#wizardly musings

[wizqevelynart]

early dating tdiz where Izuku is still shy about the whole concept of finally dating his biggest crush Shouto so when he parts ways with Shouto he looks around nervously before giving him a quick little peck on the cheek and then promptly runs away.

Shouto finds this insufferably cute and lets this go on for a few weeks before he alights on his new favorite game: Catch-A-Midoriya.

This involves letting Izuku do his shy little cheek peck before grabbing him by the arm or waist and dragging him closer with a grin like ohhhh no you don’t. Get back here and do that proper~ which usually results in a very blushy, very squirmy Izuku who is extra cute as he protests T-T-Todoroki-kun we can’t this is SCHOOL people will SEE omgggg

It’s a game where Shouto always wins, basically. He either gets his kiss or he gets to see the extra cute Izuku faces. He’s truly a genius.

he’s a menace, is what Izuku will tell you

[nixalegos]

fighter: What's your muse's fighting style? Are there any weapons your muse is comfortable with, or a weapon they'd like to learn to use? What drives them to fight?

Nixalegos Defireza Felscythe is not like most warlocks. Yes, he stands back and prepares brutal, terrible gouts of fire and chaos, evocations and the command of horrific beings of the Nether and the Dark Beyond to assail and kill and defend him wordlessly and effortlessly from his sheer will alone. The very fabric of space-time was forced to kneel when he told it to. But he never starts a fight out that way, no. Even against a godly foe, the ugly parentless scrapper from the shadow of Augur's Row needs it's pound of flesh. He needs to see if the god can bleed before he's willing to burn it. There is a the pure bold élan to his movements, his armor hides it, makes it look janky, mechanical, stiff but it's there. The stance of a man who's thrown down well above his weight class with nothing but fists. Fists now clad in magitek weapon platforms that boast all manner of lethal toys. He is a walking arsenal. An living war crime. A 'gun' necessitating being shoved under chins and at throats so he can ensure the double tap. Grenades. Buzzsaws. A variety of chemical dispersants. Flamethrowers. A staff whos design pried from the nightmares of the Legions more hateful engineers and made WORSE by his own tinkering. His mastery of the spellsword is known, and his personal blade threatens to border on sentience from its need to devour vitality. His staves are more akin to bludgeon and cudgel then anything a more wizardly soul might use theirs for. Even his ritual athame, a knife meant for sacrifices and ceremony...is kept in his boot like some guerilla trained jungle ambusher. One would imagine that such an aggressive, lethal, forceful approach to conflict would belay an unspoken weakness. That he could not take the level of cataclysmic damage he is capable of producing. There is only a handful of beings who know better. Whatever impetus that drives him into combat, whatever siren call to lean against the dark, he takes to it effortlessly. Like he was born for it.

[helenvader]

This is a very long excerpt, but it has a) the frozen ink scene (Havelock, my love, why do you opt for brisk temperatures in your office?), b) the "transparent motives" bit AND c) Vetinari's musings on the importance of accepting progress. The bolded passages are those that I find funny or poignant.

Lord Vetinari, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, poked at the ink in his inkwell. There was ice in it.

‘Don’t you even have a proper fire?’ said Hughnon Ridcully, Chief Priest of Blind Io and unofficial spokesman for the city’s religious establishment. ‘I mean, I’m not one for stuffy rooms, but it’s freezing in here!’

‘Brisk, certainly,’ said Lord Vetinari. ‘It’s odd, but the ice isn’t as dark as the rest of the ink. What causes that, do you think?’

‘Science, probably,’ said Hughnon vaguely. Like his wizardly brother, Archchancellor Mustrum, he didn’t like to bother himself with patently silly questions. Both gods and magic required solid, sensible men, and the brothers Ridcully were solid as rocks. And, in some respects, as sensible.

‘Ah. Anyway … you were saying?’

‘You must put a stop to this, Havelock. You know the … understanding.’

Vetinari seemed engrossed in the ink. ‘Must, your reverence?’ he said calmly, without looking up.

‘You know why we’re all against this movable type nonsense!’

‘Remind me again … Look, it bobs up and down…’ Hughnon sighed. ‘Words are too important to be left to machinery. We’ve got nothing against engraving, you know that. We’ve nothing against words being nailed down properly. But words that can be taken apart and used to make other words … well, that’s downright dangerous. And I thought you weren’t in favour, either?’

‘Broadly, yes,’ said the Patrician. ‘But many years of ruling this city, your reverence, have taught me that you cannot apply brakes to a volcano. Sometimes it is best to let these things run their course. They generally die down again after a while.’

‘You have not always taken such a relaxed approach, Havelock,’ said Hughnon.

The Patrician gave him a cool stare that went on for a couple of seconds beyond the comfort barrier. ‘Flexibility and understanding have always been my watchwords,’ he said.

‘My god, have they?’

‘Indeed. And what I would like you and your brother to understand now, your reverence, in a flexible way, is that this enterprise is being undertaken by dwarfs. And do you know where the largest dwarf city is, your reverence?’

‘What? Oh … let’s see … there’s that place in—’

‘Yes, everyone starts by saying that. But it’s Ankh-Morpork, in fact. There are more than fifty thousand dwarfs here now.’

‘Surely not?’

‘I assure you. We have currently very good relationships with the dwarf communities in Copperhead and Uberwald. In dealings with the dwarfs I have seen to it that the city’s hand of friendship is permanently outstretched in a slightly downward direction. And in this current cold snap I am sure we are all very glad that bargeloads of coal and lamp oil are coming down from the dwarf mines every day. Do you catch my meaning?’

Hughnon glanced at the fireplace. Against all probability, one lump of coal was smouldering all by itself.

‘And of course,’ the Patrician went on, ‘it is increasingly hard to ignore this new type, aha, of printing when vast printeries now exist in the Agatean Empire and, as I am sure you are aware, in Omnia. And from Omnia, as you no doubt know, the Omnians export huge amounts of their holy Book of Om and these pamphlets they’re so keen on.’

‘Evangelical nonsense,’ said Hughnon. ‘You should have banned them long ago.’

Once again the stare went on a good deal too long.

‘Ban a religion, your reverence?’

‘Well, when I say ban, I mean—’

‘I’m sure no one could call me a despot, your reverence,’ said Lord Vetinari severely.

Hughnon Ridcully made a misjudged attempt to lighten the mood. ‘Not twice at any rate, ahaha.’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘I said … not twice at any rate … ahaha.’

‘I do apologize, but you seem to have lost me there.’

‘It was, uh, a minor witticism, Hav— my lord.’

‘Oh. Yes. Ahah,’ said Vetinari, and the words withered in the air. ‘No, I’m afraid you will find that the Omnians are quite free to distribute their good news about Om. But take heart! Surely you have some good news about Io?’

