that she, of course, of course, gets off to being abused? Like, what the fuck? She just lets herself get physically abused by all the men she oh-so lovingly worships, going so far as to manipulate Josephine into it as well. Like, seriously, Babette’s such a misogynistic character. What kind of woman would ever want to get abused by their partner? BDSM? More like glorified assault. Heck, she even makes porn of it! Like, what kind of self-respecting woman would ever do that?

Oh, oh, but that’s not the worst of it! Like, G-d damn she gets so much worse. Get this. Get this. Babette’s a former tyrannical fucking fascist dictator and it’s never brought up. Like, what the fuck. Not only does she take over a rebellion by force, but she also executed a monarch and forced an entire galactic empire to bend the knee. Then she rules the empire for thousands of years, not once letting her people choose who rules over them, while violently crushing any resistance and doing little to dispel the literal religious worship of her (and no, her not doing anything to support the religions born of her actions doesn’t make things better).

And, like, she doesn’t even get better after being deposed. Like, she returns to Earth and instead of acting like a reasonable fucking person, she decides to pull a complete 180°. She goes from “If you want something done right, conquer a sovereign nation,” to a whole “No-Interference” policy. Like, she has so much power to do so much good for the world, ye she does nothing but sit on her arse and cheat on her girlfriend. Like, what the fuck? People are dying and she does nothing because of that bullshit excuse of “If I help with all my power, I would end up being forced to solving every problem humanity created forever.” Like, really? What kind of excuse is that? People are dying, the world is dying, and you’re just going to let that happen? “I shouldn’t be the one to fix everyone’s problems,” well fuck you, too!

And this brings us neatly to another one of her many, many problems. Her story is boring. It’s just slice of life fluff where she doesn’t face any major conflicts outside of her own trauma and relationship troubles, and then it just becomes disgusting smut, before finally getting interesting but only, like, in the same way that Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 is interesting. Like, the author builds up this massive thing about how “Oh, the pagan gods aren’t happy that Babette’s on Earth,” but then the author just goes with this massive cop-out and suddenly she’s friends with them all. Like, what the fuck?

And speaking of Twilight! Like, Babette is just Edward but with a vagina (and sometimes she doesn’t even have that, if the author’s own personal AU means anything). Like, the first book has Babette in High School. A 6,000 year old being in High School. Like, what the fuck!? I know she wasn’t in the right mind space to choose if she went to high school or not, and I know she’s just about to graduate, but that’s fucking weird and disgusting. I fucking hate it and I hate her. What the fuck!

Send me the name of one of my OCs and I’ll write an angry Tumblr gremlin rant about why they’re Problematic(TM)

Tag list: @starr-lights, @kijilinn, @yuelias-prince, @unwriter-sc, @egglordthypen, @cttrajan1206, @randomestfandoms-ocs, @ocappreciationtag - want to be added to my tag list for fics and/or content? shoot me an ask~!

[the-real-peter-parker]

There is no one way to internet. I loved Dexter, which acknowledges murder as Bad and illegal, but still revels in it. I loved Breaking Bad, which again, says its bad then does it anyway because fiction. I come from a neglectful household and was reading Snape/Harry when I was 12, living vicariously through Harry finding (illegal, yes) love and appreciation. I've moved on to projecting my issues onto Peter. Sure, in the real world i could read twilight, but as a trans boy I like starker.

I RANT ABOUT ST*RKER HERE PLS SKIP IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ

Okay, this has been in my inbox for too long. I feel inspiration to answer after finding and scrolling through a st*rker blog, as well as someone defending the ship.

You, as the viewer, have the capacity to understand and act upon the knowledge that there are things that are illegal and immoral. Murder is illegal and can get people put in jail. Some drugs are illegal and can get people put in jail for use or for selling. I’m sure we all know that. Pedophilia is also illegal and extremely immoral. I don’t care if you personally have a thing for older men, but a teenager with someone over the age of 40 is an issue.

Snape is a person I personally dislike. He’s a supremacist and only acted against the dark wizard he served because he killed the woman he loved. And, yes, he is a supremacist, and I do not like a supremacist character unless they redeem themselves and act against the original thoughts they had. I’ve seen people ship him with Hermione too. Both relationships are shit, not just because of the age gap, but because they’re likely abusive. Snape hasn’t done shit but look down on his students to the point where he scared someone so badly that his boggart was his professor, despite his parents having lost their mind from torture to a group that Snape supported. So Snape’s character is already problematic, and having an attraction to a supremacist and a shitty person is already kind of an issue.

Love and appreciation can come from anywhere. It doesn’t have to be from a much, much older person in a romantic relationship you’re with. Platonic and familial love can be just as good, if not better, depending on who you are and your circumstances. I’m sure you know that, but when it comes to someone extremely young with a man who legally should not be with them, it’s a problem.

I’m a transman myself, and I project my personality onto Peter. Even if I felt attraction to someone as attractive as RDJ (and I am not going to deny it because people do find him attractive), I would not ship Peter with Tony. It doesn’t matter how much someone thinks their personalities work together or ages up Peter to make him legal. Cause that’s pretty much grooming and that’s also illegal and immoral as fuck. Putting their personalities means you’re putting the canon personality of a child with one of an adult, and it doesn’t change their ages because it’s still what they’re like in canon. I should add that Tom Holland himself has confirmed that Tony is a father figure to Peter. Adding pseudo incest does not bode well for any of you.

I’ve definitely been attracted to celebrities who are like twice my age because some of them are attractive. Am I going to ship characters of massive age gaps together knowing that one of them is a minor? Fuck no. It doesn’t matter how much I project. You’re still, in essence, shipping characters who would be in a relationship that would be frowned upon and get them put in jail. Scratch that because they’re all white. But that’s a longer conversation.

Just cause the media (including TV shows, films, videos, books, etc.) is showing something to be bad or not, it doesn’t mean you have to believe it. Of course, you should know that most of the illegal things are immoral as well. A fictional show participating in illegal and/or immoral acts doesn’t mean the audience has to believe that it’s okay. Like that ship with the Hargreeves siblings in The Umbrella Academy. The writers have specifically said that their relationship isn’t good, but they include it to show how fucked up this family is. They understand it’s wrong, but they’re including it in their work because they feel it’s necessary. A pedophilic relationship in any form of media does not make it good. It’s frowned upon, for good reason, because they know that if it were a real relationship, it’d be pretty fucked up.

You can say “they’re not real people” all you like, but if the two characters you ship came to life with those same personalities, you’d still ship it. It’s the same people, so why wouldn’t you? Fictional or not, it’s giving actual pedophiles the chance to squeeze their way into the conversation and make a point that’ll give them attention. Why do you think they keep trying to insert themselves into the LGBT+ community?

I think I’ll stop here but you can tell I have a lot to say about this and you know I’ve thought about this, considering the months of time I’ve had this in my drafts. If I can get on a computer and add that “keep reading” thing I will definitely do that.

