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cuddlytogas · 2 months

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So I accidentally almost got into an argument on Twitter, and now I'm thinking about bad historical costuming tropes. Specifically, Action Hero Leather Pants.

See, I was light-heartedly pointing out the inaccuracies of the costumes in Black Sails, and someone came out of the woodwork to defend the show. The misunderstanding was that they thought I was dismissing the show just for its costumes, which I wasn't - I was simply pointing out that it can't entirely care about material history (meaning specifically physical objects/culture) if it treats its clothes like that.

But this person was slightly offended on behalf of their show - especially, quote, "And from a fan of OFMD, no less!" Which got me thinking - it's true! I can abide a lot more historical costuming inaccuracy from Our Flag than I can Black Sails or Vikings. And I don't think it's just because one has my blorbos in it. But really, when it comes down to it...

What is the difference between this and this?

Here's the thing. Leather pants in period dramas isn't new. You've got your Vikings, Tudors, Outlander, Pirates of the Caribbean, Once Upon a Time, Will, The Musketeers, even Shakespeare in Love - they love to shove people in leather and call it a day. But where does this come from?

Obviously we have the modern connotations. Modern leather clothes developed in a few subcultures: cowboys drew on Native American clothing. (Allegedly. This is a little beyond my purview, I haven't seen any solid evidence, and it sounds like the kind of fact that people repeat a lot but is based on an assumption. I wouldn't know, though.) Leather was used in some WWI and II uniforms.

But the big boom came in the mid-C20th in motorcycle, punk/goth, and gay subcultures, all intertwined with each other and the above. Motorcyclists wear leather as practical protective gear, and it gets picked up by rock and punk artists as a symbol of counterculture, and transferred to movie designs. It gets wrapped up in gay and kink communities, with even more countercultural and taboo meanings. By the late C20th, leather has entered mainstream fashion, but it still carries those references to goths, punks, BDSM, and motorbike gangs, to James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Mick Jagger. This is whence we get our Spikes and Dave Listers in 1980s/90s media, bad boys and working-class punks.

And some of the above "historical" design choices clearly build on these meanings. William Shakespeare is dressed in a black leather doublet to evoke the swaggering bad boy artist heartthrob, probably down on his luck. So is Kit Marlowe.

But the associations get a little fuzzier after that. Hook, with his eyeliner and jewellery, sure. King Henry, yeah, I see it. It's hideously ahistorical, but sure. But what about Jamie and Will and Ragnar, in their browns and shabby, battle-ready chic? Well, here we get the other strain of Bad Period Drama Leather.

See, designers like to point to history, but it's just not true. Leather armour, especially in the western/European world, is very, very rare, and not just because it decays faster than metal. (Yes, even in ancient Greece/Rome, despite many articles claiming that as the start of the leather armour trend!) It simply wasn't used a lot, because it's frankly useless at defending the body compared to metal. Leather was used as a backing for some splint armour pieces, and for belts, sheathes, and buckles, but it simply wasn't worn like the costumes above. It's heavy, uncomfortable, and hard to repair - it's simply not practical for a garment when you have perfectly comfortable, insulating, and widely available linen, wool, and cotton!

As far as I can see, the real influence on leather in period dramas is fantasy. Fantasy media has proliferated the idea of leather armour as the lightweight choice for rangers, elves, and rogues, a natural, quiet, flexible material, less flashy or restrictive than metal. And it is cheaper for a costume department to make, and easier for an actor to wear on set. It's in Dungeons and Dragons and Lord of the Rings, King Arthur, Runescape, and World of Warcraft.

And I think this is how we get to characters like Ragnar and Vane. This idea of leather as practical gear and light armour, it's fantasy, but it has this lineage, behind which sits cowboy chaps and bomber/flight jackets. It's usually brown compared to the punk bad boy's black, less shiny, and more often piecemeal or decorated. In fact, there's a great distinction between the two Period Leather Modes within the same piece of media: Robin Hood (2006)! Compare the brooding, fascist-coded villain Guy of Gisborne with the shabby, bow-wielding, forest-dwelling Robin:

So, back to the original question: What's the difference between Charles Vane in Black Sails, and Edward Teach in Our Flag Means Death?

Simply put, it's intention. There is nothing intentional about Vane's leather in Black Sails. It's not the only leather in the show, and it only says what all shabby period leather says, relying on the same tropes as fantasy armour: he's a bad boy and a fighter in workaday leather, poor, flexible, and practical. None of these connotations are based in reality or history, and they've been done countless times before. It's boring design, neither historically accurate nor particularly creative, but much the same as all the other shabby chic fighters on our screens. He has a broad lineage in Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean and such, but that's it.

In Our Flag, however, the lineage is much, much more intentional. Ed is a direct homage to Mad Max, the costuming in which is both practical (Max is an ex-cop and road warrior), and draws on punk and kink designs to evoke a counterculture gone mad to the point of social breakdown, exploiting the thrill of the taboo to frighten and titillate the audience.

In particular, Ed is styled after Max in the second movie, having lost his family, been badly injured, and watched the world turn into an apocalypse. He's a broken man, withdrawn, violent, and deliberately cutting himself off from others to avoid getting hurt again. The plot of Mad Max 2 is him learning to open up and help others, making himself vulnerable to more loss, but more human in the process.

This ties directly into the themes of Our Flag - it's a deliberate intertext. Ed's emotional journey is also one from isolation and pain to vulnerability, community, and love. Mad Max (intentionally and unintentionally) explores themes of masculinity, violence, and power, while Max has become simplified in the popular imagination as a stoic, badass action hero rather than the more complex character he is, struggling with loss and humanity. Similarly, Our Flag explores masculinity, both textually (Stede is trying to build a less abusive pirate culture) and metatextually (the show champions complex, banal, and tender masculinities, especially when we're used to only seeing pirates in either gritty action movies or childish comedies).

Our Flag also draws on the specific countercultures of motorcycles, rockers, and gay/BDSM culture in its design and themes. Naturally, in such a queer show, one can't help but make the connection between leather pirates and leather daddies, and the design certainly nods at this, with its vests and studs. I always think about this guy, with his flat cap so reminiscient of gay leather fashions.

More overtly, though, Blackbeard and his crew are styled as both violent gangsters and countercultural rockstars. They rove the seas like a bikie gang, free and violent, and are seen as icons, bad boys and celebrities. Other pirates revere Blackbeard and wish they could be on his crew, while civilians are awed by his reputation, desperate for juicy, gory details.

This isn't all of why I like the costuming in Our Flag Means Death (especially season 1). Stede's outfits are by no means accurate, but they're a lot more accurate than most pirate media, and they're bright and colourful, with accurate and delightful silks, lace, velvets, and brocades, and lovely, puffy skirts on his jackets. Many of the Revenge crew wear recognisable sailor's trousers, and practical but bright, varied gear that easily conveys personality and flair. There is a surprising dedication to little details, like changing Ed's trousers to fall-fronts for a historical feel, Izzy's puffy sleeves, the handmade fringe on Lucius's red jacket, or the increasing absurdity of navy uniform cuffs between Nigel and Chauncey.

A really big one is the fact that they don't shy away from historical footwear! In almost every example above, we see the period drama's obsession with putting men in skinny jeans and bucket-top boots, but not only does Stede wear his little red-heeled shoes with stockings, but most of his crew, and the ordinary people of Barbados, wear low boots or pumps, and even rough, masculine characters like Pete wear knee breeches and bright colours. It's inaccurate, but at least it's a new kind of inaccuracy, that builds much more on actual historical fashions, and eschews the shortcuts of other, grittier period dramas in favour of colour and personality.

But also. At least it fucking says something with its leather.

#everyone say 'thank you togas' for not including a long tangent about evil rimmer in red dwarf 5x05 #Our Flag Means Death #Togas does meta #and yes these principles DO fall apart slightly in s2 and i DON'T like those costumes as much #don't get me wrong they're fun and gorgeous - but generally a bit less deep and more inaccurate. so. :(#I'm not sure this really says anything new about Our Flag but I just needed to get my thoughts out #i hate hate hate Gritty Period Drama costumes they're so boring and so ugly and so wrong #god bless OFMD for using more than 3 muted colours and actually putting men in heels (and not as a shorthand for rich/foppish villainy) <3 #looking at that Tudors still is insane like they really will go to any lengths to not make men feel like they've got bare legs XD #image descriptions in alt text #and yes i DID just sink about two hours into those so you'd better appreciate them

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comicaurora · 6 days

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hi red!! i'm doing an analysis of sun wukong's (and journey to the west in general's) impact on modern culture for my world mythology final, and for some reason i'm having a hard time finding sources. is there anything you can recommend?

The fact that Journey to the West has contributed an enormous number of tropes to modern media is very clear when the media in question is examined, but I don't know of a specific secondary source that's already done that analysis for you. However, this IS a very good excuse for you to plow through a metric buttload of shonen manga, since the lineage is basically Sun Wukong -> Son Goku -> like a solid third of all shonen action heroes written in the last forty years.

Dragon Ball kicks things off:

Started in 1984 and almost unquestionably the most influential manga ever made. Its first arc features the weird super-strong monkey-kid Son Goku - which is just the japanese pronunciation of the characters of Sun Wukong's name - meeting up with a wacky crew of thinly-veiled expys of the Journey to the West crew, with teen inventor Bulma filling the role of Tripitaka, Oolong the pig-man filling Zhu Bajie's role and Yamcha the desert-based bandit as Sha Wujing.

Hijinks ensue, and while the story drifts pretty far from Journey to the West's original plot, it actually stays pretty solidly referential in weirdly unexpected ways. Several the villains of the week are JttW references, and even the later appearance of three more Saiyans lines up with the surprise reveal of three more Wukong-like mystical apes in the original story.

The connection between Dragon Ball and JttW is very unsubtle and a frequent reference in the chapter covers and supplemental art.

Not every subsequent JttW reference is the result of Dragon Ball popularizing it or anything, since it was already enormously popular, but I think it's pretty hard to extricate Dragon Ball's influence on anime and manga from the original influence of Journey to the West itself.

One way that a distinction can be drawn is in the differences in characterization between Goku and Sun Wukong himself. A lot of the next generation of shonen protagonists were kind of Goku-alikes - pure-hearted dumbasses who only care for the three Fs: Food, Fighting and Friendship.