‘What? Oh. Yes, of course. He had a bit of a cold last month, but he’s up and about again.’

‘Capital. That is good news. No doubt these printers will happily spread the word on your behalf. I’m sure they will work to your exacting requirements.’

‘And these are your reasons, my lord?’

‘Do you think I have others?’ said Lord Vetinari. ‘My motives, as ever, are entirely transparent.’

Hughnon reflected that ‘entirely transparent’ meant either that you could see right through them or that you couldn’t see them at all.

Lord Vetinari shuffled through a file of paper. ‘However, the Guild of Engravers has put its rates up three times in the past year.’

‘Ah. I see,’ said Hughnon.

‘A civilization runs on words, your reverence. Civilization is words. Which, on the whole, should not be too expensive. The world turns, your reverence, and we must spin with it.’ He smiled. ‘Once upon a time nations fought like great grunting beasts in a swamp. Ankh-Morpork ruled a large part of that swamp because it had the best claws. But today gold has taken the place of steel and, my goodness, the Ankh-Morpork dollar seems to be the currency of choice. Tomorrow … perhaps the weaponry will be just words. The most words, the quickest words, the last words. Look out of the window. Tell me what you see.’

‘Fog,’ said the Chief Priest.

Vetinari sighed. Sometimes the weather had no sense of narrative convenience. ‘If it was a fine day,’ he said sharply, ‘you would see the big semaphore tower on the other side of the river. Words flying back and forth from every corner of the continent. Not long ago it would take me the better part of a month to exchange letters with our ambassador in Genua. Now I can have a reply tomorrow. Certain things become easier, but this makes them harder in other ways. We have to change the way we think. We have to move with the times. Have you heard of c-commerce?’

‘Certainly. The merchant ships are always—’

‘I mean that you may now send a clacks all the way to Genua to order a … a pint of prawns, if you like. Is that not a notable thing?’

‘They would be pretty high when they got here, my lord!’

‘Certainly. That was just an example. But now think of a prawn as merely an assemblage of information!’ said Lord Vetinari, his eyes sparkling.

‘Are you suggesting that prawns could travel by semaphore?’ said the Chief Priest. ‘I suppose that you might be able to flick them from—’

‘I was endeavouring to point out the fact that information is also bought and sold,’ said Lord Vetinari. ‘And also that what was once considered impossible is now quite easily achieved. Kings and lords come and go and leave nothing but statues in a desert, while a couple of young men tinkering in a workshop change the way the world works.’

He walked over to a table on which was spread out a map of the world. It was a workman’s map; this is to say, it was a map used by someone who needed to refer to it a lot. It was covered with notes and markers.

‘We’ve always looked beyond the walls for the invaders,’ he said. ‘We always thought change came from outside, usually on the point of a sword. And then we look around and find that it comes from the inside of the head of someone you wouldn’t notice in the street. In certain circumstances it may be convenient to remove the head, but there seem to be such a lot of them these days.’ He gestured towards the busy map. ‘A thousand years ago we thought the world was a bowl,’ he said. ‘Five hundred years ago we knew it was a globe. Today we know it is flat and round and carried through space on the back of a turtle.’ He turned and gave the High Priest another smile. ‘Don’t you wonder what shape it will turn out to be tomorrow?’

But a family trait of all the Ridcullys was not to let go of a thread until you’ve unravelled the whole garment.

‘Besides, they have these little pincer things, you know, and would probably hang on like—’

‘What do?’

‘Prawns. They’d hang on to—’

‘You are taking me rather too literally, your reverence,’ said Vetinari sharply.

‘Oh.’

‘I was merely endeavouring to indicate that if we do not grab events by the collar they will have us by the throat.’

‘It’ll end in trouble, my lord,’ said Ridcully. He’d found it a good general comment in practically any debate. Besides, it was so often true.

Lord Vetinari sighed. ‘In my experience, practically everything does,’ he said. ‘That is the nature of things. All we can do is sing as we go.’

[penddraig]

concept: little black cat, staring at your muse with glassy green eyes and always being nearby when they are doing anything remotely interesting or fantastical, and always looking like he’s staring in interest. except then one day Some Guy comes by with the most wizardly outfit you’ve ever seen and weirdly familiar green eyes and starts asking all about it. as if he’s forgotten he’s supposed to be in disguise or something

[zeebeebirdy]

I always get a jolt when I read about Zelaia. My first ever dnd character is a draconic sorcerer named Zeidaia, and she also was my first BG3 character, and she also romanced Gale. Only difference really is she is a half elf, not a teifling. I enjoy your musings upon Zelaia!

OOOOO CUTE!!!! I love a good Z related name (I have so many tieflings with Z names........)

Draconic sorcerers are so cool! Sorcerers make a lot of sense with elves too because they're a pretty ✨Magical✨. When I first made my BG3 characters I'd never played DND so I was just like "THIS SOUNDS GOOD THIS LOOKS CUTE" and have since read the players handbook to see tieflings are "sneaky and cunning" and it's a trope to make them rogues buuuuuuuut I was also told to do ANYTHING I WANTED 😛

I'm glad you like my silly ramblings ❤️ I hope your Zeidaia had a beautiful wizardly romance 😘

[sonofbhaal]

headcanon - gale: mystra the bwitch and the folly of men

Hello, I've arrived in the fandom and immediately choose violence. Just kidding, I choose research and talking too much, as does my muse. I'll start this off by saying I disagree with the fandom take of Mystra "gro/oming" Gale due to various reasons, and it's important for my portrayal of Gale so thank you for coming to my TED talk. There's plenty wrong with their relationship, but that's a story for another day.

Here's what I've gathered so far that makes people think in this direction: a) they had a love affair when Gale was younger; b) she is the reason he had his little netherese magic mishap & folklore has it that Mystra likes to snatch little wizard boys for ambiguous reasons.

Okay, let's get into it. (And yes, I am using wikipedia as a source among other things, sue me. This is not an academic paper. Even if it kinda looks like one.)

Here's the literally TLDR (I don't want to call it an abstract): wizards are arrogant and at high risk to overestimate their abilities and importance in a grander scheme of things, so Mystra, as falling into the kind of feminism-inspired archetype of a witch, lays out the possibilty of greatness as a trap to test them and they tend to fail. Gale brought about his own doom and though Mystra had a hand in it, he chose it of his own volition and was not coerced into it. He was also 23/30 years old when he started sleeping with Mystra so I don't understand the collective desire to infantilize him.

a) Gale and Mystra's carnal relationship

Let's start with Gale's age. Gale was born in 1457 DR.

Now, there are two separate sources stating different years for Mystra's return but the core argument for Gale's age does not really change.

This is taken from the Magical Histories: The Spellplague and it suggests that Mystra was restored in 1480 DR, which would put Gale at 23 years old.

