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astraltrickster · 6 months

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Maybe it's just everything around me being so deadly serious in a way I don't have the energy to get into nor the power to do anything about online but I feel like swinging a bat at a more local and immediately actionable hornet's nest so here we go-

There are two things in leftist/feminist media critique we NEED to get better about tackling without letting it take us in horrible counterproductive directions.

One: The way breast size is used as visual shorthand for maturity/attitude/sexual openness, and how that plays into the male gaze (which - 101 level reminder to reject what radfems have told you, this is a film critique term that has to do primarily with framing conventions, NOT some kind of mystical Objectification Beam that emanates from men's eyes, okay? okay). Namely, we need to learn to acknowledge that this visual shorthand is a thing and criticize it WITHOUT implying that it's fair or based in reality.

What do I mean by "implying that it's fair or based in reality?" I mean the way that the first thing many people do to humanize a canonically badly objectified female character is not to change up the art style to give her room for her organs, not to put her in a more natural pose in a less idealized setting, not even to frame her in a way that's more inclined to draw the eye to her face rather than her breasts, but to reduce her bust size. To call large breasts "unrealistic". As someone who had...multiple friends who were pretty well-endowed by middle school, I need to tell you - this attitude did NOT help them, it just got them called sluts and "distractions".

We need to be able to criticize it when male characters are allowed to have multiple body types (however idealized they still may be), but women's bodies are only differentiated by bust size, and yes, that IS treated as shorthand for something. We need to be able to discuss how large breasts have long been visual shorthand for maturity and sexuality, and small breasts have long been visual shorthand for innocence. We...may need to tell some character designers, especially non-tit-having ones, that no, breast growth is not inherently linked to sexual activity, nor fertility, nor is it something that just goes on forever like noses and ears. We may even, yes, want to vary up the bust sizes on some existing characters in fanart to ask people to question the way it's treated. We DEFINITELY need to bring back Free The Nipple. But we can't STOP at shrinking characters' breasts and calling it "less objectified", and we also very much cannot, as I've seen asked for, replace that with making the characters fatter and more muscular to be "more proportional" to say the same - again, please consider what you're implying to real human women with the body types you're calling "objectified" or "not objectified". When you stop there, you're telling the large-breasted woman that she IS just a sexual object. You're telling the fat girl that she CAN'T be a sexual being. You're telling the small-chested woman that she's too much of a baby for anyone to ACTUALLY be attracted to her. That's not what we need to be doing with these critiques! That's the opposite of what we need to be doing with these critiques!

Speaking of "telling the small-chested woman she's too much of a baby for anyone to ACTUALLY be attracted to", that brings me to point two: we need to figure out how to talk about how young aggressive sexual objectification starts WITHOUT implying or getting sucked into some Pizzagate-tier bullshit about the media managing to "normalize pedophilia", like - that's some gateway blood libel shit right there. "Everyone knows that molesting kids is bad and evil, but there's a secret shadowy group of people who not only do it systematically, ritualistically, lurking around every corner, looking to snatch your kids up for their wicked deeds, and they've so infected the media that they're going to manage to convince you that the horrible abuses they want to enact on YOUR poor innocent children are normal, they're so influential that even just LOOKING at their propaganda can turn a well-meaning person into a monster" - I'm not sorry, if your media critique can be paraphrased to that, you're going down a DANGEROUS path and need to go back to square one, especially if you're already starting to get suspicious of certain last names in western media, or aiming it first and foremost at a foreign culture (looking at you, anime critics).

The problem is the stereotype of men as ruthless sex-seekers and women as prizes. The problem is the idea that youth is about training for those roles. The biggest problem is the idea that women are no longer dateable once they hit 26 or so - they should either be married by then and dedicate their lives to being good wives and mothers, or simply disappear from public life as laughable failures, because ultimately that's what women are for in society.

The idea that your only years of value, especially if you're a woman, are from 18-25 is definitely some chud shit, but it's NOT pedophilia, because...get this: 20-somethings aren't children.

This standard is pervasive. It's everywhere. And because it's treated as such a default, such a constant, such a universal truth, it starts young - look how many book bans are targeting anything that DARES to state or even imply there are other options. We need to criticize that! We need to criticize how much gender standards end up having overly sexual implications even when applied to kids! We need to have serious discussions of how to disentangle the decades of social coding that make it hard to really tell who we need to be criticizing when it comes to things such as, say, prematurely "sexualized" clothing for little girls - i.e., that we have to pause and ask "...but wait, is it really that sexualized, or is it just feminine?"

We need to also have discussions of how this and the Leonardo Dicaprio standard intersect with fatphobia - i.e., is that animated girl "minor-coded", or is she just in the age range that Leo would date and super skinny because even breasts would make her look ~faaaat ewwwww~?

And we need, BADLY, to stop getting distracted from that conversation and letting it drag us to some really ugly and dangerous places instead.

#media #serious tag #keeping the property values down

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jellycreamjammedart · 4 months

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This might be a risky hot take but

Some of you "Gregory Defenders" are starting to annoy the absolute hell out of me

And this isn't about the "whether Gregory is innocent or guilty" side of the argument you're on, but about how obnoxious and unhinged some of y'all are about it regardless of the "side" you're on.

Not everyone in the fandom is going to like Gregory, nor will everyone see him as innocent. Some may even say he's a cold and manipulative backstabber, or that he's only popular because of "male protag privilege". And you know what, that's actually all okay and valid. And you know why?

Because Gregory is not real.

"He's only like 12!!!!" he's not real.

"He's just a child!!!" he's not real.

"He's not guilty he was brainwashed!!" he's not real.

"He's only trying to protect himself he doesn't deserve hate!!!" Let people dislike/hate him if they want, it won't affect Gregory at all because he's not real.

It's not like people are bullying a real child. He's a fictional character, in case y'all ever forgot that detail.

Actually no, I am SURE y'all forgot that detail, with how you treat people who dislike him as if it was an actual moral issue and paint them as evil for not sharing your image of your perfect cinnamon roll gremlin boy.

"How DARE you say Gregory's not innocent? How can you HATE him he's just a kid!!! It's not his fault STOP punishing him!!! How evil do you have to be to blame a literal child!!!? You're disgusting!!!" HE'S NOT FUCKING REAL.

Where in the fucking hell is it okay to label a person as evil or bully them for like, liking Cassie (another fictional character in case you also forgot) over Gregory??

Yes this also goes to y'all who approach people unprompted to tell them like a lawyer why Gregory is not to blame, especially with how condescending and obnoxious you are about it, pretty much reeking the vibe of "I'm telling you how wrong you are for blaming Gregory because you're clearly stupid for not believing otherwise, here's why I'm right and why my vision of this character is the correct one."

I'm sick of "Gregory defense lawyers" coming to my inbox after my ramblings about Cassie blaming Gregory for the elevator drop all condenscendingly like "Ummm actually you can't do that because Gregory is innocent it was all the Mimic in case you missed the details blah blah-" did I fucking ask???

(Unless people seem confused or are new to the fandom and they ask, then you may be entitled to tell them... but I still suggest being unbiased and focusing on canon aspects only rather than your personal opinion about it.)

Don't even get me started on y'all's flat out hostility towards people who don't like Gregory

"If you think Gregory did anything wrong ever I'LL FUCKING FIGHT YOU" is this really all that necessary to protect a kid that doesn't even exist??? Is it worth ending friendships or snuffing out potential new friendships with other real people over??? Worth bullying and witch-hunting other real people whose only apparent crime was loving the same franchise as you? How can you be proud of that?

(Unless you mean you will fight people in that memey or shitpost way then idc keep being a silly little guy actually)

"But I adore Gregory, and he's my favorite character!! It makes me really upset when people hate him/make art/write about him being guilty or blamed, or say Cassie is better! I don't agree with it!!" ... then why are you making yourself upset by checking out content about Gregory that you don't like? Like... dude.

People are going to create stuff about Gregory (or any other fictional character really,) that won't always align with you. And they're entitled to do it, no matter how wrong you think they are! Instead of policing what other people create about your blorbo, just look away and seek content about them that you actually like. If a particular creator's vision on Gregory is too much of a deal-breaker for you, just block and blacklist and move on. Or create the content you want yourself instead of badgering other people.

Also keep in mind that Gregory being antagonized in a fic/art/etc doesn't always translate to the authors hating him, chances are they're just writting it from other characters' perspectives who may have whatever beef with him in the given setting, so don't go jumping to conclusions either. And even if the antagonism does come from the author's personal bias, that still gives you no right to harrass them anyways.

I will continue liking Cassie over Gregory and I do think she's better and I will continue rambling about Cassie hating Gregory for believing he betrayed her even if it was the Mimic, because it is an interesting scenario, and I personally think the whole GGY thing was dumb and unnecessary (he could still have been an interesting character as just an unlucky homeless boy without any sinister plot-twist.) That's it; There's no fucking need to make it about morality, ffs. If you don't like that, ignore it, or unfollow me if it's that much of a deal-breaker for you.

All y'all are doing is giving reasonable Gregory fans a bad name, and actually making people dislike him further by oversaturating him and forcing him into a source of stress and disdain rather than enjoyment for them, where people start actually getting sick of seeing him around (and I feel that myself already.)

