#real representation of how the world is atm

[aaal-iz-well]

Guyssss...

Okay, babe, deep breath.

Done?

Good.

Let's roll

WTF is happening? I swear to god a month ago I was checking this hashtag for updates like my life depended on it, and I had great plans for my wip's and everyone was making predictions about what the vault might contain.

Then I tell myself to start making some headway with my studies because exams are breathing down my neck and I (somehow) manage to keep away from this fandom that has been my life and blood for so long. AND ALL HELL BREAKS LOSE!!

Now we know that there are THREE books related to this fandom coming out this year and we might get Toby and Hannah and I'm so excited!

But there are two characters who have my undivided attention atm and I want to talk about them!

So now we have all the main characters, I'm so thrilled that Rohan is one of them because his story is so intriguing to me and it also adds to some much needed Indian or Pakistani (though most prob Indian) representation.

Just think about the kind of background he must have come from, let that blow your mind!

I know that he is going to have a real tragic backstory. Think something involving childhood abandonment or abuse or (most probably) separation from his loving family, coming to London, being faced with the HUGE cultural shock and the nail biting cold and relentless rain. Add to this: making sense of the weird accent. Being picked off the street to do some odd work for the Devil's Mercy. Slowly getting to know it's secrets and rising among its ranks till he reached Factotum. Falling for Zella (first love, maybe?), having his heart broken.

AND THEN HAVING HIS TITLE STRIPPED AT THE END!

CAN YOU FEEL THE BAD BLOOD ENERGY RISING?

'cause baby now we got bad blood...

I also believe that often things are not so one dimensional and that Zella is nothing short of deserving the position. She has undeniably had her struggles with gaining the power she now holds and being a woman of colour in a royal household. But I'm focusing of Rohan here, maybe I'll make a detailed post about Zella sometime later?

These are all only theories, but I can't help thinking that it's going to be something along these lines.

And then there's the fact that Jameson is not going to be a main character (*crying emoji cause I cant seem to insert one of the proper size*) Like he has so many unfinished threads and so much family drama to sort out.

We never got to see an independent confrontation of Ian over how he used Jameson to get what he wanted, or anything about the Prague mystery!!

And I know this might be a bit controversial with some of you, but I really want to see him and Avery fight. Because ofc they are a power couple and express their love to each other in such creative ways. BUT, but you get to know so much about a character when you see their world shifting, when the one thing that they believed to be an anchor is uprooted. How they act when the other is out of orbit. AND WE SIMPLY HAVEN'T SEEN THAT FOR JAMESON. I also might be holding out for a very hot romantic make up later on, but my point stands.

So there's my little (rather late) bit, but still.

Also to those who have read my work and have been so kind to shower me with kudos and comments, I want to apologise profusely. There is a lot to come, but just not at this moment when exams are leeching the life out of me, and trust me when I say I have the most elaborate plans for the future!

Like always, can't wait to hear all your brilliant thoughts. Have a good day/night (depending on whatever time zone you guys are in)

Also please check out Lockwood and Co if you have the time because it's something that I can't stop thinking about and would love to talk about. As an added bonus, one of the mc is kinda like Jameson (and that's how you know I have a type)

[thelizardperson]

okayyyy seeing barbie the second time and some things i noticed that i think push more into the critique of barbie - on the first day where barbie has a perfect day and gets the perfect breakfast, she sips the milk but doesn’t eat the waffle, in fact barbie doesn’t actually eat. ever. and its not because she cannot as a doll, again she does the action of sipping milk, and in fact does even drink actual tea in the real world, but she doesn’t even pretend to eat. now i do think its a stretch but i think this could be greta’s nod to how barbie being an unrealistic body type can lead to unhealthy eating habits

-  even barbie world where everything is perfect and women rule the world, they still carry the harmful social dynamics girls experience when they don’t do femininity “right” - weird barbie is still ostracized and exiled for being weird. The Barbies still worry about having perfect hair and Barbie’s flat feet are considered unequivocally gross.

- something that im still thinking about is that at the end of the mom’s double standards speech, she ends with “i dont know” and i dont know if its intentional but both times ive listened to that and gotten to the end im like okay wow. but uh. what was the point? and that i dont know at the end makes me feel like it is a critique on like, feminism that is just about pointing out the things wrong with the patriarchy without offering a real solution ? (im still trying to understand my own take on this tbh) and how like this sort of rhetoric managed to snap the barbies out of their patriarchy trances and magically solve everything but like. that doesn’t work in the real world. the real world is aware of this dichotomy, take sasha, the politically correct middle schooler, who is portrayed not just as an exception, a nerdy sjw, but in fact as a cool girl, leader of the intimating middle school girl posse - she knows that women are mistreated, but that doesn’t solve that companies “still do patriarchy very well, but just know how to hide it better“. Like i guess its that the message is here. everyone knows we Should treat women better, but how do we institute that kind of change? As we see with the way barbies treat each other and approach beauty as a necessity, even just putting women in power doesn’t necessarily solve it? im not sure, but i think somewhere in here is the heart of the movie, this movie which says only men in power doesn’t work, but neither does just women in power. - ordinary barbie... who is she? are we able to glamorize and idolize a regular woman? I think “mattel” says she will sell because she is relatable, and that is what people are clamoring for atm, especially youth who want accurate representation and to be seen. but like, idk the consequences of that are not discussed. Will she stay relevant? Will she ever be as iconic as stereotypical barbie is? Can she be? - The way mattel is portrayed in this movie is ... interesting. I think a lot of it must be censored/restricted by the actual company’s influence on the film, but like... hmm. They’re portrayed kind of as an “average corporation”, boring office, all male executives, the quip at the end being like oh if ordinary barbie sells we’ll make her. But also the ceo not caring that ken is making money, and only “caring about little girls and their dreams” was a weird, unexpected line for me. is this them trying to protect their image? like an oh we do only really care about making money but we can’t just outwardly sell patriarchy because that would look bad? or was that genuine? Is he too lost in the corporation sauce that he sold himself on that idea? Also because the executives are portrayed very de-humanized and lacking in autonomy (honestly some of the least human-like characters in the movie about dolls).

[zippers]

random note...i really liked Wyll bg3 during my first playthru, but at the time i didnt explore the druid's grove until after I had met with the absolute/done most of the goblin quests so he was a lil broken when I recruited him and I was a warlock on top of that so I didn't unlock a lot of his cutscenes i'm sure. But now that he's in my party while I'm going thru the goblin camp, i kind of hate his character.

look. i love goblins so much to the point where if Sazza was romanceable i would choose her, so i admit my bias. i get that he was seriously injured by specific goblins, and the cutscene in question was after i told him he was extreme for killing one of those goblings... after he surrendered. and that the goblins are atm tormenting my people as I am a tiefling... but the language he (and only he) uses towards goblins just feels like they wanted to make the Black main character say racist things. like...the language he uses is straight out of 1930s germany. things that would be dogwhistles back then but today are baldly antisemitic. it's pretty appalling... I kicked him out of my party after that but I haven't had the literal power in my house/time to play it again so I don't know how I feel. I have no idea if he has a good arc yet since i have never finished the early access...

but mostly i'm disappointed that my favorite game studio went this route... and yes i do have the option to side with the goblins... and possibly wipe out my people in the druid grove in doing so? idk. in my first playthrough i ended up having to kill all the goblins (except for Sazza who strangely never went aggro even after i killed the absolute) because a goblin went aggro out of nowhere when I tried to talk to him. so I really don't know if you can save the grove AND the goblins.

why are all fantasy rpgs like this... why can't inter-species fantasy conflict stem from "we have conflicting goals/economies/religions/morals that make the powerful people in society use lives as pawns in their conquest, but the actual population has diversity of thought and action" instead of "all goblins are cockroaches that need to be exterminated and if you disagree you're not only a Bad Person you have the Evil Alignment"—of course we are only seeing the representation of goblins that choose to live in a camp that is currently sieging a peaceful people for no apparent reason other than the love of killing. but still. that's not only who Wyll is talking about. or if at some point he goes "wow I was saying some really alarming things back then" (but since real world dog whistles dont have any historical significance to fantasy worlds i would feel that to be a bit out of place? idk how to explain that fully) and I have no idea if that is something theyre hearing feedback on in early access.

