#that's their doom the underdeveloped relationships

[tuiyla]

I do think a lot of what is considered Faberry queerbaiting was, in actuality, just super clumsy love triangle writing. The Glee writers were always in this weird space with Quinn, where they both only cared about her as a Finchel roadblock, but also didn't want anyone to really be concerned about her as an actual threat. So they'd throw in these Fuinn crumbs, that just frankly never landed, because they never actually wanted them to have any impact. I fully believe in S3, we're meant to think Quinn is conflicted over the Faberry marriage because of FINN. But absolutely no one but the writers bought it. And I'm including Dianna and Lea as skeptics here. Because by then they had two and a half seasons of playing scenes where Fuinn was never given a real chance and they were repeatedly pushing that Finchel were soulmates. S2 prom? That's about Finchel, it's about Rachel's pain and selflessness...from helping Finn with the corsage to brushing off the slap and comforting Quinn. A lot of Faberry scenes are much more about propping up Rachel than they are Faberry as a relationship, imo. S3 Skanks scene, the writers thinking Rachel is the voice of reason in talking Quinn down from turning in Shelby, etc. And on Quinn's side? Her giving Rachel prom queen is her mea culpa for being an EVIL, TREACHEROUS Finchel saboteur, both in regards to their wedding and almost ruining their prom night.

Anyway, did it work? Not really. And I'd say it's 75% because the writers hated/feared Fuinn too much to even half-ass sell it, 5% legit queerbaiting, and 20% because Dianna took matters into her own hands. Bless.

I think you're right on the money.

So true about Fuinn because I just don't buy that anyone actually shipped them. Precisely because so little thought was put into it, they were so bad for each other from the beginning and a parallel to the Will-Terri marriage. You could argue that they try to turn Fuinn into more of a threat and "genuine" thing in season 2 but it starts off by cheating (on Sam) and then it largely feels insincere and like it's under constant threat from Rachel. I never bought that they had feelings for each other. Quinn more obviously so didn't but do you really think Finn loved this girl and hesitated whether to be with her or Rachel? No! He just thought she was hot.

And you're so right that this is why the love triangle stuff doesn't work and it just makes moments that are supposed to be about Fuinn/Finchel seem fruity between Faberry. Rachel telling Finn what to give Quinn was, in the writers' mind I'm sure, a gesture towards Finn and them saying Rachel loves him so much she'd break her own heart by giving him good advice. But of course we consider just how exactly Rachel knew what went with the colour of Quinn's eyes, etc. And I appreciate that despite moments of rivalry the Faberry relationship had this air of wanting the best for each other from very early on, despite the writers' best efforts at centering Finn in all this.

As always, they wanted to have their cake and eat it. But you can't dangle Quinn as a legit threat while developing Faberry a lot more than Fuinn. And, romantic aspects aside, I think it's hard to deny that Faberry was overall a much more engaging and well-developed dynamic. I do disagree on the topic of the wedding partly because of this, because I think by season 3 the writers gave up on Fuinn and instead legit wanted Quinn opposing the wedding to off as a her caring for Rachel thing. Which it did, though I don't think they intended for it to come off as fruity as well.

I see your point about Faberry scenes being about propping up Rachel and to a degree I agree. I think it's about showing how forgiving and gracious Rachel is, but it comes across as genuine to me and I love that about her, plus I think it was well acted enough, at least, for their concern about each other to be mutual. Faberry scenes land (and land with those looking for shipping material) because there's much more of a genuine emotion behind them than Fuinn ever had. Rachel has always been highly forgiving towards Quinn and in return Quinn quickly learned to care for her and urge her towards a larger destiny, which also happened to be away from Finn. That doesn't mean a romantic interpretation between the two of them was intended but it certainly was capitalized on in terms of advertising. Don't tell me that notorious twitter troll Ryan Murphy wasn't aware of Faberry's popularity in the year of our lord 2011. So despite my earlier post on the topic of queerbaiting, I do agree that 5% of it legit was exactly that.