But the original characterization of Sun Wukong is not really all that similar. He's a trickster, sure, but he's far from a young, friendship-motivated goober. He's profoundly intelligent, pretty much the most well-educated entity on the planet, and routinely brings up that he's centuries older than most of his peers. The Goku-alikes from the later decades of shonen anime are tellingly far-removed from that original characterization. So you get characters based on Goku's cheerful idiocy, but it's just a small subset of the broader influence of Journey to the West on the space of literature.

In general, Journey to the West frequently shows up in very small, bite-sized tropes in other stories. It's less "this is wholly based on Journey to the West" and more "oh, I know where they maybe got this idea/aesthetic/power/weapon/villain of the week from." There are way too many to list, but some of the ones that tend to jump out at me are-

Sneaky characters with monkey motifs:

Tricksy, highly mobile characters who fight with a staff:

Characters afflicted with a magical restraint artifact that allows a much weaker character to stop them from misbehaving:

Specific esoteric weapons, eg. magical fans, rakes, gourds, namedropping The Sword of Seven Stars, etc.

Villains with prominent ox or pig design motifs:

Characters whose primary combat strat is just making Shitloads Of Disposable Copies Of Themselves:

Honestly it just keeps going like this. It's kinda everywhere. Finding the JttW in things is my favorite conspiracy theory rabbit hole because it's 100% harmless and more often than not completely correct.

#asks #not aurora #media recs

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sunkissed-zegras · 1 month

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𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 ─ PB⁵

౨ৎ ─ summary | paigey being your girlfriend - a list of relationship "headcanons"

─ warnings | in a bullet-point formatting, i hope you guys like it! fluff (lmk if yall want nsfw ones bc i can provide), paige being DOWN BAD, social media tingz, maybe alluding to being outed but not really, some angst but you can skip over it, paigey being protective (duh), nothing else?

─ taglist | @xocherishxo @iienstein @yazmunson and here's a link to my taglist if anyone would like to join!!

─ ev's notes | THIS IS SUCH LONG MESS BECAUSE I'M HAVING PAIGE BRAINROT RN, but i hope y'all enjoy nonetheless LOL being in my paige era i've read so many of these and i'm sure you guys have as well, so i'm making this as unique (or descriptive) as i possibly can to make it because it's more fun to read (and write cus im a sucker for details)

PRE-RELATIONSHIP STUFF

when you guys first started dating, i feel like paige would be kind of secretive about it

maybe secretive isn't the right word but very... private but not secret type of vibe (at least irl)

not because she doesn't want to show you off, because believe me, she wants to (she's a bragger what can i say)

but just because she wants to keep you all to herself for a while

she knows that as soon as people find out about it, everyone will be talking about it and making assumptions and she just wants to keep you to herself

at least for a couple months

she doesn't care about the public's opinions but she wants to make sure that y'all are LOCKED IN before she makes it public on social media

but it's clear to paige that y'all are very much locked in after the first couple weeks

she's not new to relationships and she's had her fair share but she can tell that it's different now

so the whole "not sure if i wanna hard/soft launch her cus what if we're not a long term" sentiment turns into "i wanna keep this special thing to myself ONLY for at least a couple months"

and of course the entire team knows paige is down bad for you, they've never ever seen her this WHIPPED

because paige seems like she'd be nonchalant and SHE IS... for people she doesn't give a fuck about

so when she likes someone, she LIKES someone

she is extra what can i say

they tease her about it and in any other situation, she would be annoyed but she loooooooves it because it's like "yeah i'm in the best most awesome relationship with the cutest sweetest and kindest girl in the PLANET"

you and paige would've definitely known of each other since freshman year but like... she's kinda intimidating so you sorta tried to steer clear of her

you were really close with some of the girls on the team, specifically azzi so you saw paige kind of a lot

but sophomore year, azzi kind of pushed you guys to be close and since she knows you guys so well, IT WORKED!

you guys clicked so quick and that doesn't happen a lot with paige, it takes a lot to earn her friendship

but you practically ripped down all her walls within like an hour of talking to her

definitely the first one to catch feelings

at least... to her ;)

very much friends to lovers trope with lots of sexual tension cus who doesn't love that?

i feel like after 3 months of being really close friends, you guys would spend like a shit ton of time together

you guys were ALWAYS together

she even tried to convince you to come to practice with her but you said no cus... what the heck

everyone knows... EVERYONE knows that paige likes you

and it kind of becomes like cemented (for paige at least) after she realized you were her literal COMFORT PERSON

like after every terrible, long practice or after losing games all she wants to do is be AROUND YOU so she could forget about everything

especially when she gets injured, she's such a wreck and the only person who made her feel better was you

it wasn't even what you said or what you did, it was simply just you

and after going through such a bad time with you, she realized that she liked you and she can't keep pretending

and she asked you (yaya!) and you said yes cus you liked her back (yaya!) and everything is just YAYA

so it's safe to say she knows she's found her soulmate within a month of knowing you

but she doesn't wanna seem like she's love-bombing you or whatever so she pretended to be nonchalant

which of course FAILS because she's down bad

so she tells you she loves you within like a month of dating

i KNOW it seems bad but you guys both felt it because of the whole injury and spending every moment together

when you know, you know vibes

she told you she loved you after you were there for her through some of the worst times of her life and you said it back of course and it's all cutesy

paige's love language is TOTALLY quality time and touch

even before you were dating, she just liked having her hands on you whether it was like holding your hand while walking through a crowd, or braiding your hair, or putting her head on top of yours or something as simple as just HUGGING you

but she kept it cordial of course cus y'all weren't dating

yeah that was all thrown out the window as soon you became her girlfriend

hands on you at ALL times, it becomes so subconscious neither of you even know you're doing it anymore

so remember that whole secret relationship thing?

well... everyone kind of figures it out online after like 3 months of dating

it was because of paige, poor girl couldn't keep her hands and lips off of you after a particularly hard game and somehow 🤨🤨someone gets a picture and it was all over twitter and tiktok the next day

literally "paige bueckers girlfriend" trending after an hour of getting posted

but neither of you cared too much about it because A. it was totally worth it cus the kiss was 😫😫😫 and B. she finally doesn't have to turn off her girlfriend mode when she's with you at games

cus she has the prettiest and best gf in the world and she wants everyone to know that

the only reason she was slightly annoyed was because she couldn't hard launch you on instagram :( poor girl had potential captions in her notes :( cus she's our little drama queen:(

but that doesn't stop her cus she ends up doing it! (shameless plug right there hehehe)

now that she can freely touch you and just be herself finally, she literally doesn't GAFFF

of course nothing like over the top because sure she loves PDA to a certain extent and she's an athlete so she needs to keep it civil

RELATIONSHIP STUFF

we've already covered how paige is a physical touch and quality time girly

and paige loves spending literally all her free time with you because you just recharge her

but it isn't in like an overwhelming way

paige understand that sometimes you need quiet time (or vice versa) but the thing is she doesn't even need you to talk just being around you is enough

so idk if it's necessarily QUALITY time but just being around you and spending every free second she has with you tells you that she is in love with you

paige is the most protective person IN THE WORLD, not just with you like in general

it doesn't even have to be someone she knows, if she sees someone giving someone else a hard time SHE WILL STEP IN!

and with her friends, y'all have seen her... she does not back down and will literally murder anyone who comes for the people she cares about

so if that's with people she doesn't know, and her friends, you guys can imagine how crazy she gets over you

if somebody says something even slightly consendecing or mean, slap. someone looks at you the wrong way? slap. somebody breaths wrong around you, slap.

obviously she won't lay a hand on them first but likeeee would she back down, nope

she is actually your guardian angel

like at parties, her hand is always on you and she never ever leaves your side

you need to get a drink, she's coming to

if you need to pee? she'll wait in the bathroom for you

yeah don't expect her to leave your side

because even when she IS by your side, there is always a weirdo in your guys' ear trying to get with one (or both!) of you

but yeah she's not afraid to defend you when it comes to literally anything

and this doesn't only apply to strangers, if there is someone that you know (your friend, her friend, etc) she WILL stand by you and defend you

like she doesn't shy away from confrontation, she will say something but only if you want her to

and GOD HELP THEM if you shed a single tear, cus the next morning you bet she's saying something

like i said, paige is a confrontational person and that means she's the biggest communicator

if she has a problem, she will tell you so that you guys can fix it

but sometimes she can come off a little argumentative and like she's just attacking you

she uses a lot of "you" statements so it seems like she's pushing the blame all on to you

so that can be the root of a lot of your guys' arguments when paige is only trying to solve the issues

but of course paige doesn't back down so she will be arguing with you even if she doesn't even know why, she just hates being wrong

but she doesn't let you leave or go to sleep unless the problem is fixed (or at least on the road to being fixed)

she'll give you space, she'll go another room to take a breather but she will not let you leave until it is fixed

usually after the breather you guys can come to an agreement and then paige usually hugs all the anger outta you

cus who could resist her?

if the argument lasts a couple days (it usually doesn't unless it's something serious) paige will talk it out with her mom or her friends

and you'll usually do the same

and paige will force you to sit down and talk about it until it is FIXED because she hates not being able to talk to you

and when you guys do eventually talk about it, especially if it's a serious topic, it will end with tears with both parties

but you guys always make up and everything will be better

okay okay no more angst ... for now hehehe

i feel like paige's nervous tic would be braiding the ends of her hair so i feel like that would transfer to YOU somehow

she just likes braiding your hair!!!!!! or just running her hands through your hair, it would help her relax

and if you're like me, it will help you relax as well

if you're black/have braids, she would only touch your hair if you let her!

paigey takes pictures OF EVERYTHING so obviously that includes you

her camera roll consists of ONLY you atp, like... 20% pics of literally anything else, and the rest would just be pictures of you or something to do with you

and oh my gosh don't get me started on the damn .5's of you, some of them are HORRENDOUSSSS and paige uses them as reaction pictures sometimes

and you found out from azzi that she does indeed use them in the girls groupchat

but she argues that you just look adorable which you respectfully disagree

oh and don't get me started on her tiktok drafts, she has at least 1,000 (rip her storage)

and when y'all started dating she just makes cute relationship tiktoks but she never posts them

EXPECT the "you're spinning me around, my feet are off the ground one" cus she wants to prove to the world that she has muscles

and the tiktok girlies will cry but WHO CARES!

oh and if you're on the basketball team, they will started to fan-girl over you as well

