Anyone who thinks that Rhaenyra calling Helaena "my sweet sister" means anything positive about their relationship or about Rhaenyra's feelings for Heleana needs to go back and re-read the main series (or read it period, because trust me you will understand F&B a lot better with ASOIAF as context).

In ASOIAF "sweet sister" is that phrase is used disparagingly the vast majority of the time. A quick search reveals it is used 82 times, and the character who uses this phrase by far the most is Tyrion when speaking about Cersei (an example from ASOS Tyrion I):

There are also multiple examples of Jaime using it about Cersei too, especially when he's unhappy with her (a random example from AFFC Jaime V):

Other people also use it referring to Cersei, again sarcastically. "Your sweet sister did X." Which makes sense! Cersei is pretty notorious and people gripe about her to her brothers pretty often.

Beyond various people talking about Cersei, the top offender is Viserys, who uses it quite a bit when addressing Dany, usually with a bite of malice (AGOT Daenerys I):

Interestingly, Viserys later calls out to his "sweet sister" when he is begging for his life. I can't imagine that reminding her of all the times he threatened her with those same words helped his case very much.

There's one instance of Arya using it about Sansa when she is giving an insincere apology (AGOT Sansa III):

Here is Theon using it about Asha (ACOK Theon V):

Lysa also uses it about Cat, and her feelings about her "sweet sister" at this point are pretty negative (ASOS Sansa VII):

You get the picture. At the very best, it's used with a fond sort of sarcasm, at worst it's actively spiteful. You can count on one hand the number of times it is used sincerely in the whole entire series, and really there's only one instance, from Edmure to Cat, that I would read as 100% sincere without even a tiny hint of sarcasm. F&B doesn't have anyone's POV to indicate the tone with which Rhaenyra said those words, and although it's possible this might have been the second time in the whole of ASOIAF that we were meant to treat those words as unquestioningly sincere and loving, I think this is a bit like the discourse around "sharply questioned." Those words, in-world, tend to carry a connotation beyond their surface meaning. It would not be something reassuring to hear terms for surrender given using the phrase "sweet sister," and in fact, given that we have no other indication that Rhaenyra has any sort of relationship with her siblings whatsoever, Helaena would be entirely justified in interpreting her words as spiteful or sarcastic. After all, if you're using a quote from the book to speak to Rhaenyra's intentions, the character you're referring to is book!Rhaenyra, who is not shown to be an overly nice person. Even by the most charitable reading, we can safely assume that those words were included by Gyldayn in his history knowing that in-world readers would read them as insincere. They are not intended to portray Rhaenyra and Helaena's relationship in a positive light.

closed starter for @longiings​!

               “ you shouldn’t be here. “  

hello! i am a relatively new user here on tumblr, less than a year, and i have heard a comment or two about a 'wasp discourse' that happened here, that wasps are much more nice than bees or something among those lines

this caught my curiosity as im writting a wasp based character whos just an ahole as i did it on what i knew abt them from general internet and im stuck on wether i should maaayybe change them up a bit

if its not too much to ask do you happen to know a bit abt this discourse? or have a link to it? or if not to the discourse itself some other link that elaborates abt the same topic? perhaps even someone else i can ask this?

thank you very much!

to start off, there are a lot of bees and wasps in this world and it is not easy to generalize about them. there are ~20,000 bee species, and the vast majority of these are solitary bees that nest in the ground, plant stems, or in holes in wood, and because they produce no honey or have a colony to guard, have no need to be defensive or aggressive towards humans (because “towards humans” seems to be what most people base this idea off of). colonial bees, like honeybees, are actually much more defensive than solitary ones; they have huge food stores and many defenseless larvae, hence their nasty stings (or bites, for the stingless bees) and swarm defense of their hives.

bees, however, are just a family of wasps. their closest relatives are believed to be the crabronid wasps (example: cicada killers) and sphecid thread-waisted wasps (ex. mud daubers). these wasps, and most others, are also largely solitary, and hunting prey aside, don’t typically use their stings for anything other than personal defense. of the hundreds of thousands of wasps, most of them (75%) are not just solitary but also parasitoids that develop inside other insects. it’s hard to say “all wasps are assholes [to people]” when some 100,000 of them are tiny specks smaller than sesame seeds that nobody other than scientists notice.

two parasitoids: a braconid ~3mm long & something else ~0.3mm long

the wasps most people take issue with are vespids, since they like the same foods we do (sweets, meat) and have powerful stings to defend their nests. these include the social hornets, yellowjackets, and paper wasps, but many mason wasps and the like are solitary (and, you guessed it, want nothing to do with people). vespids are great predators of caterpillars, flies, and other pests that humans don’t like in addition to being pollinators.

a yellowjacket: Vespula squamosa

the usual anti-wasp, pro-bee sentiments go: wasps attack for no reason, don’t pollinate, don’t make honey, and are “assholes.” wasps do pollinate (most wasps, bees and ants don’t eat solid food, and therefore largely drink flower nectar; some plants are only pollinated by wasps).

some tropical wasps do actually make honey, though it’s not harvested by humans. it’s sort of silly to say that making honey is what makes bees “good” though—a very selfish mindset, and for example butterflies are well-liked by people despite not making any edible products for us.

wasps also attack only when provoked, either because you’re near a wasp nest or when you lean on one accidentally. they are defending their baby sisters and themselves, same as bees would. at least in the US, I think the reason that wasps are so hated is that we have many species of paper wasp and yellowjacket that are willing to nest on or under houses, while the (invasive) honeybees prefer trees or are kept by beekeepers in artificial hives, so it’s just more likely you’ll run into problems with wasps than bees.

tl;dr:

wasps and bees are neither “nice” nor “mean.”

bees are mostly loners that don’t bother people. colonial bees will sting to defend their nests or themselves from predators. most bees are pollinators, who gather pollen to feed their larvae. a few species make honey that humans harvest.

wasps are mostly loners that don’t bother people. colonial wasps will sting to defend their nests or themselves from predators. most wasps are pollinators, and most hunt or parasitize other insects to feed their larvae.

he's a child soldier. he's manipulative and extremely cunning. he's kind and sweet and takes on an older brother role to anyone younger than him. he took out several highly trained soldiers while severely malnourished and sleep deprived. he likes birds. he's made out of wood. his girlfriend controls plant life at will. he's bisexual. he was raised by a puritan. his eyebags have eyebags. he had a redemption arc because a bird was nice to him. he almost drowned his future sister in boiling water when they first met. he's on a sports team. he's a furry. he likes rip off star trek. he licked his nemesis' hand to freak her out. said nemesis became his little sister. he fought for his life in a wolf shirt. he used to be his dad's boss. he's a genius teen progidy. he fell down the stairs after asking if they were real. he thought he could teleport via the magic of friendship. both of his service animals have breakfast food names. he is extremely talented and intelligent. he may or may not have severe nerve damage. he almost drowned in his uncle's mind once and was saved by a piece of paper. there's so much adoption discourse around him. he fell in love with a girl who pulled him from the sky and terrified him and then asked him if he wanted to play sports with her. he's kidnapped almost all of his friends at some point. he has overwhelming anger issues. he loves his friends and animals. his dad/former employee taught him how to sew after being rude to him about how bad he was at it. he was possessed by his uncle because he cut himself sewing. his first introduction was jumping out of the sea. he has a hand motif. his very introduction foreshadowed him being a clone. he bonded with his little brother over giving the man who tried to kidnap them a complete and total mental breakdown. he wears crocks. I didn't say his name but you know EXACTLY who I'm talking about.