It's so funny that yeah, ultimately it didn't work. A lot of things they intend with Quinn in particular didn't work. But after a point the writers really don't have anyone to blame but themselves because you can't have someone go through what Quinn did and not elicit sympathy. And you can't half-ass Fuinn the way they did and then do all those Faberry scenes and not expect people to be more invested in the latter. So many funny things about this complicated world of the Fuinnchel triangle.

[arolesbianism]

I am slowly drip feeding unit swap vbs more songs they have a whole 5 (ish) now wow good for them

[madlori]

If the only thing you can lord over buddie is that bucktommy is canon, then you really didn't care at all about the ship.

7 seasons of being a family unit, being there for each other, having each other's back but hey! Here comes another underdeveloped love interest, but since it's a man this time, you don't care about Buck being stuck in the same hamster wheel, again, because he's kissing a man and that's hot 🙄

Also for all your doom and gloom about buddie not happening, do remember that Tommy/Eddie was an idea in Tim's mind at first, so Eddie can be read as queer, even if it's not in canon yet.

I guess you don't place much value on them being a family unit and always there for each other, and having each other's back...all of which is still true and will continue to BE true. But it's only important to you as a prelude to them kissing, right? It has no value in and of itself. I love their relationship. I love what they are to each other. But YOU are making me not want to see it, because every time they turn to each other, lean on each other, support each other, we have to listen to you shrieking BUDDIE CANON CONFIRMED or whatever, because to a certain genre of shipper (not all buddie shippers, etc) any interaction or feeling they have with each other exists only in service to the ship.

I swear to god, I'm gonna banish the phrase "hamster wheel" from y'all's mouths until I get an actual definition as to what you think it means, because from where I sit, to you it just means "he's with someone who's not Eddie." To me, it means that Buck continually fell bass-ackwards into relationships that weren't right for him, looking for something he wasn't even sure what it was. And heyyyyy, he's currently in a relationship that he actively chose and fought for, having learned something new and important about himself, with someone who makes him giddy and excited in a way we have never seen him be, who the people around him can see gives him contentment. But none of that matters, because it's not Eddie, and that is by definition his only appropriate partner, so he must still be on that hamster wheel. Also if we're going by creator intent here, Tim's said he wrote this relationship specifically to reflect Buck being off of it.

As for underdeveloped love interest? I wrote an entire ass essay about how MUCH we know about Tommy, and it's reams compared to anything we've ever known about Buck's girlfriends OR Eddie's current girlfriend who does not even have a last name. Tommy has been introduced in a way that integrates him with the 118, with multiple interests, a character arc of his own from his first appearance, a set of motivations and emotional arcs that are NOT about Buck, and something to actually offer in a relationship besides existing. Anyone saying he's underdeveloped is determined to read him as such, especially for the limited amount of time we've had him.

And I never said Eddie couldn't be read as queer. He can EASILY be read as queer. I said he WOULDN'T be. Those are two different things. If Tommy and Eddie had gotten together (which I give no more narrative weight to than Maddie and Eddie getting together, which was also a gleam in the eye at one point) I'd equally be saying that Buck would never be queer.

It's hilarious to me that I'm being accused of liking a ship because it's hot (it is, and I do, and that's...fine? there's nothing bad about that?) as if people enjoy Buddie because of the amorphous purity of it all and not at ALL because it's hot (it is and you should say so).

If my thoughts about this are so upsetting to you, just block me, dude. I promise I won't take it personally.

Also, just...learn to enjoy a ship whether it's canon or not. I've done it, we've all done it. It's not that hard, especially THIS ship, which has so much good stuff to it regardless of whether there's romance or not. Those of us who like Buck with Tommy are not taking away from you enjoying Buddie, or anyone doing so. It's not like...the State of Buddie will lose congressional representation if the population falls below a certain level. The existence of another ship does not affect yours.

[pillotalkin]

I got carried away while doodling and made an entire Sonic My Little Pony AU...! (My Little Hedgehogs? MLP: Chaos is Magic?)

Story under the cut!

