#This is also me proving that I do in fact understand the characters and engage a lot with diffrent bsd content despite positing a ooc hc

[kunikidas-lost-glasses]

- Theory on Dazai's family -

- Why I think that Dazai is closely related to the former boss of the Port Mafia - A BSD analysis based on facts from the main manga series, the light novel "Bungo Stray Dogs: Dazai, Chuuya Age Fifteen" and the manga "Bungo Stray Dogs: Dazai, Chuuya Age Fifteen" -

Contains heavy spoilers for Dazai's backstory, the Dazai, Chuuya Age Fifteen manga and the Age Fifteen light novel

TWs: Dazai typical mentions of sewerslide, mentioned abuse, picture which shows a scene in a hospital explicitly

English isn't my first language so I apologize for any grammar mistakes.

Not completely proof read by now since I realized that I have a lot of homework while proof reading and panicked. Will be proof read in the next 24h.

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Okay so I had this theory since I read the age 15 novel last year but I've never got around writing it down since some pieces were still missing.

In the following I will first talk about Dazai's relationship with Mori and showing parts of the age 15 novel to proof why they very popular theory that Mori is Dazai's father/a relative cannot be true. Afterwards I will talk about my theory that Dazai was already in Mafia, way before he met Mori before I will talk about my theory about why I think that Dazai is closely related to the former boss of the port mafia is either Dazai's father or a close relative like a grandfather or uncle and gonna show supporting proof from the BSD light novel "Dazai and Chuuya age 15", the BSD age 15 manga and the main BSD manga series.

1. Why Mori cannot be Dazai's father or a relative

Mori being Dazai's father or being directly related to him is a very popular opinion in the BSD fandom and which is very popular especially under anime onlys or new fans. To be honest, I had this theory too when I first started watching BSD but by now I am completely sure that this cannot be true.

Direct proof for this can be found in the BSD light novel "Dazai and Chuuya age 15" which reveals a lot about Dazai's and Chuuya's past in the Port Mafia as well as about some characters in general.

In this light novel it gets clear that Mori and Dazai are still pretty much strangers which are connected through the murder of the former boss of the Port Mafia. This also gets specifically stated in said novel on page 8 and page 7.

As stated here, they've been brought together by common destiny.

On page 7 however, is a even better proof that they aren't related at all and it also gives out another very interesting information about Dazai's family.

As stated here, on page seven, Dazai is "neither Mori's secret illegitimate child nor an orphan he adopted [...] ". I think that with this information, we can be pretty sure that Dazai isn't related to Mori at all. It also gets stated again that they are bound together by "common destiny" instead of any kind of relation.

Very interesting is, that it gets mentioned that Dazai isn't an orphan which Mori adopted since this information can be read in two ways. One option is, that he simply isn't adopted by Mori while the second option is, that he isn't an orphan at all. (English isn't my first language so I don't know if it can be read in only one way so feel free to correct me.)

The last proof for that Mori and Dazai aren't related to each other, can be found on page 9.

The whole page makes clear, that Mori doesn't really know Dazai at all/ that he only knows him for only one year and that he only knows him on a "Coworker level". He isn't familiar with Dazai's way of thinking, speaking and acting. He simply cannot figure Dazai out and he is kind of scared of him. Dazai isn't someone he knows since a long time. If anything, he is still trying to get to know Dazai and his ways of thinking. If Mori knew Dazai since a very long time, I'm sure that he would know at least a bit about how Dazai acts and reacts to things so that he wouldn't get as uneasy as on this text page, when Dazai is showing his serious, cold and calculating side again.

This is only a speculation though since Dazai and his ways of acting and thinking are in fact nearly completely impossible to figure out for nearly everyone.

Besides this, there is a clear distance between them without any familiarity. This distance can be often found between strangers who know each other solely through working together for whatever reason, but who never hang out together in the way friends or relatives do, which creates this distance between them.

Now that I've shown some proof which supports the theory, that Dazai isn't related to Mori in any way, I'm firstly going to show proof for why I think that Dazai was already in the Mafia, way before he met Mori before I will talk about why I think that Dazai is specifically related to the former boss of the Port Mafia.

2. Why Dazai had to be in the Mafia, way before he met Mori

Now, about why Dazai had to be in the Mafia way before he met Mori.

As seen in one of those panels of the first phase of the age 15 manga, Dazai is dressed on somewhat formal attire, wearing a white button up shirt and dress pants. Those clothes suit him perfectly and they look rather formal and expensive so it's unlikely that they were given to him after he got brought to the hospital. Those are his own clothes.

Now, if he would be an orphan who lived on the streets, which is another popular theroy in the fandom, he wouldn't be wearing such clothes.

Also such black and white, formal clothes/suits are commonly worn in the port mafia, often by people of a higher rank or by guards which suggests that there is some kind of a dress code among the Port Mafia. The clothes which Dazai is wearing, suit perfectly into the dress code of the port mafia.

Another point as to why he had to be in the Mafia already is the fact that he was brought to Mori, an shady underground doctor and the personal physician of the former boss of the port mafia after attempting suicide. If he would have been a normal child, no matter if orphan or not, he would have been brought to a normal official hospital in Yokohama and not to Mori.

Besides this, Mori is well aware who Dazai is, calling him by his name which suggests that Dazai isn't only already in the port mafia but also that he is known there and not just another nameless assistant.

Of course, Mori could have been informed about who this kid is by the person who brought him to him but if Dazai would really have been a random kid who wasn't involved in the Mafia, they wouldn't have any information about his name.

All of these points like the expensive and formal clothing, the fact that he seems to be involved with the Mafia already, the fact that he was brought to the underground doctor Mori (who is also the personal physician of the former boss of the port mafia) and the fact that Mori knows who Dazai is, lead me to the next point which is why I believe that Dazai is closely related to the former boss of the port mafia.

3. Why I think that Dazai is closely related to the former boss of the Port Mafia

Firstly, all the previously mentioned facts like the expensive clothes and all, are things which support my theroy in some ways but of course they aren't enough proof since alone from those facts alone, we could also think that Dazai is simply related to a executive or someone in the Mafia who has a higher rank but there are things which lead me to think that Dazai is related to the former boss of the port mafia.

Let me show you.

First of all, Higuchi telling Dazai that Dazai's blood is not only "Mafia black" but also that it's more Mafia black than anyone else's in the country.

While this could also be seen as her referring to him being the feared demon prodigy, it also suggests that he is deeply connected with the port mafia. Also, talking about a connection to something through someone's blood gets often used to hint that someone is connected with something through family.

With saying that his blood is more black than anyone else's, she also says that he is deeper connected with the Mafia than Mori, Hirotsu, Chuuya or any of the other loyal members of the Mafia and besides this, she also tells him through this, that he would be more cruel than any of them.

Now the only other person about who they talk like this and who gets referred to be more cruel and deeply involved with the port mafia, who is basically anchored in the history of the port mafia, is the former boss of the port mafia himself.

Higuchi saying that his blood is mafia black, more than anyone's in the whole county, could easily be a hint that Dazai is in fact, related in some way to the only other person who's blood is mafia black, the former boss.

While this point is more based on speculation, the next point is based a lot more on the things which are actually specifically shown in the manga.

During the flashback which shows how the former boss of the port mafia died, we can see that Dazai isn't standing next to Mori but far away from the bed next to the big window.

If Mori wanted to make Dazai pretend that he would be his new assistant, Dazai would stand next to the bed or would stand at least close to Mori to "watch and learn", to assist him or to hand him any tools or medicine he might need but this isn't the case. He is standing far away from Mori and the bed, silently watching and not assisting at all. He isn't holding any tools and he also obviously isn't looking for anything which he needs to bring Mori. Here he has the role of a bystander and is the witness.

But why would Mori bring a random child with him, only to watch him and which would later be his witness. It would make no sense and it would make him seem even more suspicious. Even if he would have waited with the murder, bringing Dazai with him a couple of times before killing the boss, it would make him look suspicious. After all, suddenly bringing a child with him which then suddenly happens to be the only witness, really is suspicious and I doubt that Mori would have made such a risky and unwell calculated plan.

If that would be the case he also could have picked any child or like any person in the Mafia. After all, there are a lot of people who wanted to see the former boss of the port mafia dead because of his brutal and cruel way of leading the Mafia and because of all the terrible crimes but again.

However, despite the large amount of people who would (most likely) happily assist Mori with getting rid of the former boss, he directly approached Dazai and he does so confidently as shown here:

He seems like he knew exactly that Dazai wouldn't deny his request and he also seems as if he had picked Dazai to be his perfect assistant for this case but I genuinely don't think, that it's only because Dazai is a suicide patient.

In both, the manga and the light novel, Dazai tells Mori that of course the latter would see him as the perfect assistant because he would need to get rid of everyone who was aware of what really happened during that night and since nobody would suspect a thing if Dazai would suddenly commit suicide under unknown circumstances but while this is a good point, more on the other hand states in the light novel that he can't let him die because then the supporters of the previous boss would turn on Mori and claim that he would have killed the predecessor but I will come back to that in a second.

As previously mentioned, I don't think that Dazai being suicidial was the point which made Mori choose him as his assistant. After all, it wouldn't make anything less suspicious due to the reasons I mentioned previously.

So why did he pick Dazai if suddenly bringing a person with him, shortly before murdering the predecessor would only raise suspicions?

Well it would only raise suspicions if the person wasn't already in the room before he came to visit the boss and if they weren't in this room already since quite some time.

This is one of my main points to support the theroy and it also suits to the fact that Mori wouldn't risk seeming any more suspicious throughout bringing a random person with him and it also suits to the fact that Dazai is standing far away from the bed, obviously not pretending to be a new assistant of Mori.

Dazai stands far away from the bed, like someone who was in the room already, way before the doctor came in and he steps away from the bed to give room for the doctor so that he can do his work properly. It is a common thing to do for relatives, friends or coworkers who had been staying at the bedside of the bedridden person.

Now why would Dazai be in this room, staying with the pervious boss of the port mafia as the only person.