Editor’s note: This hypothetically open letter was originally posted by its anonymous author on Medium and was rapidly removed as “hate speech.” We found it to be a refreshing dose of honesty, a charming and relatable open letter from one parent to other parents (not to the child, obviously!) about dealing with a challenging and dangerous moment in raising children, especially “weird” adolescents who search for their identities harder than others and risk making life-damaging mistakes in a way never before possible. We are reposting it here on New Discourses with the permission of the author.

--

By: Donna M.

Published: Mar 5, 2021

My dear, sweet, son,

I’ve got to break it to you: you’re not trans, you’re just weird.

This seems like a cruel thing to point out right now. Clearly, you are struggling and feeling pretty awful about things. I can see that you are in a rough patch, and one of the first rules of parenting is to not pile on. The world is pretty heavy on your shoulders. You’re fifteen. There’s a pandemic going on. But here I come anyway. I’m about to throw more on you.

When you were two ­– a happy, chubby, little tyke in pull-ups, you watched the world with wary eyes behind the thumb in your mouth. You leapt with joy in the rhythm of the toddle music classes. You chattered and shared stories about your stuffed animals. You loved your little sister. Enjoyed cookies and finger painting. That was all pretty normal.

But you also started to count to one thousand on our walks. And you started to call out the store names as we drove around. And you preferred reading books rather than playing with the other two-year-olds at preschool. And you hated sitting in the circle when instructed. And you hated the feel of blue jeans. And you threw big tantrums when you lost any kind of game. In other words, you started to show signs that you were… weird.

The grandparents were the first to notice. They said gentle things like “You oughta keep an eye on that one,” and sent us links to Wall Street Journal articles about child prodigies. And then the other parents in the play groups started to comment; “He’s pretty intense, huh?” And the teachers were on to it pretty quickly. They started to use fancy terms like “asynchronous development.”

By third grade, we realized you were different, but we still didn’t realize you were weird. Truthfully, we’re used to people like you. Our family is full of engineers, artists, musicians, computer programmers, and a lot of “free-thinkers.” Family gatherings always have chess, political debates, and quartets around the piano. That’s just us.

And besides, you had a small but solid group of friends. There was Pokémon, then Minecraft, then Magic, then Dungeons and Dragons, then Catan. You were never in the center of things, but you weren’t alone.

But then, in middle school, things started to change. By 7th grade, school finally started to require some effort, and it turned out you were pretty disorganized. People kept calling you smart, but the teachers were annoyed at your humor, and frustrated that you wouldn’t or couldn’t follow the guidelines for assignments. Classmates didn’t appreciate your frank (if accurate) descriptions of their efforts. I’ll admit, we got pretty frustrated with you, too.

And then puberty arrived, with its triple curse of acne, braces, and bizarre growth. The girls appeared to have it all together (I know they don’t, but they do appear that way). And the popular boys seemed to know exactly what to do. They can talk sports to each other, they brag about their romantic exploits. They never get in trouble for stupid reasons like forgetting an assignment three times in a row. Your anxiety started to kick in, and it seemed like you got smaller. And some of your guy friends moved on.

So you drifted over to the weird-o crowd. Well — I’m not sure what you call yourselves, but that’s what we would have called you back when I was in school. At different schools these are the geeks, or the theater kids, the math team kids, or the artsy-fartsy kids. This used to be where the gay kids ended up, but I think they’re more dispersed now. You get some kids whose parents are going through some rough times. Some girls with anorexia. A few boys who are edgy and angry. Kids with a great sense of humor and big hearts.

And some of these kids are really passionate. Just full of righteous anger about the injustices of the world. And some of them are dramatic. And truthfully, that looks pretty attractive to you. Because you share some of that confusion and anger about the world. And though you may not be sure what you think or what you feel, you are certain you don’t want to be on the bad side. You certainly aren’t like those popular boys with their suave charm and dominating manners. You’re not like them at all.

You’re actually more like those vibrant girls who can speak for hours about their ideas. Well, you would be if you could find the words to speak. And there is something so fascinating about those girls, but you can’t quite put your finger on it. You’d never think about talking to those girls anyway, because that’d be weird. Because you are weird. You’ve never been good at chit-chat, or eye contact. Or girls. And besides, you wouldn’t want them to get the wrong impression. You understand that your peers are starting to date, but you really don’t see the point. Sex is still gross and weird to you. It’s better to just call yourself “asexual” or “pansexual.” It’s like a get-out-of-jail-free card that helps you avoid the whole mess. And your group of friends tell you that you are super cool and brave for being able to say that about yourself.

But you’ve fallen into a funk. Anyone can see that. But computer games help. And there’s always trying to beat the speed record for that one game you’re kinda good at. And that one guy on reddit always has good tricks. And the people on that message board seem to get your humor.

So when one of them posts a meme about trans rights, it makes sense that you’d check it out. You’re curious! You’re a free thinker! You’re not like the normies. And the web quiz hits home. You do feel discomfort with your body. You don’t like sports. You do wonder what it would be like to be a girl. You’ve always felt like something was different about you.

You’re right. There is something different about you.

But you’re not trans, you’re just weird.

So we’re right here for you. We’ll always be here for you. But those online folks who urge you to “crack your trans egg” and rush to hormones and surgeries don’t know you at all. They don’t know that gifted kids and ADHD kids and Autism kids and Asperger’s kids are slower to develop emotionally and sexually. They don’t know that sexuality takes time and experience to figure out, and that the majority of trans teens seeking medical treatment haven’t even masturbated or kissed someone yet. They don’t know that 80% of trans children end up becoming comfortable with their birth sex if you just give them time. They don’t know that there are increasing numbers of desisting and de-transitioning people in their twenties. They don’t realize that hormones permanently stunt your growth, decrease your IQ, and can cause sterility. They don’t know that these hormones are prescribed off-label and there’s no research on the long-term outcomes. They don’t even know that the most recent research shows that short-term outcomes are clearly worse.

They don’t realize that you’re weird. But I do. You’re weird, kiddo. You’ll figure that out in a year or two. But that’s okay. We are all weird. And I love you anyway. You’re going to be just fine.

==

You always hear stories and justifications like, "she never liked wearing a dress," or "he always hated having his hair cut." This is post-hoc confirmation bias. Not only does this confirm everything critics say about this being a movement based on gross stereotypes, but they always leave out things like, "she refused to eat anything yellow," and "he was obsessed with elevator and crossing buttons and would cry if he wasn't the one to light it up."

It's okay to be weird.

23Mar23

We’re feeling some internal friction At silver screen Louis’ depiction; All the world is a stage But it’s hard to engage When plot lines combine fact and fiction.

I get really rambly below the fold. Proceed with caution if you’re over the discourse already.

I debated seeing All of Those Voices in theaters. I didn’t see either of Harry’s films in theaters — Harries are too much of a wildcard, and I refused to sit through hours of squeals and gasps and reactions, not to the movie but to “omg! Harry’s going down on someone! omg, Harry’s bum!” So I was already tentative about seeing Louis’ film in a shared space, outside the protective silos of tumblr. But I bought a ticket, because I want to support him and because I was genuinely curious what story would be told. Then we got the trailer and I hesitated again, not wanting to watch a propaganda film. But, I’ve lived through all the other Bullshit moments, so I figured I could live through Bullshit on the big screen.

