#my conclusion here is misunderstanding potential

[kijosakka]

After leaving Bridgette, stuck to a frozen pole... How Alejandro would react to Assistant Noah saying that he knows what Alejandro is doing, but Noah honestly doesn't care?... What if Noah only cares about how Alejandro unfairly treats Owen?

ASSISTANT NOAH: "None of the people on this show are exactly innocent angels either, so if the guys are dumb enough to fall for your charming tricks and the girls let themselves be swooned by you despite having boyfriends, then they deserve to lose." 🙄

i do think this instance would have add some in the way of later plot, what with london and the eel comment -- as established up until around germany, assistant noah has a neutral-positive view of alejandro:

(though ngl just considering his general mannerisms i am leaning more towards neutral -- character arcs and whatnot, neutral > negative > positive, so his ribbing comes off as uninterested as he is, more like general commentary on what's happening)

anyway its post-egypt and not much further and i don't think alejandro would expect, at this point, to react any different -- assuming that he would assume noah was coming up to rib him about the challenge again.

on noahs end, there is no real distaste for alejandro (....yet), emphasized by his seemingly unimpressed that no one catches onto alejandros scheming -- implying that noah sees it as something obvious.

^ tinged by bias by virtue of being on the crew and seeing behind-the-scenes clips and footage or not, to be so blatant about 'if they don't know, they deserve it' does mean that noah believes it to be something people should be catching onto (also worth mentioning that through him specifically telling owen, he offers more leeway for him in the face of this; favoritism.)

anyway, recap (for myself, mostly): alejandro's perception of noah up until this point is basically 'guy on the crew who ribbed me once' and didn't gloat about any of his strategies to avoid having a paper trail of his manipulation.

ergo -- this alters alejandro's pespective of noah drastically. because, again, noah is part of the crew and therefore not a threat to his game (and in fact could only really be an asset through this to alejandro), so for him to also be so outwardly comfortable with alejandro's manipulation signifies him as a kind of confidant role; someone alejandro can gloat to in small moments as long as he's careful about who's listening, because noah doesn't care.

as for how that changes london -- well, previously, noah would only take up that kind of confidant role post-london, once the cards were out on the table and alejandro goes with his flirting deflection thing. now though i do think it adds if he takes up the role earlier:

because, well. conflict. in alejandro's eyes, noah is taking on, again, that confidant role that he himself grows quite comfortable in, seeking reprieves from the competition that don't damage his game like how heather does suddenly insulting him behind his back and becoming very outwardly vitriolic and distasteful.

however in noahs eyes, alejandro is two-timing -- he'd probably assume that alejandro is aware (probably assuming he's watched previous seasons) that him and owen are friends, and thus assume he's trying to have his cake and eat it too, through being friendly with noah but being so vocal about his dislike of owen. they're a Package Deal, doesn't he know that?

anyway my point here is that it opens up a lot of opportunity for alejandro to be hurt/confused and retaliate in whatever ways, and for noah to assume he's just doubling-down and thus have it sour his opinion more. misunderstand is what i'm saying here.

.........or comedy of errors. both. both are good.

[coffee-and-tea-time]

𓏲 ๋࣭  ࣪ ˖ Out of the menu, still the choice ๋࣭ ⭑

Yandere! Shopkeeper x Willing! Reader

We finally got a winner! *Clap clap* if you want context, you can go here but it's not that necessary we think - the twins

This mf was really more hard to write that I expected but nevertheless we tried to match the energy of the seller pickers so at least it was really fun ngl - Coffee

It took us both a while to draft what we wanted to write for him since he's not a very expressive character and we wanted to try a more subtle approach. If you have any ideas or suggestions for any of them, let us know!! -Tea

Count word: 3.1k (new longest post for now)

Tw: yandere behavior, kind of flirty reader, stalking, kidnaping?, written in you/yours, overall soft yandere, gaslighting, drugging (this really still counts as soft yandere??? believe me, yes), light paranoia, clueless reader

Your eyes scan the papers in your hand, your mind still focused rather on the man that handed you them, sitting right across from him, more specifically, the comment he just murmured. None of the people he mentioned called your attention as much as himself did, perhaps he was more that he presented himself as? He seemed to know much more about you than he’s supposed to, so, was he a yandere as well? And if so, Why miss the chance to tease a potential yandere? 

"Huh, so you think I should go out more often?"

"Well, I'm just concerned about your vitamin D intake, that's all. You need more sun Dear, for the sake of your health"

He smugly smirks at you like he's saying obvious facts that you should already know about yourself… though his smirk falters, his lips pressing into a tight line as he rethinks his words, though it was too late to retract them, it was your time to shine.

"Oh? Then why not help me with that yourself? You seem to keep a good track of my time outside for some reason, care to explain yourself, Honey?"

You steal his previous smirk, it now decorating your lips, curving them upwards smugly as he seems to sink into himself, his pen flipping between his fingers as a nervous fidget, scanning your expression, seemingly trying to understand what you were attempting to do with these witty remarks.

“Dear, allow me to remind you, you came all the way here to have an obsessive partner after you walk out this door, I'm sure anyone in the list will love to fulfill the job, sadly, I'm not one of them, I'm deeply sorry if my previous comments left any space for this misunderstanding"

He seems to lifts up a wall between you and him with his formality as if attempting to keep things formal and cordial though his eyes tell a different story, his eyes, akin to a snake’s narrow slightly, scanning your features as if daring you to continue this charade; a sweet chill runs down your spine, which only widens your smile further.

"Ow, come on, there's no need to lie so blatantly to my face, you know exactly why I'm here, and for that I can also tell exactly what is happening here”

He huffs, his fingers running through his black hair, messing up his slick back hairstyle into something much more fitting to match with his semi-formal attire.

"As I just said, I'm not a yandere, let's stop this little game, Dear, I’m not sure how you arrived at this conclusion, little detective…"

Those gray eyes glare at you without even missing a beat, narrowing further to make a subtle warning: quit fooling around. Do you care? No, honestly, him staring down at you only serves to fuel your burning curiosity about the man.

"Fine then, at least answer me this, how did you know i don't go out much?"

The man scoffs as if the answer was as obvious as looking in a mirror.

"Come on now, you are chronically online, I just made a lucky guess"

… Gotcha

"My screen time is something even weirder for you to know for certain though, don't you think?"

A silence ensues, tension and realization thick in the air as his posture changes completely, from relaxed and smug to tense and anxious, he leans forward, eyes avoiding you suddenly, like he wasn't piercing you with his stare just a few seconds ago.

You let your question linger, knowing you won, knowing he had no way to protest your question seamlessly 

"... don't tell management"

It was now your turn to sigh. Perhaps he was being truthful and this was just a big misunderstanding. Maybe his “background check” on you wasn't something he was supposed to do ethically speaking, but something he felt compelled to do. Then again, they did have this incident with a fool attempting to illegitimately make a yandere harem. Perhaps it was time to let this go, you tried at least, but being overly pushy could get you kicked out and leaving empty handed wasn't something you were willing to do after finally finding the courage to enter the shop.

 "Well, I don't know, I choose Oliver"

You said, the smirk in your lips faltering into a soft defeated smile, shrugging as you chose someone at random, pointing blindly at the papers.

"He's already purchased" 

He counters your response abruptly, his tone still formal yet with an air of defensiveness. You wondered, if he was already purchased, then why show it to you at all?

"Damn, okay, then Lio…"

You quickly point again at a random profile, barely even reading the name then scanning his expression, his head shaking even before you managed to pronounce the name fully.

"Sorry"

He responded with a shrug, his shoulders relaxing as if the tension he felt before was gone.

You smile at him once again, well, thankfully you weren't just flirting with the wrong target.

"You’re doing this on purpose"

You announce, amused by the realization, a smile widening in your lips as one seems to simultaneously tug at the corners of his, a mischievous grin adorning his sly stare, those eyes bearing into yours like a wicked fox.

"You choose me, be loyal to your own decisions… though, really, don't tell management. I do maintain I'm not some sort of obsessed maniac, Dear"

That's the most suspicious thing a person can say in a yandere shop but you take it.

"I care next to nothing about management… so, it's a date?".

(...)

You leave the store, hands empty, but not really. You walk with an extra cheer in your step, you managed to get yourself a date with the seller of the damn shop, not one of the many names in those papers, but the shopkeeper, talk about a plot twist. 

And so you make your way back home, waiting for the time to arrive, the time in which you'd meet up with the man outside of work in a sweet little restaurant down the same street where the shop is located. As you get yourself ready, checking your outfit, double checking…triple checking, your mind drifts to your conversation with the seller and the way everything he said seemed to avoid each and every one of your questions skillfully. You managed to get his number with the excuse of arranging the meeting time and place, yet… that was all, you didn't even get his name, did you?. 

You are brought back to reality with the buzzing of your phone, a notification from an unknown number… though it was the sellers, how did he get your number? Sure, he gave you his, but he shouldn't have a way to contact you yet, that information wasn't even in the paperwork either since you never filled any forms out, you didn't purchase any of the yanderes. 

» “Hey, it's the shopkeeper”

You raised a brow at your screen, watching as the little dots bobbed up and down, indicating he was still typing another message

» “just checking if you're still up for this date you so boldly proposed. My shift is over” 

His texts are a little dry, yet you can feel the awkwardness from them already, he wasn't fooling anybody, he was nervous as hell. 

You quickly type up a response, resuming your teasing over text like you never left the shop and so you text back and forth until the time arrives and you leave your home, walking down the street to the restaurant he sent you the location to. Once you got there, amusement tugged your lips up into a smile. This man, acting so unapproachable, so closed off, was eagerly waiting outside the restaurant with that classic “I'm just looking at my phone” stance, but damn he looked good. 

He wasn't wearing that semi-formal suit from before, but rather a tight black shirt, jeans and a jacket. His hair was down and you had to admit, it looked way better that way. You check the time on your phone, you arrive just in time, you look relieved but can’t help but wonder how the seller managed to close up shop, go back home, change and arrive before you when his last text was just a few minutes ago telling you his shift was over.

“aw, you arrived early to meet me? It’s so cute how eager you are for someone who didn't even tell me his name”

You meet his gaze as you approach him with a playful demeanor, his smile still decorating his face as always.

He huffs, glancing up from his phone, his eyes crinkling in a mischievous grin. He pockets his phone and adjusts his jacket, leaning a little closer as he speaks

“Oh, Dear, you got it all wrong, i just got here, but, i must say…waiting would have been worth it, you look stunning” 

He said with a soft chuckle and you nudged his shoulder in response to his compliment, though as you nudge him you feel how cold his jacket is, of course he didn't wait for you

“Right, anyways, you know, it's only fair that I get your name. I know you so desperately want to seem all mysterious and shit, but i need to know who I'm flirting with”

You tease bluntly with a chuckle, he tenses up a little, looking away for a second, trying to disguise his blush by rolling his eyes at you.

“I suppose you could call me Jade…”

“Well, jade, pleasure to meet you”

You said trying to imitate his tone of voice as he guides the way inside the restaurant.

“Since I answered your question, it's only fair you answer mine, don't you agree?"

His gaze seems like he's taking notes of your every expression as he gently pulls a chair for you to sit on before he sits across from you.

"Are we doing a little bit of banter here? Huh, that's quite the contrary of what you been doing all day, but please, go on, I'm thrilled to know what you wish to know of me"

His eyes move to the menu, although you can say his entire focus was still on you… because of the fact he can't possibly read the menu when it's upside down.