He is too young to be a guard and he can't be a person who was carrying out missions for the previous boss since Mori is in fact the person who gives Dazai his first mission ever which is to investigate about the rumors of the previous boss of the port mafia coming back as a ghost. It can be seen on this page of the manga where Mori specifically states that this is Dazai's first job as a official member of the Mafia.

So if Dazai can't be a guard, isn't pretending to be Mori's assistant, if it's too suspicious if Mori would bring a random person with him shortly before carrying out his plan and if Dazai can't be someone who carries out missions, and especially if he isn't an official working member of the Mafia until that very moment in which Mori gives him his first mission and welcomes him as an official member of the Mafia, which, by the way, takes place around one whole year after Mori killed the predecessor, why should Dazai be staying in that room since quite some time, by the bedside of the former boss of the port mafia?

The only logical reason for this would be that he is in fact related to the boss of the port mafia in some way and due to this, stays by the side of his relative to help him in his weak, dying and bedridden state. There wouldn't be any other reason for him to keep Dazai around and if there would be, all the other points like Dazai being dressed formal and expensively and Mori knowing who Dazai is wouldn't suit into the whole situation anyways.

If Dazai only would serve as some kind of a servant, he would be someone unknown in the Mafia and they probably wouldn't have brought him to Mori after his attempt.

My last proof which supports my theroy is Dazai's reaction to having to face the former boss of the port mafia again during the fight against Arthur Rimbaud/Randou but also the bosses reaction to facing Dazai again.

On page 95 in the light novel, Dazai and Chuuya face the former boss for the first time in the whole novel and both, the reaction of Dazai and if the both is very interesting and supports my theroy a lot.

Chuuya who was never directly involved with the port mafia and the former boss and only knows about his crimes /was indirectly another victim of one of his crimes, hasn't a very specific reaction towards facing the boss and the boss also only sees him as someone he has attack without any personal connection between them.

Dazai however reacts not only chaught off guard like Chuuya upon seeing the dead body of the former boss of the port mafia standing in front of them, talking and moving but during the whole fight he doesn't say as much as he usually would and is more confused, tensed up and seemingly very uncomfortable and nervous. He does try to cover it up with sarcastic remarks and through smiling but it is very noticeable in the way he acts and talks.

Upon seeing the port mafia boss, Dazai's smile becomes tense and he seems uneasy and he continues to act like this even after knowing that it's only Arthur's ability. It can't be only because he is worried about the boss telling others what really happened since they are currently in Arthur's hyperspace and the boss isn't going anywhere. The whole situation of having to see and having to talk to this person again seems to make him feel uneasy and uncomfortable which makes him turn more quiet, confused and more serious during the whole battle. It actually takes some time until he acts more relaxed and calculating like he usually does during a fight and until he stops bombarding Arthur with questions.

The former boss of the port mafia on the other hand, (and this is an incredibly interesting and overlooked part), calls Dazai "My boy" upon seeing him again, asks him Mori/ "The good doctor" has been treating him well and refrers to Dazai's face as a familiar face before he calls him my boy upon fully recognizing him. He also tells Dazai that it feel like ages since he last say him which implies that they saw each other and knew each other regularly. Him calling him my boy definitely supports that Dazai is related to him and I think it's self explanatory why. If Dazai was only some coworker, he wouldn't be referring to him as my boy.

The way Dazai talks to him also seems like he isn't talking to someone he only vaguely knows.

The distance which is present when he is communicating with Mori isn't present here and the whole way he talks to him and how he is building the sentences but also how the former boss of the port mafia is referring to him as well as how he talks to Dazai, is making clear that they know each other past the level of only coworkers as well as that they aren't just boss and normal subordinate.

The fact that Dazai refers to him as boss, the fact that Dazai assists Mori's with his plan, the way they talk to each other or better the way in which Dazai talks to the predecessor and that the fact the former boss of the port mafia isn't having any issues with killing/attempting to kill Dazai and even shows some kind of enthusiasm towards it, talking about it in a way which is implying that he already hated Dazai way before Dazai assisted Mori ("[...] I never imagined a day would come where I could behead this boy with my own two hands", the previous Mafia boss crowed hoarsely." (p.98;ll.26-28;" Bungo Stray Dogs: Dazai, Chuuya, Age Fifteen") shows the nature of the relationship between those two.

Most likely, the predecessor wasn't treating Dazai good, most likely abusing him which lead Dazai to assisting Mori and which would explain the way they talk to each other as well as Dazai's negative and almost scared reaction upon seeing the previous boss again.

Given the predecessors cruel, cold and brutal personality as well as his obsession with surpressing and killing people/people who acted against the Mafia, it isn't unlikely that he was also abusive towards Dazai.

Another quote which implies that they know each other since quite some time, can be found on page 98 in the light novel where the boss is "mourning" about the fact that his body isn't capable anymore of talking about the past before he kills Dazai. ("" If only we could chat about old times first, [...] "" (P. 98; ll.28-29)

The fact that Arthur also states that he preserved the former bosses personality and memories (P. 99; l.1) proofs that the memories of the boss as well as the way he acts isn't altered at all.

With all of these facts which suggest that Dazai is related to the former boss of the Port Mafia, it also makes sense why Mori needs Dazai to stay alive. Not only it would seem suspicious if Dazai suddenly dies, even if he would die of suicide but also because then, if Dazai would truly be related to the former boss of the Port Mafia, it would seem like Mori got rid of the person who rightfully is the next boss of the Port Mafia in order to be completely sure that he can be the next boss until he dies.

If we see it like this, it would also make even more sense as to why Mori was so scared that Dazai would kill him one day, just like how he killed the former boss in order to become the next leader of the Port Mafia because then he wouldn't just be afraid because of the "Evil expects evil from others" rule, but also because he and Dazai would both be painfully aware of the fact that Dazai is rightfully the next Boss of the Port Mafia and not Mori.

To summarize, Dazai cannot be related to Mori at all. Not only is this specifically stated in the light novel "Bungo Stray Dogs: Dazai, Chuuya, Age Fifteen" but the fact that Mori is still trying to figure out Dazai, that he isn't familiar with Dazai's way of acting and thinking and the fact that there is a constant, somewhat formal distance between them suggests that they genuinely didn't know each other before Mori asked Dazai to be his assistant/witness in his plan to murder the former boss of the port mafia.

Now despite not being related to Mori in any way, Dazai still seems to be involved with the Port Mafia already, way before he met Mori. Proof for that can mainly be found in the BSD Dazai, Chuuya, Age Fifteen manga.

There, Dazai is shown to wear formal and expensive looking clothes when he wakes up after another suicide attempt and Mori greets Dazai with his name, seemingly being well aware of who Dazai is. If Dazai would have been a random kid p.ex. from the streets, he wouldn't be wearing such clothes and Mori wouldn't know his name but he also wouldn't have been brought to the underground doctor Mori who also happens to be the personal physician of the former boss of the port mafia but to a normal and official hospital in Yokohama.

Alone due to the fact that he got brought to Mori, he had to be involved with the port mafia already otherwise he wouldn't had end up in that hospital. Now, him being well dressed, Mori knowing his name and him being brought to Mori instead of to an official hospital could also imply that he is only the son of an executive or another person in the Mafia who is of high rank but the fact that Higuchi tells Dazai years later that his blood is mafia black, more than anyone else's in the country as well as the fact that Mori chooses him to assist him in his plan of murdering the former boss of the port mafia as well as Dazai's position in the bosses room while Mori carries out his plan and his role in this plan imply that he isn't just related to a random person but rather the former boss of the port mafia himself.

Mori could have chosen anyone to be his witness, especially in regards of how many people want to see the former boss dead but he directly approaches Dazai and does so confidently as shown in the age fifteen manga. He seems to be sure that Dazai would assist him but he also seems to be sure that this won't raise any more suspicious.

If he would have started to bring a random person with him to his regular visits to the former boss, shortly before he murders him and the fact that this random person is suddenly his only witness would raise only more suspicious about him killing the boss and given Mori's character, I doubt that he would plan something so risky and uncalculated where it's sure that it would cause him more trouble than anything.

So why did he choose a seemingly random kid as his witness if suddenly bringing a person with him would only raise suspicions in the end? Because there won't be any more suspicious than there are already if the person is located in the former bosses room anyways and regularly.

The theroy that Dazai stays at the room of the former boss gets supported by the fact that Mori is specifically choosing him, seemingly being sure that this won't raise suspicions and the fact that Dazai isn't staying close to the bed or at least next to Mori while he is "treating" the former boss, not pretending to be Mori's assistant. Dazai is standing far away from Mori and the bed as a silent witness next to the window. Stepping away from the bed so that the doctor can treat the person is a common thing to do for relatives, friends or coworkers who had been staying at the bedside of the bedridden person. If Dazai would have pretended to be Mori's assistant he would be staying close to Mori, only stepping away from the bed to get something which Mori needs but this isn't the case. Also the suspicions didn't raise because of Dazai and everything went as Mori planned which is supporting the theory that Dazai was already regularly in the room.

Now why would the port mafia boss keep a child around in his room/at his bedside. Dazai is too young to be a guard, he isn't a official member of the Mafia who carries out missions since it is shown in the manga that Mori is in fact the person who gives Dazai his first mission ever and who is welcoming him as an member of the Mafia after giving him the mission, implying that Dazai wasn't an official member of the Mafia until that very moment which took place around one year after Mori successfully carried his plan out and if Dazai would have only acted as some kind of servant, he wouldn't have been dressed this well, Mori most likely wouldn't have known who Dazai is and he most likely wouldn't have been brought to Mori after his attempt. We can see how the most servants/slaves are treated in the chapter with Ace in the main manga and since the previous boss was even more cruel and brutal than Ace, he wouldn't have treated his servants any better. Given those circumstances, the only logical reason for him keeping Dazai around in his room, is that Dazai is in fact related to him in some way and is now staying at his bedside in order to help him in his weak, dying and bedridden state.

That they know each other past the levels of only boss and subordinate/ coworkers gets shown in the fight against Arthur Rimbaud/Randou where the former boss calls Dazai "My boy" and mourns about the fact that they cannot talk about the old times before he kills Dazai. They also talk to each other in a way which suggests that they know each other since a long time in a relative kind of way.