Sonic Speeds (Sonic) is a royal knight in training under Prince Brilliant Mind (Eggman), who serves as the captain of the guard because his underdeveloped horn made his magic too weak to handle the celestial duties of the royal family. Sonic Speeds's cocky attitude and foolhardiness has held him back from achieving his dream of being an elite guard despite his physical prowess, so he's desperate to prove himself to his mentor, by any means necessary. Eternal Night (Shadow) is the runaway half-umbrum prince of Equestria. He's on a quest for revenge after the death of his elder sister, Princess Fragile Dawn (Maria Robotnik), at the hands of his umbrum father, King Comet (Black Doom). His true name is Midnight Star, but he adopted a new moniker on his travels, as a way of hiding his identity and also to represent what he intends to bring upon the umbrum for taking his best friend from him. Brilliant Mind, who blames Midnight Star for Fragile Dawn's death and resents him for his great magical talent, sends Sonic Speeds on a near-hopeless quest to bring back his lost brother so justice can be served (and his own revenge for being outshone can be had). Through some miracle, Sonic Speeds actually manages to find him, and as he travels alongside the somber prince, attempting to convince him to give up his quest for revenge and go home (since attempting to force him to go would be... unadvisable), their relationship grows. He begins to doubt his mentor's convictions, but his sense of duty compels him still, and the day comes when he manages to persuade Midnight Star to return to the palace with him, unaware of what lies in wait...

I've got some more thoughts on Midnight Star's origins and the underlying history surrounding this series of events, but I'll save that for another post hehe. Stay tuned!

[snowblack-charcoalwhite]

Thoughts on HotD Ep1 Season 2

What I liked:

Scenes with Aegon. It's so great to finally see him as a father who tries his best to be there for his children and as someone who is starting to assume responsibilities he evaded before. Big kudos to Tom for his performance.

Aemond and his vibes. I was fully aware we would not get that much of him in the first few episodes (the focus is supposed to be on Aegon at the moment) so I did not expect a lot of character development for him. But the vibes were immaculate, as usual. So glad to see Ewan hasn't lost (if anything, only perfected) the ability to portray an emotion without moving a single muscle:)

Plus I really loved the subtle power play between the Targtowers - and the way it was portrayed without them actually communicating on screen. The reluctant "Gods, I hate it, but you really are my King now so I have to and I will" pledge of loyalty from Aemond vs some mix of deprecation and appreciation as in "you are a twat but you are my twat" from Aegon. A weird love, indeed. I am quite afraid to see where their relationship goes next with these writers in charge of it - but let's take one step at a time.

Phia's acting. For me her performance was the most powerful of the whole episode. Shame it wasn't enough to fix the mess the writers made.

Honorable mentions: Otto and Larys (huge respect for Rhys and Matthew), Ser Erryk (the only Black character who didn't make me either yawn or roll my eyes even once) and the way Emma portrayed Rhaenyra's grief when she found Arrax's wing with a bit of Luke's cape and during the funeral.

What I didn't like (very much so):

It's going to be short and not very specific.

The script is a mess. The story jumps from one scene to the other pretty much at random, and the entirety of it felt so very rushed. The way they skipped the Greens actual reactions to Aemond killing Luke? The way they treated B&C as if it was a filler and not one of the most important parts of the beginning of the Dance? The way sexual aspect of Alicole was presented (can't say it was entirely random but it definitely was underdeveloped)? The way Daemon was turned into some kind of pathetic boy who literally no one takes seriously (God knows I am very far from being a Daemon fan but have at least some respect for the character, even if only for the story's sake)?

And 90% of TB scenes were just plain boring.

In conclusion, if it keeps going on like this, the show is doomed. No matter how talented and dedicated the actors are, they can't save the story if it doesn't save itself. After all, acting is a tool of storytelling and not the other way around.

[littleeyesofpallas]

They're long buried in the asks I never touch but I've had a few people ask me about if i ship anyone in bleach and for the most part I never answer because i don't, or the ones I do I do only very tepidly, and theyre all canon anyway so thats boring. But also the reason I don't is that I have a sort of broad distain for shipping as a practice --not as like some deranged antishipper horseshit(fuck those people) but just because I don't feel the impulse, and the impulse I do see in others always tends to seem predicated on grievous misreadings of the characters-- but that's a snooty beef to have with people so I don't voice my disagreements with specific/individual ships. That'd be rude.

