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13thdoctorposts · 6 months

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Sometimes it’s important to know when to let a show go.

When 13 regenerated into 14 and had her clothes burnt off like a witch on a stake, sending a horrible message about women and gender RTD came out and said he did it to protect David from right wing media. Then the fans defended David coming back and that RTD would address why he had that face and why the clothes also regenerated, although I was upset with 13s regeneration I thought ok I’ll wait and see how this get handles. Because even though I don’t like the real world messaging maybe the in world messaging will be enough to make it ok.

But then what happens? We get a trans story for the very first story with very positive messaging for trans issues which is great but undermined by the fact RTD wanted to protect David from gender critiques by the right wing but didn’t seem to want to protect Yasmin Finney. So first David can’t wear Jodies costume for protection but then RTD has Yasmin live through being deadnamed in the show which she herself has said made her uncomfortable and then also gave her character the line of telling the Doctor to not assume pronouns… which any of the characters could have done but RTD chose Rose and then what happen? What always happens with the right wing, the pronoun line and the male presenting line are the ones that the right wing all go on about in every video, in every article… they deadname the character and then misgender and say horrible things about Yasmin… so RTD protects the 50+ year old white man who’s worn way more feminine things then 13 outfit in his career the media could use if they wanted to go after him but don’t protect the 20 year old Trans Woman? How people aren’t talking about how fucked up that is I don’t know.

Then we get no reason why the Doctor has that face and why the clothes regenerated on them. Then in their own regeneration… they don’t! They bi-regenerates and this time Ncuti does get the Doctor clothes, well half of them… why didn’t 15 regenerate with their own clothes? No instead we have the new Doctor walking around with no pants on… and why is it that 15 has to go pantless and not David? are we protecting David again? Perfectly fine to have a bunch of pics of 15 in his tighty whities and no pants but again David could not be seen in 13s full gender neutral outfit.

Then to top all this off theres no mention in the loves lost of Yaz… even though the Doctor chose to drop her off in a park 3 days ago after telling her if they could Date anyone it would be Yaz… is that not love lost? Was saying good bye to Yaz not an emotional trigger? Now people are saying thats because only the dead were brought up… Rose is not dead unlike Yaz Rose is not only alive in another Dimension but also got herself a Doctor… Yaz currently is mourning the Doctor while they cant even seem to remember she existed despite dropping her off 3 days a go… so they weren’t all dead… however Rose was over 1000 years ago and Yaz 3 days ago… what hurts more the lost of someone you loved but who is still alive from 50 years ago or the one you lost last week? What makes logical sense is the love you lost most recently hurts the most… and people dont need to die for you to hurt losing them from your life if you love them.

Now we have 2 Doctors and people are already saying they can’t wait for David Tennant episodes, so if you think the 10th Doctor overshadowed the other Doctors when he was no longer the Doctor how overshadowed do you think the first main Doctor of colour is going to be when lots of peoples favourite white Doctor ever is also a legitimate Doctor in universe existing at the exact same time with a TARDIS? Ncuti doesn’t event get to be the only Doctor during his tenure he has to share it with David.

The lastly no mentions of Yaz at all… seems shes completely forgotten and at the very end the Doctor says they are finally with their family the happiest he’s ever been… what a diss of every TARDIS team ever that the Doctor has found family with… your last crew you literally called your ‘Fam’, the Ponds you actually married into… Susan was your flesh and blood… but no this family you haven’t seen in 1000 years, of which only one of who was part of your TARDIS team are the ones you finally found family with and make you the happiest you’ve ever be? Literally at the exact same time the Doctor is sitting at that table saying all of that, Yaz is mourning the Doctor and not wanting to have left the TARDIS, but she doesn’t get a mention because for some reason if it’s a wlw relationship it means nothing and can be ignored completely.

Honestly by the end the Doctor just seems like a complete prick, and not in a 13 I’m dealing with internal trauma and I accidentally snapped way but just in a I’m a shit person way. Talk about compromised morals, people wouldn’t shut up about it with 13 but the Doctor just left a young woman to mourn them while being the “happiest they have ever been” grabbing themselves a new family and pretending Yaz doesn’t exist. Talk about shit morals. People say Chibs didn’t know anything from 12s era, which wasn’t true it directly affected the way 13 kept the fam at arms length but after watching this clearly RTD didn’t even know what happened in the episode 14 regenerated from 13 in and the previous episode Legend of the Sea Devils, because surely if you did, you wouldn’t not mention Yaz at all and give a reason why the Doctor wouldn’t go see her while she’s mourning them and just grabbing a new family and claiming to be the happiest you’ve ever been in the 2000 years of life you remember. Because that would make the character look like a prick, not a hero, which is exactly what happened. If RTD is the amazing writer people claim, he could have come up with a Yaz mention and a reason why the Doctor wasn’t going to see her.

I know not everyone was happy with the wlw representation with Thasmin but you know what’s way worse? Not even mentioning it or even acknowledging Yaz’s existence.

And to top it off I am so very very over the double standard of the fandom… this episode, had plot holes, had important things that weren’t explained… like why that face and why did the clothes regenerate… things that weren’t explained that weren’t so important like where did the sonic screw driver come from, why can it do all the things it now does… it had racism from both the Toymaker and Donna… what on earth was that line about ‘do you come in every colour’, was paced poorly, it clearly should have been longer and decided to mess with lore by creating bi-rengeration out of thin air and not explaining how it would effect things going forward or why it even happen, like a true WTF… if Chibs had done even one of these things, or wrote this episode the exact same way the fandom would be coming for him instead they are praising the genius of RTD not caring about any of those things, all the sins they claimed Chibs did and some of them on a bigger scale in this episode but the treatment of RTD is the polar opposite.

It’s unbelievably hypocritical, and makes the fandom look even worse for being so hard on the first female Doctor because none of this was acceptable for her but its not only fine but great with a male Doctor.

So I think it’s time for me to let this show go, and know it’s time to bow out. Because unlike the people who have been horrible about 13 for the last 6 years I understand sometimes you have to step away from something you love when its no longer for you and leave it for other people to love.

Im out with 13.

#13th doctor #thirteenth doctor #thirteen #13 #yasmin khan #thasmin #yaz #yaz khan #13 era #dw

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writers-potion · 7 days

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hello! im so sorry if this sounds weird, but you're literally the only person who gives actually useful writing advice, so idk who else to ask.

but basically im writing a side romance arc in my novel where the girl is taller than the guy. usually we see the vice versa happening, but im really fixated upon writing them, and i wonder if you could give me any good tips on how to make this dynamic work.

once again, sorry if this sounds weird. keep up the good work!

Writing Tall Girl x Shorter Guy Dynamics

Hey thanks for the question!

How Others See Them

Writing a tall girl x shorter guy couple would work best if the two of them could joke about it regardless of how others see them!

Give them jokes that only they can make -

When others ask uncomfortable questions, show them defending and taking care of each other fiercly.

Tom x Zendeya?? I mean they're sooooo cute

On the other hand, you can try writing conflict that circles around the fact that the girl is taller:

Other girls (guys) gossiping about how they'd never date someone shorter (taller) than them.

Mindless comments about how they would be "cuter" if the girl was shorter, etc.

It's hard to imagine this happening outright (it happens subtly more or less) in the modern sense (unless you have a mean character), but can work in slightly older period settings when steroetypes were stronger than they are now.

Personally, I think it would be funny to have scenes where the two of them don't care at all while another character tries to comment on their height, only to leave slightly embarrassed.

How They See Themselves

Given that the average guy is taller than the average girl, it's likely that (1) your female character is taller than average and/or (2) your male character is shorter than average.