While Chuuya reacts chaught off guard towards seeing the previous boss as well but while he reacts in a way which makes clear that they never knew each other personally, Dazai tenses up and is nervous and feels uneasy through the whole fight upon having to face the boss again. It takes him a while until he acts more collected, serious and calculating like he usually does in a fight again but the uneasyness never fades fully, no matter how much he tries to cover it up.

The way they talk to each other also implies a deep rooted hate from both sides. The former boss also shows no issues with killing Dazai, implies that he already hated Dazai way before he assisted Mori and even shows some kind of enthusiasm towards killing the child.

In general, given the former bosses cruel, cold and brutal personality and given the way they interact with each other/react towards having to face each other again, it is likely that the former boss was abusive towards Dazai/that the nature of thier relationship was abusive.

During the whole fight, both talk with each other in way which suggests that they know each other personally since quite some time and the formal distance which is always present when Dazai and Mori communicate with each other isnt present between them during thier conversations, making it seem even more like they are related in some way.

All these facts, from the former boss referring to Dazai as "My boy" to Dazai's position in the room and his role in Mori's plan, lead me to think that Dazai is in fact closely related to the former boss of the port mafia. I consciously decided not to refer to the former boss as Dazai's father since I wouldn't go as far as to pinpoint the exact relation but I am almost completely sure he is closely related to him and I think it's likely that he is at least his grandfather or his uncle.

If you read all of this, I love you <3

#I had this theroy since months #My first analysis #I reached the picture limit so I had to quote the last two parts from the novel #Dazai is closely related to the former boss of the port Mafia and nothing can change my opinion unless Asagiri himself releases #This is also me proving that I do in fact understand the characters and engage a lot with diffrent bsd content despite positing a ooc hc #I wrote this instead of doing homework #Help #At least this was a good practice for my English lessons #bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou gay dogs #bungou stray dogs #bsd analysis #bungou stray dogs analysis #bsd dazai #bsd dazai osamu #bsd osamu dazai #bsd mori #bsd mori ougai #bsd ougai mori #bsd chuuya #bsd chuuya nakahara #bsd nakahara chuuya #bsd arthur #bsd arthur rimbaud #bsd randou #bsd manga #bsd light novel #bsd age 15 #bungoustraydogsmanga

[just-prime]

Ahsoka is so slow I could cry. She was trained by Anakin and presumably Obi-wan and several other Jedi, and Rosario can hardly do an actual lightsaber twirl, let alone make me believe she could survive Ventress, Maul, Grievous, or Vader, survive order 66, or run in a way that looks fast. Bo-Katan moves faster, Shin moves faster, Sabine moves faster, Ezra moves faster, even Ewan's lazy twirls while walking around and not actively engaged in battle in the prequels were roughly as fast as Rosario's in an actual duel.

It's also canon that in this era, in a less prequels flashy version of standard Jedi abilities, a Jedi can leap SEVERAL feet. Luke in ROTJ- even GROGU can jump higher, while Rosario's feet are consistently glued to the ground. Her choreography and speed are so inconsistent with this established era and people keep writing it off and praising it as her fighting like a samurai now, even though it makes NO sense for her to, given who trained her. She isn't A New Hope Obi-wan, nor sad cave dwelling Obi-wan who hasn't stretched or lifted a weapon in a decade, and a 44 year old Jedi is still supposed to be in their prime.

I truly wonder if part of it is that they can't keep her lekku on properly if she does a flip, and they are shorter because they were meant to be more practical, but I'm really not seeing a character agile enough to need stunt modified lekku.

If they couldn't bring this to life in live action convincingly, it should have remained animated and each passing week demonstrates this more and more.

I'm sorry to anon into your inbox like this, but your post about the last episode has been so refreshing, and I've felt like I've been watching a completely different show than other people and don't know how they considered any of the actors ready. (Rosario has said she was training during filming). Thank you for your brutally honest take, you're spot on on all counts.

Couple of things.

A) I agree with everything you just said. Always feel free to come and rant into my asks.

B) I HAVE BEEN ANTI TINY LEKKU SINCE MANDO S2. It's laughable that we've seen cosplayers with more Rebels accurate headpieces. And of course everyone defends it with the 'it wouldn't be fair to the stunt person to have them try and do flips in that' and it's like NEWSFLASH Ahsoka isn't doing flips anyway!!! And sure, they probably stuck Rosario in a 5 week sword training class, but she's clearly not had to do any serious combat training given how clunky her fights are. And again, this was also a problem back in Mando s2, only she was in the middle of a foggy woods, so it was easier to hide the fact that she is incompetent when it comes to fight choreography.

C) "If they couldn't bring this to life in live action convincingly, it should have remained animated" Exactly. This is why every passing day I am increasingly pissed that this show killed and ate the animated Rebels sequel series that was in fucking development. Everything about this show, from Ahsoka, to Hera (hell, even TBoBF cameos like Cad Banes) prove that Disney is not willing to shell out for a decent makeup and/or CG designer. No shade to the artists that are currently working on it, they are doing their jobs to the best of their abilities. What I mean is they didn't have anyone on set that was in a high enough positions to say 'Hey, have any of you heard of contouring?' Like, just looking at the alien makeup of the OT...which somehow holds up better than state of the art Disney budget makeup. It's just fucking embarrassing at this point. There is no reason everyone should look as flat as they do, but it's no surprise that they do when mary elizabeth winstead is celebrating that her makeup only took an hour. Sure, it's understandable that you don't want to be sitting in the makeup chair every morning of hours on end, but in the end you are an actor who signed up to play an alien...Suck it up buttercup.

D) I totally understand how hard it is to be not liking this show right now. The amount of people who've told me that "well, clearly it's just not made for you" after I point out a simple fact that a character is out of character is painful. Looking at twitter after each episode as everyone seems to think Filoni is creating the second coming is painful. Because it really does feel like we're watching a different show than them.

Okay, I think I covered everything. Thank you again for your kind words and your wonderful rant!!!

#rambles #dave filoni critical #ahsoka critical #ahsoka series #ahsoka spoilers #star wars #prime responds #anti filoni

[pendragon1400]

I need to rant about Gale for a moment. Long post and spoilers incoming.

I love Gale, but more importantly I really relate to and understand Gale. I have not seen a person in media who so accurately depicts what happens to gifted kids before Gale. The kid that had no friends, because no one wanted to be friends with the class pet/ know it all. The kid who felt pressure to be perfect, bc that was the only time they got praise was when they succeeded. The kid who loved to learn, and was looked at by peers as weird when they tried to show everyone else what they learned.

Gale feels like he is very annoying at times, he feels this way bc he was told that he was annoying. He often comments on how he talks too much, bc other people told him to shut up. Gale feels the need to be perfect, strive for more power over the weave bc that's the one thing he sees as his redeeming feature.

This resonated so much with me. I started reading early, I would read twenty books from the library in the span of a week, and go back for more. I thought that knowing things was cool and would make people like me so I info dumped on everyone around me. I was not funny, I was not cool, I had no friends and was often told to be quite. The one thing I could pride myself on and was praised for was my straight As.

This came crashing down in college when I was in tears over a A- for a final grade. This was than made fun of.

This is one of the reasons I love Gale so much, not just as a romance option, but as a character. I used to watch these heroes or 16 chosen ones and think "I could never react that way, I can't do be that hero." But, with Gale I see why he did things, understand his reactions. It also adds a deeper layer to the romance for me, bc I have felt that soul crushing failure, the fear of being rejected again and I want to reassure Gale that he has nothing to prove for anyone. In every interaction Gale holds his breath for you to turn him down, reject him or tell him he is being to clingy. He wants to love deeply, but is afraid that it will be one-sided again. Just like with Mystra, and the other relationships he had in the past. Gale says that no-one really came to check on him when he locked himself in the tower apart from some wizards, and then they stopped coming. The man is used to be turned down or abandoned when he is not the model of magical perfection.

Also it feels nice to romance someone who will listen to you fact dump about animals or mediaeval society to them, and not only engage in the conversation but also info dump back at you.

#bg3 #gale #gale dekarios #long post #spoliers

[doodlegirl1998]

I think I finally realize why the writing in BNKA always puts me off in some way, something I've been saying for a while but never got a chance to go into detail.

The writing in BNKA feels like narrative manipulation.

I've come to this conclusion after seeing how the fandom reacts to certain moments and compare them to earlier scenes. And that was when it all clicked for me to come up with this word.

With how the unholy three started out (Bakugou, Aizawa, and Endeavor) then seeing their personalities and how others view them take a complete 180 to view them in a better light, that's what I'm referring to as narrative manpulation.

With Bakugou starting out as a bully and supposedly "changing" so others can say "Wow what a great guy he is!" And praise him to the moon and back... it's literally middle school all over again for him.

With Aizawa coming across as unfair and uncaring only for the narrative to prove he's right every time and have others treat him like he's japanese Einstein.

And with Endeavor starting off as a horrible person and the main conflict for Shoto to overcome... only for his family to welcome him back with open arms and say "We're all to blame for what happened!" just to lift some of it off of him and make him seem like he meant well.

The one common thing about these three is Hori having them express negative emotions and crying and the fandom eats it all up. Claiming that they've gone through development and that they really do care and are more than what we were led to believe. And then have them act the exact same way like nothing happened.

And that my friend... is narrative manipulation.

Hi @theloganator101 👋,

100%.

All of the writing in MHA is narrative manipulation but especially with those three.

Bakugou, Aizawa and Endeavour have narrative manipulation, their own in-universe simps, characters not reacting to them as they should and retcons to soften them and make them more palatable to the audience.

Bakugou and Endeavour are easy and extreme examples so I'll begin with Aizawa first.

With Aizawa, this has worked so well that you rarely see people critical of him and only those who have fully and critically looked at him in canon without #Dadzawa colouring their perception.

His students should dislike / hate or at the very least be wary of him. A teacher who sleeps all the time, pulls "logical ruses" lies and expels on a whim would realistically cause the mental health of his students to plummet. Yet all of 1A (including Izu who he seems to very much dislike) love him for some reason...

