#''Just because you don’t like a thing doesn’t mean it’s Objectively Bad Actually'' ANON I ENJOY RAGNAROK BUT NO

[dearest-painter]

AHHHH YANDERE AND BULLY 2 OF MY FAV THINGS

can i request yan gray with a darling thats in a gang or they a big himbo (gender is up to you)

it ok if not lol and sry for bad spelling

Omfg yes I can!!! Also your spelling is good!! If you have any more ideas Anon please tell me!!!

Yandere Gary with a Himbo!Male!Reader

Summary:Everyone is in denial of Gary actually being in love with the school’s himbo. They don’t believe Y/N is good for him yet Y/N’s little head is filled with thoughts that Gary fills his head up with to make sure their together.

TW/CW:Yandere behavior, unhealthy behavior, unhealthy relationship,abusive behavior,abusive relationship,Gary himself,Gary being a manipulative piece of shit,mentions of Gary giving Reader hickeys to show reader is his,Gary loves Reader in his own odd way even if it seems like he sees him like an object because he does,Homophobia is mentioned but I do not share the same ideology with that,Threatening,tell me if I need to ass anything more

-Gary saw you with the cheerleaders. The cheerleaders used you as a mannequin for makeup and he was very interested it by it so he waited when you were alone

-He originally made fun of you but the way you didn’t understand he was making fun of you made him think you were stupid which he is right!

-He stuck around you for fun but he didn’t like when people would touch you,talk to you,gift you stuff,or even joke that they were dating you! He got pissed off and Jimmy called him out for liking you.

-He knew he had to manipulate you so he can date you,he also made sure to slowly isolate you. You believed him when he said ‘Everyone just wants to use you but I don’t,you can trust me. I’ll protect you from their dark desires’ or ‘I’ll always be here with you unlike most people. So just stay by me and listen to me and you’ll be safe’ or ‘Your lucky to have me around,if I wasn’t around you,you’d be taken advantage of and used so be happy that I’m even around you!’

-When he finally knew you were mentally vulnerable he confessed. It was out the blue as he didn’t have this grand idea he just asked if you wanted to be his boyfriend. With all the stuff he’s said you said yes as he’s the only person who loves you…right?

-He made sure you two had all the same classes so he can help his stupid boyfriend. “Without me you’d be failing all your class! Aren’t you lucky to have me with you at all times?” “Mhm! Thank you hun! You really help me a lot!”

-You are big into pet names but he barely uses them unless it’s in private or ‘My man’ and that’s all. In private he calls you many pet names that are sweet but also insulting as it’s Gary

-He’s self aware and sadistic but wouldn’t really harm you. He’d only harshly grip your face but you think it’s just fun in games!

-He gives you love bites and hickeys to make sure people know your his,he has his own of course because he does ask you to give him some so that people know you two are a happy couple!

-Jimmy and Petey feel bad because they know your to stupid to know that Gary is toxic.

-Gary threatens people and also attacks people who tries to take you from him. He is very possessive and when you ask why you hurt them all he says is “They wanted to take you away from me and hurt you! I love you to much and wouldn’t allow them to do so!” Which in your eyes is pretty romantic.

-People make homophobic remarks at you two but since your two stupid to understand their being mean Gary puts them in their place.

-Cuddles happen a lot in private,he’s the big spoon but if he’s been extra pissed off and more jealous he’s the little spoon. Don’t you dare tell anyone you two cuddle because he doesn’t want anyone to know

-Overall Gary is an insane piece of shit who loves you in his very twisted and unhealthy ways while making sure you two will get marry.

#yandere #please don’t do this #obession #unhealthy #gif imagine #x male reader #male reader #yandere x male reader #yandere bully #bully x reader #gary smith x reader #yandere romantic #yandere romance #romantic yandere #himbo!reader #himbo reader

[atopvisenyashill]

How do you expect dany ending slavery to be? By asking the slavers nicely to stop owning people? To the masters enslaved people are nothing, they do not view them as humans deserving of autonomy, of decency, of freedom to live for themselves. The masters will never have given up the people they held captive because they believed they are their property. Should she have let the masters go free in astapor, they would've undoubtedly started enslaving people again. abolishing slavery will never not be bloodless, for the masters because they don't want to lose the wealth and power they gained through the enslavement of people, their labour and their talents/creativity. And for the enslaved because they don't want to be at the mercy of people who treat them as if they're animals - or below - people who think they're nothing but bodies to be used and utilised as they see fit.

I've seen people saying the crucifixion of the masters was wrong, I think it was not nearly enough. What are the lives of a few hundreds masters to the millions of enslaved people they've killed? To the millions suffering at their hands? The unsullied if I remember correctly are around 8 thousand, meaning each one killed a baby, that's 8 thousand babies killed because of the masters. What they deserve is to stripped of all their wealth, death if found to be involved with the harpy or for refusal (I don't think that's what'll happen in canon though)

Also, I don't understand the comparison between dany and robb, yes they are both leaders of their people, who fail somewhat in their job but their similarity end there.... where dany grow up in poverty and without shelter, enduring her brother's abuse, robb grow up as the heir to a lord paramount, among his loving parents and siblings without ever worrying about food or shelter

Alright fine let’s break this down piece by piece.

How do you expect dany ending slavery to be? By asking the slavers nicely to stop owning people? To the masters enslaved people are nothing, they do not view them as humans deserving of autonomy, of decency, of freedom to live for themselves. The masters will never have given up the people they held captive because they believed they are their property.

FIRST OF ALL i don’t need a lecture from a grey faced anon on the horrors of slavery, EYE have Indigenous ancestry on both sides of my family, I have actual proof of SLAVES in my family, and I can almost guarantee my ancestors experienced the horrors you’re lecturing me about first hand so maybe roll back on the attitude a bit hmmm.

Second, idk how many times I have to say it, other people have to say it, how many times i have to scream it from the rooftops but- POLITICALLY, I think the crucifixions were a misstep. MORALLY, my issue with her is not the crucifixtions. POLITICALLY, this was an objectively stupid thing to do that makes Meereen harder to control, and since this is a series MEANT for analysis I personally think it’s fine, actually, if I critique something that is POLITICALY stupid regardless of the MORALITY of it. Making decisions fueled by anger is BAD and any toddler knows that.

Should she have let the masters go free in astapor, they would've undoubtedly started enslaving people again.

You are putting words in my mouth or mixing up the events. She doesn’t crucify the Good Masters of Astapor, she sacks the city. She takes their resources, their Unsullied, their food, murders children and teenagers just like her who were born noble class and inherited slaves they may not have wanted, leaves behind a council of only THREE PEOPLE, and slavery is brought back the moment she leaves by Cleon the Butcher.

It’s the Great Masters of Meereen that she crucifies. She tells them to “give up their leaders” and takes them at their word, doing something that is going to piss everyone off without thinking of the consequences. Also - she DOES let the masters go free in Meereen! She literally lets them keep all of their riches, lets them pay their servants next to nothing, and resorts to bitching about how mean they are even though SHE is the one with the power to change this. Not only does SHE let the Great Masters go free, she then BRINGS BACK SLAVERY, so, really, what exactly do you think she accomplished with the crucifixions besides inventing the Sons of the Harpy??

abolishing slavery will never not be bloodless, for the masters because they don't want to lose the wealth and power they gained through the enslavement of people, their labour and their talents/creativity. And for the enslaved because they don't want to be at the mercy of people who treat them as if they're animals - or below - people who think they're nothing but bodies to be used and utilised as they see fit.

Who said anything about it being bloodless? I am critiquing a specific act that she did that hurt her overall attempts at reconciliation in the region. She goes for a flashy, brutal way of collective punishment instead of actually figuring out whose idea it was to crucify the children, who the leaders of the city are, if there is any sort of abolition movement going on, and then acting accordingly because she is ruling through her emotions and not making smart decisions.

I've seen people saying the crucifixion of the masters was wrong, I think it was not nearly enough. What are the lives of a few hundreds masters to the millions of enslaved people they've killed? To the millions suffering at their hands? The unsullied if I remember correctly are around 8 thousand, meaning each one killed a baby, that's 8 thousand babies killed because of the masters. What they deserve is to stripped of all their wealth, death if found to be involved with the harpy or for refusal (I don't think that's what'll happen in canon though)

But she doesn’t strip them of their wealth does she? As a matter of fact, many of them still have their wealth. Many of them still effectively have slaves. The situation becomes worse in fact because she creates considerably worse class stratification wherein most people are living in abject poverty or living in the pyramids with the other rich nobles who she herself lives amongst. She also doesn’t give them the choice of “give up your wealth and disavow the sons of the harpy or die.” She takes 103 nobles that she is told are leaders, crucifies them without any sort of inquisition, and then let’s the rest keep their wealth. She does the complete opposite of what you are saying. I am critiquing her on exactly the point you are making - she makes a decision out of anger then doubles down on this stupid behavior instead of doing what’s RIGHT and what’s SMART, she sticks to useless, angry half measures that don’t go far enough because going far enough would mean giving up her OWN wealth.

During the farce we called Reconstruction, we didn’t just execute a bunch of random ass southern soldiers did we? No, there was an attempt by Lincoln to try the highest ranking government and military officials for treason. Did South Africa execute or kill every single white person when Apartheid ended? No, because committing mass slaughter of an entire class of people without some sort of plan in place doesn’t freaking help when you are trying to LIVE with them. Fuck it, do you know why MAO was so effective when he killed the landowning class? Because he had an entire plan and didn’t just kill a handful and let the rest keep their wealth!!! If what Dany had done was offer them that choice, or just straight up exile or kill literally every single Great Master, this would be a different convo. Instead she kills a handful of random ass dudes and then can’t figure out why she can’t get ahead of the political situation. It’s because she let THEM choose who to kill and she offed people who might have TALKED to her or explained the basics of how Meereen works. You can’t say you’re here to liberate the masses and then let the elites keep their shit!! That’s not ending slavery, that’s just cronyism.

Also, I don't understand the comparison between dany and robb, yes they are both leaders of their people, who fail somewhat in their job but their similarity end there.... where dany grow up in poverty and without shelter, enduring her brother's abuse, robb grow up as the heir to a lord paramount, among his loving parents and siblings without ever worrying about food or shelter

oh well since Catelyn never hears a prophecy that makes her go insane, I guess that means I can’t compare her to Cersei. and since Rhaenyra and Aegon grew up in a castle I guess that means we can’t compare them to Dany. and since Viserys II was a hostage for several years that means we can’t compare him to Tyrion. and since and since

you’re unserious if you think we are not meant to compare and contrast two teenage war rulers who are the exact same age born in the aftermath of the exact same freaking war.