In such cases, they might be insecure about their height and therefore feel unsure about the relationship for the reason, especially in the beginning. You can choose to show this especially if:

The two characters are teenagers, when people are sensitive about their looks/peer pressure

They have a job/hobby where they constantly encounter the traditional "ideal man/woman" (e.g. the girl works at a drama studio where all the shippable couples in it have petite girls/ the guy's hobby is basketball and his buddies would tease him, etc.)

This allows you to then write healing relationship arcs like:

The girl making the guy realize that his his heighten doesn't undermine his masculinity.

The guy making the girl feel "protected and safe" - I feel like this is the top quoted reason for girls preferring taller guys - despite the height difference.

The girl/guy initially believing that they need to find someone who is taller/shorter than them but realizing that height isn't important when you've met the right one.

Since romance is about how two people come to know more about themselves and grow together into more mature. stable people, try playing with how having a height that stands out affects the characters' psyche and how this relationship makes them care less and be more comfortable in their own skin.

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genderkoolaid · 1 year

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It’s weird because I love my non-binary and genderfucked siblings, I have two friends who have “weird” “cringe” genders and I love them and I think they do gender so well. But I’m scared that by “demolishing” the gender binary, I won’t get to be a binary man anymore. What does that mean? I want people to see me on the street and think “he/him”, I want people to think of me as heterosexual when I show affection to my girlfriend. I want to be a binary man, and I don’t know how to do that in non-binary world

Playing with gender and fucking with it is good and I fully support people doing that. But I do not want to be seen as anything other than Pure 100% man, I have been constantly called “they” as a way to undermine my masculinity and refusal to gender me properly by people who know my pronouns. I don’t want to be seen as anything other than a Man. I want to be associated fully with masculinity, I don’t want to seen as a lesbian, I don’t want to be seen as anything other than a heterosexual man. Not even that I don’t want to be seen as a lesbian, I don’t want to be associated with lesbians. I’m a trans man, I’m a MAN and my attraction to women is heterosexual, and I cannot accept ideas that tell me otherwise because that would cause me to misgender myself, and I’m tired of being seen like that When I say I’m a man I don’t mean “butch boy girl lesbian” etc etc, if someone wants to be that and fuck up everything, I appreciate it, but I feel uncomfortable with them saying they’re a trans man because when I say I’m a trans man I mean a MAN as in binary man

I think its very good that you started this by acknowledging that this is a product of fear and anxiety. Its important to understand that that is where this is coming from.

You are insecure about your manhood. That is not an insult. Its entirely understandable to feel that way, especially as a trans man. There was a post a little while ago where I talked about how trans men can fall into toxic masculinity, not because its a product of being a man, but because trans men more than cis men (solely in terms of gender) have their manhood scrutinized and devalued. Manhood is a rat race & trans men are fucked over from the start, so we have to try 10x harder to be seen as Proper Men. That leads to a constant pressure to perform "proper" masculinity to the fullest extent possible to try and avoid having your manhood discredited, which can be not only emotionally damaging but legitimately dangerous.

But you need to understand, and I say this with love: this is a you problem. It is not other people's responsibility to change how they identify to soothe your insecurity about your manhood. Other people's identity, in fact, means nothing about your own. Someone else using a label you use to represent a different experience does not mean you must also share that experience, or that you cannot use that label to describe your own.

You are, understandably, fearful that your manhood (which is already constantly being scrutinized and attacked), will be further devalued if "trans man" can also mean "lesbian". You share a community and a label with those men and as a result, their genderweirdness feels dangerous. They feel like a threat to your being. This is not dissimilar to how cishet men react to visibly queer men in their communities and families: "how will people think of me, as a man, if they associate me with a man like that? I need to stop him from being a man or make him be a man right in order to protect my own manhood." This is how the patriarchy functions; make every man constantly compete with each other, under the threat of violence if they fail. Its not your fault you feel this way- you are made to feel this way on purpose because of the patriachal panopticon that makes us self-regulate- but it is your responsibility to work on yourself and resist the urge to view other men as a threat to your manhood.

"Bi lesbians" existing does not mean that people will/should assume every lesbian is bisexual, and for men to use bi lesbians as an excuse to harass lesbians is lesbophobic but not the fault of bi lesbians. In the same way, "lesbian trans men" existing does not mean that people will/should assume every trans man is a lesbian, and people using lesbian trans men (or nonbinary people for that matter) as an excuse to misgender straight trans men is transphobic but not the fault of lesbian men. In both cases, lesbians who have felt pressured to be attracted to men and trans men who have felt pressured to be lesbians see this new fusion identity as a threat to their own as a traumatic response. That fear is valid, but we need to understand that its our own fear. Its not their fault that bigots tried to pressure you to be a certain way, and their identity does not mean that those bigots were justified in any way. Other queer people are not the enemy.

If you care about your genderweird friends- and I don't doubt that you do- its important that you recognize where this fear is coming from and take steps to confront & cope with it. I don't like when people use "fragile masculinity" as an insult; fragile masculinity is part of what keeps the patriarchy running, and men with fragile masculinity need the compassion that the patriarchy will not give them. So please know that when I say you are insecure about your masculinity, I'm not saying you are doing a Bad Thing. You have been made to have a fragile masculinity as a way of controlling you, and now you need to work on healing that in order to have productive and healthy relationships with other queer people (and people in general). You can't support other queer people while also viewing them as a threat to your own manhood, even unconsciously. It requires a process of strengthening your identity as a man and not letting anyone or anything make you feel like it can be taken away because you (or someone you are associated with) Did Manhood Wrong.

You might want to check out @gay-otlc. He's a straight trans man who's talked about the issues straight trans men face, while also being supportive of lesbian trans men, and his blog might help you out with dealing with these issues. In general when it comes to identity issues, I think its very important to see and interact with other people of your identity, especially those who are confident and able to confront/cope with bigotry in healthier ways. I wish you the best, anon.

#m.#ask box

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batsarebetterthanpeople · 1 year

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Not to keep harping on this but I accidentally saw a post that pissed me off a little bit so I'm gonna talk about it. Originally I was gonna put this at the end of the post but I've decided to move it to the top because I know some people are determined to take me out of context so I'll sacrifice the formatting of this post and some of the impact of this sentence in a vain hope that my point will not be misconstrued. I fully anticipate people skipping over this first paragraph anyway but at least I did my due diligence. You can like Izzy, I like Lestat (AMC IWTV), I like the Joker, It's fine to have an evil blorbo. It's the apologia that gets me tho. You're fake villain fuckers and you can't admit that your blorbo is fucked up in some deeply uncomfortable ways.

That said on to my angry meta: Either Izzy is homophobic, or he's an abuser. He could be both, but he can't be neither otherwise the literal climax of the first season doesn't make any fucking sense. Like he calls in a swat on Stede and the crew because Stede has, quote, "done something to his boss's brain" and he wants Stede dead because of it. homosexuality as a corrupting influence is textbook homophobia. He thinks Stede has made Ed soft and he thinks he's using his limp wristed wiles to do it.

If you don't want to read it as homophobia (which would be a weird reading because it fails to explain that line and misses the whole message about toxic masculinity, but I've heard it's the reading that some people go with so, let's look at it) and you think that he's doing all of this because he's in love with Ed and he's jealous, I hate to tell you but that brings us back around to the abuser reading.