He's praised as logical, "harsh but effective" yet his fellow teachers should HATE him. Through the amount of students he's expelled I've heard some people theorising that he has expelled OTHER teachers students. Imagine how angry you would be as a teacher to find one of your students careers destroyed because a fellow teacher expelled them for a bullshit reason. Not only that but logically Aizawa's expulsions would have destroyed lives, destroyed careers before they fully lifted off the ground even made villians.

*There's also the fact that he's not shown to be a great friend in canon either, yet Aizawa is surrounded by Shirakumo, Yamada or Kayama who aren't offput from his behaviour. And even has a respect from All Might (despite the fact that Aizawa has been shown to dislike him.)

* - I'm not blaming Aizawa for being depressed or low key here. That's understandable. However friendship is about give and take. We don't see Aizawa being supportive back to his friends, we see them support him only. And when there's an opportunity to show Aizawa being supportive like to Mic after Midnight's death, Hori doesn't take it. Hori instead makes Aizawa shut Mic up. Additionally, when you like someone and are friends with them - you make the effort to show you like their company, you like being around them, you engage with them. Aizawa acts annoyed by his friends most of the time he's with them on screen, like he's grudgingly tolerating them at best.

Then there's Bakugou who is praised as the second coming of Christ, who lost nothing for suicide baiting a quirkless kid (our MC) and abusing him for ten years! Instead Izuku still calls him "Kacchan" 🤮, Bkg has made friends who are staunchly "anti bully" in Mina and Kirishima (who look stupid or hypocrites for being friends with this POS), Aizawa even praises and favours him for some reason despite Bkg's power being astonishingly one note and Bkg having so much of an awful attitude for heroics the villians thought he was a good recruit. 😬 Bakugou is the worst written character I have seen in a long time - a true Gary Stu.

And finally we have Endeavour, the child abusing POS himself who gets a tragic backstory that none of us wanted to see (his father dying as a kid), we have blame shifting on to Rei and Touya with their respective insanity (also now blame shifted on to Rei's incestous fam by some fans) and some even saying "Endeav had Touya's best interests at heart all along" which truly makes me scoff. If Endeav had Touya's best interests he would have taught Touya to cool himself off, he would have found another interest for them to bond over and sent him to therapy. Not ignoring his spiralling son until he died then got saved by All For One.

In addition, Rei's entire character being used as an "Endeav is not that bad" mouth piece makes me sick, Endeavour broke this woman, physically, emotionally and sexually (depending on your reading but she didn't look consenting to Natsuo and Shoto's births) abused her. So this choice with her character doesn't even make sense, she couldn't even see Shoto, she burnt her child because he looked like Endeav! Why doesn't she loathe this man like she should?! It is sick. It's even sicker of Hori to make her say "We are all responsible for what happened." Like that isn't the most delusional and victim blaming shit to say to your children who couldn't have done squat against their hero father.

Then there's Shoto and his story being overshadowed again by his abusive father, his friendship with Izuku being made about forgiving said abusive father. Shoto deserved so much better than this.

TLDR - the victims of the story should have been allowed to show the impact of their abuse / teaching malpractice that they have dealt with.

Aizawa should have resigned his teaching job (that he didn't even want in the first place) and got therapy as well trying his best to make it up to all those whose lives he ruined.

Bakugou should have been expelled for being an abusive asshole and being too dumb to hide it.

Endeavour should have had the Todofam HATE his guts and no one in his corner coddling him when he cries about Dabi then later Dabi should have finished him off instead of sprouting ice randomly.

#mha critical #bnha critical #Aizawa critical #Anti Aizawa Shota #Anti Bakugou #Anti Bakugou Katsuki #Anti Endeavour

[seriousbrat]

>>I mean mostly the fact that he never shows any real remorse for it. I'm not saying that he didn't feel guilty for hurting Remus, I think he did-- and I also think that academically, intellectually, he understood it was wrong. But in SWM we see it doesn't really change anything about his behaviour. And why would it? There weren't any real consequences for what amounts to attempted murder.

this this this. sirius is a fascinating character and imo a big part of what's so fascinating about him is the disconnect between the morals he academically and intellectually holds (judge a man by how he treats his inferiors, die rather than betray your friends, etc.) and the instincts he follows when he can't/doesn't check himself (...how he treats his inferiors, that one time he betrayed lupin's secret for a fun prank, etc). this sounds really anti-sirius lmao but it's not, he's such a good take on the "it's our choices not our nature that define us" thing and is possibly the first adult we see in text genuinely engaging with this theme in a real world-adjacent way rather than transforming into a feral ragemonster each month or having his evil boss growing out of the back of his head or something. i do love me some metaphors but the relative realism is nifty.

exactly!!!!! the girls that get it, get it. honestly i feel like a lot of analysis by people who genuinely love Sirius reads as anti-sirius just because my boy's got a lot of flaws and I think anyone who rly loves the character for who he is (same goes for Snape) actually loves him because of those flaws, not in spite of them. so we love to talk about them lol

it makes him so interesting! the kreacher thing, the way he directly contradicts his own advice from the previous book, is such a clear example of this. I mean, again Sirius has been conditioned to view house-elves as inferior, and not only that but Kreacher is the last living reminder of everything he suffered at home and everything he hates-- it's understandable why he'd react that way to Kreacher, but it's also what proves his undoing.

In a way there's something admirable about it, like Sirius has had to overcome MUCH more than someone like James in terms of challenging his own beliefs. is it any wonder that being thrown in azkaban at age 21 and then forced into a different kind of prison would stunt his growth and understanding about the world? despite that he was still able to be a great godfather to harry.

#sirius #replies

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Okay... so about that RadioTimes article

I was gonna make a post about this earlier and I didn't because I didn't feel like my thoughts were in a place that didn't come off as

But I think I've got my thoughts somewhat together, so I'm just gonna drop my (admittedly unnecessary) two cents on the whole thing.

"Imagined romance"

My question to whoever wrote this: have you watched the show and/or engaged with any other interviews involving cast/writers?

Not only is it (sometimes obvious) subtext in the show, but it's been confirmed by actors and writers alike. You don't even need to do much digging to find out about it. To me, it feels like it feeds too much into this idea that you can only have a romance if it's explicitly mentioned/shown through physical intimacy, which it doesn't! The show actually depicted a healthy, loving relationship between two beings without physical intimacy only for the fans to be publicly labelled as somewhat delusional for seeing it.

And then there's this bit...

(I'm saying this as a cishet female, so please jump in with corrections/added context if needed).

This made me feel incredibly weird when I first read this because the quote used didn't seem to be proving much of the point they were making. Putting aside the absurdity that is "resisted pressure to give in to the fan-fiction phenomenon", the fact that they immediately jump to using a quote about the characters' understanding of gender as proof of there being no romance feels so odd.

Am I just misinterpreting this whole section or something because the entire thing seems to be saying "Gaiman disproved the fans' delusion of an imaginary romance by confirming that neither Crowley nor Aziraphale understand the human concept of gender" as if the characters being gender non-conforming is proof that they aren't romantically involved?

Like, are we running with the idea that a romance can only be built between two people who each conform to a specific gender category? Someone please correct me if I'm wrong because I am genuinely baffled.

Or are they trying to say that they don't understand human concepts like gender and are therefore also unlikely to understand romance? (Edit: But even if they don't understand the concept of romance, surely that doesn't exclude them from experiencing those feelings). Or did they just pull a random quote that didn't quite work because there isn't actually one of Gaiman explicitly saying that there is no romantic connection?

Other than the last two paragraphs, I actually found the article to be quite interesting. But the end left a sour taste in my mouth.

On the plus side, we did get this gorgeous pic today. 🩵

Like I said earlier, please add corrections or context if necessary. Or just drop your thoughts in general. I know people were taken aback a bit by the article and while I don't think there was malicious intent or anything by the writer, it feels misguided.

But enjoy the Ineffable Husbands sitting on a rock together because it's a gorgeous photo.

#not aure if i'm gonna keep this up #it still feels a little ranty #but the last part of the article genounely left me baffled #good omens #good omens 2 #ineffable husbands

[ginger-snap-talkin-nonsense]

Could you explain your definition of “animation brats” better? I found your original explanation to be very unwieldy and incoherent. It seems like you relied heavily on people already agreeing with some pretty extreme claims about the correct ways to enjoy media and about how a very broad, generalized group of people think about the media that they watch. I think you tried to throw a lot of things you hate about other people enjoying media that you don’t into it, and therefore it just read as more of a list of things that you hate seeing other people do, rather than a real definition of the term. It came off simultaneously as ridiculously specific in the areas where you were just ranting about shit you hate other people enjoying. But WAY too generalized about defining the actual group of people that you claim possess those traits. Which created an utterly bizarre definition of the term in which seemingly a VERY specific person was being criticized, but one who at the same time ALSO somehow belonged to an extremely nebulous, wide-ranging group of people.

...in the spirit of you taking the time to actually explain yourself as the opposition-even in bad faith-i'll indulge the question and get a little more specific in what "Animation Brat" actually means because I did just kinda brain to hand that last explanation and didn't take it seriously.

Animation Brats fatal flaws are superficiality and a refusal to admit said superficiality.

There are movies and TV shows I like because they're stylized in a way I enjoy but there's little else to them. There are movies and TV I like because they're nostalgic, or their themes personally resonate with me and I'm willing to look past problems to enjoy them.

What I won't do is lie about that and pretend like those things are secret masterpieces that no one else gets unless I can provide strong evidence to prove that fact.

Unless there's a deeper reason to like a movie or show like it's themes being well written and important, or it's characters being complex and nuanced, or it's plot being tight and engaging.

Animation Brats won't go into anything with that nuance because there's this underlying insecurity about liking cartoons they never worked past. They can't just admit they like something because it looks pretty or because they just personally like an idea they explore.

Suddenly every shallow theme must be insanely complex, every character must be incredibly nuanced and rich and every script must be made of gold.

But the arguments never actually go past "it's really good and if you don't like it fuck you" because they won't think through their own critical process.

