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#shes pretty complex and probably is one of the if not The best written character currently in the game
pcktknife · 2 years
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i got ei but i dont play genshin what is she like
depressed like so soooo depressed
#shes pretty complex and probably is one of the if not The best written character currently in the game#like people were upset with inazumas storyline but when eis second quest came out multiple ppl were like 'oh this might saved this arc'#shes not really a good person but she isnt totally bad either#how to sum her up#lost p much all her loved ones (one of which died by her hand others possibly preventable) bc of that she locked herself in her mindscape#isolated herself and built a puppet stand in of herself to run her country to make sure it never changed (keep it the same for an eternity)#and like any threat to eternity gets eliminated thrown in jail vision stolen etc etc her ppl love her but like her fear of change is bad#really bad for everyone#like the country is shut down no one in no one out theres people being displaced theres a war its alot and its all cause ei cant really#move on i think yae and ei herself even says she was being selfish and childish to an extent#you eventually go into the mindscape and yae (pink fox lady probably eis last living non human friend actually) shows up like bitch get up!#youre lonely this isnt healthy girl!!! and eis like damn youre right im still not ready to move on so i think i need to reflect on shit wow#her first quest was her seeing how her country changed and getting out of her head for a bit second quest was her actually facing the#trauma she experienced from all her loss and also fighting her puppet replacement to get it to chill out w the whole eternity thing and#reuniting with her dead sister for one last time it was actually like super beautiful almost cried#i said id give u a summary and just gave u the whole story sorry shes just like a super compelling character 💀#genshin fandom had probably still has a hard time understanding her as a character cause shes not textbook evil woman#people often hate her or glorify her but i feel you wont understand her if your too far on either side of those#tldr: shes complicated a traumatized woman who made poor choices because of it and shes not perfect a bit far from it but shes trying to..#get better and be better for the sake of the people she'd been hurting and being kind of a shitty god to#also shes gay but thats neither here nor there#asks#anon#lucky you getting the genshin character i apparently seem to know the most about#i was going to bed and you activated my brainworms 😭
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narutocharacterpolls · 7 months
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SEMIFINALS
GAARA vs SENJU TSUNADE
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Reasons for submission under the cut
Gaara
he overcame his incredible loneliness and childhood trauma with a lot of grace
he acknowledged the people he may have hurt (rock Lee) and did everything in his power to build up from there
he was always very caring (like when he brought the girl he accidentally hurt an apology gift when he was a child)
he was someone who understood Sasuke and shed tears for him
he motivated an entire army of shinobi that were fighting amongst each other, and he did it purely with love for Naruto, showing how powerful his kindness is
serial killer turned babushka. Quite possibly the sweetest and funniest character transformation [submitter]'s ever seen
he enjoys succulent and cactus gardening, based as always
his gardening outfit is the cutest shit ever seen
he has cat eyes which are very cute
nothing but respect for my goth teenaged president 🫡
he's so polite,,
his character development is amazing, he went from being a crazy murderer, to gaining the trust of his whole village and becoming the Kazekage
despite how drastic his character development was, it still feels understandable due to how badly he was treated as a child, and how deep down he always wanted to love but was simply punished for it
eeeing him recover from his trauma thanks to Naruto is really heartwarming
one of the best redeemed villain characters ever imo
very cool character design
storyline that made [submitter] cry like a baby three different times
he's so full of love
has a cool transformation
enjoyable demeanor once he got the help he needs
nice to see a quiet but social introvert succeed in life, overcome his trauma, and learn his self worth
he was an edgy 12 year old who talked like shadow from shadow the hedgehog (2005) how can u not like that
he's funny
he's pretty cool when he's older, a good leader
his arc is [submitters] favorite in the series
lovely to see how far he came and how hard he worked to overcome his demons
Tsunade
milf….
was the best hokage
the regulation she created to include medics on every team saved so many lives
she's funny and a complex and interesting character
is a bad bitch
probably THE most competently written female character in the entire series
she has a very rich history that plays into her character's actions and motivations
wanting to be the best medic-nin possible in order to save more lives because she lost her love Dan, and also change the way ninja squads operated to always have a medic to save more lives did so much for the better during the war to reduce casualties
after being broken down by so many people she cares about dying, she dips and leaves behind ninja society, which has taken everything from her (including wiping out her clan)
because Tsunade is also one of the most legendary/strongest ninja alive, no one could really stop her or chain her down. It takes the conviction of a child who wants her to save the village and heal his friends to get her back to Konoha, despite the all the trauma she's endured
she's a medic with a fear of blood that overcomes that to fight her own teammate and beat his ass so Orochimaru stops killing and maiming people
she steps up to be a leader because it's what the new generation need and someone has to fix all the stuff broken by her selfish teammates and old teacher
the strongest female character both in physical strength and the strength of her writing. It's like she was written first as a character versus most of the other female characters being written first as Girl and Love Interest
Tsunade is vain and a chronic gambler and drunk, she is really brash and abrasive, she is traumatized. But she's also deeply caring, an incredibly accomplished woman, one of the smartest people/medics in the world, and a great leader
she's multi-layered. She is a woman, but her entire character isn't just Woman
finally finished the job on Jiraiya on previous poll
strong arms
she is strong and smart and quick as a whip but still soft and caring when it comes to her loved ones. Characters with rough exteriors who are mushy inside are very good
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iamafanofcartoons · 1 year
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We need to address how media, and media critics, portray female characters poorly. What can be done about it? What are examples of media works that portray complex female characters well? What are writing tips for people trying to write complex female characters? Why do media critics hate on women?
Its just something I noticed.
Male writers drop the ball with female characters all the time. They'll give the men all the good lines but women get weak roles and no sense of humor. When we complain they then make a female character who has too many boyfriends and too much ego and too much power but no resourcefulness, or she's super powerful but still needs a man to save her, and of course they make her complain about everything and fight with everyone who helps her. I could go on and on.
A lot of people are incapable of viewing female characters as anything other than an innocent saint or a portrait of pure evil. Arguably the best characters are morally ambiguous ones who live in the gray area between good and evil, but women are much less often afforded that distinction than their male counterparts.
I'm been having a huge problem connecting to media. The only women around are very young or very old and their main defining feature is usually motherhood. If a woman my age exists who isn't a mom she's usually either obsessed with men or desperate to have a baby (or will be once the right dude comes along).
Fanfiction has great female characters , but you keep running into people who will only write a complex woman who's tied to a male main character.
Michael Burnham from Star Trek: Discovery . POC Female Protagonist. You probably have heard or seen a lot of hatred against.
Korra from The Legend Of Korra. Sequel Series to ATLA. POC Female Protagonist. Despite losing fights and suffering extreme trauma and making mistakes, critics passionately bash the show, calling her a Mary-Sue, and accusing the show of being Protagonist-Centered Morality.
A lot of the time if there is a military high ranking female character or just female leader that is masculine or butch she will be the villain to be defeated by the traditionally feminine or at least more feminine heroine/love interest of the hero. I hate this because it basically implies that a woman can only be good if she’s conventionally attractive or a love interest. It’s saying being butch is bad/evil.