"So, if I may ask… why did you choose to flirt with me when you came to the shop to get yourself a yandere?"

"Why not? You could say I went there to find someone that catches my eye, and jokes on you, my eyes were set on you the moment you opened that door to guide me into the store"

You restrain yourself not to giggle like a fool when the top of his ears turns red while he's attempting to keep his perpetually smiling facade, oblivious to his own reaction to your words.

"Then, do yo-"

His words quickly die on his throat as a waiter gets to your table, you didn't have the time to catch the small twitch of his eyebrows that lasted a second.

"Good evening, I will be your server for the night, what can I get started for you two?"

As you two order normally, you can't help but feel a sense of discomfort as the waiter always speaks focusing his eyes on you, but Jade doesn't seem to react so you dismissed it, you're only feeling weird because of the awkwardness of being on a first date, although you can't help but sigh faintly with relief after the server walks away.

"Well… anyways, since I replied to one of your questions, guess it's my turn!"

You said smiling, trying to brush off the weird feeling you just had, focusing on your task in hand: the date.

“so, why don’t you tell me a little about your hobbies?”

You gaze at him while his head tilts slightly, as if doubting if to reply or just dodge the question like the past ones.

“Well, they differ depending on the time, I’m the type of person that get a new one every once in a while but one that has stuck since high school is embroidery”

Honestly, you can picture it, he does seem like the type of person who enjoys calm classy hobbies, old lady hobbies if you will. The image is sort of endearing. 

"Since high school? Wow, what was your first piece?"

You feel relieved that he seems more open to conversation now that you both are formally on this date. Sadly for you and lucky for him, you focused so much on listening to his answers that you didn't catch the small blush dusting his cheeks.

"...It was a skull, edgy, I know. I really like how it turned out back then though”

“A skull? Very edgy indeed, why-”

Your question was left hanging in the air as an arm interfered with your vision of Jade, the waiter placing your plates on the table with a polite smile. The interjection was a little awkward, but there's not much you can do about it, the waiter is just doing his job.

Though as you lower your voice to a stop, interrupted by the waiter, you see the slight hint of annoyance in Jade’s face flick for a second just to disappear like it never happened, it makes you wonder if that was a hint of jealousy? It probably wasn't… your yandere rotten brain must be seeing things, right?

As you two indulge in conversation, enjoying your little date, you almost lose track of time. It feels like in the blink of an eye, the date was already at its final point, the only thing that popped your bubble was his phone ringing.

"...sorry, it's my boss, allow me to step out real quick, it won't take long I'm sure"

You nod to him before he makes his way to the restroom to pick up the call. Honestly you feel kind of sad that the dinner was reaching its end but well, you can't be that clingy on the first date.

As you ponder between when and where the perfect second date will be or if it's best to wait for him to ask for another, the waiter interrupts your thoughts, placing a glass of what looks like raspberry juice on the table.

"Excuse me sir, I didn't order this"

The waiter gives you a puzzled expression as if it were a competition who is more confused by the situation but is quick to giggle as if it was an inside joke of his before reassuring you.

"Oh, don't worry, it's already been paid”

You didn't have time to ask further questions when the busy server was already on another table that needed him, well, it looks tasty anyways, why reject something when it's free?

You honestly feel like luck is on your side today; you got the confidence to try and flirt with Jade and successfully get yourself a really good date! And you also get a free drink as a way to celebrate your little achievement, so you take a big gulp. 

Huh? Weird, you know the taste of raspberry by heart, why does it taste more bitter? Ugh, the fruit is probably not that fresh , even the consistency feels a little thicker too. Well, raspberry juice is supposed to be like that, perhaps you got too used to store bought and got yourself confused.

"Well, is not like a restaurant would sell 'expired juice' as their main drink, surely I'm just overthinking it" 

You reason with yourself in a whisper as you set the drink aside, ugh, maybe you drank too big of a sip, you start to feel like you got brain freeze or something.

(…)

“Dear, are you feeling well? Do you need to go to the restroom?”

The sound of his relaxed voice quickly fills your ears, your mind feels hazy but you nevertheless try focusing on him as he sits back down to the table, catching his expression changing from the usual laid back grin to a worried frown. You didn't even notice when he came back from his work call, not until he was right in front of you, it's like time passed while your brain was stopped, something wasn't good…

"Did something happen? Do you need a pain-killer? Did the food upset your stomach?"

The rapid fire questions overfill your already overwhelmed mind as his hands hold your shoulders before he places his forehead against yours to check your temperature and although you tried, your currently unstable self only managed to hardly mumble some words.

"I… don't know, I just drank that"

You focus your gaze on the glass of juice and he follows your gaze with a frown as if his laid back mask is cracked.

"the color is slightly off and ice is only floating up to the middle of the glass…"

Was there really something wrong with your drink? What was in there? How bad is it? What's going to happen to you? Was it the waiter? Was there someone in the restaurant you didn't see? Why is this happening today?

"Dear, focus on me, okay? Don't worry, you're fine, just dizzy, I will make sure you are okay, alright? Take a deep breath for me darling" 

Through your dizziness you watch as he moves skillfully and quickly, paying the bill as fast as he could to take you out of there, his arms tightly wrapped around you to steady your wobbly stance, guiding you out of the busy restaurant. It's almost as if you were drunk, which didn't make sense, you felt yourself slipping further out of your senses, sounds muffled and your vision blurry, your legs and hands feeling tingly with each step you took with his assistance. 

"Jade, I-"

"Don't worry Dear, I will take care of you, just trust me, alright?"

You can help but feel grateful that even in this awful situation, you managed to have someone so gentle and caring with you, but before you can try to babble a thank you, you feel your mind shut off like an old tv… don't worry, you are being taken care of, Dear.

He just wants to look after you, it would be so creepy if he left you unconscious at your place since he's not supposed to know your address yet, so, guess the only choice is him letting you crash at his apartment, it's fine, you will find yourself at home there, it's really cozy! 

. . .

Wait, did you really believe him? That's kind of hilarious, try guessing again.

sorry for any misspellings or weird sentence structure ❣

images from pinterest and divider by Tea ⚘

[mlembug]

Fact checking the discord ai training chain letter

it does not make sense to have "invisible magic discord bots which are hidden in your server" as a result of a supposed partnership between discord and some ai company, because if discord wanted to secretly give some ai company your messages or uploaded images, then

they don't need a fucking bot to do this, they already have the data

what makes you think you would able to counteract this by using discord's features

furthermore, "partnerships" are mutual: if a company claims that a partnership exists when no such partnership exists, discord can tell them to knock it off or announce that no such partnership exists, and guess what, the article does not mention any such partnership, it says "we launched an app", which is like, whatever, it's inside all the other shovelware hidden in the menus no one clicks.

the evidence for "invisible magic bots" is super flimsy and results in misunderstanding about how banning works (banning a user by id and then seeing the entry in audit logs). in reality, you can ban users that are not present in your server, which I've been doing as a preventive measure for years at this point when I see someone on another server doing stuff I would be banning for if they were present on my server.

you also can't add apps or bots to your server without having "manage server" permission.

furthermore, as a bot, you can't read messages on the server without opting in with enabling message content intent, and needing explicit approval from discord for this.

(this is what you see in discord developer portal in the bots settings. "Read more here" leads to this website)

in fact, "application commands" discord feature that the bot uses was introduced specifically so bots don't have to read every message on the server to see if it starts with an exclamation mark or whatever in order to know if to react to it, and how.

there are also "external apps" which are per-user, rather than per-app, but these are basically equivalent of a user DMing a bot, and they don't have access to anything aside from whatever user sends them, and, if the role has has "use external apps" permission enabled in the channel, they can send a message as a result of a user action.

and yes, potentially a member of your server could send some image in it to an AI company by using the application command, but then again they can also right click -> save and upload it to chatgpt. your threat model is fucking bonkers.

conclusion: the original message is fearmongering based on misunderstanding on how discord, or computers in general, work.

[malepresentingleg]

About the 'queerbaiting' claims, it makes me think about ships like johnlock on BBC Sherlock or destiel in Spn. In both these shows the ship was indeed addressed in canon! People, strangers, would assume they're a couple, make a comment about it, interpret their relationship from the book based on their lives etc.

Other famous queerbaited ships like SuperCorp and SwanQueen (and Byler and even Steddie on ST, but I'll give it grace as it's not done yet), had very romantic queer coded elements but as far as I know it wasn't explicitly addressed in canon the same way.

So we have queerbaiting that is through mostly queer coding, and the former, when it's addresswd in canon, which is blatantly fan service (in addition to the queer coding).

Now with Buddie we have claims of clownery and falling for the same old queerbaiting tricks. So what if the ship was canonly addressed! We shan't be fooled by the fan service tactics!

Is Buddie (aside from the obvious queer codeness), fan service? In the past- yeah!

I can think of two examples from canon for this fan service-y type of mention: the Christmas elf ("you two have an adorable son"), and the fashion influencer live feed comments ("OMG thos two are So CUTE together"). You might even claim Maddie's "this boy crush on Eddie" from season two because that was before she actually knew their relationship, but I won't.

To me those instances had the same fan service-y vibes as a random waiter assuming Johnlock are a couple, and hm maybe it was Wincest actually that had this assumption when getting a hotel room?

But it's meant to be funny and even ridiculous, and with 911 it was much more harmless (done without the homophobic denial by the accused like in the other two).

Now in 8x11 we have something completely different. A character who actually knows them brings up potential romantic feelings between them. Two of them actually! When Buck has to deny it here it's not "oh haha misunderstanding" (or like he did with the elf "👍"). Here he is actually defensive because it is a serious claim/accusation.

This follows such a classic trope of friends-to-lovers that I honestly don't understand how anyone can take Buck's denial seriously.

Jake and Amy from b99, Jess and Nick from NG (so I've heard), David and Patrick from Schitt's Creek, Chloe and Lucifer and many many more. We can find an example in THIS show with Chim and Maddie and Buck confronting them and then Maddie about it. It's a classic for a reason.

This is not real life, it's a fictional show, and it's our sacred duty to NOT take the characters' words at face value! In fact, we must follow the trope and take the words as opposite from the truth.

So while Buddie dabbled in fan service type acts in the past, this is not that. This is part of the actual plot. Not to even mention Buck's canon queerness (unlike in all the queerbaited couples above).

Was Eddie claimed as straight? Sure. But as @eddiegettingshot put so beautifully, Buck is also a self proclaimed "ally", but that doesn't erase his queerness.

In conclusion - I retired my clown makeup since this is completely different from queer baiting so if i hear it compared onw more tim-

[severus-snaps]

Densaugeo and Hermione and Snape

So, once again I find myself reading through Snape reddit threads but I don't really use reddit and they're years old so I'm importing it here. I'm tripping into Snape apologism territory here but also sort of not - yes, a teacher insulting a 14yo girl's appearance would be devastating and inexcusable irl but it's not irl - and it's these potential theories I'm interested in :P

Is it out of character for Snape, who never anywhere else in the books touches on people's appearances, to insult Hermione's appearance?

How likely is it that it's a misunderstanding or deliberate double entendre (aka he appears to be insulting Hermione's appearance but is actually saying to Harry/Ron, you just did the same thing to Goyle)?

And do we think it was part of his cover to be more cruel than usual in front of Draco, either by deliberately choosing a sentence to be interpreted either way, or intending it to sound mean?