Let people dislike Gregory for whatever reason.

By the way...

You "Gregory Haters" are annoying me as well

As entitled as you are to your opinion about this annoying manipulative liar of a brat, there are people who share a different sentiment about him. Let them.

You don't have to reblog or comment on someone's post how much they adore Gregory to tell why you hate him, or go to the spaces of Gregory fans to spew why you hate so much this little guy they like. That's just fucking mean and rude. Make your own post, or go to the spaces that share your opinion.

Quit making people feel bad for liking a character you dislike. If you don't like Gregory, why are you even bothering to check out content about him, then? Check out content about characters you LIKE. I bet that'd make you much happier than spending your time regurgitating your hate over someone's creation about a character they like but you don't and unsurprisingly start an argument about it. Look for things you like, block and blacklist stuff and people about your hated character if you gotta but leave them alone

Let people like Gregory for whatever reason, too.

Let people see Gregory however way they see fit.

Because this bears repeating: He's not real. He's a fictional character. He's a tool. Let people use him however way they see fit to drive a story or scenario; that's his purpose, as a fictional character.

#fnaf #fnaf sb #fnaf sb ruin #fnaf hw2 #fnaf hw 2 #five nights at freddy's #five nights at freddys #five nights at freddy's security breach #five nights at freddys security breach #five nights at freddy's security breach ruin #five nights at freddys security breach ruin #five nights at freddy's help wanted 2 #five nights at freddys help wanted 2 #gregory #jellycream speaks #rant #yall can and SHOULD reblog this actually #but yall better not clown in here

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dontbotherwiththepronunciation · 8 months

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EDIT UPON LAST READING:

This was written on the 30th of may mostly because I got in trouble with a subset of sansa fans at the time and I felt like I should try to joy in her character again. I am no longer sick, I no longer feel like talking about romance, I no longer feel like talking about Sansa but doing this was fun and I am always curious

For the sake of this post, and only this post, I will refer to the term "ship" or any derivatives of the word as "feeling interested by a dynamic's fanon, semi- or canon romantic connotations".

Can't believe I have to say this but god people can get so unnecessarily mean. Before people start being pedantic about something as harmless as rarepairs, it seems like I really will have to say: I don't believe in any of these options possible canon endgames. Many of these have not even interacted. I deserve to have fun with stuff as trivial as dumb inconsequential fanon ships.

Under the cut I wrote down my preferences + linked some fanwork simply because I’m in a shipping mood after reading some folkloric myths and I don’t really have any strong opinions on ships, and the few NOTPS I have are more about the way fandom treats the ship than the actual ship on itself, but I am completely ill and not healthy enough to do anything more serious and rarepairs are fun. You don’t have to read it or write one yourself, I just feel like talking and recommending fanfics.

On the other hand, if you do want to recommend me fanwork of any type, or share a prompt or show me a wip or just simply hype your rarepair please do so! Everything goes as long as it's a rarepair (less than 500 fics on ao3).

1. Sansa Stark x Brienne of Tarth

Listen, were it not for Brienne and Jaime being clearly written to be read as semi-canon-going-canon and were this book not written by a straight cis white male US American baby boomer democrat, I would be delusionally screaming this is going to be the one canon ship! This would be my protagonist endgame ship for which I would take the mildest coincidence as foreshadowing and die on that hill.

I am coming for you, Lady Sansa. Be not afraid. I shall not rest until I've found you. - Brienne I, AFFC

(Subversions of lady/princess & knight/prince where both are women and one of them is searching for the other and I'll become her Prince and save her! and-)

I just really love how so many of Brienne's issues are tied to her femininity. She does not fit into the traditional idea of womanhood, she wishes she would, she does not want to, she is rejected by the concept and she rejects the concept. And yet, when she distances herself from every possible reminder of her own femininity and takes up a man's armour and sword, she is reminded of her place as a woman and told to conform to her gender.

And then we have Sansa, who romanticises stories about Ladies and Knights; first out of genuine love and admiration for them, and later as a coping mechanism when cruel reality tells her that those ideals are sadly nowhere near true.

This is her knight. This is her strong, brave knight.

My only problem with Briennsa is how we shippers sometimes tend to put Brienne in a position of servitude to Sansa or the Starks and ignore how she is the heir to an island, has a father whom she loves and wishes to see again, and is still on a quest. Hell, she might be Azor Ahai, with her weirwood dream in which she fights White Walkers + her father's sword Lightbringer, out of all the Azor Ahai tinfoil theories this is the one I think has the most canon support. She is not a Hyle Hunt type of errand knight who is just walking around Westeros for the sake of traveling and finding a job, and once the war is over and she has kept her oath, it would be nice to see her going home and proceeding with her life and independence, maybe taking Podrik with her. I would like her to see her father again and see there being love between them.

My nonsensical fantasies involve Brienne being like "Alright, I found one of the Stark girls, still have to find the other one. I'm taking her to Tarth where she'll be safe and have no creeps around who would bother her." and Sansa just completely falling in love with Brienne on the way there.

Also, I would die for the comedic potential of Brienne of Tarth, mockingly refered to as "Brienne the beauty", having a trail of people fawning over her. This post is one of my favourite posts in the world.

To be honest, while I do enjoy the idea of Sansa going North to reunite with her family, I also have a strong fondness for the concept of her actually staying South. I know this is an unpopular opinion that Sansa fans seem to particularly dislike because of the whole "SaNsA iS nOt A rEaL sTaRk" thing, but there is something about lands of childhoods being unretournable. Stepping out of home means never seeing it again. "I am stronger within the walls of Winterfell" perhaps, but the walls of Winterfell were burned and the one Winterfell native who got to go back to Winterfell didn't get to be strong or safe.

I would like to be wrong though, and I think I will be wrong! But still, it would be nice for her to discover a South that is closer to the dreams of chivalry and court she had and perhaps Tarth could be that place, even if only for a short time.

Well, here is a canon-divergent AFFC fanfic in which Brienne finally makes it to the Vale. It has a lot of fairy tale imagery and an interesting characterisation between the Sansa-Alayne personas.

2. Sansa Stark x Jeyne Westerling

"That's what I'll give you, Lady Sansa. Your brother's head." A kind of madness took over her then, and she heard herself say, "Maybe my brother will give me your head." - Sansa VI, AGOT

You know how Catelyn and Ellaria both at least got to say goodbye to the remains of their loved ones? Jeyne didn't. Neither did Sansa.

My weird fantasy involves Jeyne Westerling (MY Queen in the North) finally getting Robb's head, even if it's just the skull, and showing it to Sansa. A subversion in a way. Joffrey would have done it in malice and sadism, Jeyne would do it it with care, maybe a feeling of responsibility over what remains of her husband's family.

I have a lot of issues with Robb Stark and the way he is perceived in fandom, I keep hating him until I read the source material again and realise "oh wait, fanon≠canon", but I just think his relationships with the women surrounding him are fascinating and they don't get explored a lot. Sansa doesn't know about him cutting her out of the inheritance line and I wonder how she and Jeyne, the other woman who is a Stark but would no longer be accepted as one by a majority of the Northern lords, would feel about him. I wonder how love, resentment, grief and guilt would mix between the two. I don't think Jeyne is pregnant, but if she somehow ends up caring for Robb's heir (be it Jon, Sansa, or an eventual child we refer to as his) I would love that. I like imagining that Jeyne could learn more about Robb, the boy, since she seems to have only gotten to know Robb, the man and King. I like daydreaming of Sansa and Jeyne talking about Catelyn, whom both admire.

I think both of them, based on what we know of Jeyne, share some similitudes in the way they behave conforming to their gender and what is considered a Lady's attitude while still having moments of defiance and I think Sansa could maybe appreciate that. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, she speaks of "madness taking over her" and, in my opinion, this is usually when she steps out of her own safety to be brave or bold (standing up to Joffrey, trusting Dontos, trying to hide her first menstruation) and I think it could be nice to see her realising these are not things she should be ashamed of. It always reminds me of Jeyne tearing up her clothes and fighting her mother. Jeyne Westerling, like most Jeynes, doesn't get treated very well in fandom. I hate how the interpretation of Robb breaking his vows to marry her is always one putting him as a selfless saint who practically sacrificed himself for a girl he didn't even love when the fact this all plays so mysteriously can open so many possibilities.

And it seems to me people forget how metal she became.

Sometimes Sansa's f/f ships tend to get simplified to "girls being girls and doing girly things together" and I understand why people enjoy that and they are valid for doing so, but in my case I usually prefer to have a little more conflict to it and I think this ship can balance the "girls making flowercrowns and braiding each others hair" and "exploration of complex feelings and estrangement" well enough for me to find it interesting.

Here is a fanfic I'd recommend that takes place in Winterfell with a reluctant Queen Sansa and lots of survivor's guilt + an edit done for said fanfic!

3. Sansa Stark x Garlan Tyrell

When Joff had her beaten, the Imp defended her, not Littlefinger. When the mob sought to rape her, the Hound carried her to safety, not Littlefinger. When the Lannisters wed her to Tyrion against her will, Ser Garlan the Gallant gave her comfort, not Littlefinger. - Sansa I, AFFC

(Yes, I know all those allies are kind of perpetuating her misery too, but she seems to have some affection for them. The reasons behind the affection can be discussed and dissected to examine whether that affection should be there or not, but as of now I don't want to talk about that. People can cherrypick to their own wishes.)