My theater crowd was great — pretty neutral aside from an amusing row of politely excitable Larries I was in secret solidarity with. And I pretty much loved the film. Well, 92% of it. I look forward to watching it again when it streams. I mean, it was an hour and a half of content featuring this fascinating creature we’re all obsessed with. I didn’t want to blink. I hung on his every word (when I could understand them). How cool to get, essentially, a long-form interview, where he’s not promoting an album and we’re not getting the same sound bytes. Louis is wonderfully open and vulnerable, and the story of his life (heh) is inherently compelling. The cinematography is beautiful. The behind-the-scenes are delightful and delicious. I can’t wait for the AOTV gif sets once we have it in high-def.

But it has some plot holes as wide and deep as the ones in Don’t Worry Darling.

First, there’s the confusing (to the uninformed) absence of a love interest. Louis is asexual, as far as the film goes. There’s not even a ghost of Eleanor, with whom he’s cumulatively spent a decade and who is supposed to have inspired so many great love songs and with whom he is supposed to have survived a pandemic. Props to E for living her best life now: going to see Scream on AOTV opening day, enjoying full custody of the pups, publicly supporting her assumed partner — sorry you got Kiki Layned from the film, but I’m guessing you weren’t even written into the script. (It’s not like the film was conveniently re-edited in the months since their break-up. Her stunt tapering was intentional.)

Then there’s the glaring absence of a baby mama (thank god; that family would have been even more insufferable). We’re cruising along for 45 minutes or so and then, wham, Dad!Louis enters the chat with a fully formed 6-year-old child. The kid just magically appears with no backstory — just like in real life ... twice (the first time with the pregnancy announcement and the second time with the revival of Dad!Louis after several years of dormancy, right in time for documentary filming. Just like Harry stunted with his co-star during filming and production, Louis stunted with his.)

The kid is cute, and faultless in this. The scenes are objectively sweet (as they were designed to be). But Louis, who normally keeps things very close to the vest, is all of a sudden an emotional spigot you can’t turn off when it comes to these scenes. It seems quite out of character. Which brings back to mind that this Louis *is* a character. The Freddie scenes just didn’t seem to have a point in the plot other than: Louis is a dad. And that role isn’t integral to the film’s story.

He’s incredibly emotional with Freddie, but the movie doesn’t tell us why. The storytelling gets lazy here. The lad/dad plot seems wedged in. The movie would be perfectly complete without it. I felt like it could have been integrated a few different ways: Louis experienced tragedy after tragedy after tragedy — loses 1D, loses his mum, loses his sister ... and then impending fatherhood either becomes another trial he must reluctantly face (in the surprise pregnancy narrative) or it helps him navigate the grief of losing his sole parent, his closest confidante. OR, Louis, not wanting to be like the absentee father he had, shows up for his own oopsie baby despite the unexpected circumstances. But there’s no exposition or rising action. No footage or photos from the first few years of the kid’s life that we haven’t already seen. Just an immaculate conception.

I think the most compelling narratives of the film are these:

Louis’ overcoming adversity after adversity after adversity. Holy hell. I lived through 1D ending, through the devastating news about Jay (god, I remember the shock and sadness of that day — it was incomprehensible), through the heartbreaking news about Fizzy, and then when you think Louis is gonna get his moment of victory with his first solo world tour, coronavirus pulls the rug out. (That sequence was well done: where we keep seeing the dates get closer and closer to March 2020, and we all know the villain that’s coming, but it’s still such a blow.) I lived through all that in real time, but seeing it in such a concentrated sequence really highlights the shit he’s been dealt, and hearing him open up about so much of it ... that’s the character development relevant to the film’s denouement. And getting to see Louis get what he deserves, finally, and hearing him acknowledge that he deserves it, was a lovely ending.

Louis’ journey to find his footing and his confidence as a solo artist after unfathomable success as part of a group. But, in a sort of plot twist, he’s not really solo, is he? The film gives a lovely introduction to his band now — and in their own words, reveals that they’re not just a backing band, they’re a *band* band. Louis has let them in. He’s forged a new brotherhood. *That*, for me, was the heartwarming story. I loved those scenes, loved seeing Louis in his element, which is in a collective, where he is both king and jester at the same time. (Or perhaps Oli’s the jester. Thank fuck for him, man. Oli is the standout. The breakthrough performance. The comic relief. I want a spinoff series.) It’s easy to miss 1D and glorify those short years and think nothing will ever top it, but Charlie’s storytelling of the LT Band is remarkable. We’re left looking forward, not back.

I know Louis’ dedication to his fans and his fans’ dedication to him is a huge focus, but I don’t really enjoy watching commentaries on fandoms I’m a part of. I’m living it. I don’t need outsider context. And in a fandom as fractured as Louis’ (and 1D’s) there’s not a universal experience. The film depicts dedication as sleeping on streets for rail, hopping from country to country and draining bank accounts — because that’s the kind of “superfandom” that gets easily turned into a marketable freak show. Show me the documentary on the fans who organize the light projects, who run the fashion accounts, who curate livestream sources on show nights, who have turned giffing into an art and science, who help promote Louis in the absence of a competent marketing team, etc., etc. I also thought the interview with the American(?) girls talking about LATAM shows was shortsighted. And showing the rainbow factions but not addressing them? What a missed opportunity to talk about songs like Only the Brave becoming a queer anthem. Straight artists can have gay fans, you know.

But the film doesn’t make the kid relevant to any of those storylines. He could have been worked into the first, but wasn’t. It was like a standalone narrative, with footage from a narrow set of days. I was at both those L.A. shows. The energy was so different from night 1 to 2. And in retrospect it’s clear Louis was performing the first night so Charlie could get the right shots. More like a choreographed play than a rock concert. It makes sense now why the Clarks weren’t in the VIP box with Freddie — couldn’t have them cluttering the frame or distracting the actors. Just, everything about the Freddie scenes is heavy-handed. Make a sign for your dad! Draw his logo in the sand! Fly a kite at sunset! He’s the spitting image of Louis! (Len does all the heavy lifting.) And all the maneuvering it had to take to get all those shots from the L.A. show?! In the VIP box from behind (and from the front, and when he just happens to be mouthing along to Two Of Us), side stage watching Louis end the show, on-stage watching Louis approach Freddie after the show, on-stage catching the moment Louis gives the lad a shout-out ... Charlie had a shot list. But sure, nothing was set up, it was totally organic.

I’m still unsettled by how heavily Charlie laid it on at the first premiere press conference — *he* was the one to bring up the kid, and was weirdly emphatic that nothing was staged, nothing was forced. It had the same energy of the “It’s. Not. Real” thrown baby doll moment, only it’s Charlie insisting that It. Is. Real. Thou dost protest too much, me thinks.

And of course, the lack of interaction between Louis and Harry remains, as ever, the biggest tell. We get poignant post-1D Nouis and Lilo moments in the film, but no Larry. We’re spoon-fed these Very Emotional Moments between father and son (“love you,” “Darling,” mouth kisses), when the real story, the real emotion, the real connection is in just a few seconds of furtive glances between Harry and Louis in the backstage footage of the last 1D performance. Christ, the way Harry’s eyes bore into Louis — chin tilted down, eyes glancing up from beneath a furrowed brow, lips tight, disguising his attentiveness with a hair flip ... they mastered so many forms of silent communication. The quiet call and response, the depths of love and care and concern and protection contained in micro-expressions. Fuck, give me 90 minutes of that. Just a silent film of Louis and Harry looking at each other.