I've covered some of my workings below the cut, but I don't reach any conclusions other than he probably was being more cruel for practical reasons, rather than for his own amusement, in this scene. As always, I just like talking to people about these things so if anyone wants to drop a comment then I'm here for it :P

I started with Snape is really at his worst in GOF but touched on a few others, too. Some of the arguments I've seen that interested me were these:

Snape has only once in seven books made a remark about anyone's appearance, which was following the teeth hex with Hermione

Snape was mocked in school for his own appearance - and mocked again in PoA by the Marauders Map for being an ugly, abnormally large-nosed slimeball etc, and mocked at home for being weird-looking (e.g. by Petunia). Harry/Sirius/others fairly regularly comment on Snape's unpleasant appearance, from his hair to his teeth to his skin. In short, he's not really set up to be in a position to be commenting on other people's appearances - and indeed, he generally doesn't

Snape tends to show his enjoyment when he enjoys an insult - he smirks, smiles, etc, when he's insulting Harry sometimes, or James, and even Umbridge for example you get the idea he's having a good time with the ironic bow - but he didn't here. He's described as looking at her 'coldly'. Usually he just ignores her until she speaks out of turn in class

It was potentially a misunderstanding? He's saying "I see no difference" to Ron's insistence that Draco did something wrong, when Goyle's just been sent to the hospital wing looking like something out of a book on poisonous fungi. Neither Slytherin nor Gryffindor get points docked until Ron and Harry start shouting (probably swear words) at him.

This post (or one of the comments in it) also argued that it's out of character; Snape insults Harry's character several times, but usually he's insulting people's abilities, intelligence, or behaviour, not their appearance (since he values those things, but not necessarily his/others' appearance)

Karkaroff says "It’s [the Dark Mark] been getting clearer and clearer for months" at the Yule Ball, and so is Snape's "Karkaroff’s Mark is becoming darker too" [emphasis mine]

Densaugeo-gate happens in mid-November, so Snape knows Voldemort is likely to return by this point, with several months' warning

The teeth incident happens in front of a few children of known DEs, most notably Draco Malfoy, whose father will hear about this - probably several times:

PS: “But this is servant stuff, it’s not for students to do. I thought we’d be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he’d—” CoS: "… everyone thinks he’s so smart, wonderful Potter with his scar and his broomstick — ” “You have told me this at least a dozen times already,” said Mr. Malfoy, with a quelling look at his son. ... “The teachers all have favorites, that Hermione Granger — ” “I would have thought you’d be ashamed that a girl of no wizard family beat you in every exam,” snapped Mr. Malfoy. "I expect you’d have Father’s vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job - I’ll tell Father you’re the best teacher here, sir" POA: “God, this place is going to the dogs,” said Malfoy loudly. “That oaf teaching classes, my father’ll have a fit when I tell him —” GoF: Malfoy, whose pale eyes were still watering with pain and humiliation, looked malevolently up at Moody and muttered something in which the words “my father” were distinguishable.

Everything - from Hermione's grades to Harry's antics, up to and including the teachers' behaviour, punishments, and classes - is reported back to Lucius Malfoy, especially as it relates to Harry. A scenario in which Draco and Harry duel one another in the corridor and that isn't met by sufficient retaliation from Snape will make it back to Lucius, whether he cares to hear about it a dozen times or not. Lucius already knowing about all of Hermione's exam grades is interesting - how did Draco know? Did Snape tell Lucius directly when asked? I can't see Draco asking Hermione; I can see Hermione bragging talking about it. I'd love to know.

So what does it matter if Lucius hears about this incident? Well, he's widely known by Arthur Weasley and his kids, and therefore probably plenty of other people, as being in Voldemort's 'inner circle' as early as CoS:

“And when You-Know-Who disappeared,” said Fred, craning around to look at Harry, “Lucius Malfoy came back saying he’d never meant any of it. Load of dung — Dad reckons he was right in You-Know- Who’s inner circle.” (Fred, CoS)

Snape obviously knows; Lucius was probably the one who got him involved. Lucius probably had some level of influence or control over Snape even back when Snape was in school, or in his early DE days:

OotP: “Tell me, how is Lucius Malfoy these days? I expect he’s delighted his lapdog’s working at Hogwarts, isn’t he?” (Sirius)

lapdog: a small pampered pet dog | a person or organization that is influenced or controlled by another

Snape as a pampered pet:

I've seen some metas discussing this in terms of Ancient Roman society and patrons, in terms of 'fagging', and in terms of Lucius shaping Snape from a poor, jerky, twitching teen to a poor, jerky, twitching man who tried to hide it beneath a soft-spoken, well-spoken, cool air - modelling himself after Lucius. Snape was almost literally taken under the wing of Prefect Lucius Malfoy the moment he was Sorted. He probably learnt from his "old friend" to affect membership in the Pureblood/upper class - and did so well enough to shock Bellatrix when she first saw Spinner's End (and she never insults him for being half-blood, which she does to Harry, despite hating Snape).

In any case, Snape probably owed a lot to Lucius. He likely had a level of control over Snape, both through his existing personal relationship with him as a mentor-mentee ("old friend" at best) or abusive ("lapdog" at worst; see 'fagging') relationship. Until the end of CoS, Lucius had a hand in running the school on the Board of Governors, and had enough power/fear with the rest of the Board to remove Dumbledore, never mind mere mortals like Snape if he stuck a toe out of line. And even when Lucius was gone from Hogwarts, he retained strong ties in the Ministry, sharing a Quidditch box with Fudge, and evidently having at least a few conversations with Umbridge:

"I expected better, Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you!"

So we can infer that Lucius thinks Snape is as dedicated to The Cause as he is. Even Draco remains convinced of this in later books, before Snape has cemented his position by killing Dumbledore, but even after Snape has usurped Lucius' position as Voldemort's right-hand man:

"[Snape's] a double agent, you stupid old man [Dumbledore], he isn’t working for you, you just think he is!"

[Draco likes/trusts Snape] “much less since his father has lost favour. Draco blames me, he thinks I have usurped Lucius’s position.”

Prior to Lucius' demotion/imprisonment era, Lucius clearly outranks Snape. Lucius is one of the most trusted DEs during VW1; only Lucius and Bellatrix are trusted enough to keep his Horcruxes safe (Lucius the diary, and Bellatrix the cup). Lucius was also supposed to be in charge of the battle for the department of mysteries, Voldemort's year-in-the-making plan, but obviously... that didn't go to plan, in the end.

But there's quite a rushed trajectory of Lucius' fall and Snape's ascent. The battle happens in late June 1996, Lucius is imprisoned, and not released for another year - during which time, Snape is rising, until he ultimately kills Dumbledore and is at the top. Still, he's not trusted with too much information; despite being at Hogwarts, he doesn't know the location or existence of the Horcruxes (unlike Lucius and Bellatrix, even if they didn't know what they were), and Voldemort doesn't allow Snape to see him enter Dumbledore's tomb.

Anyway, what with Bellatrix and other DEs not trusting Snape:

"Where were you when the Dark Lord fell? Why did you never make any attempt to find him when he vanished? What have you been doing all these years that you’ve lived in Dumbledore’s pocket? Why did you stop the Dark Lord procuring the Sorcerer’s Stone? Why did you not return at once when the Dark Lord was reborn? Where were you a few weeks ago when we battled to retrieve the prophecy for the Dark Lord? And why, Snape, is Harry Potter still alive, when you have had him at your mercy for five years?" ... "You can carry my words back to the others who whisper behind my back, and carry false tales of my treachery to the Dark Lord!"

What has Snape been doing all these years that he's lived in Dumbledore’s pocket?

Well, tormenting Gryffindors, for one. Tormenting Harry Potter and to a slightly lesser extent, his friends. Not all of it was tied to his cover - Snape was just a bitch with a bad classroom manner, no love of children, high expectations, and a short fuse. But if it helped, in the early months of his Mark darkening again, to become a bit more cruel to Muggleborns and Harry, then why wouldn't he - especially in front of Draco? He knew that soon - whether it be in a few months, a few days, or even a few hours, he was going to have to walk back into Voldemort's fold and pray to god he wasn't killed on sight for abandoning the cause. With others whispering behind his back - bold of them, since the ones left to whisper are largely people who escaped Azkaban, but it's a crab bucket being a Death Eater - he'd need a benefactor. A trusted servant, like Lucius, to back him up. "No, no, Snape's been tormenting Potter for years - Draco says so. He'll tell anyone on the Board who stands still for long enough how useless Potter is. Oh, he says he's Dumbledore's man, but when the old coot's back is turned, he insults that Mudblood Granger."

It wouldn't be much use to Snape if his Occlumency said one thing (I'm still a loyal Death Eater) but his actions said another (he's perfectly jovial to all students), especially as Snape is just not...a jovial person to begin with. He's got a nasty streak as a teen that Voldemort probably would've encouraged in the Dark Arts. Half of the Order were Gryffindors and half (or more than half) of the Death Eaters were Slytherins.

Also Lorrie Kim's books has some really nice observations about how his behaviour (in terms of his personality, loyalties, how he appears) really starts to contradict his core values in GoF especially.

Anyway, once again I don't have a conclusion, I just had thoughts, based around these again:

Is it out of character for Snape, who never anywhere else in the books touches on people's appearances, to insult Hermione's appearance?

How likely is it that it's a misunderstanding or deliberate double entendre (aka he appears to be insulting Hermione's appearance but is actually saying to Harry/Ron, you just did the same thing to Goyle)?

And do we think it was part of his cover to be more cruel than usual in front of Draco, either by deliberately choosing a sentence to be interpreted either way, or intending it to sound mean?

i feel like i've set anyone who read this far along homework :P one foot of parchment, on my desk by Friday

[rawliverandgoronspice]

The Dondon Post (or: the bizarre TotK's side content counterpoints to its main quest's immuable binary morality)

Speaking of strange TotK Choices, I think I have one singe post left in me about this game; and it's about the Dondon quest, "The Beast and the Princess".

(and about other stuff too, you'll see, we'll get to them)

More specifically: about how... strange of a thematic point it feebly attemps to make in the larger context of the storyline, and how it seems to be yet another mark of a world that, perhaps, once tried to be more morally complex that it ended up becoming.

Buckle up: it's a long one, and it gets pretty conceptual.

(good gem boys notwhistanding)

The Princess and the Beast

So, a couple of things about the setup. We are investigating potential Princess sightings; but at this point, either because we have already completed a bunch and know the general gib, because we have met a couple of wild Fake Zelda shenanigans, or through the simple fact that we are completing a side quest, we know there's a good chance it won't lead to an actual Zelda information. So when we ask Penn about what is going on and he replies with the ominous "we saw the Princess riding some kind of beast --a frightening one with huge, brutal tusks-- that the princess seemed to control", we get Ideas. Then the sidequest is registered: "The Princess and the Beast".

So. You know me. And if you don't know me, here's what you should know: my brain immediately flared up with the thought there was no way in hell this wasn't some kind of wink towards Ganondorf's renowned boarish beast form, especially given tusks were given so much focus.

My first assumption was: that's a miniboss right? I will get to fight some small boar-like thing that Fake Zelda rides sometimes. Cool! I didn't hold too hard onto my hope that the relationship of Zelda and/or Ganondorf to the natural world, or to each other would be expanded upon, since I had already been burned before, but my interest was piqued.