#i’m gonna kill myself if i get another stupid ask #anti daenerys targaryen #anti dany stans #asks #anons

[anamericangirl]

That statement anon made about nazis is stupid, plain and simple. You can make any assumption you want about anyone and there is a high chance it’ll be wrong. I wonder how many of these people who throw the word Nazi around like celebrities who are pedophiles. It’s the same concept just with a different accusation. If we were to be friends or like people that share 100% of our world view then we would be very lonely people. Like of course I don’t want to be friends with someone who’s racist, sexist, a pedophile, etc. but some people are good at hiding who they are. It’s an individual responsibility to choose to be friends or not be friends with someone. If anon doesn’t like certain people then don’t follow them or don’t be friends with them. People are going to be how they are and that includes being objectively bad, but it’s anon’s choice to not interact with people they don’t like. It seems like progressives forgot that human nature includes choice and humans can choose to be good or bad.

It's true and you should say it.

It used to be if you heard someone was a racist or a nazi or something you would know pretty much what their worldview and know they have bad ideas, but now you hear someone being called a racist or a nazi and it's like ok I don't know if that means they are singing Hitler's praises or slightly right of center. Those words don't mean anything anymore because of how they've been carelessly tossed around.

And, like, even if someone is a racist or a nazi, this may sound a little odd to some, but who cares? Unless they're actively going around harming people who cares what they believe? Who cares what they say? Why give them so much attention?

Everyone has bad things about them and we can't just exile people because of bad beliefs they have. This is America and you have the freedom to have bad opinions. Evil ones, even. Just don't commit evil acts.

If you don't want to be friends with them then fine but don't dictate what the rest of us must do.

Dude, if I met an actual nazi I would love to talk to with them and exchange thoughts and ideas and have the chance to change the way they think. Because that's how you change people's minds. You talk to them and treat them like people. You can't hate people into being better.

And people who hate, shun, attack and applaud the misfortunes of someone because they have bad ideas aren't any better than the people they are hating.

#anon #answered

[princelylove]

Omg sameee, I love delusion yandere too, there are something so charming about them. Do you have any jojo characters list for top most delusion yandere?

Btw this is a little to weird to say out loud but last night I had a dream about Gyro after I read your writing for him. Actually I have never really interested in Gyro, I read your writing because I just love how you analyze character. So in the dream, he act quite like how you describe him, I remember there are me, Johnny and Gyro sitting around the fire at night. I was talking about how I adore Mountain Tim and how gentleman he is and Gyro jealous. He said he can also be like that and start to get closer to me despite my effort to push him away, he even pin me down and start kissing me?! (I don't remember much what happened after, I guess I just wake up). Funny is that Johnny just sitting there, staring, maybe he just don't know how to react or just doesn't care at all.

I think Gyro is also belong to the delusion yandere type, I just feel like he fit in this category. Your opinion?

~ 🏵️ anon ~

They’re very cute. They’re fun to write for- someone who fully believes they’re not doing anything wrong is dangerous. 

So sorry for laughing at Johnny just sitting there- the visual of him just sipping his drink and giving you the equivalent of ‘damn that’s crazy’ is objectively hilarious. I disagree with Gyro being delusional, but he definitely has jealousy issues. Talking to someone else/talking about someone else in front of him is an awful move, how could you, anon. 

As for the characters I think are very delusional… here’s a short list with some elaborations below.

Narciso, Jotaro, Diego, DIO but it’s kind of warranted he literally has a cult, Yukako, F.F., Enrico.

Narciso fully believes you’re already dating, and bound to be married. His mind skipped the entire courting process and went right to “mine.” despite only knowing you for a few seconds- and you weren’t even really talking to him. If you don’t like him, that’s alright! He can change his sex and body type via his stand to your liking, it really doesn’t matter to him, as long as you’re happy. He can’t help but smile and talk to you affectionately- he doesn’t hide the way he scowls and glares at everyone else, though. You’re special, because you’re his. Don’t forget, okayy? He doesn’t mind reminding you when you make little mistakes- please don’t sip from other people’s drinks, he doesn’t want your saliva to mix.. Don’t hug other people, even if it’s family, they don’t deserve your dead skin cells rubbing off on them and he wants only his scent to be on you. But anything above that, like kissing someone else, or claiming to have another lover… isn’t advised. 

Jotaro is under the belief that you need him to protect you and you’ll drop dead the second he looks away. It doesn’t really matter if you’re strong, or if you think you can handle yourself. As long as stands exist, everyone stands a fighting chance of offing you- even if you have your own. Jotaro feels strong protective urges for his darling very early on in the relationship- even if his darling is still under the assumption that he doesn’t like talking to them. Even if his darling isn't physically weak, he doesn't really trust that. It's not reassuring. The only thing that is reassuring for Jotaro is the mental image of his darling safe and sound- locked up somewhere only he knows about.

F.F. is still learning about the world. They don’t really know what the word “dating” or “marriage” means, or why you seem so averse to doing it with them, but they’re down if it means they get to spend more time with you! They're delusional and obsessive, but not quite possessive or protective. F.F. just wants to be around you, and they don’t really know why! They just assume you’re in a bad mood when you try to push them away- “Oh! Oh! We’re playing?? I love this game, shove me again!!! Your hands are so soft, I wanna eat ‘em!” … They mean well, really. Your distress is always taken as something they can’t control- yeah, their darling just breaks down sobbing when they get handsy with them, no reason. 

#cw dubcon if you squint #yandere jotaro kujo #yandere narciso anasui #yandere foo fighters #yandere f.f. #request granted #🏵️ anon

[nirvanai]

Though the secret ending implies Tokiko was right all along.

oh i do have some thoughts about this! rotates diverge route in my brain. this is just personal opinion and a lot of just. interpretation and looking at things in a meta-narrative sense, so feel free to disagree entirely lmao, but! anyways.

(also im so sorry anon this got really long and rambly sldkfhgsdg i did not mean for this to happen)

for me at least, the nil ending stuff doesn’t really end as a “she was actually right!” sort of thing, but rather, it feels like more of a direct challenge to the player and their expectation of what a narrative “should” give and what a secret ending “should” be. the ending itself breaks the 4th wall directly, it gives the choice of whether or not it happens directly to the player- it even relies on (from what i understand) a random number, so you can’t cheat it. You need to play the game to see your own personal nil number.

The game is presenting you with a ‘final twist’- this world is a game, something that you as a player have known all along. It is a fictional world, Tokiko is right- they just dropped the pretense. for a very brief moment, Ryuki sees the ‘truth’ of the world, and Tokiko then gives you as the player an option: you can tell him everything, change the course of history to try to reach a “better ending”, or you can let him forget and let events play out the same as they did before. 

When I play through the diverge route content, it gives off a very strong feeling of things feeling... off. It rings a bit hollow, almost like a pyrrhic victory- it should be a better world, Uru was stopped in time, Komeji is alive, Amame is free, none of the explosion end stuff happened. And yet, it feels like there’s still a heavy cost to it, to Ryuki’s own psyche. The awareness that we granted him weighs him down- he’s disconnected from the people around him, he got promoted but barely leaves his office anymore, even Tama is more blunt about not believing him about this ‘other timeline’. 

This world should feel better, but something has been lost- not just for Ryuki, but the player as well. All of the bonds that were forged, the emotions we just went through in the story... all of them were washed away by our doing.

Now, I’m not saying this to claim “oh we as the players are villains! we’re doing a bad thing and helping tokiko win!”, because I honestly do not believe that either. I don’t think that’s the point of the ending- its not making any sort of accusation at the player, but rather, it’s asking us why we may feel the way we do about it. If it feels hollow to some, why does it feel hollow? Why does it seem to linger?

When playing games, its natural to want to find all the secrets- especially in a mystery game such as this. The ‘Frayer” question is presented extremely early on in the story, and it may linger in a player’s mind. It’s a secret, so of course you want to figure out what it means. Seeking that sort of information is an understandable, and likely intended response, especially considering this is a literal murder mystery game. Almost every LP i’ve seen has people stop and try to guess at numbers for a while before moving on, and hell, I did that myself!

So when the game gives you the nil number at the end, and asks you what you want to do with it, its just the obvious thing to do. You want more answers, you want more time with this game, you want to uncover every mystery and secret that you can. The achievements in-game help with this a bit on a meta level, too- you know there’s secrets to find, so go find them!

Objectively, in the true end timeline, people suffered far more. People died, Amame is in jail, everything that happened in the explosion end- but for all of the suffering and pain, it wasn’t a world without meaning. Ryuki and the Mizukis were both still fighting in their own ways for the truth, to solve things- perhaps the past couldn’t be changed, and that better world may not exist to them, but their world still has meaning. Things may still be bittersweet, its not a perfect happy ending- but those are rare in life. Everyone is still finding their own way forward as best they can, and making the most of the life they’re living. No matter how you’ve struggled, there is still value in that life, and finding that value is something so very important. 

(Please note I’m not saying that people should suffer in life, or that you need to suffer for your life to have meaning- rather, I just want to say that a life where you have suffered is not meaningless. Experiencing loss and hardship is tragic, and often times traumatic, but your life still has meaning and you are not defined by the hardships you’ve experienced. There is always the chance that you will find a way to make things better tomorrow, that you will find the strength to start picking yourself up if you need to, and that is important and extremely meaningful.)

In the diverge route, everything is better, but the emotional connection with the player is gone. You’ve found what you were looking for, you’ve found that ‘happier ending’, and now the game is asking you what that should mean to you. What do you consider important from the narrative? What makes a story satisfying to you? What parts of this were drawing you in, investing you? We’ve removed the facade, this world is just a game- but it was a game that meant something to you, it got you invested, made you care, and it was satisfying as a result. It doesn’t matter that it was a game- we go along with it because we care, because we want to see what happens to these characters we like, and because seeing them struggle and fight and ultimately claim that ending song they so very deserved is a reward of its own.

So to me, the nil number is essentially asking you to think about your own personal relationships to media. What is it about the ending of a story that matters to you? Is a “perfect ending” all that matters for you to be happy, or are you actually looking for something else? It’s not intended to be a happy ending, despite it being a better one- it’s nil. A process has occurred, and something has changed, yet you have no more or less than you did before.

Apologies again for rambling on here lmao I’m sure you probably did not intend for that. And again, this is just my personal interpretations of the ending- I’m sure other people will have their own too, and that’s part of the fun to me! It’s very ripe for analysis and discussion, I don’t want to present my views as the only “correct” way to look at things, I’m just giving my case here as best I can in hopes some people may enjoy reading my thoughts on the matter.

