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himynameis4 · 1 year

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Okay, imma elaborate on my madwheeler roleswap bullshit.

For those who have no idea what i’m talking about (probably most of you, i imagine 😅), the basic premise is this: what would Stranger Things/Hawkins look like if Max had lived in Hawkins from the beginning, and Mike & the Wheelers moved to Hawkins in season 2?

My previous posts on this are linked here (initial premise, basically breaking down how canon deviated to allow for the role swap) here (elaborating on potential implications of swapping Mike & Max’s roles for El & her relationships) and here (this talks vaguely about how removing Mike might change season one/party dynamics). All previous posts are gonna be elaborated on as i get further in my rewatch/plot this out more tho, lol. If anyone has any thoughts, other takes, or wants to bounce ideas around or offer their own opinions on how the season could potentially deviate based on this premise, i’d seriously love to hear about it (talking ab this stuff is my catnip ngl).

(Speaking of! @faithfulcat111 hiiiiiiii! I figured i might as well tag you on this post, since this focuses a lot on how season 1 might be different—specifically, differences caused by the fact that Nancy Wheeler isn’t in Hawkins, since I haven’t gotten to posts specifically describing how season 1 could/would go down yet (…in part bc i haven’t decided how i think it should go down, & also bc i rlly have to do that rewatch 😅). I haven’t decided whether Will was biking home from Max’s the night he was taken, or if he was just… at home, y’know? Because if will was targeted by vecna, (& i think he was lol), whether he was biking home or just at his house wouldn’t matter, except for the fact that one option creates waaaaay more angst for our characters than the other, especially if the Mayfield’s trailer was the last place will was seen 😬🤷.)

Now, can we talk ab the potential implications of No Nancy Wheeler?

Like. Wherever Nancy Wheeler grew up, it sure as hell wasn’t Hawkins, and that has all kinds of impacts on the people who ARE still in Hawkins.

In Rebel Robin, Robin basically all but says that Barb chose Nancy over her. No Nancy… are Barb & Robin still friends?

Steve isn’t pursuing Nancy, which means Nancy doesn’t drag Barb along to Steve’s party, which means Barb doesn’t get taken—at least, not because of the party. Was Steve pursuing someone else? Maybe Heather Holloway, or Chrissy Cunningham? Maybe one of them is invited to the party. Maybe she dies earlier, in this universe.

Or maybe she survives the monster attacks. Become part of the action, part of the force against the Upsidedown.

Without Nancy there… does Jonathan Byers take the pictures? [We need to have a brief sidebar about Jonathan. First and foremost, I love this character. Second, taking noncon pictures of someone, especially when they’re in a vulnerable position, is never okay. What Jonathan did was badly handled in canon and, frankly, out of character.]. Perhaps, rather than taking the photos, Jonathan trips, falls, cuts himself while wandering the woods looking for Will. His blood draws a monster (that perhaps gets caught on jonathan’s camera?), which causes Jonathan to either scream, burst through the bushes into the pool party rambling about a faceless monster like a madman, or both.

Now, having witnessed Jonathan Byers’ incident, Steve’s involved. Maybe he gets suspicious of the woods around his house, catches a glimpse of the monster too. Potential slowburn Stonathan friendship bc it’s clear, from the fact that Steve goes to apologize & pays for a new camera & talks ab hanging out with Jonathan in season 4, that steve genuinely wants to be friends with this guy.

In this au, Steve likely wouldn’t break Jonathan’s camera, bc Jonathan hasn’t given him a (frankly, completely justified) reason to. Steve & Jonathan’s fistfight probably wouldn’t happen. But unless Jonathan sees the monster… without Nancy & the photos Jonathan took of Barb getting taken, Jonathan has no reason to believe his mother, and no reason to try & fight the demogorgon (which probs wouldn’t be called a demogorgon here, given that the party isn’t as into dnd w/out Mike, RIP).

You know what else No Nancy means? Nobody to make the connection about demogorgons & blood. & later, in season 2, No Nancy back in season 1 means Alive Barb, which means no exposing Owens/the lab, which means the lab is still up & running in season 3, & ALSO means no Murray until season 3 at Least (through Hopper), AND given Nancy’s wildly different relationships in this au could mean there’ll be nobody to stab Will with a hot poker & free him from the mindflayer at the end of season 2, and depending on how we resolve that & season 3—

Basically, Nancy Wheeler is insanely important, and her absence is gonna have a lot of implications. (Thankfully, given that the Wheelers move to Hawkins pre-season 2, she’ll be around for season 4. 🙏)

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bruciemilf · 2 years

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Do you have anymore headcannons for Martinez?

Youngest out of like. 9 siblings

Jake Peralta coded with a sprinkle of Jake Lockley thrown in

Surprisingly smooth??? That " Hey ;)" scene from Spider-Verse with Aaron and Miles but it's Martinez and Bruce, or Martinez and/or Dick/Jason

Watches Rupaul's Drag Race religiously. 50% of his vocabulary is just gay stan twitter references

Learning about Bruce's trauma surrounding guns, he stops using his; VERY handy with a taser gun, thought

" God, I hate men" " Martinez, WE'RE men" " Do I make you feel bad about YOUR flaws, Jim?"

You know how every workplace has that one guy that all the female co-workers just...Unanimously trust? That's Martinez; HAS punched a sexist bitch in the face for his female co workers, and he'll do it again. And take a selfie

I feel like Bruce really likes having him around but doesn't like visiting the precinct if he absolutely doesn't have to; That's how Martinez got hired as his personal driver

" I feel bought"

" You were worth the expenses"

" I feel EXPENSIVE "

MARTINEZ AND DICK!!!! MARTINEZ AND DICK!!! MARTINEZ THE FUN UNCLE!

" MCDONALD'S! MCDONALD'S! MCDONALD'S!"

Has a carpool karaoke song for each member of the family; Alfred listens to Celine Dion and Queen. Bruce insists on quietly bopping to Matchbox Twenty while Martinez punches the radio

Dick and him wig out to Lady Gaga and Dick WILL throw a tantrum if Martinez doesn't harmonize to the first part of " bad romance" also Beyonce; Beyonce all day everyday.

Jason LOVES Panic! At the Disco and they'll listen to House of Memories on LOOP. Even if Jsson cries sometimes when he's too drunk (also, Martinez has recordings of Jason drunk calling Bruce to tell him that he loves him and that he forgives him)

Tim canonically loves Green Day but I've never seen a character that reeks so much of " I listen to Britney Spears in my sleep " more than him

Damian loves K-Pop but he threatens Martinez to NEVER tell a soul; It's very embarrassing, 'Amm " Everything's embarassing, squirt. Let's get you some merch" he also has the Naruto soundtrack

Cass loves instrumentals of mainstream rock songs, and Martinez always lip syncs the actual lyrics to not single her out

Stephanie and him are One Direction stans and they scream " YOU'RE INSECURE DONT KNOW WHAT FOR" at like, 3 in the morning for her waffle run

Duke likes to pretend he's in a music video everytime and Martinez makes his playlist be just old vintage gangster music; " We here, boss" " Good. That's how we DO - omgthosekidsfromschoolsawme DRIVE DRIVE -"

Has a whole wife that NO ONE from the family knew about; " What? I don't tell you people everything. Except Barbie. Barbie knew."

Barbara, knowing this is gonna piss Bruce off so much: I was his maid of honor :)

Bruce: >:/

#bruce wayne #batman #officer martinez #dc #dc comics #dc imagines #jason todd #dick grayson #cassandra cain #damian wayne #batfamily #batfam #the batman #battinson #text #headcanons

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lemonhemlock · 4 months

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I think at this point Aemond x any OC that isn't a Targaryen is by default much better than the countless Rhaenyra's daughters and the rest of Targ OCs out there that are all the same character more or less; an aggressive grilboss who's not like other girls, is a great fighter, an amazing dragonrider and treats Aemnd and his family like shit but for some reason he's still madly in love with her and will switch sides by betraying his mother and siblings for her…I don't know why so many authors and readers are in love with this type of female characters but some of these have been so comically bad like how can one person not have any flaws at all, how can they do anything they want without suffering any consequences for their bad behavior, not even once? And why do they believe a woman can be strong only when she's antagonizing everyone else around her? And only when she's picking up swords and rides a dragon? Also, why do they believe any man - Aemond in their case - will fall in love with a woman who fights with him all the time and shits constantly on his mother and family, let alone betray them for someone like this?

Since most of these stories are clearly written by hardcore team black stans, it's not surprising they are repetitive and seek to make the Greens a laughing stock in their stories. And yes, including Aemond, I really don't think they like him as a character, they just think he's hot and that's all. Oh and they love the idea of having him on their side. OCs from random houses (and especially from houses that sided with the Greens like the Lannisters, but there aren't so many OCs like this out there sadly :() are clearly superior since they don't have to make most characters act irrational by introducing insane betrayal plots like TB stans do it with Aemond in their fics. I have to add the fact that I'm not even opposed to the idea of Aemond x TB Niece OC/Targ OC but omg, it gets really tiring when after all this time even a significant part of the newer fics are still recycling the same plots. In a way it's a pity because there's potential behind a story about him falling in love with someone from the other side, but most stories don't even want to explore that properly except for the Blacks - good, the Greens - evil & let's make Aemond redeem himself through his love for the OC by switching sides and betraying his family.