You have to understand how starved I was for any hint of complexity or mystery or ambiguity at this point. I was extremely eager for the game to throw anything at me that would surprise me, enlighten something pre-established, make the exploration lead to a meaningful discovery or deepening of characters, world or themes (and not just slightly cooler loot, or a bossfight, or a puzzle devoid of emotional context --cohesion and depth is what motivates my play sessions, especially in an open world game that I want to believe is worth losing oneself into). This was about the most intriguing task on my to do list at the moment, and so I plunged in immediately.

After really REALLY misunderstanding what I was supposed to do (I stalked every corner of every forest surrounding the tropical area at night or during blood moons in hope to see something --which was very much the wrong call), I arrived to the other stable, then was guided to the other side of the river where Cima awaits and explains that these creatures are actually a new species discovered by Zelda; that they are gentle and kind and not at all scary ("Dondons aren't beastly, they're adorable!"), and even somehow digest luminous stones into gemstones. They like the company of people and liked Zelda in particular.

I was... I felt two different ways about this conclusion, and I think it's worth to explore both: disappointment and some sort of... "huh!" Hard to describe this emotion otherwise.

I'll get the disappointment out of the way first, because it's the least interesting of the two. While I think the little emotional arc I was taken on was not devoid of interest --I was indeed taken on by the rumor and intrigued by its implications-- I wanted, well. A little bit more. And if the creatures were to be Zelda's pet project, I would have loved for them to be actually terrifying and feisty, and for her to develop an interest for these creatures in particular regardless. It could have been very interesting characterization that veered out of the perfect princess loving the perfect world floundering around her, always bringing her clear, practical benefits from the interaction.

(I have made another post that speaks of my discomfort that Zelda does everything everywhere and everyone loves her for it --I get what they were trying to go for, but it either lacks conflict for me to buy into that dynamic at the scale of several regions, or they went on too hard for my taste, as she is, at once and in the span of a couple of years at most: a schoolteacher, a gardener, an animal researcher, a scholar, a traveler, a military expert, a knower of landscape, a painter, a horse rider, an infrastructure planner, a [...] princess --at some point it begins to sound made up, "Little Father of the people"-esque to rattle the hornet's nest a little bit, especially if it's not shown as either a clearly godly characteristic or, even more necessary imo, a negative trait; another expression of her killing herself at work to compensate for a perceived flaw she's trying to earn forgiveness for, like she did in BotW. But that's another topic, and the clumsiness of her character arc has been well threaded by basically everybody disappointed in the story already.)

But, if I decide to be a little graceful, I'd like to explore my "huh!" emotion, and take it apart a little bit.

I think there's something interesting to have such strong parallels to setting up a story about the relationship between Zelda and Ganondorf ("The Princess and the Beast", like come on guys that's the conflict of over half the series), or at least Zelda and the concept of Evil since Ganondorf pretty much represents it in this game, and then have it go: actually, there was a horrible monster that everyone was afraid of, but Zelda was wise and patient enough to approach it and realize its potential beyond the tusks, what beauty can be brought upon the world if one makes the effort to look for what exists underneath. It says something a bit deeper about the world and about Zelda in particular. It intrigues, at the very least.

Is it a reach? Probably! Is my first interpretation that the quest is actually about "eww you thought Zelda would be interested in *disgusting vile monsters* and not sweet and gentle and human-loving animals that literally shit jewlery when cared for? jokes on you, she never would feel any ounce of sympathy for anything that isn't Good and Deserving" uhhh definitively truer? Probably! But I also don't want to dismiss that the quest made me think about it. If I had completed it earlier, I might have even felt like it was (very clumsy, not gonna lie) setup about the main conflict.

But that's also a good segway into my next section: the arbitrary limitations between the animal and the creature, the monstrous and the human.

And the fact that TotK points directly at it.

A Monstrous Collection

(these two guys are just. doing So Much and being So Valid despite being massive weirdos the game wants us to be slightly repelled by. I, for one, respect the Monster kinning grind and their general Twilight Princess energy.)

So. These two guys. There is so much to say about these two guys. I don't think I have seen the Trans Perspective on Kolton on tumblr, and I would love to get it because. I feel like it's a worthwhile discussion (just, how gender and identity is handled in TotK overall, I feel like it's a very complicated conversation and I have not seen super deep dives and I'd be very interested in hearing more).

Beyond the throughline of voluntary consumption of magical objects to turn into less human creatures being a weirdly prevalent plot point in TotK (Zelda, Kolton and Ganondorf casually transing their entire species for funsies --Ganondorf being particularly relentless with Fake Zelda, mummy/phantom shenanigans, Demon King and then literal dragon), I want to focus on Kilton a little bit.

Kilton is genuinely the only NPC in the game willing to acknowledge the inherent personhood that monsters have (the game does showcase them picking up fruits, mourning their boss if you kill them, being cutesy and happy to identify you as one of their own if you wear the appropriate mask --and that's not even getting into creatures like the Lynels, who seem to really edge on the limit of being a conscious creature with a system of honor and property and many other things). He does encourage us to think of monsters as more than a species whose only worth lie in how fun it is to eradicate them; even more, gameplay-wise, he does give us a reason to interact with them in other ways than just our sword with his museum. He does encourage us to see that beauty for ourselves and then select what we think is coolest/most intimidating/cutest/eight billion ganondorfs in every pose imaginable

The fact that Ganondorf is considered a monster was a great win for this feature in particular, and is very funny, but it's also... A lot, if we dig at it a little more than warranted. Beyond all of the Implications and all of the things of representation and political conflict and values already discussed ad nauseum: when did he stop being considered a human? What does that mean about the flimsiness of what is a monster and what is a creature and what is an animal and what is a person and what is even a hylian, as sheikahs got absorbed into the definition in this game? Especially with the stones taken into account, how profound changes in nature are a huge part of the plot (even when reversed and ultimately pretty meaningless): how easy it is, to make that slip? Who decides when that slip has been made? What is acceptable to hurt without remorse? What is beautiful and worth preserving? What is both at once? What is neither?

And again, in a classic Zelda conundrum (appreciative(?)): who the fuck gets to decide that, when, and why?

The Bargainers and the Horned God

(major shoutout to these big guys for being the sole and only providers of actual depth to the Depths, and for looking cool as heck)

So. Let's move the conversation to the Depths.

Conceptually: what an interesting idea!! And so well executed (initially)!! A mirror world to the surface, dark and hushed and full of unknown creatures; haunted by gloom and sickness and the unknown. Not a first in the series, far from it: from ALTTP to ALBW, and even taking the Twilight world of TP into account, this idea of a Dark World acting as a deforming mirror to Hyrule and revealing many interesting aspects as we get to explore both is always a very interesting take on corruption and envy and fear/weakness and/or some sense of darkness looming under the perfect exterior. I'd argue even the Lens of Truth of both OoT and MM's serve a similar function, both gameplay-wise, but also in terms of theme: not everything is as it seems. In the world of Light, darkness must hide itself; but darkness also possess its own beauty, its own hardships, and will stare back at you without blinking if you go seek for it. It's, in my opinion, one of the series' most compelling conversation about the cyclical nature of fate, the coldness of godhood, and how small one feels in the face of a universe that is more complicated than it initially appears --which is why Courage must be invoked to push forward regardless.

The Depth's otherworldly ambiance is truy wonderful, whether in the plays of light and shadows, the creatures native to the environment we meet there (wish we met more!), the soundtrack, the strange aquatic/primordial plants, the fact that the dragons visit this place and connect them to the outside --invoking ideas of balance and interconnectivity, that the tree branches look like veins. The coliseums, the mines, the zonai facilities and the prisons do seem to poke at many things about what the relationship to the past was to this place; was it ever truly a place? Did it look like this back then? Why was it buried? Why did it come back? But in spite of it all, I think the Depths struggle overall to question or reveal anything about the surface that we couldn't already assume going in (that the only thing congealing there is Ganondorf's gloom, his lonely domain of Wrongness, only shared by Kohga and the yiga --the only naysayers of Goodness and Light, contemptful and blinded by self-importance and rage). The zonite is mined by gloomy monsters --why, what for?-- so any notion of greed and over-expansion that could have been associated to the zonai is now reabsorbed into Ganondorf's general evilness, since it needs to be reminded he is everything and anything bad with the world: darkness and conquest and greed and capitalism and pollution and bad weather and sickness and darkness and violence and war and death and betrayal and fakeness and lies and patriarchy and exploitation. No matter that he never does a single thing with zonite in the game; rather set up elements of conflict that never go anywhere than, for a second, let the foundations of absolute goodness and absolute evil risk becoming shaky --and you coming to this unwelcoming dark place that hates you, killing the miners and taking their resources for yourself is, on the other holy, royal fur-covered hand, utterly legitimate. The resources were once Rauru's after all, were they not?

And this is what I would say, except... except for the dead. The fallen warriors, the poes, and, most important of all: the Bargainer statues.

The Bargainers are, in-universe, godly creatures guiding the fallen to a place of final respite, regardless of moral alignment. The poes are all, fundamentally, cleansed of judgement: they are lost souls whose past reality does not matter anymore, and all deserve that peace regardless. In spite of the heavy paradise/hell parallels drawn in that game, with Rauru/Zelda/Sonia as the guardians of Light where Ganondorf gets to become a Devil-like figure, it is confirmed here that no such thing exists when you actually die in this universe.

It almost feels as if the fabric of Hyrule itself, in a brief moment that refuses to elaborate on its own point, goes: "yeah, whatever is happening here between Light and Darkness, it doesn't actually matter. This conflict is futile and doesn't understand the real nature of being alive, dead, a god, a person, a monster, an animal. The truth lies elsewhere --but you will never be told what it is."

It's: wild.

One of the game's most striking traits of narrative brilliance in my opinion --to the point where I'm wondering whether it's there on purpose or was effectively an oversight since every other aspect of reality breaks its own back trying to reassure us that everything is at its correct place, receiving the appropriate treatment by the universe in a way that is never to be questioned.

Another case of that ambiguity being allowed to exist without being immediately crushed and repressed is the case of the Horned God (interesting parallel to Ganon's actual horns that he develops in this game in case the hellish parallels weren't clear enough already): a demon Hylia sealed into stone and pushed far from humans in a clear case of questionable behavior since, while the Horned God isn't exactly nice, does propose a different philosophy you are not punished for exploring; and yet, a proposal that has seen itself persecuted in a very real sense by the goddess of absolute goodness, patron of hylians, Zelda, and many more. Pushed away from view.

Interesting.

And Yet, Light Must Prevail

Okay, so, after all of this, we're left to ask... What the fuck is up with morality in Tears of the Kingdom?!

What do we trust? These half-breaths in the occasional sidequests that Light and Darkness is just the wrong frame of reference, that nature cannot be this simple, is ever-shifting and can be recalled or reaffirmed by arbitrary forces, and might even not matter at all in the universe's fabric, despite having so much of its lore soaking in the dychotomy? Or... everything else about the game, this insistence that Good must not only be assumed as whatever tradition the kingdom has passed down for thousands upon thousands of years, but remain utterly unquestioned the entire time? That Bad is without cause, graceless and unworthy of investment?

Are the Bargainer's statues the only thing worth listening to, that morality is a fable the living tells themselves --or should we be moved when Darkness destroys Light, when Light suffers to preserve itself and the world --but not when the Other is rightfully slain?

