Parallel - Gray Loosing Ur / Gray Loosing Juvia Aka The Women He Loves The Most.

batman: white knight // gotham

I never really paid much attention to the “people just didn’t like that women were important in TLJ” line of thought but now I look back and think about it, especially after TROS, I’m more and more convinced that the role it gave women was a pretty big part of the criticisms, whether it was actually they didn’t like women or just they weren’t able to follow it because it is very heavy on the female perspective, which is not really something mainstream media shows a lot so we’re just not trained to look at things that way and it confuses and/or makes us a bit uncomfortable. Like, I honestly thought FinnRose kind of came out of nowhere the first time I watched it, but then I realized it was because I was automatically looking at it from Finn’s side. Like, I was watching Finn and there was none of the classic male gaze romance indicators there. He is not pursuing her; she has no makeover he can ogle at; He is the pursued slowly learning he cares. He is in the position that the woman usually fills in this sort of story. He’s not the Han; he’s the Leia. He’s got that soft gaze on Canto Bight, and when DJ takes Roses medallion he gets Super Defensive over it, and then when he almost loses her, and he’s taking such tender care of her at the end—he’s realizing he cares. But Rose—the romance is from her perspective. She wants Finn. She pursues him. She’s disappointed in him and forces him to reconsider by making him listen to HER. When he almost dies on the Supremacy, she’s defensive and desperate and tries to shoot Phasma dead on the spot. The last thing she wants to see when she almost dies is HIM. She’s so proud and soft when he steps up and commits! She’d rather die ramming him with her speeder to save him than let him die pointlessly, and SHE’s the one that initiates the kiss. Once I looked at it from a female perspective (from MY perspective) it all fell into place. 

The exact same goes for Reylo. I had a friend who thought the Reylo kiss was unnecessary because she hadn’t seen the Reylo in the last two movies. (When I explained it to her she said “Oh! I thought they just had a weird connection!”) Because it was entirely from a female perspective. In TFA we don’t get Rey all prettied up so Ben can gaze at her, which is the normative signal to an audience that “this is a romance.” She’s dirty and sweaty and tied up. It’s Ben who’s prettied up for Rey to gaze at. And then TLJ especially is in every possible way from HER perspective. SHE pursues HIM. She pretties up but it’s subtle and because she’s pursuing him. He’s the one that gets the “makeover look at him” scene, not her. He LISTENS  to her. It’s about emotional intimacy, which at least in a film setting is a very female perspective thing. It’s all women-centered myths and tropes and power fantasies. There’s no big strong guy saves and gets the girl. Ben is great because he knows Rey has the ability to save herself —he sends the lightsaber straight through Snoke to HER. He doesn’t sweep her off her feet, but he is swept off his. Like there’s a reason in all the Disney crossovers Ben’s is always the “Princess” role, and its because Rey is the active mover of her story and her romance, not him. (I mean, Ben May be on the dark side but he clearly drinks his respect women juice).

And like, that’s just the romance part of it! That’s not even the “listen to the women in your life” or the “destruction isn’t the answer and neither is violence but instead it’s communication and connection and love” thing that belongs to a more traditionally feminine worldview. Or that fact that the women’s actions and feelings are given huge weight (Rose can have a whole scene to cry about her sister and Rey can feel scared and alone and that’s THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. They can love and the story treats it as Important; Leia can feel despair for a moment and the story stops and sends an entire Luke her way to give her hope; Holdo sacrifices her life and everything suddenly goes silent in reverence). Like Rey, they are all active movers of the story. It’s just so foreign that a lot of the audience is thrown for a loop by it. It’s not what they’re used to so they think it’s not there at all. Or it’s “bad writing” because they aren’t reading it.

A list of things that GoT, Endgame, and TRoS have taught me:

-Satisfy the plot; if you set something up a certain way, don't just decide to deviate from it for no reason. As a creator I have a duty to satisfy the story, and also the audience. I want the audience finishing my story and going "Yes, that's the end." And be able to sigh, think for a moment, and feel satisfied. Not feel like their time was wasted.

-Answer the Questions; I might not be able to answer every question, but I can answer the points that need a solution. I can at least make it have a logical conclusion.