Even movies trying to be feminist, like “Contact” which I had to watch for homework? With Jodie Foster from the 1990s told the brilliant, focused woman scientist to not be so “confrontational” (as two male characters stole credit for her work right after they stole her funding) and to be happy with “small moves.” They continued to pat her on the head and tell her to be quiet through the whole movie. The one time she even spoke to another woman was to ask where she could find a really pretty dress. This was supposed to show growth in her character arc.
If I recall correctly, one of the playable characters in the next release of the grand theft auto series is gonna be a women. People online were flipping out over this saying they are being too "woke", among other things. Its funny to me because there has been 5 gta games with only male protagonists, and now there's 1 female in it and suddenly its a problem. Its like these people think there are only 2 genders in games, male and woke.
Heck, people love basic trope laden protagonists..... until they are women.
People love unreasonably over powered characters that are loved or feared in equal measure by the entire cast..... until its a woman.
Then all of a sudden, she's a Mary-Sue and the show/game/book is "Protagonist-Centered Morality"
Some characters who are torn apart for their initial naïveté like Sansa Stark or Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon) are immediately written off as stupid girl characters. Never mind that one becomes a political powerhouse and the other routinely saves the world. People just write their characters off as too “girly” or “annoying” before they even have the chance to redeem themselves in their stories.
Feels like at it's core, people don't like women trying to build self confidence and play out power fantasies. The only difference with the original Mary Sue was that she was imagining being liked by everyone, which was every woman's dream back then and to a certain extent, now. The power was being well liked, and that made her annoyingly boring because there was no struggle for her. Men think struggle is needed, even in fantasies and dreams, but it isn't.
The term Mary-Sue gained a new popularity by shaming female characters (such as Rey, Galadriel, Captain Marvel,…). I am not saying the term is not used towards male characters as well, but it is more rare, and it is rarely as violent as when it is used to characterize a female character.
More importantly it is used against female characters unevenly compared to male characters, its accepted as a genre trope for a male character to be extremely capable or to acrue experience and ability rapidly throughout the narrative. But when it's a woman suddenly "realism" must apply, a real person doesn't simply gain strength and talent through endless perfectly leveled hardship. In simpler terms, Batman can launch a thug across the room with a single punch and it's awesome, Black Widow, however, is breaking the laws of physics when she does her famous around the neck takedown.
Neither are realistic, arguably any grown man launching another grown man bodily through the air with a casual punch is less realistic than a woman pulling off a skilled takedown, but the unequal application of standards says all that needs to be said about the critic.
Writing a "mary sue" to be male often results in a praised character that people don't really worry about. Like Goku or Kirito. People are fine with it. Enjoy it. And there's massive amounts of rather popular fanfiction taking random male characters in series and sue-ifying them, making them the protagonist over the actual main characters, and slapping in poorly developed romance arcs. It's "mary sue" 101, but hardly anyone talks about them in that light.
Meanwhile a woman shows a level of competence similar to another character in the same series (e.g. Rey to Luke or Anakin) and the accusations are everywhere.
Calling these characters one-dimensional is one of the dog-whistles of the modern [whatever]-gate colony creature.
They know that they'll get savaged if they come out and say they're mad because this character is a woman, so they couch everything in these subjective terms. She's one-dimensional. She's flat. She's badly written. She's a mary sue. I just couldn't relate to her.
You can argue with them, you can point out that, say, in Star Wars, that Rey's ability to handle weapons intentionally established in the early scenes of TFA, that we see the setup for the skills she's going to display later in the movie/series, and that her first win is against a badly wounded Sith apprentice. By contrast, Luke successfully fights his way through a huge space station against professional soldiers, then hops into a starfighter he's never flown before, outflies a bunch of experienced pilots, and pulls off a physically impossible shot to save the day.
But sure. Rey is the one who strains credulity.
You can point all that out, but none of it matters. They're not arguing in good faith. They're just mad that there's a girl, and know better than to say that out loud.
He pulls off the shot because he has a throwaway line about murdering animals the size of a camel for fun in his civilian craft that just so happens to have controls similar to the military superiority fighter because they were manufactured by the same company. Because that doesn't strain credibility. Also guess which parts were filled in later by novel writers who were like, "holy **** that makes no sense at all"
Sailor Moon and Sansa Stark are two female characters that start out as whiney cry-baby girlie girls who evolve into political powerhouses and heroes in their own right. But most people write their characters off immediately, because they’re disgusted by their girlish-ness.
While our media gives male characters a chance to grow, female characters are generally written off unless they either show masculine traits, or are used for fan service. It’s why women in movies and TV are usually a kickass tomboy or a girlfriend character.
So anyway, I guess my point is that there are amazing kickass women characters who are well-written and evolve and grow, but their growth tends to be written off as frivolous and not as cool as their dude counterparts.
Imagine an anime where the woman is the main character and she's strong, smart, and not sexualized ?
How about Guardian of the Spirit (seirei no moribito in Japanese)? The MC is a mercenary woman who fights with a spear. She's a complex character, maybe somewhat emotionally stunted because of growing up on the road. She meets a wonderful, compassionate male healer and I love how they break stereotypical gender roles. There's also a complete badass old lady with magical powers and a temper. One of my favourite characters in any genre.
But I'd like to add SuleMio to the list.
Some people did not like that Gundam had its first female protagonist last year, or that she's engaged to another girl, or that they have a romantic moment where Miorine makes Suletta "promise to be with me forever".
It's my first Gundam show and I was nowhere near the fandom, but even I heard the howls of rage from the otakus over that show while it was airing.
“ I highly recommend reading Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. Strong female main character with a supportive cast of male characters. His Skyward series is also good for this.  Sanderson is great but there are some female fantasy writers that do this even better IMO. NK Jemisin has tons of great female characters. Tamsyn Muir’s Locked Tomb series has a majority female cast and I’d say 4 or 5 of them are in the top ten most interesting and complex female characters I’ve read. “
You heard of The Bechdel test: Two women have to talk about something other than a man. There is no time window. It came up in a 1985 comic Dykes To Watch Out For and although it is not a great indicator of more feminist content, it's a wonder much media fails to pass that test.
Have you seen
Arcane? That is a wild crazy masterpiece with awesomely complex awesome characters. It's animated, yeah, so what? But I mean, to say "it's animated" is a heavy  understatement. Have you seen Jinx? Have you seen her portrayal of psychosis and godknows what else was happening in her head? No one in history came even close to that.
Queen's Gambit? Anya Taylor-Joy brought Beth Harmon flawlessly through immense complexity of the character
Mare of Easttown - Kate Winslet there is, I kid you not, the best acting I have ever seen. Her character is going through complex situations and emotions and learning to deal with her human side. Bryan Cranston raised the bar ridiculously high with Walter White, but Kate Winslet pushed it further up, set explosives on it, and walked away like a badass without looking at the explosion. No one is topping that anytime soon.
I'm sure there are more examples. But what I love about these, and a big part of what makes them perfect is that they are their own characters and aren't defined by men around them. Their greatn
I wish female characters were given better in terms of development and characterization. Honestly, I feel like a lot of people hate female characters simply because most male dominated media does such a poor job of writing women, and those characters aren't given the same excuses as poorly written male characters.
Anyway, yeah, sorry for my rant. Having grown up on Anime, Harry Potter, Star Wars, you name it?
I later in life realized what was missing, what is needed, and really needed to hear other people's input on this stuff.