HELLA TIKTOK EDITS

and paige will favorite, repost and comment on them

like the most down-bad, insane comments you can think of

"GET THE STRAP GET THE STRAP!" is one of many ✨✨

if you aren't on the team, trust the tiktok girlies will find a way and they will make edits of you

and paige will do the same

obviously you do the same for her, your favorites are just paige edits atp (mine too)

ESPECIALLY THE GET IT SEXY ONE OMLL

and everyone will make ship edits and cutesy things like

"omg the way paige looks at her" and like a slideshow of paige being like all 😍😍😍

after paige gets more comfortable with like the media knowing about you two, she posts you every five seconds

usually like stories and stuff and especially if you’re also a basketball player, she reposts ALL your stuff

she is a proud gf !!!

she also has a highlight FOR SURE, she loves

also she def has like 10 diff wallpapers of you and her, some are really cute and some are really… 🫣

also paige strikes me as the type to like be texting you ALL DAY

and girl doesn’t care if you reply, she will send you 8 consecutive messages of different things

“omg look at the group chat 😂 *insert screeshot*” “baby they ran out of fucking caramel at dunkin, how does that happen ?” “i ended up going to a local cafe why did this shit cost me 9$” “baby you’re coming to my game on saturday right?” “HAHA look at this meme 😂” “why haven’t you responded to my tiktok’s in 2 days?”

yes she 100% uses the laughing with tears emoji argue with the WALL

or skull emoji

she also sends you 20 minute snapchat vlogs and they’re so chaotic, especially when she’s at practice or something

kk will steal her phone and say hi then you’ll hear them play fighting for like 80% of the vlog

also she does grwm’s on snapchat too when she’s at away games and her morning voice is SOOOO SEXY CUTE

↳ make sure to check out my navigation or masterlist if you enjoyed! any interaction is greatly appreciated !

↳ thank you for reading all the way through, as always ♡

#paige bueckers x reader #paige bueckers fic #paige bueckers fanfiction #paige bueckers smut #paige bueckers #uconn headcannons #uconn wbb #uconn huskies #uconn women’s basketball #ncaa women’s basketball #women's college basketball #wcbb fic #wcbb x reader #wcbb

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rpgchoices · 9 months

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Misdirection (Astarion romance route)

BG3 spoilers

I am obsessed with the misdirection in Astarion's romance. I said it before, I was absolutely tricked too. When you read a text or consume media every line is put there for a reason, it is a waste otherwise. By the party scene you kind of have a certain idea of what Astarion is. You know that he dislikes helping others, you know that he lies, he flirts a lot, he is vain, he is a killer, and he wants power (from the conversations about the tadpoles and Raphael).

At this point, if you chose him as a romance, it could also be that you enjoyed the idea of him being a vampire and all the tropes that come with it.

So when, after the first night together, you can ask him "It felt like you weren't fully there" there had to be a reason. From a writing pov, why was that line added?

As a player, you have to wonder. And by this point in the story it seems like a warning there is little that might convince you that what he answers with is not the truth, mainly because it falls right into the classic stereotypes of this kind of romance. Of course he is a danger, he did not want to lose control, be careful in the future - this is how it would sound to me if I romanced him without spoilers. I know because when I got his sex scene, I reloaded and romanced someone else because this kind of aggressive seduction vampire fantasy was not my thing.

If I had read this line, I would have been sure it was a small hint that romancing Astarion could end up very badly. Another small misdirection that could easily end up as a clue is in their second pre-sex scene together. Astarion is making sure the MC will stay with him, and he is very seductive. The funny thing is that if you choose the "yes" (1st option in the pictures just below) you don't get any other information or clue, but just flirting. You actually get even more of the fantasy, he talks about how he cannot stop thinking about you, he even presses on the word "dangerous", and his mannerism is all business

If instead you ask him to be better he goes on and on about his lines, he directly tells the player that these are all fake, basically. You can even ask him if these lines work on Cazador's targets, and he says "well, they worked on YOU".

So at this point as players we know that the player is being manipulated and teased up till a point. I definitely fell for it by immediately cutting the romance short, and never thinking about it again until I got the strenght potion scene. I got that scene as a friendship one, which has different options.

It is a bit different than the romance, he is much more direct in my opinion. He talks about his body as one of the few assets he has, and he is much more confused about why he was being "too precious" about the potion, he is actually surprised by himself.

And as I said, it is much more direct when he says that he never had a choice before (and he is specifically talking about sex). In the friendship version you can also convince him that he needs to use all of this that he has because he might, to protect himself and get advantage, which at least gives credit to our MC if we do romance him.

(TW!! for SA) In the romance scene instead you never get these options, you CANNOT convince him to keep using his body, and if you try to do so he will break up with you, as he should, he is much more confident.

And regarding the whole misdirection if you have not maximized his approval, you won't get his confession but you will find out the whole of his story after the drow potion scene. That is the scene where he thanks you for respecting his consent. I feel like it is such a monumental and surprising one, definitely not one I expected.

And the options are SO SO TELLING. The one sex option you get in this dialogue is the WRONG one. The game directly tells you that by choosing it you assaulted him and disregarded his consent.

There are instead 5 good options. I checked and they all seem to have the same amount of approval.

They are:

1. Showing him that your feelings are real so he can trust them. 2. Showing him intimacy without sex (hug). 3. Confirming that you want to be with him even with his burdens (he often mentions them in other dialogues, especially when you choose between him and Gale). 4. Saying you can be together without sex. And my favourite: 5. ASKING him what he wants, CARING about what he wants.

So yeah, I admit I absolutely fell for it, I was convinced this would take such a wildly different road. Glad to see it did not.

#baldur's gate 3 #astarion #meta #astarion romance #baldur''s gate 3 spoilers

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tumblingxelian · 2 months

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Near Uniquely RWBY - Main Characters

I was chatting with my sibling the other day and we were joking about the fact in 90% of the media I consume I generally don't like the main characters.

Not in the sense I necessarily hate them, but I generally don't find them to be the most interesting, engaging or enjoyable person on screen or page. Instead I tend to gravitate towards secondary or minor characters and even minor antagonists before any of the big names.

Some of this is rooted in my often rooting for what tends to feel more like a real underdog or characters that feel like they got dealt a bad hand by the author unfairly. But its also that in a lot of media the main characters tend to immediately, slowly or quickly go into personality lockdown.

Becoming less a personality and more the embodiment of expected tropes and themes, or they lose their unique edge or circumstances because the plot demands one benefits or personality changes be heaped on them to keep the tone and story going.

Some examples of this would include say:

Ichigo from Bleach, with him and his supporting cast being very unique and super interesting during the initial arc. But as Soul Society came in, he became a much more standard Shounen determinator a the expense of his personality and his supporting casts were largely watered down & left behind.

Or how in Naruto or Dragon Ball the whole underdog/hard worker aspect of the characters felt undercut by legacy power ups and an endless wellspring of natural talent, alien biology, ETC.

I know these are just two examples, but they cover the general gist of what I mean.

So, what makes RWBY different?

Well, off the cuff, is simply that the four main characters are women.

I've often felt simply putting anyone other than a cis-het guy into the main character slot of say, a battle Shounen, or Isekai stands a good chance of making it more interesting by default. Even if the author does nothing with it the audience reaction would be different because the MC would be an exception to the norms.

In that vein, while one can call RWBY some sort of Shounen or adventure fantasy or magical girl show the main four are unique in how they manifest on screen at the very start. From how they participate in action, to how said action is structured and framed and the kind of adventures and topics they tackle.

But being unique alone is not enough, that would simply make it more interesting than the bog standard but what elevates RWBY is the execution and exploration of such elements and its characters.

Going into every aspect would be difficult, but in light of what I said above would be how each of the main four are initially presented as familiar archetypes, only to subvert or deconstruct them.

Ruby is a peppy goth who just wants to be normal but has inborn powers from her mysteriously vanished mother and serves as a beacon of optimism to others.

Except Ruby's version of normal still involved fighting death monsters with a sniper rifle scythe and she is actually one of the more ruthless characters. Her peppy persona obscures that she can have a pretty vicious temper when pushed and has displayed strong bloodknight tendencies.

Her unrelenting optimism and desire to fix the world is a complex mix of true beliefs, coping mechanism for trauma and her grappling with positions forced on her against her will. Her inborn power is potentially useful but also not that much of a game breaker outside specific contexts & said power sure as hell didn't save her mom.

Weiss Schnee is the Tsundere heiress of a powerful family, with a haughty attitude that hides her loneliness.

Except the "Tsundere" is more of a defense mechanism born of coming from an abusive home where every member of her family manifested a different trauma response. Freeze (Mother), flight (Sister), Fight (Weiss) Fawn (Brother).

Despite her upbringing & some projected trauma, she's far from ignorant as to the worst excesses of her nation early on, and her journey was more about overcoming the impacts her abuser had on her and finding a family in her team that let her be safe enough to let down her walls. Also despite being "The ice queen" she's actually one of the characters least inclined towards more ruthless actions and is extremely empathic.

Blake Belladonna is a mysterious and silent rougish woman, something of a shrinking violet even, but she carries with her a wounded heart thanks to her old flame, the edgy Adam Taurus.

Or more accurately, Blake is the daughter of activists and politicians who represent the worlds main discriminated against minority. She spent her youth on the road as a protestor and where even her father could be nearly killed by a lynch mob. She was targeted & groomed by a man who claimed to want to fight the same injustice she did but who was only interested in using the movement to grow his own power.

Her initial aloof-ness was a trauma response to having spent years under his thumb and overcoming him and the idea she had to 'save' him was one of the main corner stone so her character. Also, despite the "Revolutionary fighter" backstory she like Weiss is much less inclined towards ruthlessness than her team in large part because her past experience with it.

Yang Xiao Long, introduced as the fun loving big sister of Ruby & boisterous bruiser of the team who loves to party & flirt.

Except no, Yang was parentified as a child and forced to raise her own sister as their family unit fell apart. Her "Party girl" persona was outright framed as judging a book by its cover in her own trailer and something she put on or took off as she needed.

She became disabled over the course of the series run as well as entered a Sapphic romance with her partner Blake. Unlike the stereotype of characters with her design, Yang is actually an excellent student, fighter and engineer/mechanic. Plus much like her sister she tends to be of the more ruthless and pragmatic persuasion despite being from the "Normal" background.