[dangerliesbeforeyou]

been thinking about this a lot cos i see a lot of Disk Horse about it, but there's like 2 opposing popular views when it comes to queer representation in media.

the first is that current queer media trends are overly sanitised. they say that these queer stories are devoid of any real sense of queer experiences, that they exclude portrayals of sex and attraction in favour of 'uwu'ification (a term that i just made up but go with it lol) homophobia/transphobia in these kinds of stories is either a non-issue or defined by just a few bad eggs, rather than a systemic issue. the reason for this kind of media is that a more sanitised version of queerness is more palatable to a non-queer audience and, more importantly, to advertisers! so the same way we're seeing sites like youtube and tiktok censoring so-called 'adult' topics like 's3x' or 'unalive' so that companies feel comfortable about putting their ads on the videos, queer characters need to be brightly coloured bubblegum and unproblematic versions of queerness to appeal to that same kinda thing... i often see these people talk about how they want more 'fucked up' queer representation, queer characters and stories that are 'problematic' or 'evil' to counteract the sanitised disney-fied stories that they say dominate the queer representation market atm...

the other viewpoint is one that says current queer media is actually overly sexualised, with too much of a focus on explicit scenes as well as drug/alcohol abuse being the norm in media that has young people as its target audience. this is often the same crowd that complain about sex scenes in media, not just queer ones, saying they're unnecessary and uncomfortable to watch. and when a queer media comes out that doesn't focus on sex (and drugs/alcohol/etc), they praise it for being more 'wholesome' than other media. this is often the media that the first group see as sanitised btw... they are often first in criticising queer characters and ships as perpetuating harmful stereotypes or being 'problematic' in their eyes, claiming that the villainisation of queer characters leads to villainisation of real queer people...

the first group calls the 2nd group puritanical in their views, the 2nd group calls the first perverted in theirs. so... who's right?

well... i think both groups have incredibly valid critiques of current queer media. but at the same time, both are wrong in how they want to solve these issues.

current queer media, particularly stuff within the mainstream, is a lot more sanitised. companies like disney only use queer characters in order to help with marketing, whilst at the same time actively funding incredibly homophobic legalisation (for e.g. the don't say gay bill) and also blocking or under-promoting stories that feature queer characters or stories (for e.g. that film strange worlds(?) that came out last year). but to say this is representative of all queer media is massively disingenuous imo! not only are their very prominent and popular mainstream series and films that feature 'fucked up' queer characters and stories, but you just have to look beyond hollywood at foreign or indie cinema to see some super interesting and strange queer media being told by queer creators!

i always say, but if you're looking for interesting or nuanced queer stories in blockbuster superhero movies then i think mayyyybe you're looking in the wrong place lol...

as for the 2nd view, i actually tend to agree that a lot of queer media (both new and old) is overly focused on sex and substance abuse. growing up, i didn't have series like heartstopper that portrays a much more 'innocent' version of young queer people, most of what i saw was stuff that was either made for older audiences or featured more 'adult' themes (and i know that this was mainly because back along media featuring queer characters at all was immediately deemed as inherently 'adult' anyway). and like, i personally didn't mind, though i would have longed for a film like the half of it! i also think something within this discussion that gets lost is the fact there's so little media that centres ace or aro stories! there's often the odd mention of ace/aro characters within larger narratives, but not as much in terms of them being the main characters!

despite this, i'd again say that trying to claim that the only stories being released are hyper sexual ones is plain wrong lol i've literally mentioned 2 things in this post that are more 'wholesome' with less focus on sex and still focus on young queer people! there's also a significant increase in queer media made for kids as well as in cartoons/animated films! there is so much more 'family friendly' queer content out there now than ever, which i'm so happy about! and the existence of this kind of media doesn't erase the more adult media that also exists currently!

i think, ultimately, people need to take a step back and realise that we live in a sorta golden age of queer representation. it's not perfect by any means, and a part of that is that we need an increase of queer people both in front and behind the camera, particularly queer people of colour (since a major critique that i don't see nearly enough is the lack of queer media with non-white people people!)

i also would say that as important as queer representation in media is, i don't think it can be presented as a form of activism. because the fact of the matter is that queer characters and stories have been in both mainstream and indie cinema for a longggg time, and despite the fact we are more visible in the things we consume, there has been a massive increase in anti-queer sentiment within the whole world in the last few years alone! anti-trans views and legalisation, as well as a notable increase of violent hate crimes, are just amongst a whole lot of queerphobia existing in the world at the moment that is not going to be magically fixed by queer media or representation!

tl/dr (or in conclusion...): there is a whole bunch of queer media that's being released all across the world every day, many of which is being written by or featuring queer people! there's a long way to go with queer rep, of course, (especially with less represented communities like ace/aro or trans/nb people!) but the claims that it's either overly sanitised or overly sexual are just plain wrong in my opinion, particularly if people are willing to watch things other than hollywood blockbusters or the latest netflix series' lol! it's also important to remember that queer media and representation isn't going to fix our queerphobic world, and the over emphasis on the harm and/or benefit of queer media is missing the forest for the trees lol...

[figpoems]

A real time representation of me coming to terms with my relationship atm

—————

I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve got it backwards

I have sex with my friends and lay in separate beds w the girl I love

I drunkenly make out with platonic soulmates while admiring from afar the face of the girl I exchange “I love you”s with

It’s not to say I hate what I have

I cherish these moments

Us smiling and laughing and looking

But I’ve got it backwards

How did it end up backwards?

Like a shirt I’ve put on wrong

Still wearable, but others around me will question it

Judge it

“I think your girlfriend is your friend”

But those words are so inexplicably messed in my brain and my world, their mixing practically intertwining to form a new experience

If sex and love together makes a girlfriend then you and I would be the end

Then her and a school friend would be the end

But it’s me and her

Only us.

I’ve got it backwards but maybe there isn’t a right way round

I think I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s ok, there can’t be a backwards

Only a now.

[bookwyrminspiration]

Okay on a more serious note I really want to hear what you think about this because I don’t want to talk to real life people

I want to talk about Biana’s scars

As someone who struggles with self harm (I’m getting help) this meant so much to me

I read book 6 (when she got the scars) when I was young and it was only a year after I started sh so I was super insecure and wore long sleeves all the time

Nowadays I wear short sleeves because that one scene literally changed everything

I love the quote “these scars are a part of me now and I’m done pretending they aren’t.” And I had it as my wallpaper for a while

I want to know if you think that was Shannon trying to bring awareness to self harmers and people who were born with or have scars they are embarrassed about or if it was just a coincidence

~Kotlc-anon

this is a really good topic so thank you so much for bringing it up. Biana's scars are an addition to her character and her development and her representation that often get reduced to "hell yea that's badass woo!" or at least that's been my experience with it in the fandom, so it's nice to talk about the impact it actually has aside from being a challenge to her character's integrity and morals.

I'm glad you're getting help and that you feel confident enough to wear short sleeves because of Biana's quote. I think it might be one of my favorite if not my favorite from her. It offers such a glimpse into her character and means so much. Those scars are a part of her. They are a part of her story and what she survived. They are a testament to her self-image and how she presents herself and how she's accepted herself and loves herself enough to be genuine.

Hearing the impact that scene had on you is wonderful. Books genuinely have so much impact on our lives when we let them. I think that might be part of what draws us, as readers, to each other. There's a vulnerability in loving books and allowing stories and characters to have an impact on us and sharing it is so intimate. And then there's those special few quotes that we read and just want to hold so close and cherish because they feel so right. i have a few from Black Sails, but I can't remember the ones from books atm because I'm focusing on yours

I will admit I don't think Biana's journey was specifically a tribute to people who self-harm, but I don't think they're excluded from the group she was targeting. Reading about Biana's scars and how she learned to accept them and herself, its seems targetted to people who don't fit the beauty standard, people with obvious scars and physical features that separate them from others.

her character has a lot about confidence and being authentic--hence the quote you mentioned. For her, that authenticity comes with scars. Biana has scars on half her body. That's a fact that cannot be denied or brushed away. Pretending they aren't there isn't going to make anyone happy. So I think some of that rhetoric we see present in Biana's character could be a message Shannon wanted to share to people like Biana, people with scars and others.

I don't think it was a coincidence that people with scars can relate to her or find solace in her story. Writing is a lot of making things up and fumbling around with the words, but there is also undoubtedly deliberate actions. Something as impactful as Biana's scars, even if it was impulsive, is something that would be thought through afterwards. Her quotes, her journey, it's meant to be inspiring. For anyone who can relate even a little bit. She is meant to be someone to look up to and find confidence from. That's one of her functions as a character in this story.