I understand your frustration, anon, but, like I said, it's a good chance those authors are quite young themselves and are just exercising their writing muscles, so will not be able to portray complex female characters and feel more comfortable playing around with tropes and (what, to us, looks like) Mary Sues. I also want to facepalm often enough going through AO3, but then I think - what if this person is literally like 13 years old and I'm despairing because they're not providing me with the next great American novel. :)) Believe you me, I'd write the most self-indulgent Aemond x Lannister OC if I had the patience or the talent, but other than that, I'm going to console myself by having a go at actual published books for the time being. Maybe future seasons will bring more fans in, who will be willing to give us the content we crave.

#ask #anon #hotd fandom

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significant-ace-nnoyance · 2 years

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GUYS GUYS GUYS IDK WHO CARES BUT

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THE PERCY JACKSON CODING OF LUCAS SINCLAIR BC LIKE-

bisexuality!!

respecting women!! ("she's never wrong" is literally what sally would teach percy tell me im wrong)

nerdy jockTM

having a "scary" badass female partner who went through (familial) trauma and copes with harsh exterior, who they encourage to open up and provide a safe space for them to be emotionally vulnerable

show that they CARE and are THERE for their partners who are used to having NO FAMILY MEMBERS OR CLOSE FRIENDS TO SUPPORT THEM????

loyalty!! to!! friends!!! (heLLO s1 lucas) (heLLO percy fatal flaw)

^^ on this point lucas def would sacrifice the world to save max(crying)

bicon

scene on the bus = we were just looking at maps (hashtag interrupted during an emotional moment gang)

"no. i should have looked harder" such a pj coded line. no i will not elaborate.

SimpTM

bi4bi

trauma! hooray!

"im not letting you get away from me. Never again" is SUCH lumax s4 vibes with the whole creel house and him going with her to support her and not let her out of his sight

likes basketball :)

lucas would def join the swim team idk he gives me swimmer vibes

side character mc energy (idk if this makes sense but like they are mcs but they give sc vibes like- ig theyre more approachable and dont see themselves as the Hot Shit they’re just nice guys doing their job and protecting their friends - even though percy is a little bit thinking he’s the hot shit later on 💀)

bi wife energy

has amazing parents (stan mr and mrs. sinclair! stan sally jackson)

grover = dustin (idk if this makes any sense to anyone else but its what my brain is saying rn)

gives his gay friends shit for pining (hehe)

bisexual disaster

lucas would eat blue chocolate chip cookies

lumax is sooooo percabeth coded i could go ON

BOTH BISEXUAL IN THE SAME WAY

he is my child my son my baby boy

conclusion: yes all my favorite ships and all my favorite characters are literally just percabeth copy and pasted and i couldn't be happier

#lucas sinclair #bi lucas sinclair #percy jackson #hoping this finds the very niche section of tumblr that is percabeth bylers bc I NEED SOMEONE TO TELL ME IM NOT CRAZY #lmk if there are others bc there def are

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absolutebl · 3 years

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This Week in BL

July 2021 Wk 5

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Golden Blood Ep 6 - SunSky’s pronoun/honorific use forced me to add them to the dialogue I’m having with the world on the subject (did you catch that when Sky talks directly to Sun he uses informal but when he talks to imaginary Sun in a romantic way he uses formal?) Anyway, lots of kisses this ep. I love that they’re uke initiated and seme pull back. NICE twist on expectations while also being perfect for a narrative this soft. Also, how cool is it we’re are getting so many uke communicators right now? (Waves at my baby TaeKyung.) And when the semes won’t talk? The uke reactions are on point. Bank is like “I will not humor your identity crisis.” (My boy is teaching a course in how to train your sunshine seme.) While Sky won’t allow Sun to help/care for him. Sun is like “what, now you speak my love language?” Meanwhile, how did I get so invested in PitchBank? Sudden onslaught of side dish addiction. GAH! (Tropes included: face touch, fast & bicurious, lie on ground.)

Love Area Ep 1 - I think this might be REALLY GOOD.* Cafe setting, cute characters, great story start (it feels like an adaptation), early inciting dramatic meat cute x2, plus a possible love triangle (wound tending for seme 1 this week, for seme 2 next) and some familiar faces from Friend Forever. This also has better production values than normal for a pulp. There was even an adorable little argument about formal address to soothe my linguistic soul. * HOWEVER there are no eng subs. MDL comments say it’s not airing internationally and they don’t expect hard subs for months. I’ll keep an eye out for them and let you know if anything drops. (V weird that the credits are in English? Right? That’s weird. I think it’s weird. Maybe they had international distribution and it fell through?) I’ll keep watching it without subs.

Top Secret Together Ep 12 - how much do I love that TST is using CopyNampu to explore ideas around unequal/one-sided love? Even though Copy is just having identity struggles and expresses affection differently. It was a good choice for this pair, as the actor playing Nampu is great at emitting emotional pain to contrast a sunshine disposition. Also we stan the supportive female bestie, thank you for the rep TST. Finally, these two got a neck grab kiss (personal favorite - and the BTS for this scene was v interesting). Other pairs: Is it weird that I just want Eak to be the confused straight boy and not end up with Phob? (I’m thinking about Big Eden a lot with this story arc.) They shoehorned in a beach trip trope (although I was DELIGHTED to see many of them can actually play volleyball, Nampu is GOOD). This cast should do a sports romance volleyball team BL.

The Yearbook Ep 3 - oof, it’s awful slow. The story is being precious with its plot, ostentatiously not telling us character’s reasons for doing major things which means I was left feeling manipulated (by the director, not the narrative) and also I don’t feel sympathy for the characters because I have no idea why they do anything. It reminds me of My Bromance 1 & 2, so I’m not sure if I should stick with it. I’m not into the Fault is In Our Stars meets ITSAY thing.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Be Loved in House: I Do (Taiwan) Ep 12 fin - as expected they nailed a sweet if somewhat odd ending. We all thought this would stay soft, but Taiwan brings the high heat regardless of whether story calls for it. I don’t actually think it was necessary here, but I appreciated it anyway - thanks boys. Also another marriage equality flex. (I don’t know if that was a nod to Thai BL at the end with the Rama VIII looking bridge or not, but imma pretend it was). A cute classy little BL with some plot flaws but no other concerns. It gets a 9/10 from me, I loved it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Given (Japan) Ep 2 - first ep I really loved their music choices but Mafuyu is supposed to be THE most amazing singer and he just isn’t. That said, if you like your boys dark and traumatized with secret sorrows and communication issues this is Japan so we getting that gothic angst party started! Whoop whoop. We are probably all going to need saké to make it through. The way the director is using the instruments they carry on their backs as part of the yaoi style framing is super clever. I’m VERY taken with the style of this BL. Full thoughts so far here.

Light On Me (Korea) Ep 9-10 - the best love triangle we love to hate is fracturing. The pain of it all. TaeKyung is every seme’s dream uke: sweet, innocent, pure, yet communicates his feelings honestly. Korea is teaching a master class in using tropes to manipulate audience expectations and I am here for it. I don’t even care how this ends at this point (so long as no one dies). I have a lot to say about this drama so I’m sort of running a long form analysis post. Finally, the fact that DaOn would rather be liked than be gay is so f-ing relatable. It’s intense stuff. OH and next week is episode 11, we ready? Tropes included more wound tending, a confession scene, side eye, ownership/claiming discussion, head pat + characters TALKING about tropes! Sr!

BL News & Gossip

Viki is airing & hard subbing A Man Who Defies the World of BL AKA Absolute BL AKA Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai VS Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko. I love this show more than is reasonable or healthy. I kind of got unhinged over it, to be fair. Then I changed the name of this blog. I’m waiting for them to finish the subs and then I plan to do a rewatch. I’ve gotten into when warring hards subs happen (like with Color Rush) it’s fun to tunnel into the style of the subbers, and I find they give different depth and understanding to the story.

In Case You Missed It

Korean movie, Made In Rooftop, is finally available. But the eng subs are machine made and incomprehensibly TERRIBLE. Maybe it will end up on Viki or something with hard subs? I speak no Korean but I gave it my best shot. It’s clearly not BL - no tropes and the main story is about loss not love. It’s a gay drama - more themes self discovery and identity than romance. But It does have a cute romance thread (buttoned up man + manic pixie dream boy) and sweet central friendship. RECOMMENDED if you like that kind of thing and understand Korean.

GMMTV YouTube account was hacked on Tuesday July 27. Every single video they ever uploaded vanished. YouTube showed them as grey + [Private video]. As of last check they were still down. Here’s a video explaining why they were hacked (someone thinks). The content should be recoverable (we hope) but you may have to rebuild your playlists. Here’s a list of completed Thai BL series that you can still watch on YouTube that I recommend while we wait.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International subs accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

This week’s best moments?

and

We support uke with agency! You go boys, COMMUNICATE!

(Oh right... if I remember I’ll be participating in the Tumblr boycott next Friday so next weeks update post will be a day late.)