The diverge route stuff is fascinating to me because its challenging, it lingers, it makes me think about it and want more in a way that I know I’ll be better off never getting it. Expanding on the ending in the game would honestly feel counterproductive- it works so well to me because it feels hollow. We have frayed at the edges, and now we get to see what we’ve done. (not to say i won’t read fic tho bc there’s some cool fic out there already on the topic. hell yeah.)

So, yeah! I hope that made at least a little bit of sense to read through, thanks for reading if you did, and I hope that even if you don’t agree it was still a fun thing to look over lmao. 

#aini #aini spoilers #nirvana initiative #nirvana initiative spoilers #kuruto ryuki #tokiko shigure #nirvanai #nirvanai spoilers #replies #anon #adhd brain truly do go brrrr sometimes #i like just. thinking abt uchikoshi's games!! the themes n questions are fun!! #media that makes you think about your relationship to the medium is fun!! #it makes me happy and i love it so much #i love that aini does all of this #and that it's given me questions and feelings that are mine to sort through #and i LOVE thinking abt it for what it means for ryuki too #altho i dont focus too much on that in this post bc its more looking at it from a meta perspective

[softlyspector]

Becs can i ask you something a little personal? feel free to completely ignore this if you’re not comfortable answering!! i’ve been kinda thinking that i’m on the ace spectrum for the last few months but i can’t tell if it’s that or if i just haven’t found the right person. how do you tell the difference between intimacy/connection and sexual attraction? like, i can appreciate or at least notice objectively attractive people, but i don’t really think it ever goes beyond that. the only exception is fictional/unattainable people. like i am so down bad for joel, but i don’t think attraction to someone that doesn’t exist is really contrary to asexuality. and to complicate things further, i like sex, or at least the idea of it, but i think it may just be the general concept, and not ever tied to actual people. sorry if this is a lot, it’s just that i don’t really have anyone i’m close with who understands these feelings and not knowing is starting to scare me. i’ve been finding a lot of comfort in your writing though, so you felt like a safe person to ask <3

thank you so much for sharing your art with us, it has made my days that much brighter.

Hi anon! Of course, I'm always happy to answer asks about this. I'm very flattered that you feel comfortable and safe enough here to ask me. I'll go ahead and share the same link that I always do, that helped me figure out if I was ace or not. I also came across this post the other day that describes really well a lot of the different ace labels on the ace spectrum that also might be of some help to you.

Being ace doesn't necessarily mean you're sex repulsed. It can mean you don't feel the need to have sex, but you would to make your partner happy, or you enjoy it well enough if its offered but you don't need it. It can also mean you only want to have sex after an emotional bond is made, or that you only enjoy thinking about it but not doing it in reality. There's a wide array of umbrellas that you can fall under.

The important thing to remember is that it is a spectrum. You might not fit into any category perfectly, these words are just there to help you identify and describe yourself, even if the fit isn't perfect.

There are some days that I still question my identity. And that's okay! As you learn about yourself and grow, you might find that certain labels might not actually fit as well as you thought they did, that's just part of life and experiencing different things.

Being ace doesn't mean you never think about sex (for some ace people it does mean exactly that), and thinking someone is attractive doesn't necessarily mean you want to have sex with them. For example, a straight woman could think another woman is attractive, but it doesn't mean she would want to be in a relationship with that woman, or have sex with her.

This was kind of the thing that tipped me off. I find a lot of people attractive and I want all the things that come with relationships, but sex is never a factor for me. It doesn't occur to me a lot of the time. Another thing was how I interacted with sex in fiction, I was much more interested in the intimacy of it and what it meant emotionally that the sexual gratification of it. I also like reading smut, but writing it gets exhausting for me very quickly.

Sometimes it's difficult to tell the difference between intimacy and sex because so often those words are used as interchangeable. But I think of intimacy as wanting to share something about yourself (sometimes that includes your body and sex) but sometimes it's just wanting touch, or wanting to share something with someone that you've never told anyone else before, or wanting to share an important experience with someone. On the flip side, you could have sex with someone that is not intimate at all.

Ultimately, it is something you have to sort out for yourself and I know how scary and alienating it can be. You don't have to label yourself. It's okay to just be and try to figure out what you really feel.

I'm always here to talk to about this, and ask questions, and I'll do my best to help and answer.

I hope this was helpful and didn't confuse you more. The links I put at the beginning might be more helpful that any nonsense I wrote here.

🖤🩶🤍💜

#bec talks #ace tag

[dearweirdme]

Hey!! So i have heard many instances of the members referring to the other members as brothers. So i always try to look at Taekook's interactions from a different lens to see if it can be rationalized as a bestie thing or something siblings do.

What do you think are some incidents that just can't be explained as anything but romantic in nature?

Hi anon!

I love asks like this! It makes me use my critical thinking skills and that’s always a good thing. But also, this is such a hard question isn’t it? We see so little and of the things we see a lot is unclear. Things are possibly being hidden, there’s fanservice and cultural differences to take into account. All of which makes it hard to actually be certain of anything.

If you want to look at these kind of things objectively, you have to be able to be honest and erase a lot of stuff. All fantheories for instance, so no secret handsigns, no ‘important’ dates or colors or numbers. After that, erase stuff they also do with others. And the last step would be to poke through their mediatraining.

These men are highly mediatrained. They wouldn’t have come this far if they weren’t able to act professionally at different circumstances. Jikook fans claiming Jimin and Jk can’t control themselves is silly to me. To state that Jimin and Jk can’t be seen together because they would out themselves by not being able to act ‘normal’ is an insult to their professionalism. A lot of the physical closeness and a lot of the comments made by one member about the other I would classify as fanservice. That doesn’t mean the words and actions aren’t true, it means that we are being shown those things with intent. When a member for instance makes a comment about another member being handsome or cute, that is done with the intent to point out desirability. They (the label, and by extension BTS themselves) want fans to think of the members as desirable (boyfriend/bff material) so if they themselves start pointing out certain traits… fandom will also start thinking them (don’t kill me for popping some bubbles, it’s just how marketing works). All members do this.. They are trained to do this. Taekook and Jikook are no exception here. So personally I don’t take those comments as proof of any relationship. Physical actions between members are also shown with intent. I do believe those are used to keep all ships alive. I’ve made this post about Taekook a while ago that explains how I see them a bit more.

All of the above doesn’t mean it’s all fake though. Genuine connections do shine through and bonds between members are really strong I think. You can tell more about those by subtle comments and actions than through bold ones I feel. Knowledge about one another for instance, touches that are more soothing than trying to cause an actual reaction… just more subtle things. Fanservice is the bold, almost theatrical interactions. It’s not a bad thing though. Because of how common it is, it also protects them by giving them a cover. It’s like hiding in plain sight a bit. It allows Jk to sit in Tae’s lap in the middle of a concert for instance. While we see the tiny smile Tae had to suppress, all everyone else sees is fanservice.

What’s actually left to look at objectively is very little (but there is some stuff still) and that is why we cannot ever be certain of anything. We will never get to see anything ‘big’, like a real kiss or them walking around holding hands privately. It’s okay though, that is not for us: it theirs.

What kind of interactions can we expect from romantic partners, but not from brothers/best friends? Brothers and best friends can be: affectionate, proud, to a certain degree physically intimate, admiring, comforting, and even tender maybe. What they are generally not are: aroused by each other, trying to be seductive, and certain degrees of hurt and jealousy (I know these things do happen between friends… but in those cases I believe the friendship is not in fact purely friendship). So, which instances do I think are linked to a romantic relationship between Tae and Jk. Well… here I go. These are my interpretations, so they might not mean anything to anyone else (always be aware of your own biases;) ). These are all instances I feel they thought their actions wouldn’t be noticed or where they were surprised by something and it made them react automatically.

1. Tae and Jk playing footsie under the table during Festa 2017. I think the whole world sees playing footsie as flirting behavior with the intent to spark feelings inside each other. Some of Tae’s expressions in particular are seductive and Jk is having a hard time trying to keep his head straight. It’s innocent, but it’s romantic in origin I feel. A lot of analysis videos are cringy to me with how they overanalyze every move, but they are playing footsie and it’s definitely flirty. It’s also not a standalone moment, they have ‘cuddled’ (for lack of a better description) with their feet more than once.

2. Jk getting into the bunkbed with Tae in Bon Voyage. This one:

Again it’s very innocent, but the way Jk puts his hand in Tae’s hair, the way Tae turns towards Jk, the ‘seems like’ kiss, it’s so soft and intimate. Brothers and best friends may get into bed together, but to let someone this close into your personal space when you are at your most vulnerable (asleep) just screams relationship to me. Brothers and friends would turn their backs and just keep sleeping, partners welcome each other. I feel the way we’ve seen Tae and Jk sleep together is quite intimate altogether. Their legs are intertwined, they face each other instead of spooning at times. Very intimate indeed.

3. The nape kiss.

Such a soft kiss especially considering the surroundings. It’s not done jokingly. Tae is serious here. Would a best friend kiss you this tenderly when surrounded with an audience? Would a brother? Jk’s reaction to it is also very shy, a best friend or brother would play it off as a joke I feel.

4. In my eyes the most important one.

Not a cute one, but a situation full of hurt. What other explanation than their love could there be for them having to separate and consequently show the hurt on Jk’s face and the despair on Tae’s? Only love can hurt like this has never rung more true. This is not the only example even, there’s more instances like this… all of them show hurt to an extent that would not be normal for a brother/friend relationship.

5. While friends and brothers do get jealous of each other, it’s not over another person touching your bff or your bro.

This clip to me is clearly Tae getting jealous of Jimin touching Jk’s knee. Jk’s reaction actually gives away the tension. I cannot think if an alternate reason for this jealousy. Combined with the desire Tae’s expressions communicated from the moment Jk joined them.. this live to me points to them being more than friends. As does the vminkook live where Tae and Jk stared at each other so hard they made Jimin cringe.

A lot of other moments to me read romantic in nature. The touches that go on and on and never seem to be enough. The flirting and seducing. The stares. The magnetism. All of those I personally would include, but I know others might interpret differently so.. I’ve left a lot out. Interpreting body language is and will always be somewhat subjective. But the moments above I feel are very simple, yet they convey a clear message.

There’s a lot (a whole, humongous lot) of moments that, when looked at in context and as a whole, point towards a romantic relationship, but when looking at those moments individually those may be seen as a brotherly or bff kind of love. When you are in a romantic relationship most of the time (not all of the time) friendship is part of the whole relationship. That makes it very hard to dissect which moments are romantic in nature and which are friendly.

Here you go anon, I tried my best 😊. I do wish to hear your thoughts about this. Through communication we get clarity.