Was Kilton correct to see beauty in the monstrous? Was Kolton onto something when he let go of his previous form because there is no clear distinction between what should receive an arrow to the face and what shouldn't? Or should we rather focus on Zelda losing her human form as a beautiful and tragic sacrifice --but something that never actually altered her nature as a hylian, the descendant of a lineage of Good Kings meant to rule forever?

Is the Dondon good because it always was, or was it worth Zelda's love in spite of the fear it initially provoked?

Either way, at the end of the game, evil is slain. Ganondorf is, not killed, but --like his angry BotW boar counterpart-- destroyed, as monsters tend to be. He explodes over the lands of Hyrule, freed from Darkness; freed from everything wrong, since the foreign menace that embodied it all was wiped out in one fateful sweep of a holy blade cradled in sacrificial love. Nothing wrong remains. The Sages reaffirm their vows to protect the kingdom forward, and a very human --hylian-- Zelda smiles: Hyrule now forever and ever basked in eternal Light.

[seaglassquotes]

You can't separate the art from the author. You can't. Those biases will always be found within the text and subtext of a work. But when we talk about separating the art from the author especially with things like JK Rowling I think it's really important to address the ways that just writing off an author or a work completely and never touching it actually harms people's acquisition of critical reading and thinking skills.

Let's say that instead of talking about Harry Potter we're talking about Huckleberry Fin, or Tom Sawyer, or The Lord Of The Flies. These are works that we have decided as a culture are important to teach to our children. And we teach them through the lens they were written through. When teaching teenagers about these classic works we don't say "Mark Twain had these problematic beliefs and so we're never going to finish this book" instead we say "Mark Twain had these problematic beliefs. Let's pick through the ways they affect the story and the text. Show me the bias he is presenting here. Let's look at the multiple potential meanings of this work while I guide you to the ones that are more in line with the morals I believe you should pull from it and allow you to find the morals you will take into your life with you." With Lord Of The Flies we don't say "this is a bad book with biases so we shouldn't read it" we teach kids "This person felt this way about how girls and boys interact and that's outdated information and also just his personal opinion but on a deeper layer Let's look at how that affects the story and what he is trying to say about human nature and society. Do we think he's wrong? Do we think he's right? Do we think humans are inherently violent like he does?" That is how we teach children and teenagers and even adults to sift through information and come to their own conclusions. This is how we teach people to think for themselves and identify bias in writing. Ultimately this is how you train your brain to form its own opinions.

So let's talk about Harry potter and JK Rowling. JK Rowling has beliefs that are truly detrimental to herself to society and to progression of freedom world wide but especially in the UK. That's horrible. There is no excuse for the way that she feels about things. And it is evident in her writing. I have only read the Harry Potter series by her but off the top of my head I can list several things I know are in her writing that I don't agree with. Here's my basic list (I will definitely have missed things):

• Centaurs are described with characteristics similar to native Americans. Theya re then presented as being violent, unpredictable, and a danger to women and children.

• Goblins are extreme caricature stereotypes of Jewish people who are then presented as being selfish, money driven, unpredictable, egocentric, secretive, and arrogant.

• The stairs to the girls dormitories do not allow boys in. Which not only trampled the ide of Trans or nonbinary students but also screams "boys can't be assaulted by girls"

• House elves. I don't feel like i really need to expand on this one. We all know...

• The way fleur is treated in the books is gross. The feminist "icons" of the series are incredibly mean to her simply because she is pretty and talented. It creates and underlying agression toward successful women for being pretty and successful.

• Lycanthropy should have been left alone no one needed that essay on how it's actually an allegory for Aids which then frames Greyback as an adult gay man preying on young children (Remus is 4 years old canonically when Greyback breaks into his bedroom and attacks him. Disgusting with a new lgbt connotation) also the treatment of lycanthropy in the books shows a clear misunderstanding of the actual impact of the Aids epidemic on the lgbt community.

Like I said, just to name a few. Now despite all of these things I truly love the story. You cannot remove these beliefs from it. But I would argue that rather than completely writing it off it's actually very important that we read the books through the lens of knowing these beliefs. That we point them out, pick them apart, show the ways they affect the writing. Point out the ways that those beliefs are wrong and harmful. Just as we would with any classic work. There are valuable lessons in Harry Potter. Ultimately it is a story about found family and love conquering all. It is a story of bravery and hope for a better more accepting world where you are not defined based on your blood status, physical characteristics you can't control, and traumas of your past. This is why in its way day Harry Potter was so popular with LGBT and "alternative" kids. It is important that we guide that understanding of the books through the lens of understanding the author doesn't feel that way.

When we completely write off the books and remove them from our lives, our children's lives, ridicule people for reading and enjoying them we actually remove an opportunity to develop better critical thinking and reading skills. We remove an opportunity to teach or practice bias identification in writing. But most of all we remove people's ability to come to their own conclusions about the true moral of the story.

[valenteal]

The Clovis Arcs in Star Wars the Clone Wars: a Breakdown of What Went Wrong and What Had Potential

Part 1: Introduction and Senate Spy

Okay, so I’ve been meaning to talk about this for a while but I keep forgetting or putting it off but here I go. I am going to tackle the Clovis arcs from The Clone Wars. This post will include in depth analysis, including my inferences into the implications and consequences which are not necessarily canon but in my opinion are the obvious conclusions to draw if the story were more fleshed out. If it bothers you that I am stating things that were never explicitly said but were definitely implied, this essay is not for you.

Full disclosure: I loved them when I was a naive little kid who didn’t understand the difference between fear and jealousy. I was a possessive kid who feared having people or things taken away, not because I saw them as purely mine but because that was my experience. Someone else swoops in and “steals” my friends or toys or projects. So for me, it was very easy to love these episodes seeing Anakin as similar to me, fearing that Clovis would take Padmé from him, without Padmé’s consent or permission because Clovis was obviously the bad guy. I didn’t understand the attempted nuance of the jealousy and the supposedly “toxic” relationship between Anakin and Padmé. And honestly the first Clovis arc still works with some minor tone adjustments or added dialogue between Anakin and Padmé. The second arc, not so much.

Let’s start with the first arc, which is just one episode, Senate Spy. The opening quote is, ironically “A True Heart Shoud Never Be Doubted.” It begins with an adorable and in character scene where Anakin returns to Coruscant and Padmé bearing food from a kind stranger who he’d hitched a ride with after he blew up his own ships. There’s a couple adorably sad moments when it’s made clear how committed they are to one another but also how new the relationship truly is when Padmé is surprised but incredibly happy when Anakin calls her apartment home, and when Anakin learns that apparently his wife is a good cook as well as a badass politician. The first few minutes of this episode are perfect. The trouble starts, as it is won’t to do, with the Jedi Council.

Actually it starts with Anakin getting their summons to meet, since nothing to bad happened in the scene where they’re trying to get him to pick up, but that’s the trigger for the downward spiral as this is where they begin deliberately butchering Padmé’s character, though it does bring up an important point in my personal view of Anakin. When Padmé gets angry that he has to leave, which is understandable but ends up getting blown way out of proportion, Anakin is able to sense that anger, but not, I assume, who it’s directed at. Padmé isn’t mad at him, she’s mad at the situation and his presumption that he can “read [her] mind.” Which tells us that Anakin’s passive awareness of other people’s feelings is much stronger than most Jedi’s. This is the kind of power that unnerves people, but also explains a lot about Anakin’s character, particularly why he was so quick to trust Qui-Gon and Padmé. But it’s also something he doesn’t talk about to openly, presumably because it scares people and the Jedi really didn’t need anymore reasons to fear him. Therefore he hasn’t been able to hone or practice this particular skill, leading to fumbles like this where he assumes he knows what someone is feeling but he misunderstands and reacts incorrectly. What would’ve been the right words if Padmé had been angry with him became condescending and aggravating. If Padmé were truly in character she would understand Anakin’s struggles and tried to help him understand, maybe promise to have a conversation about this passive ability once he was done reporting to the council. Instead she’s made oblivious and insensitive for the sake of drama *jazz hands.*

When Anakin finally joins the “council” (it’s just Mace, Yoda, and Obi-Wan! That is not the full Council it’s a tiny group of Councilors at best!) they are obviously teasing Anakin about his affection for Padmé (Obi-Wan) or subtly interrogating him about his relationship with her (Yoda and Windu). Once they’re satisfied that yes, Anakin is too attached to her and yes, meddling is necessary, they demand he convince Padmé to spy on Clovis. Let’s be clear here: this was not a request. Yoda’s exact words were “convince her, you must,” to which Anakin bowed and gave a subdued “yes, Master.” That rubbing anyone else the wrong way? The entire conversation is just really creepy and shady and manipulative. It is set up to be literally shady, there is an obviously sinister vibe to the whole thing. They’re plotting in the middle of the night, with all the lights out, illuminated only by a holo table displaying a candid shot of Clovis and a Nemoidian, with eerie music playing in the background. The three councilors practically gang up on Anakin, presenting shocking information that he doesn’t get time to process and then steamrolling him into doing what they want.

Anakin of course doesn’t just roll over and do as they asked, instead approaching Padmé to basically confirm that no, she won’t be spying on Clovis. But Yoda’s crafty, he planned this whole thing out. He didn’t tell Padmé Clovis was a spy, leaving Anakin the unknowing messenger of the particular bit of intel, which is all it takes for Padmé to be on board with the plan. I’m glossing over this scene because it’s full of OOC drama that needs no further explanation, it’s just stupid and petty and neither Anakin nor Padmé would actually act like that, case closed, goodbye.

Now, I’m not saying that asking Padmé to spy on Clovis wasn’t a good idea, it very much was, she has all the skills and Clovis trusted (read: underestimated) her. No, the issue was how the Jedi Council presented the mission, both to Anakin and to Padmé, in a way that was meant to drive a wedge between them, and especially the wording used when briefing Padmé on the mission.

The briefing scene is absolutely disgusting to me, the second even more than the first, because rather that simply being callous and manipulative in a shady room, this one happens in the middle of the day, in the council chambers, bathed in sunlight. Windu and Yoda continue making inappropriate and inaccurate insinuations that they know will get under Anakin’s skin, and Padmé, continuing to be either oblivious or petty and callous towards her husband’s feelings of insecurity, doesn’t make it clear that she and Clovis were not lovers, Clovis just wanted to be. So Anakin is uncomfortable, he feels vulnerable, no one in the room is on his side, he’s isolated in his discomfort and ignorance, and his superiors are actively trying to make it worse but he can’t see that, or at least he can’t admit it to himself.

Padmé reveals that Clovis “didn’t take it well” she returned their relationship to a professional level, which is definitely a red flag for someone who only knows Clovis as a Separatist conspirator from the Banking Clan. And then the fear mongering begins. Windu asks if Padmé might be able to “rekindle their… friendship,” and Obi-Wan tells her that the closer she can get to Clovis, the better, prompting Padmé to respond that she “will do anything to succeed in [her] mission.” Do you hear how icky that sounds?! They’re deliberately trying to make Anakin not only insecure about his relationship with Padmé, but also afraid for her safety! They don’t tell her to be mindful of her own safety, they don’t tell her she doesn’t have to do anything she’s uncomfortable with, in fact they encourage her to do so! They offer no aid or protection, Anakin assigns himself to be her bodyguard once again, but reminder, her just got back from “a lengthy tour of duty” and is probably supposed to be on some kind of leave and no one ordered him to go with her. He was just supposed to convince her. He is giving up much needed time off, ostensibly of his own accord, to participate in a stressful mission, which is followed almost immediately by what might be the most brutal conflict in the non-Disney portion of the Clone Wars.

