In a lot of scifi and fantasy, some people are Special, but also mundane. Ie. they are just a part of everyday life in the world. It might be amazing to people in the world, but you know, it's also kinda just a thing that is. It might be an inherent quality, like a kind of magic or mutation, or it might be acquired, like cybernetic implants.
And what I often wonder is: how do people who don't have the Special fit in the world?
If the story isn't specifically about this, I find a lot of writers just forget that. Especially if the Special is the Cool Thing of the world.
Example: Avatar: the Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra.
Short explanation of the mundane Special: Bending is an ability where someone can exert power over one of the elements, Air, Water, Earth and Fire. You are born a bender, you can't learn or become one (except that one time).
Let's put aside that all benders are bristling with destructive potential and could go on a murder spree any time they want to. Let's also forget for now the ways one can combat that. No, let's talk about what kind of jobs benders and non-benders can do.
Throughout the two series, we see a lot of jobs that only benders can do and the society relies on that. Earthbenders can move rock containers around, waterbenders can heal, firebenders can conjure electricity from thin air to use in power plants.
Non-benders can do a bunch of jobs as well. You don't need to shoot fire and lightning if you're an office worker and there's plenty of labour that can be done by hand. Or you can just own a big company that has benders and non-benders working under you. Capitalism!
But benders can do all that too.
Benders are just normal people, but with the Special. They can still be office workers, do non-bending labour, AND do a capitalism.
What are the other consequences of this? What does that mean for the job market? Do people rather hire benders or non-benders? Are bender jobs better payed? Is there a bending pay gap in jobs that don't even require bending?
And let's go further. Do people rather want bender children so that they got a better chance of getting a job? How does this affect the dating market? How does it affect politics? What is the difference between the wants of the bending and non-bending voting cohorts? Which one are the politicians going to cater to more?
So on and so on.
The first season of the Legend of Korra is practically famous for how it sort of kind of alludes to an inkling of this, but doesn't do anything with it. It doesn't so much drop the ball as looks at the ball and decides to skip PE. The whole franchise is about the Special so it doesn't have time to look at what is not the Special in detail.
Also, you know, kids' series.
A lot of worlds where the Special is the Cool Thing do their world building by asking: "how can I show off the Special?" There's sports, there's special jobs. But there's very little "what about the not Special?"
Not every story has to be about some people not having the Special and how they are oppressed and marginalised because of it, but it's just a good thing to consider. How does it shape the world that there's people who can both A) do normal people things, and B) Special things?
I heard you like li x li! Do you have any thoughts on Sydney and Kylar? And do you think their dynamic gets more interesting dependent on their genders? I always find M!Ky & M!syd/F!ky & F!syd so fascinating cuz #HomophobicReligiousTrauma, but I think their dynamic is fun no matter what! Just curious on your opinion as the number one Kylar fan ever hehehe
I personally always believed LI dynamics and personalities could change with gender, even if they're not noticeable at first, because they'd be treated in different ways and have different social norms. Sydlar is probably one of my top ships in regards to li x li, and I feel like there's a lot of subtext that could be interpreted towards the ship in QNAs (though of course it makes sense platonically, too,) which makes the ship very plausible.
This will get very long so a bunch more will be beneath the cut! ⬇
I prefer my Sydlar angsty, personally. I always imagined Kylar as the type to despise Sydney for leaving during their most crucial moments in childhood; they had "abandoned" them, though of course, it's a lot more complicated than that. Sydney, who has no clue what happened to Kylar and only knows they were told to stay away from them, feels greatly remorseful of their friend breakup, and desperately wants to befriend them again.
Kylar cannot take a single second of it. Especially with how they turned out when they were older, they despise Sydney, who seems to perfect in all aspects- attractive, smart, well-liked, strong, a happy family- Sydney has everything Kylar had lost. So, Kylar hates Sydney, seeing them as living proof of how far their life has fallen.
Kylar doesn't like to admit anything has changed. They don't like to admit what happened, nor that nothing can ever go back to the way it was. They constantly refer to their parents as simply "sick", introduce you like nothing is wrong, ecta ecta. So when Sydney comes into their life, living the life they should have had, it's a constant reminder of everything that went wrong.
Why? Why does Sydney get to be happy? Is it because they're so faithful, so loyal to the church, that they got to live normally? Why couldn't they have that ending? Why did they have to suffer? It's not fair. It's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair.
And when Sydney tries to befriend them with that sweet, gentle gaze, sincerely apologising for drifting apart from them, Kylar feels like they're the only one this fucked up. Are they in the wrong for being angry? For feeling betrayed? For wanting Sydney to suffer in the way they did? All Sydney does is make Kylar feel worse. About themselves, about their life, and about how much they wish Sydney was dead.
They believed that if Sydney was gone, life would be easier. That they could forget their past and live in their delusional fantasy- that everything is okay, and their parents are simply ill. That they aren't a bad person, and they are simply having a hard time. That Sydney is the problem. Not Kylar.
And of course, with the whole gender thing, (though I usually imagine my Sydlar as mlm,) I do like the whole Sydney being just a little homophobic because of the church and all. And when Kylar ignores their attempt to befriend them, and maybe initiate something sexual instead, (I imagine in a hatefuck kind of way,) that they respond with such hesitance and concern that Kylar just gets pissed off and rapes them, probably.
I haven't really thought all that hard about if PC was involved in the mix, because I prefer my Sydlar in aus where PC doesn't exist... but that's the most of their general dynamic I enjoy, I think!
personally i love byler BUT BUT BUT i do think it would make for great angst edits if mike ended up staying with el and ending up in that kinda lavender relationship and will never gets to admit his real feelings and has to bottle them up forever
i told myself I'd stop bylerposting for a bit after the finale but I just wonder if the writers were conscious of how everyone in the queer side of the fandom would feel in relation to will being left practically alone in the end. just about every allo queer person I know, especially as someone who's lived in smaller towns in the past, can relate to the feeling of wanting to be loved and it be just love the same way that guys and girls love each other. just a relationship. not a huge political statement, not something they have to be ashamed for, not something they have to constantly defend the existence of.
and because of this, I wonder if when they gave lumax and jopper happy endings with each other and all of their other friends while sending will to move away to somewhere where he could blend in to the background, away from everyone he loved they knew that they were playing in to that tired old story of "reality" that so many good queer storylines died for. we have to be "realistic" but hopper can just join the police force again after housing a wanted criminal for years? the only reason the "realistic" storyline is still considered the standard is because all these big writers keep letting it be the standard. the writers are pussies who knew what they were doing building a romantic storyline between Mike and Will for two and a half seasons. and that's where I wonder if they knew exactly how much the queer community in the fandom would feel relating to will essentially removing himself from his home and still having to blend himself into the background instead of being able to just love like all of his friends did. if they knew what they were doing taking that hope away from their "strongest soldiers" in the fandom and were comfortable releasing that and standing by the finished product they made, just for the sake of keeping the most viewership they could despite claiming to make the show because "being a freak is the best".
people saying “don’t use your full government name for your ao3”, “create different emails for work and personal use” but personally I think it’s both sad and dystopian how capitalism/companies/even schools think they have the rights to cross your personal boundaries and insert themselves into your personal life. like, I get it, safety wise, why checking digital footprints can be important sometimes. but a gay fanfiction is not a fucking threat that could ever cause anybody harm. it’s funny (not really, it’s still sad and dystopian) how they now think they can control your personal life and prevent you from having hobbies
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