This is also where the love of superficially dark stroytelling in kids shows comes from. Now admittedly this is an issue for both the consumer AND the creator because more and more show runners are leaning into being "dark"...for a kids show. Everything will be caked in metaphor because you obviously can't talk about things like war and genocide in kids shows, but people will take that as just further proof that the work is "deep". Because the metaphor is there. And the metaphor is for something dark. And kids can't handle dark things and kids can't understand metaphors so this work must be for more than kids. In fact it's not even for kids. It's for them.

They don't think further than "dark subject metaphor=great writing". It's why Animation Brats tend to get hung up on the same few cartoons and animated films. Because those are the only ones that let them play off their shallow enjoyment and/or refusal to take critical thinking seriously off as genuinely thought through sentiments.

And all of this is only a problem because they won't leave other people alone who either see through it or just don't care about it.

You don't need to prove everything you've ever liked is actually super deep and actually perfect, you can just like something...unless you're an animation brat. Then it's your life and opposition is a personal attack.

[takearisk-xo]

This might be a strange question but I’m curious to hear your thoughts. What do you say to hinny haters? People who say they’re boring or came out of nowhere? Those seem to be the most common arguments that I see.

me, personally? i would probably say nothing? because i typically don't engage with people who actively dislike something that i like? i have no desire to seek out reddit posts or anti blogs and try to convert people over to my point of view. if someone thinks harry/ginny is boring that's fine, they're within their rights to think that. i obviously don't think that so as long as they respect my point of view then there's nothing else to say.

however, if someone came to me and was like "why is hinny interesting to you? isn't teenage sweethearts kind of boring?" i would say that is a very surface level examination of their relationship and a disservice to both of their characters.

like, yes, they are teenage/high school sweethearts but that's not why i'm interested in them as a dynamic. there are lots of other people out there who have used in-text examples and book quotes to prove that they're endgame/understand the other perfectly/made for each other/etc.etc. but i think for me the most compelling thing about their relationship isn't necessarily how they interact together, but their separate journeys when they are apart.

in my opinion (because this is truly honestly an opinion, i am not trying to imply what i am saying is fact or even authorial intent) harry and ginny work because there are quite literally no other characters in the text that are more directly impacted by the antagonist.

like even if you throw quidditch, and sense of humor, and physical attraction out the window. they have SHARED TRAUMA?!?! sign me the fuck up.

they might start out as friends to lovers or teenage sweethearts but they don't end there. the reason that they last is because when it comes to the bad, they're is no lack of understanding of what the other person has gone through and is going through. ginny doesn't understand harry's tendency to be emotionally guarded by accident or instinct, or even by choice. it's because she's been through some shit and she gets it. adversity, betrayal, loss... you can't explain how trauma and grief changes a person, and their response to conflict, to someone who hasn't experienced it. and that is so so interesting to me.

also they are set up for some of my fav tropes: second chance romance, power/battle couple, and height difference.

#hope this helps #lol #hinny #anon #answered

[jagged--dust-jacket-analysis]

The lack of Media Literacy people have these day's is actually so sad and kind of frustrating.

Being involved in fandom a lot has allowed me to observe a large amount of people and their abilities to take in and comprehend pieces of media. And most people involved in fandom actually lack these skills. It's as if they didn't finish taking a high school English class.

Obviously I understand that some people may not have access to these things, or children who have not yet gained comprehension skills. And I'm not necessarily talking about these people.

But there are people out there who talk like they know a whole lot, but have no clue what they're talking about. They don't have the media literacy skills necessary to have informed or complex discussions but still attempt to partake in them.

This is why fandom is such a double edged sword. Because on one hand, it is a free way to have engaging conversations with people around the world for a source of media you enjoy.

On the other hand it is a way to have open conversations. Meaning everyone who is a fan of the topic of discussion can and may be involved in what you're talking about. Meaning you're going to get a lot of takes that are not only flat and one dimensional, but also plain wrong at times.

There are many examples of different fandom controversies I could give you, but all of them are hyper specific and I want to keep this post general (Maybe a Future post?) But again, there are several examples I could give so if you wanna look into it yourself, these are just a few things to look into (like fandom's, terms, etc.):

Bsd (Bungou Stray Dogs. Specifically the "Nurse Scene Debate" but a lot of fandom discussion can further prove my point).

Tmf (The Music Freaks. This is a smaller fandom, but there's just lot of conversation surrounding characters. Take your pick and theres bound to be 'controversy,' of some sort).

Winx Club (Conversation surrounding Bloom, the Mary Sue debate in specifically).

Mary Sue (This is not a fandom, but this word in general is grossly overused and misused).

Queer Baiting (Again, not a fandom but the debates about this terms meaning lends itself nicely to this conversation of media literacy).

Any Modern movie with remote social commentary (Just look into discussions surround these movies. A lot of times there will be lacking takes to either explain a love or hate for these movies. Almost always do these fall into a logical fallacy).

Mha (My Hero Academia. Oh gOD- so much for this fandom... so much...)

There are many more examples, but you get the idea. I find animated works are guilty of having this issue. But this can be traced back to the fact that animated television draws in younger audiences. People who might not have the experiences and skills to partake in educated conversations on specific topics. So it does make sense. And just because it is most prominent in animated works, doesn't mean it doesn't occur in other types of artistic works.

I do see a lot of people discredit the media literacy conversation. Saying that telling people they're media illiterate is just the new way to not let people have opinions. Or that it's mainly a talking point of conservatives to discount genuine social critiques of movies and modern television.

And while this is sometimes the case, because people do abuse the argument of media literacy a lot. I think a majority of the time people are just lacking the analytical skills necessary to have conversations and don't like being told they're wrong.

Media Literacy is genuinely an issue in today's society. It is a travesty that a lot of people lack the skills to analyze any form of media ranging from Movies to Books to Television. And don't be mistaken, this doesn't just impact how we interact with media as a society, but also how we interact with each other.

Because the basic skills we use to analyze movies and books, correlate with the skills we need to understand people and their perspectives. It's how we understand arguments we present to each other about anything and everything.

The lack of media literacy is just the start and warning signs of larger issues to come. And outside of that, it's just plain sad. The education system has failed people and some people with the resources to learn have chosen to fail themselves.

#media literacy #television #movies #literature #books #manga #anime #cartoons #reading comprehension #media analysis #discussion #JDJ-Miscellaneous #If any post gains big traction #I hope it's this one #I feel very passioante about this #I'm probably gonna write my college essay on this topic.

[yama-o-utsusu]

Sakura in the first series goes through one of the more important character developments. She starts out as naive, book smart, absolutely upreared for horrors of combat and war. Her views are simple and childishly self-centered, she doesn’t yet grasp the severity of life and death. She calls Naruto annoying, making snarky remarks at him. “Orphan” doesn’t fully register in her brain, because she’s young, naive and unaware. She is very quickly confronted by Sasuke, proved wrong and called “annoying” back. And that’s enough to make her think.  During the bell tests, Sasuke shows her his darkness and she seems taken aback. A slow realization creeps into her but it only fully blooms during the Zabuza arc. She sees poverty, pain and death, and as she walks through impoverished village she realizes that life isn’t simple and colorful. It’s scary and anything she has read from any of her books didn’t prepare her for almost witnessing her teammate die. Being a ninja is not a game. She doubts herself, because despite what some people try to insinuate, she’s fully aware of her cons and shortcomings. Sasuke helps her out of that self doubt, because he likes her. She’s his teammate and when he almost died, she cried over him. And it feels nice and kinda fuzzy even, to have somebody care about you that much, but Sasuke would never admit that (Why would he say “you’re heavy”? He should’ve say “I’m alive” or even “get off” but he doesn’t. He speaks up to inform her he’s fine, but by that he also acknowledges their closeness and does not refuse it! It’s such a Sasuke thing to say, I could talk about this for hours) Forest of Death is the prime Sasusaku. I don’t understand how could somebody watch/read through it and not see it. There’s of course a lot of fear and pain but there’s also so much closeness and comfort and genuine care for one another. It’s a very important arc for the whole Team 7 but I’d argue it’s mainly Sasuke & Sakura’s. Sakura especially, as we see her develop a wider understanding of her place as a person, as a teammate and as a ninja. How she finally stumbles into action, saving Naruto from a fall and yelling at Sasuke. Because god, if anyone is going to do anything about this absolutely terrifying ninja, with a power they haven’t seen even from Zabuza, it’s Sasuke.

There’s this guilt of her own weakness looming over her as she takes care of her teammates. But she tries her best because someone has to, because she wants to. She wants to be stronger, to help but, most importantly, she wants Sasuke and Naruto to be safe. 

It’s no wonder people think of Sasuke’s seal awakening as one of the most powerful scene of this arc. Because sure, it’s badass and cool but what’s most important about it is often missed. When Sasuke wakes up, brought from the brink of death by his own strong will, he is furious. But it’s not a mindless rage, it’s not like Naruto’s nine tails transformation. The seal is not a being on its own, it just pulls on the deepest, darkest strings of his mind. On his insecurities, his dreams, his trauma, his worst qualities. It’s still Sasuke, asking Sakura who did this to her. It’s still Sasuke attacking the Sound-ninja. It’s only when he engages and even takes joy from his cruelty Sakura realizes it’s not him. Because Sasuke is kind, cold but extremely caring, because he can get carried away but never like this.

The fact that people can read these chapters, hell, the whole manga and still think that Sasuke hates Sakura, that she doesn’t know him, that Sakura herself is a selfish, shallow characters is mind-boggling.

tl;dr: Sakura is a greatly developed character and first part Sasusaku is so well written it makes me want to cry fkljsd.

#sasusaku #long post #pro sakura #i do feel like a lot of people do not understand how subtle japanese culture can be #especially with romance #honestly if im gonna read one more anit-sakura argument talking about how she made fun of an orphan at age fucking 12 #im going to go feral

[reddragon-cowboy]

PSA

CW: Anti-blackness, Racism.

I usually don't make posts of this nature, but something had to be addressed since it involves my racial identity as a black women. This involves my experience in the server with one individual.

This is a post to share my experience concerning an individual who displayed direct and indirect racial prejudice towards me in the @bebopcrew server. First and foremost, I must say that the Bebop crew is an amazing server and, although I am particularly shy as it can take me awhile to feel comfortable enough to socialize in groups, the members there made me feel welcomed and supported me, as well as many writers/artists alike.