#pfiew #anon #I wanted to finish this sooner #but it’s mother’s day in my country #and my kid convinced me this was the perfect day for me to spend playing Sackboy on playstation with him #so that’s why i’m late-ish #this was so hard to do #but there’s actually more moments that i find definitely romantic than i though i would #i only mentioned a few #otherwise this post would have become an essay #it’s already long i think #hope i make sense #taekook #taekook analysis

[tolkien-feels]

(I am deeply, deeply sorry for this wall of text lmao)

So the thing about why people don’t like Thingol (and I promise I’m engaging in good faith because iirc you said you really wanted to know) is actually kind of the same thing about Denethor: it matters how you treat people when you’re at a low point.

What I mean by this is that both Thingol and Denethor get defended by people who act as if it’s perfectly understandable for them to be in a bad mood/tired/stressed/etc and then say rude and insensitive things or get into arguments where the power imbalance allows them to behave however they like, and then argue that they’ve just spoken in anger or they’ve behaved in an uncharacteristic way because of their bad mood or ignorance or what have you. I’ve never really understood that, because how you treat people when you’re at your worst is, to me, indicative of the true quality of your character? If you care enough about being compassionate and being a fair and just ruler, you’ll self-regulate and maintain self-control and you won’t snap or say things you don’t mean.

And the books seem to support this - Théoden and Aragorn and and Éomer and Imrahil don’t behave as Denethor does, and Nolofinwë and Findaráto and Maitimo and Turukáno don’t behave as Thingol does. (Maitimo might do some war crimes and Findaráto might do some colonialism, but they’re not openly racist or xenophobic and they never possibly-maybe allowed a political rival to die so that their claim to kingship would be unchallenged, see Denethor of the Laiquendi) They’re all very different people, and all under immense amounts of stress in varying ways for long periods of time, and none of them respond to being pushed past their limit by becoming hostile to those around them.

As a result, the question of why those two people behave the way they do becomes relevant, and examining their further actions doesn’t actually give any purely textual proof that they’re altruistic, otherwise kind, genuinely compassionate people. Thingol names Dior as his heir but isn’t exactly going to visit his human relatives, and he doesn’t protect Túrin from the ableist and xenophobic microaggressions that are a constant in Doriath. Denethor never participates in the morale-building that Imrahil dedicates himself to during the Siege, and it’s Imrahil who leads his own personal guard to rescue Faramir (It’s theorized by characters in the text that Denethor authorized this but never explicitly confirmed). What’s in the story is just as likely to point to their lowest point being indicative of their true selves as it is to point to anything else. There’s certainly room to interpret them as “complex” in a way that means “actual good people who make various mistakes for understandable reasons”, but it’s much more of an interpretation than the objective clearly obvious canon.

Basically I think that how you see these people is entirely dependent on if you think that the idea of being “not yourself” when you’re stressed is legitimate - if you do, then using someone’s lowest points as proof of who they are is unfair, and if you don’t, then those same points are the places where they’re the most honest with themselves and the audience.

(For context, anon is answering this post)

Putting my reply under a cut just for the sake of length

I really appreciate you taking the time to write this, and I would agree with a lot of what you're saying. I am making no claim that Thingol is a role model, and I'm not sure I would particularly want to spend much time with him, because a lot of his bad qualities which you've mentioned are things I can't really stand in people irl (ditto for Denethor. Ditto even for Feanor, who I love to death!)

Also, as a matter of fact, I also don't think Thingol's bad behavior is restricted to Leithian, not by any means! There it's just clearest, and this story is probably the most famous.

My point, though (which in retrospect I didn't make super clear) is that I don't think a lot of Silm fans specifically go for characters who are unquestionably good, likable heroes. Like, in the top 10 most used character tags on ao3 (not that I use ao3, but it's convenient for data) we have Feanor, Sauron, Celegorm, Morgoth - not people I think you can look at and say "Oh yes, definitely people who are both good and likable!" (And I would argue the same of absolute fandom favorite Maedhros, but that's more YMMV)

The take I see most often wrt to Thingol, though, is not even "A complex asshole" (which I would be fine with), but rather "Not complex enough to be interesting" which is what I find frustrating. I find him one of the most complex people canon has to offer without needing a pile of "not canon but not contradicted by canon" headcanons.

And again, I don't think everybody should like my faves, and Thingol is not one of my faves anyway, but I wish he was not reduced to one-dimensional personification of That Guy you roll your eyes all the time at. Because whether you see him as ultimately noble or ultimately horrible, either way he does canonically have many dimensions!

I don't feel like I'm making any sense but my brain is mush today so that's as eloquent as I can be right now, sorry. But yeah, I don't think Thingol is necessarily a great guy, but I do think he is a very layered guy and while I don't particularly care whether he's appreciated as a person, I wish he was better appreciated as a well-written character, if that makes sense

[theyellowroseofsodor]

🎁 I come bearing gift ideas 🎁

- Thomas strikes me as one of those people who has a wishlist of games he’s been meaning to play but hasn’t gotten around to actually buying for himself, and he just keeps adding to it so some of those games have been on that list for years and he’s pretty much forgotten about them being on it at all. So somebody giving him anything on that list would be a pleasant surprise (source: I am one of those people, my friends have done this multiple times)

- Edward seems like the type who’d appreciate something homemade or handcrafted, no matter what it is or how it looks. He’d treasure it because it was made with love and it’s from someone he cares about.

- Henry might appreciate some new gardening tools, like a new trowel or a set of good gardening gloves. Another idea for him is a bulb for an amaryllis, a large lily-like flower that grows well indoors during winter. They’re gorgeous when they bloom, and I’m sure he’d love to help it grow!

- Gordon… is tricky. He seems like the sort to say he doesn’t want/need anything, but you know he’d feel hurt if he didn’t get something meaningful. Personally, I have a headcanon that he really likes butterscotch candy, but that’s not something he goes around telling people. After all, he’s an engine, engines don’t need food, it isn’t proper… but he can’t help popping one in his mouth when he needs a pick-me-up and thinks no one he knows is around to notice. And if a certain someone did notice, well…

- James would probably like things he can use to spoil himself. A specific shade of nail polish from his favorite brand, a warm blanket he can wrap himself in, a pair of nice slippers to wear around the house, things like that.

- Percy is someone I headcanon as being really into Lego. Like, he’s got completed builds set up all over his room and is always on the lookout for a new challenging set to build in his spare time. Can’t go wrong with a cool Lego set for Percy.

- Emily is another tricky one, because she seems like the kind of person who just goes out and gets most of the things she wants herself, just in general. So a good gift for her might be an experience rather than an object; a gift certificate to a new local restaurant, tickets to a concert, vouchers for a spa day, something like that. She’d probably love it even more if it were something she could do with the person who gave her the gift in the first place.

🎁 I put way too much thought into this okay bye 🎁

Oh my gosh, I LOVE these! I don’t know, anon, if you’ve read my fic but I totally made Thomas a video game nerd (also like me) and the idea of getting him a game off his wishlist is BRILLIANT! Like he has a Switch and I’m sure his wishlist is humongous!

Edward is definitely a homemade gift guy, I’m taking that and running with it.

I know nothing about flowers, I could kill a cactus I’m such a bad green thumb. The bulb sounds like something his special someone would know.

OK OK you totally read my mind about Gordon and sweets so I’m gonna run with that one too 😂 but I also think he’d totally tear up with a homemade gift right? Cause he’s all prideful and a bit vain but like actual affection crumbles all the walls. Like he has a lot of good self-esteem but when others genuinely compliment him or make something for him he gets super emotional, but tries to hide it. Oh my gosh, thank you for this brain storming session!

James with like a Minky Couture blanket is now engraved in my mind. That luxury blanket in like a moulin rouge red, oh my Lady I’m living for it.

Percy is totally a LEGO guy! How have I not seen it?? Now I have to find a series to go with it. Like he has to have an entire collection whether it’s Lego City, Star Wars, Harry Potter, LotR, YES!!

Emily having a gift card and a ticket to experience something is also an amazing idea anon, I may need you for future advice because you are brilliant! It is my personal headcanon that Emily loves books. She’s basically Belle from Beauty and the Beast. So, maybe tickets to the theatre? I feel like that would like brighten her world.

Thanks for brainstorming with me anon, this has been amazing! I’m going to start working on it right away but I always welcome more! ♥️💙💜💛💚

#ttte #ttte fanfic #ttte gordon #ttte edward #ttte james #ttte henry #ttte humanized #ttte emily #ttte thomas #ttte percy

[dearestgojo]

(ummm heads up this is really long I'm going to split it into two parts!!)

1/2

hello, I am once again reading "before love came to kill us" and I need to come talk to you about it or I might explode. I love this story so much!!!!!! It's genuinely one of my favourite fics in the whole world like it IS my Roman Empire!!! I dunno what you laced in it but like. I be thinking about your Iwaizumi Hajime (27) Athletic Trainer all the time 😭and like I KNOW okay!! I know he didn't deserve y/n and that there isn't any way he could make up for what he did. One of the reasons why I love this fic so so much is because you not only gave y/n the justice she deserved, and had her end up with the perfect man, but you also inflicted the most satisfying and fitting karma onto the bad guys!!!

Honestly sometimes i'll read a story and in the end there’s no justice after the abomination of events that occurred and it leaves me with such a nagging feeling of incompleteness. I know a lot of people enjoy the open-ended, no-justice-for-the-hero type of stories cause it feels more akin to how real life is. Don’t get me wrong there isn’t anything remotely wrong for liking stories like that!! I think sometimes it just kinda feels like there’s a bit of contempt for readers (or viewers) who want happy endings for stories. Like its almost looked down upon as childish for wanting a happy ending and I see people throw the word “fairytale ending” around a lot. I feel like the majority of people who wish for happy endings aren’t looking for a cheesy romantic fairytale ending. In fact, if there’s one thing that's even more unsatisfying to me than open endings, it’s happy endings that don’t feel earned. Like the male love interest spends the entire story practically committing war crimes on the woman and does things that are *objectively* irredeemable, but in the eleventh hour he’s suddenly a good person, and all his evil deeds are either forgotten or forgiven and they have a happy ending simply for the sake of saying it had a happy ending. Nothing drives me more crazy than that!!!! Lol

No what I’m trying to say is that when people say happy ending, they want a well-deserved, earned happy ending. One that makes sense given the context of the story, that’s well thought out and has been sprinkled into the development of the characters over the story timeline, and doesn’t require the characters to do and say things that are completely out of their character. 

I’m saying all this to say that that is exactly what you did!! Like you knocked the ending (and beginning and middle) out of the park and it felt so earned. She didn’t end up with Hajime but it was still a happy ending and that’s because it was never a prerequisite in the first place that she had to end up with him for it to be considered a happy ending you know what I mean!!! Am i even making sense at this point!!!! I’m so sorry lmfao im sorry if i sound crazy and rambly this story means a lot to me!!

anon I want to start by saying thank you for this ask, for showing that fic all this love, and sorry it's taken me so long to respond but I've been reading over and over this ask cause it's made my entire month.

