#this answer got long

[yume-fanfare]

i was like screaming crying throwing up trying to account flowerfes into the timeline the other day bc of how close and fast that made everything LIKE GIRL WHAT.

(not to mention The Ensemble Stars! Meta Time Loop Incident of april 2015 . <- said with head in hands)

SFHJHKHGJGKS this is really funny for me to see as someone who's probably only read flowerfes and none of the other stories you had in mind for this. reminds me also of the time shav and i were trying to make sense of What Uniform does anzu wear because in some earlier trickstar story there was a comment abt how she still wears the kimisaki skirt, but in daydream eichi said she wears the normal yumenosaki uniform and apparently in official art it changes sometimes too??? its a mess

i added the tag partly bcs im still thinking about how after parallel world a bunch of what happened in romantic comedy is just Not Possible Anymore. akira just retcons things sometimes and doesn't think about the consequences. this tweet abt the portrait lookback comes to mind:

it's so funny to me KDJFKDJFNDMD "oh i got this bit wrong hang on"

this ask made me open the jpstars chronological order timeline to check how had kohaku's crazy march been like (spring evening's respite, road to show, usa trip then df disband??? my condolences) and now i wish i hadn't opened it at all what is this....... way too much stuff happening in summer

the 2016 post graduation ! stories are so funny though its clear stuff wasn't too established so sure let's go mall live strawberry picking. but should i ask about the meta timeloop incident.........

[rubyleaf]

15, 16 and 19 for the ask game?

Another ask that came in very fast! Most certainly—thank you so much for asking!

15. What physical quirks do your characters tend to have? Eyebrow raising, picking nails, biting lips, pacing, crossing arms, etc.

Okay, list incoming:

Eric can’t sit like a normal person, he always needs to have his feet up in some way—squatting on the chair, sitting cross-legged, putting them up on the desk, anything goes as long as he doesn’t have to keep his feet on the ground.

Ivy tends to lower her head when she’s shy and let her hair fall into her face, obscuring her eyes. She also has a general tendency to make herself smaller when sitting or standing and take up as little space as possible.

Elise sometimes moves her bottom jaw sideways to sort of link her teeth together where they’re uneven, especially when she’s thinking. She also shares Eric’s dislike for sitting normally.

Jen is physically incapable of sitting still at all; she’s always wiggling somehow. She is also very much a hand talker and tends to rub and scratch her arms while talking or else play around with something in her hands.

16. What motives do you give your original characters? What drives them? How much tragedy did you subject them to?

That honestly varies a lot. In general I tend to have a protagonist who doesn’t have too tragic a past and gets thrown into things involuntarily and tries to make the best out of them and accidentally does great things, though I’ve also written protags with a sadder past, like Cinder in Shut Up Cinderella. The desire for friends or a place to belong does tend to crop up a lot, but also curiosity.

With the rest of the cast…all bets are off. In general I like to subject characters to a realistic amount of Bad Stuff Happening in their backstory, but that basically only means I draw the line at complete sob stories. I think the saddest past I’ve ever written was Hecate Solstice in Twilit Mage, who was abused as a child, feared and bullied for her half-demon nature, and was abandoned by the first friend she ever made in favor of a man she could only be with in exile. That’s the utmost limit for me, though.

19. “For fans of ______!” What works would you say are similar to yours?

In general, I feel like my works have a bunch in common with Julie Kagawa, especially in the way I handle YA/fantasy tropes, characters and (in part) relationships. Book of Gold in particular has been greatly influenced by, and should appeal to fans of, Shadow of the Fox and Iron Fey.

As for the rest, it’s harder to say. Two Monsters in a Car is definitely strongly influenced by Good Omens, and the Colorless Winter trilogy is quite Tolkienesque but, like, diverse. But with my other stuff? The influences are so varied that it’s hard to draw any direct comparisons at this point, honestly.

Send me some unique writing asks, y’all!

[cuethetommo]

how is harry "growing" when he's pushing for kiwi to be a single, will perform at VSFS AND recently said his misogynistic album is a MEMOIR. it's one thing to think the best of him but he's shown repeatedly this year that his idea of activism is wearing a shirt and letting other people do the talking. expect more from men, please.