Honestly my issues with this episode are pretty much covered, before we even get into the meat of the episode. All the problematic stuff is kinda covered in the first 7 minutes and 40 seconds of the episode. Of course the tone of everything remains for the actual mission but nothing new happens to screw things up from a writing perspective. Padmé slips into character for pretty much the rest of the episode so of course she’s OOC, it’s deliberately done to appeal to Clovis and make him underestimate her. Anakin is still unstable and anxious and terrified but that’s less because of butchered character and more because of the Council’s manipulations. The mission is basic, made ridiculously easy by Clovis’s obsession with Padmé and his severe underestimation of her intelligence but it’s entertaining enough, I love watching Padmé being a boss and manipulating Clovis expertly. The Nemoidians were well thought out for villains in this series since they’re usually pretty basic, but Lot Dod (or however you spell it) is both shallow and complex in his motivations, because he’s simultaneously a businessman and a senator and a conspirator and a person with grudges. While his actions are simple, poisoning Padmé but giving up the antidote went held at gun point, his motivations are layered. Padmé is a long time opponent of the Trade Federation, a Republic spy, a personal thorn in his side, and someone Clovis (who he hates) cares about. Like I said, the episode has its redeeming qualities, and honestly the overarching plot is one of them. It’s a set up for the Second Battle of Geonosis, it’s a view into Padmé past and current relationships outside of Anakin and the Jedi, and it’s got a good villain who has wasted potential as a reoccurring major antagonist.

The biggest issue I have with it is that despite being a Padmé episode she got pushed to the side. The whole thing is full of sexist undertones, and indeed overtones. I really wish they hadn’t damsel in distressed her at the end, if it were me I would’ve kept the poisoning scheme but add in that Padmé realizes she’s been poisoned and actually tells Anakin that something’s wrong and then deliberately uses it to escape questioning about her movements and to distract from the data disk she stole, just like in canon. Just make all the convenient stuff that happened as a result deliberate on her part and erase the “Anakin saves the day because he got super anxious” thing. Not that I don’t think Anakin has anxiety, but just… Padmé balances him perfectly because she’s got a cool head and incredible awareness of her own body and skills. De-damselify the Queen, have Anakin actually be her partner instead of her restless bodyguard.

All you have to do is get rid of the sexist ink it’s written in and it’s a good episode. The argument between Anakin and Padmé in the senate is basically just sexist writers projecting onto Anakin. He’s not that overprotective of Padmé, he knows she can handle herself and if she says “let’s go rescue Obi-Wan” then they’re going to go to a hostile world alone to rescue Obi-Wan together. He is way too smart to tray and tell her what to do. So take that out of the equation, get rid of Padmé’s OOC childish attitude, and we’re good. I don’t like what the Council did and the way they plotted to break up Anidala, but it’s not completely out of character. I would give it a little more nuance or motivation, maybe explicitly link it to Anakin’s behavior during the Blue Shadow Virus arc, but it’s something I would keep because it’s one of the best times where we get a real glimpse into how the Jedi have treated Anakin, not just how he thinks they’ve treated him based on Palps manipulations.

In conclusion: I will probably be writing a fic that completely retells this episode because this is very long and rambling and I don’t think anyone is going to read it!

For real this time, in conclusion, the Clone Wars episode Senate Spy committed atrocities against Padmé Amidala but by fixing that we could make a more than decent episode with many important plot points and insights into characters. It’s a tragedy that this plot was executed so poorly because it had SO MUCH potential. I know all Anidala fans hate the Clovis arcs with a burning passion, and believe me I do too, but mine is a hate borne from love turned sour. I have tried before, when I was a lesser writer, to ease the pain with a fix-it fic, but the wound still festers. I will try again. And this time I will succeed in not just attempting to patch up the ending but rewriting the episode better and deeper and more nuanced than before!

[talon-dragonbeast]

Hi! I’m having questions that I’m not sure where to find the resources about safely, I hope it is okay i sent them here instead.

What is the difference between a transspecies and physical nonhuman and a clinical lycanthrope?

I know what they all are (vaguely, at least) but i am confused where the overlap ends (i know there are overlaps still, but i am confused where it ‘seems’ to end)

I’m really sorry if this ask is rude, i did not intend it to be.

excellent question! and dont worry, not rude at all, the terms are very similar after all :D

transspecies

transspecies is an opt-in label that some nonhumans choose to use for themselves, so its definition may vary among its users. some use transspecies to describe their experiences as transgender nonhumans, some use it because they intend to transition (usually through clothing, gear, jewelry, tattoos, piercings, and other species-affirming methods), some choose to use it to spite people who try to dilute our experiences to make them more acceptable to others, some use it as a political statement, some use it because they are physical nonhumans... I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

from what ive observed, transspecies folks seem to share some common experiences, such as species dysphoria (or its positive counterpart, species euphoria), the intention to socially or physically transition to their desired species, and a certain attitude towards their nonhumanity ("cringe culture is dead", "i will not water myself down for your convenience", "i will be myself even if it makes you uncomfortable", etc).

there exists a misunderstanding among some alterhumans that the transspecies label was originally created by the radqueer community (for those who don't know, radqueer is a label for those who are radically inclusive of all identities, regardless of the potential harm they may cause, including pedophilia and zoophilia, transracial people and abusive relationships), but rest assured that this is not the case. there are records of the term transspecies since 1997, before the radqueer label was even created. some transspecies folks might also identify as radqueer, but definitely not all and this is not inherent to the label.

physical nonhumans

what it says on the tin. a physical nonhuman is a nonhuman who identifies their own physical body as that of their 'type. there are many reasons why someone may identify as a physical nonhuman, some believe their DNA is not human, some may say they use a veil or other similar abilities to hide their true form from humans, some experience delusions related to their physical body, some follow the reasoning of "i am nonhuman, this is my body, therefore this is a nonhuman body", and some are that way just because! no one reason is more valid than another, and some physical nonhumans dont even have a reason for being the way they are; they just are.

clinical lycanthropes

also called clinical zoanthropes, they are beings who believe they are experiencing or have experienced physical transformations to the body of an animal, often due to mental health conditions such as delusions or hallucinations. for example, a clinical cynanthrope may experience transformations to the body of a dog, and may or may not act accordingly to their physical body.

clinical zoanthropes are a very misunderstood part of our community, and should be treated with the care and respect they deserve. they are not crazy, they are not dangerous, and they are as much a part of the alterhuman community as "sane" folks. it is terrible that i even have to clarify this, but i have seen too many alterhumans deny that CZs are part of our community in favor of the more "acceptable" identities, so unfortunately this is necessary.

conclusion

so, to actually answer your question, while there is certainly some overlap between these three communities, they are definitely not the same.

from what ive seen, there are many transspecies folks who are also physically nonhuman, and vice versa. some clinical zoanthropes use the physical nonhuman label for themselves, but it seems that most describe themselves as simply their species. most CZs dont use the transspecies label, because they already perceive their body as nonhuman, although some do wish to socially transition. both physical nonhumans and CZs may have their origins in delusions or hallucinations (though definitely not all, especially on the p-nonhuman side), but i dont think ive seen any transspecies users claiming that their label stems from that; i could be wrong though. and finally, i think CZs maintain a certain degree of separation from the therian/otherkin communities, mainly because they dont relate to a lot of our experiences and also because of the constant attacks they tend to receive from closed-minded beings. thats a problem that definitely needs solving, as i think were stronger together than we are on our own; but thats a post for another day.

i hope my answer satisfied you anon, but feel free to ask more questions if it didnt! and for those of you reading this, feel free to correct me if i said something wrong! im not part of any of these communities, so take everything i say with a grain of salt. have a nice day! :}

[kitkatopinions]

One of the things that many anti-rwde posters get really worked up about is the complaint that bumblebee is rushed, but at least for my part, I feel like there's a misunderstanding on what the real problem is.

They always say "how can people say that the ship is rushed when there were signs early on?" And I think the real problem isn't that there weren't signs. Tbh I personally don't read Blake as romantically interested in Yang during the first few seasons, her treatment of Yang isn't actually that different from her treatment of her other teammates and whatever closeness they accomplish is usually initiated by Yang, but it's easy to read Yang as having a crush on Blake. It's easy to read a lot of characters as having a crush on other characters, like it's easy to think that Ruby had a crush on Weiss, Blake, Penny, and Emerald during different times in the first three seasons, and like it's easy to think that Yang and Weiss were romantically interested in each other specifically in season five. I wouldn't think any of those ships 'came out of nowhere' or 'didn't have any juice' or so on. My main point here is that Blake and Yang weren't a forgone conclusion, but yes, despite the fact that nothing was clear solid proof of romantic interest OR clear solid proof of early writer intention to actually make them canon, there were hints that Blake and Yang could potentially turn into a real ship and it eventually did when the writers got around to it under criticism of queerbaiting and while running out of money.

When I say that I think the ship was rushed, I don't mean that there was never an indication that Blake and Yang might be romantic before they got together or even before their first big significant 'shipping moment' at the end of V6. When I say that I think the ship was rushed, I mean that the writers bypassed growth and working through conflict that I think was necessary for Blake and Yang's dynamic. When I say that I think the ship was rushed, I mean that they invented conflicts just to throw them out one after another without ever addressing it on screen. I mean that there are things very important specifically to the character of Blake like her time in the White Fang, her family, Ilia, and Adam that Yang hasn't talked to her about on screen (except Adam but it was not in any detail.) This isn't even bringing up the fact that they were forced into confessing their feelings for each other and when that happened, Yang didn't say anything about Blake that was true past her being a Faunus. Which makes it seem like the writers don't care to put in effort with the ship but that's just my opinion.

The ship between Blake and Yang wasn't rushed because 'there were never any signs' that it might happen, it was rushed because the writers didn't actually put in the work to deal with the conflicts they themselves wrote for the ship and just bypassed them instead. It was rushed because they went from 'Blake has spent seemingly a year apart from her team while Yang was angry at her the whole time and now the two are awkward with each other' straight to 'they barely leave each other's side, Yang gets angry at the thought of even doing a mission apart, they're in love, they caress each other's faces' without the writers really addressing that quick change.

It's got nothing to do with whether or not I think Yang's 'save me a dance' could be an indicator of real romantic feelings that would get developed later. The writers just fumbled the bag on execution, per the norm.

[not-my-final-account]

By the way, head cannon that Fright Knight speaks about himself in his head in third person when he feels more like a knight than a human/sentient so yeah.

-

Fright Knight accidentally adopts his King, emotionally at least. It wasn’t his fault! His king was bruised so he asked and he was getting bullied, and his parents didn’t do anything and they were ghost hunters who want to kill and study him! Fright Knight had never thought he would be co-parenting with ghost hunters, lucky he had a human form. With a bit of help from Clockwork and Pandora Fright Knight was know King Phantoms legal god father, he was claiming custody if King Phantoms parents found out he was Phantom and reacted negatively; honestly he probably should right now given how many expamples of neglect he already had, but King Phantom was happy. Now let Fright Knight explain how he got here:

Fright Knight is used to Pariah Dark who is no doubt abusive in one way or another. Fright Knight is used to not moving a hair when his king orders him to stop. Fright Knight is used to a horrible king with a cold heart that knows no bounds to its selfishness.