[wiccamoody]

on fandoms, deppy, glee & my life changing through media

sometimes i think i must be silly or too obsessed or too attached when i think about how much dan and phil, and being in this community, have changed my life. 

people laugh when people talk about celebrities and fandoms changing their lives, and maybe one day they will be that realization that the celebrities and the fandom didn’t really change anything, that they were just a catalyst to the change you went through. maybe i’ll figure that out in 20 years or something, but right now the change is distinctly tied to these things, these people, these fandoms. 

i’ve been in fandom (and by fandom i mean internet fandom) for just over 10 years now. i remember being around 9 or 10 and wanting more from harry potter than just the books and just the 5 movies that were out and just the pc games we had. i did some googling and found fansites and forums and fanfiction and i was probably too young to be reading and looking at a lot of what i was looking at but i was sucked in and completely gone (and harry potter still remains the one constant fandom in my life. despite all the bullshit, it’s my one fandom for life, at least right now). i’ve been in many a fandom ever since this, and while i’d say harry potter and twilight (which i got into around the same time new moon came out) had the largest influence on me as formative fandoms, glee came into my life sometime in 2010 and that changed everything. 

i was 11 when i started watching glee. probably too young, but the awful jokes they made mostly flew over my head which is probably a good thing. glee was…my life. harry potter was too, and then twilight, but glee had this impact on me in such a different way than those two. harry potter was my escape in my childhood, something i could easily turn to, like a comfort blanket. twilight was my bridge into the young adult lit world, and into the emo, goth, monster loving phase i haven’t quite left yet. but glee…glee shaped my whole world for me. 

i recognize that this is quite problematic; the whole show is problematic. it complicated my relationship with myself, with others, how i valued my self worth, and ultimately in really formative years of my life (11-14 was my prime glee phase, also my prime puberty phase, and i started high school at 13) left a lasting impression that i carried with me. i wish i had been past those years when the show was airing, i wish i knew how to critically consume media but i was a literal child. 

it was great though. despite having to go through my late teens unlearning things, glee was so fucking great. fandom was great. fic was great, feeling seen was great. but now i’m just haunted by it and i love to hate it. and i know it changed my life. for the first time watching it i felt this…feeling of comfort, in an odd sense. glee was supposed to be (key words here: supposed to be) a show about the misfits, for the misfits, and comedic. it was all of those thing for me because i was a kid and i was lost and confused and stuck and i didn’t know how to critically consume media. i used to have episodes on to help me fall asleep. i spent all my birthday and christmas money on music and boxed sets. i read fic and i wrote some in my head because i was too chicken to post anything and i spent hours combing through twitter. it consumed me and i let it because it was a safe space for me. again, very problematic looking back, but it was that first space for me to feel comfortable. 

i grew up in a very accepting household, but my mum’s old school in that she relies heavily on “gaydar” and always said she would know if i were gay and she knew that i wasn’t. and mum’s always right, right? a few other things happened in my life tangentially to that, and i just never had the space to think about my sexuality as anything other than straight. i didn’t question…anything about myself because i was a walking conglomeration of self-hatred and glee character personalities, and my mum knows best, right? but i latched onto glee and what it was supposed to mean, and i latched onto klaine and everything it meant to me, and when i was constantly asked “why are your favourite characters always the gay ones?” i never had an answer besides i liked them and they’re just…my favourites, when deep down they resonated with me in a way i hadn’t experienced before so i kept them close to my heart. 

the glee got progressively shittier and my interest was waning and i turned to other things. my best friend got into these dan and phil guys some time in october 2014 and begged me for months and months to watch them until she sat me down in december 2014 and forced me to watch a dan video because “you’ll like it and you’re a lot like him!”. and i immediately felt both of those things. 

i fell so fucking hard for them. i spent my entire winter break that year watching everything with them in it that i could get my hands on, consistently watching the sunrise as vyou after vyou played and i scrolled endlessly on tumblr, taking in everything i could. 

i was so lost, 15 going on 16 and depressed without knowing it, feeling like everything was going to fall apart when i touched it, like my existence was the end of the world because i am also very dramatic. but watching them was (and still is, really) an escape. from reality, from my feelings, from everything. 

to make a long story short (because this is already so very long) despite everything happening in the phandom, i found so much solace in it. it was this space that fostered so much openness about sexuality and shit in our lives because a lot of people were my age. i was older and i knew how to critically consume media and i wanted to challenge the adults in my life so i took a lot of comfort in what this community was, and still is. 

i don’t know if i would know i’m a lesbian (which i still have trouble typing out; words have power and stigma, and this one has been used against me in many ways) at this point in my life, or earlier, or at all, if it weren’t for this space. there are a lot of things i wouldn’t have known about myself without this space, far too many to list. i don’t even know if i would have gone to get help again, to get an actual diagnosis instead of shrinking away from help because the first “professional” i reached out to told me my mental health was just a minor issue in my life, that just breathing and willing away the thoughts will help. i don’t know if i would be on the recovery journey i’m on right now if dan hadn’t made that video about his depression. the list goes on, in this personal sense. 

and i wouldn’t have the people i have in my life now if it weren’t for this community. if i hadn’t said fuck it and decided to write and post and then taken the leap to join a word war chat and get angry to the point of joining idb and ceasing my position as a lurker and have everything spiral into what it is now, i would probably still be who i was just under 2 years ago, and that person was so sad. the friends i’ve made in this community have truly enriched my life and i’m so happy to have them in my life and to be able to call them friends, more than i can say. 

there are so many things in my life that wouldn’t have happened without fandom. i could be here for hours and hours listing and explaining, but i’ll save anyone reading this far still. 

people still laugh when i talk about fandom, especially when i say it’s changed my life. people who don’t get it will never get it, and i’m trying to brush that off and unlearn the shame i’ve instilled in myself over the years because people are mean. i’m not sure why i typed all that out. it’s been on my mind, though, and i wanted to put it somewhere. media changes people. the media we consume is important, whether you’re a fan of the media or not. it’s important to society and important to individuals. fandom’s been there for me in too many ways to say, but i wanted to get some of that off my chest. i’m ~feeling things and i wanted to say something. even if no one reads this i’m happy to have gotten it out and sent it into the void. i’m obsessed, yes. silly for sure. but i’m not silly for knowing that things have changed my life, and to continue to say that they have. i still have a lot to unlearn in the way of shame, and i know owning it is part of that. so maybe my conclusion to this massive wall of text is this is me owning it right now, owning the thing that people like to laugh at. it’s a step in the right direction, at least. 

[theonyxpath]

Today we preview chapter 1 of Dead God Trilogy 1: Forsworn for the Scarred Lands. This novel trilogy dates back to the d20 era of Scarred Lands (specifically 2002-2003), but Onyx Path has recently remastered it, making it available in various ebook formats and in print on demand.

Vladawen had hoped to enter the city with a certain stateliness, because, while he no longer much cared about appearances, he knew many other people did. His weary traveling companions likely just wanted to get inside the place quickly, before the red twilight bled from the sky, for autumn had taken the continent of Ghelspad in its grasp, and even here, in proximity to the burning wasteland called the Ukrudan Desert, the nights grew cold. The horses and mules confounded everyone’s desires by balking before the massive gate.

Thin and raven-haired, fair in the harsh way an unadorned but well-made sword might be, Lillatu cursed the animals and spurred her black mare. Vladawen found her display of filthy temper reassuring, while the guards atop the massive wall grinned down at it. He suspected travelers often had difficulty inducing their beasts to enter Hollowfaust, and the warriors generally found their plight amusing.