What exactly am I expecting? Truth at every turn from members of One Direction? Not gonna happen. 

In the aggregate, I don’t find his album misogynistic. I understand that people do, but you’re in my inbox so I’ll walk you through my reasoning. If you don’t want my opinion, feel free not to bring asks here. 

There are 10 songs on the album, 4 of them have anything even questionable to say about women. So, already we’re at 60% of the album that isn’t a problem. Woman reads very much like a jealous lover song, that I have always read as about the beards in Louis’ life. So, we’re at 70% of the album that isn’t a problem. Carolina is a song written in a tradition of Johnny Cash and others talking about drugs. It could also be about a shelter dog, jury’s out. So, we’re at 80%. Only Angel and Kiwi can certainly be read as treating women as objects and frankly it doesn’t make me feel awesome. I also believe these are meant to be performed and that it’s about the performance and the fiction rather than the lyrics. Having seen it in LA, I also feel like Harry imagines himself the woman in Kiwi (”I’m about to tell you, I’M having your baby). But for the sake of argument, let’s keep the number at 80%. 80% of the album isn’t a problem at all. So, he’s got a B- for his first album out the gate. I’m going to cut him some slack there.

I’m also going to recognize that he is NOT OUT. So, how can he POSSIBLY answer anything other than MEMOIR? He can’t say, yeah, it’s fiction, here’s my long term BOYFRIEND. It doesn’t work like that.

As I have said before, I take issues of social justice very very seriously and spend a good chunk of my waking hours trying to figure out what has the most impact on our world. And I’ve learned over many that there are lots of types of activism. Activism doesn’t always have a bullhorn. It’s not always calling people out on Twitter. That’s not always how you change hearts and minds. Look around. People are shouting at the top of their lungs and no one is listening. I’m not saying stop shouting, but don’t hate on the people who are doing work that looks different from yours.

You make fun of Harry wearing a shirt. Do you know how many people supported Planned Parenthood by buying that shirt after he wore it? I don’t have access to those stats but I’d bet money it was significant. There are people who say running with flags doesn’t matter. I disagree. There are people who say that Harry’s Treat People With Kindness merch is just a ploy. If it is, then I’d love to see more people follow suit. There are worse things to do than want people to be kind in the world. I’ll say it again HE HAS MUNA ON TOUR WITH HIM. He has a FEMALE DRUMMER in a rock and roll band. Go find me other male musicians operating at his level that have a female drummer. He also is REGULARLY in awe of her both in print, on TV, and in person. 

You think these things aren’t a big deal because he’s not shouting. I say they ARE a big deal BECAUSE he’s not shouting. He’s not asking for any kind of recognition. He is just doing it. He’s normalizing female rock drummers. He’s normalizing rainbows at concerts. He’s normalizing the fact women are powerful.

Yep, Kiwi’s a single. You know why? It’s a JAM. I listened to all sorts of things on the way home from Phoenix with Ellie and Bri yesterday. And the jams are not songs that I want anything to do with lyrically. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to blast them in the car and sing along. Want to know other songs that are on the same jamming playlist? 24K Magic, Strip that Down, Jealous, Tik Tok, Jealous. They’re not feminist anthems but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a catchy song.

As I’ve said before, I can hold complicated feelings. I can want better for the future without discounting the now. I can look at the whole rather than expecting granular perfection. But I will NOT discount what Harry is doing because it doesn’t fit your idea of what activism SHOULD look like.

[fletchlingfletcher]

🍌 - What drew you into the fandom (FFXIV) in the first place? (it's not Monday, but you can answer whenever!)

Mmmmmmm...it probably started when I was back in the WoW fandom. A handful of the blogs I followed had gotten into FFXIV around the time of Heavenward and all of their characters and art looked super cool. I actually bought HW at one point, but I was an idiot and didn't buy the base game so I couldn't actually play it lmao.