When King Phantom comes Fright Knight assumes it will be the same.

King Phantom is not the same. It takes a few months but Fright Knight realised that King Phantom veiws him as an equal. As a person not a servant. This only makes Fright Knight more loyal to him, he thinks he would stay with King Phantom even if he got dethroned. His king had a heart of gold that put others before itself, while this had gotten King Phantom into a lot of trouble Fright Knight dared say that… he liked the change.

He was so used to installing fear into the people he meets, or being the one scared in Pariah Darks case, that he was confused when King Phantom seemed to do neither. King Phantom even asked if he had eaten and then brought him something called a Nasty Burger when he said he had not (Fright Knight did not know why they were called ‘Nasty’ they tasted adequate).

King Phantom was so young, being King was not a burden he should be forced to carry! Fright Knight was shocked to realise how many burdens a literal infant (in ghost terms anyways) had been forced to carry. And King Phantom was a kind and fair ruler, perhaps too mercyful for his own good Fright Knight mused.

Fright Knight is forever loyal to his kind King and has grown to care for him outside of a knight wanting to protect the king. So when King Phantom walked into a small lair he had made in his castle, with bruises on the side of his face and arm, Fright Knight decided to find who did this and give them a little tap with his sword, anyone who would hurt King Phantom deserved the fear Fright Knight would install in them. “Who did this?” Fright Knight asked, King Phantom glanced up then to the bruises on his arm

“Oh this? Dash bullies me pretty much every day, he got a bad test score.” King Phantom mentioned. King Phantom had told Fright Knight to understand a situation before jumping to conclusions to stop potentially dangerous misunderstandings

“Why would you change his test score?” Fright Knight asked

“I didn’t. He just likes to take things out on me and got partically mad today, hit me with a tray then shoved me in a locker and got my late to class. It wasn’t my locker which was just plain annoying.” King Phantom said, Fright Knight picked up his sword

“Where does Dash live?” he asked.

“Fright Knight! I’ve told you not to kill -or trap on their worst fears- people, even if they’ve mean to me.” King Phantom said.

“Understood. I will not go after Dash.” Fright Knight said, King Phantom nodded happily and that made not hurting Dash worth it (for now). However there were other parts of King Phantoms sentance that set off alarms “Your parents don’t do anything?” Fright Knight asked, he shifted to his human form (the king had made and gifted him a small amulet that allowed this, for when Fright Knight needed to see or be with King Phantom but could not be seen as Fright Knight. He had dark skin, dreadlocked hair, tatoos down his arms and usually wore sweatpants with armour hidden underneath them and depending on the situation either a hoodie also with hidden armour or just a black singlet.) and sat down on the bed next to the king

“They don’t notice.” King Phantom said gloomily. Fright Knights eyes wet wide and glowed blue

“What?!” he asked

“Their busy hunting ghosts.” King Phantom explained

“Hunting ghosts- to help you?” I asked

“No. They’ve been ghost hunters for years before they had me. They want to capture me actually and ‘tear the ghost boy apart molecule by molecule’.” King Phantom said

“Any other family you stay with?” I asked hopefully

“Well you know how Jazz my sister is nice, but she can’t move out yet. And Vlad is my uncle-” King Phantom started

“My appologies for interupting but Plasmius is your uncle?!” I asked

“Yeah I know! He keeps scolding me about my grades while we’re fighting! He knows full well that inbetween Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom and King Phantom I barely have time to study!” King Phantom said, I was already planning out people to take over some less important kingly duties

“I am talking to your parents.” I announced as I stood up

“What?! No! The cousin excuse only works so many times and at least even if he looked like a ghost Dan is the same ethnicity-”

“I’m sorry, your parents care so little they don’t even realise that the people you brang home are not your cousins?” I asked in horror, King Phantom paused

“Well, yeah. When you put it that way it sounds bad.” he said. I walked out the door and through a portal, walking straight into the Fenton house and pretending to be a friendly out-of-towner with an intrest in ghost hunting looking for teachers and a place to stay. My name was going to be Frie Getgi Ver, pronounced Fry Get-gi ver so fright giver, if they didn’t notice that they were truely horrible parents.

Part 1 | Part 2 (not written yet)

[memoriashell]

another year, another birthday tweet...i actually really (mostly) liked this year's message, so i prioritized working on it asap. lol. one day i'll get around to doing some of the ones from the previous years, but not today. also bc twitter is a ticking time bomb and i am doing my part in archiving content o7

disclaimer, i’m not fluent in japanese, so i’m not claiming that this is perfect or potentially not without misunderstandings. i’ve also included some translation notes to clarify some things that i felt needed clarification and to offer explanation as to why i reached the conclusions that i did.

i'll also have everything under the cut for easier accessability! sorry if there are typos it is almost midnight as i schedule this up for tomorrow >.>

--

大和田

「あぁ？誕生日だぁ？ Ah? [My] birthday?

やめろや、恥ずかしい。Quit that, [it’s] embarrassing. **

オレは日本最大最狂最悪の暴行チームの頭だぞ？I’m the leader of Japan’s most biggest, craziest gang, you know? ***

こんな事で喜んだ姿を見せてられっかよ……けど、まぁオメーらにだったらいいかもな。 [I’m] not sure if I can show how happy I am [for this sort of thing]...but, well, maybe it’s okay [to show that emotion] if it’s just you guys, right? ****

兄弟からも『本当の強さとは弱さを見せられる相手を持つ事だ』って忠告されたばっかだしな 」 “True strength is to have somebody to show your weaknesses to.” That’s the advice that Kyoudai gave me.

//

** やめろ generally is translated as stop it, but the や emphasis at the end gives the idea of this being a little more intense, which is generally on point for Mondo. To try and get across that it’s more than just a normal stop it, I decided to translate it as quit it instead. 

恥ずかしい just generally translates as being embarrassed or that something is embarrassing, so contextually you could read this as “Stop that, it’s embarrassing [that you’re celebrating]”, or “Quit that, I’m embarrassed [that you’re celebrating me]”. I went with the former because in the overall context that one made the most sense to me, but I think it’s probably okay to read it either way.

*** Okay this one was a bit of a doozy to try and make sense of, because 最大 is biggest, 最 is most, 狂 depends on context but one of the more common ways is to describe someone who is crazy enthusiastic about something, and 最悪 is for worst/terrible. It didn’t seem like there was an easy way to translate this without it becoming a mouthful and also not really making much sense, so I tried to compromise in the translation. 

As a bonus fun fact, since I cross referenced it trying to figure out how to translate,  最大最悪 is used for infamous: the biggest, most awful [most tragic event in human history] line in DR.

The other issue with this line is that uhm. I am hoping Kodaka just accidentally made a typo? 暴行 (boukou), I am hoping, was supposed to actually be bousouzoku (暴走族), which is the term used for referring to Mondo’s gang/deliquent activities. 暴行 is a word that can be associated with violence, but specifically SA. Sorry that I have to bring this up. Anyways, I tried to google to see if there was perhaps some slang I was missing (including the チーム/team from the original tweet), but that really only gave results for things related to sports teams and SA. Considering that as far as I could tell, no one on the JP side said anything about it, it might be something just lost in translation? But even searching the term on twitter didn’t seem to suggest that it’s a term used commonly so I don’t think it’s like a fan abreviation for bousozoku >> boukou. Anyways this god awful tangent aside, I’m working with the assumption that we’re talking about biking!!  Please know I was this close to giving up on this tweet because I did not want to have to explain this mess.

**** Okay so like this part is pretty straightforward, but I figured I’d give a few note anyways:

The first part of the sentance here technically is skepticisim about being able to show delight, but hesitates to say that it’s okay to do so. The following sentence builds on that, which suggests that he believes that showing happiness over celebrating his birthday would be weak, but because he takes what Kiyotaka has said as advice, he presumably takes it into consideration. 

It should be noted that 相手 is usually translated to like companion, partner, or company (singular), so I considered translated it as friend but, I opted to leave it a little more vague and use somebody instead. It seems intentional that it is supposed to be a very narrow translation instead implying that this is something that should be conveyed to anyone/everyone. In conclusion, the train of thought is something like: I’m a gang leader >> It’s embarrassing to be celebrating birthday’s >> I can’t show that emotion.

Then with the following sentence: There’s strength in showing weakness >> It might be weak to show emotion but that’s okay >> I can show that emotion around some people.

[nsfwmiamiart]

Official Communication - Letter: Subject: Clarification of Roles: Distinction Between Godmothers and Goddaughters in the Somali Royal Family

Official Communication from Crown Prince Angelo Subject: Clarification of Relationships Between Goddaughters and Their Godmothers

Here’s the list of Instagram profiles for the Goddaughters:

Justine Skye: @justineskye

Cuban Link (Jamira Haines): @_cuban_link

Jessica Marquez: @iamjessmarquez

Christina Santini: @santinihoudini

Here’s the list of profiles for the Godmothers:

Zoe Saldana: @zoesaldana

Charlize Theron: @charlizeafrica

Eva Mendes: @evamendes

Beyoncé: @beyonce

Sofia Vergara: @sofiavergara

Salma Hayek: @salmahayek

Delphine Arnault: Delphine Arnault - Wikipedia - (click on the blue link)

Dear Respected Godmothers and Future Wives,

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to provide clarity on the relationships that I, as Crown Prince Angelo, have structured between my future wives—your Goddaughters—and you, their esteemed Godmothers. This is a nuanced topic, and I wish to ensure there is no ambiguity in understanding these roles. Allow me to explain this distinction in detail, step by step, as though guiding students through a complex subject.

1. The Core Distinction Between Godmothers and Goddaughters

Godmothers: Your role is advisory and supportive. As Godmothers, you are cherished guides and mentors to your respective Goddaughters.

Goddaughters: These are the women I will marry. My future wives—my Goddaughters—are my chosen partners in life and the mothers of my future children.

Simply put, while Godmothers hold a position of respect and influence, my marital relationships and the continuation of my lineage rest solely with the Goddaughters.

2. The Relationships and Assignments

To provide further clarity, here is a breakdown of the Godmother-Goddaughter pairs:

Justine Skye: Her Godmothers are Zoe Saldana and Charlize Theron.

Cuban Link: Her Godmothers are Eva Mendes and Beyoncé.

Jessica Marquez: Her Godmother is Sofia Vergara.

Christina Santini: Her Godmothers are Salma Hayek and Delphine Arnault.

Each Godmother is entrusted with the guidance and mentorship of her Goddaughter, fostering a supportive and harmonious relationship.

3. Marriage and Parenthood

To eliminate any potential misunderstandings:

I will marry the Goddaughters, not the Godmothers.

I will have children with the Goddaughters, not the Godmothers.

This distinction is vital for maintaining the integrity of these relationships.

4. The Benefits to Godmothers

By structuring relationships in this way, life becomes simpler and more fulfilling for the Godmothers:

Ease of Access to Power: You will maintain influence and a close connection to the Royal Family through your Goddaughters, without bearing the direct responsibilities of marriage to a monarch.

Positive Relations: Your bond with your Goddaughter ensures that you remain an integral part of our shared mission, enjoying mutual respect and collaboration.

5. The Role of Godmothers in the Broader Vision

Your role as Godmothers is invaluable. You serve as confidantes, role models, and advisors to your Goddaughters, shaping their journey as future leaders and royal consorts. Your wisdom and guidance will ensure the success of the Somali Royal Family and the harmony of our collective mission.