For his part, the elf deemed it entirely comprehensible. Once, he’d wielded the potent magic of a high priest. Most of it was gone now, but he was still capable of sensing what the horses were discerning, the concentrated, clotted memory of death, and worse than death, festering inside the ramparts. He reminded himself uneasily that it was an integral part of what he’d come to find.

Rawboned and plain, still riding without grace despite all the practice she’d had of late, Opal scowled at Lillatu. “Shouting’s just going to spook the animals worse,” she said, and in its way, that was a good sign, too.

“Then you do something,” Lillatu snapped. “Calm them with your magic.”

“I don’t have the right spells prepared.”

“Then we’ll just have to shout, drag, and flog the brutes inside, won’t we?”

“Perhaps I can help, if you’ll give me leave to try.” The bass voice was pleasant and courteous enough, but, chiming in so unexpectedly, startled Vladawen nonetheless. Dignity forgotten, he jerked around in the saddle.

The newcomer was on foot. His wiry frame and pointed ears suggested a mix of human and elvish blood, even as his rough garb pointed to a life lived in the wild. His tanned, muscular arms and chest were bare beneath a sleeveless cloak of hide, affording a glimpse of elaborate tattooing as well as small bones pierced into the skin of his abdomen. Vladawen had to repress a frown at the inked designs, even though overall, the stranger didn’t much resemble the newest contingent among his ever-proliferating enemies, the obsidian-skinned subterranean elves of Dier Drendal. The nearest drendali was likely hundreds of miles away, and a good thing, too.

“We’d be grateful for any assistance,” Vladawen said.

“Then let’s see what I can do.” The half-breed leaned close to Vladawen’s restive sorrel gelding and crooned something under his breath. The horse quieted. The same treatment soothed Lillatu and Opal’s mounts, and the stranger moved on down the line, his quarterstaff cradled casually in his hand.

“I know the light’s failing,” Lillatu murmured, “but he’s a sneaky bastard, isn’t he, to creep up on us without our noticing.”

“Do you think he’s one of your colleagues?” Vladawen replied.

She shrugged, her abrupt relapse into surliness a reminder of all that remained problematic between them.

“I think the animals will enter now,” the stranger called. “They simply wanted some reassurance.”

Vladawen waited for his soldiers and drovers to chivvy the equines back into something resembling a column, then optimistically urged his sorrel gelding into motion. The half-elf proved as good as his word. The priest’s mount walked forward, docilely if not eagerly, and the rest of the animals followed.

Followed him into darkness, in fact, for the city’s walls were massive, particularly at the base, and the gate was like a tunnel. He glanced about, looking for portcullises, murder holes and other defensive details. After all the years he’d spent at war, he took something of a professional interest in such things, and it helped distract him from the charnel atmosphere, not a stink but a silent yammer, a wearing at the spirit, that intensified as he advanced. He wondered how the resident spellcasters bore it. He supposed they either grew accustomed to it, or else actively reveled in it.

Hollowfaust nestled against the foot of a volcano, which had once rained ruin upon it when it bore another name, and on first inspection, a visitor might easily feel that no one had exerted himself unduly to brighten up the place in the centuries since, for the buildings beyond the gate were as ash-stained and dark as the walls. Those citizens in view wore rather drab garments and moved quietly about their business, contributing to the funereal effect. Still, nothing overtly ghoulish awaited the new arrivals, just the living, human officer of the gate and a pair of underlings, and Vladawen realized he was just as glad. Let the dark marvels bide until he had a chance to rest, and the mere psychic climate of the reclaimed city-state ceased its gnawing at his nerves.

“I’ll need to know your names, and something of your business,” the officer said. Short and middle-aged with a close-cropped beard, he spoke in a bored, indifferent drone, but the young scribe at his elbow regarded the travelers with greater curiosity. Perhaps he’d noticed Vladawen’s eyes, all black save for silver irises, the stigmata of a so-called “forsaken elf” of Termana and thus a rarity here in Ghelspad’s western lands.

Ignoring the aches and pains in his tired frame, the spindly-limbed rider sat up straight and tall in the saddle. “I’m Vladawen Titanslayer,” he said in his best “high-priest” voice, “chief cleric of Wexland in Darakeene, and counselor to Lord Gasslander. Accompanying me are Lillatu, Lady Commander of the King’s scouts and skirmishers, and Opal, a mage in His Highness’s service.” Sensing it was required; he then named the two dozen soldiers and retainers who followed in his train. The scribe’s stylus flew across his wax tablet, recording the information in neat characters whose luminescence defied the advent of the night. “We’ve come to consult the Sovereign Council on matters of utmost importance, and we bring gifts in earnest of our good intent.”

“You missed one,” the officer said, pointing, still not sounding overly impressed.

Vladawen glanced around. The Hollowfauster was indicating the half-elf, who in turned, peered about uneasily, and swallowed a time or two. “He’s not one of mine,” the priest said. “We just happened to fetch up at the gate at the same time.”

“Ah.” The officer raised his voice. “You there! Barbarian! What do they call you?”

The half-elf bolted, dashing across the little plaza toward the mouth of one of the streets beyond.

“Bugger!” the gatekeeper spat. He lifted his mail-sheathed arm, and his troops stirred on the wall-walk above his head. Vladawen didn’t need to look to know they were readying bows or crossbows to shoot the stranger down.

It was really none of the priest’s business, but the runner had done him a service, his elvish blood made him at least in the vaguest sense a kinsman, and slaughter seemed unnecessary. On impulse, he said, “I’ll get him!” He kicked his mount into motion.

The mare was tired, too, but now that the half-elf had coaxed it through its leeriness of the city, game nonetheless. It only took the animal a few strides to accelerate to a creditable gallop. Then an arrow streaked past Vladawen’s head to crack against the cobbles, and he abruptly realized his precipitous action had quite possibly made him as enticing and legitimate a target as the object of his pursuit.

He considered reining in his steed, but the officer bellowed, “No! Hold off!” Taking it to mean the soldiers would defer shooting, Vladawen raced on.

Sure enough, no more arrows flew his way. His eyesight sharper than a human’s, he noticed the one shaft now lying in the street possessed a silver head. It was expensive gear for a sentry manning a wall, but if rumor spoke true, Hollowfaust required special measures for its defense.

Hoping that in this instance, a common whip would serve as well, that he hadn’t just made a perilous miscalculation, Vladawen uncoiled the braided leather, leaned sideways, and struck at the fleeing stranger. With luck, the lash would entangled its target and allow the rider to yank him off his feet, arresting his flight without serious injury.

The whip snapped around the half-elf’s torso and pumping arms. Vladawen braced for the jerk that came a second later. The “barbarian’s” legs flew out from under him and he slammed down in a no-doubt bruising fall.

As the priest had no desire to drag his cousin, he released his weapon and hauled back on the reins. The gelding stumbled back into a walk —gratefully, most likely — and he sprang from the saddle, pivoted toward the stranger, and hesitated in surprise.

The tattooed traveler was tough. Vladawen had expected the fall to stun him, but he’d already scrambled back to his feet and was pulling off the hindering length of leather.

“I’m sorry!” said the priest. “But you need to calm down and come back to the gate. Otherwise, the guards will kill you.”

The half-elf just glared at him, seemingly without recognition. He mouthed words under his breath.