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sxfik · 3 years

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let’s talk about why cha-young is one of the most refreshing female leads we have seen in kdrama's this year

disclaimer: lowkey might be biased because i am a cha-young stan but o well and this is very unorganized. feel free to add on!!

hong cha-young is simply one of the most realistic female leads that i have seen in a long while. one thing that vincenzo really nails is characterization, both through direction as well as writing. Cha-young is presented as a flawed character and both the acting, writing and direction doesn't try to cushion this or ignore this from the story. Furthermore, cha-young is a "strong" lead but that doesn't make her heartless/emotionless/only raw power, and she is presented as a multifaceted character.

first, the characterization through the triple combo of writing, directing and acting. cha-young is selfish and dramatic, she works for herself and she is ruthless in getting her way. she is stubborn, in a realistic way and it end her in trouble many times as seen in the first 4 eps where she bribes her way through and still keeps pushing for babel's win until her father dies.

BUT jeon yeo been does a fantastic way of showing that cha-young is also a soft character that cares very deeply for the people around her. even though she is not in good terms with her dad, she makes excuses to storm in and argue with him. she visits him often at his house and cleans it for him when it gets messy (seen when she walks in on her dad and vincenzo at their house). she even cares for jun woo in her own ways, letting him follow around her and showing a care for him that she doesn't show for any other lawyer there. in terms of the actual shots itself, we get a lot of focus on cha-young's emotions as the story progresses, with the camera focusing in on her face/emotions without ever acknowledging it, letting the audience know more about her character. we get to see her cry over her father's death but doesn't address it head-first with an emotional monologue, we see cha-young trying to move on through revenge which is a very classic move for her. cha-young is often dramatic and over the top in order to mask her true emotions and it shows, even without explicit directions.

second, she is a strong lead, but she isn't strong in the traditional media way. often in kdramas, it's rare for us to get a female lead that acts as "masculine" or harsh as cha-young. cha-young mannerisms are often akin to the mannerisms of a male character in vincenzo, with wider stances and movements (see: the way she claps and sits when she's at the suit shop with vincenzo) and she has her rough edges, which are never mellowed out. she is a refreshing change from the traditional female characters that are either "pretty but they don't know they're pretty" or "they're strong but with no emotional range" or just completely ditzy and used almost prop-like for the romance. in vincenzo, we can see she's strong, she knows she's pretty and very smart but she's vulnerable and caring underneath those layers of defense. she's also not an invincible either, most notably seen when the intruder's attack her. even though it was a moment of levity, we can also see her humanized as she has 7 different martial arts belts but can't fight coolly when she's put in crisis. rather, she uses what's around her to defend herself. it puts her in a realistic light, where she's a badass lawyer and knows her shit in the court but also she's a regular human prone to forgetting how to fight in crises. her anger is also never mellowed out (see torture scene and confrontation with joon woo/han seok), we see her act irrationally and on impulse very often.

her flaws are also her strongest points which is similar to women in real life (which i know is an odd thing, aren't most characters similar to women in real life, but the sucky thing is that it's rare for us to get a female character that acts like an actual women and not a prop). her stubbornness is also what brings her success in court, her dramatics and acting getting her into places and access into information. AND THE BEST PART, is that in the romantic storyline, her overdramatic is not viewed in a negative light. rather it's viewed as an inchangable part of her. Vincenzo doesn't try to change her nature, rather he appreciates it more than anything (see: any scene with the two of them tbh, you can see the heart eyes each time she's dramatic.) instead, he's teaching her to be a villain outside the court without changing her nature, and instead harnessing those flaws.

overall, i'm really excited to see where her character goes in these next 8 episodes and i have so many high hopes for her arc and predictions for her. i hope we get to see more of her past as well as more development in her story, possibly even a moment of breakdown from her because she is going through a LOT and has very little to trust in her life.

#lmao this is long #but also i love her #she's literally my favorite #i want to be her #but also would love to date her #so ya know the conflict #maybe im biased because i relate a lot to her #but ive not liked a female lead like this in a long while not including ko moon young from it's okay to not be okay #vincenzo #cha young #hong cha young #jeon yeo been #jeon yeo bin #tvn vincenzo #feel free to add on lol #let’s talk about series

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aerobicide · 2 years

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this is very out of the blue but overly defensive annabeth stans are so funny 😭😭😭 i agree that annabeth isn't as bad as some people say she is but her stans will be like "she was loving and supportive to everyone😍😍 everyone loved her and she was a parental figure to many kids in camp due to her patience and friendly nature 😊." like bro what😭😭😭😭

This is true for a of of people in fandom but especially so for Annabeth stans: people take any criticism of their favourite character(s) as a personal attack.

I think Annabeth is a great character and there is a lot of hatred for her that is completely inane (e.g. she’s an abuser) and sometimes outright misogynistic, but it’s a major disservice to her character to claim that she has no flaws or that she’s always loving and nurturing. Part of Annabeth’s appeal is that she is flawed. She’s full of herself and stubborn and sometimes mean and all of these things make her a great character. Female characters are either written to be one-dimensional mean girls or one-dimensional good girls. Writing women and girls as perfect, agreeable, and never defiant isn’t a positive thing, it’s just misogynistic. We don’t need perfect female characters, we need “real” women with real anger and convictions. Not to pat Rick on the back because he is certainly not immune to misogynistic writing but I really appreciate how he wrote Annabeth. She isn’t perfect and she’s certainly not easy to get along with, but she’s never demonised for any of her faults.

There’s also the race component in this that can’t be ignored. She’s white so white women put her on a pedestal and lambast the female characters of colour with similar flaws to hers. Because everyone knows that white girls are pure and innocent and girls of colour aren’t. /sarcasm

People ignoring Annabeth’s character flaws either: identify with Annabeth to an unhealthy degree OR are trying to combat misogynistic critiques of her character by perpetuating misogyny lmaoo. Which shows a tendency to paint white women and girls as innocent and without agency. It’s not “woke” to pretend Annabeth is perfect and loving and nurturing you guys are just recreating the angel in the house, 2021 edition

#annabeth chase #ask #anon ask #isabelle answers

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antiloreolympus · 3 years

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6 Anti LO Asks

1. i would actually get the idea people look down on the underworld gods bc like yeah theyre scary and unwelcomed, but like its undercut by rachel making them the most desirable and most powerful for?? reasons?? like she wants them to be underdogs while at the same time being the best at everything, which is her issue with persephone too, she also has to be powerless and humble but also the most unique and powerful. she wants us to root for them when they have no actual struggles.

2. i dont take reviews for anything, tbh. the "professional" reviews LO got were all by people who are also at the same printing house, so theyre literally paid to say something nice for marketing even if they dont like it (i work in publishing, we do this all the time), and amazon reviews arent regulated, so of course LO stans will flood it to fluff it up. thats what let's play fans have been doing too for years now too, despite it being wattpad markipiler fanfic.

3. I know comparing characters isn’t right but honestly LO has enough wrong going on I won’t feel bad. Persphone isn’t interesting on her own in LO. A lot of her character is having things happen to her except for flirting with Hades and killing mortals (and maybe running away as a reaction to Zeus). Persphone we are told she is smart, naive, powerful but powerless. Her character literally is whatever RS thinks fits the chapter the best. Persphone has no clear goals other than wanting Hades, what’s her major? What was the next step after college? Do the other gods go to college? Why doesn’t she know what sleeping to the top means but knows so much about flirting with a man who has a gf? What was she suppose to be doing if she never met hades?

Although the other female cast may not be likeable, they do actually do stuff that drives their own character

Minthe may have fallen into a shitty relationship with Hades, but she feels sick about the ring and treats Hades because he doesn’t listen to her. She leads Persphone to the wrong location cause she doesn’t like her. She fights hades (not a good thing but does something to the plot)

Daphne has Persphones background, grew up in the mortal realm. However she’s a lot more interesting. Demeter probably isn’t strict with Daphne, but Daphne is now and influencer with business deals and when forced to Dave Apollo bits and threatens him. And even before with Apollo wanted to find out her own opinions on the guy.

Hecate isn’t a main character but enjoys to be in the plot and leaves the plot as she pleases, she’s support but also seems like there more to her than shown. She likes chaos, gardening, and expanding her knowledge.

Aphrodite, drove the plot with the drugs and car thing, NOT A GOOD THING but actually did something. Was looking for her husband, testing her son may not be the best character but actually leaves marks on the story telling despite not showing up a lot.

Artemis, invites Persphone into her home, has always been this sliver footed hunter, was doing fine before persphone, but also has her own family issues

Demeter fought in a war, has her own morals and ethics when raising a daughter, may have messed up but again actually contributes to the plot

Hera pushes HXP together and apart, has her own interesting drama, seduced Kronos and paid for it gravely, DID have an affair with hades. Not good things but contributions.

Thetis manipulates people

Persphone just doesn’t do much herself in the comic. She didn’t want to go to the party, she didn’t want the job, a lot of the plot is having her having something happen to her. The drugging, the Apollo the offers, Meg offering her clothes even. She doesn’t drive the plot other than flirting with Hades even knowing about Minthe, killing those mortals, and turning Minthe into a plant, but none of those things are even framed as wrong. It’s like even when she does make a “mistake” it doesn’t “count”

4. DID HADES ACTUALLY REALLY HONESTLY SAY ZEUS' RAGE IS MISMANAGED!?!

5. Since we’re talking about self-inserts, hell, I have like 3 characters in my book that can be argued to be my self inserts. But the difference is that while I project onto them plenty, I still remember they are my CHARACTERS, not me. I give them flaws, I write them how I would any other, and I make them suffer consequences when needed. There’s a difference between that and whatever the hell RS is doing with Persephone

-----FP Spoilers-----

6. Not to beat a dead horse but even with Hades saying he misspoke in calling Persephone his wife - considering they arent dating and have only known each other for a short time period, it still sounds weird, right? Like in the newer chapters (I think) Hades and Persephone discuss going on a "first date" after the trial is over which would be fine - except A). It sounds as though even if Persephone gets a punishment (like lets say its a Prometheus treatment kinda thing) that they'll just go behind Zeus' back + authority to go on dates anyway, regardless of punishment or not, and B). Hades calling Persephone his wife indicates that despite not even being on a proper date or even knowing her all that well that he already thinks of her as such, which seems a bit presumptuous considering everything thats been happening.