-Don't Kill a Character for Depth; Characters can die, but a character death should not be the substitute for emotional depth. There should be a reason for the death.

- Don't Unexpectedly Kill a Character; kind of a second part to the one above. Especially when it comes to main characters, just suddenly having them die when there was no reason for them to? Just so you can shock people? You should know the ending of your characters from the beginning of the journey. If you don't know their ending, then you can't truly bring justice to the character.

- Stop Being So Fucking Tragic; Look, sometimes tragic stories are beautiful, but I personally think they should mostly stay in the historical and indie genres. Not science fiction and fantasy. Some tragedy is good, but why the does THE END have to also be tragic? I go to movies and read books to ESCAPE tragedy and heartache. Yes there's a little through the journey, but the end is always worth it. Don't say your film/show is hopeful, or fun, or even bittersweet and not deliver. Say it with me now: A main character surviving ALONE is NEITHER hopeful, fun, or bittersweet. It's just fucking SAD!

-It's OK for the Audience To Guess the Ending: I think the biggest thing this decade is creators being obsessed with audiences not being able to guess how the story ends. Here's a fucking shocker for those creators: IF NO ONE CAN GUESS THE ENDING THEN YOU HAVEN'T SET UP THE STORY WELL! You can make an audience member go "hold up, is this ending going to happen?" And have that uncertainty, but if no one saw how your story would end (with the exception of mysteries) then you didn't set up the story in a cohesive enough manner.

-Once a Story Is Done, It Should be Done; I can slightly understand killing off a main character to prevent some other outside parties from putting pressure to make "more" even when the story is done. However, this is the point of standing your ground. You are the owner, it is your property, and you have the right to make the decision to say "No, I ended that story in a satisfying way. Yes, the characters are still alive but their time is over." Also, on a side note with that, make sure that if you ever sign your creative work to someone to help distribute, you make sure the contract says nothing about them owning the franchise and continuing it with or without your support.

- Romance Should Make People Happy; If your story is going to have a romance, please don't always make it tragic. Sometimes a tragic romance is beautiful and bittersweet. But when you already have characters who are damaged, bruised, touch starved, and need somebody to love and hold them, why are you making it extra tragic? Why are you making these characters so desperate for real happiness, then not giving it to them? That's dissatisfying, it's heart-wrenching in the worst of ways, and it makes audience's not want to go back and watch it again. Seriously, it hurts too much to watch. What a fucking concept: People don't like to constantly be sucker punched in the heart with endless suffering.

- Don't Create Unrealistic Expectations; These companies are trying so hard to keep their franchise a secret the day of the release; that I'm fine with. What I'm not fine with are what everyone else is forced to say to comply with said policy. They leave audience members with non-answers that give way to wild speculation, crazy different theories, and ultimately leads to everyone's disappointment. You don't want to reveal? Then simply say "I can't tell you." Or "I unfortunately can't talk about that, yet."

- Don't Fanservice; This goes in hand with the plot. If you have a multiple part series, you need to stick with your plan no matter what happens. Sometimes fans want a lot out of a story, which can be both a great and terrible thing. It shows interest in the project, but it also puts pressure on the creator to advance the plot lines the audience wants, and that could simply be too much for both the story and the creator. So stick with your gut, and only change a character or story arc if YOU decide that it's better that way.

These are all not necessarily for all three of them at the same time. Some are for two, some just for one, and some for all. Either way, they are things I have learned from being in these fandoms, spending so much time on each of them, and being brutally disappointed for varying reasons. 2019 has kicked my ass when it comes to fandoms and ships.

If anyone has any more they wish to add, feel free to give it a reblog with your own additions. I look forward to reading them.

Dear golden boy, whose love language is physical touch

There are no actual parallels tbh but nobody will argue that both of that ships a r e beautiful ✨ crying ~ kylo/rey + ulquiorra/orihime

#Long-distance relationship aren’t made for everyone :/

— Hadestown, Come Home With Me

Haha I'm sure this will end well (sorry for lazy art T^T)

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tfp autobutts gain a new recruit...

part 2

TROS / REYLO DUMP 3

If you didn’t see this coming, did we even watch the same trilogy? 🤷🏻‍♀️