Not something I like to visualise as an endgame because Garlan seems to be quite happy with Leonette and I honestly think Margaery and Sansa's break up/middle school betrayal might not be as easily solvable as we wished, but I like thinking about Sansa & Garlan.

I like Sansa but she is fetishising a gay man who just lost the love of his life when she has a broader shouldered, bearded, straight person who looks very similar to said gay man who is called Garlan the Gallant and how can she be so blind? Why is her unrealistic teenage crush so poorly chosen? Garlan is so humble and his name is so fitting. He is more chivalrous and mature than Lawrence and he is so strong and agreeable and he treats her and Tyrion with respect. He takes her out to dance and makes her laugh and if going by how she describes the Tyrells, then he is so very handsome too and- Why are you laughing? - My father, swooning over Garlan the Gallant on the phone

I do like imagining her having a bit of a very one-sided mild crush sometimes, not something serious but one of those light early adolescent crushes you won't ever act on. Sansa finding moments to daydream and cherish in the hell of a life she is living in King's Landing where se feels cared for, even if it is by someone who is not particularly invested in her. Admiring Leonette and wondering how happy she must be, without ever being truly envious or malicious but simply wishing she had something similar. So, less actual romantic interest but more of a one-sided "I wish" in response to unexpected and (hopefully) genuine emotional help.

I usually prefer gap fillers in fanfiction and I am so eagerly waiting for a gap filler of Sansa's time in King's Landing where she gets to interact more with Garlan and Leonette. Where we see her being wistful and melancholic, longing for her dreams of courtship, chivalry and the sort of love that would be a mix between that which she has heard in songs and witnessed between her parents. Having small moments of joy feeling like a girl again for allowing herself those dreams and realising they can be true.

It's a pity there aren't many fanfics or fan art focusing on their canon or fanon dynamic. I like them a lot.

4. Sansa Stark x Myranda Royce

This is the light to C€rsei x Ta€na's darkness. I love them as friends and I would rather keep them as friends, and for some reason I ship Myranda x Mya, but I enjoy the ship A LOT! Out of the female connection's Sansa builds as the story goes on, I think their dynamic is the most endearing one, and I live in fear of GRRM turning Myranda into Sansa's new villain. I talked a bit about them in the later part of that one post, and I don't have a lot more to add, I just genuinely enjoy their dynamic and how natural Sansa's friendship with her is. I think Myranda embodies certain aspects of Margaery and Jeyne, but until now she is more genuine than Margaery was, and Sansa is also more mature in her treatment of her compared to Jeyne. I just like them.

So, if Myranda gets to wake up the sapphicness in Sansa, I would not complain. She spends so much time flirting with her! I love her for that. "You do turn such a pretty shade of pink.”, "So you're brave as well as beautiful, "I can see how virtuous you are just by looking at those rosy cheeks and big blue eyes of yours."

Sometimes I see this small fraction of fandom being mistrusting of Myranda and I honestly think we are just falling into Littlefinger's trap when we do that. If Petyr tells Sansa not to befriend Myranda, then I will 100% hope Sansa has the common sense to befriend Myranda. Don't take Myranda's derogative comment about Alayne's "Bastard breasts" as genuine, her literal bff/girlfriend is a bastard herself. Nah, but seriously, do we really think that Mya Stone who has been struggling with feelings of abandonment since before we even met her would be "as close as sisters" with Myranda Royce if she truly were a classist evil schemer? I honestly think Littlefinger might be a little afraid of her. She is shrewd, she might not be on board with her father's alliance with Petyr. Maybe that is why she is being threatened by her father to be married to a suitor she wouldn't approve of.

I might be wrong though, who knows. I do understand how her constant bawdy jokes could have also been a method for disorienting and questioning her but the twow preview chapter made me doubt it. For some reason I find her more genuine than Margaery, but as said I'm open to being very wrong about this.

Anyway, here is a small Drabble + art someone made and it's cute and Myranda is funny. I love Myranda.

5. Sansa Stark x Harrold Hardyng

I didn't have a strong opinion on them but then I was sold on them by a fanfic. It seems like this is where canon might be heading and I'm honestly happy for Sansa if she gets to have her high school movie annoyance to lovers romance with a handsome-popular-everybody-wants-him Prep/Jock guy. Good for her. I don't think Harry is an evil person and I hope it remains that way. Depending on which approach GRRM takes to their relationship it could be very comedic while still holding the political plot for the Vale. Their interactions during the Alayne TWOW preview chapter were gold and everything I would expect from the high school AU set in the Middle Ages, this post encapsulates it, I want them to be cringe and weirdly out of place. All the important lords and ladies are talking politics while these two are constantly making everyone uncomfortable with weird one liners.

On the other hand, depending on how long Sansa has to keep up with the Alayne farce, it could also provide for some angst and explorations of identity issues. Lady Waynwood agreed to the betrothal on the condition that Harry himself would agree to it and find "Alayne" to his liking. And I will admit there is something that would be so sweet about Sansa being loved by Harry THE HEIR, as Alayne Stone, some petty lord's bastard.

It is not me she wants her son to marry, it is my claim. No one will ever marry me for love. - Sansa VI, ASOS

I would be so genuinely happy if she is proven wrong. And yes, the Alayne persona is not simply Sansa with another hair colour and name, but it is still part of her. It is a mask of her own face, smoother and only presenting that which she wants to present. It would be interesting to see an actual love story blossom out of this, while she is still painfully aware of their union being a machination of Littlefinger, maybe feeling guilt and insecurity over Alayne being made to play the seductress while Sansa is still underneath that facade wanting to be loved, being loved but not fully aware of it.

Anyway, here is a light angst fanfic about the Sansa-Alayne identity and Harry! It's probably one of my favourite Sansa fics ever, but warning for Petyr Baelish being himself!

+ I think people sleep on the concept of us readers getting to see Littlefinger "losing the girl" for the supposed prep/jock fuckboy again, that would be great.

Not a favourite, because I don't know a lot about Harrold except for that he is kind of a jerk, but I am a very canon person, so I'll probably end up tolerating/liking it if it actually gets to happen.

6. Sansa Stark x Myrcella Baratheon

I feel very weird about this one because I personally tend to distance myself from the captive x captor (including captor's family) ships in asoiaf when they are portrayed as something positive (nothing against those who like them, it's just a personal preference), but maybe because in this case both of them experience the position of hostage/ward and they didn't get to spend a significant amount of time together (two years at most), I am less appalled about possible scenarios in which they meet again in the future. Myrcella being passed off as legitimate when she is a bastard, Sansa being passed off as a bastard when she is legitimate, becoming pawns in political intrigues of others, being isolated from their families at a young age. Dorne treats Myrcella significantly better than King's Landing treated Sansa, but it still is the place where she was maimed and almost killed.

+ The fact that Myrcella is supposed to look almost exactly like Cersei (someone Sansa admired and wanted to emulate only to come to fear and hate her) but has none of her cruelty could be very interesting and torturous to explore if people want to write angst and get into Sansa's psychology. You can make this dark and macabre without having to open the bag with the dead dove.

Here is a (sadly abandoned) post ados fic in which Myrcella travels North as a ward to Lady Sansa, Warden of the North, sent by Queen Daenerys. Othe ships are also tagged, but since it was discontinued they don't appear. It has a very entertaining characterisation for Myrcella and it doesn't bash any of the girls mentioned, so I liked it.

7. Sansa Stark x Lancel Lannister

So, imagine a universe where Sansa chooses Lancel over Tyrion.

At the time, Lancel is still recovering from his wounds, if I remember correctly, and is experiencing his religious awakening. Imagine how different Sansa's arc would have been. Would she be the one seeking for some sort of connection between her and her husband? Lancel would probably have no interest in any possible romance, but he might be less indifferent with Sansa than he was with Amerei given how she aided him when he was wounded even when he had always been a passive participant in her abuse. Would she keep plotting and hoping for an escape with Dontos? Or would Lancel take her away from King's Landing? If he's not marrying Amerei, then he is not getting Derry, but perhaps Sansa could become a claim to Riverrun post-Red Wedding and that would be interesting to see. Sansa in her mother's home, retracing the steps of her parents, but this time differently, as an unwilling usurper to her uncle. Would she meet Jeyne once the Lannisters retake Riverrun?

Would there be a religious conflict between the two? I am an agnostic theology enthusiast, so I really love seeing how religion plays out in the story and since Sansa believes in the Seven Gods and the Old Gods, I think her dual faith would be interesting to see in opposition to Lancel's devotion for and indoctrination by the faith of the Seven.

+ both have Cersei related trauma and I am a sucker for "we share an abuser" dynamics.

I actually really love this possibility, but didn't came up with any of it on my own! What I wrote above is based on conversations between @team-mom-wannabe, @selkiewife and @nosafeanchorage. They created an entire AU for these two, with an astonishing amount of details and care, and then I had to go through the disappointment that is realising no one has ever written a fanfic centred on their possible marriage.