I never understood the need for every main character to be only a cishet white guy. I had already come up with several characters of my own, all of them LGBTQIA+, and half of them women, and several also POC. But my writing and art skills are poor so I can't visualize them properly...
We need more female authors, and we need to promote the ones that are out there more!
(there are plenty of really, really good female authors, in all genres, but often they get less attention, because, well, misogyny)
Edit: If you want an example of how the double-standard towards women and LGBT is applied? Go watch RWBY or Legend of Korra. Both involve a deconstruction of tropes. Both involve women standing up against an authority that demands respect based on being authority, not based on respect. Both shut down the white male savior trope so hard, that men and women who love the patriarchy despise both shows.
But of course, anything that Team RWBY or Korra does is immediately held to a double standard and ripped into for anything that they do NOT because they’re flawed or because of writing decisions. Its because they’re LGBT women that they’re held under a microscope. Or have you noticed that every fixit fanfic for both series involves defending the Patriarchy while supporting toxic masculinity and trying to revive the White Male Savior trope that both shows have tried so hard to bury six feet under?
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navarice · 1 year
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my dearest fellow mdzs stans, i really don't want to spoil anyone's fun but sometimes some things must be said. please do NOT mistake fanon characteristics for canon characteristics because by GOD is it frustrating to dissect a character when all anyone wants to do is blindly turn away from the very vivid and metastasizing flaws.
jiang cheng is an extremely complicated character, and that's why we love him. but by god, he is a jealous, self-victimizing asshole with a massive inferiority complex who likes to torture (probably) innocent look-a-likes of his (as far as he knew) dead adjacent family member. jesus christ this isn't some simple case of miscommunication (well it is but, you know no amount of communication will ever mend the giant chasm that developed between them. especially not with asians raised within the most classical case of asian parenting, i mean come on now) but a matter of deep and intense self-loathing developed since early childhood projecting violently outwards. let me be clear. he hates wei wuxian. he loathes him. he wants to kill him with his own hands again and again so some part of his convoluted sense of justice and superiority will be fulfilled. he's a classist, a bully, and abusive to everyone around him. ong at the end of mdzs, i was nearly crying tears of joy when jin guangyao flayed him flat on his ass bc that man needed to hear it. he needed to feel it. he needed to stop blaming others and blame himself.
and!! he's homophobic!! the entire cultivation world is, yes, but he's the only one we see give wei ying and lan zhan active shit for it!!
point is...his complexity makes him interesting. as a child, he was pretty alright tbh. he was understandably upset when three of his dogs got taken away and he saw his dad give a completely random kid such a gentle hug when jiang cheng never received one so far. he was a kid, and it was sad and helped the readers get a glimpse at the already dysfunctional family dynamics before wei ying came into the picture. as an adolescent/teen, yes he had a lot of unresolved rage and inferiority issues building up when he was constantly being compared to wei wuxian by his mother and not given enough reassurance from his father (once again, all present before wei ying...everyone just likes to dump the shit on him bc it's easier to point fingers at others than at yourself). perhaps he could have turned out differently if literally either of his parents stepped up and took accountability. however, after the burning of lotus pier? after the golden core transfer? after wei ying stuck around as his subordinate just as he promised, and protected jiang cheng like he promised, and defected just to save the yunmeng clan's reputation so jiang cheng doesn't have to put up with the other clan's shit, still continuing to keep his promise? after wei ying's death? idk abt y'all, but all bets are off bro.
mxtx makes it a point to make him so irredeemable. he's an exploration of what can go wrong if you let your traumas, self-hatred, and revenge fantasies blind you. he has the worst traits of his parents for a reason, directly contrasting with the other sibling, who is a perfect picture of eldest daughters born into a dysfunctional family. jiang yanli has the best traits of her parents (in terms of compassion and standing up for her family), but the family dynamics also made her the way she was. the responsible, the mediator, the occasional mother, stepping in where madam yu cannot.
there's just so much potential to hold him accountable buried under the pretense of misunderstandings and kinnie moments. he just had so many chances, more than any other character, to make a different choice. to actually look past his misgivings and unlearn the bad habits he used to protect himself as a child. i'm not saying he has to magically heal from all his traumas, but at the very least know not to be like his parents. but he wasn't written that way. because that is what happens when you give into your insecurities and generational trauma.
bottom line: jiang cheng is a fantastic archetype that needs to be explored in all his authenticity, including his moments of loyalty and cruelty.
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alicentsultana · 6 months
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When I used to be in uni, my psychology professor talked about identification, love and hate-
And I wonder, what does it mean to always be in the wrong team-
I always like the wrong and evil character, the anti-hero, always, like a plague, I don't care about the protagonist, they tend to be too much, naive, glorified, blind, coward - but not it's bad counterpart, no, this sad bad meow meow person is 10x better and complex, the good and bad, as every person is.
When we like them, it only means that we see and recognize the injustice they suffer, and more than that, we also know and accept their flaws, we accept and recognize their growth and loss of innocence.
I mean, Alicent? Little girl being hated because she is what women in her time are suppose to be? Obedient to her father's wishes, submissive, passive... but no, vilified as the friend who wanted (I'm cackling who would want to marry him, she wouldn't want to marry no dragon in fact, she clearly is terrified of them) to marry an old and sick man, the father of her best friend, forced to birth child after child as was expected of her because of course she wants to strip her once best friend from her title of heir, yes, it is written on her face. This girl wasn't having a day of peace ever - two children when she was seventeen*, four when she wasn't even near her thirties. A girl, sold, raped, judged and denied justice.
But her good counterpart? Oh, how glorious and modern of her to lie, throw tantrums and rage around, hide behind her weak father's judgements and run away from facing her problems and faults.
Don't even get me started on others... Like Hurrem.
A girl, enslaved, probably saw her family and people die before her eyes, sold from one palace to another, denied to practice her religious beliefs, denied her own language, letters, freedom. Condemn to serve.
But you see, look how pretty she became. Let's gift her to the sultan
Who knows the things they threatened her with, she was, before being a concubine, a slave, property of the sultan, not a woman, a thing.
The inferno she had to endure before having a son, before getting her freedom and a legal marriage.
But yes, she is evil, she wants to kill a child, the child of the woman she hates, a child that won't hesitate to kill her sons.
Because it is the fraticide law. Even her own children would kill each other the moment their father died.
Even to this day, Hurrem isn't remembered as a girl - who suffered and raise up to have the best life she could fight for - she is remembered as the evil mother, playing her children to be against their brother, the wolf among sheep.
Both of them, done dirty by the narrative. Two women called monsters, when they are but two humans, two women who suffered and had to reinvent themselves in order to survive and continue. I doubt it was completely for their own selves, but for those who depended on them.
I could go on and on about so many others, but I'll just talk about this two blorbos.
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delizbin · 2 months
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One thing that always amazed me about The Hunger Games is the central role Cinna had with the rebellion.
The books are written with Katniss POV so we got a blind sided narrator for the first two books
Katniss has no idea how rooted and deep the rebellion is and she trusts Cinna because, lets say it, in the Capitol he’s probably the only one that looks human enough to Katniss.
She trusts him because he was kind to her , and she felt understood by him and I love Cinna, he’s an awesome complex character because he’s a gray character.