Alternatively, the Forgotten Realms Wiki states that Mystra was not restored to power until 1487 DR. Which puts Gale at 30 years minimum when he and Mystra had their relationship.

He wasn't a child, he wasn't a teenager, he was 30 years old. (Or 23. Either way, an adult by all laws and standards.) I suppose one could argue that Mystra (or rather Mystryl at that point) had reached out to him prior to her return, as she did with Elminster, but in my opinion that's not what Gale's story suggests. This also means that Gale's time with Mystra may have been pretty short, because in 1492 DR the events of BG3 start, which was only 5 years after Mystra's return/reincarnation (if we go by the wiki). This is the bit I am undecided about at present and I'm almost leaning toward making him 23 when she started mentoring him, simply because the nature of their relationship makes it sound like more than 5 years have passed. 12 years is not much for a goddess but it would leave a notable influence on Gale's life - and give him actual time to learn and grow enough to impress Mystra into paying attention to him in the first place. It also sounds like he's been without her but with the orb in his chest for a while, so maybe their affair lasted 5ish years and then he was alone for 2 prior to the game storyline.

With that said, a 5-12 year relationship with a grown and consenting adult is not behavior that I would describe as gro/oming. Even if there's a power imbalance (due to god - mortal) and even if there are elements of not-so-kosher intentions involved. Which leads me to..

b) Mystra the WITCH - a somewhat feminist reading

Here's what Minsc said about Mystra that has a lot of people's alarm bells going off:

Weave-touched boys were hidden away, trained to work their craft in silence and secrecy. It is an old custom, not well-observed. In truth I thought it born of caution after some catstrophe wrought by wizardly (?) menfolk of old. Now I wonder if it was not done to hide them from Mystra and the snares she sets for young and prideful boys, hm? Oh, this suggests that Mystra has never tempted a witch into foolishness. Not that I would blaspheme by suggesting otherwise.

Okay. I understand why this sounds wrong as hell when you're already thinking in that direction. But let me offer you a different interpretation for Mystra and what she symbolizes in this case specifically, and please note that I could write a whole paper about Mystra's symbolism but this will be a one-sided reading because I am focusing on her in constrast to Gale, not her as a character by herself.

[Preface: I am not claiming that Mystra represents female liberation, it's just an aspect necessarily tied to the point I'm about to make about her connection to male wizards.]

Mystra - or Mystryl - is an inherently female character, in my opinion, as understood in literary history (not in a modern philosophical way), and more specifically she is inspired by the archetype of the witch; however, trapped between the old archetype - the evil temptress witch who corrupts and attacks good pious men and the (good) "patriarchy" - and the modernized version - the untamed free woman who opposes and threatens the (bad) "patriarchy". This could be in part because DnD was created in the 70s and the sources speaking of Mystryl that I found are from the 90s as well, so her character is bound to have changed up to the creation of BG3 in 2023. And because our narrator in this specific story is a man.

Some quotes that I find useful for this discussion from a thesis:

"The figure of the witch mirrors—albeit sometimes in distorted form—the many images and selfimages of feminism itself." (Source, page 12)

and about the "witch" as a character type in literary history in general:

In other words, the feminists that participated in the creation and dissemination of the myth did so because of its significance as a story that offered an alternative to male-centred history. Purkiss (2003) sustains that the reason why it is significant is that it allows the readers to distinguish the roles of the characters very easily. The myth outlines a story with a clear opposition between men —the oppressors, the bad ones— and women —the victims, the good ones.

Make of that what you will. I am not here to make a point for or against feminism in literature - the idea of it as a basis for Mystra's archetype is simply necessary to get to my point of what she represents in Gale's story. Look at how Mystryl's character is described in the FR wiki:

This is very reminiscent of how authors and philosophers have written about women in the past - fickle nature, capricious, irrational, but also innocent, dedicated and emotional. Going in to that would reach too far here, but historically women used to represent emotion and impulse whereas men represented logic and reason. This description of Mystryl sounds like it was written in the 18th century by a man who is confused by femininity.

Normally I would say Mystra is inspired by Hecate but this point is a little tricky to make considering DnD lore has its own version of Hecate. However I'll still dump it here, because DnD Hecate is a very negative reading of her myth, as she is a chaotic evil goddess not native to Faerûn. That said, a quote about a modern interpretation of Hecate:

In women's eyes, Hecate holds positive intent, though to men she can be destructive. Hecate is the Goddess invoked by women who desired freedom from male tyranny. The goddess Hecate is presented as a resistor of the male and patriarchal. [...] Within mythology, Hecate is deemed too fearful (to men) to be provided with a husband, and thus represents female sovereignty and freedom. Moreover, Hecate shares gifts of magic, inspiration and understanding and governs the creative, unconscious mind; she offered women the power of awakening or dampening male desire and can curse conquerors or unjust rulers. (Source)

Two things I find important here: 1) she is not evil but she can be destructive to men, which is my main point in this entire ramble and 2) she shares magic and understanding with both men and women, but does not tolerate when they overreach - which I'd argue targets male wizards, such as, in our case, Gale. I think she can be destructive because in addition to the witch, Mystryl/Mystra holds elements of the archetype of the temptress.

Here's one take on that archetype from an article on literary devices:

Although allurement is the key element of a temptress archetype, some of her character traits are unique for such a lady. She has her beauty to add to her allurement with seduction, intelligence, and wit to help her in her beauty. [...] However, it is interesting to note that the negativity with her title does not match her real character, as she could have positive character traits despite being a temptress. [...] It seems that she lures characters to her, causing them to be blind to the danger lurking in her. [...] This allurement lies in her femininity and sexuality.

Another inspiration for my take on this is a fun source for a change, one of my favorite songs from Karliene, titled "Witch". Aside from being a banger, this song has lyrics that describe a very specific aspect of men's relationship towards "witches" and how they're seen and treated as evil and deranged and yet desirable (implied) for reasons so extensive they'd blow up the scope of this already too long post.

You’re a foul heathen A demon of malevolence Venomous bitch, old witch You’re the reason for all our sins[...] Vile succubus How you beguiled And defiled my innocence You’re a bitch, you’re a witch You’re the reason for all my sins

The man accusing the witch in this story/song is not even hiding his own transgression: "succubus", "defiled my innocence" and "you're the reason for all our sins" implies that he sinned but instead of taking accountability for his actions, he blames it entirely on her as the archetypical temptress. This is the type of man that Mystra's temptation targets, the type of man her "snares" are created for. (Though not all of them are necessarily vile enough to want to execute her/the temptress for it. It's a concept of male self-importance, not a defined character trait.)