I wouldn't say she was trying to bring "awareness," but rather create a solace, a oasis for people who relate to her. She's a character for people like you. Not that you have to love her or enjoy her, but in a way she's acknowledging that people with scars have a place in her world, that they aren't lesser for their scars.

that's just a few of the thoughts I have about her scars though. There's so much wrapped up in them and how she learned to accept them and stop hating them and hiding them. It really opens up a path to the center of her character and her impact on the story and readers.

thank you so much for bringing this up and sharing your experience <33

[etherealjaunt]

Should I get this cookie run game? I'm interested to know what it's like and I'm looking for an experienced person to ask if they reccomend it or not

It’s a bit long but i hope this gives you a clear idea of what the games are like as well as the company behind them: Cookie Run Ovenbreak (the “main” game): Gameplay: - 2d side scroller - you run and collect jellies/points - 2 main keys: jump/slide - each cookie has different perks and abilities - compete in races where the winner with a higher score gets rewards - compete in guild races with other members to beat other guilds for rewards - events and new cookies released often PROS: - cute art, music, and characters - fun for a while CONS: - extremely grindy, it became a chore really fast and i dreaded playing it - it’s PAY TO WIN if you’re a new player and haven’t invested a lot of time yet to make it “bearable” - new cookies are generally the “META” meaning you need them to score well (thus P2W) - it can be difficult to keep up/score well enough if you fall behind because of the constant new “you must get this new cookie” updates - events are very repetitive Yes/No? I personally would say no after playing it for a while. It maybe fun for the first while but it gets grindy and boring. == Puzzle World (the “match 3″ game): Gameplay: - matching game - unlock/use cookies with different abilities/power ups PROS/CONS: - i can’t really list these since i’m not interested in matching games Yes/No? If you’re into matching games and you like characters then sure ==

Cookie Run Kingdom (the farm/pvp game): Gameplay: - new, so easy to catch up atm - farm resources to create items - decorate your kingdom with buildings and deco items - small pool of cookie characters (for now) - pvp system with a customizable team of cookies to fight each other - story/lore to follow with story map - dialogue and voices available - each cookie has different skills and stats - frequent events - guilds will probably be released soon PROS: - one of the easier and more ‘forgiving’ type farm games - very cute art, music, and characters - many interactions you can do with the cookies and the decorations/buildings - combat system is fun - clear timeline of events and upcoming events CONS: - it crashes so damn much - it’s imbalanced in terms of cookies, (ex. you ABSOLUTELY NEED espresso to win) - not as P2W as ovenbreak CURRENTLY, but i do see the possibility since that’s how they messed up their old game Cookie Wars - unclear at times and has translation errors (ex. details about the buff items for pvp is inconsistent with KR text) - it’s not very balanced with overall character skills and items (ex. attack speed is kind of useless but they still make it a “thing”, and crit resist)

Yes/No? If you’re really interested in trying the cookie run games, this is probably the one you should go for. It’s still new (released in late january 2021) so it’ll be easy for you to catch up. You can get a head start when things become more P2W (which they most likely will) But be prepare for crashes and frequent long maintenances. == Devsisters (the company itself): Before deciding, I think it’s good to also know a bit about the company. I want to make it clear that they are not an indie company. It is a corporation that is owned and run by men. The management team behind this company purposely chose the name Devsisters as a marketing tactic so investors and customers were “more likely” to choose to work with them when they think the company is run by women. They have a very long history of showing misogyny within their games despite the cute characters and supposed representation. If you want to read about it in detail, you can check it out here:

{{WARNING: it may be upsetting and have sensitive content such as clear misogyny and homophobia}}  twitter(DOT)com/I_love_My1a/status/1360645981918744578 (Also just in case someone tries to argue since it has happened) Many KR players HAVE contacted the team about these issues a long time ago. The company waited a long time and MASS REPLIED to all reports with the SAME COPY AND PASTE MESSAGE of in a nutshell: “sorry we can’t do anything”. But are super quick to take action when men are mocked/insulted in usernames/messages == Conclusion: What i’m trying to say is, if you do decide to play the games or just join in the fandom(+ consume the cute character content), it’s good to be aware that the people managing it may not be genuine and the games can be quite P2W.

Some players found it difficult to keep playing or staying with the series after these many incidents came to light, some found it even difficult to join the fandom...

They are not much different than the big triple A game companies that have a long history of questionable actions/decisions behind closed doors. (cough blizzard+riot)

The artists and the creative team themselves are still the MVP of the company and the reason why the game is still alive today. (I truly think they’re just trying to do what they can to make a living since it is quite difficult to get an art type job especially in South Korea with so many competitors) 

I personally refrain from purchasing too much and think that it’s best to directly support the artists of the team since they do have their own personal social media online.

*~*~*~*TL;DR*~*~*~* It’s a cute game but you don’t need to play it to enjoy it. I personally think that the main success factor are their characters, which you can very well enjoy them on their own without touching the games at all. I hope this was informative and helpful for you! FINAL NOTE: I want to clarify that most of what I said are my opinions only. BUT the contents of the link and the history of the company is real. The evidence is mostly in that tweet but also deeper if you want to look further.

[itsclydebitches]

I'm sorry, but as someone who can't stand how Yang acted for 80% of Atlas, saying "her feeling like she had to help raise Ruby is demeaning and unempathetic to Tai" is a HORRIBLE take. If Yang held it against Tai that'd be one thing, but she doesn't, least not as far as we've seen.

And "she decided he's an unfit parent"? That's literally just headcanon. Where is this stated or supported in any way? Literally everything, from the show to the comics to the manga, shows she absolutely values her father and his guidance. Her providing similar guidance to Ruby at some point doesn't change that, she's stated to be Ruby's mother figure, a woman in her life she could seek advice on in regards to things as well.

Like anon I get you're frustrated by how empathy and morality are handled in this show, I am too, but this just ain't it.

I have simillar feelings on the Weiss scene too but that's another story, you already kind of covered it.

Agreed, though I don't want to rag on the other anon. As said, I can very easily see how someone would come to that conclusion, especially given how often we discuss parts of the show without actually re-watching those scenes, leading to iffy interpretations down the line. A fandom pretty heavily focused on a "Tai is a bad dad" reading + Yang's unfair criticisms of others from Volumes 5-8 (notably her most recent characterization. The one fresh in everyone's mind) = an easy opportunity to mistakenly slam the two together. It happens. That's why I try, whenever possible, to re-watch moments, or at the very least re-read transcripts. I'm well aware of how easy it is to get sucked into how the fandom discusses scenes and take that interpretation at face value, when in fact what's canonical has gotten pretty warped across, in this case, six years of content and discussions.

But let's talk about Weiss a bit more! I think it's worth re-emphasizing that, yes, I'm well aware that she was the victim of that dinner party. My own criticism lies less in that specific moment and more the conceptualizing of our heroes as a whole, which leads to some missed opportunities in that moment, some quite important. For example, most classically heroic characters would be horrified at nearly hurting/killing someone, regardless of whether that was intentional or not. That's a crucial part of what makes them heroic: cherishing life and shouldering responsibility for others' safety, even when it's clear from the audience's more objective perspective that they weren't at fault. There's a happy middle ground here between acknowledging Weiss' horrific panic attack and acknowledging Weiss' responsibility moving forward to ensure that her trauma doesn't endanger others—given that her trauma is drawing on literal, combat techniques—highlighting her desire to do right by the people of Remnant, even when they're snobbish, rich assholes. Any reading that boils things down simply to "Weiss is the only victim in this situation and besides, why do we care if a racist Atlesian bites the dust 😒?" is a small representation of the much larger writing problems of Volumes 7 and 8: acting like Mantle is full of only good victims, Atlas only evil perpetrators, and a defense of the latter isn't worth anyone's time—certainly not the heroes who never, ever make mistakes with massive consequences. Weiss' near attack also carries with it the beginnings of a lot of themes that RWBY never capitalized on, but pretended were an important part of the story by the end of that Atlas arc, like Ironwood's supposed propaganda, or Whitley's question of whether power should be solely in the hands of a few, individual huntsmen. Weiss' situation might have been reframed into something that looks intentional: Here's not just a girl, but a Schnee girl, attacking a poor, defenseless civilian with her scary powers. Are we really going to leave the safety of our kingdom—the world—in the hands of people like her? You should be backing the army, people who have your real interests in mind, led by the man who saved that woman's life—General Ironwood! And the audience would rightly be going, Hey now wait a fucking minute. That's not what happened! It was an accident born of trauma and abuse. How can you manipulate the people into thinking otherwise? Into thinking Weiss is the enemy here? Like, if you're going to write Ironwood/Atlas as the awful, propaganda spewing antagonists... actually write that story.