I think from the moment I started the blctku I knew I didn't want Iwa and reader to end up together cause sometimes life doesn't go that way and wanted to show that there's always someone out there who isn't necessarily going to fill the place of the person who left but who can come in and be someone new and loving in our lives.

I'm so happy you brought up that scene cause I thought people would think it was unnecessary but that was actually the whole point of it, to show how y/n had started to see all this little 'icks' she didn't before and how they now bothered her.

#asks #blctku

[felixstudios]

LONG RANTY ASK AHEAD; SORRY IN ADVANCE

I think people who go “oh you can’t like cogs they’re capitalists and colonizers” are… lame? I guess? I mean yeah they’re fucked up, but toons aren’t sunshine and rainbows and complete innocence: toons regularly kill cogs, albeit temporarily, unless we’re talking about Clash. Because a toon KILLED a suit in Clash. That is an important event. TOONS landed the first casualty within the Clash continuity. And even outside of Atticus, Toons regularly assault and destroy cogs! Idk if it’s the case in other private servers and continuities, but in Clash, you as the player are regularly asked to kill specific cogs to HARVEST THEIR BODY PARTS. Toons aren’t fully innocent, and Cogs aren’t complete demons. At least Cogs don’t actually kill Toons, they just make us really sad for a while! And hell, most of the time, Toons are approaching Suits first, initiating battle usually on our terms. I’m 99% sure that buildings aren’t a thing outside of Clash!

Speaking of which, to elaborate a little more on Clash Toons and their crimes, since the post that got me riled up about this was bashing Clash for having interesting characters (none of the toon npcs except Tumbles are even remotely interesting)…

Besides from Atticus actually literally dying, toons have done at least one other extremely fucked up thing. Winston is a prisoner of war. The things the Elders did to him definitely violates the Geneva Convention, mostly pertaining to the treatment of POWs like him. No matter what anyone does, SOLITARY CONFINEMENT is always unethical and fucked up. Flippy and Lowden clearly know about and seemingly SANCTION it, allowing the Elders to just… keep a man caged up in absolute isolation?! Fucked up! And that’s on top of us pretty much POACHING Suits! Taking parts of Pencil Pushers for purposefully bad pies, taking springs to shake seltzer water, toons clearly have pencils and springs of their own, and yet we get asked to kill cogs for this stuff???? And that’s just a few examples! In Daffodil Gardens, you get asked to seek out and take the bones of sellbots! Suits can be rebuilt, sure, and even flunkies get rebuilt. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not absolutely fucked up that we are killing suits to take parts of their bodies.

Also, saying someone can’t like a character because they’re evil is like… really stupid? We aren’t glorifying and romanticizing colonization or capitalism, we just find COGs more compelling than Toons. That’s how it is with villains. But it really pissed me off how they brought up all this stuff about Clash, then disregarded all the horrible shit Toons do.

Hey anon, I think this is a pretty well thought out argument. Not the most politely worded, but your point does come across easily. I'm not going to make a public statement on this topic since sharing any of my beliefs is a good way to start drama and conflicts that I don't wish to partake in.

That being said, there are exactly two objective facts I would like to point out.

In TTR and also in several of the original TTO tasks, you as the player are indeed tasked with taking parts from Cogs on several occasions. As for other servers, I couldn't say because I haven't played them.

If you're talking about Cog buildings, those have been a thing since TTO. They are not a Clash exclusive feature.

Obviously you made this ask anonymously, but if you made a blog post about it and sent it to me then I'd be more than happy to read it! I'd recommend conducting yourself professionally if you went that route because people are otherwise more likely to get very emotional and make a big deal over everything {and I personally find arguments written in a calm, professional manner much more convincing}, but it's your blog so at the end of the day it's really all up to you.

[itsclydebitches]

Okay, quick rant-y thing I’ve wanted to get off my chest for a couple weeks now. If fans don’t want Izzy to get a redemption arc that’s a whole other (valid) conversation, but I’ve seen a number of posts framed around the idea that oh sure, it could theoretically happen, yeah I’m completely in support of it… but there just isn’t time, sorry. You can’t do an Izzy redemption arc when he’s a minor character and the focus is on Ed/Stede! Best just let that false hope sail. Now, I have no desire to put words in anyone’s mouth, but the vibe I’ve gotten from these posts as a whole is that fans are searching for an “objective” reason for why improvement can’t occur, rather than simply admitting to a preference, one that, based on tumblr’s community at least, may not be well received. Basically, instead of just saying that they don’t enjoy a popular character and aren’t rooting for a popular potential arc, fans are grabbing at supposedly factual reasons for why that simply can’t occur, thereby positioning themselves as reading the show “properly” and everyone else allowing fandom fantasies to impose on the canon. As is no surprise to anyone who has received anon hate lately, there’s a thread of moral judgement attached to liking the antagonist, but for a while now I’ve seen subtler criticisms couched in this, “Sorry, that’s just not how the story works” veneer.

Except it totally is? How the story works, I mean.

The fandom discourse surrounding Izzy is a whole other thing that’s absolutely worth unpacking, but here I just want to point out that even if these posts are 100% serious, no ulterior motives, fans honestly believe it’s just not possible to do an Izzy redemption arc without irrevocably taking away from more important aspects of OFMD… I don’t think they’re right about that. Because although I’ve been using “redemption arc” for lack of a better term, the reality is that OFMD doesn’t really do arcs of that nature, at least not in the first season. Rather, OFMD does what I’ve come to think of as Bathroom Logic.

We’ve all seen this post, right?

When it’s late, you’re drunk, you’ve encountered a stranger who you’ve suddenly Bonded™ with… yeah, the bathroom feels like a save point. For a brief moment the most complicated shit in your life feels easy; you can solve anything by just taking a breath, saving your progress, and getting on with it. That’s the vibe so much of OFMD has for me, including a scene taking place in an actual bathroom:

Ed: I’m a horrible person with no friends who was just about to kill you :(

Stede: That’s okay! You can just not kill me in the future :)

Ed: Really?

Stede: Really!

Ed: Huh. That was easy

I don’t mean to trivialize Ed’s story because, as one of the characters who has fallen back into his bad behavior, season two is definitely going to explore that further, theoretically giving him more of a traditional arc than what OFMD usually goes for. But that “usually” is the point here. These characters, generally speaking, don’t go through drawn out, nuanced examinations of their flaws, cycling through what we normally think of as redemption arcs: the realization, the angst, making amends, apologizing for their actions, suffering through others’ distrust, taking heroic action, etc. They just function under Bathroom Logic where someone points out with the confidence of a drunk girl at 3:00am, “It’s easy, you can just not do that anymore!” and then they don’t. The only real marker for OFMD “redemption” is ceasing the previous behavior. Once that’s done everyone is happy to welcome the character back into the fold. Ed just has to stop trying to murder Stede during the fuckery. Mary just has to stop trying to murder Stede while he sleeps. Stede just has to stop lying to Mary about what he really wants. I think most fans realize that a “redemption arc” for OFMD does not look like what we’d expect from other media, most notably because I’ve seen little to no expectation for Ed to go through one in regards to Lucius. We all joke about how Lucius will be found alive in the walls, maybe Ed will awkwardly apologize, maybe there will be a joke about Lucius being a little wary of him… but based on the logic of season one, they should get over that murder attempt real damn quick. Do we honestly think Ed is going to have a season long redemption where he overcomes the sin of attempting to kill a beloved character? No, that would change the entire tone of OFMD. Lucius will get over it just like how he got over Jim trying to kill him and locking him in a trunk for an undetermined period of time. One “We want our bodies to be… smaller” scene between Lucius and Ed is all it will take for them to be back in each other’s good graces.

So why would we expect any differently for Izzy?

For me, saying there’s no time for an Izzy redemption arc because we’ve got a main pairing to develop is like saying there’s no time for a Mary redemption arc for the same reason. How did the show cover that when there’s so much else going on? By having her admit to the behavior and Stede forgiving her. That’s it! We’re moving on. Despite being an antagonist, I would fully expect Izzy’s hypothetical redemption to function in a similar way. Maybe he tracks Stede down and bitches about how between him and the Kraken he’s the lesser evil, so just come back already. Maybe shenanigans force them to work together for half an episode and then oh look, they’re kinda friends. Maybe Stede just comes back onto The Revenge and Izzy is relegated to the annoying, but otherwise harmless addition to the crew. There are a hundred possibilities, all of them perfectly capable of happening lightning fast if Jenkins wants because that’s just how OFMD operates. We already saw the seeds for this kind of hand-wavy forgiveness at the end of the season. The crew was ready to kill Izzy. Izzy was ready to be a shit captain to them. How is this resolved? Ed shows up and asks for tea. Boom, conflict forgotten. We’re back to the crew swabbing the deck on Izzy’s orders and him being a little shit as he spits out his drink—Wee John’s discomfort with Izzy and Izzy’s drowning nightmares are shunted off to the realm of fanfiction. OFMD isn’t actually episodic television, but there’s a bit of that vibe where the characters reset to their default dynamics whenever it’s convenient.

If anything, I think fandom tendencies have warped ideas about the type of redemption arc we should expect, rather than the likelihood of getting one at all. Meaning, as mentioned above, fic loves to explore the angsty, hurt/comfort threads embedded within the comedy, stripping the humor away to instead give us that nuanced storytelling spanning novel-length works. Fans might get used to reading 50k stories about how Izzy is forced to painstakingly work through his ship-load of problems and subconsciously come to expect that level of introspection from the canon… when in fact OFMD just isn’t that kind of show. We theorize about the angst potential of Stede turning the “never left” line on Ed and him rejecting the quip with a realistic deconstruction of the harm Stede has done to him, but the reality is this show has treated such quips seriously. Ed is able to leave with Calico Jack, change his mind, come back, and make light of that emotional distress by joking about how it never really happened. It’s over. It’s done. We’re moving onto the romance now! There’s no reason the same logic can’t apply to Izzy. Give him a single line about grudgingly wanting to stick around, trying to apologize, whatever, and we’re good to go. We’re moving onto the friendship/found family now! I mean, obviously I don’t know whether Izzy will get any kind of redemption—the popularity of his character and Con aside, you just never know what Jenkins might decide on—but then none of us can say with any certainty what season two will bring. What I can say with certainty though is that structurally, from a genre perspective, it is 100% possible to get that “arc” without undermining anything else. There’s not a single technical limitation hindering a redemption, least of all time, because OFMD is a show that has embraced characters forgiving one another at rocket speeds.