8. Sansa Stark x Val the Wildling

I really like Val. I know some people hate her because they claim she is "not like other girls" or because she wants Shireen to be killed, but I hate the way nlog rhetoric has developed and I come from a continent where 95% of the population was killed by foreigner's diseases (and also by the foreigners themselves of course), so yeah, I will never hold that against her. I understand why that is upsetting to others, but I'm different.

It's weird to me that although show!Sansa was given traits and storylines from many erased female characters and was kind of deprived of her own (and I still hate that show for that and so many other things), they never teased the concept of giving her a wildling partner! Tormund was a completely different character compared to his book counterpart, he was much younger, conventionally attractive and acted as the main leader of the Free Folk after Mance, so I thought they would maybe merge him with Sigorn and tease him and Sansa, but that didn't happen (I don't remember what happened to him. Did he die?). And I won't deny that the lack of a wilding/northerner marriage lead me to have some thoughts about how interesting it could be for her to meet someone from the free folk. And then, because I'm very very sapphic, Val came to my mind, another cool woman they erased. Beautiful and deadly. A subversion of the princess in a tower.

It's fun to see how both, Sansa and Val, are considered the keys to the North/the Free Folk when their titles are practically honorary; Val is not a real princess and the Free Folk wouldn't submit to anyone who forcibly married her, Sansa has been cut out of the inheritance line because she was made to marry an enemy whom the North would never allow into its territory. I think it would be entertaining to see them meet and observe possibly feelings of mutual respect grow and I just really like seeing people from different cultures interact. Free Folk's beliefs around courtship and how romance and marriage are always meant to carry some sort of violence are fascinating to me. The idea of being "stolen" is a concept I initially associated to non-consensual dynamics, but in fairy tales we often have characters saving the female heroine/love interest by stealing/rescuing them. The way women are often made to be objects of conquest or rewards in most folkloric stories and fairy tales conditions their rescue as theft, since they often belong to the villain only to be passed to another male character. This also is somewhat true in Sansa's case specifically with Tyrion and Petyr, although I would argue Petyr is a lot worse for Sansa than Tyrion. Anyway, I would really like to see how Sansa, who has always been on the edge of rape but has managed to avoid it (she has still been mistreated and fondled in situations of dubious consent, but not violated like Jeyne or Dany), would react to their customs.

+ depending on whether you believe in Sansa's possible complicity in the poisoning of Sweetrobin there could be soooo much room for projection and angst if she gets to see Val being motherly and so very loving to "her nephew" (even when it's not really her nephew and she knows) while still advocating for Shireen's death. Oh, that could be very very fun to read.

9. Sansa Stark x Podrick Payne

awwww he is crushing on his boss's wife! :D

I feel weird about this one being so low given how it's the only one in this bunch with some canon support. This is uncommon for me. It's probably simply because I find her dynamic with Tyrion more interesting, but this is cute anyway!

I do wonder why no one has thought more seriously about them in canon given how Pod is Brienne's traveling companion and might come to meet Sansa again sometime soon (if they survive LSH (on that note, I'd love it if he gets to tell her about Catelyn/LSH)).

I don't know. Podrick is a good kid and Sansa deserves good things. I just haven't found a lot of thematics in their possible dynamic that interest me, but I'm open to them.

+ Sansa's weird traumatic dreams involving Ilyn Payne. Someone make something out of this.

Sadly haven't found many fanfics that have sparked my interest, but I really like this gif-set!

10. Sansa Stark x Tristifer Botley

I had been wondering about this concept for a while and thought that in another universe where the war didn't happen or the possible Iron Islands/The North alliance was settled in terms that included more marriages between them, this could have been interesting, albeit improbable since House Botley isn't as relevant as House Stark, but interesting! And then I came across this really sweet post-ados fanfic by @/alleyskywalker in which Sansa is married to him to build bonds with the Islands since all realms are now independent again and I thought it was cute. Tris was lovely and I liked reading him. He is a character I feel conflicted about, but I don't think he is evil, I just didn't like the way he approached Asha. I jokingly refer to him as a nice guy™, but honestly he is just an actual nice guy with a gentle nature and romantic tendencies and I really love how he is a character whom Asha deems "too sweet for the Iron Islands", and still he is part of the Iron Islands and is accepted as one by the other Ironborn. Her claim is never backed on by anyone else.

His courteous and polite ways could probably match Sansa's dreams of chivalry very well. It would also be fun to see her adapt to the Islands, considering the Northerners' mistrust (and also some bigotry) for the Ironborn and how different their culture is compared to that of the southern courts that Sansa dreamed of and idealized. It could be fun.

My honour mentions in no particular order

Sansa Stark x Harras Harlaw

For similar reasons to Tristifer Botley, but although we know less about Harras' personality, we know he is a salt son and a knight, something most of his fellow Ironborn frown upon. To me, that is odd and fun to think about. Does he worship the Seven Gods AND the Drowned God simultaneously? His mother is a Serret of the Westerlands. Could she have been the one to make him be more fond of southern culture? I don't know, but I like to think that is the case and if so, I think him and Sansa could possibly have some things in common.

Sansa Stark x Mya Stone

Not one I'm actively searching stuff for, but I get a visit from my good ol' friend Sarah Tonin whenever I stumble upon it and I can understand why people are into it:

Baratheon x Stark (but f/f)

Bastard x Noble (but f/f + subverted because "Alayne")

Mya's connection to Catelyn (Lady Stoneheart would approve)

There is also the fact that Mya is one of the most honest and frank characters Sansa has met ever since the story began. I will defend Myranda but I think she is shrewd, Margaery...well we know how that ended...Mya is different! She doesn't seem to be hiding any secrets or have any ulterior motives in her friendliness. Her abandonment issues would be interesting to explore among with Sansa's overall introspection + her isolation in King's Landing and her new (and sadly well) founded mistrust for others.

Honestly, my favourite daydream just involves them having a conversation about Sansa's parents and Mya telling her all she can remember and consoling her, while being open about her own issues, but sadly I don't have any creative abilities and can't come up with anything beyond that.

Here is a short, but interesting, fanfic that takes place post AFFC, but was written before the TWOW preview chapters came out. I thought it was lovely.

Sansa Stark x Jeyne Poole

Kind of an obvious one and one I struggle with because I can see the appeal of childhood friends torn apart by war and then reuniting after both went through different hells, but the way fandom treats it often just annoys me. I think there are a few unaddressed issues that make it more difficult for me to enjoy the way it's portrayed in fanon. I guess we could say I like it as a rhænicent that never got truly toxic and just remained bittersweet with a few kneeps of resentment, feelings of inferiority and maybe some misplaced anger coming from Jeyne . There is a fanfic though that I think is unmatched when it comes to what I would like : (1) + (2) but warning for canon compliant Jeyne storyline fucked upness + mild ambiguous Theyne (the Jeynsa is ambiguous too, but in my opinion less than the theyne, and it is just as important, not a side-ship. Overall one of my favourite fics ever).

Rolly Duckfield

"He is as tall as Griff now. Three days ago he knocked Duck into a horse trough." "I wasn't knocked. I fell in just to make him laugh." - Tyrion III, ADWD

I love Duck. He reminds me of my best friend and I think Sansa could use someone like that in her life. I have nothing else to add.

#I’m only really invested in Sansa x Brienne and Sansa x Jeyne W (romantically) but I really like putting her with uncommon suitors #just for the sake of having fun with it.#sansa stark #asoiaf #speaking #fanfic rec #I think W€x P¥ke could be nice too but if I'm shipping him with a northern girl it will be W¥lla because of the potential for #comically uncomfortable inconveniences for the0n.#I am tagging the ships just in case someone has blacklisted some of them sorry for spamming #sansa x brienne #sansa x garlan #sansa x harry #sansa x jeyne #(w)#(p)#sansa x lancel #sansa x myranda #sansa x myrcella #sansa x Podrick #sansa x tris #sansa x val #sansa x harras #sansa x mya #sansa x duck #some of these are probably not blacklisted but it would be very funny if someone randomly decided to hate sansa x duck #I have blacklisted ships that are very well loved but this would be even funnier #I would applaud that audacity!

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sorcerous-caress · 4 months

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You're right and I know you are but I actually got so upset that I am now violently sick. I am literally only sharing this because I am fairly certain you're also autistic and BPD but I hate so much that like the one time in mainstream media we are given a bi/pan man who is effeminate and prefers men but isn't a derogatory stereotype but every post about him is like He’s The Most Masculine, Actually and actually the reason we don't see him express attraction to women is because he's so shy actually ignore that he can hookup with Laezel who would not stand for that and is main character trait is confident (and I don't think I've started fights so at least there's that)

I used to not understand the problem with the Astarion fandom but then I came to painful realization he has straight fans who actually seem to hate his canon character

Anyway sorry for all the Bobstarion… gay bpd bitches are gay bpd bitching. You're the best for reading this tho 😭💀💚

I know this feeling very well anon.

You've completely summed it up, he is finally a non-derogatory representation of an effeminate queer man and straight fans burnt his canon to the ground so they can make their dream masculine babyboy shy twink.