But all that aside Bleach in particular does have one added layer to things... I think Bleach's narrative is kind of antithetical to shipping.

All of Bleach's canon relationships have this tragic and/or one-sided component that gives this really consistent tone that to love to to lose and to hurt. And honestly, given my personal opinion of Kubo's writing talent, I do think that's mostly incidental BUT I don't think there isn't some really interesting theming to take away from all that.

I've prattled on before about the Sun imagery in Bleach and how it seems to align with a lot of classically archetypal sun and light symbolism, as well as a few of its own unique symbolic uses: the sun gives light and warmth, its an icon of enlightenment, its the center of the galaxy around which other celestial bodies orbit, it's thus a power of attraction and order, and it's the brightest star in the sky. All of these aspects are either embodied or directly contrasted with major villains like Aizen and YHWCH as well as in Ichigo himself, and to much lesser degrees his mother, Masaki, and Shiba Kaien.

Masaki's death motivates Ichigo.

Rukia and Ichigo have a specifically platonic relationship built on mutually changing each other's lives

All throughout the body of the actual story, Orihime's feelings for Ichigo are one sided.

Uryuu's obvious unspoken feelings toward Orihime are likewise.

Renji likewise and even more explicit.

Rukia's with Kaien doubly so, with the added drama of him already having a wife AND her having to put him down herself.

Tousen's unspoken one sided love for his unnamed dead friend.

In a way Komamura's kind of sadly underdeveloped feelings about the whole Tousen betrayal.

Hinamori's tragically misguided adoration of Aizen.

Hitsugaya's one-sided puppy love crush on Hinamori.

Rangiku and Gin's fascinating, somehow mutually one-sided(?) romance.

Sui-Feng's beautiful "why didn't you take me with you?" tragedy with Yoruichi.

Ulquiorra's fixation on Orihime.

Riruka's extremely straight forward weaponized toxic love.

Even Ginjo and Tsukishima's lightly touched upon history together suggests a mix of overzealous devotion and deliberate grooming.

Aizen's forced obedience and abuse of his power over the Arrancar as a false Sun icon, generally more abstract but most literally manifested in Loly's jealous fangirl shtick.

And YHWCH's sinister manipulative exploitation of his followers devotion as an extension of the Sun symbol being its own kind of love, in the rather on the nose christofaciat/cultist sense.

Heck even Bazz-B and Juugram's melodramatic but kind of inconsequential relationship fits this.

Kanae and Ryuuken too I guess, but that's such a nothing romance b-plot inside of a nothing flashback, inside of nothing training arc anyway...

Like, the primary defining feature of all those relationships is the ways they don't work. The moment you make any of them reciprocal they lose the only point of interest they have. And consequently the whole of Bleach is fueled by the attractive force of one sided, unresolved, and otherwise doomed relationships.

And like I said, I don't actually give Kubo credit for that, but I think it creates a very apparent trajectory of a boy(Ichigo) forever changed by the loss of a loved one, his mother, the center of his universe trying to find a power that will allow him to hold onto those closest to him so he won't ever feel that loss again. And the power he's given is Rukia's, a power not just to fight and protect, but a power to influence and inspire. It's the power that bleeds out into Orihime and Chad, and even Tatsuki and Keigo, and Karin. It's the power that attracts them to him, and holds them in orbit as he unknowingly becomes that missing Sun, the center of a new universe all his own. And that creation of a new system of the divine around his solar self is the ascension toward godhood, both in that pseudo spiritual symbolism sense as well as literally in the story(at least until it abruptly and without explanation/clarification just isn't).

Point being, Bleach's only sensible reciprocal ship that I see is that of Ichigo as an ascended god shining a universal light of love and protection on all living things and their returning love for their God experienced/achieved in the flickering moment of my own headcanon climax of the series right before his friends all yank him back off the god throne and some deus ex machina(Urahara) solves the cosmic puzzle for them. That and Ikkaku×Yumichika.