#OFMD #Our Flag Means Death #Izzy Hands #mymetas

[purrincess-chat]

Hi, same anon about the outline ask. I'm writing fanfic but it's an au so there's a lot of setting up I have to do before I get into the "fun stuff". I'm 20k in and I'm starting to feel like either I'm going too slow with how everything is happening or I'm not making sense as to what's going on. I WANT to write this story but I find myself thinking I'm not able to do it.

Going to assume this is also you.

I’ve compiled a few tips that might help you, but to avoid making this post any longer than it already is going to be, I’m going to just lightly touch on all of these, so if any of them seem helpful, let me know, and I can go into more detail. 

I’ve done a few AUs in my day, and even started to set up some bigger, more involved AUs (think pirates, fantasy, etc), but I ended up scrapping the more involved ones as fanfic because I felt they were too original, and I decided to just turn them into original stories with original characters instead. SO, I’m going to approach this from that standpoint because if you have this massive AU that diverges from the canon source material A LOT, then you’re basically writing something original with established characters. Since you’re writing fanfic, I’m going to skip talking about things like characterization and how to establish characters because theoretically, anyone reading your story is going to already be familiar with the characters. (I call this the fanfic shortcut)

That being said, in my first reply I talked about plot structure because even as a pantser, you need to have certain landmark points in your story to keep it moving and give yourself something to work towards. There are several other plot beats that I left out that you can read about here if you’re so inclined. You don’t necessarily have to plan out each of these beats since a big part of pantsing is not doing that, and I will say that fanfiction is pretty forgiving. People will read 200k of their blorbos running around like idiots and love every minute of it, so don’t feel like you have to come out here and write a masterpiece, which brings me to my first point:

1. Just do it. Have you ever heard of the shitty pot analogy? It’s one of my favorites that I’ve seen, and it has really helped me on my writing journey. Basically, there is a pottery class, and the teacher divides the students into two groups. Group 1 has the entire semester to make 1 pot, the perfect pot, all of their time is going to be devoted to this one pot. Group 2 can make as many shitty pots as they want and submit their best one at the end. At the end of the semester, people in Group 2 actually submitted better pots than Group 1. The moral of the story? You get better at things by practicing and doing it shittily. Especially because you’re writing fanfic, who cares if your prose isn’t perfect or if you miss some commas, or if your story is just 200k words of your blorbos building up the courage to hold hands. So make your shitty pot. You’ll learn a lot in the process, and the next pot that you make will be better. Accept that your story isn’t going to be perfect and just write whatever the hell you want. 

2. Read. No seriously. This is a legit writing tip. If you want to write a particular genre or type of story, you should absolutely read other people’s stories that accomplish what you are trying to do. That doesn’t mean copy other people’s work, but learning to read through a writer’s lens will help you improve your own craft. How does this person world build? What do they do successfully? What areas need work? What would I do differently?  How do they structure their plot? This sounds like you’re nitpicking their work, but the objective isn’t to critique someone else and determine if they’re good or bad. You’re studying and learning. If no one else out there has a story like yours in your fandom, branch out to other fandoms, or look for an actual published book that has a similar type of world/topic. Seeing how a story like yours is told successfully can help pull you out of places you are stuck. 

3. Build as you go. A big, big mistake I see people make in original works or AUs or even in fanfic in general is a thing called info-dumping. Info-dumping is exactly what it sounds like. You’re dumping all of this worldbuilding and information during the exposition portion of the story, and let me be the first to tell you: Your readers are bored. You’ll probably hear this a lot in writer spaces but it’s the age old debate of show vs tell. Info-dumping is very tell-y. Instead of setting up every little detail about your world and AU, put that shit into a food processor, and sprinkle it throughout your story instead. Let your readers explore the world with your characters and only bring up information as it becomes relevant. Find ways to integrate the information into the story naturally. 

Going back to the Hunger Games as an example, Suzanne Collins doesn't just tell us the Katniss is a skilled archer. She shows her going hunting and bringing back things that she killed with her skills. We aren't just told that her family is poor, we're shown by the sheer fact that she has to hunt for their food to survive. Find ways to show the information to the reader rather than just telling them that things are the way they are.

Also, be mindful of what information your readers actually need to understand the story. It’s unlikely that they need to know what type of money they use in your world or the detailed innerworkings of the political system (unless those things are extremely relevant to your plot). Think about what information your characters would know and what is relevant to them in the moment. I mean, how often do you walk around thinking about how the grass grows? Probably never unless you’re in a botany class or something. You shouldn’t reveal all of your world at once. Pick the few things that are absolutely necessary in the beginning, then sprinkle the rest throughout. It will be more rewarding and more interesting for the reader to be able to slowly explore the setting than if you dump it all on them at once. Let them sip it like a fine wine. 

4. Approach writing as if you were a reader. That sounds confusing, let me explain. The point of writing a story is for it to be read, correct? Oftentimes, we tend to separate the writer from the reader in ourselves. When you pick up a story or a book to read, you are usually doing so to be entertained. So, when you’re writing or editing, put on your reader glasses for a minute and ask yourself, if this was someone else’s story, how would I be feeling right now? Would I be bored? Would this make sense? Sometimes as writers we miss little things because we know exactly how the world works, so we may gloss over something because to us who created this world, it’s obvious, but to a reader it may be confusing. Asking yourself if you’ve sufficiently tied certain points together or explained things from a reader’s standpoint can be helpful. So, yes, branching off of a previous point. You should read other people's works as a writer (if you're specifically trying to learn and get better), and you should read back over your own work as a reader. Not all the time. Just every now and then to make sure everything still makes sense.

5. Find a beta. If you’re struggling to identify bits in your writing that don’t make sense, then it’s time for someone else to look at it. All great writers have betas. It’s just a fact. Every published novel you’ve ever read has had multiple eyes on it long before it ever hit the shelves. Writing is not as much of an individual thing as people might think. A lot of writers are part of a team because as the writer, it’s easy to miss things because you know everything. Having someone else that isn’t in your head that can tell you things like, this doesn’t make sense, this part is slow, I don’t think you explained this well enough, etc. is so helpful.

My beta usually picks up on things I never even thought about or points out things I completely missed. Betas can be hard to find, well, good betas that you work well with. Just as a word of caution, some people in fandom will say they are betas, but they may not work well for you. I’ve had betas give me straight up wrong or unhelpful advice in the past. Always know that at the end of the day, you are the one that gets to decide if their advice applies or is actually helpful. And once you do find a beta that works well for you, your writing will improve. Oftentimes now, I can usually pick up on things my betas have pointed out before while I’m writing, and I can correct them before I even send the piece off. Betas have a good way of opening our eyes to mistakes or habits that we have that we aren’t even aware of. 

Betas are also helpful if you get stuck. Lord knows I talk @avrilmaria​ to death in DMs about all of the ideas I have swimming around in my head. Sometimes when I get stuck, I can explain everything that I have to her, and either she can offer me suggestions that help get the creative juices flowing (even if I don’t end up using her suggestions, sometimes you need to think through why some ideas won’t work in order to find the one that does), and also, sometimes as I’m typing it out, I think of the solution in the moment. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been like, “Hey, I’m trying to figure out the ending to this part,” and then I start explaining what I’m considering and end up coming up with the solution as I’m typing it. Then my beta is like... What are you stuck on? You literally just told me what needs to happen. 

6. Identify the areas that are tripping you up. Pinpoint what exactly you’re stuck on. Is it worldbuilding? Is it characterization? Is it plot points? Is it lack of conflict? Is it just not knowing how to connect two points of the story? Knowing exactly where you’re stuck can help you find a solution to a specific problem.

If it’s characterization, go back to the source material. If it’s worldbuilding, maybe sit down and explore your world more and create an outline of important things you want to remember and explore. If plot is tripping you up, check out the beat sheet I included above and consider ways you can fix the structure of your plot to flow better. If you’ve written yourself into a corner that you don’t know how to get out of, back the truck up and try to figure out why this direction isn’t working. Scrap it if you need to. Keep in mind where you want your story to end and what your characters need to do to get there.

Again, fanfic is especially forgiving of this. You can run off on random tangents just for the hell of it, and so long as the blorbos are doing things, people will generally be okay with it, even if it doesn’t add to the plot or detours from a proper story structure. Seriously, fanfic is just here for a good time. 

7. Find some writer friends. This is so, so important! Writer friends will be able to help you so much because they will understand exactly what you are going through, and can usually offer encouragement, tips, and advice. If you don’t know how to make writer friends, I suggest joining discord servers for your fandoms, participate in events or zines or Big Bangs or whatever you can do to get yourself around other writers. Ask for advice. Exchange ideas. Hang out and talk about your favorite blorbos. Having other writers in your circle will be beneficial for everyone involved. We grow by supporting and helping each other. 

8. You need to plan at least a little bit. I know you don't like planning, but especially if you are getting stuck, having some concrete plans can help you. From what you described, if you change your mind a lot, that can contribute to why you are getting stuck. I know it seems like plotting will mess up your writing process, but as someone who used to be a pantser until I learned how to outline effectively, it really is game changing (for me). You might feel like you're taking a step backward, but once you figure out a way that works for you, you'll develop an even better writing method that prevents all of these stumbling blocks you're facing.

I used to do the same thing you did. I'd have a general idea for a story and maybe get a few chapters out, but eventually I'd hit a wall because I suddenly ran out of ideas and ways to keep going, or I'd write myself into a corner I didn't know how to get out of. Learning how to outline in a way that works for me completely changed all of that. My writing sessions go so smoothly now, I'm hardly ever stuck during the writing phase because I spent a lot of time on the planning phase. You don't have to be a meticulous planner and plan every single plot beat to a T, but even having a barebones outline can help you tremendously when you get stuck. Even during my pantsing days, I would do at least a barebones outline and write a single sentence for each chapter of what the most important events of the chapter were. But there is a reason I'm so pro outlines now because they have completely changed the game for me and eliminated writers block almost entirely.

To touch specifically on your situation, if you want to get into the action, just get into the action. As I said, you can worldbuild as you go, and I can tell you especially if you’re writing fanfic, people probably care less about the setup of your AU as they do about the characters they clicked to read about. Fanfiction readers are very character focused as far as what stories people are going to read. If your story follows two randos that appeared in the background of an episode, people probably aren’t going to read it no matter how interesting the plot is. That’s just the truth of fanfiction. 

People want to read about their favorites getting snowed in or having a meet cute at a coffeeshop or getting married or checking into a hotel to find out there’s only one bed or becoming roommates. It’s the wild west out there, and the world is your oyster. You’d be surprised how much readers can pick up on and how many blanks they can fill in themselves. Or what blanks they’ll even notice or care about. If they have questions, they'll ask in the comments. And most fanfic readers (unless they just have some ego they need to stroke) will be perfectly polite if you tell them you're still learning or trying to figure stuff out. Fanfic readers have seen it all, the good, the bad, the really bad. They know what they signed up for.