Like, the reading that this subset of the fandom seems to want me to believe is Izzy is in tragic gay love with Ed. But that doesn't make a single damn thing that he did ok. In fact it kind of makes it worse. Like trying to kill the loved ones of your beloved is text book abuser behavior. You're telling me that Izzy feels so entitled to Ed that he cannot take "Fuck off you're banished from the ship" For an answer, and he has to kill the guy that he blames for turning Ed against him? And I'm supposed to sympathize with that? Get real. That's text book abuser behavior. If that's the reading, then Izzy can't handle Ed having someone in his life that isn't Izzy, he can't handle Ed making decisions that Izzy doesn't approve of, and he can't handle Ed breaking off their relationship (which was Izzy's fault by the way he agreed to duel Stede sorry you can't handle the consequences honey). Those first two things you have to be able to handle if you want to have friends or even professional relationships, and the third thing is something that you're allowed to be upset about but that you're gonna have to move on from. Instead Izzy comes up with a hair brained scheme that risks the crews lives, Calico Jack's life, and, most importantly, risks Ed's life in order to... what? Undermine Ed's own autonomous choice to pursue a relationship with Stede? Get rid of a guy that he thinks is driving him and Ed apart so that Ed will maybe take him back? That's abuser shit my guy.

If there's another explanation for Izzy calling the fucking cops I'd love to hear it but as far as I can tell the options are "He hates Stede because Stede is frilly and camp and thinks Stede is making Ed weak" aka Textbook hate crime and "He's in deeply dysfunctional love and is therefore trying to force Ed to be in a relationship with him despite the fact that Ed has made it clear he doesn't want that" aka Textbook abuser.

To be clear I wouldn't have Izzy any other way. The roll he plays in the narrative is important to the story. I don't like him, per se, but I like stories about overcoming toxic masculinity, and those stories have to have a villain, and I was deeply emotionally ruined by the consequences of his actions, (i.e. the domino effect that caused Stede to abandon Ed on the dock) so I want him around for as long as they decide to keep him around. Just, like, fucking pretending he's never done anything wrong ever? Come on now.

#izzy critical #ofmd meta

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animeomelette · 1 year

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On the subject of Koyomi and Suruga's relationship

Suruga and Koyomi are not romantically or sexually attracted to one another — In Suruga's case it's fairly unambiguously because she's gay; in Koyomi's case there doesn't need to be a specific reason but we can fairly assume it's because the thought of being romantically or sexually involved with his girlfriend's ex-girlfriend makes him uncomfortable for relatively straightforward social reasons

But a lot of people get thrown off by the fact that Suruga apparently flirts a lot with Koyomi, thinking this must mean that she's actually attracted to him — This isn't what's happening and there's a few angles to analyse it from

The first, and most straightforward, is that Suruga is flirting with him as a joke — You may wonder what's so funny about this ("is the joke that lesbians are secretly attracted to men? what's so funny about that?" a certain subset of people will surely cry out) but this isn't a joke for the sake of the audience — Koyomi and Suruga are friends and Suruga finds it funny to get a rise out of him by acting provocatively, and is comfortable enough in her own sexuality and her relationship with Koyomi to know that it will never actually lead anywhere

Her relationship with Hitagi is also important here — She wouldn't sincerely make a move on Hitagi's boyfriend because she wouldn't want to betray the trust of the woman who's still so dear to her — This also ties into her apparent attempts to seduce Koyomi in the "Suruga Monkey" arc of Bakemonogatari, before her rapport with Koyomi was well established — While her jealousy towards Hitagi's new partner is the most prominent factor in her actions in that arc, the degree to which she still sincerely cares about Hitagi cannot be understated — It's pretty likely that she'd be concerned that mysterious truant and possible delinquent Araragi Koyomi would take advantage of a girl who's been very ill for several years at that point only cheat on her at the first opportunity — In this regard it's also possible to analyse continued instances of her flirting with him as her reassuring herself that Hitagi is dating a good guy, that she doesn't need to worry that he's going to frivilously break Hitagi's heart (or that Hitagi will wind up getting arrested for assaulting any potential mistresses)

There's also the factor that Koyomi simply is not a reliable narrator — A significant proportion of what he describes strongly resembles intrusive thoughts — It's fair to assume that Koyomi might have primarily-obsessive obsessive-compulsive disorder, given how many scenes have him acting wildly inappropriately one moment only to resume their prior course a moment later as if nothing happened — So when Koyomi describes Suruga acting provocatively and flirting constantly with him, it's really worth taking that with a grain of salt — Some of it is probably her joking around, but a lot of what we're seeing is more likely a representation of Koyomi's anxiety that the strong platonic bond he's forging with his girlfriend's ex-girlfriend might undermine his romantic bond with Hitagi

It's also worth noting that we don't see the same sort of provocative flirting from Suruga when she narrates in Hanamonogatari, which has an added layer of significance given she's by far the most reliable narrator the series has (at least as far as Zokuowarimonogatari) — That can in part be attributed to the fact that Koyomi only appears in a couple of scenes in that novel, and the fact that Hanamonogatari is the last arc chronologically in the first-three seasons of the Monogatari series — But there's also a broader theme of the entire second season of Monogatari coming across there, that the person you think you know and the person they are inside are not the same — The Suruga we hear from in Hanamonogatari barely resembles the Suruga we see from Koyomi or Tsubasa's perspectives — Sure, she still has a manic episode in the later parts of the arc, but where others see her as a constant whirlwind of energy, underneath she has a far more depressive side that dominates her own narration

And that brings me to the final point, that Koyomi and Suruga's relationship works as well as it does because it represents a platonic bond between a man and a woman that you don't necessarily see all that often in fiction — And that bond is treated as being just as valuable and important as any other bond between any other character's in the series — And while it may be easy to be led astray from that fact by some of how their relationship is depicted in the series, really what we see is that it's a bond that can withstand social pressures and expectations surrounding gender and relationships

Of course, it could just be that Koyomi is a transfem egg who Suruga's gaydar is going off around — The door for Koyomi x Suruga yuri fanfiction is open for anyone who wants to disregard the rest of what I just said — Or you could make Hitagi transmasc and have it turn out that Koyomi is gay — Koyomi and Suruga could work well as a queerplatonic duo

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sandu-zidian · 2 months

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MDZS/CQL’s politics is so fascinating to me because power derives itself from the class hierarchy and related social etiquette. Someone (or a sect) holds and gathers power by performing a sense of respectability, either through inherent gentry status gained from birth, following social etiquette rules, and respecting hierarchical structures already set in place. It’s why rumors are so vital to maintaining power in the current status quo because rumors can help elevate or break down the illusion of a person’s respectability and therefore their access to power. It’s why WWX, for all his individual prowess, has no political power: the rumors make him out to be a social deviant and dangerous, and he has no other forms of social currency to make up for that. It’s why JGY’s access to power is always precarious: rumors constantly undermine his authority by reminding people that the visage of his respectability, cultivated through social etiquette and respecting hierarchy, is tainted by his birth status as a son of a prostitute (no matter his father being a sect leader). It’s how all the other gentry characters maintain their own authority and power: as long as they don’t step out of line of what is social acceptable behavior/attitudes, and they have the proper birth status, they are able to protect their hold on power, that both protects themselves and also the people under their care.