From Katniss point of view he only had her best interest in mind but actually… he got the nation interest at heart (first and foremost, he died for it). Why? We got zero information about his beliefs, except that he really wanted for the world to be better, which is noble of him, and I do believe he got fond of Katniss right away but because he saw hope in her. He literally saw the spark (duh) for a fire that’s been potentially burning for years now.
Although he did use a 16 year old, lulling her into trusting him, for a purpose. He literally was the spark that sparked the revolution, Katniss was only the face of it, and always had been. He knew he was sacrificing the girl’s life for a greater good. No matter who or what her desires were never heard. He must have known that the moment he was planning the wedding-turning into a mockingjay dress what he was actively doing.
Katniss knew nothing about it. She suspected it but she was 17 at the time and had no clue how big the thing would turn out to be. She just wanted to save her family and Peeta that was it, she never wanted to be anything else.
People that organized the revolution forced it to her and that is already pretty tragic per se. And all her existential crisis and loosing herself into a title are really well portrayed into the third book. She was just a kid.
And that’s the thing about Cinna, he was a friend yes, but also so much more that Katniss never even considered.
He was the reason she spoke up during interviews, he was the reason she became the face of the revolution and he was the reason she fired the nation. But it was never “she”.
He believed in her but for what she represented first of all…
It is very interesting indeed, I hope more people talked about his character because he’s both a martyr for the nation and an executioner for Katniss’ mental health.
Like… he’s the example of sacrificing one for a greater good. Either it be a young girl or himself.
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penandinkprincess · 3 months
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Hi! What type of books do you like? And do you have recommendations?
i'm a big fantasy girl, and i also like historical fiction!
as far as recommendations, these are some of my favorites:
the bone houses by emily lloyd-jones: one of my favorite books of ALL TIME. an absolutely beautiful book set in a fantasy world that features a respectful and realistic portrayal of chronic pain, no love triangles, a GORGEOUS commentary on love and families, casual queer acceptance, and a zombie goat (bone goat, my beloved). PLEASE everyone read this book!!
howl's moving castle is the book i wrote my senior honors thesis paper on, and i still reread it pretty regularly! it's the kind of book that just gets better with each reread.
the bear and the nightingale series by katherine arden: i reread this series probably at least once a year. INCREDIBLE series. no love triangles, protagonist who comes to realize that there's lots of different types of strength including women who DO take traditional roles, some BOMB commentary on organized religion ("be careful, father, that God doesn't speak in a voice of your own making" lives in my head RENT FREE), really cool use of russian folklore, and a FANTASTIC example of writing a series that has a love interest in which the love interest is PART of a character's journey and not the sum total while still being beautiful and ship-able. also i'm a horsegirl at heart, and the relationship between the protag (vasya) and her horse (solovey) makes my heart so happy.
the lady sherlock series by sherry thomas: SHERRY THOMAS'S PORTRAYAL OF AUTISM, MY BELOVED. a fem!sherlock series set in victorian england with an autistic main character who is not infantalized, is intelligent and loved by other characters exactly as she is, and who gets a romance that is so well-written and again, not her primary plot. also TONS of casual queerness. lady sherlock series MY BELOVED. i read each book in this series AS SOON as it comes out.
garden spells by sarah addison allen: i'm from the south, and this book makes me feel so warm and fuzzy. it's modern age but with magic, and it's about the waverly family that has magic like hairstyling magic, food magic, and knowing what someone will need at some random point in the future. a GREAT book about family bonds and one of the best books that meshes modern era with magic that i've ever read. i've read this book at least five times.
fly by night by frances hardinge: this book is for a younger ya audience, but it's SO GOOD. i always have a weakness for found family, and the writing of this book is absolutely PERFECT. i LOVE this author's voice, and you will love every single character in this book. (especially saracen the attack goose). PLEASE everyone read this book. i'm about due for my twice annual reread.
tess of the road by rachel hartman: tw for sexual assault (not evident at first and not graphic but is present later in the narrative when she talks about what happened), but this book is BEAUTIFUL and made me cry in the BEST way. features a character going on a classic adventure quest who learns about herself and is given the opportunity to heal from what she's trying to run from. is FULL of gorgeous quotes that i just want to put all over my walls.
pretty much anything by lisa see: lisa see focuses on historical fiction in china and korea, and her books are full of wonderfully complex female characters. i can't speak to historical accuracy, though, so if someone can, please chime in! if i had to pick one, i think island of sea women is my favorite by her!
chitra banerjee divakaruni: she has been one of my favorite authors since high school. she focuses on historical fiction and fantasy in india and with characters who immigrate from india to america. i'm pretty sure i own every single one of her books, and i've reread her arranged marriages anthology and the mistress of spices repeatedly. she is SO great at world building, and i appreciate that she also covers "everyday" characters and treats them as just as important as characters from legends.
i've just recently gotten into kate quinn and have really enjoyed her so far! my favorite of hers from what i've read thus far has been the diamond eye, which is about mila pavlichenko, the deadliest female sniper in history. the huntress (about one of the "night witches" in wwii) is also good!
i'm also a big cultural anthropology focusing on food history nerd, and i LOVE laura shapiro's books as well as taste by kate coloquhoun (a history of britain told through its food). i also really liked greedy queen by annie grey, which is a biography of queen victoria told via food.
okay i'll stop now, but that's an overview of some of my absolute favorites!
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horsetailcurlers2 · 6 months
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do you have any headcanons about reginas upbringing with cora and/or her relationship with the king? i know it can be a sensitive topic on here but imo theres no way they both didnt abuse her in some way shape or form
yes i very much do and they are all objectively awful and sad. i’m a bit hesitant to answer for a couple of reasons. the first reason is that i definitely have an idea of what she went through in my head but to write it out is very different than to just have it in the back of my head when i think of or read anything about her character. the other reason is that my headcanons aren’t anything new. they’re all things lots of other people have thought or written about. however, i do have thoughts so i will try my best. TRIGGER WARNING for child abuse, marital rape, and mentions of eating disorders.
-cora was abusive. hands down, there is no ifs, ands, or buts. even from what they show in the show (it’s an ABC sunday night family show. when it comes to the especially dark topics, they are usually vague or just stick to heavily implying things), we see her manipulating and gaslighting her daughter, being extremely controlling and critical, and physically restraining her in aggressive and violent ways. i think cora was definitely physically abusive- she often used magic instead of her hands because she rarely wanted to mar regina’s beauty.
-i can see her doing things like restraining regina when she was very young if she ever “misbehaved”. i have an image in my mind of little regina being tied to a chair and forced to endure hours of etiquette lessons. cora probably would direct painful bursts of magic at her if she ever misstepped. she’s definitely struck regina before- probably mostly slaps. but she probably would heal the marks with magic (besides maybe the lip scar but i don’t have one solid headcanon about how she got that)
-regina definitely grew up hearing the philosophy that children should be “seen and not heard”. she rarely got to do anything childlike. maybe she was allowed to play with dolls or indulge in dress up games if cora was in a good enough mood to ignore her for the day, but cora probably started telling her she was too old for things like that when regina was around eight or nine.
-regina was probably also very isolated as a child. she rarely socialized with other children outside of rigid balls and parties. she spent most of her days with private tutors or learning how to be a “proper lady”.