Also ive seen claims far and between that months have passed if not a year since Persephone went on the run / the beginning of the comic - does anyone have a source for that? (The timeline makes everything confusing).

Also, I was told that the trial doesnt take place in the underworld - that it actually takes place in Olympus?? Anyone got a source? Pls and thanks.

From OP, not Anon: From the episodes currently on FP, the trial does take place on Olympus. The underworld is in a constant state of darkness and the place where the trial is being held shows it's visibly daytime. Also, it hasn't been months or a time skip. Some people were confused by Hades's wording because he said 'months'. Saying weeks would've been way better and less confusing.

#anti lo #anti lore olympus #lore olympus critical #lo critical

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the-al-chemist · 3 years

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hi! just wondering who your favorite characters are? it seems like ur a charlie weasley fan, would he be artemis’s in game love interest if he was an option? thanks sm :)

Good morning lovely anon, and thank you for this great ask! 💛💛

So, one of the great things about HPHM is the really diverse “cast” of characters, even though it gets difficult in later years to keep track of them all and at times they have this tendency to become a bit one-dimensional…

Out of the JC characters, I think that Chiara is probably the one I find most interesting (disclaimer: I’ve never triggered either of her TLSQs so I actually haven’t interacted with her in-game all that much.) The fact that she is a female werewolf - which we never see in the HP canon, and rarely see in fiction - is cool in itself, but the fact that rather than get “bogged down” by her lycanthropy, she sees it as her motivation to help and to heal others is wonderful. She is a good and kind person, but she is in no way boring, and I love that about her. The girl power feminist part of me also has to point out that not only is she a “strong female character”, but she is one where all her strengths lie in her more typically feminine characteristics: her gentleness, her caring nature, her desire to heal, her grace. Sure, your ass-kicking female warrior heroines are great, but a woman doesn’t have to be a fighter or a leader to be a badass. There’s an innate and underrated power in femininity as well, and Chiara proves that.

(Hops off soapbox)

I also adore Penny (so lovely, so flawed, so annoying overutilised by JC that we’ve forgotten how great she was in the beginning), Andre (sassy gay best friend goals), Jae (just hilarious), and Merula (because she’s got layers, like an ogre, or an onion).

Okay, second part of your question (prepares to leap back onto soapbox): in this house we stan the UKs greatest ginger and all-round good boi™️ Charles Weasley. I was so excited when I triggered that Celestial Ball side quest and thought it was finally my chance to self-indulgently live through MC and get to go on a date with the best Weasley of them all (he is, okay. I will fight you on this point), but alas it was not to be. 100% he’d be my Artie’s love interest in game if that was an option, and when I started writing, I had him in mind as my end-game ship for her. This was probably the case until half way through my first draft of year four, when it became clear to me that neither of them really saw each other in that way. I then had to go back and massively edit year 3, when I first started introducing Charlie, and tone down the hints I made (yes, really, those have been toned down), so that they are now more like bones being thrown to the Charlie/MC shippers (ie. to myself).

All that being said, Charlie and Artemis are very very sweet together, and I do believe he’d be a really good match for her, and she for him. Unfortunately, despite being Artemis’ writer, I have absolutely no control whatsoever over this demon child that I have created, so it looks like this will probably never come to fruition. But, I’ve still not finished writing, so maybe she will be persuaded and see sense later on.

Then again, maybe not.

#al speaks #al loves pals #lovely anon #chiara lobosca #charlie weasley #hphm fic #artemis hexley

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comingoutofthecauldron · 3 years

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Sometimes I'm like broooo how did leigh make such good books with soc and ck with such good characters and plots and wordbuilding but she had made a (very entertaining) trilogy but with so many grating 2D characters and sometimes the plot was just ... not it

Like soc and ck obviously have their flaws too but not to the same extent as the trilogy

Like did you feel leigh was very unnecessarily sympathetic to the darkling and treated Nikolai as a mostly good character in the text even though he did sooooo many shitty things

And that zoya was treated (unknowingly) with a lot of misogyny in the narrative which has caused many people in the fandom to hate her

And alarking and nikolina were romanticised in the books and in the fandom far too much

???

YES OKAY so this is a Big Thing for me. very controversially, i prefer tgt to soc solely because i find it much more enjoyable to read. HOWEVER, there's no denying that leigh's writing definitely improved from tgt to soc, i agree.

while i think that leigh clearly portrayed the darkling as a villain (she didn't tamper down his crimes or make them seem less horrific), i agree that the narrative was definitely (arguably too) sympathetic towards him. i could use a lot of examples for this, but none work quite so well as:

“Once more,” he said. “Speak my name once more.” He was ancient, I knew that. But in this moment he was just a boy – brilliant, blessed with too much power, burdened by eternity.

“Aleksander.”

His eyes fluttered shut. “Don’t let me be alone,” he murmured. And then he was gone.

leigh's choice to have alina, one of the people who suffered most at the darkling's hands, sympathise with him and even grant him his last wish, was a bad one. this man is a thousand year old p*dophilic mass murdering sex trafficker and she had the nerve to describe him as "just a boy" and "brilliant [...] blessed [...] burdened". of course you can argue that this is the residue of his grooming of alina, but i just think that after all the shit he'd done by this point, after a whole book of alina talking about how manipulated she felt and how much she hated him, these few words offer him clemency from the narrative that he does not deserve. all he did to earn alina's kindness (not forgiveness, to be fair to leigh) was die.

and yes, nikolai was hero worshipped by the text for absolutely no reason. even though we see both alina and mal put up a lot of resistance to him + the shit he pulls (punching him, criticizing him etc), the narrative basically shoves their eventual "pity" and "admiration" for nikolai down the readers' throats.

“[...] Nikolai might never have made it out of the Grand Palace.” It hurt me to say it, but I forced myself to speak the words. “He could be dead.”

and

The too-clever fox. Even once he’d abandoned his disguise as Sturmhond, that’s who Nikolai had been to me, always thinking, always scheming.

and

[to nikolai] “I’m just happy you’re alive,” I said, hastily blinking my eyes clear.

imo this sympathy + romanticisation is much worse and much more prominent throughout the latter half of s&s and the whole of r&r than the sympathy with the darkling, purely because the bad things nikolai does are essentially never acknowledged. there is (unsurprisingly ig) no talk of his imperialism, no talk of his pursuing alina when she's a minor, no talk of his racist remarks and generally very little talk of him being an asshole (particularly to mal).

moreover, i agree that nikolina + darklina were too romanticized by the text. i have a very complicated relationship with leigh's portrayal of alarkling, because a lot of alina's earlier feelings and sympathy for the darkling stem from his grooming and manipulation of her, which i think this quote from the start of r&r shows pretty well:

Even now, after everything he’d done, I wanted to believe the Darkling, to find some way to forgive him.

but then we get the whole mental house call thing that alina + the darkling do, in which they can visit each other and no one else can see the other. that was a mistake narratively. the ability to do this implies a sort of deeper bond, and even though the darkling then uses this bond to show alina the corpse of the only mother figure she'd ever known, it still carries almost romantic connotations with it throughout the rest of the book(s) for some reason. this dynamic is similar to a lot of "soulmate bonds" in mainstream ya (namely sjm's mating bonds), which helps to explain why so many people ship darklina; it is written & coded the same as the majority of (abusive) ya relationships, so readers pick up on this as a sign of romance rather than some attempt at narrative foils or something (bc in reality zoya is alina's foil). this isn't even mentioning the repetition of alina's desire to forgive the darkling and her confusion over her "feelings" for him, which once again just reinforces darklina as a viable ship in a lot of readers' minds.

as for nikolina, as a less prevalent ship in the series it gets less attention in the fandom. most often, i see people turn to nikolina because they don't like malina or the darkling, or because they wanted alina to become queen (to which i remind everyone that alina never wanted to be queen). at first i was alright with leigh's portrayal of them because alina punches nikolai + is angry with him for kissing her non-consensually etc, which is the closest the narrative ever comes to condemning him for his actions. but later on alina seems to forget all this and considers marrying nikolai, even joking with him a little when he proposes:

[during nikolai's marriage proposal]

“Stop that,” I said, still grinning.

“What?”