God it fucking stings doesn't it? It literally hurts just to think about how much Larian risked by even putting Astarion in the game. A western game at that too where forum after forum are full of incels complaining about women not being inflatable sex objects in their game.

Baldur's gate 2 and 1 never was this inclusive, it was strictly hetro except for the remastered npcs. Astarion by himself probably made them lose half their "old-school" homophonic demographic.

And the fandom takes all of that and makes him another fucking joke of a character? All the people who have never played the game would search up the Astarion tag and get a completely wrong impression of him.

Not once did a character before him made me leave a game because I was disgusted with myself. His storyline and writing is phenomenal because I too objectified him at the start then the game called me out for it in act 3 and it changed my world view so much.

God did you know early access had Gale and Wyll be awkward if a male Tav hits on them? That only Astarion was the always accepting person regardless of gender?

Even now he is still the only male character between the two who openly expresses his interest in men! Who embraces being flamboyant and doesn't try to fit into a narrative.

I completely understand anon, and I know how much bpd and autism highlights these feelings and make them dig like nails at your brain. Yes I have them too. And I'm glad you feel comfortable enough to share your thoughts with me.

It must be more frustrating for you tho, for liking Astarion and being lumped in with the rest of his weird fans without your consent. You can't even filter their posts out because they treat their takes as "normal" and how it's not them belittling a queer character no! They're just being "wholesome"

Fuck the batstarion shit still gets on my nerves. I saw one with a baby bottle feeding him??? It just feels so infantilising because he isn't some cute animal he is a fully grown and matured person. If it's just a kink then sure idc but please tag it at least.

Then they make him "shy" around women. You know why that god awful take was probably born? Because most of his straight fans picked women and went into his romance. So they think that his clumsy personality in act 2 is because they're a woman and he is so used to men.

It's fucking disgusting, Astarion would treat both men and women with the same clumsy romance, all my Tavs were nonbinary and he never treated them differently.

You have every right to feel this way, you have every right to be furious at this. Especially with a character you care about so much.

But people will take advantage of that, people who want to start fights for the sake of fights or drama blogs who are itching to make a callout post. People don't like others poking holes in their logic no matter how good your intentions are.

Homophobia exists, racism too, look at how ignored Wyll is by these supposed fans. Look at how popular Gale x Astarion is than x Wyll because both of them are white.

It's okay to vent and it's okay to feel frustrated and stuck. God knows during some bpd episodes I come very close to deleting this blog bc of the smallest of reasons, so Imagine actually having a valid reason to be mad like you.

Take a step back, fuck those people honestly. Fuck anyone who ever did this shit just for their own self indulgence, who left all the media that panders to straight people and came and took Astarion too just to strip him of all of his traits and put him in the hetro box.

So leave them be, they suck, they're shitty and never willing to listen. Don't waste your frustration on them, it's better to yell at a wall, at least, unlike them, it might reply back with something productive one of those days.

Again, I hope you feel better soon. I genuinely do, these feelings suck beyond words can describe. Do something you like or revisit your favourite works that stay true to Asterion's character. Ground yourself with anything that might help.

Don't feed them or reply to their arguments, please. hopefully, they leave the fandom once the new manufactured tumblr sexyman is released and the Asterion tag.

#♡bob #♡bob Slander

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valleyfthdolls · 18 days

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opinions on amy rose

My absolute beloved. Genuinely one of the most underrated Sonic characters to me just based on how much hate she gets.

I think in part you do have to understand the intention behind Amy's creation to appreciate her character, which is that she was a response to people wanting a love interest for Sonic- a girl who was super in love with him, but who he didn't care at all for, allowing him to remain the character they intended him to be. Through the Sonic Adventure duology, she started to move past her crush on Sonic, and came to appreciate his friendship and love him platonically- no longer just a one-sided crush but a friend. This in itself makes Amy a great character, a subversion of the idea of Sonic having a set love interest developed into her own person. I like her youthful personality, too, and this is actually one of the things I don't much like about Boom!Amy- they made her essentially the "braincell holder" of the group, which she absolutely is not. She may have learned leadership skills and how to look out for others through her arc in the games, but Amy is just as overenthusiastic and silly as everyone else, and she has so much love inside her that she's absolutely bursting at the seams to share it all. And that makes her a super endearing character to me. It's the same things people love about some of the male characters- Sonic is so goofy and kind and treats everyone like a friend, Tails and Silver are so enthusiastic, Big is always optimistic no matter what- and I think Amy really deserves better because all of those traits are layered on top of each other combined with more nuance that makes her a great major character.

Also hybrid Amy theory will always be canon to me idc. Would be a cool way to take her character. I'd love to see it be canon but unfortunately I doubt they'll do that. It'd be so cool tho.....

#onyx talks too much #sonic #anonymous #amy rose

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freedfromthegalactichivemind · 9 months

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ooooh ask game :D

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

7. Character fandom had me begin to hate: Catra, for a while. In the early days of the fandom, particularly if you found yourself gravitating toward gremlins (Entrapta, in my case - Adora, Catra, Bow and Glimmer were the main characters first season), everyone going gaga over Catra felt like... "I'm over here, in my little corner." She felt overhyped, even surpassing Adora - the hero - in popularity. And then when season 2 hit, I was one of the earliest Entrapdak-people. Honestly, back then, I treated it as a lark, didn't think it would last, but even THEN some of the "You shouldn't be shipping this ship over the girl-ship / you shouldn't be liking this mean, horrible ugly male villain (even as a side-dish to the cool science gremlin)!" started. People who thought it was more righteous to enjoy Catra / "you must enjoy Catra at the expense of Hordak" bullshit started. When Season 3 happened and the Entrapdak pool-noodle became a dreadnought and people started getting interested in Hordak independently as more of his story was revealed, that's when the fecal matter hit the turbine in terms of the frankly weird Catra vs. Hordak war in the fandom. I really got tired of being called an "abuse apologist" and having it insinuated that I was pro-colonialism because I enjoyed a cartoon space alien dark lord and his Pinky and the Brain-esque realationship with my favorite mad scientist. All while people were holding up Catra as blameless, Catra as only a poor widdle victim. It got annoying to a lot of Hordak-fans and Entrapdak-fans. There was a backlash. I don't think I came to hate her as much as some on that side of the fandom did, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have animosity for the character for a good, long time. I've learned to part myself from the negative experiences in fandom and actually analyze Catra from finding myself enjoying her whenever I re-watch the series. Sweary She-Ra has also gone a long way toward me considering her internal issues and psychological states, despite it being a fanwork / not canon. It is one of those surprisingly insightful fanworks. 14. That one thing I see in fanfics all the time: Characterization getting de-railed for what is obviously an author's personal vision or projection - ex. quick happy endings for fluff, woobiefication for MAXIMUM ANGST. Sometimes the authors even know about it (their notes). 22. Favorite ignored thing: Honestly, I ought to put this in one of my fics just so it stops getting neglected. Not enough people talk about how Entrapta's automated systems in her castle ran on The Clapper. I never had one, but I grew up with those annoying commercials. It amuses me greatly. 23. Ship I've unwillingly come around to: I'm not sure there's any. I am pretty chill with shipping in this fandom. (It's one of my other fandoms where my Bro-TP is almost everyone and their dog's OTP and I feel like tearing my hair out). Maybe Catradora. I always saw it as canon - it was just an obvious "they're leaning into this" from the beginning for me, but there was a point in canon where Catra had gone so far into choosing destruction that I wondered if Glimmadora might be endgame instead and if that would have been the better main ship. It took Catra making a start toward better choices (and being denied her deathwish) to make it start working for me. That, and I think reading something you said about Adora's choices and "fuck Shadow Weaver" that made me see it in a better light.

#spop #she-ra #choose violence ask game

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expelliarmus-percabeth · 2 years

Text

nhie season 3 thoughts

aneesa has screamed bi vibes since her appearance but im so glad they actually made it canon! I wasn't expecting that. I'm glad they decided to scrap her and fabiola though, it was turning out to be kind of a meh ship and it felt like anessa just latched onto the nearest person for emotional support after her terrible rs with ben. also fab didn't seem to be into anessa as much as she was into her :( PLEASE GIVE ANESSA A LOVING GF IN SEASON 4!!!! my girl deserves sm better :( though i will say that it's kind of annoying they had all that "omg who's going to make the first move" tension that eventually led to nothing... it felt so half-hearted

eleanor and trent actually work together stupidly well. I love them your honour <333

fabiola's romantic storyline with eve has never interested me much i felt like it was the blandest thing i have ever watched.... glad they broke up and never mentioned eve again 💀💀💀 i really hope they don't redo that whole storyline with addison i think fab deserves more layers and nuance to her romantic relationships. also the fact that we got to see devi and eleanor lose their virginity on screen (at least the start of the scene) but fab's was just an offhand remark like "oh yeah we just did it offscreen"??? cmon.

rhyah is a terrible but unfortunately realistic character. perfect representation of people who will smile to your face and secretly thank god that they're not suffering your misfortunes. shoutout to the actress for doing such a great job I actually wanted to punch her in the face

paxton continues to steal my heart. I just wish they gave him a more concrete goal or desire other than him being a "kind and nice" person. (and tbh based on all the ghosting of the girls he had sex with wasn't even like. an EXCEPTIONALLY nice and kind person. so.)