This means that the problem with the Wen remnants must be understood in this political landscape. The Wens are the remainder of Qishan Wen’s standing and power. To save them against the common held attitudes of blood feuds, would mean going against the status quo in a way very uncomfortable to the cultivation world that would like to see themselves as the heroes and therefore deserving of whatever spoils (land, treasures, political power) they got from the war. It would possibly mean giving some of that back to the “enemy”. And while to us, the easy answer is to help them, it’s not so simple. The Jin, the most powerful post-SSC, don’t want to help them. And to go against the Jin would mean going against the newly established political hierarchy and potentially undermining one’s own remaining amount of power. JC, LXC, LWJ, and so on, stay passive because to not respect the new hierarchy and refusing to play by the rules of gentry society would mean potentially losing the power they and their sect have left and therefore their ability to protect themselves (them being them as individuals, and their sect). WWX going against the status quo means that WWX forgoes all power he could possibly have had in the social hierarchy (which tbf, is not a whole lot anyways). The current political and social system incentivizes these characters to just stand by passively and punishes those who decide to act differently. It’s understandable, but still disappointing, when the gentry characters choose the choice society tells them they should choose.

I think this is why a lot of fix-it’s in this fandom just don’t click because it always fixated on the individual choices of characters rather than the system that makes these the decisions these characters will ultimately make. JC can’t be the only one to decide differently, and it’s not just choices that must change, but attitudes and beliefs about how the cultivation world’s politics should actually be allocated. This is why XXC and SL being viewed as silly and naive for trying to create a sect based on merit instead of clan is important. To view the cultivation world outside of a gentry system is radical in this world.

#mdzs #mdzs meta #I’m sure people have spoken of this before but I wanted to word vomit #yes this was written bc I’m sick of people only blaming JC for the seige of burial mounds #like criticize him but don’t forget everyone else!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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additiva · 5 days

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what does frechheit charles think about their age gap? 🤔🤔🤔

Hiii sorry took a while I was thinking. This is an interesting question, and one that's difficult to answer. It goes slightly off tangent.

Some of the things I'll explain arent exactly spoilers, but they give insight into Charles' behaviours in the current chapters, and it's insight that can be inferred from existing chapters, but Max does not have this insight.

Anyway it's under the cut ->

So I think the age gap mainly contributes to their different positions in life, rather than to their emotional interactions with each other. Max isn't more mature than Charles or anything like that (at least to begin with), so Charles wouldn't think about in that way.

However.

His youth is a tool to him, and it's an important part of his image, which is obviously his main weapon in like.. the world.

Initially, it's significant because Charles sees Max as this final obstacle to his goal, which informs his decisions to target Max in the first place.

Later, once they're together, Charles is in a more submissive role, but which is in part due to his age, but more because of how it contributes to his inexperience. And that's something he's uncomfortable with at first, but grows to enjoy, because of how Max handles it. And Max makes active efforts to level the playing field and try to relate to Charles by telling him about his own experience etc.

The most important thing about it for Charles now, is that he can't quite accept Max's advice or Max's opinion of his situation, because Max is older and has already achieved Charles' ultimate goal.

So to Charles, it's easy for Max to say that he should put his position in the team at risk, because Max is already a champion, and has nothing to lose from Charles doing that. It's not that he thinks Max is trying to undermine him, but he's balancing his priorities differently.

When Max was desperate for his first championship, he used every tool available to him, and drove like a terrorist against Lewis, then had a brief mental breakdown afterward when that failed.

Charles, similarly, is using every tool available to him. He needed the team to take him on, and support him a hundred percent, to reach his goal. He doesn't see what he's doing as being any different to what Max did. They're both accepting increased risks, for the chance at winning a championship. Charles considers that the necessary attitude of a champion: to do whatever it takes, and make whatever sacrifice is necessary.

Though, obviously, he's not willing to let those sacrifices fall on other people (Ollie).

The point of that is that Seb and Max obviously don't consider the risks Charles is taking to be acceptable sacrifices. But Charles puts no value in that opinion, because they're both ALREADY champions, so he thinks they've both forgotten what it's like to be so hungry for that thing you've worked your entire life for. He thinks anyone who truly wants to be a champion would make any sacrifice, and accept any risk, even death (given the history of Jules + general risk of F1).

Again, I hope that rambling makes sense hehe.

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pissfizz · 4 months

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I haven’t said a list about the “removing sokkas sexism” thing yet but I wanna explain my thoughts on it. Does removing this aspect of his character ruin the whole show? No. Does it destroy his entire character? Also no. In most cases, it would be fine to remove this and still have a perfectly good, respectful adaptation. Things don’t have to follow the source material exactly to be a good adaptation, see the Scott pilgrim anime for example. However, this is not the Scott pilgrim anime. There are two glaring issues I see with doing this, plus one minor one. Let’s start with the minor one.

While I see how it’s problematic due to the representation involved, a lot of katara’s arc revolves around the sexism in the water tribes, and that includes within her brother. Both of these siblings have a lot of their initial arcs undermined by this change. However, you say, they could just be planning something new! This is true, and this is fine. Not to my personal preference, for a plethora of reasons, but I can see how it’d still be done well.

Let’s move on to the bigger issues.

Issue one. Removing sokkas sexism from season one because it’s “iffy” is a red flag. From the sounds of things, it sounds like the show runners fail to understand that how Sokka acted wasn’t a product of the times, and was actually a lesson for the target demographic of young boys that “hey, acting like this is bad. Don’t act like this.” They seemed to pass by on the fact that he is like that for a reason, and that his arc of bettering himself is important. When combined with the fact that the original creators left the project due to “creative differences”, this red flag is even louder, brighter, and practically dripping with blood. If you fail to understand a character being sexist and then bettering himself, what else do you fail to understand? It’s a fairly simple arc and it isn’t metaphorical in the slightest, which makes it hard to believe they didn’t understand it. Sokka is more than his season one arc, but the arc is still important, and if they’re willing to take it away, which also undermines a lot of kataras arc and probably takes hers away too (presuming they take away the N Water Tribe’s sexism as well), what ELSE are they willing to change or take away?

This leads to issue number two. “Mari,” you say “they probably aren’t that stupid to misunderstand such an on the nose arc like that, don’t you think you’re a little presumptuous?” To that I say, you’re probably right, although I wouldn’t be surprised. The alternative, and more likely reasoning, actually is something else. Capitalism. Art can no longer be art, instead it has to marketable and perfectly polished. Three thought processes probably happened here: 1) Your protagonists can’t be bad people, that would be endorsing their behaviors! 2) By making a character sexist, even in an arc where he realizes he’s wrong, some people might be uncomfortable or dislike him, costing Netflix money (or potential money) and 3) showing an arc about a man becoming a feminist could make some of the audience uncomfortable or upset, costing them money. Now, as you can see these are all stupid. Number one is technically more of a fan point of view that hollywood abides by and worsens. Which these three points leads to the same question from the early issue: if they’re willing to cut this stuff to stay profitable, what do lose of the original story are they going to change and/or make way more obvious and simplistic.

I can’t say for sure, but I have zero faith the show will be good due to these reasons.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #discourse

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natsmagi · 11 months

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The growth of their relationship is so good (and sadly a lot is gated in !) but whenever I see someone who loves one and hates the other I wonder...how? They've both played a part in each other's progress (and let's not forget how explicit the story's been about Eichi and Natsume's colour being the same and where Natsume could have ended up without Switch)

i guess some people just see the very surface level way they treat each other aswell as how the fandom has basically reduced them either to "natsume punches and berates tsumugi" or "tsumugi is a master manipulator that started the war and doesnt deserve natsumes forgiveness" or some shit like that 😭😭

i do definitely understand ntmg not being everyones cup of tea though. their dynamic is a very strong and overbearing one and some people dont really wanna deal with their baggage im sure AKJSHFKJH

IT DOES MAKE ME VERY SAD THOUGH WHEN PPL COMPLETELY UNDERMINE THE IMPORTANCE THEYVE PLAYED IN EACH OTHERS LIVES........ from when they were kids and finally felt seen in one another because they had the same goals in life where they both just wanted to be a shining star that makes people happy to make their moms proud, to tsumugi learning how to "feel pain and everything else" due to the impact natsume had on him. the two of them are far from perfect but because the two are also vastly different in nature it makes it easier for them to spot their flaws and better themselves. and again, they do at the end of the day have the same goal. conflict isnt a bad thing; when tackled correctly it can help you truly flourish and better yourself. and i really love the way ntmgs story tackles these things. i enjoy the nuance in their relationship and i enjoy how at the end of the day they truly do just want whats best for the other because they mean so much to them. but im well aware conflict also makes many people uncomfortable so oh well what can u do

#not my problem if ppl dislike ntmg! i frankly am sitting over here thriving! yall stay safe tho!#ask

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hussyknee · 2 months

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Queer historical romance among the ton but make the rage of oppression and injustice howling across the centuries.