And this is what I think Mystra represents in the context of Gale's story. She showed him a path to greatness, great knowledge and power but she didn't force him to walk it. She even denied him when he asked to gain more access. Yet he chose to do it anyway and it led to his downfall and her punishment. So is Mystra entirely innocent in Gale's fall? No. I believe she has tempted him - and other men before him - to seek more knowledge and more power and eventually fall to their doom, because it was never meant for them; but instead of recognizing that and accepting their place, they all fell victim to their own hubris and self-importance. As did Gale. Even if he says he did it to impress her, he first and foremost thought of himself. He wanted the knowledge and the magic and the proof that he can walk on spheres meant for gods alone. And he had a rude awakening.

If anything, this is what I think Mystra does to "young wizard boys" and what her danger really is. It's not about her seducing young wizards for her own sexual interests - though in some cases her relationship to them may take on this nature because temptation and seduction historically looks a specific way in art and literature - but about luring and seducing them into revealing their own arrogance and hubris and falling victim to it. Which is a not a nice thing to do, but it's a very different thing from what the fandom makes her out to be. They could also resist, but within their inability to resist lies the reason for Mystra's justification for doing it in the first place.

*In addition and to place some more responsibility on Mystra: she might also like to see if they can rise to a certain power, but if they do she loses interest. And if they can't then it proves a point. None of what I wrote is meant to present Mystra as a nice goddess - I just find the way she is spoken about kind of misses the mark. She has obvious flaws but I see them in other places.

I'm so sorry, what a nightmare to read. If you made it this far, have some chocolate: 🍫

[eyessopen]

💬 + i heard you (connor) used your animagus to be a no-maj's pet cat.... isn't that against the law or something.... that should be illegal.... worse than a peeping tom i think....

Send 💬 + a rumor and my muse will react to it.

"Who told you that!?" Connor would not let that rumor stand. This really wasn't what he had been expected to be asked during a post game interview. He was still sweaty and his hair was in his face. The only good thing about this was that Esme had no access to the Wizardly Inquisitor. Connor swallowed before plastering a nervous smile onto his face. "Now ... why would I do that? I have some no-maj friends but that don't mean I would try and be their pets or somethin'! That's ... crazy!" He laughed, even though all he wanted to do was bury himself into the ground. " ... Next question?"

[rexmagicae-a]

@imperiialfrost sent → 🗣 // Sunburst for Wintertide, Storm King, or Keres?

»» ──────ஓ๑☤๑ஓ ────── «« ❝ can i ask ... what happened? ❞

[an-apocalypse-of-magpies]

Asterix and the Legacy of the Original Authors

So I finally saw Asterix and the Secret of the Magic Potion (2018). Significantly, this is the first Asterix story I’ve experienced since the retirement of Albert Uderzo, the original co-creator of the characters and creative lead follower the death of Rene Goscinny.

And it was brilliant.

The plot, simply summarised, is that Getafix (Panoramix in the original French), venerable and wise village druid, slips and falls out of a tree for the first time in his long career. He begins to worry that he’s getting too old for this (indeed, Getafix’s age has always been ambiguous, but he’s easily the oldest recurring character after the appropiately named Geriatrix/Agecanonix, who’s certainly over 80), and that he needs to find a successor, not least of which because only he knows the formula for his legendary magic potion that gives the Gauls the super strength needed to hold off the Roman invasion (the film makes a running joke that druids never write things down). While on the search, an old rival of Getafix’s, Sulfurix (dubbed Demonix in the Canadian English dub, in case it wasn’t clear that he’s evil) is desperately trying to steal the formula, seeking to liberate the Gaulish lands from the Romans and not merely one village. Along with Asterix, Obelix and tagalong kid Pectin(/e), the heroes must find a successor, but is there a Gaulish druid worthy of this most sacred knowledge?

The animation is excellent, as it was in the previous animated outing Asterix and the Mansions of the Gods (2014), really capturing the look and feel of the comic albums. I feel like too much cartoon media these days is afraid to really exploit squash-and-stretch for expressive and dynamic purposes, and with Asterix’s trademark slapstick being Roman soldiers clobbered so hard their torsos sail off into the air before their feet have entirely realised what happened, it was necessary for this. The film is bright and crisp, and the light effects suitably dramatic (and with many a magical zip and zap, it’s crucial to have good lighting).

The story has many of the familiar beats. Alexandre Astier is clearly playing it a little bit safe, but considering he’s writing his own Asterix story, it’s safer to stick with that than to try and push it too far and risk alienating the audience. A crisis emerges, Asterix and Obelix and miscellaneous tagalongs leave the village, shenanigans happen, Asterix and Obelix have a falling out and become separated temporarily, there’s an ominous moment when the magic potion runs out, Romans attack the village, everyone gets back in time to save the day, Romans get punched a bit, big feast under the stars. What I liked, though, is how this story tried to do something interesting with the side characters. While Getafix is a very important character for the story, he rarely gets involved in the actual plot, so it’s nice to see more of him and in particular his character flaws - namely his stubbornness and attempts to do everything himself, even to the detriment of those around him. Even being confined to a primitive wheelchair for a lot of the film due to an injured ankle doesn’t stop him from taking a part, and it’s nice to see more of him than merely ‘wise wizardly old man, keeps calm and lectures people’. Unhygenix the fishmonger (Ordralfabetix) gets an amusing background arc where he believes that he could be Getafix’s successor and tries dabbling with druidcraft in the background, with amusing results. For once, his role isn’t just ‘gets in a fight with Fulliautomatix the blacksmith (Cetautomatix)’, and we get to see that he’s an interesting combination of surprisingly intelligent and thick as two short rocks. Fulliautomatix himself gets to have some humorous musing at his alchemical antics, and at one point the requisite Unhygenix/Fulliautomatix fight is successfully quelled, with Fulliautomatix admitting that he has a short temper and that this was unnecessary aggression on his part. Vitalstatistix (Abraracourcix) leads the village men (apart from the perennially unpopular bard Cacofonix (Assurancetourix)) to accompany Getafix halfway through, leaving the womenfolk to defend the village with a backup supply of potion. Happily, this means we also get to see more of the village women - headed up by Impedimenta (Bonnemine), Mrs Geriatrix (Geriatrix’s unnamed but incredibly young wife) and Bacteria (Ielosubmarine) - than just ‘being someone’s wife’ - Impedimenta plays a vital role in corralling the women for war and appears to be keeper of the potion reserves, while the others get more speaking roles and are able to participate in fights. It’s not much, but in a world of Gaulish men, the women tend to fall by the wayside unless they get to be a sex symbol or someone’s harridan wife. Cacofonix himself gets to play at being a chief, where his cowardly nature makes for an amusing contrast Impedimenta’s more no-nonsense practicality. We also get to see some of the Gaulish children for once! They make fun of their elders and play around with stolen Roman warrior stuff. When the going gets tough, though, the first thing the village defence team do is make sure the kids get somewhere safe, and Cacofonix gets a slightly tender moment where he tries to assure them that he’s going to be okay ... with a long winded speech rather than just getting on with it.