“You’re reacting to the psychic poison in the air,” Vladawen said. “I feel it, too. But you have to master the fear.”

Still murmuring to himself, the barbarian cast the whip aside, then started to lift his staff.

Vladawen reckoned that since he didn’t want a fight, it would be counterproductive to let his kinsman come on guard. He sprang in, caught hold of the polished wood, and, exerting his prodigious strength, bulled the surprised half-elf down onto his back.

“I’m not going to let you up until you come to your senses,” said the priest. “Breathe, curse it!”

Rather to his surprise, the stranger obeyed, and then lucidity blinked back into his eyes. “Merciful… merciful mother Denev,” the half-elf whispered, the oath revealing his fealty to the one titan who’d stood with the gods in the Divine War in which Vladawen himself had fought one and a half centuries before.

“Are you all right now?” the cleric asked.

The half-elf took another breath, inhaling and exhaling slowly as someone trained in meditation or a martial discipline would do. “I think so. It was just so strong.”

“Almost strong enough to fill your back with arrows.” Vladawen stood up and pulled the stranger to his feet. Then his horse screamed.

Even as he pivoted, Vladawen noticed three things. The first was that the last dregs of dusk had given way to night, the second, that the spiritual miasma shrouding the town seemed more oppressive than ever, and the third, that thick coils of clammy mist were twisting their way through the air. Somewhere inside the vapor, the gelding screamed a second time, and then its body thudded to the ground.

Vladawen reached for the hand crossbow hanging from his belt, then changed his mind and drew his silver rapier instead. Like his prodigious strength, the sword was a gift from the deity he served, and in its time, had graced him with nearly godlike powers himself. That was over now, he’d expended its deepest magic, but it still bore enchantments that made it a duelist’s weapon second to none. He stepped into the mist.

The half-elf followed, quarterstaff in hand. “Is this wise?” he asked, his tone conversational. Despite the uncouth aspects of his appearance, he certainly didn’t speak like a barbarian, rather, a person of culture.

“Probably not,” Vladawen said. “But it’s a good horse.”

“I understand.”

As if in response, the vapor seemed to thin to reveal the animal’s body, or else they’d simply approached close enough. A cursory inspection sufficed to reveal the animal was beyond their aid, the flesh of the carcass untorn but strangely shriveled in patches.

His mouth dry, Vladawen looked around for whatever had killed the beast. The fog and darkness made a mockery of sight, and he realized he had little memory of the layout of his surroundings, nor could he determine in which direction lay the gate. He shouted Lillatu’s name, but the mist seemed to muffle the noise even in his own ears.

The half-elf murmured a word of power and touched the butt of his staff to the cobbles. Pale light flowered from the point of contact, illuminating the masses of fog more than anything else. Vladawen considered it a mixed blessing. It might bring help more quickly, or even reveal the location of their unseen foes, but it was might also help those enemies pinpoint them. Still, it was too late to criticize the tactic now. He’d simply have to utilize the glow as best he could.

In point of fact, it did seem to help a little. After another moment, he glimpsed the figures flowing silently through the mist, nearly indistinguishable from it, but shaped, in their vague, inconstant way, like elves or men, with flecks of scarlet phosphorescence for eyes. He brandished the slim silver sword with the unique and nameless blue gem for a pommel and invoked the power of his god.

To no avail. He supposed it was only to be expected, especially in a place like this. The undead, if that was what they were, glided closer.

Vladawen retreated a half step, drawing the phantoms in, then lunged. His point pierced the lead apparition as easily as empty air, and it wavered before resuming its advance. The half-elf’s staff whipped through its head, and it dissolved, or at least Vladawen hoped it had. He couldn’t be absolutely sure it wasn’t still there, hiding amid the drifting sheets of mist.

Bellowing a war cry, he struck at another wraith. The phantom sought to dodge, its torso bowing and stretched fantastically, but he compensated, and the silver blade plunged into its breast.

This time, though, it didn’t seem to matter. The red-eyed phantom pounced, sliding up the sword as if being impaled weren’t troubling it in the slightest. Its insubstantial hands grabbed Vladawen by the wrist, sinking through the thick leather of his gauntlet and sleeve to grip the flesh inside.

Its touch was burning hot, freezing cold, or perhaps just supremely painful, the shock was such that Vladawen wasn’t sure. His knees buckled, and two more phantoms caught hold of him. For a moment, he was certain he was about to pass out, then imagined his own flesh withering within their grasp like the poor dead horse’s, and the image was so repulsive that it energized him despite the debilitating pain. He screamed and tore himself free.

He’d needed to retreat if he was to survive, but the convulsive leap had the unfortunate effect of separating him from his ally. Though still only a few feet away, the half-elf was merely a pivoting smudge of shadow amid the fog and silvery magical light. Vladawen tried to scramble in his direction, but a wraith rose up before him and cut him off. By the time he dispatched it, the stranger had disappeared.

His absence left Vladawen beset on every side. As he whirled this way and that, thrusting and defending frantically, it seemed to him that the wraiths had begun to whisper, but so faintly he couldn’t make out what they had to say. It occurred to him that if he couldn’t fight shoulder to shoulder with the half-elf, he should at least attempt to put his back against a wall, but such was his disorientation that he despaired of even finding one of those. Considering that the apparitions could reach through solid matter, it might not help protect him anyway.

A gust of wind howled, shoving at him, snagging and tearing at his clothing. It also drove the fog before it, stripping the wraiths, for the moment at least, of their hiding places. Some observers might have deemed that a mixed blessing as well, in that it was disheartening to see just how many murderous phantoms remained.

At least Vladawen could also see the mass of would-be rescuers, a mix of his own entourage and warriors from the gate, rushing to his aid. “If you don’t have an enchanted weapon,” he shouted, “stay back!” Given what he’d experienced so far, he doubted ordinary steel would harm the spirits.

Thanks to Gasslander’s largesse, Lillatu did possess an enchanted blade, a relatively short one with a needle point, a sword well-suited to an irregular or assassin, and she fought her way to Vladawen’s side. “You just had to ride after the whoreson, didn’t you?” she snarled.

“Sorry,” said the elf.

Opal scrambled up to shelter behind the swordsmen as best she could. Vladawen assumed it was she who’d conjured the blast of wind, and now she wove another spell. At the end, she expelled the air from her lungs like a child energetically puffing out a candle.

Her intent, however, was not to extinguish flame but create it, and the exhalation exploded from her mouth yellow-bright and searing-hot as a firedrake’s breath. Expanding as it roared up the street, the blaze burned away any wraith it touched, and came within inches of doing the same to the half-elf. But Opal’s aim was true, and the stranger likely escaped with nothing worse than blisters.

After that, the fighting was easier, even though the mist began to rise anew. Vladawen dispatched two more wraiths, and his companions, employing their disparate skills, accounted for a few others. He cast about for his next foe, and a figure in plate armor, a long sword clasped in its gauntleted hand, strode into view. The design of its helmet left the face exposed, revealing the eyeless, fleshless visage of a naked skull.

Vladawen had battled such creatures often enough, in the Divine War and, more recently, during the exploit that won him her royal husband’s aid, in the keep of the mad Lady Gasslander. He had to resist his initial impulse to attack the skeleton forthwith.