“Saying the right thing.”

there is zero acknowledgement of how predatory nikolai is, and instead the narrative goes on to sympathise with nikolai and have alina feel guilty for rejecting him. imo alina's characterization (her initial disdain for nikolai, which was much more in character) was sacrificed to raise up nikolai, and also show him to be a plausible and "likable" love interest for zoyalai, which is where leigh obviously intended for nikolai to end up (zoya is even mentioned during nikolai's proposal).

finally - yes, zoya in tgt is basically a manifestation of leigh's internalised misogyny. from alina's initial slut-shamey disdain for her, to leigh weaponising her against malina (repeated sexual encounters with mal), to zoya being seen as evil & a bitch by the other female characters just because she's powerful + isn't "nice", zoya's character was assassinated before it even had chance to materialize. even though zoya was also a victim of the darkling and is, as i mentioned before, alina's narrative foil, alina has very little sympathy for her and assumes that she's an evil bitch. tbf, this gets better with each book, but even in r&r there's a lot of tension between zoya and the other characters because she's seen as unlikable and difficult. i can't speak to her characterization in kos or soc, because i haven't read one and don't really remember the other, but i have heard that it improved from tgt to kos.

anyways this has been a long ass rant and i'm very sorry to anyone who scrolls past it on their dash. fuck the darkling, fuck nikolai lantsov, and stan malyen oretsev

#cauldron rants #cauldron asks #tgt #anti nikolai #anti nikolina #anti darkling #anti darklina #anti alarkling #alina starkov #the darkling #nikolai lantsov #zoya nazyalensky #long post

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meg-noel-art · 3 years

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Don’t know if you accept another request from the same person, but if you do then how about Avatar: The Last Airbender?

I like asks O_O

Atla yay:

❤ Favorite Male: hmmm, probably Aang. A good lad, that one :)))) Flawed in very specific ways. Sometimes his pacifism works against him, but he stays true to himself and I appreciate that about him. Also very strong bender, a good avatar for being so young and essentially leading a war. Plus he's positive and his smile is amazing, we must stan.

❤ Favorite Female: Azula HAHAHAHAHAH, flipped the switch. Um, I personally love how fucking conniving she is. Manipulative, powerful, torments the hell out of Zuko, but revealed some very deep seated insecurities by the end. Idk I always found her a really great antagonist and she's so strong wtf.

❤ Favorite Pairing: I was a kataang shipper back in the day. Which was cute and fun and I didn't know anything about ship wars. :)))) Good times.

❤ Least Favorite Character: hmm, probably Zuko tbh. While I think he's genuinely an amazing example of a redemption/atonement arc, I never really liked the broodiness, the angst, the emo boy thing was not it for me. ✋🙄 But I mean like...he's fine, I don't HATE him, I just never got the hype.

❤ who’s most like me: uhhhh Toph probably NKDNDJFJAJFJF bastard child.

❤ most attractive: uhhh.... idk, Suki. She's so cool and preddy.

❤ three more characters that I like:

Sokka, he's great and funny.

Katara, her softness never stopped her from wrecking house.

Iroh, who doesn't love him. And his wisdom makes me cry even harder now. Years later.

#atla #black printer #ask game #asks

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thefudge · 4 years

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omg like i loved book!sansa and i loved season 1-4 show!sansa, but i HATED season 6-8 show!sansa. it’s so funny because the writers were clearly trying to make us love sansa and hate daenerys, but it had the opposite effect on me. the show made me re-evaluate my opinion of daenerys, and now she’s my favourite character because they did her so dirty (i mean i think they did sansa dirty too, just in a different way). they literally stripped sansa of everything that made me love her in the (1/2)

first place. and i still can’t believe how her stans ate it up. like they totally decimated sansa’s character and all her stans could say was “MAH QUEEN IN THE NORTH YAS”. which was totally what d&d were intending, to distract from their misogyny with their hollow empowerment of sansa. your comparison to a young Margaret thatcher was spot on. especially how the narrative rewarded sansa for her xenophobia and racism. (2/2)

^^^^^^^^

all of this!

i was a big dany skeptic for most of GOT’s run, but d&d’s shitty writing backfired and made me love her instead, which i never thought would happen. whereas, i was always a big sansa stan, but was completely turned off by her retrograde “make the North great again” policies and general smug attitude. and it’s so telegraphed that they are pitting these women against each other because the fandom also split in half. what a great distraction from the general fucking mess d&d created! and they knew how to shut ppl up because if you’re critical of sansa, the fans go “well, dany burned everyone!!! the children too!!!” and that’s it, you’re not allowed to say anything else, even though the burning of KL was the most poorly handled arc of the entire show. instead of criticizing the handling of both women’s storylines, some sansa fans decided that as long as their fave got a pretty crown it was fair game. so they ignored the fact that d&d’s ultimate message of the show, filtered thru sansa, is that you should close your borders, kick out the immigrants, and make sure you put down the reactionaries and radicals who are fighting (in their flawed way) for a better society because they might go craaazyyyy and destroy that society. this is absolutely classical 19th century European liberal discourse whereby we must make sure we discourage those strikers or union leaders for the good of queen and country!

and yep, they made sansa unrecognizable. and what also left a bitter taste in my mouth is that she did not even seem to really care about the North either, except for winterfell. i am really skeptical that she has any concern for the rest of the houses in the North (it’s precisely why the show never bothered to even marginally expand on them). and we know she’s not going to attempt a wildling-integration because they all go back beyond the wall so that sansa can happily reign over two or three houses who are very impressed by her food storage strategies. ultimately, the biggest betrayal of this character is that she ends up as a more decent version of cersei. SIGH. like i mentioned in this mini-essay, westeros, and especially the North under Sansa’s rule, is d&d’s utopia, where they get to throw people of color under the bus, reduce important female characters to robotic mouthpieces and just generally get away with whatever racist and misogynistic thing they can imagine.

(also im laffing at “ MAH QUEEN IN THE NORTH YAS” cuz so many fans criticized jon for his moronic declarations to dany which WERE utterly moronic, i don’t disagree there, but hmmm them uncritically clamoring for queen sansa sounds oddly similar lol)

#anti got #got meta #replies

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protectwoc · 4 years

Text

thots on little women (2019)

or, y’all are giving greta gerwig too much credit (part two)

The character arc that was changed the least from the source material, but that still manages to personally offend me the most, is, of course, Amy’s. It’s no secret that Gerwig is an Amy stan, or at least more of a fan of her than most people. I am as well, which is why I am so disappointed with this particular arc.

It’s honestly more disappointing because Gerwig handled parts of Amy’s arc extremely well, namely, her relationship with Laurie. Gerwig did an excellent job of making Amy and Laurie’s relationship feel less like a consolation prize since Laurie did not end up marrying Jo and more like a fully realized and reciprocal relationship, arguably more so than Alcott herself. HOWEVER, and this is a big however, the Amy/Laurie relationship is not the only important part of Amy’s characterization in the novel, and unfortunately, it is in the movie.

Amy starts out the novel as a selfish twelve year old girl, which is evidenced in no other but the infamous book-burning scene. However, throughout the novel, she grows out of that selfishness and into a more selfless, self aware woman. (Again, whatever your thoughts on “learning to be selfless” as a trope in women’s narratives are not necessarily relevant.)

For example, in the first half of the novel, one of Amy’s most notable chapters deals with pickled limes. For anyone who only watched the movie or doesn’t quite remember the book, a short summary:

Amy, the only one of the March girls who attends school, is upset because the girls in her school have been trading pickled limes. The limes are seen as a status symbol, which can be traded for little trinkets, bestowed upon favorites, or indulged in in front of your enemies. The pickled limes trend has become so popular that the teacher, Mr. Davis, has banned them in the classroom, which has done nothing to curb their popularity. Amy, who is relatively popular among her classmates regardless of her relatively lower class status, has been gifted several limes but had no way to return them, is greatly “in debt.” When Meg gives Amy enough money to buy a whopping twenty-five pickled limes, she flaunts and preens her way around the classroom until a girl she snubbed tattles to the teacher and gets all twenty five limes taken away.

This scene is a good example of the beginning of Amy’s arc of overcoming her one major personality flaw. It shows how her selfish nature is really just immature behavior, and as she ages, she matures out of that childishness. Another good example of this arc happens when Beth contracts scarlet fever. At first, she complains, saying that she would rather contract the deadly disease than to go to her Aunt’s house, but as she remains there, we see her mature and even grow fond of Aunt March. Her personal arc independent of Laurie was a big part of Amy’s plotline, and it was unfortunately left out of the movie.

The most glaring example of this is the omission of one of the most important scenes of Amy’s arc in the book: the occurrences at the fair. Again, indulge me in a brief summary for those who won’t know exactly what I am talking about:

The mother of one of Amy’s friends, Mrs. Chester, holds a three day fair for all of the girls in Amy’s social circle. As Amy is the most talented and most well-liked of the girls, she has the best table at the fair, at the very front, where she is to sell her beautiful artistic creations. However, her friend, May Chester, is jealous of her, and seeing this, Ms. Chester takes the table from Amy and gives it to May, relegating Amy to the back corner to sell flowers. At first, Amy is incredibly upset, and takes all of her art back to the table with her, however, after talking with her family, who are properly indignant on her behalf, she resolves to be gracious and humble and gives her own drawings to May to sell. Seeing this, Jo tells Laurie to take all of his handsome, college-aged bachelor friends to Amy’s table, which he does, and they spend the entire next day of the fair flirting with her and buying every one of the flowers from Amy. On the final day of the fair Amy, who has entirely overcome her own selfish wishes, tells Laurie and his friends to go do the same to May. This string of selfless acts is seen by Aunt March and Aunt Carrol (who in the novel has half of Aunt March’s role in the movie) and is the premier reason behind Aunt Carrol deciding to take Amy to Europe instead of Jo.