6. Conclusion

In conclusion, I want to reiterate that while I deeply value the roles of the Godmothers, my marriages will be solely with the Goddaughters. This clear delineation ensures mutual respect and allows all of us to work towards our shared goals with clarity and purpose.

Thank you for your understanding and continued dedication to this vision. Should you have any questions or require further clarification, please do not hesitate to reach out to Salma Hayek and Nadia Fettah.

Warm regards, Angelo Crown Prince and Future Sultan Somali Royal Family

P.S.:

Synopsis of the Letter:

Crown Prince Angelo provides a detailed explanation of the distinct roles between the Godmothers and their respective Goddaughters within his royal structure. He emphasizes that while Godmothers serve as mentors and advisors to their Goddaughters, he will only marry the Goddaughters, who will also bear his children. This distinction ensures that Godmothers maintain influence and positive relationships with their Goddaughters without the responsibilities of marriage.

The letter clarifies the following relationships:

Justine Skye's Godmothers are Zoe Saldana and Charlize Theron.

Cuban Link's Godmothers are Eva Mendes and Beyoncé.

Jessica Marquez's Godmother is Sofia Vergara.

Christina Santini's Godmothers are Salma Hayek and Delphine Arnault.

By defining these roles, Crown Prince Angelo fosters harmony, ensuring the success of the Somali Royal Family’s vision while simplifying life for the Godmothers through their supportive relationships with the Goddaughters.

[sapphic-agent]

What a lot of Finn Hudson fans/defenders/apologists don't understand is that it isn't just about the outing.

Don't misunderstand, him outing Santana was fucking terrible. It was a shitty thing to do and there's no excusing it.

But for me, 3x07 will always be worse than 3x06.

I've said this before, but everyone in Glee is awful and everyone does shitty things. But what matters here is framing and execution.

Take Rachel sending Sunshine to the crack house, for example. You are NOT supposed to be on Rachel's side. Her actions are called out by everyone- even Schue and Finn who usually let her get away with her shit- and this is the focal point of her changing her behavior the rest of the season.

The show, even in its satirical phase, made the effort to stress that Rachel did a bad thing and it shouldn't be brushed over or justified.

Hell even compare it to the f*ggy scene in season 1. The show makes it clear that not only is Finn using the slur not justified, it makes the effort to address the fact that he has prejudices he wasn't aware of. He tolerated Kurt being gay, he didn't accept it. His arc that season was acknowledging that and making the effort to fix it.

Now, compare that to IKAG.

The show goes out of its way to excuse Finn outing Santana. We all saw why he did it in 3x06, he did it out of retaliation. He deliberately did it to be cruel to her because she was mean to him, the consequences of doing so never even crossed his mind because he didn't care enough.

But for some reason, 3x07 tries its damn hardest to convince us that he did it because he cares about her. That he was so afraid of her dying that he absolutely had to force her out of the closet and strongarm her into "accepting" herself. Mind you, in this episode he proceeded to blackmail her even further out of the closet under the guise of doing her a favor.

Finn was downright vile in IKAG, yet the show is bending over backwards to make him seem heroic. No one called him out and everyone was on his side (except Brittany, but they couldn't even have her say anything against him). Not only is this deplorable, it's also contradictory with what he saw in the previous episode. Almost like the writers realized that they had made Finn come off more spiteful than they meant to and scrambled to do damage control the next episode.

Listen, nothing could have made what he did better. But if they wanted to salvage any of Finn's character, they should have had him, at the very least, admit what he did was shitty and show even an ounce of regret. That would have made him a character that had the potential to be better.

(Hell, that's even what they did with Santana. She, if anyone recalls, always got called out. Season 2 was all about her behavior not being condoned or rewarded. Her name-calling in season 3 is also framed as antagonistic, even Mercedes and Brittany tell her to chill. So defending Finn by saying "well Santana's a bully🤓" amounts to nothing because Santana's actions aren't being framed positively like his constantly are)

In conclusion, fuck Finn Hudson all my homies hate Finn Hudson

[davekat-sucks]

agreed completely with last anon. i think the problem is, or at least what could have caused all of these misunderstandings and miscommunications, is that the truth is that Hussie has never been really good at writing character arcs, what he IS good at is at writing memorable characters with unique voices and visually appealing simple designs. and that's because, technically, he somewhat stole them from other media or started from referencing character tropes from old movies, homestuck has always been a mix of many different 80-90s media. so for example, the humans are stereotypical movie/comic characters (john= dorky nerd protag, dave = cool best friend, rose = snarky goth, jade = girl next door), and that's what makes the audience instantly like them, because they are familiar, but, at the time, modernized in a way that was actually entertaining with in-depth interests, different viewpoints, and funny chemistry. it's all that has worked for years concentrated in an easy to digest mold that gave it the potential to be something more than usual. and yet, john, jade and rose had ZERO character growth, dave had negative and became a fucking douchebag, and these four don't even act like friends anymore by the end of the story. what the fuck.

it also happened with the trolls, because as i said before, how did the "chosen one" character that was said to be caring and the second coming of christ ended up as admiring the tyrannical ruler that genocided his race and did nothing afterwards except be dave's sidepiece and never talking to his friends again. who the fuck would like that for a conclusion to his story? there is nothing satisfying about it, why should i now be invested in Karkat in hs2, if he is a bad friend with bad morals that ends up amounting to nothing? Hussie wrote that i shouldn't, that's what i get for assuming real people have character arcs, karkat was never meant to be a leader, but sea hitler jr, meenah, sure was.

that's what makes it unlikable and what causes disconnect between fans. he subverted not only the trope, but also the little character building he himself wrote, and ended up with confusing themes. he didn't do the hard job of keeping a consistent structured plot until the end, he just applied twists as convenient to act smugly cynical about it afterwards, like he's allergic to sincerity. you also see this with how he treated johnrose/davejade or karezi, or how he says davekat and now june were always meant to happen all along.

and so, what some fans like about karkat or dave, for example, is not what they actually achieved or did in the source story, because they ended up with nothing and also their wiki page was too long to read, but the fandom idealization of them. and that's how you get the wildly ooc dialogue you see in hs2, the writers see nothing wrong with this, dont understand how to separate their personal bias from these characters or what was actually appealing about them in the first place, and what we end up with are projections of who THEY would like to see in a story: characters that act like the writers themselves. hollow self-centered assholes with no sense of humour disconnected from reality that communicate via twitter memes, therapy speak, and the trendy political issue of the day, all so they can pat each other on the back and feel better about amounting to very little in life too, now with semi-canonical homestuck facepaint on.

sorry for the armchair psychology, but my conclusion is, what closure i try to give myself from this shitpile of a franchise, is to view it as a cautionary tale of caving to social pressure and treating people that find value in your work like shit. homestuck ended in a very unsatisfying way for many, and it continues to get worse because it's easier to call someone a bigot and double down on your beliefs than concede you made a mistake, wasted so much time and have no idea how to fix it.

Yes to everything said here! Say it loud for everyone to hear! I dislike when Hussie or people use the excuse that he was just SUBVERTING expectations. Not questioning on why even built it up in the first place if it meant NOTHING at all. It's a complete waste of time. And not in an ironic sense. A waste of time and emotion audiences felt before being slapped in the face and kicked in the balls for even caring. Like, I know Hussie is known for trolling. He made himself as this asshole-but-likeable persona for some time even prior to Homestuck. Sadly, this is probably one of the few times it wouldn't have worked if it means damaging your reputation in the long run. And I don't mean the edge humor he throws into the comic. I mean the treatment towards his fans where there's not much genuine sincerity and it's all asshole mode that it's hard to tell if it's joking or truly being hostile. He could have said he would like to be left alone, but perhaps pride and fame got in the way for him to say that. Even when it was the large amount of fans that made him feel pressured in the first place. I don't know how James or anyone in the team can really fix this mess without addressing problems people had with the series overtime. And not just stuff from Epilogues or Homestuck^2, but address things that were never answered or felt anticlimactic from the base webcomic.

[jenyifer]

Dangerous romance 7/10 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Lists I’d Put It In: So much potential, Sports, Slice of Life

Review: There is a lot of things I like about dangerous romance but the cons makes it so that I’d likely not watch it again.

Pros the actors main and side were fan fucking tastic. Perth can be so intimidating bratty sexy and on the other hand just a sweet little puppy. I love how funny he made Kang just adding flare. Chimon baby of OffGun of course I watched this show mainly for him. Sailom is basically a hop skip and jump away from Wave from the gifted Sassy Smart Secertly extremely caring and gushy. I’m hoping Chimon’s roles always involve sass it’s his signature. GIVE PAPANG AND PEPPER A BIGGER BL ROLE AND VIEWJUNE ALL OF MY MONEY. MarcPawin really surprised me as well I wasn’t expecting much because I just watched my gear your gown. The grandma was precious. Euro and JJ were great comic relief I wish there had been more of them. I wish there was more I made a post before this 12th ep saying how I’d fix the series in detail. So I’m gonna boil it down here. The ships should have been more interlocked with eachother. The editing made the show boring. Why did we have so many flashbacks and lingering shots. I love a pretty scene but they took so long and we needed extra interlocking scenes for all the ships. Ugh I can see how this show would have been great with just a few changes which makes it so frustrating. Anyways more about the ships after the break

First Perth and Chimon are not at fault for this I’m talking about editing and story. I adore KangSailom they had good potential but it felt like it got every trope imaginable enemies to lovers, poor boy rich boy, long standing unexplainable secret crush from childhood, tutor student, redemption arc, misunderstanding. AND YET IT FELT WEAK BECAUSE OF THE EDITING AND LACK OF OTHER CHARACTERS INTERACTION UNTIL THE VERY END.

Meanwhile audiences kept getting tiny precious glimpses of WONDERFUL side ships.

GuyNawa Idiot Sport boy for Idiot Sport boy with injury, enemies to lovers (really fully enemies), long standing crush was so incredibly beautiful and effective. I probably won’t have liked their plot too if it had been drawn out because I would have been missing the other side characters but what we got for them was perfect I’d rewatch their scenes again. I was much more impressed by MarcPawin this time I hope they get another series their kiss was thru the roof. They give me strong Sports Anime vibes made me miss Haikyuu.

Saifah and Name had the most potential to be a 10/10 ship. Papang and Pepper definitely need their flowers because the show didn’t give them a lot to work with. Their characters and storylines should have been worked in from the beginning. I wanted to want to cry for Saifah when he was taken away. I wanted to want Name to stay safe as he tried to protect Sailom and Saifah. But I felt like it was so rushed. We barely got to see what these characters had. But everything we did was leaning towards greatness a big brother who has done wrong in the past to get by trying to do ANYTHING for his brother even tho he’s in over his head and a bit of an idiot and mafia guy who sees his highschool friend again falls in love but is offered shit choices all around to his enviable conclusion and redemption. If only we had gotten them sooner and worked into Sailom’s plot more. I’m telling you it would have been stunning. I can see the vision.

I really love Pimfah. She is… a great female character. I talked about it already but great lesbian energy. I wish I had more. I wish Pimfah could have been worked more smoothly into Kang’s storyline after he decided to go after Sailom. The student teacher was precious. She is going to make a great teacher. I wish we got a spin off of what happens in London. But sadly the ship just didn’t have enough screen time.

I might rewatch the GuyNawa scenes again but the rest is probably a skip.

Bonus: Strangest kiss in the bathroom award goes to….