Sir Gareth tries to convince himself that his father's mysterious profits could not have come from smuggling and attempts to tell his erstwhile lover Joss Doomsday, grandson of a escaped American slave and the Crown Prince of Romney Marsh's Smugglers, why trading with the French during the Napoleonic war is Wrong™.

“Yes, but—Look, it can’t be that. He was in his fifties, a gentleman, a baronet. He can’t have been a smuggler.”

“Course not.”

“He can’t! He wasn’t making trips to France.”

“Not on his own legs, maybe,” Joss said. “Do you know how the trade works?”

“I have no idea.”

“Sometimes it’s barter—we bring over wool to France and exchange it direct-like. Sometimes an innkeeper needs his cellar filled, or a London merchant wants to stock his shop with French gloves, or pepper, or fine soap, so they place the order with us. And sometimes it’s speculation. Which is to say, a rich man invests his money with a free trader, who buys and sells as he thinks fit. A while later our gentleman gets his money back and more, and never gets his hands dirty touching the goods.”

That last was so exactly what Gareth had feared that he couldn’t face it, couldn’t hear it. The sheer, shameless crime of it all. “You are aware we’re at war with France?” he said furiously. “I mean, you do know you’re trading with the enemy?”

“Free trading’s what we do. I’m not one for politics.”

“Politics? This is more than politics. It’s more than crime, even. The Continent is supposed to be blockaded, and you’re helping the enemy by buying their goods! It’s all but treason, and you don’t appear to give a damn!”

“Hold on there,” Joss said. “Yes, there’s a blockade. The government set it up, and everyone who lives by the wool trade found themselves sitting on a lot of fleeces they couldn’t sell while the French spinners and weavers had empty looms. We’ve got a dunnamany sheep here and not a lot else, you’ll have noticed. How are people meant to live if you cut off their living?”

“It’s a war! People have to make sacrifices.”

“That right? What sacrifices have you made? The lordships and gentlemen in London, are they running short of food? You think the King’s husbanding his coals? Why’s all the sacrifice on us?”

“That’s entirely specious.”

“Talk English,” Joss suggested sardonically.

Gareth discovered he couldn’t instantly define specious. “The argument doesn’t hold up. If the nation is at war, trading with the enemy undermines us all. And it’s all very well to talk about livelihoods, but whose livelihoods are supported when you import brandy and tobacco and silk? How are those things necessary?”

“They are for the French who make them,” Joss said. “People over there are trying to feed their families, just like people over here. And as for whether they’re needful here, well, you tell me.”

“Me?”

“You’re gentry, and it’s the gentry who wants those things, need or not. I sell to London clubs and London drapers and who do you think they sell to? The men who make the laws and set the taxes still want their brandy and tobacco, the silks and lace for their ladies, and they buy it knowing where it came from.”

“Well…they shouldn’t,” Gareth said, uncomfortably aware of the lavender soap at home. “And you’re still ignoring the fact that we’re at war!”

“I don’t care.”

He sounded like he meant it. Gareth stared at him. “What? How can you not?”

“Lords and kings and emperors fighting about crowns? They aren’t my people. George means no more to me than Boney. German or Frenchman on the throne, who cares? We had a dunnamany French kings before.”

“When did we—You can’t be talking about the Norman Conquest,” Gareth protested.

“Got invaded by the French and the world didn’t end. What’s it to me which rich man runs the country? What difference does it make to Romney Marsh who wears the crown? Or no, I’ll tell you what difference: there’s no laws against sharing your bed with another fellow in France now. If you gave me a vote, I’d vote for that.”

So would Gareth. He struck out for safer waters. “This is all very well, but we’re talking about being defeated and invaded! Have you not considered what an enemy army entering this country might mean?”

Joss laughed, but not in a way that suggested humour. “Couldn’t miss it, with Martello towers up and down the coast. The invasion will come through here just like last time. That’s why they built the Royal Military Canal, to slow down Boney’s men.”

Gareth knew the Canal, an ugly, wide, straight gash that ran all the way from north of Rye and across the top of the Romney Marsh, just before the land began to rise. “Yes, so—”

“So when these terrible Frog monsters come over here breathing fire and seeking blood, they’ll be kept on the Marsh for as long as possible,” Joss said. “That’s what they built the Canal for: so the Marsh takes the brunt of an invasion. Am I supposed to be pleased about that?”

“Well, no, but… You must see they’ve got to defend the country.”

“Oh, they’re going to. You know the other plan? They’re going to breach the Wall.”

“To what?” Gareth felt a spasm of shock. He might be outmarsh, but he knew the Wall was sacred.

“When the French ships land, the soldiers are to set charges, blow up the Wall, and drown the Marsh.” Joss’s voice was harsh now, almost frightening. “Our land, our home, all gone just to slow the French down for a day or two. Oh, but there’s a plan to get the sheep off. Lot of important men own fine sheep here, so they aim to drive them out first. Got to save the sheep.” He spat that out.

Gareth stared at him. “Um. I don’t… Why is it so bad they want to save the sheep?” Joss didn’t say anything. He just waited. Gareth looked at his face, turned over his words. “There’s a plan to get the people out as well, yes?”

“Course not. The old, the crippled, the children, everyone with their worldly goods on their backs, we’ll all have to fend for ourselves when our own soldiers flood the Marsh, but sheep are valuable. Look, nobody gives a damn for the Marsh except Marshmen. The government and the King don’t care if we starve. They put on the blockade but charge their rents and taxes same as ever, and they’ll let the sea or the French take us if that preserves their skins for another day. So we look after ourselves. And that means trading, and selling wool—some of it wool off the sheep that are going to be saved when old women and children will be left behind, acause if you think those landowners have given up their income for the sake of the war, you’re joking. They want their wool sold, just like the Quality in London want to wear silk and drink brandy, and the merchants want their shelves stocked. We run goods for them, and when they catch us doing it, they hang us for the look of the thing.”

Gareth had no idea what to say. He wasn’t a political philosopher. He had a vague sort of idea that country, king, and law were the foundations on which the nation was built, while nevertheless acknowledging that he had no intention of taking up arms for the country, the king was a mad German, and he’d spent much of his adult life happily breaking the law. Still, they were principles, even if they weren’t his principles. He’d thought this would be an easy fight to pick.

He’d met plenty of radicals in London—men who wanted wealth redistributed, laws changed, the government made representative. Joss Doomsday, fervent patriot of a hundred square miles of marshland, was perhaps the most radical man he’d ever met.