I think the daxton breakup was handled the way it should be - the problem with the relationship was there from the start, it's that devi only sees paxton as this unattainable dream that signifies her ascending into popularity or whatever and doesn't like him as an actual person other than for his looks.

also i think it's hilarious how haley appears for like one episode to become best friends with paxton again to make devi jealous then completely disappears for the rest of the show

I don't understand why rhyah introduced des as someone who was bullied a lot and sad and lonely when it's clearly established later on that he's in the popular clique and does have friends??? There doesn't seem to be any logical reason other than for the writers to pull that "he's actually hot" twist on us... and man did not mention sea slugs ONCE

i seriously love nalini so so much.... I have a special spot in my heart for characters who act all tough but are actually soft inside. The scene where devi tells her shes not ready to leave her mom yet she just wants one more year and you know her mom was thinking the exact same thing about her daughter.... i started tearing up fr

every line out of nirmala's mouth is iconic and comedy gold. "I'm a regina" so true bestie

I really hope we get to see more of ben having more male friends in the next season bc the paxton and ben scenes were genuinely sweet. stop fighting over devi!!! just be bros

speaking of ben i go back and forth on him a lot because he's honestly really douchey at times and the way he treated anessa while they were together was just.... not it. but honestly the last scene where devi gave ben the one free boink card is going to live in my head forever. the way they didn't need to say a single word??? the way it should have been cringe but wasn't??? the way they smile at each other and slipped in???? WOW.

also the irony/character development of ben calling devi an "unfuckable nerd" in s1 to him quite possibly being her first in s3 is not lost on me

#never have i ever #nhie #nhie netflix #devi vishwakumar #ben gross #fabiola torres #eleanor wong #paxton hall-yoshida #nalini vishwakumar #nirmala vishwakumar #benvi #daxton #never have i ever netflix #aneesa qureshi #trent nhie #kamala nhie

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macarensesangles · 1 year

Text

honestly ive started thinking about canon/canon ships again so like. you are going to listen to my thoughts about it.

maerchen and elisabeth is more or less canon within the text. you could argue the relationship is over because, well, they both die and have to move on from like. life. but it's kind of a central part of canon. i used to try to insist it was platonic or that maer didn't have romantic feelings for elisabeth (to my scant credit he does seem a bit confused about everything as an adult) but i think it's just true that they had feelings for each other and it's fine and okay. i used to be significantly more jealous about it bc elisabeth used to make me feel extremely inadequate in comparison, especially before i realized i was binary male and started transitioning, but i'm like. i feel way more secure about the whole thing now. i still do like lesbian elisabeth as a headcanon though. also mad respect to maereli shippers for shipping something very sweet and clearly based in mutual respect. it's not my cup of tea for obvious reasons but it's a nice ship and it is, like, canon. it's true.

i'm sort of on the neutral-dislike side of things with emet and hyth though. it's not necessarily out of jealousy bc i do feel like i experience less jealousy about emet and most of what DOES make me feel that way is actually certain types of m/f emetwol for internalized homophobia reasons. (starting to see a pattern between this and maereli lol.) anyway i more dislike it because it just feels a little forced to me? like i think they make very cute friends and all but i'm just not feeling the romantic chemistry. and also like not the ship's fault but i get kind of annoyed when people just treat it as canon bc like...idk this is so specific but the shade of hythlodaeus that exists in the tempest is to me so like. WHY WOULD YOU PUT A FAKE GHOST OF YOUR BOYFRIEND IN YOUR FUCKED UP DEPRESSION THEME PARK?? i don't think emet would do that like attributing that to him in the context of a romantic relationship....idk it just seems like an extremely odd thing for him to do to a lover specifically. doesn't invalidate the ship or anything but i think it's got much less of a canon basis than azemet or emetwol and attributing emet's actions solely to romantic love of azem OR wol OR hyth in analyses and assuming those feelings are 100% canon drives me so insane that it makes me dislike emet/hyth a lot more than if people didn't do that. at least emetwol/azemet is arguably up to interpretation bc the writers have stated they specifically keep characters' feelings involving the wol ambiguous.

like emet and hyth isn't even a bad ship it's cute it just feels so like, idk it's dull and i'm a hater about people who start interpreting everything through the emet and hyth lens to the exclusion of what the actual text. says. like emet's motivations were more than JUST the loss of his own loved ones and that reduction is narratively really boring. but that's not the ship's fault

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tuiyla · 2 years

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I feel like ppl tend to gloss over the UHT convo w the glee girls right before Come See About Me in 4x08 - like Quinn is literally saying that the three of them knew each other so well, they could communicate perfectly without saying a single word. Not just her and Santana, not just Santana and Brittany, but all three of them. Ignoring how Glee almost completely erased Quinn's relationship to Brittana s5 and beyond, those three are family 🤧

Right?

Like, okay, let me go on a bit of a rant Anon if you don't mind. So a common gripe with the UHT is something that can really be applied to all of Glee: they love to tell you something's a certain way and in fact take credit for it, but don't put the actual work in. Case in point, yeah, the New Directions are a found family, but you'd be hard pressed to find scenes that truly build on that and especially for certain dynamics that don't include the core mains of Rachel/Finn/later Kurt.

But you know, I'm willing to take what I often feel like is a singling out of the UHT in good faith. For two reasons: one, they're a pre-established group that existed before ND and should have been shown to be close more. And two, Glee loooved capitalizing on the Unholy Trinity even in subtle ways. They couldn't be bothered to put the work in but coopted the fan-coined name UHT and in later seasons slapped them together to perform a fan-service number. Except they couldn't do fanservice in a way that was more than a male-gazey, "look we know they're iconic" lazy-feeling scene. Hence why we have both Toxic and Problem in seasons 5 and 6 but no actual convo scene between them save for the brief pre-Problem one.

So I get the dissonance. On the one hand, the UHT is so recognizable and iconic. From I Say a Little Prayer on, they're the Cheerios and as even Brittany and Santana develop into their own characters, they all get a substantial fanbase of their own. On the other, we have very few scenes of the three and just the three being friends. The only two UHT scenes I'd consider to be the kind of thing we desperately needed more of are New York 2x22 and the one I recently analyzed in 3x01. Other than that, good luck finding anything more substantial than a background scene or quick "see we know you like them ones" like "ending together" in Nationals.

But, and here's why I start getting baffled at people singling them out as bad writing or a bad friendship. A) it's a general problem Glee has and it's really us the fans who put work into 80% of the friendships because hardly any of them were treated right. So, like I've said before when I got asks about this, I feel it's unfair when people HC Mike or Sam or whoever to be besties with everyone but when it's the canon trio of the UHT they go "idk we never really saw them being friends". Being told, like in your example of how well they knew each other, is more than the nothing that we get a lot of others. And B), something's fishy about recognizing and acknowledging the writing problems Glee had and yet not extending the same grace (afforded to many other characters) to the UHT. People bring up season 1 and how Brittana didn't help Quinn; right, except we can recognize that Brittana were barely characters, that even Quinn herself hardly got the focus during her own pregnancy, and that Glee not only hates girls but female friendships.

And C), there are scenes where they're shown to be friends. Granted, they're often small and like I said not substantial but they're there. To substantiate what Quinn says in 4x08, we have them dancing together in 2x22 during Light Up the World. For Brittany and Quinn we have everything from Lean On Me to 2x11 to 3x17. For Quinntana, @amazonworrier just had an excellent post about this that I wholeheartedly agree with. All these scenes do in fact exist for a reason, even if the writers couldn't be bothered to flesh out the UHT. And I mean really there are so many scenes of the three sticking together throughout the seasons that it'd feel unnecessary to list them all here but amazonworrier's point about Quinntana scenes goes for those too. They exist; that's more than nothing. That's more than most ND combos have.

And like, here's the thing. You can lament the lack of substantial scenes as I do - as does every single fan of their dynamic. But if it's show don't tell you're looking for, Glee did show them. It wasn't much, not nearly enough for me, but it was there. So after a while it's like?? So what do you want? Do you purposefully ignore the moments they do have as a friendship trio because it's not enough, but then it's also not enough to be explicitly told they're good friends? Is there just no winning? But then there shouldn't be winning for 80% of Glee friendships we still hold them close to our hearts.

This really is just a rant at this point but I'm reminded of anons I got about how the UHT not being really friends was a correct hot take and it's,,, it's just not. It's canon, it's in the text. You might not like it, like me you might have wanted more, but it's there. And to recognize Glee's bad writing practices but then single out the UHT as a bad friendship instead of seeing the bigger picture is not where it's at. And to go back to your original point Anon after this ranty rant, people do gloss over Quinn saying that. And what for? They know each other well and they are a family. And to be clear I refuse to give Glee credit for the scenes that do show them be friends because they could have done, so, so much more, but it was enough to call them friends.