[eddiegettingshot]

i imagine much of your inbox is like this, but i just have to say i am feeling quite sad about all this…. it’s a little weird how the tone of the abc pr has shifted (buddies happening when they want it to, eddie is straight when they need him to be🙄) the cheating fucking sucks bc it just feels so unnecessary and lazy— i’m dooming! it feels very unfun if this is the vibe of the rest of the season and idk! it feels kinda mean spirited and weird on the part of tim/abc with the buddie baiting and the disposable women li it’s just hard to watch. its a little silly to basically say “this relationship we’ve developed for 6 seasons will not happen” but then treat every other woman eddie dates like a macguffin and criminally underdevelop them. obviously i don’t vibe w marisol but i also don’t fuck with keeping her around just to make eddie go through a cheating storyline, either. i feel the need to commiserate with eddie army bc yeah. this all kinda sucks :/

right it does just kinda suck lol like what's happening here. the cheating has literally zero bearing on what this story is supposed to do for his character (presumably). i haven't thought too much about the buddie of it all because... having him bring chris to buck for a domestic family moment where buck noticed his cologne and where the point is literally that eddie is being dishonest with BUCK... right before he goes to see the lookalike of the woman with whom he's been trying to replicate a family... we are reaching insane levels rn. but then obviously like i always say i'm not going to believe it happens until i see it on my screen. all of this is just unenjoyable and it's shitty that marisol is getting the love interest treatment THIS HARD. not giving her a last name or a job at this point is genuinely fucking nuts

[dieinct]

So i guess kind of doomed to divorce from the get go but then the dreamers books made them extra doomed? I think sometimes about if the dreamers series was always the gameplan or if it was the product of some major changes along the way

yeah i think so. i think the dreamer trilogy was. in many was planned but also in many ways underdeveloped and a response to fan activity like very much an attempt to wrap up her. Heart Universe as neatly as possible while trying to avoid harassment... like she made promises to her fan base and as a result half the character choices were locked in. like she promised adam and ronan would stay together when like 100% of their character arcs were diverging and their eventual evolution and resolution did not fix any of their underlying issue and then they just time skipped into a proposal, y'know? we see them having a bad time in their relationship and failing to resolve it, managing a lifesaving (but perhaps not relationship saving) mind meld, and then just getting engaged - never just. actually together with shared friends and a shared life. in fact huge chunks of the series are about them more or less failing to function without their other friends from trc and sort of replicating those dynamics as best they can alongside various other tdt-specific issues. but in conclusion yea it's hard to be generous with them in tdt bc we only see them struggling and. never happy.

[burst-of-iridescent]

Can I get your thoughts on this post claiming Mai and Toph are very similar (and that Zuko clicked with Toph immediately because she reminded him of Mai)? https://at.tumblr.com/i-was-talking-to-momo/everyone-else-took-a-really-long-time-to/nyh2nz26iuay

whoooo boy, there are a lot of (sometimes just blatantly untrue) assumptions being flung around in that post.

much of what op says about mai reads more like headcanon than anything actually shown to us in the show (when was mai stifled to "the point of being incredibly depressed and borderline self-destructive"? when do we learn in the show that mai taught herself to throw knives out of boredom? how did mai "never learn to interact with people her age" when she's been friends with ty lee for years and seems to have no problem socializing at a fire nation party?) or is barely substantiated within the show (mai's alleged "repression" at the hands of her parents is told to us - not shown - in a single scene in the third season).

on the other hand, there is actual proof for toph being sheltered and repressed by her parents: we see the difference between who she is on her own/with the gaang vs with her parents. the toph who fights in earth rumble tournaments and picks her toes and speaks her mind without hesitation is not the same toph who wears dainty clothes and allows herself to be led around and meekly obeys her parents' wishes despite her own desire for freedom. there is a clear distinction between who toph feels she has to be, and who she really wants to be, and this is made clear from her very first episode.

by contrast, mai has the same apathetic, indifferent demeanor almost all the time, no matter whether she is with her parents, her friends, or her boyfriend. even in the rare cases that she does show emotion, usually smiling or smirking around zuko, it is undercut by the lack of true understanding and connection in their relationship, which makes her show of emotion feel meaningless and shallow (the only time that mai does seem to show genuine emotion and vulnerability is around ty lee, but unfortunately these moments are too far and few between for me to consider it real depth and growth for mai, much as i ship mailee). unlike toph, there are no real cracks in the facade with mai, which seem to imply that the way mai acts is who she really is, not who she feels she has to be.