But one member in particular, @/Drasino, stood out to me that treated me differently than the rest. I thought I could put the situation behind me and let it rest, but due to seeing them on my dash often continuously calls back to mind what occurred.

This happened when I had begun to try to come out of my shell, attempting to socialize and engage in conversations in certain channels. I left a compliment on some insight they shared in a channel, but I never got a response that showed he acknowledged me. I also tried to engage in them again, but he didn't acknowledge me and proceeded to ignore me. Interestingly, he would engage with other people in the server and their stuff, but nope, not me.

Ironically, a day or so later right after, Drasino posted an image where he outwardly mocked the Afrikaan language. That was the first red flag for me. I asked one of the admins about what they posted, what his intention and motives could be about the crude image. The admin got right on it and confronted Drasino about it, to which he acted oblivious and played innocent. But after that incident, the admin updated the rules to emphasize how racist and other toxic content, comments, or memes are not allowed.

Afterward, there wasn't no more images of that sort again. However, he proceeded to deliberately ignore me and my stuff while engaging and initiating conversations with other people. I also tried to involve a few people in a channel where he and other people were talking, which he easily could've engaged with me as well, but instead, he proceeded to switch over to another channel to try initiate a totally other conversation, again, deliberately and willingly trying to exclude me from his presence. There was also a comment a admin told me where Drasino made a joke about monkeys as well.

All of these things began to pile up. Even though he acted oblivious about the picture he posted, you have to remember, Drasino, ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. THE WAY YOU TREAT OTHERS IS ENOUGH TO KNOW THE TYPE OF PERSON YOU ARE. I am not stupid; I knew exactly what you were doing, and your actions towards me further proved my case. I do my utmost best to extend kindness towards others, try to make others feel welcomed, and I don't like it when others feel left out. I extended kindness towards and courtesy towards him in the same manner as I try for anyone else. But he didn't for me; the fact I'm the only black person ( plus with the only black oc) in the server who he outwardly and deliberately chose to not give me the same courtesy and respect as he gave other people stuck out like a sore thumb. Plus, that image was all I needed to know because he knew exactly what he was doing and proceeded to downright ignore me.

This type of behavior something I wouldn't expect to experience in this type of community, but here we are. Shinichro Watanabe created a show with a diverse cast of characters; Cowboy Bebop is abundant with diversity of different languages, cultures, ethnicities, and nationalities-it is an element I love about the show. Anyone who is a fan should understand and appreciate the message and vision that Watanabe delivered for us. If Watanabe appreciates and respect others, no matter their race, culture, or language, a fan of his work should share that same openness. With that being said, showing racial prejudice, anti-blackness, xenophobia, or any other type of prejudice towards another person is completely unacceptable here.

I decided to make this post to make others aware of my experience with this individual, and for others who look like me to be wary of their company, so they don't also have to go through the same thing I experienced.

#antiblackness tw #racism tw #( ooc ) the mun. #drama tw #discourse tw #cowboy bebop

[spicybylerpolls]

So I just read a really interesting review of the gay WW1 novel In Memoriam, and the reviewer (in a respected newspaper) is describing this adolescent, boyish, somewhat cowardly attraction between the two boys. 

Although they later prove themselves physically brave, Ellwood and Gaunt are cowards in love. Despite being well inducted by other boys into the improvised physical intimacy widely practised at their Wiltshire boarding school, Preshute, their own relationship remains chaste and hesitant: affectionate; Tennysonian; intensely sexless. Both characters are recognisable stock figures of boyish adolescent romance.

Now, it’s well and easy to say such in today’s era when homosexuality isn’t punishable by death, but in terms of Mike and Will, they’re going to explore in fine detail in s5 how and why both Mike and Will have been so careful. But what gets my eye is the mature way of discussing sex. If anything, works are often taken LESS seriously when they are coy about sex, because they suddenly seem embarrassed or childish or Disney-ified. I cannot imagine a more opposite view to the byler sex antis on here, who say, instead, that portrayal of adolescent sex is paedophilic. Can you imagine how you would be dragged to shit by any literary or film critics worth their salt for thinking that? For thinking that teenage sex is inherently bad or paedophilic? 

The review goes on to say:

Both young men torment themselves in attempts to hide their attachment from one another and themselves. It is a losing battle, the first of many they will see as war draws close.

Oof it sounds familiar! 

But mainly, the reviewer (a man) is appreciative of the detail that the author (a female) put into the work as regards sex:

Winn has written against the grain of her “lived experience” in another way too. In addition to not being a veteran of the First World War, some quick detective work in the acknowledgments section of the book reveals that she is also not a homosexual Edwardian adolescent. In fact, she does an intelligent job here too at simulating the male imagination, and although the sex remains carefully speculative, there are occasional observations of striking acuity. (“Gaunt’s prick was a little smaller than his. Ellwood had noticed that a long time ago, at school, had found it ruinously attractive.”)

I want to point out that this last quote comes before these characters engage in any sexual activity together in the book. 

And this comes on the back of the author running the novel by her male gay and bisexual friends for realism before publishing:

‘I had one friend who was really generous and candid about how to make the sex scenes feel real, but also about how to make the characters – outside of the sex – behave more like men. I mean, I don’t want to put too fine a point on this, but I remember at one stage he asked me, “So, who has the bigger penis?” And I was like, “I don’t know!” And he said, “Well, the characters know!”’ 

- Alice Winn

So there we are! Have Mike and Will ever showered together in the gym at school? We see the high school boys do this at Hawkins in s2, but Mike and Will have never been together at high school. Either way, there’s an acknowledgement here of the fact that teenage boys think very differently about sex than girls, and that if you want to create a piece of art that not only is enjoyable and exciting and compelling, but respects its characters and source material, you must be realistic about those character’s thoughts and experiences. I can understand prudishness a little, but to go as far as to call people who are calling for sexual realism in a coming of age story paedophiles????????? What is your aim?????? Feel free to be afraid of sex until you can figure it out, but do not call others who are engaging with something natural and normal perverts and degenerates. It’s not just cruel, but completely ignorant. 

In short, Mike and Will have definitely thought about and possibly know who has the bigger penis - and yes, they’re also very interested in that topic. 

Okay first of all, I'm definitely adding that book to my reading list! I love queer coming-of-age period pieces. Thanks for your service to the spicy byler community!

Second of all, this brings up a lot of interesting points. I especially love your point that, "If you want to create a piece of art that not only is enjoyable and exciting and compelling, but respects its characters and source material, you must be realistic about those character’s thoughts and experiences." So true! I think Bylers are typically really good at understanding this concept, but for whatever reason they completely throw that out the window once sex is in the picture.

"In short, Mike and Will have definitely thought about and possibly know who has the bigger penis - and yes, they’re also very interested in that topic."

#byler #spicy byler #will byers #mike wheeler #no poll

[prettyshon10]

Good for everyone finding enjoyment in the new alive action show.

Personally, as it stands right now, I have no drive the finish the season. It’s not bad; I can say that much. There’s quite a bit that I like about it.

However, I really wish this show (and many other media pieces nowadays) would trust its audience and pace itself with an actual story and character development. Apparently the writing feels like it has to constantly tells us things instead of showing us. Not to mention the story is pushing ahead to aspects and events without any proper build up. Why did we have to see a vision of the fire nation invading the water tribe in the second episode? Can we get there first?

It feels like when your English teacher assigns a project and emphasizes that instead of just regurgitating information to prove that you know the unit just taught, you need to integrate that information into the work. Telling me things about the lore doesn’t impress me; show me you understand the core of the show by the expression of the story.

It’s the same with the characters. I wouldn’t necessarily say that they’re flat, but they don’t evoke too much emotion from me, and it’s because the writing is allergic to depth.

Which brings me to my next issue: the changes.

Look, I’m not the kind of fan who whines and complains about an adaptation changing things from the original source. I completely understand why that is, and there are quite a few instances where I love it (Shadowhunters and Percy Jackson tv series, for example). But in those instances, the changes were able to bring something to the table. They did well by the characters and the overall story. The changes I’ve seen so far with this show do nothing but make me ask “Why?” Why remove Aang running away from home, which serves as his guilt and shame? Why rework his skills and talents in airbending to be something he’s afraid of? Why make the driving force to get to the North Pole to prevent more bloodshed from an incoming attack when there was already a driving force to get there (learning water bending)? Why Kiyoshi in place of Roku? How does any of these changes add something to the characters? How does any of these changes elevate the story being told? Because I don’t feel like I gained anything new as a viewer.

Take away the fact that this is an adaptation. As its own show, I just don’t feel like it’s done a good enough job validating its existence and inciting me to want to watch more of it. Even for wanting to “appeal to Game of Thrones fans”, it misses the mark. Game of Thrones (up until the last couple of seasons) had incredible build up and depth of the story and characters at play. There was trust in the audience and in the journey. That’s why fans were so pissed with how it ended.

Also, I understand that this adaptation is “geared towards adults, not kids”. While I would argue that the original animation lands great with adults even 19 years after its debut, I’ll just say that the new show left this particular adult viewer underwhelmed.

Again, I’m glad there are people finding enjoyment in it. This is just my personal opinion. I don’t hate it—it’s MILES better than the film—but I don’t find it engaging.

I’m good off this. Y’all have fun, though.

#atla #netflix #avatar: the last airbender #love action #netflix avatar #aang #katara #sokka #zuko #iroh #suki #azula #fire lord ozai

[alicentsultana]

Where do I even begin ?

Oh let’s start with the fact that your writing style was INSANE .I really love the way you describe things .Dark Alicent my beloved you were done justice in this .

And Alicent having Aegon to attend lessons ma then granting him so wine was such a goof bit and I do think that was in character for both of them .

Alicent played the dutiful way after Viserys died (“Let him rest!”) was such a delicious detail .I really felt for Aegon when he takes the throne and it’s such a nightmare but if he stays delusional his family (and any possibility of recognition)is dead .I SEE what you were doing with Helaena’s warnings and I love it .