#and do not get me started on 'but quinn wasn't even at the wedding!!!'#long story shot glee hates girls but why ya'll gotta #did any of this even make sense i need lunch #the unholy trinity #glee asks #uht asks #unholy trinity #glee friendships #anon #i appreciate you anon sorry for the rant but you're right and you should say it #i think the uht gets more scrutiny because they're taken for granted more within the show #ffs the novels had more scenes for them than the show #but is that a reason for a 'they were never really friends'#or even better 'britt cares more about mike than quinn hot take'#or is a reason to simply be critical of glee and its injustice towards female characters #or should i just go grab lunch already instead of now going on a separate rant in the tags #hmm

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adler-obsessed · 3 years

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Hi! I'm new in the fandom and wanted to ask why everyone seems to be hating Derek Landy? Yes the books are pretty brutal and he's low-key sadistic with the characters, but aren't most book authors? I just finished book 6 and I'm really enjoying them so far. I'm just curious and don't wanna offend anyone.

oh boy buckle up - I just want to first of all say welcome to the fandom!!! Although it may seem a bit negative sometimes, it’s mainly because we love the series and characters so much!

There’s a lot of people who know more about + have details on Landy’s problematic statements/actions so guys/fandom if you could add that onto this post, I’d appreciate it.

A short summary:

problematic representation in books

the disaster of Phase 2

attacking fans (bonus: his gf attacking fans)

problematic relationships with young fans

But I’ve been meaning to do an analysis of why Landy’s representation of queer people and the LGBTQ+ Community has been problematic for a while and I have examples so buckle up everyone:

So, as a brief introduction, there’s several reasons why people aren’t the biggest fan of Landy - one you won’t be aware of for awhile is Phase 2, which starts after Book 9

Phase 2, I think I can say confidently, has not been as well received as Phase 1. Lots of the characters we liked in Phase 1 don’t appear or have lost all their character development from Phase 1. There are so many side plots that are very confusing and most people aren’t particularly interested in them so large parts of each book are quite boring for most of the fandom.

But onto my main argument (edit: in a reblog below, Faceless has linked many of the examples I discuss if you are interested)

Landy has had quite a bumpy ride when it comes to representation: in the Demon Road series (outside of SP) there was a very problematic portrayal of a wlw relationship. He claimed that everyone is eventually bisexual, and then there is a wider issue of representation in the actual Skulduggery books.

Firstly, those characters that are in the LGBTQ+ community tend to have that aspect of their life continuously pointed out/or mentioned (like Landy is trying to show how ‘diverse’ he is) but then have very little character development/or mention of anything other than that.

There is a supposedly major wlw ship in Phase 2, but it is so underdeveloped it feels more like a main character and her cheerleader. In the last book we finally got some development only for them to then break up (although I somewhat liked the realistic reasons behind it, it did disappoint me)

Linking from this, there is a general difference in how Landy treats non-canon queer ships versus straight ones

When asked about the possibility of a non-canon straight ship, he said he didn’t like to dismiss the fan’s ships. In comparison when a fan asked about mlm ship, he immediately said no to it (keep in mind there was no dubious relationship between these two in the books, they are super close so it made no sense for him to completely refuse it)

Landy also likes to point out his queer characters like China and Tanith, who are both canonly bisexual/pansexual (he confirmed to a fan that China and Eliza were a thing) and yet, whenever the two are romantically involved with someone, it’s a man.

Now, before I get people attacking me saying they are still bisexual even though they’re in straight passing relationships, I AM bisexual, I hate it when people invalidate my sexuality just because I am in a relationship w a guy or girl.

But eVERYTIME, these two end up with a guy, and the only time Landy has confirmed they aren’t straight are either in blink and you’ll miss it moments or outside of the books (sort of like Rowling claiming characters were gay on Twitter, and yet these characters were never seen expressing these identities in the books or in later media)

So why is this representation problematic? Because writers like Landy seem to think they’ve actually done a good job - stating once that a character identifies/or has a certain sexual orientation, and then never elaborating on it again, as if that somehow wins him brownie points.

I’m not going to talk to much about Never - for context this is a gender fluid character in Phase Two - because I myself am not gender fluid, so I would not want to speak for that side of the community incorrectly. In my personal opinion, having several genderfluid friends, Never’s characterisation is bloody weird.

For context, in the books, Landy changes the pronouns that Never uses and others use to address him/her practically every sentence. At times it feels less like a portrayal of a genderfluid character, and more like a mockery (one of my aforementioned genderfluid friends stopped reading the series at this point because they found it too close to the mocking insults their grandparents would use e.g. changing pronouns every sentence as if making out that their gender identity was some absurd thing)

Again, rest of the fandom feel free to interject in here, there are definitely people more qualified to speak on this than me.

I also want to talk a little bit about the problematic way Derek handles female members of the LGBTQ+ community in comparison to the male ones. I’ve mentioned above a bit of the problems with China/Tanith but I want to go a bit further into the issue with the male ones: namely, there are barely any.

While the three main female characters are all canonly bisexual, none of the major male ones are (if I’m wrong, please correct me!) and the only one who could possibly be considered major is Anton Shudder and his boyfriend who are confirmed to have been in a relationship, oh wait, when they are both dead. Apart from that, there is not one major male member of the LGBTQ+ community in these books that Landy claims are so diverse.

I think it is also slightly worrying that so many of Landy’s female characters are bisexual, characters who Landy also constantly describes as pretty/gorgeous/attractive etc. because it just feels like that typical thing of men fetishising wlw women (particularly bisexual women) hence why I also think the fact that two of these women never have a relationship with another wlw in the actual books is very problematic, as these sexual orientations feel more for show than actual canon most of the time.

There is a very big problem with the way Landy goes about queer representation in his books, and the worse part? He thinks he’s doing great.

#skulduggery pleasant #Derek Landy critical #apologies for the mammoth essay but I had feelings

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cherubinas · 2 years

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your cassie/Maddie tags are so important actually I love them

okay like i refused to watch this season (except for ep 7) because of the bullshit n*te/cassie thing, and all the shit she did because of THAT GUY got on my nerves. especially, like maddy said, when she knows what he put her through and she still did what she did. it's such a stupid storyline

like i get that the whole thing with cassie in s1 and this season is the she craves love and male attention but like. it would be so much better if she realized she only wants male attention because of the issues her father gave her. she never seems actually in love or attracted to any of the men she's with. her thing is wanting to be loved. and what if she realizes she already is, by maddy? it's not the type of love she wants, but it makes her realize she wants to be with maddy. that whole speech by the pool where she tells maddy she deserves someone who treats her right or whatever would resonate so much more if deep down she was talking about herself, that she could love maddy right, instead of it being for what? getting maddy to get over nate because she's fucking him? she's just literally a bad friend with the plot they gave her

and with maddy, maybe she's thought about the idea of being with other girls but never really thought about it because she's been with nate for so long and she really thought she loved him, but when she starts babysitting she notices she does have a crush on the milf and goes like. yeah, i think i do like women too

and there WOULD be tension between the two as well this way because cassie coming to terms with the fact that she never really liked men and she's in love with her best friend would definitely get her acting weird, especially around maddy, so the drama is still there!

and you cannot tell me that, in the actual canon of the show, that those two have never kissed. if even rue and lexi kissed, maddy and cassie DEFINITELY did. theirs is def that kinda gay friendship and in a better timeline it would actually be gay. "bitch you're my soulmate" WHERE DID THAT GO, SAM LEVINSON?????

and i sympathized so much with cassie's character in season one. like, i felt her. obviously i never went to the lengths she did, but i 100% understand the feeling of wanting to be loved. but then season 2 came and they decided to throw her at nate of all people???? she was acting like a clown, but after she said that the girls shouldn't believe rue because she's an addict when she outed cassie's relationship with nate, that was it for me

also, on a side note, nate jacobs eating pussy is the most unrealistic thing about season 2. i'm just saying, there's no way that dude knows what a clitoris is

they should have gone the gay route!!!!! i definitely don't think it would have been handled the best, but honestly, anything is better than seeing what we actually got

#like i legit refuse to watch this season because EVERY FUCKING EPISODE there's a scene of them fucking apparently #NO ONE WATNS TO SEE THAT #apparently i have more feelings about it than i thought skznsksnsksj #nilefreemans #answered

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tomishaped · 3 years

Text

Rating:

Explicit

Archive Warnings:

Graphic Depictions Of Violence • Major Character Death

Category:

M/M

Fandom:

Supernatural

Relationship:

Dean Winchester!Izzy Hlton

Characters:

Dean Winchester • Izzy Hilton • Sam Winchester • Asmodeus • Dagon • Demons • Hellhound • Ellen Harvelle • Jo Harvelle • Hunters • Crowley • Charlie Bradbury • Bobby Singer • Ruby • Death • Pestilence • Famine • War • Castiel • Angels • Cain

Additional Tags:

Demon Dean Winchester • Demon Sex • Kidnapping • Gay Sex • Blood • Blood Kink • Hate Sex • Love/Hate • Major Character Injury • Major Original Character(s) • Character Death • Past Child Abuse • Past Rape/Non-con • Past Sexual Abuse • Past Torture • Past Violence • Canon-Typical Violence • Violence • Protective Dean Winchester • Bisexual Dean Winchester • Top Dean Winchester • Dean Winchester is Bad at Feelings • Izzy is too • Emotional Hurt/Comfort • Emotional/Psychological Abuse

Summary: After being pulled out of hell Dean realizes quickly that the four months he had been gone made way for a lot of changes in the lives of everyone he knows, including the life he had known for himself before he died. Nobody was treating him the same, and there was seriously something going on with his brother that he could not figure out. He was spending most of his time alone nowadays, not really hunting anymore since Bobby and Sam were against it for him, and spending most of his time drinking instead to try and forget. He was angry, pretty much all the time. That anger really worked in his favour though when walking back to the impala he came across a freaking hoard of demons getting ready to attack some blond chick. He didn't know who she was or what the hell all the demons wanted with her, but there was no way he could just walk away. Maybe if he had any idea what trying to save this person was going to lead too he would have just walked away, maybe if he had actually given any thought to the situation before him he wouldn't have put himself in the middle of it, but even before hell he made impulsive and rash decisions... so maybe not.