So the party scene could have been the launching point for a lot of important work, both in terms of Weiss' characterization (a hero learning to balance flaws with her people's safety; taking responsibility for her mistakes, no matter the initial intention) and the world building (what does it mean for a Schnee to (mistakenly) attack a civilian when tensions are this high and faith in huntsmen is beginning to fail?) But for the purposes of what we actually got, that lack of reflection on Weiss' part, as said, reads badly when pit against her actions in Volumes 6-8. Because my brain is super focused on Star Wars atm, I think Anakin is a decent comparison to all this. Meaning, we know where he ends up—super scary Sith Lord who is going to do All The Bad Things Ever—and that will, naturally, color our reading of everything that happens in prequal material. When Anakin gets pissed and cuts the limbs off a Separatist, it produces a "Yikes" reaction in the audience because we know that anger, grief, frustration, and fear are going to lead him down an awful path. In contrast, when Obi-Wan is challenged about his no killing unarmed men policy and cheekily looks to Rex to kill him instead, we don't really go "Yikes" because we know Obi-Wan remains true to the Light for his entire run. All their actions have the primary reading of "They were justified that time/they made a mistake/they're allowed to be human/etc." But only Anakin has the secondary reading of, "That action is REALLY BAD—more bad than Obi-Wan's—because we know where it leads. It reads as setup for his inevitable fall." That's basically where the RWBY group is at the moment, provided you're unhappy with their lack of empathy in the later volumes. If the group had remained more compassionate then yeah, we'd continue to shrug off past moments that sorta imply otherwise because we know that's not who they really are. Weiss never grappled with nearly hurting someone only because, hell, RWBY doesn't let her grapple with anything! She didn't even get to respond to getting speared through the gut. But knowing where they end up—knowing that Weiss will be party to Ozpin's treatment, will help betray Ironwood, will accuse Marrow of abandoning her city only to do nothing for it in turn, will threaten her brother, will give the wish to destroy her entire kingdom and displace all its people, etc.—creates that "Yikes" response whenever we see something earlier that even somewhat aligns with her current characterization. It doesn't erase the 100% correct reading that Weiss was the victim and made a totally unintentional mistake in that moment. It doesn't erase the knowledge that RWBY rarely capitalizes on the implications of scenes like this anyway. It only adds another reading in the form of, "Well, knowing where she ends up... I can kinda see that future version in her here too."

[plusultra-anime]

I’m actually an SPN blog: a few thoughts on 15x19

Hi I don’t make long posts like this often. But I wanted to gather a few thoughts from this latest episode, some that have been put forward by others and some of my own, just to make a bit more sense of where we’re at for myself and to gather/collate things into one place. I am writing this at 6am in a pre-coffee haze so forgive me if any details are wrong or make less sense.

There’s some positivity and some negativity (seems that way after pretty much every Bucklemming episode lol) so I’m trying to take a more positive angle – for my sanity. I may be clowning and I don’t want to get any hopes up to be disappointed but this is just where I’m at with it atm.

Bucklemming So this episode was written by Bucklemming, and as we expected it didn’t make a whole lot of sense in terms of narrative (to me anyway), apart from the overarching narrative of Being Free From God/The Writers. In true Bucklemming fashion we even had an appearance from Mark P (yuck). However, as many others have pointed out, the ~final~ final is written by Dabb, in whom I think we can have confidence that he knows what he’s doing. The big positive for me (and again, many others) is that Bucklemming got this episode and not 15x20!

Empty Space Again, this has already been pointed out by others, but there’s obvious empty space left at the end of this episode. We see Castiel’s name carved into the table, but no real effort made to bring him back into the home, with the two Winchesters “riding off into the sunset” as they started – pretty much alone. There’s also the empty space left by Eileen, and there’s clearly (imo) been an effort made this season to place her firmly next to Sam as endgame. And again, no real effort made by the Winchesters to find her.

We’ve long since moved on from the Two Brothers on the Road story and arrived at Found Family, and to me the empty space left by Cas, Eileen, Jack leaving to become God (?? Did I get that right? Because it sounds wrong lol) and leaving the homely, safe nest they’ve created for themselves, is glaring and screaming. This could just be bad writing (but we were promised no GoT ending, right?!) or it could be set up to make us want that empty space to be filled in the final episode.

I’ve not been digging too hard into the Internet this morning but I’ve already seen (who I assume to be) GA viewers left confused, saying “but what about Cas/Eileen/the contentment/the closure?” which I’ll get to in a moment. Of course, there are those who take the episode for what it is and are left happy with it, but I think that empty space is there for us to notice.  I think.

Closure Speaking about the ending, I remember seeing J2 saying that it ended with a “content” feeling, and “closure”. To me, that’s not what we’ve seen at the end of 15x19. We’ve been shown time and again what a happy ending for Sam and Dean would look like. Dean running a bar, keeping his home nice, going out on the odd hunt but nothing world-shattering, peace. And for Sam we’ve been led towards him becoming a Leader for hunters, a scholar, and a partner to Eileen. We haven’t had any of this yet! And that’s not even considering the Castiel of it all!

(Closure, if we do consider the Castiel of it all, would involve a confession from Dean to match Cas’s, and for them to be endgame romantic to mirror Sam and Eileen. That’s all I want to say on that because I realise that with that kind of TV representation for queer couples what we already got could be all they managed to fight for from the network. Definitely tempering my hopes in this case. But I do have hopes! Because, as many wonderful meta writers have pointed out time and again, it makes narrative sense!)  

At the end of a story, closure is important. Sometimes the absence of it can be satisfying in itself, projecting the narrative beyond the story we’ve been told for the audience to continue in our own minds. But I don’t think that’s quite what we’re getting here, because a good Lack of Closure ending still needs to be satisfying. Which, imo, this was not. We still have one episode left, and I’m wondering if that unsatisfied Lack of Closure feeling we all have right now is deliberate. (I think it probably is?)

Fake Out I saw someone (sorry I can’t remember who) describe this “season finale” episode as a fake out, made for the part of the fandom who ~want~ that Two Brothers on the Road ending. They can stop watching now. “Ok Destiel and perceptive GA fans, now the Bibros aren’t listening we can tell you the real ending”?

And to me it felt like a fake out, it felt fake, it felt like a projection on the wall. Like at the end of the rom-com when the two straight people kiss and that’s the end, but after that snapshot their lives carry on? We’re going to get that after-the-snapshot moment, which I think is rare in TV, as the series finale. Now that the loose plot ends are tied off, the projector can be powered down. We can see what happens to the characters when the writers stop writing, I guess.

I don’t know if I explained that well but basically, I agree with the feeling that This is Not the True Ending. EDIT: I just thought of this after I posted but it’s like it’s given closure to the Two Brothers on the Road narrative itself to make space for the Found Family ending. idk??? what do you think?

(I was going to make this another point itself but as I addressed this already mostly – it feels like a Performative Ending, like what you’re Supposed To Do for a series finale, which I feel can partly be attributed to Bucklemming being shit writers, and partly (I suspect … because I’m assuming Dabb still had a bit of a hand in things as showrunner) to generate the kind of “wtf was that ending?” buzz we’re seeing. To make people want to tune in to the ~final~ final, to see how the Empty Space will be dealt with, and to see what kind of Closure we’ll get after all.)

Flashforward My final point, directed towards the pessimistic bit of my brain in the hope that it’ll chill out, is that there’s still an hour of story left to go. What are they going to give us, @ me? An hour of flashforward with no Cas, no Eileen, and no Peace/Content/Settling Down? Imo, as a long-time fan of the concept of narrative, that would be lazy and dull. They might do it (can’t put anything past them at this point lol it’s been a long road), but I’m playing my Doubt card (that’s how Doubt works, right?) just to tide me over for the next week. What else is left to do? God is dead (shout-out to Rob Benedict for killing it, no pun intended). Lucifer is dead. There’s no big bad left. What monster of the week could they be chasing? Could they really just spend an hour long episode reminiscing? Doubt. Maybe we can have a little flashforward as a treat.