#there's some form of anarchism and anti monarchy rebellion and Britain's racial history in every single book 😭😭😭#british authors are just better in every way than usamerican ones #they tend to be actually left rather than the white liberal hell of the colonies #i'm so fucking sorry that the most famous modern british author happens to be that bitch #usamericans by and large have no class solidarity. even the ones of colour #and they definitely can't integrate it into racial justice #take your 'escapism' and shove it up your ass #kj charles #doomsday books #the secret life of country gentlemen #book recs #book recommendations #queer fiction #queer historical fiction #queer historical romance #british history #knee of huss

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saintsenara · 1 year

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nor all that glisters gold sirius black & bellatrix lestrange teen | 8.8k words

an understanding dawns between them. despite their age gap, they recognise in each other a shared capacity for cruelty. they know their blood runs with a shared desire to see other people get hurt, a shared need for pain.

he treasures it.

when he was a child, sirius wanted nothing more than to follow in the footsteps of his favourite cousin. this desire will not last.

this piece was written for @womenofthehouseofblack fest [you can find the other fics in the collection here].

author's notes below the cut

sirius and bellatrix’s relationship is an area of canon which i find fascinating. the two are set up in the narrative as being extremely similar - right down to the fact that they both die laughing - in personality [and, of course, in appearance - the description of sirius in this fic as having brown eyes comes from a desire to emphasise that physical similarity; i know that jkr has said he has grey eyes, i’m just ignoring her…].

above all, both of them have two incredibly contradictory aspects to their personalities: they can be incredibly cruel; and they are astonishingly loyal.

and in this, bellatrix serves to emphasise something which i think is the standout aspect of sirius’ role in the harry potter series - what he says about the value of choice. i’ve written about this in more detail in the notes for lux aurumque, a sirius-focused one-shot i published recently, but the summary is that i am very uncomfortable with portrayals of sirius which undermine the significance of choice - and, in particular, the choice to defy your family in an extremely lineage-based society - in order to suggest that he feels more comfortable within the world of his birth than with james and the life he chooses to make for himself. lux aurumque deals with several of the choices referred to in this piece - particularly the idea that sirius asks the sorting hat to place him in gryffindor - in more detail.

it was important to me in nor all that glisters gold to draw out the idea that sirius’ discomfort with his social class starts early. he dislikes the pureblood friends his mother wants him to make, and the boring activities he is supposed to do to demonstrate his class background. he loves his cousins - his closest childhood companions - but when faced with the reality of what they are becoming as the first war rears its head, he knows what he has to do.

because bellatrix, of course, makes a different choice.

nor all that glisters gold is an examination of something which i am certain must have been a key aspect of bellatrix’s radicalisation, but which is absent from a lot of analysis about her: that she is someone who, from childhood, wishes to escape the gendered expectations of her social class. here, as in the three sisters [author’s notes here], another piece i’ve written for this fest, she talks about wanting to be a warrior like other girls talk about wanting to be a wife; and loathes the ephemera of girl-hood like dolls and tea-parties. in this, she is very much in contrast to narcissa, whose conformity to the expectations of her gender is explored in my narcissa-centric piece other women and of purer blood [author’s notes here].

one of the key gendered expectations that bellatrix chafes against is, obviously, marriage. [which is also something clearly rejected by sirius as well.]

that purebloods practise arranged marriage is implied by canon - sirius’ statement in order of the phoenix that pureblood parents who wish their children to marry other purebloods take an interest in choosing from the pool of eligible candidates tells us that - and wizards regardless of blood-status seem to marry far earlier than muggles [james and lily marry at nineteen, for example, and we can identify multiple other women in the series who seem to be married when they are between the ages of 18 and 21].

[an important aside, of course, is that arranged marriages and forced marriages are not the same thing. arranged marriage is practised all over the world, and many arranged marriages are complete and loving successes. lucius and narcissa were very probably an arranged marriage; they also obviously adore each other. bellatrix’s issue is not that she objects to this particular way of bringing about a marriage, but that she doesn’t want to be married full stop.]

because there’s nothing wrong with rodolphus - they get along well enough, and he isn’t cruel or abusive - they just don’t click as husband-and-wife. and this only serves to increase her feeling of being trapped in a gendered cage which she wants to escape.

and we all know who helps her with that…

several commenters have noted that the characterisation of bellatrix in this piece as quite naive - and also as acting young for her age and being rather girly - is quite an unusual one. partially, i like this portrayal of her because the harry potter series has such a tendency to assign femininity to wives and mothers [such as narcissa], and to suggest that women who aren’t those things are in some way unfeminine, but i also think that reading her like this - and the hints of it are there in her behaviour in canon; the desperate way she talks to voldemort in the dark lord ascending, blushing when he looks at her, is one of them - provides an interesting insight into her radicalisation.

because all the implication of canon is that bellatrix becomes a death eater when she’s very young [meaning that the same naivety about what that means that we see with regulus and draco can also be meaningfully attributed to her], which means that - whether or not you believe her relationship with voldemort is sexual [I do] - she is being groomed when she’s barely out of school by a man who is in his late forties. indeed, in nor all that glisters gold, i stick to my long-standing headcanon that their sexual relationship starts when she’s only seventeen, and that voldemort is the first person she ever sleeps with.

and, in this, we can see the complexity of bellatrix’s radicalisation - because voldemort clearly has an enormous amount of power over her [as sirius notes, he dictates how she dresses and she begins to parrot his beliefs; she gets engaged and married, essentially, at his command - probably because he wants something from her father-in-law], but she also wholeheartedly believes in his causes. she is a blood-supremacist, and would be with or without him. she is capable of great and ruthless violence before she meets him - indeed, this is the reason voldemort bothers to groom her in the first place.

and voldemort also offers her a chance to escape the gendered confines in which she lives. with his objection to early marriage ages and loveless unions, he’s a bit of a girlboss in this, which might seem out of character; but i do think it’s justifiable on the basis of his canon portrayal that he’s someone who has no real interest in the maintenance of traditional social structures [what he does like, here and in other women and of purer blood is the idea that he has the right to dictate the social order, and to be heavily involved in his followers’ lives]. after all, he himself exists outside of the class structures which define the wizarding world, and he clearly rejects the expectation that this should be something he aspires to [he refuses slughorn’s job offers entirely because he wants a job he got himself, for example]. he’s also someone whose physical description - especially the way he speaks and moves - implies a certain degree of effeminacy, and i am incredibly convinced by the idea that he can be read as trans or genderqueer.

which is to say that i have always had the headcanon that bellatrix falls so heavily for him because he is one of the few men she knows who is willing to support her desire to live a life of her own making, outside the social expectations placed upon her.

and this, i think, is one of the things that the sirius of this piece is not entirely able to understand - after all, he frees himself from the world which constrains him.

sirius’ jealousy of voldemort is something which has stood out to multiple commenters, and i think this is partially triggered by the fact that he himself retains more gendered influences than he may believe. i’m always struck in canon, for example, about the way he talks about the duty barty crouch sr. should have had towards his family - and while i don’t think that this would make him the character i’ve criticised above, who thinks his family is more important than his choice, this expectation drives his anger in nor all that glisters gold at how bellatrix and narcissa don’t stick by andromeda.

[on whom: i often find that andromeda is written as being quite stuck-up, as though all of tonks’ vibrant canon personality comes from ted. that she is exactly like her daughter in this piece was important to me.]

because this piece is, of course, also about the black family more generally. in particular, it builds on a theme in lamentation [author’s notes here], another piece i’ve written for this fest, that walburga suffers from postnatal depression. the fairies and changeling imagery appears across both of these pieces - as the images of elder trees, also associated with fairies and widely considered to be unlucky, do across this and the three sisters. regulus is a minor character, but he does appear as an example of something which i think must have contributed to the canonical tension readable between sirius and dumbledore - that sirius knows who voldemort is probably recruiting, and how, but sees that dumbledore appears to be doing nothing to stop it.