Character Conclusion

So, all the characters break out of their initial archetypes, which already makes them more interesting. What's more, these sorts of characters just being oput together and made the main characters rather than circling a dude is in of itself unique.

But there are other aspects of the writing which endear me to how it handles the main characters and what keeps them interesting.

Anger & Violence

See, while in various media women do express anger at times it is still often far less so than men. What's more, often women's anger tends to be presented in... Less flattering lights.

With the anger obscuring fragility while in a man it conveys strength. Or implying a sort of hysteria rather than an appropriate or controlled response. Or worst of all being demonized in general unless its rooted in or coming from traditionally feminine places.

The same tends to be true when it comes to violence with a lot of media either trying to find some way to make women in battle less... Brutal than their male counterparts. (More more like fanservice) Along with rarely letting women fight men, unless they are a special exception to the norm.

RWBY does not do this.

The main characters, hell, all the women in the series express a multitude of different forms of anger and violence. They battle men, they battle each other, they battle monsters all with no distinction nor fanservice shot in sight.

What's more though is that said anger and violence are not presented as, for lack of better words, wrong. The writers don't draw overt attention to this fact, they don't hang a big sign up saying "Girls can fight & shout too" or the like.

They just present these women with a range of emotions, motives and actions that are treated according to what fits the theme of the show rather than hewing closer to gendered lines.

This isn't to say anger & violence are lionized, but more that the experience and usage of them is not demonized or undermined because of the characters gender.

I suppose what I am saying is that CRWBY by and large lack double standards when it comes to exploring these things that I see so often in other media. The women in the main cast, among the villains, both sides respective allies and beyond can be flawed, or angry or do both good and terrible things.

But the writers are always treating everyone's pain as equally valid regardless of gender or situation. Which means that the situations that cause anger exist within a tone of respect that forms the depiction and framing of anger itself.

Which is just something I really enjoy.

Thanks for reading!

#RWBY #Save RWBY #greenlight volume 10 #Team RWBY #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #Some other series that do this or touch on it are She-Ra #The original Sailor V manga but less so Sailor Moon #& to varying degrees the Owl House #Thanks to Adam for helping me with the conclusion!

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staytinyville · 4 months

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Who's Your Daddy?

Part of the Give Some Sugar Event brought to you by @wonderlandnet ! Check out the other amazing stories!

↣ Summary: You had been giving Yunho a hard time just to rile him up. While on Idol Radio to promote your group’s new album, fans began to see just the kind of relationship you had with ATEEZ's own golden retriever. Spoiler Alert! He doesn't act like one in bed.

↣ Characters/Pairing: Yunho x afab!reader

↣ Genre: Mature (MDNI)

↣ AU/Trope info: idol!au, idol!reader,

↣ Warnings: mean dom!Yunho, bratty!reader, degradation,

↣ Word Count: 2.3k

↣ A/N: I imagine this whole thing to be part of my made up universe with a girl group that is part of KQ. Honestly if you guys love them and all I am more than happy to create their own masterlist with imagines that cater to them. I also have so much lore for them too! I would love to answer questions if you guys have any!

Staytinyville’s Permanent Taglist

↣ Affiliates: @wonderlandnet , @cultofdionysusnet , @pirateeznet , @cromernet

↣ Special Thanks: Thank you @saradika-graphics for the amazing banners! Please go check her out if you have specific banners in mind. She is great!

The large smile on your face hadn’t left since the moment you had stepped into the studio with your bandmates and the hosts. Idol Radio was something you had always enjoyed being on because you got the chance of speaking a bit more freely with a fellow idol while also talking about things you enjoyed.

This season called for labelmates Yunho and Hongjoong to be the hosts–which you were so excited to be part of. You always loved doing things with any of the ATEEZ boys along with your other members.

You had been a trainee alongside them, having joined before Yunho and starting the girl group, Luuz, within KQ Entertainment. While your group had debuted a year after them, you had still grown very close for being in such a small company. You all worked well together and it was something the fans were quick to catch on.

Hongjoong and Yunho were talking about certain topics that the fans would bring up on Idol Radio social media, which led to the one you were currently having.

“Something that you guys do is express your love languages a lot throughout your little shows and all those.” Hongjoong spoke up, looking over at Yunho who nodded his head. “It's something that you do with everyone including us.” He explained looking back over at you and your two other members.

You sat closest to Hongjoong, swinging back and forth on the swivel chair. The oldest member followed you, seated in the middle. And your youngest member was stationed at the end.

“We appreciate that a lot.” Hongjoong added, making you smile wider.

“Oh yeah.” The oldest member spoke up first. “We each have different kinds for both giving and receiving.” She explained. “I really like when people give me their time but I really love giving words of affirmation.” She told the boys wanting to clear out what kind of person she was.

“I am a huge person when it comes to gift receiving.” The youngest laughed. “It sounds so bad but I swear it can be anything. A little girl once gave me a painted rock and to this day it’s in my room.” She continued her story. “For giving, I am the kind of person who tends to do acts of service.”

“With us, I feel how close we are and how well we get along those are just the kinds of things we do.” You turned to Hongjoong. “Just like how you guys all are so close, that is how we are. It’s common for us to do those kinds of things.”

“With how you are, how can we not?” Your oldest member laughed.

You were the only extrovert in the group. While the others were quiet and a bit more reserved, you were the one who brought them out of the shells. A lot of fans tended to compare you to Wooyoung or Yunho, but you were just the kind of person who took charge of a lot of things. That was why you were the leader. If you hadn’t demanded things, you weren’t sure if your group would even be a group.

You giggled hiding your face from the red blush blooming hearing the coos from the fans outside. “Personally, my love language is words of affirmation.” You added into the conversation. “And I enjoy gift giving.” You finished.

“With how you are I would assume it was physical touch.” Hongjoong snorted, causing Yunho to laugh in agreement.

“Are you kidding me?” The youngest butted in. “(Y/N), loves getting attention of any kind. She is almost always asking for physical touch.” She expressed.

“She does!” The oldest cackled. “She is always asking someone for a hug or to hold hands. She's so cute about it!”

Your face began to grow even more red, causing you to finally cover it with both hands. You began to laugh out in embarrassment which only made everyone else awed at how cute you were being. Your older member poked at your cheek as she awed and Hongjoong laughed loudly.

“We pass by in the hallways of KQ and she has to stop us with a handshake or high five or a full on hug.” Hongjoong expressed. “Like we have places to be!” He giggled, poking fun at you.

“Ya!” Your youngest shouted pointing at Hongjoong. “She does do that!”

“I saw her for the first time just not ask for that with Yunho the other day.” The oldest member confessed. “All she gave him was a hi.”

You sucked in a breath as a smile quickly overtook your lips. You kept your head down, pressing your lips together to keep from saying anything as you looked over at the tall man. He raised his eyebrow at you, tilting his head to the side in challenge.

“She did do that.” Yunho licked his lips, giving you a pointed look. “Very sad to not get a hug.”

“It was a cheery hello.” You spoke up, hands in your lap as you straighten your back.

“Sure.” Yunho tongued at his cheek, looking away from you.

You watched how his hands tapped at the table, veins popping out. Your shoulders dropped as you kept your eyes on them, zoning out for just a moment. You smacked your lips looking back up when Hongjoong switched the topic of conversation.

The rest of the radio show went easy and quickly. The group got to do a little dance for the title track on your latest album which meant getting Yunho and Hongjoong to join. Everytime Yunho would step closer to you, you would move to the other side, giggling when you would skip over.

You kept your hands behind your back the whole time when you weren’t doing anything, rocking back and forth on the balls of your feet. Each time you would catch Yunho’s gaze you would see him poke at his cheek with his tongue and his eyes give you warning looks. It made shivers go down your spine when you took in the kind of energy he was giving you.

“You guys are going back on tour this coming fall, right?” Yunho asked, looking at your other members.

You glared for a split second, pouting just a bit before turning to your members.

“Yes, we had a bit of a break before going to America to continue our Kings and Queens tour. From there we will be traveling to Europe, which should be fun.” The oldest shared.

You guys talked a little bit about what touring was like for each of you and how different it was to ATEEZ schedule and tour.

When the break came up, you and the girls would wave at the fans for a moment, reading over their signs and giving them kisses and hearts. Hongjoong and Yunho separated from the three of you, going over to the snack table where they had requested specific ones just for your groups. They knew what kind of things you liked so they decided to ask for those kinds of snacks.

You moved along the window, standing next to Yunho as you tried to look around him for what they had.

“Here.” Yunho said, handing you a bag of grapes.

Your eyes went wide and a large grin spread across your face as you took in the fruit. Just as you were about to reach out for them, Yunho was quick to swipe them out of your reach, causing you to pout.

“Yunho.” You whined, trying to reach out again. But he was quicker, taking a step back as he laughed to keep the facade that you were just messing around. He hid the grapes behind his back, looking at you expectantly.

“What do you say?” He asked, raising his brow as he looked at you with a demanding expression.

You rolled your eyes playfully, sticking your bottom lip out as you frowned. Yunho gave you the bag of grapes when the staff began to go back to their seats and were about to ask you all to return back to the radio. Your smile returned to your face as you ripped the plastic open and popped a grape into your mouth.

“You want words of affirmation?” Yunho whispered in your ear as he passed you. “Then earn them.”

*****

You laid on your back as quick pants were flowing out of your mouth. You were mewling, arching your body off the bed as Yunho laid kisses against your neck to rile you up. Your hands were tied to the bedpost with some tie he had laying around the room. Your hands were clenched in fists as the need to reach out for Yunho became too much.

But you knew why you were in the position you were in. You had warranted it.

“Want to be praised?” Yunho scoffed against your skin, hands trailing ticklishly along the length of your raised arms. “Not when you act like that.” He leaned up off of you, hands roughly following down your body as they applied harsh pressure which made you moan out and try to follow after them.

“What did you think you were going to get?” He asked, sitting on his knees as his chest was on display for you to see.

He mockingly pouted, eyes looking down at your legs that were clenched together as you wiggled around to get friction on your wet core. He almost laughed at how you wiggled about, knowing you weren’t going to get anything out of your restlessness. He splayed his fingers on your thigh, holding it down in place.

“Or is it that you want to be degraded?” He taunted, finger digging into the flesh of your thigh. “That’s what the brat wants?” He suddenly leaned forward, getting a gasp from you as you tried to move your head back from him.