The real star of the film (well, alongside Asterix, Obelix and Getafix) is Pectin. Pectin is a scrappy little girl from the village who’s into inventing and engineering, and her establishing scene is ignoring the other kids playfighting so that she can finishing what seems to bee some kind of automatic watering machine. She’s smart, creative, appropriately afraid of the dangers that crop up but wants to do right by Getafix, whose wisdom she deeply admires. It’s fairly clear even from the outset what her role will be. Eventually, in the darkest moments, Getafix teaches Pectin the secret recipe - including Getafix’s secret ingredient - in order to save the village. She assures Getafix later that she will try to forget the recipe, so that she won’t accidentally reveal it to the wrong sort, but just as the credits roll, Getafix muses what we’re all thinking - that this girl might be worthy to be his successor. Pectin’s important because of the series’ ... shaky history with feminism. The film sets out that only men can become druids, and women are even forbidden from the woods where they meet. When taking Getafix to the meet, Pectin has to wear a hood and hike her dress up to look more like a boy appropriately. To allow Pectin to become a druid would defy ... well, some lofty ideal that only men can become druids. Like so many old sexist tropes, the reason has become ‘... well, they just don’t’. So it’s good that this is addressing that, as well as forcing more female characters into the limelight. The most prominent female character in all of Asterix is Impedimenta, followed maybe by the heartthrob and Obelix’s crush Panacea. I’ve elaborated above the problems there. In Asterix classic, women are to be desired or to be overbearing wives to henpecked husbands. It’s likely that Goscinny and Uderzo meant no malice by this writing; they were two French men writing a humour comic, and played on the popular tropes accordingly. But they (or rather, Uderzo) did attempt to tackle feminism in this comic before. It was ... well, it was a bit clunky.

Asterix and the Secret Weapon (1991) was a rather dated and fearmonger-y take on feminism, having a feminist activist outsider called Bravura comes to the village, encourages the women to rise up against their husbands (the men, out of chivalry and hen-peckedness, do not resist), seizing control of the village. Asterix, being both a bachelor and bit of a firebrand at perceived injustice, confronts Bravura, whereupon she flirts with him to try and seduce him into marrying her, whereupon he (shock horror) strikes her out of reflex. But Gaulish men do not hit women! Asterix is banished to the nearby forest for his insolence, eventually joined by the other men, fed up with the overbearing women. When the Romans (knowing that Gaulish men will not attack a women) send a detachment of female soldiers to the village, the women have turned it into a primitive shopping centre, where the female soldiers can shop and get their hair and make up done and forget all about attacking the village. Yeah. Feminists are salacious witches who would enthrall men and subjugate them, women love nothing more than shopping and beauty, it’s ... it’s bad. Secrot of the Magic Potion at least attempts to fix this by questioning male dominance in a role without being so weird about it, and having the women be just as much proud, organised village defenders as the men, arguably more so, given they lacked the weapons or numbers they normally had with the men around. (I know that the most recent album, Asterix and the Chieftain’s Daughter (2019), kinda deals with this too, but I haven’t yet read that one)

Putting aside the feminist rant, the key theme of this film seems to be the passing of the torch, clinging to past glory, and stepping up to take responsibility. Getafix isn’t getting any younger, and as much as might hurt his pride, he needs to train someone to take his place. The other elder druids, it transpires, are foolish, complacent and irresponsible, getting too used to just messing around and partying. They’re getting senile too, shamefully admitting to keeping crib sheets to remember which apprentice druids are any good. Druids not writing things down seems to be a metaphor for old masters, well versed in their craft, who know it all so well that they don’t need notes ... and then struggle to teach others, so they keep doing it all themselves. Sulfurix is bitter that, despite his magic fire being useful, Getafix is held up as the better druid. Way back when, they were finallists in a druidcraft competition, and being able to conjure flame from nothing is certainly a useful talent that won out over Getafix’s useless but dramatic and very complex magic. Getafix is implied never to have held a grudge over this, especially given that he would eventually develop the magic potion that makes his people so formidable. Sulfurix, meanwhile, found his ‘useful’ parlour trick get weaker and less reliable over time, and he seems to have very few tricks under his belt by the present, so fixated was he on this one thing. His Villain Rant at Getafix at the end is pure projection - he’s become irrelevant, because his one thing became all he was known for. Finally, with Cacofonix being acting Chief, the women defending the village, and Cholerix (Teleferix) the apprentice druid and later Pectin striving to create the magic potion and fill Getafix’s footsteps, there is a theme of people, even wildly unprepared people, stepping up to take responsibility because it’s what needs to be done, be it for the sake of a legacy or simply because this operation won’t run itself. Such a theme rings loud in, I remind you, the first original Asterix story on film since the death or retirement of both of the original creators. They’re on their own now, with a great and beloved legacy to continue, and I think they’ve done a wonderful job. The film was not perfect by any means - the English dub lip-flaps weren’t that well aligned (my DVD didn’t have French language options), the story’s quite formulaic if you’re a fan of the series, and Sulfurix is ... not subtle as the villain - but if you like Asterix, you’ll like this. And if you don’t care for Asterix, it’s still enjoyable.

[wizqevelynart]

It’s post war and class 1A has once again lost track of Izuku so people are ConcernedTM bc the last time he vanished he went full vigilante and they had to bodily drag him back to UA.

But then Ochako comes across Shouto, who is not panicking at all and is simply lounging under a blanket on the couch reading a book, so she asks, “Todoroki-kun, have you seen Deku-kun? We can’t find him anywhere!”

Shouto just silently presses a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture, then carefully lifts his blanket and there, squished between him and the back of the couch, is a very deeply asleep Midoriya Izuku.

The search is thusly called off, and after that Izuku going “mysteriously missing” becomes code for “having a nap with Shouto” and he is not to be disturbed.

[burningthemidnightcityoil]

STRANGE TAKE AWAYS FROM HS^2

I know, I know. This is one troll bug attracted to a plush plump ass that has gotten many a homestucker up in a tizzy.

But I am gonna dive head first into it, and brave the many many plump plush rumps.

Inception Mirroring. There is a strange amount of HS and HS^2 Mirroring going on, and the absolute biggest is with Jade. Lemme explain. A Witch’s Journey is about their Familiars, and taking power for or back from them. As a Witch of Space, Jade’s original “Familiar” was Becquerel, and she did take his power and even part of his looks. What started in the Epilogues and has continued further, is that a new (and very much unwanted) familiar has popped up: Calliope. And worse, this relationship between Alt Calliope and Jade mirrors the terrifying relationship of Doc Scratch / Lord English with Witch of Time, Damara / The Handmaid. Even right down to the Suicide Threat... Further Mirror occurs with my so far favorite new character: Yiffy. Or Ruby, if you don’t like the first name. ... Because Ruby and Jane mimics Jack and The Black Queen. And there’s already an Us vs Them war on...