 So that’s it! Again I feel a bit cautious to get my hopes up for 15x20, particularly as a Destiel fan, but I kind of am getting my hopes up because I feel like it makes sense for me to be hopeful. At the end of the day, we still have time before we’ll know for sure, and once that happens, good ending or bad, I’ve had a fantastic 11 years in this fandom and that won’t change!

[colour-outside-the-liness]

Oh wow, you two have been friends for a long time then! I know what's that like, I've known my best friend who lives in Spain since we were 8! Definitely awesome to have someone like that in your life. Are you still going to be roommates when the baby comes? And that was really thoughtful of your ex making sure you didn't travel alone.

Canada is really cold tho, so if you're okay with that you should def move there! Ah well, I'm doing better now so that's what matters, all the horrible worries I had when I lived back home are gone atm.

Yeah, that's the spirit! you can do all US states even if it takes you 43 years, that's plenty of time! hahaha And your welcome, it's one of my favourite fics.

Your mind is great, don't worry. At least something good came out of it haha.

Oh so people make her a pisces then, I see. I've met a pisces who was kinda like Dani once so that's why I said she has that kind of energy, but she def has fire on her chart too. And yeah I can see some virgo traits in her, but she's very sensitive and a bit naive so I guess pisces makes more sense.

I had to look up what a badger was hahaha never heard of them before.

I'm sorry you had to go through that. Sounds scary. And you still have to take medication bc of it. The threat of catching covid must've made that 10x worse too. And I can only hope to learn from my mistakes at the very least.

People who made thobm are fucking savages tbh hahaha. 😂 Kinda wish they had cast Oliver as Jamie like they originally intended but then we wouldn't have our damie... don't know what's worse honestly.

Oh Yorkshire accent is pretty cool too, isn't the lead singer of the Arctic Monkeys from Yorkshire? Honestly think all the language variations and different accents that come with each region are really fascinating. And that happens with all languages, not just English. Wish I could speak all languages in the world, that would be a cool superpower! I guess it makes sense you like American accents more bc it's so different from yours. I've become desensitized to North American accents just bc I hear them all the time, but I see how it would be more appealing to you.

Oooh I love that possibility of it becoming a real fic soon hahaha. Worst part of letting it cook is that I already have the finished illustration in my head but the transferring to reality part is not working rn. Wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy tbh.

You def had a busy weekend and start of the week! I have a virgo in my life rn too I know the struggle. Her birthday is this weekend in fact. I had an okay weekend thank you! Managed to catch up with that pirate AU you recommended and I'm already planning fanart for it that will probably never see the light of day haha! Are we going to have more smut this next MoU update? (need to know for scientific purposes 🔬)

Yeah we've been friends for years we met when we were 14 and are still friends now at 27 so it's been one of my longest friendships I have a friend that I met at 4 but we're not as close as we once were still really good friends but not best friends haha!! aww that's so cool that you guys have been friends for that long!! Yeah we're still gonna live together when the baby comes- we're looking for a bigger place right now to make room for the baby and her boyfriend (he still doesn't live with us yet but will soon.... *insert gif of Monica Gellar one friends saying "And now I have to live with a boy" while crying* Yeah my ex is a super thoughtful person and she just didn't want me travelling so far alone when I had never flown before because when I went to Paris with my college we drove there and went on the Eurostar and it took us 13 hours to get there but I had never flown before going to LA and I picked an 11 hour flight for my first one so she wanted someone to fly with me she's a very thoughtful person I LOVE the cold weather I am so sad right now because it's bene quite warm in the north of England I can't wait until it's like -3 degrees Celsius during the winter nights again so I am sure I would love Canada I am fine with it taking me 43 years if that's what it takes haha I just wanna hit all 50 states I think it would be so fun to do it and to be able to say I'd done it.  Haha thank you!! As long as something good comes out of it that's all I can hope for but there are times I've done things and people are like "And you're allowed to teach kids?" Like I can be really dumb sometimes haha.  Yeah I've seen a couple of fics where she has been a pisces I think with it never being said and with VP never saying what she thinks she is people have looked at her personality and matched it up to zodiac signs- a lot of the pisces I've met haven't been like Dani like I said but I do trust what people who know more about zodiac signs say because I know nothing and I just pick a random date each time so CBML she's a Leo and MoU she's a virgo and in SLS she's gonna be a Scorpio because that's just how I've done it haha but I really know nothing about zodiac signs other than what you have told me!! There different types of badgers there are honey badgers and they're more in America here we have a different type of badger and they look so cute but they are really vicious if they feel attacked or scared so try snd avoid badgers... more than that though we just have cows, geese, ducks, swans... lots of foxes but noting dangerous like bears or anything its a very boring place to live!! Yeah it is pretty scary but I just take everything one day at a time- I actually caught Covid last year because of how much time I was in the hospital having treatments for my condition I caught Covid and ended up in the hospital for a week while they had to give me loads of medication and blood transfusions and had to put me on a fluid drip because I was really dehydrated and that was really scary but luckily I was okay and now I am fully vaccinated so hopefully I won't catch it again. I think you will definitely learn from your mistakes I feel like some mistakes have to be made in life so you can grow from them Oh they were definitely savage but I love Bly Manor so much and I will watch it so many more times I can't wait for it to come out on DVD!! Like it was heart breaking but so beautiful and we got such an incredible wlw relationship from it and some great representation and I love that!! Would be interesting to see how it would've affected people had Oliver played Jamie though Yeah Alex Turner is from Sheffield which is South Yorkshire so again we have a similar accent but it's different because I am from further North but there are things that we say in a similar way because we’re from Yorkshire just different parts of Yorkshire... there are four Yorkshires: North, East, West, and South haha and all are in the north of England  Yeah I think that’s the case every where I think accents and languages are so interesting and I would love to be able to speak any other language but I only speak English in my school it wasn’t seen as being overly important to learn a language and I have tried learning them since leaving school but I struggle now  There are some American accents I love (Southern and Midwestern) so when I heard Dani speak I was like 😍🥵🥰 because I love that type of accent I have become desensitised to some American accents that are just standard ones from watching so many movies and TV shows but there are some accents that just make me do heart eyes haha  I am hoping it can become a real fic soon but I am struggling with some stuff but keeping hopeful with it!! Awwh no I’m sorry it’s so hard for you I hope it gets better soon that you’re able to get it onto a page!!  I have had such a busy weekend and part of the week had a bit of a busy day today too and looking after my niece again tomorrow not rest for me it would seem but it’s fine I don’t mind keeping busy!! Well happy birthday to her I hope she has a great day!!  Oh yay I’m glad had an okay weekend and that you were able to catch up on the pirate AU and that you already have fan art planned for it- even if no one ever sees that fanart!! No there is no smut in this chapter of MoU some implied smut but no actual smut- there will probably be smut in chapter 9 though because y’know... it’s me haha 😂 

[wonderble]

Owl House has somehow revived my need to do arts. Whether that’s a good thing idk?

Further musing about the weird owl show and a slightly gory (in the style of “Scary Stories to tell in the Dark” way) pic below.

I think what I enjoy about the Owl House the most, beyond the many awesome forms of representation, is how cheerful and approachable it makes the macabre and  the terrible. It really gets the fact the all of us (but especially kids) needs that safe sort of scary danger, ‘specially given the world atm.

It’s the same sort of appeal that Scary Stories to tell in the Dark (the original version) had for me when I was wee. The “oh gawd monsters are real, so I have to stare at it and shiver and realize about how small I am and how thin my blankets are” sort of feeling.

The whole world is in that place right now.

 Yet, in the same note, stories like the Owl House show that confronting the huge scary unknowable is possible and necessary.

 Confronting a big, scary, increasingly authoritarian regime is possible and necessary.

 Having and facing a debilitating condition (which literally has people seeing you as a monster) does not make you less powerful or capable.

It’s also what makes Luz, a multicultural, bisexual, bilingual heroine kids need. She’s not born with power, and current society is not going to give it to her easily. But she can find a way, and she does not let others tell her she’s powerless. In the end, she discovers she really does have all the power she needs, and once rightfully angered, she can use it to a devastating effect against the powers that be.

We are all straddling many strange new worlds and realities in 2020, and that’s a message that needs repeating. You can face the terrible demonscape that the world is right now. You have the power.

So yay! Owl House! I am way too old for you, but I still take comfort in the story you are telling..

Also, it makes me want to draw in the style of the Scary Stories. That’s sorta awesome too...

