Take this with you
to all my white followers who stew in unnecessary guilt trying to come to terms with the privilege you have, watch this
Take this with you
to all my white followers who stew in unnecessary guilt trying to come to terms with the privilege you have, watch this
The Man - Live From Paris is out now! taylor.lnk.to/theman-lfp
The Man Lyric Video is out now!
me: I will do things when I am less tired
me: *never becomes less tired*
me: oh no
I have never seen anything more accurate in my life
I see what she did there
You know when you are watching or reading something and there is a character you like. You are not crazy about them, you just find them enjoyable. You see that the character has flaws and know that they are there by design and not a byproduct of bad writing. (even if you don't like the writing sometimes.) And then you see some asshole complaining about the character, hating them, claiming that the character has done nothing good since their conception till this moment. And you just feel it in your soul, the moment you stop being a casual fan and join the defense squad.
You know what I mean?
We don’t even need crossovers anymore.
Kara: I’m gonna go grab coffee with Kate, same Earth and all that.
Barry: Iris and me are going on a double date with Digg and Lyla, same Earth and all that
Iris: The Pierces are coming over to dinner, same Earth and all that.
THE POSSIBILITES
Couldn’t you just pause it
oh my sweet summer child
COULDN’T YOU JUST PAU-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Pause?!?!
Pause???? 😂😂😂😂 Oh man, how old is this poor kid?
I love that the Witcher proves how you can have a sexist world without having a sexist story. The framework is patriarchal, it's at times blatantly sexist and at one point Yennefer even bitterly points out that, as far as the world as concerned, women are just vessels. But the narrative isn't.
Things like -- it would be so easy to turn Yennefer into a villain. She's got a classic Femme Fatale backstory, she hits every point, she's powerful and ambitious and ruthless... but she isn't evil. In the end, she doesn't put her ambition over doing the right thing. She doesn't let her recklessness get in the way of the Battle at Sodden Hill; she registers some displeasure at being put up in the tower to observe and report, but she does it, and she does it without reserve or bitterness, to the best of her ability. She went through hell to find the power that she thought would give her what she wanted, only to discover that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be -- on her own. She didn't get this revelation from a lover, or from some great tragic descent into madness and fall from grace. She came to this realization over time, without someone else's opinion.
Queen Calanthe -- jfc, Queen Calanthe is how Daenerys Targaryen should have been handled. She's a powerful woman, an unapologetically ambitious warrior woman, who falls and loses her throne and country -- exactly the same way a King would have. Her flaws -- her hubris, her selfishness, her unwillingness to let go of her granddaughter -- lead to her downfall, but they do so rationally. She doesn't go mad, or start making stupid irrational decisions, or have to be otherwise softened -- she loses the battle. She was out-maneuvered, and her support was blocked, and she just failed. She just lost. Queens -- any poweful woman, really -- always go mad and have to be put down For The Greater Good, they never get to be a Tragic Hero in the classical sense -- always Lady Macbeth, never Hamlet.
Calanthe is a fucking Greek Tragedy. She hits all the high points of an Aristotelean Tragic Hero: she evokes pity and the fear that the viewer could have made all the same mistakes; her fortunes change from prosperity to adversity, not through vice or depravity but through error of judgment; that error is made through a fundamental character flaw, something that the character could have stopped, but also couldn't because of who they are as a person.
I cannot think of another Queen treated this way in fiction.
There's one single mention of rape, and that character does imply that this in part led to her not being a princess anymore -- followed almost-immediately by the main character explicitly and pointedly calling her Princess, pointing out that it isn't what was done to her that makes her monstrous, it's what she herself does. Even so, it's simply part of her backstory, she's the one who brings it up, and there's no gruesome flashback to "evoke sympathy" or whatever bullshit excuse to show women suffering.
It's just. It's so obvious that this showrunner is a woman. The comparisons to GoT are all over the place, and obviously -- they're both dark, gritty fantasies with a heavy political aspect -- but the way this show treats its characters, and particularly its women, is just so refreshing. It's not without its flaws, and while I'll admit that there were a few moments where I was like, "did she really need to be naked here?" none of those moments were tasteless or predatory, and there was none of that gratuitous degradation of women that was such a hallmark (and turnoff) of Game of Thrones.
(There's more, too, about how the Witcher differs from GoT in how sometimes, some people are just decent and kind. Sometimes, people really are all right, and do the right thing regardless of their own self-interest. And while, yes, it would be unrealistic if everyone or even most people were that way -- it's just as unrealistic to have no one be. There's this element of human compassion in the Witcher that's far too rare, if it exists at all, in Westeros, that makes the world so much less heavy. There's plenty of darkness and bleakness, but there's also kindness and compassion to balance it out. But that's a whole other post.)
It's just. God, it is just so nice, to have a fantasy show that acknowledges sexism without itself devaluing the female characters.
JOAQUIN PHOENIX DID THAT!
Canon: and so they never met
Fanfic: here’s a funny story
Canon: There was tension and pining, but they never even kissed.
Fanfic: Actually,
Canon: Torture the cinnamon roll.
Fanfic: Torture the cinnamon roll.
Canon: When they traveled they stayed in separate rooms
Fanfic: AND. THERE. WAS. ONLY. ONE. BED!!!!!
Canon: … and they were roommates.
Fanfic: oh my god, they were roommates…
Canon: They were international assassins who assassinated assassins.
Fanfic: But hot DAMN wait till you hear about this cafe they opened
Canon: They had a coffeeshop
Fanfic: but they were ASSASSINS
Canon: they were mortal enemies and attempted to murder each other on multiple occasions
Fanfic: bUT THEY GOT MARRIED AND ADOPTED CHILDREN
Everytime I reblog this has a new addition and it’s the best
Canon: They were straight
Fanfic: Lol
THE LAST ONE IS THE BEST ONE
I love fanfic so so so much.
Canon: Am I joke to you?
Fanon: No, just a disappointment.