The politics in this were all so delicious .Weird word for talking about politics but reading about the Black box and Corlys as hand and Lord Arryn and Rhaenyra’s pregnancy was so engaging .

Alicent losing three kids was a change that struck me ,and I find it interesting because a lot of women lost children in medieval times and now we don’t even know if they actually lost them or even had them so it was interesting in the historical sense .And really sad because the scene where she is caressing her empty belly really did something to me .I stared at the phone for like ten minutes .

Alicole in this was INSANE ,like wdym she literally said she wanted to have his babies ? What do you mean she’s PLANNING to make him hers ? Not that it makes me unhappy actually I was kicking my feet the entire time .

Alicent’s dream was such a haunting and good bit .Aemond being his cunty self my beloved .And you mentioning Daeron with Criston …the way you wiew Daeron is so heartwarming he is such a KID .

And ofc her last words to Viserys were so cunty and so hunting .The way she took his life and the only possibility to ease his guilt after what he did to Aemma was probably the best bit of the entire chapter .”See you in Hell” GODD

I’m so ready for the second chapter and I really thank you for this fic already because it made my day better .

YOU GO ALICENTSULTANA

Omg, thank you so much!

Lessons in exchange for wine is something that totally would happen, this is soft manipulation/motivation.

Alicent must be a cancer, I can feel it, it's in my blood. I have wondered for a long time what is a major manipulation feature one can express, and I totally would play dumb and heartbroken just to see the outcome and cover my actions, I gave her this to make her truly unhinged.

Aegon is doing it for his children and his siblings, this is the sole reason, wine also. I think he used Helaena's vision to justify his actions and feel less guilty about it, but don't worry, there will be no remorse coming.

I'm not a politics girl, like I don't understand anything about it, so in my head I always justify everything as "political undisclosed reasons", but then, Alicent is a politician, her father and life taught her the hard way, so she had, as queen mediator, to act. Including taking risks with helping Corlys raise to position - one snake + one snake = naja and coral. She must be suttle, must analyze everything, every step, no faux pas.

Corlys is playing for the winning team when is convenient, though don't ask me what he will tell his wife.

I also pondered who would be a major Lord who could prove himself against Rhaenyra, and who better than the brother of her mother. Throughout s1 she stroked me as being relapse and naive about the power of court women, while Alicent entertained them, Rhaenyra was mostly doing faces and throwing some tantrums. Who's to say she wouldn't offend, unknowingly, a member of her own extended family? The Arryns are a super important house, and are her relatives, losing them is losing the vale.

Let's not mention Viserys health deteriorating and her doing what? Thousands years of honeymoon? Alicent was pregnant and holding a child while the world was falling apart and pretty girl was doing what? This will be brought up again in the future. Viserys would 100% overlook and think nothing of it (as always).

I have an hc that she had at least three more pregnancies, though she would have lost them by natural causes, I decided to make her get rid of them herself, and lamenting it because obviously she wouldn't want to do it, but she couldn't bring herself to birth more children to an ungrateful crown. I believe after Aemond, she would often tell Criston like "oh, i wish they were yours" both because she lost faith in Viserys, but also because Criston was the dadTM and she's in love with him.

They are very much aware of their feelings, but my intention was to do it much more mature and heavy, more wild and on edge, they are certainly more touchy, more open, not that many notice or see it happening beyond some of her servants and Westerling (he have a keen eye).

But again, they would never be caught red handed (god I really want to post the second chapter, people will scream).

Even if he's already hers, Alicent doesn't content herself with halves, she wants the whole meal, the whole experience.

Daeron will always be a baby, he's not allowed to grow up, he stays in mini size, pocket size. Though she would want it, Alicent won't get pregnant again, she doesn't have the energy to do so, and she is Dowager Queen, she has an image to keep.

She hates Viserys, like, actively, fervently. Alicent wanted to say those words when he was alive but she couldn't risk him not dying.

I'm so glad this made your day better, this is always the major intent! Chapter 2 will come soon, I'll try to post it as soon as possible.

Thank you so much for reading and telling me what you thought of it!

#ask #insights #author's idea #pro team green

[wibble-wobbegong]

Does Dustin Know Mike is Gay?

Now I know what you’re gonna say; “But Wibble! This goes against everything we know about Mike’s character! He’s supposed to be hiding, why the fuck would he tell Dustin!?” And I get the skepticism. I do. So, I am gently grabbing your hand and asking you to entertain me for a minute. Let’s consider what we know.

Number One

Thus far, Dustin doesn’t play any significant role in Mike’s arc with his sexuality. In fact, he’s the only party member who doesn’t somehow influence the way Mike interacts with his sexuality! How Will and El play into Mike’s arc with his sexuality is obvious. Lucas is Mike’s leader in understanding the Straight Man act in S3 and he’s representative of what Mike has realized he can’t have in S4 — normalcy. Mike can’t try to be normal like Lucas. Whenever Mike needs an example of what he’s supposed to be, whether to imitate or to be angry at, Lucas is where he turns (even though the S4 conflict itself goes beyond any sort of jealousy). Max is an influence by proxy. She’s another example of what Mike is supposed to want (girls) because that’s who Lucas wants.

Dustin, however, never seems to hold any real significance in Mike’s story with his sexuality. Hell, if we’re being really honest, Dustin hasn’t been much of a player at all in Mike’s story since S1. The one and only time we see Dustin brushing the monstrosity that is that internal conflict, it’s when he’s dragging on Mike and El in S3. You could argue the Phoebe Cates comment as well, but that doesn’t have as much to do with Dustin himself than another example of Mike being disinterested in girls.

This immediately gives Dustin an advantage in this argument. If Dustin doesn’t play a significant role in Mike’s arc with his sexuality, Mike doesn’t have much to fear with coming out to him compared to other characters. It also guarantees that Dustin won’t be heavily encroaching on that part of the story in S5, because it isn’t really relevant to him.

Number Two

Obviously that isn’t enough to say Mike would come out to him, Wibble 🙄. He still wouldn’t want to lose one of his best friends and he doesn’t know whether or not Dustin is okay with gay people!!!

Yes. Sort of. Of course he doesn’t want to lose Dustin, and coming out does risk that. However, may I introduce you to the most openly queer man in Hawkins; one of Dustin’s very good friends; someone Dustin is shown to care about dearly…

Edward Munson!

Eddie is at least somewhat open about his queerness, considering he wears the black bandana in his pocket to school and his whole ‘embrace the freak’ personality. The bandana is code to call out to people outside of his circle, but I have zero doubts that Eddie is open about being queer when he’s with the Hellfire members. Eddie isn’t ashamed of who he is, and the bandana is an active invitation to other people to join him. The bandana doesn’t serve a narrative purpose, seemingly, but that sign that he’s trying to communicate to other queer people that he’s also queer (and available). He doesn’t hide it. The same way he hunts down fellow freaks, he’s calling out to other queers.

Dustin clearly doesn’t care, considering how close he is with Eddie regardless of his blatant queerness. He’s defensive of him when accusations are thrown around about him being a murderer. Friendly reminder that the satanic panic and hunt for the freak is meant to be a metaphor for the AIDs crisis! There’s a reason they specifically mention sodomy in the magazine Eddie reads out of. Sodomy is literally anal sex. The activity most popularly believed to be the cause and spread of AIDs. It’s a pretty blatant metaphor, and Dustin goes out of his way to prove that Eddie isn’t a murderer like everyone claims, that he’s a good person even though he does play DND. There’s a ton of emphasis put on the fact that DND isn’t this horrible, sickening game that everyone believes it is; being gay isn’t a disease and Eddie isn’t a murderer. Having gay sex doesn’t kill people. Eddie engaging in gay sex (hence the black bandana) doesn’t mean he’s spreading AIDs and killing people. He’s not a murderer.

The point is, Eddie is openly queer and Dustin is not only accepting but goes out of his way to protect Eddie.

There’s some incredibly important timing going here. When do Dustin, Lucas, and Mike actually meet Eddie? The start of the school year.

Now, this is important for Mike because this means an openly queer man is approaching him and inviting him to do the very thing he’d just spent all his time doing since the Byers and El moved on July 4th. Mike hasn’t been together with El since before Starcourt. He’s been mourning the loss of his best friend for months by doing the very things he associates with being gay and in love with Will. He’s taken small steps forward in accepting himself, but having someone like Eddie be proud of himself and his identity was critical in his journey with queerness. Meeting Eddie at this point, where he’s been forced to face the fact that he can’t change the way he feels about boys, about Will, and has been broken up with El for months with no reason to assume they’re gonna get back together creates a golden opportunity for Mike to start exploring himself in a space without having to worry. Eddie is there for him.

At the same time, Eddie becomes the first openly queer person Dustin has ever met. Mike watches Dustin accept Eddie and look up to him just like he does. Dustin has a great relationship with Eddie and, as I already said, doesn’t just accept him but embraces him too. Dustin shows that he doesn’t just tolerate queerness but actively defends it.

Where Lucas doesn’t have a very good relationship with Eddie and is trying very hard to be normal, Dustin develops a great relationship with Eddie and doesn’t show anything less than full support. We can assume that this support we see in S4 doesn’t just occur then, considering the satanic panic is an ongoing issue we see picking up at the end of S3. That’s not to say Lucas is homophobic by any means (his acceptance is actually gonna be incredibly important to Mike’s arc in S5), as his motives are completely unrelated to Eddie’s queerness, but that Mike can’t have complete faith that he won’t lose Lucas more than he already has if he tells him. Telling Dustin, on the other hand, is something he knows isn’t dangerous.

Dustin having the relationship he does with Eddie shows Mike that he’s safe. Mike realizes he has a friend who knows Will who he can talk to without fear of losing him or of him being disgusted. Eddie can guide Mike through his queerness, but he doesn’t know Will. Dustin knows Will.

Number Three

That last thought brings me to point three; Dustin seems to be aware of Mike’s troubles with Will l specifically.