Lillatu did lunge for it, but he grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back. “It’s on our side!” he said, and indeed, the bone man passed them by without a glance. It evidently belonged to one of Hollowfaust’s notorious patrols of skeleton soldiers come to reinforce the living.

Vladawen couldn’t make out whether the reanimated warriors possessed some virtue that allowed them to strike less tangible undead. He wouldn’t have expected so, but still, perhaps by simple coincidence, the arrival of the skeletons heralded the final stage of the fight. He slew another phantom and then couldn’t find any more. Neither, it appeared, could anyone else. The tatters of dank mist thinned and melted away.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

A Look Back on the Twilight Saga

I have never felt older than I have this year, in which the film adaptation of the first book in the Twilight Saga turns ten. Ten years ago, that movie came out, three years after the book. And what a book and movie they were! They inspired so much rabid devotion and equally rabid pushback, with people gushing over the beautiful romance in equal amounts as people saying how the books were offensively awful and filled with misogyny and romanticization of abusive relationships. Golly, I sure am glad discussion of fiction has improved since then and we don’t have dumb arguments like that anymore!

All joking aside, it is pretty interesting to look back on the series. With the passage of time, and the release of so much young adult fiction in cinemas between then and now, I have to say that looking back… Twilight is a pretty good film and, for the most part, a pretty good series.

Now, such a bold statement could never have been made in that period during the heyday of the series, where the popularity of the series was slowly souring and people began openly rejecting the series as trash. But I feel that rejection was just part of an obnoxious cycle I’ve seen a lot in recent years, where anything remotely popular with audiences (such as Frozen) becomes hated at the peak of its popularity, seemingly because of the sole fact that it is popular and not really due to anything having to do with the actual overall quality.

See, here’s the thing: despite the series having a reputation for being poorly written tripe, it really is a lot better than anyone gives it credit for. Now, I’m not going to say the writing is on par with other young adult fantasy series of the time, like Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, because that is just patently untrue. What the Twilight Saga was, and what it always seemed to aim for, was the level of quality of a tacky airport romance novel you pick up while waiting for your flight to kill time. It’s nothing but wish-fulfillment fantasy in which an unhappy young woman becomes the reason for living for several unfathomably hot supernatural men, a sentiment that quite frankly resonates with the modern atmosphere towards supernatural romance and the prominence of self-proclaimed “Monsterfuckers.” Bella’s situation is pretty much a dream come true, is it not? Among tacky supernatural romance novels, Twilight and its sequels are easily the queens of the genre.

Here’s the thing that really sets the Twilight Saga apart, though: there is actually a serious amount of thought and care put into nearly all aspects of the romance’s universe save for the actual romance. Every single member of the Cullen family has a fascinating backstory: Carlisle was a vampire hunter turned vampire who proceeded to venture across the world in the ensuing hundreds of years building up a family and practicing a different way of living; Alice was committed to an asylum and has a past shrouded in mystery; Jasper was a soldier in the Confederate army who was turned into a vampire and tasked with raising a vampire army; Rosalie’s backstory is Kill Bill, BUT WITH VAMPIRES!; and Emmet, while easily the least impressive of them all, still died apparently fighting a bear, and considering how he is one can only imagine what on earth he was doing. Esme is the only Cullen without a deeply fascinating backstory, but even what little we do get is a bit tragic: she lost her child and so committed suicide, or attempted it anyway. There’s absolutely no need for all of these rich, complex backstories for characters in a throwaway romance novel, and yet here they are. And that’s not all.

The rest of the world and overall vampire society is presented in a very interesting way. The Volturi in particular are a fascinating idea, a secret cabal of vampires who rule over all other vampires with an iron fist, but one that is, while a bit tyrannical and unforgiving, seemingly necessary to preserve the existence of vampire society. Hell, their rules don’t really seem TOO harsh, and they only really spring to action when there are vampires fragrantly and blatantly exposing themselves to human society. They wish to keep the vampire world hidden in the shadows, where they can feed in peace away from prying eyes. Their position is understandable in a lot of ways. They also have a very interesting history to them, having apparently wrestled power over vampirekind away from a sect of Romanian vampires. Now, I did say they are a fascinating IDEA; in execution, they always tended to be a bit… useless. Their appearances in New Moon and Breaking Dawn are ultimately wastes of time, as they are never really opposed in any sort of meaningful way and get away in the end with the status quo wholly unchanged. No impact is ever made on vampirekind when they’re involved, which almost makes me wish that they were kept in the shadows and used far more sparingly. Their influence over events in Eclipse, where they only send out their powerful agents, showcases that Stephanie Meyers could use them very effectively when she wanted to.

The werewolves are a bit less effective. While they do have an intriguing backstory, there is something a bit… problematic about shoehorning a bunch of fictional elements onto the real Quileute tribe. On the other hand though, a positive and heroic portrayal of Native Americans in fiction is never a bad thing, and Jacob Black is easily one of the more sympathetic characters until halfway through Breaking Dawn. It’s a very tricky, mixed bag. I kind of wish that the issue with the handling of Native American folklore was the biggest controversy with the series, but there’s actually one far worse and even stupider.

The Twilight Saga has come under fire for being a negative influence on young women, for romanticizing abusive relationships and stalking, and for being some sort of massive insult to feminism. Now, these arguments aren’t wholly without merit, but the issue is that they are being filtered through human understanding and imposed on fictional creatures in a fictional universe. If a real-life human acted as clingy, impulsive, over-protective, and obsessed as Edward is towards Bella, yes, it would be absolutely terrifying. Here’s where I let you in on a little secret, though: Edward Cullen is, in fact, not a human. He is part of a race of ageless semi-undead beings who live off of blood and glitter in the sunlight. He immediately sees his soulmate in Bella and goes out of his way to ensure they end up together, acting on the instincts granted to members of his kind. Trying to fit all of his actions into a human narrative is as fruitless as if an ant tried to explain humanity to his colleagues filtered through his ant experiences. The fact is, Edward operates on a far different moral code than humans. This is not uncommon for vampires in any fiction; Marceline of Adventure Time fame is a vampire who is certainly not above doing some rather sketchy stuff, for example. While Edward’s actions can come off as bizarre and creepy to humans, for a vampire, Edward is actually downright romantic and even benevolent. One also needs to take into account that Edward is a kissless virgin who has spent a hundred years doing nothing but reading romance novels and listening to classical music, which would go a long way to explain his awkward and sometimes offputting ways of trying to replicate human courtship rituals with Bella.

The criticisms leveled at Bella are rather unfair as well; while she often finds herself a damsel in distress, it rarely is something she doesn’t want. When Bella is in danger, it’s because she wanted to be there and put herself there. Yes, she does get into trouble, but that’s mostly due to her being a stupid horny teenage girl with zero impulse control. Recall New Moon, where she constantly did dangerous stunts so she could have hallucinations of Edward chastise her. Bella is, quite frankly, an adrenaline junkie, and I feel she’d rather resent being called a damsel. Even the times when she is in danger, it is no real fault of her own, but rather the fact she is a normal human out of her depth in a supernatural world. Bella is not Blade, she is not Van Helsing, she is not Alucard; she is Bella Swan, normal teenage girl, and she tends to be as effective as your average teenage girl in situations where superpowered monsters are hunting her. Imagine if we applied these sorts of criticisms to other characters in fiction… “John Conner in Terminator 2 is such a worthless damsel in distress character, why does he not just fight off the T-1000?” or how about “Why do the kids in The Goonies not take the Fratellis head-on? Why do they constantly flee from them when they cross paths? And Chunk, getting captured by them, what a pathetic damsel moment.” People not being successful in areas where they are out of their element is not some horribly evil thing. I also resent the idea the series is some horrible, anti-feminist work, particularly because the entire series revolves around Bella’s choice, and when she is not given agency she goes out of her way to take that agency. For all the flaws of Breaking Dawn, and there are many, I will give it this: presenting Bella as being in the right for wanting her choices respected is a good thing. With that in mind, I think the entire series is a lot more feminist than many are willing to admit.