-image is extremely important to cora. the only thing cora truly valued about regina is her looks. this has resulted in an complex about her looks even in adulthood. the regina we see in the show is clearly a person who values her appearance. even as the evil queen, she presents a very carefully curated image to the world. if there is one thing that cora has beat into regina, it is that appearances matter. she rarely likes to be seen without makeup and she is very particular about her outfits.
-i also think this contributes to a complex about her intelligence. her mother was always belittling her and calling her a “stupid girl” and her so called husband never had any interest in hearing what she had to say about anything. this is part of why magic is so seductive to her- she can prove that she is more than just a pretty face. (i also have dragon queen headcanons about mal being one of the first people other than daniel to be interested in her intellect)
-i also believe that cora was probably cruel to regina about her darker complexion and would make her wear light makeup and powders and avoid staying out in the sun for too long. same thing with her hair- she taught regina to dislike her natural curls. she always had to iron them out straighter or reshape them into more “perfect delicate ringlets” (like snow’s hair), or hide them with braids. this all feeds into a fucked up whitewashing thing cora definitely perpetuated.
-and her body. especially as she got older, cora was very strict about what regina’s body was supposed to look like. she was supposed to be beautiful and desireable to male suitors, which in cora’s mind= thin. cora would control what regina ate on a daily basis and essentially had her on a starvation diet. i definitely headcanon regina as having issues with eating just based on a few comments she makes in the show and one line in “regina rising”. even as an adult, regina can still hear cora’s voice in her head when she eats or looks at her body in the mirror. to cora, regina’s body has always been a commodity and it has to be maintained like one. this is a very very hard mentality for regina to shake.
-i have very complicated feelings about henry senior. on one hand, he was the only loving presence in her life for a very long time. on the other hand, he was never strong enough to protect her- not from her mother’s abuse and not from being sold off to a fifty year old man. i think that although he was the thing she loved most, she also resented him a bit deep down. (side tangent: i think regina has a deep seated complex about single fathers because of this. like, look at her issues with jefferson, hansel and gretel’s dad, and owen/greg’s dad. it’s almost like she is punishing them all for not being able to protect their children). and he felt a lot of guilt about never intervening until it was too late and she was consumed by darkness- i think he was in a way resigned to his death. he didn’t fight that hard against her killing him because he felt like he was finally making a sacrifice for her happiness or he was paying some sort of penance.
-the king. ughhhhhhh. okay i have made a few posts before about how creepy king leopold is but let’s just state it very plainly: that man raped her. what business does that man have marrying an 18 year old stranger? she looked visibly distressed when he proposed. there is no way he thought she was super into it. “snow needs a mother”?????? one that is barely eight years older than her?? when she has a perfectly good nanny taking care of her. no, that man has a thing for young girls (just look at eva in those flashbacks) and he wanted a beautiful young wife to warm his bed.
-this is horrible and dark, but i believe regina’s wedding night was her first sexual experience. as much as i would have liked daniel to be her first time, there’s almost no way she would have gotten away with it when cora kept her on such a tight leash.
-he treated her like an ornament. he dressed her up and paraded her out to balls and parties only to ignore her all night and dote on his daughter. if cora treated her like a commodity, then leopold treated her like a doll. something to entertain snow during the day and to entertain him at night.
-snow of course was ignorant to all of this darkness until many years later. she thought she had a very happy childhood with her father and stepmother. this is part of why she has such a hard time reconciling her kind and loving stepmother with the cruel and evil woman who wants her dead.
-regina learns early on not to refuse him. that it is easier and less humiliating if she lets him have his way. i can’t even describe how awful and traumatic i think her wedding night was.
-i really don’t know if he would have been physically abusive in other ways. i think he had an inflated ego and probably bought into all the people calling him a “kind king”. he thought that he had a right to her body and she was the one out of line for not happily obeying him. but i wouldn’t be surprised if he got physical with her in other ways, considering the way he canonically locked her up in her room and read her diary.
-his is the one murder she will never regret.
-she likely had long lasting trauma surrounding sex. after the end of her marriage she is so consumed by her rage and thirst for revenge. she gorges herself on the freedom of finally having control over her own body for once in her life. this is a big part of why she goes so crazy as the evil queen.
-i personally think that regina never really thinks of her marriage in terms of what it was. like, she knows she hated it and leopold was awful and disgusting. but she never attributes the word “rape” to it al until many many years later. she still has it ingrained into her mind from her mother and her husband, that she was his wife and it was just her duty. she doesn’t even fathom that it’s possible for a husband to rape his wife. i think she eventually goes to therapy or one day she is watching something on tv and they talk about marital rape and something just shifts within her. suddenly she feels so vindicated. she can finally put a name to it. for years, she thought she was being dramatic and that rape was something that happened with strangers and not within a marriage bed. it is both terrifying and incredibly cathartic to finally name what she went through.
ugh i’m sorry to end on such a sad note. regina has gone through way too much (obviously this doesn’t absolve her of all the evil she has done, but it definitely explains a lot of it and nobody should have had to go through all that).
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thefirstknife · 9 months
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Apparently there was a roundtable with a senior narrative head at bungie about destiny
where he stated "don't expect to be allies with the hive. or even Savathun"
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which to me seems like a weird choice to say right after deeps ending?
That's interesting. Honestly, valid comment to me. Here's the link to the article itself! The dev that made the comments is Robert Brookes. One extra quote that isn't in the tweet (goes in between the two in the tweet):
“It’s gonna be really hard to walk that back from anyone’s perspective. Even if that ever became a possibility, there’s a lot of ground to cover to make amends for that.”
We often forget about that, because obviously everyone deserves a second chance, especially in a situation where the Hive were literally manipulated into becoming what they did, but at the end of the day, their gruesome conquests that wiped out thousands of civilisations is not something that everyone can or has to forgive.
People are really eager to forgive Savathun, completely, which was always weird to me in a fandom that has gone ballistic over infinitely smaller crimes. And I get it, Savathun is an incredibly compelling character, fantastically written, absolute banger of VA work. She's such a crucial element in the whole setting of Destiny and is fascinating to read about her. 100% one of the best characters in the entire franchise, intriguing and complex beyond pretty much anyone else.
But the characters within the story itself can't view her in this way or it would be immersion breaking. To them, Savathun isn't a character that's well written, she's a monster who is responsible for some of the most horrific things across time and space. I can definitely see any alliance with her to be temporary, out of necessity and not exactly on good terms. I would love for us to eventually get together with the Hive and join forces against those that are responsible for their course in life, but I think it's definitely something that, within the universe in-character, is not something entirely realistic and would be difficult to justify.
Definitely an odd thing to say now though. Maybe it's telling us to temper our expectations next season? We need Savathun's knowledge, but I don't see us being besties with her in any capacity. I'm not sure what people expect from a season where we rez Savathun; there's probably a lot of people who expect a Caiatl situation.
Realistically, it might be an uneasy cooperation that will be very limited and possibly exploited by Savathun to get out at the end. Right now she's dead and she can't do anything and for as long as we keep her, we're safe. But now that we need her... We have no choice. We have to get her out and once she's out, she will not be bound by anything to obey us. It's a very risky move, one that we're looking at out of desperation, and the risks were nicely laid out by Saladin, Saint and Zavala in their conversation. That bit is definitely priming us to expect some heavy resistance to help from Savathun from various characters and this comment might be as well.