Though I hope this isn’t what happens if King takes off his collar...

[shinjaeha]

Hi! I read your post about ITSAY ep 4 and I loved hearing about your thoughts. As a gay person I fell in love with the series bc I feel that there is more effort in telling story, and less fanservice than in the usual BL we see. However seeing sad gays its literally the end of the world for me because I can relate :( . I can only hope for a happy ending but,, thats not how the world works lol. side note, I absolutely sobbed in recent ep of GSP, either series better give me a happy ending!!!

ahh, thank you!!!!!!!! 💕💕💕 i’m glad you enjoyed it!! i really love hearing other perspectives on the show too bc it really gives us so much to work with (and there are always things that i never really think about until someone else brings it up and it’s like a lightbulb moment for me like ‘ohhhh i never even THOUGHT about it that way’). i don’t think i’ve ever really thought about a show so avidly in this way before?? it’s just consuming us all (and rightfully so!!).

and absolutely! esp if you’re in the LGBTQ+ community, it’s so rewarding to see a series as fully realised as ITSAY. the story itself is so refreshing and smart. it doesn’t have to rely on the usual BL stories/tropes that we’re used to. it’s just such a human love story, but with such care in the details and characterisations. you might not always agree/think that what the characters are doing is the right thing, but i feel like it’s always easy to understand WHY they do what they do. it’s a testament to how wonderful the writing is. it’s one of best representations of coming of age/sexual discovery that i’ve seen in a long, long time. and the reason why it hurts us so much, hits us all as hard as it does, is because of how relatable the story and the characters are. the themes are universal and showcased in such a wonderful way.

i think we’ve all had enough of sad gays :( and i think part of the reason that i’m so hopeful about the ending is that i’m sure the creators of ITSAY know this as well?? when i think about the story and the ending, i’m always thinking about the way the characters evolve and grow. just like teh and oh-aew’s growing tension building up from ep 1-3 and climaxing in the ep 4 ocean kiss, teh’s arc feels like it’s building towards self-acceptance too...he keeps pushing back on himself over and over again, and it’s painful to watch, but accepting yourself for who you are is one of the hardest things to do. esp when you’re gay and live in a heteronormative society. personally, i feel like the story will only truly feel complete for me once he’s able to do that. tbh whether teh and oh-aew will end up together is still up in the air for me, but teh accepting himself will at least be a step in the right direction and closer to the possibility of that. and you’re right, the world doesn’t always work that way, but that’s why stories are so great! they can give us the realism, but also the happy ending that reality doesn’t always serve us with (granted it can def go both ways...looking at u MODC...). but anyway, all we can really do is hope for the best!!!!!

if it’s any consolation, i’m also pretty sure that GSP will give us a good ending!! i know ep 7 was real angsty, but karl is actually going through a very similar arc to teh atm in terms of acceptance, and the framing of the whole show, the way it feels like it’s a rom-com/drama (the parallels with previous het romance movies), and the way the cast/crew have talked about wanting to tell a gay love story told by LGBTQ+ creators themselves (which i LOVE and we truly need to see more of), have me feeling fairly good about the ending. they know all about the sad gays, and i don’t think they want to go down that route too (unless it gets a s2?? but even then, it would make more sense to leave it happy/open-ended at the very least).

[braveclxrke]

✨ List which 5 TV shows make you feel better then tag 10 other blogs ✨

Tagged by the amazing and wonderful @bellamyblakru and @ravens-world (I’m sorry this is so late real world if kicking my ass atm 💗)

1. Supernatural; this show holds a place in my heart like no other show, i will always love this show and the message of family and love and have lost track of how many times I’ve rewatched it lol

2. Schitts Creek; just what a beautiful show full of such positivity and wonderful representation 💗

3. Rick and Morty; this is a super random one but I’ve rewatched this so so many times I’ve lost count plus it’s given me and my house mate some quality laughs during hard times

4. IT Crowd; just British comedy at its finest, Jen, Roy and Moss what else needs to be said

4. Roswell Mew Mexico; I mean is anyone surprised this is on my list; Alex Manes and Michael Guerin trash no.1, this show may be a mess at times but good damn it it compels me

Tagging, no pressure of course ✨ : @talistheintrovert @the1oo @alexmanesss @cosmicclownboy @immortalcockroach @theviewofmylife

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

I feel you with that “Joker killed a god” stuff, but what gets me as well is whenever I see those discussions over “strongest group btwn P3-P5” I’ll see some comments saying Futaba could hack into Aigis and defeat her that way. And idk... that always really bothered me. Sure P5 already treats Futaba like a hacking god, but could she really hack into Aigis? I personally don’t think so, and even if she could, I doubt it would be for very long. Unless Futaba really is just that good *rolls my eyes* but what do you think?

Welp this one is new for me ;w; Welp, I can add it to my list of other takes I don’t like when it comes to hypothetical fights (under the cut for length):

Joker killed a god (so much wrong there)

SEES has Aigis so they win (I’ll def talk about this one since it’s relevant)

PT are more physically capable/have had more training so they win (I’ll explain this one too) 

P1/2 can use real guns and Personas in the real world so they win (usually when P1/2 are in the mix, I do think they could have a surprise advantage, but its not like P3-5 can’t use Personas IRL....it’s just that they’ve never had a chance....also the gun thing.....which I’ll get to, also they forget Aigis/Naoto have real guns dfklsjafjal)

P5 kids can use guns so they win (it’s similar to Aigis I’ll get to it, also did we forget about Naoto and Aigis????? ksldjfa;kjdfa;jf also those aren’t real so they are SOL if they aren’t fighting in the Metaverse)

Now I can add “Futaba hack win” to this list DX

Never stating if we are doing it ala PQ style (aka we’re ripping people out of their main game timeline, aka teens vs teens), or if it’s Arena style (aka we’re doing it as a sequel and it’s adults vs teens),I mean their strength is different between PQ and Arena so it’s fair (plus Labby and/or Sho might choose to side/help on P4′s side which is also important), basically there needs to be some kind a rules/basis of P3/4 chars so we know what version to pit against the PT otherwise it’s anarchy and we’re getting nowhere

Not stating which terrain they are fighting on (it is kiiiiiinda important, hometeam advantage)

Assuming a certain terrain is an insta win for a certain group (reality/Tartarus is a bit more of a struggle without evokers but not impossible, also SEES is kinda honorable and wouldn’t like the disadvantage even if it was still doable without evokers....except maaaaybe if lives are on the line that is kfljsafdajf, TV world is the most neutral but it really depends if it’s Arena style or not cause that determines if there is fog or not)

For reference, personally I’d put it at P2IS/P2EP>P3/P4>P5, still working on where P1 goes tbh so there are def gonna be changes, same with PTS, P2 manga is probs gonna be with the other P2 cast. And this list is my personal opinion AT THE MOMENT (cause I just know Atlus is gonnna screw over P3/4 in Arena 3, either cause they need to weaken them with it not making sense or they are gonna nerf them cause they haven’t been active in a long while >.> which def shouldn’t have been the case after Arena or at least Ultimax but nope still tier 1 Personas 8U) regardless if it is PQ or Arena style. It’s mostly cause 1) fusion spells (P2/3/4 have them, even tho P4 doesn’t call it that, it operates EXACTLY like a fusion spell so I’m categorizing it as such) and 2) P4 kids.....are pretty strong to hold their own/beat people who have upgraded Personas.

.......sorry side tangent there’s gonna be like 1 or 2 more but they are in relation to the topic (and it’ll be at the end) falkdsjakfj. But yeah that’s BS. And def something Atlus would do except they forget that the teams have hard counters against that. >.>

(might change if I remember something but atm I’mma just say it) Iirc Futaba’s Persona doesn’t usually hack people, her only two hacks in battle are against her own mother (”hacking my cognition” my ass, you just imagined it there, how about you imagine your mom away???? oh wait that should’ve happened before the damn fight and thus us not needing a fight so stupid!) -ahem- and when we get a insta hold up (which is really just her blinding the damn enemy it’s nothing hacky about it....so stupid)

Aigis literally willed her way out of someone remote controlling her, not even hacking, like a literal remote designed to control her and kill SEES....and she broke free of it. 

Arena style wise, Fuuka was able to break Labby free of control too, tho that was non-hacking and against a weakened god (would not be surprised if she trained that to Rise, and/or because it’s Futaba and not a god, Rise could probably do it as well.....since Rise knows how she just wasn’t strong enough against Kagu...but Futaba isn’t Kagu 8U). 