We’ve already established that Dustin is a safe person for Mike to talk to and that he’s the only safe person Mike knows who also knows Will. He’s one of Mike’s best friends. The possibility of Dustin knowing about Mike’s communication problem with Will is confirmed with his line about Mike’s whining, and we know that Mike doesn’t use the phone to talk to El. The choice to have Dustin be the one to give out this information is especially odd, considering Nancy is there and if there were problems with the phone she would know better than Dustin, since her and Jonathan have been staying in touch somehow. She could’ve been the one to point it out, but they have Dustin do it. They make a point out of Dustin having to deal with Mike’s whining.

I implore you to remember the last time we saw Mike whine. Like, literally whining.

Peak whiny Mike.

Again, we have mlvn put up against and losing to byler through this parallel. The last time Mine was being whiny, it was because he didn’t know he was allowed to call her first (or didn’t want to) and his partner in crime was Lucas, his exemplar of normalcy. Now, we have Mike being whiny because he literally cannot reach Will because the phone is busy. Mike is reaching out completely on his own and now he goes and whines to Dustin about it. It’s meant to be a romantic parallel just like the breakup vs the rain fight where we see how obvious it is that Mike will fight harder to keep Will in his life. I can’t imagine a scenario where Mike would be comfortable complaining so much to Dustin about it if he hasn’t told him. Reminder that, according to Lucas on the Line, Dustin does know Mike keeps in contact with El through letters. Also, Dustin’s not stupid. He knows they can’t risk exposing El to the government via phone call.

But all that goes to show the Dustin might just be aware of Mike’s feelings for Will. He finally has his place in this incredibly important part of Mike’s story without interfering with the other important people involved in this storyline, as he won’t out Mike to anyone. He can be Mike’s taste of normalcy in the sense that he doesn’t have to hide who he is around Dustin. I’m not saying they have these deep, inspirational conversations but that Mike has someone who won’t treat him differently if he wants to whine over Will.

#im not saying it’s 100% certain or anything im just saying no one should be all that surprised if it turns out dustin already knows #like the pieces are there if the duffers choose to use them #that storyline is laid out if they choose to go that direction #this is more conversational than analytical i think #idk #don’t take this too seriously. it’s just good for thought #*food #mike wheeler #dustin henderson #mike analysis #dustin analysis #never thought I’d see the day where i felt the need to analyze him #this is honestly a little rushed. my bad i just needed it out of my head (drafts)

[andreal831]

I just don't see the appeal for Haylijah. Aside from them having nothing in common or any chemistry whatsoever, they were easily the most cringe, disgusting, trashiest, and incestuous ship to ever exist. There's nothing beautiful and romantic or even remotely hot and sexy about a ship, where a man falls for a woman pregnant with his brother's child, and said woman is a terrible mother as a result of being more worried and thirsty over jumping her daughter's uncle's bones, rather than worrying about her pregnancy and daughter, which were far more important. Just look at how she wasted no time cheating on Jackson the first opportunity she got. I mean, I understand she was basically marrying Jackson for convenience, but come on. She literally just told Elijah she's engaged, and she goes and does that.

And don't even get me started on what a complete bitch and straight up cunt she was to Gia when she found out she was seeing Elijah. And at this point, she's already married to Jackson and has already found out about Dahlia. This just once again proves what a terrible mother Hayley is, because instead of being more concerned with the looming threat after her child, she's more concerned with banging two dudes at once and having all the attention on her. She can't even be bothered to be the tiniest bit grateful that Gia helped her out with her daughter, which she was under no obligation whatsoever to do, since that's not her problem anyway. 

And same goes for Rebekah, who spent six months of her life with Hope. And once Rebekah's nanny services were no longer required, Hayley is quick to turn on her at the drop of a dime and ready to kill her too and for what exactly? And on top of that, thinking Klaus and Elijah would agree to that? Talk about being the most selfish, disrespectful, and ungrateful bitch to ever exist. Rebekah was a way better mother to Hope in those six months than Hayley ever was throughout Hope's whole life.

Now, let's go onto Elijah and his views of women. He doesn't genuinely love the women he falls for. He loves the idea of them and whatever image and picture he paints of them in his head. And the minute they don't live up to the ideal pure, innocent, and virginal woman he pictured in his head, he drops them like a bad habit. I guarantee if he knew who Hayley really was as a person and about her history on TVD, and if he was anything in character at all, he'd have thrown her ass to the curb the same way he did with Katherine. 

And you say Elijah is not a hypocrite? He's the biggest hypocrite to ever exist and there's plenty of proof on both shows to prove it. Being buddy-buddy with Elena and even sympathetic to her for losing her brother, and even dumping Katherine over that. But having nothing to say about Elena having killed two of his brothers, and then having the gall to say on TO, "No one hurts my family and lives." Or what about having the gall to judge Cami for letting her feelings for Klaus cloud her judgment (which she wasn't, she was being very reasonable), when he did the exact same thing with Hayley, which is why he daggered Klaus and let Hayley run off with Hope in the first place? Yeah, Elijah is not the perfect, moral, and noble man you've all been brainwashed into thinking he is. 

Before you assume anything or put words in my mouth ... no, I don't ship Klayley or Klaroline either. And let's also not forget that Julie Plec promised fans that TO would be more about the family dynamics and exploring more of the Originals past and wouldn't have the same love triangle drama TVD did. Talk about the biggest bold-faced lie ever told. If anything at all, Klayley and Haylijah solidified for me why a love triangle was not needed for TO. Julie Plec should've just kept her word. Now, Elijah/Francesca and Elijah/Gia would've made for far better, more interesting, more compelling, and definitely way hotter and sexier pairings. 

Hello love. I adore the fact that you are still thinking of me after all of these weeks. Although I hope you haven't spent too much of your time being this upset.

Despite all of that, I'm going to take this ask seriously, or as serious as possible. It will be the last one from you I respond to, the rest will simply be deleted. But if that is how you wish to waste your time, have fun!

So your first complaint is that you don't see the appeal of haylijah. And that's fine! There are a lot of different ships for different people. I don't make it a practice to tell people who to ship. Rather, I love talking about things I love, like haylijah. Thank you for providing me another opportunity to do so!

To me, haylijah has so much chemistry. From the first moment they met, I knew they would be a main ship. They had so much chemistry that the show dropped the whole brothers love triangle because it didn't compare. Again, that's too me (and the show runners), if you disagree, that's great for you! I don't get how it's incestuous since they aren't related... But if you find it that way, maybe this show isn't for you. If they are problematic for you, I'm not sure what ship you can really like.

I think Elijah falling in love with Hayley was so beautifully done. I also want to point out the way you talk about Hayley as a human incubator for Klaus is not the move. Elijah didn't fall in love with Hayley as a woman who was pregnant with his brother's kid, but as a woman. Full stop. Let's not reduce women down to their sex lives or mother's down to one aspect of their being. Also you saying Hayley is a terrible mother destroys any remaining credibility you had. Hayley is the best mother in this show, even though the bar is on the floor. At no point did she put her relationship with any man over Hope. In fact, so much of the fandom hates her for that. To finish that up, she never cheated. Hope that helps. She was not in a relationship with Jackson when she slept with Elijah and she told Jackson about it, who didn't have an issue with it. So I don't know why you do.

Your language you use to discuss women is curious. You act like a warrior for Gia and yet you would use derogatory words to talk about women. Yes, Gia deserved better. We all agree. But Gia and Hayley have like four scenes together. A couple of which show them working together. I promise you, ever woman on that show has made immature comments to another woman because the writers are immature and sexist. She was grateful to Gia though. Or are you conveniently forgetting that scene?

You also seem awfully concerned abut a character's sex life when she has maybe one sex scene a season. It's almost like you are trying to tear down a woman for having sex. So I think you are the issue here. Not Hayley. You try to use it to say she is a terrible mother and wife, again reducing her down to two aspects of her personality and are essentially trying to slut shame a woman whose bodily autonomy was robbed from her in so many ways.

I can't even take you seriously on your take with Rebekah. The only time she ever threatened Rebekah's life was when she was possessed by Eva and she did so in defense of her daughter, which seems to cut against your stance that she's a bad mother. And again, with your sexist language. Rebekah only had to be a mother for six months when she got to live safely away from the chaos and war of New Orleans and then Rebekah bailed when Hope needed her most. Hayley raised her and never once abandoned her daughter.

Your idea of Elijah is comical and based on nothing but your own spite. It's concerning how upset it makes you. At this point I don't think you even agree with half of what you say but you think everyone here is as immature as you and try to attack our "weaknesses." I promise you, I am not so immature as to be affected that you don't like my favorite characters. I love people always say "virginial women" and yet you clearly don't understand what that means. Elijah has never once been attracted to a "ideal pure, innocent and virginial woman." First of all, you say it as if these ideas are black and white. You either are or you aren't. Saying this is discrediting the amazing, strong, witty women that he loves. I think it's funny you don't think Elijah is aware of what happened in TVD with Hayley. But he does know what she did in TO and still loved her, so your point is invalid. He left Katherine for betraying him, yet again. Which is fair.

I love the amount of research you've done though. Each paragraph is clearly targeted at different posts I've made on here. I'm really flattered. That being said, I've already discussed the hypocrite thing, so I'm not going to get into it again. But you clearly don't know what the definition of hypocrisy is so it doesn't even matter.

I don't have to put words in your mouth. You are incapable of brevity and make yourself look bad all on your own. But I am laughing out loud at a Elijah/Francesca and Elijah/Gia triangle. Talk about Elijah being a hypocrite and being with the woman who is trying to take down his family. Have you even watched the show?

This is fun and all and I appreciate you came more prepared than the last time we spoke. I also love that you can't respond because you have to hide behind your anonymity in the ask box so I get to have the last word here.

I say this with all of the sincerity in the world, I think you need to take a break from this fandom. I know it is a safe space for so many people, but for others, it becomes an unhealthy obsession and will only serve to make you more upset. If this fandom is no longer a happy place for you, it isn't worth staying in it. Try to use this fandom to build each other up and connect with people who love the same things as you. For so long, this fandom has helped me because of the amazing people I've met. There are so many beautiful souls who would love to have genuine conversations with you, but if you keep acting this way, you are only serving to isolate yourself.

If you ever want to talk, to genuinely talk, my inbox is open. But if you only wish to spread hate, please stay off of my page.