Previous Chapters:

• Chapter One • Chapter Two: Part One •

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Two: Welcome to the Batcave

Part Two

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Izzy watched the other actually curious for a moment to see if he would finally catch what he said. Aaaand, there it was! He had to give the hunter some props, he was taking the fact that he mistaked Izzy for a girl better than he could remember anyone else had. Demons especially hated him for it. Not for the same reasons that humans seemed too, most demons really didn't care what your fucking gender was as they body hopped so often, what they didn't like was that someone so small, sweet, and innocent looking was actually a deadly assassin sent by a prince of hell. And worse, he was good at it. Izzy looked away from him again and back at the book he was holding when Dean started to talk, crossing one leg over the other as he started to look through the book. "If the idiots would just abandon their stupid plans of trying to break Lucifer from the cage I would just leave them alone," Izzy muttered as most of his attention was back to the book in his hands, not realizing he even said it out loud or knowing if Dean had heard about what this specific group of hellions were planning. "I wouldn't count too much on actually finding one, I've only ever found info on one and I can't find that fucker for the life of me. I've never not found a mark before him, it was actually really frustrating…" he said, talking more naturally and easily than he had before with most of his attention focused on something else. He could feel his heart racing as he read through the pages. The first few were just about Cain. How he had become a demon. That was actually interesting even if none of what he was learning would help him track the mother fucker. Cain was the only demon specifically named though. After the chapter on him, the book went on to explain how because of him it had become possible for a human to turn. And what had to happen to said human for something like that to happen and Izzy found that for the first time that he could remember, he was grateful for something. He was really fucking grateful that he couldn't remember being human. Because this shit sucked.

Dean relaxed his shoulders when the other didn’t point out how obviously awkward his mistake was. It must have happened quite a bit and it was obvious as to why. Though he didn’t dwell on it for too long after catching Izzy mutter under his breath. So Izzy knew about Lucifer and over half of Hell’s plans to free him. Not too many hunters really knew what was going on, just that demons had been kicking up a shit storm lately. He crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the table Izzy was sitting on. He raised a brow when Izzy said he’d only found one and he couldn’t track him. “A mark?” He asked, not following him. “Do you think they could make more demons like that? I have a feeling they’d be a bitch in a fight.”

"Not a mark, my marks. Whatever demon I'm hunting at the time," Dean really did get kind of lucky that Izzy had found this book if he wanted to ask questions. The lithe demon was only half paying attention to whatever he was saying, basically only enough to make sure he didn't let the fact that he was one of these demons slip out. "Though he does actually have a mark that turned him in the first place. Didn't know that." Izzy nodded without hesitation at the other males next question though, "Definitely. Seriously time consuming and difficult, but not impossible. Looks like when it does happen, it's usually an accident. And they are definitely totally awesome in a fight. Stronger than a knight of hell but not quite as strong as a prince. And not easy to kill. Our knives won't kill one of them." The book didn't actually tell him that last part, he knew it from experience back when Asmodues was first training him. He had kinda lost his temper at the pretty little blond and actually fucking stabbed him with the same knife he now had hidden in his boot. All it did to the blond was piss him off though. It ruined the dress he was wearing and had left a nasty little scar in his side where he had been stabbed. "So unless you’re Cain with his first blade or have that Colt and bullets that you killed Azazel with, or yanno, a crazy person like me, I would avoid looking for one of them." He took in a deep breath as he slammed the book shut, trying to not let it be seen how incredibly fucking furious he was right now. Well, at least he knew why Asmodues was so keen on him not knowing how he turned. "So uh, yeah. Thanks for the info. Great fucking room ya got here. But I gotta go find a certain prince and tear his fucking head off somehow," Izzy said, his voice showing he obviously was not happy with what he just read if his words didn't give that part away. He was caring less and less about whatever fucking cover he was supposed to be playing here. He couldn't fully remember right now what he had let on that he knew about the man in the room with him but he no longer really cared. He pushed himself down from the table and went to move past Dean, "Nice to meet ya and all that shit and like, thanks for the help…" he paused for a moment to look at the hunter again, fuck it. Dean gave him access to the information he so desperately wanted, he figured he could return the favour with some info that Dean probably actually needed, "By the way, you really should probably get your brother away from Ruby because bitch has him all fucked up, pretty sure that people shouldn't actually be drinking demon blood the way he is. Pretty fucked up. So yeah. Gotta go."

“Oh they sound great,” Dean said when Izzy confirmed that more could be made this way. “Oh yea, awesome,” He shot back when Izzy went on about them and described them that way and mentioned that the knives were worthless against them. The only good thing that was mentioned was that apparently they were only ever made on accident and there were no rumored army’s full of them. He had noticed the others snapping of the book and the anger rolling off of him, clearly having read something he didn’t like. “Oh yea that sounds like a feasible plan, how do you plan on getting in Hel-?” He was cut off by the other male thanking him for the help. “Wait.” He said, not wanting the other to run off and get killed while half cocked. He didn’t get a chance to say anything else because what Izzy said after that shut him right up. “Wait, what the hell are you talking about?” He asked, his voice showing his own rising anger. “And how the hell do you know who he’s with?” He asked him. This ment Izzy knew who they were before he ran into him tonight. He started reaching for his pistol in a back holster without thinking much about it. “Who are you?” He asked, taking a step back and raising the fire arm.

Izzy rolled his eyes as Dean called after him when he turned and started to walk to the bunkers exit. If he did leave here right now, he really would go straight to the youngest prince and try and kill the fucker somehow. "Oh come on Dean, you're pretty and reckless but I didn't peg you for being stupid. I hunt demons. Ruby is a fucking demon. And your brother is running around with her. Do I really need to connect all the dots for you?" He stopped for a moment when he heard the click of the firearm and rolled his eyes again. Really? First time he ever tried to actually help someone else out and they pulled a gun on him. Not that Dean's pistol would actually hurt him, but he had been serious when he mentioned he liked this jacket. He didn't feel like throwing it out because of a bullet hole after he managed to actually keep it through the ambush.

He turned around and crossed his arms over his chest. "I was after her. I really can't fucking stand her. Unfortunately for me, your junkie brother was in the way and I couldn't get close enough without having to kill him first, and since I don't kill humans that wasn't exactly an option." He waved his hand at the pistole pointed at him, looking more annoyed that Dean was pointing it at him than anything else, "But I swear to fuck if you pull that trigger that'll change real fucking fast as I will slit your fucking throat." He wasn't reaching for the knife though, he wasn't scared of the gun and wouldn't pull it unless Dean actually did attack him first. After all, he didn't know the bullet wouldn't hurt him, he would definitely be trying to kill him and Izzy didn't take well to that happening. Threats were usually whatever, a dime a dozen when you did what he did, but actually trying to do it was another thing completely. "Now do you wanna play this game with me too or do you mind if I go now?"

Dean narrowed his eyes when Izzy said he hunted demons. He didn’t say anything for a minute after Izzy said all that and threatened retaliation by cutting his throat. His jaw was tense but he eased the hammer back and lowered his gun. He didn’t like anything he had said. He just knew Izzy was keeping something from him but… he was telling the truth about his brother and Dean hated it. He kept his hard eyes on the blond as he put his gun back in his holster and he pulled out a small piece of paper from his back pocket and grabbed a forgotten pen on the table. He didn't say anything as he quickly jotted something down, folded it and handed it to him. “In case you do something stupid like take on a prince of hell and want back up,” he said, his voice was quiet and calm. His reboiling rage wasn’t aimed at the blond any more so he tried to keep it from exploding on him. He had seen what he could do with that knife of his.

The anger at the hunter seemed to dissipate when he withdrew his weapon and put it back in the holster. Smart move, because the little demon had been deadly fucking serious about retaliation if he tried to shoot him. When Dean handed him that paper and said that, Izzy couldn't stop the confused look that crossed his face. Seriously? We both just threatened to kill the other and Dean was offering to back him up again a second later? What the fuck went on in human fucking heads? He really didn't understand them at all. Especially this one. And this happened to be the first one he spent any length of time with. "Right. Not gonna happen, but thanks? The backup thing. The prince thing is totally happening." After nearly sixty years around Asmodeus, Izzy didn't hold any fear of him. The prince needed Izzy and they both knew it. Besides, that was a long time to spend with anyone, and since the prince had wanted Izzy a secret until he was ready he had been the one Izzy trained with most often before he started throwing demon chum his way to practice with. Izzy knew that mans every fucking move.

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