i also have to laugh at this part: "Out of the entire gaang, Toph is the one that Zuko understands and empathizes with the most."

toph is the one zuko understands and empathizes with most, huh? that must be why toph was the first person in the gaang zuko felt a kinship with and reached out to - nope, that was katara. well, that's why he opened up about his deepest conflict and trauma to her and she did the same in return - whoops sorry, katara again. never mind, at least zuko and toph took an intimate field trip together related to their moment of connection over their shared trauma - oh wait.

i don't disagree that toph and zuko would have a strong friendship, or that they wouldn't be able to bond over similarities in their upbringing, but unfortunately the show just didn't expound on their relationship as much as it did with zuko's relationships with aang, sokka, and (especially) katara. it's blatantly false to imply that zuko bonded or clicked with toph the most out of anyone in the gaang, and even more so to say that it was because she reminded him of mai - both because toph is vastly different from mai, and because zuko himself didn't truly understand or click with mai in the first place.

ultimately, much of the problem with mai's character comes down to the fact that she's extremely underdeveloped (and the season that tries to expand on her character is also the one where her arc revolves almost entirely around her boyfriend) so comparing her to toph - a main character who received far more depth and development in a single episode than mai did throughout her whole arc - is a task doomed to fail from the start.

[tritoch]

argggh i can't stop it. It's happening. having forbidden FFXIV classpect thoughts. Hydaelyn and Zodiark as our cherub equivalents. Meanwhile, events in Elpis result in a Mobius Double Reach-Around pair of interlinked sessions between the Scions and the Unsundered, which are largely asynchronous and separate and link up only around the time of ARR through EW. spoilers through 6.0.

THE BIG TWO:

Hydaelyn: Muse of Time

Zodiark: Lord of Space

---

SOURCE SESSION:

WoL: Knight of Hope (one who wields hope as a weapon. Hope is canonically an extremely powerful aspect and linked to elemental light and the power of belief. Brilliant Conviction, the canonical warrior of light buff, is extremely Hope energy. Also, since light is juxtaposed against despair in the Big Answers Monologue, the Warrior of Light represents not the aspect Light, which is luck and knowledge, but Hope)

Minfilia (& Ryne): Heir of Light (literally everything about Minfilia and Ryne points to this it is almost impossible to ignore. Also again, Homestuck Light represents luck and foresight and this ties to both Minfilia's time as Word of the Mother and Ryne's role as the Oracle)

Alphinaud: Prince of Blood (one who destroys relationships and alliances, see the Crystal Braves, but also one who destroys through or using alliances, see everything after that. Also, all the Princes destroy their aspect in themselves at some point, and ARR Alphinaud is absolutely a bloodless technocrat in all senses)

Alisaie: Rogue of Breath (an outlaw Rogue in contrast to Alphinaud's noble Prince but also because the Rogues are generally affable, unpretentious, and natural adepts of their aspects. Breath stands for freedom, flight, and change. The curing of tempering not only figuratively steals back the breath of Halric and all the tempered (and the porxie animation is even sort of a symbolic transfer of breath), but also restores their freedom and marks perhaps the greatest change to the setting's status quo)

Thancred: Bard of Mind (mind deals with thought, possible futures, the paralysis of choice. The bard allows destruction of their aspect and invites destruction through their aspect. It is difficult to sum up how I think this applies but consider both Thancred, paralyzed by his failure to save Warburton, and also the image of the Fatebreaker. Also he's literally a bard)

Y'shtola: Witch of Void (witch is obvious. Void stands in for forbidden knowledge, obscured things, darkness. Connects to both her personal drive to uncover the hidden things of the world and her time as spiritual leader to the Night's Blessed. Also on a meta level we know the least about her because she is underdeveloped lmao)

Urianger: Seer of Doom (lay-up)