If it’s non-Arena style, it’s possible that Fuuka (and by extension Rise) could be susceptible to someone interfering with their Navi-ing, as seen with Chidori messing with Fuuka (even after she’s evolved)......but only Chidori has shown to have that type of ability not Futaba (and Chidori isn’t even a hacker so “hacking” isn’t really what’s going on ksdajf;a). It’d probs only work pre Arena (cause Fuuka is supposedly super strong in Arena), but it’d require Atlus to create a damn ability for Futaba that doesn’t exist yet. Also iirc Chidori’s really was just used to mask her/team’s whereabouts and used to relay a message (not mine control Fuuka)

if Futaba HAD this type of power, A) P5 would be a walk in the park, B) she would’ve used it iirc

In case Sho/Labby are allowed, Labby was also able to break free of her own remote control in Ultimax (thanks to S!Labby)

Fun fact, not a point, but apparently Aigis can possible reach her sister’s but not if they are being mind controlled (or “hack” as she said in Arena). I dunno something to note kfsljda;jf

So like.....no......I don’t think she could “hack” them. Hell, I don’t even think Sho was hacking Labby, I think he just has a similar remote control that his dado had (which he probs got what he needed from hacking the Kirijou/or his dad giving him info....need to replay Ultimax a bit tbh, but low key I think they just like using the word “hacking” fksdlajaj;fdjfkd), and Futaba would need to do that prior to the fight. And that’s not even counting that it’ll actually work (because of reasons listed above).

Now for the side tangent, it’s funny people think her hacking Aigis means insta win (or that Aigis is an insta win), and that the “PT are better cause they trained and are more physically fit plus they have the outfits that help them” and like no????? P3/4 (freaking they train too sakdljfa;jf what the hell?) but they also have crazy physical abilities. You think Chie can just punt a giant robot and not have her leg broken? Or Mitsuru can crotch shot a shadow with her boots and walk away fine? Like an 80 ft robot is a normal enemy for the IT, both SEES and IT are taking face shots from TANKS on a daily! Why else do you think SEES/IT can survive Takaya/Adachi’s bullets (or Jin’s bombs)? It’s because of their Personas that ANY team can survive being set on fire or electrocuted! XU The PT’s outfits are just a physical representation of their status as Persona users in the Metaverse tbh, it’s a cosmetic symbolism, doesn’t mean SEES/IT don’t have it too (and they should if they go into the Metaverse).

So yeah Aigis, or even guns, aren’t a deciding factor, esp when SEES/IT are shown to be able to handle/beat Aigis/Labby just fine klfjsdajfa Hell iirc they HAVE to beat (at least Shadow) Labby to even continue the series sdkaflajfja And she was tortured to be a literal fighting Machine! 

So yeah, hacking isn’t an isnta win (also forgetting Fuuka is a hacker too fkdasjfl;), Aigis/Labby isn’t an insta win, guns aren’t an insta win. 

“But Shinji died from a bullet” but Shinji nothing. 1) He didn’t have any armor on, and most IMPORTNATLY 2) He was willing to die, and considering P3 really puts an emphasis on will to live being a crucial part to summoning a Persona......and thus him not having his Persona activated at all made him not get the nice Persona perk that we usually have. 

But will Atlus do it despite it not making sense? Probably! Cause the PT are oh so special! uwu Even tho they’ve yet to prove themselves in being better than at least SEES/IT, let alone P1/2 cast. .....stupid temp buffs..... >.> can’t do anything without your stupid deus ex machina temp buffs can you Joker? Tbh, other Persona chars beating “Full Cognition Joker” would be the most Persona thing out there, so I don’t even think FC!Joker would win (not that there’s really a good organic way for him to get that back). “Full cognition Joker is like god level!” oh didja hear what other Persona chars like to do to these so called “gods”? 8U

[waywardcryptid]

Do you feel that a person’s sexuality is a defining trait of their character? I personally find it unimportant. I don’t see how it’s something that should be a defining factor in their personality. Sorry if this ignorant, I’m just trying to understand it more I guess...

Boy howdy what a complicated ask to wake up to on my Sunday

This is a lot, and quite a bit more complicated of a subject than I think you realize, but I’mma try and answer it anyways to the best of my personal ability.

Full disclosure so you know the angle I’m coming at this from: I’m a trans gay man. I’m out online and to most of my irl friends, but not to my family (except my sister), so needless to say my sexuality is pretty significantly tangled up in my gender identity.

Disclaimer aside, heterosexual cisgender people have the benefit of experiencing representations of themselves and their sexuality as the cultural default in... well pretty much everywhere. I’m American so I can only speak through that lens, but it doesn’t take a particularly astute person to be able to look at the world and see that.

What that means is that, because they’re the majority, heterosexual people have a pretty different relationship with their sexuality, how it informs their personality, and the way they present themselves from anyone who lands on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. I could (and many other, smarter people have) write an entire book on the inherent problems that come with heterosexuality in the forms of toxic masculinity, performative femininity and a million and one other things that make life that much harder for everyone. Just to be clear, I’m not trying to say that heterosexuality is bad in any way, simply that even when you do fall into the ‘default‘, socially acceptable category, you have your own share of issues regarding your sexuality. It’s usually just less immediately obvious than the persecution that LGBTQ+ people have traditionally suffered.

When you say ‘I don’t see how a person’s sexuality is important‘ or ‘how it’s something that should be a defining factor in their personality‘, what this immediately puts me in mind of is (mostly) heterosexual people that say ‘I don’t care if you’re gay or not, I just don’t want you to be so in my face about it‘.

I don’t want to make any assumptions about you or what your orientation is; for all I know you’re LGBT+ yourself and maybe just a little disconnected from your community. Maybe you’re in a place where it’s hard for you to accept your own sexuality in an open way and so you unconsciously cope by wishing others would ‘tone it down a little‘ so you wouldn’t have to be reminded of it. That’s just what this question feels like to receive, if you get my drift.

Whatever baggage heterosexuality comes with (and it is significant, if slightly more insidious and difficult to pin down on first glance), they’ve never been persecuted for being what they are (no matter what some of the more extreme right-wing voices out there might be screaming atm). Being anything outside of heterosexual was not only outright illegal until frighteningly recently here in the states, but still is in many parts of the world. Hell, here in America there are STILL a few states (*side-eyes Texas*) that have anti-sodomy laws on the books that have never been repealed and are still used to make people’s lives difficult when it suits the people in power. And all that is before you even get to extra-legal harassment, violence, and even murder that is disproportionately inflicted on the LGBT+ community (and god help you if you also happen to fall into some other kind of minority category on top of that).

Still, things have gotten better in recent decades. You can’t legally kill people for being gay (or whatever) these days, and there’s even some laws on the books that protect us from discrimination (though there’s still a long ways to go), and so LGBT+ people now feel at least a little safer in being open about who they are and who they love.

After a long, long time of being persecuted for who they are, some LGBT+ people finally feel secure enough to be out and loud and proud in the face of a system that has been trying to humiliate, ignore, or outright exterminate people like them. So, yes, their sexuality becomes an important factor of their personality because for the first time they (in some parts of the country) don’t have to sneak around in the shadows and pray that this person they’re interested in that seems to be interested in them too actually is and isn’t going to report them to the freaking police for ‘indecency’ or something.

Coming out is difficult. I’m not looking forward to having to come out to my own parents because there is a very real possibility that they’re going to disown me, or at the very least the relationship itself will be crippled for the rest of our lives and will never go back to what it was before. But I’m still going to do it because the idea of living a lie for the rest of my life for the sake of their comfort and the comfort of others is completely insupportable. I only get one life to live and I don’t want to live it like that, I want to live it as me, and I assume most other LGBT+ people feel the same way, which is why they make that leap.

At that point there’s a good chance they’ve given up a lot to get to the point where they’re out and able to be themselves, of course that part of them that they’ve sacrificed so much for will wind up being something of a focus for them.

That said, even LGBT+ people who aren’t ‘loud‘, one might say, can often be perceived as such by the heterosexual majority simply for not obviously being one of them. If a gay man likes wearing makeup because he likes the way it makes him look and feel, is that him making his sexuality a character trait? A lot of hetero people would say yes, and if a straight man decided he liked to wear makeup, most people (including  many in the LGBT+ community) would probably make a snap judgement that he was gay when they saw him.