I can't wait for the next season's story though! Savathun talking to us again, in any capacity, is something I've been waiting for eagerly since the end of WQ. I don't doubt for a second that the conversations she'll have will be full of some heavy stuff and that she will not play nice with us and that she (and Immaru) will make most of the situation where we're desperate for her help. She will probably also genuinely want to get her revenge to the Witness, but not necessarily as our sidekick. I think that continuing with the animosity between her and us adds an extra layer of depth to the whole story with her and the Hive.
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margaretkart · 4 months
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I'm probably biased, and I'm not sure if he's done anything objectively worse than other characters in Greek mythology, but I low-key hate Odysseus. I don't think he's a particularly good king either, correct me if I'm wrong. Like, beating up peasants and telling them "no one wants you here" is *obviously* gonna make them stay, what do you mean??? :-[
Being an elitist, ungrateful piece of shit? Totally effective.
Killing most of your female slaves? Totally cool!
Honestly, fuck that guy.
I know there was an historical context and everything. Sadly, I don't think it's gonna make me like him better. Fact VS Opinion and all that. The advantage of Greek mythology is that we can choose to love or hate characters beyond their morals, and most of them have skeletons in their closet to acknowledge anyway.
IDK, some people hate Clytemnestra because she did terrible things. While I don't think her crimes make her a "badass feminist girlboss", I'm not sure if people have more reasons to hate *her* specifically than any other morally corrupt character. We can all have our leanings and preferences, you know?
Hate is a strong word but your opinions are valid. I never hated or disliked any character in the Greek myths possibly because I first read them pretty young and was always thinking that these people could have done better, could behave better but alas they wouldn't be called tragedies, but never hated any character.
For me Odysseus is a great example of complex protagonist because he isn't the typical hero many are used to nowadays. He loves his wife and son, is smart, brave, loyal, cunning, courageous, but also he's arrogant, mischievous and even rude. He doesn't recognise his own faults and often made mistakes that had consequences to him and his crew.
Also another thing is how war makes people lose all ethics and morals. Both sides committed terrible things to win and imagine this happening for a decade. Of course even Odysseus would act like this if he could get back to Ithace sooner. That's another flaw, his self-centred trait.
However he's a great well written character because he's so flawed and that's so fascinating reading his story and seeing how far he would go to reach his goal.
I also never hated Clytemnestra (for some people who misread some of my posts). You read her story and understand her pain. They show the complexity of human nature. You understand why Clytemnestra (since she's very being brought up) is angry at Agamemnon, what mother rightfully wouldn't. But then she changed for the worse. She became bitter, cold and indifferent to her children because she was more focused on her revenge.
You also understand Agamemnon, how devastated he was and conflicted on having to sacrifice his daughter for a war. How many sacrifices and crimes he committed to Trojan war because war strips humanity of people. He tried to do his best with the weight of commanding on his shoulders. He then fell in love with Cassandra and after years he felt happy and tried to let go of his past.
The story of her is how revenge only brings misery and pain, and ruins everything. Had she let go of her hate, everything would be better but that's not how it went and that's why it's called tragedy.
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crossedwithblue · 1 year
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You're a Mansfield Park fan?
Yes!
IDK if you intended it as such but I am going to take this as a license to ramble about MP on main.
I think the thing about MP is that people (especially people who aren't as quite intense about JA than I am lmao, or who have only read P&P before) often come to it expecting a light-bright-and-sparkling romance like P&P, and are surprised when that isn't the case. Hell, I felt like that too on the first read, because the pop-culture perception of JA is that she was a romance writer first and foremost - but the romantic happy-ever-after is shoehorned into a few paragraphs on the last page or two, and not even shown on the page. MP isn't a romance novel at all - I have minimal English lit knowledge outside of JA, but I'd class it as more of a bildungsroman, maybe? Or a predecessor to those modern Literary Novels all about objectively nasty people being nasty to each other? (More on this in a min) I would very much welcome corrections from people who do know what they're talking about, though!
To me, JA isn't actually a romance writer most of the time. She wrote really good romances because she was really good at characterisation and at understanding and describing how personalities interact to form relationships, and romance is just one type of relationship. It's just the one that pop culture tends to focus on when it comes to JA (I mostly blame Georgette Heyer but of course there's an essay to be written on that too). The only JA novels I'd describe as true romances are P&P, of course, and Persuasion - the rest have romance as just one among many other dynamics as a supporting or side plot, or a tool to reveal characterisation, rather than being the main focus.
Fanny is also a very passive narrator who tends to be acted upon rather than acting herself, which tends to irritate people, but MUCH more on that in a minute.
I think MP is in some ways sort of... cruel. It's certainly the most openly incisive and potentially upsetting, with depictions of complex abusive/toxic family dynamics that could probably come straight out of a domestic/familial abuse/neglect resource. The point where I started to enjoy MP was when someone told me to embrace the schadenfreude - everyone besides Fanny and Edmund (possibly - both points very much up for debate, but they are at least trying their best in the middle of a family that doesn't give a fuck, really) is either an actively terrible person or at least a pretty bad enabler. That did help me find the humour in it, but personally I certainly find it a bit hard to read at times, especially the Mrs Norris scenes. It's not usually my first choice when I want to be cheered up.
This also tends to surprise people, I think, because the pop-culture image of JA, (probably in large part due to her Victorian relatives wanting to protect her posthumous image) is of a twinkly, proper, sweet-natured spinster lady.
Which she was not. Anyone who's seen extracts of her surviving letters knows that she had a biting, frequently uncharitable sense of humour (miscarriage jokes aren't a great look, Jane!) - and we know Cassandra destroyed the really juicy stuff, so that's got to be the tip of the iceberg. This is certainly apparent in all of her books, but can be ignored much of the time - but not in MP, where uncharitable descriptions of awful people are pretty much the core of the book.
Finally, we come to Fanny, the extremely divisive heroine (not least because of that name lol). Personally I tend to imprint on pathetic small girls who need looking after, but Fanny is a massive turnoff (lolol) for many people. I think that's just a personal thing but I enjoy the effect of her frequently becoming another layer through which the narrative filters - JA was a master of free indirect speech, of course, often with deliberate ambiguity about whose POV is being reported - omniscient narrator or character or both in agreement - and if it's a character, then which one? Fanny usually says and does little, but observes very keenly and astutely, which interacts in a really interesting way with the narration.
Also, I'd just like to point out that Fanny is Like That because she is an abuse victim. She may not be the most compelling heroine for everyone, but she isn't going to "just stand up for herself". The one time she does, the Bertrams punish her for it pretty harshly by sending her back to an environment that they know will be bad for her physical health (!)
Bit of a tangent but I am also a huge fan of Jane Eyre and I think there are interesting parallels to be drawn between Fanny and Jane. Jane Eyre is a fiery, independent character who manages to get out of bad situations one way or another, mostly through sheer dumb luck (don't get me wrong I love my girl Jane but How did she leave that parcel on the coach...). If she'd stayed at Gateshead, I could see her gradually getting beaten down until she became a lot more like Fanny - because other than Jane's innate temper, they have quite a bit in common - they both do, when it comes down it, have a very strong sense of self (yes, even Fanny) and the ability to reject things that they know are morally wrong, no matter the potential cost.
That turned into a bit of a defense of MP because I usually hear people dissing it and so that's what I end up thinking about. Lots more to be said on the Crawfords and the Bertrams, of course.