Estinien: Maid of Rage (both the HS Maids are naturals of their aspects, and also go sorta corrupted or weird in relation to it. also the idea of Estinien as Nidhogg's handmaiden (as well as Handmaid) makes a lot of sense to me)

G'raha: Page of Time (again, a lay-up, but note that Pages have the potential to be among the most powerful given time and development. Also as the Exarch has many parallels to Hydaelyn thematically)

---

UNSUNDERED:

Elidibus: Sylph of Heart (Heart deals with identity, the soul, motivation, but also self-knowledge through others. Also Elidibus is a little bit damsel-coded imo)

Emet-Selch: Mage of Space (BEHOLD, A SORCERER OF ELD and also the close narrative link to Zodiark)

Lahabrea: Thief of Life (steals life, as Hephaestus made life. Also life has thematic links to the march of progress and the exertion of will, and through the Condesce and Betty Crocker, power and its abuse (impeach Lahabrea))

[wastelandbarbie]

obsessed with working out the details of durge's life as a cult leader/object of worship...

(i havent finished bg3 by any means so forgive me if the details are non-canonical, but)

i like to imagine durge being taken by sceleritas to the temple around age 10-11. like enough time to know a little of the 'normal' world. because despite what bhaal would like to believe, durge (and orin for that matter) are their own persons even with deranged serial killer genes woven into the very fabric of their being. that includes things like Having Emotions, Being Vulnerable, Having Opinions of One's Own, etc. Durge gets approximately one decade of being treated like a human person before he's whisked off away to a new life where suddenly he's an object of adoration completely removed from normal life. where everyone around him reinforces over and over how special and different Durge is; that Durge should never entertain any notion of feeling like a person because that's an avenue to defying bhaal. and yet...

overall i think durge and orin would be very underdeveloped in their interpersonal relationships and almost immature in how they approach the outside world, but Durge has the allowance for growth. Durge would mourn for Orin always bc as much as he hates her, that's still his sister (and thus one of the few people on Durge's level, pre-tadpole at least). Durge get a chance to develop as a person, but Orin is doomed from the start because she is born and indoctrinated completely into bhaal. Durge is likely fully aware he's operating as extension of Bhaal (as much as he stuffs it down), but Orin believes in the illusion, that if she's good enough she can win her father's love..

[tvcoroner]

Seriously, the doom and gloomers need to chill. No one could’ve possibly predicted the response to Wenclair before the show even aired. Don’t give up just because it’s not canon in the first season before they even have the chance to course correct in the second one.

It not guaranteed either way at this point, so why act like all is lost? So far every single review has said that Enid and Wednesday’s relationship is the highlight of the show, and the male love interests are dull and underdeveloped. Apparently, Wenclair shippers are going to have A LOT to be excited over.

The chances of Wenclair being canon in the first season were always nearly zero to begin with. Give it time to see if they’ll take it in a different direction.

[mgs-reloaded]

The Lesbian Elements of Magical Girl Site

Whether or not you think Magical Girl Site is good lesbian representation is completely irrelevant to this retelling. I don't want to remove the lesbian context of the story, but at the same time the fact that it's included is borderline pointless in the original. And then there's the whole incest plotline which, full disclosure, I just don't want to write about. Such is my preference.

But I can't just remove the lesbian elements of this story without a guilty conscience. As a lesbian myself I should be able to incorporate those elements.

So instead of removing the lesbian text of the original, I'm making a different couple the focus. I don't want Tsuyuno's love life as the protagonist to be the focus because it strikes me as being out of character.

Instead, I'm giving the lesbian arc to Kiyoharu and Kosame. They're not the main characters sure but I felt their relationship was underdeveloped and unexplored in the original. I wanted to see more of them and as such I'll be giving the spotlight to their relationship. Both as a way to expand on the doomed yuri elements of the original, and to give their arcs more interesting elements.

Kiyoharu is canonically a transgender teenage girl. Kosame is her best friend. I wanted to see more of their awkward budding relationship. So I'll be including that in my rewrite! Thus avoiding basically censoring the queer elements of the original.