“She likes when I call her a slut.” He mocked.

“No, I don’t.” You panted, moving your legs so that you could feel Yunho’s skin on your thighs at least. “Only good girl.” You whined, closing your eyes as Yunho’s large hand found purchase on your neck.

His fingers were long enough to not only cover the entirety of your throat, but to also reach up into your chin and cheeks. He dug the pads on his fingers into the flesh, shaking your head back and forth lightly.

“Not mine, that's for sure.” He scoffed, lightly shoving your head to the side as his fingers dug into your chubby cheeks.

“No!” You cried out when he moved away again. “Only Yunho’s good girl.” You babbled, trying to push him back into your hips to get some stimulation.

“No, no.” He got off the bed, moving to your side. “I haven’t seen her. Only a brat who likes to rile me up.” He tsked, shrugging to himself as he began to move about the room, leaving you to wither alone.

“Please.” You whined, pulling at the tie.

Your feet planted themselves onto the bed, hips thrusting forward as you clenched your legs together to ease the ache between them.

“Please what?” Yunho asked from the end of the bed. “You can use your words now.” He leaned over, grabbing your ankles before quickly shoving them back down the bed, stretching you out. He opened them further, keeping you from finding relief.

“Do it.” He demanded.

“Please, fuck me.” You pathetically whimpered, knees knocking together.

“Think I will?” He climbed back up the bed, getting between your legs. “With how you’ve been acting?” He scoffed.

“You got a lot of learning to do.” He shook his head, brushing hair away from your face as he kissed your cheek in a way that left you crying for more.

“Pretty baby doesn’t know how to act to get my attention.” He kept up his act. “Hm? Act like a brat and think things will go the way you want?” He rhetorically asked you. “You know I like things to go my way.”

He finally moved to be situated between your legs, his cock settled between your lips and head nudging at your clit. He grabbed your cheeks in one hand, making you face him as tears began to pool at your lashlines.

He smiled cruelly at the look on your face. Your eyes were completely unfocused, mouth dry from how you were breathing through it with your whines and pants. With his fingers along your cheeks, he squished them together getting your mouth to form an o shape.

You cried out when he roughly spit into it, jaw closing on instinct to swallow what he had given you. Yunho’s eyes almost rolled to the back of his head when he saw your tongue roll out for more. But he only groaned to himself, shutting his eyes for a moment to get back to his plan ahead.

“Want to be a good girl?” He told you. “Then let's see how many times you can cum until I'm satisfied.”

*****

You played with the mic for a moment, watching as your members waved at the fans who attended soundcheck. You smiled at the ones on your side, swinging your mic around as you hummed songs. A large and colorful sign caught your attention, making you squint to read it. You crouched for a moment, making a face as you read it.

The fans started to scream louder, swinging their signs around to see which one you were reading. You began to laugh as the question registered in your head, coming to a stand. You licked your lips reading it over again.

(Y/N), Who's your daddy?

A large grin spread across your face, teeth shining as you thought about how to answer. With a mischievous look you raised one arm and placed the other across your belt. Knowing the dance by heart you moved your hips from side to side, singing along to Illusion as you danced the way Yunho did.

You laughed wildly when the fans screamed and began to sing Illusion. But you gave the fan with the sign a wink, making them gasp and scream even louder as they jumped up and down. You just knew you were going to see it on social media later.

Permanent Taglist: @hecateslittlewitchling , @ldysmfrst , @rln-byg , @vampcharxter , @angieskzzzz , @puppyminnnie , @smilingtokki , @emtrades22 , @tinyelfperson

#kpop fanfic #ateez fanfic #ateez imagines #ateez #ateez x reader #ateez yunho #ateez smut #yunho ateez #yunho x reader #yunho smut #yunho fanfic #wonderlandnet #cultofdionysusnet #pirateeznet #atz smut #atz x reader #atz fanfic #jung yunho #gimmesomesugar23

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cripplecharacters · 18 days

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What are your thoughts on people making random characters albino (especially regardless of their race, even if they aren't black? Would it count as fetishizing under certain ways?

I've heard that albinism can appear in any race group, but I'd just like to know how you view just random characters casually having albinism (even without it being sexualized for fetishized)

Hi!

Casual representation is great! Not just albinism, but disability in general. You don't always have to go into complicated details of "how's it like to be disabled". But just because it isn't meant to be a work about a certain condition doesn't mean you shouldn't do your diligent research - if by making random characters have albinism you mean giving them the "aesthetic" and nothing besides that, it would be fetishization or at least just poor representation.

Also, for this answer I'll be talking about oculocutaneous albinism because I'm fairly sure that's what you were referring to, but please be aware that there are other types, like;

ocular albinism (has 3 different subtypes)

Heřmanský–Pudlák syndrome

Chédiak–Higashi syndrome

Griscelli syndrome

oculocutaneous albinism also has multiple (7) main subtypes, with some of them splitting further. You should take that into consideration as well when deciding on what kind of albinism your character(s) has :-) I'm not saying that you should write "X has oculocutaneous albinism, type OCA1b" in your book, but it will help to inform you what their needs and symptoms could be!

First thing I will mention is that the word "albino" is generally not the preferred term and you probably shouldn't use it unless you have albinism yourself. Here's a page on it by the National [USA] Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation or this post we reblogged recently.

To make sure that your representation works, you need to understand how albinism works. Even if it's a side or minor character, you should be aware of the symptoms other than just the lack of melanin. Prime example, the extreme majority of characters with albinism in media don't have any vision issues at all, which is not how it is in real life. If you make a character with albinism, you're making a character who is blind or low vision. It's important to research aids and assistive technology, as well as blindness tropes that your character could fall into. For a character that only shows up occasionally, it's still important to show things like a white cane, their light sensitivity, them having to avoid the sun.

If that's your approach to "making random characters be disabled" then you should be good. A lot of disabled characters end up boxed into specific tropes (for albinism: being evil, being emotionless, having magic powers, or being mystified because of their disability) so having e.g. a background character with albinism who has a regular job and shows up in the story from time to time would mitigate that. People with albinism are normal people.

It's true that a person of any race or ethnicity can have albinism! Some types of albinism are more common in certain demographics; for example, Heřmanský–Pudlák Syndrome appears much more frequently in Puerto Rico and OCA4 is almost exclusively seen in Japan, and oculocutaneous albinism is more common in sub-Saharan Africa as a whole (which is a giant area, but there's not much statistics about it). But your character could be of any background to have albinism in general.

In short, if the representation would end at "giving a character white skin, white hair and red eyes*" then it's more fetishistic than representative; that's just using the appearance but ignoring everything else. Keep in mind that it's a medical condition, not an aesthetic. If a character stops having albinism when they dye their hair, tan, and wear colored contacts, then that's just a character who happened to have light hair skin and eyes, not a person with albinism. Good representation of disability means showing the disabling parts of it - again, you don't have to go into detail about how it is to have albinism if the character shows up for two chapters, but show them navigating with a white cane!

*note - in real life, people with albinism don't have red eyes. I mention it because it shows up in media all the time. It just screams fetishization because it's not a thing - most people with albinism will have blue, hazel, or brown eyes.

I hope that this helps - if you have a more specific question, feel free to send another ask. I also recommend going through our #albinism representation tag, it might answer some of the questions you might have! :-)

mod Sasza

#mod sasza #anonymous #albinism representation #disability erasure #fetishization of disability

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cy-cyborg · 25 days

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Forgetting your character is disabled isn't a "good representation" flex: Writing Disability Quick Tips

[ID: An image with “Writing Disability quick tips: Forgetting your character is disabled isn't a good representation flex” written in chalk the colour of the disability pride flag, from left to right, red, yellow, white, blue and green. Beside the text is a poorly drawn man in red chalk looking down confused at his leg, one is drawn normally, the other is drawn to resemble a basic prosthetic. He has question marks above his head. /End ID]

For a while, I was involved in the booktok and Tik Tok writing communities, specifically parts of the community focused on more diverse books and authors. During this time, I noticed a reoccurring pattern when people were highlighting stories featuring disabled characters, or even promoting their own books, and that was how often people would say "I kind of forget they have [insert disability here] because they're such a badass."

The intention behind this statement is (usually) good, with people trying to show that their disabled characters are self-sufficient and don't fall into the tired old sad/helpless disabled person trope, however, you can - and very much should - do that without erasing your character's disability. If you find yourself forgetting your character is disabled, or your beta and pre-release readers are commenting about forgetting it, then there's a good chance that's exactly what you've done - and as a disabled person myself, if I see that statement being used in your marketing in particular, it's a giant red flag and a sure fire way to make sure I give the book in question a skip.

Remember, disabilities (especially major ones) are a part of your character's identity, and they're important regardless of the character's personal relationship with it. Even if your character doesn't specifically identify with the label of disabled or doesn't really care that much, it's should still be impacting their daily life, even in small ways. If you're finding yourself forgetting about a major part of your character's identity, it might be a good idea to check and make sure their disability is having an impact on the character.

I see this comment most often with amputee characters, and to me, it's a pretty consistently good indication that the author has treated their character's prosthetic as a cure rather than the mobility aid it is. It's far from unique to amputees, mind you (I talked about this a lot when I was discussing the character of Toph from Avatar), but it's when I tend to see it the most. Remember that mobility aids and other forms of assistive technology and assistive magic (if it's a fantasy story) are just that: they're aids, they assist, they shouldn't be cures.

Of course, this wasn't unique to Booktok, I've seen it on nearly every other social media site with a writing and book-focused community at some point, but Tik Tok was just where I spent the most time and it seems to be where I see the most people specifically gloating about it.

#Writing disability with Cy Cyborg #Quick tips #Disability #Disabled #Disability Representation #Writing Disability #Writing #Writeblr #Authors #Creators #Writing Advice #Disabled Characters #On Writing #book marketing

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littlemisstfc · 6 months

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What Transformers Earthspark Teaches About Abuse:

TW: I will be discussing the topic of abuse, specifically how abuse is treated in Transformers media. If you’re sensitive to this topic, I highly encourage you to skip out on this post. Take care of yourself and stay safe.