Anyway. Sorry this sounds so grumpy. I did really love most of the movie. But I haven’t made sense of why this film was made. I don’t know its purpose. Maybe the introspection forced by the pandemic lockdown is to credit for this glut of music docs (“docs”) lately. Maybe nine minutes frees him up for nine more months or nine more years. I dunno. He obviously wanted this story told in this way.

Seeing a movie requires the willing suspension of disbelief. You have to ignore critical thinking in order to enjoy the story you’re being told. You tune out your knowledge that everything is fake for the sake of being entertained. We know that Superman can’t actually fly, but we still buy tickets to the cinema. But, a documentary shouldn’t require us to employ this semi-conscious perceiving mode. Yet here we are. I’m just not sure how much more or how much longer we can suspend our disbelief to enjoy fandom.

So never thought there would be Tav Discourse going around based off of the immense fandom around someone's random Tav but I know one thing: I'm tired of just seeing white ones.

I rarely see any Tav darker than medium light tan get massive amounts of love. Show me your dark-skinned Tav's folks! (Like I know mine isn't even as dark as the game can get you but I basically mean your nonwhite human/elf/half-elf Tavs. Let's get some damn diversity around here.)

This is Quora based on an old DnD character I had. A human Necromancer with a cursed eye due to her trying to resurrect her sister. Growing up a street urchin with just her sister by her side, she developed into a street-smart scholar of the Necrotic arts.

This is my second run with her. In the first run, she got with Astarion cuz a Necromancer and a Vampire is just cute to me. This run she's going for the human explosive himself Gale. And you know what, after years of being in rough environments and even excommunicated from her own group that took her in as a child (if y'all want that story let me know) she needs the sweetness Gale brings.

I've been thinking a lot about how fandom attitudes towards female characters shift, and how a lot of the outright hatred that was once prevalent now is replaced by "girlboss" "mom friend" "only braincell" type discourse... and also about the Hawthorne twins and what I see of them in fandom vs canon.

It's interesting to me that I see a lot of what feels like a fandom desire to rehabilitate Dahlia as a character from a feminist perspective, sometimes taken as a given that her canon material was bad, when ...tbqh I don't really feel that she needs it. If I think of characters wronged by their canon text, Dahlia wouldn't make the list. Even a surface-level reading of Dahlia is, imo, a compelling character, with clear motivations, consistent behaviour, agency. She's funny and memorable. You can dig deeper into speculation and headcanon territory with Dahlia (and I totally get the impulse, she's great and there's lots of potential there) but I don't think you need to do that to make her a solid character, I think she already is. I don't think she's any less complex than the other trilogy villains, and if anything she's a lot more complex already than someone like Engarde, and on par with Von Karma.

On the other hand, I think Iris got some paper-thin writing as "the good twin" and, let's be honest, a feeble attempt to set up a heterosexual romance for Phoenix which gets dropped in subsequent games anyway. There are interesting possible complexities to tease out of Iris, just as with Dahlia; Iris facilitates or participates in some pretty messed-up things, but Phoenix and the story are very forgiving, which just flattens her out further into Good Twin. I don't think the canon is very interested in Iris outside of her role as plot twist doppelganger and occasional blush sprite... and mostly it seems the fanon Iris gets in response is to quadruple down on those things. She's pure and kind and sweet, besties with Phoenix, their relationship is cast as something wholesome and innocent, despite the uh objective reality of it.

What about the Iris who helps her sister plan harebrained criminal schemes only to back out at last second, the Iris who fell in love with Feenie despite herself and yet continued to lie and place him in danger for eight months, who watched Dahlia get a death sentence without ever coming clean ... Those things are the aspects that would make her a multidimensional character, imo, but they're ignored and/or glossed over in the story and (what I've seen of) fandom. And I don't say this to mean that she's evil or irredeemable or something, she isn't -- just that the basic fact of her actions is a lot messier than is usually acknowledged, by canon or fanon. For the canon I think the reasons are obvious and not flattering; for fandom, I think the intentions are generally positive, trying to correct for the opposite end of the spectrum (and 20 years ago the attitude was probably quite different), but I still wish female characters were given more space to be complicated in ways that include being kind of fucked up actually.

Seeing a lot of "ugliest dragon" discourse on twitter and...

It just made me think of Alicent having dinner with her children. Aegon and Helaena (and Daeron) have already bonded with their dragons, little Aemond is the only one without. The atmosphere is surprisingly easygoing and they're having a pleasant evening. And then Aegon decides to ask his siblings and mother who they think the most beautiful and the ugliest dragon is. Alicent, sighing into her wine glass, knows her children will get into a heated argument. Aegon puffs up his chest and says that the most beautiful one is obviously his precious Sunfyre. Helaena who is just snacking on her sweets agrees with him (she thinks it's Dreamfyre but she knows Aegon loves his dragon very dearly and she doesn't want to hurt his feelings). Aemond, with his clear favoritism for his older sister, says it's Dreamfyre. Cue in indignant Aegon gasping like someone just offended his entire bloodline (it would be a lesser offence in his opinion).

When they all turn to look at Alicent refuses to get involved and says she can't pick favorites they're all beautiful. Aegon, the little menace he is, has to ask who she thinks is the ugliest one then and that he thinks, in his very humble opinion, it's Syrax. Alicent shakes her head, she has...fond memories of Syrax.

"Fine! ...Who do you think is the most powerful one then?" Aemond tells him it has to be Vhagar and Aegon calls her old and lazy, and now it's Aemond's turn to be offended — he read a lot about Vhagar he likes her, how dare Aegon say that?!? Aegon sees his face turning red, knows this is a perfect opportunity to mess with him so he says, again, it's obviously Sunfyre. Has Aemond foaming at the mouth trying to remain his mother's well behaved son all the while fighting with Aegon.

Ten thousand questions later, after they fought about things such as "Which dragon has the hottest fire?" "Which one's the laziest?" "Which one flies the fastest?" and so on, only Aemond is left sitting at the table, looking a bit sullen. Alicent sits on the chair next to him and strokes his hair, asks what's wrong. Aemond avoids her eyes, looking pointedly at the table. "I wouldn't care about my dragon's looks, I'd take a small one too, a lazy one, slow one.....I- I'd just be happy to have one at all."

TW: Discussions of incest within Warrior Cats.

I’m SO sorry if I unintentionally cause toxic drama and/or discourse within the fandom by making this confession. But-

I honestly dislike that they’re some parts of the wc fandom that (highly) excuse, and/or possibly even justify the amount and/or portrayal of INCEST within warrior cats.

They’re quite a couple bunch of relationships with incest in warrior cats, including:

Sparkpelt and Larksong: They are third cousins.

Heathertail and Breezepelt: They are second cousins

Lilyheart and Snowbush: They are first cousins and are foster siblings within the series.

Hawking and Pebbleshine: They are first cousins. Due to the fact that Cherrytail - Hawkwing’s mom - and Sparrowpelt - Pebbleshine’s father - are siblings, which is expressed to be true within the super edition Firestar’s Quest.

And Ivypool and Fernsong: They are second cousins.

This pairing feels quite a bit more irritating and/or icky to me, due to the fact that THE main prophecy within OoTs centers around the fact that Dovewing, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather being related to eachother within the series.

With Ivypool being SISTERS with Dovewing, and how that and Dovewing being within the prophecy MAJORLY affect Ivypool’s character and/or Arc, and with Lionblaze being Fernsong FATHER.