Admittedly, it was my last rp partner that pulled me firmly into the fandom though. We'd been partners on WoW for a few years but she was getting really sick of it and bored and, well, anyone who's been on this blog for a while knows how my friendship was with her. She wanted to give FFXIV a try and I followed along.

It was rough going at first, tbh. I still missed my WoW characters and felt there was rp left on them. I barely got anywhere in FFXIV before I gave up and went back to WoW....for like a month. Because I'd lost a lot of friends due to my last rp partner and by the time I got back to WoW I really didn't have anything.

So I came back to FFXIV. And made a new character as I wanted her to be. And followed some more FFXIV blogs and unfollowed some WoW ones. But it was actually mostly just playing a character I really liked that really immersed me in the game. I didn't really rp her going through most of the msq so I think that helped get me more actively interested in the game!

So...as a tl:dr....technically I guess WoW got me into the fandom? WoW and a bad former rp partner. And a miqo'te warrior in a plate bikini top.

MUNDAY MEME

[edwinas]

I think the main problem that people had reading my post is that they assumed that I was saying "Black people in Disney movies = bad", when my point was, quoting my post, "we should take non-European fairytales and present them in their own right, since fairytales always tell us something about the culture and the history of the country/countries they’re from." I wasn't talking about disney- 1/2

-since I was thinking broadly of adaptions in general. In 2012 or so, posts came up that were like “mexican cinderella with a glass slipper” and I was referring to that. I understand your point about disney princesses representing global traits but I wasn’t talking about disney versions (which are americanised versions of the original tales to begin with) - I was talking about fairytales in general. Because I honestly think that it would bring more diversity and more - (2/3)

-fresh ideas etc to hear a mexican tale instead of an european, american-approved & americanised tale but with flimsy mexican contexts. It’s not bad, I’m not saying that, but I feel like people think “well, we have a mexican cinderella now” (for example) instead of “we should see what mexican fairytales there are”. Do you see what I mean? I feel like it’s lazy for white companies to remake white stories instead of non-european tales. I’m sorry for the long/messy reply&thx for listening :) 3/3

one last addition - jesus I’m really sorry about spamming your inbox like that - I of course in no way shape of form am attacking POC for wanting to see themselves represented in Disney movies. That wasn’t the point of my original post. I’m glad that little girls can see a disney princess who looks like them. I would also find it great if disney would tell their stories, too. Non-european tales, turkish, russian, indian, japanese tales etc. I’m sorry for the confusion thank you for listening.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

So my main problem was that your argument came about after the casting of Ariel. Not before. Woc have been vocal about wanting original content since forever. But it seems Ariel was the catalysis for you thinking of representation for us. Like as soon as we get consequential representation you have something to say? Why now? 

Also if you’re not a poc, you should boost our voices instead of speaking over us.

We know that we need all kinds of rep, some anchored in our cultures, some not, some imaginary. This isn’t our first rodeo. So the little mermaid is still a crucial step, which I suspect is why I haven’t seen (m)any woc say that this film is lazy rep.  We also know that original content does not mean that it is no less westernised/americanised/whitewashed because we need people from the represented cultures behind the camera and in artistic positions of authority. 

I’m still confused about the 2012 posts. If you were targeting corporations with your point, which corporation was talking about racebending in 2012? I can only think of fans of color racebending characters then. 

Racists will always find a way to be racist. They’ll use recast characters and original content to say that we should be satisfied. I couldn’t care less what they think.

My focus is little girls of color and them getting the varied and magical characters they deserve. So I want them to have all the representation, recast, live action, animated, original, characters from their cultures, you name it.

[imakayak-hearmeroar]

imyourplusone a réagi à votre billet “*comes back from the world of Stars Hollow* So I have mixed feelings...”

I definitely agree with you. I think Emily stole the show without a doubt and her story was amazing. L&L dragged on a bit but Fall really made it worth it and FINALLY they got the ending they should have had in the beginning. Biggest disappointment was Rory tbh. She was in such a good place for me at the end of the series and now to see her so lost. Back with Logan or sneaking around or whatever that was. Idk but as you say Paul and Logan's fiancé deserve better than that. Very mixed feelings...