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roguetwelve · 12 days
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1, 4 (for Borrowed Time), 12, 16, 21 (for If we can make it through December...), 23, 37, 42, 48, 50
1. What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?)
I’m going to assume that we’re staying in the realm of Chenford for this one. Probably A Hell of a View? It’s basically Lucy trying to keep her pregnancy hidden from Tim so that she can give him a special reveal, but she runs into every roadblock imaginable to her efforts. It kind of eases you into my fics without scaring you off with the heavy angst that I tend to veer towards. Also it’s just a sweet fic that I had a lot of fun with, and I’m proud of it (which isn’t something I say about a lot of fics)
4. What detail in [Borrowed Time] are you really proud of?
Right off of saying that I don’t say that I’m proud of a lot of fics haha.
Umm… I think there’s 2? I’m proud of the radio scene. I love the way that it turned out. And I’m also proud of the second last chapter. There was so much pressure when it came to trying to figure out a Chenford proposal in such an emotional fic, and I think I flip flopped on what I wanted to do for over a month. But I really like the way that it unfolded.
12. Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you?
Not really? I’m really not a trope person. I’m not a fan of fake-dating or enemies to lovers or anything like that (but I can be convinced to read it if it’s a writer that I really like).
I’d much rather stick to my creature comforts of hurt/comfort and angst with a happy ending
16. What’s an AU you would love to read (or have read and loved)?
Again, I’m really not a fan of AUs in the Chenford fandom (at least in the sense of like a Regency AU, or Soulmates AU, or even having them meet in different circumstances)
But I do like in universe AUs (is that an oxymoron?). Alternate endings to the Rosalind storyline are a particular fave.
21. If you wrote a “missing scene” in [If we can make it through December…], what would it be?
I don’t know if there is one. I jam packed that fic with way too many scenes as it is. Maybe having more of a scene between Jackson and Lucy. Either them talking about it a few days after the initial scene, or a parallel of the time Lucy crawled into bed behind Jackson and held him while he cried. I’d never actually written Jackson at all before this fic, and he’s a character that I think it would be interesting to explore more
23. What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to?
I don’t know, Sarah— You tell me 😂
37. Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it?
I don’t know if it’s much of a deep cut, but If we can make it through December… definitely didn’t get as much traction as I thought it would. Probably because it’s intimidatingly long for a oneshot, and it’s pretty melancholy for something that was entered in a Christmas event
But it you’re looking for a fic exploring the complexities of Lucy returning to work post DOD, that dives into the trauma of it all, but also has a lot of lighthearted, heartwarming moments, go check it out!
42. Have you ever received a comment that particularly stood out to you for whatever reason?
I’ve mentioned it before, but ‘CALM DOWN SATAN’ will always top this list
Also all of the incredibly lovely long comments I’ve received over the years. Any comment that finds a deeper meaning in my writing than even I realized was there blows my mind
48. What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?
I honestly don’t read a lot. Especially now with the insanity of my program, I feel guilty when I’m reading non-textbooks
So the last fic I actually read was even in my worst lies (you saw the truth in me) by you, @queseraone And, yes. 1000% recommend to anyone else who has made it this far down in this post. Go read it. Right now.
50. Answer any question of your choice, or talk about anything you want to talk about!
Since I was super mean and made you compare a fic to a shoe… I’ll do it too. If Northern Skies was a shoe, it’d be what dancers call ‘warmup booties’. They’re basically insulated camping slippers that keep your feet toasty warm and have a spongy, cushioned sole. They’re comforting and wonderful, and I wish I could have slipped mine on in between pools when I visited the Nordic spa (like Tim and Lucy do in this fic 😉)
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The romance in radio silence
Okay, so I was eating and started thinking about the romance in radio silence and how well it's written.
So I've read a few books in my life and some of them have romance out of nowhere, which kind of swallowed the plot and made me lose interest in the book. I like romance, but if I'm reading something and I don't expect romance, I probably don't want it.
I was reading one book a few years ago where it turned into a romance out of nowhere and the characters had no and I mean no chemistry, what so ever and they just kissed and I ended up not reading the rest of the book because the romance ruined it for me.
It was following the main protaganist and it was written where we, the readers, could see what she was thinking, but she never thought about the other main character like that, they just suddenly kissed and BOOM romance!
It was a fantastic book, but I never read it to the end, since it just became annoying with the change of plot.
Now, let's talk about Radio silence.
In radio silence, Aled and Daniel's relationship is hidden for quite long and it does kind of come out of nowhere, but it's written in a way that doesn't swallow the whole plot. It's in the backround and it stays in the backround, since the book's point wasn't romance.
Daniel and Aled's relationship is quite relevant in the book and brings a lot to both characters, but neither of them as characters don't bring it up and it isn't brought up if it's not the point. Neither of them talk about them being in a relationship until much much later on and it isn't brought up as just a romance that doesn't really bring the plot anywhere.
And on top of that, they have pretty bad moments where they both fear the other is going to leave the other and it's not solved without any problems happening after, since people and relationship aren't simple, after all.
As Radio silence isn't from Aled's nor Daniel's pov, we don't hear about their thoughts for each other until they talk about it to Frances which is after Frances already found out about it. Even when Frances found out in the book, she didn't think about it for long enough to make it annoying. She saw the two kiss at Aled's birthday, but that didn't evolve into the two characters ending up as "the couple" of the book.
I know it's different to have the main characters be in love rather than a main character and a more "side" character, but I wanted to talk about this. But from that, we get to my second point;
The romance between Frances and Carys.
Radio silence is from Frances' pov and we hear her thoughts through out the book. Her having been in love with Carys was in her thoughts and we know that, so it didn't feel like it was sudden and came out of the wood work without any warning what so ever.
I wasn't expecting that to be a part of the book when I originally read it, but it didn't end up overshadowing the whole plot about Frances and Aled's friendship. Frances had feeling for Carys, it came as a surprise, but it didn't become the whole plot.
The feelings or lack their off is mentioned through out the book, but it never felt overwhelming or overpowering with the rest of the book, it was a crush on your best friend who ended up not reciprocating and the difficulty of feeling like your feelings are something you should feel guilty for.
It's complex and not something that gets resolved with just a kiss.
Frances kissed Carys, she didn't feel the same then ran away before they got it solved. Later on, Carys kisses Frances who doesn't feel the same anymore, but it's not thought of something that destroyed their relationship.
In conclusion, I love the way romance is written in radio silence and how it's shown in a very realistic light.
Radio silence's whole plot is about love, it's different forms and how it effects people and leaves a mark on them.
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lelanida · 2 months
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Why was Alef so fixated on getting rid of the other gods\their cults? If I understand the Pantheon lore correctly. Did Megabird know the other gods other than Angst?
That's a good question, actually.
Of course, the Megabird knew about other gods. They literally lived in her house. But I can't say that she was very close to them. The Pantheon feared her as a powerful cosmic entity that could bring you into non-existence with a flick of a wing. And Megan herself treated the gods like funny little animals (which most of them are lol). Translating the relationship of the Megabird and the pantheon into our language, it's like someone drew your oc, not to say that with much of talent, but it's still feels nice, isn't it? And Angst didn't care about the pantheon at all. It wasn't his area of influence.