[finally, i can never give up the headcanon that sirius has an aspen wand. they are protective trees, often planted near houses for safe-keeping, and the connection between this and the role of secret keeper…? stunning.]

#asenora fics #bellatrix lestrange #sirius black #nor all that glisters gold #women of the house of black fest

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thebunniesgrim · 9 months

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The camp counselor is a teenager technically, but I think people forgetting the context behind the word ‘teenager’

Honestly just throw this post into the ether

I'm 85 years to late but just hang on a minute I had the most lukewarm epiphany

I know no one's talking about it anymore, but I think everyone's too busy talking about how bad it is and not why it looks like it's bad. I've seen post being like” um that a child” and other being like “no he's an adult”

I think understanding why everyone is having this problem is more important than just saying the problem is a problem

Everyone's like omg there's a bat in in my room and not why is there a bat in my room or how did the bat get in my room in the first place

It just seems like people are yelling at each other without seeing why the other person is yelling to begin with.

You feel me?

this "drama" in a nutshell

I think the disconnect between calling the Camp counselor in “Happy Campers” a teenager then Viv calling him an adult is a word context problem.

In the states or at least where I grew up

Once you’re 18 or 19 no calls you a teenager anymore and I think that’s what tripping people up. When you're 18 or 19 you are an adult, you're not a kid anymore. When someone says teenager, you think 16-, 15-, or 14-year-olds first. Someone still in high school, most 18/19-year-olds are in college or just finishing high school and are full legal adults.

And I think that’s problem

Barbie says, “do you know how easy teenage humans are to manipulate?” When someone says teenager, you don’t think of an 18-year-old. You think of a child. If she said young adult sure the joke wouldn’t have landed as hard or got a big reaction, but it would less yikes worthy you know?

And he doesn’t really look like an adult, at least to me. I think he looks older than the other kids, but they look like middle schoolers so assuming he's just some kid in high school makes since to me and I can see why people are very uncomfortable. If they made him look similar to the lifeguard or maybe if we saw other camp counselors that would have been better. Also, I think his voice sounds too young, he sounds like the typical nerd that gets bullied by the jock in those cheesy high school films. If he sounded like an awkward young adult, I think this would be better. But that’s also a matter of opinion on what you personally think sounds like a young adult.

In fact, in when I was in 11th grade, I had math with a kid who looked like this so :/

I know Viv said he's an adult

But if it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck it's safe to say it’s a duck

So, if it looks like a teenager and talks like a teenager....

I understand both sides I honestly do

he's an adult yes

but in the most literal sense of the word “teenager” that’s still correct

Basically, it's like in math class when the teacher asks you to answer a question like “what 2 plus 2” then you say 4 and they're like 4 what? 4 apples? 4 children? 4 missing body parts?

Same thing different context

It's like saying chips or French fries to someone from the USA or Britan.

It's the same food but context matters

Or saying pastry as a catch all for all desserts but the both are true but the context matters

When you think pastry you think tarts, Danishes, or eclairs

But

If someone said dessert you'd think about cake, cookies, or pies

Both are technically correct but when talking about a sweet dish but normally you'd just say one name for one and other for the rest

Kinda like how beignets are donuts but no calls them donuts

I mean if you asked someone for a pastry like a snooty asshole and someone handed you a pie you would be very confused is all I'm saying

The reason it looks like Viv is trying to cover her ass and trying to using the “1000-year-old god” thing weebs use to undermined or justify Loli. She’s right he's an adult but also a teenager

its giving square can be a rectangle, but rectangle will never be a square

In my eyes at least

Sorry if everyone already talked about and reached this conclusion, but I didn’t see any post about it and I wanted to give my very late opinion

#helluva boss #helluva boss critical #viviziepop

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cosmicjoke · 1 year

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What do you think about ash’s fate on banana fish? On one hand, he will no longer suffer and did die knowing that at least one person cared about him. On the other hand, it is death and he doesn’t have a chance for a happier future either. I kind of dislike how some people say that ash suffered so much that he was better off dead. The ending feels so tragic but people dying suddenly and unexpectedly happens very often in life.

Hi there,

I've written a few posts about this specifically. Obviously, Ash's death is incredibly tragic, but I also feel it was the only ending that Banana Fish could have and should have had. It's the right ending. I often hear people who complain about the ending say "But it wasn't fair" or "Ash didn't deserve to die", and I'm like, no shit, Sherlock. Nothing that happened to Ash in his life is fair. If you're going to say his death wasn't fair, then you have to say the entire story wasn't fair. But that's the point. Child abuse isn't fair. The consequences of it aren't fair. The fact that any child has to fall through the cracks the way Ash did isn't fair. None of it SHOULD have happened to him, just like no child who in reality ends up homeless or abused should. The entire point behind the story is to show the injustice, cruelty and unfairness of children like Ash ending up where they do.

I feel like the ending is deeply important to the story working as a whole, because by embracing the tragedy of Ash's life and ultimate death, it refuses to let the reader undermine or brush off that tragedy. They don't get to ignore the brutal and horrible reality of the kind of life Ash was forced to live. They don't get to ignore the violence of it, the cruelty of it, the devastation of it, and in the end, the tragedy of it.

I also feel like people who insist that the ending of Banana Fish enforces toxic belief systems about abuse victims having no chance at happiness fail to understand or acknowledge that, for SOME victims of abuse, it's just not that simple or easy to move past what's happened to them. I know that makes a lot of people uncomfortable to hear, but I've heard people who have experienced abuse in their lives say they relate to and love Ash specifically because they see their own struggle to overcome their trauma in Ash's struggle. The fact he isn't, in the end, able to move past it is reflective of a very real percentage of real life abuse victims who aren't ever able to move on. I've talked at length about how this doesn't make them weak, or failures. It just makes them human. Each person has a different capacity and ability to cope with the things that have happened to them. Ash wasn't weak or a failure for being unable to just let go or move beyond what was done to him either. That's what makes Ash such a real and deeply moving character. This insistence by some that if you just work hard enough, or try hard enough, or go to enough therapy, you'll be able to move beyond your trauma is, in my opinion, infinitely more harmful to people who CAN'T move past it than just accepting that they can't, and allowing them that, and acknowledging that what they've been through is too tough and too horrible for them to "get better". Because what are we telling those people when we insist that they CAN get better when they just simply can't? We're telling them they're failures, we're telling them they just aren't doing enough, we're telling them it's some failing in THEM that's preventing them from magically finding happiness. That's not how trauma works.

Some people can't get better. They can't ever move past it. And again, that doesn't make them weak or a failure. It's just an acknowledgment that everyone is different, and has different capacities to cope. It's our own inability or refusal to accept that, that exposes so many's supposed desire to see others "get better" as nothing but it's own selfish coping mechanism, to make US feel better, because it's simply too hard to accept the reality that, for some, certain trauma's just can't be overcome.

And truly, in the end, we should never put pressure on anyone or undermine anyone's trauma and abuse by insisting to them that they can get better, as if they haven't tried, or as if it's that easy. We should never make anyone feel like a failure or like what they've been through isn't that bad by telling them, even badgering them with the notion that all it takes is hard work, and they'll be right as rain.

Again, that's why I feel like the ending of Banana Fish is integral to the story working on the level that it does. Because it shows us, in Ash, those people who couldn't get better, and it shows us that it's okay, and even important, to acknowledge those people. It might make all of us work harder ourselves to prevent anyone from ever having to go through what Ash went through in the first place.