Don’t beat yourself up over your story. Writing fanfic should be fun, so don’t stress. Just cut to the fun stuff. Make a shitty pot. Have a good time. You’ll learn more about storytelling and your own writing when you look back on the finished product. Authors that write multiple books tend to improve more than those that take 20 years to write one single book.

If that AU is too daunting right now, write something else. Something shorter, something different, something more fun. Then go back to it. You’ll also build up a readership. Fanfic readers care less about quality (to an extent) and more about volume. The more works you put out, the more people will see your name and be intrigued to read. People will get familiar with your style and be more inclined to come back. Building a readership takes time, so don’t be discouraged if your early works don’t net as much attention as someone who’s been writing in the fandom for 4 years. And don’t let it inflate your ego if your first fic gets a lot of attention. Take it from someone whose most popular story has over 200k hits, but whose most recent story has less than 1000 hits. Wild, wild west, babe. 

I will leave you with a pep talk by one of my favorite Authortubers that I have personally learned a lot from. I recommend checking her and other authors out on Youtube, they are literally out here giving writing advice for free. Hopefully this all made sense to you. Again, if you have any more questions or want me to talk more specifically about any of these topics or if you have any other more specific questions about something I didn’t cover, hit me up again! Good luck!

#cat replies #asks #writing #writing tips #writing advice #writing ref #writing reference #writing help

[scoups4lyfe]

Hebi Anon (having to rewrite this because my browser crashed)

Here’s the big announcement, hand me the megaphone

KAGERO WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO COME BACK

Interviews and production notes confirmed that Kagero’s death was supposed to be permanent, he was never meant to come back in any form and that that the retcon to reveal that he was alive was relatively last minute. Which means that most of Daiji’s actions during this arc was written with the notion that Kagero was actually dead, later changed to simply being totally isolated from Kagero. It’s why Kagero went from “You think we can work together like Ikki? No. The only way this ends is with one of us dead and the other in permanent control” to “I was waiting for you to admit you needed me”.

You can also see this physically with Perfect Wing as it’s just the Holy Live armor with added black stripes over the old Evil/Live body suit. Infact, in the first magazine previews, the stripes were literally stick ons that were visibly peeling (though I think they properly painted the stripes on later).

I said I would give my interpretation of Daiji during this arc once I’ve announced the big retcon, so here it is.

In short, I think that if you lose your inner demon, you not only lose the ability to perform the “evil” actions embodied by the demon, but you also become incapable of understanding anything “evil” from both others and your future actions. Primarily because Inner Demons embody character traits that can be seen as or learned to be recognized as “bad”. Like how a child that hasn’t had enough experiences to learn from can fail to recognize why stealing would be bad, and in turn why a child can fail to understand why someone would steal in the first place. Remove the demon, remove all that learning. And with the Igarashi family, it’s heavily implied that they can only ever have one inner demon, they can’t develop a new one.

Kagero was incredibly underhanded and scheming, so when he was gone, Daiji lost the ability to do the same. It’s why his big “plan” to stop Akaishi was to just jump in the announcement and just scream “don’t listen to him” instead of anything more underhanded like sabotaging the signal to prevent it from coming out. Then, after Akaishi and Giff literally beat the idea that the only way towards peace/the only “good” way forward was to bow down to Giff into Daiji’s head, Daiji was left completely incapable of understanding why people would fight back against that. It’s why he was left confused, outright saying he doesn’t understand when the Weekend refugees refused to go along with him, even after they all said why. He was doing the good thing in his perspective, so why would people object to that? What Weekend and the rest of the family was doing had a horrible risk as if they lost, all of humanity would die, so it was evil in his eyes as what Daiji was doing would guarantee survival. It was the opposite of good, so it is evil. And evil needs to be defeated. So on and so forth.

Absolutely mind-boggling to me that they fr had Kagerou killed off for good pre-retcon

Your entire analysis here though is fr fire because I absolutely agree with you. It would make sense then, with how Daiji was written, that without Kagerou homeboy would be unable to tell the difference between bad and good (more notably —- the nuance of it).

Did laugh though at that ‘not being underhanded’ (during the broadcast) part because that scene was wild 🔫 😛

#fire analysis hebi anon #s e x y 🔥 takes #I have the Jaemin ‘sexy’ meme in my mind rn #fr tho — this was beautifully and aptly out #my thougts #kamen rider revice #kronthescoup #ikki why is ur demon so cringe #revice #kr revice #revice spoilers #watching revice #hebi anon #bath 44 #inbetween baths #asks

[sleepless-crows]

hey! same anon :)

I think the thing with shipping is that being told the characters love each other or not isn’t often the point, at least for me! like its the dynamic that’s interesting and especially in fandom stuff you can just see its development from there. like most non canon ships don’t ever get to being *explicitly* in love anyway.

so to that purpose it doesn’t make much of a difference to me that alina loves mal. I was trying really hard to root for malina and I did like it a lot for most of book one. but him being really cruel to her when she sees him at the fete, paired with how unwilling to treat her with like any good faith or understanding in book two.

I ended up really enjoying their dynamic in the third book actually, and the tragedy of mal sacrificing his life. but the ending, paired with the earlier stuff did mean that my negative feelings still outweigh the positive. and like at the end of the day, I just find other alina pairings more interesting.

the ending is mostly the crux of it tbh. because like the first book has alina holding back and refusing to be her own person because of mal. and while her being under the darkling’s influence is bad, it’s narratively implied that some degree of letting go is necessary for her to grow. and the conflict of having mal vs having her powers is first introduced. and then by book two we keep getting acknowledgement that they’re making each other miserable and would probably be happier apart. and the main conflict driver is alina’s power and position. then by book three, even though they have reached (a really sweet imo!) sort of acceptance and synergy, the narrative question of mal vs alina’s power comes back in full force where she has to kill him to get more power, and how that then becomes reversed to him being resurrected and her losing her power entirely. and while in-universe the loss of her power isn’t treated like a trade off, and I really don’t think bardugo meant it that way, narratively it feels like one because of how it’s been built up as an either/or question for so long. and juxtaposed next to the beginning of her arc in book one: where she was refusing to become her own person because of mal, it just ends up feeling like a large scale regression. which again I don’t think that was the intent! but it ends up leaving a bad taste in my mouth. and it’s just too analogous with like quitting your job/ending all career dreams for a high school boyfriend. so I just personally can’t get into it. which is why, to me, it’s like alina sure does love mal, but at what cost lol.

with zoyalina I think it’s kind of just the hyper focus on each other that a rivalry implies? and also that alina spends SO MUCH page time talking about how hot zoya is. like it’s probs leigh bardugo trying to make sure the reader objectively knows. but with a 1st person pov it just ends up like alina is just stopping to stare at zoya every time she steps into the room and just constantly internally monologuing about just how hot she is. and I think the arc of disliking each other a lot —> falling in love is again just fairly interesting. there’s more ground to cover so it’s fun!

and to an extent I agree a lot with your point about nikolai being allowed to give up artifice and just live his life! I think thematically I just *personally* felt like alina embodied that more as a character. because wanting nothing to do with the performance of court life is like half her personality. and I think nikolai could learn from that?

zoya absolutely represents this for him too but I think with her also being rather ruthless about strategy and willing to sacrifice happiness (ie being with nikolai herself) to make the more politically expedient decision, she just ends up overlapping with him a little? like they go through very similar arcs. and there’s nothing wrong with that and I absolutely see the appeal there too! I just tend to personally prefer the starker contrast I see with nikolina.

I’m sorry this got so long 😭😭 anyway again, I did like zoyalai a lot! they’re very fun and I love them! 🤍🤍

OMG THANK YOU <33 i loved reading this

but i feel like i need to correspond with a long reply too so here goes

I think the thing with shipping is that being told the characters love each other or not isn’t often the point, at least for me! like its the dynamic that’s interesting and especially in fandom stuff you can just see its development from there. like most non canon ships don’t ever get to being *explicitly* in love anyway.

oh i think we differ in views of shipping. for me, i usually ship something when i like the content shown right in front of me. especially since it's a book, i tend to prefer ships whose dynamic and relationship give me quotes and scenes i like, if that makes sense. but it is very interesting to think of what could've been if the author did something differently and how that may be appealing. i just don't ship that way! if i like what's in front of me, i'll take it. if i don't, then i don't. and i don't particularly see anything wrong with malina. can't you tell i'm a canon shipper, it's awful

so to that purpose it doesn’t make much of a difference to me that alina loves mal. I was trying really hard to root for malina and I did like it a lot for most of book one. but him being really cruel to her when she sees him at the fete, paired with how unwilling to treat her with like any good faith or understanding in book two.

again, you ship non canon, i don't tend to, and that's alright! also, i don't recall their relationship in book two, i feel like there are people who could defend them more than i can. so i won't comment on it. but i will say that i saw this post somewhere, i'd like to give credit but i can't find it, saying that mal suffers from ptsd. he watched his friends mikhael and dubrov die. and he could have been suffering from survivor's guilt. i think it's important to acknowledge this because his trauma affected him so much, and many people just ignore that. and it's hypocritical when we acknowledge kaz's trauma and how that affects his relationship with inej but we don't really talk about mal's. and mal is a teenager, and he's gone through horrible stuff, his way of dealing with it wasn't the best, but what should we expect? he shouldn't have had to deal with any of that, especially at such a young age.