National Domestic Abuse Hotline: 800-799-7233

National Hotlines: https://victimconnect.org/resources/national-hotlines/

Hello, Hola, こんにちは。

Welcome back to this side of the Hundred Acre Woods, and we’re back back back again with another Transformers writing. I was just randomly hanging out in my college’s LGBTQ+ space, eating my Hot Cheetos and enjoying the H2O in my Hello Kitty hydro, when I began to have thoughts about Earthspark again. If you know me by now, you know that I adore Transformers Earthspark. Easy 9/10, among the top five best Transformers shows if all well goes according to plan. Like Cyberverse, it aims to subvert the Transformers formula through putting a fresh new coat of paint onto various Transformers tropes as well as bringing new and interesting characters and concepts to the table. When it comes to the former aspect of Earthspark, there is one trope that is not only brilliantly deconstructed, but is also treated with the respect and grace it should have from the beginning. As to what this trope is, let’s start with everyone’s favorite evil twink girlfailure: Starscream.

So…

The 21st century has not been kind to our skrunkly king. Sure, from the beginning, he is designed to be the ultimate girlfailure of Transformers. He’s cunning and sneaky, but his plans go easily astray because of his arrogance and ego getting in the way. It also doesn’t help that he’s often Megatron’s favorite punching bag whenever his plans to overthrow him go wrong. It’s a pure hate filled relationship that is dark comedy galore…if you approach it with the right angle. Part of the reason why TFA Starscream’s hate relationship with Megatron works is that Starscream doesn’t take Megatron’s crap at all. He will fight back, and it feels right whenever he has the upper hand over ol buckethead. Sure, their relationship is quite odd when you think about it. However, their dynamic is compelling as well as being like I said, dark comedy galore.

Then, Transformers Prime came in and proceeded to make it all so horribly wrong. Like I mentioned in my TFP essay, TFP Starscream deserves so much fucking better. Megatron’s treatment of him is just downright despicable. True, Screamer ain’t no saint and he only has himself to blame for his flaws and behavior. But…I’m sorry, the way Megatron speaks to him and how he gets so physically aggressive towards him is neither funny nor justified. It’s uncomfortable to see him reduce Starscream to a whimpering and fearful mess whenever the latter fucks up royally. Is this really what the showrunners think is good for the audience at home? Even if you see nothing wrong with it, you cannot deny how depressing it feels whenever Starscream and Megatron are on screen together. By having Screamer be the countless target of abuse throughout the show, it only made me want to help him leave the Decepticons for good.

It also doesn’t help that in RID 2015, Starscream’s vendetta against Megatron is portrayed in a negative light. Nah, fuck this shit. HE DOESN’T OWE FUCKING SHIT TO MEGATRON. He has every right to feel angry and hurt at how Megatron treated him throughout Transformers Prime. Hell, this is why I hate Megatron’s redemption arc in Predacons Rising so fucking much. He was never held accountable for how he treated his second in command, and for that, I only wish the uttermost hell for him. Fuck TFP Megatron. Fucking shark douchebag.

Same for Transformers Cyberverse. Like I love you, queen, but how Starscream is treated in that show ain’t it. I’ve talked about this aspect in depth in my Cyberverse retrospective video, so feel free to check that out here.

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In a nutshell, there’s an uncomfortable trend of Transformers shows that straight up treats Megatron’s treatment of Starscream with only a slap on the wrist. Like, how does any normal person find any of this acceptable? Just…AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

However…then, something miraculous happened in Earthspark. Something that manages to deconstruct this trope on its head by straight up telling the audience: “Nah, we’re not gonna do that treating Megatron abusing Starscream as a joke bullshit. We’re gonna be 100% honest with y’all.”

For context, Transformers Earthspark takes place after the Great War is over. Megatron became a good guy again and Transformers on Earth is a part of everyday life. However, for the Decepticons, many feel very salty about Megatron turning good and becoming mischievous gremlins. This resulted in G.H.O.S.T. imprisoning them in cells, including Starscream. Eventually, in the episode, “What Dwells Within,” Starscream and the Seeker lesbians broke out of prison and went on the run in some catacombs. The Malto kids also got trapped in here, and they had to teamup to escape the caves and a vore monster. When Starscream is being Starscream while trying to escape the vore monster, Twitch and Thrash bring up his flaws and believe that he should go back to Megatron, since they spend time with old buckethead and see him as the changed man we see here. However…then this bombshell drops:

Twitch: “Yeah, you should go back to following Megatron. He wouldn't leave anyone behind like that!" Starscream: “Oh, naïve child. Is locking Decepticons in prison while he walks free not "leaving us behind"? You don't know the real Megatron, the ruthless tyrant who ruled over us with fear and intimidation."

Me:

While the others were distracted by the monster’s growls, we see Hashtag’s expression. Just, the way her entire perspective has changed when Starscream brought up the man Megatron used to be. Mmmmm, LAYERS. A few more monster shenanigans happen and the two of them get stuck together in the control hub. Up to this point, we see how much Megatron’s treatment of him has affected Starscream deeply. Even after being technically free of him…he still remembers that awful time in his life. It also doesn’t help that he is The Starscream, the skrunkly backstabbing mean girl whose entire life goal is to be the leader of the Decepticons. He was never taken seriously and the universe determines that he will not succeed. I highly recommend Comodin Cam’s video on the topic about this if you wanna get into the details. Bottom line is that Starscream doesn’t have the best luck in being himself.

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Back to the control hub, it seems like there was gonna be a discussion of Starscream being Starscream. However, to Starscream’s surprise, Hashtag believes him. When she called him out for trying to save his own skin while everyone else is gonna die because of the vore monster, she asks him this question:

“When bad things happen, it isn’t always our fault.”

Since July, I’ve struggled to convey my thoughts about this moment in the episode, especially as someone who has been in Starscream’s place at one point in my life. In Hashtag believing him and being ready to listen to him had the monster not acted a fool, Starscream’s pain and trauma has been validated. For the first in his life, he’s not treated as a joke. Someone realized that he was a victim of abuse and recognizes his feelings, not talking down to him nor trying to argue against it. Hashtag is a young child, but even she recognizes that what Megatron did to Starscream is not okay at all. This resulted in her gaining his trust and loyalty and she even told off Megatron when the latter and Starscream were ready to duke it out. Eventually, the day is saved and both Screamer and the Seeker girlies venture off into the unknown. But before that, he rejected Megatron’s offer of safety and yeah…after a long time of being Megatron’s chew toy, he doesn’t owe shit to Megatron. He has every right to not trust him again, and even though we saw Megatron changing for the better in Earthspark, he has indeed hurt a lot of people.

Honestly, the bond Hashtag formed with Starscream and how the episode treated Starscream’s trauma with the grace and respect it deserves is a great lesson for kids to learn when it comes to helping out a friend who is in Starscream’s shoes. Hell, it could even teach kids to recognize the signs of abuse in their own homes and seek out the help they need. That’s what I love about Transformers shows like Earthspark: it recognizes that the audience is smart enough to pick up on the clues and details as well as entertaining them.

Transformers Earthspark aims to fix what shows like Transformers Prime has started, and it’s only fitting to have Steve Blum as Starscream here, as if its own way of saying, “We know, folks. Starscream deserves better.”

Conclusion: It's never the victim's fault.

If anything, Earthspark manages to excel in ways that many Transformers shows wishes they can do, especially those in the 2010s. It treats Starscream’s trauma from being The Starscream with the gravity and care it needs, and I appreciate it all the more as time goes on. I highly recommend that y’all watch this show. It has a complex story, likable and enduring characters, great animation, and it breathes new life in Transformers. Most importantly of all, it gave Starscream the justice he deserves, and I hope it stays that way with this incredible show.

#transformers #transformers earthspark #earthspark spoilers #val talks #tw abuse #Youtube

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kanansdume · 2 years

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I really like the way Andor is taking certain character archetypes and tropes and turning them on their heads a bit.

Luthen is a rebel leader, but he's cold and ruthless and in some ways he's almost uncaring. He's inclined to cause MORE suffering in the short term in the hopes of ultimately ending the suffering. He's on the right side of history, but he's not necessarily a good or kind person.

Skeen is introduced as a rebel, as basically the asshole with the heart of gold right up until we find out he's just a selfish greedy asshole who MAYBE gave a shit about Nemik but not enough to not steal from him.

Kino is introduced as a hard-ass authority figure who's in it for himself above everything, right up until we find out that he knows he can't escape on his own and does care about the other prisoners and will give up his life to make sure everyone else gets their chance at escaping.

Mon Mothma has, for a while, been this perfect unblemished Rebel leader who gracefully walks into a briefing in a beautiful gown with tragic news and inspire everyone to make that tragedy not be in vain. She loses a little bit of shine in Rebels, but not the way we're shown in Andor, with the way her privilege is really put up against the other characters like Cassian and Bix and the prisoners and the Aldhani, the way she isn't quite yet ready to get her hands dirty for her own cause. She wants to rebel, but she's not that pristine being who walked into the base in Return of the Jedi anymore.

The audience is primed to think certain ways about some of these characters due to character archetypes that tend to show up in not just media but Star Wars specifically a LOT. And Andor plays RIGHT into that and says "look harder, look closer, you may have missed something important." Andor says "look again now that you've got some more information, look and see if you see things differently this time."

#andor #andor show #andor series #sw andor #star wars andor #kino loy #mon mothma #luthen rael #andor spoilers

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the-s1lly-corner · 6 months

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It'll be nice if you would be able to do head cannons of the TADC crew having to deal with a reader that has a biting on things problem have it and looks like a dog/pup (depending if you want to set an age range)

Like no one knows if they're just really playing into their part of being a annoying gremlin or they had a bad habit of chewing things in the real world then it being intensivize since being trapped in the digital prison

TADC cast x dog!reader who bites things! (Platonic!)

Wasnt sure whether to go with a dog or puppy reader but UHUH!!

Written on mobile! Gonna knock out some requests then I might work on art today!

This may be on the short side, I hope that's okay! I've been having some struggles thinking up hcs for TADC stuff the past few days <\3

Probably the first TADC post where I actually write the character segments in order (of them being listed) instead of bouncing around LMAO

CAINE:

You know how some people blow bubbles for their dogs to play with them, letting them chase and pop them? I feel like he'd do that with you and bubble (whether or not you view this as bubble torment is up to you, personally I don't think bubble would give too much of a darn).. may or may not help with your biting habit, or maybe it makes it worse? Really I think it depends !

Gives loads of hesd oats and chin scratches, I think!