And look, I’m not saying this book is a flawless masterpiece or anything like that. I have mentioned this is definitely a book more impressive for the world it creates than for the actual romance it centers around. But I do feel that, generally speaking, the books never descended to the point many who criticized the books say they did. I say “for the most part” because I cannot even muster up enough good will to say a single good thing about Breaking Dawn. But generally, the writing quality is decent. Even some of the twists on vampire lore are interesting and refreshing.

For instance… the sparkling. This is one of the most infamous additions to the lore of vampires in Meyers stories. When in the sunlight, rather than bursting into flames as vampires tend to do in fiction, their skin sparkles and glitters as if it was encrusted with diamonds. It does sound silly, and it really is, especially when they show it off in the movies… and yet, it is actually far more accurate than just about every depiction of vampires in nearly 100 years. You see, the idea vampires are killed by sunlight is actually a relatively new addition to vampire lore, being created for the famous silent masterpiece Nosferatu because they couldn’t come up with any other way to kill the vampire. In the original novel of Dracula, for instance, the titular count strut about during the day with no ill effect. So, by accident or perhaps by some better understanding of the creatures than most writers, Meyers was more accurate than nearly all contemporary portrayals of the characters. Also interesting – but not nearly so to the point I feel the need to dedicate a whole new paragraph to it – the idea of vampires having a sort of “love at first sight” thing that allows them to discern their soulmate was copied by Hotel Transylvania, so I feel like that addition to vampire lore has its merit as well.

The film adaptations tend to not truly fix the flaws with the storytelling, but instead to paint over them with some truly inspired silliness. The utter apathy Robert Pattinson exudes for his role as Edward Cullen is palpable in how he acts, and it tends to make Edward’s creepier actions actually less threatening than the were in the books – and I’d argue there he wasn’t particularly threathening, despite his angsting. Taylor Lautner’s oft-shirtless portrayal of Jacob Black seems a lot more genuinely, but equally cheesy; his and Pattinson’s onscreen chemistry really gives them the feel of two romantic rivals, which makes it easy to see exactly why there was such a devoted following rooting for one or the other back in the day. Then we get to Bella.

As usual, Bella is a horribly misunderstood character here. It’s easy to blame the books for how one-note Bella appears in the movies – as a romance protagonist, Bella has enough personality for you to care while still being enough of a blank slate that you can put yourself in her position so that you can fantasize about the outcomes – but I almost feel like her portrayal was a deliberate choice. Kristen Stewart is actually a very good actor when in the right role, and I feel like even in the past I’ve been too hard on her portrayal of Bella. I think I might go so far as to say her version of Bella is better than the book, because Stewart actually does inject some vapid, awkward teenage girlishness to the role. That’s something wonderful, especially about the films – the teenagers, more than a lot of other series, tend to feel like real people. They say the dumbest stuff imaginable, but really, is that not what being a teenager is? Everyone was a stupid, vapid idiot as a teenager, it’s just how teens are. So all t hat combined with everything else that has been said, does any part of Bella’s characterization truly feel THAT abnormal for an otherwise normal, brooding teen thrust headfirst into the world of the supernatural? I personally don’t think so; Bella is actually one of the most real characters of the series, an anchor to humanity in a sea of supernatural strangeness, a character that is absolutely perfect in her dull, flawed, overly-romantic personality. She may not be the strongest, or most interesting, or even the most pleasant character in all of fiction… but she has an air of realness to her few other characters can hope to achieve. Perhaps this is why a lot of people rejected and mocked her; it’s so much easier to dismiss and belittle something than accept that it is something real, warts and all. No one wanted to accept the less pleasant parts of Bella, and so she was rejected by all except the fans of the book; meanwhile, seemingly disinterested goth girls would be fought over by two equally strange men for her affection, all while she talks in a sort of half-awake near-monotone.

I was in that situation myself. It’s all real teenage bullshit.

I feel like this more than anything explains why the Twilight Saga ended up being violently rejected by so many people: too many people saw through the supernatural elements and into the real life teenage angst and did not like what they saw, as it reflected their own experiences. It’s so bizarre to say, but Stephanie Meyers may have been too real for her own good, and her portrayal of angst-ridden teen love triangles may have been just too close to home for a lot of people. I’m sure a lot of older people had negative experiences in high school as I did, so anything that reminds them of those stupid, painful years is not going to seem pleasant. With other stories that feature realistic elements with supernatural settings, such as Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and so on, they never really faced this kind of scrutiny and rejection as while they also are grounded with realistic portrayals of their teenagers, they also take place in overtly supernatural settings; there is no place where an experience could be like that of Hogwarts or Camp Half-Blood. But there’s probably of plenty of places like the dismal, dreary town of Forks, Washington, a perpetually cloudy town out in the sticks where nothing ever seems to happen. Reading about teen angst in such an agonizingly depressing setting will not go over well with anyone who has had negative experiences in regards to the elements portrayed, supernatural dressing or no.

Looking back at the Twilight Saga, after years of imitators of varying quality and numerous attempts by mediocre young adult franchises to capture this saga’s lightning in a bottle, the stories sans Breaking Dawn seem to have aged quite well, and hold up a lot better. Removed from the rabid fandom, overwhelming hype, ad constant mockery, the series stands as a solid and kind of cheesy young adult romance series, one with superb worldbuilding that I have yet to see any young adult series after it match and an absolutely fantastic ensemble cast that is just rife with fanfiction potential. I find that even the lead trio, be it in the films and in the movie, have a lot more layer and depth to them than initially thought, with Bella in particular a character I feel deserves some serious reevaluation. And while I’d never call the series a masterpiece to rival Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or Lord of the Rings, I do think that the series is good enough to unironically be enjoyed. While there is of course plenty to snark at here – it’s a story featuring a rather honest depiction of teenagers, after all, and teenagers are idiots – I think there is a lot more to like than the insane hatedom of the book ever gave it credit for.

And even if you can’t bring yourself to admit the series is genuinely good (albeit cheesy), there’s no denying that it had a pretty good impact on popular culture. Aside from being the basis for Vampire Sucks, which has the honor of being the only genuinely good Seltzer and Friedberg film, it put supernatural romance stories back into the mainstream again. The biggest example of a supernatural romance film that I can see got a lot of mainstream recognition was 1990’s Ghost, which is held up as a romantic classic; while there were plenty of supernatural romance films between then and Twilight, none of them seem to be recalled fondly or even at all, and none of them can even come close to saying they had the sort of cultural impact Ghost did. Twilight, though… it had a huge impact. Without Twilight, we probably wouldn’t have gotten Warm Bodies, we probably wouldn’t have gotten Horns, and honestly? We probably wouldn’t have gotten The Shape of Water, or more realistically, the movie would not nearly be as accepted. Twilight for better or worse conditioned us to see the humanity in supernatural entities and find attraction in them (not exactly a new idea as far as vampires go, I know, but it definitely put it in the minds of young adults). I can easily see the genesis of the modern crowd of people lusting after the Asset, Pennywise, Godzilla, and Venom being the Twilight Saga; it was a gateway drug that put in the minds of youths “Hey, monsters can be really sexy. Like, REALLY sexy.”