Our new Players How much you wanna bet that Harry, Tavros, Vrissy and Ruby are our missing Human classpects? Thief, Mage, Sylph, Bard and Doom, Rage, Mind, Blood. (Though on the ropes about Vrissy) And I bet you, because of the controversy and contrivance of Ruby (Which is done on purpose), they’re the Rage Player. Harry’s association with creation marks him a Sylph. Vrissy as a Troll already holds the idea of Blood, and she’s already inherited quite a bit from our Vriska. And Tavros; poor sweet Precious Tavros... Holding the Moniker of Doom.

Event Horizons Where Homestuck proper had Doomed Timelines, we here now have “Doomed Spaces”. Which I have dubbed so far as Event Horizons, as these Doomed Spaces get sucked into the Black / White Hole when they “Stop being Canon”. We’re now exploring the opposite side of the Doomed Timeline, and its probably got something to do with Hope (the idea of Narrative Causality and Belief; and what Canon means here)

Messiahs and Wizards Karkat and his entire bloodline is associated with Messiah figures. As Trolls are foundationally Blood Aspected, it would make sense that the prime time chosen one is a Blood Player. This makes John Humanity’s prime time chosen one, as Humans are foundationally Breath Aspected; and better yet, we even have “sacred” Icons in the form of Wizard Statues anyway and everywhere. An Idea spread across the Human Unconscious, as opposed to the very real and legendary figures of Trolls. Mind, that lot of John’s Wizardly associations also bring him into contact with the one major wizardly figure in real world mythology and religion: Odin. (Via the Harlequinn). And our John is dead. Funny thing is... So was Odin, once. Me thinks it won’t stick.

Ultima Dirk Dude, this guy basically ate a lot of his alternative selves. One of which was Bro, one of which was the amalgamation that is Doc Scratch, and that means he definitely had a chunk of Cherub ass that is Lord English. But as Brain Ghost Dirk shows, not all Dirks are about that shit. We still got a chance to knock this doofus out of his dower power trip. If only we knew what the fine fillery fuckery he’s gonna do... Anyway. The Thing and Think about Ultimate selves... is that you gotta take a step back and see this in terms of Video Game Logic. This is what happens when Player Characters become actual Players themselves. Imagine if the dude you’ve RP’d as in Elder Scrolls decided to take a step up and control the narrative himself; and this comes with the caviate of remembering all the times you’ve fucked up and gotten him killed, all the times you’ve decided to just “see what happens”, or even broke character. And that also starts including every Fanfic you’ve written him in, every AU, that one time you put him in Fallout, that other time you threw him in Minecraft. Basically, the very Idea of the Character becomes your Equal. As the SCP foundation would put it... Dirk has started to rise to our Narrative Level, but is just not quite there yet.

Droog and Dad Oh come on, you knew this was gonna show up. We already know this is an alternate universe, and definitely not the intermission one (Especially with Slick’s death), and we now have confirmation that part of Snowman’s powers is to basically teleport across the Multiverse and change things with wild abandon. This... - Gives an explanation as to how and why the Felt can teleport Timelines without accidentally dooming themselves like our God Heroes can and do. - Means that Snowman can outright manipulate full timelines without having to touch the Alpha, and do so for as long as she possibly wants. - Further proves Snowman is a Sylph of Mind (Because only Mind Players go that deep into shit and have Multiverse powers) As for what’s going on in the background... - Droog left the Midnight Crew, because apparently Slick started to get majorly involved with Snowman (Possibly even romantically rather than hatredly). As there are plenty of Literary parallels between Snowman and Droog (For one thing, they both say “Hey Assholes”), this is almost like choosing your lover over your best friend. - Droog is a manifestation of Moiraillegence, which Alternia Trolls associate with Pity (Rather than, y’know, real empathy and support); Of Course the asshole is gonna be Self Pitying. - This story displays a reality of what would happen if Droog had left. As the HC’d Mage of Blood, and Blood being about Bonds, Attachments, and Promises: This would seriously fuck Droog up (Because he is all about that shit; and here his closest allies dumped on him hard). [ This is all likely purposely set up by Snowman; she put him in a position to leave; something we know that not even a genocide of Carapacians can force DD to do ]

 Roxy I’ve been nicknaming him Roxas

The Fear of Two Calliopes The reason Meat side Calliope is probably freaking out bad, is because the appearance of Alt Calliope in the same space is real bad news. Paradox Space doesn’t like Doubles, Triples, Quadrupals of anything; (See the major battle of Jack Noirs that ended in all but one Dead) Our Calliope runs a very real risk of dying horribly, because Alt Calliope as a fully realized Muse of Space is uber powerful and will absolutely trump her in the balance of Paradox Space “No two of the same thing will inhabit the same space”.

Fear of the Prince Ever wonder why Dirk is terrified of his quasi-Grandchild? Ruby is a Rage Player, and depending on her Class (probably a Thief?), she’s gonna be a major problem. After all, Dirk’s created Narrative is full of bullshit; and there’s no player better to handle narrative bullshit than a Rage Player (What is a God to a Nonbeliever?) Rage is perfect when you’re going up against hostile or bullshit narratives and their equally assholish narrators. Blood may be Reality, Doom maybe the Ultimate Reality, Void is the Physical Reality, Heart is the Emotional Reality... but Rage is Reality as it actually is-- random, not always having an explaination, and its never a straightforward story narrative; Rage is Real in the sense that we, the audience, naturally experience it and hate to see it written down (because natural experience as it is, never makes sense written down unless it plays out like a Story or Narrative) Life is confusing, its not fair, it doesn’t make sense. That is Rage (and is also the reason why Life is Rage’s reflection and vice versa). And Rage will pull that reality to the forefront.

[rated-r-for-grantaire]

Nehapwa! Time for some wizardly antics!!!! I finally finished my Black Wizard/Blue Wizard (or is it Blue Wizard/Black Wizard) playlist! Ancient ideals and modern musings!

[shadowedstilinski]

BLOGROLL OF MUSES I’D EVENTUALLY LIKE TO WRITE rules:   name  3  -  10  muses  you’ve  considered  or  would  like  to  write  in  the  future!

 Dean Winchester..... technically already doing that... but not done any rp with him yet, it’s unfinished but once it’s done that’ll be over on a new blog

Like all of these could just be SPN characters I just started watching the show im on s6 blkja;slkfsa but let’s ignore that, uh, Percy Jackson?? my boy?? yeah he deserves love

Kay Yeung, i should probably just make a sideblog to dxnwxllxce for that

Harry Potter/Ginny/Ron one of the three??? all three???? my Kids, my wizardly kids (who, uh, not kids, but you understand my meaning right)

Anna,,,, TVD didn’t give me many characters to like i can count them on one hand but Anna was great

Uhhhh Arthur Penhaligon or Suzy TB possibly Leaf idk someone from that universe... if you know? you’re golden

I’m. Considering someone from Buffy. Tara? Cordelia?? Both of them Deserved Far Better. Maybe Xander idk he’s interesting, someone like. Acknowledge his childhood/up to literally being a grown ass man of parental abuse please

Fucken. Look I love gravity falls. Maybe someone from that? Dipper or Wendy, most likely. Pacifica, possibly. 