So the fact that they’re together despite the fact that they’re directly related to cats whose bloodline being connected is a rather major part of the center plot of the fourth arc…I suppose kind of adds a bit of salt to the wound.

They’re probably a few other incest relationships within the series as well, but I decided to chose these five relationships specifically, due to the fact they play a bit of a major part in the series and/or are that closely related to each other.

Of course, I do understand why people ship these cats together, regardless of their….close relations to one another.

I get why people ship Fernsong and Ivypool, because of how cute and/or wholesome it may be.

I get why people ship Sparkpelt and Larksong, due to them probably having a sweet relationship that has a rather tragic end, due to Larksong’s death.

I get why people ship Hawkwing and Pebbleshine, due to the fact that their relationship plays quite an important part within Hawkwing’s life in his super edition.

I get why people ship Breezepelt and Heathertail, due to the fact that they like their relationship in Crowfeather’s Trial.

And I get why people may ship Lilyheart and Snowbush, due to the fact that they’re background characters, so people may gave forgotten and/or not pay very much attention to them (and the fact that they’re related).

And I do understand that the Erins pairing cats who are related to each other is COMPLETELY (or at the very least, the majority of the time) unintentional on their part, especially since there’s a shitload of family trees within warrior cats that need to be tracked and/or looked at before making pairing characters together.

But while this is true, it does NOT excuse the fact that these characters, are, indeed, CANONICALLY related, regardless if the authors pairing cats that are RELATED to each other is intentional on their part or not.

I suppose if people do decide to ship these characters together within the series, they should NOT excuse and/or justify the fact that they’re related to each other, and acknowledge that their ship is, indeed, quite problematic because of the incest in it, regardless if it’s intentional by the authors or not.

Also, the authors probably unintentionally writing relationships with incest within the series does NOT excuse the fact that incest is indeed, a reoccurring and possibly even normalized icky and problematic part within Warrior Cats.

Some people may say:

“But they’re cats!”

These characters are mentally anthropomorphic characters within the series that having human thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and beliefs, as well as their own complex rankings, laws, structures, and religion. An author of the series literally called the characters something similar to “little furry humans with paws”.

Or say:

“But the characters don’t care about it.”

Or even:

“The number 1. part of the code encourages cats to NOT mate with cats of other clans, so technically all of them are related, so it’s ok!”

Um, no, it’s freaking NOT? The fact that these characters live in a society and/or with a code that probably results in the MAJORITY of the characters within the clans related to each other in some shape or form, makes the problem of incest within the series even WROSER.

Because of the fact that underneath the surface, this part and/or problem in the books results in the problem within the series to be quite NORMALIZED within the books, regardless if it’s unintentional by the authors or not.

If you write a series with multiple family trees, and want to pair certain characters together, you should make sure to put quality care and/or time check if they’re (closely) related to each other in any way before making them become lovers within the series.

Which is something that the authors unfortunately didn’t do, possibly because they’re, well…the Erins, who at times don’t put much care and/or research into certain things they’re writing within the series *cough*Shadowsight’s medical treatment of his seizures*cough*-

Or - more likely so - they weren’t physically and/or mentally able to keep track of the amount of family trees that they created and/or developed.

And while this does explain the problem of incest within the series, it does NOT excuse and/or justify it at all, whatsoever.

I’m SO sorry if it didn’t word this rant properly and that there’s some typos and/or spelling errors within this confession, this took me around hour or more to type into here.

I’m also sorry if I’m yapping too much about this and/or possibly maybe even making this problem look bigger than it actually is, this a something that’s been on my mind for a bit so I wanted to make a rant about it.

If people want to debate the information within this confession, please do your best to communicate about in a hopefully educational and/or civil manner.

I know that maybe hard for some people, considering the subject matter within this confession and there possibly being some toxicity within the fandom, but if you do debate about this confession in this manner, you’re message will probably be more heard or at least tolerated by people who maybe hesitant and/or critical of your point of view.

Thank you so much for taking your time to read this very long rant I made.

Sources from the Warrior Cats wiki:

Sparkpelt’s Family Tree. (Lilyheart and Snowbush, Sparkpelt’s second cousins, are Larksong’s parents): https://warriors.fandom.com/wiki/Sparkpelt/Family

Heathertail’s Wiki Page (See “Kin”): https://warriors.fandom.com/wiki/Heathertail?so=search

Snowbush’s Family Tree: https://warriors.fandom.com/wiki/Snowbush/Family

Hawkwing’s Family Tree: https://warriors.fandom.com/wiki/Hawkwing/Family

Ivypool’s Family Tree: https://warriors.fandom.com/wiki/Ivypool/Family

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Hi Liv! I was wondering if you have a rec list already where either Draco or Harry struggle with alcoholism? I have read maybe like one before, but I couldn't find it again. I've been sober for almost 4 years now, but things are super stressful and that makes me stupid sometimes. Idk, it just helps, reading about my favourite pair. Anyways, thank you if you have any that you might wanna rec, and if not, thank you anyways, I really enjoy your blog, I always find some great fics through your recs💞 Hope you have a lovely day!🫶✨

Hi anon! Congrats on being sober for almost 4 years, you’re doing great 💜 I’m sorry things have been hard lately, I hope the recs help. I’m very particular about addition in fic so I haven’t read much or often, but I do have some recs for you. Maybe my followers can share more?

again, for the first time by @aibidil (E, 14k)

Five times Draco lied about why he wasn't drinking, and one time he gave an honest answer. Or, a love letter to sobriety.

War Wounds by SilentAuror (E, 30k)

Some wounds take longer to recover from than others. HP/DM, with background HP/GW. Themes of alcoholism, love triangles, and dubious fidelity.

Dreaming Darkly by @quicksilvermaid (E, 39k)

It's five years after the war, and Harry is not okay. He hates his job. He hates Robards. He hates Ron's promotions and Hermione's concern. He chases oblivion in booze and weed and quick dirty fucks, but it's never enough.

Take A Chance On Me by @mintawasalreadytaken (E, 41k)

There's a DJ on RareFM with a secret. Or: the one with all the ABBA in it.

Polar Night/Midnight Sun by toomuchplor (E, 54k)

Harry travels to arctic Norway on the trail of dragon egg poachers, only to find he's been assigned to work alongside the only NorMagPol Auror north of sixty: one Draco Malfoy. It's been ten years since they crossed paths, and Malfoy isn't exactly what Harry expected or remembered. For one thing, he wears a lot more hand-knits?

Lemon Colour, Honey Glow by @thusspoketrish (E, 67k)

Over a series of unfortunate pub nights at the Leaky Cauldron, Draco Malfoy falls in love. A story about finding strength and forgiveness in unlikely places.

Unhook the Stars by jad (E, 70k)

Seventy-thousand words of pornographic discourse between two boys-turned-men that still haven't learned how to communicate like normal people – with words. Guest appearances by Pansy Parkinson, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger, Blaise Zabini, Teddy Lupin, Gregory Goyle, the Weird Sisters, ex-wives, several Weasleys, a Boggart, and a Honey Badger.

Nor All That Glisters by @sweet-s0rr0w (E, 110k)

Lonely and frustrated on house arrest, with no prospects for the future, Draco begins brewing Felix Felicis in an attempt to improve his lot. Just in the short term, of course. He isn’t a total idiot. But before long he finds himself with a thriving business, a nice flat, some actual (albeit irritatingly Gryffindor) friends, and a very satisfying sex life. What’s more, no-one is hexing him in the street. And Harry Potter is single, and gorgeous, and giving Draco decidedly interested looks.