The gods in my au are literally the same elders, only they don't have a physical body. They are in no way superior in strength to the elders and in some respects even inferior. They are also burdened with ordinary emotions and don't always do good things. In the situation of the Hidden Forest, the fact that Dryad died does not mean that she is good. Dryad was much older and more experienced than Teth, and in theory, it was she who should have taken the first step towards applying the two sides. Perhaps, after all, getting into non-existence is too strong a punishment for her, but I can not say that she suffered undeservedly. Her face was just begging to be punched. I hope she learns a good lesson from this if she can come back.
Alef is probably one of the most complex characters I've ever written. He is a being of light, the son and messenger of the Megabird, carrying her will. He was made for this purpose. That's what WE'RE ALL made for, if we're honest. In the beginning of his existence, Alef performed his function properly. After the overthrow of his first gods, Alef and Daleph set off on a grand journey through all the kingdoms in order to reunite the elders. But at some point, the family reunion campaign turned into a real crusade for the glory of the Megabird. By the way, Megabird herself was not informed about this. Let's face it, Alef is a bit of a narcissist and loves attention to himself. First, victory in the trials, then a warm welcome in the Daylight Prairie (which was just the main nest of worship for the goddess of light), triumph over the Dryad in the forest, all this fueled the ego of the young prince, and at some point he began to "do justice to the pantheon" for himself. Only he would never admit it, of course.
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Why didn't the Megabird stop him? Even better question. I used to say a long time ago that Alef is the best creation of a Megabird, her pride. Contrary to popular opinion, I do not believe that 'Bird manipulated the Alef in any way. He wasn't her puppet at all. The bird does not interfere in the lives of her children just SO much that I will soon start composing songs about it. I apologize in advance if my actions lead to the degradation of the Megabird image in the fandom.
Megabird was fascinated by literally any Alef's act and never hindered his rivalry with the pantheon. And then, as we know, it became pointless to try to reason with the king. We all know this story. Alef decided to get rid of the old gods in order to prove first of all to himself that he could do it. Ognivo, for example, did nothing wrong but was overthrown anyway. Just by inertia from others. Alef, the second most powerful being of light after Megabird, does not tolerate disobedience to his address. So when the prince set foot in the Valley for the first time, the days of the deity were already numbered.
This situation looks pretty clear in my head, but when I sit down to describe it, my brain turns to jelly. I hope this answer will satisfy you!
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minthe-lover · 2 years
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Demeter Design Analysis
I gotta admit... Demeter is 100% my favorite designs. It is very interesting and unique in the story. She is noticeably taller and having a lanky design that makes her stand out, that along with her hair colour which breaks the design choice of having more characters hair either be the same or a slightly different shade to their skin. While the green and purple can clash in some frames often it fits, kinda having her look like a flower, with her skin being the stem and hair being the flower.
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more details under the cut
Honestly, Demeter is one of the best characters that is sadly treated like shit. Being written off as headstrong, stupid, and overbearing. Of course Lore Olympus doesn't do the best to show that these are traits she actually possesses or even make them out to be bad qualities but still.
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Her designs make her look and feel like an actually mother, while showing very little signs of ageing her outfits and the way she holds herself actually makes her feel older. (main problem with heras design is that she doesn't fit these things)
She usually wears either fancy suits or long robes that really make her stand out and her choices in clothing are probably the most consistent between them all, each one setting an admitted tone and doing more then just looking pretty.
Her suits make her look professional and serious, and give her a strong element of how she is a professional businesswomen that has her own company.
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The robes gives her a much larger motherly vibe, as we often see her in them when around Persephone. Despite it not being framed as such, it really makes you connect the mortal realm to protection and comfort. Cause... I mean they do look really comfy.
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Lastly is her sleeping robe and others type of outfits add the complexity to her characters and show and present her unraveling side amazingly well.
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In the end I just feel like Demeter has one of the best designs and consistent outfit chooses. As alot of the characters have outfits that don't really fit the design or the feeling of the moment along with the fact... that I just fucking hate that the hair colour is the same as their skin. It just.. annoys me so much.
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roseadleyn · 10 months
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if u truly like diabolik lovers (according to ur fandom list anyways) then any diabolik lovers ocs that you like and/or love?? and do you have any dl ocs of your own?
OH MY GOD. i have another ask like this. should probably stop procrastinating and answer all 87 of my asks but procrastination is life 😍‼️
btw this list is not in order at all‼️i love you all the same <333
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1. helen harrison, aurora, and lae'la by @/nutaella-kookie
laila isn't around on tumblr anymore (deactivated) but i actively stalk all blogs that contain helen posts. she's my favorite oc ever created and i genuinely love and fantasize about her all the timeeee
aurora is the BEST person in the demon world alongside devyn and gilbert. shut up. u don't get to argue because omg i love this woman
and lae'la... she's so objectively wrong but oh my heavens she looks good while she's at it. girlboss, love her.
2. keiichirou seong by @gingerall
okay but i am so in love with this man u do not understand!!! he's written well, he's drawn well, and he's so pretty 😭💞 yes he's a red flag but red is my favorite color so what are you going to do about it huh 🙄🙄
(@gingerall's art SLAYS btw. go check it out. i dare you. rn. )
3. devyn kang by @secretarykang
devyn is so beautiful???? so girlboss???? like, genuinely, this is the rare female oc who's a compelling female character who doesn't need to beat everyone up to be empowering and i just. hhhh ma'am i love u pleaseee
4. maya by @summercreolefanfictioner
BABIE!!! mentally traumatized, but babie!!! i found maya a while back and read her ENTIRE masterlist in one setting. istg i love her, she's so complex (in a good way!!) and deserves the world for putting up with kanato like she does
5. gilbert by @summercreolefanfictioner
SIR??? MY HAND IN MARRIAGE IS HERE??? literally simp over him as a hobby he's too well written and way too handsome for me to not do that okay??? and also he didn't need to die miss summer he deserves a happy ending with devyn!!!
6. cyra by @mariicake
is she single??? because i am (/j)
okay but like come on. this woman is so. wjsjd she makes me feel things she's so pretty and she slays literally every interaction with those mentally ill vampires and whatever else cooks in the dl abyss
7. asa, akemi and amaya by @crookedherringcolorclodthe2nd
(i'm unable to tag your original blog, my apologies!!)
my go to ocs if i need to laugh??? these girls. i absolutely adore their dynamic and the way they're written, a definite 10/10 for character building
8. malorie by @whitechocolatemochaasblog
MALORIE IS THE PRETTIEST NAME EVER OMG. also i just love how cute she is???? she's so baby, i love her with my whole entire heart and soul
9. makoto by @kirua9
poor girl </3 she just wants some love 😭 come here makoto i can treat u better than he ever could‼️
she's so hurt that it makes my heart ache
as for whether i have my own dl ocs... i have my own ocs, but not dl ones!! i'm considering putting my ocs in dl but i'll probably do it after i've organized this blog a little bit, you know???
currently, the ocs that are out are xander, raymond, roselyn, and caelia, and i'm working on emma (that's her old moodboard) rn <333 seven of my ocs have moodboards but i hated the mbs so i obviously had to remake them all; currently four have been remade, fifth is abt to be done‼️
lots of my mutuals have ocs but none of them are dl, so they weren't mentioned here. they slay nonetheless!!!
...and i've rambled way, way too much again, bye bye 😍
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