Like a. Really fucken niche in depth future AU of BQ’s Tom and Elena bc. God the childhood trauma, they were like ten

Look there’s clearly already been more than 10 character’s i’ve defintely totally ignored the only singular rule so. Yeah. Uh. Books of Beginning, one of the main siblings. Yeah, future AU in depth nice shit a la previous entry on the list this trilogy happened in the span of a single year, like less than a year, what the fuck 

Tagged by: @mxnstersarereal like ages ago a;lskgj;alskdg, sorry anyway thank you!

Tagging: uhhhh @ anyone who wants to go ahead

[whiterosebrian]

A Magician’s Incoherent Musings

I hope you don’t mind random musings on a potential destiny for my life. I’m a man seeking truth, goodness, and beauty. I may end up rephrasing what I’ve said before or simply type incoherently. At the very least, please hear me out as I continue discerning my path ahead.

I am nearing the age of forty. Does life begin at forty, as the maxim goes? I should hope so. Is it, in fact, a comforting lie? Many times, I somehow feel like I’ve wasted so much of my life. I truly have wanted to make a difference and leave behind a wonderful legacy for those who come after me—for as many people in the future as possible. Perhaps, though, the painfully slow maturation that I’ve gone through was necessary. Perhaps I needed to take time to learn and understand the world around me.

Yes, I have wanted to create beautiful things. Yes, I have wanted to develop my drawing and writing skills to that end. The current socio-political climate, however, has made me think of what exactly I’m doing. On one hand, I wonder if I need to focus more on becoming a magician and doing spiritual and magical activism for the benefit of vulnerable people and the earth itself. On the other hand, is that actually doing anything? Even still, I wonder if my artistic talents have any meaningful purpose.

I wish I had more energy to do more things during my already limited personal time. I’m afraid, however, that I have only so much personal energy. I often feel a need to rest my back and neck on my bed for a few hours every time I come home from working for wages at the mailing center. Is there at least some meditation that I could do while lying down? That’s complicated by the fact that one of our cats is annoying cuddly and needy, often walking on me or nuzzling into me. Then again, Freya does work with cats and is said to be fond of them.

Another thought comes to mind. As a man seeking to bond with and work with the web of life and the powers of life, part of my wizardly or druidic work might be writing philosophical fiction. Storytelling, if I recall correctly, are part of the work of the shaman. It’s true that the composition of works of fiction isn’t the same as the retelling of religious myths, but the principle of spreading stories with meaning should be similar.

As much as I want to commune with nature, I’m not very used to spending long periods of time outside. Summertime, which is when I’m posting this, is far from ideal. I suppose that I’ll have to start in the coming fall. Wintertime isn’t suited for spending long periods of time outside either. Personally reconnecting to nature will be necessary if I am to be a magician tied to the powers of nature.

Why should I be a magician? You may have read before about how I perceive a need to bring magic and mysticism into the contemporary world and into the lives of contemporary people. You may wonder what aspects of the current socio-political climate informs my thinking. Quite simply, the current system isn’t working. People cry out for reform. There is so much that writers far more insightful than I have discussed at length. That system includes the materialistic, hyper-rationalist culture that increasingly shows major cracks. People seem dissatisfied with the world as is. Could I, as someone seeking to bond with the whole spiritual reality, be in service on spiritual and mundane levels in the midst of this turbulence?

I’ve read and heard that witchcraft and serious magic can go into dark places. It’s true that I’ve sought genuine love and light after the crisis of faith that drove me out of Catholicism, and I’m grateful to New-Agers who got me started on my new path. I also understand that every light casts shadows. I understand that I would deal with intense powers. Yes, I do accept the need to tread lightly when exploring the full spiritual reality. Yes, I do understand the need to harness all emotions and all aspects of the soul and heart. I do know that going into the dark depths of the soul and heart is sometimes necessary. I do know that I’ll have to go out of my comfort zone sometimes. I know that even my personal healing will become rough. There is a necessary balance in life. I trust that by taking these on as a sort of druidic magician I’ll do much good and bring many blessings.

I did imply that this particular journal entry would become particularly incoherent and scattershot. I am indeed beginning to embark on a new path in life. Perhaps, as old as I am, I still need time to continue figuring things out for myself. Can I sum up what I’ve typed here? I suppose I can say that my personal development is rough and confusing. Yet again I’m figuring how my place in this vast and troubled world. I trust that it will be for the best.

[dukeofriven]

Okay, I’ve looked into the Young Wizards series and... I have questions. It seems to be just the usual fantasy where light is good, dark is evil, and thinking is bad. I read the whale book a long time ago and didn’t think it was very interesting, but it was a long time ago. I also saw you mention an asexual character? Are they a good person and not the usual heartless freak stereotype? Even then, I’m not sure if one positive rep is worth reading a series it seems like I wouldn’t enjoy. Any help?