Another Mask Behind You by lettered (E, 116k)

Draco is a high-end prostitute who hides his identity. Harry unknowingly hires him. And then there is porn, questions about identity, domestic bliss, more porn, and truth as seen through a web of lies.

Dwelling on Dreams by @the-sinking-ship (E, 135k)

Draco thought he could avoid Potter for the duration of his brief return to England. He’d stick to his schedule and be back home in Paris, where he belonged, in a few short months. No trouble at all. He had plenty to occupy him, what with the opening of the London branch of his successful apothecary, his innovative research, drinks with Pansy, a backlog of unread potions periodicals.

Number Seven by sara_holmes (M, 253k)

Harry already has small children, an ex-wife, annoying colleagues and an international crime ring to deal with. So when Draco Malfoy reappears after eight years AWOL in France, of course Harry is going to leave him well alone...Right?

Whatever You Want, Draco Malfoy by @dorthyanndrarry (E, WIP)

Draco lost his home and the only society he knew after the war. He ended up living in the muggle world, making new friends and new connections and maybe some sort of peace. Even if that peace was usually found at the bottom of a bottle. It was enough for him. He was content to just exist. Then Harry Potter decided to ruin everything.

Uh hi, hello there! Sorry to bother but you're the only person I can ask this since your username is named after the ship (that and I've seen your works around and seen you mentioned by countless artists/writers so to me, you're like a higher being in HK Community so by default, you have most answers)

So why's Grollow such a popular ship? I've seen like 10 fanarts of it passed by my dashboard every time I'm here. Can you tell me what's going on rn? Is an event going on with this ship? Was there a confirmation from Team Cherry these two had a thing? Is this HK people's way of coping while they wait for Silksong? All fanfic/arts of it is amazing, don't get me wrong but I've recently got into HK so I'm not sure if I like it yet nor even any ships at all in general besides canon plus that hc of Grimm and Radi being twins makes me confused on why Hollow would be with somebody who's sister tormented them for so long. Makes it so overwhelming, you know?

Sorry if this offends you in any way. I don't mean to do that. I just want to know what's been going on and why's it so popular is all. Again apologies for being rude if I am

Hi Anon!

Gotta admit, this is the first time someone’s ever called me a Higher Being in anything, hahaha. Especially since I’m not only not the origin of this ship (I got the username from my sweet friend @sundimus who let me have it) and I’m also relatively new to the fandom. I think I’m just very loudly outspoken. I don’t usually get into ship discourse, but this sounds like it’s coming from a place with good intentions, so I’ll reply to you with my genuine opinions!

So before I go into explaining why I like Grollow, I will preface with this answer: shipping is a highly subjective topic. In any fandom, bluntly. Sometimes people pick “I like these two because they have similar names” and sometimes people go “I like them because I think they’d be pretty together” etc. Shipping in every single fandom will always be based in large on people’s own personal headcanons and aesthetics. And for everyone who picks a ship not explicitly confirmed in canon, it’s for whatever reason they want, and for the most part I am very ‘ship and let ship’ while avoiding whatever I personally am not interested in.

(FTR, I also think this is an attitude most people should adopt. You don’t have to like what I like. I don’t have to like what you like. What you write or draw is absolutely none of my business. You like sparkle? Draw sparkle.)

Toward that end, I am not here to convince you to like Grollow, nor am I here to imply that disliking it is wrong. It is not a canon ship. There is nothing in canon to indicate that Grimm and Hollow have ever met. It’s not confirmed by Team Cherry, and I don’t think shipping is a ‘coping’ mechanism for waiting for Silksong. I think why people ship things vary anywhere from ‘they’d be cute’ to ‘I saw artwork I liked of them’ to ‘this particular fanfic’s dynamics made me love them.’ And that’s true for ANY non canon pairing! And all of them are valid reasons. Hell “I ship this because my friend does” is even valid. Shipping is such a subjective thing that people can and should do what makes them happy and stay in their own lane, really.

I’m a big fan of the old fandom term ‘YMMV’ (Your mileage may vary). There are some ships I really don’t like. There are some I straight up do not understand. And there are others, like Grollow, that I stand in the corner yelling from the rooftop about. As long as ship is tagged correctly, I am very “if you see something you don’t like but it was tagged, that’s on you. The blacklist exists for a reason.”

Sorry if this kinda sounds a little mean, I don’t intend it to. I just see a lot of people being shamed for liking pairings (And I have personally been shamed for liking Grollow – not by you, but there’s been a few anons I’ve ignored) and I don’t agree with, or support that. I want to make that clear.

So with all that out of the way, time to talk about my * favorites * ~

There are a LOT of reasons that I think Grimm and Hollow work. To start with the most superficial one: they are palette matches. Grimm’s color schemes are red and black, Hollow’s are pale blue and white. They complement each other very well. They also have similar movesets canonically. Ever seen the video from Fireb0rn of the mod where they’re fighting together in the Colosseum? Where their AI practically works together? It’s delightful. It’s undoubtedly unintentional by the developers, but it’s absolutely wonderful and gives me life.

From a lore reason, I will say that I have not, and will never, headcanoned Hollow as the type to blame Grimm for something that his sister (Bc I also subscribe to “they’re siblings your honor”) did. My personal headcanons aside for Hollow, blaming Grimm for the Radiance is something that seems wildly unfair – and since Hollow is a blorbo that is mostly a blank slate in canon, I say they’d never do that.

(I’d like to point out though – so many people ship them with moth OCs. The same argument could be made there. If they’d blame Grimm for Radi, why not her moths who are indirectly responsible for her never dying properly? The answer is because none of us want to believe Hollow is the type to hold a grudge over that against uninvolved people.)

Grimm is literally the antithesis to both the Radiance and to the Pale King in terms of what he stands for. They run from and fear death to varying degrees. Grimm embraces it. He welcomes it. From death he is reborn, and so instead of running from it, he runs towards it. He’s a Higher Being who directly involves himself with mortals instead of staying aloof. He uses a mortal vessel (just like the vessels were created to hold Radi, his own are created to hold him) but everything in canon suggests that, at the very least, this is an agreement, not forced. You CAN argue that he’s forcing Grimmchild into this ritual and that it’s bad – Brumm/the Banishment ending certainly implies that – but I’ve never subscribed to it because every other character’s dialogue disagrees with that. I’ve personally always took it to be ‘Grimmchild and Grimm 100% agree to this.’

In this regard: They are cinematic foils. Grimm, who dies to be reborn, a willing vessel for the Nightmare flame, who chooses this existence. Hollow, who cannot die despite trying, a ‘willing’ (if very heavily forced into it) vessel for the Radiance, who clearly does not want this existence and is doing it out of a sense of duty—to their father, to Hallownest, to whatever motivation you decide to chose for Hollow here.

Canon is very loosey-goosey in personalities. The beauty of environmental storytelling is that we can fill in a lot. And as the above: I’ve filled in that they are foils. That’s where my mind took it.

So how do these people who are veritable opposites meet, how can they become romantically attached?