#Banana Fish #Ash Lynx

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shalheretical · 2 years

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I don't know who needs to here this but privileging Zuko's trauma over Katara, Sokka and Aang's traumas from the genocide, rape, murder and ethic cleansing of their homes and peoples and own families is, in fact, wrong. Zuko is not a victim of Fire Nation imperialism, he's the victim of his father; furthermore, by the end of series, no one benefits from their imperialism more than he does, as Fire Lord.

I'm not saying that makes him inherently evil. I'm not saying he wasn't abused. But this is something Zuko fans really need to stop ignoring—it's an uncomfortable reality, but it's one necessary for examining our media consumption critically, and also something that I think Zuko, if he were real, would want you to do, because he is a good person who believes in taking responsibility for his past.

Especially when he did actively seek to continue the genocide of the Air Nomads, by wanting to capture Aang. He literally believed that his wanting to return home was more important than the life of another human being. That was his entire goal for all of the first and a decent amount of the second season. It's tragic, obviously, he was just a child, but excusing his actions is dangerous when he has actively hurt people just to further his own goals, because he very clearly didn't see non-Fire Nation people as human beings. Which makes sense for the way he was raised, and him realizing he was wrong was a part of his redemption arc. He's a good, well-developed character. But you can't just pretend the bad parts don't exist. It undermines what makes him such a good character, and why his arc is so important, especially for white allies to understand.

This is a mess but I just had to get that rant out before I popped a vein.

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bombingqueen · 10 months

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Pilot 1.01 A.K.A. You Can’t Go Home Again

Episode Rating 8/10

Favorite Quote “We got work to do.” – Sam

Honorable Mentions “Yeah? When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45” – Sam “It’s just… you won’t even talk about your family. And now you’re taking off in the middle of the night to spend a weekend with them?” - Jessica

Song that Represents the Episode

Monster of the Week A Woman in White

Road Map Lawrence, Kansas; 1998 Palo Alto, CA; Standford University 2005 Jericho, CA 2005

Overall, the pilot is a solid episode. It has an intriguing introduction to the characters and establishes important characteristics for the brothers. The audience is provided with enough context at the beginning and the end of the episode to explain that whatever killed Mary and Jessica has sinister motives towards the Winchesters. The Woman in White myth is a safe choice to ease the audience into the horrors of the supernatural world.

There are several interesting themes that are brought up in this episode that gets explored further as the story carries on. The first one is the Winchester Loyalty. Their family loyalty is shown to be absolutely strong from the beginning to end of this episode. Despite a chance at a different future, Sam drops everything to help his brother look for their father. Whatever bad blood or issues he may have with John, Sam didn’t hesitate to jump back into the fray. Dean’s loyalty towards family is pretty renowned in the fandom. His dad is missing and his brother could potentially be in danger. As much as his arrival was asking Sam for help, it is also just to do a check-in with his brother. I can imagine his alarms bells started ringing when he couldn’t contact his dad and knowing that Sam probably wouldn’t pick up the phone. He had to make sure that the one family member he could find was okay.

Another theme that is hinted at throughout this episode is Sam’s rejection of destiny and his desire for free will. Before Sam was even conceived, Sam has had his self-determination and autonomy undermined by forces beyond his control.

Mary sold his life to save John

John molded him to be a perfect soldier

John’s disappearance, Dean’s arrival, and Jess’ death is essentially divine intervention to get Sam back on the chess board (I personally believe that Azazel was giving John the run-a-round ‘til the boys were the perfect age)

Lastly, Sam and Dean experience the beginnings of the Hero’s Journey. For those that may not know, the Hero’s journey is where a hero goes on an adventure where he experiences conflicts, tragedy, and transformations before eventually returning home.

The Ordinary World: Sam’s at Standford living his “best” life. He is finally able to experience being the person that he desires to be. It may not be normal but it’s safe. Dean, on the other hand, continues to follow the family business; a consistency he can cling to. Day end and day out, he hunts the things that go bump in the night and saves people along the way. It may not be normal but it’s safe.

Call To Adventure: “Dad’s on a hunting trip. And he hasn’t been home in a few days.” Dean is playing the role of the herald here. He has the uncomfortable job of convincing Sam to return to the chess board. (Divine Intervention at its finest. Dean said it himself; he has left Sam alone for two years and more than likely would have continued if not for the powers that be.) Sam and Dean are confronted with an anomaly that upsets their expectations of safety. For Dean, his family is no longer ‘safe;’ Sam is gone, Dad is gone, and Dean has been left behind. For Sam, the re-appearance of his brother shatters his illusion of safety. They can feel the shift of reality and have no choice but to accept the call.

Refusal of The Call: Sam falls back into the rhythm of working side by side with his brother and it unsettles him. It’s easy and familiar but it terrifies him. A part of him desires to be on the road again and a part of him that fears that sense of normality rejects the call. Sam refuses the call by taking the interview and Dean refuses it by taking Sam ‘home.’ As a result, they are punished for it and experience their first joint consequence of their refusal.

Social Work Sidenote: I graduated from the school of social work and the amount of dissecting I could do with Supernatural is crazy but would be miserable. (Also, I’m really rusty considering it’s been two years and I won’t be returning to school for another year but anyway -) However, my brain has been going around in circles about Sam and his reactions towards tragedy. This is just an overall analysis of his character arc. He. Never. Gives. Up. It is honestly quite insane because of the concept of Learned Helplessness. For those that don’t know, learned helplessness is where an individual, usually a child, experiences repeated trauma which reinforces the idea that situations are beyond their control and failure cannot be avoided.

In this situation, a child believes that no solution exists and he refuses or is unable to try and change the outcome. Sure, Sam has experienced moments of hopelessness but he never felt helpless. There was always something or someone pushing him forward to find a solution. I give significant credit to Dean (sometimes John) for keeping Sam away from the supernatural as long as he could. But most of it has been Sam. Sam who decided that sleeping with a .45 could not define his childhood. Sam who made Dean his lighthouse when he felt like all was lost. Sam who decided that going to college was the best choice because he understood that he was more than daddy’s soldier. Sam has been through trauma after trauma yet he has never fallen victim to learned helplessness. He keeps trying to be better and to do better.

Now on to my favorite tidbits of the episode.

Dean totally stalked his brother to make sure he was safe. He just straight out broke into his brother’s apartment so like did Sam have the common courtesy to keep his family updated or was his Sammy senses tingling. I’m pretty sure it was their souls reaching across time and space to be with each other again.

I love how casually Sam and Dean talk about credit card scams and fake IDs at a gas station where Dean just bought gas and food. Boys…it’s not that hard to see why Dean is caught by the police.

Man, I forgot how much of a novice the boys were in the beginning while doing their investigating shticks.

The diner scene is adorable. Sam geeking out about Amy’s necklace and Dean being completely done with him. Probably wondering how Sam even gets laid. I’m glad that this dynamic continues throughout the seasons.

The ending of this episode is literally the start of my SWPS: Sam Winchester Protection Squad. I currently want to wrap Sam in a blanket and hide him in a closet. Dean will be standing guard with a shotgun.

Moral of the episode: Beware a woman who is in a white dress

But seriously, I can imagine a conversation between Azazel and God.

God: I need you to do me a favor. Do you remember that time with the blond woman in the white dress burning on the ceiling?

Azazel: You talking about –

God: Yeah! Do it again!

Azazel: But the father and brother won’t be there.

God: Psh! It’s not about the consistency. It’s about the drama! The loss of innocence and home... And… AND…

Azazel: If I kill her, Will you Shut Up!

This is why I don’t write fanfic. I think of goofy shit.

#supernatural #sam winchester #dean winchester #samdean #S1E1 : Pilot #the epic love story of sam and dean #wincest #Spotify

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