But the thing here is that the hets also perform their sexuality as part of their personality. But so long as it falls within the norms set by our traditionally patriarchal society, no one really notices. If a heterosexual person likes to flirt, would you say that they’re making their sexuality part of their personality? How about one of those traditional country boy ‘manly man‘ types that likes to talk down about city guys that put a lot of effort into their looks because it makes them ‘look gay‘? Is that not just a form of aggressive heterosexuality they’ve turned into a personality trait? What about women that tear down other women for not putting more effort into make-up or their wardrobe or whatever?

There are less toxic versions of heterosexual ‘personality traits‘, of course, but you get my drift. The point here is that everyone performs their sexuality, it’s just that the heterosexual version of that is so widely accepted that it’s not even really seen anymore, so anyone performing anything else sticks out like a sore thumb and is treated as some sort of caricature.

This applies to the ace community too. Even if you have no interest in sex, or are even repulsed by it, you still perform that disinterest. That lack of sexual attraction becomes a personality trait if you’re ‘out‘ (and still is if you’re not out, it’s just being suppressed at that point).

So, tldr; everyone’s sexuality (or lack there of) is a defining part of their personality, whether they realize it or not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  It informs what we like,  what motivates us, and how we present ourselves to the world at large; to try and separate it from the rest of ourselves is a fool’s errand.

Hope that answers your question, lol XD

[xstick-noodlesx]

My sister and I talked about weird things in the wizarding world (2/?)

@ladyliljax

-why are actual schoolchildren expected to fight Voldemort??

-why can’t people say the name ‘Voldemort’ like what kind of weird superstition is it that he will come back if you say the name??

-why was there no army established to fight Voldemort and his Deatheaters after the fist wizarding war??

-why do the centaurs live in the woods? They are basically as smart as humans??? Why can’t they hold a normal job???

-is there an option for religious students to pray? Is the only holiday celebrated Christmas???

-why don’t the wizards conjure up food for hungry people???

-is astrology science??

-were Dumbledore and Grindlewald like blood brothers? Were they banging? And if yes why would you be the blood brother with the person you were banging????

-I get that Dumbledore couldn’t kill Grindlewald but he could have helped??? He could have found him or something??

-Jude Law’s Dumbledore wears a nice three-piece suit? When did Dumbledore ditch the three-piece suits in favour of bedazzled robes???

-Dumbledore looks like those wizards you see on the side of vans. Did he use those as inspiration or was it the other way around?

-why did My Immortal do more for gay representation than the actual book series???

-why is My Immortal’s Dumbledore a more consequent and responsible principal that actually enforces rules???

-why was My Immortal able to predict the way they would defeat Voldemort? Was JKR reading My Immortal for inspiration???

-why did Ebony from My Immortal use the time travelling device for better reasons than people in the actual books?

-why didn’t Hermione and Harry come up with a plan before using the time turner? They could have maybe captured Peter Pettigrew and spared Sirius for real??

-I feel like their time travelling adventure is a little like the grandfather paradox, or am I the only one??

-why are people so discriminatory against minorities like giants, centaurs, werewolves, house-elves????

-and I know I mention this too much but it still irks me that everyone is fine with giant spiders, killer mermaids, giant quids, dangerous tournaments, flying a broom into the sky even during thunderstorms, etc, but a werewolf being a teacher is where they draw the line?? Like if Remus was a safety concern due to his lycanthropy than surely they need to get rid of Quidditch, too, because that seems much more dangerous to me

-is there only one wizard bank? Are there no ATMs? What if I need money but I’m at Hogwarts? Do I need to travel there on a day off to get my money? Can my parents pick it up or do I need to be there in person??

-I know I’ve mentioned it before but how does a giant squid survive in a little clear water lake? Aren’t they saltwater animals?

-why were they planning on having the Dementors kiss Sirius for something they couldn’t prove but they never did the same to Bellatrix for example?? Where is the line that you need to cross to be kissed by a Dementor??

-after capturing Sirius for a second time they just decide to give him the soul-sucking penalty all willy-nilly without a process???

-Harry basically saved Dudley’s life but they wanted to expel him anyway???

-why aren’t more things on fire if there are real-life dragons??? And who thought keeping dragons in the forbidden forest during the tournament would be a good idea?? Probably dumbledore

-Don’t muggles see the dragons from time to time?? Or the centaurs or something???

-why do the werewolves need to register and are then mistreated? I wouldn’t get registered if I knew I’d be mistreated???

-or why do you need to be registered as an animagus? Who cares???

-can you homeschool your wizard kids? Because I’d rather homeschool my kids than sending them to Hogwarts??

-this may sound weird BUT if lycanthropy is contracted via a bite that means it is in the saliva, right?? Does that mean it’s contracted overall bodily fluids, like blood or genital fluids??? Why didn’t Tonks become a werewolf when she kissed Remus??? Is it only contagious if he is a werewolf at the time?? If he bites someone as a human are they fine???

-why are the Weasley’s all red-headed? Why is every second character’s mom a redhead??

-why did the make the guy who was supposed to be an HIV analogy straight??

-why couldn’t Remus raise harry?? Like I get he’s a werewolf but once a month he could get a baby sitter? And I get that he’s poor but Dumbledore and Hogwarts could have supported him???

-why is Snape still employed??

-why doesn’t get Trewlany get a house or a flat from the money she earns at Hogwarts?? Why does she live there full time?? Does Dumbledore pay them that little??

-we said it in the first part, but why are there so few teachers? You don’t hire ONE teacher to teach ONE subject. You normally have like two or three teachers for one subject and one teacher normally teaches like two or three subjects??? How does the school schedule work if you have that few teachers???

-why is there a class taught at midnight in the astrology tower???

-what happens if I accidentally kill an animagus in the animal form?? What if I step on a rat animagus?? Do they turn back to humans after death?? Does your foot rise when you have the rat guy under your foot?

-and if you kill an animagus in pet form without knowing they’re human, like eg shooting a stag during a hunt and it turns out it was James Potter all along, are you a murderer? Do you go to Azkaban??

-how was Peter able to sneak into a family and then into Hogwarts without anyone knowing that it was him? didn’t Sumbledore know that James, Sirius and Peter were animagi? Didn’t Minerva know?? She was one too??

-what family just picks up a random rat and decides that it’s their pet now??

-Sirius snuck out as a dog? Did the dementors not question why there was a dog in prison?? Shouldn’t they be able to tell?

-did Remus give Sirius a flea bath after he escaped from Azkaban??

-why didn’t Fred and George question a guy named Peter Pettigrew always SITTING on their brother and sleeping in his bed with him?

-Scabbers sometimes slept in bed with Ron, right? Why didn’t Peter just go somewhere else during the night?? Why did he stay with Ron?? Was he a creep??

-can you buy birth control in Hogsmeade? Or do you go to Madame Pomfrey for it?? Or is there a spell for that?

-can they use the Accio spell to get Nagini or the medallion? Or does that not work?

-what if you die wearing the invisibility cloak? Do they just lie on the ground, undetected until someone happens to bump into them???

-how big is the invisibility cloak? I feel like it varies

-why did no one else try to outsmart Death like the three brothers? You could get some sick stuff from that??

-so the students fought in the battle of Hogwarts?? Like I get if a seventeen-year-old decides to fight but what about all the first years?? Did they have to fight???

-were the Marauders furries? Do furries in the wizarding world actively try to become werewolves?

-is your Patronus your fursona??

-were Voldemort and Nagini in a relationship??? Like she was a woman before she turned into a snake???

-is there a black market for wands??

-how long does it realistically take for someone to find their wand? There are so many wands at Ollivander's?? Did Harry get lucky after like the fourth try?? Do other kids take way longer??

-what if no wand wants you??

-what happens if your pet dies in Hogwarts? Do you get to bury your pet??

-why do people still use Snape’s past to justify his actions? Just because he was bullied and had a rough home life doesn’t make it okay for him to bully his co-workers and the students? And do all the other messed up stuff he did?

-how did Lockhart get away with all his stuff?? Did no one ever ask him to perform the magic he claims he can do???

-why are there so many weird obstacles to overcome to get to the philosophers stone?? Like a giant chess board?? Flying keys?? Just put a trap door in front of it to trap whoever tries to steal it

-why is identity theft so easy in the wizarding world?

-why don’t they have credit cards?

-why is their currency so weird?? Is there someone who exchanges real-life money for magic money? Like for muggle-born students?? They need gold to pay, right?