The Twilight Saga is truly a fascinating work, for better and for worse. There is a lot in it that I really admire, and there’s plenty in it that I resent, but even at its worst I can never say that the series was boring. For all the flack I give Breaking Dawn, it is still far more readable than any of the garbage Cormac McCarthy has ever shat out, and nothing in the series was as overtly misogynistic as some of the dialogue in Ready Player One. As cheesy as the film series got, the first was a surprisingly effective indie supernatural romance and the third was a gloriously Gothic cheesy delight, with the second being the awkward but still enjoyable middle film and Breaking Dawn: Part 1 being the only genuinely awful film in the series; nothing positive could be said for the slew of imitators that crawled in this film’s wake, such as Beastly, Red Riding Hood, and even some of the would-be successors to this franchise such as the cinematic adaptations of Percy Jackson, Divergent, and The Hunger Games among others, which despite them being based off of books of far greater critical acclaim had absolutely no respect for their source material the way the Twilight Saga films did. As silly as some of the acting in the movies was – and it got very silly, considering the lead three all seemed to actively despise their roles – none of their acting was as painfully bad to sit through as Jennifer Lawrence’s attempts at acting in the first Hunger Games film, or the entire cast of the Percy Jackson movies. I would never say that Twilight is the absolute pinnacle of young adult literature, but I think a lot of us had our judgment clouded back in the day, and with the benefit of hindsight I think it’s safe to say the franchise was a lot of fun; I’d even go as far to say that it is an underrated work of genius in many aspects.

Removed from the climate that created it and put into a world it helped shape, I think the tale of Bella Swan and her romance of the angsty immortal Edward Cullen resonates quite a bit better. So thank you to Stephanie Meyers and everyone involved with the film series, because without your work, the world we live in would probably be a much less interesting place, with far fewer people horny for monsters. I really don’t think I would want to live in that world.

[aion-rsa]

Can Salem’s Lot and Firestarter Reignite Stephen King at the Box Office?

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It was almost exactly four years ago when It: Chapter One (as it came to be called), the first of two movies based on Stephen King’s classic 1986 novel, opened in theaters to a record-shattering $124 million in its first weekend. Adjusted for inflation, the film went on to become the highest grossing horror movie (and King adaptation) of all time, earning $701 million worldwide. Not even the vampires of ‘Salem’s Lot multiplied at that rate!

It’s explosive and unprecedented opening coincided (and perhaps helped drive) a new wave of Stephen King adaptations, both as movies and TV productions, and new generations of filmmakers and hungry-for-content streaming services eagerly tapped into the author’s vast collection of works.

As of last year, some 25 projects based on King novels, novellas, or short stories were said to be in development, but of all those, only three—all limited television series—have made it to their respective streaming platforms. Still, there are two movies entering production as of right now: Firestarter, which began filming earlier this year, and ‘Salem’s Lot, which goes in front of the cameras this month.

Both stories have been adapted before—twice in the case of ‘Salem’s Lot—but never satisfyingly, and both a long time ago. The novels themselves were King’s second and sixth books to be published and are part of the classic first 10 or so works that turned King into a phenomenon (that initial run arguably stretches from Carrie to Pet Sematary, more or less).

Nevertheless, following the release of It, several more King-based movies came out—and all underperformed.

It: Chapter Two, which arrived two years after its predecessor in 2019, earned $473 million worldwide. Which is a handsome sum, to be sure; but it’s also nearly 35 percent below Chapter One. Meanwhile a heavily promoted remake of Pet Sematary, issued in April 2019, stalled at a mere $113 million worldwide (even if its tight $21 million budget made it profitable enough). And Doctor Sleep, a clever and powerful adaptation from director Mike Flanagan of King’s The Shining sequel, was a complete bust, topping off at just $72 million globally.

While it’s harder to judge and quantify how several King-based TV or streaming projects did, it’s reasonable to conclude that two recent limited series, CBS All Access’s The Stand and Apple TV+’s Lisey’s Story, came and went without making much of a dent in the pop culture conversation (although HBO’s limited series based on The Outsider caused a brief stir).

So what happened? Was It’s iconic Pennywise the Dancing Clown ingrained enough in the public consciousness to warrant the first movie’s massive success, without that necessarily signaling a wholesale embrace of more Stephen King material on the big screen?

‘Salem’s Lot and Firestarter may be able to answer that question for certain. The former in particular is considered one of King’s all-time masterpieces and was often cited for years by the author himself as his favorite of his early novels.

Set in the small, rural Maine town of Jerusalem’s Lot, the story follows a writer named Ben Mears who comes back to the Lot where he spent several years as a child seeking inspiration for a new book. He gets much more than he bargained for when it turns out that another new resident in town is actually an ancient vampire—and is turning the entire community into his own flock of the undead.

What was so stunning about ‘Salem’s Lot at the time of its publication (the hardcover arrived in 1975) was King’s deft combination of the vampire mythology with the inner workings of a small yet instantly recognizable 20th century American hamlet.

The Lot, its inhabitants, and all their affairs, secrets, scandals, and everyday workings were so vividly rendered that the intrusion of a monster as stereotypical in its way as a vampire (America at the time was still transfixed by demonic possession in the wake of The Exorcist) was realistic and terrifying.

The vampires that eventually overrun the Lot and turn it into a literal village of the dead—led by the magisterial yet barely seen Kurt Barlow—were truly frightening as well; no sparkly Twilight types or tormented hunks a la Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire (published a couple of years later) here.

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They were monsters that stank of the grave yet still possessed enough of their old memories and a vicious cunning to make them formidable enemies for the book’s quickly dwindling band of heroes. King drew inspiration from Bram Stoker’s literary version of Dracula, but actually took the concept to the apocalyptic endpoint that the Victorian author only hinted at.

‘Salem’s Lot was adapted twice, in 1979 and 2004, both times as two-part, four-hour (with commercials) limited series for CBS and TNT, respectively. The first was directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre) and starred David Soul as Ben Mears, with James Mason also top-billed as Barlow’s human assistant/familiar, Straker.

While suffering from the constraints of TV at the time, both in terms of budget and what could be shown, the 1979 version works more often than not. It does combine or eliminate a number of characters, and most controversially changed Barlow from a Christopher Lee-like nobleman to a non-speaking creature resembling Nosferatu’s Count Orlok, shifting the primary villainy to Mason’s Straker.

But Mason himself is quite sinister and very good, as is Soul as the brooding Mears and several other actors. There are also several scenes involving the vampires themselves that are pretty eerie for the time when considering, again, this was a CBS-TV prime time miniseries.