POMNI:

Has probably caught you chewing on the dangle... bell.. end parts... of her hat when she has her back to you. Too nice to scold you but tries to politely redirect you to chewing on something else that isnt a part of her person..! Tries to ask why you chew on things, but even you don't seem to know the source so you're both just kind of.. stumped.. definitely not mean about reminding you of her boundaries

RAGATHA:

Probably tries to find you a oral.. fidget.. thing.. I forgot the proper term of them but you know how theres some stuff that's made specifically for oral fixiations and chewing and stuff? Like those chewable necklaces and stuff? Those! I think ragatha would try to find you one of those, or a safe stand in! Though.. does it really need to be safe if this is your digital body...? Has probably made you a blanket with bones on it, or maybe a bone shaped plushie

JAX:

Honestly whether or not he gets annoyed by your chewing habit is 50/50, I think! I mean it's not like he can say anything, I personally hc that he has a huge habit of fidgeting with anything and everything (though... I tend to write jax to be a bit of a hypocrite, given the "I like watching funny things happen to people" and then immediately getting mad when something funny happens to him)

Do I think he would let you chew on him, or any if his belongings? No, absolutely not. But would he grab something from someone else? Oh yeah most likely

Probably plays fetch/catch with you, if that's something you're interested in, though he suggests it in a way that you csnt tell if he is teasing you or not

KINGER:

Obligatory he gives off dad vibes so hes a dog person (is that a dad trait?? Or was I just exposed to that a lot in media as a kid?) So he kind of gravitates towards you because "dog :)". Obviously he knows you're a person, and he doesn't really do anything to treat you as anything less outside of that! Honestly you guys probably develop a father/kid dynamic, maybe!

"Hes just a little guy," he says after you take a comical bite out of the circus' walls (imagine the trope in cartoons where there's a bite out of something and theres the teeth marks)

Honestly doesnt care if you chew on his robe, either he truly doesnt mind or hes just too spaced out to notice. Tends to flip flop between those

ZOOBLE:

Similar to jax, whether or not they get onto you for the chewing is a coin toss. I think it really depends on how zooble is feeling that day! They tend to get more irritated than the others, I think, at least going off of the pilot. And they dont want to upset you, truly, they dont because you guys are friends! But zooble really values their belongings and personal space so they may get a little short with you if you decide to munch on those! Though, I think that despite the "I dont care" attitude, theyd try to find an alternative that works for you both!

GANGLE:

Too shy and sweet to tell you to stop if you start chewing on something you dont want her to; if she does eventually bring it up its probably after the fact.. tries to talk it out with you to figure out why you do that.. is it a stim? A simple habit? Something else entirely? But you dont seem to know the answer... I think she would do what ragatha does and tries to find you something you use long term as a chew; or maybe even tries to find you a habit if it's one you personally want to work on! Though she won't force you to change, if it's not something you want

#tadc x reader #the amazing digital circus x reader #digital circus x reader #caine x reader #pomni x reader #ragatha x reader #jax x reader #kinger x reader #zooble x reader #gangle x reader

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autismserenity · 3 months

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pretty please, my fellow progressives

Could we please all keep in mind that the concept of "The Jews In General, or A Specific Type Of Jew, Controls Education, Government, Media, and/or Banking", is a longstanding antisemitic trope?

And most of all, that it is false??

No, a marginalized group does not also control education, the government, the media, and/or banking?

No, Jews do not secretly control these things and just pretend to be marginalized? No, Jews have not secretly been accumulating power since the Holocaust, granted by too-generous gentiles, out of pity?

No, it isn't better if you just mean a specific subgroup or kind of Jews. It's still specifically Jews.

It's like when people who hate trans/queer people are fine with rich white cis gay men. So they think it's not bigoted to blame "people with blue hair and pronouns" for the downfall of society.

We all know this means, "I only see some of you as human like me. You have to speak and act a certain way to count. Everyone in your group has to pass a test to get into the Good group."

Doesn't work.

Sure, it gives them plausible deniability to the people who matter to them. But everyone else can see exactly how they feel.

We've all known for years that it's bad to think of a marginalized group as having some "good ones." Rein it the heck in, please.

Because YES, all of those examples are ones I've seen implied, or stated outright, over and over, within the progressive community. This month alone.

#antisemitism #anti-semitic #yes this is about how gentiles use zionism #yes this is about how fast it went from 'this isn't NECESSARILY antisemitic' to 'this ISN'T antisemitic'#yes this is about claiming that we claim antisemitism to deflect valid criticism #yes this is part of a larger pattern of violating every progressive standard but only for jews #none of us would ever say 'people are just claiming misogyny to deflect valid criticism'#we would never claim that trans people secretly control or “influence” the government #we would never treat Ukrainians like “'noble savages” who need us to speak for them #but we treat Palestinians like “noble savages” who need us to speak for them #we know to center the people affected and uplift their voices in every other situation #but in this situation we ignore the fact that we're supporting palestinians by talking ABOUT them #we swallow far-right Palestinian propaganda channeled through diaspora organizations #while Palestinians in Gaza demand completely different solutions and support #zionists echo Palestinian solutions and experiences because we know people in Israel and Palestine #and we get told we love genocide or just blocked #this is how Hamas propaganda is designed to work. Hamas has systematically silenced Palestinians for 18 years and now it's all you know #it is genuinely terrifying to see the entire progressive community sound exactly like the alt-right while it absolutely insists it's not #we also know to center marginalized people's voices about what harms them -- except the Jews?#honestly I think that progressives listened before Oct 7 and that the “no we just mean ZIONISTS are evil” has done wonders to reverse that #let's be real the zionists-not-jews trope comes from Hamas too #all it had to do was claim it definitely meant Zionists not Jews and that it was the Palestinian resistance and progressives flocked to it #its fighters were calling home from the massacre to boast about how many Jews they had killed. it has not changed.#i suppose that the zionists-not-jews thing gave freedom to unexamined antisemitism that people felt guilty about #but oh my god it caught on like absolute wildfire #wall of words

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nariism · 11 months

Text

i don’t dance!

pair. pro-player!ushijima x PR manager!reader

content: fluff, reader is his VERY TIRED PR manager who really deserves a raise, weak attempts at humour, no pronouns used for reader

synopsis. you need to teach ushijima how to waltz

wc: 2.2k

a/n: i eat the “teach me how to dance” trope up for breakfast, lunch and dinner. (also yes i absolutely did use a high school musical song as the title who’s gonna stop me)

ushijima wakatoshi is what people typically refer to as emotionally unavailable.

he just doesn’t have the time to worry about trivial things like romance or feelings or anything of the sort. not while he’s trying to keep up with his rigorous training schedule on top of countless interviews and photo shoots that you, his wonderful PR manager, generously offer to help him prepare for.

it’s no surprise that this man - 6 feet and almost 4 inches of pure heart throb material - has yet to find a partner worth keeping around. not that he hadn’t had one night stands, per say, but being emotionally available for a committed relationship isn’t something he has on his mind right now.

although he isn’t exactly the type to be nitpicky about this kind of stuff, he does come off as cold if you don’t know him well enough (unintentionally, of course). people who he welcomes into his life simply find him too busy or too severe in his mannerisms to form proper relationships. thus, his friend group is kept tight, extending almost exclusively to members of the japanese national team.

ushijima keeps to himself and minds his own business. he doesn’t speak until spoken to, unless he has some opinion about other volleyball players you have to thwart. he doesn’t make a fuss about insignificant things. he respects his elders and works hard in every aspect of his life that involves his career. words are kept short and to the point, never sugar coated and he certainly never lies.

he specifically remembers one scenario in which an adoring fan had come up to him after a game while you were distracted with the press, and they had confessed their undying love to him much to his horror.

“could you leave me alone?” he had told them bluntly when they asked if he could please dm them on twitter, and you nearly died on the spot when the cameras all turned to the pair behind you. it was a horribly busy week for you, playing the role of damage control all while ushijima remained completely indifferent to the storm that was brewing on social media around his name and how he was trending for two whole days after the fact.

thankfully, the fan had gratefully accepted a bouquet of flowers ‘courtesy of ushijima’ (which he also almost vehemently denied online before you smacked him upside the head), and all was forgiven. it even made him trend for a couple days longer, but this time with everyone singing his praises. he should give you more credit where it’s due, because being a PR manager for someone so terrible at smiling for the camera is like hell on earth.

you had told him once that it was important to keep a good rapport with his fans, even if they were more forward with their advances than he was used to back in high school. he looked at you funny until you continued: “i’m not saying you should go off and date anyone who confesses to you, but could you at least be a little nicer?!” sounding extremely exasperated.

he didn’t even end up agreeing with you, too distracted by the way your lips moved while you scolded him to pay you his full attention.

“tonight’s the gala. everyone will be there.”

“i know.”

“so why,” you hiss out the words through grit teeth, jaw tense as you pinch the bridge of your nose, “are you standing outside my house when you should be getting ready?”

he’s silent for a moment. you glance up to make sure he’s actually still standing there being stupidly handsome and that you’re not just dreaming he is. ushijima averts his gaze awkwardly, hands in his pockets as he contemplates whether or not he should say what’s on his mind and risk having you slam the door in his face in frustration.

(it’s happened before; once, when he told you he was the top reply on a post for asking what “smash” means and why everyone was commenting it under all his instagram photos. you slammed the door in his face then, too, but he could still hear you erupt into laughter from the other side much to his confusion.)

you’re looking at him expectantly, with a brow raised and your lips pursed as you wait for an explanation.

“it’s a gala.”

you close your eyes and take a deep breath, patience wearing thin. “i know, wakatoshi. i just said that.”

“it’s a gala, so...” he huffs, “i have to dance, don’t i?”

you look up again at his words, confusion written all over your face. you’re in the middle of getting ready yourself, dressed to the nines. not as his date, of course, though he’d asked you.

(“what did you just say?”

“why can’t you just come with me? it would save you the trouble of getting the extra ticket. it’s not like i’m taking anyone else.”

“i can’t- that’s-... it’s unprofessional.”