I took one look at the Radiance and went ‘abusive.’ I have my own interpretations of her, but the easiest explanation without this becoming entirely about her is one of Grimm’s lines from my own fanfic: “Those with similar scars recognize them in others.” [1]

Abusers are people first and foremost. The Radiance, in my headcanons, is very abusive to everyone in her life. That includes Grimm. I do not see them as loving siblings, because her nature is very self-absorbed; she clearly, canonically, does not see other peoples emotions. Do I think she intended to hurt Grimm? Probably not. But I do believe that she was abusive, because someone who was willing to wipe out Hallownest to try and maintain control would not simply be that way overnight, and only at one specific enemy. People like that… they’re like that to everyone. It’s not an if they abuse you. It’s a when they do it.  

Starting to see where I’m going with this? I believe that the Radiance was cruel to Grimm – and that he’d see very similar traits to himself in Hollow.

I also believe that if you headcanon that Hollow can dream – before, after, during the imprisonment – there’s no way in hell they did not have Nightmares. The most common interpretation in fandom is after imprisonment with the belief that the seals would’ve kept Grimm out (a theory I subscribe to) but it’s clear that Hollow could dream when Radi was sealed within them. For this ship to work, most people say that they can continue to dream after. And nightmares would naturally bring them to Grimm’s realm. I personally subscribe to the belief that he would absolutely interfere to help them, because as I said: I believe he has similar scars, and he’d want to help.

A very common fandom interpretation is ‘Hollow is afraid of Grimm’ and I think that’s very valid. They probably would be at first. He’s a dream god. That’s frightening to them after what they’ve been through. For this ship to work, both of them have to be willing to work through that. Which circles to my next point of: this ship only ever works if its written with them becoming friends first. Friendship based on patience, understanding, and respect, as well as healing. Hollow straight out of the egg, in my opinion, ain’t crawlin’ into anyone’s bed. You’d be lucky if they even wanted to crawl into their own. Pretty sure they just want to sit and remain still until a new order comes. Poor traumatized thing. In every interpretation of this pairing that I’ve liked, Grimm has been working with Hollow to work through their pain, from a place of genuine understanding and empathy from what they’ve experienced. [2]

As for how this friendship becomes ship? The Author Is Demi, my friend, and I headcanon both of them to be as well. Any good romantic relationship should, in my opinion, have a very strong foundation based in friendship, in genuine fondness for one another. And it is COMPLETELY OKAY to leave their relationship here, if you’re ‘hey I support aroace’ or even just think that’s all that it needs to be. But me? I’ve always looked at Hollow as someone who loves too much, loves too deeply, pours their whole heart into something. It’s a hard heart, riddled with scars, from people who have mistreated it throughout their life, but their base nature is someone who does nothing halfway. You get everything or you get nothing.

So of course I headcanon them as a romantic, who wants someone to love and accept them unconditionally, who wants someone who sees their scars and rather than wanting to fix them, wants to complement them. Of course I headcanon them as someone who, below their façade of feeling nothing, wants to be complete, wants to belong, and wants to be good enough when all their life, they’ve been told that what they are is wrong, isn’t okay, isn’t right. And Grimm, who is old enough to understand that and may even have similar history depending on how he’s written, is perfectly suited to do all of those things. To be that person. Because, personally? I believe he wants all the same things. Someone to accept him as he is. Someone who is not afraid of death. Someone who isn’t intimidated by the Ritual. Someone who will stay.

In short: They’re cute, your honor.

At the end of the day, it’s all about what you think fits with the characters. Some people write them as never getting along. Some people write them as just friends. Some people write them as straight enemies. Since they never meet in canon, it’s an open sandbox. This is the castle I’m choosing to build. You can, and should, build whatever one you like.

Obligatory: queer platonic relationships are ALSO valid, if you wanna take that spin on it. My q key is being a jerk to me so I was avoiding that word in this massive reply dskdksgj but it's still very valid

But if my soap box has brought you onto team Grollow, or at least opened your mind to the possibility, I’d be happy to recommend some of my favorite fics. If it hasn’t, I hope I’ve at least clarified things for you, anon. Thanks for your question!

[1] White and Gray, chapter 33: The Last Laugh is Mine

[2] Yes, I know, my most popular Grollow fic doesn’t wildly play with this. Shades of Black does. Living Dead was more ‘for fun,’ less ‘I feel the need to explain this ship.’

Sorry if this is a little foggy and poorly worded, but I have been sitting on this thought all day, after working on a scene from Mamoru Hosoda's Wolf Children, and might as well put it here. The scene in question is the one where little wolf-boy Ame, sweet child who loves stories and picture books and who struggles to come to terms with his hybrid identity, one day while out in the woods with his sister and his mother on a sort of wolf-training excursion suddenly starts crying. And the reason why is crying is that, in all the picture books, he keeps seeing the wolf depicted as the bad guy that ends up shooed away or killed. And because of such representations, now he wants to repress his wolf identity, that has always been a lively and funny, although hard to figure out, part of his life. He is terrified of being what he is because the narrow representations that he has access to tell him that the world does not like people like him. It's a powerful little moment in a beautiful movie, that always makes me tear up, and if you missed it I highly recommend you watch it. If you are not into anime movie and just curious of the scene, I found a clip on YouTube:

Anyway, this scene made my lonely braincel twitch, and I was thinking, now that we are approaching the end of this glorious - as far as the mediascape is concerned - year 2023, that many people underestimate the enormous power of fantasy narratives in expanding the borders of gender (and minority in general) representation. Having an author canonically establish that certain fixed categories do not apply to one or more characters for in-universe reasons takes away that nasty oblique excuse that some people use to deny and disparage diversity in media (where I live they usually sound like "they only made this character a person of color to please the woke liberalsTM even if the historical context doesn't allow it", or even, comically, "it is narratively implausible that this character is or shows to be queer but they were forced to do it by THE GAY LOBBY" - yes, this is an actual conspiracy theory loudly promoted by Italian journalists and politicians, and yes, I am personally deeply ashamed by it). Obviously, almost none of said people has the faintest actual interest in narrative aspects, but they still use the excuse to pollute the public discourse and attack minorities. And I am aware that there is a possible dark pitfall here: in the best possible world, we should not need to take the route of fantasy settings to have something that should never have been denied in the first place, but from a pragmatical standpoint it does work. Having authors saying "nope, sorry not sorry, they are wolf-children / angels and demons / weird vampires / anachronistic pirates in a fantasy context so your self-proclaimed laws of plausibility do not apply and you can shove them where the sun does not shine while we enjoy the show and put this beautiful, funny, delicate, deep and sad things on screen", is like having a cultural picklock which is also a cultural battering ram thrusting the representation-door open. Shows like Good Omens, Our Flag Means Death, What We Do in the Shadows (and their fandoms with their massive collective creative endeavour), by offering the symbolic shield of a fantasy setting can establish a safe space where 1. queer people (especially young people but not only) can finally recognize themselves and stop feeling like they are alone and don't have the words and images they need to describe themselves; 2. not queer people can get used to a larger set of possible identities and not only realise that 100% of said idenities are in fact - hold on to your butts - still people with thoughts and feelings and needs, but also, through the power of mimesis, acquire a deeper understanding of forms of life that they don't directly experience. Including, hopefully, understanding how similar we all are when it comes to us being ultimately a bunch of naked apes who walk on this spinning rock trying to be as little miserable as possible.

Again, sorry if this sounds clumsy and blunt, given how delicate and complex this subject is (one does not simply walk into Mordor talk about the lives and needs of other people like that), but I had this thought stuck in my shallow brain wrinkles and I wanted to try and put it into words.