Young Wizard is the most thinking-positive  book series I can think of. If I wizard doesn’t know their shit, the die. if they go to the moon not knowing their exact breathing rate and take along enough oxygen for the trip they asphyxiate to death. The entire point of the wizardly speech is that before you utter a syllable you have to think about what it is you have to do - not just from a technical standpoint, but in accordance with that most important precept of the Wizard’s Oath, that a wizard “will change no object or creature unless its growth and life, or that of the system of which it is part, are threatened.” At its best it is a philosophic musings on just about anything you can think of, especially as the series goes on and kids who started as 12 year olds find themselves facing adulthood. What does it mean to kill in the service of life? What does it mean to take you human biases out into the universe when you find yourselves facing aliens who don’t even think of the same dimensional plane as you? Questions are constantly asked about morality, love, mortality, the ritual of death, the right and wisdom of youth employing agency and - as the books go on, the nature of gender, of sex, of the importance of so complex a relationship as friendship.If you’ve only read the first book then yes, its presentation of good and bad are written more overtly in terms of light/dark than later books. Even by book 2, however, the protagonists spend most of their time becoming a bloodthirsty, violent shark (one of the series’ best characters), and they (the protagonists) have to unlearn their biases and thinking this shark as ‘evil’ just because he kills and consumes without hesitation or remorse. he is not evil, merely different, his purpose in life -and in the ecosystem - exactly what the Earth requires: to change his nature based purely on human notions of morality would be itself an amoral act.In Young Wizards dark is many things, but is never evil in and of itself - it is merely an absence of light, which is not intrinsically virtuous either, just a state of photos. Evil is always evil - it is corruption unlike that of useful fungus, natural decay, ordinary rot that happens in any properly cyclical system - it is an aberration in the natural order. It is not change, or the cycle of beginnings and endings, but entropy itself, of suffering out of a cruel and malicious presence in the universe - who may be neither so cruel, nor malicious, nor as evil as anyone might have first presumed. As the books go own so too does the morality within them change too: simplicity is often the first casualty of learning the world is a complicated place.Now, up-front, the only openly asexual character is a late-comer to the series , though she has a bigger presence if you read the supplementary material. That being said one of the series’ major characters has an intense relationship with another that they themselves are still struggling to try and define  as they learn more about another. From our current vantage point in the series (which is far from over) it most resembles that which we would call ‘queerplatonic’ - intense, at once adversarial and supportive, incredibly close without being sexual, but also still something they are working out (which is difficult in some of the alter books as Big Events happen that make easily solving knotty questions of relationships harder than usual).So if you’re looking for an out and proud asexual character to be an obvious part of the series from book one, this will disappoint you in the short term, with the caveat. however, that sexuality comes into the series slowly as the characters reach and undergo puberty. In the first book they’re nowhere near that yet: sex and their relation to it isn’t even on their horizon, they’re just kids. its not even until book four that the idea of intimate relationships starts to occur to anyone, and even then they’re first interactions with puberty are more focussed on seeing if wizardry can be used to talk pimples out of existing. If you find that description of the queerplatonic relationship - as much as I am being purposefully vague to avoid spoilers - too vague, and you’re hunting for something more immediately about the adventures of someone openly self-identifying as asexual this may not be the series for you. If you’re someone who feels uncomfortable with any discussion or depictions - however g-rated - of sex then the later books, and especially the short stories (which deal with, amongst other things, an in-depth look at the indescribably complex socio-biological history of one of the series major alien characters and their species), you may find the later series not to your tastes.However: Diane Duane, the series author, would rather be thrown into a star than ever write a series that didn’t encourage children to think. I hold her up in opposition to Harry Potter precisely because she actual cares about morality: unlike Rowling’s cut-and-dried Calvinistic determinism, Duane gives readers no such easy answers: while the books are never so dark as to trick its characters into doing something seriously heinous, its not afraid to sit them down in front of the hard questions and say “other people can’t make these decisions for you: you’ve to make a choice even if none of your options are ‘good’ ones.” Good might be virtuous, but that doesn’t make it safe, and just because you’re one of the good guys doesn’t mean you’ll live to see eighteen.Oh, and yes, the asexual character’s a fucking riot - unquestionably one of the good guys, as are the series other queer characters, neuro-divergent characters, and characters for whom mere human concepts of gender and sexual modality would be not only inappropriate but downright inapplicable.Is it the greatest representation ever? No, of course not - but Duane knows, going so far to rewrite an entire book of the series to update it with a decade’s worth of new autism research and to listen to the input of her autistic readers who said the original didn’t represent them right. Diane Duane was writing polyamorous multi-species queer-celebrating fantasy novels when she was cutting her teeth of Star Trek back in the eighties  - i can’t think of another fantasy writer who has tried so hard for so long to not rest on her privileges and stay confined in the heteronormative tropes of multiple genres.I think she’s worth reading. i think she’s worth reading more now than I did when I first read her as a kid. The New Millenium Editions (the updated, modernized books) which cover the first nine books are on sale again. (One of these days i will post my Preferred Reading order for the series, but the short version is that there are ten novels, two novella collections, several shorts stories, and three spin-off, for-adult books about cat wizards that are still waiting on a re-write to make them line-up with the canon timeline).Look, I think these are some of the smarted, most-thought books ever written - a refreshing change not only from a young adult market saturated with ditzy, consequence-free escapist fantasies, but also media so up their own ass that brutally murdering their own characters is the way they demonstrate maturity. the first book, with the youngest version of the characters, may be a stumbling block if you’re not used to reading about kid-kids, but it very much is a series about growing up - and how much more complicated that is than pop-culture always seems to suggest.

[dukeofriven]

Andrew Hussie coming out as non-binary was the least surprising thing to ever happen. You can't really read Homestuck and walk away going 'ah yes, here's an author really comfortable with the sociological nature of the male gender they were assigned at birth,' especially since you can watch them as a writer get queerer in real time of you read from Jailbreak through to the end of Homestuck, or start even earlier with the proto-Team Special Olympics blogs, the Star Trek re-edits, or heck - go rewatch Barty's Brew-Ha-Ha (you've watched it, right?) and tell me Barty's not a wink and a nod from being a lonely rural gay man. (I've said it before but I feel really strongly that if you were an edgelord 4chan-esque kind of internet user in the early 2000s, you are now either alt-right cis or far-left trans, and I'd love to see some statistics on this.) (While I am musing aloud on this, I still want Andrew to go back to Wizardly Herbert. Wht's there is great but I'd love to see a more mature, comfortably queer author take another crack at the material.)

i do think there is a lot to say on why homestuck’s fanbase is (to put it bluntly) so transgender in such a specific and interesting way. and i think its mostly to do with homestuck’s treatment of femininity vs masculinity in a way that is not typically done

femininity is presented as both something to save the world (space players and echidna, working with frogs, maids/sylphs presented as The Most Feminine classes and about creation/healing, despite it being said later on class gendering doesn’t matter, because it was written to matter at the beginning), while also being vicious enough to cause longtime and horrifying pain (kanaya and jade wield chainsaws and shotguns. the peixes line being as they are. its implied female trolls are culturally thought to be more cruel/violent on alternia due to condy’s influence via flarp being “for girls” as tavros is told. vriska. aranea’s help hurting everyone she tries it on.)

masculinity in homestuck is… frankly not aggrandized at all. it’s a reverse from the norm. every hypermasculine character we may have had a chance to look at has it ripped away in the end. bro strider dies to a little girl’s dog. lord english is first presented as a hypermasculine musclebound giant, then we meet caliborn and see the farce for what it is, LE is a little boy wearing an adult man’s clothes and screaming for people to take him seriously. and we do. until we notice that the clothes don’t fit quite right, and everything falls apart. grandpa harley was never alive. equius is the most masculine presented of any of the players, and… well. we’ve all seen equius. dad egbert is the only genuine show of masculinity in a truly positive light for john - and by extension the reader - to look up to, and he’s based around loving his own so much he makes cakes daily and tries to bond with him in any way he can, albeit often in ways that don’t really work. 

i don’t know. i think homestuck’s use of gendering is a fascinating aspect of the story. i think it helped me with my own personal experience of gender and the different aspects people can see gender through :] its cool to me