“oh. i see.”)

you take the opportunity to scrutinize his outfit, as your eyes always end up doing. you’re always observing him closely, hoping and praying he doesn’t do or say something that will get him cancelled. in his defense, he’s gotten better at keeping his mouth shut when he knows you’re sitting there stressed to all hell about what you’ll need to apologize for on his behalf that week.

not that he would ever admit it out loud, but he likes the attention a little bit. enjoys being fussed over, since he spends most of his time isolated save for the members of his team. and it’s not like you’re very secretive about your judgment of him. it’s your job, for one, but there’s an undeniable and genuine worry in your eyes every time he says something he shouldn’t. he thinks it’s fine that he indulges in your presence just a bit, especially since people have found him intimidating his whole life. it’s nice to talk to someone who isn’t afraid to stand up to him once in a while.

you sigh quietly. “yes, you’ll have to dance. why?” you open the door wider for him, a gesture he’s familiar with equating to come in. “you’re not planning on bailing ‘cause of that, are you?”

he watches as you retreat further into your house, probably to fix your hair one last time before you head out early. you always arrive to these sorts of events earlier than he does, and always in a separate car. you were insistent that he arrive either alone or with his own date, since it would reduce the risk of scandals questioning your seemingly close relationship with each other.

close is not the word either you nor ushijima would use to describe your feelings toward one another. sure, you were the one helping to manage his schedule even though the job description did not at all entail that, and you’re the one keeping him in line with the media. he even has you over sometimes for dinner after an especially long day. but no, you’re not close. work acquaintances at best.

“no, i’m not bailing,” he tells you as he trails behind, following you to the mirror in the hallway - the one hung up above a high table littered with trinkets from past events and some photos of you and your friends and family. you look at him with a quizzical expression through the mirror.

“then?”

he stands rigidly behind you. the thought that it feels strangely domestic with you getting ready in front of him like this crosses his mind, and makes him grossly warm and fuzzy inside.

“i don’t know how to dance.”

you pause in your ministrations, hair that you meant to pin up falling back over your eyes as you stare at him with bewilderment. “you what?”

“i don’t know how to dance,” he repeats, though you heard him perfectly fine the first time.

“you... don’t know how to... dance...” you sound out the sentence slowly, hoping that you possibly misheard him. to your horror, he only nods in confirmation.

in your one year, three months and twenty-two days of working with ushijima, how could it have never once dawned on you that this 6 foot monster of a volleyball player doesn’t know how to do something as elegant as a waltz?

it’d never been a problem before. most events don’t include anything of the sort, and all the events you do attend with ushijima are to give out awards or give esteemed recognition to MVPs. but for a christmas gala, there will definitely be booze and partying and absolutely dancing involved.

for a second, he thinks you’ll keel over and place your head into your hands on the table like you usually do in these situations, or that you’ll start muttering curse words to yourself, or maybe you’ll scold him some more for never learning. but much to his (pleasant) surprise, you just laugh. and laugh. and keep laughing, until there are tears in your eyes. his poor heart can’t take it.

“what?” he asks, almost sounding offended. but his expression is still stone cold as you look back up at him, turning to face him this time. his breath hitches when the action causes a whiff of your expensive body spray to waft in his direction.

“i just wasn’t expecting you to say that,” you muse. he knows what you really mean is that you’re surprised he isn’t here causing trouble for you before this event like he always does, complaining like a child that he doesn’t see the point of attending. “why didn’t you just say so? it’s easy. i’ll show you.”

he stares at you momentarily while you stand there, hand outstretched as an offer to take it. he half expects you to yank it back and laugh in his face, more cruelly this time, but you just smile at him with the slightest tilt of your head. you sound so genuine that any hesitation left in his body melts away, and he awkwardly accepts your hand and waits for your guidance.

he’s stiff as a board as you pull his hands where they need to go, one resting on your hip and the other hanging in the air for you to take. “i’ll teach you how to lead first, okay?” he can only nod in response. you step forward once with your left, urging him to step back with your timing. then you’re shuffling over, gliding along the floor with ushijima trying his damndest to follow along, and then your feet meet again in a different spot.

he grunts quietly in concentration, watching your movements carefully and clumsily trying to catch up. it’s a simple enough motion, but he’s too big and it feels clunky to do this for the first time. you seem deeply amused by his confusion, and he glares at you quickly before his eyes are back on the floor.

“now you try. we can go slow,” your voice is soft. encouraging. so unlike your usual stern demeanor with him. “step forward.”

ushijima does so obediently, sliding his left forward to the best of his memory.

“good. now your right goes to the side and the left follows.”

he listens to you again, but his gait is much larger than you anticipated, and your back hits the table behind you with a gentle thud. he mutters something along the lines of an apology, but he seems too focused to realize the compromising position he’s put you in. you smile at him anyways, rotating around 90 degrees to give you more space to move.

“now again in the opposite direction.”

“this is too complicated.”

“this is the easiest motion...”

“i don’t like it.”

“you gonna keep complaining or are you going to dance with me?”

he stops in his tracks, boring into you with intensity in his eyes. you watch his adam’s apple bob up and down as he swallows. “...what’s wrong?”

ushijima just shakes his head, and then his feet are moving again as he tugs you along clumsily. “nothing. but maybe you should be my dance partner for the rest of tonight.” you raise a brow at him in question, even though you can feel the heat rising in your face and all the way to the tips of your ears. he clears his throat, looking away. “wouldn’t want any bad press about my terrible dancing,” he quickly adds.

this gets a laugh out of you. “as your PR manager, i don’t think that’s the kind of negative press i’m supposed to be getting you out of.”

“and as a friend?”

another laugh, a little breathless. “yeah, yeah. fine. as your friend i’ll make sure no one knows how awful you are at this.”

he blinks down at you, unsure if he’s ever seen you so relaxed before. you’re always so high-strung about work and keeping his name clear. there’s a softness gracing your face right now and he doesn’t know how to handle himself or his racing heart.

okay, yeah. maybe he can try and be a little nicer to his fans to see you like this more often.

EXTRA:

#— whispers in the wind ✧#um yea idk what this is #but hope you enjoyed #haikyuu #haikyuu x you #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x y/n #ushijima wakatoshi #ushijima wakatoshi x reader #ushijima wakatoshi x y/n #ushijima wakatoshi x you #haikyu x reader #haikyuu fluff

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asksythe · 1 year

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Hi! I was looking into some stuff and came across a post talking about WWX’s arrogance. It was about WWX’s character and how the fandom insists that his arrogance was one of his main flaws when that’s not true and so on. Then I saw some people saying that arrogance is not inherently bad in Chinese novels and that I might have to do with the way the novel was translated.

I was just wondering if you had some insight on this. Thanks!

On some level, it can be considered a translation issue. But the real reason why WWX's characters, as well as countless other details in MDZS specifically (and Chinese novels broadly speaking), tend to be misunderstood on such a massive scale is... cross-cultural value mismatch.

Consider this:

1/ There is a tendency in the international fanbase to judge WWX (and other characters) on a modern Western moral standard. I don't have to tell you how illogical this is. Imagine if you come into the world of Game of Thrones and start spouting 21st-century judgment. You are likely to become human shishkebabs in less than five minutes. Most people who watch Game of Thrones or read the book understand that's not something you do unless you are a moron or looking to start shit. But for some reason, this is not the case for the MDZS fandom (and many other Chinese media fandoms out there). I'm not sure why this is the case. It might be because of the cultural distance making people not really realize they are coming into an entirely different world, and then they forget to check their modern expectations at the door. Like how tourists become obnoxious when they come to a foreign country, expecting the foreign country to cater to their whims.

I've once seen someone made an addition on TV Tropes saying WWX is a mass murderer that never got punished for his crime. I... I don't know what to say to that really. My expectation is that the person who wrote that is someone under 30, never left America, and never served in the military. For somebody who has never had this kind of experience, no amount of words will explain to them that for major parts of the world and for the vast majority of mankind's history, you have to be able to kill to survive. In fact, for most of our history, killers are our heroes. War is a reality that we live in. The ones who survive are the ones who win wars, the really accomplished killers.

2/ MDZS was not written for an international audience. That is to say, it's written with the expectation that it doesn't have to explain its intricacies and tropes to its intended readers. Because its readers already know. MDZS is xianxia danmei. Danmei has only had about 2 decades of modern history. But xianxia as a genre has stretched back millennia. Its tropes are very set. Chinese (and Sinosphere) readers don't need an explanation because we grow up consuming this kind of stories.

We don't need to be told in plain words to know WWX's only crime is to be possession of the Yin Tiger Tally, and the Jin's scheme is the real reason behind his tragedy. Because it's such a standard trope in our culture that there are millennia-old proverbs about it.

匹夫无罪，怀璧其罪 - pǐ fū wú zuì，huái bì qí zuì. Lit. The commoner is innocent, but his possession of treasure is a sin.

We don't need to be told that it doesn't matter if WWX goes along with the cultivation world's ceaseless demands (keep Suibian with him, consult more with Jiang Cheng before he does things) to know that none of that matters. Because none of those are actual rules, just trivial bullshit made up and used to socially isolate WWX and manipulate the public opinion against him. WWX's true crime is that he is alone. He is an orphan. No one will stand up for him. And unlike his big mouth, he's a real softie. Because if he wasn't then all of them would be dead ten times over with the kind of martial power WWX possess. Only WWX's good heart holds him back from really using his ability. Therefore, you can spit on him, you can cut him, you can trample on him without fearing retaliations.

Nie Mingjue has no sword. Ain't nobody try to lip him about it. Yu Furen has no sword. She uses a whip. Ain't nobody lip her about it.

WWX's undead cultivation is also not really the problem. That kind of cultivation is vanilla as girl scout's cookies. It's only made out that way because it's a method of cultivation that is very easy to learn and does not require enormous resources (i.e. caste issue, not class, caste) to cultivate. Which means it's a method that can be practiced far and wide by poor commoners. Which means it's an infringement on the cultivator House's power and financial base. That's its real crime. Not all that justice bullshit.

For many international fans out there, MDZS is their introduction to danmei (and xianxia). So they come in not knowing these things. They don't see the caste issues, the tragedy, the difference of philosophies and choices between WWX and JC. Their conclusion is built on ignorance and misunderstanding.

It doesn't help that most know little to nothing about Chinese culture which is a high-context culture, the polar opposite of most Western cultures (low-context culture). Something that may seem small and insignificant for a Western reader base can be a really big deal for the Chinese reader base, because it's inbuilt in five thousand years of history and culture. Like why Jin Guangyao buried his mother's corpse in the Guanyin temple and why he needed to reclaim it and take it with him when he tried to flee to Japan.

So it's no surprise there is such a massive divide in fandom opinion.

#ask sythe #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wei wuxian

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