Leaving this scene out of Amy’s narrative in the movie is, I think, unforgivable. The inclusion of this scene would have exponentially improved Amy’s arc, for three major reasons:

This scene is the culmination of Amy’s “selfish to selfless arc”. Again, regardless of your opinions on whether this is a good lesson for her to learn, it is an arc, and as the movie stands currently, she simply doesn’t have one. The occurrences at the fair show her finally growing out of her childhood vices into the mature woman we see in Europe, and to exclude this scene does her a disservice.

Prior to her trip to Europe, this is one of the only scenes in the novel where Laurie and Amy have any sort of interaction. If Gerwig wanted to more fully develop the Amy/Laurie romance I cannot imagine the logic behind leaving this scene out. It would make the romance seem less rushed, which has been a common critique of their love story since the book came out, and would even provide context for Amy’s “Not when I have spent my entire life loving you” line which Gerwig added to the narrative.

As previously mentioned, this scene is one of the main reasons behind Amy being allowed to travel to Europe with Aunt March/Aunt Carrol. Within the movie, this reasoning is less obvious, especially given the fact that Aunt March had already told Jo she would take her to Europe, and the inclusion of this scene would have made the trip feel more earned for Amy.

Greta Gerwig has made no secret of the fact that she both a feminist and a fan of Amy March. I am both of those things as well, which is why I cannot understand her logic behind robbing Amy of a complete arc. In the movie, the most important parts of Amy’s arc are all tied to a man. Even that arc is not as fully developed as it could be. Gerwig did a magnificent job with Amy’s overall likability, but that is not the same thing as writing a fully realized arc for her.

But even though Amy is my personal favorite character, and I am more personally invested in her arc, Gerwig’s mishandling of Amy is not the most egregious sin committed in this movie. That honor is reserved for Jo’s arc.

Part Two: Jo

A Buzzfeed article entitled “The New ‘Little Women’ Makes Space for Jo’s Queerness” claims that “Gerwig’s adaptation, without being too explicit about it, does gorgeous justice to that [queer] reading.” An Advocate magazine article called “Greta Gerwig Brings Out the Inherent Queerness of Little Women” makes the bold claim that the 2019 Little Women “offers the queerest and most feminist reading yet.” An even bolder declaration by them magazine says that “The New Little Women Basically Proves Jo is Queer”. Gerwig has been lauded both by critics and by her own actors for creating an explicitly queer narrative for Jo March.

As previously mentioned, I do not generally read Alcott’s Jo as queer. However, upon my first encounter with this headcanon, I could immediately see why so many people did see her this way, and why this interpretation is so beloved. Jo has a lot of non-stereotypically straight traits that have made her something of a queer icon in many progressive literary circles. Both the way she bemoans being “born a woman” and her intense desire not to marry spoke to a lot of queer or non-cis readers, many of whom were excited to see her portrayed this way on the silver screen. And though I am not particularly attached to this headcanon, as a bi woman, I too was excited to see her that way.

And then… I didn’t.

Look, I hate to burst y’alls bubble, but there is literally not a single second in the movie where Jo is anything resembling queer. At best, she could be read as aromantic/asexual, but that’s about it. (Note: Obviously I don’t intend to imply that being aro/ace is somehow “lesser than” being L G B or T, but obviously the form of queerness people were expecting is one in which Jo is explicitly attracted to women.) There are no subtle looks in the direction of another woman, no scenes in which Jo expresses any negative emotion towards the idea of marrying a man specifically. She doesn’t even have a single female friend outside of her sisters.

One of the reasons the 2019 Jo (and by extension, Laurie), have been hailed as queer icons is their relative gender fluidity. Jo and Laurie exchange clothes throughout the movie, which was intended to display their “gender fluidity”. I knew about this particular facet of the movie before going to watch it in theaters, so I was looking for these occasions specifically, and I still couldn’t tell that they were supposed to be gender neutral. Maybe that’s just me, because I don’t know a lot about civil war era clothing, but whatever.

The other reason that Jo is considered queer in the movie is her rejection of traditional Civil War era femininity. She doesn’t want to get married, and she has no interest in “girly” things like dresses or parties. But neither of those things are specifically queer. Being “not like other girls” as your premier personality trait is not queer, it’s just garden-variety misogyny.

Even Jo’s big scene where she laments her competing desire to stay unmarried and her intense loneliness, has nothing marking it as explicitly queer. “I’m so sick of people saying that love is just all a woman is fit for,” she bursts out. Love. Not love for a man. Not even marriage. She is decrying the entire concept of love.

“But Rae,” I can hear you asking, “what about the ending, where it’s implied she doesn’t marry Professor Bhaer and gets to publish her novel?” To that, there are two important things to consider. One: the ending is intentionally portrayed as optional. Even though it is heavily implied that Jo did not go off and get heterosexual married at the end, it is possible to ignore that ending or do some light mental gymnastics to make the two versions of Jo’s ending coincide. And I’m not just saying this as a worst-case-scenario, I actually have seen people do this, in fandom and my own life.

Secondly, even if you take the ending as completely factual, we still have all the scenes involving Bhaer previous to the ending to give some hint of Jo’s sexuality. We never see her even look at another woman, but she flirts with Bhaer and blushes when he looks at her and asks for his opinion on her work. Even ignoring the straight-as-default setting of most casual viewers, canonically, Jo has only ever shown interest in men. One man specifically, but still.

“But she could still be bi/pansexual, or suffering from compulsory heterosexuality,” I hear. And this is basically the crux of my argument. In fandom, you don’t have to assume straight as the default, and it's probably better not to. Bi/pan headcanons for “straight” characters are a good, positive way of adding to a fandom culture. However, when it comes to canonical representation, the opposite is true. Representation is not representation if it is not explicit.

I’m not saying that queer viewers cannot feel represented by Jo in this movie. I personally feel represented by Hermoine Granger as a black woman, due to her “wild, bushy hair” and her penchant for social activism (SPEW). However, I cannot give JK Rowling credit for that representation because she had nothing to do with it. She did not do any of the hard work to actually make Hermoine a black woman. In the same way, we cannot credit Gerwig with adding queer representation to Little Women, because she didn’t.

Conclusion: The Response

I know reading this essay probably makes me seem like a Greta Gerwig-hater or like I disliked the movie. Both of those things are untrue. As previously mentioned, I loved the movie. I’ve watched the Amy/Laurie scenes of the movie like a hundred times already. I also don’t hate Greta Gerwig. This is the only movie of hers that I’ve seen, but I heard all about Lady Bird and its popularity, and I think the directing of Little Women was excellent. The fact that Greta Gerwig is a very talented filmmaker is not necessarily an arguable point.

I don’t believe that Gerwig had to fully develop any of the sisters. I don’t even think that Gerwig is required to add queer representation (or racial diversity for that matter) to her movies. Greta Gerwig decided to adapt an extremely white, cishet Civil War era book into an extremely white, cishet Civil War era movie. Hot take time: she is entirely in her rights to do that.

BUT. The thing that bugs me the most about the movie, and is basically the impetus behind me writing this essay, is the response to the movie. For whatever reason, Gerwig’s Little Women adaptation has been deemed more “woke” than it actually is. Little Women (2019) has been lauded for its strong female presence (even though there are only white, cis, straight women), for it’s development of the other, non-Jo sisters (even though it doesn’t), and for giving its lead space to be queer (even though she isn’t).

Greta Gerwig made an excellent film, but she did not do anything that has never been done before. I liked the movie, but I’m not about to go campaign for Greta Gerwig or the movie to win an Oscar. In general, we need to be less willing to acclaim those who do the bare minimum.

Again, I’m not good at writing conclusions. At a certain point I’m going to just start repeating myself, so I’m going to go ahead and cut myself off now. Again, if anybody has any opinions on this, agree or disagree, please come talk to me about it! I’d love to hear any other thoughts.

#little women #little women (2019)#raetalks #meta #meg march #jo march #beth march #amy march #timothee chalamet #emma watson #saorise ronan #eliza scanlen #florence pugh #greta gerwig

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theshinobiway · 4 years

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I read your other two posts about shipping nejiten and why you dont. I think you make good arguments about how marrying neji would take away tenten's freedom but I was actually wondering about how you view the ship from the perspective of someone who is married? Sorry of that doesn't make sense. I mean like how compatible you think their personalities are if the story was written differently.

Hey there anon!

So this will be my third time addressing the pairing and not to say it's any fault of yours, but I hope it's the last.

I care most about what makes a character develop in a way that is meaningful and beneficial for the overarching story. This extends into the pairings I choose to ship. I've also never been a big shipper to begin with and I'm indifferent to most pairings from any show I watch.

I also am married. Personally, fictional ships or shipping wars do not interest me in the slightest. I'd rather focus on my own, real, interpersonal relationships.

To expand on why I don't like talking about this pairing in particular: it's because I have been openly harassed by fans of the pairing both on this blog and on a previous blog that I eventually closed because my inbox blew up with angry stans that, a few years ago, I was not mentally equipped to handle. I've responded to around two to three asks openly on the blog, but at this point I've deleted in the range of 10-12 messages that I did not see fit to dignify with a response.

I figure that most of these comments come from underage followers who are too immature to understand complexities of romantic relationships or are simply too disinterested in talking about the literature to have open discourse with. They just want to ship what they believe the characters are like, have headcanons, and ignore the evidence contrary. As an adult, I have to handle this with patience and understanding. I'm not about to rage on any anon follower because I don't know their age or personal circumstances. And frankly, a fictional pairing is not worth tearing someone down over–I speak from experience.