The 2004 version, directed by Mikael Salomon, starred Rob Lowe as Mears, Donald Sutherland as Straker, and Rutger Hauer as a more faithful version of Barlow. The miniseries also restored other characters that had been cut or minimized in the 1979 version and stuck to the same basic narrative while creating a different framing story from either King’s book or the earlier adaptation.

But Lowe isn’t nearly as effective as Soul in the pivotal role of Mears, and both the cast and show overall—despite the names mentioned above and others like James Cromwell—come off as bland. There are moments from the book that are welcome and a few gripping sequences, but this version of the story never ratchets up the intensity to a satisfying degree.

The new feature film, which is now filming in Boston (‘Salem’s Lot at last films in New England, where it’s set, as opposed to California and Australia), has been penned and is being directed by Gary Dauberman, who co-wrote both part of It and has written four of the movies in producer James Wan’s Conjuring-verse (Dauberman also directed the underrated Annabelle Comes Home).

A tremendous King fan, Dauberman told us back in 2019 that his goal was to make vampires on the big screen truly horrific again.

“We haven’t seen that in a really long time and they should be terrifying, and the novel’s terrifying, and it’s fucking great to work on,” Dauberman said. “I can’t wait to bring it to the big screen, we’ve seen it on the smaller screen and it’s going to be awesome on the big screen.”

Whether Dauberman can make King’s 400-plus page novel and all its subplots work as a feature film, even a lengthy one, instead of a more roomy limited series will be an interesting trick to pull off. Some cast members, including Lewis Pullman as Ben Mears, Makenzie Leigh as his love interest Susan Norton, Bill Camp as local teacher Matt Burke, and Alfre Woodard as Dr. Cody, have been announced already, but don’t provide any sense of where the film is headed yet.

As for Firestarter, the book was published in 1981 and warmly received at the time. King was at his early peak of commercial success and readers were eager to devour his next offering. Even so, that tale has probably not retained the same resonance as ‘Salem’s Lot. As the story of a little girl who can start fires with her mind (the result of drug experiments on her parents by a secret government agency), the book was King’s first overt science fiction novel and reads more as a tech chase thriller than his previous supernatural work.

The 1984 film version directed by Mark L. Lester (Class of 1984) featured an extremely faithful screenplay; with a smaller group of characters and its more streamlined, structured narrative, Firestarter is perhaps more adaptable and linear than a vast tapestry of people and incidents like ‘Salem’s Lot. But the film was directed in such workmanlike fashion that the script never comes to life.

The cast is problematic too. Following her breakout in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Drew Barrymore seemed like a no-brainer for the title role of little Charlie McGee. But Barrymore—apparently conscious that she was an “actor”—is overwrought and histrionic, becoming more annoying than sympathetic. David Keith is okay as her father, while Art Carney and Louise Fletcher probably come off best as an elderly couple who help the McGees at a critical moment.

The most egregious casting is that of George C. Scott as John Rainbird, the shamanic Native American assassin who forms an unsettling bond with Charlie once she and her dad are recaptured by the agency known only as the Shop. Aside from the fact that casting Scott as a Native American is ridiculous enough, the relationship just doesn’t work on screen—Rainbird’s fascination with Charlie as an avatar of his own death in the novel just comes off as creepily bordering on child predation in the movie.

It will be interesting to see how producer Jason Blum, director Keith Thomas (The Vigil), and screenwriter Scott Teems (Halloween Kills) handle that relationship in their upcoming remake, but at least they’ve actually hired a First Nation actor, Michael Greyeyes, as Rainbird. Zac Efron is also a solid choice for Andy McGee while Ryan Kiera Armstrong (The Tomorrow War) has won the role of Charlie.

Of the two adaptations, Firestarter is clearly the easier to translate to the screen. Both titles carry instant name recognition for King fans and the general public, but it’s ‘Salem’s Lot that has perhaps the greater pull overall. Plus we’ve seen lots of kids, teens, and tweens with psychic powers on screen over the past few years; when was the last time you saw a truly scary vampire movie?

Neither film has a release date yet; Firestarter is in post-production while filming on ‘Salem’s Lot is just beginning. In the meantime, King himself, showing no signs of slowing down as he approaches his 74th birthday, continues to churn out books and stories which studios and production companies will no doubt continue to snap up. All they need now are audiences to turn up and prove that, unlike Pennywise in It, it won’t take another 27 years for King’s name to mean box office gold again.

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[valamerys]

Many people talk about how Cassandra Clare & SJM are damaging. That they are into abusive relationships, homophobic, racist, etc. So how do you write about real issues: people treating gays poorly - some will grow others will cling to their hate, just like reality. How do I write real issues without being the next CC or SJM? Where's the line?

oh boy uh ok i don’t know if I’m the person for this but here we go

1) why the fuck do you want to write about people treating gay people poorly? in the first place? my dude?

2) based on this message, you are functioning under a massive inability to determine authorial intent. let me lay it out for you (overly simplistically) using everyone’s favorite TWILIGHT even though based on the tone of this message i get the impression i’m wasting my time:

- in twilight, Edward stalks Bella, forbids her from being friends with certain people, and willfully controls her habits. These are objective symptoms of an abusive relationship.

- However, within the books themselves, Bella never sees anything wrong with any of those behaviors, and they are never brought to the readers attention as being particularly negative or harmful. They go largely unaddressed, and Edward and Bella get a happily ever after together.

- Ergo (and again, i am being extremely simplistic for an example), Meyer wrote a glorification (keyword) of an abusive relationship.

- It’s not WHAT she wrote, it’s HOW she wrote it, how she presented it to us and couched Problematic behaviors as romantic, that’s the issue.

- This applies to SJM (I’ve literally read one CC book in my life and i was like 13 so don’t ask me about that) in the same way: it’s not that SJM made Feyre and Rhys have a MUTUAL SUICIDE PACT, it’s that the MUTUAL SUICIDE PACT is presented as ~ a touching sign of true love ~ rather than deeply fucked up. For one example.

- In SJM’s case, there’s often nuance to that: it’s not that she wrote misogyny, it’s that she uses misogyny as a prop to make her love interests look better by superficially rising above it. It’s a prop. That’s better than not questioning it at all, of course, but still a shallow and frustrating excuse for drenching a world in constant disrespect for women.

- So: a book about a gay person suffering abuse for it which is portrayed in unambiguous terms as abuse is wholly different than a book that portrays that same abuse as excusable expression of affection. In stories, we [are meant to] inherently trust the framing, trust that the way events and actions are portrayed to us is the truth. So the answer to your question, the way you write about Hard Subjects is that you make it clear to us what is acceptable and what is not, via your POV character/ narrator/ whatever other framing you employ. Literally all you have to do is not glorify, or excuse, fucked up attitudes and behavior.

(The second way you write about Hard Subjects is to recognize what is your lane and what is not. This is a hot discussion right now in the YA community in the wake of shit like The Continent, a book about how BAD racism is, from the POV of a blatant white savior character talking about two races who boil down to racist stereotypes. Rule of thumb: if it’s not your marginalization, don’t write a damn book about how OPPRESSED people of that marginalization are. This per say is not a thing SJM/CC are guilty of, i’m just saying, because you sound Very Straight and so if writing a book about The Suffering of the Gays is a real thing you wanna do rather than a combative example you threw out, it’s time to Reconsider.)