I ended up really enjoying their dynamic in the third book actually, and the tragedy of mal sacrificing his life. but the ending, paired with the earlier stuff did mean that my negative feelings still outweigh the positive. and like at the end of the day, I just find other alina pairings more interesting.

i respect that.

the ending is mostly the crux of it tbh. because like the first book has alina holding back and refusing to be her own person because of mal. and while her being under the darkling’s influence is bad, it’s narratively implied that some degree of letting go is necessary for her to grow.

i mostly agree with this. how do i word this? she did need to let go of mal to let her powers grow and develop but i think the hesitancy towards it was because she loved mal and didn't want to be separated from him. this was, after all, what hindered her from being found out a grisha when they were kids. it was definitely because of mal but it wasn't his fault. i don't have a strong liking towards their dynamic but this shows alina truly loves him (i've said this argument so many times already but it's true) and i just want for her to be happy. i'll continue this down below.

and the conflict of having mal vs having her powers is first introduced.

yep.

and then by book two we keep getting acknowledgement that they’re making each other miserable and would probably be happier apart. and the main conflict driver is alina’s power and position.

i don't recall that part about them making each other miserable, i must have forgotten it. what i do remember is that mal gave so much to be with and support alina. and they're both teenagers, we know how teenagers are. i think it's valid that they experienced some negative emotions, because they've both been through so much, and they shouldn't have had to deal with the situations they were facing. but they still stayed together and made up in the end. so i think if we account for the circumstances, i don't really see a big issue with it. but again, this hugely depends on perspective and just how you see it.

then by book three, even though they have reached (a really sweet imo!) sort of acceptance and synergy, the narrative question of mal vs alina’s power comes back in full force where she has to kill him to get more power, and how that then becomes reversed to him being resurrected and her losing her power entirely. and while in-universe the loss of her power isn’t treated like a trade off, and I really don’t think bardugo meant it that way, narratively it feels like one because of how it’s been built up as an either/or question for so long. and juxtaposed next to the beginning of her arc in book one: where she was refusing to become her own person because of mal, it just ends up feeling like a large scale regression. which again I don’t think that was the intent! but it ends up leaving a bad taste in my mouth. and it’s just too analogous with like quitting your job/ending all career dreams for a high school boyfriend. so I just personally can’t get into it. which is why, to me, it’s like alina sure does love mal, but at what cost lol.

the topic of alina giving up her powers is sort of a sore spot for the fandom. many people hate that decision. but i personally agreed with it? i think it was the best course of action to take, imo. i think alina was getting greedy with her power, she wanted more. and she did need more to defeat the darkling, but we also did read about her internal struggle fighting the temptation of power. how she didn't think she would ever stop wanting more if she had it. i personally agree with leigh that alina needed to lose her powers. it isn't choosing between mal and becoming her own person for me. i think it was more of teaching that power is addicting. once you have it, you'll always want more. we can see this reflected in society. and that no one should ever have so much power alone. because even the most kind-hearted people will struggle. the bittersweet part for me was how they had to live in secret, but i really think it was for the best that she lost her powers.

(i just realized while proof-reading this that i didn't counter you and basically just said what we both probably thought. so on brand for me. but i never really perceived it that way. i think it was more of doing what was necessary and giving her a happier ending (for choosing to do the right thing? idk). but i do get where you're coming from. leigh probably didn't intend to make it seem that way but it does.)

with zoyalina I think it’s kind of just the hyper focus on each other that a rivalry implies? and also that alina spends SO MUCH page time talking about how hot zoya is. like it’s probs leigh bardugo trying to make sure the reader objectively knows. but with a 1st person pov it just ends up like alina is just stopping to stare at zoya every time she steps into the room and just constantly internally monologuing about just how hot she is. and I think the arc of disliking each other a lot —> falling in love is again just fairly interesting. there’s more ground to cover so it’s fun!

i guess that makes sense. i personally don't see the appeal but again, it's preference!

and to an extent I agree a lot with your point about nikolai being allowed to give up artifice and just live his life! I think thematically I just *personally* felt like alina embodied that more as a character. because wanting nothing to do with the performance of court life is like half her personality. and I think nikolai could learn from that?

hmmmm... i agree.

zoya absolutely represents this for him too but I think with her also being rather ruthless about strategy and willing to sacrifice happiness (ie being with nikolai herself) to make the more politically expedient decision, she just ends up overlapping with him a little? like they go through very similar arcs. and there’s nothing wrong with that and I absolutely see the appeal there too! I just tend to personally prefer the starker contrast I see with nikolina.

i agree. i guess i've never really thought of that.

my arguments still stay the same with what i said in my last post but now i feel so, so informed about this. it was so nice reading all this!! thank you for sharing your opinion, again <333 i appreciate it so much, this must've taken very long. also, if i said anything wrong or in a mean, less collected way, please tell me! i swear i don't mean it, i'm just super grateful. plus, i haven't been in this fandom as long as many of you and i'm at that age where i'm still trying to form my own opinions, so that may have affected my replies. so please, please don't be afraid to call me out! i just really want to learn.

previous ask

#i feel like i may have said something stupid #in which case please call me out on it #i just want you to know that i'm so grateful for this ask #i feel like i learned so much from you #THANK YOU SO MUCH #just disregard whatever i said in reply if its dumb #anon asks #nikolina #zoyalina #zoyalai #nikolai lantsov #zoya nazyalensky #alina starkov #grishaverse #leigh bardugo #shadow and bone #siege and storm #ruin and rising

[chemicalarospec]

i saw your post about chandler legacies, and unfortunately, i fail to see how it is aphobic. within a single book i think it is alright for all characters to have romantic interests. it is not put up as any sort of implicit objective by the author either, it's just how the course of the book went. it's a typical drama book, at the end of the day. i just don't know how it's against us on the aspectrum. could you elaborate?

It's not a major theme or anything, so I can see how you missed it, anon! But it's definitely there, once you notice it.

I'm not going to directly address anything else you said because it honestly sounds like you said it in bad faith to make me look like a petty asexual strawman who can't stand any media with relationships. I don't want to accuse you of lying about being on the a-spectrums though, so that's probably me assuming too much. (It's only been a few minutes and I feel bad about this, so I want to apologize in advance for doubting you... Situations definitely getting to me.)

I read it again and think my first post is extremely clear about the evidence and why I felt there was an aphobic message after reading, but here's it with direct quotes:

In the first chapter, Beth mentions she would like to “maybe even date [a Chandler] girl.” She is a lesbian in the rest of the story, she says so by the end. In the 3rd chapter, Ramin thinks about his ex-boyfriend, Arya. Ramin is gay. He comes out as such later in the book, tries to kiss Freddie, and is dating a man in the epilogue. In Freddie's first chapter, he thinks about liking both girls and boys. He's bisexual, he says so later on. So it's fair to assume that the character's sexualities are established in their first chapter, right? Now read this paragraph from Amanda's:

She thinks about the things that don’t appear broken that she’d love to fix. Like her inability to fall in love. Everyone on campus gossiped endlessly about the reason she broke up with Chip Whitney last year, concocting absurd stories. But the reason was simple. She just didn’t love him. And she suspects she just might not be capable of feeling that for anyone.

This book was published in 2022 and every other main character is queer. The language used here is EXTREMELY specific, not just a general "that she hasn't been in love," -- "inability to fall in love" and "she suspects she just might not be capable of feeling that for anyone." This is literally the definition of aromanticism.

I was actually excited when I read this passage! I thought, I should make an 'aromantic' shelf because I didn't see this book described as aromantic! So what happens with this during the rest of the story?

Well, Amanda never talks about thinking she can't feel love again, but she does say....

“I also told myself I wouldn’t date anyone my senior year," she says. "Oh, why?" he asks, genuinely curious. She signs. "For starers, most guys are sex-obsessed jerks." Freddy laughs uncomfortably. "But also," she continues, "no one here really gets me. But with you… I don’t know, I think maybe you do get me.”

“The thing is," she says, "I’ve had three boyfriends, but I didn’t really care about them." "You just dated them to be nice?" he jokes. But it doesn’t sound like a joke to her. It sounds like a sliver of truth. "Honestly, kind of. I mean, yeah, I can be a people pleaser. I guess I stayed with each of them way too long because breaking up with them would’ve made me the bad guy.” "That doesn’t sound fun," he says. "It really wasn’t. It was like I was waiting for each relationship to runs its course, like a bad cold or something." He laughs. "So the guys you dated were like viruses." "Basically." She stares into his eyes when she says, "But you feel different.”

This? How she talks about her past relationships? Not at all continuous with her original setup on dating-relationships. Her "inability to feel love" is changed into a "wrong person" thing, a "not yet thing", and "but you're the first, you're special" thing.

Her relationship with Freddie is explicitly a romantic relationship: On page 282, they say “I love you” to each other. Amanda notes “I’ve never said that to anyone else before.” And in the epilogue, on pages 320 to 321, Spence is dating someone else.

Given that there is an entire paragraph about Spence not falling in love (unlike Beth and Freddy's single sentence allusions), you are supposed to remember that she thought that way. So what do you take away? She was immature, she was overdramatic, she hadn't found the right person yet -- all things constantly used to discredit aro people, especially young aromantics around the age Spence is.

If this was an intent to portray an aromatic-spectrum story, it was a colossal failure, because that first paragraph is NEVER addressed again. There is already an epilogue set 7-8 years later! The author could have pushed it back a few more and had Ramin say, “Funny how it turned out that we were all [queer/not straight]. Spence emailed us just the other day explaining [the term “greyromantic"/"demiromantic”/the aromantic spectrum] and how a lot of things in her life fell into place after learning about it. I'm glad she figured that out.”

So, either this is an "accident", with unintentional aphobic messaging (because whether it's intentional or not, you cannot argue that the book does not have an aphobic message in Amanda's relationship arc), or the author purposefully wrote and designed these scenes so readers would take away the idea that if someone says they can't fall in love, they just haven't found the right person yet.

Why would I even think of the second possibility? Look, I've been around a very manipulative person lately who does stuff like this, and I encountered a very insidious aphobe online. (This is why I also had a very suspicious read of your ask, which is in all likelihood is innocent as on first appearance.) There are people out there who absolutely would do such a thing. I am not making the claim that the author is one, but I am saying it's a possibility.

Whatever the reason for writing Amanda's love arc this way, it will certainly sow unneeded doubt in many young questioning aromantics and encourage others to doubt any they encounter. Hench, aphobia, especially arophobia.

extra acephobic scene + analysis under the cut:

“You know why I want to stay in bed." She changes tone, speaking more seriously. "But we don’t have to do it if you don’t want to." "Of course I want to," he says. "It’s just, you said that you didn’t want to date most guys because they only had one thing on their minds. And I guess I didn’t want you to think that I only want sex or anything like that." She laughs. "You really are too sweet for your own good, Freddy. I didn’t mean that I never want to have sex.”

I actually thought this scene was really sweet when I first read it! I thought it was a great portrayal of how people can have different wants in different relationships, and not want a relationship centered around sex but still want sex. But after realizing how arophobic the book was, this scene gets a lot more icky. It basically reads as, "Don't worry everybody! If your parenter says they don't want sex, you just misunderstood, or they're lying, or they're come around eventually, because everybody wants sex!" Respecting and not pressuring your partner when you think they don't want sex is "too sweet for your own good." Like, what?

In short, this book is trying to get its young readers to NOT believe or respect any future aro and/or ace people they may meet/become interested in.

#you're lucky i still have the book! for those quotes #the chandler legacies #abdi nazemian #books #YA #aphobia #aphobia cw #aphobia tw #sex cw #arophobia #acephobia #I said this #asks #anon #i'll probably copy this into my goodreads review now that i have it. put it under a spoiler as a bonus probs. #kinda long post