Emily had such amazing scenes. From “They don’t bring me joy” to her storming out of the DAR meeting, Kelly Bishop really killed it. 

What I also loved about her story is the place they’re at with Lorelai at the end. Because Lorelai goes to Emily to ask her for money and it parallels perfectly that scene in the pilot but it’s also very different. Lorelai knows there will be a condition and when she says “So close”, you can see that she doesn’t really mean it and she’s more amused than anything. I would give anything to have scenes between Lorelai and Emily at Christmas and during the summer.

Thank god they got married. When we were watching yesterday, my sisters got so worried that made be doubt Luke and Lorelai would end up together. I would have stopped watching TV altogether if they had broken up. I wished we could have seen them be happier in the first 3 episodes but, yes, yes, they’re married so I’ll deal with it.

As for Rory, I was never really rooting for any of the guys. I mean if I had to choose I’d have picked Jess, he’d grown so much in season 6 but I would have been fine with Logan (as long as Luke and Lorelai were together I didn’t really care about the rest). I just don’t really like that ending, it feels too much like a cliffhanger when the whole point of the revival was closure. 

I think as I rewatch it, I’ll probably grow to like the revival more and more. Maybe the hype and the excitement made it impossible not to be a bit disappointed. And if there’s still things I really don’t learn to appreciate, I’ll just ignore canon, wouldn’t be the first time.

[indygoh]

A book called "lies my teacher told me" about american history is the most accurate thing EVER. I might have to read it. Lol

It truly is quite fascinating, and written by a sociologist of all things. In just the first few chapters you learn SO much about historic American figures that you would never be told about in high school.

Let me tell you how I was introduced to this book:

I sat down in my first college history course, and my professor looked at all of us, smiled, and said: “To start our first class, you are going to forget EVERYTHING you learned about American History in high school.”

We all sort of looked at him like… “Really? ALL of it??”

Yes. ALL of it.

We literally started from scratch reading this book, among other books like ‘Voices of Freedom’ by Eric Foner, ‘A People’s History of the United States’ by Howard Zinn, and ‘Thomas Paine: Apostle of Freedom’ by Jack Fruchtman Jr.

The most amazing thing about these anthologies/books is that NONE of them are “history text books”, but I got a FAR more complete understanding of my nation’s history  and NOT JUST THE GLORIFIED, WHITE HERO-WORSHIPING STORIES THAT HIGH SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS PROVIDED. I know that sounds harsh, but it’s true. Texts gloss over many of our founding fathers’ flaws because they want students to be inspired by them, but it makes them false icons.

One of the best quotes from the early pages of the book mentions why text books hardly ever mention that Helen Keller was a socialist in her adult years (something obvious about her if you read her works):

“We seem to feel that a person like Helen Keller can be an inspiration only so long as she remains uncontroversial, one-dimensional. We don’t want complicated icons.” - James W. Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, pg. 28

These books tell EVERYTHING. The good, the bad, the epic battle for freedom, and the laughable blunders our forefathers committed once we had that freedom.

The best part about ‘Lies My Teacher Told Me’ is that it sounds like some Libertarian conspiracy book, but it isn’t. It’s fully sourced, well documented, and delves into the sides of stories and historical figures that high school history texts don’t DARE touch because of their need to “hero-fy” our predecessors to “inspire” high schoolers. It seems harsh at first, like it’s trying to get you to hate our history, but that isn’t true. It’s just showing the side of history that text books shy away from telling younger students. And having that more complete, rounded understanding of my country’s history just made me appreciate it’s triumphs even more.

Honestly, I encourage any high schooler to pick up any one of the books I mentioned above if you feel like you’re struggling in your understanding of American History or if you feel like it bores you. ESPECIALLY

Lies My Teacher Told Me.

It’s important not to rely on a singular source for all of your knowledge, but that book is one hell of a better start than many of the snore-fest text books that high schools provide. It will give you a leg-up for when college history professors inevitably tell you to “forget what you’ve learned in high school”. XD