It makes no sense that Louis would prefer to use an innocent child, so as not to do a stunt. You forget that it's a child's life at stake, he wouldn't be selfish like that. Bbg is much more than that

I totally understand where you’re coming from and I think I phrased it wrong. Bbg is an ongoing, low commitment stunt. It’s not jetsetting everywhere (to LA yes but not to bloody Tokyo etc.) and pap walks like Hussell / all the other stunts that those boys have done. It wasn’t meant to go on, and he didn’t want this to begin with, but I would argue that it’s less of a public commitment than a gf.

We don’t see F all the time. Yes he’s talked about for some promo etc., but these days we get a couple of photos and half the time it’s from louis’ sisters. And if F was in fact Louis’ kid, I’d advise him to not bring him into the spotlight at all because of the fandom discourse and that F is a minor and if that kid sees what goes on and what people say, that would be traumatising for him.

So of course, you’re correct. It’s safer to leave F out of this all, absolutely. BBG shouldn’t exist and I would’ve hoped louis could’ve wrangled himself out of this by now, but he hasn’t, and he’s going out to bars and drinking with his mates and seeming genuinely happy as opposed to Harry at the moment. For clarity, I am NOT saying that Louis encourages bbg, enjoys it more than other stunts, wants to continue using this kid as a closet etc., but he’s not looking miserable dragging around a gf everywhere because there’s different factors and elements between these stunts.

Idk, we’ve had a lot of bbg talk over the last little while. I 100% love Louis; i think he’s a beautiful person with a huge heart and he’s extremely sweet and wonderful, I hate that he’s a part of this stunt, but I do think it works as a long term low commitment stunt that keeps his positive “hetero dad” shtick going. I think he hates it and doesn’t condone it one bit because of course he wouldn’t, he’s a great guy, and is in between a rock and a hard place, but he probably bargains with his PR team that he doesn’t have to stunt with a gf as long as bbg is going (unless the extra promo is desperately needed, which it isn’t as much right now as it was).

I’ll tell you. I think Ted Lasso succumbed to what, in my opinion, has caused a lot of problems for a lot of shows: fanservice. Social media has allowed for creators and fans to interact in a way that’s unprecedented in the history of entertainment. First of all I think the sense of entitlement from fans towards their favourite properties has never been bigger. And it’s sickening. But creators have now started doing the worst thing they can do which is compromise their vision by doing stuff because they know people would love it. Because they have instantaneous feedback from millions of people who don’t shy away from contacting them directly. It’s new territory and it does not bode well at all. They sometimes do the unforgivable and take a U turn because fans guessed what was gonna happen so they diverge from the obvious path in fear of predictability. They confuse logical outcome based on what was delivered with boring and unoriginal.

I don’t know what happened to TedBecca. I don’t know if it was ever planned. It probably wasn’t. But you can’t convince me that the discourse online has not influenced it, and other things. The nurse being Roy’s sister for instance, which was a big theory at the time. I am 95% certain they added that. And I dislike it immensely. Because it should never be about rewarding the audience. That’s when things start to get messy. Season 1 is considered a masterpiece precisely because they did things EXACTLY the way they wanted it, because nobody knew about it and could therefore give their *shudder* opinion.

The finale episode felt vapid and hollow to me because a lot of it was done for the sake of fan service as opposed to something truly rooted in character. And I’ll be blunt, callbacks to past scenes is not clever writing. Once or twice is sweet. But the finale episode was FILLED with it. It’s dull, it’s self indulgent and it adds nothing. They wasted so much air time with those.

The only scenes worth watching were Ted interacting one on one with characters, Nate, Rebecca and Beard being the highlights for me. But they were all tarnished because Ted was no longer the Ted we knew and loved but a poster man for their silly Mary Poppins schtick. Disconnected. Empty. Sad.

I’m sad, guys. It’s not at all what I thought this journey was going to be. And I don’t think the creators did either.

I think the world is in desperate need of your analysis on ZoLu (and perhaps write a lil fantastic fic while you're at it teehee)

FIRST of all, having seen nearly mackenyu's entire filmography (he doesn't have a ton of stuff and some of it is unwatchable but god i tried), i can confirm that he's always typecast as some kind of angry/sardonic brother figure. that's the key: he is always a brother whose conflict has to do with brotherhood. in one of the very few things where he plays a romantic part, it is with that character's sister figure (but who is actually a cousin).

so here i was, innocently expecting more of the same. but instead i get

i have no frame of reference for the canon material, but i do have a frame of reference for mackenyu's Range, and i can assure you this expression hasn't shown up anywhere.

their dynamic is my kryptonite. goofy boyishness meets unwavering loyalty and reverence. i'm doomed.

unfortunately, i ship them in a very fucked up way no one will enjoy, and i'll probably end up walking into some kind of decades-long fandom discourse i wasn't aware existed.

i started writing a modern AU where baratie is a pseudo-fancy franchise steakhouse. the first part is sanji/nami. the second part is zoro/luffy (zoro is a bartender, luffy is a dishwasher; they're also roommates). i don't know if i'll finish or post it but here are some highlights from the zolu fic, which branches off at the halfway point of the sanji/nami fic. so we see this same scene from sanji's pov earlier.

note this is a very early draft, and it's only in reference to the live action. tw for alcoholism.

It’s Employee Appreciation Day at Baratie. Having been offered an open bar which he does not have to tend, Zoro feels amply appreciated. Luffy is on one side of him, crawling over him to talk to Usopp. Across the table, Sanji has just joined them. Nami, shit-faced, leans against him, and if Sanji doesn’t do something about this tension soon, Zoro is going to kick his ass. Fucking coward, he thinks, but the thought is cut short by Luffy crawling back to his seat, pointy knees and elbows digging into Zoro in the process, like a giant puppy that has no idea how heavy it’s gotten. Luffy’s leg remains crossed over Zoro’s thigh. They’ve been living together so long that Luffy no longer smells like anything. They share the same detergent, soap, shampoo. Zoro’s pretty sure Luffy even uses his deodorant. They have separate toothbrushes though. At least there’s that.

Zoro is less a roommate and more just a piece of playground equipment for Luffy to climb on. At some point these past three years, Luffy’s perspective of where his body ends and Zoro’s begins became skewed. What’s frightening is that Zoro doesn’t care. In fact he enjoys being Luffy’s plaything. He doesn’t have to bear the brunt of existence when Luffy is carelessly snuggling him like a beloved stuffed toy. 

[took a few paragraphs out]

The truth is that he can’t be alone. Doesn’t want to be alone. Those years of his life after Kuina died, wandering through life just trying to make enough money to get blitzed every night, he’d managed to convince himself he was a loner. He doesn’t remember much about that time. It might’ve been the next day or the next year that he downloaded a hookup app. He’d never liked sex—men, women, didn’t matter—but if he could find some sweet shy girl to fuck or a pretty twink, he’d do his duty and then he’d earn his place beside them in bed, hold them, fall asleep with them, maybe even wake up with them. Some of them liked him, wanted to see him again, but he never fucked the same person twice. He needed to be surrounded by people but he couldn’t be close to them. 

Luffy was kind of perfect in that regard. He was physically affectionate to the point of being literally clingy, but emotionally he stayed lightyears away. He was capable of meaningful conversations but he never made himself vulnerable. It was an admirable act. He could look you in the eye and convince you to follow your wildest dreams, could listen thoughtfully as you gutted yourself open in front of him, spilled your darkest secrets and greatest fears. But he’d never reciprocate. In fact, you'd think he didn’t have any at all. That he was living one step to the left of reality, and you could be there too, fearless, if only you followed him.