Now, on to answering your question in full:

When it comes to the narrative, there isn't a common thread (theme, motif, storyline, etc.) that ties Neji and Tenten together. They both have the goal to get stronger, (As is the theme of team Gai at large) but Neji's story is MOST closely tied to Hinata/The Hyuga, Lee, and Naruto (in that order.) All three of those characters are sufficient enough to spur Neji's growth in his own arc. Tenten's support as a teammate is also sufficient enough. They are good battle partners (combining long range and short range) but the same is also said for Tenten and Lee. There's nothing special here. Nothing that screams "chemistry" or that "stands out."

The reason people love pairings such as SnS, NaruSaku, NaruHina, Sasusaku, SaiIno, ShikaTema, etc. is because all of these pairings have two partners that can equally contribute to the other's growth. Neji and Tenten simply do not have this. Tenten adds nothing to Neji that he does not already have: her support already comes from multiple other people in his life that understand his situation better. Tenten is often shown having a more common thread with Lee: they are both ninja that came from no special background and are overcoming their own weaknesses to pave their own path. You might say Tenten could humanize Neji or humble him, but Naruto and Lee already do that. Neji's closest female relationship is with Hinata, and that's where we see him become softer and more patient. Hinata is the one that humanizes Neji the most, and it's because they also share a same arc: literally, the Hyuga clan arc. She has the emotional intelligence to reach Neji and the position to make him believe in the determination of the once-talentless. That's THEIR arc as siblings.

I would also like people to ask themselves what exactly Neji can offer Tenten. In the reverse, I strongly can affirm that Neji does NOTHING for Tenten. He can train with her? So can the rest of her team, and she does. He can encourage her? So can the rest of her team, and they do–far more than Neji. He can calm her down when Gai/Lee do their antics? Okay, but is being a walking pacifier really a great foundry for a relationship? (Also, as Tenten gets older, part of her personal development is finally accepting her own goofy side and joining in!) In fact, his relationship and subsequent would inhibit her stated goals and dreams.

Tenten flat out does not want to have a traditional, feminine lifestyle of getting married. And as a married person, it's not impossible to understand why! Relationships and marriages are HARD work! It's not sailing into the sunset with kids and a house! They require commitment and upkeep! Sacrifice! They are a huge stressor (even the best marriages!) and you must balance the feelings and dreams of another person when you are deciding your future and make personal sacrifices.

Tenten wants to follow her hobbies and her dream is one of self-determination. Marrying Neji means introducing a rigid, hierarchical clan structure for which Tenten has no experience/interest in and is ill-prepared to handle. Her blunt, insensitive attitude would not fare well in the formal atmosphere of Hyuga affairs–this isnt a shoujo of rich guy/average girl. This is a shounen. She'll be expected to raise children and retire/hiatus from her career. This expectation does not help her goals or dreams and effectively halts her personal development.

In fact, had this pairing actually happened, shippers might have been happy that their pairing "made it," but I have no doubt that people would have ALSO called Tenten yet ANOTHER victim of Kishi's 'housewife' troupe next to Sakura and Temari. Making her Neji's wife erases what little personal identity and development she had. Why would you want to put the ONE woman who pursued her career and goals in a relationship and erase that? Because they have an aesthetic? I surely hope you never then complain about the fates of Sakura or Temari, then!

And on that note, "fixing the writing" to where Tenten is an 'empowered working mom' does NOT address Tenten's personal desires. I see this most often discarded in favor of ANY of her ships.

Tenten's purpose in the story is to show a woman who branches out from the norm. I also seldom see a woman in any story who is as balanced and flawed as she is while still being lovable. Also, despite relegating the other kunoichi to housewife status, Kishi deliberately let Tenten be a single woman who is not criticized for her decision. Japan itself still has a traditional mindset in that regard, and seeing the other cast members treat Tenten as normal–not even commenting on her relationship status–is a quiet, but no less significant addition to the story. It normalizes career women in a traditional atmosphere.

Gag about her store aside, Tenten's shop isn't doing poorly because she's a bad businesswoman or a spinster. It's been clearly stated by Tenten herself that it's because they are in a time of peace. Again, a small but significant detail that gets overlooked in Tenten's story. As Boruto progresses and war seems to loom on the horizon, I have no doubt her shop may get more business soon.

Tenten and Neji have the making of good friends and comrades with some common ground, and it's for the betterment of both of them personally that they stayed that way throughout the series. Good relationships add to characters and stories–they don't take things away.

Hopefully this finally puts my full opinions on the matter to rest. Fandom can do whatever it wants, but I'd like to not see any more of the ridiculous "pairing war" nonsense pop up in my inbox. Nejiten has FAR better reasons to stay platonic than it ever will to become canon, even in a rewritten story where Neji lives. If you want a pairing with this aesthetic but actually have chemistry and a shared narrative, look at Ren/Nora of RWBY (which, coincidentally, is actually one of the few pairings I enjoy.)

Thanks for contributing to the blog!

#nejiten #neji #nejitenten #naruto #naruto headcanons #asks #writing #female characters do not need relationships to be complete #I have this pairing blocked because all the anon hate really left a bad taste in my mouth #so that's where I stand #if you want to discuss canon then use canon evidence #not what you believe the subtext of their interactions are #it's a shounen and their few interactions are NOT that deep #tell me about the chunin exams and I'll point out that Tenten was the Opposing support to Sakura and Ino #and Kishi deliberately never painted them as romantic anywhere in his manga #he had the final say in all pairings #and chose to endorse Konoha Hiden where Tenten affirmed she never wanted a relationship #it's clear Tenten was supporting a teammate #and never her romantic rinterest #hell she noticed Kakashi and Sasuke more than Neji #and in a shonen pairings are made VERY clear #there's no way around it.#neji hyuga #neji hyuuga #hinata #hinata hyuga #hinata hyuuga #tenten #rock lee

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drnucleus · 5 years

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Burn This – A Review in Thirst, Energy and Hilarity

When @leofgyth offered me to go with her and a group of friends to see Adam Driver star in Burn This on Broadway I was ecstatic. Go see our fave in person and hang out with some fellow Adam Stans/Reylos? Hell yes. Also, there be spoilers ahead so BEWARE.

So, in preparation I bought a copy of the play. I read if four times before seeing it Saturday night. Mostly because Jimmy, aka Pale – Adam’s character has dizzying monologues that rail and race along a rollercoaster of emotion that on the page make them hard to follow. I knew though, instinctually that Adam would pull off the dizzying effect to great degree.

The house music was all 80s great new wave hits that set the right tone. From Manic Monday to Voices Carry. I was immediately transported to a time when I was too young to remember much aside from the music blaring from my mom’s record player.

Now I don’t want to spend this entire review thirsting after Adam. Because believe me, no one who goes into that play comes out not thirsting to some degree. I’ll get to him soon. But first I really want to talk about the other three characters in the play. What they brought to it. How they fared up against Adam’s intensity and undeniable energy.

First up, let’s talk about Burton. He’s Anna’s off and on boyfriend. He’s a screenwriter, rich, successful, born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He’s enamored with Anna despite the fact that they seem more square peg-round hole as a pairing. He’s funny, however. His entire monologue about how there are no good movies in Hollywood and how everything gets remade every ten years is hilariously accurate even 32 years after the initial Broadway run and just goes to show that not much has changed three decades.

Burton is flawed. Entitled. Spoiled. Not used to understanding the financial struggles that Anna and Larry have gone through. But he has a good heart despite himself. He’s played by David Furr, who is almost as tall as Adam, and pretty fit too. He’s a big guy with a teddy bear like quality about him that makes you feel comfortable in his proximity. He brings that sort of energy to Burton and you kind of feel for the guy that he is the supporting lover who gets passed over and not the romantic lead. His interaction with Pale is limited to one scene of spectacular inebriated fighting and revelation. His interactions with Anna are soft, and bring out his insecurity as a writer, and the rambling disjointed way he describes his ideas hit home for a writer like myself.

Let’s move on to Larry. Oh Larry. He’s gay. A marketing exec. And dear fucking GOD he is the hidden gem of this play. I went in expecting excellent performances from Keri and Adam and they no doubt delivered. Larry consistently stole scenes from every fucking cast member, Adam included. He was so funny and his timing and delivery were perfection. From him flopping himself down on the sofa whilst playfully calling Anna a slut for fucking Pale. To him singing the song Pale sings to her to tease her about hearing the entire tryst. To his reaction to Burton’s story about getting blown by some rando guy in the snow in his twenties. To the call back to that moment with something along the lines of “Hey Burton, look, it’s snowing, wanna find a dark doorway?” He’s cheeky and enigmatic and loves Anna with a brotherly protectiveness that is so lovely. Brandon Uranowitz is the actor who plays him and he’s a delightful surprise. When I read the play I was paying far more attention to Pale and Anna’s connection than to the wise cracking gay man she lives with. Definitely pay attention to him if you happen to be going to the play. He’s so wonderful.