[strawberrywindow]

was thinking the other day about how tihana chose to bring down tasi's plane specifically because she felt a connection to the fact that amari was sick like she was. for how badly she wants a child of her own, there have probably been plenty of pregnant humans who flew over, or more likely, LIVED NEAR, where tihana is able to influence her power to where she could have stolen one easily prior to now.

but it's not until TASI'S baby, a baby destined to die should proper care (and human medicine is so woefully underdeveloped) not be administered, that tihana acts, and tihana sees that and says 'but I can save her.'

tihana makes some evil, evil choices with the other members of the expedition but in her own deluded way she truly saw herself as the only chance that child had at a life, even a life doomed to be lived out in a dead, broken world subsisting off the pain of others and that makes me really sad. i wonder if she saw them sharing that sickness as a sign of some kind that THIS was the baby she was meant to have 🥲

i've said it before and i'll say it again, frictional is SO GOOD at telling stories in which parents will do AWFUL things for the love they hold their children in. it's such a unique kind of tragedy 🥲🥲🥲

i also have to add on about the odd sort of respect tihana gives tasi above anyone else on the expedition but that's probably a topic for another post. their relationship is very fascinating 🤧

[crappy-homestuck-confessions]

This might be a tad bit controversial, but I just think it would be interesting to say: the writers of homestuck hate straight ships

Most straight ships either don’t work out very well (Karezi, Daverezi, Meuloz (I think that’s their ship name), Erifef, Equadia), are toxic as frick (Equadia again, Tavris, Gamrezi) , VERY underdeveloped (arasol (I wanted an excuse to vent my pain about them being ignored), karezi again), or one or both parties dying (solfef, momdad, slickpaint, vriska and that one doomed timeline john, meowrails).

Meanwhile, with some exceptions (like Gamkar and Vrisnah), all same sex relationships work out perfectly (Vrisrezi, Rosemary, and possibly Davekat (which I will forever dislike (not hate because I wouldn’t consider it AWFUL) for being the reason why Karezi never happened)))

Again, I’m not trying to spark controversy here, i just think was an interesting thing to point out

.

[pickypickypeak]

thoughts on atla live action. spoilers below. anyway it’s a 7/10 for me. good but… could have been better.

thank you netflix for making a colorful show with lots of lighting so I can see what’s happening on screen!!!!!!!!!

the actors were good, the music was good, the graphics and effects were (mostly) good

the pacing was bad. and it’s partially because of. you know. 20 episodes shrinked into 8

we didn’t get to see the little fun dynamics between the gaang :((

yes they should have kept sokka’s misogyny :/

I feel like katara was very underdeveloped in the first episodes but then she grew on me

aang was… not bad but I wanted to see more of his fun personality?

I loved his relationship with gyatso though

I loved appa and momo

suki I love you

but she and sokka fell in love too quickly I mean they kissed after knowing each other for 20 minutes and she’s like “thank you for bringing me the world” girl

I really liked zuko and uncle iroh overall?? uncle iroh was a spotlight for me honestly (just like in the original lol)

omg why on earth did they bring ty lee and mai. like seriously. THEY WERE JUST STANDING THERE. THEY JUST EXISTED. totally unnecessary

making ozai so featured in the first season was. well. a choice

MY CABBAGES!!!! YES!!!!!

omashu lesbians let’s go

I really liked teo and the mechanist!

also jet and the freedom fighters! they’re all there!

omg the tunnel song!! “they’re doomed” LMAO

I hated zhao just like in the original so I guess he was written well?

JUNE

the owl…..?

the dream sequences caused by the mist broke me

YES they kept the sexism storyline with master pakku. they even expanded it. YES

irene bedard my pocahontas

I can’t believe sokka also kissed yue TWICE after knowing each other for 20 minutes

I mean I didn’t like it plot wise but. sokka you go my man

I lost my heart when momo almost died

I loved the avatars from the past so much😭😭😭

the final battle was good. I liked that

wait did aang not waterbend even once in book one water?

I feel like avatar the last airbender live action adaptations are just cursed at this point

please make season 2🥺🥺 this was not the best but I NEED to see live action toph.

sorry for the long post here’s a cabbage🥦 (it’s broccoli why don’t we have an emoji for cabbages)