Now let’s dish on Ms. Russell. At first blush you can tell she is really starting to get her bearings as a stage actress. To be frank, stage acting is very different than screen acting. You have to emote more, you have to be slightly over the top to ensure that even the person in the last row can feel the intensity of emotion you’re displaying. Whereas on a screen it’s easier to be subtle and still have the same effect. What bits of her acting style have changed since she’s started the play have shown through and shine through a beautifully nuanced performance that not even two unscripted improvisations by Adam Driver could completely throw her out of character for more than a split second to give him a “Are you fucking kidding me?” look a chuckle and then move on. She gives emotion and vulnerability as well as a gigantic emotional brick wall around herself as Anna as both Pale and Burton try to bust it down. With only Pale who is the one to break through.

She walks herself through grief. Anger at Robbie – her dance partner who dies suddenly and is the emotional center of the play as she tries to move from being a dancer to a choreographer. Desperation for connection – with Burton – only to shove him away when his enthusiasm and compassion become too much. To her frightened exchange with Pale upon their first scene together to how he busts down her walls and makes her reach out to comfort him through his pain of losing his younger brother. She holds her own against Adam’s explosive performance. She has her own moments that are just as gut wrenching but in her you feel the tight containment of her discipline as a dancer that beautifully juxtaposes Pale’s explosive grief.

I knew going to see Adam would be an experience. Having seen his performances on the big screen and the small screen I knew this was a role he would both love and find so much meat to sink his acting chops into. This is Adam at his finest. He’s an emotional trainwreck throughout the play. In his first scene he steals the audiences attention, commanding it as he paces like a caged animal, ranting about parking and pot holes, and Ray the bartender who he decked out for not shutting up to full on the floor, full body sobs with real tears and screams of grief. His dialogue is dizzying and circular, coming back around several times with the same questions. He plays inebriated, drunk, coke high and belligerent with an authenticity and veracity that makes it almost too real. Pale has no filter. He thinks it he says it. Bluntly. Boldly. It’s the exact kind of snark and sass that Adam is becoming famous for a la Adam Sackler in Girls and the explosive anger of Sackler and his even more famous character Kylo Ren/Ben Solo of the Star Wars franchise. His physicality and range of emotions in his opening scene is enough to give the audience emotional whiplash.

His acting ability in person is even more powerful than it is on the screen. You feel the emotions he sends out as a wave of energy that engulfs and enslaves the room. We laugh at his snark and quick wit, but the audience grows quiet as Pale begins to work through his intense grief. There’s a humanness to Adam’s style that makes you believe that he is not just some actor playing a part but that he IS Pale in those moments. That type of immersive acting is something I personally will never forget and am so grateful for seeing in person.

Physically, I didn’t think Adam could get more attractive than I had seen in photos, tv and movies. Oh boy was I wrong. Every review I read. Every interview with female costars I’ve read. All of that previous knowledge did nothing to prepare me for the reality of seeing him in person. The minute you hear his voice, yelling just offstage for Anna to let him in at five in the morning, the hair on the back of your neck stands up because you know an entrance™ is about to be made.

Bursting on stage he gets uproarious applause from the audience as he launches into his initial rant about pot holes, and finding parking in a city that’s dying of crotch rot. He’s so good at going from 0-100 on the emotional scale at the drop of a hat that it’s startling to witness in the same room.

From him taking off his pants to not wrinkle them your eyes immediately go to the stark contrast of his pale legs against the black socks, shirt and underwear. Or to him gliding out of Anna’s bedroom on his second visit there in her purple floral silk kimono (that he ripped the sleeve of rather accidentally) with it open to reveal more pale skin and tiny euro black briefs that made the entire audience audibly inhale. Adam’s costumes throughout the play go from sleek suits to the fun comical use of a woman’s robe to a leather bomber, jeans and shitkickers. His stage presence and physical form is a veritable feast for the eyes as his voice, intonations and blue collar diction is just as entertaining. He improvs as I mentioned before, once when he did a little twirl that seemed like it was extremely on the fly, an amused smirk on his face as Keri almost broke out laughing. And again, when they’re on the sofa together and he did something that surprised her but I can’t quite pinpoint what that was having only seen the play once.

All in all this is a play where nothing happens and everything happens. Four people processing grief in varying degrees. From Larry and Anna’s personal grief as Robbie’s found family, to Pale’s outrageous self-destructive spiral and Burton’s tangential disconnected sympathy. It makes Burn This and Lanford Wilson’s prose jump from page to stage with veracity and life that I think would make the playwright proud.

#burnthis #broadway #adam driver #keri russell

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nyarnamaitar · 5 years

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About that NYT article...

Emilia’s latest NYT article has pissed me off for a number of reasons, but I really don’t think it means that we should be anxious about Dany’s S8 arc. Or, in other words: dark!Dany won’t be a thing, FFS. I love the Dany/Jonerys fandom, but some of you really need to stop letting Dany antis’/J*nsa shippers’ rhetoric get to you.

I’ll try to break down my reasoning:

1. Apparently, Maureen Dowd, the author of the article, is quite infamous for her stance on real-life women. She poses as a feminist, yet she made quite the career out of bashing, amongst others, Hillary Clinton. This doesn’t mean that she hates Daenerys, but every piece of writing -- and certainly an opinion piece, which is what the NYT article is -- directly or indirectly reflects the author’s views and well, let’s just say that I’m... Wary of Dowd. I’ve seen Dany fans complain that this press tour has been overwhelmingly negative for Dany and while I agree that the Northern lords and their stans are wankers with shriveled up penises who need to get their priorities straight, I wouldn’t say S8′s promo has been that bad for Dany fans at all. Dany heavily figures in S8′s advertising, photoshoots, and trailers and most of this material consists out Dany and Jon as a couple.

2. The NYT article content that pisses me off the most are the comments on House Targaryen and how the Targaryens are equated with madness, which implies that Dany’s questionable leadership choices are a consequence of her parentage, which is... Problematic to say the least. One does not have to be mentally ill or have a mentally ill father to make bad choices. As not to stray off-topic too much, I’m just going to say that I really dislike the way this fandom talks about mental illness or how mental illness is capitalised upon to discredit a character one doesn’t like. However, going back to the NYT article, these anti Targaryen comments are almost exclusively the author’s and based on Dowd’s track record, I’m inclined to dismiss them. Having read Fire and Blood, ASoIaF fans -- or at least those with basic reader comprehension skills -- know that most of the Targaryens weren’t mad and that a lot of Targaryen kings have done good things for Westeros.

3. As for Emilia’s comments, there are a number of things I want to address.

(A) First of all, it seems like the Tarlys’ execution will be a big deal in S8 (*sigh*), which is why I think that when Emilia talks about Dany’s ‘Targaryen impulses’ (my words), she’s mostly talking about the loot train battle and the subsequent burning of the Tarlys. Although (and strangely enough) Dave Hill has come out and stated that Dany made the right call in executing Randyll and Dickon, the show is obviously using this scene to manufacture drama by teasing mad queen!Dany. I really wish this weren’t the case, but alas, it is. That being said, I still agree with Dave Hill. In-universe, the Tarlys’ execution wasn’t exceptional at all and it pisses me off that Dany gets shit for doing something lots of other characters have done, too.

(B) I don’t think Emilia’s comments are entirely off the bat. Dany does have darker impulses and in the books, Dany herself is very much aware of them. She continuously questions her own judgement and sanity, which convinces me that she won’t ever become truly mad. Fuck that noise.

(C) I find it... Unfortunate that Emilia’s buying into the House Targaryen = madness crap, but we should keep in mind that we don’t know the context of the interview, the amount of time Emilia received to adequately answer Dowd’s questions, etc. Plus, I’m quite fond of Emilia and I don’t want to bash her at all, BUT a lot of the GoT actors don’t have a particularly good grasp on their characters. Maisie’s interpretation of Arya is atrocious. Sophie’s comments on Sansa’s character arc are laughably bad (The warrior of Winterfell? Really?). And while Emilia loves Dany, she’s not an exception. She doesn’t know the lore as well as we, the fans, do. It’s sad, but it’s true.

So, in short: I don’t think the NYT article “proves” that dark!Dany/mad queen!Dany will be a thing in S8. I think it attemps to emphasise that Dany has darker impulses and that she’s made mistakes that will haunt her in S8, i.e. the execution of the Tarlys and its effect on Sam. I agree with the article in the sense that, yes, Dany is flawed — just like pretty much all of the ASoIaF/GoT characters are. However, I vehemently disagree with how the execution of the Tarlys is treated by both D&D and the anti Dany section of the GoT fandom.

Based on everything we've received so far, including BoatSexBaby’s and Friki’s spoilers, nothing indicates that Dany will become dark/darker in S8. The NYT article just serves to foment the GoT hype AND highlight the darker aspects of Dany’s character that the audience should already be familiar with. It doesn’t tell us anything particularly new about Dany’s arc and character in S8.

Plus, I don’t think we pay enough attention to the good things the NYT article has to say about Dany. It recognises the double standard female rulers have to face in Westeros; it praises Dany’s character arc and iconic status in the show; it ends on the note that if Donald Trump lived in Westeros, Dany would be the one to overthrow him, etc. These arguments are hardly negative and don’t point to dark!Dany/mad queen!Dany at all.

So, while some parts of the NYT article are dumb (and even upsetting), I don’t think we should be very alarmed by them. My opinions on Dany’s character and storyline in S8 haven’t changed since the article’s publication and I truly believe we should all calm down a bit.

#daenerys targaryen #pro daenerys targaryen #pro daenerys #pro dany #daenerys defence squad #game of thrones #got #game of groans

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